Book 2

I thought I’d been tense traversing the desert alone before–constantly looking over my shoulder for a stray Nagari or a Rockcrawler on the prowl. But now I anticipated goddess-sent lightning to strike me down or a carefully timed boulder to roll off the mountain and squish me flat. I anticipated some sort of death only a god like Euridice could inflict upon me.

Even though the goddess Euridice herself had magically appeared to me as a hologram in an isolated cave on my little planet and had informed me that she had decided not to kill me, I didn’t trust her word even a tiny bit. She had also said something about using me for one of her experiments. So, even if Euridice didn’t have any current plans to kill me, how was I supposed to know whether or not this “experiment” of hers would bring me any excruciating pain?

But nothing happened. At least nothing had happened yet. I didn’t know when she would strike. I didn’t know what this “experiment” of hers entailed. I had no choice but to keep going. So, I continued my trek toward Facility Number 106 with my senses at their highest.

Codex had told me I could travel to another planet where Euridice couldn’t get to me–a place that blocked those above Tier 15, including gods. I didn’t know how that worked or what sort of immense power a spell that could block gods would need, but traveling to this planet was my best and only choice at the moment. At least, I couldn’t think of anything else.

Facility Number 106, one of the many facilities Lord Solomon, the dead god with whom I shared identical DNA as one of his clones, held a sort of vessel that could take me to this planet. At least, according to Codex, and I had no reason not to trust the almost all-knowing AI somehow embedded into my brain.

“Just ahead, Master. You are so close.”

Thank the goddess, I thought to myself. I cringed as soon as those words went through my mind. I’d have to get out of the habit of thanking or praising Lady Euridice. She wasn’t my goddess anymore.

I looked toward where Codex directed me in my mind. The path ahead lit up in a soft yellow glow as it had for the last four, almost five days since I’d left Edrona and took on the desert at Codex’s bidding. Of course, even if Codex hadn’t told me to leave, there had been no other option. It was either suffering through the elements during a lengthy hike across planet X-47-14 or getting torn to shreds by the Nagari army that had invaded and destroyed Edrona.

A part of me wanted to die. Not because I hadn’t had a decent night’s sleep or enough food and water for nearly a week, but because I had difficulty deciding on anything that was worth living for.

My steps grew even heavier as exhaustion increased tenfold. I missed Drayek. Sometimes, I could find myself ignoring the pain that accompanied thoughts of Drayek and his death, but most of the time, my grief gripped my heart in an agonizing vice. But, though slowed, I didn’t allow my steps to halt. I had decided on one thing; I would live for Drayek. Not for Lord Solomon, the god I’d been cloned from, but for the man who had raised me.

Drayek had wanted, almost as much as I did, to see me thrive and progress through the Tiers. He’d wanted me to prove to myself and to any naysayers that I could be just as strong–if not stronger–than any of them.

I’d already made great strides in that goal. Even without the goddess’s ridiculous Mark, something that people didn’t actually have to receive to cultivate, I’d advanced to Tier 1 and broke through to Tier 2 within weeks. No one else in Edrona could boast that sort of time frame. Most took many months or years to advance as far as I had in such a short time.

I rolled my shoulders back and propelled myself faster toward the looming mountain Codex’s path led me to.

“Keep going,” I whispered under my breath. “Don’t give up, Rayden.”

Within just another five minutes or so, I found myself directly underneath the cool shadow of the tall mountain that stood proudly at the planet’s north side. Its peaks and valleys stretched on either side further than I could see. And, as I stood so close to the mountain’s rocky face, I could no longer see the planet’s suns high in the sky. The looming mountain blocked them entirely from view.

“You must climb now, Master.”

My tired legs wobbled precariously underneath me. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“It is not a long climb, Master. The cave isn’t very high.”

After a prolonged, exasperated sigh (I may have been trying to stall), I procured my waterskin. I took a long swig of the water I’d acquired from that little hole in the ground where Euridice had paid me that lovely visit. Satisfied, I tucked away the waterskin, then ensured my sack was securely tied over my shoulder.

“Here goes nothing,” I grumbled aloud.

My hands and feet found a good starting position on the rock, then I proceeded to scale the side of the mountain. My Tier 2 armor gave me a much-needed boost of strength, but my body still groaned at me from fatigue. Yeah, climbing a mountain after a days-long trek with little food and sleep was exactly what I needed.

As I climbed, I kept my eyes open for any streams of essence. I found only five of the iridescent-blue, thread-like lines floating over my head. I was in the middle of nowhere. Essence typically liked to hoard in places where it could flow freely through people or creatures. And I was the only living thing in the area, as far as I knew.

Still, I urged the lines to hurtle toward me and flow into the arms and legs of my armor. As the essence entered and essentially became a part of the armor, an almost imperceptible blue glow emitted from the metal encasing my limbs. With a long exhale, I pushed myself up on the mountain face a little harder and a little faster, my essence-enhanced armor now adding just a touch more strength.

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“Master, there is a Tier 2 Rockcrawler two feet to your left.”

Codex declared the fact in such a monotone, nonchalant way. But my head jerked back, and my instincts urged me to jump away from my position. I had to cling to my handholds even harder to keep myself from doing just that.

“What? Where?” I cried aloud. “I don’t see it.”

“The Rockcrawler is now right on top of you.”

My heart skipped a beat–almost like it had frozen. I held my breath and stared at the rock directly in front of my face. The rock, as all rocks typically do, remained still. But that’s where the Rockcrawler had to be–within the mountain directly in front of me. A quick look on either side, below, and above me revealed no gigantic snake out in the open.

