My eyes were fixed on the blackened head of my erstwhile captor and torturer.
“His soul-pacted familiar is still here.”
I looked up at where Leopold’s headless body slumped and upon the corpse’s shoulder sat the harpy eagle born of shadow. As I observed it, it began to melt and the air around me started to vibrate, quickly picking up pace.
“You should not stay around,” Armen advised.
“It is possessing the body,” Seramosa added.
I scrambled to my feet and quickly went over and grabbed the Music Box, as well as the voodoo doll made from my severed hand. I knew that he’d kept the Bone Whistle and other trinkets in his belt-pouch, so I quickly looted that as well, unable to take my eyes off his headless corpse that the shadowy Nirvah was melting into, as though flowing through its pores and open neck.
When I finally got the pouch detached from his belt, I went over to his severed head and picked up the Spirit Glasses that somehow still adorned it. My robe-coat was fluttering in the vibrations of the transformation that Nirvah was undergoing, so as soon as I had the glasses in hand, I sprinted out of the sunken village.
The metal frame of the glasses was discoloured slightly, but had otherwise not been damaged by my Ifrit Claw, which was fortunate.
After putting a hundred metres between myself and Leopold’s corpse, I put the glasses on and looked back at what was happening. The air was audibly making a deep pulsing thrum and a buffet of wind accompanied the sound, hitting my chest with enough force to push me slightly.
The craziest part was what my Spirit Glasses revealed however, as I saw something like a black hole which swallowed light from its surroundings. It was perhaps Nirvah’s full aura being unleashed as her bond was severed and she was able to occupy Leopold’s vacant body.
“What’s happening!?”
“The In-Between Hunters always seek an entry into the real world. You have slain the fool who bonded himself to one, and now it is free to roam as it has always desired.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. Not one bit.
“How do I stop it!?”
“I do not believe you can do it alone.”
“It’ll eat you!”
“Eat your eyes!” the Music Box suddenly yelled, as though able to hear the voices of my familiars.
I feel like I’m going mad with all these voices…
“You should seek the town nearby and find transport to Helmstatter.”
I gave it some thought, but realised that I agreed with Armen. I couldn’t be expected to handle something like Nirvah on my own, but I wouldn’t just run and leave this area to her clutches.
“I’m gonna go straight to their Adventurers’ Guild and warn them of what is coming!”
“Admirable, but I doubt they will know how to deal with it.”
“It’s the only thing I can think of,” I replied.
The thrum grew in volume and I was smacked so hard by the resultant buffet of wind that I slammed onto my back, cracking my head against the ground and making my vision blur and swim, while little shiny dots appeared in my vision.
“It has manifested,” the Ifrit commented ominously.
“You need to hold it back!”
“Fool!” she yelled at me and then vanished.
“For the record, I would also refuse such a command,” Armen added unhelpfully. “Entities like Nirvah are not meant to exist in the real world. Her powers may very well transcend the laws of magic. It is possible she can eat the souls of familiars. I do not wish to know true death and its black oblivion.”
“I thought you believed in an Afterlife?”
“The Afterlife is only accessible to those who pass on peacefully. If my soul is consumed, I will either cease to be or I will become part of my devourer. I doubt that I could ever reach the Afterlife if that were to happen.”
“What if I try to Banish her? I know her name after all!”
“There is no reassurance that Nirvah is her true name, or perhaps it is a fragment of a whole. But it might work, I cannot say.”
“I should try it then,” I said, attempting to convince myself. I had no idea why I felt the need to attempt such an obviously suicidal heroic deed, but maybe it was the sense of responsibility I felt.
Then I remembered what Rana had told Lukas and I: “Sometimes you have to focus on yourself. Playing hero will only lead to your own suffering.”
I bit my lower lip. I had to make a decision now before it was too late. Should I run and warn the town, but save myself, or should I attempt to Banish the monster and potentially save a lot of people?
I pulled open the pouch I’d looted from Leopold, as though hoping to find the answer to this dilemma within. What I found inside however, was: the Bone Whistle; a few silver and gold crowns, totalling three-gold-and-thirteen-silvers; a second Music Box identical to the one within which resided the Siren’s soul, likely a backup if the first one was destroyed; the voodoo hand I’d put in there; a strange copper puzzle orb thing; some jewellery that looked valuable; and Leopold’s Guild Card.
