by Ian Rodgers
Still no reply, and the Healer fought back tears. “I just… I just wanted… why can’t I have a normal life?”
“I find ‘normal’ to be overrated.”
Dora gasped and looked about, trying to find the unfamiliar voice.
“Who said that?! Who goes there?! I swear, if you’re a demon, I’ll cut you!”
“Whoa, whoa! Sorry, there, I didn’t mean to startle you!” Dora zeroed in on the voice and found an indistinct, hazy ball of purplish light floating beside her a few feet away.
Curious, she floated closer. “You don’t seem demonic or devilish,” Dora said, poking the ball of light with a finger, which giggled at the touch. “Nor fiendish or monstrous.”
“He-he! Stop, that tickles!” the ball of light complained. Dora smirked, then poked it again. She did that a few more times before growing bored of hearing the boyish laughter from her attempts to find out what the orb of light was.
“So, who are you and why are you here in my dream?” she demanded, folding her arms.
“Your dream? This isn’t supposed to be a dream!” the ball exclaimed.
“A likely story,” Dora scoffed.
“No, it’s true! I was looking around a place I know and found a strange door that took me to this silvery place, and then heard you almost crying.”
“I wasn’t crying!” she shouted angrily.
“Of course not, I’m sorry for implying!” the ball said, backing away from her anger.
Dora shook her head, disgusted with herself for getting back at a harmless orb of purple energy. “No, don’t apologize, it was rude of me to snap at you when you were just trying to help.”
She frowned. “You are trying to help me feel better and not, say, steal my soul?”
“No! I’m not after your soul!” the orb replied. “I just, well, I can’t help but want to make young, cute girls happy when they’re sad. Call it an old habit.”
Dora laughed. She didn’t sense any malice coming from the orb, and it seemed nice, if a bit childish.
“I doubt you could help me.”
“Come on, just try me! I’ll have you know, I’ve done all sorts of things people have called ‘impossible!’”
“The slavers who took me in after I ran away from an abusive town have been kidnapped by strange monsters that are holding them captive in the Lost City of Targua. To rescue the only family I have left after my father ran away and my mother was accidentally killed by a noble, I have to enlist the aid of the Avatar of Kuronos, who currently lives with the Unchained Legion, a mercenary army that utterly despises slavers.”
There was a long moment of stunned silence.
“Oh, jeez,” the orb uttered in disbelief. “Yeah, that, um… huh. Yeah, that’s certainly… a thing.”
“Yes, I realize how ridiculous it all sounds, but that is what I have to deal with,” Dora said, pushing her bangs out of her face with a tired sigh. “And that doesn’t even get into the full story of my life!”
“Well, uh, that certainly is one heck of a life,” the orb said awkwardly. “And I really can’t help much with any of it. But, would you maybe like some advice?”
“Sure, couldn’t hurt to have more,” the Healer said after thinking it over. She could always ignore it if it was unhelpful advice, and the orb turned out to be some sort of disguised demon.
“First, I have to ask: do you have friends?”
“Yes, I do. Two of them, who are very close to my heart,” Dora said, thinking fondly of Ain and Enrai. “I don’t know why they’ve kept on helping me, but I can’t thank them enough.”
“My advice is to rely on them. It might seem ‘obvious’ to do so, but trust me, you can’t do everything on your own, or shoulder all the burdens alone. It took me a while to figure that out myself.”
Dora nodded slowly. The orb’s advice was indeed basic and obvious, but it filled her heart and soul with an ember of hope. She did have people she could rely on!
“Thank you, mysterious purple orb,” Dora said, patting the ball of light fondly. It chuckled warmly.
“No problem. Here’s hoping you save your family!”
The realm of silver began to fade, and the orb flickered out of existence. As the silky darkness rolled in, Lady Nia’s voice echoed in her ears.
“Find Utopia…”
Dora didn’t know what the goddess meant, but she felt confident now after that pep talk.
