SYSTEM DOWN

Systempocalypse: Book 1

by Andrew Karevik

System Down (Book 1)

Copyright © 2022 LitRPG Freaks

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from the author.

Chapter 1

I remember when the Brilliant City crashed into the Hiyorn Kingdom. Never before had something like this occurred on such a large scale. The Brilliant City hung over the world, perpetually floating thanks to the use of magic, and as it floated it grew and grew and grew. You could see the city from just about anywhere in Hiyorn; travelers used the city instead of the North Star to navigate our world.

The city had been a fixture, full of magical heroes and chosen adventurers who were all given incredible abilities by the Systemous Conduit, usually referred to as the System. Oh how our eyes fell towards the skies as it shifted and tilted as if nothing could support it any longer. The sky fell on Hiyorn and with it came a wave of horrors and terrors that none had been prepared for: magic was gone.

When I say magic, I don’t mean simply spells. I mean the magic of the System itself. Levels no longer affected a person’s skills or abilities. Armor wearers, who relied on strength talents to wear the heaviest of plate, were crushed by their own gear. Worse yet, rulers found themselves to be just normal people, unable to see the entire world from great maps and without the ability to place buildings and monitor the needs of the people.

The Erasure, as I’ve taken to calling it, led to one of the darkest ages in the world. For everything had been brimming with magic, but now? Now there is only rubble, decay and survivors all trying to understand this strange apocalypse, though for some this was a newfound era of freedom.

Henchmen were no longer bound by the magic of the System and were able to murder their employers with ease. Those who were physically fit dominated in the field of combats and the wise were able to take control of a community that fell to the chaos of unfit rulers and godkings. Violence reigned supreme and it still does to this day.

I had no need to visit the ruins of Hiyorn castle, nor travel across the now dust-covered plains that had once been sources of perfect farming. For when all of magic faded, I felt nothing. Because I was considered to be a Non—a person who lacked natural connection to the System.

Nons were few and far in between. We had no skill bars, no level up systems or even a name bar to tell the world that I was Miles. And trust me, Nons were not treated well in society. Why would anyone hire someone without access to thousands of special skills and abilities to choose from? Heroes were high level with good classes; I didn’t even have a class to call myself.

The forest was far better to me than any of those elitist city dwellers. Hunting, fishing, all things that anyone could learn with a few skill points, were things I learned by puzzling them out and crafting actual techniques. In fact, everything about me, from the leather armor I wore to the bow that I built with my own two hands, came from reality. From being earned.

This isn’t to say I felt glee as the Glimmering City smashed into the earth. The forest, too, was in the blast radius and I have found it to be rather unsafe as of late. Monsters of all kinds, freed from labyrinths and laboratories of the mages above, poured out by the dozens and wandered about killing everyone they saw, sometimes even each other.

These monsters I hunted, not for sport or food but to simply clear up the forest. The kobolds have a camp in here, well more like a village but either way I saw it as my duty to keep an eye over them. They never allowed me in their village, the kobolds, but they didn’t attack me on sight and were fairly open about showing me how to butcher captured game the right way.

I learned from these little creatures and felt enough fondness towards them to ensure they were safe from the occasional monster that would wander up from an underground dungeon or cave. Now, they had a lot more to worry about and dispatched their hunting forces to comb the trees as well.

It was one morning that I heard a cry from the woods, one that is rare to hear—a human crying out for help.

I was quick to investigate this sound, as humans were rather rare in these woods, especially since the Erasure.

Moving across the trees was like second nature to a ranger such as myself. Ranger. So many people expected me to magically guide them through the woods at a lightning speed, only to discover that my abilities were based on the laws of physics and not the laws of magic.

There! I landed atop a tree branch and crouched down, spotting my quarry instantly. She was a girl, maybe fourteen or so, armed with a spear that had been professionally crafted. Three kobolds surrounded her with their own stone spears.

Why the hell this girl was here I had no idea, but I couldn’t let her be slain at the hands of these kobolds.

Quickly, I drew my hand to my mouth and performed a short whistle. The kobolds all looked up at me, curiosity on their faces. Two went to make a javelin throw position, just in case. And I had my bow nocked, just in case.

“Ekerg klee!” one of them shouted at me.

No matter how much they tried to talk, I could never pick up the language. Kobold tongue was too different from the human languages. But there were a few ones I knew by heart. “T’nock Uk!” I shouted back. This translated to ‘stay away.’

The kobolds all looked at each other and then shrugged, dropping their offensive stance. In the distance, some hideous monster roared and they raised their weapons dutifully. Cries from kobolds followed after the monstrous roar, prompting these lizard-kin to leave the area as quickly as possible.

Whew, that was close. I did not need a war with the kobolds to break out while this monster surge was going on.

“Who are you?” the young girl asked as I landed beside her, barely making a sound thanks to my moccasins. She spun around quickly and stumbled back. Two chains clattered as she fell—her wrists had been shackled but somehow the chains had been broken from whatever had been holding her.

“I’m Miles… Treeman,” I said, quickly making up a last name. Treeman? It made sense, right?

“How did you make those goblins flee? They were about to kill me and eat me!” the poor girl squeaked. She was shaking still, holding up her spear and pointing it towards me. “Do you have magic?”

“Nope,” I replied, slinging my bow over my shoulder and reaching down to help her up. She was reluctant at first, but when I started to pull my hand away she seized hold of it so I could get her on her feet.

More rattling. Her legs were shackled as well, though they too were free of anything holding her back.

“Then how did you…those monsters…” she stammered.

I sighed heavily. “Look, I don’t feel like answering a bunch of questions to a kid. Take your spear and leave these woods immediately. Whatever safety you’re looking for is not here. If anything, these woods get worse by the day.”

The girl nodded enthusiastically. “I know what you mean. I’ve fled from all manner of horrors in the few hours I’ve been here. Mr. Woodsman, would you take me back to my village? They would pay you a bounty for re-capturing me.”

“You were a prisoner? Or a slave?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Slave. But now I want to go back because it was much safer there. Can you take me?”

Why the hell anyone wanted to become a slave again was beyond me, but she was most likely just reacting to the adrenaline of her near-death experience with the kobolds. “Look, Miss…”

“Silvia!” she piped up. “I’m from the village of Planth.”

“Never heard of it,” I said. “Look I’ll take you to the forest’s edge, but I would seriously reconsider becoming a slave again. You fled for a reason.”

“Planth has walls. Wooden walls, sure, but walls all the same. No one else does. At least no town that I’ve found.”

I gestured for her to follow after me as I began to guide her through the woods. “Walls? I’m sure there are plenty of abandoned castles to occupy,” I said. “I doubt a single king in Hiyorn remained alive and in charge. Whoever runs those castles are probably the servants who lived in there. Go find a castle.”

“You have knowledge skills too? Hunter, knowledge…sir, you must be unaffected by the System Collapse,” the former slave said. She hurried up behind me and put a hand on my shoulder so she could better keep up with me.

“Look, Silvia, I have a bit of knowledge because sometimes people move through here and I can trade tales with them while guiding them the hell out of my property. There is no magic involved in who I am.”

“But…you have a bow and can use it! I’ve seen archers lose the ability to even draw their bowstrings due to how physically hard it was.”

“Yeah, that’s because I’m a Non. Can’t lose what you don’t have. I lived out in these woods to avoid being treated as a third-class citizen by most people. Everything you see me do has been learned through years of hard training and dedicated discipline.”

“Oh…” came the reply. Silvia’s hope had been smashed into oblivion upon hearing this and her words grew cold. “So I suppose you won’t want to stay with us in Planth.”

“I’d prefer to avoid seeing them, if possible,” I replied, taking a hard left. While the trail might seem to be just a simple walk in the woods, I put markers and flags to determine which areas were safe and which ones were not. A particularly fierce ogre lived in a cave around these parts, so we were going around.

“They aren’t bad people, just desperate,” Silvia said. “Maybe you can teach them how to learn your skills!”

This girl seemed to be oblivious to my growing hostility towards civilization, but I held my tongue. There was no reason to do anything other than just getting her to the edge of the forest. From there, she could go through the Plains of the Ruined Kingdom or around the forest to see what’s on the other side.

More questions were followed by gruff answers and then eventually silence. Silvia didn’t seem to mind my silence, however, chatting a great deal about how the world was before the Great City in the Sky fell. Some of her village-kin had even seen the event with their eyes, somehow surviving the massive shockwaves that rippled out from the spiraling city.

Those survivors were the rough and rowdy bandits who had once patrolled the plains of Hiyorn in search of coin. While many were stripped of their own power, most of the bandits had been too low level to ever pose a threat. But now, a simple knife injury could kill a man, giving those with loose ethical boundaries the power to terrorize and control a population.

The Bandit Barracks was the new name of the village. Once it had been a proud military fort, designed to last any number of sieges should conflict arise. The soldiers had no reason to stay, however, once the magical coins stopped appearing in their pockets each passing day. Some had stayed behind while others went out to search for survivors. Those were the ones who returned with slaves.

Chapter 2

“There’s the border,” I said, pointing to a grass patch a little bit outside of the treeline. “Everything after that is someone else’s domain. You came into my little world and called for help, so I came to help you. I would highly recommend you find some other village.”

Silvia looked at me and shook her head. “No! You have to come with me. They’ll be afraid of your bow and that means we can take power again. There’s only a few of them who are actual bandits, the rest are just slaves or desperate people afraid of the monsters that roam these lands now.”

I sighed at that. “Listen, I tried to help the Bandit Barracks when everything went to hell. People were scrambling and food became scarce, so I figured I could do my part and hunt some game for them. I brought two deer to them and they attacked me. Not slaves, not bandits, just people trying to survive at the time.”

“That’s horrible,” Silvia said, putting a hand to her mouth. “But I suppose it is to be expected. Everyone was so desperate for food, clothing and shelter…so many animals turned on one another.”

“Exactly, I visit with a gift and leave with them swearing that they will kill me if I ever return to their new territory.”

Silvia reached over and tugged the elbow area of my tunic. “Come on then, you have a reason to come back now! You’ll be our savior! Everyone will fear you for you are the master of the bow.”

“Yeah and what happens when word gets out? All manner of rabble’s going to be bothering me for secrets,” I paused and decided to just be blunt with her. “Silvia, I am a Non. People born without connections to the System are rare but it happens. Everyone hated me from the start. Now that the apocalypse is here, I feel little urge to help anyone out.”

“I understand that,” she said. “I really do. But at the same time, you could quite literally own an entire village. You have what no one else does: actual skills. You can drive the bad bandits away and give the good ones a work release program. Then we can fortify and begin farming and such!”

“Farming?” I asked, glancing around us. The entire region was covered with a thick layer of dust. “I don’t have those skills, so you better hope to the gods to have one. Assuming there are still gods, that is.”

Silvia decided to take a chance by outright grabbing my arm and storming forward. The move was so brazen that it took me aback and I found myself laughing as the gangly teenage girl ‘pulled’ me to our destination. “You don’t have a choice!” she said. “Planth needs you. No more Bandit Barracks.”

“Is that so?” I asked, humoring her as she pulled me into the grasslands. Most of the grass was dead, brown and lifeless save for a few weeds that grew up and looked to be thriving in this desolate environment. The ground beneath us crunched as we walked, though I could slow down my steps enough to move silently on this grass.

“Yes! And so I’m going to make you come help. Otherwise, I’ll just follow you around until you relent!” Silvia said, storming with a great intensity towards a particularly steep hill. She pointed upwards. “This is where we are. They don’t have guards posted or anything like that, but someone is always around the gates.”

At this point I stopped letting her pull. “Hang on, they’re at the top of the hill? I recall seeing them on flatlands.”

“The land has absorbed all the excess magic here,” Silvia explained. “When that big city came to earth it was carrying a tremendous amount of magical power. It reshaped the land over the last few months, changing the very world around us. One day we woke up and the village was now atop a hill.”

I hoped that my forest wouldn’t be forced into any kind of new change. I had the lay of the land memorized and having to relearn everything…that would be exhausting. “So magic still exists,” I said, rubbing my chin.

“Yes! Monsters still have magic of some kind and I’ve even heard rumors of a wizard in the north who can still cast spells.”

A wizard? That might be an interesting thing to see, actually. Perhaps I could trade some rabbits in exchange for a blessing on my bow, or perhaps he could teach me the Kobold tongue so that I may make true peace with them.

“Alright, fine,” I said, pulling out my bow. “Look, I’m not a manhunter but if these bandits try to hurt me, I will kill them. So don’t try to convince me to spare the ‘good ones’. Anyone trying to kill me gets paid back in full.”

“Oh…er…” Silvia stammered. It was clear she didn’t really consider the impact of this decision. “Just stop if they surrender.”

“Very well. Go up to the top and taunt the men, then allow them to chase you down here,” I instructed. I didn’t have my ghillie suit with me, which was a shame for the dead grass over here would make for perfect hiding and sniping.

“Y-you got it!” the teenager said, taking a deep breath before trotting up the hill, fast as she could. I took a few steps back, tossed my quiver to the side for easy access and waited.

The world around me was dead silent. No bugs, no birds, not even wind to rustle the grass. This entire plain was dead as a doorknob. Would that death spread to my forest? For even though beasts and monsters reigned supreme there, the eco-system was still functioning.

I heard a shout pierce the silence, snapping me out of my almost meditative stance. Slinging an arrow onto my bowstring, I readied to aim.

Silvia came into view, shouting and screaming as she ran down the hill faster than her legs could keep up with. She came tumbling down as two dogs raced after her, barking savagely and gaining on her fast.

“Shit, new plan,” I shouted, dropping my bow so I could get the scraps of meat out of my bags. The slimy raw meat made me shiver as I threw them straight towards the hounds.

These mongrels immediately moved towards the meat, their noses so keen they had changed direction towards me the moment I opened up my pouch. Silvia came rolling up to me babbling. “They’re coming! They’re coming!”

The dogs were thoroughly distracted with the rest of the meat I had thrown their way (I had brought two rabbits for the trip). Coming from above were about five men, all wearing leather armor and carrying scimitars. One wore an open-faced helmet and was shouting angrily.

“Damn it all! Who the hell are you? Some kind of hero?” he shouted down at me. He wore a yellow gambeson—they all did, but his was the nicest. Clearly a man of rank and status in the old world.

“Name’s Miles Treeman,” I said, still working on that last name. “And you are being forcibly evicted from this village. Lay down your arms and armor, take what you can carry and leave Planth.”

There was laughter from everyone save for the leader who was staring at me with cold calculation. He knew better than to laugh at a man who doesn’t flinch before five. “You speak with such confidence,” the man replied. “But you do not realize that your arrows will do nothing to our armor.”

I tested that theory by shooting one of his men right in the throat, one of the few spots that weren’t covered by their armor. The man fell on his back, choking and gagging. This prompted two of them to charge at me, roaring loudly as they raised their scimitars high.

It may look cool to run with your sword arm raised in the air, but those armor joints were not reinforced under the arm. Two more shots and they were on the ground, one of them dead, the other wounded.

The leader gasped at how quickly I had leveled his entire crew within a matter of seconds. The remaining two dropped their scimitars immediately.

“We surrender!” one of the goons shouted. “Please don’t shoot.”

“How the hell did you keep your levels in archery?” the leader asked, his face filled with equal parts awe and terror. “Tell me your secrets and I shall give you anything you want.”

“I want you both to disarm and leave for good,” I replied. “Banditsville is closed for good. It will be called Planth once again.”

“Please! I will be your servant!” the leader begged. He dropped to his knees. I could see such hope radiating around him. Ah yes, he saw my power and knew that it could be his if he played his cards right. But I wasn’t about to pretend that I had something I didn’t.

“I’m afraid I was born without access to the System,” I said. “So everything about me is crafted by hard work, technique and serious repetition. I learn things from watching how the world works, you all learned things because it was available to you on a magic menu. Now it would seem I’m the strongest man in town.”

“A Non? A filthy Non?” the leader said, unable to hide his disgust. We were hated in some parts because Nons were also immune to any System effects being placed on them, meaning leaders would actually have to negotiate with us. It was easier to stir up contempt and having us isolated than it was to even be threatened by a single power structure they couldn’t control.

“Actually I’m quite clean,” I said with a laugh. “I have access to running water, food and shelter, all of it made with these hands. And some help from Mother Nature, of course, for she gave me a beautiful stream to lie down beside when tired.”

The leader glanced down towards his weapon and up at me. The two dogs had eaten and were now standing by me, sniffing and bumping into my side. Looks like some food bought the loyalty of these hounds.

“You’ll be dead by the time you get your hands on the blade,” I said. “But I’m no butcher. Get the hell out of here and don’t come back. And if you do somehow get an army to follow you, just know I will aim for you and you alone.”

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Journal

1 Cityfell, Day 13

Met with villagers today. They seem hungry and willing to do anything for food. The walls are in good shape and are sharpened at the tops, making climbing near impossible. But the population is too big at the moment. Need to secure foodstuffs for them.

Points of Interest:

The temple of the god Rephta is still functional, but the High Priest will not open the gates without painting the doors with purple paint. How the hell am I going to find that? But he claims there is still a holy power inside the temple. It might be worth looking into.

The Food Stores:

Right now they have enough food to last them three more days. Rationing has already been done and the people are stretched already. Going to need to return to the forest for a big hunt. Bringing someone along would increase the amount of game we could take back…but if a monster shows up, that someone dies because I go straight to the trees…

Skills I’m Learning:

- Administration

- Negotiation

Skills I Have:

- Archery

- Bowcrafting

- Outdoor Survival

Skills I Need:

None at the moment

Chapter 3

Planth welcomed Silvia and I to their village with open arms. With the bandits killed or driven off, the ones on the inside were willing to throw down their weapons and join as defenders of this fort. I was greeted by a few people, most of them civilian types, but there were a few heroes in the group. Well, former heroes.

These men and women were so much larger than life because they had a significantly stronger connection to the System and the adventures they went on directly fed their power. The heroes here, however, were just sad civilians, sitting around waiting for something to do. It was here that I would find my meat baggage team.

I don’t know what happened when I got to Planth. Maybe it was because of how stressful the forests had become, or perhaps it was adrenaline from taking down those bandits, but I found myself crying a little once inside. There were mothers, fathers and even children. The fortress didn’t have much room for everyone on the inside but the courtyard was big enough to turn into barracks. There were fifty mouths to feed and their grain was just about gone.

Silvia, now freed and in charge, told everyone that she was the new Mayor and that I was the Sheriff. This was a silly thing to declare, but everyone listened to her. The teenage girl had impressed everyone by entering into the foreboding woods and bringing out a savior. I had no interest in being a Sheriff, but she was insistent that we were now a full blown village that was going to be expanding.

“You’re our chosen one,” she had explained to me, all the while whacking my arm with a ruler she had found in one of the abandoned military offices. “And that means you have to help us. Plus I am the mayor by right of might, so you have to help, or else…”

I remember ending that conversation by pinching her nose until she cried uncle. But then she declared that to have been a capital crime and she sentenced me to aid this town.

In the end, I was stuck. Planth was big enough to need serious help but too unskilled to do anything. They were like an infant, dependent on someone else to care for them entirely. Hopefully this damn village would grow faster than a baby. It was nice being around people, but at the same time, I really felt out of my comfort zone.

My return home would be brief but I was eager to at least have the woodlands above me once again. The open sky felt so empty and sometimes I found myself trying to grab a vine that wasn’t there. It’s a shame I couldn’t make the villagers just move into the forest. Then everything would be fine.

Three heroes had volunteered to come along to propel the meat wagon. Two of these men would be pulling the cart while the other guided them forward, sitting in the back. We had enough capacity for several deer corpses, more if I had time to butcher them in the woods. But all that dead meat would bring monsters—or kobolds, sniffing around looking for something to eat.

Kobolds were nasty little bastards when food was on the line. I learned very early on that the best way to handle a kobold was to throw food at them. They usually took the meat and chittered some insult before vanishing from wherever they had popped out of. Sometimes they bothered me just to get free meat.

Entering the woods felt like returning home after a long, long voyage. I had left the trees plenty of times in the past, but after the city fell I had remained holed up in here for as long as possible. This had been the first time in a year that I had left my home. Even though it was a day trip, I found myself too happy to be back among the trees. I was halfway tempted to just stay home.

But alas, there was work to be done. The meat wagon was left outside, with the adventurers guarding it. Kobolds would not bother them as long as they didn’t touch a single stone inside the forest.

I searched high and low for a quarry but there was very little in way of hoof prints. Animal spoor was nonexistent and the birds were singing less sharply. Everything in the wood felt muted, as if some spell had dampened everyone’s spirits.

Eventually I found a trail, leading straight to the ogre cavern. It was a deer, which meant that ogre would have little chance of catching it, for it was a big hulking beast. Unless the deer was wounded earlier or ran straight into the ogre’s arms, it would be able to escape with ease.

But I needed to follow the trail, which meant I had an ogre to bypass.

The ogre lived in a cave by a beautiful pool of water. It didn’t need to drink anything, so it often just stared at its own reflection most days. And indeed, as I crept across the trees, stealthily jumping from limb to limb, I could see the ogre going about his regular routine.

He was a big hulking beast of a humanoid, with grey bulbous skin that pressed out as if some goiters were trying to surface. Two curled horns were on both sides of his head, black and rigid things meant to protect its brain-case. In its left hand was a club. He was expecting a visitor.

“Damn it,” I hissed, spotting a dead dear lying beside the pool of water. Its head looked smashed in. The creature ran straight into the ogre. Would the meat still be good? Blunt force trauma might have soured the game too much and I had no idea how long the corpse had been there.

I decided against fighting the creature. The beast was tough and full of hardened cysts that would make my arrows simply bounce off.

Instead, I decided to chance it and let out a short, sharp whistle. The ogre immediately reacted to the sound, looking up where I was. I ducked back but whistled again. This got the beast to start stomping towards where I had been.

I was swift enough to get behind the beast without it taking any notice of me. One glance at the deer from this perspective above revealed the grisly truth: the ogre had been munching on it for some time. That wasn’t good. Now the meat was contaminated by whatever germs these monsters carry with them. I couldn’t dare take the game with me.

For a brief moment, I dropped down to see what was inside the cave. The ogre was distracted, still searching for me in the trees, smacking and thumping into everything along the way. My curiosity could not be contained; I simply had to know what was inside.

Bones. Bones as far as the eye can see. Small skulls too, inhuman in origin with long snouts. It was a kobold graveyard. Looks like the ogre predated on them.

I was quick to climb back up my tree and go on with my search for game. It was going to be a long afternoon…

Chapter 4

One deer. Three rabbits. That had been the total amount of food I obtained from the woods. I had taken another deer down, but a few kobolds beat me to it and yappered until I left. They never bothered me when I had game in hand, but whatever they got to first, they would claim. Forest Rights is what I called it after a while. Whoever gets to the kill first gets the food. The rest would gain nothing.

Carrying the deer with me wasn’t too hard; I had done it many times in the past. Kobolds and monsters around made field dressing a beast rather dangerous and besides, the organs in deer were useful for crafting things; I didn’t want to leave any tissue behind.

Voices carried towards me as I grew near to the edge of the forest. I was still moving swiftly and silently, for night was falling rapidly and that meant more kobolds would be on the hunt. Night hunters scarcely said they were sorry for stabbing you and taking what meat you had. And by scarcely, I meant never.

“What do you think, Brennan?” a voice whispered. It was Erika, one of the ex-heroes who had come on the journey.

“I think he’s a liar,” Brennan replied. He too was keeping his voice low. They didn’t know I was there yet and I made no motion to move closer. “The bow is magic and that’s it.”

“Claiming he has fighting techniques mastered…when it’s really a bow,” Larman, the final adventurer in the group added. “The bow is magic.”

The three agreed upon this once more, as if saying it a few times made it real. “So what do we do?” Erika said, her words coming down to a low murmur. I had to move a bit closer, inch by inch across the trees, placing the deer down carefully so I could get as close as possible without giving myself away.

“If he is just a regular human with actual bow skills, he’s no threat to us in hand-to-hand combat,” Larman whispered. “So we stick a knife in his ribs as he loads the meat wagons. He’s dead, we get the bow and the magic with it.”

“Murder for magic?” Brennan mused. He didn’t sound terribly offended by the idea. If anything he seemed almost ecstatic. “We may as well try it. Someone’s going to find out his secret soon enough, so it may as well be us.”

“We kill him and throw his body in the woods,” Erika said. “The creatures will take care of the rest.”

“Let’s just make sure it’s a clean, painless kill,” Brennan said with a chuckle. “We need to be ethical when hunting our new quarry.”

Oh right, this was why I avoided human civilizations thus far in my life. The constant scheming and backbiting, the false tales and the paranoid glances…all of it was too much for me. Even these ex-heroes turned out to just be goons for hire. Trusting people was a hard thing to do and now I had to figure out what to do with these three.

I had them dead to rights already. They were all reclining beside a fire, waiting for me to return so they could end my life. Should I just fire on them now? That would be self-defense, yes, but…it felt wrong. Or maybe that was the goodness of humanity making me feel guilty?

Or maybe it was the fact that killing three able-bodied adventurers with real life experience would reduce our labor pool. No, no, I’m not a mindless number cruncher; I couldn’t look at people as assets. That would be the job for the mayor, not me. And I mean a real mayor, not Silvia relying on my presence to scare the villagers into shape…

What of Silvia? My blood ran cold at the idea of her being hurt at all. These men would return without a corpse and suspiciously with my bow. They would find out quickly that the bow isn’t actually magic, but they would have to stick to their story anyway. Silvia would see through their lies and…oh gods, she’d confront them about it. And there goes the mayor.

I sighed. There was no law out here anymore. No greater power I could invoke for aim. These three were plotting to murder me. And so I must repay them in kind.

I drew my bow and nocked an arrow, aiming it square at the back of Erika’s neck. With a sigh, I fired the first shot, killing her in a clean blow. The hit was silent and she slumped over, the flames concealing what had just happened.

Two more shots. Two more bodies. A grisly thing to do, but if they wanted to play law of jungle, kill or be killed, then I was going to play the same game. Otherwise I’d have just wounded them and called for the guards to take them away. But there were no guards anymore. Just desperate men and women looking for anything to get their old power back. And if they were going to pay with the blood of others to receive their power, they would have to reckon with me.

Huh. Maybe I was the Sheriff. No, no, what was I thinking? I’d bring the food back to the village and then recuse myself of any more of this civilization nonsense. These damned people put me in a bad situation and now I was in a foul mood. The deer would be enough to feed them for a day or two, more if they stretched it…though I doubt anyone knew how to butcher the creature.

I groaned as the headache of the village settled down atop me. It was a dull, irritating ache that numbed my head as I figured out the numbers of who to teach what skill. I could teach a select few my bushcraft and then just trade them the meat I found in exchange for…leaving me the hell alone, or something. I’d figure it out.

The meat wagon was loaded and the corpses were stripped and thrown into the forest. The kobolds would probably eat whatever the scavengers would leave behind. At least nature would flourish from the deaths of those three jackasses.

I kept their weapons and clothing, of course. There was no reason to waste them and I had nothing to hide. Mayor Silvia would receive a full report on what had happened and she would undoubtedly be terrified of what I had done. Good. Maybe she’d exile me.

Fantasies of being sent back to the woods for good played in my head as I pulled the wagon by my lonesome, all the way to the great hills leading to Planth. It seemed the region was growing and changing, the excess magic turning the entire land foul and inhospitable. There was no way we could grow anything out here, not with the way the lands kept shifting.

I returned to Planth in the middle of the night. My hopes of entering with little fanfare were dashed as the guard at the gate started yelling. “He’s back! He’s back and he has food!”

Doors opened as people came pouring out of the barracks and stables that had been temporary housing made permanent. Torches were lit and the entire village surrounded my wagon.

“We must butcher it!” someone said.

“Does anyone have a cooking skill?” another voice cried.

“Teach us, master ranger, teach us to cut and carve the meat!” a young man yelled as I tried to push past the throng. Everyone was so excited to see the food that they didn’t much regard me as a person. They almost revered me as if I were some mythic being or a god.

Eventually I made it to Silvia’s office. The young woman was sitting behind her desk, yawning as she sipped something from a mug. “You made it back,” she said with some relief in her voice. The worry lines and anxiety in the girl’s face faded as she smiled at me. “And none the worse for wear too!”

“Not entirely,” I said. “Er…this isn’t going to be a story with a good ending, so just be prepared.” I told the whole of the story, beginning to end, and left nothing out. Not even the parts about throwing their bodies into the woods for the carrion to eat.

Silvia was horrified, to say the least. Her mouth hung agape during most of the story and her eyes continually widened to the point of tears as I explained what I did. What I was forced to do.

“So that is my report, Mayor,” I said, leaning back in my chair.

“I see…” Silvia said, taking a few deep breaths. She leaned forward onto her desk and looked at me squarely. “You’re a hunter. A predator. Those three were predators too…I guess it is eat or be eaten out in the wild.”

“So you’re okay with what I did?” I asked, avoiding looking at her in the eyes. The way she was so calm and collected…who was this girl?

“No. I don’t want to hear about these things again,” she chided. “But humanity is degrading. Our town is a day from starvation settling in and those three wanted a magic bow? For what purpose beyond self-aggrandizement. I’ve got a community to worry about here, this isn’t a place for ex-heroes to play out their desperate fantasies of regaining power.”

“Okay, I have to ask, Silvia,” I said, finally breaking as I looked her dead in the eyes. She shrank back from my stare at first but grew used to it and stared back with a firm intensity. “Who are you? Why are you so eager to take the mantle of mayor? You were a slave, I get that, you wanted to go back here because it has walls, I understand that too. But why are you in charge?”

Silvia laughed at that and sat back. “Oh, I used to be a princess! Three years ago, I took the throne because my parents died. I ruled this area as a child and had to learn a lot of hard lessons very quickly. Administration and such is what I’m good at.”

“Princess?” I asked. “Of which property?”

“The entire realm of Hiyorn was in my dominion. But in reality most of the work was done by a team of brilliant advisors. I was mostly just there to sign documents and speak all regally at big affairs.”

I laughed a little, but I could see the girl was dead serious. “You really were a princess…” I said, shaking my head. “What happened to your domain when the City Above fell?”

“Well, my castle was annihilated when I was on business in the Shrimp Farming countries, but I raced back to discover everything was gone. Someone with a chip on their shoulder threw a pair of shackles on me and eventually I ended up in the Bandit Barracks which had been a robust village called Planth,” she replied. The way she rattled this story off so quickly, it was either a very memorized speech she had prepared or these events really did happen.

“Anyone in Planth recognize you?” I asked.

“A few did, yeah. They wanted me to administrate this place and tried to set up a system using pen and paper…I had no taste for it and they were rather abusive when I failed at doing it properly. Then after that, they just kept me in chains and used me for backbreaking labor.”

“I have a journal,” I said, patting on my side pouch. “I’ve taken to writing down some interesting things about this town. Mostly people and skills needed. Do I have permission to start teaching my skills to these people?”

“You are the Sheriff, do whatever you like,” was the reply. “But please don’t kill anyone within the walls. If you have to go out ‘hunting’ and you lose a few, I understand, but we can’t take a direct loss within the camp.”

---------------------------------------

Journal

1 Cityfell, Day 16

Planth continues to function at a reduced capacity. Stretching the meat out has made it last a few more days than usual, but we still need to get more food.

Points of Interest:

Kobolds?: A watchmen claims that he saw a kobold in the darkness a few days back. But those creatures never leave the woods, so I have my doubts. It may be just a goblin, those little buggers are known to scurry around, looking for food.

Rephta Temple: The temple refuses to open itself to the public. The High Priest has denied me entrance enough times to where I am now getting suspicious. What are they doing in there?

Wizard’s Tower: Silvia believes there is a wizard’s tower that wasn’t destroyed during the falling. I should go check it out as soon as I can. But I’ll need to find more food. Going hunting again tonight and won’t come back without at least four deer.

Skills I’m Learning:

- Log cutting. I’ve felled trees before, but never have I cut logs in such an efficient manner.

Skills I Need To Learn:

- Trade. The only way we’re going to permanently solve our food problem is to find another town and trade with them. And seeing how I’m the only one with the skills to venture out, it’ll mean I’ll end up negotiating with someone out there.

Skills I’m Teaching:

- Outdoor Survival. Braxton and Kenneth are two young adults who are spry and quick on their feet. Teaching them to field dress a dear may increase our chances of a successful hunt in the woods, but it will be a while before they are ready to wander the forest. Though I do fear bringing them in at any time would be too dangerous.

Chapter 5

“Kobolds! Help!” came the cry in the middle of the night. I had been preparing to head out early morning, so I was awake and properly armed.

Quickly I dashed to the courtyard of the fortress to see that everything on the inside was still clear. The gates remained tightly closed together and there were no signs of trouble, other than one of the guards, Kiel standing atop the guard tower, frantically waving at me. “Kobolds are at the gate! What do I do?”

“Relax and breathe,” I ordered, taking the stairway up to the unoccupied guard tower on the left-hand side of the gates. These walls were thick and sturdy, but were not designed for anyone to walk atop them, so this tower would be my sniping post.

Once atop the tower, I glanced down to see that four kobolds were in front of the gate. Two of them were armed with spears and the other two had…deer! The pair were carrying two large deer with antlers the length of an arm.

“What do they want?” Kiel shouted.

“No idea, but I’ll go talk to them,” I said, hopping out of the watchtower and sliding down one of the poles, ignoring the ladder entirely. This was not a war party, but what exactly did they want? Perhaps they were paying us tribute.

I startled the kobolds by descending from above, landing right in front of them. They had not seen me in the darkness and I took advantage of that just to show what my power was. My bow was on my back and I had a few arrows in my quiver and that was enough.

The leader kobold, the one marked with red paint and a wrist decorated by half a dozen bird wings, hissed something at me. I had seen him before and we more or less kept our relationship at a very far distance.

The second kobold beside his boss took his spear and thrust into the ground hard. The leader sucked in a great deal of air while the other feigned stabbing him. The two carrying the meat came forth and laid the deer at my feet.

It looks like these kobolds were trying to convince me to do something for them. They wanted to pay for it. Stab something big…the ogre? That would make sense. They must have spotted me going to the Ogre Grove and surviving the encounter. The food was payment, and a hefty one at that.

“Kill ogre?” I asked, taking one of my arrows and stabbing it in the ground near the implanted spear.

The group chittered back and forth but none had any command of the common tongue, so they merely babbled for a short while. Eventually they turned to face me all nodding. One pointed towards our terrified guard in the tower and made a throat slitting motion. He then pointed to me and waved towards himself as if inviting me to follow along.

The message was pretty clear: kill the ogre, but leave your friends here. Fair enough.

“The kobolds need help killing an ogre,” I said to Kiel. “I’m going to investigate. Go fetch my arrows but do not open the gate. You’re all staying here.”

It was a strange thing to follow after the kobolds, for we normally darted away from each other the moment we spotted one another. But now I was being escorted by a full complement of a hunting pack that had appeared the moment we entered the woods.

These kobolds were fierce and more than once I heard one of them skitter out words that were not accepted by the party leader. He would hiss angrily at them and berate them and I could guess why. The majority of the hunting party would rather eat me than fight the ogre.

At this point, I decided that enough was enough. I knew where the ogre was, I knew it was a beast and I had a few theories on where I could strike it. The creature had no magic inside of it anymore, so whatever power it had…it couldn’t be that great, could it?

I quickly disappeared in the trees the moment we took a hard turn. One of the hunters tried to grab at me but I had been so docile during the trip that it was too unexpected for me to flee.

Once atop the trees, I shouted down to them. “Oh relax, I’m going to kill it, but not with you.”

A flurry of spears was thrown my way in response to my plan. One of them jabbed me hard in the leg, though it bounced off thanks to my leather armor providing some resistance. The sting of pain and wetness on my leg caused me to grab onto one of the tree branches and hug it. My wound was actually pretty severe, as the tribal spear hadn’t bounced off. I just didn’t feel it once it stabbed me.

“Arrg,” I groaned, clutching my leg, trying to put pressure on the wound. Thankfully they didn’t hit an artery. But I needed them to realize I was just going alone, so I decided to speak in a universal tongue.

I shot two arrows from above, with each arrow sticking the ground right in front of the leader. The kobold gasped at the sudden presence of the arrows but quickly realized what the significance of my shot had meant. I wasn’t going to miss again.

The kobolds barked at each other as they were quick to disappear into the woods. I might have made a mistake in ditching them, but kobolds are carnivorous with fierce tempers…walking beside one probably made it too hungry to think of anything else.

As the adrenaline of battle wore off, I realized that my leg was still injured. It had been so numb during the fight I had almost forgotten it. But now that the battle rush was gone, I could feel great pain coming from the wound.

I staggered down the tree, sliding to the ground in search of something I could use to wrap my wound. The injury wasn’t too deep and it hadn’t struck anything important, so pulling it out was no problem. Thankfully there was a balm plant nearby, with long green fronds that have anti-bacterial properties.

Tearing off the frond, I laid my leg out carefully and wrapped the green soothing balm around the wound. A few wraps and a nice layer of mud should keep the thing bound pretty well.

Once recovered from my self-inflicted stupidity, I clambered to my feet and set about moving through the woods once more. This time I walked through the trees, figuring a shot below the target’s enormous belly would have the biggest chance of taking the creature down.

I didn’t need to kill the ogre as much as I just needed to disable it. Taking down a leg would cripple a beast of that size and then I could find out which spot on the body to deal damage to the ogre. And that meant walking around on the bottom layer of the woods, stealthily slipping between tree to tree as I grew closer to the creature’s habitat.

Eventually the bright, cool blue waters caught my attention. Standing beside the cavern, as always, was the ogre standing still and staring ahead. This must have been a guard creature of some kind, perhaps made by a wizard who wanted to protect something valuable in that cavern. Well, valuable back then. Nowadays if the System was used to craft it, the item was expensive-looking junk.

Being on the ground level allowed me to see the state of the creature’s legs. They were thick, bloated and grey. They too were covered in cysts that looked to have hardened a long time ago. But the creature’s knees were still there, just difficult to see due to the overhanging belly of the monster. Could I make a shot from here?

I lay down and prepared my arrows. A few shots would get the beast riled up, but it wouldn’t be able to see me, not when I’m in cover. I just had to be very careful and only strike the knee…

The first shot struck the beast’s thigh, the arrow bouncing off as if it were nothing more than a pebble thrown at a mountain. The beast snorted and looked down. Two more shots, one after another, in rapid succession…no good. The damn beast was impervious to taking damage from my arrows, it would seem.

The creature roared in anger once it began to realize it was under some kind of attack. He roared and stomped his foot, roaring louder than I had ever heard. I swallowed at that. There had been a reason I didn’t want to mess with that ogre.

The beast looked around in all directions but could not find the source of its frustrations. Instead of just giving up and going back to its staring routine, however, the creature tilted its nose upwards and began to sniff.

My scent wouldn’t be anything offensive but…oh damn it, I had fresh blood on my leg!

The ogre seemed to conclude this at the same time I did. It turned and stared directly at me. It roared with a savage scream and came bounding towards me, running straight through the water instead of going around.

“Shit,” I said, climbing up the tree that was my safety perch. I had a hundred arrows and all the time in the world; this beast was going to be slain, one way or another.

My confidence was short-lived, because the beast was able to seize hold of the tree I was climbing and violently shake it. Branch and trunk cracked and broke as he tore the entire tree apart, sending me flying.

Damn it all! I landed atop my leg and stifled a cry of pain, but it didn’t matter. The ogre was on me in an instant, his huge form looming above as he snarled at me.

“Errreggg!” it shrieked as it tried to grab at me. I was quick enough to slide out of the way; the creature was fast to run but slow in reflexes, enough so for me to get away.

I scrambled back to the trees again, this time moving between them as best I could, running from tree to tree in the hopes of getting away. The ogre was still behind me, chasing me the entire time, tearing through roots and trees as if they were mere twigs.

My injury was getting worse. The ogre could track me by scent, but would he leave the forest? The beast’s entire domain was this forest but I had never seen it ever get close to the edge.

I allowed desperation to override my common sense as I became solely focused on leaving the forest. The hills had been growing steeper and steeper; perhaps they would challenge the beast’s movements. After all, it had been chasing me unrelentingly all this time; moving upwards might be too much on its heart.

The soil beneath my feet crunched as I landed outside of the woods. I involuntarily yelped as the spear wound tore open a little more from the impact. The blood was streaming down my leg, but I had no time to bleed.

The ogre emerged from the woods towards me, moving slower than before. It walked with caution as if it were unsure how to move past the treeline. It reached the edge of the forest and stared at me with contempt.

The creature took a step forward but then quickly moved it back. The beast turned around and wandered off into the woods, leaving me alone to tend my wounds.

Chapter 6

Getting back to base had been a difficult task, but I made it. Immediately upon seeing me in my injured state, the people opened up the doors of the gate to help me inside. I lapsed in and out of consciousness for a while, as strangers continually came in and out of the medical hut they had built.

Eventually the ex-princess Silvia appeared by my side, bringing some fresh water for me to drink. “What happened?” she quietly asked.

“Ugh, just a contract dispute with the kobolds,” I said. “And an ogre that was impervious to arrows. Not a good combination.”

“Yes, well, the kobolds came back and we were forced to give them the deer back.”

“How many?”

“Thirty of them. There was no attack but they had little hooks that could be used for climbing,” Silvia explained. She paused to pour me a drink of water and handed it to me.

“Kobolds leaving the forest…” I said with a sigh. “There’s a sign of the times if there ever was one. Those creatures worship the forest and tend to the land as they please. To leave the woods to threaten us means things are getting too desperate.”

Silvia waited for me to finish drinking before she took the cup and returned to speaking. “They are a sapient species but no one knows their language. That said, there might be someone who could help us, either in learning what the kobolds want or even their own language: the wizard.”

“Ah yes, your rumored wizard who lives somewhere to the east of us,” I said with a laugh. “Come now, you can’t possibly believe that a wizard is still out there. Most of them were made into slaves or slaughtered the moment they lost their powers. Wizards weren’t particularly humble back in the day and now…well, the world has made them very humble.”

“Humility aside, people crave power. If there are magical powers beyond System magic,” Silvia countered “then there would be a few wizards who had to specialize in such magics. For them, losing the System may have even been a benefit since no one can counter their magics easily.”

“And where is this supposed wizard?”

“The tower was spotted a few months back, but no one ever went to take a look at it. For all we know, it could be a whole kingdom living inside that tower. Go check it out once your leg has healed up,” the former princess said, gently patting me on the shoulder. “And put the monster hunting away. You aren’t a hero, you’re a Sheriff. I can’t lose my best man right now because of some fun quest to slay ogres for the kobolds.”

“I was trying to get food,” I said.

“I know, but everything is a trade-off,” Silvia chided. “And you traded your health and safety for the promise of food from creatures you were already wary of.”

“Oh please, spare me that educational act,” I snapped. “You’re just a kid.”

“And you’re a full grown man,” she snapped back, smiling fiendishly. “Yet I’m the one telling you how to behave. Tisk tisk.”

Though her jape was quick and witty, my words had quickly broken off our discussion. She pulled away and stood, placing the cup on the table, next to the water pitcher. “Once you can walk without pain, go East. Take one other person, just in case.”

I wanted to argue against that, but it was clear I wounded her with the declaration that she was a mere child. I suppose that’s the last thing you’d want to hear if your whole life was revolving around being in charge. Eh, if she wanted to play with the adults, she’d just have to bear comments like that for the next…ever, I suppose.

Healing up wasn’t too hard. My wound, while painful, was able to recover within a few days, thanks to the healing herbs I had gathered from the forest. By the time I was ready to go, my leg was almost back to normal, though it was still a little inflamed.

Accompanying me on this journey was a strange fellow by the name of Ingot Chris. Ingot had been a coal miner, digging deep in the earth to produce coals that were used for flames and fuel across the land. Many System buildings required a good amount of coal, so the demand was always high.

Ingot was odd because he’d always introduce himself as Ingot the Coal Gotter and Getter. He didn’t shake hands but instead went for a strange motion where we touched elbows against each other. The man was a big beast of a fellow, with thick muscular arms that would easily be able to swing a pickaxe every day.

“So…” I said as we began our journey outside of the city. We had nothing other than the clothes on our backs, some sundries for the trip and my bow—Ingot didn’t even have a regular axe, let alone a mining one.

      “It is horrible out here,” Ingot whispered. He gestured towards the field of rapidly growing plants that had carnivorous teeth to them. “The land is mutating.”

Thankfully we were heading up another hill, away from those teeth-plants. We reached the top of the hill and I found myself gasping at the sight of such destruction.

The great glimmering palace, with its spires impossibly long, had smashed hard into the ground, permanently submerging part of itself into the earth. The towers of the castle were still intact, though now they were sideways.

“How far is that?” Ingot asked.

“As far as the mountains behind it,” I replied. “It would take us forever to get to even the outskirts. Let’s maybe explore that town over there.”

I pointed to a small, ash-covered village a short ways from the base of the hill. Standing on the other side of Planth’s hill had revealed a long flat field of grey ash as far as the eye could see. Some buildings were covered in the ash, while others were so buried it looked as if the ash was just in the shape of a building or a house.

“I’d rather we avoid those places,” Ingot said. “There’s going to be a lot of dead bodies. A lot of people suffocated in this ash. I was only spared because me and my crew were underground at the time.”

“I see. Well, the trouble is, Ingot, we’re on a mission to find the wizard but our core mission should be to look for opportunities and useful things. Nothing’s stopping us from just checking out the place. Who knows, maybe there will be a pickaxe for you.”

“Truthfully, I never thought I’d pick one up again,” Ingot said. “But you’re right. We need more than just the wizard’s aid. Let’s go, but be careful. Any person we run into could be very dangerous if they are better armed than us.”

“Got it, then you go forward to do the talking and I will keep back, bow at the ready,” I said. My heart began to beat a little faster as I realized the sheer danger that might be lurking in that place. Any desperate man with a knife could kill Ingot with ease.

I drew my bow and nocked an arrow, keeping the weapon alert at all times. We made our way down the final hill and into the ashy town.

The first thing to greet us was four bodies, all hanging from a gnarled tree in the public square. These corpses were wearing all manner of fine clothes.

“My guess is nobility owned these lands,” Ingot said, approaching the bodies. He looked rather squeamish, clenching his teeth together and reaching out to grab a blade hanging from one of the corpses. “And they were not treated well when the people were no longer under System Control.”

“It’s funny,” I said. “Growing up I would have given anything to be a user of the System, but now…I’m the luckiest bastard on the planet.”

“In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king,” Ingot replied to that.

We fell silent as we spread out to see what was inside of these buildings. There had been a major altercation in the tavern, with stools and chairs overturned and splintered into fragments scattering across the bar. There was a lot of unattended wood here and these buildings were all wooden in design…maybe we could get a construction crew to hack it all down and put something back together in Planth.

Though the tavern was full of destruction, there were only two bodies, both of them barmaids. Or so their attire would suggest. They had been shot in the back of the head with crossbow bolts, meaning whoever fired off these shots was behind them both.

I managed to find a bottle of brandy beneath the counter. “Perfection,” I murmured to myself as I raised the amber liquid to the daylight coming in through the beams of the ceiling. The amber liquid was clean and pristine. The bottle was untouched by the brawl and it made my heart sing to see it. Alcohol was one of mankind’s fewest crowning achievements and here it was, deliciously untouched.

I stuffed the bottle into my bag and said nothing of my discovery. Whether I wanted it to drink or to trade, I was unsure of but hey, if you find a brick of gold in the middle of the street, why not take it?

---------------------------------------

Journal

1 Cityfell, Day 21

We discovered a property we’ve taken to calling Noble’s Conjunction. The buildings are all in damaged condition, but there were some things to scavenge. Too much for us to carry, unfortunately, so I’m journaling in a map leading to the village just in case we get lost.

There were pickaxes and regular hand axes as well available in the nearby quarry that Ingot had found. We wanted to explore the caverns more, but something awful and frightening made a terrible sound within the cave. It was a hideous, howling scream that originated not from any creature I’ve ever heard.

We were quick to leave Noble’s Conjunction but we will return after we find this alleged wizard and gain some kind of power to fight against monsters. I have a feeling that those nobles were the only victims of human hands within that village. The rest? Some nightmare below for certain.

Skills I’m Learning:

- Scavenging

Skills I’m Teaching:

None at this moment

Skills I Need to Learn:

- Monster Slaying

- Sword Usage

Chapter 7

The road was clear and that was not a good sign.

“Why are you just staring at the ground, let’s go,” Ingot said, pushing me to move forward and take the lead again.

“The ashes around here, they’re all clean on the road,” I said, pointing to the three way crossroad before us. Each road has been thoroughly cleaned.

“Yeah, well, maybe some people like the cleaning skill and this is their dream job,” Ingot replied, firmly grabbing hold of my shoulder now. “Come on, it’s freezing over here.”

Nightfall had caught us by surprise (two hours earlier for some reason) and we opted to march through the night instead of just making camp. Now I knew my hunch was correct here. Someone was around these parts and they were keeping the roads clear for some reason.

The first crossroad led to a much smaller forest than my own, the second took us straight forward, continuing towards the fallen city, and the third led to a valley of some kind. There was smoke pouring from a windmill at the bottom of the valley. A clear sign of someone inside of it.

“Three paths but they’re all clean,” I said. The woods would be safer, for me at least, but Ingot might have trouble keeping up with me. The last thing I wanted to do was let him get eaten by some horrid creature.

“So pick the one going most east,” Ingot said, pointing towards the windmill valley. “There’s probably some farm folk down there too.”

“But are they the kind of farm folk we want to deal with? If they even are farmers, for that matter,” I replied.

      There were stories in the camp about cannibal folk and monstrous beings who disguised themselves as humans while out in the road, luring travelers to their doom.

Ingot shrugged and started walking toward the farm. “It’s too cold to debate this, let’s go see if they can host us.”

I drew my bow out at this decision and merely hung back, waiting for Ingot to call for help. The road did not lead to the windmill and thus we had to trudge through the ash. Each foot splashed as it entered the ash, the solid ground not actually so.

We had entered into a mud pit of some kind, though the ashes never broke from their position on the surface. There was no residue from lifting our boots out of the mystic marsh, causing us to glance at each other.

“What the hell is going on in this world?” Ingot asked as he began to trudge forward, pickaxe at the ready.

I, too, trudged through the mud, doing everything I could to keep a quick pace. Something would occasionally make a blerrrk and a mud bubble would pop, scaring us to move even faster.

Eventually we made it to the farm. There was just a windmill with a small cottage beside it. The ground beneath the cottage was slightly damaged however…almost as if it had been uprooted.

“Hey, hold on Ingot,” I said, grabbing him before he could go up to the door and knock. “Look at the ground. Isn’t that a bit strange?”

“We just walked across a mudbank that looked like solid terrain, I’m about all stranged out,” he replied. “Come on, just cover the door with your bow and we’ll be fine.”

I allowed the man to go knock, all the while praying to whatever gods were left for this to be a normal home.

There was a creak at the door. Someone had slightly opened it. “W-what do you want?” an old man said. His voice was shaky and strained, as if he were worried about us.

“I’m traveling with the Sherriff over here,” Ingot said, “we just want lodging. Any chance you can let us spend the night?”

The door shut. “Hey, I was just asking!” Ingot shouted, but there was no reply. Just steady silence.

My keen eyes were quick to pick up on some motion near the grain mill. Two men with thick, heavy clubs were exiting the mill and making their way toward Ingot.

The door opened slightly again. “Oh I’m so sorry, it’s just I’m an old man…”

These bandits had a bit of a clever racket going, distract them at the front door while two come up from behind.

Twhap! Thwap! Both bandits were dead as soon as they grew closer to my metal-named friend.

“Alright, that’s enough of that,” I shouted towards the house. “Come out or we come in. Your friends are dead.”

“Like hell they are!” the ‘old’ man shouted with a much deeper voice. “Ethual, Lance, kill these men!”

There was nothing but dead silence. Ingot looked at me and shrugged. He then picked up his pickaxe and began swinging it hard as he could into the door.

The wood frame exploded as Ingot smashed his way in. I followed after him, though looking out for anyone else who might be sneaking around. Just because I saw three didn’t mean there were only three of them.

There was a sound of a brief struggle inside, followed by a loud shout for help. I dashed through the doors to see Ingot rolled over on his side, bleeding heavily. The bandit, a short man with a wrier frame and a mask to conceal his face, was clutching at his own stomach wound.

“Fuck!” Ingot gasped. “Oh fuck me…I’m not going to make it.”

I had no words, for words would not help here. Instead, I shot the final bandit and quickly dropped to my knees, applying pressure to the zone of the strike. My hands thrust into the wound and I managed to grab a nearby piece of cloth to help close the wound up…but that wouldn’t do much.

The man died quickly, succumbing to his internal wounds from a single knife. How much power could one little weapon have? To take a man from a breathing, fighting state to death in such a short time. Blood was his life essence and something must have been struck rather hard.

I found myself rocking over the man for a few minutes, still clinging to the hope that he would somehow come back to life, but alas—nothing supernatural happened. Ingot was dead.

I mourned the man as best I could, having only known him for a short while, and then dug a shallow grave for him behind the farmhouse.

The old cottage was hardly worth dying for. There was no food, no items of interest and certainly no directions on how to get to the wizard’s tower. Instead there were just cobwebs and spiders. These men were desperate to eat…perhaps even to eat us.

The thought of cannibalism made me shiver and I thought of it no more. I was alone again, meaning I could travel a little faster, since Ingot wasn’t used to walking long distances.

The paved road stayed that way for as long as I followed it. Someone had taken the time to clean these roads up; perhaps someone from royalty? It would make sense for a liege-lord to send some grunts out to make sure the roads were clear for everyone. Or perhaps the ash didn’t take to the road’s cobblestone patchwork.

Whatever the reason, I continued going east until finally, I came upon a great hill that loomed over the countryside. This was about six miles from Planth and could easily be marked on the map as a landmark so we could navigate based on its location.

The hill was steep enough to become difficult to climb. Or perhaps I should say, it became a challenge to climb using only your legs. Scurrying up a hill seemed to be the same as going up a tree, though there was far less splinters here.

Finally, I made it to the top, gasping and wheezing for air. If Endurance wasn’t a skill, it was now.

A single guard tower was atop this hill, this one sitting at nearly fifty feet in the air. There were words placed on a signboard by a hurried painter.

“This tower is property of King Carrion! He graciously allows you to use it, but lay not a single hand on the wood holding this property up, lest he send his men to devour you.”

Hmmm. That was certainly, er, something to see and read. King Carrion? Hopefully this was just the scribbling of a madman, but either way the invitation was open.

Here I used the rungs of the ladder, my hands so tired from climbing up that monstrous hill. But it was worth it!

There was a spyglass waiting for me up there. It was fixed and in a position looking forward, but you could angle it any way you pleased.

“Let’s see what the Carrion King has seen,” I muttered, glancing through the scope.

