Second Skin: Unified: A litRPG Adventure (Second Skin Book 3)

by M Damon Baker

‘When did you get so damn insightful?’ I sent back to him with a mixture of respect and annoyance.

  When you grew in power; ‘leveled up’ I believe is the term that you use. As your power grows, so does mine Sintári, whether you like it or not.

  Bane smiled at me as he sent the words and I felt the subtle, yet friendly mocking tone he sent along with them.

  ‘I will try, Bane,’ I finally sent back to him. ‘I know what I must do and the role I must play, but it’s difficult for me to accept, as you already know.’

  I know that you not only resist the responsibility that comes with leadership, but the isolation that accompanies it as well. The role of a leader can be a lonely one, Sintári, but you will always have me and your companions by your side. We will not abandon you, have no fear.

  ‘Did you learn to read minds, Bane?’

  No Sintári, he sent in amusement. But your feelings are clear enough to me even without the ability.

  I let the conversation end there and contemplated Bane’s words while stroking his scales. He lay his head back down across my chest and basked in the heat of my body while purring softly in contentment. I couldn’t help but notice how much heavier he had gotten since the first day we had met. His increase in size and weight was subtle, but definitely noticeable to me as he sat perched on my shoulder.

  The celebration finally wound down after a few more hours. Even with the momentous events that had occurred that night, we all knew there was still work to be done the next day. That fact hadn’t prevented a determined few from overindulging, but the majority of my people filtered away slowly as the night grew late.

  I made my own departure once the crowd began to thin out. The evening had taken its own special toll on me, and I was looking forward to wrapping myself up in the comfort of my blankets. I reached our camp and thought I could slip inside my tent and go to bed, but when I entered, Tási was already inside, clearly waiting for me.

  “When can we try? When will you help me find out what is hiding inside me?” She plead almost before I stepped inside.

  Tási looked at me and the turmoil within her was clear in her eyes. She didn’t know what her mother had left behind for her, and the fear and anticipation she felt because of it was tearing her apart. I couldn’t stand to see her so distraught, and if I thought it would be safe to do so, I would have tried to pull the secret from her right then. But we both knew that there were risks involved in that process, and we needed to be prepared for them before we made the attempt.

  “Tomorrow night,” I answered, taking hold of her hands to reassure her. “Maybe the night after, if we need to wait for some reason, but no later than that, I promise.”

  “Thank you, Dreya Sintári,” she replied, clearly relieved that I did not intend to keep her waiting.

  “I see Venna has already gotten to you.”

  “Yes, she did,” Tási answered with a trace of a smile finally curling up the corners of her mouth.

  “I understand if you feel the need to call me that in public, or when others are around,” I said somewhat exasperated. “But please Tási, don’t make me feel so distant when we are alone.”

  “I’m sorry, Dreya, I didn’t mean for it to make you feel that way,” she said, clearly regretting the effect her words had on me.

  “It’s alright, Tási,” I responded. “I’m trying to adjust to my new role, and it isn’t easy for me. It will help a lot if you let me just be myself when I can.”

  “I can do that,” Tási smiled back at me.

  I gave her a quick hug, and then we got ready for bed. As we lay down together, I wrapped my arms around her, and found reassurance in the comfort of her familiar warmth. Bane curled up across the both of us and we drifted off to sleep together peacefully.

  I began the next day with a quick stroll through all of the various projects that were underway. Ridge continued to build the structures that had been planned behind the fortifications, and I had him add a workshop for Dellon to the list of projects as well. The dwarven woodworker had an affinity for the siege weapons that needed to be built, and also enjoyed constructing the wooden elements for many of our other weapons. It seemed only logical to provide him with his own space nearby.

  Ilvain remained focused on producing as many boards as possible from our stack of lumber. The idea of constructing houses and even setting up a few small villages in the green lands of the valley nearly consumed him, and he set about the task with a single-minded focus on getting it done.

