-[Act 4 * Part 3]-

Lord Doom raised his hands, as if elevating a heavy burden before him. He then addressed the gathered crowd of kith, monsters and anything in-between—all servants and members of his esteemed household.

“Minions, servants, friends,” he said in a voice that carried strong across the throne room. “I am pleased to see you all gathered here on the twilight of our greatest conquest yet.”

The servants of House Doom lingered on every word of their dark Master. Not a sound could be heard from their frozen ranks. None so much as dared to breathe out of turn, lest they miss a thing.

“By now you have all heard the rumors of an unprecedented challenge that lies ahead of us,” Basil said. “I am stand before you today to tell that it is all true. I have set us out on a path to discovery that will bring us closer to oblivion than any conquest has before.” He clutched his fingers to demonstrate his intent. “All of my prior victories will be rendered obsolete, if I can grasp this crowning achievement.”

Basil observed the crowd of gathered minions as he gaged their interest. “On this auspicious day we embark on a quest to locate the secret lair of my father. I believe that within its walls we shall find answers to his ultimate fate. But, more importantly, this will be my chance to once and for all prove myself to be more than just a part of his legacy—is shall become his equal!

“Nothing will stand in our way!” he declared. “Neither the limits imposed by the Guild nor the dangers of the Astral Sea shall keep me from my destiny. I will face them without any hesitation and without holding anything back. And I expect that same level of dedication from each and every one of you going forward!”

Basil beckoned for the minions to give their reply. “Who are we?” he asked.

The crowd answered in a single voice, turned roar: “We are the servants of Doom!”

“Is it glory that you seek?” Basil asked.

“Glory to House Doom!” sounded the reply.

The dungeon keeper slowly nodded in acknowledgment of their resolve. “Then glorious battle is what I shall deliver!” he promised. “Our greatest victories still lie ahead of us. We need but to declare our readiness and issue the challenge—destiny shall answer.”

The minions chanted praise in response to his declaration: “Glory to House Doom!”

Basil waived for the crowd to settle down. “I know that the path ahead will be long and fraught with many dangers,” he said. The dungeon keeper placed one hand to his chest and extended the other towards the minions. “I will face them all without hesitation. I will face them side by side with you, my loyal servants.

“I have no doubt that we will face many glorious battles in the years to come. But enduring combat against untold odds will only be half the challenge. For once there is a much greater beast lurking at the door of House Doom. It watches us not from the castles and walls of the civilized words, but from the endless halls and dark corners of the Guild of Chaos.

“Yes, my servants, in order to grasp at our destiny, I will risk the wrath of the Guild!” Basil declared. “But fear not their prying eyes, for I have set into motion a number of contingencies to deceive them. We are more than a match for their spies and inquisitions and I know that your hard work and loyalty shall spare us from the misplaced ire of the zealots and pencil pushers of the Nine Hells. As always, I shall keep several steps ahead of our associates in the Guild.

“Once I return triumphant from my quest, they will be reminded of their lot in life—that they are mere servants to dungeon keepers and not the other way around, as some of them might have grown to believe. Make no mistake, the challenge we face is dangerous beyond madness, yet the rewards would shake the very Hells to their infernal cores!”

Basil gestured at the succubus standing at the bottom of the steps. “To disguise our plans, I have taken Lady Elnora to be my assistant dungeon keeper for the duration of the quest. Under the guise of mentorship, she will run the daily life of the dungeon on our next Guild assignment. She will be charged with conquering a kith world, while I, alongside my closest and strongest minions will search the Astral Sea for my father’s secret lair. Within it, I believe, is hidden the key to our destiny—directions to an Alpha world and a conquest that has never been carried out before in the recorded history of the Nine Hells!

The dungeon keeper raised his finger to make a point. “But the Guild of Chaos cannot be allowed to find out about our plans. That is why you will all be required to swear an oath of secrecy. Should any of you end up a captive and fall into the hands of the Guild or its agents, the pact will not allow you to reveal the true nature of our quest.”

Basil sat down in his throne and gestured towards Gaia. “Commence the ritual,” he ordered.

The old crone beckoned for her tree-kin minions to carry forth a black witch’s cauldron. The walking trees left it at the steps of the throne and returned to the Mansion, leaving a trail of fallen leaves in their passing. Much like their master, Gaia, the ents looked to be in their late autumn stage of life and moved with according sluggishness.

Gaia grasped at the handles of the black cauldron and channeled her druidic magic into the smoldering liquid contained within. Chanting her spells and throwing ingredients into it, Gaia conjured the ritual under which the oath of secrecy was to be given. A blood red bloom rose up from the mouth of the witch’s cauldron along a red haze that spilled over the sides and began to slowly creep across the floor.

