Nyxpera
The 19th of Thargelion
The Year 4631 in the Era of Mortals
A cool, damp cloth pressed against Lyssa’s brow. The touch was gentle, loving. Her bed had never felt so comfortable, full of downy feathers and soft fabric. Her mother dabbed the cloth back and forth across her forehead, crooning softly. In the next room, her brother laughed at something her father said. Dinner was ready, the sweet aroma of spiced meat hung in the air.
Lyssa’s body sank into the bed. She was so tired. It was everything she could do to not fall asleep. Something buzzed past her ear, sounding for a moment like a voice before becoming an incessant, high-pitched whine. Her mother’s crooning didn’t stop. She could have stayed in that moment forever, safe in her mother’s embrace.
The fly grew louder, then landed on Lyssa’s face. Lyssa frowned and tried to brush it away, only to find she couldn’t move. The cloth slid down her face, squashing the fly against her nose, but still the buzzing could be heard. Then the cloth covered her mouth. Through it, a hand gripped her face.
“Wake up, child!”
Lyssa’s eyes flew open. She was not in her bed in Dawnwood, but underground, surrounded by the stench of dead goblins. The panicked muttering of children filled the air, but there was no mistaking the child-sized person kneeling over her.
“That’s it, come back to us,” Odelia said as she dabbed a day’s worth of blood and grime away from Lyssa’s brow.
Everything hurt. Her vitals didn’t display any injuries, but it did show something worse.
Exhaustion — Tier 4
-80% Vitals Regeneration
+35% Chance to make mistakes
+85% Stamina Drain of Physical Tasks
-40% Agility
-40% Perception
“Just let me sleep,” Lyssa begged.
“In this thrice-cursed hole? I don’t think so.” Elpida’s voice was gruff and brooked no argument.
Lyssa grunted and, with some help, raised herself into a sitting position. She reached out for her bow, then froze as her fingers found only ash. Elpida hooked an arm beneath hers and hauled her to her feet. The warrior woman looked her over, using her fingers to turn Lyssa’s head to the left and right. The touch was surprisingly gentle.
“I don’t know what you did, but it did a number on your eyes.”
Lyssa frowned.
“What’s wrong with them?”
“They’ve gone yellow. Pure, bright yellow.” Elpida cupped her hands around Lyssa’s face. “Malaka, they glow. Are you doing that?”
“I don’t know.”
She had no energy to worry about it. She barely had the energy to acknowledge it.
“Drink this,” Elpida said, raising something to Lyssa’s lips.
“No sedatives. I’m not injured.”
“It’s water.”
Lyssa drank deep, then spat a fine spray. Her whole mouth tingled. Elpida took the skin back and sniffed it.
“Oh, no, that was felsbier. Here, this one’s water.”
Lyssa took the new skin from Elpida with a glare, then drank three gulps before returning it.
“Are the children safe?”
“Yes. You saved them,” Odelia said. “Though I don’t understand how. I suppose it’s one more wondrous thing to happen.”
Lyssa let out a breath. The children had survived. That was all that mattered.
“Good, good. Where are the others?”
“Grimmolt is in the process of singing our path out of here,” Elpida said, gesturing to where the dwarf was hollowing out a path upward with nothing but the power of his voice. “The others are distracting the children and keeping watch. I doubt we got all the goblins in these tunnels and if the basilisk is anything to go by, there are other monsters here, too.”
Lyssa nodded.
“I’m well enough, Odelia. Please, tend to the others.”
The halfling patted Lyssa’s hip, then walked off. Lyssa took a step and nearly sagged to the floor. Elpida caught her, wrapping Lyssa’s arm around her shoulders.
“What happened to you?” she hissed.
“Hyperion happened.”
“The mountain?”
“The Titan.”
Elpida swore, harsh and rapid in a language Lyssa had never heard.
“A real one? Like the stories?”
“Yes.”
“Here? You’re certain?”
“Yes.”
“We’ll evacuate everyone. Move as far away from the mountain as we can. Abandon the village, we’ll rebuild elsewhere.”
“No.”
“Be reasonable, Lyssa. This is a Titan we’re talking about.”
“A Titan that gave me power. I don’t think they have any intent to harm us right now. If they did, they would have. They could have let us die, but they didn’t. Hyperion wants something, I just need to figure out what it is.”
Lyssa felt Elpida stiffen.
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“What did you promise?”
“A favor.” Lyssa grimaced as the words left her mouth. “Unspecified.”
Elpida swore again.
“Just because Arche isn’t here doesn’t mean you get to be the one making rash decisions.”
“I was perfectly capable of making rash decisions before I met him. He just makes me seem wise by comparison.”
Elpida scowled but Lyssa was too tired to argue further. The truth was simple enough, after all.
“The knife was coming down. It was my only choice.”
Elpida grunted and let it go, adjusting Lyssa’s arm over her shoulder.
“If you’re so strong, then why am I carrying you?”
“I’m not sure. I think my body is adjusting to the changes. I feel…taller. My Profession changed and with it came an influx of new attributes. More than I’ve ever received at one time. To top it off, I have the Exhaustion debuff.”
“We all have the Exhaustion debuff.”
“Tier Four.”
“Malakas.”
Elpida held her hand out sideways and pulled a chair from her inventory. Lyssa raised an eyebrow.
“Guard duty gets boring,” Elpida said, easing Lyssa down onto it. “Sit here. Don’t move. I’ll see if I can hurry things along.”