  The dwarven prospectors also brought back the first deposits they had mined from the caverns that morning. Hilgreth pronounced the ore to be of good quality, and set up some bins for them to store it in. The ore would require some processing before it was usable, but having the resource available ensured that she would have material to work with once her stockpile of scrap was depleted.

  I traveled from one project to the next, inspecting the progress that was being made all across the canyon and beyond, eventually making my way to Venna’s temporary hospital to speak with her about Tási.

  “Good morning, Venna,” I greeted her as I entered her domain.

  “Dreya Sintári, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?” She inquired all too formally.

  “Cut the act, Venna, it’s only us in here,” I smiled at her.

  “Sorry, just having a little fun at your expense,” Venna replied innocently.

  “Never mind that,” I said setting aside her prodding. “I’m here to see if you’re available to help Tási tonight. She’s desperate to have an answer, and we’ll need you there for us when I delve into her.”

  “That sounds a bit more involved than you led me to believe,” Venna said, raising an eyebrow at me skeptically.

  “Truthfully, I don’t know what the process entails,” I confessed. “Bane was only able to tell me that I needed to tune myself to her heartbeat, and the rest would then become clear to me.”

  “Bane is the one who told you what to do?” Venna replied incredulously as she glanced at the Rhastoren perched on my shoulder.

  I do not appreciate her tone, he sent me as he glared back at Venna harshly.

  A low grumbling sound escaped him as he stared her down. It sounded like the low, ticking growl of a tiger, and I felt the thrum of it vibrating though me as he made his displeasure known to her.

  Venna stepped back in shock at his aggressive display. He had never made a sound like that before, and it was truly intimidating to hear the threatening tone coming from him. I eased my hand over his scales and pulled him back gently, calming his anger.

  ‘That’s new,’ I sent to him, attempting to divert his ire.

  He didn’t respond to me directly, but he did relax and lay back down as I stroked the scales along his neck.

  Taking it as a good sign, I turned my attention back to Venna and tried to soothe her as well.

  “Bane has grown a great deal, Venna,” I explained to her. “His knowledge and ability to communicate with me have both increased tremendously. He’s far more than just a scout—he is a friend and advisor, and I take his counsel as seriously as I do yours.”

  “I had no idea he had changed so much, Dreya,” Venna replied. “I only remember you explaining how difficult your conversations were when he first came to you.”

  “I should have told you sooner. Bane’s abilities increase as my own do. Every time my power grows, he does too. He’s always been incredibly smart, it’s just taken a while for me to help him uncover his true potential.”

  “I apologize for underestimating you, Bane,” Venna said to him directly. “I will not make that mistake again.”

  Bane lifted his head up and offered her a slight nod, accepting her words. With their little spat over, I returned to the matter of Tási’s problem.

  “Tási’s very anxious about this, Venna. Can you join us tonight so we can help put this behind her?”

  “I can, but first you must tell me, have you given any thought to what happens after?”
Venna asked me.

  “What do you mean?” I replied. I hadn’t given the matter any consideration at all, trusting that whatever it was would only be a good thing for both of us.

  “You have no idea what you’ll discover,” Venna said in an exasperated tone. “How is it that you haven’t even considered the next step?”

  “There is no ‘next step,’ Venna. Once we help her with this, it’s over and we move on. Tási will be Tási again, and that’s it.”

  “Perhaps,” Venna replied. “But what if Tási isn’t Tási anymore. What if this changes her somehow? What will you do then?”

  “I never even considered that as an option,” I confessed. “Even so, there is no way for me to prepare for such a vague possibility. We can only do what we need to do to help her and hope for the best.”

  “I want to believe that Dreya, I truly do,” Venna replied carefully. “But it may be wise to not only hope for the best, but to prepare for the worst as well.”

  “What do you suggest?” I asked her reluctantly.

  Venna took a deep breath before replying. When she did, her voice was firm, but tinged with regret.

