Hanging in front of Erruku was a tiny, dark, glimmering blob. It was bright, but not bright enough to be a star. It hung motionless in front of the great sphere of Archemi's moon, a dead planet three times the size of this one. Like a bird orienting on its migration route, I knew it was due south.
I drew a deep breath of crisp, cold dawn air. "'When the Dark Star passes in front of the Moon, journey to the Thunderstones at Myszno, a village in the east of Vlachia'. Did I forget anything, old man?"
My HUD chimed in reply. Curious, I bought up the new quest alert.
Quest Update: The Shrine of the Elder Gods.
Hurry.
Chapter 39
The sun was high by the time Karalti and I swooped back in over Fort Korona and dropped the Warsinger's knuckle in the middle of the parade ground - right in front of Istvan and his banners, their knights and militia, and Vash.
The huge hunk of articulated metal crashed onto the stone, scattering hookwings and men with shouts and screeching. I stood on Karalti’s back as she circled around the plaza, then backwinged and flapped hard to land beside it. She lifted her head and bellowed victoriously toward the sky.
"We did it!" She announced telepathically as I hopped down to the ground. Istvan had turned the color of milk, hanging back as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing. I swaggered over to Vash and pulled my helmet off, glaring at him. The monk was watching me warily, as if he couldn't quite believe it was really me.
"I should kick you in the dick," I said cheerfully. "But hey, it's done."
Vash didn't look back or search for his friend's approval. To everyone's surprise, especially mine, he dropped to the ground and put his forehead against his hands, then rose with his palms pressed together and touched them to his nose.
"This man has proven himself through the Rihgung Gulga. Through deed!" He shouted. "Long live the Black God's Hand! Long live Voivode Dragozin Hector - the rightful Claimant to Racsa!"
[You have unlocked a new Hero: Vash Dorha (Rank A+ Baru Infantry Marshal - Myszno Defense Force)]
He was met with a stunned, resounding silence.
"Vash..." Istvan came forward, his face pale. "What are you doing?"
"Are you a moron? Don't you see that?" Vash pointed at the limp, severed digit lying on the ground. "Use your eyes, Arshak. Tell me what you see."
"It... looks like... " Istvan squinted, scratching his hair. "Like a finger?"
"That is the distal phalange - the first knuckle - from a finger of a hand that is approximately the size of that dragon." Vash spoke like someone trying to explain math to a small child.
Istvan made a small choking sound. He whirled on me, pointing at it. "Are you telling me you killed the thing that this finger belonged to? Alone?"
I rubbed the back of my neck and shrugged. “Yeah, dude.”
Istvan turned on Vash. "You said this man is an oathbreaker. You truly believe that he destroyed something with a dist… dest… knuckle of that size?"
"His status changed, so yes." Vash flashed him a rakish grin. "There’s hope for him yet.”
“Huadi bekhor.” Istvan pinched the bridge of his nose. “I need a drink.”
“A drink is the last thing you or your liver needs, Arshak. What you need is a blowjob and a nice lie down.” Vash clapped him on the back, sending the blushing man stumbling forward. “But the troops want to know what is going on, dog. Stand before them and bark your commands.”
I gave him a small nod, then turned back to Karalti. She dropped her wing and I climbed up until I could look over the crowd of stunned men and women. They fell silent as I leaned out around her neck, holding onto it like a mast.
"Vash Dorha challenged me to undertake a trial yesterday morning." I lifted my voice to be heard over the rustle and clanking of nervous people, the bustle of the fort and the wind. "He challenged me to go to Krivan Pass, alone, and deal with the creature that was plaguing the shipments we desperately need to survive. This is a trophy cut from the offending monster's body. It was a desperate fight. I am victorious, and shipments will now resume."
Metal and leather rustled as people leaned in and began to whisper.
"If this is what one single Starborn can do, imagine what we can do if we all work together. Disciplined, orderly, united!" I built into it, pushing all of the pent-up frustration I'd suppressed into each word. "That great big hunk of metal over there is from the creature that was blocking the pass. If I can defeat that, alone, what can three Starborn do for Myszno? What can we do with Karalti the Black Opal Queen watching over this army? I AM the Herald of the Hidden Seed. I AM the royally appointed Lord of Racsa, and we CAN fucking win this thing as long as you stay with us!"
