Chapter 205
The room was that of an old but very large and neatly kept cabin. The banner of a red hand hung down on poorly knitted fabric overhead, and various people wearing that same symbol on their clothes lined the room on armchairs, sofas, or just stood.
Hakim was in the middle of it, handcuffed and on his knees. He grunted with the impact of a fist on his face, spitting blood and a tooth out while Juile loudly sobbed behind him.
“WE DON’T HAVE THE DAMN TREASURE!” Julie screamed through tears as Hakim was hit again. “WE SPENT IT ALL!”
Caleb lay face down on the floor, gasping for breath while his lungs filled with blood from a bullet hole. Tim and his mother were pale with tears in their eyes, and Tanya was visibly shaking.
Matt, a brawny man with a thick accent none of them could truly place and a crew cut a little uneven along the edges, just shrugged and hit Hakim again; knocking him to the ground with the last punch. His large frame was adorned with studded, enchanted leather, and he had a revolver on his left while a hatchet hung at his side. “Then I guess he dies, along with the rest of you.”
“I don’t buy it for a second, boss!” One of the ruffians nearby called out while fiddling with a knife - carving chunks out of an apple and loudly chewing while people next to him sat at a table playing poker. “They had way too much money just to spend it all. We saw the records those merchants we robbed kept. This little bunch of nobodies is holding out.”
Matt nodded sagely, taking out his weathered hatchet and tossing it in the air to catch it again while muttering to himself in thought. “Yes… I agree. You live on my land, and so you pay my taxes. It’s that simple. I wonder how many will die before one breaks?”
“You already ransacked our cabin and killed our dog.” Tanya said with quivering lips, chest puffed out in an effort to look defiant. “We have nothing left. Your people saw it for themselves when they accompanied the mercenaries you hired.”
Matt tilted his head to the side, then to the other, and set a foot on Hakim’s hand to push his weight down. He leaned over, getting a grunt of pain from Hakim and flatly glaring back at Tanya and her two children. He then gestured to Caleb, who was beginning to gasp and sputter. “You’re really just going to let him die like that? He can’t talk for himself, but we’ve got potions and a healer that can fix him up before he chokes on his own blood. You sure you don’t want to redact your statement?”
“WE DON’T HAVE ANYTHING LEFT OTHER THAN THAT STATUE!” Julie screamed again, tugging at the handcuffs she’d been shackled with before being hit in the back of the head by another woman in the Red Hand’s signature leather uniform.
Julie hit the floor, spluttering and getting a cry of defeat from Hakim as the large, brave man began to break down at seeing his lover beaten.
Matt took the tiny statue of a knight from his back pocket, examining it with a frown. “It says here the item has already been activated and cannot be used by anyone but Hakim, so that makes it worthless to me. What is this even supposed to do? It doesn’t say what the damn thing’s name is and says it’ll destroy itself if Hakim dies.”
“It’s gotta be worth something boss.” The same man from earlier called out from the poker table, puffing on a pipe and watching with curiosity as the scene unfolded. “It’s definitely magical, maybe have him use it?”
“That could be dangerous.” Another of The Red Hand members argued with a frown and folded arms. “We don’t know what it does and as you said - it’s magical.”
“But what if it contains a secret compartment? Maybe it’s a spatial object?”
“Not worth the risk.”
“If it was dangerous he’d have already used it against us!”
“Probably, but we don’t know that. It was found in his cabin, not on his person.”
The two henchmen bickered with one another for quite some time, going back and forth as Matt’s eyes drooped further and further in irritation. Grunting and walking over to violently backhand Tim for glaring, he lowered his hatchet at Julie’s neck and pulled the young woman up by her hair. “Hakim, look at me.”
“LET GO OF MY DAUGHTER!” Tanya screamed, only to be savagely kicked by the same person who’d originally hit Julie.
Hakim’s face was tear-streaked and wide eyed. His gaze drifted helplessly from Julie to the man holding his lover, pleading in his features while he shook his head in a silent ‘no.’
“Want her to live?” Matt asked curiously, tossing Hakim the knight figurine haphazardly. “What does this item do? Tell me.”
There was a brief pause while Hakim considered the man’s words, staring at the figurine next to him with building hope now that it was so close. He rapidly shut down that train of thought in order not to give away his true feelings via facial expressions, and concentrated on just surviving this encounter - by lying. Matt was ruthless, cruel, and a basic thug. He was dumb, your equivalent of a highschool bully having hit his prime in this small town in the middle of the wildlands, so there was a good chance he’d take the bait.
He would tell Matt what he wanted to hear. “It’s… It’s a temporary and hidden storage device.”
