Chapter 129 A Bright New Horrible Day.
A new day is a new opportunity.
Choices and ideas you did not hold yesterday.
Potential limited only by what your mind can figure.
You can change the world or yourself for the better.
Yet, potential is there for your ill and suffering as well.
Tiyadi, the Silver Lord of Time.
The tentacle blocks my vision and pulls my head toward the abyssal creature, dragging me forcefully on the ground. I fight with everything I can, pushing the ground to get away, digging my nails into the creature's wet flesh.
I'm like a bug in a spider's web, and my struggles amount to nothing. I cast a few more spells and they all get sucked into the creature as another tentacle wraps itself around my legs, pulling me in opposite directions, stretching my body in the air.
The pain is overwhelming, my spine feels like it’s going to pop at the base of my skull, and my heart is about to break my ribs. “Kolag! Please! I know you’re in there! Kolag!”
“̴͈̩͑͆̽̉̽̎̉͝N̸̡̺̫̥̄̃́̀̈̈̅̈́͠͠o̵̧̞̖̜̩̰͌̽̋͆̂̔̀̓̐̎̍́́́̚ͅo̴̧̲̰͓̙̝̞̖͂̀̔̾̊̆ọ̸̤͚̈̍͊̕ǫ̴̫̠̺̩̭̗̹̦͕͚͔̯̜͔̌̎ȏ̴̹̍̈́̉̅̑̅͛̍͘̚s̵͍̘̭̙̠̳̰̗̮̟̎t̴͎̋̆͆̓̈́̈̆̇̂̅͝͝…̸̧̨̛͍̬̰͎͓̱̱͖̪̳̹̩̄̉̉̀̋͌͘ ̷̛̘̣̻͙͋̓̿̅͆̓̐̓̌̀̍n̸̛̪̭̰̯̲͚̖̙̻̰͈͉͙̒̉̀̓̈́̉̓̇͜͠ô̵̦̮͚͍̼̪̓͗͠ò̸͔͓̹̠͂́̕ơ̵̰̮̼͍̣͕̙̲̍̿̏̆̂͆͒̆̏̆̐̕͝ȍ̷̧̹͉̆́̆̐̇̅͑̎̈̎̋̑͝͠š̴͖̦̪̜̬̠͕̩̩̲̎̔͛́̿̈́̋͜͜t̷̥͊̈́͌̿͌͠…̷̭̘̬͚̘̯͚̗̗̭͓̬̤͒̔ͅ NO!”
The tentacles retracts into the elongated head, which turns back into a human. I hit the ground with a dull thud that knocks the air out of my lungs, while Kolag falls to his knees with a metallic clank.
I get up to my feet, gasping, using this rare opportunity to look at the details of his face. I've only seen his face twice. Once at the tower, before I knew him. And the second time was a very brief look I had before Jerro covered his face when we won over Red Cedar City.
Now I have the time to admire the face of the man I love, and I do not like what I see. His gaunt face and shrunken cheeks look like he hadn't ate a single thing in days. His unkept hair is messy and could really use a wash. There are random patches of shaved spots on his head, chin, and jaw, as if someone took a razor and removed hair randomly without any sense of proper looks.
But behind all of that, a bright smile reaches his gray fatigued eyes. “I managed to drive him away!” he declares happily. “I can do this!”
“Yes, you can! See?” I reply excitedly.
I etch the memory of his face into my mind, blinking and focusing to make sure I won't ever forget how he looks like. I then hold his jaws and kiss him before he can say anything further. I don't care how he looks, that can all be fixed. I want him. I need him. Nothing matters right now, only the fact that he doesn’t wear his helmet and I can see and touch his face.
It doesn’t matter that he tried to kill me over religious ideals not too long ago. What matters is that he went against everything he believes in just for me. He even managed to stop his demon, for me. Gods and demons can’t stop us! Nothing can!
After a surprised moment on his end, he stands up and embraces me tightly. He kisses me back. I arch, letting him hold me, moving my hands in his long patches of hair. I don’t know how long we have until the demon takes over again. I want this moment to last forever.
Unfortunately Kolag breaks the kiss abruptly and gently pushes my shoulders. “I have to find my helmet before this thing takes over again, it wants to kill you as we speak. Wait here, my helmet should be in the middle of the camp.”
“What about the orcs?” I call after him.
“All dead,” he replies, rushing toward the middle of the camp.
