“You’ll never be able to defeat the Emperor, Earthman,” the Necromancer said. “As we speak, he’s working to collect several Gaia Stones. Once he collects them, he’ll be even more powerful than me.”
“He won’t be able to wield them,” I said. “No mortal can, not without the Soulguard.”
“Oh, you think the Emperor is merely some old wizard?” the Necromancer smiled. “You have much to learn, boy. Might I make a suggestion?”
“I can’t imagine I’ll like it, but go ahead,” I said.
“Let me live,” the Necromancer said. “I’ll aid you against the Emperor. In exchange, once the battle is won, you simply let me retire to my dark keep in the Frozen Wastes.”
“Do you know what? That sounds like a wonderful plan to me,” I said.
I look of sudden hope pulsed in the Necromancer’s eyes. He smiled a hopeful smile and looked at me in bewilderment. “You’d truly join forces with me?”
I chuckled. “No way, asshole,” I said. “I didn’t take you for a gullible king, your highness.”
The Necromancer opened his mouth to scream, but before anything could come out, I finally unleashed the Storm Gem’s full power on him.
I roared as I unleashed the power, as I took the undead king apart, bit by bit, as the Storm Gem overwhelmed the Necromancer’s ancient magic.
It took everything I had. I felt my very soul being drained.
My fatigue bottomed out. My mana, which had been infinite, was almost down to nothing at all, and still I blasted away at him.
The Storm Gem burned like a star going supernova. The Necromancer’s body came apart, and a legion of damned souls was released from the confines of his body. His boiling, hateful, glowing eyes went dim, and when the light from the Storm Gem faded, there was nothing left of the Dark King.
I could hardly stand. I looked at the Storm Gem. It was cracked and broken, the magic gone.
I fell to my knees, grinning despite my fatigue, because I’d done it.
The Necromancer was dead.
But I wasn’t out of the woods yet.
The world seemed to rumble beneath me. But, no, it wasn’t the world, just the citadel. Now that the Dark King was dead, the magic holding the citadel together was gone, and the towering structure would be coming down in a moment.
I felt the massive tower lurching to the side. I tried getting to my feet, but I was so weak that I merely fell flat to the ground again.
I reached to my pack, for a restore health potion, but the world started going black before I could even open the pack.
The citadel roared in my ears as it came apart.
Well, I’d done the best I could. At least the Necromancer was dead, and Homehold was safe, at least for now.
I supposed some other Champion would have to come along and finish what I started.
I’d have to be content with that, so I closed my eyes and waited to die.
*****
I opened my eyes. The world was black, until it wasn’t.
The faint glow caught my attention as my eyes adjusted to the familiar, watery darkness, and I saw Ciara standing before me.
The red-haired Mananymph smiled a relieved sort of smile when she saw my eyes open.
I opened my mouth to speak. It took me a moment to find my voice. I was so weak, so utterly spent. “Ciara,” I said, my voice coming out as a rasp. “Am I dead?”
She shook her head, making the chains lashed to her neck rattle. “Not even close,” she said. “I sensed your use of the Storm Gem. In fact, I think every high-level magic user in the realm felt it. I had a feeling you might need assistance.”
“Where am I?” I asked, not referring to the void and my detached consciousness, but my physical body.
Ciara laughed. “Currently, you’re under several hundred tons of a ruined citadel,” she said. “But I caught you in a cocoon of protection, Gamelord, and my sisters are combining their considerable strengths to dig you free.”
I sat up. Truly, if Ciara hadn’t protected me, I would have died as the citadel collapsed.
“What happened to Homehold?” I asked. “Did I kill the Dark King before the city fell?”
“Homehold survives, Gamelord,” Ciara said.
Relief flooded through me. It would have been pure agony to find out that I hadn’t been able to kill the Necromancer before the undead overwhelmed the city’s meager remaining defenses.
