Hey ya'll, I'm struggling with formatting, just so you know. The chapter might look a little blocky.

~~~~~~~~~

Sophie's steps were as silent as death as she pushed further and further into the crypt. She ditched her large fur cloak a while back, the chill not seeping through the cavern. Sophie swallowed down her gasp when she turned the corner, quickly diving behind one of the columns and peeping around the corner.

Draugr. (points to whoever can guess which game these are from)

Hollowed walking corpses, not quite dead but not alive. The first versions of Mirthless infused people, probably where Vespera got her inspiration for her experiments. People who died and were unfortunate enough to have Mirthless encounter their dying bodies. The Mirthless sometimes inhabit dying people, using their life source as food before they fully die.

Sophie knew almost all crypts had Draugr infestations, the exact reason why she avoided them. The draugr stumbled out of their standing coffins, the guardians of the Royal Crypts of ancient Vatarian royalty and heroes. Tezcaoatl was the protector of the entrance and decided who walked in, but those who walked in were on their own against the draugr.

Sophie slid past the column, approaching one of the draugr from behind. She wrapped her around its wrinkled neck, swinging her leg into its kneecaps. Sophie didn't account for the brittleness of the bones underneath their dry, broken skin for going for its knees, as its calf bones shattered beneath her swing. Sophie cursed at the sound of the Draugr's knees disintegrating, the other draugr turning their attention to her. Sophie sprinted down the hall, sliding past the door of spikes and leaping over the pressure plates. The draugr followed as fast as they could with their rotting and crumbling bodies, Sophie keenly aware of the groaning of a bowstring.

There has to be something to get her out, she needs to move.

Sophie ducked as an arrow stuck into the rock right where her head once was. She ducked behind a coffin as draugr rushed past, waiting for the heavy beating of their feet to soften. Emerging from her hiding place, she grabbed the arrow's shaft and pulled it out of the stone, sneaking towards the group of draugr. Sophie accounted for their brittle bones this time, smashing the arrow into the side of one of their skulls, the skeleton dropping before the others realized where Sophie was.

Sophie rolled out, grabbing the sword of the downed draugr. She easily got to her feet, slightly bouncing on her toes as she swung the blade in her hand. The draugr swung his great ax over his head, aiming for Sophie, but she easily sidestepped it and dragged her blade across its ribs, slicing straight through and meeting the blade of the other draugr. She pulled on her weapon, and the great sword flew out of its hands, Sophie flinging the blade to her other hand when the draugr surged forward. One hand over its skull as she shoved the dull draugr blade into its throat.

The beast dropped, Sophie's panting the loudest sound in the crypt beside the distant sound of running water and clinging of the weapons of other draugr. Sophie held the blade up in the dull light, clicking her tongue is a disappointment. It was fairly dull and heavy, not what she was used to. Sophie threw the sword aside and picked up the other Draugr's bow. She pulled back the drawstring, surprised by the draw strength. There were only 12 arrows left in the quiver, but it was better than a dull sword.

Sophie slung the bow and quiver across her back, pressing onwards further into the crypt. Sophie didn't know how long she was walking for, she just continued to trek onwards. She was looking for Queen Kassandra, trying to find this artifact.

Tezcacoatl mentioned that Queen Kassandra made a sacrifice, what was it?Sophie lept over a hidden pressure plate, jogging past the burial mound of a former Chiranu emperor, sliding her eyes over the various labels for the mounds. Sophie heard the clicking of Draugr teeth from around the corner, easily nocking an arrow and pulling it back. Sophie loosed the arrow into the back of one of their heads, another arrow nocked before the others could react. One arrow into the eye socket of the second one, one into the back for the third. They dropped silently, and Sophie shimmied across their rotting bodies and poked her head around the doorframe.

"*Oipho..." Sophie cursed in disbelief. The cavern opened up to a large room larger than any of the spiraling hallways Sophie had traveled past. The rocky walls were adorned with Grecian symbols and Inalian language. Words Sophie barely recognized, even though she knew the symbols.

The dank air suddenly turned cold, the small rocks no longer tumbling, and nearby underground river going still.Sophie clenched her bow, nocking an arrow. "No, I don't like that." She sucked in a breath as she pressed further into the cavern, "I'm getting boss level vibes from this." She muttered to herself in Inalian.

