by Virlyce
17
Mary’s eyes shot open. The first thing that greeted her vision was a stalactite positioned over her head like a spear. She sat upright and groped around for her sword, taking in her surroundings. …And groped around some more. Her expression stiffened as she lowered her head, her gaze traveling down towards the empty space by the side of her waist. Her forearms and shins were showing, and her sword was nowhere to be found. She bit her trembling lip, and her eyes widened as she leapt to her feet. After making sure she hadn’t slept on her sword, she collapsed to her knees. “Where…?”
“Oh? You’re awake?” a voice asked from the cave’s entrance. Susan hopped into the cave, tilting her head at Mary. “We thought you weren’t going to wake up.”
Mary raised her head, meeting the phoenix’s gaze with bloodshot eyes. “Where’s my sword?”
“Um, Lindyss took it,” Susan said. “She’s the elf lady who beat you up.”
Mary bit her lower lip until blood came out, dying her teeth red. “Where’s my armor?”
“Grimmy took that,” Susan said. “He’s the black dragon.”
“He didn’t even defeat me! How dare he take spoils from me?” Mary’s eyes lit up as she clenched her hands, veins bulging along her skin. “Where are they?”
Susan’s head tilted the other way. “Are you … mad? What are you going to do once you find them?”
“I’m going to beg for my stuff back,” Mary said, nodding twice. “It’s clear I can’t beat them, but I can’t give up my sword and armor.”
“Well, you’re in luck!” a voice boomed from behind her. Mary stiffened as her torso straightened, her body twisting towards the back of the cave. Grimmy was lying against the cave walls, but he was unnoticeable earlier because his eyes were closed. A pair of red eyes gleamed at Mary through the darkness. “For the cheap price of being my servant for fifty years, I’ll return your sword and armor to you. Not only that, but I’ll throw in some bonuses to help you get stronger. What do you say?”
“Servant?” Mary asked, crossing her arms to hide the goosebumps on her skin. “What do you want me to do as your servant?”
“Oh, you know,” Grimmy said. His head inched forward, coming out of the darkness. A grin was plastered on his face. “This and that. Act now while supplies last. This offer won’t be available forever, you know? In fact, you have about twenty seconds to make up your mind.”
“Can—”
“Ten seconds left,” Grimmy said, tapping his claws against the ground. He pushed forward a piece of paper. “Here’s the contract that you should sign. Take your time and read it over. Oh, there are five seconds left by the way.”
Mary stared at the piece of paper that was taller and wider than herself. Thousands of lines of ink were scrawled upon it, and they were written in the most convoluted font she had ever seen. She raised her head and met Grimmy’s gaze. “That’s a lot of words to spell out this and that,” she said.
“Two seconds.”
Mary shook her head. “I don’t like being blackmailed.”
Grimmy raised an eyebrow. “…You don’t want your armor back? I guess you don’t want your precious sword back either. Hmm, so much for begging, huh?”
“Please, look deep within your heart and dig out every ounce of kindness that you can,” Mary said, lowering her head. “I’d greatly appreciate it if you returned my armor set to me. It means a lot to me.”
Grimmy blinked and looked down at his chest. He poked himself with a claw before raising his head again. “I looked, but I couldn’t find anything called kindness. Sorry. But you know what I did find?” He reached behind his wing and pulled out Mary’s gauntlets and sabatons. “A few pieces of armor that belong to me. Really high-quality stuff, I’ll take them over kindness any day.”
Mary’s eyes trembled as she stretched her arms out, palms facing the ceiling of the cave. “Please.”
Grimmy chuckled as he stuffed the armor pieces away. Then he pointed at the contract. “All you have to do is sign. You don’t even have to read it.”
“What are you trying to make this poor girl do?” Lindyss asked as she walked into the cave, causing Mary to flinch and turn around. Their gazes locked. “He didn’t do anything strange to you, right?”
“…He’s bullying me,” Mary said and pouted.
“I’m not,” Grimmy said, shaking his head. “I’m just trying to get her to willingly give up her soul to me. If that’s bullying, then call me evil.”