The first thing I saw was the wizard’s tower! Or maybe just a tower, but it had the pointed spires of traditional mage buildings. Either way, it looked like the tower was in between two hills, resting in a shady valley. Looking down, I could see that the tower had been strategically placed in a spot people would overlook when searching.

The next point of interest was what looked to be a huge temple of some forgotten deity…wait, not forgotten! There were men and women in robes, attending to the temple, slowly working to restore it to its former glory. Were they practitioners of a new faith, or an old one? The symbol of their god I didn’t recognize but it might be good to investigate.

And the last thing I could make out on the scope was what looked to be a bunch of mushroom houses. These mushrooms were huge, with long white stalks and a variety of blue, black and purple spots all over their caps. The base of the mushrooms was hollowed out, however, and I could see humans entering and leaving these homes.

“Well that settles it,” I said to no one in particular. “I’ve got a busy few days ahead of me, but I think the wizard will be the first on my list…

Chapter 8

The tower shimmered. It was quite literally shimmering with some kind of aura. A prismatic combination of all colors gathered when I went to touch the doorknob, zapping me a little as I put pressure on the door.

A ward! This man knew magic! Truly, an actual wizard in a time where no one has any power. But…why would he bother to come down here? Perhaps I could persuade him.

I rapped a few times on the door, thumping nice and hard just in case he was asleep. It may be midmorning but some sorcerous folk prefer to do their magic by the moonlight.

The door grew a mouth after my fourth knock. “Okay, okay. What do you want?”

“I’m here to ask you for aid,” I said, taking a full step back. Would something emerge from the door to fight me? That wouldn’t be very friendly now, would it?

“No, you’re here to ask the wizard for aid, I am the house’s servitor,” the doorknob said. “I imbue every bit of this tower and all things within to obey my every whim and wish. So let me warn you right now, there are many kitchen knives and they are just dying for a chance to stab you. Go away and darken not this door again.”

“Go away?” I said. “But I wish to speak to your boss; surely he has time to at least hear me out.”

“He has all the time in the world, but he’s not about to just hand it to some stranger. Give me the reason why you are here. And make it interesting.”

“Well there’s an ogre near our village that needs to be slain,” I said. “I’m an able-bodied archer, well-trained and able to shoot just about any target. The arrows bounced off such a horrid beast. Can the master wizard enchant my weapons?”

“You mean you used to be an archer,” the door replied. “You are not an archer any longer. The System has collapsed, only the truly capable will reign supreme now.”

“I wager that I can strike any target with ease,” I said. “And you will see that I am a skilled archer, for I am a Non. Someone without the System, no powers, no skill points, just hard work. Really hard work, if I’m to be honest.”

There was silence for a moment. Then, the door unlocked itself and opened up. Whew! My plan worked. Now I just needed to talk to the wizard…he’s probably an outcast like myself, but I shouldn’t make assumptions about him.

A flashing green arrow led me up the spiral stairs immediately. The tower itself was rather spacious on the bottom; there was no furniture, paintings or even decorations anywhere. The stairs led up, up and up until finally, I was at the top of the tower.

“So he is brave enough to take the stairs immediately,” an old man said, his back turned to me. As I pulled myself out of the stairwell (it was a little small), I noticed that this was where all the magic happened.

There were potion bottles and cauldrons, books upon books lined up in shelves; there was even a lectern with spells currently being researched onto it.

“But too stupid to know not to use it,” the wizard continued. He was working on something, hunched over his desk. “Why are you bothering me?”

“Sir, if I offended—” I started to say but the wizard repeated his question.

“Why are you bothering me?”

“Enchanted arrows. I need enchanted arrows and the power to speak the kobold tongue,” I said. There was nowhere to sit, leaving me standing awkwardly against a large bookshelf.

“Pish, a child’s affair,” the old man said with a snarling laugh. “But I suppose if you need them, I should give you my blessings. Though not for free, of course.”

“We have very little to trade, but I could be a fresh supplier of game meat and maybe herbs?”

“Herbs?” the man said, suddenly perking his head up. “Where would you find such herbs?”

“In my forest, the Greater Forest in Hiyorn,” I said proudly. “I can identify any plant with ease.”

“This makes you a useful specimen indeed,” the wizard said, returning to his work. I moved closer to him but he did not wave me away. Instead he merely sat back a little so I could have a clear picture of what he was making.

“A wand…” I whispered. “Does it work?”

“All wands work, but can they cast magic is the question,” the old man replied with a bit of a chuckle. “System magic made wands an accessory. But now they can be the source of a wizard’s power. The body can’t accept arcane magic very well, so this wand soaks up the damage and releases the power within. Absorption is what we call it.”

“We?” I asked.

“The royal we,” he corrected. He sat up fully now and turned his head to look at me. The old man was decrepit, with a milky white eye and a series of scars across his left and right cheek. “There aren’t many wizards around these days. And for the better. It was always a bother having to deal with mages who want to claim your tower as their territory or some other jackassery.”

“Oh, I see,” I said, though I didn’t quite understand what he meant.

“Bah your ignorance is written on your face,” came the reply. The wizard stood up, revealing that he was not on two legs, but rather had four mechanical legs that were spiderlike. They helped him up and he walked across the floor to the lectern, each leg clattering as it stepped.

“Wizards are secretive and jealous. We are always trying to get the most powerful spell figured out so that we may claim it as our discovery and thus own it. And if you can’t be the first to figure out the spell, you usually just steal it. Hence why we are never in the mood to talk about our work in the public square.”

The wizard ceased walking as he reached the lectern, wand still in hand. He tapped the wand against the sheet of paper that had been resting atop the free-standing desk. The paper immediately curled itself up, shimmering with faint traces of blue magic.

“Amazing,” I whispered. True magic? This was a man of unbelievable power.

“Indeed,” the wizard said, thrusting both the wand and the scroll into his pockets. “Now then, let us discuss business. You are a Non, meaning you have skills. Hard-earned, battle-tested abilities that put you above the rest of us, yes?”

“Yeah, I get the feeling most folks have no idea how to handle themselves against a bow and arrow,” I agreed.

“To speak the kobold tongue, you’ll need one of their teeth,” the wizard continued. “And to enchant your arrows you just need a lock of hair from someone who is true and faithful.”

“Are there any alternatives?” I asked. Oh boy, asking Silvia for her hair would absolutely take the cake. She’d probably think me mad or worse, a creep.

“Oh, alternatives? You mean like me just casting a spell on you right here and now, then leaving you to your own devices?” the wizard asked.

“That was something I was hoping for, though I said before I can trade. Food even, if you need it.”

The wizard muttered a few things and walked past me, his mechanical legs clacking more as they led him across the room to a bookshelf. “Expansion of the tongue and piercing of the firmament,” he mumbled as he pulled some books out.

After some time reading through the books, he spoke up. “I have your solution right here. Easy to cast and will last for as long as you need. But something this powerful will require a favor of equal power.”

“What do you want me to do?” I asked, gritting my teeth.

“Three times a group of knights has arrived at my tower, demanding that I open it up. Three times my ward charms fended them off, sending them off to where they came. But they’re going to come back and my wards will not survive a fourth attack. Not with three in such rapid succession.”

“You said knights? Are you meaning the nobility with knighthood or were they just wearing the armor?”

“What does that matter?” the wizard snapped at me, closing his book suddenly. “Either way, I’m being evicted, for the moment they get these doors open, I must flee and will lose all of my items here. You carry a bow and need blessed arrows. I feel that you would be successful in penetrating their armor.”

“I’m not a manhunter,” I replied. “I’ve seen too much death lately, far more than I have ever wanted to.”

“Death and destruction are the new laws of the land, I’m afraid,” the wizard replied. He turned around to face me, his mechanical legs hissing and popping as they moved to support his turn. “You cannot sit on the sidelines here, friend. Either you are a survivor who kills or you are prey who will be killed. I have no interest in seeing those men dead, on a personal level. But as a survivor? Fuck them.”

Chapter 9

Tracking the knights was easy, as they made no attempt to hide their footprints. Heavy boots walking across the valley showed that the knights all went west after their latest attack, but not back up the hills. Rather they turned a corner and walked to the other side of the hill, where a large cave was waiting.

I could smell something inside the cave…meat! Fresh meat was being cooked and I could hear laughter and mirth from within the cave. These men were at ease…but could I kill them outright? They had, at most, bothered the wizard and tried to break his door down, but this didn’t mean they were evil. Perhaps they just were envious of the shelter itself, since the wizard didn’t do anything with the bottom floor.

Slowly, I ventured towards the cave, stepping as lightly as I could to keep my tracks safe from being traced. Walking amongst their heavy bootsteps gave me the proper cover I needed in case I had to flee. They’d have no clue where I went.

A warm light greeted me as I entered the cavern and I could feel the heat of a fire in the distance. It was a glowing and gentle heat, the kind that encompassed one when lying beside a fire in the dead of night. I rarely used fires in my forest, but this reminded me of the few times that I had.

There were four men sitting in a semi-circle, the fire before them blazing as one tended to the coals. They were all adorned in brilliant plate mail armor, though they wore no helmets and some of the armor looked to be rusted in patches.

But still, they had armor skills! Or were tough enough to wear those suits! The wizard wanted me to get rid of these men…what if I employed them instead? Planth had more to offer than this cave and if they truly were knights, then they’d want to find a higher purpose than just survival.

I decided to chance it, stepping out from the shadows, bow drawn and arrow nocked. “Fear not, I am a friend,” I announced.

The four knights all panicked at once. One went for his broadsword that had been laying on a wooden table, but the other three noticed I had a bow and yelled for him to stop. The knight ignored his friends and grabbed the blade, swinging it upwards and aiming towards me.

“You best be on your way,” the sword knight said, gritting his teeth. Sweat was pouring down the sides of his face, no doubt the result of adrenaline and the heat of the fire combined.

“I am not here to fight, or else I would have loosed my arrow and struck your head,” I replied. The remaining three knights kept their hands up, but slowly rose to stand beside—or slightly behind—their leader. “I just want to know who you are.”

“We are a knighthood,” the leader replied. “Knights of Rust, we have come to call ourselves. We own this land and thus are within our rights to be armed and go as we please.”

“Who do you serve?”

“Whoever will declare themselves king and pays us a fee,” came the reply.

These men were disciplined. Though they looked worried and uncertain, their stances were unmistakably combat ready. If I fired a single shot, I’d be dead before I could even get the next arrow out of the quiver.

“Fee?”

“Meat or metal,” he replied. “It’s the same about anywhere. Not enough food to go around. Not when the crops were annihilated by the cityfall.”

“Or mutated,” another one said. “Most crops are dangerous now. Some say even the corn have teeth.”

I slightly lowered my bow but the leader did not do the same. He merely kept his weapon raised and ready for a charge.

“Look, I came here to help out the wizard whose tower you have been assaulting. He has some things that I need and refuses to give them to me until you are taken out,” I explained. “But I am not here to murder you. If you are knights then it means you swore oaths.”

“The Knights of Rust have no one to swear an oath by,” the leader countered. “The other three here are just my friends who have learned to wear this bulky armor. I’m only a Non who managed to fake his way into fealty. Then when everything fell…I didn’t. I stood strong and now I command a whole host of these brave men.”

A Non? Perfect! I didn’t know if we had any kinship from our mutual status, but at the very least we’d be on the same page.

“I, too, am a Non,” I said. “I lived in the Greater Forest, away from civilization for most of my life. Then the world ends and next thing you know, I’m one of the most powerful people in the country.”

“It is a surreal thing indeed,” the knight said, finally lowering his sword. “Being mocked one moment and then venerated the next. I’ve laid many men low that I’ve lost count, all of whom thought their System would save them.”

“We pay in blood for what they simply pay in sweat,” I replied. “Will you grant me your name?”

“I’m Sir Wesley and these are my loyal three, Eckhart, Rosepaum and Jhook,” Wesley said, waving a hand towards the rest of the men. He slowly sat down, prompting the others to sit with him. Weapons were put down and they relaxed.

I wanted to sit with them and relax by the fire…but something in me was worried. These knights just accepted my presence quickly enough, but was it too easy?

“You can forever puzzle our loyalties,” Wesley said, motioning me to come forward. “Or you can sit by the fire and tell me what it is you want. You have my word that we shall not harm you this night.”

Fear rose up in me at this promise. If these men were false, breaking their word meant nothing to them. The vow of a fake knight had no weight. And I was skilled at ranged combat, not close quarters combat. These men would kill me with ease.

“I fear this is a little too cramped for my taste,” I replied. “I will speak to you outside the cave, one on one.”

Jhook grumbled something about me being a paranoid ass, but their leader was quick to nod. “Very well. Lead the way.”

Sir Wesley followed me, sword still in hand, to the mouth of the cave. He walked with swagger and strength, certainly not fearing any kind of ambush. He was wearing some extremely heavy plate; it was doubtful anyone ambushing him would have a chance.

“Why are you attacking the wizard’s domain?” I asked, once we were under the moon. The night sky was especially bright tonight, for our great moon was shimmering white like a cold star.

“Ah yes, the wizard,” Wesley said, planting his sword into the ground and leaning against it. “He is a cattle thief. A few of us had found a bunch of cattle, real living cows, and were moving towards these grasslands so they could eat. I mean, the land here isn’t green but it still has grass and the livestock had no trouble eating it, so why not?

“Anyway, trouble happens almost immediately after we find a grazing lands suitable for the five cows we had. The hope was we could raise them ourselves and get more cows, you know how it goes,” he said.

The knight Wesley paused for a moment and took a deep breath. “That bastard wizard stole all of them. Not one, not two, he took all five of our cows under what he claimed was the Right of the Might Principle. So naturally we tried storming his tower to get our livestock back.”

“That’s an odd tale,” I said. “Considering there were no cows within the tower.”

“I figured as much. The idiot probably butchered them all at once and stored them in an ice dimension. All the meat he will ever need. Such a selfish bastard.”

This was rapidly turning into a he-said, she-said situation. Something seemed fishy about the plan to become pastoral knights, especially about the cows being warped, but at the same time, the wizard I had met was unbearably arrogant. He barely even looked at me when I was inside his tower…but would he steal cattle?

“Are you planning on sieging again? Or have you given up?” I asked.

“We are planning to burn it down from the outside. We were out gathering hay today, as much as we could find. We’ll need some other things, lantern oil if we can find a lantern, matches and of course, a bagpipe to play during the burning.”

“Why do you need a bagpipe?”

“To accentuate the man’s suffering,” the knight replied with a grin. “So now you know our story. Anything else you are desperate to know? Or can I go back into the warmth of the cave?”

Perhaps there was a way to disrupt this back and forth for good. “Actually, I’m from a village known as Planth. It was a bandit lair turned into a colony thanks to the help of our local nobility.”

That caused Wesley to perk up. “Nobility?”

“Yes…the Princess!” I said quickly. “The Princess of Hiyorn is in our company and she has taken an active role in managing the village. In fact, she is the reason I came out here in the first place.”

I gritted my teeth as I delivered this bit of news. I had my own doubts about Silvia’s princess-ship, but who cares? If she got enough people to believe her, then she would become the princess.

“Ahahahaha,” the man laughed, slapping me on the back. There was a great deal of pain that came with his gentle ‘pats.’ “You want to lure me to your village with the promise of a princess? Is she single and eligible? Or has she already married all of your men and you dedicate your lives to pleasing her?”

“She’s fourteen, friend,” I said.

Wesley’s face grew immediately serious at that. “Oh my gods…Silvia? Silvia Brasque of Tarenteen?”

Just my luck. The girl was a princess. Now this whole adventuring thing was never going to end. Unless perhaps I could trade her to the kobolds and let her rule over them.

“Yes, it is Silvia,” I said. “And you seem more familiar with her than I, so…” I trailed off and watched as the man did the math in his head.

“Silvia was Tarenteen’s star monarch. Even though she took the throne when she was an actual child, she adapted really well and began handling the edicts and decrees on her own. We all thought there would be a golden age as soon as she was formally crowned at eighteen…but alas, the city fell and Tarenteen turned into nothing but a home of bloodbaths and spirits of the dead.”

“Well, Silvia is doing just fine, but I’d feel a lot better if you and your heavily armed men were at the camp to protect her,” I said. Finally, a lucky break!

“Of course! Just render unto us our payment in full and we shall depart,” he said with a wry grin. “Otherwise, I’m just going to stay here and keep working on Operation Roasted Wizard.”

Chapter 10

Negotiating with the knights was rather difficult, as I had nothing to give them. They wanted full cow’s worth of meat or at least a few hundred pounds of metal that could be smelted and forged into something sturdy and usable for battle. Either way, I wasn’t getting their services unless they were paid in full.

With nothing else to go on, I returned to the wizard’s tower and knocked on the door a few times. “Let me in!” I said. “It’s me.”

There was no answer. I pounded against the wood, banging as loudly as I could. “Enough!” a voice said through the door—it belonged to the wizard’s for certain. “Seeing how you aren’t covered in blood, I can only deduce that you have failed in your quest. Begone!”

I tried the door handle, but there was a bit of energy pushing back. I walked around the tower, slowly pushing my way on every part of the spire, looking for leeway.

Spa-cak! My hand thrust through the tower, allowing me to get a handhold on a loose brick that pressed itself out to the world. Climbing a big tower was like climbing a big tree, so…why not?

There were some kind of energies trying to push me back down, but by the time I made it to his window, the magic had all but dispersed. One weak side was all it took for me to run his ward’s dry.

The window was unlocked (which wasn’t exactly a surprise since it was so high up), allowing me access to the wizard’s inner sanctum. I pushed the window open and slid inside, rolling over the desk and landing in an upright position, bow aimed right at the old man.

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” the wizard growled. “They turned you against me? What did I ever do to you, other than open my home and babble at you grumpily.”

“I’m not here to hurt anyone, let alone a group of knights who seemed to be virtuous enough,” I replied. “They claim you stole cattle.”

“Damn straight I did! Hah, branded each bovine with a warp sigil and pow, all of them gone!” the wizard said, laughing the whole way through. He found his despicable deed to be rather funny.

“Those men lost their food and their ability to produce more of it,” I said. “If your dumbass had waited a few generations, you could have probably stolen a few without any consequence.”

“Well, if you must know, it was all because of that awful Carrion King,” the wizard said, his jocularity fading, a more grim and somber tone taking its place. “I was up against a wall and had to promise that horrid beast a fortune in meat for it to let me go. So yeah, if you want to blame someone, you are free to go straight up to the Carrion King and make your demands known. I’m sure he will be fair and forthright in his judgments.”

A shiver ran down my spine at this revelation. The Carrion King did not sound like the kind of person or monster you’d ever want to run into. “What is it, exactly?”

“It was once a man, they say,” the wizard explained, walking over to a few scattered books on the floor. His legs buckled inwards, lowering him down to collect them all. “A man who was exacting and cruel in his power. He reaped where he did not sow and all the land feared this king. But his reign and rule was strange, for he held no courts. He just wandered with a band of attendants, moving from forest to forest.”

“So they were nomadic? Is that the case still?”

“Well, not really. See, when the city fell and magic struck the earth, all of those raw potent energies draining themselves into the land…this guy decided to drink from those waters. While everyone else was worried about the mystic power twisting and contorting them, he craved the transformation and in the end, was given the body of a wrenched centipede, red and bloated with a million mouths underneath his carriage.”

Now that made me shudder as well. “But he’s sapient, right? I remember reading a sign his men had posted to leave the watch tower up and running.”

“Oh yes, he’s sapient,” the wizard replied, flipping through the books he had picked up. Eventually he landed on the right page. “Here’s a painting of what these kinds of creatures can become when exposed to raw systemic magic.”

I grimaced at the sight, for it was just as the wizard had explained. The bulbous centipede body, with thorns jutting out of its back, many chunks of its red flesh swollen and hardened to prevent any head-on attacks…it was hideous.

“So anyway, I was captured by some of his men, I managed to talk my way out because the King wants meat. That’s the drawback to his curse, he always hungers for meat and yet will never be full. But that was him in his normal life as well, always searching yet never finding.”

“So those cows are long gone, aren’t they?” I asked, sighing and lowering my bow.

“Indeed, indeed,” the wizard replied. “But if your people are hungry, I can tell you that there is a Shroomic tribe who took root nearby a few months ago. Their buildings are 100% edible and, in fact, can be rather nourishing to our kind.”

Too many people to talk with. Too many deals and bargains to make. I didn’t have a head for any of this wheeling and dealing…but Silvia did. Perhaps we could turn Planth into a mobile base, as it would be easier to find food if everyone was foraging and gathering.

“Well, I appreciate you being straightforward,” I said. “But you still owe a debt to those men and they will see you put to death over it.”

“Let them come then! I shall remove a few of their internal organs before escaping. Let us see how a man functions without his kidneys!”

Yeah, I think this was Silvia’s problem, not my own. I informed the wizard about my allegiance and there was a brief back and forth, but finally, the wizard agreed to having the ex-princess mediate the meeting between her and the knights.

The knights too agreed to wait on their assault. They were excited at the prospects of me bringing back a population for them to guard and interact with. Being a knightly order was boring without having a group to defend.

The deals were struck and both parties agreed to wait at least a week before returning to their squabble. Fortunately, the journey back to Planth was a rather quick one, taking about a day’s worth of walking.

As I climbed the great hill leading to where Planth could be seen, a strange feeling rose up in my gut. It was a strange but fierce anxiety that something impending was going to happen. This was the same feeling that came before an ambush was made, where all the world became calm and all the more suspicious because of it.

I hurried up the hill, climbing as fast as I could. Smoke! That’s what it was, I could smell smoke. With a heft, I pulled myself up and hopped to my feet at once to see Planth was burning! A fire had broken out inside of the barracks and the walls had been decimated by something…big.

The ogre! The walls and barricades had been smashed to pieces, doors and windows were scattered around; most everything in the camp had been annihilated. I scanned the area for the perpetrator, but saw nothing. Perhaps it was a kobold attack.

I slid down the hill and rushed up to Planth. There were men and women trying to get survivors out of the buildings, while others were trying to put the fire out by throwing cloaks and towels in a vain attempt to smother the flames. We had no access to water; there was no way to put these fires out.

Without an enemy in sight, I moved to the courtyard, weapon still up. The ogre could be anywhere.

“Oh thank the gods,” Silvia said, appearing from nowhere. She was quick to wrap herself around my waist. Her grip was like steel, because this young woman was frightened out of her mind. “Please, stop this!”

“I have no power,” I said softly, putting a hand on her head. “Nothing that could possibly stop this village from burning down.”

The flames burned long that night, but eventually they faded. The fortress lay in utter ruin, completely unusable in any way. The population had been decimated as well; we had only twelve people left. It looks like we were going to be nomadic, whether we liked it or not.

---------------------------------------

Journal

1 Cityfell, Day 25

The village of Planth was annihilated by the ogre that I had been fighting before. While I had been very careful to not lead a trail of blood, we had underestimated how badly the ogre wanted to eat. For the winds were strong, carrying the smell of roasted meats all the way to the forest where the beast emerged from.

They were unprepared. If I could do nothing, what chance would they have? The biggest devastation wasn’t the loss of housing, but rather the loss of those big, sturdy walls. Though they were like paper to the ogre, anyone else would have had one hell of a time trying to get in.

We have currently taken up residence in Noble’s Conjunction, with the women and children sleeping inside of the cottages and the men keeping watch by the Quarry. There is no food, nor was there any food left to salvage from the wreckage, as the ogre had eaten everything it could.

Things We Need:

- Better shelter

- Running water

- Food for 12

Skills I’m Learning

- Scavenging

Skills I’m Teaching

- Outdoor survival: With the camp displaced, every man, woman and child needs to be taught their role in surviving in the wilds. The only way they will make it is if they are willing to learn from me.

Chapter 11

I needed a break from all of this running around, but right now my needs had to be ignored in favor of a bigger problem: food. The entire Planth village was on their third day of having no food to eat and it was starting to show. Now the body can go without eating for weeks at a time, but the psychological effect of the hunger can be devastating.

Silvia was adamant that we stay in Noble’s Conjunction and build it up into a proper village, but I wasn’t sure of that plan being the best, especially with that strange howling I had heard last time I visited.

The howl never sounded again, though, not when the men stood watch outside every night, axes and pickaxes in hand. That made me wonder if whatever was inside the mine was intelligent, or perhaps it had been driven away by our presence. Either way, that was a problem for a later date.

To the west of our temporary village was a forest that had been covered in ash, same as the rest of the plains surrounding us. But I could see that no ash touched the actual floor of the forest, meaning I wouldn’t have to worry about some strange effect taking place when I walked through the woods.

The Greater Forest was too far, and frankly, a bit too hostile for hunting right now. Instead I would have to settle for this small wood, called the Wynter Wode. It was early in the morning and I was on the hunt, thrilled to be able to spend the day doing what I loved to do.

The great canopy above was deeply refreshing, being out of the sun was a good feeling and I wished how I could carry these canopies with me wherever I went. Though I suppose those were just what tents were for. Perhaps I should add tent-making to my “skills we need” list.

My mind was free to wander as I moved across the cool ground, searching for any sign or trace of a creature. Eventually, I found a trail. It was an indeterminable creature but it had four legs and looked to be searching for food. It seems we were both competing on the same chain.

I followed the trails, moving slowly and ensuring my own footsteps didn’t leave an impression on the dirt. The last thing I wanted was for my kill to be stolen away from me and even though I was alone in this wood, I couldn’t help but fear a scavenger showing up and claiming the food for himself. What then would I do?

How much had my life changed ever since I rescued that young girl in peril. Then the villagers regarded me as a hero and…next thing I know, I’m thinking about whether it would be justified to kill a game thief. Living was hard enough as it was, but living with a shortage of food made survival near impossible.

Gotcha! I took a corner to see a loathsome boar, big and fat with the most tender of haunches and the meatiest of necks…I was looking at a very delicious animal. The meat would be able to sustain us for weeks, as the cook knew how to stretch a meal out very well. That was one thing about the poor folks from before the crash—they always knew how to get by with very little.

My arrow was in my hand faster than I could respond, for everything about this was automatic for me. I lined up a shot and fired, spearing the boar square in the heart, killing it dead on impact.

Thwump! Thwump! the boar made as it fell over, far more forcibly than my arrow would have pushed it. I squinted to see two silver bolts were gleaming in the slight sunshine coming down from the trees.

“Dammit,” I hissed. Here I thought I was being unnecessarily paranoid, but nope. There were always scavengers looking to come along and take what is yours.

“An excellent shot, good sir,” a voice said. The footsteps were of three people and I quickly vanished into a bush so I could get a good look at them. No reason to give up my element of surprise.

“It is, isn’t? I should say though your shot needs work,” the other voice said. He had an aloof and easy-going attitude, speaking as if he were truly high class. Damn, just what I needed, a noble who owned this forest.

“Say,” the posh man said. “Isn’t that an arrow? A clean shot too. Rupert, did you send any scouts earlier?”

“Negative, milord,” Rupert replied.

I laid in wait, watching to see what this nobleman would do. “Well, fresh game is mine by noble right, so really this was a poacher’s job. Fetch it, Rupert, and prepare it so fabulously like you always do.”

“Yes, m’lord,” Rupert said as he walked to pick up the game.

A burning heat struck me and I decided to show myself. They were wielding crossbows and I did not hear either of them reload, meaning I had the upper hand here.

“Hey!” I shouted. “That is my rightful boar!”

“Aha! So the poacher reveals himself,” the posh man shouted turning and pointing right at me. He was a young fellow, probably in his twenties, wearing an immaculate tunic with signs of some old, forgotten house of royalties.

“Look, I got a bunch of people who need that food. I killed it first, can we do the right thing here and just let me have it? I won’t bother these woods again, if you wish,” I said, keeping my bow upright and ready.

The noble smiled at me and bowed a little. “I would probably say anything you’d want to hear because of that weapon.” He was still holding his own crossbow and he patted on it a few times. “These solve the skill crisis, but reloading is abysmal. Takes a full man to reload by standing atop it.”’

“I certainly don’t have such a weakness,” I replied. “But be assured, I’m only protecting what is mine.”

“Friend, this forest is my property. I have claimed ownership of it and posted signs warning of such a thing. Surely you must have seen them coming in?”

“Why would I pay attention to things that don’t matter anymore,” I said. “The systempocalypse made you nobles easy targets. Why would those two be taking your orders?”

“Well, for one they are my friends and for two, we have the same problem that you. Mouths to feed and not enough to go around. And I do fear that since this is my lawful property, I must order you to stand down and leave my woods. Come up to Bode, so we can speak like gentlemen…otherwise…”

The noble glanced at Rupert, his assistant. Rupert was a hulking fellow with arms and legs thick as tree trunks. He was halfway between me and the noble, and it was clear that this hunk of muscle would be rushing me.

“Let’s not do anything stupid,” I said, tightening my grip on the bow. “Leg shots are just as deadly as being struck anywhere else,” I warned. “I will kill with no mercy.”

“Killing to protect some meat? Savage,” the noble replied. He scoffed at me and turned his back. “Very well. It is yours, but I warn you, there may come a time when you need Bode’s help, and Bode will remember this incident.”

Chapter 12

I hung my kill up in a tree and quickly followed after the noble, Chester Bode, from above. He had no idea that I was lurking around, having assumed I left with the meat. But I was more curious to see if Chester was truly letting me go, or if he was just going somewhere private where they could reload and look for me.

“Damn it all,” Chester grumped. “We just happened to run into a bowman, didn’t we? I almost won us a victory but…so damn close. Being robbed again and again, every step of the way.”

“It is an unfortunate bout of ill luck, sir,” the man’s servant said.

“Luck, feh. Some god has seen fit to laugh at me at my own expense. Well, I hope they are laughing now, because we’re going back home empty-handed. Father’s going to turn me into a laughing stock and poof, there goes the inheritance.”

Inheritance? I wonder what that would be. Was Bode a self-sufficient community? With nobles running the show as they always did? If that’s the case, maybe I should bring my people to incorporate into Bode. After all, we needed the numbers to improve our chances of survival out here.

“You bark far more than you bite,” Rupert said, scowling as he spoke. “You should have told me to kill him. It would have been over fast, for the man’s hands were shaking. He was an amateur archer at best.”

My hands were shaking because firing a bow requires a lot of muscle tension and I hadn’t committed to fully firing yet. But it was cute that this rough man would do such a thing to me.

“No amateur stares you down like that,” Chester replied. “That man stood proud and ready to end our lives, all over some damned flank steaks.”

“The times are lean,” the manservant said. “Men become monsters in these kinds of situations. Frankly, I think we should count ourselves lucky that he wasn’t a murderer. How easy it would have been to just kill us and take all we had.”

Chester nodded. “Hmm, you’re right. I suppose there is a silver lining here.”

“I say we find his village proper and raid them,” Rupert said. My heart went in my throat at that. Oh no, no, no, no. Shit!

“That may be a wise decision,” Chester said. “We could surround them and take all the meat for ourselves.”

“And the men for slaves!” Rupert said. “Let us begin building the town in our own image. Your father doesn’t have the guts to do something like this.”

“It would make me far more popular,” Chester replied. Bringing back meat and laborers? But there are some big questions here to answer.”

“Like what? What time of day do we attack? They have no walls, our scouts have already summed them up. This will be an easy move and there is nothing but reward.”

Chester shook his head. “I’m not someone who commits atrocities based on how easy it will be. Rather, I’m of the mind that we should look at the ethics of it. I may be skill less, but I still have a heart and a conscience. For Bode to raid another town means we are forever raiders. Are we willing to commit to that role?

“And should we fail in our attack, or they somehow capture me, what then?”

These questions made the big man fall silent as he pondered them. “I think you are just coming up with excuses. Morality was invented by the aristocrats to keep people from murdering each other, thus thinning the work supply. Out here there is only one morality: survival.”

This gave me a perfect excuse to put theory into action. Drawing my bow, I aimed at the back of the big man’s leg and fired a shot that silently thwipped through the air. One second they were walking side by side, the next Rupert was on the ground screaming and shouting.

“Tell me now that you’ve seen your theory put into practice,” I shouted down to the now terrified men who were holding their arms way up in the area. “Is my morality serving you?”

“I h-hope you heard me speaking about peaceable decisions,” Chester stammered out, keeping his hands nice and high.

Rupert was bent over, rolling back and forth as he screamed from the pain. “Those arrows aren’t barbed so you can pull them clean out,” I said. “But make sure he goes to see his sawbones for the operation, don’t try to just yank it out.”

“We have no sawbones, unfortunately,” Chester said.

“No medical men and desire to contend with a tribe over unknown resource? Friends, do I need to adopt you as well?” I said.

“Adopt? You are an arrogant prick of a man,” Chester shouted up at me, temporarily forgetting he was in a hostage situation. He threw his arms up towards where he thought I was, fists curled and ready for a good boxing match. “Come down here and we’ll settle this dispute with our fists.”

“I have no intent to fight you, Chester. But the man Rupert was speaking so casually about preemptive strikes, that I saw fit to teach him and you all a lesson. Stay away from Planth, or at the very least, send envoys to discuss things. If you try to bring any kind of force to our little village, I will simply start killing as much game as I can in these forests.”

That last part made Chester’s eyes go wide. “Surely you wouldn’t go after our food supply…” he muttered, looking down at the now unconscious Rupert.

“You were casually discussing invading my people,” I said. “Wars of attrition can be won without directly attacking the enemy’s front. I don’t doubt that you can protect Bode, but what about the forest? This place is where I reign supreme.”

“Fine, fine,” Chester said, lowering his hands and shaking his head. “Shall we agree on a non-aggression pact?”

“Is that a pre-emptive peace treaty?” I asked. This was not my kind of conversation.

“Yes, it’s just an agreement that we won’t attack each other. We could even build our friendship up for a bonus…damn it. I almost forgot the System was gone,” Chester said with a long, sad sigh. “Are we in agreement?”

“I will send an envoy,” I instructed. “They will be treated with the utmost amount of generosity your people can spare. I’m too busy feeding my people to worry about ‘pacts’ and ‘borders’. That and I cannot bear politics for the life of me.”

Chapter 13

The ground crunched beneath our feet as we walked towards the forest. A blue light had appeared in this forest not two days ago and one of our explorers—Brandt—had been adamant it was a sign of good things to come.

I wasn’t sure, but that particular forest was The Shroomwood, named because the trees looked like mushrooms. Or was it because the trees were made of them? It’s impossible to know.

“So what do we do if they are made of mushrooms?” Brandt, my tag-along, asked.

“The wizard seemed to believe they were fine for humans to eat, but he’s also a jackass with a deep grudge against humanity, so it is possible he’s lying,” I replied.

The blue lights washed over us, breaking us free from the cover of darkness. The light source was certainly coming in from the heart of the forest.

“I don’t know if I’m feeling brave about that, “I said. “Let’s search for the mushroom folk first. Maybe they will know.”

Brandt shook his head and took a few steps forward. “Oh come on, Bowman, don’t be afraid. I’ll go ahead and you can follow me in silence, from above.”

The man’s desire to keep flirting with the unknown fascinated me. He was just a scout that I was trying to teach but the man’s obsession with adventuring had made educating him very difficult. “I know all the basics because I had them when the System was around”, he had said to me. “Therefore, I don’t need to focus on the basics of foraging and hunting. I just need a proper bow, like you have.”

Ah yes, my bow. Everyone pointed at my bow and gasped. Oh it’s magic, oh it’s a supernatural weapon…some would even whisper that the string itself was a god in disguise, blessing every shot. The truth was, I had no idea if this bow was ever supernatural. Perhaps it did plug into the System, but I would have been blissfully unaware. Still, the ‘enchanted’ bow gave everyone around me a sense of hope.

This hope turned into jealousy in most. Most everyone I met still had their head stuck in the good old days, waiting for when the power would return to us. The knights kept their heavy armor and wielded impractical swords because they assumed at some point, they would have their skills, powers, spells and abilities come rushing back.

Would such a thing ever happen? Hell if I know. But holding to the past was just as vital as holding onto the idea that magic weapons still existed. It gave everyone a sense of control. Just get through the hard times and then, everything will go back to normal some day.

“There! There!” Brandt hissed at me, his voice so excited he could hardly contain his whisper. He was pointing at the source of the blue light: a well.

My eyes went wide at this too. A well? That meant we’d have access to water for as long as we needed, provided the water’s good.

Brandt eagerly examined the well, staring deep into it. “You think there’s anything down there?” he asked.

I tossed a stone in, all the while surveying the area. There was a splash. This was it! We had found a well that was full of water.

“The System must be coming back,” Brandt babbled. “It has to mean that. The blue light’s guiding us?”

The blue light hadn’t faded upon our discovery of the well. It was a small star-like sphere floating above the well; it was gently pulsing light out towards the rest of the world. Staring directly at it was not nearly as painful as the sun.

“What is it?” I murmured. Should I throw a rock at that one too? Hard to tell if there would be retribution for such an attack.

“It’s clearly the gods,” Brandt said. “They have blessed us to find this place.”

“You speak in foolish fictions,” I replied, something catching the corner of my eye. I slowly glanced towards it to see that a mushroom man was standing there, frozen stiff. In his right hand was a bucket and it was clear he had been coming in for a drink.

The mushroom man wasn’t expecting company. He was short, with a big purple cap on his head and his skin was covered in a slight white patchy substance. The man was wearing clothes, however, a silver tunic and a potion bag hanging off his right hip.

I decided to let the myconid go. I turned back to Brandt and grabbed him by the collar, pulling him away from the well.

“Ow, hey!” he grumbled as I yanked on him.

“Get your head out of the clouds. That blue light leads to water, which means it could be a trap. Someone might be coming here for victims and so you need to leave, immediately.”

“A trap?” Brandt whispered, his eyes now wide by that cold splash of reality on his face. He quickly composed himself and, using his new outdoor survival skills, he began to follow his own trail back to the part of the forest we had entered.

A glowing warmth washed over me as I followed the man, watching his every footstep as he avoided branches and twigs, careful to never move into a dense piece of foliage. What was this feeling? Pride? I suppose I was proud of the man, not simply for walking well in the woods, but for also leaving without argument once I told him his orders. If Brandt survived the trip home, he would have earned my respect and trust in his skills.

Once Brandt was gone, I returned to the well, from above as usual. The light did not pierce the trees above the well, which I found curious. What was it? The fascination caused me to shiver. Was this light enchanting me? Drawing in my attention until all I could do is stare?

Fortunately, the mushroom man appeared to break me out of my worried thoughts. He had his bucket and was quickly working to secure the water to the line, fearfully looking around. Was it us he was afraid of? Or something more.

The light shined a little brighter before turning into a purplish-reddish hue. The new lighting transformed the gentle woods with the cool blue light into a tortured, nightmarish place where red reigned supreme, casting a foul shadow across the woods.

“A feast for a thousand feet,” a booming voice cried out. A thousand repeats of the words shuddered all around me, as if the sound were touching my spine.

The mushroom man yelped at the sight of the red lights and abandoned his post, turning to fleet, but it was too late. A long, writhing tentacle of some kind burst out of the light and seized hold of the miniature mushroom man.

“A feast for a thousand lives,” the voice said, drawing the mushroom man up to the portal as if it were inspecting him. “The sacrifice is acceptable.”

And with that, the red lights turned into a hideous circular mouth with jagged teeth from all angles. One bite severed the myconid body, with the top half being devoured first.

“I can taste your terror,” the voice thundered. “And I smell your fear. It is like wine unto parched lips. Bring you me a greater meal and I shall give you whatever your pathetic heart desires. Otherwise, do not venture into my territory. You upset the cattle and that affects how they taste.”

With that, the light turned back to blue and then…it was gone. The light, the supernatural fear, all of it vanished in the blink of an eye. I vanished as well, getting the hell out of this forest as fast as humanly possible.

---------------------------------------

Journal

1 Cityfell, Day 30

Planth has seen better days. With such a low workforce, I’m relying on three or four men at the most to protect the village and stand guard. Furthermore, two women became pregnant which would be good news if we had some walls.

Frankly, I don’t know what the hell I’m doing here. They all trust me implicitly because I was given the title Sherriff, but planning and maintaining a civilization is not on that job list. Still, we had enough people to govern and so Planth was a city state, no matter where we ended up.

Bode is looking like a potential source of food and security. One of our scouts (Brandt) came back with a report that Bode was an actual village surrounded by a stone wall. There was a fortress within the walls, known as Fort Bode. Sieging the place would be practically impossible given what we have to work with.

Diplomacy is not an option yet. Silvia explained this to me rather bluntly. Diplomacy can only happen when two parties are on the same page and are in the same power level. Bode was superior in every way to Planth, and thus they’d be able to toy with us, able to insult and dishonor our people without any chance of real backlash.

Skills I’m Learning:

- Diplomacy

Skills I’m Teaching

- Covering tracks in the woods (Brandt)

- Wild Food Identification (Lindi)

Chapter 14

A sound by the nearby woods caused Silvia to immediately leap to the side of me. “I am not a living shield,” I grumbled, trying to pry the girl off of my arm. “And that’s my bow arm, so if something were attacking, you would have just killed us both.”

“I would assume they’d spend more time chewing you up, thus giving me a head start,” Silvia countered.

The princess and I were heading to meet these supposed knights, in order to gain their loyalty. On top of this, if I could get the knights to swear to defend her, that meant they wouldn’t be able to siege the wizard’s tower, since they’d have to escort us back to Planth.

Did I trust these guys? Somewhat. They were strong enough to wear plate mail and their weaponry, but could they fight? Not a chance. These men were like peacocks, showing off their features as a means of impressing people. Who wouldn’t want a knight to be on their side?

Of course, this didn’t mean I was unprepared for chaos and trouble. These men seemed good, but hopefully they would behave in the presence of the young princess. Either that or they’d be paying with their blood. I had no interest in suffering the opinions and cruelties of men acting most foul.

“So you’re saying that each time you touch the surface, you can feel it changing?” Silvia asked, staring down at the trail beside us as we walked. The ground here, outside of the road, was slick and slippery, as if a frozen sleet or a vat of oil had been spilt.

“Indeed, my theory is that the land isn’t supposed to fuse with your System magic, but the leakage is occurring anyway,” I said.

“Theory. Hah,” Silvia laughed a little at that word, punching me on the shoulder. “You are such a brilliant man to even be thinking about such a thing! Others would just be trying to figure out how to survive, but you? You seem to pay attention to everything.”

“That is why I can survive, madam,” I replied. “I learned how to pay attention a long time ago. The smallest details in a fight can be life or death.”

“Oh sure, and a magic bow certainly helps,” she teased, pulling on the side of my ear. This girl was starting to really grate on my nerves and she couldn’t help but notice it, thus aggravating me more. I think she wanted to see what I looked like angry. In truth, I couldn’t remember a time I was angry outside of immediate survival needs. What was there to rage about in the life of a hermit?

“Knock it off with that magic bow crap,” I grumbled, batting her hand away. “I earned my traits through fierce determination and hard work! Not pressing a single button on a menu.”

“You know, it kind of sounds like you resent System Users,” Silvia replied, easily ducking my swatting, though she finally let go of me and gave me some space.

“Well, they were unkind to me and my kin, they treated me like a pariah and now, suddenly, they’re all so worshipful of me because I know how to use a bow and arrow. Everyone acts like I’m the chosen one, but in the reality of things, I was just sent out to die in the woods. I decided not to die and that was what shaped me. The System folk…bah, they just want results.”

“You know, I was a diplomat class before the big drop,” Silvia mused. “And I studied the System almost as much as anything else in diplomacy. Because learning how to use the System is a skill unto itself. Metaknowledge can be a powerful thing and in the right hands…well, people can find ways to make the System work for them in a way no one else could.”

“Ah yes, what were they called? Urchins, right?”

“Indeed. Urchin is a fitting term,” Silvia replied. She stopped walking as we approached the windmill. The mighty grain silo was still running, the mill ceaselessly grinding nothing but dust; the grain in that mill had vanished a long time ago. “For urchins like to steal and those bastards stole System magic sometimes. Experience and the like. So I learned how to do it right back to them.”

She sighed wearily. “Oh to be so carefree in those days, fearful of nothing and hopeful about everything. I really do miss the world we had created.”

I said nothing and merely held a hand up to stop her. “Hold. The knights should be arriving here shortly. You and Sir Wesley are going to convene at the base of this hill, where I will be sitting. Everyone has agreed to take off their helmets, so killing them will be fairly easy for me. Just don’t run your mouth and you should be fine.”

“Oh please,” Silvia scoffed. “I’ve been held at knifepoint three times in my life, all demanding I sign some kind of legislation.”

“Really? And you refused?”

There was a long pause. “No, no, I signed anyway,” she said with a sigh. “It’s kind of hard to be courageous about tax law rounding up or down.”

With that, I set up my sniper post, laying down with a suit made of carefully gathered grass, allowing me to look like a particular dense piece of foliage. The ghillie suit was something I rarely used for hunts, but in this situation, I needed to have the element of surprise.

The ground was squishy, but otherwise behaved like grass, allowing me to set up for a good firing angle. If anyone so much as raised a hand to smack Silvia, I’d be riddling them full of arrows before they could even process the idiocy of their decision.

What was I doing here? I was literally sniping to protect a fourteen year old girl whose political powers vanished along with the System. If the princess hadn’t insisted to go, I would have just sent a proxy or better yet, have her write a letter but…she refused.

Silvia claimed that she still had her diplomacy abilities, since they were innate. “I never had to level them up,” she had said to me as I tried to pull her off of my arm. She was trying to come with me to see the knights and was very determined to become luggage if I said no. “All of my diplomacy skills were administrative. I’m a people person!”

Now, I was watching that ‘people person’ nervously wait at the bottom of the hill, fumbling to move some rocks around into stones for sitting upon. Sir Wesley appeared about an hour late and I didn’t much care for that. Already, my bow had an arrow resting in it. I’d kill that bastard with one easy shot if he was planning something.

The knight was escorted by three of his men, four in total, all the way up to the halfway mark, where the town and the road melded into one area.

He said something to the princess and she waved him over, pointing to a rock for him to sit in. The knight began to walk towards her, as did his allies. But before I could lift my bow to rain arrows upon then, Sir Wesley barked at them to sit back. They obeyed.

Four men were present, with two still unaccounted for. They were clearly looking for me. Or perhaps more ambushers. Either way, I kept my focus on Westley’s exposed head.

The two chatted amicably for a few minutes, before getting into something serious. The discussion was rather heated and more than a few times Silvia stood to assert her dominance and he refused to take a stand of his own.

It was hard to tell if Silvia was winning as much as just making the other man lose. Push a man too hard into a corner, eventually he stops looking at the corner and starts thinking about fighting his way out.

A clank beside me interrupted all thoughts. I gasped and looked to the left to see a metal foot right next to my head. Only a thin line of rode stood between us meeting.

“The fuck do you think he is?” one of the voices, a shrill and curly kind, said.

“Don’t know, but at this point I’m thinking maybe he was just giving her the old polite goodbye. You know, just dumping her on some knights and making a break for it,” the other voice said back.

“Oof, that is some real slander on the man’s character, Obee. You think he would do that?”

“I’m just saying it’s something that can be done by someone. They don’t have to do it, but there’s nothing wrong in acknowledging the truth of the matter.”

The footsteps continued in their search, though I could hear them avoiding the off-road entirely.

“The land here seems very sick with magic,” Obee said. “If it weren’t for this road, we’d be stuck here.”

“That’s curious, isn’t it? A road that ignores all the magical mayhem happening to the ecosystem around us?” the second man said. Their voices drifted off as they walked further and further the opposite way of us.

I let out a silent sigh of relief and turned my eyes back to Silvia. She was standing again and he was kneeling, enduring all manner of abuse as she yelled at him, pointed and cajoled him. I grabbed my bow a littler tighter. What in the hell was she doing?

The three men by the windmill had taken notice of this shouting and started to walk towards the pair. One of them had the good sense to stretch out his arms and hold the men from going any further.

Finally, Silvia finished her rant and began to march back up the hill, tears streaming down her face.

“They are bullies and nothing more!” Silvia said, spitting on the ground as she made her way up to me. “Knights, feh. They knew nothing of chivalry and codes. Wasting my time.”

Glancing down, I could see that Sir Wesley was unhappy and his men, all of them, converged to speak with him.

“I’m sorry to hear the meeting went poorly,” I said, popping out of my hiding spot. “I was hoping they would have some kind of knightly virtue that compelled them to follow you.”

“Oh yes, the Noble’s Obligation, or the Favor of the Lady,” she sniffled. Her indignation was fading, being replaced with a much somber expression. “They didn’t want any of that.”

“What did they want?” I asked.

“A betrothal! Some of these idiots want me as a wife once I am of age. We live in a strange world in which all of our lives have been upended, but wow all they can do is look at me and wonder if I’m single,” she snapped. Her anger gave way to sorrow. “Oh and the man I was supposed to marry is dead. He has to be for he was in the Glimmering when everything collapsed. So I can’t even say I’m spoken for, since the dead cannot speak.”

“Right,” I said, unsure of what to say to all this. “Look, I don’t know how it works in royalty or in regular places, but maybe in Planth we can say ‘no couples’ until we have walls.”

“Should have said that three weeks ago,” Silvia sighed longingly. “That knight, he is a real and true one, but the rest are just in costume. He found a few goons who were bulky enough to wear his old armor sets and they just wander and scavenge.”

“I bet the knight suits give them plenty of free food,” I said.

“In exchange for brutal work,” Silvia tutted. “They are often just hired muscle, though they try to keep their work clean and without innocents harmed.”

“Wandering Vagabonds…” I mused. From knighthood to vulture in a year’s time. How much can change from the loss of such a powerful network? “So they want you to be their wandering queen?”

“More doors will open to a young woman than a bunch of armored thugs,” Silvia replied. “They need a face. I was to be that face, until they made me scowl by dismissing Planth as nothing more than a tower built on sinking sand.”

“So they have no interest in helping us rebuild?” I groaned, climbing out of the mud pit that somehow still didn’t dirty my tunic or suit.

“Not one bit, I’m afraid. They think that it’s a new world where only the strong make the rules and therefore if we aren’t strong enough to conquer them, they don’t have to follow our rules. Or really civilization’s rules.”

Chapter 15

My plans for building a secure little kingdom had been thoroughly dashed by those knights. Silvia was left in a state of self-loathing and dread about the future and I still had to figure out how to get the knights to stop bothering the wizard.

Part of me wondered if it would be ethical to just shoot the leader and watch them scatter. They had sent two men to come up around the hill in order to find me. Scouting was not attacking. There was no telling what the men’s motives were other than simply account for where I, a bow sniper, was hiding. Couldn’t fault them for just trying to survive.

“What if we go northeast for a while?” I asked. “There are mushroom people! And the houses are quite odd.”

“Uh-huh,” Silvia said as she stared at the ground, doing everything in her power to not cry. I was thankful for this, because I could barely understand my own crying, let alone anyone else’s.

We barely made ten feet of progress before the young woman burst into tears. “They were just so cruel to me! The man said he was a Non, like you, but he felt like it was something that made him better. As if he were now the chosen one. He even wanted to wear my crown…”

“Resentment is what you were seeing down there. Some men look at nobility with admiration, others with contempt. And some have jealousy too. Dark and deep jealousy to take over the whole world. Now that we have a leg up on everyone, I suppose you’ll learn who each Non truly is.”

“Well, he was a rascal and a bully,” Silvia said, doing her best to wipe her tears away, though she still struggled with sobbing. “And kept telling me how good for me this whole thing would be. I don’t give a damn about what’s good for me, I had my childhood stolen from me by the throne and it was to serve the common good of the people. Steal the System away? Why would I behave any differently?”

Something snapped in me at that. Not towards Silvia, of course, but rather those knights. They were going to park in the grain mill and most likely harass passengers on the road. Worse yet, they clearly had no ambition beyond getting paid in food or metal, so they could grow very bored in between encounters.

“Stay here,” I said, turning around and storming down the hill. “Hey, Wesley!” I shouted, catching the knights as they were convening before the mill.

Swords were all drawn and helmets clumsily equipped, but I took my bow and threw it aside. “Come up here and say a few of those things you said to Silvia to my face.”

“That was a diplomatic matter, go to hell,” Wesley said. “You pay us and we serve you. There is no workaround. Not even a princess can help you circumvent that.”

Well, I suppose I was learning how emotions worked in a social setting, since my anger plus my level of empathy for Silvia had boosted my confidence and courage. Words came barging out of my mouth with barely a second of me able to contain them.

“Come up here, you jackass! Throw off those gloves and give me a good thrashing!” I bluffed. I had no hand-to-hand skills, but I had routinely killed boar with only a knife. I should be strong enough to at least put up a show of fighting.

“Are we schoolboys or something?” Wesley asked.

“You have besmirched the honor of a princess,” I replied. “You used words to harm her and you did not honor her office. As the Sherriff of Planth, I must stand up to protect the young lady’s honor. A vulgar knight like you deserves a few good punches to the head.”

“Do it!” Jhook whispered. “He’s skinny as a rail. You have at least sixty pounds on him.”

Wesley waved his men away. “None of that. I’m not going to waste valuable energy or time fist-fighting over how my words affected the supposed princess.”

“Aha! Now we hear the truth,” I said. “You don’t think she is the real princess?”

“She certainly did not act like one when we spoke,” he replied.

“Wait now just a moment,” Rosepaum said, putting her finger up. “You told us that you were positive she was royalty, that the description could only meet one specific woman.”

The rest of the men all nodded in agreement on that. “I recall him saying he was 100% certain!” Eckhart said.

Wesley looked up at me with stern anger in his eyes. No admiration. Just jealousy of how my words held power over him. “Well, if you wish to follow a delusional princess and a bowman who hoards his secrets, then be my guest to leave,” he said.

“What’s the pay for going to your side then?” Rosepaum asked.

“We don’t pay but there is food and shelter, no more wandering about,” I said. “A stable place to defend, with a low population as well, meaning there’s plenty of food to go around, at least when my hunting pays off.”

The knights-for-hire began to murmur amongst themselves. With their leader now being called into question, they had an opportunity to make a break and start anew. There had to be some bonus I could use to entice them but what?

Alcohol! I realized. My bag, I had a bottle of mystery booze that was clearly meant to get one drunk. I ruffled through my various satchels and produced the amber bottle. It swished as I rattled it back and forth, the light of the day piercing through the ambered glass.

“How is this for a signing bonus? Any who joins can share this bottle,” I said.

“Is that right proper whiskey?” Eckhart shouted.

I grinned widely and nodded. “It could be. It may be paint thinner as well, the way it smells.”

“If it’ll get you drunk, why not chance it,” Rosepaum mused.

The knights all turned to face their staunch leader whose arms were crossed in defiance of me and the entire group. “If you think for a second that you can somehow convince me to join with a bribe, you have no idea what knightly virtue is.”

“But knights can have vices!” Eckhart said. “Let’s add drinkin’ to our list of hobbies. Come on, why do you always have to be such a spoilsport about things. They have a town, food and access to liquor, what more do you want?”

