by TJ Reynolds
The drimgard knocked and drew.
Predicting the other archer would do the same, Rhona dodged to the right.
Two arrows blurred past her, one burying itself in the archer she was closest to. The drimgard hunched over and dropped its bow.
Rhona slid behind it and snapped the monster’s neck. She held the minion upright and watched as the final archer took aim.
By now, the halberdier had recovered from the stun of Etheric Sapping. It charged at Rhona, weapon held out before it.
The archer released and Rhona ducked behind the body of the dead drimgard.
She sped across the twenty feet separating her from the final archer. By the time she got there, the minion had nocked another arrow.
Rhona moved out of the line of fire and tugged the archer’s bow to the right. Attempting the move would have been foolish in a normal battle, but Rhona was having fun for the first time in months.
And somehow, she got it right.
The archer released, and its arrow careened off course.
It plunged into the halberdier’s throat a second later.
Rhona laughed and pounded the drimgard with two consecutive Bangled Paw attacks. The first shattered its ribs, and the second its faceless mask.
Still smiling, she jogged over to the drimgard with the arrow in its neck and blasted it with a Tiger Spear through the heart.
As the final minion fell to the ground, a river of ether poured into Rhona’s core. She breathed it in, a grin spread across her face.
Can’t believe how good this feels, she thought. Perspective is absolutely shivving everything!
“Well done, Rhona,” Jakodi said from the corner of the room.
The old man slowly got to his feet. Then he tottered over to stand before Rhona.
Ban absorbed the minions’ ruined bodies, but kept his thoughts to himself. For that, Rhona was appreciative. She would speak with the Earth Core later, but this training session had been one between master and disciple.
The ancient monk patted Rhona on the back. “You fight like a young cub still. You use your ether up like it is easily replaced.”
She chuckled. “Sorry, I know I could have been more conservative. It’s so hard to hold back, though!”
“You were enjoying yourself. That isn’t something I will fault you for. Tomorrow’s training will be a lot more grueling, however, so I expect you to be disciplined.”
“Of course. Thank you, Jakodi.”
He tapped the side of each of her thighs with his cane. “Stretch before coming back up. You need to become more limber, Rhona. These past months of inactivity have not done you any favors.”
Rhona watched the master head out before sitting down on the stone floor and doing as she’d been asked.
She leaned over one of her legs, feeling the burning stretch in the back of her hamstring.
That was very impressive, Ban said at last. It is amazing how much Jakodi has taught you in such a short time.
I know. It has been so frustrating not having a master around. Even after reaching Emerald, I had nobody to teach me the skills I had room to learn!
Ban’s response came after a short pause, and she noted that the Earth Core sounded distracted. Well, which is your favorite so far? I think Tiger Spear is incredible to see, but the pattern that Bangled Paw creates is quite lovely.
They are both amazing, Rhona admitted, but Spirit Flow is the most amazing thing I’ve ever experienced. In a way, it isn’t as powerful as Spirit Surge. She switched her legs and sighed. The cost of Spirit Surge is simply too high to employ in any normal circumstance. And feeling the flow of battle… it is indescribable, Ban!
The Earth Core didn’t respond for over a minute, and Rhona chuckled. Let me guess, you’re working on some fabulous new project?
Oh my! Ban spat out in her mind. Yes, that is precisely it, Rhona. I am so sorry to have ignored you. Come back up to the keep when you are ready. Dinner should be served in an hour, and I promise I’ll be more attentive then.
Rhona continued to stretch her stiff muscles alone.
Jakodi had been right.
Months of meditation and halfhearted training had left her body lacking what it once had.
She didn’t give a damn, though.
Just another goal to work towards, she thought to herself. One among many.
After mastering Mind of the Pristine Temple, Rhona’s perspective had remained completely shifted. Not only did she intimately know that her life was infinitely small and insignificant in the vast scheme of time, but she also knew how important and real every moment was.
It both humbled her and lent each second of her life a spark of joy and excitement she hadn’t felt since childhood.
Rhona couldn’t wait for Kai to return.
She had so much to tell him, so much to share.
An hour later, feeling loose and limber, Rhona walked back up to the keep. She made a quick scan of her character scroll and was pleased to see she was nearing Emerald 3 already.
In the long months of winter, Rhona had worked with Kai plenty of times. They’d defeated countless minions in their training, but she’d only performed the bare minimum.
She’d gained a single level in all that time.
True, the amount of Progression required to level were vastly higher than they had been to get to Emerald 1, but that was just a convenient excuse.
In just two days of constant battling, she’d dramatically increased her Progression.
Kai might have been to Viridian by now, but he’d spent a large amount of his Progression in the reviving of Earth Cores. Each time he healed one, his Progression dipped dramatically.
When he gets back, she promised herself, we will grind together and achieve Viridian in no time at all.
Rhona washed up and headed to the dining room table.
Greg sat eager and ready, his creepy spider limbs twitching in excitement. “You certainly took your time, Rhona,” Ban said in his champion’s deep voice.
She shook her head and picked up a fork. “You know, for someone who technically does not require food, you eat a lot.”
