Year 939,
Even though the dim moonlight only allowed one to guess its shape, the black mass of the sealed wall of the Sanctuary of the Rodobrante Valley towered over the two knights like the body of a sleeping giant. Under the imposing construction, similar to the dam of an artificial lake, there was a low and long wooden building, marked by a lantern hanging on the door: it was the refuge of the sentries of the Sanctuary.
Lyndabel was busy freeing the horse from the carriage and securing it to a post, while Viryl waited with folded arms. She had wanted the equine, she had to take care of it.
Then, together, they headed for the entrance to the shelter. Lyndabel knocked, and the sentry on duty came to open it. It was a middle-aged man in military uniform. He looked at the Exoplions and the faces of the guests and remarked, “I guess they sent you for the Voltzreoth, from Headquarters.”
“Yes,” Lyndabel replied drily.
“You were quick,” the sentry continued, inviting them to enter.
“It’s a matter of the highest priority for the Order,” Lyndabel explained. Viryl looked around annoyed. That lousy shack hadn’t changed a bit since he’d first set foot in it five years ago. A little renovation wouldn’t hurt.
"Priority for the Order or not, Viryl of the White Gale usually takes it easy. At least we can be sure that the Fekoro is on his last legs," the sentry replied.
Viryl grimaced, and Lyndabel looked at them both, confused. Viryl and the man had obviously met before. But there was something else Lyndabel thought she heard in his words. She had the impression that the sentry had absolute trust in Viryl. Conversely, she felt like he was treating her like a mere chaperone. Had they really chosen her just to be a nanny for this idiot?
Ignoring Viryl’s snort, the man added, “The knight that was recruited by the Order’s provincial headquarters to hold the beast until your arrival, Velrodas of the Obscure Lightning, from Montebruma, is still here. Looks like they could have spared it this time.”
Lyndabel quickly disagreed. “No! The more the merrier. The Fekoro are not to be taken lightly.”
Viryl muttered to himself, “Sure. They might as well send a whole platoon of knights, while they were at it.”
Before the duo could start another argument, the sentry said, “I’ll escort you to your rooms and introduce you to your colleague. Or would you prefer dinner first?”
Lyndabel was quite hungry, having missed lunch, but she replied, “I’d rather freshen up first and then have dinner. We’ve been riding all afternoon.”
The sentry nodded and led them down a corridor that led to a small sitting room. “The bathrooms are through the first door on the right,” he indicated.
Lyndabel dashed toward her destination with some urgency, not wasting a second. Perhaps by ‘freshen up’ she meant ‘piss’, Viryl thought. How elegant.
On a blue leather settee at the edge of the room, off to one side, sat a novice knight reading a book. That he was a novice was obvious from the standard Exoplion he wore on his chest. He was a handsome young man, a little dark in complexion. His eyes were black and piercing, and his hair fell across his forehead in wild locks. He had a light beard on his face. His gaze rested on the bathroom door, and his lips were curled in a smile. Lyndabel's fleeting appearance had distracted him from his reading.
Viryl glared at him. He couldn’t help having some prejudices. It was clear what kind of guy he was. The classic cocky young knight who, with a badge in his pocket and an Exoplion on his chest, already felt like he was on top of the world.
The sentry followed Viryl’s gaze and met the novice knight. Taken aback, he began to say, “Oh, I didn’t notice he was here too! He’s…”
"Velrodas from Montebruma. We'll think about the introductions tomorrow," Viryl anticipated brusquely. "I'm hungry and sleepy. Give me some bread, some water, and show me my room."
Obediently, the sentry turned back toward the corridor that led to the bedrooms and pointed out to Viryl the one assigned to him. Walking slowly and with his arms folded, Viryl followed.
Velrodas, in turn, turned with a frown to the departing knight with the silver Exoplion. He had chosen to accept this mission because he hoped this would be his chance to stand out. At the provincial headquarters, during the briefing of the containment mission, they had told him that they would be sending Viryl of the White Gale to eliminate the Fekoro. A maverick, many thought. A chronic latecomer. Velrodas had planned to eliminate the Voltzreoth before the main man arrived, in order to prove that he could do the job of an accomplished beast hunter on his own.
And instead the arrogant knight of the Low Table had arrived early, accompanied by a sweet blonde. As things were going, he would have to share the glory.
*****
At seven o'clock the next morning the three knights met in the shelter's mess hall for breakfast. Viryl was the last to arrive, and Lyndabel and Velrodas sat chatting amiably over their empty, tomato-stained plates.
“You’re late,” Lyndabel scolded him immediately, seeing him enter.
“Late for what?” Viryl asked. He’d been awake for ten minutes and the little bitch was already on the warpath.
“We’re about to leave, get a move on,” Lyndabel continued. Velrodas had his eyes fixed on him, but he didn’t interfere.
