A Sinner’s Chance

Demonweb didn't seem disturbed in the slightest as he led us down the spiral stairs. Each step we descended caused the thread that should be connected to Ashara to slightly move, indicating that she should be rather close, and as we stepped onto the landing at the bottom, the line ran horizontal to the ground, and into a wall on the other end of the room.

The ritual room itself was a strange contrast to what I had thought it was going to be. Lit by magical sconces that radiated orange yellow light not too different from firelight, though it didn't flicker. The walls seemed to be carved straight from stone, though strangely, it wasn't the dark kind of rocks I had seen elsewhere in the Forest of Darkness, but something that was almost the color of sand, though it might have just been an effect of the lighting. Each wall was also covered in detailed designs, reminiscent of the ancient historical Egyptian religious sites that had been preserved in Velen's world.

The floor was made from a similar material, though a small probe with magic indicated that it was extremely easy to manipulate magically, likely because it was supposed to be shaped multiple times for different rituals. There was already a formation carved into the floor, though it wasn't anything I recognized, and it wasn't until I turned to ask Demonweb what the formation was for that I saw the situation had suddenly taken a turn.

Both Arya and Steria were laying on the ground, unharmed as far as I could tell, but unconscious. Renae was being held by Ein, who had at some point gained an additional four arms. Renae's mouth was completely covered, while two hands gripped her throat and the final pair wrapped around her body holding her tightly to Ein.

Since not only was Renae being directly held, but Steria and Arya were nearby I didn't want to make any rash actions, so I only turned to Demonweb. "What is the meaning of this?" I growled, barely able to contain my emotion.

Demonweb however shook his head, utter confusion written on his face. "I don't know." he said somewhat panicked while shaking his head. He turned to Ein who stared back emotionlessly. "Ein, what is the meaning of this? You intend to betray me? I took you in when you had nowhere else to go. Stop whatever it is this instant."

Ein's emotionless eyes stared back at Demonweb, a slight smile on her face. "I'm not betraying you at all, you aren't my real master after all. She isn't such a weak and naïve man like you, but cold, calculating, and decisive." There was a strange fanaticism in her eyes as she talked about her real master, but it was quickly replaced by a look of disgust as she looked back at Demonweb. "She'll be here soon, I just need your wonderful daughter to stand in the center of the formation first."

I couldn't gauge what was actually happening, but I wasn't afraid for my life. Ein wouldn't have taken hostages, or gone through so much trouble if she wanted any of us dead. "What does your master want from me?" I asked.

"You obviously, well more precisely your body. You see, she has long since planned to have a worthy Vessel to use. You were supposed to be a backup should the first Vessel prove unable to house the Lord, however, due to a lucky stroke, the Lord took a liking to your body far more than the originals. If it weren't for the pathetic and idiotic man before you, the Lord would have already owned your body, but his- "

There was an extremely brief pause, before she continued, her next word stretched and laced with venom. "Love, I suppose, disrupted everything. Even when we managed to recover the original Vessel alive, she was too weak and barely had any life in her, now she's simply a punishment."

She paused for a moment, before thrusting Renae against a nearby wall, the stone morphing as it seemed to swallow her limbs and covered her mouth. Ein smiled maliciously and pointed a finger towards the far end of the ritual room, right to the wall that the blue thread had gone into.

I could practically feel my entire body tensing as the wall suddenly turned to dust and scattered to reveal a wall of almost perfectly clear ice that seemed to lower the temperature of the ritual room just by existing. There was the figure of an Arachne inside the ice, the majority of the humanoid upper part withered, looking almost like a raisin, but that didn't prevent me or Demonweb from recognizing who it was.

Ashara, the non-withered parts were preserved exactly as I remembered. Instinctively I walked forward, only to find myself suddenly stopped as if I had run into an invisible wall. I had accidently entered the center of the magic formation and it suddenly lit up and no matter how much I tried I was unable to free myself. I could only look on at my mother encased in ice, Steria and Arya unconscious on the ground, Renae stuck and imprisoned by stone, and Demonweb who had seemed to freeze as he looked at the wall of ice.

He took a few steps towards the wall, a hand reaching out towards it, tears beginning to well before his expression suddenly went black and he fell to the floor. I glanced over just in time to see Ein's arm come out of the motion of a throw. I wasn't able to see what she'd thrown, but it was probably the same thing that had knocked Steria and Arya out. I could only use the entirety of my strength against the magic keeping me imprisoned as Ein walked over. 

There was a brief moment where I felt the magical barrier crack, before it suddenly sealed and I felt the barrier strengthen, a light tsking sound coming from Ein. "I wouldn't stress the barrier too much, you wouldn't want to kill your grandmother and all the townspeople I'm sure, it is their lives fueling this barrier after all. The less you struggle, the less chance that you kill one of your sole living blood relatives, though you might have already killed her, I reckon you cost at least twenty people their lives with your previous attempt."

I could only concede to Ein and wait for her lord to appear, each second that passed only increasing my anxiety and unease at the entire situation.