I could have just left then and there, Roguk would have probably let me leave if I insisted. Instead, I decided to wait for the next night. It would give me more time to get some distance. It would also let me say goodbye to Grag and Luk, who happened to both come along and lead me outside. They had told me to wait for their signal once outside, so I would not alert any patrols. The fact that I had a name could give away the goblin's position if I was identified by an ork.
We arrived at the bottom of the valley early in the night. The moon was half full and shone a soft silver glow onto the mountain flanks. That did not distract from the eerie glow shining through the woods not far from us. Dark purples and greens lit up the trees. Deeper in the glow turned weaker and shifted into black. Occasionally violet lightning arced out from the centre and struck a nearby tree, though not before phasing through some of them beforehand. The goblins looked freaked out. I was freaked out. My instincts screamed at me: get out!
There had to be some terrifying ritual taking place right now. I locked eyes with Grag, then Luk, nodded to them and took off. I wanted to fly down the valley along the side of the mountain, to keep as far away from the ritual as I could. I kept low above the treetops to help hide. Shadows covered me to hopefully keep me out of sight of any patrols. And then I heard it. A sound unlike any other. It did not belong in this world. As if reality itself abhorred the idea of whatever was happening. The eerie lights coalesced onto the ritual. Dark turned into nothing, as I had only seen once before, the last time I died. Lightning strikes slowed down and bubbled outwards as if turned into plasma. And finally, the eye.
The nothing had formed an oval shape, almost like a mirror. Only it looked two- and three dimensional at the same time. And in the middle of it, an infinite sclera as if one looked at a moonless night sky. It framed an iris coloured in rainbow stripes of every colour. The stripes pointed towards the dark purple pupil. And that pupil saw everything. No matter where I moved, it looked at me. And I felt it looking at everything in the surrounding forest. No twig, no leaf, no rock escaped its gaze.
Then, a blink. For just a moment, an eyelid somewhere between liquid and scaled covered the stare and the world took a breath. I heard the goblins scamper back into their tunnel behind me. Closer to the ritual site, deep breaths were taken, presumably by orks. My wings started to beat as I tried to get away faster. When it opened again with a wet sound, every movement stilled.
Then I suddenly felt something invade my inner world. The gaze bore into me, uncovered my greatest secrets. And I felt it smirk. Suddenly, all the fear was gone. This thing, no this being. It was not my enemy. It felt familiar. Almost like home.
“Care to help me out, little one?” a voice spoke directly into my mind. My instincts were a fumbled mess. I wanted to get away as far as I could. That was what my body told me. But there was also the feeling of familiarity. Something inside me knew I would not be harmed. Could that be my human side? I would imagine even a human could not feel safe in the presence of such a being.
“You have been through the Empty. Your soul knows. Your instincts can not overpower truth.”
This thing could read my mind?
“Yes. Now I would really appreciate a little help. This ritual binds my presence in such a way I cannot destroy it. Would you kill this one for me?”
With that thought, an image came into my mind. The forest all around the being was laid out in my inner eye. I knew where everything was. And I promptly dropped into the trees.
“Hmm. Your mind is still weak. Let me try this again.”
As I rose from the ground, another image was presented to me. This time, only the important things were laid out. I, sitting on the ground, thirteen orks, twelve standing in a wide circle around the ritual site. They looked to be guards. In the centre, the final ork stood heaving. It had a triumphant look on its face. Only a loincloth covered its unmentionables, the visible skin showing tattoos written in blood and ink. That was my target. I also saw the trees between my target and my position. This was the perfect map for an [Assassin]. But, why would I help the eldritch abomination? It would be far smarter to just leave right now.
“If you kill this man, I will be able to close the rift from my side. It would be far safer for you not to let him get what he wants.”
“And what does he want?” I asked, for the first time consciously answering the unfathomable being. “How could he get anything from something as powerful as you?”
“The ritual limits my actions within its circle. This man can draw my power into anything he wants, now that the gate is open. Think of all the innocent lives he will take with whatever cruel weapon he creates.”
I did not buy that. Not one bit. There was nothing in it for me other than a high risk of death. No, I would just leave, as I had planned at first.
“Ah, worth a try. Alright then, little one. I will teach you something useful. Something to help you grow stronger. If you help me close the gate.”
That… sounded promising. No, it had to be a trick. This monster just wanted me to let my guard down!
“No need for tricks. You are not in the safe area.”
And suddenly all the trees around me just disappeared. Not just around me, a large circle void of trees had formed from one instant to the next. I looked around. The orks guarding the ritual were still hidden by the last few trunks left near the centre. They did not seem to spot me, my [Owl’s Shadow] was still active. This was kind of scary. Everything was just simply gone. Only dirt and rocks were left on the ground. And I could have been one of those trees?
“Yes, I can kill you at any time. I can also prevent you from leaving. So how about you help me out?”
I had no choice. Despair made itself known in my heart. Then, rustling leaves pulled me out of my thoughts. The ork patrols were showing up on the edge of the still-standing trees. They looked around and murmured to each other. This was not within their expectations.
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“I will hide you until you reach the trees. Simply kill the ritual master and remove the eyes from the portal’s socket. Then I will be able to close it from my side.”