“Casualties were low,” Ciara said. “Sir Lucien and his men, along with Pandora, rallied their defenses and smashed the ghouls that threw themselves at the walls. All appeared to be lost, however, when the siege towers reached the battlements. However, before the undead could spill over the wall and overwhelm them, Sephara had finished healing Bella. At once, Pandora transported the three of them to aid you, and you slayed the Dark King before the city could fall.”
So, we did it.
The thought that the battle against the Necromancer was over seemed alien to me. I’d been running and gunning so much since I first arrived in this realm, the idea that we might actually get a breather just didn’t feel right.
“Has the Emperor heard about Therena yet?” I asked.
Ciara’s face contorted in confusion. “What? No. What about Therena?”
I frowned. “Ciara, Therena was one of the Imperial spies in Duke Gladios’ castle,” I said. “We learned about it hours ago.”
Ciara clutched her chest, as if in physical pain. “Then there’s no telling how many rebel secrets she’s been feeding to the Emperor,” Ciara said. “Truly, I never could have seen this coming, Gamelord. Alas, the Emperor has been more secretive lately. I haven’t heard so much of a whisper of his future plans.”
“Well, I just learned from the Dark King that he’d struck a deal with the Emperor,” I said. “It sounded like an uneasy alliance, but the Emperor promised the Necromancer not to interfere while the undead forces crushed the rebellion.”
Ciara’s face went pale at that. “To think that the Emperor would risk so many lives…” she trailed off, disturbed. “Well, for now, let’s celebrate our victory, Gamelord. At least for now, Homehold is safe. Silverton, as well. The rebellion has emerged victorious.”
I stood up. Though this was only a mental projection of my actual body, it felt good to stretch. “Do you think this will draw more to our cause?” I asked.
Ciara shook her head. “I can’t be sure, Gamelord,” she said. “I suggest you go public with the Necromancer’s admission, however. Get Duke Gladios and Duke Elfblood to use their people to spread the word about the Emperor’s ruthlessness. Though Homehold has been severely weakened from battle, the city’s sacrifice might well bolster our numbers once the public hears about the Emperor’s dark alliance.”
Yeah, I’d do exactly that.
I thought the rebellion had operated in the shadows long enough. If we could tell the realm just what sort of vicious leader the Emperor was, we could draw overwhelming support.
Besides, we’d have to move against the Emperor soon. The Necromancer had said the Emperor was attempting to gather Gaia Gems and Gaia Stones. If he got his claws on them, and managed to wield one, the United Rebel Front would be in serious trouble.
I looked the red-haired Mananymph in the eye. “Ciara, I’m coming for you,” I said. “I won’t let him stand in my way.”
She smiled as the void came apart. “I know you won’t, Gamelord,” she said. “But now, my sisters are about to unearth you.”
“Soon,” I promised her.
Her smile widened. “Not soon enough,” she said, then I vanished from the void completely.
Chapter Twenty-Four
It was jarring. When I came to, my godlike powers were gone. I knew what it was like to feel real pain again, though I’d gladly take the discomfort now that I knew that Homehold was safe and the Necromancer was dead.
The black world quickly turned bright, with vibrant sunlight shining through the cracks of my eyelids as the Mananymphs finished pulling
me free of the ruined citadel.
I gasped as I emerged from the ruins, with the last bit of the protective barrier Ciara had encased me in slowly fading away.
I wasn’t bleeding, but I was bruised to shit, and I didn’t think I’d broken any bones. Still, the whole ordeal had drained my energy down to just about nothing. I’d need a lot of time to recover.
The same went for the Mananymphs. Pandora grinned when she saw I was conscious, but all of her extensive use of her mysticism skills had left her looking weak.
Sephara had bags under her eyes, looking like she was in dire need of sleep, and the same went for Bella.
Disorienting as it all was, I couldn’t complain when the three of them took turns hugging and kissing me, and their soft, sweet lips did more to nurse me back to health than any mere restore health potion ever could.
“Idiot Earthman, we feared for your life!” Pandora said.
Sephara put her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes playfully. “I suggested leaving you under the rubble, but Bella and Pandora made me feel guilty about it.”
Bella giggled at her sister. “Sephara, you did no such thing!”
