Just when Lar Tathvaal thought he was working out a solution, Redmane went and made things easier for him.
Evidently he had just come into armed conflict with another Faction, the creatively named ‘Defenders of Volos.’
The notification made him drop what he was doing and return to his desk, to call up the atlas of Volos and see what was going on. There, near the center of the continent at a place called Mount Merkuur, were a cluster of icons representing Imbued. Three live ones and three dead ones. One of the dead ones happened to have been a Faction officer, one Danan Bogdan, and the other two survivors had just changed Factions.
The name of the surviving Faction put a smile on Lar Tathvaal’s face.
House Redmane.
As for the ‘Defenders of Volos,’ it appeared the Faction leader had received notification of the demise of his comrades, because he and two more remaining members were moving straight for their home base, Beroh Keep, at speed. There was another Imbued present at the Keep already. A low level Magister by the name of Helmold Brecht.
Lar chuckled and shook his head.
He immediately understood what had happened, without having to investigate. Helmold Brecht was a little weasel. Redmane must have discovered his treachery, either that or Helmold fled before that inevitable eventuality. Whatever the cause, the result would be the same.
Redmane and the leader of this ‘Defenders of Volos’ Faction were about to go head to head.
He checked the man’s System tag.
—
Krum of Asgoph
Class: Warrior
Archetype: Berserker
Faction: Defenders of Volos
Level: 157
—
If Redmane were to defeat this man and claim his Faction’s territory, he’d gain…
Lar squinted and counted the sections of the map belonging to Defenders of Volos — five Zones. And it looked like Redmane had a Coterie of his own, clearing Zones for him to the west of the newly dubbed Castle Redmane. That group had claimed three Zones, and were well on their way to a fourth. Redmane himself had claimed four Zones, on top of the three he blitzed at the beginning of the Blight, a mind-boggling number for a single Imbued.
And each and every zone under House Redmane’s control had off the charts Gnosis generation. The numbers did nothing but climb. Whatever he was doing to the land was breathtakingly productive.
Should Redmane prevail here, regulations permitted him to dispatch a Quaestor to act as liaison to the office of the Governess.
But Quaestors reported to him before anyone else.
He would have a wide open line of communication with Redmane himself.
With a mischievous glint in his eye, Lar Tathvaal cleared his schedule, poured himself a generous glass of wine, and settled in to see what chaos awaited them and how it might profit him.
----------------------------------------
At Ser Velibor and Ser Grimgarl’s request, they gave Ser Bogdan and Ser Kuggi a proper burial next to the tomb of Vos.
But there would be no grave for Ser Aerin Morholt. He’d gone to a different hereafter.
Redmane would have offered healing to the knights, but he had scant Gnosis remaining. It was time to return to Flora.
Part of him wanted to skip all that, take wing right now and fly for Beroh Keep. Helmold’s betrayal should be met with fitting consequences, and it would be just lovely to see little Aric again. But first, he ought to ensure his new recruits didn’t die from blood loss.
“Wait here and rest for now,” said Redmane. “I’ll return presently.”
Ser Grimgarl and Ser Velibor exchanged quizzical looks. Velibor looked up at Redmane and asked, “Where are you going?”
“To get you two some assistance,” said Redmane.
And with that said, he walked to the dark building adjacent to the tomb of Vos, where the Abyssal Well lay.
He sank into the unnatural darkness of the waters, and traversed the Abyss toward the other well he’d discovered. The Deepwell Monastery, beneath the town of Rollo’s Pass. When he arose from there, he took flight to the Priory of the Well and then out into the town proper.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Looking for a Flora. And he didn’t have to look far to find one.
No sooner did he walk out of the Priory and onto the street, noticing Gnosis-rich plant life sprouting up from everywhere there was even a small patch of exposed dirt, did a Flora look up from a small garden she’d been tending in what used to be someone’s front yard.
“My lord!” she called out, waving.
Redmane came over to her. “I’m in need of Gnosis,” he said. “And healing, for a pair of mortals.”
Flora smiled up at him. "Both those things art well within mine capacity."
He nodded, picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder.
She laughed. "Thou hast need of me right now then, I suspect?" she asked, as he carried her back into the Priory.
“Aye,” he said.
And they descended all the way back down to the Abyssal Well, across the Abyss itself, and back to the Well at the tomb of Vos. It would have taken days to make this trek by normal means. With the Wells, it took barely a quarter hour to travel there and back. Redmane supposed that if there were other Abyssal Wells in this land, they too would be found in hidden places such as this one. Otherwise they’d be quite popular.
He set Flora down and as she wandered outside, her eyes grew wide at the natural splendor of Vos’s burial grounds. Redmane walked out behind her, letting her take in the scenery.
“How remarkable…”
“Our son rested here,” said Redmane.
Flora’s eyes grew wide. “We had a son?”
Redmane nodded. “We did indeed. I ate him, so I can introduce you later if you’d like.”
Flora smiled again. “Splendid.”
