Chapter 20: Escape
The metallic scent of blood greeted me as I left Svarem. The hounds' corpse lay sprawled in the center of the small room. Blue runes covering every surface provided a dim light,enough to make out the creature's emaciated body. To my relief, the pedestal standing against the far wall still had the sphere inlaid, preventing access to the room from outsiders.
Having already discussed the plan with Cal inside Svarem, I took Abyssius’s Soul Tether from my inventory. The writhing purple mass felt like flesh in my hand, and I grimaced as I prepared myself for what would come next.
I didn’t consider myself particularly squeamish or weak stomached, but the sensation of Abyssius interweaving himself with spirit and body at the same time was both unsettling and painful.
After a few minutes of quiet grunting and gritted teeth, the assimilation was complete. I could feel both Abyssius and Cal in my mind, and so I sent an impression to my new partner.
Stalk
Purple matter snaked from around my body to both hands. After a slightly disturbing grinding noise, the two fangs I'd grown accustomed to in my trials formed from the sludge.
Unwilling to waste more time, I stalked over to the only exit; a door formed from green energy.
I charged a needle in one dagger, and cloaked myself with Fade. As I reached for the sphere, I realized that I was unable to release my weapon. After a few moments of trying to pry the fang from my hand, Abyssius relayed what I could only describe as amusement, and the weapon disappeared from my grip.
Still staring at the forcefield, I scooped the orb out of its resting place. The door vanished, and I came face to face with some variety of abyssal creature. I paid the creature no attention as it stumbled backwards, raising a horn to its lips. Over the creature's shoulder I spotted the pedestal.
The aberrant horn blast cut off as a bolt of force shot past the creature's head and I flickered into view. I only had a moment to take in the look of surprise before I activated Shadow Needles blink.
As soon as I took in my surroundings, I slammed the sphere into place.
Nothing happened.
“That… is not good.” Cal said.
Examining the pedestal, my blood froze when I noticed hairline fractures in one side of the stone structure. The blue runes near the cracks were dim, and faint sparks flickered around the damaged area.
“Ok, next plan.” Cal said.
Looking up from the pedestal, I was surprised to see that I had drawn the attention of every abyss dweller in the room. Besides the creature that’d been guarding my room, several creatures were positioned at each of the room's other exits. Several of the Abyss Ogres I’d fought early lumbered towards me, their jutting tusks reminding me of a school of pufferfish.
“What plan is that, Cal?” I asked, glancing at the incoming creatures.
“Let's call it the Human vs. Ogre footrace plan”
I snorted and began to fade from view. As I neared invisibility, I began to run towards the stairs leading deeper into the abyss. Several seconds later, I spun and walked silently towards the stairs leading upwards.
Glancing over my shoulder, I had to hold in a snicker as the oafs swung clubs in the air fruitlessly. Their purple skin began to darken, and they let out bellows of frustration. Two stalky abyssal creatures guarded the stairs up. They stood shoulder to shoulder, perhaps in response to my disappearance. Though they vaguely resembled humans, the proportions of the creatures were very strange. The leftmost guard's legs were extremely heavily muscled, while its arms were spindly and fragile looking. The other guard possessed regular sized limbs, though its neck stretched at least half a yard long.
Though my footsteps were muffled while invisible, and the ogres roared, I still did not want to push my luck by approaching the guards.
Creating as much space as I could manage, I channeled mana into a Fang for Shadow Needle.
I sighed internally as my stealth held, mana now thrumming through my weapon.
Grimacing, I flicked my weapon towards the stairway, and a needle of force lodged itself onto the third stair.
Startled, the two guards spun in place, only to tilt their heads in confusion as they noticed the projectile.
Turning back around, the left guard muttered something guttural to the other.
“Trap”
Activating my blink, I quietly made my way up the stairs.
“Did I just understand their language Cal?”
“Indeed. As a native of the abyss, Abyssius understands many of the languages spoken there. As his Soulsworn, he allows you to understand and speak them as well.”
I pondered the implications of what Cal had said while I ascended the stairs. After only one close call with an Abyss Scavenger who I'd collided with as it was descending, I’d reached the top.
Another guard stood to the right of the landing, though thankfully not close enough to hear my faint footsteps as I crept past.
The rest of the journey out of the labyrinth went smoothly, at least until I reached the area the worm had devastated.
Someone had cleaned up the area the worm had burrowed through, and a frayed rope ladder lay against the stone wall on my right. While I was glad I wouldn’t have to find a way up, several abyssal creatures stood guard. A scavenger spoke to another one of the stalky humanlike guards.
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
I decided to inspect the strange humanlike creature.
{Angari Tribesman}
HP: 91/91
MP: 31/31
Type: Abyssian
Level: 8
Lore: Affected even more strongly by the mutagenic nature of the Abyss than most other inhabitants, each member of the Angari tribe is unique from their tribe mates in one way or another. Despite living in such a savage environment, the Angari have created something in the Abyss no other entity -sentient or unsentient- has managed; Civilization.
I pushed down the curiosity the bit of lore had blossomed, and searched for a method of escape.
“What are the chances of me successfully climbing the ladder without being noticed?”
After a few moments of silence in which I began to fear Cal was lounging about in Svarem, he replied.
“Unfortunately.. I can’t see an outcome other than alerting them.”
