Duke appeared on his throne, suddenly discovering that he was not alone. There was a smaller version of his throne in front of him and to his right. This small throne was occupied. Duke couldn’t be sure who was sitting in the chair, but the long line of petitioners gave him a hint. He said nothing and just observed for now as a petitioner came forward. Duke settled in to listen and observe.
The weathered man bowed deeply and spoke with a quiet confidence, “Your Majesty-”
The figure in the small throne interrupted him, “I’m only a Duke. Your Grace is the proper honorific but we do not need to stand on ceremony or form here. What is your grievance, your request, good sir?”
The man hesitated before speaking, “But the King is here.” He glanced up at Duke and bent into a bow. It was a surprisingly formal bow and not what Duke would have expected. Where would a man like this learn such formality? Damn, I almost called him a peasant in my mind. Not starting this off on the right foot at all.
Two things happened in rapid succession. Duke Madrigal spun around, standing from the little throne stepping to the center and while Duke spoke to the petitioner, “Hello there, my good man. What is your name and what brings you before me on this day?” There, that sounds downright kingly, at least, I think so. Feels like so long since I’ve done anything like this. Oh shit, he’s talking. Guess I’m still not cut out for this.
Madrigal interrupted, “When? What? How long have you been here, Your Majesty? Are you well? So much has happened in your absence. We need to discuss it all.”
Duke nodded to Madrigal and gave him a “hold a minute” gesture with his hand. His focus returned to the man and he gestured that the man continue. The man spoke, “I am Roger Shrubber, and my family maintains a farm several days north from this city. A bit more than a week ago one of the terrifying sailing ships that race through the sky landed on our lands. They have been stealing our cows ever since. They have strange magic to defend themselves with and we are just simple farmers. They killed Arkus when he tried to stop them – just killed him dead without even moving from where they stood. We have no way to deal with this. Will you aid us?”
Duke hopped off his throne and pulled his map out of INVENTORY. He spread it out on the floor next to the farmer, “Show me where your farm is on the map.” He took a quick look around the room and activated a CLEANSE and RESTORE across the whole crowd to delighted remarks and murmurs. He returned his attention to Roger as Madrigal joined him, kneeling to look at the map.
The farmer looked back and forth from the map to Duke a few times before Duke realized the man had no idea how to read a map. He then proceeded to point landmarks out on the map and, after a few minutes, the farmer was able to show him where his farm was located. Duke folded the map back up and put it back in his INVENTORY. Madrigal didn’t say anything but Duke could read the significant strain and worry projecting from his features.
“Madrigal, you have the rest of these petitioners? Good. We’ll talk when I get back. I have to go remind these uninvited guests that they are not welcome.” Without waiting for a response, Duke TELEPORTED himself and Roger to the farm. He held Roger’s arm to steady the man after what Duke expected was the man’s first teleport. The farmer nearly lost his footing and was essentially dangling from Duke’s grasp before he got his feet under himself and shook his head clear.
“Are we in the right place?”
After a few more seconds spent reorienting himself, Roger pointed towards a hill that he indicated was the area where the ship had landed. Duke smiled, “Thank you Roger. I’ll take it from here. It is unlikely that I can get your cows back, but I am sure I can make them regret coming here. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. I’ll find some way to compensate the farm for its losses.”
Duke didn’t wait for a response before jogging over the hill Roger had indicated. On the way, he used his LASTING DISGUISE Ability to make himself look like a farmer. When he crested the hill, he was greeted by the sight of a horizontally triangular metallic ship sitting in the flat beyond, resting on its three, three-legged landing supports. The points of the triangle were rounded and the ship bulged as it approached the center of each side while still keeping a smooth, straight line. He shrugged and casually walked up to the ship. There was one door open and a ramp led down to the ground.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
As he approached, a three-headed creature stepped out of the door. It was not tall, likely only coming up to Duke’s waist and none of its three legs seemed to have any joints. It was completely hairless and moved by pivoting on one stubby leg and swinging the other two around. Each head sat upon a neck that was longer than a human’s and sat above each leg. It turned one of its heads towards Duke, blinking its trio of eyes on that head in succession. When it spoke, all three mouths were involved, creating an odd harmony that Duke’s XENOGLOSSIA translated oddly.
“Do not approach, native backwards biped. You will be killed harmed mutilated.” The other door that Duke could see began to open and lower a ramp. From the sound Duke could hear from the backside of the craft, a third door was opening as well.
Duke did not appreciate the greeting so gave a response of his own, “You were neither invited nor wanted here. Leave now and never return or face the consequences.” Duke knew the words he intended to say but they came out in a series of triple-word phrases. Oh, even their language is fucking annoying. Fuck these guys.
Before he could take further action himself, the creature acted. Duke was assaulted by three attacks simultaneously – one from each head. All were directed at his own head and were beams of some sort of magical energy. The first was a mental attack attempting to invade his mind and do…something. Duke did not know what as his mental defenses were far too strong to allow it to even come close to touching his mind. The second was a beam of what Duke could only describe as despair. It attempted to push his emotional state into despondency and inaction. This one failed similarly to the first, slamming into the same immutable defense. The third beam was a beam of force which seemed to be trying to physically punch through Duke’s head like a drill. This one, he felt trying to burrow through his ARMOR SKIN and, if given enough time, it might have penetrated. Duke, however, wasn’t going to just stand there and take it.
While focusing on its attacks, the creature remained standing still. This made Duke’s aiming and attack simple and the creature was engulfed in SOULFIRE. The creature’s attacks immediately cut off as it began to write in pain and scream in horrific harmony. After three full seconds of burning in SOULFIRE, the creature died, collapsing and sliding off the ramp. While it writhed, Duke finally had a moment to activate IDENTIFY.
*** You have encountered a Tier Three Triskelion. This creature is a prime example of the rule of three that permeates the Cosmos. Triskelions will always be encountered in multiples of three as they will never choose to operate on their own. Beware of their trinary attacks. ***
Duke smiled. Yeah, trinary attacks. I can see how those attacks could be nasty for someone not ready for them. But mental attacks? Yeah, not something I worry too much about at this point. The drilling beam was interesting though. It didn’t get through my ARMOR SKIN but it seemed wickedly accurate.
Duke’s thoughts were interrupted as more and more of the triskelions came pouring out of the ship with their oddly spinning gait. Duke’s brain quickly counted all 28 of them. Interesting. Three cubed counting the one I already killed. Now that’s sticking to a theme for sure. Wonder if they will want to talk? Probably not. Better prepare yourself.
The 26 creatures had arrayed themselves into triads and all turned each of their three heads towards Duke. When each and every eye on each and every head started to glow, he acted. Summoning his SOULFIRE, he blanketed the area. He covered all the triskelions, the ship, and a fair area around them all. But he was not fast enough. From each eye of each head came a separate beam, all aimed precisely at a pinpoint on his forehead. Oh fuck!
Several things happened at once. Duke’s mind was blasted with 78 separate mind attacks and as many emotional assaults. His mental defenses were strong enough to handle these and his mind shrugged them off as his SOULFIRE spread. He was also struck with 78 of the drilling beam attacks. The first thirty or so were handled by his ARMOR SKIN and were stopped. The rest managed to penetrate and combined to punch through his forehead, blasting through his brain, and finally out through the back of his skull. There was a moment of pain as the attacks penetrated his skin and shattered his skull but then there was nothing.
For Duke, the world ceased. He did not fall into darkness like when he passed out or was knocked unconscious. Everything just ceased. There was nothing. No system messages, no sense of darkness that he couldn’t see through. No sense of consciousness or being asleep. There just wasn’t.