Boyd had seen all sorts of absolutely mind bogglingly crazy shit happen to Jellybean Jenkins. He grew and lost chunks of fur and tissue. He morphed between being a wolf, an over-sized West Highland Terrier and a part biped Were-Terrier thing on regular occasions. He summoned blood from the sky. Boyd once saw him take a shit and then kick it backwards behind him like a dog spreading its scent, and then immediately follow this with pulling a whetstone out and sharpening his axes. He frequently urinated on the outside of buildings they were sleeping in. He would commonly rip smaller creatures to pieces and eat the big half as a dog and then smaller half as a bi-pedal hybrid. Boyd was never truly surprised by Jellybean Jenkins at this point.

He also knew more about Jellybean than the other members though. Boyd was, in fact, the only person at this point who had a critical piece of information, he just didn’t know that he had it. If everyone on the battlefield knew what Boyd knew, the rest of them would’ve approached the situation differently. In fact, most of them would’ve tried to kill Jellybean Jenkins a long time ago. He had accrued an absolutely dangerous level of power. That wasn’t even the major problem though. Boyd knew the base class of a Wolf-Lord of the Seven Plains is not a Fighter.

Jellybean Jenkins is a Necromancer.

Boyd didn’t understand it at the time, but when he Deep Scanned Jellybean Jenkins, he learned his class progression was as follows: Necromancer => Death Knight => Death Lord => Wolf Lord of the Seven Plains. While he had learned his fighting skills as both a Death Knight and a Death Lord, his true talent lay in Necromancy. If Boyd had explained this to anyone else, anyone with a knowledge of The Maze and Classes and Progression and etc… they would’ve told him that’s also why Charisma was his highest stat. Necromancy is a Charisma based casting class. Like many magical classes, the power doesn’t come from understanding some arcane secret, it comes from currying favor with some sort of Demon or Underworld Hellspawn or other creature of extremely nefarious origins. In the case of Jellybean Jenkins, he was the preferred servant of some unholy creature that had long ago instilled him with the power to commit atrocity.

Had Boyd or Salia or Gmol known this, they would’ve approached the following fight very differently. Their goal would’ve been to somehow prevent Jellybean Jenkins from casting. Gmol would’ve focused on offensive holy magic, Fleon would’ve focused on enhancing his holy aura to prevent the array of Debuffs and Fear effects that Necromancy specialized in, and Salia would’ve taken out the additional creatures that were inevitably spawned through necromancy. Boyd probably would have just fired at anything he could see regardless.

That wasn’t what happened though. Fleon approached the fight like he was fighting a Fighter, as did Gmol, as did Salia. That meant Salia started firing off as many rounds of armour piercing flechette as she could assuming Jellybean had significant amounts of armour ingrained into his hide. Gmol prepared himself to heal the inevitable bleeds and wounds that the other others would incur. Fleon, anticipating Jellybean to charge him and attempt any sort of disarming move, had positioned his feet firmly into the ground ready to absorb the blow. Boyd pulled his rifle and watched and stared for the most part, which he would’ve done either way.

All of them, even Boyd although for very different reasons, were quite shocked when instead of charging, Jellybean Jenkins spewed a pitch black fluid straight up in the sky until the entire world went dark. It was if he had screamed Light from existence. The ink-like fluid coated their entire bubble before sinking into the ground and staining the valley floor. Boyd stared at Jellybean Jenkins perfectly white silhouette, the only thing still visible in the darkness. He was entranced.

You are afflicted with Wolf-Lord’s Abominable Fear. This effect will not break unless you receive damage or are Cleansed by Holy Magic. You cannot move.

Boyd tried to breathe through the panic, but he barely had breath control. While Boyd could not move his limbs, he could flicker his eyes left and right. He realized he could even Scan things if needed. Desperately hoping to see Gmol firing off a cleansing spell, or at the least hoping to see Fleon charging into battle, he flicked his vision left and right, but instead, he saw them paralyzed in Fear right beside him. Normally, this is when he would start pissing himself, but apparently Wolf-Lord Fear was strong enough to stop his normal smooth muscle release as well.

He flicked his eyes over towards the Hillpeople. They were already swarmed in what he would call Zombies or Undead. He scanned them quickly while he could.

