by David Burke
His mind was broad enough now though, that even as he did that, he called upon his Earth Essence to sink three of the zombies into the ground. Content that the rest of the team was having no trouble, he went to town dismembering the zombies which he’d hit with Rage Burst.
In no time at all, the ground was covered by limbs that continued to thrash about but which had little ability to move coherently on their own. He looked around again and saw that Kierra had likewise cut her two opponents to shreds. Gilthan seemed to be having the most trouble, as his electrical strikes didn’t stun these foes like they did living beings. Eventually, even he was able to blast them to pieces from the relative safety of the sky above.
The most interesting battle was Skrug’s. He had simply barreled into the pack of zombies, disregarding the warnings about avoiding unnecessary contact and had three zombies clinging to him. Actually, the earth infused dire troll was ripping one zombie apart, while the other two clung to his legs.
That might have been concerning, but the zombies had no capacity even to slow his powerful legs. It was Kyle’s other senses, however, which showed him the truly interesting battle that was taking place. Not only was Skrug not being corrupted by contact with the zombies, but he was also actively draining the Death Essence that animated the creatures.
After a moment, Kyle saw Skrug flex and then, like there was a vacuum within him, all the Death Essence was sucked into him. Black veins sprouted all over his body, and Kyle wasn’t the only one to notice.
Nyda stepped forward, her healing power at the ready, but it wasn’t needed. Their troll friend trembled all over as the Death Essence dispersed itself evenly throughout his body. If Kyle wasn’t mistaken, it might have marginally increased Skrug’s power, even if it wasn’t enough for an entire point.
The defeated and dismembered zombies were thrown on top of the ones trapped by Kyle’s Earth’s Sucking Snare spell. Gilthan was kind enough to use a whirlwind of Sky Essence to gather together the various chopped bits into one gory pile. Then, Hilde’s wings blazed. Her body went rigid for a second and a column of pure white fire descended on the zombies and pile of zombie bits.
If Kyle wasn’t mistaken, there was more to that column of flame than just fire. It looked like the celestial had also employed some Justice Essence. He made a mental note to check with her later about it. For now, though, he just wanted to get everyone home.
Chapter 5 - A Turn of Events
When the team reached Nargossa, Kyle headed straight to the guildhall to start making plans for the future. After his underwater meeting with Hav’s demi-god megalodon son, he felt a heightened sense of urgency. It was hard to put his finger on what it was exactly that drove him, but the fact that at least one of the other gods knew about him meant that it was only a matter of time until the others did as well.
When he thought back to when he had enhanced Skrug, and how for just a moment he had been sure that Dod was staring at him from the street, he knew this was the case. Kyle had chosen not to tell the rest of his team about it, since she hadn’t attacked. Now, though, he wondered if perhaps he should mention it.
The thing was, if Dod had really been here, Kyle couldn’t fathom why she hadn’t destroyed him. Kyle kept growing. His time under the sea had increased his growth substantially, but he didn’t believe he was yet a match for any of the gods. And Dod wasn’t the type to forgive and forget. His destruction of her soul bound weapon, the scythe with which she reaped mortals’ souls, had definitely put him in her black book. This was even more the case now that he knew it had contained three of her divine splinters—one of which he now possessed.
She also wasn’t inclined to be anything less than decisive in her actions. So, he was left with one of three conclusions. Either he hadn’t really seen Dod; she didn’t recognize him; or something else was going on that prevented her from attacking him. The problem with the first hypothesis is that it required him to mistrust his new perception. He was only just getting used to, or maybe partially used to, having more than five senses.
The second hypothesis seemed the most likely to him. If it were true, that would mean she was at least sniffing around the area. He would have to be even more careful about how much of his essence he revealed. That made Hav’s gift even more significant.
Yet, as much as he thought that was likely, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something more was going on. As a hitter, he had been trained to detect minor changes in a pitcher’s delivery, small weaknesses that he could exploit. That skill was just as applicable in Kyles new existence as the war god.
His instincts cried out that there must be a weakness in his enemy. And weaknesses were meant to be exploited. But he would have to be careful; he needed to make sure this wasn’t just a feint, meant to draw him out.
For now, he was focused on what needed to be done next. He hadn’t imagined there would be so many details involved with running an adventuring group. He’d only been thinking in video game terms, that it would be about little more than the adventuring, the fighting, and the loot. Instead, he found himself mired in a host of issues that ranged from where next week’s supplies were coming from, to human resources, and even the currying of political favor.
For much of it, Kyle had depended on Saber and Lady Meeka. He realized that in order to be a good leader, he needed to be more involved in all aspects of running their group—even the trivial shit that he’d sooner delegate to the two humans. Delegation wasn’t a bad thing, but he should only delegate something once he knew how to handle the task himself. Never should he simply delegate his responsibilities as a leader away.
