We reached the cusp of a chasm, and the man in black launched himself across it. He landed deftly, then turned and waited for me. Without missing a step, I gathered what strength I had left and leapt. The man in black held out his hand to me, and just as I thought I was going to fall short and tumble into the sharp rocks below, his hand grabbed my wrist and hauled me onto the other side of the broken path.
We turned and ran. I did not hear the boots of the Crimson Initiates coming after us.
The man in black slowed his pace and entered a small gap between two boulders. He had to stoop his shoulders to squeeze through. I followed him into the darkness and stopped dead in my tracks when I saw the symbol of the Crimson Order on a flat stone on the other side of the clearing.
"That's our way out?" I asked.
The man in black nodded, then reached behind his head and unclasped the mask. He let it drop to the side, and I wondered why it was that he wore it in the first place. He was a handsome dude. The gray hair at his temples and the intensity in his eyes made him look much older than he did with the mask on. Without it, he looked a bit older than me, but not by much. Why on earth was he hiding his face?
"I am not a member of the Crimson Order," he said. "My name is Ostin Erodwulf, and I'm working against the Crimson Queen."
"Ostin. I'm Lucas," I said, and then the penny dropped. "Wait, Erodwulf? As in Emperor Erodwulf?"
Ostin nodded once. "My father has done terrible things with the greatest intention. I strayed from his path many years ago, and I fear that the bridges I have burned are needed now more than they have ever been. But this discussion can wait until we return to Crematoria. It will only be a matter of time before the Sanguinari locate this blood portal, so we need to make this quick. Are you ready to go?"
I looked back at the crevice we had squeezed through to get in here. Ellie was still out there in the clutches of the Crimson Order.
"I can't leave her here," I said.
"You don't have a choice right now. Despite my own strength, their numbers would have overwhelmed us if we had stood our ground. Both of us would be lost, and the knowledge we possess would die with us."
"We need to warn the people of Dregswyk," I said. "They have no idea what's coming."
"Eldin, too. We must unite the people of both Dregswyk and Eldin, otherwise both cities will fall. Then, the rest of Crematoria."
"Make me a deal," I said.
"The terms?"
"When we come back here, we bring an army. We don't stop until we find Ellie and we take her out of here."
Ostin sighed. "I don't think you understand what's about to happen, Lucas. If Ellie survives the Sanguinari implantation, she will be bonded to it within a week or two. Once the bonding has occurred, there's no cure."
"They're going to put one of those things inside of her?" I asked.
"Yes. If she survives, then she'll become one of them. Bonded to the Crimson Queen's will. She will not be the person that you once knew."
"Then we raise an army within in two weeks. You talk to your Dad, and we bring the entire Imperial Army down here!" I said.
I knew it was impossible. The look that Ostin gave me said as much, but he did not give voice to it.
"We will do all we can for her. I hear them Crimson Order approaching. Let's go!"
Ostin took his blade from its scabbard and took one of his gauntlets off. He drew the blade across his palm and held it against the sigil of the Crimson Order spread across the stone wall. The blood sunk into the stone, which shimmered until it disappeared entirely. Beyond the threshold of the blood portal, I saw the plain bricks of an Eldin alleyway.
I gave one last look back, then fled through the blood portal.
Chapter Forty-Three
A Celestial Offering
My mind lurched as I stepped out of the blood portal. Ostin followed close behind, then the portal snapped shut with a sound of air rushing out of a closed room. Ostin turned around to face the sigil of the Crimson Order drawn on the bricks on the alley wall. He delivered a punch to the center of the sigil that shook the foundations of the building. Pieces of brick came tumbling out of the wall.
"There," he said. "They won't be following us."
"How did you do that?" I asked. "How did you open one of their blood portals?"
Ostin sighed, then raised his muzzle-like mask in front of me. "Because I am like them, Lucas. Infected. That's why I wear this."
"You've got one of those things inside you?" I asked.
"Yes, but unlike those thralls of the Crimson Order, it does not rule me."
