by Ryan DeBruyn
“Azoth could just go tear robies in half! Azoth not see anything happen… Azoth waiting… Azoth is bored…”
Honestly, by the end, she barely heard the childish antics as the mental pressure of what she was doing built. The problem was that she had to dig the pit deep enough that when she initiated the collapse, the Necromancers had a really high chance of dying from the fall. She, of course, planned to collapse the pit on top of them to add to that surety of their death, but if it wasn’t deep enough, she might only bury the somewhat undead creatures, which she wasn’t entirely certain would kill them.
It took a long time, but once the pit was about one hundred feet deep and ended in very hard and jagged rocks, she felt she had finally accomplished the feat. Unfortunately, when she tried to begin the collapse, a spike of pure pain nearly made her cry out, and holding in that impulse made her fall flat on her face. Azoth pranced around her looking worried. “Sela okay? Nothing happens Sela!”
I am definitely going to slap him when I can move.
Once he was beside her, she dragged herself towards him as he knelt down to sniff at her. “Sela smells of sweat and exhaustion, but Sela do nothing?” Luckily, he was kneeling down, so she vindictively took hold of his fur and feathers in each of her hands and began dragging herself on to his back. The flinch he made when she pulled his feathers and hair was immensely satisfying.
“Azoth, could you please divebomb the pentagram and then fly us back to the Territory as fast as you can?” Sela mentally panted in a sickly-sweet voice. When the pentagram broke, it would unleash the built-up storm, and if they didn’t hurry back to the Territory, it was going to end badly. With leaden arms, she tied herself into the saddle, using the same contraption Rocky had utilized during the hell hike to the Territory. Her muscles felt like mush, and her hands were numb on the ropes, but she managed it. Then she was pressed into the Chimera’s back as he launched into the air.
“Azoth tell Sela he could just land on them!” he mentally returned, and Sela grabbed a handful of feathers a little harder as she clenched her fists in an apoplectic fit at him. He flinched and maybe finally got the message because he did shut up.
Once they reached about one hundred meters, Azoth folded his wings and dropped directly into the center of the pentagram, only opening his wings at the last minute to make the landing manageable on his four powerful legs. The landing knocked the breath out of her lungs, and she felt her ribs groan in protest to the treatment.
The crash was more than enough as a massive boom echoed down the chasm she had painstakingly dug, and then the entire circle and more buckled and vanished, forcing Azoth to pump his wings desperately to not follow the debris into the pit. A few shouts of panic sounded as the meditating Necromancers plummeted down the massive hole. Then as she had hoped, based on her construction, the tapered walls began to crumble on top of the falling perversions.
Azoth winged away from the sight, her limp body strapped to his back, and she smiled for just a moment before he gushed, “Did you see that? Azoth make big hole in ground with super stomp!” She groaned, and a massive boom of thunder and lightning signaled the release of the Ether Storm.
Rocky
People began streaming into the Grotto, many of them panicked with weapons drawn and gazes wild. Rocky did his best to calm everyone down and get them to join him and guard the somewhat recovering prisoners who were currently tied up. Derik had woken up and began immediately teleporting all over the Grotto, and so Rocky had taken a bit of pleasure in hitting him in the head with the pommel of his sword when his Ether had run dry. He had drawn blood, so perhaps he had struck the man a tad too hard.
Whatever. He deserved it after the massive pain he has been—even more so if he’s the culprit!
Derik had spoken as Rocky approached, demanding to be let loose from the ropes, but he couldn’t be sure if Derik wasn’t the perpetrator of this whole ordeal. Additionally, Rocky might have wanted to hit the man too because, during the fight, Derik’s failed spell had taken that second chance away. The others who’d woken up were confused, upset, and were spitting vitriol, but they were also speaking, which might mean they would try to Meditate with the group. If not, Rocky was dreading what he would have to do.