“Shut up, Bella, or you risk giving the idiot Earthman a bigger head than he’s already got!” Sephara laughed.
I sat up quickly, maybe a little too quickly, because that simple motion made me dizzy as hell. But I couldn’t quell my excitement about meeting Esmerelda.
“Where is she?” I asked.
Pandora smiled then pointed behind me.
Whoa.
The newly freed Mananymph stood a few feet away from us. The sunlight bathed over her, making her blonde hair dazzle. She had an adorable set of horns jutting from the sides of her head, framing her picturesque face. She wore a silky maroon dress with black thigh-high stockings and matching black boots.
Her smile warmed my heart at once. “Is this the Champion, in the flesh?” she asked.
Bella ran to her horned sister and hugged her. “It is, sister. And I assure you, he’s no idiot, despite Pandora and Sephara insisting otherwise.”
Immediately, I wanted to throw my arms around Esmerelda and welcome her to freedom, but when I tried standing up, I went falling right back down on my ass.
“Easy, Earthman,” Pandora said sweetly. “You’ll need time to recover. One doesn’t go from god-level power back to a mortal’s status without experiencing some jarring side-effects.”
I rubbed my temples, trying to soothe the growing headache pulsing in my skull. “Shit, you’ve got that right.”
Then Sephara’s grin vanished as she spotted something in the distance.
“Sister, what is it?” Pandora asked.
Sephara squinted to get a better look, then turned back to us, scowling in anger. “Troops approach us. Infantrymen and cavalry.”
“Homehold has no dedicated cavalry,” Pandora said. “The only Homehold soldiers on horseback are part of the various patrols.
“No,” Sephara answered as she rushed back toward us. “But the Imperial Legion does. The soldiers bear the Emperor’s insignia on their chests.”
“What?” I asked. “Fucking impossible. What on earth is the legion doing this far south?”
“Nothing good, that I can tell you,” Pandora said.
“Fear not,” Bella said. Though she’d been weakened by the amount of magic she’d cast all day, she was more than capable of draping us in several spells to keep us hidden.
First, she cast an invisibility spell that kept us all hidden from view. Next, she cast a silence spell that would muffle the sound of our voices and our movements.
“We’re hidden, but I suggest we seek refuge,” Bella said.
“Sephara, how many are there?” I asked.
“Hundreds,” she said. “And I’m almost certain I spotted war mages among their number.”
Pandora frowned. “Imperial war mages are some of the deadliest in the realm,” she said. She turned to me. “Earthman, it appears as though the Emperor is wasting no time in targeting us. We have to flee. We’re in no shape to take on such a force.”
I reluctantly agreed. The Storm Gem was shattered and useless now, and I didn’t think anyone could restore it. My mana was drained and I was so sore that I could hardly walk.
As the Mananymphs helped me to my feet, a cold ball of dread grew heavily in my stomach.
If several hundred legionnaires were on the way to our location, that must have meant several hundred more were back in Homehold.
I thought of Therena and became so enraged that I could have burst.
If the Emperor and the Necromancer had been allies, it stood to reason that the Emperor would have known the Dark King was coming to challenge me. No wonder there was a legion force this far south, because the Emperor never had any intentions of staying allied with the Dark King any longer than he had to.
Either way, the Emperor got what he wanted. Now that I’d slayed the Necromancer, I was severely weakened from the battle. He must have assumed that. Plus, Homehold’s defenses had been more than decimated. Taking the city wouldn’t have been difficult for a fresh legion force.
And hell, even if the Necromancer had killed me, that just meant the Emperor would have sent this same force to challenge the Dark King and shred their alliance.
If only I could have seen this coming.
Under the veil of invisibility, we headed west, more or less in the general direction of the southern pass within the Gray Wolf Mountains. Behind us, the Imperial legion forces were loudly searching for us, making it obvious that the Emperor had indeed come for us.
Still, even if I were healthy, at the moment my gear was in no shape to take on several hundred soldiers, not to mention the war mages among them.