Ostin made a retching sound and his parasite burst forth from between his lips. I immediately dove out of the way. The head of the parasite pushed out of the wrinkled skin that covered it, and I expected to see wicked fangs ready to sink into my flesh. Except that this one didn't have any teeth. It had been completely de-fanged.
"You've removed its fangs," I said. "Is that how you managed to control it?"
The parasite disappeared back into Ostin's mouth. It looked a little bit too much like a wilted, flaccid cock as it retreated back inside of him.
"Not entirely," Ostin managed to say once the parasite had disappeared. "If a person of great willpower is infected with the Sanguinari parasite, they can resist the Crimson Queen's will. Normally the parasites require complete subjugation in order to bond with their host, but my parasite and I have formed an accord. I keep it fed, and it keeps me alive. I still feel the pull of the Crimson Queen's orders, but I do not listen."
"Ellie is the strongest person I know," I said.
"Let us hope that she possesses the willpower to resist the call of the Crimson Queen."
"If they infect her, is there a cure?"
"Not once they bond. But until then, there is a chance that the Sanguinari can be removed from the host without killing it."
"How long do they take to bond?"
"Roughly two weeks. Sometimes shorter, if the person is strong of body but weak of will, or sometimes longer if the person is rather obstinate."
I smiled. "I've got at least two weeks to raise an army and get back down there, then. Probably more."
Ostin returned my smile in a sad echo. "I'm afraid that won't be possible."
"It has to be," I said.
"No, it isn't. You cannot open a portal big enough to take an army with you. If you were to do that, the Crimson Queen will win. She will use that portal to enter our world, and once she gains a foothold here, our world ends. She hungers for it, Lucas. She hungers for the bodies she may claim as her own. No, I know exactly what you need to do, and I shall help you do it. Come, walk with me." Ostin led me out into the street, and we talked as we walked.
I had no idea where we were in relation to Banshee Cross, but I was sure I'd find my way back there.
"You cannot win against Andestra in her realm. Sanguinaria, the land through the blood portals, belongs to her. The forces she commands there are beyond your imagining. I'm sure you saw their experiments in the outskirts?"
"Yes," I said. The Blood-gorged Boar and the Sanguine Monstrosity came to mind.
"Those are just their experiments on the creatures of Crematoria that they were able to take through the blood portals. The other creatures that inhabit the mist-covered world above the city of Sanguinaria are an entirely different story. You did not see Andestra's palace, the spawning grounds, or cross her Praetorian Guard. You cannot prevail with force alone. No. You must use your wits."
"This whole situation has made me realize just how few wits I actually have," I admitted.
The admission deflated me. I had been taken for a fool by James Treborn from day one, and looking back on it, I should have been able to see it. Back during the Stagnant Hive, when he'd been hurt, he hadn't been bleeding from the mouth as an injury. He'd given his Sanguinari parasite a vial of blood to heal his body.
"Then there is one thing to do, and that is to grow stronger," Ostin said. "You have two weeks to become strong e
nough to rescue Ellie before the parasite takes hold. During that time, you must forge an alliance with exceptional individuals, each with their own power to stand against her. Come back to me when you have a band of four, and I shall join you in a covert assault on Sanguinaria. I can open the way."
"How am I going to find three people stupid enough to risk their necks for someone they've never met."
I couldn't see Ostin's mouth - the mask covered it, yet I could still tell that he was smiling. It was the eyes, the way they crinkled at the sides. "There you go thinking about things the wrong way again. You're so focused on your problem that you can't see the greater one. The warriors you recruit are not just fighting for Ellie, or you, they're fighting for the future of Crematoria itself. I've seen you in combat, Lucas. I saw the steel that entered your eyes when Ellie was in danger. Only love can-"
"Whoa, let me stop you right there," I said. "Let's not go there, okay?"
"Very well. If you are not ready to face that particular truth yet, then I shall leave you to discover it on your own. Regardless, the steel I saw in your eyes and the fire that burned in your heart at that moment is the kind that can change the world."