Ban scoffed. “I find the practice most enjoyable! Why should I, who provides you and Kai with great luxury, not enjoy the fruits of my own labor?”
“Makes sense to me, Ban, but have you seen Jakodi?”
Greg’s huge hands gripped a tiny fork, and he began his meal in earnest.
Speaking in her mind while his champion’s mouth was busy, Ban answered. He said he will be meditating at the top of the tower. He won’t be joining us this evening, which is a pity. By the gods! This is good.
“It is,” Rhona managed between bites. “What exactly are we eating?”
The daldrim have been working with bows of late. They took down a few ducks, and after plucking and cleaning them, I absorbed the meat and have created enough for an army.
Rhona shoveled in more of the savory duck, and for a time, the two focused exclusively on devouring the meal.
But then Rhona finally asked Ban what he’d been up to earlier.
A surprise, mostly, and one that is most difficult to master, Ban replied as Greg continued to eat plate after plate of food. I am also working on a few new traps in the keep.
“Good. I think defense is something we really need to focus on,” Rhona replied. “That, and all of us need to advance, level up, and ascend. I don’t know how long we have, but the vision I saw left no room for alternatives.”
An entire army of the abyss monsters? Ban asked for the tenth time. Are you sure this fate can’t simply be avoided?
Rhona shook her head. “No, I don’t think so, Ban. As much as I’d like to consider that, it is best we assume the worst.”
She took a drink of the odd wine the daldrim had begun to craft in the keep above. It wasn’t particularly strong, but had a diverse and interesting flavor.
Then she described the plan she’d been forming in her head ever since she’d gained perspective.
Adventures are fun! Where shall we go, though? North to Kaltan? Perhaps fly to the ocean to the south and find some hidden island filled with terrifying monsters?
Rhona laughed and shook her head. “That’s the spirit, Ban. I’ve no idea, but there must be somewhere in the Zargan Mountains that has stronger monsters. Might as well not fly halfway across the world. Time, Ban. We are up against time.”
Ban didn’t immediately respond.
Greg finally finished eating, then the great champion let out a disturbing belch. The champion then cleared his throat and looked down at Rhona.
She could see Ban’s intelligence shining through the monster’s eyes, which, surprisingly, didn’t at all feel abnormal.
“Rhona, I have a question, but I do hope it does not cause offense,” Ban said aloud. “Do you mind if I ask something more or less personal?”
She arched an eyebrow and took another drink of wine. “Sure, but I can’t promise not to punch you!”
“Fair enough,” Ban replied, twisting Greg’s face up into a grin. “I did warn you, so take that into consideration.”
With Rhona’s interest piqued, she sat up in her chair. “What is it? Spit it out, Ban.”
“I was just wondering when you and Kai might… act on your feelings. It’s obvious to me there is more between the two of you than mere companionship.”
A blush stole across Rhona’s cheeks.
She sighed and hung her head. “Oh… That’s what you wanted to talk about.”
Greg reached out and rested his thick-fingered hand on her shoulder. “I understand if you don’t want to speak about it. Just tell me to back off and I will.”
The degree of care and sensitivity Ban was taking juxtaposed with Greg’s body and rumbling voice.
Watching the champion’s movements closely, Rhona couldn’t hold back a laugh. “Sorry, but maybe we should speak in our minds. It’s too weird to see Greg act sweet and polite like that.”
The champion’s eyes went dim, and Ban scoffed in her mind. I do as best I can, Rhona, and you know that. You try maintaining propriety when your only body is that of a hulking monster!
Sorry, Ban, it was just funny, Rhona soothed. And in answer to your question, I don’t know. How could I tell him how I feel when so much is at stake?
How could you wait to tell him with so much at stake? Ban wisely asked, flipping her question over on itself.
She sighed again and nodded. You’re probably right. I’ll consider it. He could always be the one to broach the subject.
Ban laughed in her mind. Kai is terrified you might reject him. I think it more likely he’ll keep his thoughts to himself for a decade first.
A piercing shriek echoed in the chasm outside the keep, cutting off the conversation abruptly.
Rhona ran outside, heart racing.
But then she heard the flapping of wings, and she knew the dragonlings had returned.
A great rumbling sounded, and she saw Kai running toward the tower in dragon form. The dragonlings rose up into the air around the keep, flapping up a storm.
Food! But what shall we eat? an unfamiliar voice echoed in Rhona’s mind.
A second later, three others answered. Let’s fly up and kill some deer! Nothing better than venison!
Not a chance, brother, a more austere voice answered. It’s full night, and I do not intend on wasting hours looking for game that has gone off to sleep.
Fish! A fourth voice cried out, deep and booming. We dive for the great fish at the base of the waterfall. Come, brother, come sisters. Let us feast!
Rhona gaped as she watched the four dragonlings streak across the night sky.
Their wings buffeted the air, and she could tell even in the gloom that they’d grown larger, dramatically so.
Yet it was the undeniable fact that all four were speaking that had floored her. After months of helping to raise the squeaking sky rats, they’d found their voices at last.
Rhona! Kai said in her mind. Isn’t it amazing?