He led her over to Ser Velibor and Ser Grimgarl, who sat right where he had left them. Velibor looked as though he were barely holding onto consciousness, whereas Grimgarl had given up trying. He sat with his back against a rock, his face skyward, eyes closed, his breathing ragged and shallow.
“Oh my. What happened to these men, my lord?” Flora asked, as they approached.
“I happened to them,” said Redmane. “But they yielded. Now they need a healer’s hand.”
Ser Velibor looked up at the sound of the two of them drawing near and talking. He blinked, and his eyes widened a bit at the sight of Flora. “Who is this?”
Flora took the hem of her peasant dress and curtsied. "My name is Flora, and I’ve come hither to aid thee and thy comrade. 'Tis a pleasure to make thine acquaintance."
Ser Velibor smiled up at her the way a little boy would smile at his mother. “Oh. Thank you. You are most kind.”
She looked around for a suitable spot, chose one, and walked over to it. Then she crouched down and closed her eyes, held out her palm to the soil beneath and both her hand and the earth began to glow in unison. Flora only had to do this for a moment or two, before plant life came sprouting up out of the ground in answer to her call. In this case it was a bush bearing the bright blue fruit they called Magister’s Delight. And this bush seemed especially large and fruitful.
Flora’s eyebrows rose when she stepped back from it. “The earth is most wholesome here, my lord!”
Redmane nodded his concurrence, already walking up to the bush to pluck Magister’s Delight by the handful and begin stuffing it in his mouth. He closed his eyes in enjoyment at the feel of it dissolving in his mouth, nourishing his spirit and sharpening his mind. It was juicy, in a way. Juicy was the closest word he could use to describe it, since the fruit didn’t actually digest like food. Instead it dispersed into a stream of Gnosis as it traveled down his gullet.
Gnosis: 289
Gnosis: 556
Gnosis: 738
Flora smiled as she watched him gorge himself on her fruit, looking a little amused. As if pleased her recipe satisfied him. While Redmane occupied himself with eating, she quietly knelt and spawned another Magister’s Delight bush next to it, to be certain he’d have enough.
Then she turned to Velibor and Grimgarl, and said, “Eat the fruit of this tree, and it shall aid the recovery of thy mortal frame.”
She gestured, and a slender tree sprang up out of the ground between the two knights. This one was dark of trunk and limb, and bore clusters of small green fruits as luminous as the Magister’s Delight.
Velibor stared up at the tree with an awed expression. He elbowed Grimgarl, who winced and groaned.
“Those ribs are broken, arsehole,” he said.
Velibor did it again. “Look!”
Grimgarl opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was Flora, whose beauty stunned him. He simply stared until Velibor reached up to pluck two fruits from a low-hanging limb and smack one into the palm of Grimgarl’s hand.
“Eat,” said Velibor.
Grimgarl blinked, stared down at the bright fruit, shrugged and bit into it.
The two knights sat there and ate, and after naught but two bites of the fruit, they appeared to feel better. First, their complexion improved, as if they had just received an infusion of blood. Then the light in their eyes seemed to brighten. Then the pain went away, and their fading injuries no longer restrained their movements.
“Miraculous,” Ser Velibor stared down at the half eaten fruit in his hand.
“Are you a spirit, or a god or something?” Ser Grimgarl asked her.
“Perhaps!” said Flora. “In truth, I remember not. I am simply happy to be of assistance to thee.”
Grimgarl smiled, completely charmed.
Redmane came up to them, chewing on a mouthful of Magister’s Delight, and the way Flora looked at him made the smile dissolve from Grimgarl’s face. He looked down at the fruit in his hand and continued eating it, trying not to feel like the woman of his dreams hadn’t sprung into existence a moment ago, only to be just as swiftly claimed.
“My lord, art thou satisfied?” she asked Redmane.
Redmane nodded and mumbled something that was probably, ‘I am, thank you,’ but the mouthful of Magister’s Delight made it incomprehensible.
Gnosis: 1637
He sat with the men and ate with them, and Flora joined them, taking a seat on the grass by Redmane’s side. In a short while the knights had completely recovered their strength, their bodies whole and hearty, even though their armor and clothing remained damaged and caked with drying blood.
“I go now to retrieve a traitor and his ward,” said Redmane. “Your help would be welcome. Knowledge of Beroh Keep in particular would be most useful.”
Velibor and Grimgarl exchanged a worried look.
“I suppose he’ll call us turncoats,” Ser Grimgarl said.
Ser Velibor cleared his throat, a nervous gesture, “We can probably explain. Circumstances being what they are. He’ll be out fighting monsters anyway, more likely than not.”
Redmane raised an eyebrow.
“Of whom do you speak,” he said.
A chuckle escaped Grimgarl’s lips. “Krum. I think you’ll like him.”
“He’s very large,” said Velibor.
“Aye,” said Grimgarl. “Large, quick to anger, quick to laughter. He and Aeric didn’t get on well.”
“He’ll want to fight you,” said Velibor.
“I’m always game for a fight,” said Redmane.
Grimgarl smirked. “Funny coincidence, so is he!”