I looked away from Ostin's gaze. His intensity was intimidating.
"I'm no hero," I said, but I found myself thinking back to what Mister Willoughby said about the path I was on. I was standing in the center of a great darkness.
"I believe the contrary to be the truth," Ostin said. He clapped me on the shoulder. "It is not just Ellie you are fighting for, Lucas. It is the future of Crematoria itself. If you cannot stand against the might of the Crimson Queen, then this world will fall. Find three other heroes of exceptional skill and seek me out. I will be in Dregswyk, moving against the Crimson Queen in my own way."
Ellie had been the only other player I'd found in Crematoria Online so far. How was I going to find three more exceptional players to join me? How would I convince them? If we were all trapped here, then I guess we all had a vested interest in making sure the whole world wasn't destroyed. I couldn't imagine being infected with one of those things. I felt sick just thinking about what might be happening to Ellie.
"Okay," I said finally. "I don't see what you see, obviously, but I'll try. That's all I can do. If the Crimson Queen means to come through the Gate of blood and Bone and destroy everything, then it's my duty to try and stop it."
Ostin smiled with his eyes again. "Good. Then it is time for me to take my leave. Find your heroes, then seek me out in Dregswyk. Go to King Malidar and he will let me know you are ready to move. Until then." Ostin held out his hand to me. I took it and shook.
"Until then," I said.
Ostin left without another word, leaving me alone in that Eldin alleyway. The rhythm of the city wasn't affected by the weight that I now carried on my shoulders. Nobody here knew about the storm that was lingering just beyond the curve of the horizon. Everyone in this city was on the edge of a conflict that threatened to destroy everything they loved, and they had absolutely no clue.
The only thing that stood between them and that fate was me. I walked back out into the streets and asked a man sitting on a stoop where I was. He told me that I was near the Halls of Justice, and unless I wanted to walk the soles of my shoes out from under me, I should probably flag down a taxi carriage to take me back to Banshee Cross.
The Halls of Justice contained the Scales of Balance - the home of Empyria the Celestial. She had told me to seek her out, but there would be time for that later. Returning to LSI was higher on my priority list. I needed to get my hands on that Celestial Offering.
The taxi carriages were easy enough to spot. They had black and white checkered fabric draped over the horses that pulled them along. I hailed the taxi just like I would have hailed one of the driverless cabs that circled Manhattan like vultures waiting for a fresh corpse. The carriage pulled over and I gave the driver a silver.
"Banshee Cross," I said. "Langdon Specialist Investigations."
The driver raised a bushy eyebrow at me. "Looks like you've seen better days. Normally they solve the murders, not take cases from people who have been murdered."
"They came close, but I didn't let them finish the job," I admitted. "Please, take me to LSI with haste."
"Right you are," he said.
I climbed into the back of the closed carriage and we were off. I drew the curtains as we left. James knew my face, and if what he had said was true, then the Crimson Queen already had agents all across Eldin. There would be spies on the streets, too. Keeping myself hidden from them would be important if I wanted to keep breathing.
I had no idea how I was going to do what I needed to do to rescue Ellie. I had to figure out how I could find other players and convince them to join my cause. I also needed to grow stronger. Strong enough to be able to fight back against the forces of the Crimson Queen. Strong enough to fight back against James Treborn. I had no doubt that when he and I faced off against each other again, he would come at me with all of his might.
We had unfinished business.
The carriage came to a stop at the front of LSI. I thanked the driver, who already had another fare waiting. I headed up the stairs, past the empty front desk and headed down the hallway. I thought the worst when I saw that the front desk was empty. Now that I knew the truth about James, had the ex-LSI Investigator come back to tie up those loose ends?
No.
As I approached the open door to Edwin E. Langdon's office, I heard laughter. I rapped my knuckles on the door frame and Edwin looked up from the copy of the Eldin Observer he was reading. Then, when he recognized me, his face lit up. That thick walrus mustache hitched upwards in happiness.