They had checked everyone for the marks that the captives sported and found another seventy-five people who were afflicted and nearly just as nasty as Derik usually was. Immediately, Rocky had asked them to begin Meditating and searching for anything amiss in their Ether Channels. Within five minutes, one of the group’s eyes had snapped open, and he had haltingly described some sort of slimy, angry, snake-like creature that was inside his Ether Channels. Rocky felt his stomach rumble from the description alone, but he quickly guided the conscious individuals along with everyone present on how to attempt to remove the unwanted Ether. It was one thing to know how to do it and a whole other thing to actually do it. The first afflicted citizen finally had some success just as the council and two massive golems entered the Territory.
The moment of absolute silence that descended was filled with such obvious preparation to flee that Rocky immediately shouted, “Wait! They’re our friends, and are here to help! Don’t panic!” A few people took that as the signal to bolt still, their nerves clearly frayed past the point that they were listening to his words. The vast majority, though, seemed to calm down slightly but didn’t let their eyes waver from the two imposing figures.
Once Tao and Gamma realized that there wasn’t an attack, they both sat down to appear less intimidating, which did stop the fleeing people some hundred meters distant. Once the fifty or so people who had fled replayed Rocky’s words, they sheepishly turned back around and rejoined the group. It turned out everyone on the council and the vast majority of the military were infected with whatever this manipulation was. Soon, the entire population of the Territory was Meditating under Rocky’s direction, and each time someone managed to displace the snake-like Ether creature from their channels, he would see a body shudder and collapse. Whatever these things were, they were dug in deep.
Derik woke up thanks to some particularly smelly herbs that Smith waved under his nose. As soon as he woke, he looked angry and confused until he saw the entire population sitting calmly around him, most sweating and a few being carried off to the Guild Tent to recover from successfully cleansing themselves. Rocky cleared his throat in the silence. “Derik, you have been infected by something or somebody.” He held the Dragon Heartstring up in his t-shirt and showed it to him. “Who gave you this?” Rocky asked pointedly, letting some of his anger at the man creep into his voice.
Derik blinked and then looked around before a sneer crossed his face. “It was one of the people you brought with you from Ottawa! He said it was a very powerful item that would improve my mage abilities!”
Rocky felt his eyebrows shoot up in surprise, then sputtered, “You didn’t Analyze it?” With the shocked looks of some of the people around him, Rocky realized that it wasn’t common knowledge yet. “Okay, let’s all learn how to Analyze things, right now!”
I need to stop taking things for granted. Next Montessori lesson…
He spoke of how he initially got the skill of Analyze, and a few people pulled out items they held to stare at them intently. Other people nodded and turned to help neighbors learn the skill. Before long, Rocky was relatively sure that everyone had accomplished the task, so he turned back to Derik. “Have you Analyzed what I am holding yet?”
Derik’s face had gone as pale as a piece of flawless, white paper, and he nodded and gulped, looking like he was holding back vomit. “It was a man named Frankie; I didn’t get his last name. Can you talk me through Meditating to remove whatever was affecting me? Please!” The last word was almost a sob, and Rocky almost felt sorry for Derik for the first time.
His anger at Derik, at himself, at the whole situation wouldn’t let him sit down at this point. Instead, one of the others in the group of citizens sat in front of Derik and began soothingly
guiding the man in exactly what Rocky had instructed them all on. Joe approached him in the silence and whispered angrily, “Frankie Cocozza is missing, and he was supposed to be on duty here in the Grotto.”
Rocky sneered, then opened his interface. He was going to put a stop to this. He navigated to the guild menu and ejected Frankie from the guild. Then he banished the man from the Territory. When the notification asked if he wanted to give Frankie time to vacate the boundary, Rocky selected no, and immediately, a quest notification popped up.
Law Quest
Bounty Hunter
Detain Frankie Cocozza
Frankie Cocozza, a banished member of Algonquin Valley, is treading upon Territory grounds. Capture or kill this individual to receive a reward.
Rewards:
10% of Guild Ether Pool
1 Crystallized Ether
Possible additional rewards from Territorial Leaders
Do you accept this quest?