My glass armor was completely destroyed. The battle with the Necromancer had pulverized the armor to a point where I didn’t think anyone would have been able to fix it. I didn’t even think One-Armed Rus, had he survived the defense of Homehold, would have had a prayer to repair it.
My Dayfire blade was near breaking. The magic I’d used to fortify it during the duel with the Necromancer had long worn off, leaving the emerald-colored blade cracked and brittle.
Other than that, my only weapon as the orcish war axe, still tucked away in my pack. And even with a succession of restore mana potions, it would be hours before my body was healthy enough to channel any magical energies.
We’d be safe in the woods, at least for a little while. But we’d only be safe from the legion forces. We had no food. The only drinking water lay up ahead, in a stream within the trees, and I didn’t have nearly enough potions to mend our various wounds and injuries.
Eventually, those legionnaires would spread out to search for us. We’d only remain hidden for as long as Bella could keep casting those spells, but her mana must have been low by now. I checked my pack. I had only two restore mana potions left.
I wanted to scream. We couldn’t catch a goddamn break.
It wasn’t enough to slay Lord Blackfyre, because the Necromancer had arrived. And now that he was dead, the Emperor had likely taken Homehold, and now he was on the verge of capturing us.
But then I found a reason to have hope again.
At first, I barely noticed it, and even then, I paid it no mind. There were always birds around these parts, weren’t there?
Except the bird circling us overhead seemed familiar, somehow. It was an eagle, getting lower and lower with each circle it made, until it came down to my eye-level, flapping its wings before landing on a nearby branch.
I recognized the voice of Corvus Gavrus immediately.
“What in the seven hells is happening out here?” the old illusionist said through the eagle’s beak.
“Corvus, we need help pretty fucking badly right now,” I said. “The Necromancer’s dead, but the Emperor has sent troops to the south to come after us. He might have taken Homehold, but I’m not sure.”
Through the illusory eagle under his command, Corvus agreed
to help. “I’ll aid you, lad,” the old mage said. “Keep heading west. I’ll meet you in the mountain pass, right where we first met.”
“Could you send the eagle north?” I asked. “I’d kill to know what happened to Homehold.”
“Well ahead of you, Earthman,” Corvus said as the eagle took off.
“Thank god for that old mystic,” I said. “He just saved our asses.”
*****
Pandora, like old times, was several yards ahead of us, scouting the area to come. Sephara was at our rear, watching for enemies, though we didn’t think the legion would come this far to search for us just yet.
Bella remained in the middle of us all, intensely focused on keeping up our invisibility for as long as she could.
And left me and Esmerelda, alone for the very first time.
It would be awhile before I could walk totally under my own power again, so I draped an arm around the blonde-haired Mananymph’s shoulders, so she could help support me.
She was even more stunning up close. She walked with a certain, confident sort of swagger. There was a wise, albeit fun-loving, look in her eyes. With her revealing silk dress and her jaw-dropping thigh-high stockings, her every step seemed to drip with a steaming sensuality.
“I dreamt of you while I was locked away in that citadel,” Esmerelda said as she helped me along toward the mountain pass.
I smiled. “I’m sorry you were locked away for so long.”
She shrugged. “These things happen, Gamelord. Life is fickle. Fragile, as well. Still, I wish I would have been awake for your battle with the Dark King.”
“That was my toughest fight yet,” I admitted. “Just barely got out of there with my head still on my shoulders, if you want to know the truth.”
“I’ve spent many years under the cruel eye of Lord Blackfyre,” she countered. “Being the Dark King’s favorite lich lord, I was no stranger to being in the Dark King’s presence. Gamelord, you defeated Lord Blackfyre, then the Necromancer, one after the other.”
I laughed. “And I barely walked away from the second fight.”
She placed her hand confidently, yet somehow tenderly, on my chest, right over my heart. “You’re the greatest warrior I’ve ever seen,” she said, squeezing her fingers slightly into my chest. “Lord Blackfyre alone was a powerful, powerful creature. Merely slaying him in one-on-one combat would have been a legendary feat on its own.”
Monstergirl Quest Book Two Page 20