Sir Wesley growled a little, but rather than lose his temper, he merely shook his head. “Fine. You lot can join with him, but just be warned that when there is trouble, you’ll be the first ones sent out to die.”

“You said dyin’ for queen and country was a knightly virtue,” Jhook said. “It may be a bit of a downgrade but princess and village are very much the things worth dying for!”

“You aren’t real—” Wesley started to shout but was quickly silenced by an arrow landing right at his feet.

“Get the hell out of here,” I said. “You are not welcome in Planth. The rest of you may follow me, but be warned. I am the Sherriff of Planth and that puts you in my jurisdiction. You’ll need to behave.”

Wesley went pale at this warning and was quick to back away as I drew my bow again, just to scare him. It looks like Nons were just as bad as Systemers in terms of ego. He held so much power that he tried to take shortcuts—only for those shortcuts to end in disaster.

The rest of the knights agreed to come along and I merrily introduced the lot to Silvia. They were all proper towards her, calling her Princess and bowing before her as such. Well, they tried to bow but the weight of their armor knocked them to the ground upon attempting to take a knee. We had to get some strength training in these men so they could wear these suits like proper knights.

Chapter 16

“It is a shame you couldn’t have massacred them,” the old wizard had chided after I returned to his tower, “but I suppose tearing down the power structure has its benefits too. Turn old resources into new, circle of life, mulch and such…”

The man had ranted to me for nearly two hours while I was trying to get my reward from him. Two scrolls had been made, the first one blessed with Dragonspeak, which allowed me to talk to dragons and kobolds, and the second was Arrow to the Heart.

This spell blessed a quiver full of arrows to ignore all toughness and armor a creature had, natural or otherwise. Once the quiver touched the ground, however, all the arrows within would simply turn to dust. A tricky spell, but I didn’t need many shots to kill the ogre. One clean shot to where the heart was would be good enough to do it in.

Once I received my scrolls, the wizard told me that I was to beat it and never come back. “These doors shall be forever closed,” he had boomed. “At least until you have something that I want. But don’t you dare contact me again.”

It was a shame that the wizard was so ornery and agitated. There were many questions I had, namely considering that weird spell that I watched unfold in the woods, but the moment I had started to describe the scene the wizard shrieked at me to stop and climbed into a sturdy armoire, locking it from the inside.

“If I’m a man who has great magics,” the wizard had said, “then why do I not rule these lands? I have power beyond anyone here’s capabilities. Why haven’t I taken reign and rule?”

That had been a curious question, but I think the more I puzzled it out, the more of the Carrion King I was beginning to see. The well was meant to draw water, or was it just a trap? Sending the bucket down summoned the creature? Too many things to know but the shaking wizard had refused to come out of his ‘anti-clairvoyant chamber’, leaving me to return home. And by that I mean my actual home in the woods.

A war cry greeted me as soon as I stepped foot within the territory. Kobolds were drumming. I could hear battle chants coming from all around as they prepared to lay siege to the new intruder. They knew who it was, too, for I could recognize the drum beat that had been assigned only for me. And it certainly wasn’t a ‘hello’ kind of beat.

Taking hold of the scroll in hand, I continued walking through the bushes, hands up to show I wasn’t up to anything. A moment of focus on the scroll and I could feel a shudder move through my tongue, as if it were being seized and held down for a moment.

“Why the hell would he come back? I thought he found a tribe!” one of the scout kobold grumbled. Their voices were following me from all around; spotting them in the trees was fairly easy.

“Maybe he realized the forest is Draconis!” another said. “And now he wishes to worship and join us in our work.”

“Draconism is silly,” another opined. “How would he even know about him?”

It was interesting to listen to these creatures speak so quickly to one another. They hissed, snapped and cried out at random intervals; all these actions were part of a rather tame conversation. The way they spoke was where all the fear came from. If anything, they sounded like any random soldier pairing.

I arrived at the Sacred Stump, or whatever it was that caused the kobolds to leave offerings for it.

The Stump had once belonged to a massive tree, where a few elven wizards resided. One of their experiments, thousands of years back, went way out of hand, breaking the tree in half. The tree smashed a great many huts that day, triggering a collapse of the elven cities in the nearby area.

Though the elves had long ago abandoned the forest, the Stump maintained some kind of mystic aura, usually glowing with a slight green or blue. It was also a place where the kobolds would meet with me during a time we needed to exchange something. I would place one of my arrows on the stump and the next day, they’d meet me here.

In the distance I heard a groan. “Oh fucking hell, why is he back?”

“No idea, sir,” another said, trying to comfort the frustrated voice. “But the good news is he looks like he wants to parley.”

“I am not in the mood to play charades with him again. Getting him to join us in fighting the ogre was a fairly easy job that he managed to fuck up by running away from us.”

“Maybe you don’t have to play any games to speak with me,” I said, my words transforming into the draconic tongue as they left my mouth. How strange it was, to feel one’s mouth opening and twisting in such alien ways.

“Who are you?” the leader said as he stepped out from the bushes.

The kobold chief or Skulls, as I had taken to calling him, was dressed in his typical skull mask. He carried a staff that rattled as he walked, almost as if the top of the staff were containing beans or stones.

“I think you’d at least know my name,” I said, crossing my arms.

This surprised Skulls! He gasped and raised his staff towards the heavens. “You can talk? You, a lower race, can speak the tongues of dragons?”

“Well it took me some effort to find a suitable solution, but rest assured, I have a window of time where we can understand each other. We may as well use it before going back to our usual friends at a distance policy.”

Skulls nodded and shook his staff. “Yes, I suppose we should. Well, human, what is your name?

“Miles,” I said. “Of the Greater Forest.”

“I am Branchaka, chieftain of the tomb keepers.”

I knew it! They were taking care of the forest out of some religious duty. No wonder they always seemed irritated with my presence; I was probably ruining their rituals.

“I wish to know if it would be possible to form an alliance,” I said. “You have a great many tools and weapons to defend yourselves, my own people not so much. We would also like to buy logs from you, shipping included. Is there a way this can happen?” I asked. The draconic language was easy to say but I didn’t know a thing about kobold culture. I really hope they didn’t mind straightforward negotiation.

Branchaka looked at me, his expression hidden behind the skull mask he wore. “We are not keepers of infants, so why should we be concerned with your affairs? You have been tolerable at best in this forest. I suggest you take your people and go somewhere else.”

Just my luck. “You’re saying you don’t have any needs?” I asked, glancing at the crowd of soldiers who had surrounded us. These men were ready to spear me like a hog if I tried anything funny.

“We take care of our own needs,” Branchaka replied. “And the one time we traded you meat for work, you bungled it like a fool.”

“Well this fool has a scroll that will allow him to kill the ogre. That’s why I’ve come back.”

Branchaka looked at the parchment in my hand and snarled a little at it, his long snout flexing in and out. “Magic? I thought it vanished from the world.”

“System magic, yes, arcane magic? No!” I replied. “With this scroll, I shall kill that ogre and then we can discuss further trade options.”

The kobolds all began to whisper to one another, all brimming with excitement at the death of the ogre. Branchaka had made the mistake of negotiating in an open forum. I just needed to throw one universal pleasing option and the crowd would make the decision. Though I guess this hinged on having a leader who cared what his followers think.

“Fine,” Branchaka said with a sigh. “We have a long day of foraging ahead of us. The ogre usually starts prowling in the evening and will run into our party if we aren’t fast enough. The beast is located in the usual cavern, so be cautious. “

The kobold lowered his voice considerably and leaned forwards to me. “If the ogre comes after you and you can’t win, you better damn well die instead of leading it to our village. If I lose a single kobold during your hunt…well, there are many terrors I will make you aware of before killing you.”

Chapter 17

The singing made me forget about the ogre altogether. I had been in the brush, moving carefully as to avoid monsters that weren’t the subject of my hunt, when the sound reached my ears. It was a woman, her voice so beautiful and radiant that all I could do was seek out the source of the melody.

I wasn’t enchanted by the singing, at least I hope I wasn’t, but rather I felt a pull coming from a sense of longing within myself. Home. My cavern and things that were uniquely mine…nostalgia for when life was quiet and calm.

A sense of ease washed over me as I approached the glowing blue light that had suddenly appeared, accompanying the woman’s singing. This place…so warm and familiar, a place of safety. A haven.

I drew my bow because I was no fool. Dropping my guard was the last thing I wanted to do when encountering that blue light again. Perhaps my life would be its sacrifice.

“Come, dear son of the forest,” a gentle, wispy voice said. Each word flowed from her like gentle gusts of air cooling my face. “I have no plans to harm you.”

With a shrug, I stepped out from behind a tree to find a pale blue woman, sitting atop a rather large rock. The woman was dressed in a white tunic and she wore a wreath atop her head. In her right hand was a lyre and the other hand was absentmindedly plucking at the strings.

“Ma’am?” I said, unsure of what to say to this being. There was power in her, something so fierce and determined. She was unshakable in her convictions and above all, a woman of peace.

“You seem to be struggling before me,” the woman said. She waved a hand, pulling the gusts away from me, restoring a clear head.

“You made me think those thoughts? Of you being unshakable?” I asked, as I leaned against the tree, panting like I was out of air.

“Yes, I find it tiresome to explain to people who I am and that I am not a siren, so my wind buffets bring feelings and truths to the surface of their mind. Even then, most are skeptical of their own thoughts.”

“I get the feeling that you summoned me,” I said, changing the subject quickly.

“My singing called you, yes, but your will chose to follow,” came the reply. The woman smiled at me, small flashes of rainbow energy crackled through her teeth. “What do you wish of me?”

“Er, I was going to ask the same, ma’am,” I replied. The woman’s mouth closed tighter, sending the strange multicolored lights away.

“You and I are kindred spirits,” the woman said with a sigh. “You a great warden of your forest and I, the strength and voice of the rivers here. When the System collapsed, all my power faded. All but the power which I naturally possess.”

“You were a river goddess?”

“Steward,” she replied. “A custodian of the river for the Louros Circlesend. I crashed through waves with mighty power, I saved misguided souls who tried to navigate my narrow channels…everything was in balance.”

“I remember sometimes feeling like the water I was drinking felt happy,” I said. “Must have been you.”

“Nourishing and refreshing people are my life’s work,” the aspect said, clasping her hands together and pressing them to her heart. “I’m glad you have a fond memory of the river.”

“As am I,” I said, glancing around. “I don’t wish to make you repeat yourself, but I still cannot understand why you want to speak with me.”

This prompted the spirit to nod and reach down, her hand passing into the boulder. She pulled from the solid stone a small blue gem, an opal. “Gaze upon this, Miles. It was a precious stone at one point, but now the mortals all crave foodstuffs and lumber. The gemologists and miners were quick to leave their work and thus the gem trade vanished in a blink of an eye.”

“Ah yes, one minute you had waiters, the next they were political dissidents slamming your head into a dinner plate,” I replied.

“There is a fine gem that is very far from here,” the spirit said. “It looks like a blue opal but much bigger. At least the size of a small boulder.”

“Ah, and you want me to go fetch it?”

“Would you be so kind to do that for me?” she asked bluntly. “I shall consider it a favor and take the ogre’s life, for that beast has profaned a lake I had crafted specifically for the kobolds.”

“You can do that?” I asked, crossing my arms. Okay, this was starting to get a little fishy but…what could possibly be this stranger’s motives?

“I am able to enter any body of water,” she explained. “And in doing so, I gain control. My arms shall seize the ogre and he shall drown. The body will be returned as proof and the kobolds may have their cave back.”

“You care for the kobolds?” I asked, though my question was more out of curiosity than judgment.

“They care for the grounds, so I see it as a partnership with them. They drink very little water, so their trips to the streams are loaded enough to last them a year or so,” she replied. She sat up and crossed her legs, smoothing out her tunic.

“They are brutish creatures, but then again, when the System vanished they all banded together instead of just killing one another.”

“Yeah, I noticed that. It was almost like they were full of Nons,” I said.

“Exactly. They will evolve and if they continue to stay together, they will lose their need to destroy anything foreign to them.”

There were many questions I had, but the mission returned to me at once. “Show me what you can do then,” I said. “Let’s see what you can do.”

The spirit of the river had faded from view, leaving me to find my own way to the cave. Thankfully the markings I used to map out this entire place were unbothered. Each warning, scratched by my knife, perfectly cut into the trees.

As I leapt from treetop to treetop, I heard a giant ker-splash in the direction I was running. Oh no, did she do it without me? I wanted to see the ogre die because this could be some kind of scam. Spirits were tricky things, walk on the wrong one’s grave and they can send your life into spirals.

My feet flew faster than the wind as I gave everything I could into catching the spirit in a surprise of some kind.

The ogre cave came into view, but the ogre pinned to the wall by giant stakes made of stone was what gave me pause. “W-what is this?” I gasped.

“You are a hunter, yes? I have torn its armor apart and opened the beast so that you may make meat of it. Take only your fair portion and give the rest to the kobolds. Lie about how you used enchanted arrows to fell the beast. I’ve managed to go 500 years without being summoned by a kobold and I’d like to keep it that way.”

“What would they possibly summon you for?” I asked.

“Frankly, I have no idea. They just point and chitter until the spell ends. Some are smart enough to have a translator. Otherwise I’m just staring blankly at a situation, hoping I can connect the dots,” the river spirit replied. She seemed to be a bit more casual now that she was just standing beside the waters.

“So you want a large gem that looks like blue opal,” I said, writing these words down on my ‘quest’ section of my journal. I use open quotes on quest because I am not an adventurer.

“The gem will be located in a mine near Spifferen,” she continued. “And it will be in the possession of some horrid stone beast, so you must destroy it in order to retrieve the thing. And then you bring me the stone as finally, this curse is over. At least for us.”

“How so?” I asked, turning to look at her. But I wasn’t fast enough, she was gone. I gazed down into the now crystal blue waters and stared for a moment. “What do you mean the curse will be over?”

Her voice echoed all around, the loudest emanating from the cave. “The stone gives me great power, for it is a natural part of my spiritual formation. Consuming rare stones gives me greater power and that remains to be true, no System or anything of the sort. And that amount is just what I need in order to dominate any monsters who dare to appear within our forest.”

“Oh, that reminds me!” I said. “Do you know about the Carrion King?”

There was silence for a moment. “Enough so to gather the strongest gem in the world.”

---------------------------------------

Journal

1 Cityfell, Day 36

Slaying the ogre gave the kobolds exactly what they have needed for hundreds of years: safety. I attempted to explain about combined strength, but the leaders and elders couldn’t fathom the idea of risking your tribe’s neck out for someone else. In their world, their tribe was The Tribe and all other groups were just misguided, foolish or ostracized. Or human.

Learning the kobolds’ tongue magically had allowed me to ease tensions between the two tribes, but there was tension almost immediately during a trade trip. Planth’s not going to make it long term without the help of the kobolds or some other benefactor. Not when I had business to attend to.

Important Quests only, all others are closed down until I get that gem.

Skills I’m Learning

- Negotiation

- Diplomacy

Skills I Am Teaching

- Brandt for archery

- The Knight Jhook for wrestling

Planth Goals:

- Get enough wood to build the walls

- Dig up a well

Chapter 18

The revelation of the spirit’s presence within the river had opened up a door for all of us to win. I dispatched a runner to find Sir Wesley and sent a message to the wizard, but only Sir Wesley arrived.

I had gathered them in my office, offering them chairs to sit in, as if the entire world hadn’t ended. We were just men, sitting in a room and arguing over fates and such.

“So what you’re telling me,” Wesley murmured, “is that if we can get our hands on that stone, we could have a perpetual river god that looks out for us?”

“River spirit,” I corrected, “but yes. The stone will increase her power to the point of being able to destroy the monsters who enter these woods. The kobolds are tamed now, well sort of tamed, and this means we can set up a village in the woods and be safe at all times!”

“Fuck me,” Wesley said. “If you pitched this kind of thing, I’d happily join on the quest. Make me your deputy as well.”

Jhook looked at the traditional map I had made for us to sort of find the city where the stone was seen. “You must say, this route looks short. Is it truly so close?”

“The magic of the off-road keeps changing the areas, creating new biomes and such,” I explained. “What seems to be happening is that realms are being created from our world. We were full of adventurers and I suppose someone was hoping to get the apocalypse early and accidentally broke the System.”

Gathering the wizard wasn’t terribly hard. I knocked on his door a few times, but he pretended as if he were gone. A few minutes later, I and Sir Wesley pulled a screaming wizard out of his closet, doing our damndest not to hurt him.

“Relax!” I had said. “We just want you to journey with us.”

“Why else would I be panicking?” he said still wrestling in vain to escape Wesley’s immense grip. “You want me to adventure? Never! I survived the apocalypse by never leaving this tower and I intend on staying here, forever!”

“Bah,” I said, grabbing a few books off the table. “You are missing field research!” I waved the books at him. “Do you think your rivals don’t research in the field? If you were a natural wizard before the System went down, then you should be out testing your newfound power.”

“Spellcasters were purged almost immediately!” the wizard replied. “We are a pompous people, since the powers we wield put us so far above anyone else.”

“Yeah, I heard tales of wizards being chained to their books and forced to walk through the market squares, pulling the books by neck collar,” Wesley said.

“Sounds non-lethal,” I said with a shrug. Did people really do that to each other?

“They are usually marched until it is lethal,” the wizard said. He pulled himself free from the knight and rubbed his wrist. “You almost damaged my casting hand.”

“We have received a commission by a powerful spirit,” I said, ignoring the wizard’s pain and complaints. The man was old, sure, but he looked robust and strong enough to travel. “A river spirit wishes for us to find—”

“A suitable geomagical stone, yes, yes,” the wizard interrupted. “All spirits want to get their grimy hands all over geomagical rock, but they never bother to think about the widespread implications. If someone gets their hand on the rock itself, the spirit becomes beholden to the wielder's whim.”

“Meaning she will become bound by the stone?” Sir Wesley asked. He looked at me, gauging for my reaction. I kept a blank face. I certainly hope Wesley wouldn’t consider just taking possession of the spirit.

“They only become bound once they accept and merge with the stone, but if you can find where they stash it? Absolutely,” the wizard chattered as he began to gather more books from his library. “I recall one unfortunate spirit of rage binding with a georock that was in the shape of a walking stick. The first wanderer who comes across the long black stick leaves with a powerful new spirit at her disposal.”

“I see you’re packing,” I said, walking over to a bag where a bunch of eyeballs were looking up at me. Most of them blinked and followed my head as I moved left to right. Shivers ran down and up my spine, that’s for sure.

“Yes, well, as it happens I have not the power nor the coin to stop you from bullying me from joining. Therefore, it would behoove me to travel alongside you until I gain the power to stop other random jackasses from bothering me.”

Wesley slipped up beside me and whispered. “You sure to bring him? He sounds contemptuous…what if he tries to get revenge on us?”

I shrugged. “Then I suppose one of us punches him in the gut and waits until he stops complaining to punch him again. He has magic, but it seems to involve a lot more ritual and work than System spells.”

“Ah, I see,” Wesley said, though it was clear my casual attitude was not accepted by the knight, but I had seen this wizard in private before. The man was always contemptuous to anything that was below him, which of course, meant everyone and everything.

“Yes, yes, whisper in the corners, how very trifling,” the wizard said. I had tried to ask his name before but he preferred to only be called the wizard. This was probably for anonymity’s sake.

“We were just, er, talking business!” Wesley said, stepping away from me. He was like a child with his hand caught in the cookie jar. Not a terribly good liar. Which I suppose is a good thing, for I still didn’t trust the man.

Wesley had a small force at one point and they all left because he refused to pay them or deliver on the knight’s pledge to queen and country. I had essentially stolen his popularity and his followers away, giving the man potential cause to harm me. However, I needed a Non with skills in fighting and Sir Wesley wouldn’t be too hard to persuade if he knew about the river spirit.

But the way he perked up about hearing how to control the spirit…I don’t know. Wesley wasn’t good with people, that’s how I could chalk up the diplomacy meeting with Silvia, but what if he got a hold of some real power? Could he be trusted? I don’t know. But this long haul was going to be exhausting and dangerous. Having an ally who knew how to fight in melee would make for the perfect duo. Let’s just hope he’s willing to put his embarrassment away for good.

Chapter 19

The road to Spifferen would take three weeks of travel to get there without horses. Needless to say, we needed horses. For travel’s sake as well as for cargo’s sake as well. Each horse could carry two saddlebags which essentially expanded our scavenging abilities. The only trouble was in finding where horses could possibly be?

We were traveling across what we’d come to know as the Main Road. This road branched off into new territories, but the main road always stayed clean and safe to walk across. Some biomes we passed were full of fire and lava, molten red liquid oozing everywhere. There was no heat until you placed a finger into the realm, but upon doing so, the pain was rather immense, like touching your finger against a hot iron.

None of these territories had flatlands or grasses where horses might reside. Capturing wild horses would be difficult, but the wizard assured us that he would use his charms to make the beasts unafraid of us and accepting of our orders.

Jhook, our foreword scout, barked out something, pointing his scimitar towards one of the split off regions. “Hey! I think I see people!”

The three of us rushed up to see what he was talking about. Sure enough, on the other side of the road were buildings. Black, tall buildings with spiraling spires and perpetual soot settling down on the homes, as if it were snowing black powder.

This village was far, but we could see a few figures moving about. One had actually taken notice of us and walked over to get closer, waving for us.

“Snowing ashes and weird, brutalist architect,” the wizard said, “let’s get the hell out of here.”

“Agreed!” Wesley said. “Leave the shadows to their shadow world.”

“Come on, men, where’s your sense of adventure?” I asked, my heart beginning to pump. There was an adrenaline factor in these decisions, for the sense of potential battle coming my way was thrilling. Hunting hog and deer were hard work, but this kind of thing made all the senses perform vigorously.

Jhook and the others decided to walk away, all curious to see what was going to happen to me. I took a deep breath and walked through the line dividing our worlds and sure enough, a warp of energy engulfed me.

Scent came first; this place burned with a rotten egg stench and there was such heat coming from the ashes sprinkling everywhere. I found myself coughing as my eyes watered.

“Hail stranger!” I said in between choking fits.

“Hello indeed,” the strange man said. His voice was cool, calm and collected. He reached the hill across from mine and merely stared at me.

The man wore round black tinted spectacles, obscuring his eyes, and his cane was made from what looked to be a cherrywood tree. “Where do you come from?”

“The south,” I said, gesturing towards my…companions. Shit. They were gone, as well as the rest of the road. The realm had teleported me.

“Don’t be jarred, the path is still there,” the stranger said, his voice reassuring and smooth. “You just can’t see it. Not without understanding where it is you are.”

I started to speak, asking a few questions, but the man held a black fingered glove up to his lips. “Shhhh,” he said. “You’ll wake the wolves. Though, I suppose they will be awakened anyway, for the village beneath has a treasure these beasts want.”

My blood ran cold at that and my hands were quick to seize my bow and ready it. Wolves? They must be feral if they were attacking humans.

“So quick you are, to hold up a weapon,” the stranger continued. “You don’t even know if the people in that town deserve to be saved.”

“Deserve? I’m not a wandering judge, I’m just an adventurer,” I said. Hmmm, saying that last word didn’t seem so bad. This was turning into quite the adventure.

“I see. So you are here for no other reason than to satisfy your own curiosities?” the man asked while adjusting his spectacles.

“Actually we are searching for horses,” I said, turning toward the soot-covered town. There were grey figures walking around, presumably people. “As we have a long journey ahead of us without them.”

“If you mean to go anywhere on that long road, then yes, horses would be most beneficial. But that means equines are in short supply, especially with the System destroying everything we had in terms of breeding and raising skills.”

“That is a shame,” I said, glancing at the village once more. “Will I find anything down there?”

“These people are inhabitants of this realm. They’ve taken to calling it Urgosh. Been around for maybe six months. And their end may well be today, should the wolves awaken.”

“You seem rather blasé about this town being massacred,” I said. “Who are you?”

“Bah, just a time god,” he said, waving dismissively. “The System has made fools of us all. I’ve taken to wander from realm to realm, seeing what in the hell is going on.”

“You’re a god?” I asked.

“Indeed, and I still am. I just have no power at the moment,” Time replied. “Which is fine, because I knew there would come a day when all power would be gone and the laws of time would be replaced with some kind of alien mind.”

My jaw dropped in fascination of this man. “H-how did you know?”

“That, my friend, is one of those things I cannot reveal. But be assured, good things are coming your way, Mr. Non. Of course, that is if you have the strength to take what it is you’re looking for.”

A howl in the distance caught my attention, breaking my focus from this mysterious stranger who claimed to be a god. More howls echoing across the hills. “Looks like their time is almost over,” Time said.

“Not if I have anything to say about it!” I said, charging as fast as I could toward the ashen buildings.

A wolf had appeared in the public square, howling and growling as it corralled its prey—an old man—towards a wall where there would be no mistake. This old man was grey of skin and seemed to be nothing but wrinkles. He held his walking cane in hand, staying the beast.

Thwip! One arrow at the right spot killed the wolf instantly. More snarling, but it was behind me. I rushed forward, not bothering to turn around to look. A ladder leading up to the second story of a house was what I needed and I was quick to find it.

More wolves were in the town, all howling. The people, all grey folk who wore clothes of grey, were slamming doors shut, fighting off the creatures or just hiding anywhere they could.

Standing atop a sloped roof, I began firing as fast as possible. Thwip! Thwip! Thwip! Arrows sailed through the air, killing wolf after wolf, but they just kept coming.

“How the hell am I running out of arrows?” I grumbled, reaching back to find my quiver was down to only a few shots left.

But I made all of them count. And eventually the village withheld against the attack, thanks to my sniping, causing the beasts to wander off. This led the villagers to leave their barricaded homes and begin fixing up the place. Many dead bodies were carted off to a morgue and the wolves' corpses were taken for meat almost instantly.

“I suppose you think you are a hero now,” Time said, causing me to yelp and leap back. “Oh relax, I climbed the ladder when you were busy restringing your bow.”

“Sorry, was just…twitchy, I guess,” I said with a shrug. “And no, I don’t think I’m a hero. That meat down there is my rightful property, as is the wolf pelts. I can make a much stronger armor with wolf pelts.”

“Ah yes, that is why you chose to instantly spring into action,” Time taunted. “Well, go down and collect your reward, friend. I’m sure the people would be thrilled to speak to you.”

That sent a shiver down my spine. At first glance, the villagers looked to be human, but they were all completely grey-skinned, even down to their eyes, all grey. Most looked very similar to one another and I could scarcely see any features upon their faces that made them stand out.

I climbed down the ladder and called out to one of the greys, a woman with long, grey hair that curled outwards in all directions. “Excuse me,” I said. “Are you all okay?”

The woman blinked at me and turned back to her task of field dressing the wolf, saying nothing and not making any kind of sound. She worked in silence, oblivious to me.

I glanced up to where Time was, but he was gone. Perhaps this fellow was just a prankster. I could scarcely believe that Time itself was wandering around with no powers. The sun still rose and the moons still fell. “Hello?” I called out to a rather large grey man.

He was a burly fellow with muscles the sides of my head. On his back, he carried a mace that had one solitary spike at the top of it.

“Gruh,” the big man said as I approached him. We were in the public square, the soot still landing upon the town and myself at this point.

“Sir, I’m trying to get some information on the location of horses for sale, would you have any idea where to find them?”

The large man tilted his head at my question, eyebrow raised. He looked down at the wolf he had been working on then looked at me. “Arrow means it is yours,” he finally said. He pointed to the arrow sticking out of the wolf’s body, a perfect shot to the heart. “But town was here first, so it is ours.”

“Hold it, friend. I was with you on one part, but not the other,” I said, scowling. “I was here to help you out. We can split the meat down the middle, 50/50, but I’ll be damned if you try to rip me off.”

The big man processed this and nodded. He stood and walked away from the wolf corpse, walking up to a human body instead. Well, it was a grey body but I assumed these people were humans. “Villager is from our village,” he said, leaning down to grab an arm. With a heft he tore the arm off the body and held it up. “No sharing.” And with that, he took a bite out of the biceps.

Chapter 20

Cannibals! The greys were cannibal! The realization sank deep into my stomach. As I watched in horror how the man ate raw flesh without any consideration or care, I felt a hand touch my shoulder. “Now would you have saved them?” Time quietly asked.

I shook the man off of me and turned around, looking for the roadway. In the distance, I could see it. My allies were still standing around, having set up a camp. They were distant but I could make out the wizard’s robe and Sir Wesley’s armor.

“It’s time to go,” I said, grabbing the biggest wolf I could carry over my shoulder. I did not want these things to realize that I was edible as well.

“Farewell,” Time said as I fled the area. “Don’t worry about me, I’ll catch up to you someday. You can bet on it.”

The heat of the road was apparent when I came hurtling through the illusory wall that separated me from the rest of my team.

“Hey! He’s alive!” the wizard gasped as I came barreling in, tripping over my own two feet.

“Cannibals,” I huffed. “Cannibals in there.”

Sir Wesley and Jhook drew their blades and stood behind me, ready to face whatever would be coming their way.

The wizard bent over and looked at me as I panted. “Not very smart cannibals, for you are stringy and all muscle. Not anything worth salivating for.”

Still gasping for air, I collapsed, rolling the wolf off my shoulder. “This is serious, Wizard.”

“I should think so,” came the reply. The old man was fumbling through his bag, searching for something. Eventually he produced a book. Secrets of Hidden Doors was the name and its cover was comprised of an eyeball made up of hundreds of tiny paintings of doors.

“I don’t think they can follow us,” Jhook said, dropping his guard and returning to his seat by the campfire.

“Alright shuddup,” the wizard barked. He had found the page he was looking for and began to read it out loud. “Cannibalism is a consistent behavior found within societies that must be accessed through portals. At some point, each civilization will outgrow its realm. Overpopulation and starvation will combine for these things to happen over time. Once enough of a population converts to cannibalism, they experience Greyshifting, in which all humanity save their hunger leaves them,” the wizard said. “I’d bet a fortune those people were Greys.”

I nodded. “They were.”

“Well, if they’re cannibals, let’s go take them all out,” Wesley said. “We could find some valuable resources in there.”

“They did have some kind of civilization going…” I said. Wait, that was absurd. “No, wait! Let’s not go. There was a wolf attack and –”

“Wolves?” Jhook said excitedly. He hopped to his feet (more like clambered up) and pointed towards the grey town in the distance. The region was still showing itself to us. “Then we need to go in! Think of how much food we’d be bringing home.”

“The meat won’t last that long,” I said. “Not without preserving the food.”

The wizard raised a hand. “I think we mark this place and move on. We need horses. Once we can get our hands on these creatures, the faster we can get a wagon. Then we visit here and give those greys a good ass-kicking.”

That was a surprisingly salient point. “I must agree with the wizard,” I said. “Horses first, then wagons, then meat.”

“Before we just take the wizard’s advice, I say he tells us what the hell is going on!” Wesley said. He pointed an accusatory finger at the man. “You knew just where to look in one of your books!”

“Yes, well it’s called an index,” the wizard replied. “Your feeble mind couldn’t bear the weight of learning the meaning of an index. But I will explain how I know about the greys.”

“Oh please, enlighten us,” Wesley huffed. I found it rather amusing, for I had not the mind nor the care to ask about how these creatures came to be.

“As new realities unfold, they become habitable. You could come across a village of hamlets and easily just walk in to take the place. Likewise, you could go into a dangerous world on a hunting trip. But these subplane realms, demirealms really, are heavily dependent upon population. If the realm becomes a place where more people are leaving than they are arriving, the portal grows a little weaker. This usually triggers a panic as the portal falls apart after a mass flight…sometimes during. Those Greys? They are the end result from a demiplane collapse.”

A grisly affair. “So how do we know what’s a real area and what’s a demiplane?” I asked.

“Well, you could have finely-tuned mystic senses, like myself, or you could just wave a hand, there’s always a shimmering effect.” The wizard demonstrated how to do this by running his fingers through the air, creating ripples like water across a pond.

“I see,” I said.

“Well that and the places with a lot of rubble and wreckage.”

I glanced over to see that during the wizard’s long-winded explanation, Wesley had turned his mind to other things.

“Well then,” Sir Wesley said as he turned his attention to the wolf body. “Let’s cook us some food for the road!”

Turns out Wesley had cooking skills as well!

When the fire was dead and the food all packaged as best we could, we continued forward on our adventure, searching for a realm that might have horses. Nothing turned up, except for…

“A sign?” The wizard asked as he stood in front of the freshly-painted piece of wood stuck into the ground. It read For Purchases Moste Necessari, Take A Left

There was a crossroads here, one leading down a steep hill. I could see a monument of some kind, maybe a land marker. The other passage was straightforward and there was nothing but more empty road in sight.

“Take a left?” Jhook said with a laugh. “What, some benevolent merchant is out here buying and selling? It’s obviously a trap.”

“A trap for who? I asked. The roads were not full of people. My gang had walked for miles upon miles, but saw not one soul on the same path we were on. “I could see little profit in ambushing with a sales persona.”

“Well, this is a job for a scout,” the wizard said. He pointed at Jhook. “You go. You aren’t as scary-looking as Sir Wesley but you’re armed enough to survive a fight. We shall follow from the back.”

The knight-errant sighed at that, but made no attempts to change his fate. Instead he sheathed his sword and went marching towards who knows what.

“It occurs to me that I should be the scout,” I said, once Jhook was out of view.

“Yes, well, you’re not as replicable as that man, so no, you can’t scout,” the wizard replied with a chuckle. Sir Wesley also laughed at such a reply, slapping the wizard on the back.

“You’re alright, wizard,” he said.

While the pair bonded by swapping jokes, I decided to slip down to the landmark and see what it was.

It was a slender triangle made of red bricks. It towered above me, perhaps twice the height of a normal man. There were words carved on it.

Let This Marker Warn All To Never Enter The Town of Gruttix. They Lie.

There were some etchings beneath the words, mostly of a town with lightning crackling overhead. An oddly carved symbol, an eye with two beams coming out of either side, seemed to look at me no matter where I moved my head. That might have been in my head but it was certainly chilling.

Glancing up, I could see that in the distance there looked to be a fallen castle of some kind. The tower was gigantic, turning the upended building into a shelter for as many people it could fit. You could probably put an entire civilization there.

“I’m guessing that’s Gruttix,” I said, returning to my party. “Wizard, there are arcane markings on that pole, study them if you will.”

“Yes, master! And shall I fetch you a pail of water as well?” came the response. I waved his sass off and looked at Wesley.

After hearing what I had seen, the knight sighed deeply. “So you have a strange monument claiming to avoid the city, but the city is within range of seeing the marker,” Sir Wesley said. “Seems a bit off. Why wouldn’t the people remove the marker? No, now it would seem to me that this is a scarecrow, meant to scare people away from their territory.”

“That would make sense. Doubtful travelers are welcome anywhere,” I agreed. A shiver ran down my spine. “Though I suppose cannibals would always have open arms to newcomers.”

“Yes, I would wager that any settlement happy to see us is probably hungrier than friendly,” Wesley said.

“Aha!” the wizard yelled, prompting us both to look at him. “The Eye of Undeserving!” he said, pointing towards the strange symbol carved out of the stone beacon. “It watches with discernment. Well, it’s supposed to be able to watch through the eye part but the trouble here is the ritual is incomplete. They probably don’t have a wizard who knows how to carve it properly.”

“You’re saying that the creators could use magic to see through it?” Wesley asked. He looked at me and grinned. “Sounds like it is a magical scarecrow indeed.”

“Missing their magic though,” I replied. “Otherwise they’d be watching us right now.”

“The ritual wasn’t completed,” the wizard said, drawing on the symbol with some chalk, making random markings here and there. “Not even banded properly with sigil symbols. I think with some rigging I could enchant it to see the people.”

“Or we could do the unimaginable and walk up to the town and see if they have any horses for sale,” Sir Wesley said. “And if any of them take umbrage with us, well, we’re Nons. Let’s see how they like a fair fight for once.”

“I shall remain and wait for Jhook, all the while studying this land marker,” the wizard said. He waved me on. “Go, shoo. There are things to do, I’m sure. Bring back any leather bound books you may fine, magical or no.,”

“How would I know if they were magical?” I asked.

The wizard looked up at me and squinted. “Magical books usually don’t want to get inside of the bag.”

Chapter 21

This was no demiplane. I could determine such a thing from the fact that the breeze followed us as we walked over the road marker.

Looming above us was the shattered husk of a once mighty tower. The Thornspire Tower had been a world wonder and was considered to be one of the safest castles in the land. They lost such a reputation, however, when the sky fell in on itself.

“Look at that,” Sir Wesley said, his armor clanking as we approached the downed tower. There was a vast opening inside with dozens of huts made out of straw and wood. Some were made of stone or brick, but I didn’t see too many of those.

“Well, I suppose squatting in the Thornspire Tower isn’t the worst idea,” I said. “There’s enough room for everyone too.”

“Not resources though,” Wesley said, pointing towards a tree that was in our path.

A body hung from the black, gnarled tree, hood over head and a sign that said ‘Stole Food.’

“Death for stealing food?” I asked. “Seems stringent.”

“Not after the apocalypse,” Wesley replied. “You just need one person to steal and the entire cohesion of the village breaks. Take away a vital resource from one person creates paranoia and that goes into mistrust and such.”

“You are well spoken!” I said. “Any chance you are also a scholar?”

“Nonsense, but this is what you learn during siege training for Knights. Having spies steal food in key areas can greatly accelerate a besieged town’s desire to give up. Or attempt a revolt, which is even faster.”

“Grisly business, warfare,” I murmured, drawing my bow and scanning for anything moving.

The closer we drew to the tower, the more it loomed over us until eventually there was no sky, only the tower. Sunlight came through various bricks, illuminating the world around us, though barely.

“Not a soul in sight,” Sir Wesley said, his longsword also unsheathed. He walked in pace with me, always careful enough to watch behind us and in front at the same time.

“There!” I said, pointing to a small stone hut. There was a brown door that went clunk as it closed itself.

“Hi there!” Wesley said, approaching the hut. It was about up to his chest in terms of how tall the building was. Perhaps it was carved out of the bottom more.

There was no answer for Wesley, so he knocked on the door. “We aren’t here to do any harm. We’re just looking for some horses.”

Still no answer. Well, if they didn’t want to be bothered, it would be best to leave them alone. “We’ve seen enough,” I said after examining all the huts. All the doors were sealed shut—not a single window on any of the units as well. “Let’s get moving.”

“Fair enough,” Wesley said, rapping on the door one last time. “We are friends! We have food to trade.”

“Then I would love to sssseee what you have in stock!” a voice above us both spoke. From above, four spider/women hybrids descended, eyes red and many.

Wesley ran. The moment he could make out what those hybrid spiderwomen were, he fled as fast as humanly possible. Which, turns out, wasn’t very fast when a spray of webs covered his legs, entangling them.

I kept by bow trained on the one who spoke, but didn’t fire yet. These things seemed intelligent. Let’s see how smart they really were. “Hold it, Wesley,” I said. “We don’t even know what these inhabitants want. This could be their home, thus making us trespassers.”

The center spider held a few hands up, halting the rest of her company's descent. “Oh, so you are creatures who possess reason?” she asked, licking her lips. “That sounds delectable. I am Sharna, Queen of the Spiders. These chittering husks around me are just mindless servants to my every whim.”

“And what is the whim you have in regards to us?” I asked, hand still firmly on my bow.

“We are here to eat you, obviously,” Sharna said. “Though it would appear you are able to speak. The humans below here do not speak and so we consume them with little thought.”

“You let them live so they repopulate…” I mused. “Then eat them when you can?”

“That would be rather grisly,” Sharna replied. She lowered herself all the way down to the ground where she loomed above me. Her body was very much so a woman, though her lower half was that of a black glassed spider. “Rather, they live underground and only come up on occasion, to adventure or scavenge. These little buggers steal from me all the time.”

“Yet you don’t think them intelligent?”

“When was the last time you considered a bug’s priorities and purposes before slapping it away? Parasites exist in all forms, these humans below are both parasitic and food supply.”

The creature began to walk around me in a circle, the ground clacking as each of her legs stepped to the earth. She was huge, three times my size and certainly something I couldn’t fight. Not at a distance or hand-to-hand.

“I see,” I said. “May we be permitted to leave?”

“Of course,” Sharna said with a smirk. “You are a much bigger set of humans. Chances are you’ll return some day to save these small humans and when that day comes, my people will have a glorious blood feast. But for now…well, you don’t pull a vegetable from the ground in order to make it grow faster.”

They released their webs on Wesley and quickly vanished up into the darkness of the Thornton Tower’s ceiling. It made sense that spiderfolk would take to living upside down. Perhaps they had a village there.

“So, I believe this land marker is meant to warn us about spiders,” the wizard said as Wesley and I made it to where he was standing. The both of us had bolted the moment we were free, not even bothering to look back.

“Yeah,” I gasped, panting from the sheer level of energy I had put into fleeing. That was fight or flight to the highest level. “You can say that again.”

“I renounce any form of bravery that will push me to ever set foot in that fallen castle again,” Wesley said. The man was dabbing his forehead from the drenches of sweat pouring down his face. I wasn’t a fan of spiders but Wesley's fear seemed to be on another level.

“Not me,” I said. “A few well-crafted fire arrows will keep them from truly doing any damage to us while we rescue the people within.”

“They were talking about gnomes, I think,” Wesley said. “Short little men who burrow in hills and create long tunnels for their people to explore around.”

“Are they sapient? Do they have self-awareness?” I asked.

“Of course!” the wizard said as he finished working on the symbol. He had been adding all kinds of chalk and layers of dust onto the statue, adding more and more strange etchings to the base carving. “Gnomes are highly private and don’t like to share their knowledge with anyone. If they are staying in that region, it means they probably have a great gnomish city within reach. All tunnels, they say, lead to the great city of Nomeregand.”

“A gnomish city?” Wesley repeated. “I’d believe it when I see it. Those little buggers can’t fix a wagon wheel, let alone rule a city.”

The stone beacon began to glow with a faint red energy. The wizard clapped his hands together and said “Aha! Perfect. I have managed to complete the ritual while also changing the end result of the spell. Now one of you can siphon a spell and place it in your weapon. This won’t give the weapon anything fancy but it will move a little quicker.”

“Marginal upgrades,” Wesley said. “Aren’t we a group? Three Nons in a sea of potential.”

“I am not a Non!” the wizard protested. I could see there was guilt on the man’s face, however, indicating that he was indeed just like me.

“Yeah, magic takes forty years to learn by hand,” Wesley said. “A System mage just fights a few rats and gets enough power to skip those forty years. You, sir, are an old bastard. Which means you’ve lived long enough to glean the secrets of the cosmos.”

“The forty year thing is a myth,” the wizard explained. “We made it up so that people wouldn’t ask us for apprenticeships. Fuck all if that did anything but make us more in-demand. Fine, fine, I will admit it. I’m a Non. But unlike you, I have wild amounts of power at my fingertips. I just need the right resources for them to work properly.”

As the two discussed their nonitude, I took it upon myself to place my bow within the center of the glowing red lights. At once there was a flash and my bow grew a little warmer. A small feather was carved in the side of the bow, indicating that there was a charm on it now.

“Hey!” Wesley snapped. “That was for me!”

“You wanted to talk metaphysics with the wizard,” I said. “I didn’t want to interrupt.”

“Interrupt? Magic man, please revoke his power and give it to me!” Wesley thundered.

“Fellas!” a foreign voice said. We all turned around in unison to see that it was a young man wearing a strange backpack with all manner of trinkets and baubles hanging off every piece of clothing he had.

“Can we help you?” the wizard asked.

“Er, well, I was pitching me wares to that Jhook fella and we were getting into a rather nice discussion on somethings and well…an adventuring group showed up and took your man hostage. I had to pack up quick too, lest they carve me up. They wanted me to know that the Ridge Road is theirs and theirs alone. Any intruders will be executed on sight.”

Chapter 22

There was no time! Upon hearing this news I dashed towards the Ridge Road, moving as fast as my legs could carry me. Bandits! It was only a matter of time before they showed their ugly faces but now they were here. I had a plan for handling them quite well—a quiver full of plans to be exact.

I rushed down the road to see that a group of burly men were sacking what looked to be a vendor’s stall. Some were shoving items into their bags while others were simply tearing the large wooden stall to pieces.

Standing to the side was Jhook, hands bound with a rope that was tied to…a horse!

Perfect! This should be easy enough. I raised my bow and began to open fire on the bandits. Two arrows caught one by the neck, killing him dead instantly. The others, five total, turned around at the sound of the man’s scream.

“Archer!” one of the men shouted. He was wearing ragged fur skins and was bare-chested with a red handprint above his sternum. He quickly raised a round shield up and rushed towards me.

I fired a few times, but every shot was soaked up by that shield. Come on! Why won’t any of these work? I had never fought against a shield before and it was clear I would be losing this fight.

As I decided to retreat, a hand shoved me aside. “Keep your arrows flying,” Wesley said as he charged towards the shield man. “I will handle this fool!”

Sir Wesley looked glorious. The light upon his armor shined like the sun, an effect from the day’s glare. This blinded his foe and he made short work of his enemy, the first hit knocking his shield aside and the second slashed deep across the bandit’s exposed chest.

Within a few moments, the fight was over. One man had dropped his arms and was kneeling beside the overturned stall. “Please, have mercy on me!” he said with a spatter from his lips. “I didn’t want to do any of this! They said I had to.”

“Banditry is punishable by death,” I said, kneeling down to look the man in his eyes. “And I’m the Sherriff of Planth. Sit still or else.”

This dictate caused the bandit to freeze and sit in position, not even blinking. As I bound and gagged the man, Wesley spoke to Jhook. “How’d they manage to get one in on you?” he asked, freeing the knight from his rope.

“A sneak blow from behind. The vendor is in league with them, at least until it came to selling me for a ransom. Then suddenly the vendor had a conscience and wanted to keep me – as a slave,” Jhook said. He grabbed a flask of water from Wesley’s belt and swigged it for a few moments. “Eventually he pissed them off enough to get his stall thoroughly wrecked.”

“And he ran to us to tattle,” I said, shaking my head. “What is happening in these times?”

“It’s a land without law, my friend,” Wesley said. “Mankind’s base impulse isn’t to work together, it’s to destroy a common enemy.”

“Hardly,” I said. “Mankind’s base instinct is to survive, yes, but that doesn’t mean there’s enmity between two survivors.”

“Hah, throw a piece of meat to two starving men and watch how little enmity they have,” Wesley said. “Each man could say, let us split the meat, but they won’t do that. They will fight tooth and nail to have it all. You can’t half-ass survival.”

My attention went back to the man whom I was now binding, hands in front. “So, are there more of you?” I asked.

“I wouldn’t trade that secret away to anyone,” came the reply. “I’m not stupid enough to give away my position.”

“You seem smart for a bandit.”

“I was an architect before the System went down. I designed palaces and wonders that none could possibly have imagined…then the next morning my ability to draft was gone. My sketches became unreadable. I didn’t even understand the concept of geometry,” he said. “Everything went to hell and I ended up stealing rather than starving.”

“And my friend? What were you all planning to do to him?” I asked, firmly securing the rope with an extra knot, just in case.

“We sell captives to the Mushroom Folk. The Mushies have a strange kind of tavern set up, just a few miles north from here. There’s a long bar with intoxicating mushrooms growing atop it, so most of them are there to just unwind and get wasted.”

Interesting. “What do they do with these captives?”

“The hell if I know, but they pay us in food, 50 redcaps for a human, 50 bluecaps for a living one.”

“Oh, so they pay in mushrooms?”

The bandit architect shrugged at that. “Everything over there is a mushroom. Well, everyone except for the people they purchase. I think they use the prisoners as slaves.”

I glanced at the three men who had convened to check through the pockets of our slain foe. The wizard was lecturing Jhook about something and Sir Wesley was swinging an axe through the air, practicing his attack formation. None of them seemed any worse for wear.

“Friends,” I said. “Do you wish to liberate some slaves?”

They all looked at me with curiosity. “Why would we take on so many mouths to feed?” Wesley said. “If they’re slaves it means they’re functionally useless.”

“Hah, you are as cold as me!” the wizard said. “Indeed, it is pointless to risk our necks for an endeavor that takes us away from our latest objective. Didn’t you say finding the stone was the most important part?”

I sighed. They were right. The slaves wouldn’t be going anywhere and the faster we could find that riverstone, the faster we could protect Planth. Raiding from our strength was a better idea than rushing in just because people were in need of help.

Jhook shrugged. “I’ll do whatever I’m told. You’re the experts, I’m just here to lift heavy stuff and swing my mace around.”

The bandit struggled to stand up, so I grabbed hold and pulled him up to his feet. “Well, we have one horse right now. I say we dispatch a messenger to check in on Planth and to drop this rogue off. You have a work debt to pay off.”

The architect-turned-robber let out a deep sigh of relief upon hearing there would be no execution today.

“Who should go?” The wizard asked. “I’m not good with animals and haven’t ridden a horse in decades.”

“I’ll go,” Jhook said.

Wesley ignored all of us and leapt up onto the horse, easily securing himself on it. “Gentlemen, need I remind you I was a knight? Riding horses is what we do. Now, I’ll take the prisoner home and see how the village is faring. Hopefully it will be healthy enough for me to return to your position, but I expect you to leave markers indicating the way you traveled.”

“Let’s hope there aren’t many more side-roads,” I said, looking at the map the wizard had given me. The region was mostly covered in fog but our main road was leading a good mile north, towards the Spifferen Mines.

“Yes, I would suggest we stop playing ‘mother may I’ with these portals,” Jhook said. “I heard there were spiders involved? No thank you.”

“Bah, they’re just liver lilies and cowards!” the wizard crooned. “Let us explore where our minds take us! Each expedition will lead to greater secrets and presumably greater powers.”

“You have just described adventuring,” Jhook retorted. “That is exactly what adventurers do and guess what? They’re all dead. The System collapsed and those who loved to live life on the edge discovered the true peril of cliffs.”

“You were an adventurer, I take it?” I asked.

Jhook scowled at me. “No, but I had a brother who was claimed by it. He saw an artifact he liked at a market and decided to spend his entire fortune financing a trip to find more of those artifacts. For these came from an old civilization.”

“What happened?”

“They mucked around in the mud for nine solid months before the crew mutinied and killed him. The man had no leadership skills, just a crazy vision of what lies beneath the surface. I’ll tell you all what I told him: power isn’t worth the hassle. Carve out your own space and then protect it.”

“Spoken like a filthy non-Non,” the wizard said. “We’re in charge of the world now, you’re just upset that you didn’t get your own slice of the pie.”

---------------------------------------

Journal

1 Cityfell, Day 42

Report from Sir Wesley:

The village of Planth is slowly growing in population, as sojourners from the east and the south are migrating in our direction. Many, upon seeing our town, stayed behind. Our population has swollen to some 50 men and as such, they are running very low on food.

The kobolds cut off contact with our village the moment our group left for the big adventure. They no longer traded meat or wood for trinkets and metal. This had a major impact on morale.

Princess Silvia is struggling with maintaining order as well. The few knights-errant with her have grown irritated with their lack of wages and a storm is brewing.

My recommendations are to keep pressing ahead in the search for this stone. Coming back with it will solve any serious problems. Having access to the Greater Forest will solve quite literally everyone’s complaints at once.

We Need:

- Lumber for the walls

- Manpower to make foraging easier

- Something that will boost morale for the people

- Alcohol for the soldiers.

Chapter 23

Sir Wesley’s report came quickly, with the knight riding atop the horse, of course. He had successfully made it to Planth, reported the situation to the Princess and came right back. The total journey took him six hours. On foot it would have been at least two days, especially with the gear we were carrying.

He joined us just as we reached the end of the road itself. The long, winding road that had been impervious to the effects of the falling ash sloped down until it was no different than the ground it connected to.

The area was foul. The sky above was darkened and clouds rumbled, threating to spew out lightning at any moment. Ahead was a large cavern entrance with tons of mining equipment laid about.

“Now this is my kind of place!” the wizard said as he pushed past me and waved his hands all around. “Spooky, scary and just slightly covered in dark forces. I could study a place like this for years.”

Jhook protested that conclusion almost immediately. “We just need to get in, find the stone and get out.” He was shivering and his teeth were chattering quite badly.

“Come now,” Wesley said, slapping Jhook on the back. “You’re a tough soldier, this place has nothing on you.”

“Let me scout this place out first,” I called after the wizard, but he was too busy gushing over the archeological significance of the sight to answer me.

“Is this a skeleton I spy?” the wizard asked. “Why yes it is! Perhaps we can learn something from speaking with the dead. Does anyone hear fear the spirits from beyond?”

The skeleton in question was wearing a helmet for mining, jaw agape in its eternal slumber. “No,” I said. “Hurry it up and cast your spell.”

Wesley walked forward and drew his sword, standing right next to the skeleton. “I don’t fear ‘em, but they’re sure as hell are gonna try to strangle you if the spell goes wrong.”

“That’s why you need to use a mace, like me,” Jhook said. “Crush them down like the ants they are.”

“Enough dick swinging,” the wizard muttered as he drew out a bag of some indeterminable dust. “Ahem. Light that shines above, now must go below, let the man who was once above speak from down below.”

With that, he threw orange sand atop the corpse, causing it to rattle and shake. “Sssska! Skssska!” it cried out as the wizard continued muttering, throwing herbs and unguents on the corpse. He paid no mind to the fact the body was thrashing.

“What the hell!” Wesley shouted, backing far from the thing. I stared at the skeleton as green fire began to alight in its eyes. Even Jhook had taken a step back.

“There we go,” the wizard muttered. “I have bound you, dead spirit, to answer my questions.”

“You pry me from my rest for this?” the skeleton asked back. “You presume a lot.”

“I presume nothing! I command you! Speak an answer to my question! What was your manner of death?”

The skeleton bristled and rattled a little, out of irritation and annoyance. “Throat was cut by some backstabber scabs.”

“Aha! What made this mine worth murder?”

“A stone of great power was being mined out. We were under strict orders to keep it under wraps. The moment someone learned about the gem, our lives were ended,” the skeleton explained. The green lights within its eyes flashed a little, as if it were fading. “May I leave now? Being dredged up to speak about a shitty job is not my idea of a fun afterlife.”

“Is the stone still accessible in there?” the wizard asked, throwing more powder on the body.

“How the hell would I know?”

“Then I demand you tell me a secret that you did not know in life. Gaze into the afterworld and bring forth a portent to me! Only then shall I let you free!” the wizard boomed, his voice accompanied by a gust of wind.

The flames in the skeleton’s head burned extremely brightly. “There is a man, Crenshaw, who carries the stone. He uses it to con—” the skeleton’s words cut off as the flames exploded, sending bits and pieces of bone and skull fragments everywhere.

“Ah!” I yelped, protecting myself from the scattering of rock. “What was that?”

“Well, corpses usually know very little,” the wizard explained. “But you can call upon their power to give divination, provided you have a strong enough personality to will it. A shame that the container wasn’t up to snuff.”