Rocky selected yes, and a gold filigree pointed in the direction that Frankie must have fled. His devilish smile widened, and he sprinted to the river and launched himself in, swimming across the length before sprinting out the other side. As he exited, he noticed that Joe and Smith were both with him along with Jack from the A-Team. They all sprinted, and he saw a few others jogging to the river as they too accepted the quest.
Pretty quickly, the group of four with heightened stats left the others far behind, but that wouldn’t matter as each individual who accepted the quest could see the direction through the gold line the system projected into their vision. Sprinting with all his speed, Rocky led the way and outdistanced the other two as his anger fueled his legs. Frankie, the psychologist who was in charge of treating and talking to people. It made sense; he had easy access to everyone. In hindsight, Rocky even recognized the wristband that Frankie had been wearing and twisting at the campfire. And that damn journal!
He pumped his legs as fast as he could, eventually leaping to the massive trees and taking his favorite route of the squirrel highway through the treetops to avoid the dense ground foliage. As he went, he saw many creatures scatter away from his mad dash. A herd of massive deer bolted in all directions as he flew above them in the shaded trees. Amazingly, many of them leaped straight at tree trunks and turned mid-leap to plant four legs on the tree and then bound off of it in an entirely new direction. Their legs ate up ground even faster than his, and he watched a few dash ahead of him in the direction he traveled. A moment later, one of the creatures was pounced on by a massive cat. Rocky was certain that cats hadn’t resided in the park previously, so this must have been some sort of mutation or migrant to the area. The purple eyes of the cat glared at him as if to say, “You almost lost me my meal,” before it took its catch and pranced off, tail waving high in the air as Rocky careened away.
Pssh. Cat’s are just so frigging judgy. Your new name will be Purple Princess, and I so hope you’re a male cat!
The moment at least lost him most of his anger as he slowed his pursuit a bit and began planning for what he might do to try to catch this man. Hopefully, without letting Frankie touch him—not that he thought the man could control him that quickly, but it was probably better to avoid it. Just as he thought that, his filigree blinked out, and Rocky realized Frankie must have just exited the Territory. He sped back up, and was notified a moment later that he had also left, indicating he was right behind the man.
Rocky stopped and scanned the open area in front of him as the trees were less healthy and grew far sparser after the delineation point of his Territory. A moment later, he spotted Frankie running in the direction of Chalk River. Since he was still within skill range, he double charged his Dark Blade ability and sent it flying towards the man.
The noise as it cut through corrupted, soggy trees was evident, and Frankie dove behind a rock as his skill approached. A massive boom of thunder and the continuous lightning strikes drew Rocky’s attention away from Frankie for a brief moment as his gaze fixed on the freaky nature show. He saw a small, black dot backlit by the lightning with each new flash, and he just knew Azoth and Sela were behind this. Wind struck his face hard, and on it, he could smell the rot and perversion of the trees he had just sheared down, as well as the storm wall behind it all.
Returning his attention to the rock, he used his Shadow Clone and told it to sneak up on the man. The clone winked out of sight as it turned to follow his thoughts. That’s when Frankie stepped out from cover to gloat, “That’s right, Rockland. You can’t come get me, or you risk getting trapped in the storm! Apep’s priest Apothis gave me immunity to its effects, so you will just have to watch me walk away from the safety of your Territory! I can’t believe how stupid you are, just taking everyone from Ottawa with you! Initially, my mission was to create an army of willing humans for my master, but you put an end to that!” Rocky felt his jaw crack from the tension he placed on it. Frankie had just confirmed he was the one responsible for all that perversion in Ottawa! Rocky had always thought something more was at play than Corsair. He hadn’t wanted to believe that one man could subvert so many good people so easily without something more sinister in the mix. Now he was staring at that perverted cockroach.
Frankie Cocozza
Level 11 17
Apprentice Psychologist Apep’s Ether-Manipulator
Health Points 110/110
There was some sort of effect going on that Rocky hadn’t seen before when he Analyzed the man’s information. It only took a moment before he realized that the thing in front of him wearing the smile of a psychopath and the face of a human had been hiding his information. He assumed it was a skill he could choose from his skill tree, and Rocky vowed to find a way to see through things like it in the future.
