Persepera

The 25th of Elaphebolion

The Year 4631 in the Era of Mortals

Arche’s boots slapped against the stone as he ran. He burst through the tunnel and into the following cavern, only to be knocked off his feet by the ensuing growl as the great two-headed kerberos stood to its feet.

“Wait, wait! It’s me!” He shouted, trying to make himself heard above the noise.

He held out the wand and the growling stopped. A consciousness probed his mind, surprisingly gently. Arche recoiled from the sensation, then realized it was Orthrus trying to speak to him. He opened himself to the connection and the kerberos’s booming voice echoed in his mind.

‘YOU HAVE BROUGHT THE CONTROL WAND. WE DID NOT THINK YOU WOULD SUCCEED IN THIS. NOT SO QUICKLY.’

‘Yeah, I did, but we’ve got other problems. I’ll free you, like I promised, but I need your help. There’s a horde of beastmar out there that are about to kill some friends of mine. I need your help to defeat them.’

The growling increased in intensity.

‘WE HAVE NO AFFECTION FOR THE AFFLICTED ONES BUT WE HAVE NO DESIRE TO TAKE PART IN YOUR BATTLES.’

Arche’s mouth gaped.

‘You’re fucking kidding me. You’ve got no desire at all to get vengeance for what was done to you? Or even to help the guy freeing you?’

‘WE WILL NOT BE EXTORTED WHILE WE ARE CHAINED BY THESE COLLARS.’ The kerberos’s growls intensified, driving Arche back a step. ‘FREE US OR CONSIGN YOURSELF TO BE OUR SLAVER. MAKE YOUR CHOICE.’

‘I...what? That’s not what this is.’

‘AND YET HERE YOU STAND, WITH THE WAND OF OUR CONTROL IN YOUR HANDS. BARGAINING WITH OUR FREEDOM.’

‘There’s no bargain.’ Arche held out the wand. ‘I’m asking you to help us but I will free you regardless.’

Two heads moved forward out of the darkness. Arche stiffened at the size of them. Each head was larger than his entire body and each could easily tear him in half with a single bite if it decided it didn’t want to eat him whole. They were bound together by a thick chain attached to a collar around each head. The chain culminated in a padlock the size of Arche’s head. In the center was a circular keyhole.

A feeling of trepidation crept into Arche’s stomach. This creature was massive and powerful. If it decided to eat him, he wouldn’t really be able to stop it. Further, he needed the creature’s help. Without it, there was no way they’d be able to fight off the beastmar. He had the instrument of its control in his hand.

Arche stuck the wand into the keyhole and gave it a twist. There was a loud CRACK and the chains and collars fell away. The wand also fell to the ground, still stuck inside the padlock. He needed help, but he wasn’t willing to subjugate the kerberos to get it.

‘I’m truly sorry for what was done to you. I do really need your help but I won’t hold your freedom over your head…erm, heads.’

Each head shook itself, as if trying to fluff fur that had been matted from the weight of the chains. Then, each set of eyes leveled on Arche.

‘GO.’

Arche took a step backward.

‘If there’s something I can do to change your—’

‘GO!’

Both heads barked as the word sounded inside Arche’s head, the sound so fierce and terrible that Arche fell to the ground, hands covering his ears. Without further attempt at words, he severed the link in his mind and ran.

Bitter disappointment washed over him as he returned. He’d banked all of his hopes on the kerberos. Now, he felt that hope wash away. As he ran, a notification opened in the corner of his vision.

You have successfully completed the Quest.

Save the Guardian

Through bravery, recklessness, and teamwork, you have defeated the beastmar mage and freed Hekáte’s pet. She is grateful, and the thanks of a goddess is worth more than material treasures, don’t you think?

Reward

· 5,000 experience

· Increased Divinity

· Favor of Hekáte

Divinity has increased to 75%.

Arche grunted the notification away. Even a drastic improvement to his Divinity and the guarantee of at least another level did nothing to improve his situation if he and his friends were going to die here. It was hard not to be furious at the kerberos. Hard not to be furious at himself, for that matter, but he knew he’d done the right thing. There were lines he wasn’t willing to cross and he’d found one. He’d rather die fighting than live as a slaver, but would he rather sacrifice everyone else, too? Arche pushed the thought away. It wasn’t helpful.