“I will,” she declared. A pleased hum rang through her dreams, and then everything vanished.
A second later, the Healer’s eyes opened slowly. Dora yawned and stretched.
“Mmm, how long was I asleep for?” she mumbled, looking around the room. The sun was setting outside her window, and her snake friend had left the bed at some point to curl up on the windowsill and soak in the last of the orange rays of the day.
Dora’s stomach growled, and she flinched in embarrassment. The Serpent of Aril’s head perked up in curiosity when it heard her belly speak, and hissed at her in hello.
“Hey there, little guy,” she said, standing up and walking over to join the red scaled snake as it watched the sunset. “Wanna go get some dinner?”
It hissed eagerly, and she offered it her arm to coil around. “Come on, let’s go see if they have any eggs. I remember you really liked them when you found some in that parrot nest the other day.”
∞.∞.∞
Yesterday had been fun and relaxing, but Dora was determined to see her work through. With some words from Belro and Tarn, the trio were directed to the heavily fortified base of the famous mercenary army.
“This is the headquarters of the Unchained Legion?” Dora asked in surprise.
“Part of me was expecting this,” Enrai admitted.
The fortress-mansion was built on the far side of Argyne proper, closer to the walls and the monster-infested jungle than any other building. It covered a huge tract of fenced in land that served as training grounds for the mercenaries, and the building where the troops bunked was enormous.
What surprised the group the most were the brightly painted colors of the structures. The militant layout clashed with the festive décor. Even the equipment of the mercenaries who were wandering around were colorful, though a closer inspection showed that the armaments were quality gear, the color doing nothing to lessen their effectiveness.
Watching teams of outlandishly dressed warriors perform military maneuvers was like seeing clowns march in lockstep. Surreal, and similar to the contents of a fever dream.
“It does fit the theme of the rest of the city, despite how out of place it feels,” Ain commented after a few more seconds of staring.
They weren’t the only ones observing the Unchained Legion. Several groups of casually dressed men and women were watching the mercenaries train. Their headquarters was as much a part of the tourist attractions of the city as any other place within Argyne.
“Let’s see if we can find someone to talk to about an audience with the Avatar,” Dora whispered to her friends. They nodded and the trio slipped away from the crowd of tourists and headed to the entrance of the compound.
There was a gate that prevented entry being guarded by a duo of mercenaries that looked like a good place to start. Dora approached them with a greeting.
“Hello! I’d like to talk to your superiors about a personal matter.”
“Are you here to sign up?”
“Um, no,” Dora denied.
“Are you here to ask for a tour?”
“No.”
“Are you here to hire us for a job?”
“No?” Dora said, tacking a question mark onto the end of her word. “Well, maybe. Would I be able to get an audience with the Avatar of Kuronos if I made a job request?”
The two guards stiffened up and their bored expressions sharpened. “How do you know about the Avatar?”
“Pardon?” Dora asked, confused. “I was told to find him here, with the Unchained Legion. Is he not in right now?”
�
��Dora, I don’t think the information you were given is common knowledge,” Ain whispered to her as the elf noticed the guards tightening their grips on their weapons.
A worried look flashed across her face, and the Serpent of Aril around her shoulders hissed softly as she tensed up.
“Oh. OH! Is, uh, there any chance we can speak to someone in charge?” she asked with a nervous laugh.
The two guards shared a look before one of them nodded at the other and took off running back to the palatial barracks.
“Stay here,” the remaining guard commanded. The trio nodded hastily.
They did not have to wait long, as less than five minutes later the guard who’d darted off returned.
“The General wants to see them,” he said to his fellow gate-guard, who nodded and ushered the three outsiders inside.
“You have a lovely training ground,” Dora said lamely as she, Enrai, and Ain were escorted through the compound towards the central building.
“Thank you,” the guard replied, accepting the compliment. “We have mages and groundskeepers who can transform the field into any sort of terrain necessary for training.”
“I hear you guys are expert monster hunters. Ever taken down a dragon before?” Enrai asked curiously as they stepped into the mansion-like building.
