Ione, camouflaged, watched as the soldiers got ready to leave. Tervail watched her sometimes, but she paid him no mind. He knew where he stood and she had sowed the seeds of dissent. It was only a matter of time before the seeds grew into towering trees. Unless, of course, he got himself killed.
The incessant bang of the battering ram was gone, and the clamor of soldiers slowly dwindled as they began the long trek back to Golden Heights.
She had watched, relentlessly. Her word was ironclad. Except when it came to her survival. She often contemplated reneging on the deal with the Treller for her continued survival, and for its own. Though she had already promised two people the Treller would be gone, so she felt like she had to go through with it.
Even though she didn’t like it.
Briefly, Ione wondered if she was considered a murderhobo. She was, technically, homeless, and she did kill someone in cold blood.
Anger filled her. Redecan deserved it. It did really grind her gears with how easily disposable other people treated the lives of their fellow man. The Treller was strong. More so now than ever, and they wanted to go and try to kill it when it was at its strongest? She couldn’t fathom it. They had plenty of chances beforehand.
Regardless, none of them would have survived. No wonder why they kept forcing girls to bear children. With leadership like that, the need for soldiers would be unending.
And, it was.
Though, now, she had a name to go with the leadership up top that sanctioned the whole damn thing.
The Hynedell Family. Royals.
Somehow, it’s always the obscenely rich people fucking shit up for the rest of us.
She thought about it some more.
They're probably the original mind controllers. They have to be. Who would have a need for royal puppets when you can just mind control people into believing you are royal in the first place?
She wasn’t sure how well she’d fare against an entire kingdom, and her mind went to Jahren, Daniah, Trikka and Kraylin. Ione wondered how they were doing; If they had developed a resistance, or maybe, Ione thought optimistically, they had already found a resistance. Despite her immense power, she couldn't take on an entire city, and she needed people to make sure civilians and the like weren’t collateral damage in the inevitable battle.
A thought came unbidden into her mind. What if they were dead?
Ione shuddered. She hoped not, then immediately thought of something else.
She checked the rewards for her newest quest for the tenth time.
Rewards: 75,000 EXP, +80 attribute points, ???
Like any other time, she was annoyed. The costs of leveling up were growing, and once she received the rewards for the third dungeon she estimated that 75 thousand would be one, maybe two levels. She internally groaned, but otherwise accepted it. No use crying when the class she had was absurdly powerful and versatile at such a low level.
Her eyes tracked each and every soldier as they made their way toward the direction of Golden Heights, a location she circled on the map as one of the destinations of interest. There was one other place that she wanted to go to after dealing with the Treller and the dungeons.
Sunlit Homestead.
Osmen’s last known location. She had also circled the destination on her map. If Ione could somehow bring Osmen back, especially with the Broccoli of Beginning she had received after killing the priest, then she could have another ally to fight by her side.
She thought for a bit, then groaned.
Ione realized she had never accepted the Broccoli of Beginning or the Lucky Ring. She quickly did so.
You have picked up {{Broccoli of Beginning}}
A sublime piece of broccoli. May allow a class change if you are lucky enough.
Eat?
How convenient that it gave me a lucky ring along with it, Ione thought. It was obvious who she was going to use it on. She examined the lucky ring.
You have picked up {{Lucky Ring}}
Boosts luck in dire encounters.
Place in gear? (Must wear item)
Well. I’m stupid.
She immediately put it on. There wasn’t any drastic difference that she could feel, but it made her feel just a bit more confident in her survival.
The last soldier left her enhanced eyesight, and she quickly made her way to the Treller’s home.
~~~~~
“I’m noticing a distinct lack of Spewn,” Ione ventured as she entered the cellar-like structure of what Ione now figured was the Treller’s bedroom, of which the Treller sat in it’s circular root bed.
It was something that kept creeping into her consciousness as, strangely enough, she started to slightly miss the little green goblin. Or whatever it was. She had never actually seen what Spewn looked like under the vines and leaves.
“Spewn is on a mission,” The Treller droned.
“Oh.” Ione tilted her head, she wanted to ask ‘for what?’ Yet, she knew she would be overstepping her bounds. “Well, okay. Do you know when Spewn will be back?”
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It shook its head.
She deflated. “Oh. Well, I just wanted to let you know that the humans outside the wall are gone.”
“Gone?”
She nodded. “There’s no longer humans patrolling the domain’s barrier. I may have had a talk, and may have beheaded somebody, but I managed to get them to leave. They were going to break in and try to kill you after your…powerup.”
It nodded in contemplation. Then leaned back. “I thank you for your protection, although I did not need it. Were you trying to protect the humans as well? From me?”
Ione knew why it asked that, but she answered honestly. “Yes. And from me, too. I’ve told you about the mind control. Who knows how many of them wanted to be soldiers? Throw in some hardcore propaganda and they’re beings that most likely don't realize that the lies they've been told are just that, lies. Some of them will be rotten to the core, but they will be dealt with accordingly. If our…encounter goes…in my favor,” Ione said hesitantly, “then I hope to end the three most pressing issues of human society: war, mind control and by extension, propaganda.”
The Treller thought. “Could the elves have been victimized by such circumstances as well?”
Ione tilted her head and sat down after she realized they would be in for a long conversation. “They could be, I’m not sure. I actually don’t know very much about elven culture.”
“They are a culture that values physical strength and resilience. While generally peaceful, they leave their young in the forest of solitude to see if they have the fortitude to survive.”
Ione frowned. That’s kind of fucked up.
“Forest of Solitude?” Ione asked.