SYSTEM: Decayed Soldier [Rank 1]. Decayed are like a mix of Undead and not-Undead. They aren’t Undead, but they are also barely alive. They are gross, fleshy bags of what was once a thing, and technically still is, even though it doesn’t look like it. Just kill them. They’ll thank you.

Another crypt next to the Hillpeople opened. It contained a large number of what looked like undead creatures that might fit any of the descriptions of skeleton or ghoul or zombie, but Boyd assumed were more Decayed. They were bags of flesh propped up by a mix of bone and magic. They descended on the Hillpeople in a much larger wave than Boyd had expected. Their crypt had opened which meant his side had too, so he didn’t know how they weren’t currently being accosted themselves.

Jellybean Jenkins paced in front of the rest of the Foray.

“If you insist on understanding me, then allow me to show you exactly how capable I am. The story told about me is that I became a Wolf-Lord because I conquered the Plains. This isn’t true. I conquered the Plains because I became a Wolf-Lord.” Jellybean Jenkins grabbed a piece of black cloth from his pack and wrapped it over his head. “Perhaps this look works for you better? Silly Fleon. When you told everyone I was a Fighter, what did I say? Nothing. I said nothing because I had no reason to correct you.” His yellow eyes peered through a tiny slit as he growled from the deepest part of his belly. “What about now? Does this align with your vision of me better?” Boyd flicked his eyes towards Fleon. He looked panicked. Boyd could see the fear in his eyes from more than just the Fear spell.

The Hillpeople had killed dozens of Decayed, but it hardly mattered. As each Decayed Soldier died, the rest of them simply picked up their fallen comrade’s weapons and surged forward. They surrounded the Hillpeople who were still fighting back to back, taking out as many as they could. Boyd figured it was finally it for them, but after encircling the group, the Decayed stopped.

Jellybean Jenkins continued pacing the bubble, Boyd realized he was still talking. He hadn’t really been paying attention. The Dog was clearly well into his story at this point, “…so you can see the bond between a Canus and his emotional energy source is unbreakable. Over time, whether you like it or not, you come to care for them. You come to like them. In some cases, you even come to love them. Martin Jenkins was a good man. He was weak, and he was stupid, but he loved me and I loved him. His energy, his essence was the source of my power for years. Without Martin Jenkins, I would be nothing. When I was on Earth, I abused him. I absorbed. I needed. I took. I provided nothing. On The Seven Plains, it was different. I sired children of my own. I raised a brood of Terriers that stretched as far as the eye could see. My time was no longer my own. I was yoked to my pack. I came to understand his sacrifice. His efforts. His endless affection. The same way that a child never appreciates their parents until they have children of their own, I never appreciated Martin Jenkins until I was removed from his love.”

Who the fuck is Martin Jenkins? Boyd realized he had missed that part of the story and his attention drifted away as he was concerned about the group across the valley. The Hillpeople were losing and just didn’t know it yet. The army of Decayed wasn’t trying to kill them. It was trying to disarm them. Boyd was panicked, as he didn’t understand why he wasn’t being impaled by some zombie creature right now the same as the other side.

The combination of Jellybean Jenkin’s cackling and a brief lapse in Boyd’s ADHD allowed him to refocus on the problem at hand as Jellybean Jenkins continued, “Necromancy is the oldest form of magic. It is derived from the Old Gods themselves. There are no arcane arts or technological achievements. This magic is pure. It is direct contact with Life and Death. Necromancy is beyond the most powerful Wizard or the most careful Priest. To excel at Necromancy you must connect directly. You must sacrifice.”

Boyd didn’t understand what the hell Jellybean Jenkins was saying so he passively started fixating on the other side of the battle again. The Decayed had fully disarmed the Hillpeople. Hundreds of the Decayed were…dead? Re-dead? Not moving at the least. The remaining ones had bound the Hillpeople though and were carrying them towards Jellybean Jenkins. He didn’t know them, but they had been reasonable and he was pissed at Fleon it had come to this, even if it wasn’t truly Fleon’s fault.