I willed all of the stealth I could muster into my arms and legs and continued a slow procession up the mountain. I breathed shallowly and silently through my nose, urging myself to continue on but also to not climb too quickly. My fingers gripped the handholds tightly, but I was still careful to make sure I didn’t grab onto any loose stones that could fall and make noise. And I also made sure to tread lightly with my boots as I climbed.

“The Rockcrawler hasn’t moved, Master. It remains where I initially sensed it.”

I couldn’t allow myself a sigh of relief. I had to keep climbing the mountain as quietly as possible. Sure, I could take on a Tier 2 Rockcrawler. I was a Tier 2 myself, and I had fought and killed one of the giant serpents before–and that Rockcrawler had been a Tier 3. But I couldn’t do much against a big snake while hanging off the side of a mountain.

Finally, I found a ledge to roll onto and catch my breath. I laid my body down, rested my head against the cold stone, and squeezed my eyes shut against my heavy breaths. I couldn’t calm my breathing any longer. I was exhausted.

“You are so close, Master. Just a little further.”

“Codex, I know you don’t understand what it feels like to be human, but my legs are screaming at me.”

“I may not know what it’s like to be human, but I do know legs can’t scream.”

I rolled my eyes and brought myself back into a sitting position.

“How close, exactly, is this facility?”

Codex didn’t respond.

“Codex?”

“There are three Rockcrawlers in your vicinity, Master.”

I could feel the blood leaving my face. “Three?!” I yelled in my mind.

I scrambled to my feet and poised myself into a ready position. My eyes studied the various cracks and ledges along the mountain to either side of me, and then I dared a peek over the ledge I stood on.

“Where are they, Codex?” I slowly brought a hand over the spear strapped to my back and drew it out, careful not to loudly scrape the weapon’s shaft against my back sheath.

“My calculations suggest you cannot take on three Rockcrawlers alone. You must keep climbing.”

“Where are they?” I thought back to the AI, grinding my teeth in frustration.

“One is two feet to your left, another is directly below you, and–”

I couldn’t focus on Codex’s next words when, suddenly, the rock underneath my feet split open. Thinking quickly, I hurled myself to the left. I didn’t have much room to dodge the giant snake as it erupted from the ground, but I was able to narrowly miss its gaping, fang-filled mouth that snapped at my legs.

I instinctively thrust the head of my spear into the snake’s face, its head the size of my entire body. It was a big one–definitely full-grown. The rest of its body was still curled underneath the ledge, but I watched in horror as its slimy green scales slid into view one row at a time as the snake began coiling itself up and onto the ledge.

I didn’t have much time left before the reptile’s tail crushed me against the mountain. Or before it tried to lash at me again with its menacing maw and swallow me for lunch.

The only maneuvers I could accomplish in my tight corner were securing my spear into my back sheath and heaving myself back onto the rock wall in a climbing position.

The presence of the Rockcrawler had attracted a couple dozen streams of essence, so I called them to me immediately with just a thought. The essence poured into my armor as I directed, and I scaled the wall much quicker than I would have without the essence. Both my adrenaline and the essence in my magical armor almost made me forget how tired my body actually was.

The snake snapped at me, narrowly missing my heels as I leaped about another foot higher on the wall.

“Codex, now would be a good time to let me know where the other Rockcrawlers are,” I internally called as I dodged another toothy, venomous strike.

But before Codex could respond, the rock wall directly to my left cracked open, then erupted in an avalanche of stone, revealing two more large snake heads.

My knuckles turned white as I gripped my handholds even tighter than before. The mountain shook as the two additional Rockcrawlers broke through the stone and slithered toward me.

More essence, I thought quickly. The arrival of two more Rockcrawlers had attracted at least a hundred more streams of blue.

I called the essence to me and then to my armor, then immediately leaped up another foot on the mountain face just as the smaller of the two Rockcrawlers snapped at me.

“Keep going, Master. The cave is so close. Ten feet above you, there is another ledge. It leads to the facility.”

I scurried up quickly, with the help of my essence-enhanced armor. I knew I was in no position to fight three Rockcrawlers. Even at my full strength, I had a slim chance of defeating all three by myself. And I wasn’t at full strength–I’d been alone in the brutal desert for days! So, I continued my escape.

All three Rockcrawlers seemed to glide over the rock effortlessly, hence their name. Their speed continued to increase, and I could even feel the edge of one of their forked tongues impacting the heel of my boot. I urged myself onward and forced myself to not look down at the giant snakes gaining on me.

My heart continued to race faster and faster, but it wasn’t just from the fear of getting snapped into a hungry snake mouth. I also felt a sense of thrill. Fond memories of Drayek and me chasing and fighting monsters like the Rockcrawlers struck me almost as hard as my fear of three massive snakes trying to eat me did.

I could almost picture Drayek at my side, hanging onto his own handholds and urging me to keep climbing. And, somehow, that helped. Imagining Drayek’s company gave me the last burst of strength I needed to push myself higher… and higher. I could almost feel him there, lifting me up with his ghostly presence.

Soon, the tips of my fingers found a wide lip of stone, and I heaved myself up and over it, my eyes catching a flash of white fangs just centimeters from my face. My body rolled to the very edge of the ledge, but I found no opening to any sort of cave.

“Codex? Now would be a great time for the facility to open up for me!”

Giant snake heads wriggled their way over the lip of the ledge, and I could’ve sworn each of their slimy faces offered me chilling and eager smiles.

“Codex!” I hollered aloud, scrambling into a corner as the snakes made an agonizingly slow approach. They savored my fear and slithered toward me with long tongues mockingly flicking at my ankles.

A rumble sounded from behind me, then the snap of rock split above my head. The Rockcrawlers hesitated in their approach, but only for a second. However, their hesitation provided me just enough time.

I offered the massive snakes a cocky smile and a quick wink, then vanished behind the wide crack that had appeared behind me.