Twenty-One: Fears and Obstruction
After the battle, my group and I made the decision to travel across the wound at night. Partly to prevent Shialk from slowing us down, and partly to prevent us from running into any more untimely surprises. Once the sun had faded we would be willing to cross The Wound relatively unopposed. As we could ride my deathsworn, saving us from the hassle of running, and at night time Talon could fly closer to the ground, picking up threats a lot easier.
By the end of the fourth day, we were nearing the end of our journey across the expansive valley and were currently encamped waiting for nightfall. I thought it was an excellent time to reach out and get an update on Shangrior.
“How goes things in my absence, Werxiun?” Of my four generals I found it ironic that only the most taciturn one was free to speak to their king.
I had contacted each one in turn, and each of the generals had been busy with their own responsibilities. Hythriem was preparing the infrastructure we would need to begin trading through Threigar’s company.
Veipos was facilitating the construction of proper defenses, while Railnia was once again on patrol duty, using it as an opportunity to train more militia.
“Fair,” he answered with a long deliberative pause. I gave him a few seconds to see if he would continue and was rewarded when he spoke up. “The city is now capable of properly housing our people. The slave camps have been properly organized. We have reformed a town guard to oversee security. Your minions have been helpful.”
“But? I am sensing a but.”
“I was informed Hythriem recently made you aware of the dungeon entrance in the ocean depths.”
“Yes, that is true,” I answered slightly tersely. While there was a lot of information my generals had covered with me and not enough time to go over everything before I left, I was still a little annoyed by the fact that the dungeon had never been one of those things. It’s not a proper adventure unless there is some type of dungeon area.
“Hmph,” Werxiun grunted, I could tell he was bothered, and his next words cemented that. “Since the other day monsters have been exiting the dungeon. Nothing we can’t contend with. But be on guard. I suspect this is the case everywhere.”
“Thanks for the update. Are you sure you guys are good? The last I checked Hythriem and Veipos were slightly worried that our timetable on discovery had been a lot shorter than anticipated.”
“If the situation with the dungeon is widespread, I would only imagine that time has once again been extended.”
“Valid point. Thanks, big guy,” I said as I ended the mental communication and closed my tome with a thought. I stared thoughtfully into the distance until a gruff voice pulled me from my contemplations.
“So, since nobody else seems like they are going to ask. What in the ten hells are those things?” Shialk pointed at the three constantly shifting corporeal shadows that were dancing around my hands. I had been petting them absentmindedly while talking to Werxiun.
I looked down at the three entities, raising a quizzical eye, and then glanced at the imp smirking.
“Oh, these? Just my new friends. One courtesy of my recent level up.” As I explained I waved my hands, and the shadows shifted becoming a bat, a cat, and a rat. They stayed in those forms for only a second before reverting to their original formless state. The diminutive demon looked at them skeptically.
“What do they do?” I laughed at his suspicion and his inquisitive nature.
“If I tell you that, will you teach me alchemy and herbology?” I was actually genuinely curious about how he made his potions and poisons. I know his class allowed him the ability to summon what he needed to infuse into his arrows, but he had to have a deep knowledge of the subject first. He also carried extra, regular supplies, in case of emergencies.
“Sure!” He was suddenly very enthusiastic and sensing that I was about to reveal something more about my powers the rest of the group looked on with interest. It wasn’t that I was intentionally trying to hide my abilities from them. Well, not all of them at any rate. In the time it had taken me to gain 6 levels, they had barely gone up 3. That was to be expected as the experience required to level up increased every 10 levels, and they had all been over 20 when we entered The Wound.
I also had quite a number of abilities now, and while all of them had their uses, I didn’t need to use most of them very actively. I didn’t mind the variety though. It was like preparing a toolbox.
You might buy a tool that you seemingly never need. But the one and only time you need it, you will be glad to have it. As someone who always took himself as a crafty person, I had this issue pop up repeatedly. Aha! Perhaps another reason the System gave you the classes it did. You can never have too many skills. All the skills. I glanced at the imp for a long moment while reading one of my newest skills.