From deep within his white curls, Jellybean Jenkins revealed an amulet on a leather cord. He opened it to show a picture of Martin Jenkins with a small white dog in his lap. “I pulled Martin from Earth, Transposed him to the Seven Plains, and I strapped him to a table, and I gave him to my Gods. Martin loved me with all his heart, and in exchange, I sentenced him to endless torture, a plaything for the most sadistic and juvenile beings in existence. I gave Martin to them, and in exchange, I was made Wolf-Lord. I raised an army, I conquered the Seven Plains and I became the most feared and powerful being on my world. I would’ve been content to leave it at that. I would’ve been content to simply rule the Seven Plains, but…”

God damn this was boring. The dog just wouldn’t shut up. More importantly, Boyd realized he had lied. He can Transpose Humans. That motherfucker lied to me! Bad Dog! Boyd was desperate to point out this new fact, but he could not talk. It didn’t matter. Tranposition of Humans was possible which meant going home was possible. He dreamed of Oklahoma, and more importantly, a bath, a beer, and sleeping in his own real bed without a massive Dog-beast.

Jellybean Jenkins continued to explain himself seemingly forever. He had been talking for so long Boyd was now just trying to remember the word for when the insidious villain discussed his entire plan for five minutes while the heroes escaped whatever shackle they had been bound in. What was the word, speeching? Reciting? Conversing? He couldn’t quite remember. Dialoguing? That ain’t right. This word was really grating him. He had to remember what it was called. He almost had it, but was distracted by the presence of five bundles of cloth being dragged in front of Jellybean by a cadre of Decayed. The Hillpeople struggled against their bindings, but couldn’t outdo the combined efforts of their captors and their bindings. Boyd studied the knots trying to figure out how he might help them.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Jellybean Jenkins continued, “…but it was too much, I had tried and I had failed. I needed more power. So I joined your foolish little Foray. I decided to enact my plan right here on Zenith. I would control not only the Seven Plains, but every Plain. I wouldn’t just be Wolf-Lord to some, I would be Wolf-Lord to all. I would give my Benefactor what they wanted. I would empower Them and through that link I would rule this Universe. Little could I have known that I would be so fortunate as to meet our friend Boyd. You see, no Lupus Superior ever returns to the world they Pupate on. When Martin saw me in my current form, he didn’t feel love. When I pulled him from his miserable existence to The Seven Plains, he tried to run from me, panicked with terror. He would never see me as Jellybean Jenkins. I was a monster. He felt fear, loathing, disgust. That’s the life of a Dog. They love us when we are docile and tame, and then they reject us in our true form. But with our new friend Boyd, this wasn’t the case. Here he was, another human, but without a bond. He was a unique opportunity. A unique chance to be the first Lupus ever to fill my anal glands with emotional energy after I finished Pupating. I underestimated how much I could use this power.”

Jellybean’s droning on and on had gotten to him again. Boyd had taken a class on Shakespeare in High School. He failed of course, but he tried to remember all the words from the class. Was it that iambic pentameter thing? What the flying fuck was it called? He could probably remember if this guy would just shut the fuck up, but he just kept talking.

Jellybean Jenkins walked between the members of the group. He stared Boyd in the eyes, “Certainly this one was afraid of me, but fear can be overcome with kindness. So I ingratiated myself to him, coddling and cajoling him into falling for me. Sleeping next to him. Enjoying his 'Good Boys' and his tummy scratches, all the while reaping his emotional energy and storing it. I sent the energy to my Benefactor and collected favor. By the time we finished the First Level, I was already more powerful than any of you. At this point I am more powerful than all of you.”

It was all his fault. If Boyd could’ve talked, he would’ve laughed.

Zina’s voice suddenly blasted into Boyd’s mind. He would’ve shrunk to the ground from the pain, but he was still frozen from the fear. That’s it. That’s it right there. That was the thing. Oh holy fuck it feels good to have this secret out. I was dying inside. That’s it. Man, you fucked up really bad on this one too. That dude is like omega-level powerful now. Listen, we can do this though. I can’t help yet, but I will be able to soon. Just focus and you can do this. Stay alive for the next few minutes and I’ll get back with you.

“So now here we are. You are all frozen in Fear and I am in the exact place I need to be to complete my task.” Jellybean Jenkins hands glowed back. He wiggled his fingers and then planted them in the dirt. He pulled out two enormous black spiders from the ground, yanking them out of the dirt by their mandibles. They chittered about and then skittered over to Fleon who they rapidly began wrapping in black silk. Boyd could see the panic in his eyes as the spiders loaded him onto their back. They walked him back towards Jellybean Jenkins and stood him up.