  “She needs to be bound,” Venna began. “Even if what you discover is benign, there’s no telling how the process of drawing it out will affect her. I will also prepare a restraining spell, but I want us both to be armed as well.”

  “No, Venna this is too much,” I began to protest before she cut me off.

  “This is what we are going to do, Dreya; I must insist on it. And when I talk to Tási about it, I’m sure she will agree.”

  I couldn’t bring myself to speak the words, so only nodded my concession back to her. I had to admit defeat; to admit that she was correct. Not about the precautions she suggested, but that Tási would feel they were necessary as well. Tási was unnerved by the prospect of revealing her hidden secret and would undoubtedly agree to Venna’s almost paranoid precautions.

  “Very well,” Venna said in satisfaction. “I will prepare myself after dinner tonight. Once I am ready, I will join you in your tent and we will find out what Tási has hidden inside her together.”

  I left Venna behind without another word. She sensed my displeasure, but having already won the argument, she chose to let me depart without pursuing the matter any further. Once I left Venna’s hospital tent, I immediately began seeking out Tási. She needed to know that I had secured Venna’s help for that night, and more importantly, the conditions that Venna had insisted on, and she needed to hear them from me. As I began my search, I sent Bane off to scout, as he did for us every day.

  Tási often helped Hilgreth in the forge, so I headed there first. As was typical when Tási was there, she was standing beside Hilgreth, stoking the forge’s fire to incredible heat with her magic. Hilgreth used the superheated flames to craft her most important projects, typically things she was also keeping secret from me. As the two of them saw me approach, they stopped their work and glanced at each other guiltily, but said nothing until I spoke.

  “Keep your little secrets, just tell me when I can expect to have a gate and a new portcullis,” I said to Hilgreth.

  “Dellon and I have finished the gate, Dreya Sintári,” Hilgreth replied proudly. “We will be installing it first thing in the morning. We’ve already prepared as much as we can before then, I only ask that you give us a few hours to finish the job before you look it over. As for the portcullis, I am working on that as fast as I can. No more than another week, I should say.”

  “I will wait until later in the day to drop by then,” I answered her request. “I’m certain I’ll be pleased with the quality of your work.”

  “Now, if you don’t mind, I need to borrow Tási for a while,” I continued as I took her by the arm and pulled her away from the forge.

  “What’s so important?” Tási asked as I walked her through the canyon.

  “Venna agreed to help us tonight, but there are some details she insisted on that I have to tell you about. I’ll explain once we’re back in camp.”

  It was only a few minutes travel back to the small campsite we shared with our companions. I took a seat on one of the stones we had set around our fire pit while Tási sat across from me expectantly, then hesitated for only a moment before blurting out the precautionary conditions Venna required. I hoped Tási might object, but Venna was right and she did not hesitate to agree to the terms.

  “She’s right,” Tási conceded. “Even if everything goes well, there’s no telling how I may react under the strain. We simply have no idea what we are dealing with.”

  “Fine,” I sighed in resignation. “We’ll do it your way.”

  Despite her lingering doubts and the conditions that were going to be imposed on her, Tási was overjoyed to finally have the resolution of her uncertain origins so close at hand. She gave me a quick hug and then rushed back to the forge to resume her work with Hilgreth. Tási seemed happy helping the smith with her work there, and it was obvious that she particularly welcomed the distraction her efforts there would provide her that day—not only would the work keep her mind from focusing on her doubts, but it would make the remaining hours of the day pass more quickly for her.

  While Tási busied herself in Hilgreth’s forge, I resumed making my daily rounds. Things were progressing well on all our projects, so there was little for me to do but offer a few words of encouragement.

  With nothing productive to do, I found myself wandering back into the valley. I always found some comfort walking in the green fields dotted with trees, and with nothing else to occupy my time, I sought the peace and tranquility there to help pass the day.