Skill: Master of Nightmares (Revenant)
Skill Rank: F
Investment: 5 / 45
Skill Description: Summons 3 Nightmares to your side at no cost. If defeated they will respawn within 10 minutes. You can reduce the delay at the cost of 1% mana per minute. These Nightmares, while corporeal, have no real shape and give off a passive fear effect. You can control their shape and design telepathically, or at a command, have them turn into a target's worst fear. This induces terror, hallucinations, and even madness. Within the effects of ‘Haunting Eclipse’ they are more effective, and will slowly drain the life force of the target by 1% a second.
Rank Up Effect: Decreases the respawn delay by 1 minute. Triples the number of nightmares you can summon and doubles their effective damage.
For a moment I thought of siccing one of my nightmares on the imp for the humor effect of seeing what his worst fear might be. I wonder what it is, I would laugh if it’s teddy bears or something. As quickly as I had that thought though I let it pass. While I now knew Veli’s story a bit and could understand why she preferred to remain out of sight. I realized I didn’t know much about Shialk.
“They are called nightmares. They can turn into a target's worst fear.” I finally answered simply, watching the imp with a searching gaze to see how he would respond. His eyes went wide for just a moment before I noticed him glance briefly at the chain wrapped around my wrist before lowering his head.
“That’s quite a skill.” He mumbled. “Mine is no secret, though I don’t suppose we’ve talked about this. As you know I am the only one who spent time in the human kingdoms. I was a slave to them. At least in the veiled lands, we treat slaves with some basic levels of respect. In the bright lands, they are harsh and cruel masters.”
As he spoke he rolled up his long sleeves and I could see scars around his wrists. Scars that could only come from years of being shackled and dragged. Of chains biting into his flesh. I looked on, almost horrified at the thought, as dark thoughts lingered in the back of my mind. Thoughts of vengeance and wrath.
“We all have our stories, Leo.” Faerwyn chimed in as she sidled up next to me, placing her hand on my shoulder. “Even me. Succubi are often… used. We are naturally beautiful, and our own racial traits make us more… open and willing. Of course with our naturally higher charisma that makes others more responsive. To the point where even if we are unwilling that doesn’t mean things won’t… happen.”
Her voice was halting as she fought back her own tide of emotions. I hesitated as my body froze as this beautiful demon fought back tears in front of me. I looked around to see if anyone was going to offer her support, but all I got was a smirk from Jeloqa, while the others sheepishly turned away. Assholes. So I did the most human thing I could think of and gave her a hug. It wasn’t that I was against physical contact, I just had long since been used to it. As I embraced her I could feel a heavy shudder run through her body.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
“Well, what about the rest of you?” I asked glaring pointedly at Jeloqa and Grenthar.
“We grew up together in the slums of Zexestra, the capital of Zelistan. We suffered all the horrors you could think of as we tried to survive in an overpopulated city. Doing anything and everything we could in order to live another day. When Veli came into our lives we decided to make a change, for her sake. We didn’t know how we would make our way, but we fled the city. It was rough and dangerous, but slowly we grew stronger. As we did we realized the best way to make our fate was adventuring. So that’s what we did.” Grenthar answered.
“Now that we have answered, what’s yours?” Jeloqa asked. I stared at her in confusion as I thought about it. Heights? I used to be scared of heights. Maybe the deep blackness of the ocean? No… that doesn’t seem right.
“I, uh, honestly don’t know,” I answered, and with a quick command I forced my nightmares to target me. In a moment they fused into one form. It was a dark image of a doctor with glasses, and a lab coat. A screaming memory I couldn’t recall flared. I felt my breath quicken, and in a moment the nightmares separated once more.
“You are scared of.. a man?” Shialk asked, chuckling. “You, who has faced down monsters.” I shrugged as an unsettling feeling surfaced from within. I had gotten sick, and then my memories faded. Then I died. This must have come from the time my memories have blocked.