Lindyss shook her head. “Alright, kid,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. “What’s your relationship with Vur and Tafel? The phoenixes said you knew them.”
“Tafel’s a good friend of mine,” Mary said. “We had a duel and I won. Then I gave her encouragement.” Her hair fluttered as she bobbed her head up and down. “But I don’t like Vur. He cheats when we fight.”
“Vur? Cheats?” Lindyss asked, raising an eyebrow. “Are we talking about the same person? He’s a stickler for honor, isn’t he?”
Mary’s expression dimmed. “No. When we had a staring contest, he cheated by making Tafel make me blink.”
“Staring contest?”
“It’s when you stare into each other’s eyes, and whoever blinks first loses.”
“Why did you get into a staring contest with Vur?”
“The skeleton said it was an ancient tradition amongst the undead to have staring contests to determine their rankings.”
Lindyss’ expression darkened. “You know skeletons don’t have eyelids, right? They can’t blink. That skeleton was just messing with you.”
Mary’s eyes widened. “No way….”
“Are you really the same person who attacked me a week ago?” Lindyss asked, furrowing her brow. “You seem different.”
“That’s because you beat her to near death,” Emile whispered from the cave entrance. “Anyone would change their attitude after that.”
Lindyss leaned over and picked up Susan. Then she smiled at the phoenix before throwing her at her brother. “As I was saying,” Lindyss said, dusting flames off of her hands, “you seem different. You’re not going to try to take your sword back from me?”
“If I couldn’t beat you with my sword, I can’t beat you without it,” Mary said, shaking her head. “Did you say our fight was a week ago?”
Lindyss shrugged. “Around that. Days aren’t really important when you can live forever. Maybe it’s been longer?”
“…My banquet.” Mary lowered her head. “Did I miss it? I hope Tafel doesn’t think I stood her up.”
***
“Hey,” Mr. Skelly said as he nudged Alice and Tafel. The two women were lying on the ground with blankets wrapped around them, sleeping next to a campfire. They were in a hall: one end was a dead end, the other end extended into darkness. “It’s been eight hours.”
Tafel groaned as she sat up and rubbed her eyes. “Did anything happen?” she asked as she stuck her hand into a portal and groped around. She pulled out two bottles of water, lobbing one towards Alice who was just getting up. The wooden container hit Alice’s forehead, causing her to fall back down with a yelp. Tafel took a few gulps before screwing the lid of her bottle back on. “Well?”
“There was just one chimera,” Mr. Skelly said, gesturing towards a dismembered bloody beast lying beside him. “There seems to be less and less of them.”
“What about the shaking?” Alice asked as she rubbed her forehead, shooting a dirty look at Tafel. She grabbed the water bottle and unscrewed the lid.
“That stopped,” Mr. Skelly said. “The last tremor occurred around three hours ago. Whatever was causing it must’ve left the area or went to sleep.”
Tafel nodded as Alice tilted the water bottle all the way up, finishing it in one go. “This marks the start of our seventh day in this maze,” Tafel said with a scowl. “If we don’t find a way out fast or reunite with Vur, we’ll miss Mary’s birthday party.”
“Do we really have to unite with Vur though?”
Mr. Skelly asked, his skull contorting as he raised his brow. “Mary specifically told you not to bring Vur. It’s not like he needs to go. Besides, I bet he’s having fun conquering the dungeon.”
“Without us,” Tafel said, catching the empty water bottle that Alice threw at her head. The demon dunked it into a portal with a flick of her wrist. “I wonder if he found the maze’s exit. I did tell him the trick of placing his right hand against the wall and walking forward without breaking contact, but seeing as we’ve encountered so many chimeras and no corpses, he went on a completely different path from us.”
“You know, he probably was the cause of all that shaking,” Alice said as she climbed to her feet and folded the blanket before passing it to Tafel. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he was the cause of that chimera flood too.”