“The Unchained Legion prides itself in having taking down at least one of every creature native to Erafore,” the guardsman said proudly. “From Arc Whales to Urdrai, we’ve hunted them all!”
“Impressive,” Ain said, partly at the legionnaire’s boast, partly at the collection of stuffed animals and other hunting trophies that filled the interior of the building.
The Serpent of Aril looked around at the large number of curious creatures it had never seen before but chose to remain on Dora’s shoulders. She was glad for that. The half-orc was not keen on losing track of her new companion and telling the members of the Unchained Legion that she’d lost one of the Sprawling Jungle’s most dangerous denizens inside their home. That would not make them more eager to help her.
As the trio was led deeper into the mansion, Dora grew more and more nervous. ‘What can I say or do to convince them to help me? I can’t just go and meet their boss and say ‘Hey, want to help me rescue my family who also happen to be slavers?’ Yeah, that’ll go well!’
While these worried thoughts rushed through the Healer’s head, the group was brought before a large wooden door that possessed an emblem of a golden spear piercing a length of silver chains.
“The General is through here,” he announced, before pushing the door open. Inside was a cozy sitting room. A fireplace crackled away merrily, though the flames were a dark blue and gave off no heat. Rather, they seemed to suck the warmth from the room, leaving a nice, cool atmosphere within.
All around the room were dozens of stuffed creatures, all mounted so they were looking inwards towards the center of the room. The center itself had several chairs set up around a table. Atop the table was a tea set, from which a lovely smell of mint emanated.
One of the chairs was already occupied by a half-elf with a series of long claw mark shaped scars trailing down the right side of his head. He sipped from a tea cup and watched expressionlessly as the trio entered.
“Welcome to the Lodge of the Unchained Legion,” he uttered in a thick Noran accent. He then gestured to the unoccupied chairs. “Sit. Drink if you wish.”
The group obeyed, sitting down in the free chairs. Once they had done so, the half-elf nodded at the legionnaire who’d escorted them, who saluted and closed the door, leaving the trio alone with the scarred veteran hunter.
“I am Savaros Tyne, Master of the Hunt and General of the Unchained Legion. Now, please explain to me how a half-orc Healer, an elfish Spellsword, and a Monk from Distant Qwan know that the current Avatar of Kuronos is with us.” The half-elf leaned forward, a glint of steel flashing through his eyes. “Don’t lie. I dislike it when people do so.”
“Would you believe me if I said the knowledge was payment for completing a task for a man I didn’t know was evil until after the fact?” Dora asked with a nervous chuckle. “Because that’s what happened.”
Savaros Tyne stared at her for a long time, before his gaze flickered across the faces of the other two. They lingered on the live Serpent of Aril that she was wearing as a scarf before returning to her own pale bluish-purple eyes.
“Well, you’re not lying. Though the fact that you’re not willing to inform me of who exactly told you is quite vexing.” He shook his head and placed his tea cup down on the table. “But, that doesn’t matter right now. How many people know what you do about the Avatar?”
“Um, just my two companions here and the guide who led us through the jungle,” Dora said.
“I see. Then tell me, why do you wish to speak with the Avatar,” he said, folding his arms.
“I need his help finding my family,” she said. “I was told that as the living embodiment of the God of the Hunt, he would be able to use his powers to locate them and open a path to where they’re being held.”
“Do you have any idea where they are?” Savaros asked.
“The Lost City of Targua,” Dora said, looking down at her hands. Even so, she didn’t miss the twitch that went through the leader of the Unchained Legion.
“The Lost City, huh,” he muttered. “They say it was the center of the arts in the ancient empire of Val’Narash. Statues of gold and silver, paintings made with rare and magical substances, musical scores that could bring even a demon to tears. But it all vanished the day of the Great Calamity. Now, it drifts through the Aether as an untethered ruin, appearing here and there for brief moments and infested by unnatural denizens of the beyond.”