“KNEW IT! IT’S A HIDDEN TYPE!” Screamed the first henchmen, and some of the men laughed or clapped while the skepticism of others grew even more. “TOLD YA BOSS, MAKE HIM ACTIVATE IT! If he’s lying, just cut off the pretty little head of his girlfriend and show him why it’s not nice to deceive us!”
Matt considered the underling, and smiled. Turning back to Hakim - he hiked a thumb back at the man sitting at the poker table. “Got to agree with Bobby there. If you just lied to us, you just sentenced every one of you to death. If you don’t activate it, you all die in that scenario too. If you activate it and something else other than items popping out of thin air happens, you all die there as well. So go on and show us if you’re telling the truth. No pressure.”
Hakim locked eyes with the others, and shut out more tears when Caleb’s final breaths left his mouth - and his friend of many months stopped breathing entirely.
Forever.
Pursing his lips, Hakim got to his knees and tried not to cry. “Give me the tiny statue, put it in my hands. I’ll activate it, and you can see for yourself that I’m no liar. A portal will open, and our treasure will be accessible.”
Matt’s smile widened. “I’m glad you’ve all decided to come around. Too bad about your friend, but maybe the rest of you will get out of this alive just yet.”
***
Riven’s footsteps echoed through the elegant meeting hall, with Athela and Azmoth walking on either side of him. Yattazi was curled around Azmoth’s body like a tight hug, and to either side - dozens of ratkin stood with bowed heads as a sign of respect to his passing.
Surprisingly enough there were even a small number of vampires already there. He stopped in front of the trio, all of them showing red eyes and pale skin as they fidgeted nervously under his gaze - though he could tell that there was a stark difference between them and him. He was a pureblood, so was Kathrine, so was Allie, and even a number of the elite soldiers sent to Panu were too. If they weren’t pureblooded, they were greater vampires with eyes that still lit up a bright red - though not as brightly as his own.
These vampires in front of him, dressed in elegant purple and black silks with hoods over neatly trimmed blonde hair, were all lesser vampires. Their eyes didn’t glow at all, and their touch of the blood pillar was… lacking. At least compared to what he’d seen from vampires of the Blood Moon Requiem.
[Lesser Vampire Assassin, Level 40]
[Lesser Vampire Scout, Level 35]
[Lesser Vampire Warlock, Level 42]
Oh? A warlock? Good choice.
He ignored them for the moment, turning his gaze back to where the Queen of Deepnest and her royal guards, all the larger, more muscular variants of ratkin were. The guards were heavily armored, covered in thick, spiked brown metal that was far different from the chitin or leathers he’d seen most of the ratkin warriors put on. They each wielded huge maces along their backs, and they looked like walking, tailed tanks given all the layers around their large forms.
They reminded him of Azmoth, but less intimidating.
The inside of the great hall was similar to the one he’d seen when meeting Rashtalia, Brood-Mother of Brood-Tarrow, the brood Snagger and his cousin Mesha belonged to. Vibrantly colored crystals adorned the walls and ceiling, and a throne was set up on a raised level to look down on where Riven was walking. Stands on either side were where the nobility and important figures of Deepnest now stood, various kinds of garments on display like a rag-tag bunch of mismatching styles, but that kind of chaos was expected of these people given the way Deepnest was set up.
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He briefly stopped again to take his helmet off, waving to the tall brood-mother Rashtalia and his two friends - Snagger and Mesha, before continuing. He made it a point to single them out in a good way, and continued forward - letting Jackal take its canine form when he was twenty yards away from the throne.
On that very large stone throne was a mouse-like figure adorned in finely made blue cloth, a figure that was far fatter than any creature he’d yet seen; aside from the ambushing cyclops he’d once killed shortly after trying to take the elves back to Greenstalk all that time ago. The queen was rotund, almost a sphere with rolls, and he was surprised she could even move her black-furred head.
But it did manage to swivel his way when he got up closer.
“Bat-kin Riven-friend! King-ruler of Thane Necropolis!” The queen exclaimed, waving a stumpy nub of a hand out from the rolls of fat overlying most of her arm. “I am excited-pleased that you come-visit us in our time of need-strife!”
Riven tried not to stare at the huge creature’s body. There was nothing wrong with some extra weight, but by god this thing was on another level. “Hello Queen Bez. I’ve heard about you from Rashtalia, but it’s nice to finally make your acquaintance.”
“Yes-Yesh!!! Do you enjoy-like the grand-great city-nest of this humble one’s making?”
“Certainly, your majesty. It is truly an interesting place to behold.” He gestured to his three minions, introducing them one by one. “This is Athela, the woman I love. This is Azmoth, one of my best of friends. And this is Yattazi, a newly contracted demonic familiar. I hope you can show them the same courtesy you’ve showed me, and we all look forward to helping your people in the battle to come.”
The huge black-furred ratkin smiled wide. “Is it true-agreed that you-you seek to fight in battle-war yourself? That you will-can fight the dwarf-dwellers in their burrow-holes and bring us-we a victory-win to end this war?”