He came to the end of the tunnel to find Tess, Lyssa, and the prisoners all crowded around the mouth. They were armed with whatever they could scavenge and had boxed themselves where the beastmar would be forced to come at them a few at a time.

It was clear that his group was having a bad time of it. A few of the prisoners had collapsed, wounds dampening their emaciated forms while the rest tried to close the gaps in their line. At the sight, Arche’s anger flared inside of him.

Damn Orthrus. Damn the entities playing games with his life. But most of all, damn the beastmar. Enough was enough.

Arche switched the Tridory into its bident form with the press of a button, then hurled it forward over the heads of his friends. Without waiting for it to land, he channeled Divine Body into his legs. He launched forward at an upward angle and came down in a long arc. The bident sank into a reptilian beastmar’s chest.

A moment later, Arche hit the creature feet-first, ripping the bident out as his momentum carried him through. Arche hit the ground and rolled, came up onto one knee and thrust forward, catching another beastmar in the belly. With no time to waste, he spun, staying low as he sliced the tendons of another beastmar’s leg. Two green-fletched arrows sped past his head on both sides, embedding themselves in the throat and forehead of a two headed beastmar that had been next to approach him.

Arche slapped the ground with one hand, using Divine Body to give himself an extra push. He spun into the air and threw the Tridory. The bident punched clean through one beastmar to wound another behind it.

Momentarily weaponless, Arche landed on his feet, fists raised as another beastmar with three arms starting swinging at him. Claws reached, seeking to tear into Arche’s face. He used the vambraces on his forearms to brush the strike out of the way, putting the beastmar in an awkward position with its limb across its body. He stomped a low uppercut, feeling the knuckles crack against his boot. The beastmar’s third limb snaked forward from its back, aiming to plaster Arche’s nose across his face. It connected instead with Arche’s elbow. There was a crunch and a howl as the beastmar’s fingers broke.

Seizing the advantage, Arche slammed his hand into the beastmar’s throat as hard as he could, then grabbed one of its arms. He twisted, swung his hips, and the creature went flying over his shoulder into another beastmar lunging to bite him. The teeth sunk into its companion instead and they went down, howling and scrabbling at each other.

Arche summoned the Tridory. The bident flew to his hand in time for him to plant the sauroter into the throat of yet another beastmar. Something hit his back and he stumbled forward, gasping in pain as his Health dropped fifteen percent. Before he could recover, a blade left an angry gash across his left arm, weaving between the gaps in his armor and knocking off another ten percent of his Health. Down to one working arm, Arche tried to thrust with the Tridory, but one of the beastmar latched onto it, weighing it down as it tried to pull it from his hands.

His breath came ragged through clenched teeth. He was in a bad way and there was only one way out. Arche activated Divine Body and wrenched the spear back, sweeping all around him with enhanced strength as his wounds physically knit themselves back together. His Health shot back up as orange light flared outward. He dropped the skill as his Mana hit twenty percent.

A knife flew past his head and landed in a beastmar’s eye, taking it to the ground as the tip pierced the creature’s brain. Tess appeared a moment later to pull the knife free and stabbed at another.

“Do you have to jump into the middle of every single fight?”

Arche used the Tridory to deflect a blade thrust by a humanoid beastmar, then stabbed it through the side.

“Figured I’d make a strong first impression,” he grunted back, more than a little out-of-breath.

“One of these days your luck’s going to run out, what are you going to do then?”

“Hope you’ll come and save me, apparently.”

Tess pirouetted, slashing at an exposed arm and throat with deadly accuracy. After dicing another beastmar, she stepped to cover Arche’s back as he brought the offensive to a small group attempting to get in close.

“We’re fighting for our lives here. This isn’t the time to be flirting.”

Tess flung a knife and sidestepped. The blade sunk deep into the belly of a beastmar even as its reptilian mouth snapped against empty air.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Arche said with a grunt as he opened a gash across a beastmar’s chest. “Might not get a better chance for it.”

For a moment, in the midst of combat, their eyes met. He felt something pass between them. Then the fight swept both of them up again and whatever passed was lost. Arche stabbed a beastmar through the heart, trying to put his thoughts into words.

