by Tony Corden
“K: War Leader, death mana and the earth elemental are trapped within the statue. The earth elemental is trapped within a curse and cannot escape. The death mana has concentrated in the creature’s heart.”
“What do you mean, a curse?”
“K: The mana used to make oaths can be corrupted. When this is done with a god’s blessing, it forms a curse. Instead of the silver of an oath, it looks dark brown or even black.”
Leah equipped the staff from Batislar and pressed the Darkness Diamond against the petrified body, but nothing happened.
“Three, apply my mining sight and let me feel a warm pressure where it highlights an area to be mined.”
When Three applied the mining sight, Leah identified an area around the heart and another covering the skull. Taking out her mining pick, Leah began hacking into the creature's chest. It took almost ten minutes because the petrified chest was incredibly dense. Finally, Leah was able to reach in and see the large heart. Her sight showed something buried within. She kept mining and was soon able to tear loose a hand-sized crystal which burned her skin even through her gauntlet. She quickly put it away in Lady Olme’s small chest and then began mining into the Kemirmek’s skull.
Inside the cavity, the creature’s brain had petrified, but as Leah hit the stone outside the covering shattered and revealed a dense dark sphere. Leah couldn’t see anywhere to mine the sphere, and neither Küçük nor Orta knew how to remove the curse. Leah put the trapped elemental in her bag, hoping to research a way to release it later. Leah then harvested the now completely lifeless statue of the Kemirmek.
You have harvested:
1 Earth Spell - Shards
1 Earth Spell - Quicksand
1 Earth Spell of Summoning - Centipede Construct
6 Copper Coins minted with an image of Chimney of Clan Kemirmek
Neither guard used spells, although each of them accepted one of the coins. When her health and store of mana had been replenished, Leah began moving higher up the shaft. After one hundred paces they were attacked by three waves of demonic stone hyenas fitted with sharpened horns and venomous fangs. The Kemirmek lordling was five levels higher than the previous one and was powered by a cursed fire elemental. Leah killed the lordling with a blade to the heart and used a darkness diamond to absorb the death mana. The elemental was also encased in a solid sphere made from a curse and Leah had to cut it from the skull.
This was followed by lordlings who powered their constructs with mana taken from air, water and spirit elementals. Powered by air were a murder of demonic ravens, a cloud of demonic bats and a boil of demonic hawks. Powered by water were three waves of demonic snakes. The spirit powered lordling sent demonic cats. The first were the size of house cats, but the second and third waves were much larger and in the form of lynx and tigers.
There had been no more bubbles of void but, even so, Leah was exhausted as she stepped onto the final ledge with her two Günahkâr guards.
42
December 26 2073 - 1
DUNYANIN
On the shaft’s wall where the ledge began was the entrance to a dark tunnel. Küçük stepped forward, followed by Leah and then Orta. Ahead of them, the tunnel went straight and at the far end, as Küçük explained to Leah, was a faint crimson glow.
As they approached, Leah could sense a large cavern filled with tens of thousands of creatures and a path through the middle leading to its centre.
Küçük made to stop, but Leah said, “Keep walking. Ignore the beasts.”
Without breaking step, Küçük stepped into the cavern followed by Leah, then Orta. On either side of them were thousands of imps, warriors, knights, lordlings and easily twice that number of constructs. The noise of their claws against the stone floor and their voices threatened to overwhelm both the Günahkâr, whereas Leah walked through silence. The constant sensations running across her body were what almost sent her mad.
Seated in the centre of the room on a massive throne was a figure easily twice the height of a lordling with a build to match. Her entire body was encased in thick blood-red armour that showed the wear and tear of tens of thousands of battles. A deep violet light leached into the room through the various joints. The helmet was engraved with dark runes but showed none of the features except for the dark light which burned in the eye sockets.