A wave of mad cheers comes from the crowd behind us, sending a pulse of ecstasy through my body. The energy from the crowd mixes into my love and lust for Kolag, making an odd soup of butterflies in my belly We won! The orcs are all dead, and I saved whoever I could save! And these people love me again, they're all ready to serve again like good pawns. They'll suck my fingers if I tell them to and...
No! Enough! I lost way too much here... I lost the orcs, I lost most of my army. We're defenseless. And those people are cheering because they're simply happy to be alive... It's not even about me.
Of course it's about me! Here!
I raise my hand at the crowd, the gesture is an impulse I simply can't hold back. The cheers turn wild, feeding an electric current of mana through my veins, refilling the mana I've used in my battle with the orcs. Furthermore, it feels as if it also heals my apparent blood lose, with each cheer I feel more invigorated and powerful. See?! All of these pawn are cheering for me! Me and Kolag! They love us! Good pawns! Good dogs!
Why? Why would they cheer for me? I doomed them to slavery! I'm no better than Luard!
"Yer Majesty." Aisha steps forward with a light bow. "The orcs are all dead?"
And you just said you hate me... Why the respect? I nod. "If a few survived they're hiding and unwilling to fight us. You're all free. I'm sorry..."
"Yer alright, Majesty. It's them orcs who should be serry. Rotten savages!" She spits on an orcish corpse and kicks it.
I have a feeling she's just saying it to stay on my good side...
Would you stay by my side? Tell me what the people need? I need someone who does... Kolag, for all of his quirks, isn't the best person to understand your cult... I mean... Your people. Sorry. I'll be honest. Your worship disturbs me..."
"Ha! Ya, Jalier is a weird god." The chubby woman wipes dirt off her face, tucks her blond hair behind her ear, and folds her hands on her bountiful chest. "Them people either born into this religion or sold into it. It's no different from any other brain rot I've seen out there. People worship the strong, hoping to get scraps by being good little boys and girls. What god ye worship, Majesty? I'll do me best to compare their beliefs to yer faith."
"I'm an atheist. It'd be more accurate to say that I'm agnostic though."
The middle aged woman glares at me. "Agnostic?" She tries the word, testing it on her tongue.
I shake my head. "I know the gods are out there and that they're powerful, but I don't worship any of them. They haven't done anything for me. Actually... One god just tried to have me killed by ordering the man I love to kill me. I hope to have nothing to do with the gods."
She frowns. "That's possible? To have nothing with the gods?"
I sigh. "I had nothing with the gods until today, and I hope I will never have anything to do with the gods ever again."
"But if you have no god, what will happen to your soul when you die?"
I roll my eyes. That argument again... Do these people really believe their soul survive their deaths? With the amount of souls I had, I doubt their souls just move to some promised afterlife... Someone must be making use of that energy.
"Let's leave the theological argument aside for now. Would you be willing to convey the people's needs to me?"
"Of course, Majesty. We need healing potions as soon as you can make them."
The crowd cheers again, sending a shuddering wave of pleasure throughout my body. I do my best to suppress the odd lusty response I have no control of and nod. "Good. I'll get to it once we get back to the city. I better go check on Kolag.
It'll be really annoying if I have to change my underwear every time a crowd cheers for me... Whatever this fae blood in, it's fucked up. First the crazy bugs infection. And this odd reaction to people's adoration... At least it refills my mana and heals me, which is odd... I clearly suffered from a blood loss earlier, and now that's no longer the case, which makes me wonder... If my bloodline get stronger, would I be able to regenerate over the cheers of a crowd? Limbs and all?
*
I leave the cheering crowd behind, and run toward the location Kolag is. Five minutes later I find him in the middle of the ghostly camp, his face covered by the metallic visor again. An overwhelming sense of loss takes over me when I see him with the helmet on again. “Can you take off the helmet and kiss me again?” I ask, almost begging.
“Right here?” he gestures around. I look around. In the dim dying fire I count hundreds of mutilated corpses, all ripped to shreds. Inner organs and limbs litter the floor, and the ground is muddied with blood and guts. Some of these organs and limbs are even arranged in some sick sense of order and patterns. Like some twisted sense of art, they create strange runes that sends a chill down my spine. The worst part is the corpses of young orcs. The demon did not spare the young, if anything, it seems like it paid a special attention to them. Each mangled orcish child or baby is placed in the middle of every horrific organ art.