Tafel sighed as she thought back on the last week. Their group had been attacked by chimera after chimera without pause for the first few days. It was almost as if the chimeras were running away from something, like deer running from a forest fire. Most of the chimera were small, but a few big ones were problematic to deal with, having both high physical strength and the ability to block spells. If it weren’t for Vur’s elementals providing the group with buffs, they probably would’ve had to retreat through a portal. “Well, even if he was, there’s nothing we can do about it,” Tafel said and shook her head. “On the bright side, I’ve gotten really good at quick-casting ice spells.”
“I don’t feel like I’ve improved at all,” Alice said and sighed. “Compared to a magician, a warrior’s growth rate is much slower and less noticeable. It’s not fair.”
“Then why don’t you learn some magic?” Mr. Skelly asked. “I’m sure Tafel would teach you if you asked.”
“No, that’s okay,” Alice said and made a face. “I tried to learn a simple spell once back when I was little. I burnt off all my hair, and it took two years to grow back to how long it was before. I was teased so much by my schoolmates…. There was one boy in particular who was relentless with his bullying. I remember using my small chalkboard as a weapon and breaking it over his head. That moment probably influenced my weapon choice.”
“…What happened to the boy?” Tafel asked, raising an eyebrow as she packed away the burning campfire with her bare hands, picking it up and dropping it into a portal.
Alice shrugged. “I don’t know. Never saw him again. I don’t even remember his name.”
***
Vur stared down at the dead creature beneath his scaled feet. He was in his dragon form, but the chimera underneath him was twice his size. It had nine heads, but those were scattered all about the chamber’s ground. The cave he had entered with the little chimeras turned out to be their spawning place, and a ramp had led downwards into an egg-shaped chamber with hundreds of chimeras milling about, feeding larval chimera which were growing in the walls like baby bees in a hive. That’s where he found the monstrosity he was standing on. When the fight between him and the chimera queen started, the chimeras in the spawning chamber had fled.
“That was a tough but boring fight, huh?” Stella asked as she poked her head out from in between Vur’s eyes. “It couldn’t even pierce your scales, but it took you six whole days to make it bleed to death. That must be a record, right? That’s totally a record. I’m recording this.”
Vur exhaled out a breath of frost as he collapsed onto his belly, splaying his limbs atop the dead chimera queen. It had the body of an elephant, the tail of a scorpion, hundreds of legs like a centipede, and nine snakelike heads. “I’m tired,” Vur said as his eyelids drooped. His upper and lower jaws spread apart, revealing a row of bloody teeth as he yawned. “I don’t think I’ve ever stayed awake for that long before.” The chimera queen corpse bubbled underneath him as his weight pressed down on it, causing it to flatten outwards. “This waterbed is nice. Wake me up when…, actually, don’t wake me up.” He yawned again, fully shutting his eyes. “Goodnight.”
Mervin flew out of Vur’s body. “Is it just me, or is he absorbing the chimera?”
Vur was sinking further and further into the dead queen, pressing it out as if it were a blob of jelly. The blood underneath Vur was rippling and trickling into the gaps between his scales. A few hair-like tendrils could be seen waving about the blood, hanging off from his body.
“Don’t be silly,” Stella said. “That’s me. A growing plant needs a lot of nutrients! And whatever I can’t finish will go to Vur. You can’t have any.”
***
“You’re really an empress?” Lindyss stared at the woman sitting across from her. No, it was inappropriate to call her a woman. She was still just a girl. A simple, stupid girl. The cursed elf shook her head and leaned back against the cave’s wall. “Well, an empire can’t always flourish. They rise and they fall.”
Mary bit her lower lip. “Are you insulting me?”
“No,” Lindyss said. “I’m merely pointing out a fact. If you feel personally attacked by a statement of fact, then perhaps there are some insecurities you’re internalizing.”
“You’re totally attacking her,” Emile said. He was perched on Mary’s head, using her hair as a cushion for his butt. He patted the side of Mary’s head with his wing. “Don’t let yourself be insulted like that. Tell her about the good things you’ve done for your empire to prevent it from falling.”
A wrinkle appeared on Mary’s forehead. “I … raised taxes? My empire’s a happy one now.”
