Monstergirl Quest Book Two

by Darknight, C. S.

  She was right, I had to admit. I didn’t want to sound cocky, but there was a damn good reason why I could barely walk at the moment.

  I’d taken on one high-level lich lord. Then, just minutes later, I had to take on a creature that was practically a god, in terms of power levels.

  Esmerelda smiled as she studied my face. “Ah, there we go,” she said. “You’re finally starting to process the breadth of your achievements.”

  “In the moment, it’s just something that I never considered,” I admitted. “I was just focused on the mission, on keeping Homehold safe. And, most importantly, keeping you and your sisters safe.”

  Her seductive smile widened a little more. “So, the rumors of your selflessness aren’t exaggerated, after all.”

  I laughed. “No, I guess not,” I said. “But I don’t want you to shortchange yourself either, Esmerelda. You and your sisters, you’ve each managed to keep your wits about you, despite having these lich lord scumbags siphon your magic out of you.”

  She nodded. “Yes, that wasn’t exactly an easy feat, either,” she said. “But far too many beings in this realm expect their fates to go as they’d like. Most times, that’s not the case.”

  There was a strange sort of wisdom in the way she spoke, I noted. She wasn’t dour, per se, but I could sense that Esmerelda viewed the world through a prism that came to expect suffering.

  Now, her smile was still seductive, but also playful. “Don’t worry, Gamelord,” she said. “You’ll find that I’m not quite as depressing to be around as you’d think. It’s just that one doesn’t spend her life studying the destructive arts without having a certain grasp on the fleeting nature of life.”

  I considered all the death and destruction I’d seen in this realm. I couldn’t disagree with her.

  “What was it like, being so close to the Necromancer?” I asked.

  “I wouldn’t say I was all that close to the creature,” she said. “But I did have the misfortune of seeing him more than most.”

  “It must have been horrible,” I said.

  She paused to consider this. “It was,” she said. “Or at least, it could have been. But despite my admittedly grim outlook on life, I always knew that a Champion would come for me, Gamelord. Being imprisoned by those dark forces only made me focus on how sweet things would be once my Champion came and freed me.”

  She wasn’t lying. One look at Esmerelda let me know that she was enjoying every second of her newfound freedom.

  In fact, I noticed just then that she was walking barefoot.

  “See, after being imprisoned in that wretched stone chamber for so many years, I even enjoy the rough ground scraping the soles of my feet,” she said with a genuine smile. She took a deep breath. “I enjoy breathing cool, clean air.” She looked at me with a certain playfulness in her eyes. “And I enjoy helping you bear your burdens.”

  I couldn’t help but grin, because now I was starting to realize that her grim outlook on life might not have been quite so grim as it first sounded.

  “Back where I come from, people would benefit from your outlook,” I said.

  She shrugged. “It’s not an easy philosophy to come to, Gamelord. My life has been a struggle more often than not. But at least I’ll enjoy my first cup of wine more than anyone else in this realm ever could.”

  I licked my lips at the idea of a cool glass of wine. Only then did I realize just how hungry I’d gotten. I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d eaten, and I hadn’t brought any food along with me during the battle.

  “Up ahead!” Pandora called with palpable relief in her voice.

  I saw the smallish figure of Corvus Gavrus approaching us along the mountain pass. He was walking alone, with no illusory companions, and as we got closer to him, I saw that he had an ominous look on his face.

  I shook his hand heartily. “Corvus, you’re really saving our asses here,” I said.

  He responded with a grim smile. “It’s my pleasure, Gamelord,” he said.

  “I have a feeling that you don’t have much good news to share with us,” I said.

  “Sadly, I don’t,” the old illusionist answered. “But we’ll get to that once we’re safe in my cottage. Come now, Gamelord, for the Imperial Legion will be coming this way soon.”

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Therena’s betrayal was a critical blow to the rebellion. Even now, I was starting to feel the effects of her treachery.

