Absalom’s Trials

by J. D. L. Rosell

  Arala seemed to sense my uncertainty. “Best hide the bodies and return to camp. We have a lot of work ahead, I believe.”

  I nodded and let her direct me and Talfith during the grisly task. There was a canal not far from the alley. The Drakon caused a distraction, running through the laundry of the washerwomen there and sending them scattering and squawking, so Arala and I could quickly throw the bodies in. We weighed them down with stones as best we could, though I figured they'd be discovered soon all the same.

  I kept telling myself they were just part of a computer program. But wasn't Farelle? They'd been just as individual as her, just as Human as real humans.

  It felt just like I imagined committing a real murder might feel.

  But I had to pass Absalom’s Trials, and not just to keep myself from being sent to Faze-Aught. I had to get that god-killing power or I’d never escape this game.

  “Let's go,” I said to my fellow captains. “We have work to do.”

  14

  One Thing After Another

  In the intervening days, on top of all my other duties, I started combat training with the Ignobles’ instructor. He was much amused to see me, but he obliged me the practice all the same. Maybe it was time wasted, time diverged from my grand plans to defend Stalburgh. All I knew was that at this moment, I needed to see some progress somewhere.

  And progress I did. I leveled up Swords and Knives in the next few days as well as learned two more combat skills. First was Pirouette & Riposte, where you had a 50% chance to dodge a physical attack by spinning, then dealt a blow back with a 50% reduction in damage. The second was Lunge, an all-in attack where I could leap a good distance and deal a blow, typically by a sword, with 150% damage.

  Though I wanted to sink myself into the training, the majority of my time was taken up with other, more urgent tasks. Recruitment continued steadily, unimpeded by any news of the duke's intentions not to join the battle. Whatever his reasons for telling me and not just abandoning us when the Cerulean army arrived, he didn't try to sabotage our efforts to try and defend his home city by hiring his subjects.

  But more than ever, I needed other allies. So it was that when Farelle and her father came back from their latest scouting mission — from which they reported the enemy would likely arrive the day after tomorrow — I called them in for a private meeting in the tent I’d been issued as a captain of the Noble Ignobles. Which was to say it was small, smelly, and every surface stained.

  Still, I ignored Farelle’s amusement as she looked around and launched into my proposal. “Many of the druids of Maluwae can teleport, right?”

  Farelle shrugged. “Sure. I’d say twenty or so can.”

  Sulfel scowled at his daughter revealing this, but he didn’t contradict her.

  I nodded. “Good. Now, I know this is a lot to ask. But considering our situation here, I guess I have to.”

  I explained my idea: to use the druids to teleport a certain group of people who had recently come to owe me some measure of loyalty: the Fralishk of Urandal. Cowards that they were, they were very likely to bolt at the sight of an army. But I had a plan that I thought could use them to the best possible advantage. Maybe it was a betrayal of their newfound “civilization,” but considering that old hag Helge planned to exploit them anyway, I had a feeling I wasn’t taking them from too great a destiny.

  Farelle nodded encouragingly, but Sulfel, the person I had to truly convince, frowned. “This would be a frivolous use of Yalua’s gifts. The Roots that span the Everlands are not supposed to be used by those who have no appreciation for them.”

  “Dad,” Farelle objected, “we’re talking about thousands of innocents dying here! And Marrow isn’t even asking for them to help directly. Just to get a thousand or so people here.”

  He hemmed and hawed about it for an hour or so, but finally, to my amazement, he relented. Even better, he provided a more efficient way to transport them: opening a temporary Roots gate, so that by having one druid on each side, a near limitless number of people could pass between two locations. I liked my chances of convincing one of the Maluwaen Satyrs of this task better than twenty, particularly since I had a certain sympathetic ear in mind.

  “Thank you,” I said for the hundredth time. “Really. This could be exactly what we needed.”

  “It’s not for you,” he said severely. “It’s for my daughter and all those other people. You are the very last person I do this for.”