This is a slaughterhouse, not exactly a place for kissing.
“Yeah… let’s get out of this place…” I say, trying my very best to suppress the acid that’s lurching in my throat. “I need a good bath and a good sleep. At least we don’t have to worry about the orcs anymore…”
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
“A good bath would be nice. I did not have one in years,” Kolag notes, the irony apparent in his muffled voice.
“Aw, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”
He chuckles. “Don’t mind it, I’ll get out of this armor eventually.”
“You will! And then you can take a bath with me.”
“Ahem… ok.”
I giggle and hug his armored arm to my chest, I can tell he’s blushing. “You don’t like the idea?”
“Um… er… ah…”
“If you won’t say yes, I’ll tie another knot in your tongue.”
“Yes, I like that idea…”
“Then it’s settled! The first thing we do once we manage to get you out of that armor is have a good bath together! For now…” I take a step back from him, and form a few water patterns together. “Nimuwal”
Looking down, my snake-scale armor is covered in blood too. “Or shakat.”
We make our way out of the orcs’ camp, and pass through the half ruined Groveyard as we head back to the city.
*
We make our way back to the city at the mass crowd of my people. I notice a group of people crowding near the partially destroyed gates, but they make way when Kolag and I approach.
"You'll find a new man soon. A trader. He will take care of you and your son." Jerro tells a young woman in a coif and a baby in her arms.
"Thank you, Your Grace Holiness." She moves and makes way for the next woman in line.
"You shall die within two months. If you want to live you should poison your eldest daughter." Jerro declares his statement to the middle aged woman with a colorful shawl that covers most of her dark hair.
"What?! I can't kill Nima! What are you thinking?!" The woman chides him, horrified.
"Then you will die." Jerro states the truth as he sees it.
"Is there no other way?" The woman asks, desperately.
"You could leave the city and leave your family behind."
"Sir? I-I can't just leave my family, they depend on me! What exactly happen? Maybe I can stop it..."
"Your daughter stabs you with a kitchen knife. There is nothing you can do to stop it. Either kill her, or leave the city."
"T-thank you, sir." The woman covers her mouth and moves away. A few moments later she vomits on the ground.
"Welcome back, Queen." I'm about to clear my throat and ask what's he's doing here but he talks to me before I even ask . He doesn't even turn to face me. "There was no need to leave the city once you've made your choice about the orcs. I'm waiting for you. A grave threat is gathering in the south, and another threat is brewing in the east. The Sage of Ice will require your help to maintain her temporary territory soon. Without the orcs, we are all doomed. You'll need an army."
I cross my hands. "What kind of threat are we talking about and how long do we have?"
"I... I don't know. It is not clear. I see armies marching. A war. Two wars."
Another war... Great... "Ok... We'll do our best to prepare, but we'll lick our wounds for now. Come on. Let's go back to the palace, I'm sure we could all use a good sleep. I know I could, I've been awake for a while now."
We enter the city under the buzz of people whispering to one another or heading home. People gather items from the earthy streets into their homes. Children run barefooted around us, and the ravens call from atop the wooden rooftops. We make our way to the palace, Kolag and I holding hands, while Sharla and Jerro trail silently behind us.
"I'll go lock myself up in the prison," Kolag says the moment we cross the double doors leading into my palace.
He's no longer holding my hand, but I hold his. "You will do no such thing." I don't leave a room for an argument.
"And what if..."
"You will come with me to my chambers." I cut him off.
"You're not afraid I'll kill you?" He does not look at me, too afraid or guilty to see my face. The very notion annoys me to no end.
I squeeze his hand. "No. You had the perfect chance and excuse to kill me. You did not take it, you chose me at the end. Even back then I did not think you'd kill me, and I am not about to think that now. Now you'll stop mopping in your self guilt and pity, and come with me. Is that clear?"
"I..."
I squeeze his hand harder. "Do you want me to punish you?"
"I... I don't know."
"Your punishment is to come with me. Right. Now."
"Ok..."
We make our way to my rooms. I order the maid out and close the door behind us. "Your punishment is to touch me."
"Inara. The demon is..."
"I don't care about the demon. Deal with it. You'll touch me now in any way you can think of, and you'll keep your demon at bay. Or I'll remove your helmet and kiss you right now!"
He just stands there, glaring at me behind that damned visor.