The Treller, wistfully, said, “I had visited the location once. Long ago, as I’m sure you can imagine. The area is not only rife with beasts, but with dungeons as well. The younglings take refuge in the dungeons more often than not, but even then, some cannot escape death.”
“But besides that, they’re peaceful? Er- were?” She asked.
“Yes. They hold incredible reverence for their land, and the God of Terra, Geodra, they worshiped. We often traded stories and knowledge. Before the culling.”
“Where were humans in this?”
“Humans kept to themselves for the most part, ever focused on expanding their empire, they had no use for such things from beings such as us.”
Ione interrupted. “I'm sure some of them would have wanted to join you. Not all of us want to divide and conquer. In fact, I'd wager most of us don’t. It’s just…people who have no problem taking control, abuse that control over the rest of the people.”
“Control for the sake of control, or control for something else?”
Ione shrugged. “Both.”
“Then there should be safeguards for both. You plan to kill those who have perpetuated depraved acts against your fellow man, but is that all you plan to do?”
Well, when the Treller put it that way, she had no choice but to think deeper. “Maybe it’s not enough for me to just kill those responsible. Don’t get me wrong, the Lyndel family should die. But, I suppose, there needs to be laws, or, or policies, or something, that prohibits people from working against their fellow humans. Controlling them. Making them susceptible to propaganda. I wouldn’t be surprised, once I integrate myself into human society, that there would be snitches that will try to get any dissenters arrested,” Ione added with a gesture.
“There are those that will see those safeguards only as hurdles to jump over in their quest for power and control. What would you implement to circumvent that?”
Ione understood why the Treller was asking these questions. It was obvious that the being wanted her to change human society in the wake of its self-assured demise, but the question that remained, was why? Why would the Treller care about changing humanity for the better when it held such a deep grudge against them. Did it accept her words as fact, and change its perspective, or was it something else?
“Why do you want human society to change?”
“Because I hope beings like myself never have to experience what I have gone through. The spread of humans is inevitable. I have accepted that. I’m confident that you will end the war, but am I confident in your abilities to change society permanently? No.” It said bluntly. “Most of history has a pattern, we will even repeat a portion of it, but it’s not enough to simply kill those who have enacted those injustices you speak of.”
“After the culprits have been killed there has to be multiple groups that focus on safeguarding humanity. Historians that can freely point out the hubris of certain actions made by idiots in power. Researchers where their research actually holds weight in society.” Ione stood up and paced. “Of course, I think they would have to go through a series of tests to make sure they don’t have any prejudice, but that would easily be ascertained from implicit words and explicit actions.”
“How would you be certain that anyone in government is telling the truth?”
Ione stopped. Her mind raced. Then, she had an idea. “Maybe an object, tamper proof, that can discern whether something someone says is a truth or a lie. I have skills that could help with that, but for a council to be held in check? That would do wonders. Like a magical polygraph, but it’s for whoever is in government.” Ione believed that there should be a council, full of elected people with different backgrounds that could replace the current political family. Historians and researchers would be there to help aid policy change, and to avoid past mistakes from history. This magical polygraph would help in avoiding misinformation, and create a government based on truth. Of course, Ione knew she was perhaps being a little too optimistic and possibly naive, but she had to think of something.
“Who would make this object?”
“I don’t fucking know,” Ione said with amusement, before she realized what she was in the presence of. “Oh, sorry for the language.”
“I do not care about the blasphemy. I am content in knowing that you have some semblance of a plan. I am sure that you will be able to figure out the intricacies.”
She nodded, and the Treller continued. “Were what I had wished come to be, humans would have been annihilated. As such, I now wish for them to simply change. I believe you, Ione, when you say that you think they are more than murderous creatures who wish to dominate the land and every being within it. That humans have the potential for change. When I die, show my spirit the drive of humanity that you have within you and birth a new nation devoid of hatred and fear of the other.”
Ione gazed into the eyeholes of the Treller’s mask. An abyss stared back, but she nodded nonetheless. “I’ll certainly try.” Its head bobbed with a gentle nod, and Ione fell silent. The Treller seemed content to rest in companionable silence.
~~~~~
When it was time for Ione to leave, the Treller asked her one last question. “How is levelling up?”
She shrugged. “Could be worse.” It certainly wasn’t good, but it certainly wasn’t bad. She held out hope that the third dungeon would prove worthwhile. Now, if the Treller had asked her if she felt prepared to face it, she would have said no. Ione did not want to kill the Treller. She valued its wisdom and its presence, though it craved death, and so she felt compelled to give it what it wanted: a battle where it could fight back, a chance not afforded to its slain kin.
The promise of an interesting reward certainly didn’t drive her, as well.
“That, is rather, disappointing.”
She nodded and dusted herself off as she got to her feet. “Eh. It’s not the end of the world. I’ve got some upgrades that I want to try out some more, so there’s that to look forward to, and I also haven’t accepted the rewards from the third dungeon,” Ione said with a pleased smile.
Silence greeted Ione and her smile faded.
It was time to go.
Her feet pivoted and she made a few steps towards the exit before she heard the Treller’s voice again. “The next time we meet, it will most likely be as adversaries. Thank you, Ione, for what you have given me.”
Ione’s chest constricted and her throat closed. “Anytime,” she managed to choke out, and threw a watery smile over her shoulder.
Goddammit. Piece of fucking shit, making me feel bad all of a sudden.
The Treller sat there in its nest. Alone. In complete tranquility.
Ione wanted to yell at it. Scream some damn sense into the being, question why it was so calm about its impending death, but she knew that would only start the fight, and subsequently force her to finish it. Something in her refused to do it. Not yet, at least.
Some of her bitterness leaked out. “I hope you’re happy, at least”
“I will be, Ione.”
She didn’t know what to say to that.