“So the ore was dug up. And a Crenshaw has it,” Jhook said. “Was that helpful in any way? Or did you just violate the natural order of life and death for the sheer hell of it?”

“Hey! There is nothing that says ‘you can’t bring people back to life for a few minutes’! And if there is something, well, I’ll need to see proper documentation.”

As the two bickered, I looked at Sir Wesley. He was staring at the cave, adding something together.

“What’s on your mind?” I asked, stepping beside the knight.

“Planth wasn’t in good shape, as you know,” he said. “The trouble is the walls. Monsters have been wandering in and out of the forest, or from the roads. They have no protection and their forces are not properly armed or equipped.”

“Kobolds seem to need me in order to get anything trade wise,” I mused. “But I can’t play mediator when we have to find this stone.”

“Why do we need wood?” Sir Wesley asked. I went to state the obvious but then realized that he was pointing at a rather large stone in front of us. “This is a mine. We can dig up as much as we need to turn this place into a safe haven.”

“The mountain behind us and the road ending right ahead of us…” I said, thinking of the idea out loud. “But the logistics seems difficult. We’d need to set up a baggage train of survivors to make it here. And frankly, I don’t know if they would survive the trip.”

“Well, it’s kind of a now or never situation,” Wesley said. “A lot of the new citizens of Planth are unskilled laborers. They want to help out but there are only so many trenches that one can dig. If we put those men and women in charge of the labor, it would keep them from getting bored and restless.”

“It’s just not feasible,” I said. “We’ll just get the kobolds to assist with the logs when we get back with the stone.”

“If we get back with the stone, you mean,” Wesley said, wagging a finger in my face. “Don’t forget, we have no clue where this trinket is hiding. I genuinely thought the spirit sent us to the direct place to find it.”

“It’s not a trinket, it’s a source of spiritual power,” I said, slapping his armored glove away. “The spirit will be able to protect the whole forest, us included. So if we move the population now, they might be safe for a while but as soon as the forest is secured, we’re moving them again. And who knows how dangerous the return trip would be?”

“I’m not willing to bet on your spirit thing working out,” the knight replied. “Not when we have a sure thing right here. We came to the mine but now it’s in the hands of some random person named Crenshaw. I’d say this is where the adventure ends and the side quests begin. And the biggest side quest is make sure Planth is safe.”

“I fail to see how this area is any safer for Planth. You said the men are unskilled laborers, that may be true, but miners? That’s going to take a lot of equipment, time and skills to lead them. I don’t have the capacity for this. Do you?”

Wesley snarled a bit. “Indeed I do. While you were out living in a life of complete isolation, I was out leading troops to victory. I have fought in ten wars! Ten! I led my men through three of those. I know how to get people moving and how to keep them going. But I need more than just command here. With a baggage train we will need logistics, horses, carriages and such. I’ll need you to find those items and bring a group who are able to do the necessary repairs…”

“So you want a baggage train in order to build a baggage train?” I asked, crossing my arms.

“Yes! That is what logistics is, you build a system where a bunch of parts fit into one whole operation. The gear train doesn’t vanish when we build the other carts. It moves to the back in case we need repairs.”

Sir Wesley was clearly stuck on this plan. With the way he was speaking, it would be just as easy as waltzing everyone across road.

“Your eyes are bigger than your stomach on this one,” I said. “All due respect to your profession and career.”

“And your vision is so narrow, you may as well be blind,” Wesley growled as he returned to his horse. “I shall return home and begin preparations for the journey. I suggest you find your trinket before it’s too late.”

I opened my mouth to say ‘on who’s authority’ but realized it was my authority that put him in a deputy position. Well, at least he took taking care of the people quite seriously. “Very well,” I said. “Thank you for the aid you have provided thus far.”

“Aye and thanks for not wasting my time by countering my orders,” he replied. “Mutual respect, it seems, is going a long way.”

“And let it stay like that.”

Chapter 24

The wizard stepped back from the smoking set of bones that had been previously assembled. His grey hair was singed by the smoke and he shook his head. “These people do not like me dredging them up,” he said. “And still no idea on who this Crenshaw is.”

“Well, maybe we stop using forbidden necromancy,” Jhook said from his post. With the mountain behind us, we only needed to worry about an enemy force coming in from the front. Wesley had been right; we could easily turn this place into a fortress with all the stone lying around.

“Nothing else,” I said as I climbed out of the mineshaft. I had searched the mine thoroughly, looking for signs of life or anything of value. The most valuable thing was already gone, dug out of a rather large pit that had once housed dozens of gems and other precious stones. The key we were looking for wasn’t here. And that meant we were stuck.

“Well…let us see,” the wizard said, taking a book out. “Perhaps I can use some of the easier summons. I can call forth a demon or two, though they tend to escape if I don’t have the right chalk used.”

“No demons!” both Jhook and I said at the same time. The wizard batted at us, scowling a little.

“You two are so uptight. But alas, I am at the ends of my abilities as well. Magic is draining and I’ve been wasting a good portion of it on the same dead end. What shall we do?”

“Slaves…” I murmured.

“Perfect, yes, people to carry our gear!” the wizard said.

“No, not taking people as slaves. The mushroom folk bought slaves from the bandits in the area. What are the chances those slaves know who Crenshaw is?” I asked.

“That seems like a far reach,” Jhook replied, shaking his head. “How would any of them know Crenshaw?”

“I have no idea, but here’s the situation: we are searching for a needle in a haystack. We don’t know any other villages out here that are friendly, other than Bode, and I’d go to them last for help. The humans in captivity are our best bet of getting some kind of information before we have to go back to Planth empty-handed.”

“Sounds like this is more about your ego,” Jhook said. He crossed his arms and shook his head. “I heard you two bickering about what to do. You don’t want to go back to Planth because you’d be admitting weakness.”

“Don’t try to psychoanalyze me, Jhook,” I replied. “I’m not a complex man. I like to hunt, fish and be as far away from humans as I can. This apocalypse has unfortunately ruined all of that for me, so I’m just working to get it all back to where it needs to be.”

“The Mushroom Folk are a kind group of people, provided they aren’t threatened,” the wizard read aloud from one of his field manuals. “They are naturally trusting and benevolent towards outsiders. However, if one Mushroom is offended, it will release a musk that causes all other Mushroom folk to spite and scorn you. Therefore, it is suggested that you have a guide when entering the land of these fascinating people.”

“Trusting and benevolent and slave owners?” Jhook asked. “Seems a bit lopsided there.”

“Enough talk, let’s go,” I said, remembering that tower I had used weeks prior. I had an approximation where the mushroom people would be and that was enough for us to get started.

We packed up and began our long march through the winding roads. The biospheres seemed to stop growing at this point, most of them just empty, flat plains leading to cold oceans or hot lava.

“Demiplanes grow like weeds, in a way,” the wizard had taught me as we walked alongside each other, marveling at an underwater plane. A large fish stared out as if it were in an aquarium blubbing as it floated. “They drift and take hold of some powerful mystic energy. Then pow! Brand new unstable realm.”

“What stabilizes them?”

“Who the hell knows? These things don’t behave like anything I’ve ever seen,” the wizard replied.

“There’s our stop!” Jhook said, pointing towards a branch road. There was a sign that said ‘Mushlands, no plucking allowed.’

As we followed the sign, the biomes faded around us, becoming replaced with large trees made out of mushrooms. Or maybe the trees were just mushrooms, it was hard to tell. Either way, we marveled at the long white stalks that towered over us.

At the base of these towers were doors and windows, and I could see a few folk wandering about, talking idly in a strange, foreign tongue.

No one paid us any mind as we stepped over the road threshold. One mushroom, a short one with a black spot on his head, waved at us to come over.

“Be very careful,” I hissed to the wizard and Jhook. “Not an ounce of sass from either of you, got it?”

The dynamic duo hastily agreed and took a step back, allowing me to take the lead.

“Humans?” the mushroom asked.

“Yes,” I replied. The mushroom man smiled at that and rapped on his head.

“Welcome to our village. Do not speak idle words when here. The forest is quiet and gentle, for you to make sound is transgression to both our ancestors and our living buildings. For each tree you see is nothing but an infant, slowly growing down to become like me.”

What a fascinating biology. It would be interesting to see what these things looked like on the inside, but I suppose that was just my curiosity as a field dresser.

“Of course,” I said, bowing to him. “I wish to convey Planth’s respects to…”

“Gruttix,” the man replied. “Our village is called Gruttix. Thank you for reaching out, how can our village be of aid?”

The name Gruttix swirled around my mind, but it was a faint memory. Or had it been a dream? Things were blurring together as of late.

The mushroom man gestured for us to follow, taking us on a scenic tour of a beautiful village. The houses were all prim and proper, shorter mushrooms ran around and played in the fields; everything here was perfect.

“I am here on business,” I said. “Does the name Crenshaw mean anything to you?”

“Afraid not,” our guide said.

“I see. Well, we are here to find a Crenshaw. I hear that you purchase slaves?”

“Indeed we do, are you wishing to speak to them?” he asked, eagerly putting his hands together. A strange, devilish grin came across the man’s face. Almost as if he were playing some sinister prank on us.

“Let me check it out,” I whispered to the group. “You two stay together and watch for anything fishy.”

The guide mushroom took me on a journey through the long, mushroom thickets, gently brushing anything in his way aside. The stalks were polite and thanked him as they were moved, allowing me to pass. Gruttix…the name brought up suspicion…but why?

I was taken to a large hole in the ground, where men and women wearing chains dug. They were digging what look to be an amphitheater of some kind. There were twenty-two all in all, everyone adult and everyone healthy-looking.

“These are the slaves,” the mushroom said. “We work them well and they eat our food.”

That last part, was he trying to justify it? I didn’t have time for that, however. “I see. Am I free to speak with them?”

The guide nodded slightly at me. He didn’t regard me with any suspicion but…he was searching my face for something. “You may go down and speak to a few, but if you should upset them or try to free them, you will end up in the pit as a prisoner.”

“Of course,” I said. “I’m just looking for information.”

With that, the guide mushroom stepped aside, letting me slide down the dirt into the amphitheater. Several men were busy digging out a particularly rocky area, one of them complaining more than the others.

I was tempted to rush up and catch the ear of the complainer, but something held me back. Perhaps it was the sight of an alluring woman passing by, carrying shovels with a great deal of grace. She had long, chestnut hair that flowed in the wind and though she were covered in soot and ash, she moved with incredible grace. The grace of…a Non!

“Ma’am,” I said, waving to her. At once, she reacted, looking right at me. Her gaze pierced my heart and I almost panicked.

“You aren’t from around here. And you’re uncollared,” she said. Her voice was low and breathy. “Please don’t tell me you’re here to rescue me. I don’t care about rescue anymore, not after last time.”

“No, I’m not here to rescue anyone,” I said, slowly walking up to her. She dropped the shovels onto the ground, creating a great deal of commotion. None of the slaves reacted to the sounds, however, for they were too engrossed in their own work to care. “I’m actually trying to find a person.”

The woman turned fully to face me and motioned for me to come closer. “Oh? Well, a lot of people come in and out of the slave pits. Who are you searching for?”

“Someone named Crenshaw. They might have an affiliation with a mining company as well,” I said.

“Crenshaw? A weird name,” the woman said. “Certainly not someone who came from these metaphorical doors.”

“Do any of you have an elder? Perhaps someone I could speak to on the matter more?”

“An elder,” she said with a laugh. “What planet are you from? We are prisoners of these mushroom beasts for some kind of crime that we didn’t commit and you’re asking about elders. If you want to buy me, go ahead. I can tell you my secret price.”

The woman returned to her digging, chuckling to herself about my own naiveté.

“Excuse me madam,” I replied, “but I would like to know your price.”

“Ah!” she said with a wide grin. I could see she was missing a few teeth, though some were replaced with silver. “You must bring a Non to swap my place.”

“A Non?” I asked, no longer the luckiest man in the world. “Why in the world would that be a fair trade?”

“Well, these mushroom folks are up to some nefarious things. For whatever reason, they seem to want to upgrade their livestock and Nons are the hot ticket. Though some Nons are actually exchanged for beastfolk, but that’s been more rare as the Nons are catching wise to this place,” she replied.

“And if you do…end up being bought, what happens?” I asked, a tightness squeezing in my stomach. Two and two were dangerously close to being put together.

“Dunno, we work here to build a trench or we go to the nursery and feed the baby trees. Then one day you’re selected from the morning assignment line and told to leave with a few armored myconids.”

“Sacrifice,” I whispered through my teeth. That blue portal was a rift to some awful entity, the Carrion King, perhaps. It wanted more and spoke as such, enticing all sorts of power in exchange for a worthy sacrifice.

“Ain’t you a sharp one,” the slave said, thrusting her shovel into my hands. “Your turn while I talk.”

With a shrug, I took hold of the shovel and started to dig. “So no one ever came back?”

“Oh sure. Survivors come back all the time, their faces paler than possible. Eyes wider than they could open. Whatever it is they saw, it put fear into their hearts. A real terror that none could imagine. One theory was that the monster savored fear and therefore wanted its snacks to be soaked in it. Because the next day those survivors would vanish.”

“No doubt a midnight snack for whatever they worship,” I said. “Or perhaps they pay tribute to some foul being instead.”

The woman wrenched the shovel out of my hands and went back to her post: mindlessly digging away in a pit of sand. “So, are you who I think you are?”

“Are you?” I asked. Both of us gazed at each other, our eyes truly meeting for the first time. Her eyes a radiant green, though the significant amount of ash and dust upon her cheeks quickly drew one’s eyes towards a pretty nasty-looking bruise.

“I’ve learned to not go around touting my secret powers,” she whispered. “And so far the Mushies haven’t been able to figure it out.”

“My powers aren’t that obvious until I start shooting,” I said, pointing to the bow on my back. “Then who I am is announced from the rooftops. But tell me, what is it you are skilled in?”

“Alchemy, herbalism, potion-making, all the stuff that would make a man very wealthy in this new economy,” she replied, still digging. I could see the strain upon her face from focusing so very hard to not laugh. “And here I am providing manual labor for mushrooms too dumb to ask if we had any skills to begin with.”

“Well, you spoke previously about refusing a rescue but…seeing how all these men are prisoner here, it may be helpful to have someone on the inside for when an attack would…”

“Workers! Eat!” came an order by one of the guards standing by the chicken-wire fences. I could see some type of slurry in a long wooden trough, something noxious. It was white mixed with some brown streaks and smelled absolutely terrible.

“Don’t worry about its smell,” she said with a wry grin. “It tastes far worse than it looks too.”

“Pay attention to the skies,” I whispered, stepping away. The other guard was waving for me to leave. “I’ll contact you when it’s time to pack up.”

“You’re not the only Non with a plan,” she replied. “I don’t even bother to learn their names at this point.”

“Though would you be kind enough to grace me with yours?”

The woman tapped her foot against the ground pensively. “I suppose. Oakanna! Just take oak and mash it with anna and what do you get?”

Chapter 25

Slipping through the mushroom people’s territory in the late of night wasn’t a particularly smart decision. With every tree being an actual person, I had to move slow and cautiously as to prevent them from waking up or giving the alarms of my presence here. One misstep and I’d be surrounded by plenty of nursery guards.

The purpose of this one-man mission? Find out more about the Carrion King or whatever foul thing the Mushies had taken to following. Sacrificing one of their own was grisly, but trading people for people who are better? Terrifying. I wonder how Oakanna was able to hide her skills for so long.

The village of the mushroom people was made of great redcaps that were stuck into the ground; this created little alcoves where cottages and sales shacks had been built. The windows atop the redcaps also indicated that people lived inside.

There were no myconids on guard. Why did they need a guard when it seemed the housing was also sentient, for each cap gently moved up and down as if it were breathing? The whole village was asleep, basking in a great blue light above the forest.

This light seemed to be an artificial sky of some kind, though it only produced blue lights, giving the world a much stranger appearance. This was probably the way these beings sustained their life in a forest. Myconids mostly worked underground and they thrived in their natural element…what happened to make that different?

Had they been excised from their homelands? Did their System collapse destroy what was below? Or perhaps some opportunists came in with plans to take their own fungal slaves. Who knows?

“Gotcha!” a voice said from behind as two hands covered my hands at the same time.

“Oakanna?” I hissed, prying her hands off me. “What the hell are you doing here?”

I turned round to see that the alchemist in question was dressed almost exactly like me. I had dyed deer-skin armor and moccasins that rendered me almost invisible when walking on the forest floor. The only thing I was missing was a blackened mushroom lid hat. She had an extra one to give me.

“Well, when you left I realized there was a 100% chance of you investigating the village at night. After all, wouldn’t I be impressed with how your heroism blows everyone else out of the water?”

“Sounds like you’re putting words in my mouth,” I said. “I did not regard you in any way.”

This caused the woman to step up to my side and point. “If you want the tour, we can do it from here. Those bigger caps control access to the civilian population. If there is trouble up top, they seal both mouths to prevent anyone from getting in. The two taller, tower-like mushrooms are military response shrooms.”

“They can fight with a mushroom tower?” I asked, shaking my head. “Aren’t they supposed to be children?”

“No, big difference. Children grow down, towers grow up. It’s usually the elderly and the infirm who realize they have lived all they could in their current form. They then grow into great towers meant to defend the forest,” Oakanna replied. “The response shrooms aren’t that deadly since they’re just a wobbly tower, but they do emit an extremely toxic spore that paralyzes the body and basically your ability to control your limbs.”

“Why waste a good slave?” I dryly said. “Thank you for the tour, but I’m here looking for answers about something entirely else.”

“Crenshaw?”

“No,” I said. “I’m looking for the Carrion King, or information about him.”

“Well, look no further,” Oakanna said. She pointed towards a sloped mushroom home that wasn’t breathing at all. Though there was some damage to it…termites? Ah, of course! It’s a fake though from a distance it would look real. And that meant this thing was absolutely the shrine to the Carrion King.

“I suppose this is where our alone time is over,” I said, preparing to walk straight up the shrine. “For I must see what is inside.”

“Yeah, I’ll stay out here and make a distraction if you end up in hot water,” Oakanna said. I could hear the sigh of relief at not being asked to go in with me.

“Good, I’ll be back as soon as I can!”

And with that, I was slinking across the mushroom lands; the blue light above me created perfect silvered shadows where I could move from shade to shade. A lump in my throat grew as I rounded the ominous-looking building. Even though the blue light was pervasive in the area…this shrine accepted very little light. It didn’t reflect the light as much as absorb it.

There were no windows in this cottage. Just a front door and a suspicious-looking rocking chair. I knelt down and glanced through the keyhole to see if there was anything within.

“There is nothing but stairs,” a grey old voice said beside me. I immediately leapt up and spun around, ready to smack the wizard but…it wasn’t him?

The rocking chair had begun rocking back and forth, too full for it to be a breeze. And the sound of creaking indicated that this thing might weigh a lot on the physical plane.

“This building was made for the Mushrooms to approach the altar down there, but they dare not bring it above ground,” the voice continued.

“Why wouldn’t they bring the altar up here?” I asked, swallowing pretty hard. Despite having only talked to a spirit once, I couldn’t help but realize that this was indeed a forest spirit.

“I would withdraw the blessings I have given them over the millennia.”

“And you’re a spirit? The spirit of…”

“Nothing now. None in the village speak of me nor do they carry any of the traditions I had taught them. I have little power and thus can only live on this particular area where magic streams in from the celestial realms. But there was a time, when the elders were good to us, I was considered the Spirit of Hope. The guardian spirit who would protect us from all evil, inside or out.”

“I’m guessing someone screwed up big time,” I said. “Who?”

“I guess I did. I failed to foresee this coming…this Carrion King.”

“So he is worshipped as a god,” I concluded. “Does this make him a god?”

“Divine magic has been frayed since the System Collapse. I can’t make sense of it, but whatever it was, the Carrion King became a god for he is the only god who still has power. The Carrion King can move portals, wherever it likes.

“One minute he will be whispering secrets of conquest to some bankrupt emperor, the next he will be holding a portal below the emperor’s men to devour them. After doing so, the King went on his way, visiting another realm.”

“Hmmm, so if he could travel between realms, we would call that a god,” I said, chewing on this idea. “And those who can’t travel are just spirits.”

“That is a very rough take on our cosmology. There are infinite layers and levels within the creative world of the astral planes,” the forlorn spirit said. “But very close. The Carrion King arrives in a realm and fights off whatever spirit is in charge of protecting the area. The spirit is either devoured or the King flees and begins to show himself only to those who would sacrifice things into power.”

“And these shrooms have fallen to worship a monster god…” I said. “Is it all of them, or only a key amount?”

“They didn’t worship in their minds, they simply believed it to be a trade. We give you something you want and we get something we need to survive: Food, seeds, internal fluids myconids need and have been denied because the topsoil is growing unhealthy. Because someone was able to explain it away with a different word, they were hoping to get all of the benefits and pay none of the consequences.” The spirit grew quieter as he talked; he was groggy and beginning to truly fade.

“How do I destroy the Carrion King?” I asked.

“Same way you destroy anything really, stab them in the heart.”

Chapter 26

The underground chapel was uneasy, on both the eyes and direction. In spite of the warnings that the spirit of a forest’s hope had ushered to me, I was intent on finding this so-called altar.

The walls around me were solid black, cut from deep stone that was rather impervious to divination magics. The tunnels felt like they were moving as I walked, but touching the ground proved this to be false, since I was lithe enough to walk and touch the ground at the same time.

I wandered for a while, but only found dead ends until…I came across a room of silver mirrors. They were floating at head level and I felt a tightness in my stomach at the sight of such a wondrous thing. These mirrors were hovering from a spell! Someone down here must have natural magic, so I best watch my step.

I kept my body nice and low as I bypassed the mirrors, careful to not even make eye contact with my reflection. I had no idea what these things would do if I was spotted and I certainly didn’t want to find out right now. No, this was still a scouting mission, I just needed to get eyes on the shrine and then get the hell out of here.

Eventually I found my quarry: a large statue of a writhing centipede, its body ripping out of a human chest. The statue pulled nothing back, showing blood spatter and extracting a screaming face of the host, his body no longer the incubator for the Centipede King.

The statue was atop a flat, black altar with a few runes sketched into them. The runes glowed a bright red and even looking at them made me shudder. Was he able to sense me? Or see me perhaps? Or maybe it was just waiting for me to call upon it for aid. Hard to tell, but this supernatural stuff was far beyond me, so I decided to mark out the map with skull and crossbones. Scouting was over, I had seen enough.

“Oh shit!” someone said from behind. I spun around, knife at the ready. I really needed to learn knife skills, since these quarters were just too small to be using bow and arrows effectively.

The shouter in question was an elderly-looking woman, though her face shined with a radiant energy. There were many wrinkles upon her face, but all features gave way to her incredible smile. I could feel almost as if she were charming me with a spell. Perhaps she was.

“Fear not,” I said, raising a hand. “I’m not here to hurt anyone.”

“I don’t give a damn about who you hurt,” came the reply. “Did you desecrate the altar?”

“No.”
      “Touched it at all? Gotten some grease on your hands from feasting earlier and accidentally smudged it?”

“I can say without a doubt none of those things happened,” I replied, crossing my arms. This woman was certainly disarming.

“I’m Lydia, the Barrow Witch,” she said, scuttling over to me.

“Well, it would seem that I am in your territory without your permission, and for that I apologize,” I said, bowing a little. Oh, what if I was just developing people skills instead of her bewitching me.

“Bah, apologies mean nothing. At least my mirrors weren’t broken. What a fickle spell too, such a shame,” she ranted, waving me away from where I was standing. “Don’t get too close without the proper protections, the statue is a defiled thing, something that has a will of its own.”

“So are you the attendant to the shrine?”

“No,” the Barrow Witch replied. She stood next to me, peering at the statue with the utmost confidence that I would not harm her. Lydia was either reckless, naive or so powerful she was in total control of the situation. “That statue demands a blood sacrifice of someone special to me. Betrayal is what it wants. The taste of falsehoods and discoveries of terror are its delight.”

“And what would you get in return?”

“My magic would be infused with greater power. I wouldn’t have to rely on ingredients when making my potions, yadda yadda,” Lydia recalled. “It wasn’t a good deal, namely because I’m a hermit, so there is no one to sacrifice.”

I opened my mouth to speak at that but the witch interrupted me with a hearty laugh. “Oh come now, I’m only kidding. Witches are not vile creatures no matter how many people dedicate their lives telling you to fear them. I’ve not been on the surface for a hundred years and I have little desire to ever see the sun again. Your children and livestock are safe, just don’t barge in my realm and try to slay me.”

“Now that I can assure you wasn’t my plan at all,” I quickly replied, stepping a half foot away from the statue. The glowing red wounds on the human body dulled a bit as I walked away. More shivers up the spine. “I’m trying to figure out who the Carrion King is and if he’s a danger to my people.”

“Oh dearie,” the witch said, leaning against a black column and sighing. “The Carrion King is a danger to everyone. That monster is eating to its hearts content, but you see how the human host wasn’t enough to contain it? Someday it will burst out of its centipede form and become something wholly unnatural.”

That wasn’t good. But that was some business I had to attend to at a later time, for the witch’s presence was of good fortune! “Madam,” I said, bowing a little more to her. “I am actually seeking out a human by the name of Crenshaw, in order to recover a stone of great power. Would you be able to assist me in finding him?”

“Twould be possible if I had my cauldron and my tools,” the witch replied. “Unfortunately those items were System-based, so they are rather useless to me. It was fortunate that I was born a witch, so I can access magic by my own birthright.”

“You have the gift but no appropriate tools?” I asked. That could be handled easily if Bode was a well-stocked town.

“One could say that. I like to just say that my tools are due for an upgrade, since I assume the System will come back some day,” she replied.

Before I could say anything else, there was a gurgle from the statue, causing both of us to step further away from that blasphemous statue. The gurgle seemed to radiate a presence that was most unwelcome to the human senses. I felt nauseous, reviled and I shivered from the prickling heat that rose up and down my spine.

“The so-called godking indwells this place now,” Lydia whispered to me. “I suggest you go on your way and get away from all of this nonsense. It is not something for mortal folks to engage with.”

“You count yourself as immortal?” I asked. While I was curious about the witch, the presence was growing oppressive and painful enough to where leaving didn’t seem like a bad option, not in the least.

“I learned early on that a witch’s spirit always remains should it want to and there are always new forms available for filling. Black cats, for example, are usually just witches waiting for someone to die so they can fill the body before it stops functioning. They then change faces and move on somewhere else.”

“Sounds like gruesome business, taking a person’s dead body so quickly,” I murmured.

“Well, it’s just a body at that point, what’s the harm? It’s not like I go around pretending to be the people who died. Those are…well, those are the bad kinds of witches.”

She followed me as I made it back to the entrance of this strange dungeon. During the walk, I told her about Planth and what we were planning on achieving. Having a witch in the village would be amazing, for they knew all about herbs and how to brew them into healing tonics to treat a malady or illnesses.

“That sounds nice, but before you ask, I’m not coming. There have been three villages that promised me safety and shelter and every single one of them eventually were decimated by something. The world above has broken into madness and chaos, I prefer this barrow below. Yes, I cohabitate with some hideous god-thing, but if I stay away from the altar and burn lilyroot as incense, I’ll be fine.”

“Lilyroot repels it?”

“I’m unsure, but I do so out of routine mostly. The root of the Lily is pungent and painful to the demonic forces and spirits cannot be near the burning of it. Humans whose hearts have turned black from deeds most dark will choke on any meal made with lilyroot…sometimes to death!” Lydia said wryly. She took out a strand of grey rope that had been knotted together a few times. “Want some?”

“You grow the stuff yourself?” I asked, taking hold of the plant roots. They were bundled nice and tightly and the smell…was earthy. Not flagrant nor obnoxious in the least.

“How could you tell?” Lydia asked with a laugh.

“I’m an herbalist myself. The breeding and the healthiness of the roots are a sign of care and nurturing. Though I have no idea on how magic and herbs work alongside each other…” I trailed off. This woman was way too valuable to just leave here. “Listen, I am tasked with the matters of survival and the survival of my people,” I said. “Would you be willing to come with me, just to teach me what magic you know about herbalism? Many mouths are going to need healing and feeding. I have no idea what your power may be, but you may as well be Non to me.”

“Ugh, you sound like that one slave up above,” Lydia said, crossing her arms and frowning. “But you are considerably more sexy than she. Very well, if you wish it, I will accompany you to Planth for a short while. But do not mention my place of origin nor my profession. People hear the word witch and they immediately think of curses placed upon people. I have cursed no one!” There was a pause. “Well, no one who didn’t deserve it, I mean. You have arrows, I have spells, we use them when necessary but we aren’t reliant upon such things.”

“How can you tell that about me?”

“Because you haven’t tried to steal my jewelry nor tried to kill me. That last one goes towards a lot of goodwill.”

------------------------------------

Journal

1 Cityfell, Day 48

Planth has seen better days, but the interior is shaping up quite a bit. With my presence, I was able to negotiate a fair trade with the kobolds aiding in the establishment and raising of wooden walls to reinforce our village.

Getting the walls up sent our morale ablaze for a short while. People trained harder, worked more and were easier to direct from above. We installed four watchtowers on the corner of each wall, ensuring we had total vision all around us.

With the walls up, proper houses were being constructed, forged from logs that we could cut down in the woods. However, monster attacks were becoming more frequent on the construction crew. At some point the kobolds will cease protecting us, not out of spite but out of concerns. The monsters were hitting them hard as well. I need to return to searching for the power stone, but the princess has insisted that I accompany her on a journey to formally meet Bode.

After my last encounter with the Bodeans, I had hoped they would stay far away and for the most part, they did. Though lately a messenger was arriving—on foot, to bring our mayor some letters that she claimed were for the eyes of the state only. Well, whatever she’s up to, it was my hope we’d be able to find Crenshaw along the way.

Things I Need to Do:

Find Crenshaw

Until I get a pound of raw amethyst for the witch, I’ll have to be working to find Crenshaw the old-fashioned way: asking around. Chances are he’s dead but who knows? Maybe that stone gives him an edge.

Liberate Slave Pits

There is a humanitarian reason for rescuing slaves, but the reality is that the Mushies have a large labor force that is conditioned to working with very little resources. Freeing them and bringing them to Planth will significantly improve their lives and most would be willing to take a job in the town in order to stay.

Destroy Altar to the Carrion King

I don’t know how realistic of a goal this is, but that altar scared the hell out of me. It must be destroyed and that means consecration must be done. The Rephtarian Order were still holding the temple sealed shut, demanding purple paint in order to open the doors. My hope is that there is some kind of holy relic or even a spirit resting within the place. Maybe the paint binds the god there? Or were these priests just going through the motions? Hard to tell.

Skills I’m Learning:

- Herbalist: Lydia hasn’t shown me a single herb that I don’t recognize but she is showing me potential ways to extract the magical essence by vivisectioning the plant. The process is slow and confusing, for she speaks in metaphors, and frankly I don’t think I’m cut out for it.

- Knife-Fighting: Of the three knights, Rosepaum knew the most about close quarters fighting and he has kicked my ass several times in simulated knife fights. He doesn’t hold much back and has managed to draw blood with our practice knives more than once. I can’t help but feel the enemy will hold back more than he does, though I’m not counting on it.

Skills I’m Teaching:

- Archery (Wesley): Sir Wesley wishes to learn the traditional bow usage, since he mostly trained with a crossbow back when he was an active knight.

Chapter 27

The journey to Bode was much colder than I thought it would be. For as we turned off the main road, we wandered into a snow-filled valley with dozens of frozen trees encased in eternal ice. Above there was a white permanent sun, filling every part of the sky as if there were no clouds or figure.

Reaching Bode wasn’t particularly hard. The city was further north on a steep hill, which was also covered in snow. The world wasn’t twisting or changing around us and each footstep felt as sturdy as any step on the road.

“Oh yes, they solidify alright!” the wizard had said as he walked beside the princess’ horse, of whom she named ‘Chestnut’. “Once a demiplane sticks around long enough, it syncs with the world in some odd way and they become integrated. The laws of nature change back to normal, albeit with a patch of land completely changed.”

Eventually our party, Wesley, Jhook and the wizard, came to a halt before the incline leading up to the city. The walls were made of stone! These solid walls must have required years of intense labor to build it that high and that much around the entire city.

“Well, it’s not an illusion,” the wizard said, looking through a spyglass. “Else there’d be shimmering.” He offered it up to the princess.

Silvia was sitting upon the horse, doing her best to look regal though she could not keep herself upright on the horse if it moved any faster than a gentle clop. Horse-riding was a skill she had bought but never paid any mind to, as everyone usually put a point or two in it, just to get around.

Taking the spyglass, Silvia frowned. “They have spoken intensely about acquiring the whole of Planth. And those walls mean they have the power to force us to join. They can raid us endlessly with no repercussion and then we end up besieged by both the north and the west. That is not a good situation to be in.”

“And it would seem that my Lady has come to…surrender?” Sir Wesley asked. He was looking at me, as if I knew what the discussion would be about but I was just as clueless as he.

“I’m here to handle a few things myself,” Silvia replied, tossing the spyglass back to the wizard. “And if it doesn’t go my way, you fellas are unleashed. Mr. Wizard, you have my full permission to use whatever powers you can to help us secure the palace. Sir Wesley you aren’t to leave my side and Miles?”

My stomach tightened at the words. “Yes?” I awkwardly muttered.

“I believe you’re on the lookout for a person, so go handle that. If things start heating up…well, you know who you’d have to shoot.”

“You didn’t say we were coming to fight!” I hissed.

“Isn’t it great?” the wizard said, rubbing his hands together. “I have so many spells that can unleash havoc upon the rest of the world. Provided they work, most of them are theoretical. Even better because unstable magic is your friend! Until it's suddenly not, of course.”

Silvia looked at me with a smirk. “A few weeks ago, a survivor came in from the outside, asking for room and board. He came in from the east, where Sir Wesley was traveling to and fro. The timeline the man gave would have put him in the path of the good knight.”

“A spy?” Wesley whispered. “Why not root him out?”

“It’s easier when they think they have total control,” the princess replied. “These people are strong and powerful inside the walls, but the outside world terrifies them. Their goal has been to absorb Planth, all the while assuring us it’s just for the common good.”

“You’re a madwoman, princess,” the wizard said, still rubbing his hands. “To take vengeance into your own hands.”

“He’s right!” Wesley agreed. “Though I am not using it as a praising context. If I had known we were here on a diplomatic mission, I’d never have agreed.”

“That’s the fun part. It’s still a diplomatic mission,” she explained as her horse slowly trotted up the incline. “But if they try anything funny, you are all instructed to cause as much damage to the rulers as possible. Don’t bother guards and civilians, just focus on the elite.”

Ah, now the plan was making sense. Bode seemed to be well kept and well defended—from the outside. But how were the civilians within the city? Were they treated well, regardless of class and background? Or were the nobles stepping upon the poor, just to get whatever power was left on the table to grab.

I walked behind her, searching the long grey walls for any hint of a person. There were three, all wearing leather armor and carrying bows. But the way they held the weapons made me think they had little training. Actually skilled archers usually have the shot lined up and ready to go when encountering the unknown. What these men were doing, I had no idea.

Words were exchanged briefly, then the gates swung wide open, revealing…scorched land and lots of it.

“The hell?” I muttered. This place was no thriving city, they had walls and a castle, but all the buildings in the main village had burned down. Some of the buildings were still in the process of collapsing, though they were stilling slightly, hanging onto the frames that were once well-built.

“Fuck me,” the wizard said. “What’s going on?”

Above us came a shout, up from a castle window. It was that posh man I had met in the forest some time ago. He was a Bodean, that I knew…C…Chester!

“How do you fare, Chester?” I asked. My bow was already out and I was not keeping it loosely. This felt like some kind of awful ambush brewing. But why? It couldn’t be revenge towards me for taking the boar.

“I fare just as well as any who woke up to see his entire home destroyed,” he replied flatly. From the way he was dressed it was clear he was in his night clothes; we most likely had interrupted his sleep. The time of day was anyone’s guess with the eternal white sky above us.

“Yeah…we didn’t have anything to do with that,” I shouted. Silvia smacked me on the shoulder.

“Let me handle this,” she hissed. “Forgive my manslave, he is quite egregious. As Princess of Planth, I greet you kind sir.”

Manslave? Oh this woman had some kind of nerve…

“Ah, it's good to know that man has a leash. My dear friend Rupert is still unable to walk straight due to those wounds,” Chester said, leaning all the way out of the window now, craning his neck to see if there was anyone standing by our party. “And I greet you, as the now self-declared King of Bode.”

“I take it your father was unsuccessful?” Silvia said.

“That might be the case. The village turned overnight and well…you see how it looks today. I woke up to a village empty, devoid of all life save those of us who indwell the castle,” he said, curling his fist into a ball. “Oh yes, somehow we managed to be spared from a most grisly fate.”

Was he talking about…oh no.

“Are you speaking of the Carrion King?” I asked. This caused both Silvia and the man to gasp.

“How the hell did you figure that out?” Chester said. “Are you in dealings with him as well?”

“What I’ve gathered about this…thing, is that there are no deals that work out in the end. This is a ravenous creature that only wants to grow in power. But it offers things all the same. The Mushroom folk have been wrapped up in his promises, sacrificing human slaves to improve the offering.”

“We drew lots,” Chester said. “Well, the guards did anyway. It was supposed to be one sacrifice.”

“Well, looks like your father was planning a bit bigger of a trade!” the wizard hooted. He had taken off to wander, staring at the remains of charred rubble with hands gently glowing red. “Oh yes, indeed. There are some etchings on these buildings…they suggest that the perpetrator was going to sacrifice all these homes and the inhabitants within them.”

“My accursed father!” Chester growled. “He misled me entirely.”

“Any other of your nobles survive?” The wizard grimly asked. Despite his casual assertion that a most awful bargain had taken place, he had taken on a visage of great fear. Almost as if something were present in the area, siphoning emotions and color from his face.

“Everyone inside the palace and barricades were safe, including the nobles. Nobles and guardsmen. Forty wretches who have inherited a giant pile of shit.”

I glanced at Silvia, who returned the glance with a rather somber-looking grim. “How did you know?” I asked.

“I was promising him the opportunity to take Planth once he had succeeded with his first ascension of power,” she replied quietly.

“You what?”

“You forget I am a princess. And a very proactive one. You know how many people approached me with some kind of evil, soul-bargaining scheme? How much power was offered to me if I just pledged my service to the right kind of god? I’m used to power pushers and soul schemes.”

“What happened then? You weren’t behind all this, were you?”

“No, not in the least. I was merely telling him that Planth would not care one way or the other, all the while trying to come up with my own plan. But the trouble was everyone in Bode was too safe. I couldn’t get them to lead or come up with the truth to tell them. No one would dare leave the safety of the walls, not for some self-proclaimed princess who was a stranger.”

That made sense, I suppose. “Still…you didn’t encourage the man, did you?”

“Nonsense, I told him he were mad if he tried that on his own people. Sacrifice just one member of your tribe and pow: they cease to be people and instead turn into numbers. And when a ruler only thinks in terms of numbers…”

“Then making tradeoffs is simply a question of mathematics,” I mused. “So you were just getting secrets from him the whole time.”

“Yes, I understand everything about Bode, including his son and his grievously injured guard whom you assaulted without provocation.”

“There is no law in a land without rangers,” I replied with a shrug. “So people should be very careful with what they say.”

“Yes, well, luckily it served as an introduction where I could easily get an understanding of Jenson. Still, I would hope you limit the amount of political disasters to just the one. Any more causes a headache we don’t need.”

As we spoke, the doors to the palace gate went open, the long metal grey hinges groaning deeply as they opened up the path to see Chester up close.

“I’m going to be staying out here,” the wizard said, without any ounce of passion or excitement. “This is a severe event and I must attend to it, lest this land become consumed by the taint that has been here.”

“Whaddya know, the wizard can do more than complain and interrogate corpses,” Sir Wesley said.

Our horse was given to a stable hand, we put up our coats in the foyer and met with Chester Bode in the parlor where a fire was roaring. There were no guards in this area, save for one who was simply reading a book in the corner. His weapon lay at his side—a halberd—, but it leaned so far it may as well be out of his reach.

Silvia took her seat at the table, where some bread and cheese had been prepared. In lieu of wine, we had some cider of unknown quality. Either way, opening one’s home and giving them food was a universal sign of peace.

“So then,” Chester said with a heavy sigh. He hadn’t bothered to get dressed properly and was still in his silky white pajamas with a tall sleeping cap. “What do I owe the pleasure of Planth’s company?”

“Your father and I were corresponding and my deductions lead me to reason trouble was heading your way. My hope was that my envoy could assassinate your father before he was able to do anything like that,” Silvia explained, slowly biting on the edge of what looked to be impossibly hard bread.

“Kill my father? You would just admit to that out loud?” Chester gasped. There was slight admiration in his tone, but mostly he seemed shocked at the admission.

“Indeed. He was planning on sacrificing your entire village for power. And it looks to me that he was successful. I do apologize if this were a shocking event to you, but alas, you have to play the hand given to you. We arrived too late and your people are now gone.”

Chester sighed deeply and slunk back in his chair, sliding almost halfway beneath the table. Decorum must have died alongside the System. “So you’re here to what? Merge populations? Make an alliance?”

“I have been convincing you or your father’s spy that was my whole plan. I basically fed falsehoods to you all, just to ensure no one would feel like Planth was a direct threat. You had the numbers to invade us and we were wall-less at the time, so if I could make us look compliant already, we’d be safe to continue building up Planth.”

“And you didn’t come along for what reason?” Chester asked, wrinkling his face. I, too, was perplexed by this, but Silvia had been expecting this question.

“I was unsure of you, to be honest. Your father owns this town and everyone knows when the king is dead, you just push his body off the throne and hop on as his son. Inheritance is how you transfer power—and if you are seen as a legitimate ruler, the people will never seek to upend you.”

I rubbed my temples at this. This woman sure was a beast when it came to navigating leadership. I always thought a simple council of elders worked the best.

“And so you are saying you think I’m cut from the same cloth as my father,” Chester said. “I can assure you that is not the case.”

“I’m not so convinced,” she replied. “And I came here to be convinced. So, open the books, let the people speak freely and if everything is in good condition here, we can begin a formal relationship with our towns.”

Chester sighed and waved a hand dismissively. “Very well,” he said. “I shall open this place for your investigation. Just know that my patience is limited, as are the people’s.”

Chapter 28

There had been a real purpose in bringing me along for this trip: tracking. The princess had managed to win over Chester by simply laying out the facts, but her true goal was still concealed to him. Well, the goal was concealed from everyone but me.

“Find him and if need be, kill him.” Those grim orders echoed through my head as I moved across the frozen tundra, carefully following what little trail I had picked up so far.

My tracking skills came in quite handy, because I knew how to track humans as well as any other creature. In fact, most humans were pretty damn easy to track due to how inattentive they are. I recall catching a group of bandits trying to escape the forest as stealthily as possible. The reason I found them? The leader nicked the side of a tree every so often, absent-mindedly.

This particular prey, Jenson Bode, wasn’t terribly wise with his travel methods. He wore soft shoes, probably thinking it would be hard to follow, but they would simply feel light to him. He was making tracks just like any other person would; he just felt as if he were slinking across the territory.

I tracked him down to a small hut within one of the many frozen forests that were scattered around this place. This world, this icy demiplane, seemed to go on forever. Perhaps it did, at least until the biome fused with it.

The hut was certainly human made, as it was built out of brick and stone, with a mighty chimney in the back, the smoke puffing up high in the air. Come on, Jenson, you have to do better than that. Lighting a fire made catching him easy, for all I needed to do was wait for him to get more firewood.

The world never experienced night, but my own natural sense of time indicated I had been waiting for two days, waiting for the man within to come out. Waiting would have been a waste of time, had I not taken to using my idleness to crafting a few snare traps designed to catch humans and yank them up into the trees. This was a failsafe, just in case.

Eventually, the boredom began to sink in and I decided to chance it. I slipped down beside the house’s single window, peeking in to see what was going on.

The fire was brightly burning and something was sitting on a chair beside it. The flame caused shadows to cover whatever it was, but this did not have the shape or silhouette of a man. A monster? Some strange beast that lived here?

I rapped on the window. “Hello? Is anyone in here?” I asked.

This made the figure sit up and look towards the window. It made a strange glurching sound as it began to speak in human words. “If you are here with my son, take him as far away as you can. Otherwise, leave me be, lest I devour you in this wretched state.”

This was the price of bargaining with devils and demons, I suppose. Hard to feel bad for a man who gave away his entire village to empower himself. I should put him down out of both necessity and mercy.

“Jenson?” I asked.

“No more am I Jenson. That shed with my old flesh,” the creature said, leaning closer towards the window. I shivered as the flames slightly illuminated the pale pile of grey skin that was coming into view. “I have become Scytheson, son of the harvest and child of the Carrion King.”

He stepped fully towards the light and I fell backwards, gasping at the sheer hideousness of such a creature. He was tall, with a blob for a face, though the lower right half was still human at the corner of the lips, splitting his features in two. His arms were long and spindly with a dozen scythes jutting out of them as spikes.

My heart began to pound at the sight of such a monster. I was not a monster hunter, I was more like a pest control officer in the Greater Forest. Sure I killed monsters all the time, but this thing? It was beyond monstrous. It was infernal.

“You see why I did not return,” Scytheson said with a laugh. “A shame. I was so hoping to show my son what true power can be if you’re willing to risk it all.”

“Sounds like you made too risky of a bet,” I said. Should I just kill him? Or was there any information to be had from this thing. I mean, for all I knew, it was just a parasite controlling the brain and Jenson was truly no more. I couldn’t tell and therefore couldn’t trust what he said.

“Sacrifice unto me fifty people of any form and fitness,” he said as he turned his back to me. I could see more blades ripping through his clothes, his legs still mostly human. “And I shall give you power that will make you unlike any ruler of this world. You shall have power, grace and cunning in all things. You will never be confounded by a politician’s words and you can always see the intent of your enemies.”

“Ah, I see,” I said, stringing up my bow and making it to another tree. The door swung open just as I made contact with the tree, allowing the demihuman to continue.

“There are so many ways those things can be interpreted as but I thought this demon wanted more sacrifices. It made no sense to betray me by contorting me into this…this thing. I have lost all my humanity.”

“Funny, but people call you a monster for what you did to those villagers,” I said, aiming my bow. Shoot or talk? This thing was acting rational but for how long? Also, would my arrows do anything to this creature? Perhaps shooting the jaw and the eyes…no, his legs first. He’s too big and top-heavy, a big beast like that couldn’t possibly function without legs.

“I wanted to live forever and now I can,” he replied. “Mages will fix my body some day, once the System returns. But while it’s down, there are certain loopholes you can exploit. Living forever is one such thing.”

“I suppose we’ll have to test out if that too is a lie,” I said, firing an arrow straight into the beast’s left eye.

Thwip! The arrow lodged itself in Scytheson’s eye and he roared in defiance. His throat rang out in some odd piping noise that drove all birds in the area up from their nests and into the air.

“You strike me?” he laughed, reaching up to grab the arrow shaft. I instinctively went to warn him, but he was too quick. With a schluurch, the manbeast tore the arrow out, blood and ocular fluid spraying everywhere. He shook the arrow at me and then popped the head into his mouth.

My stomach churned at the sight of this thing eating its own eye. But another eye was growing back in place. “Aw shit,” I said. “You’re regenerative?”

“It appears to be the case. I tried to end my own life with a noose, after seeing what I had become, but I cannot die. I suppose I will kill you then, perhaps eating your entrails would give me a strength I was denied by the Carrion King….”

I had to think quickly, as I was not equipped to fight a monster with regenerative properties. My arrows could do whatever damage they liked but he’d just regenerate them and ignore the damage. I needed…blessed arrows!

Quickly I dug into my satchel and pulled out the last remaining scroll of Arrow to the Heart that I had been saving for a rainy day. And today such a torrent was coming at me. I had to try and kill him with a strike to the most vital part of his body: the heart.

“Oh, playing with paper now?” the beastman said as he lumbered towards me. His hunched shoulder was gasping for air, breathing in and out through a strange pair of gills. “Go ahead and try. In fact, I will let you have one more shot. Perhaps your magic will release me of this wretched form.”

“Do you really seek your own destruction?” I asked.

“The human mind does, yes, but the monster inside of me wants to live at all costs,” came the reply. He stopped lurching forward and spread his arms wide.

I muttered a few words of power to the arrow, reading carefully from the scroll I had been given. There was a rattled per-cuff as the words vanished from the scroll. My quiver suddenly vibrated as if a dozen arrows had moved at once. They were ready to be fired.

Drawing tightly, I aimed at where the human heart should be. “Here’s hoping…” I muttered, firing the arrow as quickly as I could.

The shot burst into golden holy energy as it flew, the light flashing ever so quickly before sinking itself in the body of this horrific creature.

“Arrg!” the thing roared, falling to one knee.

I fired three more times. The creature was writhing in pain on the ground, gasping and begging for me to stop. I went to reload before I realized that Scytheson wasn’t begging, he was laughing.

“You really think you can destroy my heart?” he asked. “I don’t need a heart to stay alive. I could pull it free and share it with you as a meal if I like. Regeneration happens so quickly that if an organ shuts down, the regenerative effect simply operates on a wider platform. You can’t possibly hope to overwhelm me.”

“Fair enough,” I said. I was out of luck here, so it was best to get a head start. I climbed up into a tree full of frost-covered leaves, leaves that were shaking out their cover with my presence. These were not evergreen trees, for as I moved from tree to tree, the branches revealed nothing other than a black dead tree. That destroyed my forest stealth skills, unfortunately.

The creature lumbered after me, smashing through the trees with ease. He wasn’t fast but trees could not withstand so much as a push from him, thus opening a direct route to get to me. This wasn’t good.

“I assume your plan was to turn Chester in a thing like you?” I shouted as I landed on a tree that was just a bit too short to reach any of the others. I’d need to jump off and climb the bigger one, but I had lost track of the creature, logs and trees were falling everywhere now.

Suddenly, blades were in front of me, slashing hard and fast. I dodged the first two swings but the third one caught my cheek. Blood sprayed as I took the blow and rolled with it, flipping in midair to avoid another attack.

“Confounded by my powers?” the monster chuckled as I scrambled up another tree. Blood was pouring down my face and I felt woozy. Poison? Or just fatigue from having gone so long without eating? This was supposed to be a day trip that I had temporarily turned into a stake-out—with very little food stores.

“I’m confounded by a lot of things, but your naiveté is probably the most confusing,” I shot back, leaping off the tree that was now falling over thanks to Scytheson.

“Naiveté?” he barked, incensed at the word. He smashed through the trees a little faster, making it harder for me to predict where he was going, as I had no time to think. Each time I touched a tree, he’d smash it. “You think I’m naïve?”

“You consorted with fiends and got burned immediately,” I said. “Yes, I would say you were rather naive to believe an infernal being of any kind would actually make your life better. Those kinds of beings are only interested in one thing: themselves.”

“Spare me the lecture, I had heard it many times before the System fell. All wealth the Bodes have come from the infernal world. We consort with demons, we trick ghouls and capture succubi with tempting deals. Our power was always built on top of a very dark basement.”

“Ah, so Chester knows?” I panted. This fight was exhausting and my head was getting lighter. I was running out of trees as well. Something had to change and I had nothing up my sleeve; a beast that big would never trigger my snare traps.

There was silence after that question. A deep and painful silence that spoke volumes. “So you haven’t told him? Was he unaware this whole time?”

“Chester is a proper noble and a bit too fascinated with noblesse oblige to really understand what compounds power. Before the fall he was always the last one to the dinner table, so to speak. When the System went down…I lost all of the good children and ended up with the one who would never agree to such cruel things. So I never told him.”

“Ah, there’s nothing better than hiding your family secret dealings with demons from someone who will inherit all that power when you die,” I said with a laugh. I decided to take a gamble and stood on one of the trees he knocked over, carefully riding it to the ground.

Scytheson did not notice this sudden change and continued to push his way through the trees, completely missing me. He was large and couldn’t really turn his head without the rest of the body going with it. Getting behind him was a decent survival tactic for now.

“You make it sound like a game,” he replied, pausing in search of me. I was hiding in his shadow, plain as day, but I could move with his steps, easily keeping me behind him. The only thing I was struggling with was my fatigue, as I was growing exhausted. I was not prepared for this level of conflict at all.

“I assure you that the Bode family has survived for eons, literally eons, all thanks to our powers of manipulating the infernal for our own whims.”

“Can we pause then?” I asked, causing the manbeast to jump and spin around me. I was holding my hands up to form a ‘T’. “Before you try to kill me again?”

Scytheson growled but relented by dropping his hands down and sitting backwards into the cold, snowy ground. “What is it?”

“Well, it occurs to me that if your family build their fortune on the devil’s backbone, you probably understand a lot of them.”

“There is a vast occult library…damnit. There was a vast occult library we had built over the years but that got lost thanks to the System going down. The library didn’t vanish but no one knew where it was without a proper marker.”

“Marker?” I asked.

“You know the task marker…wait, you’re a Non. Hmmm, the King might give me my old body back if I sacrifice you to him…” Scytheson said.

“Yeah, try betting on that horse again,” I replied. “Maybe it’ll work out to your favor this time.”

This was enough to get a hideous chuckle from the beast. Its laughter sounded like metal pipes scraping stone. “You are quick of tongue, I do like that.”

“Anyway,” I said, stretching casually like I wasn’t about to sprint for my life. Getting him to sit down was a perfect way to get ahead of him. If I broke line of sight, I could lose him for good. I just needed the right time to make a break for it. “I want to know what will happen to your son? Will you wander into town and try to explain your wardrobe change?”

“Nonsense,” the beast huffed. “I intend to leave this place in search of more sacrifices for the Carrion King. I have heard rumors of cultists existing in the southernmost places. These men and women believe that the System was taken down by a chaos god and they seek to bind it so all of reality returns…I must see if this is true. And if it isn’t? I will give them anyway.”

“So Chester will never know? About your fate?”

“I suppose he figured it when he woke up this morning,” the man said. “We had no relationship, so to speak. He cared far too much about the rabble and morale. You don’t need morale when you have the keys to the gate. Our city is a haven for all, and for those who wish to leave…well, a wall works in both directions, right?”

How easy it was for this man to spew his cruelties. He spoke as if people weren’t. Silvia’s words about numbers and men echoed in my mind.

“Well, if I say I found his body in the woods, half devoured, he will be willing to accept your tattered clothing as evidence,” I said.

“What do you get out of the deal?”

“The same thing everyone’s after,” I replied. “Survival.”

Chapter 29

My escape had been a surprise to the monster, because I bolted midsentence without a moment’s pause. He writhed on the ground as he tried to stand, but, as I suspected, his legs weren’t as skilled to get up from a slippery surface.

I made my way back home, following my tracks which I had left undisturbed in case I needed someone to come find me. Scytheson wouldn’t follow me into the city, not when all eyes would be upon their once noble Baron of Bode. The transformation was horrific and vile; it was clear the man inside was deeply ashamed of what had happened to him.