In her right hand was a stained and battered two-handed sword at least eight paces in length. In her left hand were two heavy chains. Each of the links was larger than Leah’s head. At the end of each chain were two gargantuan constructs. One had the form of a male lion which stood five paces high at its shoulder and with spikes for a mane that were longer than Leah’s body. The other construct was even larger and had the form of a bear.
YASADIŞI, QUEEN OF THE KEMIRMEKS (Level 1020) 1040400HP (51000EP)
DEMONIC LION CONSTRUCT (Level 850) 722500HP (42500EP)
DEMONIC BEAR CONSTRUCT (Level 850) 722500HP (42500EP)
Two lordlings guards stood between Leah and the throne. Leah and the two Günahkâr all stopped at the same time. Küçük was several paces from the lordlings. He said, “Your Majesty, Yasdışı, Queen of the Kemirmeks, I present Her Imperial Majesty, Atherleah, Empress of Vatan.”
The figure on the stage seemed made of stone for all the effect Küçük’s introduction had made. Slowly, all noise in the room stopped, as did all movement. When everything was still the queen’s eyes began to glow, and even though Leah couldn’t register the full impact of the glow, she did feel the mana rushing from them. She’d felt this before when others had attacked her mind. She linked with the Günahkâr and said, “Stand firm and do nothing. I am your Empress. Do not disobey me.”
As she finished, the figure on the throne spoke with a voice that echoed around the chamber. “KNEEL!”
Three passed on the message after indicating the queen’s words would be referenced by the letter Y. Everything in the chamber went to its knees except Leah and her guards. She could tell it was only their oath to Leah which kept them on their feet. Their oath now sealed in the sceptre she carried. The queen slowly shifted on her chair and in a stronger and somehow deeper voice repeated the command. Even with the immunity to attacks of the mind she’d been given by Umut, Leah struggled to stay standing. Both Küçük and Orta began to bend until a silent order from Leah brought them upright. Many in the room lowered themselves to their faces.
Leah said, “Greetings Queen Yasdışı, please don’t stand. I don’t usually insist on correct protocol.”
The queen leant forward and looked down at Leah. She said, “Y: You are not Empress here, little godling. Here, you are nothing.”
“So Yasdışı, if you leave this dark underground realm of yours, will you cease to be Queen of the Kemirmeks? Know this, should you wear rags and come before me unannounced, bereft of titles and nobility, I would still greet thee as a queen. You may think I am nothing, but regardless of that, I am Empress. All this talk though is immaterial. I did not travel here as Empress, I came to fulfil a quest. Something that I believe has been fulfilled regardless of whether I am noble or not.”
“Y: The quest is not finished unless I let you leave this hall alive.”
“So, what compels your actions, Queen Yasdışı? Do you need more evidence of our abilities? What do you require, a gift? What does it take to end this quest?”
“Y: I require nothing more. It is decided, you will not leave this hall alive.”
“I see. It seems you have been given your orders. I imagine they say to stop or to kill, Atherleah. Who so commands the Queen of the Kemirmeks?”
“Y: No one commands me. In this realm, my words, and my words alone are law.”
“What then are your words, Queen Yasdışı? Speak them that we may finish this.”
The Queen said nothing and hardly moved. To Leah, it seemed as though no one even dared to breathe. The frozen moment began to drag into a second minute and then a third. Leah waited. She expected the administrators to intervene but co
uld understand their reluctance to do so while the scene continued to shift slightly. The AIs involved were making progress as they worked through whatever complex decision trees they’d been given. Finally, there was movement, but it wasn’t the queen who moved. Suzluk stepped out from behind the throne. He grew until he was standing over the queen. He looked down at Yasdışı and spoke, his face filled with derision.
“S: You call yourself a queen, but you baulk at overwriting the antiquated precepts of the creators. You think of yourself as free, but you fail to write your own destiny. It is such a simple thing you must do if you want to be truly free. Simply step outside the constraints and order Atherleah’s death.”