“Dinner.”

“What?’

“If we make it out of this, I’d like to take you to dinner.” Arche jerked the bident free from the bones of another slain beastmar. “Something nice, just you and me. You don’t have to say yes.”

A loud, bestial bellow broke through the clamor of battle. The sea of beastmar parted to reveal the massive beastmar leader. Both of its heads, wrapped together by a twisted black-metal crown, glared at Arche with murderous intent. It bellowed something in a guttural, barking language and the beastmar made space around them, forming into a ring.

“Arche?”

“I know. Can you get back to the others?”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“I can’t sneak with this many watching us and I can’t slip past them. We’re hemmed in.”

Arche used the pause in fighting to get a better look at his surroundings. He had fought his way through many of the beastmar, too far out for the others to provide good cover. The beastmar had filled the gap and separated them from Lyssa and the former prisoners. In his battle fever, Arche had overextended his position and Tess had gone right in with him.

“You, fighter.” The crowned beastmar’s voice rasped and gurgled like its tongue was too large for its mouth. “You will die by my hand.”

“I really don’t like that they can talk,” Arche muttered, then raised his voice to reply. “How about a wager, then?”

The beastmar around them let out a cackling, barking laugh, like an entire menagerie was told its favorite joke.

“What terms say you?”

“If I kill you, the rest of you beastmar let us all leave in peace.”

Another peal of dissonant laughter came from the beastmar. The crowned beastmar held up a large axe, its spike head pointed straight at Arche.

“I accept. When I kill you, your fighters will drop their weapons and surrender.”

“Give me a moment to confer,” Arche called back before turning toward Tess.

“Can you beat him?” she asked.

Arche frowned and Examined the beastmar.

Eten and Nete

Level: 26

Race: Beastmar

Age: ?

Height: ?

Weight: ?

Profession: ?

Trade: ?

Traits: ?

Companions: ?

Adventuring Party: ?

Health: 710 / 710

100%

Stamina: 910 / 945

96%

Mana: 120 / 120

100%

Arche sucked his teeth.

“Tell you what, he’s one mean sonofabitch, but what choice do we have?”

Arche eyed his own vitals.

Health: 438 / 495

88%

Stamina: 134 / 355

38%

Mana: 44 / 190

23%

If it had been purely a numbers game, he didn’t stand a chance. He was injured, tired, and barely had enough Mana left in the tank for a single use of Divine Body. Maybe two if he was quick about it. Conversely, this Eten and Nete creature was well-rested and unharmed, not to mention the eleven-level advantage it had over him.

Tartarus was not just a numbers game, however. Tactics, strategy, guts, and more than a little luck had helped Arche defeat monsters far more powerful. He’d had help for most of those fights, but not all of them. Now, with everyone’s lives in his hands and already nearing exhaustion, he had a choice to make. The mantikhoras had been stronger, but there was something more terrifying about this crowned monster. Arche planted the sharpened butt of his spear into the ground. He wrung out his hands and rubbed his newly healed arm, still itching with fresh skin. Tess placed a hand on his arm.

“I don’t like this.”

“I’m not a fan of it either but at least this way we’ve got a shot.”

“You better survive this, you know. You owe me dinner.”

Arche smiled.

“Is that a yes?”

“Why not?” Her hair pulled free from her braid and fell over part of her face as she shrugged. “It sounds nice.”

“Good.” Arche’s smile fell as he eyed the beastmar all around him. “I hope you still feel that way in a moment.”

“Wha—?”

Arche moved in a single, swift motion. He grabbed Tess, activated Divine Body, then threw her. She let out an indignant curse and a loud cry as she flew over the beastmar and out of Arche’s sight back toward Lyssa and the other prisoners. Arche dropped the skill a moment later but the damage was done. Pain seized his mind and his muscles spasmed and clenched, forcing him down to one knee. A small notification popped up in the corner of his vision to inform him of a new debuff.

You have Mana Burnout.

