Shade's First Rule

by A F Kay

  “Yeah, that was scary.”

  “Interestingly, right before the Guardians awoke, the library alerted me it was under magical attack. It believed the threat so severe it opened a portal to bring me immediately back to protect it.”

  “Wow, I didn’t know it could do that.”

  “And what do I find when I arrive? You, battling the Naktos Mage. And if this wasn’t already beyond belief, the Mage had activated a Karthos Protection Crystal and was channeling Naktos’s Embrace on you.”

  Ruwen rubbed his sweaty palms on his pants. “You mentioned that earlier.”

  “Yes, we have come full circle.”

  Ruwen drew a little circle in the air with his finger and then wiped his forehead. “It is really hot in here.”

  “You have to wonder why a secretive race would use some of the most potent magic on the planet on you. A level –” Tremine paused as he studied Ruwen, “two, now, Worker.”

  “Seems strange,” Ruwen croaked.

  “Congratulations on your Ascendancy, by the way. I’m very proud of you.”

  Ruwen looked down, happy, embarrassed, and sad all at the same time.

  “Let me be clear. I would have been proud of you even without this extra burden.”

  “Thanks,” he whispered, not looking up.

  “Naktos’s Embrace is soul magic. That Mage was seconds away from ripping ‘you’ out of you.”

  He looked up at his mentor. “What would that do?”

  “For one, you wouldn’t resurrect. You would be trapped in a spirit world, and you would be useless to Uru.”

  “Forever?”

  Tremine looked down for a few seconds. “I’ve never heard of anyone returning. It is terrible magic.”

  “Oh.”

  “When I realized we couldn’t break through his defenses in time, there was only one option left.”

  “To kill me.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “You’ve never told me sorry,” Ky said from the bed.

  Ruwen screamed and threw himself backward.

  “He’s a jumpy one,” Ky said.

  Tremine smiled and leaned back in his chair. “Hello, Kysandra. I’ve told you sorry a hundred times. Have you been here the whole time?”

  Ky stuck a popper in her mouth. “I came in with you.” She held up another popper. “These are really good. You have to tell me where you bought them.”

  Ruwen looked from Ky to the bowl next to him and back at Ky. “Did you take those from right in front of us?”

  Ky raised her eyebrows and dipped a popper in the sauce bowl she held in her other hand. He looked down at the table and noticed there were only two bowls. When had she taken that?

  “Ruwen, meet Kysandra. High Mistress of the Black Pyramid, Keeper of the Silent Blade, Shadow Strider, and,” Tremine placed his hands on his chest, “Thief of Hearts.”

  “Stop, you’re making me blush. It’s not silent you know,” Ky said.

  “What isn’t?” Ruwen asked.

  “The Silent Blade. It’s a lie. Why would you lie about something like that? How about calling it ‘The Never Shuts Up Blade’ or ‘Unwelcome Advice Dagger’ or –” Ky looked down at her waist. “Your ideas are never useful. Well, yes, you were right that time, but –”

  Tremine cleared his throat, and Ky looked up.

  “Right, well, the kid and I already met. Seems he’s attracted some unwelcome attention,” Ky said.

  “You’ve had a busy day,” Tremine said.

  Ruwen nodded and looked at Ky. “I’m glad you’re alive. Is Hamma okay?”

  “She’s fine. I moved her to a safe house,” Ky said.

  “Hamma?” Tremine asked.

  “A priestess the kid’s sweet on,” Ky said.

  Ruwen sat up straight. “I am not. Why would you…I mean that is ridiculous…she’s just…”

  Tremine and Ky just stared at him, so he changed the subject.

  “The assassin got away?” Ruwen asked.

  Ky sighed. “Yeah, he had a blinker and teleported out. I didn’t have time to set up my normal barriers.”

  “The Mage at the library did the same. He was hurt, but he might survive if there was help waiting at his bind point. It’s not a good start,” Tremine said.

  “Start to what?” Ruwen asked.

  Ky pointed up. “Her plans.”

  “I don’t know how they discovered Ruwen so quickly,” Tremine said.