She approached the back of the room, glaring at the lit torches. No one has been in here in thousands of years, how were there lit torches?Sophie stepped up the platform, approaching the center crypt. "Artifact, artifact... could it kill people to be a little bit more specific?" She muttered to herself. She looked towards the large throne, scanning it over. It was built of the same black metal as the Draugr's swords, small skulls decorating the top. Sophie sighed with her hands on her hips. "Come on, I just want to go home!" She hissed. A voice rattled in her head, one she had never heard before. "You might want to duck." It chuckled. Sophie straightened, "Duck?" A roar came from behind her, one of the tombs booming open. Sophie ducked as an ax swung for her head, rolling out of the way. Sophie glared at her opponent, clicking her tongue in annoyance.

A Draugr Death Lord. One of the stronger Mirthless powered corpses.

"Malaka." Sophie cursed, getting up and nocking an arrow. The Death Lord swung for her again, Sophie dodging and shooting an arrow into its chest. It just cackled as it pulled the arrow out, the laugh a merely wheezing howl from the years of decay. Sophie instead decided to sling her bow across her back and slide underneath another swing of his ax, bringing her elbow to his side and ducking behind him. The Deathlord stumbled, allowing Sophie to swing to the back of him and wrap her hands around his neck from behind. She slammed her hands down, breaking his neck from behind. The Deathlord dropped, his body sliding to the ground against Sophie's. Sophie panted, turning her head to the throne once again.

On it sat a woman.

Pale skin, unlike any other. Like the life was sucked out of it. A beautiful face, sharp jaw with strong cheekbones and a thin nose. Her hair was to her waist, surprisingly clean for being in an underground dungeon. But it was her eyes that took Sophie back. The color of burnished gold. Snowy white hair that went right past her hips. On her fingers sat golden claws, just like the ones Sophie wore at the Egypitnat conference. Signs of Inalian royalty.

"That was a good move there. Inalian fighting style in origin, " She chuckled. Sophie knew that, her father was the one who taught it to her.

Sophie stared in shocked silence, staring over the woman. "Are you Queen Kassandra?" Sophie asked. She chuckled slightly, her hands gripping the edges of the throne as she relaxed against it, "The one and only, darling." She spoke, her voice was deep and almost intoxicating. Sophie clenched her fists, opening her mouth, but Kassandra put up a hand. "I know who you are, youngling. Kynareth's little plaything." Sophie swallowed. She couldn't help but feel... humbled, to be in Kassandra's presence. This was a pureblooded Inalian Queen.

"Kassandra... why am I here? What does Kynareth want me for?" Sophie asked. Kassandra splayed her hand across her thigh as she thought. "Are the Mirthless still running above ground?" She asked. Sophie nodded. Kassandra muttered to herself, "So the kids are still alive then?Sophie sighed, shaking her head, "Kassandra, I have no idea what on earth you are talking about."

Kassandra's eyes flickered with something, but she merely muttered something under her breath Sophie couldn't hear. A mist gently drifted down from the ceiling above, settling on the ground as Kassandra stood up, shakily, Sophie stepping forward to catch her in case she falls. Kassandra waved her hand, and the mist shifted to an image of bright, lively colors. It was Inalia from thousands of years ago, a sprawling Kingdom ruled by the monarchy. They wore different clothes, different trends, and older contraptions. But the same language, same mannerisms, all of it still Sophie's home.

"I was a Queen from birth, my brother Leonidas was my greatest ally. Although I loved the throne and my crown, on the battlefield with my brother is where I belonged. Cutting down my enemies, the Spartans rallying at the side of their faithful queen? It was the sort of thing that electrified my blood, made me feel alive. But I knew that war is not what my country needed, especially since the Dunmer King was rallying his army to break the surface. I didn't care much about the Dunmer, they were good people, and I knew they deserved to go above ground. But the other cities, they were... hesitant? I don't know what held them back. Either way, when other cities learned I would not be joining the war with them against the Dunmer, they were outraged."