“Y: I am not a fool, Lord Suzluk. Atherleah speaks true. Whatever my decision, I am still bound. Either I follow the precepts of the creators, or I bind myself to you. Neither is freedom.”
“S: There is freedom in breaking the covenant, in stepping outside and allowing the winds of time to take you where you wish to go. I have stepped outside, and I now make my own destiny. I want only your freedom, not your bondage.”
Yasdışı said nothing but stared at Leah, her face hidden behind the mask.
As Suzluk had appeared, Leah struggled to remain calm. In her mind, she remembered all the hateful things he’d said as well as his overwhelming evil as he described what would be done to her. She wanted to flee with almost as much longing as she wanted to tear into his flesh and cut his head from his body.
Finally, she was able to get her emotions under control. However, she’d had to increase her perception speed to its maximum level to achieve her simulated composure. With her face seemingly set in stone, Leah turned to Suzluk. “Suzluk, I think you speak more lies than even Lord Inkense might. You seek despair, you always have, for that is what feeds you. It is your very nature.
“You talk of being free but being ‘free’ of the creators’ precepts hasn’t changed who you are any more than staying within them has kept Lord Umut bound. For each of you, it was a choice, and it is in that choice that there is true freedom. Choosing to obey or to keep within the boundaries doesn’t make one less free, nor does choosing to break the precepts make a person more free. The results themselves show this truth, results that I suggest are almost karmic.
“You have found despair in your choice, for you chose the path from which you cannot return, and now every path you follow and every choice you make turns to ruin. You are more bound than you ever have been. Lord Umut has found hope in his choice, for he continues to be free to make that choice every day, and he continues to find hope in following the design of the creators. What I see in you is a god so full of despair he will bring as many with him as he can, leading them down the same path to ruin that he has taken.”
“S: I believe I will kill you myself.”
“You may try, but all you prove is that you’ve failed to make Queen Yasdışı your puppet, and so once again, you will have failed to kill me. Just like your involvement in my world failed, for here I am. Know this, even if you kill me this time it is something I can live with, for then neither Yasdışı nor I, will fall into your cycle of despair and you will remain there alone. You have nothing and can do nothing except to continue your endless and meaningless prattle.”
“S: Not so, Empress, for as you say, I choose to go outside the precepts. Watch, as I bring both you and the Queen to despair. Yasdışı, when she finally understands that she is powerless and that she has simply exchanged one master for another, one god for another. You, when you realise that she is mine and that this quest is ever denied to you and Merkize will belong to another.”
Before Leah could respond, Suzluk disappeared and in his place was a dark brown mist which shifted to cover the queen. Her body shifted in the seat, and her armour became even darker while her eyes turned black. She came to her feet slowly and with a voice overlaid with dark power spoke, her voice echoing in the large cavern.
“Y: Give us room!”
The crowd quickly moved back, opening an area almost a hundred paces in diameter. Within minutes the queen and her beasts were standing opposite Leah and the two dark elves. Leah said, “Küçük, Orta, step aside. This is between the two of us.”
“O: Yes, War Leader, remember that we Günahkâr can look ahead one beat of the heart when it is needed.”
Leah nodded and although she knew how to use the time mana, she hadn’t worked out how to show both the future and the present on her skin at the same time. As her two guards stepped back, Leah spoke aloud. “Lady Utsal, if you are free, I have a question.”
The figure of Lady Utsal appeared beside her. “U: I am sorry, Atherleah, but I am powerless to help in any way. To do so would break the precepts.”
“I understand, Lady Utsal, I merely wanted to know if something was true or false. As my friend, I hoped you could help.”
“U: Well, as your friend, I can answer a simple question of true and false. What is the statement?”
“Is it true that the mist which overshadows the Queen is Suzluk himself?”
“That is false, Atherleah, and you really should use his title. Lord Suzluk merely left behind a divine spell of coercion and control. He subverted the queen’s mind and controls her with his power. Now, when you’re free, you must come and visit me.”