As my voice faded, the messy ranks around us shuffled. A few people coughed, others seemed almost embarrassed. From behind me, I heard Vash curse.
"Ah, fuck!" he hissed. "I forgot the fucking quest update. Hang on... there!"
[Congratulations! You have successfully completed Reality at All Costs!]
[You gain +1200 renown (Myszno Defense Force)]
[You gain one bonus Mark of Matir ability! See your character sheet for details.]
As soon as the renown hit, a ripple moved through the ranks. For a time, no one moved. Then one pikeman began to bang the end of his spear down on the flagstones. Another one glanced at Vash, then looked to me and Karalti. He joined in… then another, and another, until a rhythmic drumming boomed through the parade ground.
"We did it!” Karalti reared her head up, her throat vibrating.
I smiled, and let out a tense breath.
“Count Dragozin. I am Ur Ghelan." The first officer to step up to introduce himself looked more like a dockyard brawler than a Knight of the Red Star. He was short and squat and built like a ham, with squashed, heavy-set features and an undercut. His armor had taken dents from swords and had clearly seen a lot of fighting. "I and my retainers will fight as ferociously for you as we would for His Majesty. We are not great in number here, but I will vouch for you in Litvy to summon reinforcements if we must."
[You have unlocked a new Hero: Ur Robert Gehlan (Knight of the Red Star Captain - Myszno Defense Force)]
"I am Lord Zediwitz!" The man who had lost his corrun to Cutthroat rode up on a different horned equine. He was still small, but less bug-eyed now that he wasn’t looking at the dismembered corpse of his favorite mount. "And even though your accursed bird killed my favorite corrun, I and my Cavalry will join you!"
[You have unlocked a new Hero: Lord Franz Zediwitz (Rank B+ Heavy Cavalry Commander - Myszno Defense Force)]
"Thanks." I smiled down at him. "I’m really sorry about the horse. What was its name?"
“Starberry.” He dashed a tear from his eyes as he rode away.
One by one, officers and Heroes approached, unlocking their complete hero profiles in my Mass Combat unit and placing them under my command. One representative of every Unit available to the Defense Force came forward – except for Istvan.
When the last of the officers had come to greet me, I got down and stood to attention: "FOOORM ranks!"
Every soldier - all three hundred of them - moved to act. They weren't all in sync, some dragging their feet, some putting their hands in the wrong places or letting their weapons lean forward or back, but they coalesced from a ragged mob into a single company.
I turned to Istvan. “What about you, man? You willing to trust me now?”
The Yanik's man's eyes flashed, but the glare faltered as he looked to the giant knuckle lying on the ground. "I’m not sure. I have heard that you are somewhat infamous in Taltos, Dragozin. You conspired with a syndicate, and helped them put Ignas Corvinus on the throne.”
“I prefer the word ‘restore’,” I replied. “‘Restored’ Ignas to the throne.”
Istvan’s eyes narrowed. “Rumor is that you slew Andrik yourself. That you are a regicide."
"It's true." I gave a curt nod. "But I wasn’t Andrik’s retainer and he wasn’t my king. He
hired me and Suri with no intention of letting us survive the job he never paid us for. He tried to kill us and send Karalti back to slavery in Ilia. By the end, the monster we killed was no longer human. He used magic to turn into an abomination-“
"What is going on here?!"
Soma's booming voice rolled out across the plaza as he rode through the northern gatehouse, returning from the munitions and manufacturing center. He only had three retainers today - two knights and a squire. He wore a spellglove on one hand, his eyes blazing with confusion and malice. When his hookwing noticed the Warsinger's finger on the ground, it shied back with a short screee of fear.
"What the hell are you all doing here?" Soma demanded. He jerked his hookwing back to sense with the reins, pulling up sharply in front of us. "And what the hell is this?
"That is a great big middle finger, and you’re welcome to go and fuck yourself with it," I said happily.
The huge man's face purpled. He shoved his reins to one side and vaulted off his hookwing, shuddering with rage. "First you disobey my orders by vanishing instead of reporting to the Western Wall, then intrude on MY command center to marshal MY banners. And your response is to insult me?"