Her work done, the witch was presented a dragon’s horn by Chronos and she proceeded to dunk it into the oozing liquid. With wide wizened eyes she judged the consistency of the foul drink before placing it to her lips.

Having partaken of the ritual oath-brew, she called out to the gathered crowd of minions: “All hail Basil von Doom!” Gaia then slowly made her way up the steps of the throne and presented the completed mixture to her Master.

Basil received the dragon’s horn with his head raised high. He then once more stood up from his throne and toasted the oath-brew to the minions gathered below. “For the glory of House Doom!” he said and proceeded to drink deeply from the horn.

In response the crowd once again broke out into chanting. “Glory to House Doom! All hail Basil von Doom! All hail the Master!”

Basil waved for them to settle down and handed the horn back to Gaia. “You will all now partake of the ritual oath-brew,” he announced. The dungeon keeper returned to his seat and observed the lines of minions as they formed up throughout the throne room.

Once the ritual was concluded, he could set out on his quest in earnest. Basil had no doubt that his minions would follow him, but he cast a suspicious gaze upon Aidan and Nadia from the corner of his eye as he waited for them to take their turn at the mouth of the cauldron.

Gaia beckoned forth the servant so of House Doom that stood the closest to the throne. As was expected of them, Schwartz, Scarlet and Chronos were the first to gather around the cauldron to partake of the oath-brew. They were also joined by Elnora who seemed a little uncertain about sharing the place of honor with the veteran minions of Lord Doom.

The dragon’s horn was passed around over the sizzling contents of the oath-brew and each of them drank deeply from it. Their eyes flashed with a crimson light as the ritual spell took hold of them.

Gaia turned to Elnora once the succubus had partaken of the brew. “Bring forth your servants,” the old crone said. “Ready or not, this will be their first and final test of loyalty.”

In light of all that they had discussed and suffered through on this strange day, Nadia and Aidan were more than a little reluctant to approach the cauldron. And yet, they stepped forward as ordered. Their expression turned sour at the sight of the foul liquid bubbling within, but they did not turn away. There was no strong odor to it, but the very appearance of the drink was repulsive enough to clash with the sensibilities of the two humans that were now expected to partake in it.

“You will come to no harm, my children,” Gaia said. Granted, the sound of her crackling voice did little to reassure them.

Aidan was the first to take hold of the horn. He glared in disgust at its contents, but ended up raising it to his lips none the less. The young human warrior drank his due before passing it along to his sister. A physical challenge such as this was easier to reconcile himself with.

This time it was Nadia that hesitated to do as she was told. Maybe it was her broader understanding of magic rituals or blood magic in general, but she went pale in the face once the contents of the horn were revealed to her.

In spite of the implications, the young priestess refused to drink the brew. “This is blood!” she announced. “You would have us drinking blood!”

“Dragon’s blood,” Gaia corrected her. “Nothing but the best to make sure that the ritual holds strong!”

The priestess looked to her brother and found Aidan staring at the cauldron before him in calm resignation. Oddly enough, for all the resistance he had shown today, in the end it was the brother who appeared to have truly reconciled himself with his fate.

As she read the telltale signs of defeat in his expression, Nadia came to realize that she herself had yet to fully embrace their new reality. While she had been more eager to play along with it, she had never truly grappled with the consequences of her decision to serve Lord Doom like her brother had. Through a maelstrom of defiance and violence, Aidan had confronted his new lot in life, while she had put off her decision to this very moment.

“There is no backing away from this oath,” Gaia told her. “You will drink from the horn or you will drink from the cold lips of death, my sweet summer child. There is only one path forward…”

With trembling hands, Nadia slowly raised the dragon’s horn to her face. She edged the liquid ever closer to her lips in a show of frustrating indecision. As the bitter smell of the brew hit her nose, she closed her eyes and hoped for the nightmare to be over, only to find someone taking hold of her hands. The assailant proceeded to forcibly pour the oath-brew down her throat. In spite of her panic, she did not resist.

When the priestess opened her eyes she found Aidan holding the empty horn to her lips. “You don’t get to walk away from this,” he told her. “I can’t face the road ahead alone.”

With the magic brew now swirling about their bellies, the eyes of the twins flashed crimson red, signifying that the binding ritual had taken hold of them.

Gaia nodded approvingly at the sight of the confirmed bond. “Well done, children,” she said, “you can step aside now. There are many more minions to serve from the cauldron.”

The crone took away the dragon’s horn and went on pouring drink after drink as the minions of House Doom lined up to take part in the ritual. The crowd of gathering servants was large and it was going to take some time until all had taken their turn.