Frankie sneered and shot out a red cloud behind his back. It hit Rocky’s clone who blinked back into vision and curled in on itself in obvious pain. “You think an Ether-Manipulator can’t see a creature created by Ether!” Frankie shouted and drove a dagger into the clone, which destroyed the construct. Rocky felt himself stutter; he wanted to yell, he wanted to scream, but he just glared at Frankie while keeping an eye on Sela and Azoth in the distance, just ahead of the storm.
Since he waited too long, Frankie continued into the silence, “I hope my welcoming party wasn’t too much for your little brain to handle. You just killed ninety-one—oh, make that ninety-two people—all because you’re too naïve. Honestly, I would have had control of your whole population if it wasn’t for your stupid nameless skill!” Frankie paused for a second, blinking and then tried again, “Your nameless skill?” For a brief moment, he looked confused. Then he stared blankly in front of him, reading something that Rocky couldn’t see.
He thinks we are killing the people currently purging his influence! At least I have a number for how we are doing with that.
“Oh, you kicked me out of your guild, which stops me from using or naming the skills you placed as proprietary. Clever, but that won’t matter. I’m sure Apep will bestow upon me skills far superior to your parlor tricks!” He held up a hand that glowed with the red of a Dragon Heartstring, and Rocky groaned. If only he had remembered seeing it that first night sooner!
He stepped forward, wanting to charge the cocksure man, but unfortunately, Rocky could already see the rain behind Frankie, and it was speeding up. He definitely wouldn’t have time to get to the psychotic creature in front of him. Rocky growled and mentally contacted his pet, then shouted, “How did Apep contact you?” trying to distract the psychotic Frankie.
Frankie looked at the bracer and kept it raised in front of him. Then he crowed back with delight, “As soon as I selected my class, I could hear the whispers. I had heard them all my life, but now, I could hear them more clearly! They gave me purpose, and finally, I understood what I was, who I served. Finally, I had a purpose!” With the last word, he pumped his fist higher into the air, holding a position of a prize-winning boxer. That was when the blur of Az
oth and Sela struck. Unfortunately, Frankie seemed to sense that something was coming and managed to lean away from the blow, but that didn’t save his arm.
Azoth hit the ground running with a mutilated arm clenched between his teeth. His legs ran for all he was worth, just barely outpacing the blue rain that fell behind him. Rocky smiled when he heard Frankie’s scream; it rang out, echoing over the trees but soon morphed into something far creepier, and Rocky’s smile faded as shivers ran down his spine. Frankie’s scream went from hurt to angry and then finished in a laugh that ricocheted all around them.
A moment later, he realized that Azoth wasn’t going to outpace the storm. He mentally shouted encouragement at his pet, but he could tell that in the storm winds, Azoth couldn’t get off the ground. At the last moment, Rocky entered the Territory with tears in his eyes and a curse. They had to make it!
He stared at the dividing wall as he heard Jack, Joe, and Smith sprinting up behind him. He held up his hands, and they stopped, having heard the storm approaching.
The storm raged against the barrier, and he mentally sent out pleading signals to his pet. He felt his head drop and thought his world would shatter a long heartbeat later. Then just as he started to feel his body going weak, Azoth bounded through the barrier of water and instantly dropped the mutilated arm before beginning to shake violently.
Energy coursed into Rocky, and he ran over to untie a weakened and blue splattered Sela. Azoth continued to shake violently, the convulsions forcing him to lay down and close his eyes, his breathing beginning to even out. Rocky hoped that meant he was Meditating and turned his eyes on Sela. “Come on, Sela. Listen to my voice and use the skill we’ve been practicing.” Her shaking intensified, and he cast as many Dark Mends on her as his Ether allowed. Then to his relief, he saw her body begin pushing out the blue, irradiated water. Her shaking continued to intensify, however, and he hoped she could remain conscious long enough to succeed in cleansing the Ether Storm water.