  “Uru had to notify the other deities of her intent to create a new Champion. She said it’s in their rules. Naktos must have teams watching all the new Ascendants. Looking for anything suspicious,” Ky said.

  Tremine snapped his fingers. “Of course. The Ascendancy appointments are posted at the temple. They would only need a couple of teams to watch those going in and out of the temple. The fact that you came out of the temple the same day you entered would already be suspicious and is probably why they followed you. When they saw a Worker casting a Mage spell, they knew for sure.”

  Ruwen’s stomach twisted. “You mean I did this to myself?”

  Ky walked over and grabbed another handful of poppers. “Shade’s first rule: you only have yourself to blame.”

  “I assume that’s why you’re here,” Tremine said.

  “You know me, nothing better to do,” Ky said.

  Tremine closed his eyes and sighed. “I’m sorry, Ky. Where were you?”

  “The Legion’s Vault in Malth. Two months of planning. Was going to hit it tomorrow night,” Ky said.

  “I’m sorry,” Tremine said again.

  “Like I told the kid, we only have ourselves to blame.”

  “Wait,” Ruwen said. “Malth is across the entire continent. It’s on the other coast.”

  Ky tilted her head. “Somebody thinks you’re important, kid. And she brought me here because of it. I broke Shade’s first rule: be seen, never noticed.”

  “Wait, I thought blaming yourself was the first rule,” Ruwen said.

  Tremine and Ky ignored him.

  “With you here, he’ll be safe,” Tremine said.

  Ky shrugged. “I give him a twenty percent chance of making it. Assuming we can keep him hidden for a while.”

  “I’m supposed to go on some bonding trip into the forest tomorrow,” Ruwen said.

  “Not a chance. You’ll die for sure,” Ky said.

  “Fine with me. What do I tell Big D, because she –”

  “Big D is organizing this?” Ky asked.

  Ruwen nodded.

  “You’re going then. Durn is far more dangerous than that assassin. That woman can talk you into anything,” Ky said.

  “But, you just said I’d die for sure if –”

  Ky waved her hands. “You’ll be okay. Probably. Most likely. Anyway, I’m not messing with Big D’s plans, so we’re going to train you the hard way.”

  Tremine groaned, and Ruwen looked at him.

  “Is that bad?” Ruwen asked.

  Tremine scrunched his face and tried to smile.

  “What do you mean train?” Ruwen asked.

  “As good as your Fireball seems to be, it looks like times are calling for something a little less…explosive. You need to live. Which means you need to learn how to hide. Uru told me you get a reset every time you kick it. So, if you already picked something like Order or Merchant or, I don’t know, Mage. I’m going to have to kill you. Because your only choice right now is Observer.”

  Thank Uru he hadn’t picked a Class yet, but he winced as Ky blatantly uttered his secret out loud.

  Ky saw his reaction and smiled. “Okay, lessons start now. The most important thing an Observer can do is listen. And you’re terrible. Trem gave you two reasons why he knows you’re different, but he said there were three.”

  Ruwen looked back at Tremine. The librarian gave Ky a small bow and then faced Ruwen. “Yes, number three. You see, while you’ve become a servant of Uru today, I’ve been doing it for over a hundred years.”

  As Tremine sa
id the last, he opened his palm and showed Ruwen the small tree there.

  Ky sighed. “I didn’t know about these Hands until a few hours ago when I was volunteered to be one. I should have known.” She narrowed her eyes at Tremine. “Was the Nalab job her doing?”

  Tremine nodded.

  “Kled?”

  Tremine nodded again.

  “So Uru’s been leading you around like a cow, and you spent a couple of decades doing the same to me,” Ky said.

  “That isn’t fair,” Tremine said.

  “I know,” Ky whispered, and then turned to Ruwen. “Kid, now I’m angry. And one of us is going to suffer for it.”

  Ruwen rubbed the back of his neck and grimaced.

  “I’ll leave you two to your fun, but first some business,” Tremine said.

  The librarian opened his bag and removed eight books. Six were the same size and shape and only differed in color. These he stacked together while placing the other two books to the side. One of these was bigger than the others and had a plain brown cover. The last one was half the size and looked very old. Its cover was black, and it had silver writing on it.