  Using his illusion magic, Corvus Gavrus had created several eagles to watch the skies around us. Therena must have assumed that, if I survived the battle with the Necromancer, there was a good chance that I’d seek refuge with the old illusionist.

  Corvus had an eagle monitoring the Gray Wolf Mountain pass. Two-hundred Imperial Legion troops – infantry, knights, and war mages – were currently crossing it. While Therena didn’t know the exact location of Corvus’ hideout, she did know the general area.

  We were sitting in his small dining room as he showed us the eagle’s vision.

  “They’ll be getting close pretty soon,” I said, frowning.

  “That’s not an issue, I assure you,” Corvus Gavrus said as he refilled my water mug. “I’m only found if I want to be found. Should they venture into my woods, I’ll use my skills to ensure that they’ll never find this cottage. I’ll get them so turned around and lost within Darkwood Forest that, when the goblins and spriggans find them, they’ll consider a quick death a mercy.”

  That was an astounding relief. Until we were healed up and properly supplied, there was no way we’d survive an assault by a force that large.

  “I’m sorry to say that’s the best news I have to share with you,” Corvus Gavrus said. He shook his head grimly. “Gamelord, the rebellion stands on the brink of destruction.”

  He switched the vision to the next eagle, and I grit my teeth when I saw its vision as it drifted over Homehold.

  There were easily two-thousand Imperial troops inside the city, possibly more. As the eagle landed atop a tavern within the center of the city, I braced myself to see the dead.

  Corvus must have assumed this, because a moment later, he gave me another bit of good news. “Fear not, Gamelord. It doesn’t appear that there was much of a fight. Thank Mother Gaia, Duke Gladios and Sir Lucien appeared to have surrendered when the Imperials arrived.”

  “That probably wasn’t an easy pill for the duke to swallow,” I said.

  Pandora nodded. “True, but it saved many lives. Homehold’s forces were about to fall, Earthman. Had you not killed the Necromancer when you did, our remaining forces would have been slaughtered. I doubt any fighters in Homehold were in any shape to take on the Imperial Legion.”

  The Imperials wasted no time in subjugating their prisoners. While it didn’t appear that there’d been any bloodshed, the legion was already forcing the surrendered soldiers into forced labor.

  Ragged-faced, gaunt, and exhausted from that long battle, the prisoners were now being forced to scrub the streets, to burn the bodies of dead ghouls, and restore ruined buildings. They worked under the stern eye of the Imperial knights, who cracked whips over their heads whenever they started to slack.

  I paused, with horror coiling in my gut. “Wait,” I said. “The Imperials would have been heading south around the same time Duke Elfblood’s forces were escorting Homehold refugees to Silverton.”

  Another grim look from Corvus. Without a word, he switched to the images provided by a third eagle, this one circling over Silverton.

  Silverton’s forces had put up a fight, albeit not for very long. There were still dozens of dead Silverton soldiers in the streets, but the overwhelming Imperial force – easily another two-thousand – had taken over the city.

  At least in Silverton, it appeared as though the civilians were simply under lockdown, rather than forced to work in the streets.

  “From what I can gather, the Imperial Legion took Silverton before Duke Elfblood arrived at the city,” Corvus said. “I suppose
the duke had no choice but to surrender, not with most of her population being threatened. Had she charged the legionnaires, I fear they would have slaughtered the civilians. That’s the Imperial way.”

  I laughed a bitter laugh, because even sitting here in Corvus’ cottage, I could figure out the Emperor’s plan.

  He was going to tell the other citizens of the Empire that he’d sent his brave forces south to help with the battle against the Necromancer, obviously. Another benefit, one that I hadn’t considered, was the Emperor using the battle as a giant PR stunt.

  At the moment, I was sure the Emperor’s mouthpieces were spouting bullshit across the realm, about how the generous Emperor sent his righteous troops to save the pitiful citizens of the south.

  As for anyone who might yet perish during the occupation? The Emperor could simply say those had been traitors, rebels, and enemies of the peaceful Empire.

  When I repeated this to everyone else, there was no dissent in my theory.