"You think I won't do it?" I step closer and place my hands on the sides of his helmet. "You have ten seconds until I..." I gasp when he pushes me against the wall, crushing me between metal and stone, hands roaming across my body.
I moan softly, my hands searching for the patches between his plate, where I can feel his flesh under warm leather. "I love you, Kolag."
"I love you too."
A few rays of sunlight enter my room as the giant ball of fire is rising in the horizon, shedding light on this bright new horrible day.
*~*~*
Interlude 129.1
Elder Gorlor
Elder Gorlor digs his way from under the corpses of his brethren, he feels the sun shine on his blood covered head. The blood of his brethren. The blood of his pack. The blood of their young.
This.
Was the Blessed Rhino a Dragon all along? No. He never acted as a dragon should, but if this is what he hides under his shell… no. Not a Blessed Rhino. A Cursed Rhino.
The human shaman had been a traitor all along, she turned on them. Balgrum had assured Gorlor that she had honor, that she was no twisted shaman. How did she fool Balgrum? How did she fool Gorlor?
No. She does have her honor. Just the human honor, the honor of protecting the weak. Gorlor sneers. It is no true honor, it is weakness.
He gasps and looks around him, corpses of his brethren cover the pack’s den, creating cursed symbols of dark spirits. Young pups are placed in the middle of each symbol. Symbols even old Gorlor have never seen in his entire life.
The Red Maned Shaman and the Cursed Rhino had freed the sheep and killed all of his pack. Just the two of them. How can he call that a weakness? This is no weakness. This is like the twisted shamans of old. The twisted shamans Balgrum have been talking about, the twisted shaman who had murdered Balgrum’s Black Fang old pack and turned their strongest wolves into sheep.
Gorlor feels the knots of fire in his belly. He wants to kill. He needs to kill. And this sight. This den. His pack. His spider Gural. All gone in a single night. No. A single hour. Less than an hour.
Elder Gorlor is an elder, he has no fight left. The Bone Chieftess hates him. She doesn’t want him in her Hall of Bones. She won’t let him die in battle. Not even the battle that annihilated his entire pack. No. He always survives, always.
He cannot fight the Red Maned Shaman or her Rhino. That is suicide. The Bone Chieftess frowns upon such things.
Gorlor stumbles out of the camp, and walks in a random direction. He will find a monster and fight it with his bare hands. The same way so many elders before him made their deaths. That is acceptable. The Bone Chieftess will accept him in her halls! And soon, he will be with his pack again. He’ll see Balgrum and Agilla. Together they’ll drink and curse this Red Maned Shaman in the Hall of Bones.
*~*~*
Interlude 129.2
Marasi
Apricot City! Apricots are tasty, good for his heart. People sell fish here, yes.
The little elfling steps off his boat in the new strange city. He takes a deep breath, breathing the aroma of stinking fish and disease. Ahhhh, a new fresh land, a clean fresh start, the Lady of Luck smiles upon him.
“Marasi, gimme food!” The familiar voice belongs to Ryon, the young man can never sate his appetite, Marasi is surprised Ryon did not grow a belly like so many giants have.
Wait.
Ryon?
What's going on here?!
Isn’t he working for the crazy Spider Queen? Not good! Not good for his heart! Bad bad!
Marasi needs to think of something, his luck will help!
“Ah, Ryon good to see you!” Marasi jumps atop the edge of a fish barrel to welcome the man with a polite bow.
“Good to see ya! Food! Ah want some pork.”
“No pork in the market, feel me?" Marasi picks a fish by its tail and waves it at the ebony skinned giant. "Plenty of fish, how about I cook you and your friends a good fishy meal?” Wait… they don’t know he ran away from the Spider Queen, do they? They think he’s still in her service… His luck is always good on the peas!
An hour later and he serves dinner to the Spider Queen's people.
“So what are you doing here, little cook?” The giant with the straw hat asks. Marasi forgot his name, Silk? It had to do with silk, yes.
Marasi puffs his big chest. “Very important mission. I have to cook something down south, feel me?”
The giant nods with a sarcastic smirk. “A ship is leaving tomorrow morning, the Albatross, I’ll arrange a passage for you.”
Good! His luck had not just saved him, it also saved his time. Bless the Lady of Skies!
*~*~*
End of Volume 2
Power level: 3rd stage apprentice.