  Tremine picked up the brown book and handed it to Ruwen. As soon as he touched it, a notification began pulsing in the bottom of his vision, and he opened it.

  Ting!

  You have completed the Quest – Does This Taste Funny to You (Part 1).

  You have received 200 experience.

  You have received Collector Novice Manual (part 1).

  The brown book felt heavy, and he fanned the pages. The book was filled with drawings, many in color, all with detailed descriptions. It looked interesting, and he couldn’t wait to study it.

  Tremine put his hand on the stack of six books. “Here are the textbooks for each Class. They cover the first nine levels of abilities and spells for each respective Class. Most people never need volume two. Obviously, people usually only ever see the textbook for their own Class, so don’t be seen with anything other than the Worker one.”

  The librarian gently placed the black book on top of the stack. “This is one of the few books we have on the god Naktos and his followers. I thought you might want to practice your new-found language skills and learn about the people who want you dead.”

  “Thank you,” Ruwen said, genuinely excited.

  Tremine stood, and Ruwen did as well.

  “Try not to kill him,” Tremine said to Ky.

  “You know me,” Ky said.

  “That’s why I mentioned it,” Tremine replied.

  Ruwen couldn’t tell if he was joking or not.

  Chapter 12

  The door closed as Tremine left, and Ruwen placed his books in the Void Band. It was one of the few good things that had happened today.

  “If my Fireball caused the explosion that killed that servant, why didn’t my log show anything about the combat?” Ruwen asked.

  “Fighting people is a little different than battling monsters. Your log won’t provide information that would unfairly give you an advantage. If your Perception isn’t high enough to see things like your enemy’s level or combat damage, your log won’t show it either. It defers combat information and experience until all the members of the enemy party are killed.”

  “Oh,” he said, not really understanding what Ky meant.

  Before he could get clarification, Ky changed the subject.

  “What is Big D doing with you tomorrow?”

  Ruwen held up his wrist with the Void Band. “I’m the packhorse for every person that has Ascended in the last two months. Plus all their instructors and whoever else needs to go on this stupid expedition. Big D said everyone was going to be upset, and she seemed happy about that.”

  “Big D is dangerous. The Council is going to learn that. But that isn’t our problem. At least not our immediate one. Tremine said the Naktos tried some type of magic hug on you.”

  “Embrace.”

  Ky stared at him.

  “Sorry,” Ruwen muttered. “Yes, they did, but Tremine stopped it.”

  Ruwen rubbed his eye.

  “Since the assassin threw knives at you in the bar, plan B must be to kill you over and over until you’re a vegetable.”

  If Ky was going to help him survive, she needed to know his weaknesses.

  “Making me a vegetable isn’t going to take long. My death penalty is twice normal,” Ruwen said.

  Ky whistled. “That explains the debuffs.”

  “You can see those?”

  “Are you serious? Do you know anything about Observer Class?”

  “Hey, I was meant to be a Mage. I didn’t need to know about the other Classes.”

  “I won’t ask how that’s working out. And points for leveling?”

  “Six in total.”

  “Ouch.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  “How much hand fighting have you learned?”

  Ruwen looked down.

  “It’s a free skill,” Ky said.

  “I was supposed to be a –”

  “Mage. I remember.”

  Ky stood and waved around the room. “We might as well get started. What is wrong with this room?”

  Ruwen looked around. It was on the small side, and it didn’t have its own bathroom or kitchen, but he liked its coziness.

  Ruwen tried to keep the doubt off his face. “It’s small?”

  “This is going to be painful,” Ky whispered. “There is only one entrance. Which means there is only one exit. It makes my skin crawl just being in here.”

  “I can see how that’s bad.”

  “Is there a private room nearby with two doors? Or maybe a window?”

  Ruwen thought for a moment. “There’s a meeting room down the hall that nobody ever uses. It has a door at each end.”

  “Let’s go.”

  “Now? I was kind of hoping I could rest a little more.”

  “Are you tired?”