He mentally nodded to the Angari. “Whether you choose to climb the ladder or use your needle spell to teleport out, I believe the best case scenario is they detect you, but are unable to pinpoint your location before you escape. If your invisibility breaks, we’re back to the footrace plan.”
I bit the inside of my lip, considering which option was best. My eyes lit up as a third option presented itself in my mind.
“Locke, that will absolutely not work. Why would you even consi-”
Charging mana into both weapons, one dagger behind my back, I stepped dangerously close to the arguing Abyssians.
“BOO!” I shouted directly into the scavenger's face.
Flicking my weapons in different directions, I launched both needles.
The poor scavenger yelped and fell backward into the snow, burying itself headfirst. The three of the Angari drew crude weapons, and charged.
I vanished, appearing several yards further into the labyrinth, pointing a finger and belly laughing at the charging Angari. Before my second needle expired, I activated it, vanishing again.
As I heard the Angari barked out another challenge, their steps grew fainter as they headed further into the labyrinth.
Hanging from a brick at the top of the collapsed entrance, I sighed and pulled myself up. Reapplying Fade, I glanced around, muscles still tense.
Considering the horde that spilled from the portal when I reached the end of the labyrinth, I was surprised to not see a single Abyssian on the surface.
“Where did they all run off to?” I asked Cal.
“Ah. You don’t know any of the Anathi’s history, do you?” He replied.
I shook my head. The only references to “Anathi” I’d heard of were the frost lake and the sword I’d looted from the labyrinth beneath the ruins.
“The short version is they were a people that occupied this region of Cairos long before the construction of Terris. Their civilization was destroyed when the Abyss was created. A pocketworld so large and complex that some of it overlapped with our world. Abyssians spilled out of these “overlaps” into Cairos much like they have today, albeit on a much larger scale. Abyssians recent humankind for their creation. Stranded in a world of constant strife and uncertainty, it is a wonder any civilization has taken root at all. ”
His presence in my mind had darkened, but with a cough he continued.
“Sorry. The details are unimportant right now, but suffice it to say; they will look to raid any civilization they come across.”
A puzzle piece fell into place for me, and my eyes widened.
“Indeed. Assuming they’re not already sieging Terris, they’re likely establishing a base of operations somewhere near the city.”
I need to warn Sev
A pang of sadness shot through me as what I said registered. I was somewhat surprised to feel bad about the death of an NPC in a video game, but nothing I’d experienced so far felt fake. Sure, I knew the magic and monsters were obviously fictional. But the way the monsters and NPC acted, it felt so natural and genuine that I wasn’t sure I’d be able to pick them out of a lineup of humans from earth. If I had been born in Daedalus Online, would I think the humans on earth were fake?
Shaking off the heavy existential questions, I began to make my way out of the ruins.
As I was more than a little shaky on how to get back to Terris, I was glad to learn that Cal did know. In fact, he seemed to know the geography of Cairos very well considering he was essentially a ghost crammed into a crown.
After an hour of fairly uneventful travel, my trudging through snow halted as I spotted ruins through the frozen trees. After staring for a moment, the familiar shape of the buildings shocked me into motion.
“Do you know this place?” Cal asked.
“Yea, this is where our party was surrounded by wolves. Sev created a portal to escape. Carrie and I went through. He didn’t.”
I darted through the crumbling buildings, preparing myself for the gruesome sight that I knew must wait for me.
“Wasn’t Sev a city guard?”
“Guard Captain, but yes, he was.” I replied.
I turned a corner, and the crumbling structure we’d taken our last stand in came into view.
“A guard captain teleported, you?” Cal asked, his voice disbelieving.
“Uh, yea.. what's so strange about that?” I asked.
Approaching the doorway of the ruin, I noticed several wolf corpses. I smiled sadly.
At least he took some of them down with him..
I stopped at the entrance. The wolves were facing away from where he had made our last stand.
“Teleportation is generally considered to be in the domain of Archmages, Locke.”
Stumbling over a corpse, I entered the room.
Wolves lined the floor like carpet. After a quick count, I arrived at about two dozen.
“How much do you know about this “guard captain”” Cal asked.
“He convinced another captain to let me into Terris the night I arrived in Cairos. Besides a few other interactions, that's it.” I said out loud.
After the shock wore off, I checked under every corpse, but there was no sign of Sev.
“Isn’t it odd?” Cal asked.
“Yea, I had no idea Sev was powerful enough to pull something like this off.”
“Not that. There’s no blood.”
I paused. He was right. Besides a few corpses that could be attributed to Carrie or I, the corpses of the wolf had no blood. In fact, they had no wounds on them at all.
“The only wounds they have are those strange patches of ice..” Cal mumbled to himself.
“Those aren’t wounds. Or at least, not ones inflicted by us. These creatures were afflicted by something called the “Iceblood Curse”.”
I felt Cal’s presence stiffen.
“I see. I assume you don’t know more about it?” He asked.
“Nope. The worm that chased me into the ruins also had it, and a much worse case of it as well.
After a moment of silence, I realized Cal wasn’t going to say anything.
“Have you heard of it?” I asked.
“No.”
I raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything. I didn’t think he was lying per se, but he certainly knew something.
With no reason to stay at the ruins, and one very important reason to make it back to Terris, I continued my journey home.