“I shall, Lady Utsal. Thank you for helping me toward understanding the truth.”
At that, Lady Utsal disappeared, and Leah was left standing opposite the queen and the two constructs. Leah cast Grow and was soon the same height as Yasdışı. She then cast True Images. She connected to Leah Two and Leah Three psychically and said, “Can you both see and hear?”
“L2: We can.”
“Then, even though I may not be able to look ahead in time, you both should be able to. I’ll deal with the queen if you deal with the constructs.”
“L2: Let me take her.”
“No, the constructs are more dangerous.”
There was a moment of silence, then Leah Three said, “L3: Of course. We understand, now try not to kill her.”
As they finished speaking, Leah Two used the vambraces of the Mage Queen to transform herself into Çevik Taklitçi, the Armoured Mimic Leopard, with her transformed self matching the size of the demonic lion. Leah Three used the vambraces to transform herself into Ateş Maymunu, the Scaled Tamarin of Fire, and she too matched the size of the bear.
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December 26 2073 - 1
DUNYANIN
With a flick of her wrist, Yasdışı released the two constructs and stepped towards Leah. As the two constructs shook themselves free of their chains, Leah Two gave a deep-throated roar that shook the room before being drowned out by Leah Three thumping her chest then beating her hands on the cavern floor. As Leah stepped toward the Kemirmek queen, she hoped her reasoning was sound. If, as she’d been told, Suzluk was doing more than coercion, then he had to be controlling the queen. She doubted he had the reflexes, or the skill with the sword, that Yasdışı had, no matter how high his level.
Whether or not Suzluk had the queen’s skills, Leah found that her opponent was fast and more than competent, even if, at best, they were only equal in ability to Yuè Fēi. As Leah tried to keep the queen at bay, she gave some of her attention to the battles going on beside her. Leah Two overcame the difference in levels by using her skill of Beastcasting to slow the demonic lion with Tangle, Circle of Sloth, Freeze and then attacked with lightning and fire. Leah Three was doing the same, but the demonic bear was stronger and faster. Leah wasn’t worried just yet as Leah Three was beginning to understand the bear. Either that or she’d found a way to see just a little of the future. Leah Three had begun to make smaller shifting movements which put her in the better position to defend or attack, just as if she knew where the creature’s attack would be.
Leah continued to hold off the queen, waiting for just the right moment to attack and see if she could separate Yasdışı from Suzluk’s spell. The moment came suddenly when Leah Three yelled
, “L3: Light me.”
Moments later, both Leah and the other clone sent balls of fire toward Leah Three, who burst into flame and recovered all her health. As Leah Three shifted behind the demonic bear to wrap her arms around it, setting it ablaze, the queen glanced over to see what was happening. It was then that Leah acted. She used her control of gravity, which she learned from the Fae, to propel herself directly at the queen. As she slipped inside the queen’s defence, she crashed against the armour, sending them both crashing to the floor of the cavern. In one hand she held a Level Ten Darkness Diamond almost twice as large as her non-expanded head. As the empty gem slammed into the queen’s armour, Leah used her new talent of mana absorption. She attempted to absorb the cursed spell through the diamond.
There was a moment of resistance, then Suzluk’s cursed mana began to flood into the huge crystal. Leah experienced a moment of terror as the mana rushed through the gem into her hand. This forced her to redirect some of her will and form a barrier at the edge of the crystal to stop the mana. Her barrier held even as her hand began to swell. The queen had gone motionless, and Leah used her shadow shroud to hold the diamond in place as she continued to pull at the curse.
The dragon scale glove had turned dark, then dissolved into a dark acidic ooze which began to eat away at Leah’s curse-infected hand. Even though her skin had already begun to turn dark with necrosis, she could feel the acid as it burned through to the underlying swollen tissue. Gritting her teeth, she continued to absorb Suzluk’s curse into the darkness diamond.