The nobles of Deepnest were utterly quiet when she uttered the question, and he gave a single nod - getting an uproar of approval with shouts, cheers, and excited ratkin screams. It was quite unexpected when they started chanting his name, and even more unexpectedly were the huge barrels of wine and mead that were rolled out of a side tunnel. His eyebrows lifted when corks were bust open, and flowing streams of alcohol started rampaging down the steps to the chants of ‘Riven-Thane! Batkin-Friend! Riven-Thane! Batkin-Friend!’
He hadn’t even been in the greeting hall three minutes before insanity broke loose, and servants started flinging pastries, cooked meats and deserts across the room from hidden alcoves.
The queen sat up with much effort, ignoring the shocked expression on his pale face, and raised a pudgy hand. “WE CELEBRATE THE DEATH-KILLS OF THE SHORT-STRONG BEARDED ONES!!!”
“RRRRAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!” The host of Ratkin screamed their approval, doing weird jigs and dances in the sloshing alcohol while picking up various foods or outright taking them from the servants who continued to fling food across the room.
“RIVEN-THANE! BATKIN-FRIEND! RIVEN-THANE! BATKIN-FRIEND!”
“DEATH-KILLS TO THE BEARDED WAR-BATTLE BRINGERS!”
“RRRRAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!”
Riven’s wide crimson eyes stared about him, an incredulous smirk playing at his lips while he used a single finger to wipe off a pastry that’d landed on his chestplate. He tasted the icing, glancing at a dancing ratkin in orange linens who was obviously already drunk and had probably pre-gamed this event, and thought it tasted rather good.
Food flew threw the air.
His gluttonous chestplate was already licking up food and using tendrils of sin energy to slurp at the alcohol, and looking at Azmoth who was now wearing a cake on his face, his grin turned into outright laughter.
Athela held up a finger, and stared down at the flowing river of alcohol that continued to pour out of numerous barrels near the throne. “Definitely not what I expected, but not unwanted. I dare say these guys throw a better welcoming party than anyone else I’ve ever met.”
“RIVEN-THANE! BATKIN-FRIEND! RIVEN-THANE! BATKIN-FRIEND!”
“RRRAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!”
Azmoth shared a look with Yattazi after wiping the cake off, shrugged, and started grabbing at the pieces of cooked meat that were being flung across the room. “I like. Get more.”
“Agreed!” Yattazi nodded, going ham at the food nearby with Azmoth while Riven and Athela were left to stand alone.
Looking to his left and seeing Athela standing there, ankle deep in wine and licking icing off her arm, his eyes softened. She was giggling and laughing, pushing small drunken ratkin away and then exclaiming to Azmoth that he’d better save some of the ‘orange stuff’ for her. She quickly got into the spirit of things and joined in on a wrestling match when the queen threw a particularly large cooked lizard into the crowd. She went in on it more for the sake of the fun rather than actually wanting to eat it, and started squabbling with the locals over what parts she could tear off before her perfect, laughing features turned that bright smile his way.
She saw him staring at her, just staring with kind eyes, and her laughing smile fell slightly. Realization overcame her then, and she let go of the lizard - evading a couple drunkards and dodging a cake Azmoth had flung at her. Slowly coming up to stand in front of Riven, her eyes fell to the floor only momentarily - before she firmed her jaw and looked back up at him while wrapping her hands around his waist.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Athela said, ignoring the splashes of the insanity around them.
He put a hand up to her cheek, gently touching her pitch black skin intermixed with patches of white. “I’m just really glad I met you. Sometimes I take you for granted, you know. Athela… we should get away sometime. Spend some time together with just the two of us, maybe take a trip into the mountains before the Chalgathi trials start up again.”
She blinked, tears coming to her eyes and biting her lip before eagerly nodding. “Could we have a picnic?”
He slowly nodded, pulling her in and kissing her softly before letting go seconds later. Their red eyes met again, and he swat away another morsel of flying food amidst the chanting of his name with a shred of his aura. “I would love to go on a picnic with you. Let’s make it our first official date. It’s been a long time coming, and I’m head over heels just thinking about it.”
[Hakim Bluebush has activated a two-time use system artifact: Heroic Intervention. 2 of 2 charges has been used. Heroic Intervention has selected the 5 most powerful people Hakim has interacted with since acquiring this artifact, and you - Riven Thane - are one of them. Hakim Bluebush is currently in need of your help, and has placed a live stream feature in the orb before you that will connect momentarily. You will be able to speak to him briefly as he explains his current situation before deciding on whether or not to aid him. You can choose to go, or you can choose to refuse his request. All or none of the selected participants may go or stay without penalty. If you choose to aid him and risk yourself at his behest, you will be teleported to his location until his plight is over. Then you will be teleported back to your current location after a short rest period. Please hold for connection.]