“See, kiddo,” Grimmy said from his position to the side of the two people, “that’s where you went wrong. A happy empire is always on the verge of decline. Think about it.” He waited while staring at Mary, who was staring back at him. “Have you thought about it?”
Mary shook her head. “I don’t understand. Please, teach me.”
Grimmy sighed. “It can’t be helped. I’ll enlighten you this one time.” He cleared his throat and propped his chin up with his claw. “A happy empire is always on the verge of decline. Why is that? Well, simple. People always want more. They’re happy now, sure, but will they still be happy in a day? Two days? Three? Think of how much harder it is to make a really happy person even happier compared to making them sad. You have to go through a massive effort to make someone happy, but to make them sad, all you have to do is sneeze on their home.”
Mary’s head bobbed up and down, her eyes shining.
“No…, that’s not quite right,” Susan muttered. “If a dragon sneezes on a person’s home, that home is destroyed.”
Grimmy swept Susan away with his tail. He chuckled. “Now, continuing that train of thought, the simplest way to make your empire rise instead of fall is to make them miserable. When you’re at the top, you can only go downhill from there. But when you’re at rock bottom, you can only go up! All you have to do is make your empire as miserable as possible, then slowly improve their living conditions to make them feel grateful. See? Giving a loaf of bread to a noble won’t make him happy. But what if that noble is homeless and hasn’t eaten in a week? He’ll be ecstatic for even a single slice.”
A shadowy blob landed on Grimmy’s face. Lindyss glared at the black dragon, her hand outstretched. “Don’t give her such terrible advice. She’s almost as naïve as Vur. She’ll take you seriously.”
Mary blinked twice and turned her head towards the cursed elf as Grimmy wiped away the shadows on his face. “What’s wrong with his advice?” Mary asked with large eyes. “It makes sense to me. Maybe the nobles would feel more grateful about having their homes if I burned them down.”
“And there lies your problem,” Lindyss said. “You don’t see anything wrong with burning down your own citizens’ properties? How do you think an empire rises from rock bottom? Through a revolution. They’ll hate you and want to overthrow you.”
Mary stared at Lindyss and turned towards Grimmy. She blinked at him.
Grimmy snorted. “Yeah, sure, they can revolt all they want, but you’re strong, right? If they send an army after your head, just swat
it down. If they send two armies, swat both of them down. It’s really not that hard. Once you defeat enough people, they’ll give up. That’s when you can start becoming more lenient.”
Mary nodded twice before turning to face Lindyss. A dark expression appeared on the cursed elf’s face. “Right now, your empire is probably in an okay place, seeing as you’re free to wander as you please and no one’s revolting. If you follow this dragon’s advice, then your empire will definitely collapse on the spot, but he’s not wrong in saying it’ll rise back up. It’ll just be headed by a puppet emperor with him as the true owner.”
Mary’s eyes widened. “He’s … tricking me?” She whipped her head around to face Grimmy. He smiled at her, and Mary bit her lower lip as she turned back towards Lindyss. “Is he really? What he says makes a lot of sense. How can he persuade me to do the wrong thing but have me believe it’s in my best interest?”
“He’s a cursed dragon who has thousands of years of experience on you,” Lindyss said and shook her head. “To him, taking away your empire is as easy as stealing wings off a sheep.”
Mary furrowed her brow. “But sheep don’t have wings.”
“That’s because he took them,” Lindyss said, pointing at Grimmy. “And much like that poor, now-wingless sheep, your empire will be gone before you even realize it’s no longer there.”
Mary pouted at Grimmy. “You’re a bad person.”
Grimmy poked Lindyss’ side. “Why are you slandering me? Don’t tell me you’ve taken a liking to her. It’s clear she’s incapable of ruling an empire. Wouldn’t it be better for everyone to let me have it instead? Besides, I’m technically her ancestor’s creator if I’m not wrong. What’s hers is mine.”
“What?” Mary asked. “My ancestor’s creator?”
“Right,” Grimmy said. “You know all these blood runes and techniques you’re using? I invented them.”