  Esmerelda nodded and chimed in first. “I have to agree with you, Gamelord,” she said. “The Emperor seems to have planned for just about every possibility, so that it will work out in his favor.”

  Bella agreed. “He’ll use this to solidify his sway over the rest of the realm, no doubt.”

  “I say let’s just sneak into the Imperial City now so I can stick my spear in his eye,” Sephara said.

  “No,” Pandora said. “We have to spread the word about the Emperor’s deal with the Dark King, first. We can’t have the Emperor emerging from all this claiming that our victory was actually his. The people must know the truth.”

  “Corvus,” I said. “These birds you create, could you send a flock of them across the realm, spreading the word about the Emperor’s deal with the Necromancer?”

  Corvus scratched his chin, pondering it. “Not an entire flock, no,” he said. “And not without sacrificing so much of my mana that I otherwise use to keep this hideout hidden. I lack the raw power for that.”

  I smiled at Bella. “But you don’t,” I said.

  She grinned back at me. “Once I’ve had some time to rest, I’ll send eagles to every city and every village in the realm to tell the people about the Emperor’s treachery.”

  Alright, that had me in slightly better spirits. Knowing that we’d have a way to actively challenge the Emperor’s narrative made me feel good. Being proactive definitely trumped sitting here, reacting to one bad incident after another.

  “Even if we manage to inform the public about the Emperor, we still must figure out a way to liberate Homehold and Silverton,” Pandora said.

  I’d been thinking about that. With no way to gain any god-tier abilities, there was no way I’d be able to take on several thousand legionnaires, knights, and war mages. Oh, I could have put a dent in their numbers, easily. But a total victory? While salvaging the lives that we could? I didn’t see how that was possible.

  At least, it wouldn’t be possible until we had an army at our backs.

  I mulled my options, but none of them seemed viable. I recalled the way me, Pandora, and Felaxia had freed those Silverton soldiers that had been taken prisoner by the Darkwood elves. We’d been able to free them, then use them against the Darkwood forces. I wondered if we could do the same with the imprisoned soldiers in Homehold.

  No, that wouldn’t have worked. The incident with the Silverton soldiers had been far less dire, with those soldiers more in fighting shape.

  Even if I managed to sneak into Homehold to free Sir Lucien’s men, they’d be starving and emaciated by the time I got there. Freeing them in hopes of marshaling a force inside Homehold would be essentially turning those men into sacrificial lambs.

  That, I wouldn’t do.

  I considered doing that same plan, but in Silverton, but I came to a similar conclusion. Even if the Silverton soldiers were a better fighting shape at the moment, it would take me several days to reach that city from here. There was no telling what the Imperials could do in the meantime to hobble the soldiers there.

  Once more, it seemed that for every step forward we took, we’d promptly take two or three steps backward.

  Then, as if things weren’t grim enough, I saw a look of horror shoot across Corvus’ face.

  He gasped. “No,” he whispered.

  “Corvus, what is it?” I asked.

  He swallowed hard. “I don’t think you want to see this, Gamelord. There are new images from the eagle over Homehold.”

  I grimaced. “Please, my friend, show me what you’re seeing.”

  Though I knew I’d come to regret it, he pulled up the vision and I watched anyway.

  *****

  Therena traded her usual golden robe for one weaved from glimmering Imperial silver.

  The traitorous high elven mage had the silver hood pulled around her face, giving her beautiful features a look of ominousness.

  She stood at the steps of the castle with a look of resting hatred on her face. On each side of her, she was flanked by a half-dozen Imperial Legion knights, with a hundred more infantrymen standing in a broad circle around her.

  Of course, there were far more Imperial troops milling about the area, making sure the prisoners assembled before the castle knew they meant business.

  “Noble soldiers of Homehold,” Therena began. “You’ve fought valiantly, you’ve fought bravely. Our beloved Emperor has sent me here, with this benevolent force of the Imperial Legion, to safeguard the city against any further attacks.”