Looking to ease their confusion, Elnora led her new servants aside to elaborate on what had just transpired. “You will now be unable to tell of your Master’s plans to anyone you meet, unless they have partaken in the same oath-brew,” she explained. “No serious harm will come to you if you try and break the oath, but you will find the task impossible. Should you even try to write down the secrets you have been entrusted with, you will begin to lose your memory of them. The harder you try, the more you will forget. Do you understand the consequences of failure?”

“Can we speak freely with others that have partaken in the ritual?” Nadia asked. “Like you or Sir Schwartz?”

Elnora nodded. “We are all a part of the same secret society now,” she said. “We have forged a bond for the express purpose of keeping a common secret. Now that we are equals in this conspiracy, our plans of conquest can proceed.”

“So, what happens next?” Aidan asked.

“We wait for the ceremony to be over,” Elnora answered. “After everyone has partaken of the oath-brew, the relocation of the dungeon will begin.”

The succubus examined the plain clothes of the twins. “I must say, I am not at all happy about the fact that you were brought here looking like this. At the very least they could have provided you with some protection.”

“Protection?” Aidan asked. “Are we in danger?”

“Not right now,” Elnora answered. “But we might be in just a moment, when the core jumps.”

“Nadia said something about it jumping before,” Aidan noted. “Where to? How?”

Elnora pondered her answer. “Given the distance that we have to travel to get to the world of Ragnadar… I’d anticipate at least eight consecutive jumps,” she said. “Maybe nine or ten, even. It depends on what we encounter along the way—astral monsters and storms, you know…”

“Astral monsters?” Nadia asked.

The succubus shrugged. “You never know what mysteries the Astral Sea will throw at you,” she said. “Could be a kraken waiting for us or we might jump into an uncharted archipelago. Sometimes the inhabitants of the floating islands can be aggressive. Then again, they usually just want to trade. If they can’t rob you, that is.”

“Wait, we’re talking about Hell, right?” Nadia asked. “The Astral Sea—that is the chaos realm.”

“Not all of it is Hell,” Elnora pointed out. “The Nine Hells are a special place in the Astral Sea. The rest of it just wide open space—an extra dimensional area in-between the worlds. You get to see the craziest stuff out there, but none of it is really beyond your mind’s ability to comprehend it. Sometimes it’s just really weird, is all.”

“So, we either get attacked or we get to trade?” Nadia asked. “What could the denizens of the Astral Sea possibly want to trade for?”

“Oh, many things,” Elnora answered. The succubus closely examined the human servants standing before her. “You two would fetch a nice price in the 7th Hell,” she said. “A pair of young [Elite] humans like you could become quite the strong fighters, should someone wish to press you into gladiatorial combat. Then again, many a pirate crew or mercenary outfit would love to take you on as permanent members, given your potential for growth… and, of course, there are always some who would value your youthful beauty more than your combat prowess.”

“As servants, you mean?” Nadia asked.

The succubus smiled. “Yes… that too.”

Aidan felt chills run down his spine as the gorgeous she-demon ran he eyes over his body, measuring him. “I think we are done with questions for now,” he said.

The sister agreed. “Let’s just get this ritual over with…”

Rebuffed by Aidan, Elnora took to measuring up Nadia instead. The succubus bit her lip as she ran her predatory gaze over the curves of her body. If nothing else, she succeeded in invoking a sense of grave discomfort in the young priestess.

The she-demon smiled as she realized the ease with which she had managed to unnerve the twins. “You two don’t seem all that confident,” Elnora noted. “With all the experience of your past lives fresh on your minds, I thought you two would be boring to play with. I guess I was wrong…”

The succubus sighed. “I suppose the fault lies in your youthful teenage bodies,” she said. “What with all those hormones raging within you, I suppose you can hardly behave like the confident people that you once were. This is a far cry from how you were when you fought me last time, but at least we all know how strong you can grow. I am sure that your confidence will return in time, as you mature.”

At this moment Schwartz intervened and interrupted their conversation.

“The ritual is almost complete,” he announced. “The three of you better go and take your place by the throne. You should be safe standing next to Lord Doom. We will handle any unforeseen problems, should they arise.”

“Thank you, Sir Schwartz,” Elnora said. “We will do as you suggest.”

“Come,” the succubus beckoned her servants, “we are about to jump the dungeon into the Astral Sea. Better keep your eyes open because I can promise that it will be a sight to behold.”

Elnora led Aidan and Nadia towards the throne. “Our journey to another world is about to begin,” she said. “My new dungeon awaits…”