Snapping me out of my trance was Mokoto, Quickstepping at the flame-embroidered lady, his body shimmering with a faint glow of Willpower. But the lady effortlessly knocked him away with an invisible force of power.
Mokoto somersaulted and recovered to his feet,
MOKOTO
Ya'll get out of here!
He prepared to charge in again, a broad grin on his face—had he no fear?
MOKOTO
We'll take care of this!
I was able to suppress my panic and let fear fuel my urge to get as far away from this lady as possible. Mokoto was an idiot. I did not come here to face Ire directly but to get a glimpse of where she might have been hiding.
To think she would just appear out of nowhere—unpredictable. I forced myself to my feet and grabbed hold of Panuka. I clenched my jaws in determination as I carried Panuka and Quickstepped alongside Mantis toward the camp. In our haste, we stepped over one of Mokoto's party members—the right side of his body torn apart.
The imagery of the torn body flickered in my mind as I glanced up at two more members of Mokoto's party suspended into the air by the earthly spikes.
MANTIS
We're just going to leave—
HILROY
Yes!
I shouted. There was no way in the nine realms of limbo that I would pit my party against that monster.
HILROY
We don't stand a chance!
We caught up to Drago, who was running alongside Farengar. We nearly crashed into the husky body of Bolin, who faced us with his permanently squinted eyes.
BOLIN
Ya'll fucking around—
DRAGO
Ire is here!
Drago bellowed, and Bolin's eyeslids pulled apart,
BOLIN
Ire! What?
And he joined us in our mad sprint to meet up with the camp.
BOLIN
Where's Mokoto?
He shouted from our rear.
DRAGO
Probably dead!
We nearly tumbled down the hill's slope, and at the foot of the mound, I came to a stop to set Panuka down. I gasped for air, drenched in sweat, and my hands trembled as I tried to wipe my brow.
BIGGS
What's going on? What was that quake?
He stopped feeding his horse to ask us.
DRAGO
Ire is here!
Without stopping, Farengar and his remaining counterpart went for one of Link's pull horses.
LINK
What do you think you're doing?
He shouted, sitting up in the wagon. Farengar's counterpart took out his sword and whipped it through the breechings, freeing the horse. Within that second, I decided—I picked up Panuka and went for Biggs' horse.
BIGGS
Don't you dare!
I swung my feet into the side of his face.
PANUKA
What are we doing?
She cried out as I tossed her onto the horse.
HILROY
Getting out of here alive!
I whipped my sword out and sliced through the breechings. Mantis looked around with worry and uncertainty. He watched Drago and his gents retrieve their horses, and then his eyes fell on the fearful faces of the kids. Just then, the ground began to tremble.
HILROY
Mantis!
I shrilled. The fearful crack in my voice shook Mantis back into reality, and he bolted for the second horse I had recently freed.
The ground exploded beneath Drago's party, and two massive mounds of dirt arose in the form of giant hands. Lionel and Grey were grabbed and lifted into the air. Their screams pounded into my ears as I slapped the hind of Panuka's horse and hopped on.
Into the dark, we chased after Farengar. His counterpart was steering the horse, guided by his lit torch. The ground trembled as if a giant stomped the land behind us, and I turned back to witness a deadly spire riddled with spikes ripping through the camp. The wagon, supplies, and mangled bodies rain down in the soft light of the destroyed campfire.
Appearing from out of the cloud of debris, Drago, Tempest, and Bolin galloped after us.
DRAGO
Fucking aye! Ya fucking bastards! Just leaving us to fucking die?
He shouted and followed it with a stream of incoherent curses.
FARENGAR
Can it move any faster!?
I heard him scream before the ground trembled again, and spires of earthly spikes began to pierce into the sky from behind us.
HILROY
Follow me!
I ordered. I could see the ground warp before me, allowing me to predict and maneuver around the spikes before they formed. The sound of lightning boomed out from behind me, but I ignored it, focusing on steering around the mounds of warping dirt.
Mantis' cry of pain caught my ears, and I turned back—my heart skipped a beat to see Mantis impaled—I blinked—no, thank the gods. His horse had been pierced, and he had grabbed hold of the spire.