“Hello Fleon. I need your help with something. I think it will probably kill you, but fear not, your name will ring in the Seven Plains, far louder than your precious Ioer could ever do. Far greater than your miserable Filary could accomplish. Your death will be a great help to me.” He motioned towards his spiders, “Fetch me our new friends.”

The Decayed brought the five piles of Hillpeople flesh to the spiders who promptly carried them over to Jellybean Jenkins. The Decayed were clearly acting under Jellybean’s commands. Like any good Necromancer, converting them to his minions had been no trouble. “I had an idea for a little experiment Fleon. A test of sorts.”

The spiders brought the five writhing packages full of Hillpeople and set them in front of Jellybean Jenkins. He opened the first set of cloth and a Hillperson of some sort popped out. The creature swung its fists and feet at Jellybean futilely. He grabbed the creature by its throat and picked it up off the ground. It grunted and swung at him as best as he could. Jellybean began chanting under his breath until his hand glowed black. He extended a finger and pressed it into the Hillperson’s stomach. He ripped the finger upward, spilling the creature’s entrails out. Attached to the end of the finger was a glowing white spot that reminded Boyd of Shoal’s Soul. The little spiders knitted a web around the white glob, encasing it in black spidersilk. Jellybean chucked the husk of a corpse at the wall. The spiders brought him an additional bag and the same scene played out. For every Hillperson, Jellybean Jenkins spilled the creature’s guts and then ripped out the creature’s Soul. The spiders stowed the white glowing spots away, with the bag growing larger and larger with each addition. After the last Hillperson’s Soul was collected, the spiders brought the bag to Jellybean and dropped it at his feet. Jellybean scooped the bag off the ground and walked over to Fleon.

“We have to be gentle about this. I’d hate for this to become a struggle. I need you to be compliant,” Jellybean said.

The spiders slowly unwrapped Fleon’s head. They gently began unfurling his neck, pulling it up to its maximum height while sewing the shiny black thread around it to hold it in place. The end result was a spidersilk covered Fleon pointed directly in the air like an elongated cannon. The first spider pried open his jaw while the second spider shoved the silken bag into his mouth. The spiders closed his mouth and then began wrapping him tighter and tighter.

Fleon began to shake and rattle. His eyes went white the same time as the last time Boyd had seen him consume a Soul. The spiders used their front legs to initiate peristaltic movements in his throat that forced the Souls deep into Fleon’s gut. Fleon’s throat continued to undulate and bob like a boa constrictor trying to choke down a meal. Fleon’s body started convulsing and shaking before a white beam erupted from his mouth pointed directly upwards. The beam pulsated with intensity and was growing stronger by the second. Fleon’s Fear was broken. He was clearly back in control of his body, but he couldn’t shake the spidersilk and the pain had left him almost incapacitated, vomiting white light against his will.

High in the sky, beyond even his Venian eye’s range, Boyd saw the beam stopped. It was focused on a single spot that was glowing with heat. Jellybean Jenkins was smiling as he looked on. The spiders now stood next to him motionlessly awaiting orders.

Fleon’s skin began to melt off his face as the beam of pure whiteness continued, his dark hair singed down to the very tips. Overwhelmed by his condition, his neck fell sending the Combustion beam out into the valley. It blasted the valley walls. More Decayed fell out of the Cliffs from the new holes. Crypts and caves alike sprang open and Decayed poured out of them. Jellybean walked over to Fleon and grabbed him by the nape of his to point his head back towards the same spot in the sky. Jellybean’s hand was burning but, he held tightly and grimaced through the pain.

The straps on Fleon’s cuirass slowly melted until the buckle glowed white hot and burned into Fleon skin. His armour fell to the floor, his chest naked but for the white hot beam emanating from him. The beam continued to get brighter and brighter. Fleon was left in leg plates, burning so hot they had melted to his skin. His eyes were screaming in pain, but his mouth couldn’t form a sound. He writhed in agony, trying to regain some level of control. He tried to shove his mouth closed with his fists, but they flailed hopelessly. The spiders noticed his struggling and shot wrappings at him to try and contain his movements, propping him up like an old mannequin while Jellybean Jenkins pointed his head towards the sky.