“And that is the place you want to go? All for the sake of a band of slavers?”
Dora looked up sharply at that, shock warring with confusion in her eyes. Enrai and Ain tensed, before shooting concerned looks at their surroundings. Was it their imagination, or had the stuffed animals moved for a second?
“Oh yes, I know you, Dora Halfmoon, Healer for the Yellowmoon Menagerie of the Cracked Land,” Savaros Tyne declared, a smirk crossing his lips as he enjoyed her stupefied expression. “We may despise that hellhole you call a home, but we understand that knowledge is power, and have our own band of informants working up there in that dusty wasteland. As such, we know all about how the Menagerie was ‘wiped out,’ and how one of their surviving members has traveled across the Dreadlands in search of a way to save them.”
“I’ll admit, I was surprised – and a little bit impressed – to hear how you helped cure an entire city of Creeping Rot in Saluda, and took out the Necromancer responsible yourself. But one – albeit massive – good deed does not make up for the decades the Yellowmoon Menagerie has operated. You will not be helped in your quest to save your ‘family,’” the half-elf said, a sneer entering his tone as he said the word ‘family.’
“I don’t want your help! The only person I want to talk to is the Avatar!” Dora shouted, slamming her hands on the table and shooting up out of her seat.
Ain and Enrai looked at the ‘dead’ animals nervously. There was definitely movement going on with the trophies. A twitch here, a shifted limb there. It wasn’t Necromancy animating their remains, Dora would have noticed the presence of Dark magic. Some other kind of defense mechanism?
The pair were proud of their combat skills, but some of the creatures on display here looked fearsome. They could handle humans and humanoids easily, but something with six legs, a mouth the same size as its own body, and covered in sharp, dagger-like quills would be a challenge.
“The Avatar is part of the Legion. And if I say the Legion will not help you, no one will go against my command,” Savaros said with a harsh glare. It then morphed into a cruel grin. “Besides, your ‘family’ was just a bunch of slavers. The world is better off without them.”
A growl escaped Dora’s throat, and the Serpent of Aril hissed angrily at the half-
elf. He narrowed his eyes at them and suddenly an oppressive, gut-churning sensation hit the group. Dora was forced back into her seat, and the snake on her shoulders cowered in fear, ducking its head down the back of her shirt to hide.
“Killing intent!” Enrai gasped out, recognizing the Qwanese intimidation technique.
“A little application of anger-infused mana, and the crowd goes silent,” Savaros Tyne said, cutting back on the wave of malice pinning the trio in place. He then gestured lazily to the door. “Please leave. You are no longer welcome here.”
Dora wanted to say something, wanted to argue, but she couldn’t. She’d felt his power, and it was above Enrai and Ain’s own level of strength.
‘An S-ranked warrior,’ she thought to herself. It was nowhere near as overwhelming as Vord’s presence had been, but it was clear that this half-elf was more than a match for her two friends.
She couldn’t fight this man. Worse, if she tried to do so, she’d just make an enemy of the rest of the Unchained Legion, and possibly even the entire city which they guarded. She got out of the chair stiffly and marched from the room, Ain and Enrai following behind her.
Savaros Tyne continued to sit and watch them leave, his expression returning to blank indifference. He reached over and took the tea, sipped it, waved his free hand in a complex gesture. The assorted stuffed animals shifted and returned to their original positions.
∞.∞.∞
“What are you going to do now?” Enrai asked as Dora stomped angrily away from the Unchained Legion’s headquarters.
“If the Legion won’t talk to me directly, I’ll do find another way to contact the Avatar,” she uttered through clenched teeth. “I will rescue my family, no matter what it takes!”
Chapter 20: An Avatar and a Chosen One
“And stay out! Again!” Dora grunted in annoyance and mild pain as she was thrown out of the Unchained Legion’s compound for the second time in as many days.
She got back on her feet and dusted herself off with a scowl, shooting a glare back at the Legion’s compound.
