Out of Light, Into the Dark

[Proto Man]

City Hall on the inside was only a slight improvement over the exterior. After a winding corridor, Dobson ushered them into what must have doubled as a meeting room for a town council or something similar to it. The walls were covered in giant, curtain-like clothes that weren’t that pretty but were probably much more attractive than the weathered, unpainted walls they concealed. Behind the bottom of the wall-length curtains, Proto Man spotted several stools and chairs, all meticulously stacked and stored. Near the far wall of the theatre-sized room, a solitary podium stood on an elevated platform. In front of the speaking stage, the robot spotted a collection of fancy yet clearly worn-out chairs.

“This is the Council Chambers, where the Town Council meets to discuss matters with the Mayor and the garrison leadership.” Dobson explained as he led the group passed the podium and through a door in the back. They were ushered up a flight of nondescript wooden stairs and down an equally unimpressive hallway. The last door on the right entered into what appeared to be a private apartment. To Proto Man’s left was a small library with a solitary desk illuminated by a low-burning oil lantern.

“Mayor Boone?” Dobson asked as he ushered the trio through a short hallway and into what appeared, for all intents and purposes, to be someone’s living room. Only a pair of wall scones offered any light in the room. “These three primes are here to have an audience with you.”

The mayor seemed a bit ill at first sight. His heavy clothes were tightly clenched around what appeared to be an otherwise gaunt figure. Even in what seemed to be his private living quarters, every part of the man’s body was covered in fabric, except for his face. It could have been the light, but Proto Man noted that the mayor’s skin seemed a little too pallid. “Why hello there and welcome to Darkshire,” the man’s voice was that of a patrician, but something about it seemed almost hollow. “It’s been a while since I’ve spoken with primes.”

“They’re here to investigate the Blight, Mayor Boone.”

Upon hearing that word, the Mayor’s yellowed eyes narrowed, and he shifted in his chair before turning his attention briefly to a map on the wall. “It’s been a while since I’ve heard that word. Are you also emissaries of the High Priestess?” That comment seemed to be directed at Mireya, who scoffed.

“No,” she barked before falling silent once again.

“I see,” the Mayor said with a smile that revealed teeth that seemed a little too white. “Then you do this of your own accord?”

“Yes,” Proto Man replied as he lifted his arm cannon, revealing the runic inscriptions around the barrel. “There is another prime in the wilds of the Pale Moors that serves as the source of the Blight. We’re here to locate and banish this prime and end the Blight.”

Mayor Boone lifted an eyebrow, revealing that this information was probably new to him. “Do you have any leads on what you’re seeking?”

The preteen android shook his head. “That’s why we’re here in Darkshire. We were hoping we might be able to find some leads as to where the Archdemon may be hiding itself.”

“We recently had some activity in the forest close to town. Necromancers trying to build an army of undead followers…does that sound like something your demon may do?” Before he got a response, the mayor stood up from his chair and walked over to the map tacked to his wall. He pointed with a gloved finger to a spot north of town. “They were destroyed in these woods. It’s probably the highest concentration of monsters within five miles of town in the last few weeks. You could investigate out there yourselves.”

“Sound like a plan?” Proto Man asked to his two companions, who offered nods and seemed more than ready to get out of the poorly illuminated apartment. “Then I suppose we’ll be off, Mayor Boone. Thank you for your time.”

“If you need anything else, young Dobson here will be more than willing to help,” the mayor added before the two could turn and leave. “I’d also recommend asking around town for anyone who may have heard about your Blight.”

“Thank you,” Proto Man said as the trio and Dobson departed the apartment.

Once they were in the hallway outside, the young military commander paused. “I must stick around for the mayor’s next audience, but if you need to get in touch with me, just go to garrison headquarters. Someone will be dispatched to find me.”

“That’s very nice of you,” Proto Man shot back as he led his two partners down the corridor. Halfway to the stairs, they had to pause to let three men squeeze around them. One of men wore the usual military garb of any Darkshire officer, but the other two seemed foreign despite their attempts to wear the town’s equipment. One of them had a bronze shield on his back and a fire in his eyes unlike any the preteen android had seen. The last, a tall man with a regal appearance and aquiline features, glanced down at Proto Man and flashed him a grin that made the machine more unsettled than anything he’d seen since leaving the Tangled Green.

Once the trio of men were gone, the two Robot Masters and their half-night elf compatriot made their way back out into the streets of Darkshire.