"As if I gave a fuck. I can find my way back to the gorges on my own. If you're in such a hurry, go ahead," Viryl retorted without even looking at her, as he helped himself to a portion of meatballs and sauce from the cauldron hanging in the fireplace at the edge of the room.
Lyndabel snorted and stood up. “Let’s go,” she concluded.
Velrodas nodded, but before following her he introduced himself to Viryl, "I am Velrodas of the Obscure Lightning. It will be a pleasure to work with you, White Gale."
His black eyes shone with determination.
“There’s no need to be so formal. I’m only a few years older than you,” Viryl said, then added, careful not to let the plate of meatballs slip from his hands, “See you there.”
Velrodas nodded and left.
Viryl sat down at the little table where Lyndabel and Velrodas had been having breakfast, and pushed away their empty plates. Those two kids were giving him hives. Luckily, they would be around just for one day.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
After the meager dinner the night before, Viryl savored every last bite of that caloric meal of greasy ground beef and eggs, mopping up with bread a generous amount of the basil-flavored sauce. Within half an hour, after a dutiful visit to the restroom, he too was ready to leave.
The summer colors of the mountain were lush and vibrant. The deep green of the clearing where the refuge stood was a refreshing sight, after weeks spent around Corlona, where all the fields were blond, burned by the sun.
With a light heart, Viryl reached the portal to the Sanctuary, carved into a shadowy niche in the colossal enchanted earth wall that kept the Rodobrante Valley sealed off.
He pressed his chest against the door of the portal, aligning the seal on his Exoplion with the notch carved into the smooth stone slab. The device activated, momentarily canceling the magical barrier and slowly opening the heavy door.
Viryl stepped forward, entering the colorful world of the Sanctuary. A field of bizarre blue grasses, dotted with yellow and purple flowers, surrounded by rocky faces on which twisted, thorny trees clinged. A single path snaked from the stone door, disappearing immediately around an overgrown switchback.
Summoning his ethereal armor, Viryl took flight and headed north, scanning the road for his companions. He found them a couple of miles away, about halfway to their destination.
Hearing a rustling above her head, Lyndabel took a guard position, fearing the attack of a flying beast. When she saw Viryl land in front of her, the girl blurted out, “I told you not to waste your Fuligine Stone!”
An expression of great frustration surfaced on Lyndabel’s cheeks. It was so eloquent that Viryl thought she would have preferred to meet the ugly mug of a monster, rather than her partner’s.
“I wouldn’t have reached you in time if I were walking,” Viryl defended himself.
“Then you could have run!”
“I would have gotten tired that way.”
Velrodas, with a pacifying intent, tried to bring the discussion back to a more moderate tone, “The important thing is that we are all here now. We can begin to discuss the strategy to adopt for the battle.”
There was little to strategize, from Lyndabel's point of view. The hunt for the Voltzreoth was well codified and all the bestiaries she had studied agreed on how it should be carried out. A textbook Fekoro.
The short bestiary of the Academy of the Spheres of Lazul, on the page dedicated to it, read as follows: “Shy by nature, medium size, the Voltzreoth nests in caves, ravines and rocky crevices that have at least two exits and covers them with viscous silk. It is a Fekoro capable of casting electrical spells, with which it kills prey that inadvertently venture into its lair and remain trapped. It is easily put to flight by large-sized Fekoro and by any element that it perceives as a threat. Similar to other unarmored land Fekoro, it is vulnerable to poisoning with sympathionic-destabilizing molecules. The most commonly used poison is 'Emerald Slime', also easily found in the field. Its hunt requires at least two knights: one to act as bait, the other to instill poison into the caudal venous plexus while the beast is distracted, and then to finish it off by inserting a blade above its first cervical vertebra. It is good practice to consume insulating potions before starting operations”.
In practice, it was just a matter of dividing up the roles, deciding who would be the bait and who would be the hunter.
Viryl caught Lyndabel's lucubrations off guard, thinking it best to provide an original alternative, “I do have a strategy to propose to you. Traditional bestiaries suggest facing the Voltzreoth in its lair, to avoid scaring it and making it flee. But this is an outdated tactic, which does not take into account the latest technological developments. Needlessly risky, for the knights.”
Lyndabel and Velrodas looked at each other, puzzled. Viryl was trying to make an impression, his voice serious and professional. But with Lyndabel it didn’t work. She knew what kind of person he was. Professionalism was a concept completely foreign to him.
“Actually, I think an insulating potion would be enough to almost completely eliminate the risks. But all right, let's hear your proposal,” Lyndabel replied, skeptical.
“First you should tell me what your special spells are, so I can see if it can work,” Viryl retorted.
Lyndabel and Velrodas found it a reasonable request. Knowing the resources available to the team could be considered the basis of a group mission.