He then hopped from one spire of spikes to another, making his way down to the ground before Quickstepping after us. Emerging from the web of spires and spikes upon his horse, Drago reached out a hand—
DRAGO
Over here!
Mantis grabbed hold and swung himself onto Drago's horse.
DRAGO
Throw it, Tempest!
TEMPEST
Whatever ya'll do!
He shouted,
TEMPEST
Don't look back!
As if I wanted to as I stared straight ahead into murky darkness before a sudden burst of blinding light emitted from behind me. The blinding light lit up the night so brightly it was as if the sun was right behind us. A soft wave of warmth washed over me—what the hell did Tempest do? I fought against the urge to look behind me.
The ground became motionless. Drago was joyfully letting off a tirade of curses. Panuka cried into her hands and the sound of hooves drummed to the beating of my heart. As I gripped the reins, I attempted to lock my arms around Panuka. I'm so sorry, I thought—we should've never come down here.
*****
Respectfully, I ignored Mokoto and his party when they arrived at the foot of the hill north of my lair. I figured they were simply camping out, so I kept to myself. They refused to move further deep, and after eavesdropping with my ghost, I learned they were merely waiting for guards to relieve them.
And so, I waited for the guards to come because I was more willing to kill the city's guards over clueless adventurers being used as pawns. But instead of guards, more adventurers came, bringing a group of annoying miners.
They were detecting the iron veins below, and I began to formulate a plan to send a few black arachnids to scare them away. But as a new day came and gone, my ghost emerged to see more adventurers and another wagon.
I was beyond annoyed and cursed myself for not slaughtering Mokoto's party from the start. But as I floated to the ceiling of my Lair's Chamber and Shadow Phased into the ceiling, I saw the positive side of things; I had more bodies to offer the sapling.
So, I lurked beneath the feet of two adventurers distant from the camp. A gent and a lady, seemingly fond of each other. While occasionally returning to my lair for air, I watch them closely. They were distancing themselves further from the camp as the night went on. A few more adventurers noticed them and joined up with them. Hmph, as they say, the more, the merrier.
I commanded the ground to chaotically rip up into the sky. Three were caught and swiftly killed. As two adventurers bolted off to flee, I emerged from the ground into the pit of the night.
I floated toward them upon my sword and studied their terrorized faces through the dark with my Petty Night Vision. Some were sprawled on the ground while others stumbled, attempting to light their torches.
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Allow me to help, I thought as I conjured Fire from my hand and formed it into dense tendrils at my back. To my surprise, Mokoto, the one I had decided to spare, came flying at me. I glared at him, blasting him away with Telekinesis.
He recovered with a somersault and bellowed at the others to flee before charging in again, his sword glowing with a faint aura of Willpower. Pushing at him with a wave of Telekinesis did not work as he sliced through and went for my neck.
I took the blow to my Willpowered neck and smiled at the fear that distorted Mokoto's face.
PAIN
Too late to be afraid now.
I flexed my claws and stabbed at him—I missed as he swiftly retreated, and two of his remaining members, Felix and Vernoe—Gents, Kinans, Warriors, Thirty-one, and Thirty, attempted to flank me.
I reached, telekinetically grabbing hold of Mokoto, and forced him back to me. Mokoto, unable to escape, decided to commit and charge along. He swung his Willpowered sword, and I grabbed it with my bare hands.
Felix and Vernoe closed in. I Teleported Mokoto and myself two meters back, out of harm's way. Mokoto attempted to bash me with his buckler, but I beamed fire from my eyes, through his buckler, and into his face. His scream of agony echoed through the night sky. I swung a leg forcefully between his legs—feeling the complete crushing of testicles on my shin.
He squealed and doubled over, passing out from the pain. Felix and Vernoe resumed their charge while I glanced out the visions of my ghost; the ones that fled made it to the camp. I had no time to play around. So, I formed a Fire Sword, allowing the heat to burn the air and ground, momentarily setting everything and everyone on fire.
While they were screaming in agony, I swiftly extinguished my sword, hopped down, and commanded the soil beneath their feet to cave in and imprison them in solid dirt. I called down my specters to shower them in Fear while I Phased into the ground and went after the camp.
From the eyes of my ghost, the kinans displayed their selfishness. I watched, unvexed, how the adventurers stole the horses for themselves to flee. I extended my staff from within the soil and formed the earth into loose sand. Two adventurers succumbed, and I clenched my staff, forming hands of sand that took them airborne—only to let them fall moments later.