He stopped thinking about all that though when Kierra nudged him as the city gates came within sight.
“What are all the humans doing there?” she asked.
Focusing on the gate, Kyle saw what she was talking about. Instead of a short line with a few farmers or merchants and such, there was a line half-a-mile long that stretched back from the city wall. Kyle looked up at the sun and realized it was nearly late afternoon. This should have been one of the slowest periods at the gate. What on Earth, or rather, what on Verden could be the reason for this queue?
Once they got closer, he started picking out details about the people who were standing in line. Many were wounded. All of them seemed to be exhausted. Their clothing was often torn and many had packs or bags stuffed with what appeared to be the last of their possessions. Small children clung to the adults’ legs in each cluster he saw.
They looked like nothing so much as refugees.
Rather than stumble into something awkward, Kyle called Lash over. “Go find out what's happening at the gate,” he commanded. “Bribe them if you need to, but we don’t want to have to wait in this line.”
She nodded. There was something different about the way she looked at him, but he couldn’t quite figure out what had changed. “Yes, Lord Kyle.”
“Just Kyle. Remember?”
“As you wish, Lord Kyle,” she said rather solemnly, then took off for the gate at a quick trot.
Kyle watched her bypass the line, drawing a number of complaints, but none of the people did more than yell or shake their fist as she ran past. Truthfully, though, Kyle’s eyes were more drawn to Lash’s backside than any reaction her passage might have caused. Her armor protected her because Krig had enchanted it. It certainly wasn’t because it covered her completely. Something about the brief chainmail skirt just drew his attention.
“Like what you see?”
He had felt Hilde slide up next to him, but somehow her words still startled him.
“You have nothing to be jealous of,” he replied almost automatically. His response might have come out sharper than he meant it to. It was just that, if he was going to adapt to the rules of this world, he didn’t want to be questioned about it by the very people pushing for him to be more open minded.
“Oh… I didn’t mean anything by it,” was all she said.
Som
ething about the coy look on her face said there was more to the story than he knew that he was missing something. Kyle was almost afraid to ask. Of all his ladies, there had been more friction between the fiery celestial and the former battle maiden than with all the rest combined.
“Did something happen while I was away?”
“Nothing important.” She shrugged. “Just girl stuff.”
Behind them, Kierra coughed, “Bullshit.”
Kyle smiled as he turned to look first at Hilde and then at the lycan warrior. Her golden fur looked particularly rich as it caught the rays of the late afternoon sun. “Did you say something?”
Her big, toothy grin made him certain that there was some joke going on here that he didn’t understand. Instead of answering him directly, Kierra looked at Hilde and asked, “Are you going to tell him, or should I have Nyda?”
As if Kierra speaking her name had summoned her, the petite elf appeared from behind the lycan. Kyle had definitely noticed the two of them had been hanging out together a lot of late. It made him happy to see these two getting along so well because he felt like they balanced each other's traits out nicely. It didn’t hurt that Nyda was the least combat ready of the team, and he appreciated how the lycan had taken it upon herself to protect the elf.
“I’d be happy to share the story, big sister, unless eldest sister wishes to,” Nyda said.
Sisters? Hmm… in a way, he decided that was actually appropriate. Kyle decided not to comment about it. Meanwhile, Gilthan and Skrug stood a few feet off to the side. The troll chuckled at something that the elven sorcerer had just whispered to him. Whatever joke was going on at his expense, at least it seemed to be drawing the others together. Cohesion was important on any team.
Hilde sighed. “We don’t need to go into all the details... suffice it to say that Marie and I came to an understanding.”
No matter how much she wanted to play it off, Kyle knew this was a much bigger deal than the celestial made it out to be. Hilde had known Lash’s true name before Kyle had remembered it, though she had never before referred to the woman by it. She always insisted on using the blonde battle maiden’s nom de guerre.
Kyle simply tilted his head to the side and gave her a hard eyed stare that said he wasn’t about to accept that for an answer.
Hilde noticed the look and paled. She gulped and ducked her head.
Kyle almost cracked at that moment. He had only ever seen the celestial this distraught one time before, and that had been when she thought she was going to be trapped forever inside his mantle. Still, despite their familiarity as friends and lovers, he was still the war god and she was his faithful follower.
Hilde bowed her head, hiding behind the mass of flaming red curls that obscured her face. Kyle could tell that she didn’t want to say what was coming next. He waited patiently.
A moment later she said the words he’d so rarely heard from any woman, “I was wrong.”