Riven’s shoulders immediately sagged, and he pulled Athela into a tight hug after recognizing the notification. “I supposed it’s time to tell Queen Bez that we’ll be back within the day. It appears we have another job on our hands.”
“Your majesty!” an unfamiliar voice shouted out to him over the hubub, and Riven turned to see it was one of the three blonde vampires - who was doing his best not to act disgusted by all that was going on about him. The man was obviously trying to look presentable, but that was hard to do with yellow jelly smeared all across the front of his clothes. “Would it be alright if I took but a moment of your time!? I am but a mere-”
Riven held up a hand while Athela bounded across the room to the ratkin queen, and he shook his head while a flashing bauble of light began to form nearby. “Not now. I know why you’re here, but the specifics come later. It appears I am being summoned, and not to be rude, but this is a call that I cannot miss.”
***
Hakim’s heart beat like a drum while his gaze stared daggers at Matt, who was holding the blade of his hatched up against Julie’s throat. Blood leaked from a wound atop her head where she’d been struck earlier, and the gang lining the large cabin were in large part focused on the five flashing orbs that began to condense above Hakim in the air.
“So it is true! This is where the treasure lies!” Matt crowed with a wide smile, but he kept his hold on Julie regardless. “I cannot wait to see just what it was your friend died for!”
The tiny figurine of the artifact - Heroic Intervention - began to fizzle away and turned to dust, while images in the five orbs quickly began to take shape - displaying the faces of men and women he recognized. Each one represented one of the five people that the system deemed as the most powerful characters Hakim had encountered in Elysium’s multiverse thus far - and one in particular above all others that Hakim had hoped would be there.
Hakim’s heart lifted with hope growing while shouts of confusion echoed through the cabin as members of The Red Hand adjusted to this new occurrence. His lips parted, and tears began streaming down his face again. “Riven… Please!”
A portal of multicolored light formed only a half-second later, one that was far larger than the similarly constructed bauble, and out stepped a man clad in ivory plate armor with red blood-silk armor underlying the cracks and crevices his ivory did not cover. A large gluttonous maw rippled along the center vertically, horned skull pauldrons adorned his shoulders, and an aura of supreme powered followed him as he set foot onto the cabin floor. A long, black spear-staff with a curved blade and flowing with rivers of living blood lifted up - then the butt of the weapon came down and gently settled against the wood beneath.
*BOOM*
A shockwave of aura lit the room red. Blood frost rapidly accumulated along the surfaces of the furniture, ceiling, walls and floor - even freezing some of the clothes people wore as they screamed and backpedaled in shock.
Bright crimson eyes glared daggers through the slits in the full metal plate helm, and out of the portal came three more figures. One was Athela - her long, slender legs dripping wine and arachnid blades spearing out of her back with a malevolent sneer as she caught Julie’s predicament. Another was Azmoth, who was carrying four enormous slabs of boar meat in each of his hands - beginning to pulse with flame. Last was a three-foot snake, though given its own aura and the pulsing, crackling chaos energy around it - it was in no uncertain terms able to kill many if not everyone present.
All of them were partially covered in cake and pastry.
Matt stood there, holding the blade up to Julie’s throat with a slack jaw. In front of him were four identification messages, the same ones that’d appeared in front of many of the others in his gang. Some only showed question marks, but the ones who did manage to identify him displayed very familiar markings if one were to keep up with the world forums. Bright red flames engulfed the status notifications concerning Riven and Athela, while gold flames encompassed the words comprising that of Azmoth and Yattazi.
[Riven Thane, Level 130 Warlock Devastator, Harbinger of Gluttony, Pureblooded Vampire, Lost Prince of the Blood Moon Requiem. LEGENDARY. PANU WORLD BOSS.]
[Athela, Level 127 Archdemon: Unique, 3 forms. Cute Wittle Blood Weaver / Gluttonous Arshakai / Gluttonous Fae Drider. LEGENDARY. PANU WORLD BOSS.]
[Azmoth. Level 95 Infernal Crusader Initiate, Hellscape Brutalisk. ELITE.]
[Yattazi. Level 130 Devouring Serpent, Demonic Basilisk. ELITE.]
“Well, well, well… What do we have here.” Riven asked softly, his voice traveling across the room and infused with power that shook the people there to their very bones. The figures in the four other orbs that Hakim’s relic had conjured were all gawking too - all of them except one blonde woman who’d already briefly met Riven the last time that item had been used.
Riven’s gaze turned to Hakim, then Tim, Tanya, Julie, and finally Caleb - dead at their feet. He tisked in irritation, before bringing his glowing crimson eyes back up to stare at Matt. “You dun fucked up my guy. You really, really did.”