Crusade

[Erik Vrell]

Erik groaned as he leaned over the side of the strange golden vehicle. Why hadn't he just ridden his horse? The animal galloped a few metres behind the group, almost taunting the psychic with its freedom. Erik let out another groan as the car went over a small bump in the sand. He could ride a horse, a cart, and even a boat fine. Why did this vehicle in particular send waves of nausea over him? “Hey, you,” the ‘emperor’ called back to Erik from the front seat. “If you're going to hurl don't get any on the upholstery. That shit’s expensive, you know.” Erik gave a weak affirmative as Shay called out to the pair from the overloaded horse. “We’re almost at the city.” The Templar called. Erik thanked the old gods that the trip was almost at an end. He couldn't wait to plant his feet in the sand and get to work.

The horse and the car both came to a halt outside of Nippur, although it was barely recognisable as the bustling city it once was. Erik opened the car door and practically fell out of the vehicle, landing on his hands and knees and trying to keep himself from being sick. The psychic took a few deeps breaths before picking himself up, already feeling better now that he was on solid ground. Erik shakily walked over to the others, who were apparently talking about their respective abilities. Erik wasn't exactly in any shape to explain his powers, so decided to just cross that bridge when he needed to. The psychic grabbed his horse’s reins and motioned for the group to follow him. He started leading them through the city to the city hall. 

“Where is everyone?” Marisa wondered out loud. 

“In their homes.” Erik replied. “They're not exactly going to come out when strange people are wandering through the city.”

 The group continued to talk amongst themselves while Erik contacted Shay directly through telepathy. The Templar resisted Erik’s mental touch for a moment, before he realised who it was and let the psychic make contact. 

“Where are we going?” Shay enquired, obviously unsure of Erik’s intentions. 

“I set a room in the city hall up for planning.” Erik replied, sensing Shay’s curiosity immediately. “Victor and I attempted to meet and restore order, but he never arrived…” The Templar and the psychic shared a moment of silence as they both came to the same somber conclusion. That was another ally who had simply vanished. Reduced to mere memories.

“Have…” The Templar started, before pausing to consider his words. Erik perked up at the double take. “Have you heard anything about Agnes?” Shay thought quietly. Erik didn't answer directly, not having the heart to outright deny it, but instead passed on the notion of a negative, the telepathic equivalent of shaking his head. A wave of sadness, and loss sprang from the Templar and swept over Erik, threatening to wash him away. Erik struggled against the overpowering despair of the Templar, and it gradually subsided. There was more silence between them, before Erik, still enveloped in the remainders of the emotional wave, broke the mental silence.

“These… People. Can we trust them?” Erik asked, glancing briefly at the strange trio among the Babylonians. The question seemed to rouse Shay from his trance, and he struggled to articulate an answer for a few moment. 

“Right now, they are helping us. That's all we can be sure of.” He answered finally, obviously no more satisfied with the answer than Erik was. 

The group came to the city hall at last, concerningly unguarded and Shay opened the doors, letting the group inside. The main hall, once a beautiful testament to Gilgamesh’s efforts, was now a dusty, crumbling ruin. A single skeleton lay off to the side of the hall, laying in a dried pool of blood. It was garbed in stitched together bandit clothes, and clutched a rusted knife in its lifeless hands. It's skull was bent unnaturally, and it seemed to stare accusingly at the group. Shay’s eyes widened, but before he could say anything, Erik raised his hand. 

“Oh, that was me. Sorry.” The psychic said, his deadpan face detracting slightly from the apology. Truth be told, Erik had forgotten about the bandit he had killed before leaving Nippur and berated himself for leaving a body behind. 

“I'll dispose of this, the room at the end of the left hall has been repurposed into a meeting room, so I'll meet you in there.” 

The group turned and went down the hall, the emperor’s throne barely fitting through, while Erik commanded Jorunn to stay and approached the skeleton. It's empty eye sockets seemed to be glaring at him, letting him know that this was his fault. Erik shrugged as he lifted the body over his shoulder and carried it out the door. 

‘If you're going to come into a hall and attack somebody you should expect resistance.’ Erik thought to himself. The psychic dropped the skeleton on the sand outside and tried his best to dig a hole. 

“Here lies the bandit who tried to slit my throat.” Erik murmured dryly to himself as he dumped the bones into the ‘grave.’ “He died as he lived, half mad and dehydrated.” And with that, Erik covered the grave over once more with his telepathy. He returned to the meeting room he had set up when he tried to meet with Victor.

 “Ok.” He said, addressing the group. “Who has a plan?”

I tried to leave some space for you guys, so feel free to write in what you talked about from the vehicles to the meeting room. I wouldn't want to waste a bunch of material just because Erik is quiet.