Then it stopped.

The bright spot in the sky finally cracked. The beam continued out into space and the shards of invisible nothing fell around Boyd. He didn’t know what they were but he was being gently pelted with some invisible force. He was hoping it would break the Fear spell but it didn’t cause any damage. It was like being showered in glitter dust.

The dirt underneath their feet began to shake. A thousand Decayed corpses emerged from the hill above them in a perfect formation. They marched directly to Jellybean Jenkins and propped him up on their shoulders, then they began climbing on one another, lifting him farther and farther into the air. Jellybean stood unwaveringly upon the ball of Decayed as bones, flesh, and sinew all knitted themselves together. The ball of flesh grew and grew until Jellybean set atop a ball of bodies that was 20 feet in circumference, and dense as iron. A throne of bones and tissue appeared atop the ball and Jellybean set down upon it. “It’s a shame none of you can move. It would be customary to bow. A Wolf-Lord sits atop his throne before you, the first to crack the Salton Barrier. You sit in deference to the most powerful Necromancer in the Universe.” Jellybean Jenkins laughed which sounded like a mixture of yips and barks and growls. “Maybe you don’t recognize a king without an army? We can fix that I believe.”

Jellybean Jenkin’s eyes closed and he began to chant. The ground in front of him grew and grew until it formed a cone, a tiny volcano-like structure in the ground. The cone pulsed and then erupted in blood. It sloshed over the sides and covered everyone else in tiny splotches. The fountain glowed a deeper and more fluorescent color until it became so bright Boyd had to blink or it would burn his eyes.

The first capsule hit about six feet from him. It fell open to reveal what looked like a very large and very evil Beagle that immediately popped out and howled a horrible noise. The capsules kept hitting the ground for nearly a minute, each of them containing some sort of giant Dog-beast that resembled Jellybean Jenkins, but a slightly different breed of dog. The pack assembled in front of him, scratching, clawing, baying, and fighting. Boyd estimated there were at least 250 additional Dogs by the time the capsules stopped landing.

Jellybean motioned towards his spiders, “And you two, if you could quickly go switch those levers, I can sense an entire army awaiting me behind those cave walls. We should let that Dusk Dragon in that cage back there out as well, he might also be sympathetic to our cause.”

The spiders shook off the dirt and rock and quickly went down each side of the bubbles in the valley switching the levers from right to left. The doors closed behind them, but the crypts on either side of the valley opened. The Decayed poured out of all of them. They charged towards the living, crawling over one another, desperate to reach edible flesh.

Jellybean Jenkins chanted for a few seconds and then howled. The Decayed stopped running and formed a line along the edge of the valley. In the back of the valley, Boyd heard a massive Roar and the gigantic door flew open. From within, came a large grey and purple lizard. Tentacles covered its back. They grasped onto the nearby walls of the valley and pulled the Dragon forward.

Boyd thought that seemed bad. He quickly scanned the creature.

SYSTEM: Dusk Dragon [BOSS, SOUL CATCHER, DUSKY, RANK 133]. Dusk Dragons are an uncommon sight. Dragons in general aren’t that common, but the Dusky ones are a real treat. A true rarity. Unlike the monotone color-based Dragon clans such as Ruby or Sapphire, Dusk Dragons aren’t even real Dragons. They are swamp creatures who just happen to look a lot like a lizard. Whereas Dragons are usually thoughtful, rationale, reasonable creatures who just don’t want to be bothered, Dusk Dragons are less dangerous but far more aggressive. You can think of this creature as a thoughtless husk of a Dragon with one emotion, “Hungry”.

Boyd stared at the creature again after reading the Scan. What was monotone anyway? Wait a second! That’s it!

Rockrot hits you for 5 damage. Rockrot cannot be cured without Essence of Earth.

Your Fear is broken. You can move. You can act.

“I remember! It’s called Monologuing! That’s what the bad guys do. They Monologue. Got it. Man that was bothering me.” Boyd yelled.

Jellybean Jenkins looked at him from atop his throne.

Time stood still for an instant, then all hell broke loose.