I blinked in surprise, then immediately pulled the Guild Card out of the pouch, hoping to find the answers within:
[https://i.imgur.com/ftdIxk5.png]
I was confused by what I read. It was as though a fragment of Leopold’s soul still remained in the Guild Card, but it was visibly fading before my eyes, while I tried to glean any information from it that I might use to counter Nirvah.
Armen looked at the Card in my hand as well, and said, “He had the same Soul-Broken status as your mentor.”
“I can’t use this for anything!”
“I concur.”
I stood around for a moment longer, then with a frustrated snarl, I ran towards the town on the horizon. The thrum in the air had died down, but when I looked towards the sunken village, I saw that the black hole aura had become something like hundreds of feeble shadowy hands grasping high into the air. It terrified me and I felt suddenly certain that I would never have been able to get close enough to Banish her.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
Her powers had been frightening enough with her just confined to the role of ‘Observer’, so given free reign, as it seemed she now had, I couldn’t even imagine the kind of devastation she could cause. If the Demon in the Galleon had been of the Calamity Type, then the quest to take down Nirvah would no doubt be the same.
I just hoped that if I passed on her name that someone else, perhaps a strong Summoner or Exorcist, could come and do what I was incapable of. Rana was right, it was folly to attempt to do what I could not. I wasn’t a hero, I knew that already, but for one brief moment I’d thought that maybe I could be.
As I ran towards the town as fast as my body could go, I vowed to myself that I’d survive long enough in this world to become so powerful that I’d never need to run from a threat like this ever again.
“So, let me get this right: A Calamity-rated shadowy monster called ‘Nirvah’ has appeared in the Swamp northeast of town... But a Siren lives in that swamp. Everyone knows that.”
“I’m telling you: the Siren is gone and now this monster is there! It might be heading for this town as we speak! You have to get people to safety before it’s too late!” I yelled at the Clerk of Silvermarsh Town’s Adventurer Guild, my face flush and my temper high.
The Clerk sighed. “I will pass this on to my supervisor, thank you for your report.”
I slammed my right hand down on the counter, leaving a charred-black indent on the wooden surface, and making even more heads turn my way. “You’re not listening to me!” I yelled at the man.
The Guild Hall was quite different than those in Arley, since it seemed more like several buildings mashed together, as people nearby were standing in line for counters that handled sending-and-receiving mail, storing items and valuables, and hiring Mercenaries. Almost everyone here were Natives, apart from two guards.
One of the guards put his chain glove on my shoulder and said, “Alright buddy, your report has been heard, now move on, you’re causing a scene.”
My face was red from embarrassment and the scene I was making, but I couldn’t stop myself as I yelled, “Everyone is going to die if you don’t do something! Why don’t you understand that!”
The guard pushed me towards the door, but I pulled free of his grasp and stormed out by myself.
“It is no easy thing to convince people that disaster is imminent. Perhaps, if you had a higher standing in the Guild, your words might have carried more weight.”
This is ridiculous! I complained, frustrated. In my world, if someone reports a crime or disaster or bomb threat or whatever, then the police listen and mobilise as fast as possible!
“That sounds very prone to abuse,” he remarked.
At least reports are taken seriously!
“You have tried your best. I recommend you find transport out of here before Nirvah makes such a thing impossible.”
Do you think she’d come here?
“I do not think it would be advisable to stay around to find out.”
While I’d made my way to the town, I’d observed that the monster and its disturbing aura of grasping black hands had remained within the sunken village on the edge of the Silvermarsh Swamp, but there was no telling if she was building up her strength nor if she would make her way to where humans lived.
My mind imagined a horrific scenario that I tried to shake, but which would not leave my mind’s eye: Nirvah, as an entity from beyond reality, struggling to come to terms with the human body she was now occupying, trying to figure out how to move its few limbs, when she was used to having thousands of grasping hands pulling her around.
I shuddered. No matter the cause for her staying put, I doubted it would last indefinitely. She was not like the Siren, who hadn’t been able to leave the water and thus was beholden to where it flowed and pooled.
I had done what I could for Silvermarsh and its people. It was quite possible that had I not messed with the Binding Litany for Lyssalynne, whatever the ‘Keening Choir’ was could’ve caused untold devastation.
After speaking to more than half-a-dozen carriages heading for the border and being denied a seat, I eventually found a Messenger who had loaded up his sturdy horse with two large bags full of letters. He at first seemed reluctant to let me sit on the back, and though I knew it would be far from a luxurious ride, I was desperate and knew that he would be quick to get to Helmstatter, although he said he had two stops along the way.