  I shrugged. As long as he did it, I didn’t much care what his reasons were.

  As soon as he’d prayed and restored his spirit, Sulfel took off for Maluwae, aiming to bring back old Hanil to help me once again. Farelle and I, meanwhile, sat in my tent as evening faded to night.

  “Have you seen Sheika yet?” she asked.

  I shook my head.

  Farelle took my hand. “I’m sure she’ll get here before the battle.”

  Though I hoped so, I wasn’t convinced. Sheika would be worth five hundred NPC soldiers, quite literally. I’d seen her at the battle at the Pantheon’s doors as she cut through the Valyn guards. Though I also remembered that she and Gorget hadn’t been enough. No, to win that battle, I had to call on another power. I raised my hand and stared at the finger where the invisible ring always lay.

  Farelle noticed immediately. “You’re not supposed to call the Specter army,” she reminded me softly.

  “I know.” Mordreth had told me not to, it was true. And considering he was god of the Specters and the afterlife Beyond, it was probably wise to obey him. But still… if I could call them, all of these problems would go away. And could the consequence be any worse than Faze-Aught?

  Farelle studied me for a moment. “Maybe you can still use it. After all, didn’t you banish the barrow prince with it? It has other uses than calling the army.”

  I’d thought about that as well, though the uses I’d put it to so far didn’t seem very applicable at the moment. I’d turned into a Specter to escape a prison and I’d visited Faze-Aught briefly to talk to Ava, but neither of those would help me take on an army. Still, it was worth exploring, and I knew just the person to talk to. “You’re right. Maybe I should call to Ava then.”

  “Do it,” the Wilder encouraged me.

  I held up a hand and said softly, “Ava, if you can, I need your help. Again.”

  Almost immediately, white mist began to form and swirl before me, and the air in the tent dropped a good twenty degrees. I shivered, but still smiled as the familiar face appeared before me.

  “Hi, Marrow,” Ava greeted me with her usual solemn smile.

  I held up the Ghost Ring, which had become slightly visible in Ava’s presence. “Can you think of any way I could use this other than raising the Specter army in the upcoming battle?”

  Ava thought a moment, then nodded. “Yes. It is a similar power, but it wouldn’t contradict Mordreth’s command directly. Especially if you dismiss them immediately after the battle.”

  Excitement rose up in me, and I leaned forward. “What is it?” I asked urgently. Farelle looked as eager as I, though she showed a good deal more apprehension. These things did, after all, go against her religion to a degree.

  “You can raise the spirits of each who falls in battle to fight for you again,” Ava explained. “You’ll have to do it one at a time, and the Naiads and Valyn likely have ways of dispelling them. But they would provide a continual supply of soldiers, even an army if you manage to amass enough.”

  It was a useful idea, though not nearly as effective as raising the army all at once. Depending on how fast the Specters were killed again, it was possible it wouldn’t even be worth my time. Still, if this was the best I had, I’d take it. “It sounds like just what I need. Thank you, Ava. You know the commands?”

  “Yes. Faq’ohl to raise them, and the same word as before, Tal’shur, to dismiss them all at once.”

  I clenched my fist. Hopefully, this was the turning point. After all, I had only one more day before th
e battle was likely to happen. But I wasn’t done calling on all my resources yet. I still had one old relationship to pull on. I’d been putting off calling on them, but I couldn’t afford to any longer.

  I rose, and Farelle, confused, rose with me. Ava watched me sadly. It seemed she could read my mind more than ever.

  “What are you doing?” Farelle asked. She looked back and forth between us, her brow knitting.

  “I have to make a visit. To another potential ally.”

  The Wilder’s expression darkened. “I thought they were behind us,” she said in a low, dangerous voice. “I thought you’d cast aside those hags when they sent you to die.”

  “I thought the same. But I also thought that of the Noble Ignobles, and now look where I am.” I shrugged. “The Night Sisters are one of the few deities who make a direct impact. Maybe I can convince them to intervene on my behalf.”