Kyle stifled a laugh. “I wish I still had my cell phone to record that.”
“I don’t know what you mean, but I’ve come to trust her. Marie has been through a great deal and throughout it all, remained faithful to you. I know you asked my opinion before and I gave it; I now wish to retract what I said. You would be well served, bonding her to you.”
“Wow, that’s… that is a pretty dramatic change from how you felt about her before. There has to be more to the story than that.”
Hilde’s burning face practically pleaded with him not to force the issue or make her say anything more about it.
Nyda came to her rescue. “I will fill you in, m’lo… er… Kyle, the next time we are alone.”
“Don’t you mean, he will fill you the next time the two of you are alone? In and out and then in again…” Kierra added with a snicker.
With that bit of innuendo, Kierra broke the tension between them and it was back to playful banter until Lash came running back from the gate at her steady but quick pace. She stopped and bowed her head to Kyle.
Dammit, he was really gonna have to break her of that habit.
“Lord, these are refugees from the south, escaping a large-scale conflict that is going on around Calrissa.”
All business then, Kyle asked for clarification. “Do we know what type of conflict?”
“No, the reports are varied and even the city guards didn’t know. They are frazzled though, because there has been a steady stream of refugees all day long, and several attacks by undead. I hesitate to share rumors, but it seems to be pretty bad, whatever the truth turns out to be.”
“Perhaps Saber or Meeka will have learned more while we were gone,” he mused.
“Perhaps, but if we want to get into the city, we had best hurry or we will have to leap the walls,” Lash replied. “They will close the gates at sundown. The rumor is that they may even be ordered to stop accepting refugees at some point.”
“That isn’t good. It isn’t our job to protect these refugees… it is the Governor’s job to do so,” Kyle growled.
“I love it, M’lord, that you care so much for ordinary people. I never would have imagined the gods would care to be so involved with mortal affairs,” Nyda said.
“Oh, they aren’t. Even Krig, who arguably at least wanted to elevate the mortal races, didn’t care much about the fate of individuals. He had some other purpose for which he was trying to raise powerful warriors,” Hilde replied.
“And how well did that work out for him?” Kyle couldn’t stop the bitterness that crept into his tone. “He had what… seven battle maidens and an army of fire celestials? No. Whatever Krig’s purpose, his plans won’t be ours. If we decide to protect these people, we are going to have to find a way to raise them up. But for now, let’s get inside the city.”
Chapter 6 - Memories of Old
Back inside the city, they made a beeline for the guildhall. Kyle announced everyone should rest and then they would meet again in two hours to eat. He asked Nyda to make sure that Saber, Selma, and Lady Meeka were present for the dinner, so they could turn it into a working meal.
For now, he went to his room to rest. He could feel that events were coming to a head, and he didn’t want to make a wrong decision because he was fatigued. As he laid back on the oversized bed, which Meeka had somehow managed to procure for him in a massive room that had previously been three officers’ suites, his thoughts turned to the noblewoman.
He might not trust her completely, but she had proven quite effective at logistics. The moment he had given her permission to alter the layout of the rooms in the guildhall, she’d had carpenters—she must have had them on standby—creating a room she’d promised would be worthy of their great leader. That had been one of many incidents lately that led him to suspect that Meeka knew more than she was letting on.
As he laid there, Kyle sensed the swirl of essence all around him. All eight types of essence were present, but each was dwarfed by the amount of raw essence he detected. He’d never really pondered why that always seemed to be the case, but now, as he cycled the surrounding essence, he realized why it was so.
The vision he’d had beyond the Blood of the Fallen had revealed this truth. Although learning about something that way, and then understanding what he had learned, were two different things. From the history he had witnessed, there had once been hundreds of champion cultivators—champions who had become gods.
That expression, though, suggested there had been cultivators other than the champions.
It all clicked, then. The gods had been mortals before—that much he had gathered. At one point, he had thought of them as powerful elementals of the type of essence they cultivated, but the multiverse contained an endless possibility of essence types. Cultivators shaped the essence they channeled, as much as the essence they channeled shaped them.
At least that would have been true when they advanced beyond mortal limitations.
Each of the thirteen gods who had come to this universe
after it was formed had absorbed the essence of many other fallen champions. They’d never absorbed their full measure, but always something that helped strengthen them. So, what Kyle knew as raw essence had to be the unrefined essence types from the fallen champions that the thirteen hadn’t absorbed.
This universe had been intended as a sanctuary from whatever enemy it was that waited out in the void. It was the reason that such a strong bubble had been built around this universe. It was also the reason the gods kept such a tight wrap on the types of essence. They seemed to believe that their type of essence was what would best work to stabilize this realm