The mist changed to Kassandra at a rounded table in a dark room, everyone arguing amongst her. Sophie recognized it as the same conference room Sophie and Maha were in when they were talking with the Vatarian Elders.

"I said we don't need to fight, I believed that our efforts were a waste of time and men. And most importantly, money. Inalia had a fruitful economy, but I was still taught how fast war can deplete any reserves any kingdom has. People insisted that the Dunmer wanted change because they wanted to override us, to take over. I laughed, which did not help my position. That specific meeting, we agreed to have another summit in about a year to see where everyone stands. But when I returned, I found that my brother, Leonidas, was missing."

Kassandra shook her head, her head propped against her hand, "You should've seen how I raged, youngling. I was convinced one of the other cities did it to influence me to join the Dunmer-Vatarian war. But I found a lead and followed it with a passion, and I stumbled across Leonidas completely fine. He was in a cave, sitting at a table with a Dunmer man."

The scene changed to Kassandra literally body slamming the Dunmer man to the ground, her brother yelling at her. Kassandra awkwardly coughed, "It turned out the Dunmer man saved my brother from his captors." Another scene of who Sophie assumed was Leonidas pulling his snarling sister of the Dunmer man. Kassandra wrapped her arms around her brother, pulling him tight, sobbing into his shoulder.

"My brother then revealed to me that some well-skilled bandits jumped him while working through papers at his desk. They wanted to hold him for ransom, but Leonidas easily killed them and escaped. But Leonidas has always been an awful tracker, so he was nowhere with no idea how to find me. Luckily, a Dunmer scout trying to scout out the land for the King found my brother and helped him get on his feet. I begged to thank the scout, bring him the castle and reward him. He just asked to remain friends with my brother and me." Kassandra tapped her foot, head shaking, "Soon, we would visit him almost twice a week, Leonidas and I. We would bring him on our adventures, tell him about our world. He would do the same."

Sophie noticed Kassandra wasn't saying his name. Like it hurt her to talk about him. "But soon tensions rose between the Dunmer and Vatarians, and it became near impossible to see him. The last we heard of him, he said that the Dunmer King is creating something, unlike anything he had ever seen before. But I was so desperate to see him, I just..." Kassandra sighed, running a hand down her cheek. Sophie put it together, She didn't need Kassandra to explain. "You fell in love with him," Sophie muttered.

Kassandra's face hardened, she looked away, swallowing. "I shouldn't have been so careless with my emotions. Queens are supposed to be strong and independent, the leader their country looks to, marriage meant to only strengthen their power. But me falling for a scout, and of the enemy court too." Kassandra flexed her hand, her golden claws reflecting in the light, "But he soon grew more influential in court, going from a measly scout to one of the King's right-hand soldiers. He returned my feelings, but soon he was engaged to a woman in the King's court. We both agreed that we... should stop seeing each other. I moved on after a long time, met a wonderful woman to be my queen, he had children with the woman from court, though he never had any feelings for her."

Kassandra swallowed, her hands fidgeting, "But the Dunmer King unleashed the Mirthless on the Vatarians around this time. Leonidas was on the front lines almost every day, protecting us from them, I was out there with him most of the time, my wife running the kingdom in my absence. But when I learned that the Mirthless had turned on the Dunmer, and they were sealing off their caverns, I had to make sure that he was okay! But his children, a boy and a girl, thought I was there to hurt him. They were extraordinary. I've fought so many in my lifetime, but they nearly bested me. But their father soon came running, stopping the fight. But when I saw him, I knew why they were so protective," Kassandra rubbed the side of her neck, like it bothered her, "He was pale, sickly. He could barely stand. His daughter was kind, immediately apologizing to me and helping me with my wounds. His son, however, was apprehensive. He was young and he grew up in the hatred of the Dunmer-Vatarian war, didn't hold the open-mindedness of his sister."

Kassandra shifted the image to her hovering over a bed, a sickly man in it with charcoal wings and small horns sprouting from his hair. Around him were his two children, a light-haired boy and a dark-haired girl. The boy and girl had matching charcoal wings sprouting from their backs, similar horns sprouting from their foreheads. Along their legs and wrists were their Dunmer markings, elegant swirls as black as night.

