by Matthew Peed
I shook my head, amazed at the way mortals always surprised me, even though I was a human before and knew exactly how resourceful people could be. I teleported the group to the surface. The city was in . . . well, chaos. If at least controlled chaos. A large assembly of people stood around the entrance of the dungeon. They appeared to be debating whether to charge in or not.
“It’s alright! We’re back!” Ezal shouted once she saw the situation. A visible wave of relief washed through the gathering.
“Louella, I apologize for my rudeness earlier,” I said after pulling her to the side.
“I understand that you are taking care of the north. I keep telling myself not to rely on you, but every time I seem to mention it, something happens that I need your help with,” Louella said with a heavy expression.
“At least the attitude is there.” I chuckled. “I like the staff. Quite powerful.” I could feel the power literally radiating off the thing.
“Thank you. I copied you,” Louella said with a smirk.
“You should keep doing so. I am a pretty good example to follow,” I shot back.
“If I did even half the things that you do daily, I would have been dead four or five times over,” she said, smacking my arm. A small wave of force echoed from the impact, as she didn’t control her strength. She looked at me, her face turning crimson. She’d even managed to force my feet into the ground a bit.
“Ouch,” I said flatly, then laughed.
“Sorry!” Louella said, rubbing her hand.
“Take care of Izora. She is not in as good a place as she makes everyone believe,” I said, glancing at the princess. She was surrounded by a few dozen of her people, who looked relieved out of their minds that she was finally back. I guess it would have been hard for people to accept their princess being devoured by the being she was trying to persuade them to worship.
“I understand.” Louella nodded seriously.
I nodded too and she made her way over to the crowd. I was about to let my avatar fade when I heard someone call for me. Turning around, I saw Ezal walking toward me with an expression that I couldn’t decide was anger or just determination. Maybe a bit of both, I finally settled on.
“Yes, Town Captain?” I asked, wondering what the issue could be. Maybe the fifteenth floor was too dangerous?
She reached me and grabbed the collar of my coat. “I need to speak with you . . . in complete privacy,” she growled. I was more surprised than mad at what could cause her to react this way.
“My lady! You can’t go alone!” a man said from nearby. I looked and saw Bruce standing among the guards that had been with her earlier.
“Oh! Bruce! I didn’t see you there,” I joked, considering he was almost two heads taller than everyone else.
Ezal shot him a glare. “Not this time, Bruce. I have questions that need answering.”
I moved back a few steps, then swept into a bow. “As the lady commands.” With a chuckle, I then teleported us to the station.
We stood at the top on an observation tower that was at the center of the station. Automata moved around like ants as they worked around the station. The station created the satellites manually, at least without magic, so the parts had to be manufactured, then sent to the central assembly line. This saved me untold amounts of mana, with the biggest drain being the teleport matrix from the asteroid mining floor.
I activated a magic script that would completely lock out outside observers. Something told me it would be a good idea if no prying eyes saw or ears heard what was about to be said. I was starting to gain an awareness of when people were spying on me. There was a feeling of someone following me down an alley, but when I looked, it was gone. They apparently couldn’t break through my regular defenses, but it was always better to be safe than sorry.
“Now. How can I help—” I started to say, but Ezal cut me off.
“Why didn’t you tell me?!” she shouted. Flames leaped from her hair and various parts of her body. “The other me! She said Valamar is still alive!” she screamed, tears turning to steam before they could make streaks down her cheeks.
How could she know that? The illusion wouldn’t have access to that information because she didn’t know herself. The only way would have been . . . if Valamar had talked to her before he visited me. He could have used an illusion or some type of spell to make her forget. That tricky bastard, I would have to get back at him next time he came here. For now, I had to deal with his angry wife . . . Or is it fiancée? I wondered.
“My dear, I truly apologize. I am afraid that the individual in question wanted to remain dead to you until all his debts have been settled,” I said, bowing and trying to use my best politician voice.
“So, he did come to you . . .” Ezal murmured.
“Indeed, and from my guess, he came to you just before he saw me. That is why the other you knew about him. The nature of my spell would see past the fragile construction that is your consciousness,” I explained.
“Why?” she asked, the flames reducing to sparks and her tears finally succeeding in leaving trails on her face.
“Because he loved you, I would think,” I replied. I created a seat for both of us. Sitting down, Ezal cupped her face in her hands. I was starting to worry how all the women seemed to be crying lately. At least Louella didn’t have blaring parent issues, and her last lover she wanted dead more than she wanted to see him.
“I miss him,” Ezal whispered.
“He has a mission. A mission that he imposed on himself when his world crashed to pieces around him. Even if he abandons it right now to return to your side, it would most likely haunt him for the rest of his life. I think you understand that about the man.”
“He was very driven.” Ezal smiled.
“Again, I’m sorry about not telling you, but it was his wish. The same reason he sent Bruce here without an inkling of the truth, which, by the way, I would recommend you keep it that way, to protect both of you.”
“No. I’m sorry for accusing you of hiding this from me. I knew in my head there must be a reason, but I just couldn’t settle my heart until I heard it from you.” Ezal bowed her head.
“It’s alright,” I smiled. “You are only mortal.”