“Don’t tease him, Shialk. He obviously has his reasons, as we all do.” Jeloqa scolded. Faerwyn had extricated herself from my embrace.
“Thanks, I needed that.” She said, giving me a wide smile, only marred by her reddened eyes. I nodded wordlessly, glad that the sky was rapidly darkening. We would be on the move again shortly. We need to be on the move. While traveling at night had been safer, it had been costing us valuable time to prepare ourselves and return before someone reached the heart of the dungeon.
The Leaderboard changed daily as adventurers died, or some made progress toward reaching the Royal Chamber. We tried to not pay too much attention to it, as there was little we could currently do. But it was an ever-present concern.
“How much longer?” I asked Grenthar who scratched his chin for a moment
“The best thing about cutting through The Wound is that it passes against all normal barriers.” He repeated. This was his argument for traveling through the wound in the first place. He wasn’t trying to be annoying though, he was stalling for time while he thought about the answer. “If these landmarks are correct we should be able to leave through the passage we are looking for by daybreak.”
The landscape here looked just as bleak and barren as any other part we passed through to me, but I trusted his words and nodded. In short order, I summoned some deathsworn to ferry us and we began our trek once more.
***
“What the FUCK are they doing here?” Grenthar hissed. His voice was fearful and furious. Ahead of us all along one ridgeline were the blazing fires of a campsite filled with at least fifty soldiers.
There were military tents and large banners with a symbol painted on them. Scouts marched around the perimeter on a regular basis. I had scouted out the area with Talon and could see that this was an efficiently run unit. I conveyed the information to my friends who were quite upset.
“Who are they?”
“That banner means it's Derzeri and his fucking special forces,” Jeloqa answered. A moment later she took in my blank stare and sighed. “So in the north of the veiled lands is Draciolis.”
“The dragon kingdom. High in the mountains and by far the biggest spread of land apart from the collected human kingdoms.” I nodded.
“Glad to see you studied your history lessons.” Jeloqa snorted sarcastically. “Well Degrashar, who’s currently ranked 2 in the leaderboards, is the Draciolis king, you remember? Good. Derzeri is his fifth son. Easily level fifty, and his retinue is supposed to be thoroughly trained. Each one is no less than level 25.”
“Oh…. but wait. If they are from Draciolis, what are they doing here?” I asked. We were far to the south, the entrance that they were guarding was the one that led closest to the heart of Zelistan.
“That’s what I said,” Grenthar grunted, his irritation obvious.
“There is one possibility.” Faerwyn chimed in. “I spent time in Draciolis. That’s where I learned how to use a spear. There were rumors that Degrashar and Milzeyan had formed some form of alliance. It’s mostly been disregarded as Zelistan has been continuously harassing its neighbors' borders, but what if some of those skirmishes were just a facade? Ways to hide their partnership?”
“Why would they be so blatant about their alliance now though?” Shialk’s voice seemed skeptical. I didn’t know the politics of their world, but I knew the ones of mine well enough to realize the answer.
“The quest. Almost every kingdom has some form of representation here. Even more, the rewards on the table are the power of the old dark lord and a safe passage between the very core of the realms of light. Not just by clearing the wound. Imagine having the power to escort armies through the dungeon. They could emerge almost anywhere. There’s no way any of the kingdoms have enough resources to guard against that.”
“Fucking ten hells!”
I looked at Grenthar as he swore and scratched my head.
“Look, I know you promised to help me. I don’t want to get you dragged into my mess though. You guys can leave through a safer exit. I’ll make my own way to Ystherial. Hopefully, I can figure out what to do about Milzeyan and Degrashar in the meantime” Grenthar shook his head.
“No, it’s not just about our promise to you. Or the fact that we have now sworn fealty to you. Zelistan is our home. It was one thing when our king was just being a bit ambitious. This speaks of plots. Plots mean war”
“War is always bad. Especially under rulers like Milzeyan. Around 100 years ago he led forces against the Sylvains. Of the five thousand demons he led into battle less than one thousand returned alive. Not because of some military disaster, but as an intentional sacrifice.