"Sure. Why not?" I stared him down. "Suri and I did everything in our power not to pull rank as the Lord and Lady of Racsa, but you’re subject to the authority of the Voivode of Myszno. I’m taking command of this army as of right the fuck now. Soma – you’re fired.”
Soma began to laugh uproariously. “You? You seriously think you can-”
“Shut the fuck up. You’re done.” Something black and hard rose in me and bled out in my voice, turning every word into a cutting stroke that lay on the assembly like a whip. “And Istvan? Shut up or show up. If neither of you can't stand the thought of serving under me and Suri, go back to your rooms, pack your bags, and fuck off into the sunset. Everyone with balls and-or ovaries will hitch them up and fight for this province with their lives. Do the same, or I'll recruit better leaders from within the ranks."
Istvan stepped forward, as if to retort, but Vash caught his shoulder and shook his head. Soma swelled up to his full seven-foot height.
"Your claim to Racsa is only valid when you have taken the Ducal seat back from the Demon," Soma said coldly. He turned to his posse. "Ur Ferenz! I appointed you Castellan of Korona. Arrest these men for mutiny!"
Karalti snarled and stood up from where she had crouched, towering over the plaza. She mantled her wings, head swaying from side to side. Ur Ferenz, who was himself a good six and a half feet of muscle, blanched. He edged toward me, but then stopped. "My Lord... I cannot."
"What do you mean, you cannot?!" Soma whirled on him.
"I am a man of faith, my Lord," he replied nervously. "The dragon is a sacred creature, and this man is a holy man. My men were there when he perished and then returned to life. Vash Dorha has blessed him-"
"I don't give a shit what this barbaric scum has blessed or not!" Soma shouted, gesturing wildly toward me and Vash. "Arrest him! I command it!"
"My Lord, forgive me. I cannot buck the will of the Nine." Ur Ferenz shook his head. "The evidence of Count Dragozin's mantle lies before us. I do not fear the Volod, but I fear the Black God's wrath."
“Oh? So you’re a blasphemer, now?” Soma forgot me for a moment, taking a menacing step toward his retainer. “Worshipping the Black God while you attend services to righteous Khors?”
“That was Andrik’s concept of the church, not Ignas’.” I scoffed. “Okay, if it’s not the law here already, then consider this my first official act of Voivoding: Anyone in Myszno can worship whatever god they damn well please, or not worship any god if that’s their preference.
There was a murmur of assent among the ranks.
"Istvan!" Soma pointed at me. "You're standing by, listening to this blasphemous outlander scum lay claim to Egbolt? To your liege lord's rightful lands?"
Istvan sucked a tooth, then shook his head. "Lord Bolza’s line and House were wiped out. This man has redeemed himself and his druzhina by deed. That is an act that is important to both the Tuun and the Yanik. He honors Lord Bolza’s memory.”
Soma's entire face trembled with anger as he looked around and found nothing but judging stares. He sneered, then hawked in his throat and spat at my feet. "Fine. Then I invoke the Code of Honor and demand satisfaction."
"You want to duel me?" I couldn't stop the manic grin that spread over my face. "Okay. Sure. Challenger gets to pick the field and the weapon, right?"
"The field," Soma replied stiffly. “You pick the weapon."
"Then I pick no weapons," I said. "No armor, no weapons, no magic. Plain ol’ fisticuffs."
Soma sized me up for a minute. I was over a foot shorter and about a hundred pounds lighter than he was. "Done. What are your terms?"
"Fight to whoever loses consciousness first." I replied. "No magic or tech."
He sniffed. "A barbarian even in this. The honorable weapon is the sword or pistol."
"Yeah, but jamming your fist up someone's nose is more satisfying." I bared my teeth at him. “Be grateful I didn’t pick spears.”
"As you say." Soma shucked his spellglove off and threw it back at Ur Ferenz, who winced as he juggled it like a hot potato. I unequipped my armor and gear down to my boots, pants and undershirt. Soma took his shirt off. Because of course he did.
My HUD chimed, and time seemed to slow slightly as a prompt appeared:
[Based on your profile and combat experience, we have detected that you prefer to Realistic Combat vs Augmented Combat when Dueling opponents. Is that correct?]
“Yes.” I thought back, hopping from Karalti’s back to the ground. The soldiers stayed in formation, but the officers formed a loose arena around us as Soma put his fists up and began to circle.