I suppose there was a thick irony in the fact that the Bodeans relied on dealing with demons in order to gain their power only to have their lineage resting on the back of the one man who hadn’t a clue of such dark matters. He was just of the opinion that his father was a cruel and arrogant noble, like most other men at the top.

Returning to the city of Bode wasn’t eventful and I was thankful for that. I’d been pushing myself so hard lately…what was I even doing out here? I hadn’t a moment to stop and breathe ever since I adopted Planth. In my prime I would have been easily able to avoid that lug within the trees, but the fatigue had just built up in my bones, slowing me down in the process.

A grim welcoming party was waiting for me at the gates, Silvia upon her horse, Chester beside her, arms crossed and the ever-ready-to-fight Jhook.

“I hope you have bad news,” I said. “Because that would make my news sound less bad than it really is.”

“The investigation was thorough,” Silvia said. Her voice carried a great deal of strain and I could see her hands were trembling as to hold the saddle before her. “I found the man’s records and they were as I had been able to determine from our letters. He was consorting with our friend the Carrion King. On top of that, he was attempting to purchase slaves from the Mushroom folk around here, for purposes unknown.”

“Hmmm, how much are they charging?”

“Iron,” Jhook said. “They want metals and that mine we found was full of it.”

“Moving on,” Silvia commanded, interrupting our patter. “And our wizard has spent the last two days studying exactly one spot here.” With that, she pointed towards a small alcove that looked to have been a shop of some kind.

The wizard was bent over…nothing. Books and tables were all around him, but he was absorbed by thin air. What could possibly be the situation? Perhaps he was fascinated or magically trapped?”

“Has he eaten?”

“Who cares? He has found a terrible thread in our present demiplane. There was something that was able to enter into this kingdom through illegitimate mystic channels. Upon doing so, it released a noxious corruption that would slowly infect the entire demiplane.”

“Our friend Mr. Carrion?” I asked.

“Most likely, but damn it all, Miles we are proper fucked here.”

“Language, my dear Lady,” Chester said, but she ignored him.

“My hope was that we could merge villages, but the mage is convinced there is a ticking clock here. The demiplane will collapse soon, infecting everyone inside of it. The plane will be lost to time and space, and only planar beings will be able to access it.”

“No planescaper alive would be able to find a tear of this finesse!” the wizard shouted from where he was working. He was moving his fingers carefully through the air, as if he were handling an imaginary ball of twine. “No, this was something crafted by something worse than an evil god.”

“What could possibly be worse than an evil god?” I asked.

The wizard turned around and looked up at me. His face was dead pale and his beard had silvered tremendously from when I last saw him. “An evil human trying to become a god. I know there are a million different cosmological ideas and conceptions, but there is a constant we all refer to in the wizard community: magical explorers, maginauts, will absolutely damage things as they develop in their field.”

He paused to snap a finger, causing all of the materials around him to start disassembling themselves and enter a magical bag that seemed endless. “Maginauts are brave and clever, diving for secrets in worlds never before seen and finding great spells and treasures to bring back. However if their magic is off by a little bit…well, it’s like a stack of dominos falling over and er, reality is composed of dominos.”

I swallowed. In the distance I could see Sir Wesley was escorting a group of people from outside of a barracks. “Oh. You’re meaning to say we can’t stay here.”

“My exact words were get the hell out of here you simpletons,” the wizard said with a soft sigh. “I can survive planar collapse but you guys? Not so much. This place was unstable already but now? There is nothing but spreading corruption. The good news is that since the planes are disjointed we can survive the corruption. It won’t follow us on the way out.”

Well, I suppose this development made the existence of the former Jenson Bode more or less a solved problem. The world would detach from ours and he’d be…trapped? Killed?

“What happens if we stay?” Jhook asked.

“Planar fiends arrive. Scavenger creatures that have learned to feast on the trail of the Carrion King. Some predators hunt just for sport and leave behind bones and meat for the ethereal blink hounds,” he explained. “Plus everything goes black. Light is only generated by maginaut spells and so…”

I turned my attention to Silvia, no longer caring about the situation. “Let us leave then.”

“I don’t think we can bring fifty people into Planth,” she said. “We aren’t built to expand so rapidly. We have to worry about the people coming in playing nice with the people already there. We don’t have the shelter, the food, the blankets…none of it.”

That was a big problem. “Sounds like the mayor needs to get to work,” I said. “I took care of the other thing.”

Silvia growled at me a little. “I need your help on this, Sherriff.”

“I’m not so cruel as to say they should stay but…we must make them live in a village outside of our defensive perimeter. The walls are for everyone to retreat to during an attack,” I said. “Either that or we tell them they are on their own. Technically this whole thing is the nobles' burden.”

“Nobles without System powers are killed off quickly. The people must respect their leadership in order to follow and I think the nobility just completely proved untrustworthy,” Silvia replied. “You have gotten a lot of stuff done. Word has spread across about how you have been providing food for his people by hunting. The Non who gets it done. That’s what they call you.”

I sighed at this. “Look, we’re going to have to do what Wesley has suggested from the start. We can’t put a village dead set in front of the forest. The kobolds will raid endlessly and if not them, the monsters come pouring out. I was hoping to find this Crenshaw fellow, but so far it has been a fruitless search.”

“Move everyone to the mine?” she asked. There was a bit of hope in her heart that this was a feasible option, but I had to smash that hope right down.

“No, we send this village to the mine and let them establish their own base. They can self-govern but surprise, you just got promoted to Governor.”

“And you can help them with this move? Protect them?” she asked through her teeth. It was clear she was terrified of sending anyone in that direction.

“I am no knight, I’m afraid. I have to return to searching for Crenshaw, perhaps through mystic means. Sir Wesley is the deputy so it’s his job. We aren’t risking any of our men. It’s just too much.”

“I was hoping you’d say something comforting,” Silvia said with a sigh. “But alas, you are a realistic man who lives in a world devoid of absurdities. We will transport the village to Miles’ Folly.”

“What a brilliant name,” I said.

Silvia laughed at this reaction. “Irony is the source of all naming conventions.”

Chapter 30

The witch’s hut stank with all manner of wretched plants I had gathered from the forest. The hut itself was big enough for us to sit, cross-legged, across from one another. The witch Lydia was glowing as per the usual. Some kind of charm just made her irresistible in some grandmotherly way. And now I was calling upon her full powers to locate Crenshaw.

Lydia had been resistant to the idea of using her witch powers to find the man, saying it would also tip him off. Any kind of magic has a signature and if the man had that stone of power on him, he’d be strong enough to follow the signature to where it originated.

To me, that sounded like a bonus but Lydia wasn’t so convinced. It took a lot of back-breaking digging to find mandrakes to finally convince the woman to use a clairvoyance spell. Her mandrakes were so very precious and hard to obtain because of how deep they were rooted in the ground. With a back like hers, it would be impossible to pull a full mandrake out on her own. Thus I was able to increase her favor towards me by offering not one but three mandrakes I had long ago found in the forest.

Lydia coughed a little as she carefully raised a bowl and placed it atop the table in between us. The water shimmered and shook from the cough. “Was there water in that before?” I asked.

“Perhaps,” she replied. “Or maybe you just didn’t notice. Your senses are too busy working for you to truly have a sense of magic. The bowl was never empty since I intended to fill it. I could get up and fill it with a bucket, but I would have done that earlier. Instead, I simply told the water in that bucket to fulfill its duty by pouring itself into this bowl.”

Wow. That was a far less abusive way to talk about magic, unlike the wizard’s rants. Though I must say, the wizard did not play around with the truth of things. He was grim and duty bound when he needed to be. I suspected that he acted as an old grump to conceal his real nature and feelings.

“Your thoughts are clouded with so much,” the witch said as she waved her hand across the water. There were three ripples that emerged from this motion, causing the water to splash within the bowl. “You are exhausted and desperate. Your soul has no joy right now.”

“You definitely don’t need a magic bowl to see that,” I said, yawning a bit as if to confirm her hypothesis.

“The first ripple is your heart. You don’t much feel at home with these people. The second is your spirit, which cowers before some external threat, we all know who that is so I won’t speak it aloud. The third ripple is your soul’s longing for respite. For relief,” she continued.

I nodded at these, allowing the woman to continue her divinations. “You are putting all of your hopes on finding a stranger with a magic item. It would solve all of your problems at once, would it not?”

“Of course. The spirit of the forest can protect us, we’ve already bargained on it,” I said. “We could find permanent respite for our people.”

“Respite for you,” she replied. “You want to live in the woods because that is your home. Taking a population into that sanctum will cause tensions. For when humans find stability, they grow bored. And content. The ones with gumption or no moral compass can take advantage of this and become a tyrant.”

“That’s easy to manage,” I said.

“You would cease caring for these people the moment they were in the forest,” the witch continued. “The ripples are strong, Miles. You are dead set on being alone.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that. Everyone has their own things to do in this world. I prefer to hunt, craft and entertain myself by swinging through the trees.”

“I do not condemn you for having privacy and wanting your own space,” Lydia intoned. Her words were a little different, almost as if she were merely dictating what her thoughts were leading her towards. “But if you are looking for a quick solution to all of your problems, I fear finding Crenshaw will do little.”

“How so?”

The witch semi-grinned, almost as if she were trying to keep herself from laughing, though there was no softness in her eyes to suggest humor. “Because Crenshaw is long dead. He sits above right now, speaking these words to me.”

She took a deep breath and I leaned forward to listen as closely as possible. “There is a girl, her name is Cassandra. She found me wounded and in the woods. She did all she could to provide medical aid, but it was of no use. She wasted a great deal of her own supplies and food in order to keep me alive and when it was clear I would not make it….she continued to feed me.”

Sounds like a bit of a soft-heart. She shouldn’t be hard to get the stone from if she were altruistic. The voice, which somehow became detached from the witch, continued. “Her mercy and compassion was great. I, carrying a stone of great power, decided to hide it within her heart. As long as she practices her compassion, she will carry the magic of the healing forest. And should she stop, the stone merely waits for her to resume again.”

Oh shit. “You put it inside of her heart?” I asked, swallowing at the unpleasantry of the suggestion this act would require.

“Yes. The stone is bound to her,” the witch said, shaking her head. She did this rather violently, as if freeing water from her ear. “Ooof, that was a rough one. Crenshaw has been waiting in the spirit realm for a long time to talk to someone.”

“Too bad the wizard couldn’t contact him,” I said.

Lydia looked up suddenly. “What do you mean? The old bastard had summoned Crenshaw weeks ago. The only trouble was he did nothing with the information, so Crenshaw waited for you to be told.”

My heart skipped a beat at this information. “He knew about Cassandra and the stone but refused to tell me? Oh fuck me, he’s after the power she has.”

“Damn it, never trust wizards!” Lydia said as she scrambled to her feet in the cramped hut. “They are extremely arrogant and too smart for their own good. It should have been a red flag when he refused to give up his name.”

“I just thought he was being eccentric,” I replied, shaking my head. “And he did so much for us already.”

“The best way to gain access to hidden resources is to stay hidden. He acts the fool and we believe him,” Lydia said.

We scrambled out of the tent and into the main encampment of Planth. The village was looking good and the walls surrounding us felt calm and safe. There was a tower in the distance, still within the village but devoid of any other buildings around. It was the wizard’s sanctum.

“So what do we do?” I asked. “I have a mind to tie him to a tree and having him flogged but…that kind of thing can break morale in the people.”

“We can most likely do nothing at this point,” Lydia said with a sigh. “Wizards, when you catch them off-guard, are very weak. But a prepared wizard is like running headfirst into a river bursting through a damn and trying to swim upstream.”

“Well, maybe we’re just panicking. He has so many books and notes,” I suggested. “Maybe he just wrote it down and forgot to find it.”

“Do you trust him?” Lydia asked. “Did you trust him when you first met him?”

“As a rule I don’t trust wizards,” I said.

“Then why the hell was he left unsupervised,” the witch growled. “This is the cost of your impatience. You saw a wizard and realized he would help protect Planth and perhaps even make it impenetrable, thus allowing you to leave. You wanted him to be trustworthy without him ever earning that trust.”

Those words stung and I had a mind to argue them, but she was right. The wizard was extremely volatile and too mysterious to be counted on…and I naively pushed him into a position of power. Moving too fast to check my own actions…damn. Maybe we weren’t too late.

“Let’s go,” I said, marching towards the tower. “Both of us.”

“I cannot counter his magic, nor can I use mine against him,” she said. “The best I can do is give you a flower that, when crushed, will make you temporarily immune to his spells. Crushing it gives you an hour, but plucking a petal instead gives you a few minutes.”

She took a purple orchid out and handed it to me. It seemed like a completely ordinary flower, but that was the point. I carefully placed it in one of my bags and returned to my march. “Lydia, go see the Mayor and inform her of the situation. Get the knights ready to go and do something potiony that will aid us.”

“As you wish it,” the witch said. “Good luck.”

“I need that luck times a hundred,” I replied as I charged straight towards the tower.

Chapter 31

The stone tower loomed over me. How the wizard had been able to move his immense fortress from place to place astonished me, but he acted as if it were a mere parlor trick. But how smart this man was! I had been played a fool from the beginning. He could have taken advantage of any number of things while I was looking elsewhere for clues.

I arrived at the door and pounded upon it. The mouth formed at once. “Go away,” the wizard said. “I am busy.”

“Open up, it’s about Crenshaw. We have a lead on him,” I lied. “And I will need your special talents to contact him.”

There was silence for a moment. “Crenshaw? Oh! You mean the man we’ve been looking for. Yes, yes, please come in.”

The door opened for me and I took a deep breath. This was going to be a dangerous operation but if I could get him off-guard, for even a second, I could injure him enough to where he couldn’t cast his spells. He still needed his books and his gestures to cast these powers, so taking off a hand or an arm would fix the problem—at least temporarily.

The foyer was different from the other times I had entered. There was a desk now, with a chair behind it and what looked to be a receptionist’s office being set up. Books lined the shelves and a strange little potted plant was sitting on the chair. The plant was a fern, a single fern and it followed me with its head as I walked up the stairs.

“Please, please come in,” the wizard said. His voice was shaky and unkempt. He was anxious about being caught? Or anxious for what he was about to do?

I clutched the flower in my bag and made my way up the stairs, making it to the top level of the spire. Here I could see all of Planth through one of the windows and I had to admit, we were doing a pretty good job in taking care of the people so far. A vegetable garden had already been set up and would hopefully reduce our food burdens in the near future.

“Good to see you, friend,” the wizard said as he turned around from his latest project: a group of books being studied at once. He shuffled his feet a little and avoided eye contact. “What’s the occasion for this visit?”

“Crenshaw was located by one of the new villagers,” I said. “Apparently there was a mine collapse at Miles’ Folly and he was on the other side. They were able to talk for a while but eventually he grew silent and the crew reported him as dead.”

The wizard narrowed his eyes at this. “Is that so?”

“Do you have divinations that prove otherwise?” I asked, tensing up. The wizard was no longer shaking, and I could see the determination creep across his face. The desire for survival at all costs.

He lifted a hand and I immediately dodged to the left, pulling out my bow and firing a single shot, straight at the bookcase behind him. A bolt of lightning zipped past me, the air exploding in wild thunder.

My arrow struck the bookcase leg, smashing it to pieces, causing the case to collapse, falling forward.

“Hah, you miss—” the wizard went to shout but his words were interrupted by the bookcase falling atop him.

“You should hire a crafter to actually build your furniture,” I said. “Your woodworking magic is a little pale in comparison to the real thing.”

“Erg…” was the reply as the wizard tried his damndest to wriggle out of the pile of books and the case atop him. I stepped on his free arm and held it there.

“You tried to kill me?” I asked.

“It was a mere lightning spell,” he wheezed. “I think I’m suffocating.”

“Ah yes, I forgot how easy it is to survive a lightning bolt to the chest,” I said dryly. More pressure on his arm. “You have a lot to answer for.”

“Ow! Fine, fine! I’ll confess. I’ve been stealing Wesley’s rations for weeks now, he has no idea it's me and keeps accusing random people. Sometimes I don’t even eat it!”

My foot dug in.

“What…more…do you want?” he gasped through gritted teeth.

“Cassandra,” I said.

“Oh shit,” the wizard replied, sighing heavily. He immediately ceased struggling. “You found out?”

“Indeed I did,” I replied. “It’s handy to have more than one magic user around. Accountability comes into play. Now then, what have you done and what are you planning?”

“Cassandra was easy to locate for her power gem is infused within her,” the wizard confessed. “I knew where she was the whole time, it was just a matter of removing the stone from her which is…well, it’s not a particularly pleasant thing to do.”

“You were planning on killing her?” I shouted.

“Well, it technically would just be a trade, one life for this entire village,” he replied. “Because as long as the stone is indwelling a human, the woodland spirit cannot draw upon its powers.”

I spat at that. “Are we murderers and cannibals then? Do we sacrifice people to the Carrion King as well? How many late night visits have you made to serve him?”

“It’s not like that,” the wizard protested. “Look, I understand it's ethically shady, which is why I kept my mouth shut. No one has to know the actual truth. But it takes a life to save a life sometimes, and in this case it’s one life versus fifty. Or even a hundred because we can divert the baggage train back to the forest.”

“A shortcut,” I murmured.

“Exactly! Finding this woman was a shortcut to a long and agonizing road. Kill one and save the rest, that is what must be done,” the wizard explained. There was little emotion in his voice on this matter. “I was keeping my plans under wraps because I know for a fact that you would veto this idea.”

“Indeed,” I said. “So…did you do it?”

“I’ve not had the chance. She refuses to leave her people and is working as a nurse, bringing aid to those who are ill and infirm, you know, the dregs of our society. And the guards are pretty much everywhere since it’s a baggage train headed to the northern mountains. I’m just waiting for an opportunity. Maybe during a bandit raid or something.”

“You are a fiend,” I said. The temptation to smash the man’s head in with my boot rose up and I lingered on it for a moment. Oh how sweet it would be to kick his teeth in for acting in such an awful way. “You are planning murder.”

“Not murder, sacrifice,” he replied. “There’s a big difference.”

“When you sacrifice someone against their will, it’s murder. Plain and simple.”

“Well, I disagree. My method would get us into the forest safely and soundly. Hell, we could be there tomorrow if you like. Your method would be to…wait? Wait for what? The System went down and everyone else is pathetic. We are near superhuman now, since we have paid the time price for our skills and abilities.”

“So what, that makes us better?”

“Objectively, yes. Situationally? Also yes. We are the few and the powerful now. We have an obligation to look at our society as larger than one person,” the wizard said.

“So you’re saying that because our society will advance immensely, you are justified in sacrificing an innocent person’s life?”

“I would say it in a lot more words but yes, basically.”

I nodded at that and took my foot off the man’s wrist. “I understand…but you’re thinking a bit too small here. Why go to spirit forest when there is a god on the prowl? A god who rewards people who sacrifice very powerful people?”

“Cassandra wouldn’t be much to the Carrion King.”

“Oh I’m not saying we should send Cassandra in,” I replied. “Instead it would make more sense to sacrifice you. You’re a Non, you have magic and that my friend is a major bargaining chip.”

There was silence for a time after that. “Just have me executed or whatever,” he said. “I have been trying to get on top of this whole collapse of the world thing, but it just gets worse and worse. If you fools still want to hold onto your notions of civility and survival being about mutual altruism…what’s the point? Just end me. Teach me a lesson in my own methodology. Because of course I’d be against it if the shoe was on the other foot, right? That’s what you're trying to tell me?”

That one caught me off guard. I was expecting him to panic or try to free himself, but instead he collapsed into a pit of self-loathing. He chided me for such antics. “You think you’re so smart because you can lead these people to survival,” he replied, “but how the hell are you going to build their civilization? You fled these people because you were a Non. Don’t think I wasn’t treated the same when I was outed as one. The only difference is that I never wanted to leave society, so I endured the abuse. I like society and therefore, am fit to run it. You? You’re an isolationist. Why not just take the gem and go?”

“Because I am not interested in harming any number of innocents in order to make the world a better place,” I spat back. The heat of anger rose up within me, feeling enraged at how cavalier this wizard was about ending someone else’s life. He barely regarded it as anything other than doing what was necessary for our society to thrive.

“Then I suppose we are at a crossroads,” he said with a heavy sigh. “I have Cassandra on the first floor of this building. A gentle spell caused her to fall asleep and turn into a fern. She’s merely dreaming right now and when she awakens will remember none of this. Uprooting the plant will give us the stone and kills her, swiftly and without pain. None will know.”

“Or you turn her back and then what?” I asked. “We go back to being buddies on a big adventure? I trusted you and was seriously warming up to your habits and personality but now I realize it was all just some big act.”

“Of course it was. You shouldn’t trust anyone because the moment you do, you’re opening yourself up to be attacked. Kings keep their castles behind closed gates for a reason. Ultimately we have the same goals, Miles. But I was willing to take the more direct route.”

“Turn her back into a human and then…” I trailed off, unsure of what to do. Perhaps I could pawn him off onto Silvia. “Then face trial by Silvia. I am formally arresting you.”

Quickly I grabbed some rope from my satchel and bent down to grab the wizard’s head. I shoved the rope in, tying his mouth nice and hard to prevent any kind of words spoken to break free of his bonds.

“I don’t know what to do with a man like you,” I continued, securing his free hand before lifting the bookcase off of him. “You have immense power and yet a shoddy piece of furniture took you down hard. That’s not a terribly balanced body. Perhaps it would do good for you to be in the northern camp for a while. You can mine with the others, in order to work off your debt and get stronger at the same time. Provided the governess doesn’t call for your execution.”

Chapter 32

The woman Cassandra snored loudly as she returned from her fern state to a regular human body. Thankfully the spell had contorted everything, her clothes included, back to normal and the young woman looked healthier than ever.

My stomach churned at the thought of this nurse being brutally murdered for no reason other than sheer survival. Transforming the woman into a plant had probably allowed the wizard to feel less ‘inhumane’ about the whole procedure, despite the fact that it was. You can change words and shape, but a murder is a murder.

The witch beside me, Lydia, kept her hands outstretched, small black vapors misting up from the sleeping woman’s body. “The stone is indeed bound to her heart,” the witch said. “I can feel its presence. There is a strength and a gentility surrounding this heart and for the most part the power is unrealized.”

“Unrealized? You mean she can cast spells?” I asked, looking up at Lydia.

“I suppose so,” the witch replied, her fingers curling inward, drawing more of the black trails of magical essence. “Though I doubt she knows.”

“And there’s no humane way to get that stone out?” I asked.

The witch looked up at me and shrugged. “Witches deal with herbs, potions and divinations…I have no idea how most other magic works. At least, ever since the System went down. Oh how easy it would be to solve this problem with a few clicks of a skill…”

Lydia trailed off, mumbling about balance and character sheets, and my attention turned towards Silvia, who was also examining the woman. “They say she was a nurse who had a special touch,” the mayor said. “The kind of touch that would sink into the bones and provide regeneration not just of body but of spirit too.”

“A powerful force for good,” I said with a heavy sigh. This was a relief at least. Having a magic user who could heal? That might be worth more than the forest at this moment.

“We hope,” Silvia said. “I don’t know if it's worth waking the dragon. People are always nice, until they gain a modicum of power. Then? Well, who knows what they become.”

“I fail to see how learning she has a healing power would turn this woman into a tyrant or such,” I replied. “She is a nurse. There’s no way her heart is impure.”

“You’d be surprised at what people are capable of,” Silvia replied, arms crossed. I could see that she was remembering something awful. Perhaps I should ask her about it.

The door to the medical ward burst open, snapping my attention to an exhausted, gasping for breath messenger. “Mushroom folk…” he wheezed. “A raiding party, they were spotted a few miles away from our watchtower. There’s twenty of them, heavily armed and they have these strange prowling creatures beside them, like cats but with bigger heads and sleeker bodies.”

“We’re being raided?” Silvia whispered in horror. “I-I thought we’d be safe.”

“We are safe,” I said, turning to the witch. “Provided they can’t get over the walls. Miss Lydia, please stay with the patient and help her. I’ll leave her to your wisdom.”

“My wisdom is telling me to quickly get the hell out of here,” she grumbled. “But that’s from a life of living underground. I’ll see what I can do to help!”

I ran out of the office-turned-hospital room as quickly as I could. Wesley was shouting in the courtyard, giving people orders. The men were heavily armed and ready to fight, but I could tell they were in trouble, namely because their armor was too heavy.

The men wobbled and buckled underneath the weight of their gear. Looks like they all had overestimated how much they could carry on their backs. But maybe it was just the anxiety of preparing for a raid.

“Ladders!” Wesley shouted at me. “Shoot the ladder bearers!”

I nodded at that and rushed to the nearest watchtower we had, facing the northeast corner of the village. “Finally! Some action!” Jhook shouted as he ran past me, smacking me on the shoulder as he went into his position.

I wasn’t nearly as excited at the knight was, but I wasn’t panicked. I had the bow and the arrows to make this work, as long as the Mushies were unable to get inside the walls. The ladder was too far to waste time on, so I merely scaled our watchtower by hand, scurrying up like it was a mere tent pole.

“Oh shit!” an archer, Brandt, shouted, surprised by my sudden appearance. I leapt into the tower and quickly pushed him to the side.

“Sorry, but I have to be here right now,” I grunted, quickly surveying the coming force.

There were twenty Mushroom folk, wearing thick leather bands of armor that would repel my arrows if I struck the wrong target. Ten of them were wielding long spears that were almost nine feet in length and the other ten were close-quarters fighters, wielding scimitars and buckler shields.

Beside each Mushie was a slinking creature that looked like a strange mix between cat and dog, though their ears were decidedly cat-like and the face was almost a human's face. It was missing the eyes and the expression from the face, otherwise one could be convinced from a distance that a human was crawling towards them.

A shiver ran down my spine as I looked at these abominations moving beside the troops. These things were a gift from the Carrion King. They were too unnatural to be anything other than a twisted gift from a twisted monster.

“Brandt, go tell Wesley that the men need to prepare for the animals beyond anything else. Get nets, blankets, lassos, whatever it takes, just take them down as quickly as possible.”

“Sir!” Brandt said before taking the ladder leading back to the ground.

I turned my attention back to the battlefield and searched ladders or battering rams. There were none in sight.

“They all look the same,” I muttered. These mushroom men were missing any decorum or pomp to indicate ranks or hierarchy. They were visually identical to one another and there was no possible way I could tell who was who. Perhaps that was the point.

With no other options, I aimed my bow as the mass of the forces moved and fired a shot at one in the middle. My arrow flew across the battlefield, striking the mushroom right in the top of his head. The red cap immediately released a burst of white substance that looked like blood the way it leaked out.

The one I had struck ripped the cap off of his own head and threw it towards the ground. The now bald Mushroom started charging towards one of our walls. It was shrieking and screaming, no longer coherent.

“Mushie Berserkers…” I whispered, firing shot after shot at the runner. He wasn’t deft or graceful, he just took a lot of punishment before he finally fell over, dead.

One of the mushrooms from the back blew into a ram’s horn; the loud burtuuur echoed throughout the village. All enemy forces raised their shields or weapons and charged forward towards a stretch of wall that had no way through.

Wesley’s forces were nearby now, formally gathering into rank and file. This had been what the knights had been drilling these men into preparing for, night and day. Let’s see how well their training stuck.

There was a strange moment of pride when I saw them lined up. We had naught the weapons or shields to protect ourselves, but our own boar pelts were easy enough to turn into armor. Now we just needed to see if the boar-leather armor would hold up in a fight.

The enemy made it to the wall, despite how many of them I was able to take down. The ones who were struck in the head by my arrows were only made fierce and violent, requiring twice as many attacks to take them down.

“Fire,” I whispered. “We need fire!”

There was a loud slamming sound against the wall the raiders had reached. Despite having no battering shield, these myconids had erected a large plant from the ground. Wild vines emerged from every part of the plant, thick enough to break anyone’s leg. The vines whipped hard against the fortress wall and I could hear the damage stress our defensive perimeter.

Firing arrows had done nothing…and we didn’t have anything flammable on us, elsewise we could drive these things away easily enough. Shit, there was only one person who could fend off this attack.

“Link together in formation,” I ordered to Wesley. “Nothing gets through the hole they opened. Give no ground and keep them sending forces in one by one.”

“Your arrows not working?”

“I can’t kill them fast enough. Hold firm!” I ordered as I slipped down the watch tower and rushed to the Sheriff’s office. This was where our salvation waited, hands and mouth bound and body attached to shackles hanging from the walls. Time for that damn wizard to stay his execution…”

Chapter 33

“We’re under siege,” I said, placing my hand across the gag that had stopped his ability to speak in any manner. “And we’ll all die if they get inside of this place. I’m here to offer you a deal. Save us and you walk out a free man. Don’t and die with us, I suppose.”

The wizard nodded enthusiastically at my proposal and so, I was careful to pull the gag out.

“Phew, that was miserable,” he grunted. “I accept the deal.”

“Not so fast,” I said. “Your name. Give it to me.”

The wizard frowned at that. “Why would that matter?”

“Because it gives me some kind of power over you. I don’t know much about magic but I do know if you hide things under lock or key, it means there is something valuable in there. Name. Give it or the deal is off.”

“Fine. It’s Gabriel. The wizard Gabe. Gabeson to those who don’t understand surnames,” the wizard grumpily announced. “By knowing my name, you may speak and I will hear what you have to say. You happy?”

“No, but it’ll do. Even if you are lying, this is the name I choose for you as well,” I said, acting as if I knew what the hell I was doing.

“Well, break ‘em off and I will rid the barbarians at the gate,” I said.

“Where did a human tribe come from?” Gabriel asked as he uttered a single word that made all of his shackles release him instantly. “Thought we were kind of it on this side of the mountain.”

“It’s Mushroom folk,” I replied. “They showed up, unprovoked. A raiding party, looks like they want some of ours, whatever it is, I am unsure of.”

“Aha! So the tracker sees with eyes seen, let his nostrils smell that which is hidden,” Gabriel said, waving a finger towards me. A shimmer of magic washed over me. Instantly a plethora of strange scents hit me.

“Erg, what is this?”

“The Bloodhound Scent. Mushroom folks communicate mostly through exchange of smells and pheromones. This spell basically lets you understand who is who.”

“So they communicate without words…” I mused. That was how they were able to conceal their identities from me.

“The more pungent a stench, the more important the odiferous odifier is! Go follow your nose but be careful. This isn’t an exact science.”

“And what will you do?” I asked, watching as Gabriel rubbed his wrists.

“Well, unleashing you is half the battle, the next would be to zombify the corpses of any dead villager or defender and let them do some overtime work. Then perhaps a small blaze of perpetual sun…”

I grabbed the man and dragged him outside with me, mostly so he could avoid finding Cassandra.

As we made it outside, the stenches became apparent immediately. My nostrils twitched and burned for a moment, but I started to understand what these scents were. They were all different things, emitted by spores that were across the battlefield. The strongest ones were right outside the gate, where the Knight Wesley and Jhook held the line, pushing the mushroom men back outside.

I ignored their fight, because there was something greater beyond that wall. A stench that was so firm and strong, so secure that it had to be a sergeant or captain of some kind. Taking in the scent more fully gave me an almost visual sense of where he stood.

I ran back to my prior post, ignoring Gabriel’s complaints about the sun or whatever it was that was bothering him. Using the ladder (as time was of the utmost essence) I scrambled to where Brandt was still shooting aimlessly.

The mushrooms were all gathered in a cluster, but one particular mushroom had extended a yellow cap that was so wide that it covered the entire top of the mushrooms. Most of the arrows bounced off this yellow cap and those that didn’t drew no blood.

“He’s a tough bastard,” Brandt said.

“Then stop wasting arrows and change angles,” I said, pointing to the trees across from us. They were tall oak trees that were scattered around Planth’s valley. Most of the time the trees were taken down, used for wood, but this one hadn’t been used for its whole purpose.

“You want me to do what?” Brandt asked as I readied myself by backing up a few inches.

“Leap!” I said, running forward full speed, leaping off the edge of the platform and onto an outstretched branch.

“No thank you,” Brandt shouted as I managed to recover my balance.

From here I could see all of the mushroom folk fighting their way into the hole. They were about seventeen strong, having lost only three so far. The wounded mushrooms were pulled from the front, thanks to the outstretched vines from that mystery plant in the ground.

My nostrils burned as they came in contact with that smell once more. It was a commander’s musk and it was emanating from…the middle? No, no, far to the left.

One particular mushroom was fighting with a spear, from the back. He was too far to be injured by any attacks but the polearm allowed him to just keep jabbing until the enemy relented and the line broke. He looked no different than any other of these identical creatures, if not for one thing: his smell.

The odor was almost an aura and so I carefully lined up the shot, knowing that the moment they took damage from behind they would change tactics. “One shot, one kill,” I whispered. It was a blessing that did nothing, but in cases like these, I relied on the words to give me some extra luck and focus.

The arrow flew from my bow and seemed to move in slow motion. The world slowed down immensely and I watched as the arrow sailed right into the back of the leader’s head, just beneath his redcap.

Immediately, the leader dropped his weapon and slumped over, dead as a doornail. At the same time, a voice echoed out from behind the wall. “I demand to feast!” some billowing force cried as the mushroom folk started being sucked into the wall. The rest, having realized that their leader was dead, released panicked pheromones.

The cat creatures yowled and groaned as they melted into the ground, leaving as the Mushies fled for their lives, scattering in many places at once. We had managed to run them off and I had taken down one of their leaders. Not a bad fight.

I jumped down to examine the hole, looking to see whatever it was that had feasted upon one of the invaders.

It was none other than the wizard Gabriel, panting in exhaustion, bent over and trying to get air. The air around him was strangely fuzzy as if he had conjured something invisible.

“Did you summon a dragon?” I asked.

“I opened the door for a dragon,” was the reply. “I’d never deign to summon one. It just happened to be a very hungry beast and well…we were on the other side of the wall.”

The shimmering slowly faded as the invisible dragon fully left this plane. I was glad not to see the beast, as they said dragons were so frightful that one would be struck with a deep, unnatural terror, no matter who witnessed the scene. One glimpse was all it took.

“Pull that one,” I said, pointing to the dead leader. “Bring it in and take it to Lydia’s hut.”

“I’m leaving,” Gabriel said. “That was what you wanted and you got your end. You shot a leader and they were struck with the scariest spell I had at the same time. Those things fled because of that spell.”

I nodded. “Yes, the deal was that you can leave, but I have a better plan. You serve Miss Lydia and she keeps a close eye on you and in return, you can eat and live here. You never need to move your tower again.”

Gabe scoffed at this, yet I could see the exhaustion in his eyes. He was a prized resource, that he knew, but did he have the strength to go it alone? It was clear he did not. “I take it I will be under lock and key?”

“We will afford you the dignity of freedom to move around within the camp, but I’m done taking you with me. Consider yourself out of the party and just a citizen of Planth,” I said.

“Fine,” Gabriel said. “Those terms sound acceptable. Did you free the girl at least? Or is she still in plant form?”

“The resident witch had no trouble restoring the girl to her true form. When she awakens, it will be she who travels with me instead.”

“Ah yes, let’s see if a nurse can compare with a mighty wizard!” he proclaimed.

“If I can trust her, then she will be far more powerful than you will ever be,” I replied. “You lied and were planning to commit murder. I cannot be in the presence of liars and schemers. Not when we just got handed a golden opportunity.”

“We have?”

“We were able to defend our people successfully and that means spirits will be high. If we press forward, we can retaliate by freeing the work colony,” I said. “Set the laborers free and watch them turn into grateful citizens. Then they will go from grateful to vengeful. And that is when we’ll attack the whole colony.”

Chapter 34

“I did not sign off on this!” Silvia shouted at me. We were in her office in the late hours of the night. The young woman was pacing back and forth behind her desk, furious with my actions. “You can’t just pull murderers out of prison because it’s expedient. Do you have any idea what this wizard can do to us?”

“I have a great idea of that,” I said. “But madam, we can’t afford to lose a wizard. We can’t trust him but are we going to let him just slip between our fingers?”

“This is not a healthy way to run a state,” the girl replied. She stopped pacing and pointed to a large map on the wall. It was of the area and rather well detailed. Looks like one of our scouts had picked up some cartography abilities. “Look at this. This is our entire camp, right here. We are small, barely a blip, but anyone who comes through these gates must agree to follow the law.”

I nodded at that, unsure of where she was going. Silvia continued. “We must be equal in dealing with everyone. If you give one man a break because he’s useful, you are saying that might makes right. I am trying to build a civilization that will ultimately keep everyone happy and healthy. But when we just throw out the legal framework because of a whim…you’re just undermining what I have been striving to have.”

“You can’t have a civilization if everyone instead is dead or enslaved to be mushroom pets,” I replied. I was sitting in my chair, feet propped up on her desk. I was exhausted and had no time to be harangued, not when there were still other things to do. “I took action as I saw fit and it worked out.”

“For now. It worked out for now. But word will get around. Oh yes, the murderous wizard was set free because of his power. That means if we gain power like him, we can become outside the law as well.”

I groaned. “No one is thinking that. Right now we’re all in survival mode. Our only goal is to stay alive and to keep the colony thriving. We can talk about civilization and the laws and ethics of meritocracy later. Much later. Right now, we have people who will die if we mess up even a little.”

Silvia returned my groan and walked up to my feet. She grabbed both boots and shoved them, knocking both my chair and me to the ground. She stood over me and growled. “Idiots like you don’t plan for the future. They try to manage the present and that’s fine. I would never blame anyone for looking for the today, but if you want to tell me virtue and ethics can be suspended because the future is so vague…it just baffles me.”

I clambered up to my feet. “What was that for?” I said, rubbing my sore arm. A fall like that could have injured my wrists if I wasn’t careful.

“That was me putting you back in your place. You are bound by laws of decency and common sense. I have also prescribed the law of Planth which outlaws murder. You are not above the law. Do not do something like this again.”

That was it? Being knocked to the ground? I waited for her to add something but she merely sat down at her desk and began writing on some papers. “So…what do we do with him?”

“Gabriel? He’s your man now, Sherriff. Do whatever you will with him, just know that I am not pleased with this arrangement. The sooner you can get him to our second colony, the better. He’s not to stay here any longer than he absolutely must.”

“So you won’t undermine what I did? Reverse the decision?”

Silvia looked up at me. “The situation is that if we present anything other than a unified front, people are going to take sides. And when people take sides, our cohesion breaks. So you and I made this arrangement, regardless of what I feel about it. I can’t backtrack a decision, it would cause the people to lose trust in our system.”

“You really seem to know how to lead,” I said.

“Well, my father, rest his bones, wrote extensively on the subject and that is all I’ve had to lean on. Turns out a book can turn you into a strong enough orator, should you understand what it is meaning to say.”

“Is that so?” I asked. “You wouldn’t have any copies lying around, would you?”

Silvia laughed at this and shook her head. “No I don’t. Those books are hard to come by now that the world has ended. I mean, I haven’t seen a library in ages.”

I nodded. Perhaps I should scout out further and see if I could get access to a library of some kind. That might be just what we needed.

---------------------------------------

Journal

1 Cityfell, Day 57

We repelled our first major raid since building up the walls. Planth has done well to keep itself standing and is formidable. The soldiers are training more actively and are now wearing their armor during training.

The Nurse Cassandra has woken up and is now providing her services to the people at no charge. Between her and the Witch Lydia, our village has never been in better health. While Cassandra is pleasant, it is clear she is not very observant and pays little mind to how she heals. It’s clear to see the wounds seal themselves up after being cleaned by her, but she works so quickly it’s like she doesn’t even notice the patients’ wounds anymore.

Things have slowed down for now, with the search for Crenshaw officially over. The Bodeans are still preparing for their harsh journey to the mines. The fifty of them were all placed in tents within the walls of the fortress but they must find food on their own. We can’t afford to feed so many mouths, so our people come first.

Goals:

Return to the Forest Spirit: Cassandra will not be harmed, so I must venture to the Forest Spirit and ask if there is another way she can gain this power. I cannot bring the woman into the forest for fear of what this spirit may do. Desperation can make fools of us all.

Invade the Mushroom People’s Slave Colony: Having been attacked by the Mushies, the Wizard Gabriel was able to examine their inner workings. They are biological entities, but their essential organs are located at the top of the head, where the defensive cap grows. They are far more vulnerable to toxins than outright damage since the defensive cap usually deflects most lethal bows. They struck us first, so we must respond as quickly as possible, to show that we are a vengeful folk and we will not be bullied by their battle forces.

Destroy the Carrion King’s Altar: This may seem to be a lofty goal, but if we are able to get the temple of Rephtar to open, there may be divine blessings the priests might give to our weapons. Or make holy water, enabling us to destroy that statue beneath the prison cells.

Skills I’m Learning:

- Magical Herbalism

- Knife fighting

Skills I’m Teaching:

- Tracking (Jhook)

- Poison finding (Brandt)

Chapter 35

Returning to the Greater Forest was like returning to my home. It was a pleasure to make it to my usual haunt, a tall oak tree with an alcove at the top. The alcove looked human-made but no, it was a natural effect from how trees grow.

After I updated the mayor about the situation, I had to make a call whether to see the forest spirit first or if I’d rather lead the retaliation attack sooner rather than later. Coming in hot on their heels would do a lot to disturb morale but…if there was a way we could eschew violence by just moving my people to the woods, it would be an easier and more popular choice.

As I entered my alcove, to perch and get some sleep for the night, I heard someone talking. “We collect it from the sap, we don’t grind it into powder, what are you, an animal?” It was the hissing tongue of kobolds! I could still understand them. Perhaps this spell was infinite in the sense that having a second language is always beneficial and therefore necessary.

Quickly, I crawled out of my bedroom and slowly made my way across the tree trunks, listening in on their conversation, tracking where they were.

I spotted them down below, standing next to a river, cutting out the long purple flowers by the waters. What were they doing? Poison perhaps? No, the perfendis was a pretty herb but would only disturb a person’s taste with a slight burn.

“Again, you don’t need to smoosh or break anything. Roll it, roll it slow and with precision!” the head kobold said. This particular one wore a white robe, though there were many stains of paint across…the…

“They paint,” I whispered to no one. Of course! The Rephta priests wouldn’t let us in without the purple paint! I had seen them painted up many times before, purple used alongside weapons and shield bucklers. How had I not thought of this?

“Friend kobold,” I called down, catching them both by surprise. Thankfully they were somewhat cognizant of who I was and quickly tried to scuttle off. “Wait, wait, please! I’m a friend. I’m Miles.”

The name Miles stopped them in their tracks. “Wait, are you the one who slew the ogre?” the white-robed kobold asked.

“Indeed, it is I,” I said.

“Show us proof! Fire an arrow at my disciple’s ear and miss him by an itch. Let him feel the sting of the feather but not the blade!”

The other kobold’s eyes went wide at this but he kept his silence. Whatever hazing was happening certainly meant this man was being tested to his limits.

“I do not shoot on command,” I said. “Nor do I do tests of accuracy. I taught myself how to hit the enemy, not impress them with a little test. I am on important business, so let us move on.”

The two both looked at each other and shrugged, looking up at me with faces full of disbelief and doubt. “What can we do for you?” the robed one gave in finally. “The name is Hurch. This is my disciple in training, Goga.”

“You’re teaching him how to collect paint?” I asked.

“Indeed. Painting is rather important to our people, so that’s why we try to make as much of it as we can. One night of raiding a rival kobold will take at least two jars of the favorite colors, red and black.”

“Rival tribes?” I asked.

“Oh yes, there are other tribes in the wood. But you’d never notice because we have a policy about humans and the like,” he explained. “All kobolds must kill the invaders first and destroy each other second.”

That would explain a few incidents that I had found to be rather odd. But alas, I didn’t have the time to learn more about this tribe. “I must ask you how much purple paint you can provide, for the good of everyone, you all included.”

“Oh right, you’re in charge of the humans,” Hurch said. “They’re on very thin ice right now. We almost voted to raid you all the other day.”

“What happened?”

“We caught a human trying to steal food from the market square. Normally that is something to pity but now that there’s a shortage? It was a death sentence for the person who wouldn’t be able to eat that night.”

“Moving back to the paint,” I said, quickly changing the topic. “Are you able to provide us with it?”

“Since it is you, our legendary ally and favorite enemy, I shall give the two bottles we have been extracting all day. And my apprentice will be thrilled to sit down and replenish the bottles so we may have more if you need it later.”

I bowed to them bow. “I thank you, friends.”

“Have you a tattoo of the sacred inks?” Hurch asked as I climbed down to meet them. A light breeze had picked up and was rather refreshing to the skin. The wind outside of the Forest had been so cold and lonely, as if a perpetual winter was on its way. Here it was cooling, not freezing.

“No, I have no such thing,” I said.

Hurch nodded. “I see. Well, you must take upon an aspect of the kobold then. I will see to it.” The kobold produced a few tools out of his bag, one of which was a big needle that gleamed with mystic energy. It was shaking in the kobold’s hand.

“What do you wish you could enhance about yourself?” Hurch asked, unfolding a pallet full of crushed herbs and some paint globs.

“I suppose my ability to fight in close quarters. Being a ranged fighter can be difficult if the enemy suddenly appears in front of you,” I said.

“Ah, so you will take upon the aspect of the Dragon’s Tooth,” Hurch said, taking the needle over to a reddish orange paint splotch. The needle ignited at once, turning the tip hot orange. “Give me your hand, the one that does not hold the bow.”

Was this really an enchantment? Or just a ritual? Either way, getting a kobold tattoo would be useful, so I extended my free hand to him.

“Hold still,” the holy kobold said as he walked in a circle around me, chanting something in a chattery tongue I didn’t quite understand. It was a mixture of throat sounds plus high-pitched squealing that slowly became a haunted tune.

Hurch seized my wrist and pressed it down to where a stone was resting. The apprentice stood beside him, eyes wide and hands shaking. Looks like we were going to learn about this ritual together. “You must become kin before there can be power within,” Hurch explained, tracing some of the paint across my hands. In his right hand was a rather smooth-looking rock. “Do you wish to have this tattoo?”

“Will it make me kin?”

“Yes,” came the reply.

“Then yes, I want the tattoo. Your people have kept the bargains we’ve made and I trus—” my words were cut short as the kobold priest thumped me on the back of my head with the rock, knocking me out instantly.

Chapter 36

Smoke. Smoke and meat. Those two burning scents caused me to awaken, coughing and gagging. I was bound to a large wheel suspended above a burning fire. The flames were far enough to where I wouldn’t burn, but the smoke was billowing fiercely.

My right hand was burning as if I had shoved it into flaming glass. My neck was free enough to see that there was indeed a tattoo of a scaled dragon’s claw upon my index finger. From the side, it looked as if I were actually dragonborn.

Beside the fire below, there were kobolds slowly chanting, hissing and bowing before a statue of what looked to be a draconic in nature. Hurch was there as was the tribe leader Branchaka. They were worshipping the altar as well.

I felt the blood trickling down my shirt, causing me to shiver. That kobold knocked me out cold with the rock. And now I was probably going to be sacrificed to their god. Maybe I shouldn’t have asked for that tattoo.

The ropes holding my arms and legs were tight, securing me to the wheel which began to rotate slowly. Kobolds carrying large bushels of sage and heather were rushing forward to toss them into the flames, sending forth strong aromas that overpowered my nostrils.

My gagging and coughing caught the attention of Branchaka. He rattled his staff towards me. “You awaken. Hurch here has told us that you wished to receive a sacred marking of the tribe. We made the markings already, but there is more than mere ink and needle. You must become a kobold in spirit and that means, you must be tested.”

“I see,” I said, coughing as I spoke; my mouth was so dry it burned to talk. “What must I do?”

“We shall leave you here, above the flames, and call forth the Sacred Beast. The beast shall do one of two things. It will either lay down, which indicates total acceptance, or it will bark three times, condemning you to be hunted by our tribe until the daylight comes. Should you survive, you are a kobold-kin, but not a member of any tribe. The marking comes with permanent respect from all koboldom,” Branchaka explained.

“So…you’re going to hunt me for sport?” I asked, sighing heavily as I started to wriggle my hands free of the rope. The kobolds were rather sloppy with their ties and I could probably muscle out of one and tear down the other.

“We are performing a sacred ritual that you agreed to,” the chieftain said. “Do you wish to leave as a coward and forever be mocked? Your marking, which is incomplete, will be your badge of dishonor.”

I felt rather incensed about this whole thing…but it would be an ultimate competition of kobold versus human. Could I escape the whole tribe hunting me? I think so. I guess I’d have to find out.

A haunting tune piped across the area as a dirge began. All kobolds who were gathered around me converged into a single file line, following the piper away from the camp. Hurch, too, was among them as well as the chieftain.

“Release the sacred beast!” he called as he waved at me before disappearing into the woods. There was a deep, snarling howl in the distance and suddenly the branches around me were alight with activity. Snapping and crashing, the beast emerged from the woods!

The creature was like a dragon, though much smaller. It had two legs and two claws at the end of its wings that allowed it to lope forward in an awkward half-walk. It was painted with all sorts of colors and decorated with many feathers, giving the creature a rather ceremonial look. Its long snout was much longer than a kobold’s, with rows of visible teeth coming down both sides of its mouth.

“Awk! Kwa!” it hissed as it approached me, sniffing the air.

“Easy there,” I said. “I’m a friend. Friend, okay?”

The beast twisted its head in response to something, but not my words. There was a slight ker-krack in the bushes, followed by a much louder crunch! Something seized the beast and it tried to fight back, but could not. This sacred beast became more of a sacred feast at this juncture, for I could hear bones snapping and sinews being torn to pieces as something in the shadows heartily devoured this monster.

My heart began to pound at the sight of this spectacle and I focused on getting my wrists free. Friend or foe, it didn’t matter at this point, I had no interest in becoming a part of this conflict.

“Stay yourself,” came a snarling voice from the darkness. It was a deep, hearty voice that resonated within my bones as it spoke. “The flames burn eternal beneath you. Slip from your bonds and you will surely perish.”

“You can speak?” I gasped. Oh no! The Carrion King! I hadn’t counted on encountering it way out here.

“All dragons can speak, but few do,” the beast replied. It slightly peered into view, its large snout outlined by the fires dancing before it. “For few have a reason to use their words. These kobolds ensure that I rarely need to ever use a word. Though why they saw fit to try and bribe me once more with a wyrm is beyond me.”

“They think it’s a sacred beast,” I replied.

“Anything you eat once during a binge becomes sacred,” the voice bemoans. “But alas, I have a captive audience and one who speaks the language of the kobolds. A rare thing to behold. What would you have of me?”

Could I trust this creature? Dragons came in all kinds and there was plenty of literature out there to suggest that dragons were tricky creatures, always trying to get a leg up on someone…but I failed to see how tricking me would be of any value in this current situation. I was already bound to a wheel.

“Er…I’m just trying to get a tattoo enchanted,” I replied. “And the rule was that if the beast accepted my presence, I would be accepted into the tribe.”

“And if rejected?”

“I’m hunted until daylight, if I survive, I am one of them as well,” I said.

The dragon laughed at that, the trees my wheel was bound to shaking while he bellowed. “How wondrous my servants are, to invent new ways to amuse me. Oh I should be pleased to watch you avoid death by their hunting packs, but unfortunately, such things are for times of leisure, not war.”

I found myself nodding vigorously.

The beast spoke once more. “I shall accept your presence here,” the dragon said. “I will allow you to gain the power of whatever trifling magic you desire. Though I suppose with the vanishing of the System, any power is beyond trifling.”

“Yes, I have found that to be the case as well,” I said, letting out a sigh of relief.

“You breathe easily,” the beast said. The head vanished into the darkness and his voice became as a whisper. “That should not be the case. For there is one within these woods who is walking without body, seeking a meal that has flesh but not spirit. I cannot quite tell what it is, but this thing only hungers for the bitter, the broken and the weak.”

Now that sounded like the Carrion King. “It purports itself to be a god,” I said.

“You are familiar with such a monstrosity?”

“Afraid so, yes. This creature was a human once and now has become some infernal nightmare known as the Carrion King. He offers power and dark dealings in exchange for feasting.”

“That would explain his fear. Whenever a kobold walks near it, the shadow fades or flees. The spirit talkers of the trees hear nothing from it and this shadow emits a musk of terror.”

“Holy magic?” I asked.

“No. Our kobolds do not worship us dragons, they tend to us and serve us. We are no more divine than a human being served by his hunting dogs.”

So the Carrion King was scared of something. “Does it fear you? Is your presence known here?”

“Kobolds herald the presence of a dragon always,” the beast replied. “Yet, few people seem to know that. They find my little servants fearsome and dangerous, so they often disengage and cede territory rather than continue to go back and forth with them. Kobolds are clever and cruel, a perfect blend for a defensive ally.”

Those last few words sank into my mind. How would the kobolds have handled the mushroom people?

“Forgive me, great dragon for being so bold, but may I ask how I could gain your favor?”

A raucous laughter burst forth from this question and I could feel the trees shake once more. “I’ve a fleet of beings that should I say ‘scratch my left talon’ all of them would bury themselves atop one another to be the one to meet my demand. These are loyal and fierce friends. What could I possibly want from a human?”

“That is a very good question,” I said. “And you have no answers to it yourself?”

This gave the creature a moment to pause. He clicked his tongue for a moment, causing the flames to almost go out from the sheer intensity of the air displacement. “I have nothing I need, nor anything that I want. Though I suppose that is a terribly boring answer.”

“Well,” I said, “would you give me your favor then, simply for entertainment’s sake? You’ve laughed many times since we spoke and I can tell you enjoy the new company. Give me a boon and I shall endlessly delight you with my entries upon entries of life outside of the Greater Forest.”

“You mean the Forest of Teeth,” the dragon growled, though this seemed more sarcastic than an actual threat. “And I do suppose hearing about your journeys would be interesting enough to warrant a boon. But I am no mage nor cleric. My power is nothing compared to the greatest of dragons in this world.”

“I ask not for the greatest power, but for your power to aid me,” I said. “For in helping me, you assist your kobold people. The Carrion King, the thing that walks in the shadows, is wandering so that he may consume the souls of any. Yes, he is attracted to desolate and pitiful souls, but what he really craves is the fierce and the powerful.”

“That is why he flees so quickly,” the dragon mused. “For when he smells power, he smells my musk as well.”

There was a food chain here, it would seem. This Carrion King was certainly not at the top. At least, not for now. How long would it take for such an entity to surpass a dragon? I suppose we would learn when he tried it for the first time.

The dragon seemed to reach this conclusion at the same time I did. “Hrmmm. I care little for my own safety, for I am a dragon buried deep within these woods. What you call trees, I call spines and what you call boulders, I call scales. If I were to lose my head, the rest of me would be safe and sound. But the little ones here…they would not survive without my intervention. And I doubt you would do any good at that point.”

“So what is it that we must do?” I asked.