He sent four-fifths of his forces to die as a distraction for his true goal. He butchered the Sylvain king's wife and newest child in the palace, and set fires to the capital.” Jeloqa cut in, explaining. She motioned to Grenthar who finished the tale. They really ARE like a married couple.
“The unofficial reason for the attack was that they had tried to assassinate him because they suspected him of murdering his father, with whom they had an uneasy alliance.
The official reason that he gave was that they attacked him due to their prejudices. Which isn’t entirely unlikely, but not probably. The Sylvain are not a naturally brash lot. While they view other races as inferior, they rarely take action because of it.”
“Well, fuck.”
“Fuck indeed.” the demon agreed.
“While I hate to interrupt story time. I must ask that you all come with me. The commander would like to see you.” A harsh voice broke through our group's conversation. All around us humanoid dragons stepped out of the shadows similar to how Velixen appeared. Some even ascended out of the earth like riding an elevator. “He has some questions for you.”
***
“So, question. Do you guys lay eggs out of your butt, or do you spit them out?” I asked as the group escorted us. “Also, do you all breathe fire? How does that work? Is it magic, or do you spew some sort of fluid that ignites when it comes into the air?”
“I would recommend you silence your FUCKING voice. Before I silence it for you. While Derzeri told us to bring you to him, he only implied that he wanted all of you. Accidents can happen.” One of the draconids barked at me.
“Touchy, touchy. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”
“You didn’t hurt anything, flesh bag.”
“Oh, so then next question. So you are technically dragons, right? So why do you prefer to be called draconids?”
“SHUT THE FUCK UP!” he roared. I obeyed, but all around us, his allies were chuckling slightly. My own allies were staring at me in both horror and shock. I gave them a smirk and a shrug. After all, I wasn’t intentionally trying to rile him up. I was making sure he was too distracted to pay proper attention to me. If he thought I was just an annoying bumbling idiot then he wouldn’t suspect me of fuckery.
While I had been talking, I had also been broadcasting my mind across The Wound while searching for monsters. As the days had progressed with more adventurers than normal their numbers had grown few. There were always some though. And managed to connect to a couple and successfully command them to start cautiously approaching the camp.
The other thing I had been doing was slowly separating my body parts. Leaving them on the ground to trail along behind us. It was only a few fingers and toes, but if I could repeat the trick I had with the adventuring party it might prove a useful distraction.
I wanted to summon more deathsworn but that would have brought too much notice. As it was forced to leave Wuzzy at our camp. Apparently, they didn’t trust the bear to behave.
On the bright side, I had Bandit and Nuts scurrying along from behind us. They had been eating some monster meat in a tree when we had been surrounded. I don’t know how their sight didn’t pick up on the draconid’s life force, but I could only suspect it had more to do with the level differences between my minions and the scaly bastards.
“Don’t worry. Prince Derzeri just wants to talk. Verify your identities and send you on your way.” A second draconid spoke up. The voice seemed softer than the other. Probably a female. I tried to not let that worry me and put on a wide false smile.
“Oh, excellent. I have left the kettle on at home. I had forgotten it was tea time, you see…” I began before catching the murderous eye of the draconid who was losing his patience with me. “Sorry.” Okay, that’s it. That one is definitely dying first.
“Oh, calm down Nerthian. You are too uptight.” The somewhat nicer one spoke up. “Look, all the prince wants to do is make sure you aren’t the dark lord and then he will let you leave. He has a skill that will let him verify your identity and status. Once you’re clear you can leave through the passage. Don’t worry about discovering our secret. It’s as you said. With current events, our alliance will soon be public knowledge.”
She was trying to console me, but she only made me more nervous. That got dwarfed a moment later when we entered the camp and I got my first sight of the prince. I knew then the difference between a draconid, and a dragon. Derzeri was huge.