Then he continued, listing his own, “Beyond the spell I use in my secret technique, I have five: 'advanced telekinesis', 'rock shaping', 'water liquefaction and solidification', 'advanced hardening', 'nociceptive amplification'. My Exoplion lists 'levitation' and 'magical projectile materialization', as well as of course 'cleavage pulse',” Viryl explained.
Velrodas replied promptly: “In addition to the spell for my secret technique, I know three: 'lightning', 'void sphere' and 'mimicry'. Mine is a standard Exoplion with a bastard sword, on which are registered 'augmented leap' and 'cleavage pulse'. Of course, I can use both 'lightning' and 'void sphere' on the sword, to launch electric and dematerializing slashes.”
“Instead I know seven. I also have 'lightning', and then 'blinding flash', 'light spear', 'earth sinking', 'sonic vision', 'blades of compressed water'. The seventh spell, which I will not reveal to you, is my secret technique. On my Exoplion are recorded 'strength increase tenfold', 'negate', 'reflection', 'cleavage pulse'. My ethereal weapons are a dagger and a shield, which I can transform into a two-handed sword. Let's hear your great idea,” concluded Lyndabel.
“Well, you both know techniques that can knock down trees, and you, Lyndabel, can use ‘earth sinking’. We have something to work with,” Viryl assessed preliminarily. Then he proceeded to explain the plan, “The Voltzreoth’s lair usually has two exits. Sometimes more than two, but this one is in a gorge with an entrance and an exit, so it’s reasonable to assume it has two. The goal is this: set a trap on one side, and scare it into thinking a predator is coming from the other. That way the Voltzreoth will rush into the trap, and once it’s immobilized we can quickly neutralize it. For the trap I thought that —”
Viryl paused as Lyndabel was looking at him with an amused expression and seemed ready to burst into laughter. “Is something wrong?” Viryl asked her, puzzled.
“I think you're trying to make things more difficult than they should be, with a strategy that's both laborious and likely to fail miserably. The Voltzreoth might decide not to flee, or to flee the opposite way from where we set the trap. It might even simply manage to walk past it without falling into it. And then we'd be in a bit of a situation, chasing it around the Sanctuary,” Lyndabel observed.
“Look, I've used this tactic three times and it's worked every time. The Voltzreoth panics when it flees, and it can't fly or jump more than thirty yards. If we build a barrage of poison-coated, magically hardened, sharpened logs, it'll just have to go and impale itself on them,” Viryl argued.
“I agree with Lyndabel. There are too many unknowns and the plan is too expensive. How much poison would be needed?” Velrodas agreed with Lyndabel.
Viryl persisted in his attempt at persuasion, “Not too much, just sprinkle four or five vials in strategic places. And besides, the point is not to poison the Voltzreoth with the spikes, but to get him stranded there, away from his web. Once he's immobilized we can handle him as we wish.”
Lyndabel and Velrodas looked at him with merciless eyes. He would not convince them.
“Velrodas and I want to follow standard procedure. If we go to a vote, it's two to one. The majority wins,” Lyndabel said adamantly.
“And let's hear, how many Voltzreoth did the majority hunt?” Viryl asked, frowning.
“Experience is irrelevant. If there are guidelines, just follow them,” Lyndabel insisted.
“The guidelines also say that it takes at least two people to hunt a Voltzreoth. I say one is enough, if he knows what he's doing. There are two of you, so show me what you're capable of. In the meantime, I'll wait outside while I prepare my plan bound to failure,” Viryl concluded, resentfully.
Lyndabel dismissed that last statement as nothing more than a childish tantrum, and saw no reason to reply. The fact that Viryl had no intention of helping them did not worry her. Velrodas even hoped that he was serious, and that the spotlight would fall entirely on him.
Silence fell among the three knights, and they continued their journey along the track, which climbed the wild and bizarre valley. After an hour they reached a cleft in the rock, the infamous Malabelza Gorges.
*****
Thirty-four years later, third day of Neviticus, 3:47 AM, Meridania sewer cistern,
The beggar climbed one ramp suspended in the void after another, walking gracefully and almost blindly on the dangerous precipice. It seemed that he knew the route by heart.
Once he reached the top of the unstable construction, he fixed his eyes on the empty ones of the Rat King and laconically announced, "They have failed."
The Rat King nodded and the beggar understood that he was free to go. In an instant he vanished into the darkness.
Even if the information just received from his man did not bid well, the Rat King sensed that the matter was far from closed. The fallen knight would not return, that was true. But more out of shame for not having kept his promise than for a real impossibility.
The fallen knight was a true man, with firm principles. His smell, in this regard, was unmistakable. Not in form, but in practice that man was one of his brothers, and his brothers would never disappoint him. Perhaps days would pass, perhaps months, perhaps tortuous and unpredictable paths would be taken, but the Grand Master would die in the end.
Of this the Rat King was sure.