I handed the Messenger a gold crown. He had a yellow-tinged skin colour like most of the people in Silvermarsh and his eyes were emerald green. Dark-brown and tussled hair was almost contained by a fancy stainless-white hat he wore to mark him as a Mail Carrier.
He stared at the coin in his hand and then bit into the edge of it, leaving a small mark.
“A real Gold Crown,” he muttered in awe.
“I’ll let you keep it if you take me where I want to go.”
“But I have stops along the way,” he said, seeming very dutiful in his job.
“How much are they paying you for delivering all these letters?” I asked.
“Eight silver Nirrah,” he said. Harrlev, as well as other nations according to Armen, used the Nirrah, which was valued slightly lower than the Crowns used in Arley and Lacksmey, due to the coins containing a larger percentage of lesser metals. This meant that eight silver nirrah were the equivalent of six silver crowns.
I undid the straps of the bags with the letters and put them on the ground next to the horse.
“Take me to Helmstatter, then find a different job or maybe take a vacation. Don’t come back to Harrlev. Trust me.”
The Messenger stared at the coin in his hands, then at the two large bags of letters, then at me.
He nodded to himself, coming to a decision.
“Hop on the back.”
The Messenger’s horse was not only sturdy, but it was also fast. It probably wasn’t as fast as Leopold’s spider-drawn carriage, but it was still many times faster than normal transportation.
While we tore across the landscape as we headed north, I pulled out Leopold’s Guild Card, but only the top of it was visible now, showing just his Rank, Role, Age, Gender, and Name. The rest of the soul-stone card was blank, as though the soul that enabled text to appear was running out of ink.
I pulled out my own Card as well, already knowing what new entry I’d find on it.
[https://i.imgur.com/DZdPkdW.png]
I had expected to see the curse there, as I knew that was what bound me to the voodoo doll Leopold had made. I still carried the hand doll with me, but had contemplated tossing it somewhere or burying it in a hole, but I was too afraid that it would be discovered. Hopefully I could have the curse lifted, but until then I didn’t want to let the doll out of my sight.
The ‘Ifrit Claw Wielder’ was one I hadn’t expected, but it made sense that my magically-imbued hand would somehow show up on my Card, as it measured my soul. Part of me wondered if it was considered a Possessed Weapon, and, if so, would all Possessed Weapons I wielded show up on the Card?
What really surprised me though, was seeing that my Exorcist level had gone up to rank two. I immediately clicked on the entry and it unfolded to show all the skills within and their individual levels:
[https://i.imgur.com/QsCDO6o.png]
It took me a moment to realise that there were two new entries, but I had gone well past the half required to reach the next rank, as eleven of the eighteen, now twenty, entries had gone up to rank two.
I thought it would take a lot longer to advance in ability ranks.
“Adversity breeds strength.”
I wonder what ‘Drain Spirit’ and ‘Unleash’ do.
“As I understand it, the theory is that the abilities unlocked at higher Role ranks depend on the abilities that were used to reach the threshold. Those who are guided well through their training can predict the types of new abilities they gain from reaching a new rank. I believe your new skills are offensive in nature, no doubt shaped by ‘Repel’, ‘Possessed Weapon Wielder’, and ‘Contain Spirit’, as these are the few of your original abilities that could be considered offensive.”
I wish I’d known about this ahead of time.
“Leopold may have been many things, but he was correct in asserting that your mentor left a lot of gaps in your tutelage.”
I frowned.
Then something caught my eye to the right of the road we were thundering down. The sound of the hooves seemed to fade into the background as I beheld the roiling mass of shadow that slowly crawled towards Silvermarsh Town. In the front of the mass was something like a horned harpy eagle head with three large eyes that shone with a bright pale light.
I swallowed hard, while the beat of my heart filled my ears, and adrenaline flooded my system.
I did what I could for Silvermarsh, I assured myself, while desperately hoping the Messenger didn’t notice.
Then, we passed by a copse of trees and the distant monstrosity vanished from my view.
“You did your best to save them,” Armen said. I couldn’t tell if he was consoling me or trying to convince me that I’d done the right thing.
Either way, I felt an immense burden of guilt fall upon me.
I had doomed hundreds to Nirvah’s predation.
But could I really have prevented it if I’d tried?
I took a deep breath and forced myself to believe that Armen was right.
I did my best.