  “Or maybe they’ll screw you over again,” Farelle pointed out. “We just found a way to win. Why keep pushing further and risking a loss?”

  “Because everything’s at risk, Farelle!” I nearly shouted. “Because we’re not certain of victory! Because all the Everlands could be destroyed if I lose!” I cut myself short and took a breath. I was spiraling fast.

  The Wilder watched me, her expression gone carefully blank. “Do what you will,” she said, then exited the tent.

  Ava drifted closer to me, one Spectral hand lingering in the air next to my hand, but she didn’t touch me. “I think she’ll come to understand,” she said softly.

  My Specter guide seemed to see most things I did, so I had to assume she’d seen my murders as well. Shame filled me to think of it. “Is it worth it?” I whispered. “Will it all be okay?”

  Her hesitation was all I needed to hear. Ava started to speak, but I shook my head. “No, you’re right. There aren’t any sure things, and I shouldn’t ask you to tell me lies.” I straightened my shoulders and raised my head. “I’m First Captain after all,” I said, meeting her gaze with a sardonic grin. “I have to act like it.”

  Ava smiled fondly at me, and lifted a hand to my cheek, this time lightly brushing it with a cold finger. “You’ve grown much, Marrow. You’ll overcome this too, I know it.”

  It didn’t even sound like a lie. “I hope so.”

  But I couldn’t rely just on hope. It was time to visit the Night Sisters’ lair.

  It was ridiculously simple to get through this time. All the traps I’d been worried about before were barely a concern. I’d been, what, level 2 the first time I came here? Now I was level 19, and I’d seen and overcome much worse than a few skeletons. I breezed my way through the first chamber and into the great hall, where I threw a stone to activate the trap just for laughs. The skeletons all rose from their tombs, and one by one, I broke them to pieces and laughed. Thirty skeletons were shattered at my feet by the time I was through, I stepped over the bone fragments in a much better mood.

  Further on, I made it to the puzzle room, which had reset in my absence. I used the hanging pots as target practice for my new throwing knives, which I took to well. I suspected my decent dexterity stat had something to do with my success. That was a progression that made sense; the higher your base stats, the easier related skills were, even ones I was just starting out in.

  Retrieving the pieces to the puzzle, I put them in their places in the key slot, but hesitated before proceeding. One last enemy to utterly vanquish. I finished the puzzle to unlock the treasure room instead and grinned as the skeleton knight rose up again.

  This time, instead of seeming powerful and intimidating, he was almost comically slow. Aiming for the yellow burning jewels in his eyes with throwing knives, I managed to almost completely take him out before he even reached me. Then, to make things at least a little more interesting, I only used my mithril dagger to take him down the rest of the way, using both Pirouette & Riposte and Lunge and getting the feel for how they operated. At the end, the skeleton knight crumbled to dust, leaving behind two more amethysts. Don't mind if I do! I pocketed them, thinking a level 2 or 3 spell might be in my future, so long as that greedy mage was still in business.

  But I was delaying; time to press on. I put the key in the door and went through, then down the long corridor. My apprehension grew with each step as I wondered how this meeting would go. I didn't even know what to expect from them if they did want to help, but I sensed this could mean the difference between victory and defeat. Maybe they’d have a high level Black channel waiting for me. The prospect had me near salivating.

  Finally I entered their chamber, ghostly blue firelight casting the place into a strange mix of light and shadow. I moved toward the three upright sarcophagi to the shriveled corpses nestled within. Last time, they had come awake almost as soon as I had stepped in. Now, though, they stayed in their stone beds, as lazy as I had been on school mornings.

  I waited a moment, then approached. “Hey.” I waved my hands at them. “Time to wake up. Someone’s intruding and all that.”

  No response. I came even closer, just a couple feet away. “Hello-o-o. Anybody home—?”