I hesitated for a moment longer. Then I decided. This being needed me for something. I only hoped it would not cost my life. But there was no choice, so I would have to follow its wishes for now. If the portal really closed, I could leave this place behind and forget about everything. Yes, I would kill the ork.
With steeled resolve, I made my way towards the ritual site. Of course, I took to the air. It would be easiest to just come in swooping from above and oneshot the caster. Then I could make my escape the very same way.
[Owl’s Shadow] spread around me to hide against the night sky.
“Thin your shadows, little one,” a chuckle spoke into my mind, “Pitch black as you are, any competent scout will spot you.”
Oh. Right. I willed my shadows to be less opaque.
“Better, but you will need more practice.”
“Keep your commentary to yourself...”
Wait, did I just sass the eldritch monster? Another chuckle, this one more distant. I should be more careful with my thoughts.
I approached the ritual site. In my mind, the shape and positions of the trees and orks were laid out perfectly relative to my position. In the centre, there was a blank spot though. The actual portal looked to be hidden from my eldritch employer. That had to be the reason he could not close it himself. But why did he need me to kill the ritual master then? The ork was clearly inside his range?
“My influence rises the further you are from the portal. This man has formed his own body to be a second anchor. As long as he lives I can not see the ritual’s core. If he dies, I can find a way to close the gate.”
Okay? I had to take his word here. My control of the situation was about as non-existent as a mouse trying to steer a plane. The eye took up the centre of the ritual site. It looked directly at me but also in every other direction at the same time. Every direction but down. How I knew that eluded me. Below it sat a pedestal in the shape of a pyramid with a flat top. Its four sides had stylized eyes made from some sort of golden and dark purple metal attached to it. The ork stood about two metres away from the contraption holding onto a round, rainbow sparkling crystal socketed in a black star shape. He was talking rapidly in a language I could not understand.
Instead of planning some kind of careful approach, I decided to simply go for it. The ork was clearly focused on the eldritch eye and his guards distracted by the trees that had disappeared just moments ago.
I dropped down silently through the night. The shadows around me increased in density as I thrust forward my talons. I had picked a path slightly from the back and to the side. This way he would spot me only after I struck. His neck got closer rapidly and at the last moment, I spread my wings. My talons struck. Only to be repelled by a golden shine momentarily. A clanging sound drowned out the ork’s words for a moment only to be overshadowed by a crack. The golden shine broke into quickly dissipating shards and my talons moved forward again. Only this time I did not have the speed of my drop assisting my strike. I still managed to rip open the side of the ork’s neck as he dove forward. Quickly letting out a burst of shadows I picked up speed and slipped away from him.
Muffled shouting sounded out through the ritual site. I had made him angry. But he was also terribly wounded. I could see the blood flow onto the ground. If I just held out for a moment, he would die. Rustling and shouting from all around made me panic. The guards had noticed my attack. Why could they not be occupied with something else? A distraction would have really helped.
“You will be fine.”
And with that, the ritual master drew his last breath. Moments later I stood in a completely empty field of dirt. No orks to be found, even the last of the trees had disappeared completely. The only things left were the still open portal with its pedestal, the dead ritual master and myself. Even my shadows were gone as if I never spread them out.
~ding~ Congratulations! For advancing the Skill [Owl Senses] past the first Breakpoint you have gained bonus experience.
~ding~ You have reached level 13. Attribute point allocated.
~ding~ You have taken out your chosen target. Experience awarded.
~ding~ [Assassin] reached level 25. 1 Attribute Point awarded. Congratulations! For reaching the second milestone in your class you gain +1 DEX and +1 PER. Please choose your second milestone Skill!
~ding~ Please choose one of the available Skills. Failure to do so will result in a milestone Skill being selected automatically.
[Poison Brewing]
[Harmless Weaponry]
[Target Awareness]
[Aerial Strike]
[Dark Strike]
Oh, wow. That was a lot of stuff to go through. Another milestone, yay! This had been more than worth it.
“Thank you, little one. I will have to ask one more favour from you. Remove those oculi from the pedestal, would you? That will let me close the gate. One of them is enough.”
Wait, I had stuff to go through right now. But maybe I should do what the eldritch eye asked? Surely I had a few minutes to pick a Skill, right? So I made my way towards the pedestal. Now the eye looked downwards as well. It was frightening to get this close, but I still managed.
Just as I was about to remove the first ornamental eye, I remembered something.
“You said you would teach me something if I help you.”
“I did say that, I suppose. Very well, this is my advice: Do not favour one part of you over the rest. It is all you. All yours.”
That was it? The great advice of an eldritch being? Well, I had gained a Skill upgrade and reached a new milestone so I would not complain. I ripped out the ornament and suddenly reality was there again. I had not even noticed how quickly I had adapted to the little bits and pieces that were completely off. The rocks were no longer in the same place as the dirt. Air existed where it should be and no lightning struck non-existent targets. The portal was the only off thing left and it was rapidly shrinking.
“Thank you, little one. You have my gratitude. Make sure to form a core, it will help you much more than the alternative.”
And with that last thought reaching me the portal closed. In its place now sat a node. While I had not really seen a node before, my upgrade to [Owl Senses] let me clearly know what it was. It even gave me a feeling of what aspects it had. Though the weird Latin names Roguk had used did not spring into my mind. Rather there was an idea of what it meant.
Before I could get to the node, however, I had to pick a new milestone Skill.