Left behind, I spotted children, two adults, and an elderly gent in the camp. But I had no remorse as they fought over the last horse, pulling and tugging on the injured beast. Disgusted, I swam below them and expended the mana in my staff to bring forth a towering spire of dirt. It pierced the sky, ripping through the camp and sending their mangled bodies into the air. Moving on, I swam after those fleeing adventurers.
It was difficult, but I commanded the earth to rupture before them, attempting to throw them off their horses or slow them down. I emerged from the soil and spotted Farengar, Lady/Gent, Kinan, Mage/Scribe, Thirty-nine, upon the back of a horse.
Distracted by his dual sex, he turned and shot bolts of lightning from out his withered staff. Luckily, the bolts were scattered, allowing just a few to hit me. The light of the attack momentarily canceled my Phasing and numbed my muscles.
I sent my sword ahead to pierce into him, but of course, he quickly formed a wall-sized mana barrier to deflect my blade. Hmph, I should have used Willpower. The numbing effects of the lightning faded, and I Phased into the ground.
I prepared my mana, ready to collapse the entire ground beneath them, but a sudden blanket of black covered the surface. Light? Then, I felt several of my ghosts instantly burn away.
Searching through the eyes of my wraiths that lingered further away, I saw an expanding dome of blinding light at the tail of the adventures that lit up the night.
What in damnations is that? My mind raced while I attempted to swim faster after them. I phased through several burrows of rabbids as I gave chase, but the surface above me was a blanket of black, and I was running out of air. The only resurfacing areas ahead of me came from the flickering shadows of their torches, but as my air ran out, I was tugged backward.
With Petty Shadow Phase canceled, I was forced out of the shadow of one of my earthly spires. Hurling through the air, I called my sword and caught myself. I watched them as I floated in the cold breeze, specks of flickering flames fleeing toward the city.
It was in my ability to go after them, but greed got the best of me, and I decided to let them go. I knew it was a risk because after they passed on the news, dangerous people like Cain or even the Black Knight could come for my head. But then there were those curious adventurers—idiots who strive to test their might—those I will wait for.
Later that night, I was resting outside in the woods, just across from the Incomplete Seedling of Lek, with little orbs of flames dancing around the clearing. Left of me, a pile of clothing and weapons next to a pile of blood-drained bodies—boys and gents from the camp.
An enormous blob of blood hovered behind me, leaking a thin stream that flowed slowly into my mouth. The remaining fighters were stripped and bound with arachnid webbing to pillars of stone opposite me—their hands and feet sliced off and cauterized to prevent any heroic acts.
I was waiting for them to wake as I looked through the eyes of my ghosts. My ghosts were watching the adventurers camped mid-way from the city. They still have a half-a-day's worth of travel to get back.
None but the two lovers were talking. Though their whispers were too low to hear. As for my ghosts lurking around the city, I spied on Cain, and as usual, the bastard was awake. He was sitting in his chair reading a book while writing notes in another blank book—Ah!
I laughed to myself,
PAIN
Was he really spell-writing right now?
My smile faded as I reoriented my gaze before me—Mokoto was stirring awake. He looked at me in confusion, then down, and then at his missing arms and legs before wailing out in pain.
I stared at him for a while, watching him struggle to loosen himself—it was slightly amusing. Reminded me of the tiny larvae caught in the webs of the Fire Kingdom's mess hall. His wails woke the other six webbed against earthly pillars, and a chorus of stuttering cries filled the night.
PAIN
Well, the peace is gone.
I sat upright, and Mokoto's face became frantic, jerking his limbless torso around as he cursed his luck relentlessly.
PAIN
Seems like the poison has done its course.
But to ensure he understood there was no hope for him or any other damned kinan who wanted to invade my home, I formed a tiny ember of flame and hovered it into his stomach.
He screamed out in agony—
PAIN
I figured you could scream louder.
My forest arachnid appeared behind them, its towering demeanor frightening the crying ones into a frenzy.
BIGGS
MOKOTO! YOU BASTARD!
Biggs, Gent, Kinan, Miner/Mason, Forty-One painfully roared a bloody curse at Mokoto.