  He leaned back in the chair and rubbed his face. “Yes, it’s been a long day, and I’d hoped to sleep the rest of it away.”

  Ky nodded. “You know what I hope?”

  Ruwen shook his head.

  “I hope the Mage that almost ripped your soul from your body died. I hope the assassin that blinked away decided to go home. I hope your ignorance hasn’t alerted any of the other gods who want to burn our country to the ground. I hope –”

  Ruwen held up his hands. “Okay, I get it. We need to get started. What do you want to accomplish tonight?”

  Ky pursed her lips and looked at the ceiling for a few seconds. “I think level five might give you enough skills to survive this outing.”

  Ruwen laughed, but when Ky’s expression didn’t change, he stood and placed a hand on his chest.

  “I’m only level two. It’s impossible to level three times in a single night.”

  “True,” Ky said. “That’s why we’re doing things the hard way. Now take me to this room. I have a place I want to show you. I know you’ll love it as much as I do.”

  By the tone in her voice, Ruwen doubted that very much. He opened the door, entered the hallway, and started for the meeting room.

  A question had been nagging him since Ky had first appeared. “How did you find me at the library?”

  “I do,” Ky said.

  “What?”

  Ky stopped. “Keep going. When you get to the end of the hallway, open your map, think of me, and say I do.”

  Ruwen did as she instructed. When he said the words, a dot appeared next to his location.”

  “The ring is how I found you,” Ky said as she approached.

  He looked at the ring on his finger and realized they hadn’t taken a shaker with them for light. But it seemed the rings had other powers than just light enhancement.

  “I thought this was just for seeing in the dark,” Ruwen said.

  “So did the original owners. Let’s keep moving.”

  He started toward the meeting room, and Ky followed.

&nb
sp; “The rings are a few hundred years old. They were an engagement gift to the future king and queen of Jaga. Pull up the description.”

  Ruwen opened his inventory and focused on the ring.

  Name: Jaga Wedding Band

  Quality: Fine

  Durability: 10 of 10

  Weight: 0.12 lbs.

  Effect (Passive): Enhance Ambient Light by 15%.

  Effect (Active): Reveal Heart’s Desire.

  Restriction: Active effect requires pair

  Description: Darkness is no barrier to love. Trust ends with “I do.”

  Ky spoke again. “The lovers thought the rings were just a way for them to sneak through the darkness and meet. Then they discovered the phrase ‘I do’ allowed them to see where the other person was. It eventually caused the fall of Jaga.”

  Ruwen had read about Jaga. It had been a prosperous country far to the south. A civil war had been its downfall. Jaga had been divided up by its neighbors and no longer existed.

  “How could these rings have done that?” Ruwen asked.

  “I’m sure it started innocently enough. Why were you in the stables? Or, what took you so long in the staff quarters? That eventually leads to arguments about being watched, which leads to fights about trust. Eventually, it consumed them both to the point that the country crumbled around them. The description literally warned them.”

  The ring suddenly felt very heavy on his finger. “These rings are evil.”

  Ky grabbed his shoulder and turned him around. “This is an important lesson. Things aren’t good or bad. The people who use them are. Don’t confuse the two.”

  He nodded. “I get it. But it makes me feel kind of sick wearing something instrumental in the fall of an entire nation.”

  “Good. There’s hope for you.”

  “Can I take it off?”

  “Don’t be stupid. Now, show me that room.”

  A minute later, they entered the room, and Ky walked around the entire perimeter. She opened the far door and disappeared, Ruwen assumed to scout the area for threats. When she returned, she closed both doors and then walked to a tapestry of a woman reading a book.

  “Hold this away from the wall,” Ky said.

  Ruwen dutifully grabbed the bottom of the tapestry and lifted the heavy cloth in the air. Ky pulled a dark rock from her bag. It fit in the palm of her hand and was as thick as a finger. He couldn’t tell the exact color because the world looked grey from the Jaga Wedding Band’s enhancement. Ky held the rock like a charcoal stick and drew a narrow rectangle just over six foot high. She wrote five strange runes down the center of the rectangle and then put the rock back into her bag. She motioned for him to drop the tapestry.