“That, I fear, escapes me,” the dragon replied. There was a long drag of air, followed by a single puff that put out the flames beneath me. “But my kobolds are too loyal to work as field agents. If they were to learn of a plot against me, they’d merely try and kill the conspirators right there…no matter how many are present. You, on the other hand, have some discipline. Most scream until they are unconscious when coming face to face with me during these trials.”

I laughed at that. “I’m a hunter and a trapper, I know what the difference is between stalking your prey versus taking them down.”

“I do not interfere with the sovereignty of my people. And if ever called, I will stand on their side and not yours,” the dragon instructed. “But, assuming you can keep yourself clear of koboldian ire, you are free to negotiate with the village as you please. I shall tell the chieftain all of what has transpired between you and I. He will help you as you wish, but you may not take my people out of the woods. Gather what blessings you can from the shamans here and then, turn your attention towards this supposed king of carrion.”

Chapter 37

The waters were perfectly clear and still. Though it was late at night, the moon was shining enough to illuminate the pond where the ogre once kept his cave. That cavern, full of kobold skulls, had been cleared out and a shrine of some kind had been erected, commemorating the kobolds who had died in service against the beast.

“Once again, I call upon you!” I said, gently splashing my hand through the waters. I was kneeling, on the edge of the pool, trying to get the attention of the river spirit, but nothing was happening.

At the back of my mind, I knew what had happened. I tried to ignore those feelings, those worries, but no matter how hard I tried to think of something else, the truth kept rearing its ugly head: the spirit was gone. I could not sense her presence and no amount of calling out to her in the water had worked.

If the Carrion King had been here in shadows, it meant he probably met the spirit. This had a high probability that he had devoured her as well. I wanted to believe otherwise, but the endless silence could indicate no other possible situation. I had summoned her in the traditional manner, called her name, thrown rocks into rivers while whispering my name, all of it. And not a damn method worked.

“Is someone late?” a voice whispered in my ear. At once, my spine began to crawl and I felt every muscle in my body go tense. I leapt up and spun around to see nothing. Nothing but a shadow that was cast in the opposite direction of the other shadows. No matter how I moved, my own shadow was facing opposite of me.

“Be gone from me!” I said, making a random religious symbol in the air. Damn it, I should have found religion sooner.

“Do you wish for that to come true?” the shadow asked as it split itself into two. Both of my shadows departed from me and began walking in a circle around the waters.

I knew better than to say anything with the word wish involved. “Who are you?”

“If you really have to ask, then you are far luckier than you are smart, to have gotten this far,” the voice replied. It was a slow and ponderous voice, not monotone but certainly nothing bouncy. It was dripping like blood from an altar. The imagery that struck my mind was disgusting.

All I could see in my head was viscera, dead animals and organs scattered about. Endless vultures flew in and out to get their feast. My stomach emptied itself and I was forced to heave onto the ground, unable to keep myself from falling on my knees.

“Oh, you don’t like what you saw?” the voice chuckled.

“Go to hell,” I said, forcing myself to my feet again. I planted both feet on the ground and growled. “And stay there.”

“Come now, I am here to make a small bargain,” the voice whispered in my right ear, the sensation like a worm crawling its way down my skin and into my spine. “A tiny deal.”

My back spasmed, but I resisted being pulled to the ground once more. If anything, I was going to stand out of defiance. “Fuck off,” I said through gritted teeth.

“Hmmm, yes, please, please continue to resist me,” the voice said. “It will only open your mind up further for me to probe. The harder you push back, the deeper your roots become.”

More hideous images. Some of them were strange and disorienting, pictures of individuals being twisted and tormented into some grotesque tapestry of madness. Faces of normal people being contorted into long, loping creatures with jagged hands and legs, some of them in crablike form.

“Enough!” I yelled, my voice echoing through the woods. The images were gone, but the presence was still here.

“You seriously won’t entertain even the thought of a negotiation with me?” the voice asked. “That seems a little curious to me.”

I said nothing. Eyes shut, I merely focused on my breathing and crowded all of the thoughts out. Meditation was never something I was a fan of, but I could put myself in a bit of a trance, the kind that you needed when stalking prey for the long haul.

“I have consumed the river spirit, bones and all,” the voice growled, no longer a whisper but instead a hideous cackle. “She cried out for mercy but there was none to be had. But I tasted her hope, her hope that you would return, and here you are. Will you not spare her? Shall she be subsumed eternal since you are too much of a coward to face me?”

This was a game. The Carrion King wanted something from me, otherwise he wouldn’t be speaking to me. And he had not the power to consume me, else he would have done so already…was I in a position of power here? Could I make some kind of bargain that would spare the river spirit?

“W-what is it then?” I asked. “The deal, I mean.”

A deep, throaty laugh replied to that question. “You are all too curious for your own good. So quick to pretend like you don’t want to know what is behind the veil, yet you all snap your heads when the curtain threatens to lift.”

I said nothing. The presence in my head was getting stronger, but I had an ace up my sleeve here. The tattoo on my hand was draconic, blessed by the dragon of the Forest of Fangs and the chieftain of the kobolds as well. I raised the tattooed finger and curved it like a claw.

“Where did you receive that?” the voice suddenly hissed. The oppressive force around me backed off and the images in my brain stopped assaulting me.

“I’ve had a fairly interesting conversation with a powerful denizen here,” I said, holding my hand up in defiance. The tattoo itself was glowing a little, burning red as if a hot poker was ready to sear flesh. The blessing had been vague, that I should have the strength, vigor and alacrity of a dragon and of a kobold, but right now that blessing was empowering me greatly.

“Lower such a thing, take it from here, lest I consume the spirit!” came the reply. Though the voice was loud, I could hear it shaking and shivering.

I complied, but slowly, in order to show this creature just how much power I had. In truth, I had no clue how much power actually came from the tattoo, as there were no hard or fast stats to read. Just a general sense of power and a burning sensation from having my skin needled by a priest with very little care for anesthetics.

“You have come to bargain,” I said. “What is it you wish of me?”

“The Mushroom people,” the voice whispered, staying far from me as possible. “They send me food, and a great deal of it. But they have taken to sending me rotten corpses and garbage folk, those with broken wills or confused goals. I want to taste betrayal in the blood, I want fear and agony beyond simple animal terror. Give them unto me, all of them, and in turn I shall release this petulant spirit.”

“Why not go and take them yourself?” I asked.

“That would be feeding then, not sacrificing. I want them to be confident I would not turn against them. I want them to be smug during the ceremony, convinced that I shall deliver them from you. And I want to watch their terror grow as each one is devoured, one after the other, none spared.”

I could not tell whether it was my imagination that showed these images or if they were fantasies of the creature, but either way, the pictures in my mind were revolting to the core.

“So you want them captured and then sacrificed, as they do to others,” I said. “That sounds like a rich irony for them.”

“I wish only for suffering, I care little for what you call irony,” the voice said. “Do we have a deal?”

There was no possible way I could accept this offer. But perhaps I could trick it. The Carrion King was afraid of my claw, of my tattoo. This was not his territory, the dragon would make sure of that. So perhaps I could use my strength here to get the spirit freed without making any kind of actual bargains.

“Are you familiar with the Goat Bargain?” I asked.

Silence.

“I ask once more, are you familiar with the Goat Bargain?”

“No,” came the reply. It was a weary and wary no, not the voice of a creature full of wrath and rage. Rather it was like that of a noble, fearful of being tricked into becoming a punchline for some cruel joke.

“The Goat Bargain is a sacred pact where one man offers to trade a goat in exchange for a service,” I said. “The goat, however, isn’t actually traded. Rather, a voucher is given that says the man has ownership of the goat, which he can then just trade to other people. At any time, he may go to the goat farm to exchange the voucher for the real goat, but until then, he is able to trade the full value of a goat swiftly with anyone he meets.”

“This practice is done with gold and banking,” the voice replied, anger dripping from it. “I am not some idiot who needs to be taught such things.”

“Oh, so you’ve heard of goat bargaining then? With gold?” I said, shrugging. “I knew no such thing existed.”

“What does any of this have to do with your river spirit?”

Alright. I had been prepping for this part of the plan and while it was certainly ambitious, I had no clue if it was going to work. “What river spirit?” I asked.

“The one you came to meet!” the Carrion King bellowed.

“I thought we were talking about goats,” I asked.

A mixture of anger and confusion rolled over me, the emotions flaring as the entity tried to sort out whatever was going on.

“You came to meet a spirit whom I have entrapped. If you want to see her freed then you must bring the Mushroom Folk to me as a sacrifice,” the voice hissed.

“Where do the goats come in?” I asked.

“The hell?” the Carrion King growled. My tattoo gently pulsed as I realized what was going on. My draconic wiles were kicking in. For some reason, this non-sequitur made the Carrion King’s power feel weaker.

“Were we, or were we not talking about trading goats? I have no idea what this forest spirit is,” I said, sheepishly rubbing the back of my head.

There was a pop in the water behind me and I was quick to glimpse a figure’s form. A woman!

“No, we weren’t talking about…I mean…” the voice was weakening rapidly and I could feel the presence retreating quickly, as if it were depleting. As if being forced to reason something unreasonable had taken all of its power away.

A splash confirmed my theory as the river spirit returned, flying out from the water with great vigor.

“Ahh!” she yelped. “I’m free?”

“Indeed you are,” I said, instinctively reaching a hand out to take hers. But this was useless for a spirit, for she was born and composed entirely out of water.

The spirit splashed around in the waters, able to move wherever she pleased without being seized. “Oh to be free again,” she said, her voice emanating from the entire pond. “At least, for now. When you leave, that presence will return. He will devour me once more.”

“Are you sure of this?” I asked.

“As sure as the sun rises and falls,” she replied. The splashing and bubbling stopped, allowing her to speak softly. “I thank you, Miles, for rescuing me.”

“I found the stone…sort of,” I replied. “It was bound to a woman and the act of unbinding it would be death for her.”

“Then I shan’t take it,” came the reply. “Though I must know, how did you free me? You used no magic nor attacks.”

“The voice used imagery and madness to sicken me, weakening my resolve. I could feel it grow stronger the more appalled I felt. So I flipped the tables by confusing him. He may scramble a mind, but so can I. Or so I hoped anyway.”

“I see,” the spirit said. There was silence for a moment before she spoke. “I fear I must ask something great of you. I cannot remain here and the stone is no longer within my grasp. If I stay in this forest, the being will return and I will be subsumed. This I can feel. Would you take me with you on your journey? I can render no aid, but if I rested within a flask of water, I would be safe, at least in the short term.”

“If…if you were placed in a well, would you be able to locate other sources of water?” I asked, an idea suddenly coming to mind.

“Entering any body of water connects me to it, so yes, I should be able to take control of the well’s waters,” she replied. “Though I am unsure how that would be helpful to you, since you have a well dug up already.”

“The well isn’t quite ours,” I said with a mischievous grin. My tattoo was glowing faintly once more. The draconic cunning was starting to kick in as well. “But if I pour you into it, you’ll be able to lead us to dig a new one in our own territory. With our own source of water, we will absolutely be able to rebuild Planth into an actual settlement.”

“If Planth is far from here, then I would be pleased to help you this way,” the spirit said. “Now please, let us go. I feel the energies of the creature recollecting. The psychic attack was only enough to repel it…I would not count on being able to confuse it again.”

Chapter 38

The priest of Rephtar wore the most ragged of robes I had ever seen. His small group of attendants, three altar boys, were equally in tatters, though they didn’t wear robes like he. Instead they wore red tunics with fencing swords affixed to their belts.

The cult of Rephtar was unknown to me, but the priest, Garfone, was insistent that there was nothing on heaven nor the land that could allow him to open up the temple gates without the purple paint to break what he called the Ourobic Seal.

We had tried many times to get him to stand aside and to open the doors, but he would not do so. Nothing could make the man budge and he was prepared to give his life away if that was what was necessary to protect whatever was in there.

I must admit, the more he dug in to say no, the more curious I grew. What could possibly be so important that a man would refuse to open up a temple during an actual apocalypse? Some folks theorized that Rephtar himself caused the System to go down, hence the sealed doors. Other believed that the wealthy and elite had sealed themselves in with enough food and supplies to last them the rest of their lives. That seemed less believable because most rich, elite folks were torn to pieces the moment the System took their power away.

My own theory was that Rephtar was no longer a god due to the System collapse and the priests were trying to protect his image while they figured out how to help him ascend once more. Why they would choose to preserve their old god rather than find one who didn’t lose all power during the collapse was beyond me, but hey, don’t let me get in the way of their beliefs.

Garfone held a paintbrush up high. “Friends! Today is the long-awaited deal. We unseal the tomb and find what has been waiting for us ever since the world has fallen to pieces.”

“Just open it already!” Silvia barked. “You have strung us along too far. If there is nothing of value within the chapel, you best be running out of here as fast as you can.”

“You have little faith,” Garfone snickered as he smeared the purple paint against the brush, all the while murmuring the names of Rephtar’s aspects. Once the brush was loaded, he then turned his energies towards painting an oblique half-moon, covering both sides of the white marble door with purple.

At once, there was a ker-chiss sound that rumbled beneath the chapel and the ground began to quake.

Silvia grabbed onto me during the sudden rumble, holding herself upright. “Easy, my lady,” I said. “It’s just theatrics. These kinds of temples were built with all sorts of tricks meant to make us think the gods were involved with something or another.”

“Right, right,” the mayor said, stepping away from me to smooth her clothes. The rumbling continued for a moment and then, complete and total silence fell upon us.

The doors opened. The light of the day pierced through the shadows, revealing…a single circular room with an altar in the center and a statue behind it. The statue was of Rephtar, god of tumultuous changes through the seasons, be it by weather, harvest or even holiday.

Rephtar was a burly man, half of his body composed of wind while the other half was made of lightning carved into some kind of flesh pattern. In his right hand was a long spear, with the tip made of solid gold. As the light of the day touched the statue, the golden spear tip began to shine brightly.

“The spear!” Silvia said as she took a few steps forward. “It’s enchanted!”

I put a hand on the mayor’s shoulder. “Not so fast. These things can be dangerous in the wrong hands. Remember, you don’t have the System to protect you from wielding deadly artifacts.”

“You’re not my father,” she grumbled.

“Then why do you cling to me when afraid?” I said, laughing a little as I pressed into the room. Garfone led me forward but stopped us at the altar.

“We have been tasked to protect the Spear of Storms since the day this temple was erected. Though civilizations have risen and fallen around the temple, the contents have never been open until this moment. I, myself, have no idea why Rephtar found this to be necessary but alas, so we see it.”

“Was there prophecy about this?” I asked, tilting my head.

Before the high priest could reply, a raspy voice called out from behind the statue. “And lo!” it said, the voice so hoarse it sounded as if it were coming from the ground itself. “The world will one day cease to carry the great weight of power and magic, leaving only those who have been deprived of the world’s joys to master the land.”

“Who’s there?” Garfone said. He drew out a short sword and whistled for his altar boys to draw their rapiers.

“And when the day should come, the sky falls, all will shatter save the true and the earnest. The wheat will be separated from the chaff,” the raspy voice continued. “Take then this spear empowered with true divine power from all gods and shape the world as you see fit. But be warned. Only those who have never tasted the succulence of the System will be able to hold such a weapon free of its weight. All else will be as broken as the false gods they worship.”

A simple enough warning, I suppose. Thankfully I qualified for this, as did Sir Wesley. He might be better of a candidate simply because our party still needed range; it would be of no benefit for me to swap weapons.

The Rephtarians spread out and approached behind the statue, only to gasp and quickly back up.

"What in the name of the gods is that?” Garfone shouted.

I was quick to step forward, bow drawn and arrows at the ready. Behind the statue was some squat creature with beady eyes of red. My skin crawled at the sight of this human corpse—a wight. The animated magic was barely keeping the creature together, but he was indeed still in a state of unlife that was functional.

“Afraid of what lies within? Did not the priests warn you?” the voice said as it shuffled back away from me, into the shadows of the great statue. “One cannot merely stroll into such a place and take what is not his.”

“Are you trapped in this place?” I asked. “Step out and go to the woods then, there are many corpses of the dead to feast upon. There are many bones to find out in the world, now that everything has fallen apart. I do not desire conflict with you.”

In truth, no one wanted to deal with a wight’s presence. They were intelligent undead who were both long lived and extremely clever. Some of the most complex and dangerous dungeons in the world had been built by a single wight who had the time and the patience to create a great feeding pit.

This made the creature laugh. “Come now, come now, come now,” it said, the eyes glowing enough so I could see where it stood. “You think I a threat? Nonsense. I may be undead, but there are great powers that free me from the eternal hunger. Serve us and in turn you shall be served.”

“He speaks of the Drivner Accord,” the High Priest said. “Drivner the goddess of servitude will grant reprieve to any undead who pray to her.”

“Was she taken down by the System collapse?” I asked.

“How would any of us know?” Silvia hissed. “It’s not like we have priests from every religion providing us with an attendance chart.”

“Sarcasm!” the wight said. “Oh how delicious. I could eat those words right up…but not the one who speaks such words. No, I am civil. A civilized wight. You wouldn’t dare seek to visit harm upon me, would you?”

I glanced at Garfone. He looked at me and shrugged.

“Stand back then,” I said. “Allow me to take the spear.”

“Be my guest,” the wight said with a laugh. “My delicious little guest.”

Silvia was quick to speak up as I walked carefully towards the statue. It was about eight feet high and was quite imposing. “Are you fond of humor or have you been driven mad from staying in this place alone for so long?”

“I suppose I lost my mind first and found my laughter second,” the creature replied. It looked at me from the shadows and our eyes met. The burning red pupils seemed to reach deep into my soul and put a damper on my spirit. It wasn’t draining me but I certainly could feel my resolve weaken.

Pushing those feelings aside, I climbed up the leg of the statue and seized hold of the spear. A burst of light struck me in the hand, tossing me across the room as if I weighed nothing.

“Arg!” I shouted as I struck the ground and slid right before the wight. Shit!

“You dropped your bow,” the wight said as it stood over me, its face a grotesque mockery of what had once been human.

I tensed up and readied to repel the creature, but it did nothing. It merely loomed over me and breathed raspily.

“Why the hell did it zap me?” I gasped, climbing to my feet and quickly moving from the creature. The wight was well behaved, that was for certain. But they were not zombies; they weren’t rushing from meal to meal. They could play the long game and patiently wait for an opportunity for a bigger meal.

“One would think it was because you aren’t a follower of Rephtar,” one of the altar boys said.

“Silence!” Garfone barked at his subordinate. “This is not a question of fealty or devotion. This is a question of man’s ingenuity. For Rephtar gave us a spear and a mandate, but not a method.”

“You’re pretty smart,” the wight said, pointing a bony finger towards Silvia. “For she has yet to touch anything. What do you make of this place, young lady?”

Silvia spat on the floor at the name young lady. “I am the mayor of this town,” she snapped. “Do not call me young lady. I am not a child.”

“Oh I do so apologize for both my manners and my style of dress,” the wight replied. It staggered forward, out of the shadows. The creature bent forward and curtseyed in a haphazard manner. “And in the presence of a mayor? Oh forgive me for how I am dressed.”

I decided to ignore the patter and instead examined the statue. There were runes carved all over the lightning side of the god’s body, most of them intricately etched. A knife against these carvings would certainly disable any kind of trap instilled in the spear. I probably should have checked for that first.

“What even are you?” Silvia asked, continuing the conversation as I grew focused on breaking each rune's power.

“You may call me Haggart or Higgs,” the wight replied, turning his courtesy into a full blown bow. “I am a loyal servant to any who claim power over the undead. A long time ago someone bound me to protect this temple and so I have. Now that I am free, I have but one goal: find the mage who did the binding and defile his grave.”

“That seems rather ambitious,” she replied. “But I like that you have goals. Tell me then, Higgs, what are you planning on doing with us?”

“The eternal hunger isn’t really an issue for me, as I was bound by a necromancy spell that sated me, so in truth, I care little now that the door is open. I wish to roam the world and pay back the one who did this to me.”

What would the chances be that his prey would be none other than Gabriel? Oh wouldn’t that be ironic. “Can you describe the wizard who did this?” I asked, my blade breaking up the linking rune that was indeed magical. The light crackled and popped, turning the entire cluster of runes into sparks.

“Oh, who knows, I’m just gonna find some random corpse and eat it and call it a day,” Higgs replied with a dry laugh. “Life’s too long to waste searching for a jackass who’s probably being tortured in hell anyway. It’s not like a necromancer is going to be well received in the afterlife.”

Silvia crossed her arms at this. “I think I like you, Higgs.”

“Oh you flatter me, Little Miss Mayor,” he replied.

While they bantered, I climbed back up and took a deep breath. “Come on…” I mumbled before grabbing hold of the shaft. With a flash the spear came loose from its resting place and I was perfectly safe.

The spear crackled, the golden light around it shining a brilliant radiance that lit up the entire temple. It was at this moment that the entire temple began to shake.

“Well, that is our cue to leave,” Higgs said as he shambled away from Silvia and towards the exit.

“Not you!” Garfone said, pointing his own sword at the undead monstrosity. “You are bound here and here is where you will stay. Otherwise I shall slay you.”

“What? Come on, that is unfair,” the wight said. “I have been a perfect gentleman.”

I jumped down from the statue and grabbed a hold of Silvia’s arm, pulling her away from the creature who had been rather close to her.

“Let him come,” Silvia ordered, shoving me off of her. The ground began to crack as the earth continued to shake violently. “I can’t possibly see how he’s going to make the world any worse. Let’s send him to the mushroom people and make it their problem.”

“Mushrooms? Oh that sounds lovely, I love how dank and dark their homes are!” Higgs said as he tried to approach the exit. Something was holding him back, however, for each step he took was as if he were walking against a great wind.

There was holy light shining around the priest’s weapon. It was an artifact as well, one that was strong enough to simply repel any undead. A holy rapier? That might be more in my wheelhouse to have as a backup when fighting the Carrion King.

“Garfone, let him go,” Silvia ordered. “This is a matter for the Sheriff, not the clergy. And he’s not protesting here.”

“Never! The undead are abominations and we have no idea what this one is planning,” the High Priest said. The altar boys had already fled the temple, fearing for their own lives as the ceiling started to lose rather large pieces of itself.

“Will the Sheriff please arrest Mr. Garfone?” Silvia said. “For direct disobedience.”

“This is a matter for the cler—” the man’s protest was interrupted as I punched him across the jaw and seized hold of the now free weapon. He had claimed that the clergy had no magical items whatsoever. The fact that his sword somehow was the only magical weapon in the area struck me as a little too convenient.

“Do whatever you both want to do,” I said, sheathing my new sword in my belt. “I’m getting the hell out of here before anything else falls apart.”

---------------------------------------

Journal       

1 Cityfell, Day 65

Today marks a grim day. As I write this, the entire Bode caravan is preparing to head up north to Miles’ Folly. We were able to delay their departure for a few weeks, thanks to Planth agreeing to share food resources with those in need, but after the raid it was clear that we needed stone walls. Sending Bode away will secure an area with iron, rocks and a clear defensible position. All we need to do is get there and that is going to be the hard part.

The operation has three goals and must meet at least two in order to be considered a success.

First and foremost, we need to get the population to the mountains, a trip that should take about four days with a fully loaded caravan. We don’t have the horses to make the trip any shorter, so this is the fastest we can move.

In addition to reaching the mountains, we need to secure a source of food independent from Planth. For now the kobolds have agreed to accept stone as payment for meat but there is still tension between our camps. My newfound tribe member status holds them at bay and the tribe is technically supposed to support me but that only occurs when I’m around. Leaving the kobolds to their own devices inevitably causes tension to rise.

And last, and perhaps most troubling, is that we must stage an attack on the Mushroom folk during the movement action. That is what I shall be handling on my end, along with my retinue, of course. Attacking the Mushies will catch them by surprise and force them to change whatever their plans are. We have to assume that they are waiting for an opportunity to raid us again and when our caravan gets spotted, the Bodean folk are dead on arrival.

Shifting their systems from offense to defense would inherently buy our people the time to get to the mountains, far away from the Mushroom woods. The only trouble here is that if we attack, we have to commit to it, otherwise…we’d be sending a suicide team to their death. There are many things I have to learn about warfare, but I do know that it is a fool who tries to achieve his goal at any cost.

Instead, we’re going to focus on attacking from multiple angles, creating the impression that our strikes are coming from the east, then the south and then finally the east again. As long as the Mushroom folk are busy trying to contain us, they won’t be able to move their troops in to intercept our people in the mountains.

The Bodeans are being protected by Gabriel and Sir Wesley and all able-bodied men will be armed. I just hope that all this preparation is enough. The fact is, there is very little chance they will reach their destination without incurring heavy losses. But they were facing a hard decision: starve to death slowly and painfully or die by the sword quickly and in service to the rest of the people. A noble, if not terrifying, way to go.

Chapter 39

The Mushroom Woods were eerily silent this evening. No birds chirping, no bugs buzzing and certainly not a single squirrel in sight. The wildlife had usually been present in the woods, but as time passed, they seemed emptier and emptier.

The reason for this silence was unknown to me. Were the creatures simply migrating? Or did the Shroomfolk devour them? I had yet to reach a verdict as to whether the mushroom people were carnivores or not, but I had never seen them need to eat. Perhaps they received nutrients while sleeping, for they planted themselves into the ground whenever they needed rest.

Slowly, my sole ally – Higgs – and I made our way through the eastern side of the woods, preparing to begin the counter-attack distraction.

The undead monstrosity seemed rather eager to fight anything and had no qualms about following me straight into battle against an overwhelming number of enemies.

“When you’re dead, you’re dead, so you don’t really worry about dying again,” he had said to me before volunteering to come on the most dangerous part of the mission.

Our goal was to provoke the enemy into thinking a full on attack was coming from the east, cause as much damage as possible and then flee, hiding wherever we could. If successful, we could then push up from the south with our main force of fifteen men armed with spears.

The difficulty in attacking the shroomfolk head-on was the fact that they had perpetual guardians that were tall as trees, planted in a scattered, haphazard manner throughout the forest. If one spotted you, it would begin emitting a smell that the Mushies would be able to pick up from at least a mile away. Plus they could pump out toxins that paralyzed the body, though I had prepared for that by building a filter-mask out of charcoal and mud to guard my breathing.

“There,” Higgs whispered, pointing to a large guardian tree. It had a bright purple cap and towered nearly twenty feet above us. At the base of the tree were eight planted Mushrooms, all with red or yellow caps. They slowly inflated and deflated, pulsing in and out as they drew nutrients from the earth.

“Not yet,” I whispered, looking up at the guardian tower. It had no eyes that I could see, but it would instantly sound the alarm when we started attacking. If we were going to be engaging the mushroom folk in any kind of long term way, it would be good to learn how the guardians took notice of us. A test stealth run would be helpful to us and it really risked nothing since the more alarms I caused, the better.

“No blood or bones!” Higgs grumbled. “What’s there to eat?”

“Eat your own bones,” I replied. “Stay the hell away from them until you get my signal.”

The wight shrugged at that and returned to his hiding place behind a tree. I crept forward, circling around the large guardian shroom. I made no sound, turning into a ghost of the woods, my footsteps leaving nothing, not even a trace, behind. The tree did not see me.

Closer I drew. Still nothing. My heart began to race at the realization that this guardian was asleep! For its own rhythms were matching that of the other Mushies. They all expanded and contracted together as if they were linked together. Perhaps they were.

I gingerly stepped forward, carefully walking right up to it. The shroom was emanating a slight pshaw pshaw sound that reminded me of breathing. Here I was, right next to it and not a single alarm sent. Would it react if I touched it?

Now was the time for foolish antics, since I had assumed I’d be caught by now. I placed a single hand on the guardian tree, but there was no response from the creature. Completely inert.

I glanced back at Higgs who was watching from his hiding spot. Giving him a thumbs-up, I decided to push further into the camp. If one guardian was asleep, there was a chance the others were too. Perhaps these creatures were diurnal.

A clatter interrupted my thoughts on the light cycle and I was quick to duck behind a large rock as something came my way. It was a Mushie, wearing a bronze set of armor and carrying both torch and a mace. He was on patrol, whistling as he walked around. If not for his big squishy cap, you would have mistaken him for a regular human the way he walked about.

I held my breath and waited for him to finish his round. The mushroom guard didn’t take much time as he examined this area. Once he was satisfied that the area was all clear, he went off towards the west to where I believe the main village was.

So they used regular foot patrols during the nights. Interesting. But I fear that was the most of my exploration I was willing to undertake. The caravan was already moving towards the mountains and that meant I needed to get the distraction up and running now.

Grabbing a vial from my satchel, I was quick to uncork a bottle of deadly nightshade mixed with a few herbs that the witch had given to me. Normally I would be applying the mixture to my weapons but since I was so close to the guardian tree, it was too much of an opportunity to experiment.

Smearing the purple-red mixture against the base of the massive guardian resulted in the ground shifting a little. It was a slight pulse that grew stronger as the mushroom tree twisted left and right, as if fighting something off. Dark red veins began to appear in the white skin of the guardian’s stem and it began to flail left to right.

Quickly, I scaled a normal tree and drew my bow, ready to take down the others as soon as they awoke.

Puffffssss the guardian hissed as it continued to twist and wobble. The air was filled with a noxious cloud almost instantly, causing the eight guards to leap up out of their slumbered state. They were confused and groggy, seizing their spears and searching for the threat.

I held my position and looked over at Higgs who was waiting on my command. He was well disciplined, I’ll give him that. And frankly, he was the perfect ally because there was no worry about his survival. It wasn’t like he was alive before this.

Confusion reigned supreme as the Mushroom folk talked to each other, yelling and shouting in their foreign tongue, trying to figure out what was happening to their guardian. The tall tree let out a bellow, an earth-shaking roar before it fell over and split in two, as if a logger had cut it right down the middle.

The guards raised their weapons high and began calling out to other pods. In the distance I could see other guardian trees shaking and shimmering, waking up their soldiers. Five trees total, times eight, we had maybe forty or more coming our way. Perfect.

I nocked an arrow and nodded at Higgs, turning my attention to the purple cap directly beneath me. Each arrow had been smeared with the shroomtoxin; this would ensure that their toughened caps wouldn’t be able to stop us from taking them down.

Thwip, thwip! My arrows flew with vengeance and fury as I made up for the cruel attack on our homeland weeks ago.

“Oh hello there!” Higgs said as he stumbled out from cover and into the middle of the forest. “I was just taking my vicious hunger on a walk and what do you know, fresh mushrooms!”

The guard mushrooms immediately fell into formation, my attacks from behind working so quickly that they didn’t notice losing two men near instantly. Their formation was broken as they charged in a straight line, my arrows striking legs and backs, throwing them into chaos.

Higgs needed no weapon for he was a wight. He fired blasts of magical missiles from his fingers to soften up the first target as he leapt towards the second, landing atop the cap and tearing it open easily enough. Spears jabbed at him from all sides but he ignored them, leaping from target to target, ripping them to shreds with barely any effort.

“Holy shit,” Higgs said as he landed atop the last survivor, smashing its face in the process. “Did we just win during the distraction phase?”

“Focus up, more on the way,” I said, turning my attention to the other side of the forest, where I could see at least twenty mushrooms emerging.

“Roger,” Higgs said as he knelt down to begin his unsightly feasting of the mushroom flesh. I wasn’t sure how I felt about this but realized it would be pointless to argue with a creature as powerful as a wight. The sheer fact that he had been stabbed half a dozen times and ignored the damage had me both impressed and terrified. This was a powerful ally—for now anyway.

Twenty more assembled from a different part of the wood, coming in from the northernmost part, joining up to make the forty I had predicted. They were not rushing into battle this time, for a few human slaves were there, quickly armoring the Mushies and handing out shields. Damn, those shields would be trouble for my arrows on the approach, but I could probably hit a few of them by taking some time to line up the shot.

The tree that I was hiding in began to shake and contort, uprooting itself within seconds of my realizing what was happening. There was a Mushroom with a wooden staff heading the front of the now marching army, the staff itself glowing with green energy. The trees around us were all separating themselves to make a clearing, taking away any cover that Higgs could use.

Being atop one of the enchanted trees had caused me some trouble, for as the tree began to move it also came to life, reaching up to grab me with its branches.

“Higgs!” I growled, fighting the immense pressure of the wooden being trying to break me in half. “Get the staff. Break it.”

“Oh yeah that is something I can definitely do,” Higgs grumbled as he scrambled to where I was. He hopped up the branch that was holding me and began to pry the grip open, allowing me to slip out and onto the ground.

I came crashing down hard and heard a loud crack, followed by a pain so bad I could only see white for a few seconds. My knee was afire. I had broken my damn knee on the landing.

“Come on, that’s all you got?” Higgs shouted as he wrestled with the tree branches that were trying to seize hold of him.

“My leg,” I gasped. “I can’t move it.”

“Hah, fleshies, am I right?” the wight said as he leapt off the tree and landed next to me. “Oh fuck me, that bone smells amazing,” he murmured as he quickly helped me up to my feet. The army was still advancing but the trees were turning back to normal, rooting themselves wherever the spell had placed them. The first part of the distraction was complete. We just needed to get the hell out of here.

Chapter 40

Higgins tossed me into the burrow and then proceeded to climb in, doing his best to cover the entrance to the hill-hole that we had marked as our hiding spot prior to the attack. Hopefully we’d be safe here. The second attack would happen at first sunrise, so as long as we avoided being caught by the now furious Mushroom folk.

“That was a ride,” Higgs said. “But something just feels…off.”

The wight looked down at my broken leg, where the femur was jutting out through the skin. “That’s not good,” he said.

“It’ll heal,” I replied. “Just need to make a tourniquet.”

The wight shook his head. “No, I mean that’s not good for you or for me. Those bones…oh man now that I can see them?” He curled his clawed hands into fists. “I can’t stay here.”

“I thought you weren’t affected by the hunger?”

Higgs gave me a wry grin. “I’m not but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy a meal. And after trying those wretched Mushie corpses…yeah, I’m out of here. Good luck, pal. Seeya in another life.”

I didn’t argue with the creature, instead I merely lay down and began working on using the sticks in the burrow to build something to keep my leg stable. The wound was unbearably painful, but worse than anything was the fact that I couldn’t stand up without the pain taking me right back down.

After three or four tries, I realized it was fruitless to try and walk any further. I was trapped in a shallow burrow that would be sniffed out soon enough. I’m sure all the blood and groaning would give me away.

My suspicions had been right. Eventually, after hours of waiting, I was found by the hunting party. They had surrounded the burrow, spears and swords all pointing downwards, ready to stab me at a moment’s notice. But they held back.

“There he is,” one of them said. “And it looks like he can’t walk. A worthy sacrifice, no?”

“More than worthy,” another one hissed. “This fool will be our ticket to powers even greater than that we have been given. He is a Non.”

“How can you tell?”

“He strikes with a bow and moves with swiftness and speed. He is strong and able. Only Nons are able to stand against us in a fight and do any kind of damage.”

A few of the Mushies broke off and began conspiring towards some grand plan while the others grabbed hold of me and tied my hands and legs together. My injury and the wrapping put me in severe agony, and I found myself lapsing in and out of consciousness, the world swirling around with each passing moment.

One minute I was in the grass, the next I was in a small jail cell. How much time had passed, I was unsure, but I knew one thing: the Carrion King was most likely preparing for a delicious meal. Nons were his favorite dish, were they not?

The jail cell was no different than a human built one, with the exception that the walls were organic and everything smelled faintly of earth. There were stairs leading up towards a wall, but I couldn’t see an entrance. The buildings probably opened themselves up, meaning even if I did break the bars and the door down, I still couldn’t leave.

Could I talk my way out of this? Doubtful, but I had a backup plan. The Carrion King had asked me to sacrifice the Mushroom folk and I had refused. While yes I was technically going to be an offering, I suppose it would be worth making the exchange before I get devoured. No doubt a betrayal of that magnitude would make the offer truly tempting.

Working with that…that thing made me shiver, however. The creature offered great power but it seemed corrupting as well. I could not bargain with such an ethereal being and escape unscathed. Still, it would solve my immediate problem of dying most horribly and it would ensure the caravan made it up the mountains safely.

As I pondered this plan and the sheer madness of it, the wall by the stairs shook a little before opening up to let sunlight and a Mushroom in.

This Mushroom man was dressed extravagantly, with a purple cape and a crown of gold atop his head. He had a scepter of gold as well; diamonds and rubies studded up and down the thing, really giving it the impression of a very wealthy man. That is, if money had any real value these days.

“There he is,” the creature said as he walked down the stairs. “The reason for all of our troubles these days.”

“You attacked first,” I replied. “We never would have considered a raid until you took your weapons and drew our blood.”

“You may call me King Hweh, Lord and King of the Mushroom Folk,” was the response. He didn’t bother to even acknowledge my retort.

“I’m Miles,” I replied back.

“I know your name. Our spies have been watching you closely,” King Hweh said as he stopped in front of my cell. He planted the scepter into the ground as he leaned forward on it with both hands. “Well, not that closely, I must admit. You caught us off-guard with your raid. Never would have thought you’d have the guts to do something so risky. But alas, you were successful in getting yourself captured.”

I said nothing at that. The king made no indication of something else happening during my attack, leading me to ponder the fate of the caravan and the actual attackers. Better play things as close to the vest as possible here.

“Do you know why we have captured you?”

“Presumably because you want to feed me to the Carrion King,” I replied. No reason to hide that tidbit of knowledge.

“Nonsense,” the king said. “Quite the opposite, in fact. You are a Non which gives you tremendous power. The Carrion spirit, that foul demon, fears you as much as he craves devouring you. Since we have you in captivity, it will be the perfect opportunity for an ambush. You will go to the sacrificial point where he consorts with things most foul and we shall feign delivering you over to him. In truth, you will be given holy weapons that will allow you to slay the beast.”

The king delivered these lines perfectly, but I was no rube. He was just trying to make me tastier to the Carrion King by creating a false premise. But…it was an opening. Betrayal had to be real in order for it to taste sweet to him, so what if I…hmmm.

“Why didn’t you just ask me?”

“We had to fake hostility for that dread spirit can manifest wherever serious conflict occurs. He cannot interact with the world, but he can whisper in ears and dreams. Attacking your camp laid the trap and you getting yourself captured was perfect, for you were in great pain at the moment of discovery. There is no doubt in my mind that your conflict with me has been greatly present in his sight. He will never expect it.”

Neither would they when I said the words to sacrifice them. But I had another way out, I think. It depended on how confident this supposed mushroom king was. “My leg has been devastated. You think he will accept an injured offering? Besides, if he resists, how would I fight him with one leg?”

King Hweh tapped his scepter against the metal bars holding me. “That is a good question. We do not know how to heal your body but we can facilitate recovery with our medicines.”

“Have you a water source?” I asked. “If we have a body of water, I can soak in it to regain my vigor.”

“We’ve an underground pond that is used for washing clothing and such. The springs are too hot for us to survive swimming in it, however. Your species can abide those temperatures?”

I nodded. “Hot springs are a common thing for humans to seek out. They’re extremely helpful to healing our wounds. Plus it will disinfect anything I may have been exposed to, germ wise.”

“You germinate? How odd.”

“No, I mean…don’t worry about it,” I said. I was being too eager here, I needed to put some pressure as if I didn’t want to go to the springs. “Look, you have a plan that is admirable but frankly, I don’t think you have a chance in hell of it working.”

“We have been working towards a plan like this for quite some time. I shall take heed from my council of sages, scholars and scientists, not some ragged forest crawler,” was the reply, along with more tapping of the scepter against the metal. “Let us not waste our time, Miles. Tell me your price for cooperation.”

“Food,” I said. “As much as you can spare.”

“My people consume nutrients from the ground. The slaves are given slurry and mud paste that barely keeps them alive. We have none of such thing as you would call food.”

“That is my price,” I said, turning my back on him. “Food.”

There was a long sigh. “How do you mean to do business with us if your demands are impossible to follow?”

“Are you not mighty hunters? Send your people out into the Greater Forest and the Bodean Woods, have them hunt game until they have enough to sate me,” I said.

“Travel is danger,” came the reply. “Too much danger for us to commit. How about this: I shall give you all of the slaves, should you kill the Carrion King.”

That shut me up for a moment. Quite the deal, in actuality. Getting an additional work force would be helpful for setting up our mining operation in the mountains. Besides, we were going to take them into our custody at some point anyway.

“Does your silence mean yes, or have you fallen asleep? I can never tell what your kind is thinking. You have no pheromones to indicate one way or the other,” Hweh complained.

“Very well,” I said after milking the silence for a few more minutes. “If you will give us the slaves, I will bring violence against the vile Carrion King. His cruel reign shall end once and for all. Though I must ask, why do you wish to be free of him?”

“Such a matter is unfit to discuss with nonfungites,” Hweh said. “It is of no concern to you.”

Chapter 41

The pain of hobbling on one leg was brutal, because my injury had grown worse as I was marched through the underground caverns of the Fungal Lands. The topside of the village was really just a scout camp and a construction site, whereas the Fungal Lands beneath the earth were where the full civilian population lived.

Four mushrooms surrounded me, all of them with hands on different ropes connected to my body. One rope on my waist, one rope on my throat, one on the bad leg and one on the left hand; if I tried anything funny they would pull on all four at the same time. That would probably put me in so much pain I’d go blind from it.

A few human slaves were also attending me, carrying my clothes to the water source so that they may be washed in the process of my healing. The Mushroom King wasn’t particularly bright when it came to negotiating with humans and was rather easy to persuade as long as I made the request seem like it wasn’t a big deal. The words “Oh, do you mind if…” worked wonders so far, giving me a few slaves and more importantly my clothes.

“There,” the leader of the guards said, stopping before a great underground lake. There was steam lifting off of the water, confirming that this was indeed a hot spring. Taking in a deep breath of humid air felt great and I staggered forward in my underclothes, ready to just become weightless for a few hours.

I was shoved forward, causing me to hop a few feet towards the water, crashing into the pool while yelping from the pain. I had broken limbs before, but the sheer amount of stress on my body here was getting to be too much. Magical healing was rare to come by these days…some of this damage might be forever.

“Arg,” I yelped, crashing into the hot waters. The waters were boiling hot at first, but I was quickly able to adapt to it, especially as the weight was taken off my limbs. Floating in the water, weightless and relaxed, I let out a deep sigh of contentment.

The slaves were nearby, washing my clothes and a few capes in the waters, saying nothing and working in perfect silence.

The ropes were secured to a stake in the ground, allowing the guards to release me. They spread around the hot springs but quickly lost interest in watching me and turned their attention elsewhere.

I soaked for at least an hour, all the while waiting for my golden opportunity. After looking around a bit more, I began to cough fitfully.

“Ugh, this water is disgusting to drink,” I shouted. “Can someone hand me my canteen?”

One of the slaves grabbed the bottle from my belt and looked to one of the guards. He wasn’t really paying attention but the slave was hesitant to do anything without orders. Our eyes met and I winked at him, hoping that this man was brave enough to just toss the bottle.

Splash went the bottle as it landed right beside my head. I quickly uncorked it and whispered. “This isn’t your home yet but I’m in a lot of trouble right now.”

And with that, I dumped the water spirit into the hot springs, hoping to see something happen.

“You awaken me!” the water all around me declared. “This isn’t my home?””

“The Mushrooms are trying to kill me,” I said. “Help!”

There was no hesitation on the water spirit’s part. As soon as I said help, four arms made of water crashed out from the hot springs and seized hold of the guards. They were dragged underwater nearly instantly, the attack so fast it barely made a sound. No bodies drifted to the surface.

“Oh my, that was a rough thing to do, Miles,” the spirit whispered in my ear. I could feel the running water change direction as it swirled around my broken leg. Pressure began to set the bone in the right place but there was no painkiller effect in the process. “You can’t just use me like a weapon.”

“It was an emergency,” I groaned. “Can you stay here?”

“I am a spirit of water, yes, but also the woods. I need to be above ground to regain my power. And you have asked me to waste a great deal of it on your wound.”

How did she know that I had been considering asking her if she could heal me?

“Our bond is growing stronger, since you have looked to me in a time of aid,” she replied, apparently reading my mind. “But I am a lesser spirit, I can scarcely do anything now.”

There was another crack in my leg, followed by a schluurch as the pain suddenly vanished. I took a test bend of the knee and was pleased to discover that there was no agony in doing so. My leg was healed fully.

“We doing this or what?” one of the slaves asked. I glanced over to see that all four of the men had grabbed the spears of the now-dead guards and were crouching down behind a rock.

“I guess we are,” I groaned, climbing out of the water and grabbing my clothes. They were sopping wet but it didn’t matter, I’d be air drying them by running as fast as possible out of here. I knelt down to scoop the waters back up, bringing the water spirit back to her temporary home once more. Her voice lingered as she corked the bottle herself.

“Don’t do this again, I don’t have the power to sustain it and remanifest in your world.”

“Yes ma’am,” I said, approaching one of the slaves with an outstretched hand. “Spear.”

The man pushed it into my hands with no hesitation. “There are hundreds of them here,” he hissed. “We can’t fight.”

“But we can escape,” another whispered. He pointed to the tunnel across from us; it was split three ways with no markings to indicate where to go. “The third one on the right, it’s an access tunnel to the surface. Guards use it to go up or down during attacks.”

The space was clear and there were no guards in the area, because they had all been put on me. The Mushroom King had made a grievous mistake in assuming he had pulled one over on me. The easiest people to fool are the ones who think they’re in charge. In reality, I had played him from the beginning and now? Now it was time for him to reap that which he had sowed.

Chapter 42

The slaves were gone. Where to, that was anyone’s guess, but I didn’t care. They had given me enough info to locate King Hweh on my own and that was enough. The topside of the Mushroom Camp was at full alert, but they weren’t actively looking for threats in the area. Rather the Mushrooms were gathering up at equipment stores and were hurriedly donning their armor and amassing weapons. Many of them were pointing towards the east and giving orders.

Others were arguing and pointing towards the south, where our second feint had been. Conflict had boiled over as to where the actual enemy was and I could see that our planning was paying off. Sir Wesley’s strategies for distracting the Mushroom People had worked perfectly.

Staying hidden was easy, since the chaos made it impossible for the guardian trees to sense me. Their senses were based on movement, I came to realize, and all of the camp’s activities sheltered my steps. I was able to dash from tree to tree, even climbing some of the guardian trees in my search for where my bow could possibly be.

Most of my gear had been on my clothes, and since the Mushies thought I was being compliant they didn’t bother to separate my stuff. Either that or they didn’t realize what my kits did. Rope, knife, bolas and six smooth rocks for throwing, along with potions and poisons that would help or hinder my foes; these were all in my satchel system and had been completely overlooked.

But where was my bow? Without it I was more or less useless in combat and right now my people needed me to come to the front line and start shooting soldiers from behind. But where would it be? I searched high and low, looking at the ranged mushies, but they were only using crossbows. None of them had an actual bow.

“Damn it all, I need my weapon,” I growled. My hands began to burn as if being empty was causing me some kind of psychic pain. Perhaps it was just fear of being caught without any feasible weapons. I had learned some knife fighting stuff but these mushroom folks were pretty big; my small frame wouldn’t do much to stop them in a melee.

A yellow branch caught my eye and I immediately turned to see a Mushie carrying a…wooden staff. Damn it, I had to improvise. A spear? Well, you could throw them and I had learned that for hunting boar in the woods long ago.

My hands began to burn once more, enough so for me to stop and glance down at them. I was atop one of the tallest trees in the area, watching the camp scrambling, so I was in no active danger. But why were my hands burning so much?

I turned them outwards and stretched out, opening and closing my fists. Was it my tattoo? No, it wasn’t shining or anything. But…something was happening. A longing awakened in my heart, a desperate need for my bow. I needed my weapon.

There came a loud ka-crack! followed by a kaboom as lightning struck my hands. I yelped in agony, but the sudden burst did no damage to me. Rather, the Spear of Storms had appeared in my hands. All of my longing for my weapon, somehow I must have summoned it.

“Oh gods, I really hope Wesley wasn’t in the middle of a fight,” I said, gripping the golden spear. It felt good to hold in my hands and I could feel the weapon’s desire to begin fighting at once. Above, the sky was rumbling and rain started to pour. Lightning cracked and thunder rolled. Looks like it was time for me to get serious.

I ran across the trees, moving effortlessly through the dense mushroom woods, searching for the front line. I spotted it easily enough, coming in from the east were my troops. Ten men, armed with heavy metal plate and spears, walking slowly forward in a square formation.

They were moving terribly slow, but that was okay because their armor was heavy enough to ignore even the crossbow shots—at least the ones from fifty feet away. A crowd of mushrooms had surrounded the phalanx but the group kept shields and spears up, fighting valiantly.

Many Mushies were falling over suddenly, the poison tipping our weapons catching them by surprise. But it seemed that for every one mushroom who fell, four more came up from the ground to replace them.

“Gods, whichever ones are left, give me strength!” I muttered as I ran across the longest branch I could find. The staff-wielding mage mushroom was there, casting some kind of spell, a green orb shining brightly above. If he were planning to animate the trees again, that would be the end of my forces.

I leapt off the tree, spear in hand, and pointed downwards. Gravity pulled me down and my spear began to crackle with electrical power as I flew. The mageshroom had no chance to respond as my spear crashed straight through his green cap, piercing his brain in a single blow.

As I landed, the Spear of Storms crackled and released a burst of lightning all around me, striking several of the crossbowshrooms. The electrical arcs bounced around the battlefield, zapping at least half a dozen of the mushrooms.

“The gods are with us!” I shouted, holding my spear up high to the heavens. Electrical power swirled at the tip of the spear and with a single thrust forward, I fired an arc of lightning at the other mage who was arriving to the scene.

Jhook, who was the captain of the invasion, shouted with glee. “To hell with the gods, Miles is here! Come on men, let’s prove to this fucker we’re worth rescuing!”

The morale of the soldiers rose quickly as the men shouted praises and thanks for my sudden return. But there was no time for talking, I wasn’t a combat leader, but I knew how to fight on my own.

“Keep pressing forward, into the town, poison the guard towers ASAP,” I ordered as a few bolts zipped past my head, narrowly missing me.

Right! I had to keep moving or else I’d lose my head. There were no hit points in this brave new world and that meant a bolt to the head would put me down hard. Well, I suppose that was always the case, wasn’t it? No wonder I was so swift at dodging.

Focusing on defense, I moved from Mushie to Mushie, charging them with my lightning spear and firing blasts towards the ranged enemies with each strike. It seemed that the faster you moved and the cleaner the kill, the better the Spear of Storms could operate.

Brilliant streaks of yellow flashed across the battlefield as I sowed chaos by fighting in an almost random manner. The Mushrooms were growing separated because they couldn’t turn their backs to me without being skewered but the advance was pressing on them hard.

Some of the enemy began to break. They dropped weapons and fled into the forest, vanishing from sight. The few that remained fought hard but were falling back into a defensive shield wall formation. Shields locked together and a heavy cloud of poisonous spores appeared around them, forcing us to break off our advancement.

The crossbowshrooms were all dead at this point, so our forces were more or less at a stalemate. The phalanx versus the shield wall. But we still didn’t have numbers on our side; I could see in the distance that more shrooms were arriving in battle gear. These were wearing heavier armor and carried dual scimitars on their backs. Their caps were reddish orange, giving me the impression that these were berserker types.

Jhook shouted up to me. “Fall back, you gotta breathe.”

I was breathing, heavily, arms and limbs fried from all the exertion. If I had my bow this fight could be over easily enough…

The spear in my hands began to glow faintly as the storm began to pour even harder. The darkness of the clouds was pressed back by this golden aura, illuminating the entire area. Was it sensing my thoughts? Why had it bound itself to me in the first place?

I fell back to where Jhook was ordering his men to retreat to. Our objective wasn’t to win an entire war, but rather to just keep the Mushies focused on us until Gabriel sent word that the Bodeans were safe.

Prior to the attack, Jhook’s team had dug out a pit and took a few fallen logs to build a half-way defensible position. Any who came in from the west would be forced to enter through one chokepoint. The logs were tall enough to make anyone struggle to climb over, giving us time to strike at them.

Jhook grabbed a hold of me as I tripped over a root and kept me standing upright. I more or less collapsed into his grasp, however, for I was completely out of energy.

“I think the weapon drains you of stamina,” I wheezed as the knight led me to a cot where a few injured soldiers were sitting.

These men were injured but their wounds were minor. One was clutching his entire stomach but the wound had already closed itself all the way up…another was carefully opening an eye patch up to confirm that he could indeed see.

“Cassandra’s here?” I asked.

Jhook practically dropped me onto the cot, raising his hands high. “She refused to follow orders! I couldn’t do a thing to stop her from coming along.”

I waved dismissively. “I’m not your commanding officer, Jhook. You are forgiven. By me, of course. I’m sure Wesley’s going to tear you a new one the moment he hears you brought her into an active combat scenario.”

“Ugh, why does this always happen to me?” he groaned, turning his attention back to the men who had retreated. They were quickly getting the camp into a defensible position, raising spike traps and putting up snares that would catch a leg easily enough.

There was a small tent behind the wounded and I called out to it. “Miss Cassandra? I could use some help here.”

The first thing I noticed was her eyes. As the blonde woman emerged from the tent, I was overtaken by her big, blue eyes. They were like ponds of brilliant, clear water and I could see the shimmering effect of the magic within her sparkle like the stars.

“H-hi there,” she said through clenched teeth. The poor woman looked rather worried. “You must be the famous Miles I keep hearing about.”

“Indeed,” I said, turning to face her. My legs were shaking and my stomach felt ready to release its contents, though it was rather empty to begin with. “Can you restore stamina? I fear I used a great deal of my energy wielding this spear.”

Cassandra squinted as she scanned me, eyes slowly sweeping up and down. “Oh yes, I can see you have drained yourself greatly. The Spear pulls from your life force, not just your stamina. One must be strong to not be devoured by the power drainage.”

“Why is there always a drawback to these things,” I groaned, falling back in my cot.

The woman stood over me and placed her hands above my abdomen. Blue wisps of power began to sink down into my entire being. I could feel the exhaustion melt away as she worked carefully. “I suppose it is a metaphor. One must be careful when wielding power, to not be consumed by it.”

“That’s a bit too literal for my taste,” I said.

“No movement yet!” a scout shouted in the background.

“Men, ready for phase two!” Jhook replied. “As soon as this infernal rain stops.”

“I think it’s a divine rain,” I said, coughing a bit as I tried to joke with the captain.

“Easy, dear friend,” Cassandra said. “I’m not done restoring your energies yet.”

“I take it you finally understand your power is magic?” I asked, looking up into her eyes. The sparkle of the stone within her was unmistakable. I could feel the power radiating around her and my water bottle was sloshing around in response to the presence of the energy.

“I have tried to conceal that fact, yes,” she replied. “But it would seem that secret is out for everyone to know. Now I shall never have a life beyond this.”

There was a heaviness in the woman’s face. She was rather young, maybe in her mid-twenties, but the deep circles beneath her eyes suggested that her life had not been an easy one.