She turned to see Kai shrinking down into his human form. He managed to clutch his cloak tight around himself to preserve his modesty.
Normally, she let him have some degree of privacy. The young man seemed uncomfortable even when covered up by his cloak. He was, after all, naked beneath it.
But Rhona’s emotions raged within her. The clarity and purpose she’d gained from her mastery of Temple of the Pristine Mind, her blossoming emotions towards him, and the newfound growth of the dragonlings were too much.
She ran to him, throwing her around his shoulders. Rhona crushed Kai in a fierce hug, pressing her face to his chest.
Tentatively, Kai wrapped first one and then another arm around her. “Hey… what’s going on?”
Rhona held him tight as she answered. “Everything has changed, Kai. I have so much to tell you!”
Kai’s stiff body finally relaxed, and she felt his face press down atop her head. She heard him breathing her in, and then he said in a quiet voice, “I can’t wait to hear it, Rhona. Your technique… you’ve mastered it, haven’t you?”
Rhona pulled back and looked up into Kai’s sweet face. “I have, Kai. And I’m sorry for my months of despair. Everything will be okay, though, as long as we can get strong enough to win the war.”
Kai’s eyes widened. “War? What war are you talking about?”
Despite the gravity of the situation being discussed, Rhona chuckled. “Come on inside. I’ll tell you everything I know.”
She found his hand and pulled him after her back into the light and the warmth of the Sunken Keep.
9
Unfamiliar Boots
Kai
The draped mantle still felt ridiculous to Kai, regardless of how he arranged it.
Thick, red cloth bound in gold trim, sprawling and repeating designs across it, the mantle was anything but modest in design.
“It just doesn’t suit me, Ban,” Kai complained. “I feel like a foolish noble from a story, right before he’s defeated by a man who has better sense when it comes to clothing.”
I spoke to Jakodi several times over, Ban explained patiently. This is as close as we’ll get to the mantle of the Elder Dragon. And because you are both Elder Dragon and the Fundamental Dragon, Jakodi felt it fitting to add a little color. Now be quiet and calm down. You look dashing.
Kai groaned and tugged at the knot below his throat. “A little color? Ban, it’s like you don’t know what a little means. I’m wearing a shivving rainbow.”
Ban muttered a few unmentionables in the back of Kai’s mind, but Kai ignored them.
The Earth Core had never been good at receiving criticism, and Kai supposed the mantle was exquisitely crafted.
He forced a smile to his face. “It’s fine, Ban. Sorry to offend. We just have different styles is all.”
Kai tried to relax as he left his room behind. Everyone would be waiting for him out in the chasm, and apparently, he had a role to play in the coming ceremony.
Why Jakodi hadn’t warned him of his responsibilities irked Kai, but the old man always had reasons for acting the way he did.
Kai walked outside and turned around the corner of the tower.
Lined up with the coursing river behind them, the four dragons sat on their haunches, heads lifted high and proud.
For once, they were quiet.
Rhona and Jakodi stood off to one side, and Greg acted as a guard, a tall spear held upright in his hand. By the way the champion’s eyes followed him, Kai knew Ban had entered Greg’s body.
Standing in two ranks, six kobolds were as strong and disciplined as any soldiers. The rest had retu
rned to their village with Sora’s body.
Kotsi alone led these warriors.
The brief reminder of Sora’s death tugged at Kai’s heart, but there was nothing to do for it now. Still, he planned on paying tribute to the kobold’s grave when time permitted.
Kai walked to stand beside Jakodi. “Okay, I put the thing on. What do I do next?”
The old man winked at Kai. “You have to do very little. Just be polite and do as I say. Don’t forget, I was a court wizard for many years. Such ceremonies used to be common.”
With that, Jakodi walked out before the dragons and slammed his staff into the bedrock at his feet. “Where once there were feasts, music, and dancing for a week, there will now be but a short ceremony. Yet each of you proud dragons have ascended to Amber, and with that, you’ve gained the ability to speak your mind.”
Smiling at the dragons as they shifted about on their haunches like excited hounds, Jakodi continued. “I’m sure each of you have thought long and hard about the name you will choose for yourself. I hope you have chosen your elements as well. Your prospective races had long histories of which god or goddess to worship, but this is a new age. You may choose whichever elemental affinity you wish.”
Jakodi pointed his staff at the Azure dragon, standing tallest and thickest in the chest and limbs. “As alpha of this brood, I call the Azure Dragon forward!”
The beast’s cobalt scales glittered in the sun as he walked toward the wizard. Then, perhaps acting on instinct, he lowered his head and pressed the tip of his snout to the ground.
“Tell us your name, dragon, as well as which god you will serve in this life!”
The Azure lifted up his head and roared. The sound echoed through the chasm, impressing even Kai, whose dragon form was still much larger.
I will be called Anatoth! the Azure announced in everyone’s minds. And I will serve Briga, Goddess of Water and Wisdom!
Jakodi bowed in return, bending low enough that his beard touched the ground.
When he stood back up, Jakodi held up his staff. “Welcome, Anatoth, to the council of dragons! Now, receive your first spell scale, a gift handed down from the dragons of old.”