  I didn’t often wander aimlessly though the land. My time there was usually spent inspecting the progress Ilvain was making on the various farms and homesteads he was building. But on that day, I decided to avoid the busy worksites and simply enjoy the natural beauty of the secluded land. Much to my surprise, as I walked through a supposedly empty copse of trees, the sound of banging hammers rang out from a clearing just ahead.

  “What’s going on here, Ilvain?” I asked the master carpenter as I looked over the worksite.

  The elf’s face flushed red when I called out to him and he fumbled his response.

  “You weren’t supposed to see this yet, Dreya Sintári,” Ilvain replied hesitantly.

  “What is it?” I asked him. “There are no plans for any buildings in this area.”

  “Honestly, that’s exactly why we built it here,” he replied. “It was meant to be a surprise. I know your Earth spirit will eventually build a permanent home for you, but we just couldn’t let you live in that small tent in the meantime. This home is our gift to you, so you’ll have a decent place to stay until Ridge finishes his work.”

  Ilvain gestured towards the nearly finished structure and my eyes looked over the building. It was a simple two-story home, built with the rough-hewn planks that Ilvain produced from his sawmill. While it was by no means a grand estate, it was still far more luxurious than the canvas tent I had been living in for so long. When I looked back at him, Ilvain anticipated the question I was about to ask, and headed off my concerns.

  “I knew you would not accept the comforts of this home while your companions still slept in their tents,” he reassured me. “While the second floor is meant for you, there are additional chambers on the ground level for your friends.”

  “I don’t know what to say, Ilvain,” I replied to him. “This is very thoughtful and generous of you.”

  “Dreya Sintári,” Ilvain replied solemnly. “I have only been here a short time, but even in that brief period, you have shown more compassion for the people under your care than any leader I have ever heard of. You have fought beside us and healed us as if we were your own kin. The least I can do is repay you with a few hours of work.”

  “Thank you, Ilvain,” I offered in gratitude. “I will remember your dedication every time I step across the threshold of this home.”

  “Since the secret i
s out, you should know that we will be finished here in just a few days,” he smiled back at me. “I will let you know when it is time for you to move in.”

  “I look forward to it,” I told him sincerely.

  “Can you keep this between us?” Ilvain asked me. “I’d still like to surprise the rest of your companions when the time comes.”

  “I’d be happy to,” I smiled back at him.

  Ilvain took me on a brief tour of the inside before I left him to continue his work. While the cabin was quite rustic, it would still be a vast improvement over sleeping on the hard stone of the canyon floor. The anticipation of having a decent roof over my head was enough to brighten my day, and banished the butterflies that had been fluttering around inside me before.

  I spent the rest of the afternoon sitting on a small rock I had found that overlooked the lake. The location provided a beautiful view of the calm water, with the mountain’s high waterfall painting a stunning backdrop off in the distance. I had come here several times over the many weeks I had spent here, and it had become one of the special places I would retreat to when I needed some time alone, or simply to reflect peacefully on things. As I sat there, I took off my boots and laid down on the moss-covered stone, letting my feet dip into in the cool water as I stared up at the sky above, watching the clouds slowly drift by.

  The sun eventually sank below the high cliff walls, and long shadows draped across the landscape. With evening upon me, I pulled my boots back on and wandered back to camp, avoiding Ilvain’s clandestine construction site along the way. I had already spoiled his surprise and felt it best to not intrude on him any further until he was ready to reveal the finished project to me.

  After strolling through the valley and back into the canyon, I finally reached our campsite and took a seat around the fire. Broda was cooking some fresh game the hunters had brought back, and the smell of the roasting meat made my mouth begin to water. I hadn’t eaten lunch while I was wandering around the valley, and my stomach immediately protested with pangs of hunger.

  The rest of my companions arrived shortly after me, returning together from their various errands around the fortifications. Tási and Venna were actually holding hands as they walked toward camp, only letting go of each other when they separated to sit on either side of me. Broda began passing out plates of grilled meat while Khorim tapped a small keg and handed out mugs of ale.