“I was under the impression you were unaware of your power,” I said. “Forgive me if that wasn’t the case.”

“I pretended as if I was only dimly aware of what I was doing, in order to downplay suspicion and more importantly to remove my value.”

“Value?”

The woman sighed, raising her hands a little high above me, fingers pointing towards my legs. “Yes. The System is gone for good and that means any magic is more valuable than a castle. And healing magic especially so. I will always be pursued by some power who wishes to use me, whether for good or bad.”

“I had it on good authority that you insisted on traveling with our men at all times, healing them no matter what.”

“I am a nurse in that sense, yes, but I have to shield myself from kidnapping by joining an army that would protect me.”

I nodded at this. “I understand, so your protectors become your captors in a way. If you didn’t have them around, someone would just grab you.”

“I’m glad to see that you understand this. Your foul wizard was incapable of understanding what it’s like to fear being pursued as an accessory. I would be nothing more than a magic wand to most people.”

“Gabe’s a selfish prick who’d be honored to be kidnapped for his power. Has he been cruel to you?”

“Is there anyone he isn’t cruel towards?”

“Good point,” I said.

As the conversation continued, I began to feel the numbness and pain in my legs and arms subsiding. My energy levels were returning and I could feel my fingers once more. “Well, once we’re back to Planth, I’ll come up with some way to ensure you’re happy.”

“I would be happy if everyone just let me practice my healing arts in peace. I don’t want to be rushed from here to there to there all in the hopes of healing the most important of people. I want to run a hospital, where people come to me for treatment.”

“A healer’s hut,” I said. “You know, I think that can be arranged. It might even make Planth worth trading with, since access to the settlement will come with that benefit.”

Cassandra clasped her hands together at that. “You would really allow me to set up my own hospital?”

“I don’t see why not,” I replied, sitting up and stretching. It was as if my limbs had been completely rejuvenated. Even the phantom pain from my shattered leg was gone! “As long as you don’t turn people away, of course.”

“Nonsense, everyone would be free to be healed! I just want a place where the wealthy and powerful visit, rather than drag me to their homes for a private service,” she said.

I hadn’t meant to talk business with this woman but there was an easiness in the way she spoke. Her words were gentle, if not somewhat mournful. She truly cared about people, this I could tell.

“The meat is on the roasting spit!” a scout shouted from the top of one of the trees. “Repeat, it’s time for dinner!”

“You best hide out here,” I said, hopping to my feet and grabbing the Spear of Storms from the ground. It tried to crackle but I forced it to stop. The sensation was hard to describe but it was like stopping yourself from hiccupping. The spear wanted to release electrical power but that would take power from me.

“You are not the master,” I muttered. “You are not the master.”

Chapter 43

I staggered forward, barely able to keep my eyes open. The enemy had pressed all of their forces into our position, falling into an extremely well-prepared trap. They had us on numbers but our entrenchment, the spikes and the kill zones were perfectly ready for them. Ten men, armed with spears and toxins, were able to kill nearly fifty shroomfolk.

The battle had been long and miserable. We lost about half of our numbers, but that was near the end, when just about everyone was out of energy. Only the berserker shrooms were able to get inside of the actual pit and when they did, they’d take at least one of our own down.

We had never expected the enemy to throw this many numbers at us. Why they would push into a heavily defended fort was beyond me. It spoke to only one thing: inexperience. The Mushies were not military, or else they would have never tried to overwhelm us with sheer numbers. Had we killed one of their leaders? Was the king somehow amongst the onslaught, slain like a commoner?

I had no answers. The battle was over, that’s all I knew. There was not a sound in the forest as I trudged forward, searching body after body, looking for my bow. Nothing.

The Spear of Storms was too powerful for someone like me. I never needed to hold back my enthusiasm when fighting, but even the act of feeling invigorated turned me into a funnel for a great deal of electrical power to pour out. I needed discipline, I guess. That or an instruction manual.

“Sir Miles!” Cassandra called as she trotted up beside me.

I whipped around immediately. “Cassandra, you need to leave this place, it’s not secured. They have a whole underground society down there. Who knows if there isn’t another army building up?”

This was more of a worry than a realistic scenario. There was nothing to be gained from advancing while sustaining so many losses. If there was another army forming, why wouldn’t the Shrooms just pull back?

“I fear not,” she said. “But are there any wounded here? Will you allow me to attend to them?”

I frowned. “The only thing to do with a wounded enemy soldier is kill them quickly and without mercy.”

“Why?” she asked. She trotted over to a dead crossbow shroom and checked for signs of life. There was no motion.

“Because a survivor today is an invader tomorrow,” I replied. “You’re just digging your own grave by helping them.”

“A terribly cynical way to look at things. Wouldn’t you wish your enemies to have mercy on you?”

“Wish? What is this fairy tale world you live in, where wishes matter?” I scoffed.

Cassandra shook her head. Her shoulders fell and she sighed. “I suppose I cannot argue into believing to do what is good.”

I went to scold her more, but realized something important. I was not her captor and she did not need my permission. “Miss Cassandra, you may do as you please on this battlefield, I’m not your boss,” I said. “Just know that if you do heal any of them, they’ll just kill you as soon as possible.”

“You underestimate gratitude,” the healer said, clasping her hands together in joy. Life came to her face immediately and she almost leapt. “But you have mine for respecting me. Thank you, Miles.”

“Don’t get yourself killed,” I said, returning to my hunt for the bow. It was nowhere to be found.

As I scoured the surface, it became quite clear that the Mushroom folk were all gone, banished from the toplands or dead at the hands of our counterattack. We had never planned for an onslaught like this. There was a lot of property in the area, how many supplies could we gather? It might take us weeks to organize the toplands alone…

I glanced at the Mushroom house that I had emerged from earlier. The normal-looking home secretly led to their civilian population, who were now presumably unarmed and probably waiting to be slaughtered. Or worse, they were forced to muster and were waiting for the attack to come their way.

There was no plan to go any further. Ideally, the Bodean caravan was long past the Mushlands and there was no chance in hell they’d be attacked by a contingent mushroom force. But I still needed my bow.

“I don’t suppose you can change shapes?” I said, looking at the glinting spear in my hands. It crackled a little bit and I smiled. It was as if the spear was saying sorry.

“Tell Jhook I’m scouting the underlands,” I shouted to one of the scouts who was likewise surveying the battlefield and searching for items to collect. He may be a looter but hey, to the victor goes the spoils.

I returned to where this had all started, the hot spring that I had been able to escape with ease, thanks to the water spirit. There were no guards, no people and certainly no trace of my bow.

Sneaking around was a bit of a waste of energy, because as I turned the corner to enter into the village I realized something. The entire mushroom colony was destroyed. The mushroom buildings were broken and burning, endless flames were crawling across the landscape, consuming everything in its path.

There were no civilians nor guards around. And worse…no bodies either. A shiver ran down my spine at the sight of this. I had seen devastation like this before.

“The Carrion King,” I whispered. There could be no other culprit. The Mushroom King must have sacrificed his own people to gain strength.

I forgot about my bow entirely and raised my spear. It was a divine weapon, truly blessed by the gods, so perhaps it would be able to slay whatever the Mushroom King had become.

There was only one building left standing, a large hut that overshadowed the rest of the buildings. It too was made out of organic material and there was gold lining across the doors and on the cap of the building.

Gripping my weapon tightly, I dashed towards the door, keeping my focus forward as best I could. There was a lot of movement all around me, but that was just the fire spreading, or buildings collapsing. I kicked the door open and shouted. “Show yourself!”

The inner chamber was empty, save for a throne sitting atop seven flights of stairs. The Mushroom King was seated, hands upon his face as he wept. He ceased his crying to look up at me.

“So it was you,” he muttered. Defeat was in his voice and he carried no weapon. But this was probably another grift. A trap meant to take advantage of my naiveté. “You did all of this.”

“You gave me no choice,” I replied.

“But how? You were bound and injured. Grievously injured!”

I shrugged and pointed my spear at him. “I’m a man with a few tricks up his sleeve. You thought you were in total control, but guess what? I knew you were conning me from the beginning. The Carrion King desperately desires to see pain and anguish in those he consumes. You think he didn’t approach me with a deal in hand?”
      The king sat up at that. “What?”

“I saw what happened to one of your own,” I said, strolling up the stairs, step by step. This could be a trap of some kind. “He was trying to fetch water from a well, pail in hand. The creature, that foul murderous demon, seized the man and pulled him into the portal, feasting upon a sacrifice. It was you who sent that mushroom, wasn’t it?”

The monarch flinched at that, but he did not fight the accusation. “Yes. We were running out of time, so I had to make a hard choice. Sending a runner to get water for me seemed like the highest honor…until the moment he realized he was being sent to his grave.”

“Running out of time?” I asked, stopping my ascent, though still keeping my spear at the ready.

“Giving in the first time is so easy,” the king explained. “Sacrifice an enemy of war. That was easy for our tribe had been at war with other mushroom colonies. All captives became sacrifices and those sacrifices gave us great power. We marched with fire, thunder and fury, the powers of the Carrion King easily overwhelming our enemies.

“But his hunger was great. Too great for us to sate. In the dark of night, he whispered to me that he wanted more and more. If we took our time in finding new sacrifices, he would feast on people in our village. That vile shrine we had erected for him allowed his spirit to manifest wherever it pleased down here and…well, we had a few losses to show he was serious.”

“So you started raiding,” I said. “Hence why you attacked us.”

“Indeed. It is as you say. We never dreamt you would press an all-out assault on us. We are not wise to the ways of warfare, but we are empowered by the Carrion King. That was how our bodies were toughened, but even then you found ways to slay us. Poisons and toxins! I myself was hit by a dose of such a thing and it nearly tore me apart from the inside…you humans are monstrous.”

“You can dish it out, but you can’t seem to take it,” I replied. “We were responding out of a need to stop you from attacking us again. You were the monsters in this story. Not us.”

I resumed walking up the steps. The king leapt to his feet, but simply hid behind his throne, as if it would somehow shield him from me.

“Please, you have won this conflict. Our village has shattered, there is nothing left. You killed the men up top and then annihilated our civilians. You claim not to be—”

“Annihilated your civilians?” I repeated. “Pray tell, what are you talking about?”

The king stuck his head out from behind the golden throne. “You…you accepted the deal with the Carrion King. You sacrificed our entire village. How or why, I do not know, but it was you who did so.”

“I have not consorted with him in any way,” I said. “He is a foul thing and I have no interest in dealing with a creature that thrives on misanthropy. In fact, I have no interest in dealing really with any of you. I’m just trying to help my people so I can go back to my forest.”

This caused the monarch to step out from behind the throne. He seemed genuinely confused and was emitting a purplish mist around his body. “I-I don’t understand. Did he feast while the fight was—”

His words were interrupted by a thwip as an arrow struck him right between the eyes. He gurgled a few sounds out before falling to his knees. He fell forward, dead as a doorknob.

Immediately I turned around to see five humans standing at the base of the stairs. Oakanna, the human slave, was with them and she had a bow pointed right towards me. “Hey, is this yours?” she asked.

“You killed…” I trailed off as I started to put two and two together. The slaves were unaccounted for during the fight, Oakanna understood how to reach the Carrion King and the entire village of their enemy was sacrificed.

Oh shit, she was now in debt to the Carrion King himself.

Chapter 44

At first I thought she was going to shoot me, but thankfully Oakanna was just joking around about my bow. She was quick to stretch it out to me. “Relax, we haven’t gone rogue. But this is a very nice bow.”

“It’s elven,” I said. “I paid a man a great deal in furs to acquire such a bow.”

“Well, it shoots straight and true,” the freed slave replied. “I should pay a hefty price to buy it off of you.”

This woman had more hefty prices to worry about. What should I do? Thank her and pretend like she didn’t eradicate a civilian population in exchange for her freedom? Ignore it until we’re in private? This was troublesome. Oakanna might not have even been the one to make the deal.

“Afraid it’s not for sale,” I said as I took the bow from her. “You’re all free?”

Oakanna nodded. “Yes, your little attack was more than enough for us to overpower the guards watching us and after that, we armed up and started attacking from behind. The slurry they use to feed us might taste like shit, but it has the protein that made us good and strong. We made short work of them.”

The way she spoke, eyes shifting away from me in that last part, exposed her lies easily enough. There was no battle damage on the slaves, no sign of them having fought anyone.

“I see,” I said, opting to let sleeping dogs lie for right now. “Well, gather your people and head for the surface, this place is tainted with corruption. No one should be here.”

Oakanna narrowed her eyes for a moment. “What do you mean by corruption?”

“Do you not remember the Carrion King?” I asked. “His presence lingers. We best not tempt him to devour us.”

“Oh yes, of course!” the ex-slave said, clasping her hands together in a sense of false urgency. “You’re right. I was so distracted by the sudden attack that I honestly forgot about him.”

This woman was a terrible liar. But what else could I do right now? There was no possible way I could take her back to camp—I couldn’t take any of the freed slaves to our camp. The danger of the Carrion King’s power touching Planth was too great.

“Do you have anywhere to go?” I asked as we gathered our party and began to make our way to the surface. I could not help but feel as if some presence was watching us as we walked across the ruined village.

My spine shivered greatly and I struggled to keep my composure. The presence wasn’t just dark, it was sated, gleeful at having consumed so many souls. How much more could this being eat before it ascended to a new form?

“Most of us were displaced by the falling of the sky castles,” Oakanna said. “No one is from the same background but most of us were just wanderers, searching for a better life. Being captured and brought here actually was an improvement for some of us. At least, it felt that way. Now that we’re free… it’s intoxicating. I feel drunk knowing I can go anywhere.”

I said nothing at this. I merely let the woman continue speaking.

“I’m thinking it would make the most sense to just stay here,” she continued. “Yes, the underground might be corrupt, but we have some priest types in the crew, they should be able to cast out whatever devils are here. At the very least we can ward off the Carrion King by destroying that altar.”

I nodded at that idea. “That would be the best solution to the situation,” I agreed. “You don’t have to travel and you can gather all the supplies you need and begin working on your own village. We can ship you stone so you may build a mighty fortress for yourselves.”

“That would be perfect. We’ll in turn locate some meat sources and send them to you,” she said.

We emerged from the underground and took in the scenery. The houses were all melting away, dying off as their leaders and guardians had now perished. Guardian trees split in half and anything that remotely looked like a mushroom, save the false shacks, dissolved into clumps of paste.

“Well boys,” Oakanna shouted. “Get to work! We’ve got a settlement to build.”

The men all cheered and began to work, leaving me and Oakanna alone. The woman had trouble looking directly at me, but I could sense her fear. Her worry. Hell, her breath was so shallow it sounded as if she were on the verge of a panic attack.

“Well?” I asked, turning to face her. The bald woman looked away sharply, grabbing her elbow as if she were wounded.

“How did you figure it out?” she whispered.

“I’ve seen villages decimated by you-know-who before. I had assumed it was the mushroom king who was trying to defeat us but he actually accused me of invoking the demon’s power,” I replied.

“I had no other choice, Miles,” the woman said. She still was looking down at the ground, unwilling or perhaps even unable to face me. “Please believe me.”

“I don’t know if I can judge you,” I replied. “The idea of calling upon him to solve my capture was rather appealing. But it just takes one bad moment, a single lapse of judgment, and now you’re in the hands of something you can’t control or understand.”

“You won’t let us into Planth, will you?”

“I’m afraid that is the situation we’re facing,” I said. “These men and women are eager and hearty folk, but I don’t know who was pledging themselves to the Carrion King in addition to you. We can’t assume that we’re the only ones to hear his whispering. As far as I know, you people did it as a group. I can’t risk you bringing that taint into our settlement.”

“Starting with nothing is going to be hard,” Oakanna replied. “I put on a strong face because I knew exactly what you meant by tainted, but…we’re fucked if we don’t get help from you.”

“My hands are tied,” I said. “I am truly sorry but you’re going to have to live in the grave you dug for yourself.”

This irritated the woman. Her eyes narrowed as she stared at me. “So your goal is to push me further into the enemy’s clutches by denying me help?”

“If your morality is based on who gives you the most help, then you have no morality, just a price,” I replied.

Those words were like a slap across the woman’s face. She scowled but said nothing. Instead Oakanna returned her gaze to the ground. “I understand your concerns. But…I assure you, the sacrifice was just me. I called upon the king, the other slaves don’t know about it in the least. Trust me, these folks are ignorant of what really happened. I know this because when the Carrion King’s shadow touches you…and you accept it, well, you can kind of smell it on others.”

“Ah, so you can sacrifice his allies easier,” I said. “That is his main delight, you know. He wants to feel the pleasure of someone’s joy turning into terror. But…I suppose I must know. Why did you give up an entire village for your own freedom?”

“By killing their military you were killing the village one way or another,” she replied. “And these people are not innocent in my eyes. They all were part of the rituals, attending in great numbers to cheer as a few of our people were sacrificed publicly, as a means of generating loyalty to the creature. They denied us everything and forced us to work endlessly, with no thought or care for our bodies or minds. The death of that village was necessary for us to move forward. The Mushroom Folk are not good people.”

“You mean they weren’t good people,” I said. “I don’t think any of them survived the attack.”

“Yes, it would seem that we more or less eradicated the Mushroom people. A shame, I suppose, but in the end they were the ones playing with real fire. No wonder they were burned by it.”

I opened my mouth to point out the hypocrisy but the woman held a hand up. “This was a one-time thing, an act of desperation. Never shall I listen to that wretched fiend. We are free and safe, that was the deal. He will have no power over us.”

“How do you figure that?”

Oakanna grinned at me. “Because you’re going to kill that son of a bitch before he can do any more harm.”

---------------------------------------

Journal      

1 Cityfell, Day 73

We did it. We managed to move the Bodean people to Miles’ Folly without losing anyone. The mushroom folk had been planning an ambush, but our offensive had been so brutal they were forced to abandon their positions and fall back.

With Miles’ Folly now established, we have to focus on constructing a road to Planth. This is going to require mining inside of the Noble’s Conjunction for stone. The quarry is well established and looks to have been operational at one point, but there was still the question of whatever the hell is howling down there. No monsters have come out, but I fear that if we send men in, they’ll lure the beast out and then Planth will be in serious trouble.

The wizard Gabriel sent me a missive, sharing the status of Miles’ Folly. The situation is as follows:

- Food is scarce. There is nowhere feasible to hunt and the nearest demiplane is entirely composed of water. There has been discussion of building a raft to fish, but there is a great deal of fear of getting lost at sea forever. For now, everyone is eating one meal a day and the miners are free to eat any mushrooms they find underground.

- Construction material is plentiful and the mine itself has all the tools necessary to build walls.

- Iron ore is plentiful.

- Scouting around the region has proven useful in revealing two demiplanes and a road leading further towards the Remnants of the Glittering City.

Planth’s situation is much better than it has been lately, with the Mushroom Forest open for hunting now. Beforehand I had respected the forest’s owners and held my hand from hunting in it, but now that there is only Fort Oakanna, I have free reign to hunt as much as I like. My hope is to teach a few greenhorns how to lay traps so we can increase our food production by a great deal. This would allow us to export excess food to the Bodeans, thereby increasing our miners’ stamina and health.

Things are looking up for our little civilization, but there is still one big hurdle that we need to clear before I declare my work to be finished. The Carrion King’s altar must be destroyed, no matter what. Fort Oakanna was right near the altar and the leadership, Oakanna herself, is indebted to that demonic presence. No matter how she has tried to spin it, I firmly believe that she is in the grasp of a power that will one day force her to betray us or her own people.

It is not ideal to have a manned fort directly adjacent to the road that leads to and from Planth and Miles’ Folly. At least, not ideal to have an outsider manning those forts. The forest itself was useful but there was no reason to defend that position, other than to take advantage of the existing supplies that had been gathered by the Mushroom folk. The fact that we cannot account for Fort Oakanna and its leader, it is clear that we must destroy the Carrion King as fast as possible.

Doing this will be difficult, as we are going up against something infernal that was said to be human once. I have little idea on how we could possibly destroy the altar. I did have access to two divine weapons, but would the magic of the gods work against such a thing? This was going to require research and that means it’s time for me to pay a visit to the new settlement. Gabriel would have the answers I need, the only question is if he’ll willingly share his secrets…

Chapter 45

The horse neighed as I tried to hold onto it as best I could. Horse-riding was a new thing for me and I struggled to stay upright on the beast. Chestnut was a gorgeous creature, with beautiful brown hair and a black mane. Riding the horse was way harder than I expected.

“Come now,” Sir Wesley said from behind me, “the horse is going to feed off of your emotions. Be sturdy and stalwart, don’t cling to the beast, hold it! You are a mighty knight and it is your loyal steed, don’t worry so much.”

“That’s easy for you to say,” I replied as we continued riding across the land. The road to Planth was under construction but our horse was quick enough to send a runner back and forth from the mining camp every few days. The horse itself couldn’t take too many journeys sequentially but he seemed to enjoy the exercise.

Sir Wesley had returned to Planth with a status update, sharing news about the mining operation and the first attempt to send someone out to the water plane.

“It was a strange event,” he had said to our council earlier this morning. “We had constructed a simple raft and a net to catch fish. We were able to throw the raft into the water from where we stood and our volunteer, Iskell, took a deep breath and hopped on board. Then he promptly vanished. Entirely disappeared from our sight.”

“Damn it all, you killed one of them already?” Silvia had barked.

“Easy now, Your Highness,” the knight replied. “Here was the strange part. He vanished and after what was four hours, he returned, face ragged and body burnt as if he were standing out in the sun for weeks. He had a beard and he was extremely malnourished. Entering the demiplane had taken him on some kind of adventure and he had to find his way back home.

“What was seconds to us was weeks for him. Four hours was about three weeks for the man and he was barely able to survive. The water was of the sea, so he couldn’t drink it, but rain did pour frequently, giving him access to enough fresh water to get by.”

That story sounded like a number, but it was Sir Wesley sharing the tale. Anyone else I would have my doubts but the knight was a serious man. He wouldn’t make up a tale to share because he was bored.

“Hmmm, if the waterworld rains frequently, we could find some way to collect the water en-masse while we continue working to dig a well,” Silvia said.

“And what are the chances there are fish in there as well?” I asked. “Fishing could easily solve our food issues. We can construct nets and build some boats. They don’t even need to be fully functional craft, especially if the ocean is teeming with fish.”

Sir Wesley held a hand up. “Now, now, before you go getting yourselves married to this plane, it’s important to remember that it is still forming. The Carrion King may have influence in there or worse, he might have opened a rift. We have no way of knowing without getting that jackass Gabriel to go in, and he is terrified at the prospect of going in there.”

“Is it an act or does he seem legitimately afraid?” I asked.

“It is hard to tell with him,” Sir Wesley replied. “But I think at this juncture he knows he can’t keep stringing us along, especially now that we have another spellcaster in our group to call out his bluffs.”

I smiled at that. The barrow-witch Lydia was a very valuable member of the team by virtue of being able to sense what Gabriel was up to. The wizard hadn’t tried to do anything particularly funny after the incident involving Cassandra. He knew he was on thin ice and didn’t try to press his luck any further.

“Perhaps we should ask the witch to come along then,” I said. “She may have some expertise or know how to interact with these planes.”

“I don’t want to lose two spellcasters to this ocean plane,” Silvia had replied. “Send Gabriel back here to my courts and take Lydia with you. It’s high time I had a word with the mage and I don’t need you antagonizing him any further.”

Those had been the last words she had said before I was dismissed to depart with Lydia, Sir Wesley and Jhook. Now, as we approached Miles’ Folly, we could see smoke rising from the mine itself.

“Don’t panic yourself,” Wesley said as I went to shout at the sight of the burning smog. “We found some explosive powders in a crate and have been opening up old tunnels by blasting them. The explosions are rather amusing though the smoke pours out for hours or even days.”

“Sounds dangerous,” Lydia said. “Do you know the dangers of smoke inhalation?”

Wesley shrugged. “T’werent my idea, ma’am. But I sure as hell enjoy feeling the ground shake when the payload goes off.”

There were no guards posted at the entrance of the camp and I could see the majority of the housing was just tents and bedrolls right now. There was one wooden hut, but the rest of the settlement was in shambles.

“Where are the guards?” Jhook asked. “I put together a tight schedule to watch over this village.”

“They are on strike,” a voice called from the hut. There was no door to this building and its assembly was less than perfect. I wondered how long it could stay upright with explosives going on in the earth below.

Chester Bode emerged from the hut, wearing clothes that made him virtually unrecognizable. His posh demeanor was gone; he was covered in soil from head to toe and his clothes were wretched and torn to pieces. Dark circles ran down his eyes and his left arm had a long gash on the forearm.

“We are officially out of food,” the noble explained. “The guards are uninterested in standing watch when they are so hungry. Things are going to be getting a lot worse here soon. Miles’ Folly shall become Cannibal Caverns if we don’t do something quickly.”

Lydia approached the man, narrowing her eyes as she walked. “You have a strange aura around you, young man. I see red devils running through your blood.”

Chester raised an eyebrow. “Are you volunteering to be the first meal, ma’am?”

She laughed at that and bowed. “You may call me Lydia, I am a witch. I have been brought here to enter that plane of water, so we may bring fish back.”

“Is that so? What would a witch do that our wizard can’t?”

“For one, he’s Planth’s wizard,” I corrected. “And for two, Lydia’s willing to at least enter the demiplane.”

Chester nodded. “What then did you mean by red devils? Have I been infected with some curse I know little about?”

I put a hand on Lydia’s shoulder and shook my head ‘no’ at her. She could sniff out the dark curses placed upon the man’s lineage but he was still oblivious to it. There was no reason to give him an identity crisis in the middle of an even bigger one. She shrugged.

“I am unsure. But for now, I will tell you the secret to making soup from a single stone. You must go out into the mountain alone and without a weapon or shoes. Search for a smooth stone that fits your hand perfectly. Place the stone in the biggest iron pot you have and then pour as much water as you can spare into the pot. Boil it for six hours,” Lydia instructed.

“And this will…”

“It creates a soup that will feed as many people who have the hope that the spell will actually work,” Lydia said. “That is the best I can do, given the scant resources and the near nonexistence of the land’s magic in this area.”

“So witches use the land’s magic, interesting,” Chester said, enraptured by the woman. I could see the desire to learn more of her secrets, though I wondered how much of that desire came from the urge to have power once more.

“Witches are layabouts who claim the land is magical to excuse their inability to gain exact results from their spells!” Gabriel said as he emerged from the hut. Apparently the wizard had been eavesdropping.

“Oh please, you bookfuckers don’t know the first thing about the power of the natural world. You’re all too busy studying in tall towers and congratulating yourselves on how long your beards have gotten,” Lydia retorted. “Flee me, lest I use my vast power to crush you like the bug you are.”

Gabriel growled at that and grabbed his grey beard. “Would you really waste such power on a duel right now?”

“It would not be a waste if it harmed you in any way,” Lydia replied.

“Okay, I’m going to step in here,” I said, standing in between the two. “Gabriel, Jhook is going to escort you back to Planth. You’re done with this operation.”

“That is fine by me,” the wizard said as he shove past us, making his way to the horse. “This place is doomed anyway. Enjoy drinking hot water while telling yourself it’ll keep you alive. Jackasses.”

“You didn’t have to taunt him,” I said, looking at the witch. She was quite pleased with herself and smiled at me, her black lips deviously curling upwards.

“It is merely a professional courtesy. Wizards and witches must despise each other, lest the world fall into balance. Wizards watch the ways of man and witches follow the ways of the land. Neither shall see eye to eye.”

“Enough,” Chester said. “I shall attempt your spell, witch. In the meantime, I would suggest, Miles, that you stay outside of this camp. Your name has been tarnished due to the fact that we were forced to leave Planth.”

“I’m not doing any of this for my name’s sake, I’ll tell you that much,” I replied. “But my presence isn’t needed in the village anyway. We’re headed straight for the demiplane.”

Chester nodded and sighed. “We don’t have much time, gentlemen. The soup might work but I can guarantee you a few bad actors are going to try and use it to gain power.”

This caused Sir Wesley to laugh. “No matter what kind of apocalypse is happening, there’s always someone out there trying to climb to the top. If the entire world were reduced to a pile of shit, they’d fight over that too.”

Chapter 46

One moment I was standing on a road with ash beneath my feet, the next I was in a world of vast blue waters. Taking a step forward had caused me to fall off balance, but we had pushed the raft out first, giving me a place to land.

“What is this place?” I gasped as the vastness of the ocean overtook me. There was no horizon, just water. The sky above was as blue as the world beneath me. There were no clouds, no trees, no signs of land. My entire life had been in a forest, but now? Now I was in a place that, up until now, my mind couldn’t even conceive of.

“It’s just like that poor bastard said,” the knight Wesley said. He was out of his armor for fear of falling off the platform and sinking deep beneath the ocean. “Endless ocean.”

We both turned around to see that the road was indeed gone as well. How the hell were we going back? My heart began to pound as the reality of the situation sunk in. I was trapped on a flimsy wooden raft, surrounded by waters that were endlessly deep.

“Easy, boys,” the calm, collected Lydia said, putting a hand on my back. I suppose she could hear my shallow, panicked breathing. “Not everything is what it seems in this place. The water speaks secrets and riddles.”

“What could it possibly be saying? ‘Take a swim, I swear it’ll be fine’?” Wesley said.

“No, no, it would seem that this demiplane’s formation is being willed by something. Something strong too.”

“The Caterpillar King?” Wesley asked.

“Carrion King,” I hoarsely interrupted.

“No,” a voice said from the depths. “Not the Carrion King.”

That got me on my feet. We all spun around to see a great leviathan’s head emerging from the water. It had a long, snaky body with blue and rainbow scales. The creature’s head had plates around its skull and the long snout was smoking with embers of heat and red. It was a water dragon! My tattoo burned at the sight of the creature and I let out a sigh of relief. If I bore the mark of a dragon, I could earn its favor. At least, I hope.

“Don’t eat us, we are poisonous!” Wesley shouted.

This caused the great worm to laugh at us. “Should you think a thing as great as I would die from some food poisoning?” it asked, voice deep and booming. “You humans are an endless source of entertainment.”

Lydia approached the thing and reached a hand out. The dragon lowered itself at this and ever so gently approached his snout to her. She stroked the beast’s nostrils. “The oldest formations of nature were the dragons,” she said. “In the beginning of creation, when the world was without shape, the dragons, born of the gods, flew into the grounds of the shapeless void, creating sky, land and hill. Some buried themselves upon the earth, their long spines becoming mountains. Others laid themselves at the bottom of the valleys and became oceans. They are bound to creation, for they created this world.”

The water dragon nodded and pulled his head back. “I could smell the scent of a witch upon that poor screaming lad who entered this realm on a raft. I wiped his memory and sent him back, hoping that the mystery of his return would bring you here.”

Lydia knelt down before the creature. “I am at your disposal, my Lord.”

My eyes widened at this. Witches were beholden to dragons? This meant that Lydia’s loyalties were ultimately belonging to this creature. I glanced at Sir Wesley who shot me a look that showed we were both thinking the same thing.

“You do not kneel?” the dragon asked, looking at us both. “Are they not your servants, woman of the barrows?”

“I am a knight!” Sir Wesley bravely said, puffing his chest out. “I bow before no one but my Lady.”

“And I think I’m claimed by another dragon,” I quickly said, pointing to my tattoo.

“Idiots,” the witch grumbled. “You would argue with a dragon over who must kneel?”

“There is something to be said about that kind of bravery,” the dragon replied. “But enough of these pleasantries. You are here because I wished to speak with the witch. I have long been asleep in the depths and have only awoken because my plane has been disturbed. This ocean was created for me and me alone. Why is it suddenly visible?”

“Well, Great Wyrm,” Lydia said, still on her knees, “the System has collapsed. A great and powerful kingdom fell from the sky and unleashed a great deal of wild, chaotic magic upon the land. Many things that were powered by the System have faded, vanished or are simply melting away. As these ashes fall…new planes are forming. I suppose yours just drifted to the top.”

“This displeases me,” the dragon replied. “Choose which of your slaves for me to devour. If I must return to the mortal lands, so be it, but I will not traverse planes hungry.”

“Sir, I would ask your mercy here,” Lydia said. “For we are victims of a terrible apocalypse.”

“There shall be an even greater one when I emerge. Slumbering for eons makes one rather hungry and I shall feed upon all of humanity until I have been sated,” the dragon replied. Smoke began to billow out of its nose.

“Kobolds!” I shouted.

“Shut it,” Wesley hissed.

The dragon turned its head to look at me. “What did you say?”

“Friend dragon,” I said, raising my hands to show him I was unarmed. “There are many kobolds in my home forest, they revere and serve dragonkind. The forest is becoming more hostile for them as the apocalypse continues. A red dragon rests within what he calls the Forest of Teeth.””

This caused the creature to tilt its head out of curiosity. I could see a thought was approaching it. “Interesting. Another dragon is awake? And on the terrestrial plane?”

“He and I are on good terms. I could gather some kobolds for you and bring them here. You may work on your realm as you please, without the need to enter our world. For is not it in your power to create anything within this place?”

The dragon chortled at that. “Of course, it is a trifling thing to turn this world into a thriving paradise for my kobold kin. In truth, I do miss having the little buggers around, always pestering me, climbing me, summoning me for the most trifling of tasks, such as cutting down a tree.”

“Then how about this, I shall gather some kobolds for you and bring them here and in turn, you shall use your great power to fill this entire ocean with fish, so that my people can also eat.”

The blue beast glanced at Lydia. “He speaks in the kobold language,” he said. “And seems to know what dragons like. Shall I eat the knight or would you complain about that as well?”

“I am at your mercy, Lord Dragon,” Lydia said. “So what you wish will be done.”

Wesley put his hand on his blade, but kept silent. The man knew when to talk and this was certainly not the right time.

“You bore me. Many would jump at the chance to sacrifice to a dragon. If only you knew the wondrous powers I could grant you, should you merely nod to me,” the dragon said.

Sacrifice. Hmmm. The Carrion King had been afraid of the red dragon in the Forest of Teeth, but was willing to sneak around in the hopes of devouring the forest spirit. My own wiles had pushed the creature out of the woods entirely…would the blue dragon be capable of killing him?

This demiplane wasn’t like the others. It wasn’t forming naturally due to the System going down; rather it was somehow connecting back to the real world after having been separated thanks to the blue dragon. This was his realm and he no doubt had a tremendous amount of power. If the Carrion King could be lured here…would it be able to survive a fight?

I pondered these things while the dragon and Lydia went back and forth over the fate of Sir Wesley who was turning more gaunt and pale by the minute. Finally, I held a hand up to silence the bickering. “Great Dragon, if you hunger, then you must not settle for inferior food. What is a human to a dragon’s stomach? You might be sated for a minute but then what? Shall you fill yourself on dozens upon dozens of men?”

“It has worked for me in the past, though that was very long ago, when men were worthy of devouring,” the dragon replied, puffing some smoke out of its nostrils. “You have an alternative meal in mind?”

“There is one who calls himself the Carrion King. A cruel and contemptuous power that delights in betrayal. This horrid being has wrought a great amount of destruction on our land and corrupts our allies. These powers twist and contort out people and threaten our survival.”

“You wish for me to eat it?”

“Indeed,” I said. “This being consumes great power from all of its victims, gorging on betrayal. It craves betrayal more than anything, so…”

“You could lure it to my realm and watch as I feast upon it,” the dragon said, finishing my sentence. “There is no greater delicacy than essence devourers. A creature of this cruelty would be a fine dining experience. Very well. I offer these terms: bring me kobolds, as few as ten and I shall fill the oceans with teeming life and dangerous storms, so that your people do not grow fat and decadent. Bring this self-appointed Corpse King into my realm and I shall devour it. Do not bring one without the other.”

Lydia, who was still kneeling, spoke up. “And what of me? You wished to meet a witch. Well, here I am.”

“Indeed. You have pledged yourself to the barrows and there is not much power to gain there. You are faithful, for I do hear your magic sing praises of you. But perhaps you have something more to offer the world. If you pledged to serve me, your magic will strengthen and you will become a sorceress.”

“Great Dragon, that is a tremendous offer you bring me,” Lydia said. “But I fear that I have pledged myself to aid the people of Planth in surviving.”

“Your actions within the human realm are of no import to me. Do as you please. My magic shall greatly enhance your powers. All I ask is that from time to time you return to my realm and aid me in my work upon this realm.”

What could a dragon possibly need a witch for?

“I accept this bargain then,” the witch said, standing up and bowing. “I shall take the name Lydia Bluescale. Grant me hair that shimmers like the rainbows, so that all will know I am a sorceress.”

“And so it is done. Welcome to the big leagues, little witch. This is where the real work begins.”

Chapter 47

We all appeared on the road at once, no worse for wear. How much time had passed, I didn’t know as no one was waiting for us. The trail that led to this plane wasn’t too far from the camp and I could hear some voices shouting.

“Do you hear that?” Sir Wesley said, drawing his sword. “Sounds like a ruckus. Go handle it while I rearmor.”

The witch snapped her fingers, causing all of the knight’s armor to immediately leap up and dress him.

“Damn, that upgrade is kicking in fast!” Wesley said with a laugh. “It’s almost like you went up a level.”

“Ugh, don’t compare me to the System Suckers.”

I ignored the banter and rushed to the camp to see Chester Bode on the ground, his head being thoroughly bashed in with a large, smooth stone. Two men were holding him down and a third one was directly atop him, winding back for another swing.

I pushed through the small crowd of onlookers and seized hold of the arm, pulling it back much farther than arms are supposed to go. There was a loud ker-krack as I broke the arm and threw the man to the ground.

“The hell is the meaning of all this?” Wesley shouted as he arrived, sword up and at the ready. The sight of the heavily armed knight caused the crowd to back away, but the two holding Chester down kept their position.

“This son of a bitch was trying to make soup out of a stone. We tried telling him it was an old wives’ tale and a prank, but he wouldn’t listen. So we showed him a better use for the stone.”

I glanced at the mangled noble. He was breathing and conscious but his face had been smashed in pretty badly. He would need some serious medical attention after this.

“So you took it on yourselves to slay your leader without a trial or even a fair chance? Three versus one, you pathetic lot! You absolute cowards. Come now then, grab your weapons and face me. I shall fight all three of you with ease. Go, go grab your swords, you bastards!” Sir Wesley thundered.

The men all glanced at me as if I were going to speak some words to protect them. “Don’t look at me,” I said. “If you place your hands in a bear trap, you should not be surprised when you lose your hand.”

“That’s just the kind of thing I want to hear,” Wesley said. “You have until the count of ten to arm yourselves. I shall kill every last one of you. Unless, of course, you work together to take me down. What do you say? Want to rush me?”

There was a cough that caught Wesley and my attention; Chester was conscious, it would seem.

“D-do not murder them,” he said, coughing and spitting up blood. “Bode has laws.”

“This isn’t Bode,” the knight replied. “This is a zoo full of animals. And animals only understand fear.”

“Stop,” Lydia said, stepping forward. Her blue hair gently shimmered in the light of the day. “If Chester says there must be a trial, then you cannot violate their sovereignty. Remember, Bode is not Planth. We are cooperating with each other but not integrating.”

The witch extended her hand forward and placed her palm towards the men. The ground rumbled as brambles and thorns rose up to form cages around each one. “Let this keep you until Chester has recovered enough to determine what your sentence will be.”

The crowd did not like this. They began shouting and booing at us. A few were even picking up rocks to perhaps throw at us.

“We have no food! We are starving and you worry about a snotty rich kid?” someone shouted.

“I have to watch my children suffer day and night because of this man, yet you will allow him to stay in power?” another cried.

The jeers grew worse and both Wesley and Lydia looked at me pleadingly. Why the hell was I always the one in charge?

I stepped forward and held up a hand. “The situation is this: you have no food. Stop wasting your energy fighting each other and us. Instead, focus on preserving your energy as much as you can. I am going to the woods right now to fetch game. I will be bringing back deer and if possible boar. This will feed you. But you need to be patient.”

“You’re the reason we’re in this mess,” someone shouted.

I drew my bow. “Well, if anyone wants to take a shot at me, now is the time to do it. Only rule is that I get to shoot next.”

This caused the crowd to quickly break off as the more responsible folks shooed their children back to their tents. I shook my head as the rabble rousers grew silent. A chill wind blew by and my stomach tied itself into a knot. These people were on the edge. I couldn’t take food out of Planth’s mouths, but I could go to the Mushroom Forest and see what game was around. Perhaps some animals had moved in since the place was occupied by only a few humans now.

I set out at once, making my way to the woods on foot as fast as possible. Lydia and Sir Wesley had to remain, namely so they could keep the peace. Peace. What a word to think of in the midst of all this chaos and death.

Lydia had chosen to serve a dragon of all things and I doubt the beast wanted assistance with making his homeland more peaceful. Sir Wesley was a knight willing to strike down any number of rabble just to make a point. Certainly a man who kept the peace through blade and fist, more than anything.

What about me? What was peace to me? Silence. Beautiful silence in the woods as I stalked and hunted. Perhaps I could let all of my worries and fears melt away as I entered the Mushroom Woods, becoming the one thing I had given up for too long: being a ranger in the purest of senses. Hopefully I could find something for the Bodeans to eat in the process. If not? I doubt there would ever be peace for those people.

Chapter 48

The forest had changed drastically since I had last seen it. Gone were the lush, green grass and the vibrant trees. With the departure of the Mushroom people, everything seemed to have grown twisted and wretched. Many of the trees were gnarled husks, shadows of their former selves.

A shiver ran down my spine as I entered the woods, feeling at once as if something were watching me. A few crows were sitting on a particularly mangled tree—it was split in half—all watching me as if I were the most interesting thing in the world.

“Meat is meat,” I muttered, taking a quick shot and hitting one of the crows before the other two were able to react. The creature’s body vanished in a mist, as opposed to falling onto the ground.

What the hell? An illusion? Or was this the work of the Carrion King, starving out Fort Oakanna? Hard to tell, as there were so many things changing in the world now. What if this place was a demiplane collapsing? Shit, I should have checked that somehow.

Traversing the woods wasn’t particularly hard, now that all the trees were missing leaves. I could see through everything and there was not a trace of animal beyond those three crows that I had seen. Hours of tracking led me to nothing and the traps I had left in the woods were all empty—though they were sprung.

Everything in this place had died. Everything except for that damnable camp that Oakanna and her people had built up. It was called Fort because they would be willing to take our forces in should we need somewhere safe to wait while moving people along the road. But in reality, this place was more like Camp Oakanna.

I kept a distance from the camp, watching as a few men and women went about working on building cabins of their own. They were hearty and well equipped for the task of taking down these rotted trees and I could see the logs, while black, were healthy enough to be rolled upon each other.

“Don’t waste time on them,” a familiar voice said.

“Gabriel?” I asked, spinning around to see the ragged wizard standing across from me. He was wearing black ceremonial robes with golden runes lining the hem. In his right hand was a long golden wand and in the left was a bottle of what looked to be brandy.

“Indeed. A surprise to see you here,” he said, offering me the brandy. Despite this being the dumbest thing I could do, I found there was no way to stop myself from grabbing the bottle, uncorking it and taking a long, deep swig of the amber liquid. It burned but my gods did I need a stiff drink.

“Likewise. Did Her Highness send you or are you on personal business?”

“Silvia is an interesting leader, but I think I prefer dealing with her to you. She gives me respect, whereas you treat me as a prisoner on work-release,” the wizard said, shoving past me and moving down a path opposite of the fort. “She wants me to assess this area, to see if there are any rifts, since the Carrion King was here for quite a bit of time.”

“Is here,” I said. “The creature remains. I believe it’s whispering in the ear of Oakanna and that is why we have kept them at an arm’s length.”

“Doubtful. I have yet to be assailed by the King’s whispers, offering me anything I wish to follow his devices,” Gabriel replied. “If a being as powerful as I isn’t being seduced we can only deduce that he is not around this area. Perhaps you killing the Mushroom King severed his connection to this place.”

“Would you have struck a deal with the Carrion King if he spoke to you?”

“That was the plan, yes,” he replied, as nonchalantly as possible. “Silvia had something all figured out. The only way it would work was if everyone involved knew as little about the operation as possible.”

“And your role was to shake hands with the devil?” I asked.

“Wizards and demonic pacts are like kings and war, you rarely find one without the other,” Gabriel said with a chortle. “But alas, I’m just doing what I’m told to do. At this point, it’s clear that I can’t ride out the apocalypse in my tower like I was hoping. Too many people are still around. And as time passes, the kind of people who survive get stronger and stronger.”

“That would explain why we keep meeting Nons out in the wild,” I said.

“Exactly. Eventually a stronger wizard’s going to show up at my tower and I’d rather have Sir Wesley kicking him in the nads instead of a proper magical duel,” Gabriel said. He led me further down the path, towards a babbling brook that was steaming.

“Water!” I said ecstatically. “It must be coming from the hot springs beneath the earth.”

“I thought there was plenty of water in your forest,” Gabriel said as we approached the brook bank.

“No, this isn’t for us. It’s for the animals. If there are creatures here, they’ll come to drink soon enough. I’ll just need to climb up into a blind and wait. It’s perfect, quiet and meditative,” I replied, immediately springing up the nearest tree I could find.

“I could have used my birds to scout the whole forest, but you just had to shoot them,” Gabriel complained as he began to climb a tree as well, huffing and puffing as he exerted himself.

“Sorry, I was trying to find food for the Bodeans. They’re about to break.”

“Yeah, I wasn’t too heartbroken about having to leave,” he said. “Those folks are gonna get murder happy pretty soon and I don’t want to be anywhere close to that nonsense.”

“Shhh,” I said, pointing towards the water. “We must wait in silence.”

“Sounds good.”

I had expected the wizard to be loud or obnoxious during this time, but he was rather silent, sitting in a meditative stance and focusing on his breathing. Gabriel was a strange wizard, but he was growing more serious by the day. Perhaps being so close to chaos and destruction had made him reconsider his attitudes.

Hours passed. Nothing arrived. The brook merely bubbled as the water flowed.

“This place is falling apart,” the wizard said, finally breaking the silence. “I hate to say it but Silvia might be right. The mushroom lands could be experiencing planar collapse. Hard to tell without finding any kind of portal or rift.”

“What about an altar?” I asked, thinking of that black, profane thing beneath the Fort. I was still carrying the divine spear with me, as the Spear of Storms was bound to my soul—much to Sir Wesley’s chagrin.

“Altar? Like something for worshipping the Carrion King? Yeah, that might be a good spot to check,” the wizard said. “But getting underground’s going to be the difficult part. The Fort people don’t want us anywhere near the access tunnels. They pointed spears at me! Said to back off, even though I was explaining who sent me.”

“Shit,” I said, shaking my head. That damnable woman was worshipping the Carrion King. That had to be the only reason why they denied Gabriel entry. There was no way they would cut us off for no good reason.

“So what’s the plan?”

“Do you have any spells that would handle these people in a non-lethal manner?” I asked.

“A sleep spell should do the trick. I just need a few feathers and a blanket, both of which are in my component bag,” the wizard said. “It’ll put everyone within the radius down for a solid eight hours. So we kinda need to guard them too, because they will be sitting ducks.”

“Can the strong ones resist the spell?”

“Doubtful. My magic is quite powerful. And if anyone stays awake, they will become sleepy and will have very low perception, so we could sneak past easily enough.”

“Go, then,” I said. “Get it prepared, I’m going to wait here a little longer to see if something, anything turns up.”

“Wasting your time, but as you wish it!” the wizard hooted as he hopped down from the tree. He landed with a crunch, eliciting a gasp of pain as he grabbed the side of his leg and limped off. That jump had not been well calculated.

I returned to my vigil, bow in hand. I waited and waited, praying silently to any god out there for something to arrive. I’d even take a squirrel at this point.

The day approached high noon, right as I was about to break. The wizard Gabriel was probably ready to go with his spell and delaying any further made no sense.

There was a ker-snap! in the distance that caused me to give pause. I stooped down low and readied my bow, watching as a gigantic white stag emerged from the woods.

This beast was easily two times the size of any deer I had ever seen and its fur was white as snow itself! The creature had two long horns that jutted out in all directions, the branches brown and dark.

I wanted to fire on it immediately, but something held me back. The creature was staring up at me as it walked towards the water. It knew where I was.

“Oh, fuck me,” I groaned. “You’re seriously trying to bribe me?”

The presence of the Carrion King emerged all around me, its chaotic and contemptuous energies swirling in a mist of terror. “Your people are starving. I watch them plea and beg and some even pray to me for food. This stag is from a very far place. Bringing it here was not a quick trip and you shall never have this opportunity again. Accept this gift and in turn, you must grant me a gift of my own.”

I gritted my teeth. “What are your terms?”

“Leave my altar alone,” the voice hissed. “Take that fiendish wizard elsewhere. In exchange, this will be all yours. You will return to Bode as a hero. And I will be spared the frustration of finding a new place for my followers to gather.”

“You are powerless to stop me then?” I asked. “You call it a gift, but if you were able to kill me, you would. I can see this as nothing other than a weak attempt at bribery.”

“And what will the people say when you return, hands empty? You promised them meat. There will be none, unless you give yourself over to cannibalism most foul. And if you were that kind of man…well, I would think we’d get along quite well.”

Chapter 49

The offer hung in the air. A feast’s worth of meat in exchange for leaving the altar alone. I never thought I’d be willing to make a deal like this but…the people were starving. This would immediately aid the Bodeans and in the process make them strong enough to build Miles’ Folly into a fortress where they’d be safe for good. Combined with the waterworld opening up and teeming with ocean life, this would effectively keep those people alive for as long as possible.

The only drawback was that I’d be giving in to the enemy’s demands. This foul creature wanted to protect its altar at all costs, going as far as betraying its own sense of dignity to more or less bribe its way out of it. A tough decision.

“Hey, where have you been?” Gabriel shouted, cutting into my thoughts. The presence of the Carrion King faded instantly and I could no longer feel the swirling mists of cold, dark magic.

I glanced up to see the stag was gone. It would be back if I made the deal. Perhaps the wizard might give me some help in figuring out what to do.

I was quick to let him know what happened, holding no details back. The wizard remained stone-faced the whole time as we walked and talked. Once I had finished, he spoke. “It’s a misdirect if I’ve ever seen one. He wants you to think the altar has some kind of power. This must mean it does not, or else we’d be pushing even harder to destroy it.”

“I never even questioned that idea…” I said.

“Wizards tend to get caught in all sorts of poorly worded deals and contracts,” he said, patting me on the shoulder. “So we figure out pretty early how to spot a scam. The meat will probably spoil in the mouths of the people and they’d string you up easily enough.”

“I thought mystic contracts were bound,” I said.

“They are, if you know how to bind these creatures to their words. Only dragons obey the spirit of the law, everyone else is constantly trying to change the contract’s rules to their favor.”

I lowered my voice for what I was going to say next. “What if I accept the contract but destroy the altar anyway?”

“He wants you to do that, as that is a betrayal of your word,” Gabriel whispered right back. I could tell that he was now beginning to mock me, since he had a keen understanding of a world I didn’t. I suppose wizards were allowed to be assholes because of moments like this. “It will weaken your spirit against his influence. Since betrayal is what he craves, you basically are seasoning yourself like a chef seasons his meals.”

“Damn it, how does this thing have so much power?” I growled. “He harasses and destroys, kills and corrupts and yet no one can stop him.”

“Well, wizards actually were responsible for this kind of thing in the old days. When a person started ascending into something like this, we’d use our great magics from a distance to weaken its mystic bonds. There’s a reason we are perceived as hermits. We learned how to save the world while sitting around the house.”

“And you can’t do that now?” I asked.

“Believe me, I have tried. Nothing takes.”

“So do we abandon the shrine then? Cut our losses and go elsewhere?”

Gabriel grinned. “And leave the likeness of that bastard still standing? I don’t think so. It won’t do anything to save us or our people, but sometimes vandalism can do the soul some good.”

I found myself nodding at his words. Thought part of me wondered if perhaps the Carrion King was counting on Gabriel to dissuade me from taking the deal. He was wise enough to avoid talking to the wizard in the first place…

“You know what, let’s do it,” I said. “I have a holy weapon, let’s smash the hell out of that altar.”

“Atta boy!” the wizard said as he raised his hands high. He muttered some words in an ancient tongue, causing long streams of blue energy to come forth from his fingers. The streams sparkled and shimmered, like pebbles beneath a river on a sunny day.

The sleep magic covered the entire camp as we approached it, sending everyone into a deep slumber. No one was working during this time, so we didn’t have to worry about anyone being injured as they passed out.

One by one, every inhabitant fell into a slumber—everyone except Oakanna who was standing in the middle of the camp, arms crossed and face scowling.

“Hmmm, that’s not good,” the wizard said as he promptly jumped behind me. “You said she’s friendly, right?”

“Not quite,” I said. My hands burned a little, itching to just draw my bow and take her down this instant, but I couldn’t do that. I had to give her a chance before condemning her as a loyal ally of the Carrion King.

“Casting spells on us now?” she called out to me. I made no attempts to hide and approached her, weapons still on my back. “What happened to our talks of peace?”

“You denied the wizard entry into the underground. What happened to our talks of unrestricted travel?” I shot back.

Silence fell between us as we glared at one another. She put her hand on an axe resting by her side. “Must we come to blows over this?”

“Are you allied with him?” I replied.

“I don’t know what other options I have at this point. You wouldn’t take us in, so what else can I do? I am no idiot. Whatever he gives us will come with a terrible cost, but you forget that we are survivors and we were slaves,” she said, gripping the handle of the axe. “We’re tough enough to pay whatever is necessary.”

I held a hand up to stop her from drawing her weapon. “Oakanna, don’t make me kill you. If that weapon is drawn, you have chosen a side and I will kill you faster than you can—”

The woman suddenly drew the axe and tried to charge, but she was nowhere as fast as I. Fingers quick as lightning, I pulled my bow, nocked an arrow and shot her dead, right through her left eye.

“That was unexpected,” the wizard quietly said. I could hear the timbres of both fear and awe in his voice. “Terribly unexpected.”

The body twitched a few times and then, just as I had seen before in the Bode patriarch, Oakanna opened her good eye and stood up. She had been in the Carrion King’s employ this whole time.

“You are a man of your word,” she said, hissing a little as she pried the arrow from her eye. The damaged orb quickly repaired itself. “It’s a shame I’m not fast enough to reach you. This flesh is too weak.”

“What is this, that a woman can come back from the dead?” Gabriel said. He sounded more incensed than he did shocked. “There are fundamental laws of magic! One cannot raise the dead nor give immortality without breaking something important in the universe.”

I fired two more shots, this time aiming for her legs. They struck her down quickly, pinning her to the ground.

Oakanna writhed in pain, but not from my arrows. A transformation was taking place. Her body was turning black and contorted, twisting out of shape like someone crushing a pear in their hands, each strand of her body becoming like obelisks. Her eyes grew numerous, spread out across the black pillars that were becoming limbs, arms and legs.