Mana pools status:
Crown-knot: Affinity 10: connected: 1 gem replenished per minute.
Neck-Bridge: Affinity 6: formed: max amount of gems drained per day: 85
Abdomen-storage: Affinity 5: formed: 21 neutral gems. Conversion ratio: elemental : neutral 6:1, neutral : elemental 1:1
Air: Affinity 4: formed: 30 gems
Fire: Affinity 2: formed: 15 gems
Light: Affinity 3: formed: 22/23 gems
Water: Affinity 6: connected: 69 gems
Earth: Affinity 1: formed: 7 gems
Wood: Affinity 2: formed: 15 gems
Gravity: Affinity 9: connected: 93/104 gems
Cantrip known:
Air: Shavi’s Breeze, Shavi’s Sword. Shavi’s Hair Dryer, Aria’s Enhanced Hearing. Aria’s Sonic Scream. Aria's Increased Voice.
Fire: Nuriss’ Flame. Effrat’s Firefly, Effrat’s Fire Breath. Sorladika's Lesser Heating. Nuriss’ Ignite. Oniga's Soap Creation.
Light: Noxi’s Light. Lako’s Blinding Light. Rika’s energy hand.
Water: Water Evocation, Water to Ice, Ice to Water, Water to Vapor, Vapor to Water, Mayan’s Icy Spike, Ayla’s Water Jet. Ayla’s instant freeze. Ayla's Flowing Shield. Ayla’s Freezing Vapors. Hot Water Conjuration. Boiling Waterjet.
Earth: Alice’s Oil Summoning, Reiko’s Acid Spray. Alf's Copper Bolt
Wood: Arigor’s Lesser Vines. Kolosu’s Vegetable Summoning.
Gravity: Lumina’s Kinetic Burstm. Tukado’s Repulse. Tukado’s Lesser Shield IIa. Imari’s Minor Telekinesism. Imari’s Jump. Leo’s Pull. Leo’s Grounding. Alino’s Light Body. Alino’s Heavy Body. Alino's Orbiter.
Transmutation: Oniga's Laundry.
Spells known:
Light: Rika's Electric Channelb1
Gravity: Alino’s Weightless Bodyb1x2. Tukado's Pushb1x3. Tukado’s defense IIIb1x4. Imari’s Lesser Flightb2.
Life: Brigit’s Lesser Cure Poison. Brigit’s Skin Restoration.
(Little letters by spell sides: m=mastered. a=advanced. b=bound spell, number near the b is how many gems of the mana pool binding the said spell takes.)
Focus capability: 20 patterns.
Social status: The Queen of Red Cedar City. Inara, Daughter of Mysteries. Apprentice to the Maven of Mysteries. Sorceress.
Personal Wealth: 1465 Magic Gems. 1420 Golden Peas, 45 Silver Scales, 32 Copper Bits.
Personal Items:
Magical necklace. Contains 100 gems of general mana, can be drained like a mana pool. It’ll recharge by itself at the rate of five gems an hour.
1 potion of lightning body.
1 potion of mana, medium grade.
1 potions of Lesser Healing.
2 potions of Pain Tolerance.
An enchanted belt with eight pouches, the enchantment keeps the pouches’ content fresh. Each pouch may contain 10g of petals or six potion flasks.
42g Rose petals.
20g Lavender petals.
10 empty soul bottles. Glass with a diamond stopper, put in scaled leather wrapping.
The Great White Egret grimoire. Dedicated by the Maven of mysteries to Inara. 30/100. Locked.
Present Companions:
Kolag of house Befar.
Jerro.
Sharlafyn Nettledew.
Languages:
Toml’a
Sinteo
Myrsha
Felul
Nim
A'arkalu
Injuries and scars:
Curses: unknown extracted parasite, possibly bloodline related. Gone due to an unknown bloodline magic.
-
Kingdom’s treasury: 3836 gold coins. 123 magical gems. ?
Kingdom’s citizen: Red Cedar City: 3,881 humans, 1,836 human children.???
Apricot City: approximate 800+ humans.
Twin Moon Tribe: Slaughtered.
Kingdom's army: 40 footmen 284 Footmen ???. 49 Peacekeeper Knights ???. 500 Blood Spears.
Notables at Court:
Tasiya Keyholder.
Jolla SilverQuill.
Talbot Bookkeeper.
Old Gardner Tiom.
Aisha?