Jellybean Jenkins:
Jellybean Jenkins felt himself being lifted out of his body. Zil’zeluzan did not request meetings or answer summons. He plucked you directly from wherever you stood to wherever he was, and there you were. Jellybean Jenkins approached Zil’zeluzan with defiant reverence, hiding his indignity as best he could. He hated the creature. He wanted nothing more than to watch it squirm a slow and painful death. When he controlled Zenith his first action would be to bring his full force to bear upon this creature until it begged for mercy and then he would kill it.
“Zil’zeluzan, my Lord, you beckoned me.”
“Why did you have the Filary destroy the Salton Barrier?”
“I believed this to be our goal. You stated as much. Why do it myself if I can command another, a lesser being, to do this for me?”
“Hmmm… a novel choice Jellybean Jenkins. You sent another to perform your task because they were more able. This is delegation.” The massive pile of black tentacles thumped the ground. “But I do not need lieutenants.” The creature shot out a black tentacle and grabbed Jellybean before he could move. “The price for defiance is death.”
The tiny prods on Zil’zeluzan tentacles started to protrude, lancing Jellybean Jenkin’s skin. The tentacle swarmed over his body, leaving small bits of rended flesh. The wounds began bleeding faster and faster, but Jellybean wasn’t going to let him see the pain. He wouldn’t give him that satisfaction.He grunted, “This was the most effective and fastest way. I live to serve your goals.” He spat the last word, “Mi’Lord.”
Zil’zeluzan tossed him to the ground. “Do not let the Paladin die. We may have use for him yet. You are dismissed.”
Jellybean Jenkins focused his mind on Zenith and left the immortal realm of Zil’zeluzan.
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Ioer comtemplated this change. The Wolf had done It a favor. It would’ve been hard to convince the Paladin to destroy the Salton Barrier, even as sniveling as it was. The Wolf didn’t need to know that though.
Watching Its two servants struggle against each other was enjoyable. It would let this continue as long as it needed. Good help was hard to find.
Fleon:
The Wolf-Lord has encased him in an impenetrable amount of spidersilk. He struggled day and night at first, but he had long since lost the strength to struggle. He could feel himself atrophying. It wasn’t the lack of movement. It was the lack of Her.
Ioer had not spoke to him in weeks. He had lost Her. He had failed Her. He had failed The Filary. He would be known as a laughingstock, his Soul removed for Combustion if he ever made it home.
No.
A High Paladin does not give up.
A High Paladin steels himself against the forces of evil.
He was here on Ioer’s Holy Quest. Not even the Empress knew his true reason for this Foray. He was here for Ioer alone. He would overcome the Wolf-Lord, fight his way free, recruit a new Foray and proceed to the final Level of Zenith. There he would fulfill his destiny. He would break the chains on Zil’zeluzan’s jail, he would stride into the High Evil’s chamber, and with the light of Ioer at his back, he would purge the world of Zil’zeluzan’s presence forever. They would liberate the entirety of Zenith’s Mana for the Filary and only then would Ioer embrace him, and he would live forever in the light of her bosom.
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Fleon continued his prayers. Ioer would answer. When it was time, Ioer would answer.
Gmol:
It took days to fully reclaim the entire battlefield. He didn’t spend time counting the corpses or anything like that, but they were plentiful, far more than he could find in most places. Zenith was paying off, and by the time he finished reclaiming the whole battlefield, he had everything he needed.
He had made record time on this cycle.
He wouldn’t need to mitose again, instead he began forming the Coenocyte.
This cycle was over.
Lomg was coming.
Salia Slitt:
“Eralia, are you there or not?”
Eralia’s voice crackled through the radio, “I’m here.”
“How’s are we doing? That was…unanticipated.”
“Mostly fine. Venia got a bunch more people in when the Barrier broke. Our competition just went up.”
“Has anyone figured us out yet?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“Hey Salia, are you okay? It looked like you took a hell of a beating up there. How’s your VMR?”
Salia was bandaging her wounds. Her thorax was crushed in a few spots, but she’d live. She looked over at the VMR next to her. It was barely functioning.”
“I might need your help with parts. It’s gonna need some work,” Salia said.
“I doubt I can make that happen. I’d like to help but it’s risky. Our deal is still on, but if you can’t make it, I have no choice but to do this without you.”
“Fair enough. Just promise me something. If I don’t make it, use it on the Saldez first.”
“Deal.”
“Deal.”
Boyd:
Boyd was still shitting out remnant Jett crystals. The diarrhea was debilitating and the bits of black rock were like shitting out tiny pieces of crushed diamonds. His asshole was a disaster.
Zina thundered into his head, “You probably should’ve taken the frog’s offer.”
“Mind turning that down a bit? Also I got other stuff to do first. He’ll be around if I had to guess.”
“The plan worked at least. You have 196 Ranks to train.”
“Yea, I guess that outta be fun. Nice call on the ring.”
“You also have a gonzo amount of achievements. You might be the first to acquire many of those.”
“Yea, I guess that’s something.”
“It’s more than something. Some of them will likely come with some serious rewards. I am not talking about Titles either, I’m talking gold, experience, items, etc…”
Boyd wiped his ass again. It was burning like mad. He hoped this would stop soon. His head remained empty for a bit. He didn’t have much to say at this point, his mind was on his innards being shredded. He was trying to figure out if he could Manatap the pain away.
“Do you have a plan?” Zina asked.
“Well, just to recap, I am sitting here shitting my brains out in the abandoned wreckage of some sort of space cruiser while I talk to the lady computer voice in my head, and I ain’t even got no TP so I still haven’t figured out how I’m gonna wipe. I am stuck on this planet or whatever this is, and the people I came with have all basically given up on one another, with the exception of the evil Dog creature who has kidnapped the guy who pulled my eye out, who is probably the biggest asshole I ever met. A frog Sorceror who seems to use water to do anything he wants has asked me to help him rescue the asshole who pulled my eye out, but on the other hand, the Dog creature seems to be the only one who might be able to help me get home so maybe I should be on his team. Both of them want to kill me, and I’m not entirely sure that frog doesn’t too. The mechanical bird woman is missing, the mushroom thing is currently in some sort of cocoon state and won’t move. The planet’s been invaded by God knows how many extra creatures, all of whom are probably interested in killing me as well. So I guess I haven’t quite figured out my next move yet. Maybe get something to eat I guess. I’m hungry.”
“My offer hasn’t changed. I can get you home.”
“Really? How’s that gonna happen?”
Zina sighed, “I need you to kill a God.”
The mark on Boyd’s chest started to burn. “Oh yea? Cause believe it or not? I might actually have a plan for that.”