BIGGS
This is all your damned fault! All you had to do was stay at the damned camp!
MOKOTO
You were the damned fucker who came to abuse my stake!
Mokoto bit back with veins bulging as he strained his neck to face Biggs.
MOKOTO
Ya cursed yourself, ya fucking greedy bastard!
My arachnid retrieved Lionel—secreting oil onto its webbing to pry them off.
MOKOTO
Wait—Please!
He screamed at me, and I halted my arachnid. I eyed Mokoto with contempt, waiting for him to continue.
MOKOTO
Spare my gents! The bastards were just following me! Let me die in their place! Torture me if needed!
I took a moment to respond as I stared into Mokoto fierce gaze. He had no fear. But having no fear was a dangerous trait to have. If he had fear, he would have left, fled, ran, or strived to live another day like the other adventurers. But no. The bastard ran head-first into danger. A gent who had no regard for his own life does not deserve to have a life... I guess.
PAIN
You are not a slaver.
I finally responded. His face furled in confusion,
MOKOTO
What!?
I studied Lionel's fear and Recalled how he swung for my head. Mokoto and his entire party sought to take life. I was immortal, and I could now spare those who sought to harm me with the intent to kill. But the stinging pain of my right arm and eye continued to warn me about the other fates worse than death. I could be dismembered, tortured, cursed, or sealed...
PAIN
Your party sought to take my life. They all attacked me on their own accord. You did not force them or threaten them. None of them stood back or spoke against invading my lair.
Determination left Mokoto's eyes, and Lionel began to whimper and squirm within the arachnid's grasp. I pulled away my gaze and took a deep breath. I should not be talking to them. I fear their voices might tempt my decision, but...
PAIN
But even so, why would I spare you or your party over Biggs—
BIGGS
Yes—Yes!
He interrupted.
BIGGS
Please—we meant you no harm! We only sought the stone and iron.
PAIN
That I have found first and set claims upon?
I countered, and he squirmed in fear.
BIGGS
But we didn't know! We didn't know you were here!
PAIN
Lying will not save you.
I warned as tears leaked down his plumped face.
PAIN
I can see the letters of my bounty exchanging hands within the city as we speak.
Biggs had nothing to say but to softly wail, and Lionel was hurled against the Incomplete Sprout of Lek. His scream was cut short as his body exploded into mana energy, and his Inventory collapsed in a shower of copper puries. His essence was absorbed by the sapling, and as if to belch, the sapling pulsed with pure mana energy before growing a bit... a bit more than using dead kinans.
Grey, Gent, Kinan, Warrior, Twenty-One begged with his worn-out voice,
GREY
Please! Please have mercy! I have children!
Biggs lurched forcefully at him against the webs,
BIGGS
You liar!
He bellowed,
BIGGS
I have children!
PAIN
Great. Thanks for letting me know.
I mumbled at Grey as he was next to be thrown into the sapling, his dying scream setting off the memory of Locness' giggle and putting a smile on my face.
PAIN
Do you like that?
I asked the memory—my mind reliving the time we spent together within the cellar of fiends. Another one was tossed into the sapling, and their screams sparked Locness' laughter. Another one tossed, and the fear of Locness painted my face when she saw the scars upon my back. Another one hurled into the sapling as Locness pleaded for help—the fear in her eyes as she was caught in arachnid webbing. Another one, Mokoto's wail of defiance, was deafening as it merged with the dying screams of Locness.
I suppressed the memories and forced my eyes open—my little orbs of fire became a raging torrent around me as if to protect me from my own memories of Locness. I put out my flames, took a deep breath, and stared contently at the Incomplete Sapling of Lek.
Vampor Increased:
Lesser Night Vision(20%), Lesser En Vitality(19%), Lesser Sound Vision(16%), Lesser Blood Control(16%), Lesser En Scent Detection(19%), Lesser Danger Sense(17%), Lesser En Reflexes(13%), Lesser Quickstep(28%), Lesser En Stamina(47%), Lesser En Strength(41%) Lesser En Hearing(44%), Lesser En Sight(47%), Lesser Heat Vision(35%), Lesser Interference(64%), Lesser Body Control(51%), Petty Mana Sense(89%), Petty Day Vision(47%)