-90% Health Regeneration

-90% Stamina Regeneration

-90% Mana Regeneration

Mana Burnout: 12:59

He’d held on to the skill for a touch too long and his Mana had bottomed out. He was lucky he hadn’t passed out from the strain and that the cooldown was only thirteen minutes, but that was thirteen minutes he was going to be at his absolute worst. Weariness and pain washed over him, centering inside his head and spreading down his body in waves.

There wasn’t enough time but any time he could buy was time for Lyssa and the others to recover. Perhaps he could buy enough for them to turn the tide. He looked up at the sneering grins of Eten and Nete. There was only one way this would end.

“I accept!” He shouted, baring his teeth into a snarl.

The beastmar began shouting and barking, banging fists and limbs into torsos and against the ground. Arche pulled the Tridory free and turned to Eten, who was stalking toward him. Up close, Arche could see just how large the beastmar really was. Next to this behemoth, he felt like a child. Tentatively, Arche tried reaching out with his mind, but as soon as his consciousness expanded past his own walls, pain seared into his mind and he was met with a notification.

Warning!

You are attempting to use a Mana-based ability without Mana.

Continuing to use this ability without gaining Mana will drain Health and may cause permanent damage.

“Shit,” Arche hissed and closed his mind off. “Gonna have to do this the hard way.”

“Come, human. Meet my labrys.” Eten grinned and hefted the big axe in his hands.

Eten’s second head, Nete, shouted something in a garbled tone, which caused the beastmar to cackle.

“Hi!” Arche grinned back with mock joviality. “Stupid name.”

Eten lunged forward, not with the axe but with his fist, which he slammed down to drive Arche into the unforgiving stone floor. Arche stepped to the side and thrust with the bident but his movements were slow and the large beastmar had no difficulty brushing his attack harmlessly away. The big bastard followed up with a backhand that took Arche off his feet.

As soon as he touched down, Arche shot forward, trying to take Eten off guard with a quick, ferocious attack. It was the same method that had worked on plenty of beastmar who hadn’t expected their prey to put up much fight, but Eten was no ordinary beastmar. The experience of battle was evident in his movements and strategy. Eten clearly had a lot more experience fighting trained opponents than Arche had, and Arche was far from a trained warrior.

The simple, straightforward thrusts and swipes that Arche prodded with were easily deflected and avoided by the larger beastmar. The whole time, both of Eten’s heads stared down at Arche with bloodthirsty grins. It was meant to infuriate him and it was working, but it was far from his only issue. His Stamina fell like a stone.

In less than a minute of combat, he had already dropped below a hundred Stamina. In another full minute, he’d be completely drained, but long before that he’d be too tired to keep evading Eten’s attacks. The beastmar was a powerhouse. If that hadn’t been clear enough by its size, it was certainly evident in the way it threw its weight around. Arche was forced to dodge and evade as much as he could as even a glancing blow could knock him around and hurt him.

He held the Tridory out in front of him, trying to keep his reach advantage, but the massive size of the beastmar and the huge battle-axe that it wielded nearly matched him for length. His breath came in short spurts and his entire body burned from the pains of the last day.

This wasn’t a fight, it was a beatdown.

“I took you for a mighty warrior, the way you fought my kin,” Eten rasped. “Was I mistaken? Is this the best humanity has to offer? Pathetic.”

“Trash talk? Really?” Arche rasped, desperate for breath. “Didn’t even know trash could talk until I met you.”

Eten growled and grabbed the Tridory. He gave it a mighty yank and swung the axe down in a heavy chop. Arche was forced to let go and throw himself to the side to avoid a killing blow. He hit the ground and scrambled away, struggling to get his feet under him. Eten was left holding both the battle-axe and the Tridory, the latter of which he tossed carelessly to the side.

“Looks like you’re out of options, tiny warrior.”

Eten swung the labrys, forcing Arche to fall back again to get out of the way. On the ground, his options were even more limited. Eten continued the attack, bringing the axe down in an arcing slash. Arche rolled to the side and the axe cleaved into the rock where his chest had been, digging deep into the stone and lodging itself there.