[Realistic Combat mode ignores HP and Level in favor of vital points when Dueling NPCs. Combat is resolved by martial skill application instead of a combat minigame. If you wish to change your preferences at any time, query ‘Change Single Combat Settings.]
"You will regret this." Soma had the muscle bulk of a blacksmith or a wrestler: thick through the upper body, with a bit of fluff around the middle. “I learned to fight at the Royal College in Taltos, where I was trained by the grand master, Lonzo Karpoff!”
I shrugged. Mouthing off was about as pointless as ripping your shirt off before a fight. Instead, I stayed loose and balanced, tracking him as he circled and reading his body.
“You’re small, Tuun! Too small to fight the likes of me!” He had his arms up like a classical wrestler, fingers loose.
Soma pushed in. As he came forward, I put my guard up and lashed out with a quick, fast jab, enough to piss him off and get him to open up. He came in swinging. I bounced to the right and slammed my left fist into his face, then followed up from the right. My knuckles connected with a dull meaty crack, just hard enough to lure him in.
“HRRRAGH! I’ll crush you!” Soma charged straight forward, trying to overwhelm me with his size - and ran his face right into the blade of my foot as I pulled a vertical side-kick up underneath his jaw. The huge man’s head snapped back and he crashed to the dirt like a sack of hammers, blood pouring from his mouth.
“Huh.” I cocked my foot, then swung my leg back down and stood. “Maybe if you hadn’t been flapping your tongue, you wouldn’t have bitten it.”
“Well, that was a damn good ass-fuckin’ time!” Vash nodded, arms crossed. “Ten out of ten, a standing splits and a concussion. I like it.”
"Yup. I was Sam Dan Taekwondo school champion of 2055." My HUD assistant had been right - that was realistic combat.
Vash laughed. “You should have become a Baru! Why are you a Lancer, dog?”
“Probably some kind of compensation thing.” I shook my hands out and paced around the ring, coming to a stop in front of Istvan. "Alright, Arshak. What do you want to do?"
Istvan crossed his arm over his chest and bowed from the neck. "I am at the service of your Ho
use, Lord Dragozin."
[You have unlocked a new Hero: Ur Istvan Arshak (Rank A+ Duelist/Cavalry Marshal - Myszno Defense Force)]
I clapped him on the shoulder. "I'm glad. You're a great officer, and I'm sure you're an even better Castellan."
"So I am no longer Sheriff of Slutlava?" he asked hopefully.
"No. I'm assigning that position to Ur Ferenz as of today." I turned to face the knight, who was helping his shirtless, half-conscious lord to his feet. He tensed, a grimace freezing on his face. "Ur Ferenz, your first order is to take Soma to the brig and let him cool his heels for a couple of days. Make sure he's got decent food and drink. No blueprints, no work at all. Anything he's doing can be transferred to Viktor and Rin."
"...Yes, Your Grace." The knight sounded and looked squirrely, but he threw Soma's arm around his shoulders and wrapped the other around his waist.
As he staggered off, a horrifying wailing sound blew to us from the north: a sound like a million ambulances screaming all at once. Everyone turned as the yowl intensified, mixed with the sound of horns. Karalti reared her head and flared her crests in alarm.
"Well, fuck me dead and back to life again." Vash crossed his arms, watching in the direction as the as yet unseen source of the noise.
“WhoTheWhatTheHowTheWhyTheFUCK is THAT?!” I clamped my hands over my ears.
The siren wails built into a terrifying chorus as sixty Meewfolk dinosaur riders charged through the northern gatehouse Some were in armor and chain - others were nude except for jewelry, their fur shaved into stripes to reveal the tattoos on their skin. They screeched and howled and whirled their swords over their heads as they thundered in, riding their hookwings with the acrobatic expertise of jockeys: some sitting, some standing on their saddles. Their beasts were a leaner, lighter breed than the destrier hookwings that carried knights in armor. At the front and center of the horde was Suri on Cutthroat. She rode beside a strapping, white-furred Meewfolk warrior with a lot of metal in his face and chipped ears. She gave us a thumbs up and turned her mount, cantering toward us.
Archemi Online Chronicles Boxset Page 116
