A Vinekin's Revenge (pt. 10 & 11): Under the Altar & Through the Tunnels
"You foolish girls, you think you can defeat me?! I am a GOD." Morgwen starts to feel the vine around her loosen, giving her a chance to speak. "I know what you're planning! You want to destroy Thornmere," she yells at him. Selene then interrupts her twin sister, "Morgwen, Kevin is a protector of Everveil. He has been given this task as the caretaker, by Arteris! The goddess herself!"
Kevin grunts in frustration towards Morgwen. "You don't understand. I have fallen from Arteris's favor... Thornmere has ruined the beauty Everveil once had. That stupid Thornmere Mayor has been testing my patience. I have been gracious for too long. My time has come. I will MAKE ALL of Thornmere to bow down to me."
Morgwen feels his vines tighten even more around her body. "Just give up, you have lost." Kevin and his vines crawl out through the cave's cracks, back to the earth's surface.
Later that night...
"Ugh... Morgwen. Why did you have to mess up the service... we wouldn't have gotten into this mess!!!!" Selene says angrily. Morgwen stays silent, not needing to say anything. Her mind was still processing everything that has happened tonight. She listens to Selene ramble on...
"Kevin may seem evil, but he is not. He is a protector and does what he thinks is best. Our religion truly believes that Kevin is good. The chapel, all of us, are doing a good thing. We are part of the earth, and we should take care of it. We shouldn't chase jobs, expand the city, do things society expects us to do..."
Morgwen interrupts, "But, don't you think there should be a balance? I came to Thornmere to start over Selene. We have been on the run for YEARS, and I am TIRED of running. I actually LIKE Thornmere and I would hate for Kevin to destroy something that I like for once."
Selene scoffs, "You know what, let's just stop. We are wasting our energy and we're not getting anywhere with this conversation."
Morgwen rolls her eyes, but she agrees. There's no use in trying to fight. They must wait for the morning to come.
Meanwhile...
As they continue to argue, Kevin makes his move... The Wildebourne Chapel doors open letting Kevin make his way in. His followers scattered throughout the chapel, make their way into the pews and bow down as he passes by. He turns his head to his left and then his right, smiling at his loyal disciples. Martin greets him and leads him to the front of the chapel and Kevin faces the crowd.
"Oh my. Look at all of you. My loyal disciples. My children. I am so proud of you all. Look at all my lovely vines, scattered throughout this holy place, isn't beautiful?" He waves his vines up hovering above their faces, each and every one of them in awe of Kevin's majesty. "But, Thornmere. This evil city. They have SILENCED us... BURIED us in their so-called world of order... however, my children. We must rise. We must FIGHT. WE MUST STOP THEM. THORNMERE WILL REMEMBER WHO THEY TRIED TO BURY."
The entire chapel yells and chants, "We pledge our lives to you Kevin..." Everyone stands up and gathers their weapons and torches, then they make their way through the streets of Thornmere. Martin looks upon Kevin waiting for his order. Kevin's vines embrace Martin and he says, "I am sorry for that stupid Morgwen girl getting in the way. Without the Crown of Thorns, I cannot complete your transformation. But, I have an important task for you... Kill the Mayor. Do not show him any mercy or forgiveness. Tonight, we must embrace our evil selves to take back what Everveil once was. We do this for Arteris." A cruel smile forms across Martin's face, "The job will be done."
Early in the morning, the next day...
Morgwen wakes up to the sounds of shuffling footsteps and someone talking to himself... "Oh my goodness, there's people here that can help me!" Her instincts kick in, "HEY! What are you doing?! Who are you?!" She sees the old scruffy man taking out a dagger cutting through the vines along the cave's wall, "Calm down woman, I am trying to set you free. We must do it quickly, you never know what Kevin may do."
Morgwen nudges Selene to wake up. "Come on, wake up Selene. We have some company." The old scruffy man reveals his name, Graff. And suddenly, everything clicks for Morgwen! She says excitedly, "Oh my god, YOU'RE Graff. I have been trying to find you! You were framed for the Wildebourne Chapel murder of the priest!" He says, "Yes, yes. And I've been on the run! I got lost and was trying to get away from Thornmere... the woods of Everveil Hollow are ever changing and I was being chased by some cobblehounds and then I found this hole under that stone altar and have been hiding in these tunnels. I feel like I am going CRAZY. The tunnels are huge and I have not found a way to escape."
Morgwen looks around the cavernous room. "Yeah, and sadly, we got trapped in here. Kevin closed off the entrance. I want to help clear your name. I know who framed you, her name is Seoha. You used to work with her, right? She's been disguising herself as a member of the chapel. She was hired by the Mayor to take down Wildebourne Chapel."
Selene's expression changes as she processes this new information. Morgwen puts a hand on her shoulder, "I'm sorry she's not who you thought she was... but let's go, we need to move fast. Who knows what Thornmere is like now. We need to tell the Mayor to surrender, I don't think Kevin can be stopped."
She asks, "But can we do? You're thinking the 2 of us can do all this together?"
Morgwen responds, "Well, we have Graff."
Selene laughs, "He's an old man..." She looks at him, "No offense..."
Graff smiles, "None taken, but I was once a young and dashing swordsman back in my day!"
Morgwen smiles at Graff trying to lighten the mood. "Ok, look. First thing we need to do is get out of here and then we will think of who we could ask for help. Cause you're right. We can't do this alone."
Through the tunnels...
Graff was right. The vastness of the tunnels can definitely make someone go crazy. Morgwen starts to think back to when she first was traveling through Everveil. She recalls the moment when her and Salo burnt down the wooden bridge... "THAT'S IT," she exclaims to herself. She leads the party into the next room and points to a pool of water, explaining that following the trail of water would lead them to the river and out of the tunnels.
They keep moving through and she notices strange writing on the dirt walls and a drawing of a skull just below the text. Morgwen feels her chest tighten... "Guys, we are in the Bandits' Lair... we need to be careful." The party continues following the trail of water and Morgwen starts to see light coming from the other side of the tunnel.
However, as they get closer... two figures begin to form at the end of the tunnel... Selene says, "Guys... looks like we're going to run into a couple of bandits."
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