“I Rok. Former member of the Firebeard Clan swear fealty to you. To my new master for saving not only my life but the life of my daughter as well. If there's anything you ever require of me do not hesitate to ask. Even if it's my life, your desire.” he said.
Bushda, not one to be one upped said, “I Bushda. Daughter of Rok the mighty. Swear fealty to you. You who brought me back from the realm of the dead. And you who returned my father to me. If you have a need for someone like me. I would be honored to serve.”
No use to the stately and certainly royal or noble oaths. I was taken aback for a moment. Before it became awkward, I told them both that I would love to have them as members of the clan I’m building and asked them what kind of skills they had. Turns out that Bushda was a bad ass swordswoman. I saw this for myself but listening to her list of all the things she could do was impressive.
Rok was just as impressive. He was an artificer and gun mage. This meant that he could make pretty much anything of standard quality and with his weapons he shot firearms that had ammunition infused with activated spells. So unlike Whispers arrows where I had to inscribe a rune and was limited to what kinds of magic, I put on them. Rok was not and could put whatever he wanted in his ammunition.
I put him to work making weapons for himself and his daughter then to the task of gearing up the rest of the domain. While he was busy doing that, I recovered my mana and tasked a few of the rogue goblins with locating any creature in the woods that stood out. Meaning it was a creature that wasn’t native to the area or one that seemed superior to the rest. I told them that I didn’t want them to draw any attention to themselves while they searched, and they were to proceed with normal activities while they did so. I had them search in a 1-mile radius around the cave entrance. It didn’t take them long, about 4 hours into their search one of the goblins reported it back to me.
“My lord, I noticed a strange animal during my search. It was a black hornless rabbit. It had bright purple stripes on its sides and three glowing rings around its tail. It burrowed a hole near the entrance giving it a clear line of sight to see who goes in and out of the cave. Does this help my lord?” the goblin asked.
Tapping my chin in thought. I recognized the description of the animal in question. Then without warning I remembered helping Emmy, one of the gods of the council create such a creature. We laughed as we pumped it full of abilities. It could create dimensional slices with its claws and fangs. Separating space wherever it attacked. It also had the ability to draw in massive amounts of energy via those halos around its tail allowing it to warp with each hop. It could also take on a humanoid form while retaining its abilities. I laughed and joked calling it a Vorpal Rabbit due to the sheer lethality of its bite and claw attacks. Emmy ended up keeping the name for some reason.
“Um. My lord. Are you ok?” the goblin asked nervously.
Snapping out of my inner thoughts, “Oh.” I said with a cough, “Sorry about that. Yes. Yes, it was. For your excellent services I’ll grant you a position among my Oni if you want it?”
I saw gratitude, joy, and excitement in his eyes.
He said, “Please my lord. There would be no greater honor than to serve as one of your avatars.”
What? Avatars. I don’t know what he meant by that but whatever. As long as he’s happy and continues to do his job. I had no complaints.
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“Well then. As the first among my rogues to be granted the honor of joining the Oni I’ll grant you the name of Shadow. Does this please you? I asked, deciding to keep up the act. It seemed a little theatrics went a long way when dealing with the defenders.
“Of course, my lord. Any name chosen by you is worth more than any number of shinnies and gold.” he said with his head bowed low.
I collected his soul right then and there and placed it within the body of an Oni. I gave this one dark gray skin and two thin horns with a sleek build. The moment he opened his eyes he got back to his knees and bowed so low his head touched the ground. Tears flowing from his eyes.
“Thank you, my lord. Thank you for giving me this opportunity.” he said with a sob.
“You’re welcome, Shadow. Now you may do with your old body what you wish. Once you have clothed yourself, I’ll have you show me where this rabbit you found is.” I said to him.
“Of course, my lord.” he said, straightening up and putting his fist to his chest in salute.
While he was busy, I decided I needed a new way out of the domain. Just in case the worst happened. So, I created a secondary entrance leading from what the defenders were now calling the royal quarters. Checking to see that it worked I went and found Whisper and meat backup with Shadow. I explained to them that I just wanted to see with my eyes where this rabbit was located. I told Whisper that it was extremely dangerous and potentially had the power to destroy the universe if left unchecked. The panic on Whisper's face was obvious, I didn’t want to bring Pan because she would definitely blow our cover and I needed people who were stealthy.
With that settled we made our way out of the secondary entrance and towards the cave's main entrance. With Shadow’s silent que I spotted the rabbit, and without a doubt it was Emmy. Goddess of Creation and member of the Council of 10. One of the people who attempted to murder me. She was definitely in the body of a Vorpal Rabbit, one of the deadliest creatures she’s ever created. Looking at her soul I noticed that its luster had dimmed to the point where it was transparent. She didn’t have access to her divine powers here. Ok good. That means we have a chance. But she definitely saw me and recognized me.
We walked back into the cave from the entrance. Surprising nearly all of the defenders. I didn’t give them time to question me over what was going on. I told them that they needed to take their battle stations just in case my plan failed.
I had Rok make Shadow some new daggers and Whisper some new arrows. While we waited for those to finish, I thought back to my time with Emmy. She always seemed to be shy but once you got her talking, she was always warm and welcoming. It struck me as odd that she, of all the council members, would stoop to murder.
I was heavily involved in the creation of the Vorpal Rabbit, so I know how to stop it. I just needed to get the jump on her. Her Divine vision was cut off so she only had her physical eyes to work with and we didn’t enhance them much nor could it see through solid objects. I sat down scratching my head trying to come up with a plan to capture her. If I screwed up, she was going to kill me for sure and with ease. What are my advantages? Ok, so she only has line of sight, she is in a tunnel further restricting her vision, and she’s probably not familiar with the terrain.
Standing up I stretched my arms and cracked my back and neck to relieve some of the tension building up within me. I sent Whisper and Shadow out the back to flank her just in case she attempted to escape and ambush me. Then I walked out of the cave making for the village, while keeping an eye on her. She seemed to notice me but wasn’t tracking me as sharply as she could for some reason.
Not looking a gift horse in the mouth, I circled around the burrow she’d created and started hardening the earth around it. Once I noticed some movement inside the hole, I collapsed it using earth magic. She quickly panicked and started tearing at the earth around her. Quickly making her way through earth as hard as metal. She was just about to break out of the trap I made for her when I finally managed to pull away enough earth to reveal her.
A black rabbit the size of a large cat or a small dog sat at the bottom of the hole. Nose twitching in fear. Before she could warp at me and take off my head, I grabbed her with telekinesis. Lifting her out of the hole so she was face to face with me.
I said to her, “Emmy. What the fuck are you doing here?” and she froze.