"I insisted that I could get him help, that I could summon healers from our kingdom. He refused them all." Sophie knew as well as Kassandra that Inalia was known for its medicine, so why on earth would he refuse them?

"He said his sickness was beyond something they could heal with medicine. The King fused him with something, something beyond Mirthless, something heavier and darker. The source of Mirthless, what they were born from."

Kassandra swallowed again, her pride refusing to let her show tears, "He said it was his fault. He volunteered for it, thinking he could use it to slow the Mirthless attacks. Instead, it was eating him from the inside out. And the minute he died, it would pick another vessel, then another. As long as Mirthless roamed the earth, the thing inside him would live. I left, insisting I would bring a cure. I came back with Leonidas, who was also his long time friend. He was alone this time, his children out trying to convince the King to give their father some form of relief. But in my arms, he..." Kassandra didn't finish. She sat back down in her throne, trying to calm down.

But the glint that shone in her eyes made Sophie feel a chill run through the cavern. "The minute he loosed his last breath, darkness fell upon the world. A thick mist I could hardly breathe through, throwing us back. Leonidas grabbed me and took cover, but whatever was trapped in Egil before, it was released." Kassandra stumbled over his name, Egil. The Dunmer scout turned General was named Egil... Sophie tucked the name back in her mind, hoping to ask King Dorian about it.

"His children came barging in, his daughter crying for her father. But his son, he blamed us. Me, specifically. He thought I killed Egil in hoped of vanquishing whatever it was inside of him. But it didn't matter, because that demon inside Egil was growing with every second he was outside a vessel. But whatever the demon was, I have to admit... I knew it. I knew it's power, the darkness and inky black it used to carve new Mirthless, part of it I understood. All shades have that within them."

Sophie hiccuped, her eyes wide. Kassandra chuckled, "Yes, love, even you. But it is too weak to control you; rather, you control it. And as Kynareth's heiress, you shade abilities lean less towards darkness and more towards night. The gentle swaying of a star flecked sky or the ominous cover in can create for your work. This creature, it was dark. Hell and shadows and inky death. But I knew it needed a vessel." Sophie's eyes widened, taking a step back. The mist around them shifted once more, showing the white-haired queen approaching the dead body of Egil, darkness sprouting from him. Leonidas called for his sister, screaming out for her to take cover.

Kassandra watched the mist with a blank face, the mass of darkness deepening the shadows on her face as she watched what took place. Sophie watched through the mist as Kassandra closed her eyes and threw her hands out, the darkness crackling around her. Egil's body slowly began to disintegrate away into dust, Kassandra's screams drowning out the hurricane of noise the darkness created.

It swarmed her mouth, her eyes, her hands, filling her and drowning her in a thickened swamp of rotting flesh and sickened mud. Everything that was bad about the darkness, not the gentle beauty Sophie grew to love, was seeping into Kassandra. Her veins turned black, black slime sputtering past her thin lips, her fingernails turning green and purple, and her skin losing its golden Inalian luster.

Sophie watched through the mist as Egil's daughter ran to Kassandra, through the howling winds and dark smokes, wrapping her arms around the queen's neck. The daughter's skin turned pale, and a sudden boom shuddered through the image. The darkness subsided, Kassandra and Egil's daughter passed out. Egil's body was nothing but ash on the wind. But Sophie noticed right away...Egil's son wasn't there. Leonidas ran to his sister and the downed daughter. He cried his sister's name, shaking her and insisting she woke. He moved to the girl, shaking her and trying to wake her up. Leonidas brought them both to Inalia, the kingdom losing its collective mind learning its queen was injured. The image cut to Kassandra's wife and Leonidas over her bed, watching her only get worse. Egil was right; there was no cure.

"So, you inherited the demon? Why aren't you dead yet?" Sophie asked the queen. Kassandra waved her hand, the mist shifting away.Kassandra finally got up from her throne, groaning with the effort. Sophie rushed forward to catch the queen right before she smacked the ground. Kassandra was ice cold in Sophie's hands but freakishly strong as she gripped the sides of Sophie's arms.

"I wasn't the only one who inherited it." Kassandra groaned. Sophie's eyes flittered to where the mist once was. She played over the scene of Egil's daughter, wrapping her hands around Kassandra.