“We better run,” I said. “Altar be damned.”

“No,” Gabriel said, stepping in front of me. “This is a wizard’s concern. We may be mouthy but we are responsible for the wellbeing of what your feeble mind can conceive as reality.”

I grabbed his cloak. “What can you possibly do?”

“I’m going to fight her with my arcane might, you’re going to go smash that damn altar, if for no other reason than to say fuck you to the Carrion King.”

Chapter 50

I had tried to protest the wizard staying but he conjured a bolt of lightning towards the enemy with ease and precision. After watching a man fire the spears of the gods from his fingertips, I decided not to worry about him and instead focus on what to do with my own spear.

The passage to the altar was obscured, for the fake mushroom house around it had long since been torn down. Oakanna’s attempt to conceal the trap door was valiant but ultimately fruitless, because I could see it plain as day. The grass was discolored and facing a different direction than all the other blades, making it obvious to the trained eye. And my eyes were nothing if not trained.

And so I fled to the altar, to that dread artifact that had long been on my list of things to destroy. Behind I could hear electrical blasts and explosions and buffets of wind. The scent of smoke rose up and I found myself hacking and wheezing in the smog.

Down the stairs I ran until finally, I was underground in the darkened pit where that statue was waiting for me. The black chamber was still as dark and featureless as ever, but a faint red light seemed to glow from the walls. I could hear a pulsing in the ground as I stepped onto the black stone. Something was stirring within.

My heart rose to my throat as I turned the corner to see the Carrion King’s statue. The black thing had twisted and contorted from a centipede bursting from a man’s chest to a centipede being split in half, some kind of dragon-like entity with long wings emerging.

There were red runes lining the altar once more. They glowed brightly, casting a red hue around me.

“Dragons are the next step,” I mused, looking at the shape of the creature emerging. The Carrion King was looking to be rather ambitious in his transformations.

Without much more examination, I drew my Spear of Storms out. The weapon crackled with energy, the yellow lightning bursts somehow pushing back the red lights. It was almost as if the divine power was consuming the altar’s magic.

“That’s a good sign,” I said, taking a few steps back. Would this work? No idea, but hey, why not give it a shot?

I raised the spear overhead and jabbed it forward at the heart of the Centipede Statue. There was a burst of yellow and red. Another stab, more red than yellow. Another. Another.

I don’t know how many times I stabbed at the altar, but still, the statue held itself together. I tried a multitude of things, lancing the eyes of the dragon, pushing on the statue, throwing the spear at a distance…nothing. There was nothing I could do until…I realized that the runes needed to be targeted, not the large cut of obsidian.

I quickly took the spear in hand and crouched down by the bottom of the statue. The red runes did not like being approached by the spear, but they couldn’t do anything to stop me. They glowed bright red, shimmering so hard I thought it might blind me, but I kept going.

Digging the tip of the spear into the first rune, I pushed down as hard as I could, scraping the mystic symbol. The spear flashed bright yellow and then…my spear turned to ashes.

“What?” I gasped, trying to process what was happening. The spear had been in my hand one moment, but the next I found myself holding onto powdery ash, a blackened soot, that spread everywhere in a noxious cloud.

The statue began to rumble and I could see the yellow energy moving through the rest of the red runes. Their powers were combining together. I gritted my teeth. This was not a positive thing, my gut told me.

“Ahhhh to watch mortals think they understand the nature of reality,” a voice said…it was coming from the dragon’s mouth. “When really you know nothing.”

The dragon statue twisted and turned, ripping itself out of the body of the Centipede. I fell back, narrowly avoiding its long tail whipping around. The statue was half a man’s size but that tail looked damn sharp.

“How are you doing this?” I gasped, sliding back as the tail tried to strike at me again.

“I decided to skip a few rungs on the food chain,” the Carrion King responded as he stretched his new body out. “And to manifest on the material plane. No more whispers and backroom dealings, no more begging for betrayal. Now, thanks to your idiocy, I can just devour hope to grow. Then I will become as strong as the dragon I represent.”

This was too much for me. I had no idea how to fight a statuesque dragon and could feel the fear within me welling up. Despair was present within me, draining me of all substance.

“Oh yes, that is delicious,” the dragon said as it paced around, still getting used to its new body. I could see the stone shedding off of the draconic statue, revealing flesh and blood scales that were dripping wet. “Give unto me all of your fear and despair. I should hope you know that I will spare you, for without your help I never would have been able to steal divine power.”

Dammit. It was the Spear of Storms that was the culprit here. I should have waited for the wizard.

“Go play in your forest,” the Carrion King said. “Dance with your kobolds and get drunk on whatever foul beverage they like to brew. Once I am strong enough, I will be coming for the Forest of Teeth and that wretched power that lives below.”

Power. He meant the dragon. No wonder he took upon the visage of a drake; dragons had been so far the only thing he was afraid of. But not anymore.

“So that’s it then? I’m free to leave?” I asked. “After all this, you don’t want to devour me?”

The creature replied with a laugh and turned around to face me head on. The twin horns of the beast were glistening wet from having just come into being. A smile revealed a hundred razor sharp teeth, all dripping with the green saliva of acidic properties. “Why should I kill you? You have done an excellent job of putting all of my meals in one place. Between that and freeing me, I see no reason to hate you.”

My tattoo began to burn and I glanced down to see a different kind of glowing red. This was not the unholy red power that had writhed all around me as I entered this profane place. No, it was the burning red of an ember, of a fire that was ready to be stoked and brightened.

A deep sense of strength overcame me. The fear and despair vanished the instant I realized that I, too, carried the wiles and wits of a dragon. This creature in front of me wasn’t some conceptual voice, it was a flesh and bone creature. And where there is flesh, there is blood.

At once I found myself lunging forward, towards the beast. He tried to leap to the side but his legs wobbled and his feet were too slick from the viscous fluid dripping from his birth.

In an instant, I was on the creature’s back, mounting it like a horse. Knife in my hand, I let out a draconic roar and dug the blade deep into the back of the creature’s spine. Jhook had taught me how to use a knife and once told me the key to ending a fight quickly was to sever the spine.

“Erg, what in the hell is wrong with you?” The Carrion King shouted as he thrashed left and right. I held on as best I could, using the knife as both a grip and a carving tool. Green blood was pouring out of the wound as I pushed it deeper and deeper before turning the knife to the side so I could cut horizontally. “I give you mercy and you…you…try to kill me?”

“It is no mercy to kill everything a man holds dear,” I replied, the words coming out before I really had a chance to ponder them. Everyone I held dear…the people of Planth. Even the Bodeans. I had spent so much time trying to get back to the Forest that I didn’t really notice how much my attitude towards the outside world had changed.

Yes, I was exhausted by the people, but would I ever abandon them? Not like this. And I certainly wouldn’t give them over to this monster.

We struggled in a fight. I stabbed and slashed over and over again, desperate to find a way to kill it while the Carrion King struggled to get me off of him. He tried slamming his back into the wall a few times, but I had been thrown off of our horse enough times to know how to hold on to some bucking.

“You are a complete and total imbecile!” the Carrion King howled as the body slumped over. I wrestled to roll it over so I could go for the throat, but a pair of claws slashed across my face, filling my eyes with blood.

“Gah!” I shouted, releasing my grip and stumbling back. The blood on the ground burned to the touch while making standing extremely hard.

“Damn you, this body was so hard to create!” a voice said. The voice did not belong to the dragon anymore, rather it was coming from the statue. The dragon was dead. I had somehow managed to kill it, though not fast enough to take the Carrion King with it.

The statue began to glow bright red once more and I could see the stone was slowly warping and changing itself.

“You have done nothing other than buying yourself some time,” he said. “And when I am prepared I shall devour you, one limb at a time. I shall try and preserve your life as long as possible, so that each bite I savor causes you pain beyond anything you have ever felt!”

“Yeah?” I gasped, trying to catch my breath. “Well, I’m going to bring this corpse to Bode and see how many people adopt a taste for dragon. You had one chance and you failed.” I held up my dragon tattoo. “And I have a friend who would love to know all about your plans for his kobold people.”

Chapter 51

I staggered out of the altar room to find the wizard Gabriel sitting on the ground, flipping through a few of his books. Across from him was what remained of Oakanna. She looked as if she had been bitten in half and it was not a clean bite. Her expression was still intact and it was one of supreme terror.

“W-what happened?” I asked.

“I could ask the same of you,” Gabriel replied, looking up at me with a quizzical expression. “You were just supposed to tip a statue over or piss on it, right?”

I was quick to tell the wizard what happened. His expression didn’t change much during this conversation. When I had finished, it was time for his tale.

“Well, when you went down into the underground, Oakanna tried to strike at me with her blade. I threw her into a whirlwind of my own design and held her in the air for a while, researching what kind of spell would kill that which is unkillable and then…well, she died.”

“She died?” I asked.

“Indeed,” the wizard replied as he put one of his books down. “She made some noise, screamed ‘no, no,’ and then was bitten in half by something invisible. My theory is that the Carrion King ate her since she had no chance in hell of winning a fight against me.”

“Why didn’t you come down to help me?” I demanded. “I almost died in there!”

“What do you think all these books are for? I was sending you aid, but I’ll be damned if I go into a claustrophobic space where a nightmarish demigod resides,” he replied. He held up one book and pointed at the title. Victor’s Victorious Vigors.

“You’re saying that burst of strength I felt down there was you?”

“You wrestled a godsdamned dragon,” was the reply. “You really want to take all the credit for that? Ego aside, you’re gonna have a lifetime of people wanting to wrestle with you to prove their own worth.”

“I suppose not. Either way, this was a fruitful mission, because I was able to secure a large amount of meat.”

“The draconic corpse?” Gabriel asked. He hadn’t noticed that I was dragging the body of the dragon along with me. He stood and quickly walked over to it. “I have no idea if an acidic dragon’s meat would be safe to eat.”

“Can you purify it?” I asked. “Use some kind of arcane spell to cleanse the meat?”

Gabriel shook his head no. “Afraid not. I’ve used up a ton of my magic today and frankly, I’m at my limit. Casting spells come with a cost and I am not ready to pay any more.”

That was fair enough. The wizard had done right by me and while I was skeptical to his claims of helping me down below, at the very least he had kept Oakanna at bay.

“So what’s next, oh fearless leader?” Gabriel asked as he packed his books into his mystic bag—this time doing it by hand rather than magic.

“I’m going back to Bode immediately,” I said. “You can help these people once they wake up, maybe tell them to go to Planth.”

“Oh right, about that…” the wizard said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. “I believe Oakanna ascended during our scuffle, because those people are all dead. She sacrificed them to the Carrion King and he devoured their souls in their dreams.”

“It never ends with him…” I sighed.

“Predators never stop. They’re always looking for more, more, more,” the wizard replied, sighing along with me.

We shook hands and departed; he was heading back to Planth and I was on my way to Miles’ Folly, dragon slung over my back.

Dragon meat was sometimes sold on the markets, way back in the old days where Wyrms and Drakes, lesser dragons, were common. Dragons had no qualms about devouring us, so I didn’t feel particularly bad about trying to revive the old practice. In my best years as a hunter I had actually killed a Drake all by myself. That had been quite the adventure.

A snap in the bushes pulled me out of my thoughts. I had been traveling on the main road, the now barren forest to my right. Dropping the corpse, I drew my bow and waited, watching for any kind of movement.

“I know you’re there, step out now or I will take a warning shot,” I said. I had no clue who was there but a bluff like this should work.

“No, don’t shoot!” a woman pleaded as she leapt out from behind a tree. It was none other than Nurse Cassandra. She was wrapped in a black cloak and was covered in mud from head to toe. This wasn’t a messy covering however, rather it seemed to be intentionally-made camouflage.

“Cassandra?” I said, quickly putting my bow away. “Where have you been?”

The woman slowly approached me, keeping her hands up. As she walked near me, I could feel a presence intensify. It was a calming presence, cool and somewhat refreshing as if…as if water were splashed across my face.

I placed my hand on the water flask I kept with me, the one containing the spirit I had been trying to find a safe home for. The babbling brook from the hot spring looked good, but with the Carrion King so close, I couldn’t risk the spirit being devoured.

The spirit wanted the stone within Cassandra, in order to become strong enough to resist the Carrion King’s hunger. Was the stone still strong enough to preserve her? Well there was only one way to tell and I was not interested in testing out my theories on a living being, one way or another.

“Don’t shoot!” she said. “I wasn’t stalking you, I swear!”

I knitted my eyebrows. “You don’t call wearing camouflage and hiding behind trees stalking?”

“No, I’m just…it’s just…” the woman trailed off, her face twisted and wrinkled as she tried to figure out what to say.

“Are you okay?” I asked, making a show that I had no interest in grabbing my bow by reaching a hand out to her. “I can take you back to Planth.”

“NO!” Cassandra yelped. She paused and tried to lower her shaking voice. “I mean, no thank you.”

I crossed my arms. “The hospital didn’t work out?”

“At first it was fine, but they brought a man whose head was busted in severely and I was able to patch him all the way back to full health…and then I find out he had been fist fighting in some kind of gambling endeavor.

“Since word got out about my ability to heal, the people have been reckless. I’ve even seen workers not bothering to secure their lines while working on the gate walls. There is a marked difference between charity and being taken advantage of. When I took this complaint to Silvia, she merely told me that she had more important things to worry about.”

“So you left?”

“Indeed. I camouflaged myself and went looking for you. I figured you’d be able to help me get the people back home in shape.”

I nodded at this. “Indeed, this is something I can do but I am afraid Miss Silvia was on the right track. The Carrion King has grown stronger and will be inhabiting some hideous draconic form soon. We need to find a way to kill it for good.”

The woman paused. “I-I may have an idea. I’m not a freeloader, you know. I’m aware of the dangers happening.”

I raised an eyebrow but said nothing, instead just gesturing for her to go ahead.

Cassandra inhaled deeply and spoke. “We lure him into a trap with myself as the bait. He has come to me a few times, offering anything I wanted in exchange for my loyalty. He didn’t want sacrifices from me, he wanted my powers to heal. If I gave him the word, he had said, all of my magic would be his and then I would be granted any earthly desire I had.”

“He was probably intending on just extracting the stone from you,” I said.

She nodded. “Indeed. I’m not an idiot, but I pretended to be interested. Strung him along for a while but I could sense his growing frustration. The next time I reach out to him, he will try to kill me.”

“You think he’s capable of doing it?”

“Yes. That dragon corpse you’re carrying, it’s a work of his, isn’t it? I can sense the malingering energies of twisted cruelty.”

I nodded and motioned for her to follow me towards Bode. We were still a ways off from the camp and time was still of the utmost value. Oh how I wish Cassandra had borrowed the horse when she fled from Planth.

“He stole divine power from my spear and used it to fashion himself into a dragon,” I said.

“I see,” the healer said. “Forgive me, but I’ve been following you around in these woods, using you as a sort of shadow to hide in. It would seem that the Carrion King can’t multi-task, as he did not sense me once during your exploits. If he’s focusing on a victim, he can only handle one at a time.”

“If you were stalking me, does that mean you saw what my wizard was up to on the surface?” I asked.

“Oh, yes,” she replied, wincing at the words. “You do not trust him?”

“Not a bit,” I said. “He is powerful and confident, two things I don’t like in an ally who changes the truth based on his own objectives.”

“Well, everything happened as he said, though he did drink some brandy and ate half a bread-loaf while using his magic to aid you,” Cassandra said. “And he spoke terribly crass words about you. All of us, actually. He said we can shove—”

I held a hand up. “No reason to retread old ground, I know he’s a jackass elitist.”

It was a relief to know the wizard was still on my side. I hate being so paranoid but the fact was, if he turned rogue we’d have little resources to fight back. And if he were rogue from the beginning then it meant we were in some kind of serious trap.

Trap. The word sprung up in my mind as I pondered the situation. Laying a trap for the Carrion King would be difficult, if not nigh impossible, now that he was wary of me. Perhaps I should have played my cards closer to the vest. Maybe I should have strung him along instead of killing that aspect.

“You want to use yourself as bait,” I said. “But I fear it’s too dangerous of a situation. He has grown in power significantly and even though I defeated his body…he still is some kind of demigod.”

“I could offer to become a host for his spirit,” Cassandra countered. “That was what he had been wanting before.”

I glanced around the road as we walked. “How do we know he isn’t listening to us right now?”

“This stone gives me metaphysical awareness, as the wizard calls it. I can sense his presence and right now, he is nowhere to be found. My guess is he’s licking his wounds in his own demiplane.”

“Yes, I managed to buy us some time,” I said. “I don’t know how much but enough, I suppose, to come up with a plan. If you truly want to be the bait, I won’t stop you. Just know that if we must, I will allow the water spirit to retrieve the stone before you are devoured by the Carrion King.”

“That is why I was following you in the first place.”

Chapter 52

I arrived at Bode as night began to fall. The camp looked awful and the people scattered around were mostly sitting on rocks and tree stumps, their heads propped up by weary hands. There were cages constructed in the middle of the camp where those three men had been moved to. They, too, were sitting on the ground, weary and exhausted.

A scout took notice of me as I approached. “He’s here!” he shouted.

A few people looked up but they didn’t bother to stand. The darkness of the night was concealing the dragon body that I had draped over my shoulders.

“I bring you food,” I said, “but it is a questionable thing to eat. I do not know the effects of eating this meat, so allow the witch to—”

My words were interrupted as the people all began shouting at me, excited to hear the words food and meat in the same sentence. I dropped the dragon in front of the people and they swarmed me from all angles, shoving and pushing to see the dinner I had brought. It was no stag but these people were desperate, so I suppose this was better than starving to death.

“By the great blue dragon,” Lydia said, shaking her head as she went to pull me out of the crowd. “You found a black dragon and killed it? And now you’re going to let others eat it? That’s a sick thing to do.”

“Hey, dragons eat our people all the time, we’re allowed to bite back,” I said. “But don’t worry, this wasn’t some ordinary dragon I found out in the wild. This was created by the Carrion King himself. It was to be his new body tied to the material realm. I managed to kill it before he grew any stronger.”

Lydia raised an eyebrow but said nothing. “I really wish you had consulted me before bringing this thing as ‘food’. If the blue dragon finds out, he will be greatly displeased.”

“Why? You can’t tell me all dragons are best friends. They always have their own realms and I have heard many tales about two dragons fighting to the death over territory.”

“It’s about the image of dragons as a whole. Now that these people see one dragon as a food source, they’ll see all dragons that way.”

“Ah yes,” I said shaking my head, trying to hold down my laugh. “It will be the terrifying new economy where farmers vicious assault dragons twenty times their size.”

“Mock me all you want, but I want no part in eating such meat,” Lydia replied. “I must come up with some way to explain this to the blue one.”

“These dragons don’t share their names with us. Is that intentional or do they have no name?”

Lydia shrugged. “You speak as if I were knowledgeable on all things dragon. I merely follow one because he offered his power and protection. I suppose in turn I will learn but for now, I’m just as clueless as you.”

The feast did not last long, because a few of the guardsmen, now fed and strengthened again, pushed the people away from the meat. Overeating could be a problem and the meat must be made in such a way that it can last for days. We had some cooks able to stretch the meat out by turning into that awful slurry the slaves of the Mushroom folk had eaten.

The people were sated thanks to this intervention. Many of them came to thank me personally, some even going so far as to swear allegiance to me. I tried to tell them no but they all insisted that they were now the Knights of Sir Miles. Perhaps Wesley could actually train these men into actual knights. That would be handy.

As the village began to wind towards sleep, I found myself pacing outside the entrance to the camp, wracking my brains on what to do. Luring the Carrion King was going to be hard; how would I ever trick the being into entering the blue dragon’s territory? No doubt he would sense a trap. And what about the altar? I had tried to destroy it with weaponry but nothing worked. Even trying to tip it over failed.

While I paced back and forth, pondering these things, Chester Bode approached me. The poor man’s face was still beaten up and I could see his wounds were not healing well, but he was able to speak at least.

“How do you fare?” I asked, reaching out to shake the man’s hand.

“Not well,” he said, his voice altered by the fact he was missing a few teeth. That was a shame, as he had once sounded so eloquent. Now he spoke like a backwoods farmer.

He took my hand and shook it, then suddenly, I found myself trapped in his grip. He pulled me forward and before I could do anything, the nobleman struck the side of my head with a stone of his own. I tried to fight back but the blow to my temple was too harsh and I felt the world around me slip into darkness.

“Sorry, sir, but I can’t let my family’s legacy just slip away,” was the last thing I heard before I collapsed entirely.

The world was composed of shadows and silver. I drifted through madness and cruelty, hearing the sounds of a thousand men and women fighting for their lives. Some were screaming incoherently, while others were shouting praises and curses to the gods.

As I fell through the shadows, something touched my body, though I couldn’t see or tell what it was. Was I unconscious? Or did I die? It would be somewhat of a shame to have died to a rock, considering how many other things I had been fighting these days. Hell, I’d prefer one of the dragons to eat me as opposed to a feathersnake noble beating in the side of my head with a stone.

The thought of the dragon caused the silvering world around me to shimmer. As if the thought conjured them, I could see something on the edge of the shadows—a pair of horns. The headplate of a dragon forming, perhaps from my imagination.

“Where am I?” I cried out.

“A demiplane,” a voice replied, though it was not the voice I had expected at all. It belonged to the red dragon, that I could tell easily enough.

“How do I get out of this?” I asked as I continued falling.

“You don’t,” the dragon replied. “You are falling through a realm of unconscious thought. Soon you will awaken and forget most of what you see. Though I have decided to manifest in your mind so that you may know something crucial.”

“Then tell me, please,” I said, grabbing onto the hope that was being offered. That was all I needed, something to hold onto as I was clearly flirting with death.

“You must accept me as your master first,” the dragon said plainly. “I cannot give my power over to those who are not beholden to me.”

I frowned at this. “Are you seriously trying to impersonate a dragon?” I shouted at the silver void. “You think me to be this stupid?”

There was silence for a moment before I could hear a snarl followed by the raspy whisper of the Carrion King. “How can you figure this out so quickly?”

“Your greed and ambition pushes you to demand what you want immediately,” I replied, laughing at this creature’s foolishness. “You know nothing of how to impersonate something of true power, because you are just a bug.”

“You taunt me, yet you have no idea where you are.”

“This shadow void? This is just my dreams. No doubt I will be sacrificed by the noble, so I do not fear anything within this dark plane,” I said.

“If you are aware of the man’s intentions, why do you not beg me for aid? Just say the word and I will happily accept him as the sacrifice. He is anxious and unsure, doing this mostly out of fear and obligation to his family’s name. You? You would be doing this purely to survive and your certainty would taste like the finest of wines,” the Carrion King replied.

There was something off about the Carrion King’s words. Yes they were full of temptation but they seemed uncertain. Almost as if he were worried about me. Perhaps killing his corporeal form had done more damage to him than he let on. If that were the case, he’d rush to gain as much power as possible by dealing with the one person who wasn’t afraid of him in the least.

“Tell you what,” I said. “You remanifest on the material plane and we will take up arms like gentlemen. One against one, let the strongest and the boldest walk away while the other fades into nothing, much like this shadowed and silvered place.”

Silence fell upon us and it felt contemptuous and impotent. Fear was in this being’s heart and I could almost taste it. Elation came to me as I realized how strong I was compared to the Carrion King. Perhaps I could even absorb him, if I knew the mystic process. Why destroy an enemy when you could just subsume them?

“You are thinking of devouring the likes of me?” the king barked, incensed by my thoughts. “How egotistical. You are nothing in the grand scheme of things. A tiny little speck. You would never survive absorbing even a fraction of my power!”

“If I am a speck, then you are a mote,” I replied dryly. “And I fear you no longer. When I wake, I shall free myself from the nobleman’s grasps and kill you in the slowest and most painful way possible.”

My strength of heart caused the shadows around me to push back, as if I had raised a lantern high. Light formed around my whole body, radiating in a glorious luminescence that revealed what had been around me this entire time.

The Centipede body of the king was circling around me, forming an endless seal that was meant to keep me in place. While the body was bloated and disgusting, it elicited no fear. Instead, I found myself trying to pull a weapon out. Perhaps I could summon the Spear of Storms in this strange place.

“No!” the voice shouted.

I went to taunt him more but at once, I woke up.

“Whew,” I said, letting out a gasp of air. “That was close.”

“Don’t get too excited,” Silvia said from behind me. “Whatever you were dreaming about is nothing compared to what’s about to happen.”

Chapter 53

I was tied to a long stake in the ground. On the other side of the pole was Silvia, tied and bound the same as I. We were atop what looked to be a funeral pyre, with tree branches and leaves scattered about to make the kindling.

“For a moment I thought you were behind all of this,” I said, groaning as the very real pain of being rocked by a rock set in. The side of my head was bleeding.

“As I worried you had gone rogue too,” she replied. “Chester Bode sent me some letters indicating your odd behavior and I was growing worried that something was tempting you to darker deeds. He said something about you trying to kill the villagers?”

“Manipulations, through and through,” I said with a sigh. Was this really how it was going to end for us? Betrayed by a man we both stuck our necks out for?

“Ah, I see,” Silvia said. She fell silent for a few minutes.

I glanced around to see where we were. It was a clearing in the woods, though which woods I was unsure. The trees were vibrant and alive, so that ruled out the Mushroom Woods. Perhaps we were in the forest that was further north. It would make sense to bring us here.

“He couldn’t have acted alone,” I said. “Getting our bodies transported must have taken a few people in cahoots with him.”

“Who knows? Anyone would do anything for a meal these days. Planth’s food stores were wiped out from vermin and people were getting desperate. There is no end to the amount of people the Carrion King could whisper to.”

“He desires more than mere men and women,” I said. “He hungers for Nons like me. But lately he wants me to serve him. I wonder why.”

“Because he is a parasite, trying to attach himself to something vastly greater than he, all so he can enjoy the fruits of your labors,” Silvia said with a sigh. “Just like any courtier in my old castle. Even good friends can’t resist the urge to acquire power through friendship.”

“I’d be hard pressed to call what happened to me as an attempt to make friends,” I said. My wrists were sore, but I found rubbing my hands back and forth gave me just a little bit of leeway. This was a good thing, I think. If I could just get my hands free…

“Stop pulling on the rope,” Silvia groaned. “You’re hurting me.”

“Oh, excuse me, Your Highness, I suppose I will wait until the far less painful burning fire is lit beneath us.”

“Har har,” she grumbled. “You know, for a minute I really, truly believed we were going to make it. Planth was going to establish itself as a survivor colony and we’d be able to expand enough to take in anyone who needed aid.”

“Finding some cattle would have been pretty much the last step we needed,” I said, wrestling with the rope more.

As I pulled the rope, it resisted, digging deeper into my wrists and eliciting yelps and ‘ows’ from the mayor. Pulling as hard as I could cut off circulation in my hands and I had to give up after a few minutes of working, as things were starting to grow numb.

“Any luck?”

“We have to work together on this,” I instructed. “If I pull my arms forward, the rope digs into my wrists. But if you start pulling first, we can put too much stress on the rope.”

“They bound us with several pieces of cord,” Silvia said. “I highly doubt your incredibly normal human strength will tear through the rope.”

“Come on, Silvia, you gotta at least try. No reason to give up now,” I coached. “We can do this.”

There was a long sigh from the ex-princess but I could feel the rope slacking on my end as she started pulling from her side. We were bound together! Perfect.

“Hard as you can,” I said, pulling the rope back my way too. “Hard as you can, come on!”

We both strained and yelped as we pulled the ropes in two directions at once, the pain burning in my wrists as I yanked with all of my might.

“Gah!” Silvia gasped, stopping her attempts to pull herself free. This had the effect of forcing my wrists right back to where they were. The rope had not budged an inch. “Sorry, sorry, I’m just a fourteen year old girl. I don’t have the arms of a gorilla like you.”

“It’s fine,” I said, sighing as I released my own grip on the ropes, allowing them to bind me closer to the pole. I think some blood was dripping down my arms, though I couldn’t tell.

“Miles, I will say that I admire your spirit, “Silvia said. “You have been a hero to me and the people of Planth. But even heroes have their limit in the new world. I am not disappointed in you, please know that.”

“Thank you,” I said. “But my goal isn’t to be a hero, it’s to get back to my damned forest and get all of you people to stop whining about everything. Every last thing I have done for you and Planth has been an attempt to just make you all stop fussing and leave me alone.”

“Ah, I see. Well, now that I know that about you, I guess we’ll never stop bugging you,” Silvia said with a laugh.

I laughed too, for a moment, as I tried to wriggle my wrists in some new way. Whoever had bound these had done a good job. The only way we could move was slightly up and down, since we were on a pole.

“Where is he?” I asked, looking out for any sight of Chester.

“Gathering more sacrifices,” she said. “Jhook and Sir Wesley are on his list as well. He’s going to have a harder time taking them down but I think he can pull it off.”

“Sounds a bit greedy to have us and still want more,” I said, adjusting my stance. Maybe I could climb upwards somehow, using my legs to grab the pole from behind…no, that just made me fall forward and hang off the ropes a little.

“More like he’s covering his bases. Those two will come at him with fire and fury the moment they find out what is going on, so he has to take care of them one way or another,” Silvia said.

I squatted a little and found something interesting. As I sank down, the rope slid down with me. Even though it had been firmly affixed to prevent going up, going down wasn’t so difficult.

“Hey, stop, my back doesn’t work that way,” Silvia fussed.

“Shut up and squat down,” I said, pushing my way further down into the funeral pyre. We weren’t suspended by the pole, we had been propped up from the sticks and logs that made up the fire. If we could get down to the bottom…

“Great, now we’re in the pyre,” Silvia fussed. “My hair’s getting all sorts of twigs in it. Is your plan to make us die faster?”

“No, we’ll hide in the pyre and when he gets here, he’ll think we fled and run into the woods immediately,” I said.

“That’s brilliant!” Silvia said, her voice full of hope and excitement.

“Er, I was just mouthing off to you, my plan involves trying to uproot the pole itself.”

“Oh…” the mayor said. She fell silent after that and I could almost feel her embarrassment.

I had more important things to worry about, like getting the hell out of here. I dug downwards further and further, pulling the rope down with me. Silvia began working with me and we struggled to get lower and lower into the pyre until, finally, we made it to the actual ground.

“Okay, now hang on, this might break your arms, so I’m sorry about that,” I said.

“Oh gods, this day just keeps getting worse,” she groaned.

Ignoring her comment, I sat down as best I could, leaning against the pole hard as possible. It creaked and shuddered for a moment as I began to throw my back into the wood, over and over again. The ground was starting to come up, dirt and grass separating with each push.

I went lower, deep as possible to get underneath the pole. Come on, come on!

The pole creaked and cracked as I continued to muscle my way against it. Having stable ground gave me the extra force I needed and I could hear it continuing to groan.

“Silvia, pick up your legs and just hang free,” I said. “No matter what, do not touch the ground.”

The woman yapped something about her body weight, but I ignored it. Any weight would help here.

I kept ramming myself against the pole, over and over until finally, finally there was a loud cracking sound below us.

“Ahhhh,” Silvia gasped. “This is hurting me.”

“Broken arms or bust,” I said. “Sorry. Just hang on for one more minute…”

I planted both feet in the ground and sank as low as I could go. Taking a deep breath, I let out a shout as I leapt backwards with all of my might, causing the entire pole to snap and fall forward onto Silvia.

“Oh shit!” the woman cried as I desperately tried to roll but it was too late. She was crushed beneath the pole and I heard some snapping.

With the pole broken in half, I was free to slide the rope down and out, freeing us both from the object. Silvia was on her face, the rope still binding her to me, though we had some leeway to move about now.

“I have never felt so much pain,” she whimpered.

“Yeah, sorry about that,” I said. “But you took it like a champ.”

“I’ll say!” a weary voice said from afar. It was the wizard Gabriel! “I was just about to cast a spell to get you two out of those binds.”

“Oh you have got to be kidding me,” Silvia groaned.

Chapter 54

“There, that should do it,” I said as I adjusted the tourniquet around Silvia’s arm. It wasn’t a great solution but we’d find Cassandra at some point…wait.

“Where’s Cassandra?” I asked. She had some plans about trapping the Centipede King but had refused to share them with me. Rather, she just wanted to know if I would recognize the opportunity to fight him. I had said yes, of course, but what she had meant was anyone’s guess.

“Oh yes, bring her,” Silvia groaned. “She’ll make my arm face the right direction again.”

Gabriel shrugged. “No clue. She wasn’t with Chester. Who, by the way, you two should be thanking for the rescue. If I hadn’t got here in time, those Bodean bastards would have cooked you alive!”

“The hell are you talking about?” I asked.

“Fuck, this was a distraction,” Silvia said, doing the math almost instantly. I was too slow to court intrigue to know what was happening but she explained it quickly enough. “They’re going after Cassandra and Lydia. Those are two of the most powerful members of the group and they’re also the most vulnerable.”

“Well, seeing how Chester and Lydia were talking together, I think that’s a bit of a reach,” Gabriel said.

“No, you imbecile! You’ve been played. The nobleman didn’t need to kill us, he just needed to distract us while he acquired the power that would make him strong enough to…to what? Devour us for himself? Sacrifice us in some specific manner?”

“The Carrion King fears me,” I said. “I don’t know if I can be sacrificed with just a parroted phrase to the heavens.”

Gabriel frowned. “Chester had told me that you two were on the road and were attacked by Bodeans who had been lying in wait. He had already been thrown out of the city and rushed down to Planth to warn us. So naturally I made my way here as quick as I could…”

“Dammit…” I said, curling my hands into fists. “That means they’re likely already dead. Fuck it all. We had been working so hard and…now it’s just…”

I trailed off, unable to think or even speak. Anger, white hot anger overtook me in an instant and I didn’t feel rational any longer. All I felt was hatred. A burning hatred for the enemy, for this Carrion King. My feelings towards him had long been one of loathing, but now I was becoming consumed with the flames of revenge. This creature, the so-called demigod, was not omnipotent and I was going to prove it.

The rage flowing through me, I reached my right hand out and thundered. “Spear of Storms, return to me!”

A lightning bolt from the heavens came crashing down, striking me in my open palm, creating the spear once more. The world above us rumbled as if the gods had long been waiting for this moment.

“Hot damn,” the wizard said. “Looks like someone’s pissed. But we need to think rationally here. The Carrion King is—”

“Look after Silvia,” I said, turning around. “I’m going to Planth to kill Chester and then? Then I’m going to kill the Carrion King in his own realm.” I looked down at my glowing claw tattoo. “And I think I know how to open it.”

“May the winds forever carry you forward!” the wizard shouted, his voice echoing a little as gusts of winds struck me in the back. The breeze was surprisingly strong and I was shoved forward by it. I began to run and the breeze followed me, pushing me further and further.

I was running like the wind; the wizard’s spell had given me the speed to move faster than I ever thought possible. The road flew beneath me as I charged towards the colony, ready to find the noble bastard who had sold us all out.

The world flashed beneath me and in an instant, I was standing in Planth. The colony was looking good, with its walls unbreeched and the gates still functional. Still, it was faster to just climb up the watchtowers than it was to wait for them to open the gates—doubly so with the wind spell at my back.

From the watchtower I could see just about everything. The world below seemed at peace. People were working their trades, children were running around and playing, men were working hard at building wall reinforcements; everything seemed fine.

“Woah!” Brandt said, leaping to the side of me. “Miles?”

I glanced to the right of me and shook my head. It had been forever since I had seen Brandt and he barely recognized me. “Chester, is he here in town?”

“The noble guy? I saw him and the witch in the townhall earlier,” he said with a shrug. “How have you been?”

I said nothing as I leapt down the watchtower and rushed to Silvia’s place of business.

The townhall had been recently renovated to include a long table that could seat about twenty people. Sitting at the head was none other than Chester…with Lydia and Cassandra. Everyone was healthy and alive. In fact, they were eating dinner together.

“Stop!” I shouted, running atop the table and charging straight at Chester. “Your food is poisoned!”

“Bah, the cooks here aren’t that bold,” Lydia said. “And it takes a great deal of poison to bother a witch’s stomach.”

Chester held his hands up to slow me, but that did nothing as I rushed him and delivered a nice, hard kick to his face. Teeth flew as he flipped back over his chair and onto the ground.

“Woah there!” Cassandra said, quickly getting between us. “Miles, what’s gotten into you?”

“He seems to be raging, perhaps it’s a spell effect that idiot wizard placed on him,” Lydia said, waving a hand in front of me. Cool energies touched me but I resisted them, my mind forcing any thoughts of peace and calm away from me.

“He assaulted me and tied me to a stake. He took Silvia too,” I said, gasping for breath. Sweat was pouring down my head and things were beginning to spin. What in the hell was going on?

“Nonsense,” Lydia said. “You passed out from malnourishment since you hadn’t eaten in days. Fighting that drake took a lot out of you. We left you to rest.”

“No, I was attacked by Chester with a stone. He took me out and when I awoke, I was tied to a stake,” I said, shaking my head. “I remember it clear as day.”

“Ow, how hard is it for me to keep these teeth,” Chester bemoaned. He was still on the ground, hands up to indicate he wasn’t doing anything. “Miles, you are hallucinating. I did nothing of the sort. Why would I ever attack a man who can kill you from one-hundred feet away? If anything, I would have at least finished the job.”

“You were working with the Caterpillar King…I mean Carrion King,” I said, wiping the sweat from my face. The ground beneath me was rocking left and right. My head was swirling with chaos. Things weren’t making sense. What the hell was happening to me? Was I going mad?

“Never would I have done such a thing!” the noble insisted. “And besides, if that were the case I’d just sacrifice all those whiners back at New Bode. Especially the ones who attack me.”

I turned my head towards Cassandra, who was still standing between us. She looked concerned as well. “Can you heal my mind? I think I’m going mad.”

Tears were streaming down her face as she shook her head. “I’m afraid not.”

I went to say something else but Lydia raised her hand up to me and blew, sending a torrent of sparkling dust towards me. Before I could do anything, the dust covered my face and forced me to breathe it in. The world began to spin around once more and I felt the familiar call to unconsciousness. My rage burned harder and I backhanded Lydia before reaching down to grab the noble. He had betrayed me…this was all his fault…

Chapter 55

“You know where to go,” a voice whispered in my ear as I fell through the darkness once more. I had been unconscious for only a moment but upon opening my eyes again, I was in an entirely different realm. It was the shadow plane I had been in before.

I was still falling, falling down into the silvery world beneath me. “You know where to go,” the voice said once more. It was neutral, neither male nor female. What the hell did it mean?

My right hand was burning. The claw? I glanced over to see the Spear of Storms was with me. It followed me into my dreams? Or was this…something more?

“What do you mean?” I asked, trying to navigate the world of silver shades, looking for something to hold onto. I tried stabbing at the darkness with my spear, but that did nothing.

“Your rage burns. It has become your torch. You know where to go, raise the torch. Raise it and find what you have been searching for.”

The noble. This was once again about Chester…wait, wait. What was I thinking? Chester was a posh upperclassman who was no threat to me or really anyone. Why would he be doing all of this to me? And more importantly, how would he do anything without magic?

The Carrion King. That’s who was behind all of this. Somehow.

As I thought the words, my descent began to slow down. The world stopped passing by me so quickly and I found myself able to steer my fall. Yes, that’s right. The Carrion King was the enemy here. And this place was its realm?

That thought created a bridge beneath me. It was a silver, shimmering path that led to a circle in the distance. I softly landed on the path and let out a deep breath. My rage was still great but my head was growing clearer. The Spear in my hand was a true weapon of the gods. It may not have worked in the physical plane, but this place? Who knows?

Something caught my eye. A disruption in the shimmering bridge. Kneeling down, I could see a dozen tiny footprints atop the bridge, veering off, away from the circle.

“Time for a hunt,” I said, grinning as I looked at the Spear. “You are not fit for a mighty hunter. Become unto me as that which weapon is always closest to my heart.”

With a flash, the Spear became a bow made of electricity. Holding it felt…not painful but busy, as if I had grabbed a beehive that was full of activity. Arrows appeared within the bow itself any time I reached for the string. I had no need for a quiver.

“Now it’s a real hunt,” I said, dropping down into stance. The tracks would lead me to my quarry. And perhaps it would be an ambush.

I walked through the shadow plane, one step after the other, sometimes walking off the bridge with the full confidence that I was not going to fall. This place seemed to respond to intention and will more than anything and with enough focus, I could build a bridge straight to where the Carrion King was hiding.

I do not know how long it took me to reach the great suspended circle at the end of the bridge, but I do know I went in a circuitous path, following my prey’s footsteps as carefully as possible. All the while, I covered my own tracks by sheer intention alone.

There was a loud hum emanating from the circle as I approached it. The circle was about the size of a wagon, spinning rapidly and glowing with a faint red color. My own tattoo burned in the presence of this red door. Instinctively, I reached my finger out and touched the circle, cutting into it as if it were a tarp.

This caused the flaps to open up, revealing a wretched hell of bones, corpses and shrieks. The scent was hideous, but I ignored such things. The hunter could not afford a distraction when on the hunt, especially when the prey was intelligent and deadly.

Taking a deep breath, I slipped through the portal to find myself in a red hell. I mean this quite literally. The sky was burning red and there were dark pillars all around, made of the most twisted bones and skulls. Geysers of flames erupted from the ground and everywhere I looked there were dead bodies, most of them pilloried to these columns.

One body I recognized, Oakanna. She was writhing in agony but did not seem to see me. None of them did.

I quickly turned my attention back to the hunt. This world was clearly where the Carrion King had been hiding, and now that I was in his realm, he was dead. It was just a matter of tracking him down, following his careless footsteps that took me in a straight line through this red hell.

The plan had always been to lure him out and fight him in the material plane. I had never thought I’d be able to breach through the planes and find my way to him. But here I was, ready to do whatever it took to finally put an end to this monstrosity.

My chest throbbed a little, but I think that was just nerves. My rage was great but I wasn’t blind. The features of this land were horrific and made my skin crawl. Moving up a hill of bones that were all moving and whispering had unnerved me greatly, at least until I looked down at my bow.

“Accept this sacrifice!” someone said, their voice echoing throughout the entire realm as if they were a giant. It was coming from above, below and the sides of me, like someone was shouting down a well and I were at the bottom. “Take the woman Cassandra and her power stone!”

My eyes went wide at that. No! Whatever madness was going on back home, it hadn’t stopped with me. I had to intercept the king before…

A portal opened up not too far from me, showing Cassandra, bound and gagged, on an altar.

“No…” a voice said. It was the Carrion King’s but it sounded afraid and hesitant. “I can’t…”

“Lydia shall also serve as a sacrifice, though she will give herself willingly to gain your power!” the voice continued. It was Chester. That bastard was so dead after this. Or perhaps I’d find a way to trap him in this hell for all eternity.

“Stop! Stop!” the Carrion King called out. I spun around towards the source of the voice to see the enormous, grotesque centipede body lunging its way forward. The king was up on his back legs, fighting hard to grab onto pillars, but he couldn’t stop.

The sacrifices! He was bound to take them, meaning he was an open target for me. That idiot had inadvertently exposed his cruel master. Well, now was time for the king to be dethroned—for good.

Chapter 56

The Carrion King towered above me, nearly 20 feet in height and 30 feet in length. Yet, despite the size difference, I was ecstatic. This demon had finally surfaced after an endless amount of fighting. The tempter was now being tempted and was unable to stop himself.

I raised my bow and aimed the lightning weapon right at his torso. “So after all this time, it was you who was hiding from me!” I shouted, firing a blast of electrical power right into the creature. A chunk of flesh tore off and black blood oozed from the wound.

The Carrion King shook left and right, wobbling and shaking as it was still being dragged towards the portal. “You think that you can just waltz in with a divine weapon and kill me? I am the King of this realm. A king has many servants! I shall devour those two and return with even greater power!”

As he spoke, piles and piles of bones began to rattle and shake, each piece of a skeleton frame floating and binding itself to others, forming grotesque and monstrous skeletal warriors, some twice my size.

One of the big skeletons came charging at me, his body composed of mostly other skeletons. He was a round being, the bones all packed together tightly, allowing him to crash right into my body, throwing me backwards.

I managed to recover from the fall quickly and fired a few shots at the skeleton’s legs, disabling it instantly. However, dozens of skeletons popped out of the ruined mass and formed new skeletal forms wielding axes and swords.

“Oh come on,” I groaned, shooting arrow after arrow at these things, focusing on their torso, as the divine light was enough to kill them in a single shot.

From above a skeletal pterodactyl of some kind came swooping down on me, but little did it know that this was my salvation. As it dive bombed, a dozen of the skeletons came rushing forward at me. I was able to leap up and seize the rib of the flying skeleton.

The beast did not appreciate being grabbed and tried to peck at me, but could do nothing other than lift me up, as I was scrambling and scaling up the creature’s back. Once atop it, I was able to fire bolt after bolt at the skeletal folks, cutting through their numbers.

My electrical bursts swept through the atmosphere, taking down a great deal of the skeletons, slowing down their numbers considerably. More and more kept popping up, however, and I was growing frustrated with how many there were.

“How can one being have so many skeletons?” I shouted. There was no reply. The Carrion King was being grabbed by his own skeletons, as he had ordered them to pin him down. His body, however, kept fighting them off and he shook each one off, skeleton by skeleton.

The pterodactyl decided to take a dive straight into the ground, forcing me to leap to the side in order to avoid smashing into the ground with it. The bones exploded into a swarm of tiny little skeleton fighters that came rushing at me, though they had no weapons.

I ignored them and kept up with the Carrion King, shooting bolt after bolt of lightning at him, each blow taking off more armor.

Something seized my legs, however, and I looked down to see a half-skeleton, holding me as other arms were coming up out of the ground to grab hold of me. I wrestled against these things but they were far stronger than I, probably because they were rooted to the ground. This didn’t mean I was helpless, however.

“Gabriel!” I shouted at the top of my lungs. “Get off your ass and destroy these undead monstrosities!”

A mighty whirlwind appeared in response to this call and many walking corpses and skeletal frames were grabbed from the ground and yanked into the air. Bones and bodies went flying everywhere, including the one that had grabbed hold of me.

I rushed towards the Carrion King, firing more shots, this time aiming at his legs. This turned out to be a bad idea, since the centipede form he was in had hundreds of them and didn’t seem to care when one or two dozen were lost. Still, the shots were causing him pain.

“You think you’re going to win this?” he barked at me as I shot him in the back, my electrical arrow breaking the rest of his torso’s armor. “I have a million names, a million forms! You may slay this body but I will return!”

“The chances of my wizard friend not trapping your spirit in a bottle are rather low,” I replied as I rushed to the portal and skidded to a halt so I could stand in front of it. “Although I suppose he’d have to beat the witch first, for she is undoubtedly going to bind you to some item of hers.”

The King loomed above me, still marching forward, though he had managed to grab onto two pillars that slowed him down considerably. Shot after shot was dealing damage, but I wasn’t killing him. Shooting his head proved to do little as well.

He drew closer and I decided to take a riskier approach. The skin was tough and my arrows were mostly doing surface damage. They were strong enough to rip the plating off, but I wasn’t getting any deep shots. It looks like I’d have to finish this out like a hog hunt.

“Return to your form so I may end this abomination!” I shouted, raising my bow high. Two bolts of lightning from above broke through the sky, striking my bow. At once, I had a spear again.

The Carrion King laughed and bobbed his head left and right, readying for the attack. “You’d truly assault a demon with a measly spear?”

“No,” I said. “I’d kill a demon with a measly spear.”

With that I rushed forward, fast as I could. Wind was behind me once more and I could feel the energy of mystic power rushing through my bones. All it would take is one good hit and this would all be over.

I leapt. He thrashed his tail to strike me, but was too slow. Being forced to march forward threw off his gait and I successfully made it to his torso, spear gripped in both hands. I let out a roar, a primal release of all the rage I had been storing up over the last day and plunged the weapon deep, deep into the Carrion King’s body.

The divine energy flashed and radiated, coursing through the entire body of the Carrion King. He fell over, shuddering and shivering as my blow crashed all the way through him. Unfortunately I was entangled by his many legs and found myself on the ground as well, being wrestled with as he tried to tear me apart in his last moments.

At first, I felt extreme pain, but then I realized something. I was asleep during all of this. My physical body was still inside the town hall. What I felt as pain was just my mind reacting to what it believed was real.

This caused the pain to fade entirely. I stood up and gave the Carrion King a few sturdy kicks as it continuously released bursts of energy from its chest. Other wounds were appearing and like a bug, he shriveled up into nothing more than an empty carcass.

Would he ever come back to life? I didn’t know, but frankly that wasn’t my department. And so, I stepped on the corpse and crushed it, hard as I could, grinding my heel against the ground. The world around me began to shake and shimmer; with the creator of this demiplane now gone, everything was rapidly destabilizing.

“Now how the hell do I wake up?” I asked. “And this whole thing better not have been just a dream.”

Chapter 57

My eyes opened and I was relieved to see that everyone was still safe. The pain in my head was throbbing, but not nearly as bad as my chest. There were no wounds on my body; still I felt like crap.

Cassandra was standing over me, carefully moving her hands left and right. “Easy there,” she whispered. “You’ve just been through hell.”

“Quite literally,” I replied with a laugh. The laugh caused my ribs to burst into flames, or at least that’s how it felt and I wheezed. “Oh I shouldn’t have done that.”

“Someone tell him before he kills me!” the voice of none other than Chester Bode said. He was standing on the other side of the table, cowering and holding his jaw. Was I still in the townhall? I guess so.

My fist clenched upon seeing him, but the pain in my chest reminded me I was fragile right now. I’d have to kick his ass later.

“Let me handle it,” Silvia said. She was sitting beside me on the long table, looking down with a great deal of satisfaction.

“How’d you get here so quickly?”

“We weren’t that far from the village, in truth. The Mushroom woods are growing back into a healthy forest, ever since Oakanna died,” she explained.

“What is going on?” I growled. “I have no idea what has been happening the last few days.”

Silvia laughed. “Well, I suppose that is all my fault. Miles, the Carrion King is a very powerful creature, but you quickly became the prized pig. He wanted you more than anything. So much so, he couldn’t stop whispering in anyone’s ears. He would literally grant anything to have you in his possession, for you loathe him so deeply.

“So I decided to take advantage of the situation. Simply put, I tricked him by running a rather complicated scam. One you had no idea was taking place,” she explained, putting a hand on my chest and patting me. “You’re a serious man, but not terribly savvy when it comes to complicated things, so I figured it best to keep you out of the loop. In fact, I decided to force you into a deep state of confusion by having a few actors here assist me in messing with you.”

“Why? That seems risky and ill-advised. I almost killed the nobleman.”

“Yes, we should have thought that through a little more,” she agreed. “But I was working with what I had.”

I sighed at this and laid my head back, coughing a little. “I have no clue what the hell was going on back there. I was tied to a stake for no reason?”

“Not for no reason, we had to show that the nobleman was betraying you. The Carrion King’s not an idiot, he won’t agree to come out if the traitor isn’t really betraying anyone. One thing I noted in that foul being’s approach was to mention how deeply he savored the taste of the betrayed’s emotions. As if that was the primary focus. So…we had you betrayed by seemingly several people in order to overload the King’s senses.””

“Effectively camouflaging Chester’s attempts to sacrifice us.”

“Indeed, seeing us on that funeral pyre gave the Carrion King all he needed to know the sacrifice would be legitimate,” Silvia said.

“And later, with Cassandra and Lydia being ‘offered,’ it seemed sincere since I was still feeling betrayal at seeing those two in harm’s way,” I said.

“Exactly. I’m sorry but the entirety of the plan mostly involved us confusing the hell out of you and moving the Carrion King into a state of vulnerability. With Lydia’s planar powder and your burning rage…well, we hoped you’d make it through the shadow realm and into the demon’s personal hell,” Silvia said, patting me once more. “And I am sorry for the head trauma, that was a bit of a desperate move.”

“Oh don’t worry about it,” I said. “I will be taking my revenge on all of you as soon as possible. After I sleep for the next year, that is.”

Epilogue

The tack, tack, tack of the hammer striking stone had become like music to my ears. I stood upon the second rock wall, gazing at what was soon to be the third and final wall. This would turn New Bode into a fully defended fortress, able to keep any kinds of raiders out for an indefinite amount of time.

With the blue dragon having been given his due, he had been true to his word and created a beautiful ocean front where the waters were teeming with life. The water spirit had requested to be placed in this realm, allowing her to bond with currents and become as the tides themselves, aiding and protecting those who sailed with pure hearts.

Bodeans gathered fish. Fish were cut and dried, being sent down to Planth in exchange for wood, which was necessary for housing and ship-building. The Planthians continued to grow their colony, expanding towards the newly named Sylvan Forest. The colony seemed to grow in number every day, getting bigger and bigger as people from the south started to pour in.

My forest ended up becoming packed with survivors trying to make it, and I found a great amount of work by guiding the people out of the Forest of Teeth and into Planth without anyone getting killed. Working as a guide was something I had done, back in the old days, so I suppose this was a positive income.

With Planth well taken care of, I was free to mostly wander as I pleased. But going back to the forest seemed a little less satisfying, especially as the kobolds continued to slay the monsters that were growing thinner and thinner over time. The Carrion King’s presence brought a lot of evil to this land, and now with him defeated, the forces of darkness were losing their grasp on the forest.

“There you are,” Silvia said, looking up the tree to spot me. She had been searching the woods for me for quite a while and I had made a game of hiding from her as she searched. It was sweet payback for all the times she had me running around the land, trying to save her people in any way possible.

“Fifteen minutes,” I said. “Not bad. You’re almost a hunter.”

“Har har,” she said, trying her best to climb up the tree before I tossed her a vine. The mayor clambered up and accepted my hand as I helped her get situated. While my life had gone back into easy mode, this poor woman’s work only seemed to get harder and harder.

I could tell she had not slept in some time. Dark circles ran down her eyes and they were bloodshot too. “How do you fare?”

“Not well,” she said. “We’ve had a lot of people coming in from the south. They say Planth is the safest place in the world and I don’t think that’s really a false impression but…we need allies. I received a letter from one of the survivors from the south, from the kingdom of Enigo, to be exact. It’s requesting that you, of all people, have an audience with the almighty King of Enigo.”

“Is there pay attached to the letter or is it a demand?” I asked.

Silvia shrugged. “I have no idea, in truth. But I do know that most of the people have only fair things to say about this king. I want to bring a royal greeting party to meet him and formally introduce my own kingdom, but…I have no idea who this man really is.”

“You want me to be your diplomat?” I asked.

“No, I want you to get my diplomats to him in one piece. They say there is a massive forest biome that is black as the night sky. The trees light up as stars during the night and during the day, cruel and hungering giants walk the roads. It is a place of terror, danger and wonder.”

“Wonder?”

“Oh yes, for this tree is home to what they call Star Elves. Elven folk who shine like the heavens and radiate all manner of magic. You’re a forest dweller, so they might find you as kin. What do you say?”