Lyssa did as she was told and cast her eyes over their sorry group. Grimmolt’s voice carved the path to the surface, Gigator organized the children, Eleftherios and Iosif wrestled with one another to keep the kids entertained, and Vik scouted out the different tunnels with Despoina. Most of all, however, she watched Elpida walk away. Even behind armor, the view was enticing.
Lyssa’s traitorous eyes grew too heavy to keep open. The world quieted and she soon drifted off to sleep.
A hand on her shoulder woke her after what felt like only seconds.
“It’s time to go.”
Vik stood in front of her. Lyssa looked at him, then back toward Grimmolt, only to find the dwarf was no longer in sight, having dug his way up through the stone.
“How long was I asleep?” Lyssa asked, rubbing her eyes.
“An hour. Doesn’t look like it did you much good, but it’s time to move.”
Lyssa stood, storing the chair in her inventory to give back to Elpida later. She moved to follow Vik but a voice stopped her.
“Lyssa.”
“You go on ahead. I’ll catch up in a minute.”
Vik frowned. “Not wise to dawdle. Not here.”
“Considered and ignored. Go on, I’ll be right behind you.”
“Very well. I’ll be waiting for you.”
Vik walked off toward the tunnel where the children were being corralled. A breeze blew against her, sudden and unexpected in the dead, underground air, and Lyssa shuddered. When she was confident she wouldn’t be overheard, even by elven ears, she whispered to the light coalescing around her.
“Hyperion.”
“You surpassed expectations.”
“You manipulated me.”
“Then you understand the game. It is not personal.”
“The goblins are yours, then?”
“Not entirely. A nudge, a whisper. They have simple minds and are, therefore, simple to control.”
Every instinct told her to be afraid, to run, to hide, but, in the midst of her exhaustion, the only emotion she felt was anger.
“Then you are to blame for the deaths of my people.”
“Would you blame the storm for raging, even if it breaks apart the ship? Would you blame water for freezing, even though it traps those beneath it?”
“Those things do not have consciousness. They do not consider the living.”
“Don’t they?”
Lyssa ground her teeth.
“Make your demand of me.”
Hyperion paused.
“You have learned some – but not nearly enough. Even now, Ares moves against you. His forces will be far more formidable than these feeble creatures. You will need more if you are to defeat the armies of War.”
“Is that your demand, then? Defeat Ares?”
“Defeat Ares. Such a thing would be quite interesting, indeed, but that is not within your power. I cannot require you to defeat him.”
“Then what?”
“I require you to stand against him.”
Lyssa set her jaw.
“You are requiring me to die?”
“If you should fall in the opposition, that is your failure. As my champion, you shall renew the Titanomachy against War and all who stand with him. Your victory or defeat shall be by your own hand, as you wish it.”
Lyssa’s breath hissed between her teeth. Hyperion wasn’t asking her to do anything she wasn’t already going to. Arche had been wrapped into this mess, it seemed only fitting that she be caught up in it as well.
“Then I accept.”
“The accord is struck. There is more, however. I have damaged your standing, which works against my aims, and so I shall provide you two gifts. One to display your power, another to stand as my champion.”
A large crystal formed in front of Lyssa, spinning slightly. Her hand tingled at its touch.
City Stone
Rarity: Legendary
Quality: Flawless
Durability: 10,000 / 10,000
Weight: 5 kilograms
Traits: Declared City, Light & Fire
Declared City
Activating this item will designate an appropriate area as a Declared City. The ruler of the city will gain access to special menus, to include defense and magic, that can be used to grow the city. A Declared City will count as one size larger for calculating city size.
Light & Fire
This stone acts as a conduit and receptor for Light and Fire affinities. The corresponding leylines will flow toward it, improving the natural affinities for those in its vicinity. Spells of Phosphomancy, Pyromancy, and associated aggregate schools will be stronger in this region.
“Is this the price of my people?” Lyssa whispered. “Must some always die to benefit a few?”
“The weak cannot survive Tartarus. If you would change this, grow strong enough to protect them.”
Lyssa’s right hand flexed subconsciously, reaching for a bow that wasn’t there.
“When Ares is dead and my people are safe, what will you ask of me, then?”
“Our contract will be complete. You can do as you wish. I have set you down the path to power, but not even I can tell where it ends. The way ahead is dangerous and every champion needs a weapon.”
Light coalesced before her, hardening into a recurve bow. She took hold of it and the light flowed into her palm, reforming itself into a bracelet around her wrist. With barely a thought, the bracelet flowed back into a bow, shifting at the speed of light. Information appeared before her.
Hyperbow
Rarity: Mythic
Quality: Titanforged
Durability: 20,000 / 20,000
Weight: 3 kilograms
Traits: Bound, Reform, ?
“This will aid you. As with your power, the more you learn of it, the better it will serve you.”
Lyssa gripped the bow, struggling against her exhaustion to find the right questions.
“Why me?”
“Why not?”
“No others of my group?”
“They did not pass my trials. You did. Do not concern yourself with such meaninglessness. Focus on growing your power. Do not fail me.”
The light faded. She held the bow a moment longer, then it melted down into a bracelet. As she turned toward the others, she found that they had not progressed at all. Vik had barely reached the crowd of children. Hyperion had, once again, slowed time or stopped it entirely for them to speak. The display of sheer power made the hairs on her neck rise.
With nothing else to do, she tucked the City Stone safely in her inventory and headed after the others.