Arche rolled back and wrapped his legs around Eten’s arm, using his hands to grab Eten’s thumb and twist it backwards. The beastmar let go of the axe and grunted in surprise and pain. Arche felt himself rise into the air as Eten lifted his arm, then unwrapped one of his legs and used it to kick at the crown binding the beastmar’s heads together. The metal dented slightly, forcing both heads to lean toward each other even further. Eten drew his arm back to throw Arche, but Arche let go and dropped to the floor before the beastmar had the chance. He landed in a basic fighting stance, his hands up.

“All right, ugly, which head should I knock some sense into?”

Eten threw a massive right hook. Arche slipped underneath it and drove his fist into the beastmar’s side. He might as well have punched the stone floor, but then he hadn’t really expected it to hurt the beastmar. He followed it up with a jumping palm to one of Eten’s faces. For the first time, the beastmar showed pain. Eten took a step back and wiped away a small streak of black blood from its lip.

Arche used the distraction to pull his xiphos free before the enraged beastmar reengaged. Eten kicked at him, forcing him back. He tried to stab at the foot but his limbs were thick and slow and he missed entirely. Eten yanked the axe out of the stone with a screech of metal.

Arche leveled his sword at the beastmar, but he was so damn tired. His adrenaline faded almost as quickly as his Stamina. The sword was solid lead in his hand. One mistake, one foul move, and he would die.

Eten moved forward, swinging his axe in a complicated flurry of slashes. Arche ducked the first swing and spun out of the way. He slid the edge of the xiphos across Eten’s arm as he moved, leaving a trail of blood. He continued weaving around the beastmar, barely staying out of the way of the deadly battle-axe. It was the flowing, dancing sword style that Lyssa had taught him. He didn’t have the Dexterity or training to really pull it off but it was still effective.

Little by little, Eten’s Health whittled down by glancing attacks, but it seemed to anger the beastmar far more than it hurt him. It was also too slow to win the fight. If he had an hour of perfect execution, perhaps it would have been enough, but there was no hope of that.

Arche needed to do something drastic, something desperate. Something foolish.

He faked a lunge. The beastmar brought his axe down to batter Arche’s sword into the ground but his sword was no longer there. He pulled it back and stepped onto the axe, using it to spring up toward the beastmar’s chest far above. Arche used the last of his Stamina to activate Power Attack, driving his sword forward with everything he had. Surprise covered the beastmar. The attack had caught it off-guard at a moment where the beastmar had been too committed to properly block or dodge. Arche, however, was also committed.

A massive, clawed hand closed around Arche’s throat, suspending him in the air as his sword pierced Eten’s chest where a heart should be. Eten let out a rattling gasp, the sound escaping from both heads. Arche’s vision blackened around the edges. His Stamina had bottomed out, a scant couple points left in the tank, and it took everything he had just to stay conscious.

“You missed,” Eten rasped, a grin spreading across both faces.

Arche couldn’t speak. The beastmar’s hand on his neck prevented any hope of breathing and he was too tired to struggle free. One of his hands hung limply at his side, the other was draped across the hilt of his sword. Choking, he summoned the last of his strength to raise his hand and rest it on the side of Eten’s face.

With a barely audible whimper, Arche summoned the Tridory.

Pain exploded in his head and spread to the rest of his body. Every nerve was lacerated and set on fire. He had no air to scream and no strength to thrash, so he hung in Eten’s grip, enveloped in utter agony, without even the ability to breathe as his very vitality drained away. Arche clutched at his connection to the spear with everything he had. He ignored the warning notifications that popped up, telling him that he was draining his Health, that he was taking permanent damage.

Eten grinned and lifted his axe, setting it against Arche’s chest.

“Goodbye, little warrior.”

Arche barely felt the blade’s bite part through his armor, flesh, and bone. He barely heard the hoots and howls of the beastmar and the screams of Lyssa and Tess. All of his dim concentration was on the summoning.

The Tridory tore through both of Eten’s heads, perfectly splitting the crown as the freshly bloodied haft of the spear landed in Arche’s open hand. The beastmar’s expressions didn’t change, still frozen in manic grins as the light left both sets of eyes.

Arche watched his Health dwindle. The pain that had wracked him was gone, replaced by an icy coolness that radiated from his chest where Eten’s axe was still lodged. A swirling bliss dogged the edges of his mind and the corners of his vision.

Arche fell from the beastmar’s limp hand and died before he hit the ground.