  “Then why do you put us in chains, wench!” one bloodied veteran soldier cried out from the crowd.

  Instantly, a legionnaire appeared and bashed the veteran across the face with the hilt of a broadsword.

  The others fell quiet.

  Therena cleared her throat. “It is with a heavy heart that I’ve come to inform you, brave defenders of Homehold, that there is a traitor among you. One that you’ve all long-admired. A man that you’ve trusted, a man with whom you’ve fought side-by-side.”

  There was a sense of dread hanging over the crowd. Even here, miles away in Corvus’ cottage, I could feel it, too.

  “Duke Gladios has long-served as the duke of Homehold,” Therena said. “I’ve long considered him a friend. Unfortunately, recent events have brought a sad truth to light. Soldiers of Homehold, it appears that your beloved duke has allied himself with the wicked United Rebel Front, those terrorists who seek to overthrow our peaceful Empire.”

  Therena surveyed the prisoners. There was a small, smug grin on her face.

  “Now, you may be wondering why I have you all shackled and imprisoned,” she said. “I assure you, this is for your safety. Until we can root out any other rebel sympathizers in your ranks, the Emperor has, with a sad heart, commanded me to keep you men under temporary lock-and-key.”

  The men of Homehold looked at each other with sadness and doom, though none of them so much as whispered a word of defiance.

  They knew that Therena was lying about the ‘temporary’ part.

  Therena nodded to the knight standing beside her. The knight shouted to some soldiers just inside the castle gates.

  “Bring forth the traitor!” the knight cried.

  A squad of Imperials dragged Duke Gladios out of the castle. The duke had put up a fight, that was for sure, and he’d paid the price for it.

  Half his teeth had been knocked out. His left eye was swollen shut and there was a deep gash along the side of his face.

  He was bound by his wrists and his ankles, and the Imperials weren’t polite as they dragged him out to the castle steps then dumped him onto the ground.

  Duke Gladios grunted and spit blood.

  “Get him up on his knees,” Therena said to the knights.

  Two knights dragged Duke Gladios to his knees. The moment they did, he tried to get up to his feet, but they cracked him in the face and forced him back down to his knees.

  Therena’s grin grew wider and more hateful as she glared down at the duke. “Duke Gladios
, you stand accused of the following.”

  Duke Gladios, of course, glared right back at her, defiant until the very end.

  “Most recently, you’ve broken Imperial law by allowing free Mananymphs into your city,” she began. “This doubtlessly led to death and destruction, for the Mananymphs appeared to have been in league with the Necromancer himself.”

  Pandora snarled and bashed her fist against the table. Sephara and Bella tried to calm her down.

  “However, the most egregious of your crimes is your betrayal of our Empire. You’ve not only voiced sympathy for the United Rebel Front, but you’ve hardly tried to hide your actual allegiance with those terrorists. You’ve provided them arms, money, and military support. These crimes are, of course, punishable by death.”

  There was a panicked murmur among the prisoners, because they knew what was likely to come next, though Duke Gladios himself didn’t appear fearful in the least.

  “But Duke Gladios, our Emperor is a benevolent one,” Therena continued. “He fears that, in your old age, you may have misjudged the rebellion. Duke, the Emperor has agreed to spare your life, under one condition.”

  Duke Gladios laughed, and his laughter seemed to echo everywhere in the city. “And what would that condition be, my fair Therena?”

  “Rise to your feet, turn to your men, and pledge allegiance to your Emperor,” Therena said.

  Duke Gladios thought about this for a moment. Silently, he nodded his head. Therena cocked an eyebrow in surprise, then nodded to the knights to let him up onto his feet.

  When they tried to assist him, Duke Gladios shrugged them off. “I can manage it myself, you fucking bastards,” Duke Gladios said.

  He turned to the men.

  “Loyal soldiers of Homehold, you know me as your duke,” he began. “But today, I’m here as a mere soldier myself, as I’ve always been at heart. As a mere soldier, I must tell you all something about those rebel terrorists, and our Emperor.”