  Then I noticed something strange about their bodies. They’d always been shriveled and half-dead, but I didn’t remember seeing any wounds on them. Especially no wounds like three holes in the chest that faintly glowed blue…

  “Disappointing, isn’t it? To have your plans disrupted?”

  I whirled toward the voice, which was somehow both melodic and rough. Recognition sent chills up my spine. Sure enough, there she stood: Nalamanadine — Nali — the Naiad goddess of the sea. The smile she gave me as she stared with her huge black eyes sent another wave of winter through my body.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” A moment later, my brain caught up to the situation. “You killed them. Permanently killed them, didn’t you?”

  Nali just shook her head and began walking toward me. She was shorter and slighter than me, and wore nothing in the way of armor, just a coral pink dress that hung off her like draped seaweed. But she glowed in the way that deities in the Everlands did, and her level was unreadable for me, all of which were flashing red warning lights. Not to mention her usual scepter had somehow morphed into a trident with three wicked looking prongs at the end of it.

  “Yes. They had meddled for far too long in affairs that were none of their business.” The goddess cocked her head to one side. “If it’s any consolation, I believe they would have helped you. As the Catalyst, you have been so effective at stirring up chaos, and they sought nothing more than that.”

  I was rooted to the spot. I didn’t know what to do. Should I try and salvage the situation somehow, or just run?

  “Don’t make this difficult, Catalyst.” Nali was barely a dozen feet away, almost within striking distance of that trident of hers. “Let’s not waste thousands of lives in a contest we both know I’ll win. Surrender, and I’ll spare them.”

  Somehow I found it in me to respond. “And will you spare me?”

  Her smile turned wicked and cruel, the same as I remembered it last. “We can’t get everything we want, now can we?”

  I shook my head, disbelieving. She didn’t want a bargain; she just wanted to gloat. Though, with the Night Sisters dead, she could very well want more. After all, could my own death pose any more consequences than taking out other members of the Pantheon? Somehow, I doubted Absalom was quite that fond of me.

  I opened my mouth to say something further, but thought better of it and bolted. I remembered the side-door the Sisters had me leave by before, and I thought I was close enough to make it. Nali hissed behind me, and I kept waiting for something to happen, like for me to freeze in place or the trident to lance into my back. But my hand touched to the door and it ground open, and when I turned back, Nali was standing in the same place. Something did restrict her actions, then.

  The realization gave me courage, at least enough to say defiantly, “We’ll settle this on the battlefield.”

  Then I fled i
nside the narrow stairwell, for Nali had flung some sort of blue magic that washed over the walls around me. A parting shot. But as I trudged up the stairs, I resolved that I would have the final word by the end of this.

  15

  By Dawn’s Light

  I exited the Night Sisters’ lair — former lair now — and mounted my waiting horse to return to the city. It wasn’t long until dawn, and people were unlikely to be up, but since time was short, I thought I’d take my chances and made my way to the mage’s shop. Since my main aspirations had been shot down in that lair, I figured I might as well get something out of my visit.

  The peculiar, wizard-hat shaped roof came into view, and I tied up my horse and knocked loudly. Not a moment passed before an irritable, “Now?” came through the door.

  I grinned and let myself in.

  The irascible mage stood with gray hair sticking out at odd angles and a purple robe with stars sewn all over it. Could he have been any more stereotypical?

  “Hello,” I said cheerfully. I slapped the two amethysts I’d just looted onto his counter. “How do you feel about two more of these bad boys?”

  Greed quickly replaced annoyance as the mage hurried over. “Imbued again, I suppose?”

  “The very same.” I scooted the gems a little further from his grasp. “But I want a level 3 spell for them.”

  The mage frowned. “I’m afraid I don’t have any available.”

  My hopes sunk at that. “Well, I wasn’t really looking for anything but that…”

  His eyes flashed, and suddenly I knew he was playing an angle. The bastard — he was stringing me along. I kept my expression composed despite my sudden anger.

  When I didn’t say anything further, he shrugged. “Let me look at what I have back there. Could be something got tucked away.”