Greetings Readers
I hope you're all having a chill week so far. This week hasn't even started and it's getting on my nerves. So help me if I don't start yelling at management about dropping the ball and then trying to blame me.
But anyway, none of you are here to listen to me complain about stuff. You're all here to enoy the next episode of Mortis Custos. Please don't forget to read @zakludick update on Part 74 before continuing with this chapter. Have fun all!
Magna pulled away from her mother and frantically sought out her brother. She needed him. Ignoring the yells of commands around her, even her mother’s, she sprinted to where she knew her twin would be. Within minutes she barged into his room. Ignoring Stefan and another lord she didn’t know, she ran and embraced her brother.
“Adrian!” she half whispered as she squeezed him to her.
“Magna.” Adrian returned the hug tightly, despite his injury warning him of this action.
“Take this. Someone wants to talk to you.” Magna shoved the grimy shield into his arms.
“Wait, what…”
As soon as the shield touched his hands, a woman appeared next to Magna. Before Adiran could utter a word, the wraith bowed her head low and whispered, “Great grandson and now shield bearer. I am pleased you are well.”
“No time to talk. Come.” Magna pulled at her twin’s arm.
“Now hold a minute.” Lucien stepped before the children.
Ostia glided before him and simply touched his eyes. Instead of recoiling with horror at what stood before him, Lucien took a single step back and his mouth gaped a little. A second later he was kneeling with his right hand pressed to his forehead.
“I had no idea.” He whispered, “My queen.”
“What is going on?” demanded Adrian.
“We don’t have time to explain!” Magna grabbed his arm once more, and this time they were successful in escaping the room.
“Remember what I told you!” called Ostia after them.
Lucien hissed that Stefan kneel too, but Ostia stopped him and said, “Rise faithful half dead. Always with one foot in the grave and one in the sunlight. You have served my kingdoms well. I would ask one last boon of you.”
“Anything Pale Lady, protector of souls and wayward spirits.”
Ostia smiled sadly, “I had no idea I was so loved after my passing.”
Lucien got to his feet and Ostia took his hand in hers. She could feel the slight tingle of life in him. The life drinker marvelled at the wraith touching him as if not believing that she was truly standing before him.
“My brother is stuck without a bridge. I managed to give my shield to the girl before she returned. She can give the shield bearer’s power to her brother and together they can bring back my brother.”
“But…there will be nothing by dust in his tomb.”
“This brings me to my boon.” The wraith looked distraught. “I must ask you to take a life.”
Lucien grinned maliciously, “All the information must have been extracted by now. I know the Queen called for his execution. I know just the priest for the job.”
“Loyal half dead, when your time comes, I’ll give you the option to stay or come with me.” Promised Ostia as she started to fade.
Lucien bowed once more, “I’ll assist the children at once.”
Adrian couldn’t make sense of what Magna was telling him as they ran. She had blurted out their adventure, something that seemed to have lasted for years had in fact only been a couple of weeks. She looked exhausted, blood-soaked, and seemed to be carrying a heavy burden. The one thing she was consistent in her ramblings about was someone she referred to as Mortis.
From her descriptions of him, Adrian wasn’t sure if he was a zombie or something far worse. As much as he tried to get his sister to stop moving and explain to him what had just happened, she kept pulling him deeper and deeper into the castle. Into areas that previously they hadn’t been allowed in.
They were going into the crypts. A place that would always remain closed until there was a death in the family. The last time Adrian had come down here, he was very little, and he remembered that his grandfather on his father’s side had died. Other than that, his parents had always forbidden him from coming down here.
“Are you even listening to me!” demanded Magna.
“Honestly no. I literally just woke up, realised my uncle is me, and I just saw a ghost. Excuse me while I try to get a grip on my reality.”
Magna sighed heavily and said, “There is a curse, I’m still not sure where it came from, but we can do something about it.”
She paused when she heard a trumpet sounding somewhere above them. The sound was followed by the marching of thousands of feet. Everything in her demanded that she join the fray, but she couldn’t. She had made a promise to Ostia.
“That shield and this sword have lost their meaning while it was handed down. Even the shield was lost to time. The literal original wielder had to give me the shield so it could be used.”
“I’m still lost.”
“King Magnus, do you remember the stories grandad and grandma told us?”
“Somewhat. He was a warrior king, something like our great grandfather, something like that.”
“Well, not quite. You see, he never had children, a fact that was long hidden, even to his direct family. He had no children, and then one day there was a son declared. No wife, no queen, nothing. He took Ostia’s son as his own, and that line then became us.”
“Who’s Ostia.”
“Magna the first, the wraith you saw.”
“His twin.” The realisation hit Adrian.
“They were like us, don’t you see? Except where I can inherit the throne, she couldn’t. Magnus never forgot that. He ensured that it would be her line to continue the family, not his.”
“I still don’t understand.” Adrian pulled away from her.
Magna, still gripping the sword, balled up her hands and sighed heavily, “I think…Ostia was sacrificed to stop the curse on the land. She was of royal blood, after all, and the royals saw no need for someone to contend the throne. It was an easy choice. Magnus was able to save her child from her fate. However, the curse grew stronger, and eventually, he had no choice but to give himself up to be sacrificed too. There was a son, after all. Many people thought the reason that the first sacrifice didn’t work was that twins share a soul. Both needed to be sacrificed.”
“What backward thinking!”
“We have to save Mortis. His soul is adrift, and it wouldn’t have been if it weren’t for me. I must save him, but I cannot do it alone. The sword arm and shield bearer must work together. Please, Adrian, I cannot tell you how much Mortis means to me. Please help me.”
With that, Magna pushed the large doors open, which led to the family crypt. As soon as they entered, it was obvious one of the caskets was open. Ignoring the casket closest to the door, knowing it was her father’s, Magna went straight to the open casket.
“You sacrificed everything to keep us safe.” She whispered in the dark.
She peered into the casket and saw that it was empty, except for what appeared to be some hair and dust. She pulled off a gauntlet and ran the edge of the blade along the outside of her hand. A trickle of blood started to form soon after. Magna lay the sword in the casket and dripped blood onto it muttering something Adrian couldn’t understand. After a few minutes, Magna looked up at him imploringly, “Adrian, please help me bring him back.”
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