Chapter 31
An explosion rang out in the middle of the night. The lord’s manor of the town of Terneo was currently a smoldering crater at the top of the hill that overlooked the town. Screams and shouts rang out through the town as the guards and adventurers responded as best they could. No one knew what was actually going on.
A large group of said adventurers were running toward the manor when a figure took shape in the smoke from the crater. It resembled a man, but a man with four arms. One of the members shouted “demon,” and the whole party skidded to a stop. As they watched, a sinister laugh echoed over the air, reaching every part of the town.
“People of Terneo! Rejoice! For you have been spared this day! The lord of this pitiful town worshipped the Celestial of the necromancers. Thus, I have removed his head from his body.” The evil-sounding voice reverberated through the air.
The air went quiet for a moment, then the ranger on the ground shouted a warning that something was heading for them. Everyone in the party took defensive postures, but it was unneeded as a spear sank into the ground a few meters in front of the group. It was too dark to see clearly, but something was embedded on the spear.
The rogue crept forward carefully in case it was a trap. The mages in his group had spells on their lips, ready to be cast at a moment’s notice. The rogue reached a point where he could make out the object and immediately realized it was the lord’s head. He rushed back to the party.
“It’s the fucking lord’s head,” he yelled to the others.
One of the others was about to say something when the voice echoed through the town again. “Necromancers! Let fear into your hearts! For I will be coming for all of you!”
Suddenly, the smoke grew bright, as bright as the midday sun. Th
e figure was surrounded by a large glowing disk of light. It reminded everyone of a sun with rays of light coming off it. The points streaked out across the night sky.
“It’s heading for the outskirts of town!” the mage said, tracking the trajectory of the lines.
Sure enough, each “bolt” struck outside the town within several-hundred-meter intervals. When the bolts hit the ground, explosions similar to the one on the hill occurred. The party couldn’t see the exact damage from where they were, but they could tell that the crater was quite deep. Finally, the last bolt hit the section of land that led to the river and blasted a chunk from the edge of the riverbed. Water rushed from the river into the craters, and before long the entire town now had a moat.
“People of Terneo! Continue to harbor the necromancer scum and I will return!” There was a flash of light, then the figure shot into the air, over the cloud line.
The leader of the party turned to the others. “Well. Shit. How are we supposed to know who the hell is a necromancer?!” he growled. Suddenly, a sword made of jet-black metal stabbed into the ground in front of him.
He glanced at the others in his party, then screwed up his face. Working up his courage, the leader grabbed the sword, and it was like another sense opened to him. He could sense several “spots” in the distance, and they gave him an eerie feeling.
“I have a feeling we’re about to kill some necromancers,” the leader said gruffly.
“You sure we can trust that thing?” the priestess in the group asked.
“I’m tired of the regular people not having a way to strike at those bastards! We’ll be careful the first time, but if it checks out, then we’re striking without warning after that,” the leader ordered.
The group made it to the first “spot” sensed by the leader a few minutes later. A merchant who looked like he was having a panic attack was rushing to put his wares away into more secure places. It looked like he intended to leave in the morning. The leader shot a look to the priestess but didn’t say anything.
“Good sir, can we ask you some questions?” the leader called to the merchant.
“Huh?! What do you want? Can’t you see I’m busy?!” the merchant growled.
Thinking quickly, the leader said, “Well . . . We were hoping you could take a look at an item we have.”
The merchant glanced toward the manor, but sighed and nodded. “Alright! Hurry it up.”
The leader brought the flat of the sword toward the merchant so as to not appear threatening. When the sword was less than a meter from the man, it flared green and tried to pull the leader toward the merchant.
“Shit!” the merchant shouted. Then green mana flared around his hands as a bolt of unholy mana shot toward the leader at point-blank range. The bolt traveled less than half the distance before it was pulled into the sword by some force.
“Necromancer!” the leader shouted, and the rest of the party prepared for battle.
“Not possible!” the merchant shouted, the panic back in full force.
The battle couldn’t even be called that. Having heard stories of how powerful the necromancers were in combat, the party took a stance of extreme caution in preparing for the fight. But the merchant was a pathetic excuse for a man, let alone for a necromancer. He launched some unholy bolts and used his barrier, but the sword easily countered them. Eventually, the leader just stepped forward and lobbed the man’s head off, the sword slicing through the necromancer’s barrier like hot butter.
“I’ve lost a brother and a father to the necromancer horde to the north. I think it’s time they felt some pain of their own.”
The leader frowned, his grip on the sword tightening. The rest of the party nodded. The leader turned toward the next “spot” he felt, and the party rushed off.
Afterword
Thank you for reading! Did you enjoy the story? Hard to believe there are already four books up on Amazon! I couldn’t have done this without all the readers out there! Thank you! If so, please feel free to leave a positive review on Amazon. Reviews can make or break a story after all! Check out what happens next in the Dungeon Robotics Universe or explore one of my other stories on Patreon!
The Dungeon Robotics World
Book 1: Establish
Book 2: Expansion
Book 3: Escalation
Book 4: Cascade
Book 5: Cataclysm
Book 6: Conflict