"Lucas? Lucas, my dear boy! I never thought I would see you again!"
Then Edwin was up and bounding around his desk. His heavy footfalls made the bric-a-brac on the shelves surrounding his desk shift. He took me in an exuberant bear hug, which lifted my exhausted feet from the floor.
He put me down again and shouted out down the corridor. "Mrs. Yeardly, Mister Hutchins has returned! Fetch us some supper, would you?"
"Right you are my love," Mrs. Yeardly called back.
"Please, come and sit with me, tell me what happened. Where, pray tell, is Mister Treborn?" An edge of fear crept into his voice then. I couldn't tell whether it was fear for James's safety, or fear at what he thought James might have done. Surely Edwin had not been as oblivious as I was to James's true nature.
"You might want to sit down for this," I said.
The mood changed almost immediately. He exhaled, and he seemed to collapse in on himself, as though the weight of whatever he had carried had suddenly grown too heavy to bear.
"I imagine so," he said.
I sat across from him and launched into the tale. His eyebrows raised when I told him what had been going on within the Allurian Orphanage. That the children there were being used for all manner of deeds that adults wouldn't have been able to get away with. When I said that James knew of what was going on there, Edwin blustered through a mouthful of curses.
"That was exactly what I rescued him from, all those years ago," Edwin said. "To know that he was complicit in exploiting others, a new generation of vulnerable children, well, I thought I knew him better than that. But fear not. The Judiciary will be notified of this, and they will see to making sure the Allurian Orphanage is dismantled."
"Dismantled? Then where will the children go?" I asked.
"Hm, perhaps not dismantled. That is a problem for the future. I shall discuss this with the Chief Justicar. Please, continue," Edwin said.
And so I did. Edwin didn't seem surprised when I told him that we ended up in Dregswyk, but James's close relationship to King Malidar was a shock to him. I told him of our days in Dregswyk, helping whatever people we could with whatever we could, learning more about the city and its people. Then, I showed Edwin the symbol of the Crimson Order.
"This is the symbol that got us in trouble," I said. "We were
looking for information about it, and we heard from a seller on a street corner about one of these symbols hidden in an alleyway. He told us that he had seen someone wearing white and red take someone there, through the wall. Disappeared. When we went to investigate it, we must have raised some kind of alarm. That very night, Ellie and I were attacked in the Trash Palace."
Then I told him about the Crimson Order assassin who had tried to kill Ellie in her sleep. Then, about the blood portal, and the strange other realm that the Sanguinari had been banished to.
Edwin grew very quiet as I recounted every step of our journey through the outskirts of Sanguinaria. I showed him the letter from Commander Urdred about their infiltration techniques, which made him rub his eyes in disbelief.
When James reappeared in my story, the color drained from Edwin's face. He barely reacted from that moment until the end, where I revealed that Ostin Erodwulf, the son of Emperor Darius Erodwulf, was also infected by the Sanguinari, but had somehow conquered its influence.
Edwin simply shook his head.
"That is quite the tale," he said finally. "I do not disbelieve you, for you have no reason to weave such an intricate and unpredictable tale. But I must make my own inquiries to confirm the truth of the matter. If these events occurred as you have reported them to me, then we are on the cusp of a war that threatens every life in Eldin and beyond."
"I understand," I said.
"Take some time for yourself and return to me in the morning. We shall talk more then. In the meantime, I have something for you."
Edwin stood from his desk and reached up behind him, towards a long, thin box. As he took it down from the shelf, a string of messages appeared in the bottom of my view.
Quest Completion: The Rotten Heart of Alluria
You have solved the mystery at the heart of the Allurian Orphanage and reported it back to Langdon Specialist Investigations. You have located John Byrne and uncovered an organization which exploits vulnerable children for profit.
You have gained 500 experience points.
You have reached Level 11!
Rise of the Crimson Order: A Crematoria Online LitRPG Novel Page 36
