Heart of the Void: Sosaku Online - Book 2

by J. Arthur Klein

  Kaluitep raised a hand to halt his fellow Hierophant’s spiel. “There are no holes. I escorted Adept Kheph myself. The High Priest is well aware of his presence and task,” he looked over at me and continued, “which I hope was a success.”

  I nodded and some tension left his shoulders. “Yes Hierophant, the mission was a success. My companions will probably be returning shortly, if you can send someone to meet them so we can avoid any more messes?”

  Kaluitep nodded and whispered instructions to a nearby guard who saluted and ran off. He turned to Malukammun. “If you like, we can go and speak with the High Priest on the matter, but I swear to you, in Heru-et’s name, that the service Adept Sa’tep has rendered to us, our god, and the empire was worth any possible security breach you might perceive.”

  Malukammun looked skeptical but bowed his head. “I will take you at your word, brother. As you have worked with this man in the past, he will be your responsibility.”

  Kaluitep bowed his head and gestured for me to follow, heading back towards where I’d seen Maeve disappear.

  I gave Hierophant Malukammun a bow fitting his station and followed my ally. I started to ask where we were headed but he motioned for silence, leading me through the crowd and into a small side hall full of makeshift bunks, and the ladies of the Plucky Goose.

  When I entered the room, it was as if a light had been turned on. Maeve, Lei’ti, and even Sofya seemed glad to see me. I made my rounds greeting all of the ladies, making sure everyone was hale and whole.

  “Oy lad. Don’t ye be wastin’ yer time with idle chatter,” Maeve said, waiving the girls off once they had a chance to say hello.

  I glanced over to Maeve who was whispering something in Kaluitep’s ear. He had a grin on his face as he nodded along.

  “The mission was-“ I said, but a sharp gesture from the Hierophant cut me off.

  He raised a finger, gesturing for me to wait and then closed his eyes. Glowing gold sigils appeared around the room in a shimmering curtain, creating some sort of barrier.

  *** Hierophant Kaluitep has used, Seal of Silence on the area. ***

  He gave me a patient look. “Now that we are safe from prying ears, please tell me of the tomb,” he said.

  It took almost two hours to tell the entire story of the tomb, especially with the number of questions Kaluitep had about well… everything. I tried to keep my answers as short as possible, but from what I could tell, no one had ventured through the entire tomb in living memory. The High Priest had forbidden anyone from even entering the tomb until Heru-et personally ordered him otherwise.

  Maeve and the rest had gone dead silent throughout the entire retelling as they listened to the details of the dungeon delve and Kaluitep’s questions.

  Halfway through the story I’d gotten a notification that Kjara had logged back in. Kaluitep ensured me that he had sent a trusted guard to escort her and Mika when they arrived from the tomb. Twenty minutes later Kjara arrived to another round of warm welcome from Maeve and the girls.

  Mika arrived as well and received a much more reserved greeting.

  Kjara came over to me and greeted me with a kiss. I heard Maeve whisper behind me, “About damn time that,” and the other girls snickered in response.

  I looked over and blushed, which only resulted in another round of snickers.

  Kaluitep tried to keep his face straight but failed, smiling as he greeted the new arrivals. “Ahn’ep Kjara,” he said with a nod and then turned to our dýrafólk companion. “And you are Mika, I take it?”

  He nodded. “Yeah, that’s me.”

  “Welcome back, guys.” I said with a smile. “I was just telling Hierophant Kaluitep of our successful mission.”

  Mika glared at me. “Make sure to include the part where you almost blew the whole thing.”

  I looked over at him. “What?”

  “Never mind,” he said, then took a seat along one of the walls and began fiddling with something in his packs.

  I shrugged at the dýrafólk’s grouchy disposition and turned to Kaluitep once again. “If you have no more questions, Hierophant.”

  He smiled. “No, Adept. And I thank you for your indulgence in my questions.”

  “If it is not too much to ask, Lord Anpu has charged me with another task that I hope you can aid with,” I began.

  “Of course,” Kaluitep replied. “If it is within my power, then of course I will assist you.”

  I looked to Kjara and shared the new quest with the party and watched her eyes go wide. “Really? There?” she asked, her face breaking into a grin. Mika just looked up for a second and then shrugged and went back to whatever he was doing.

  “Thank you,” I said. “We need to get to the Vale of Dreams as quickly as possible, and I have been told that there is something that your temple possesses that might assist with that?”

  Kaluitep’s face fell and he looked down. “That may be a difficult task. I must speak to the High Priest.”

  I nodded in understanding. “Whatever you can do will be appreciated.”

  Kaluitep said his goodbyes and then headed out, hopefully to procure us a shortcut.

  Seconds after he left the room, a loud bell rang out from somewhere above. Three times the bell tolled, after which Maeve and the ladies started gathering bundles and heading towards the door.

  “What’s going on?” Kjara asked, glancing around at the departing women.

  “‘Tis nothin’, lass, just a call to morning duties. Me girls and I’ve volunteered to help with the refugees, passin’ out food and the like. One o’ the stipulations on our bein’ able to stay given the temple’s view o’ our callin’.”

  I opened my mouth to protest but she stopped me short. “Now don’t be getting yer gibblies in a twist, Kheph. ‘Tis good fer us to ‘ave somethin’ ta keep our minds and ‘ands occupied.”

  From behind me I heard a soft whisper in my ear as a hand caressed its way down my arm. “Of course, there are other things we could do to occupy our hands.”

  I jumped and turned around to see Lei’ti standing there with a sly grin on her face. Kjara was standing next to her covering her mouth to keep from laughing.

  My face must have been beet red at that point because both of them started laughing. Between peels, Kjara looked to Lei’ti and said, “Thanks for that, I needed a good laugh.”

  Lei’ti just grinned back and winked at her. “Any time,” she said and then headed out with the rest of the ladies.

  I glared at Kjara. “Why? Why must you torment me so?”

  She just grinned and walked over and locked her eyes on mine, “You’re adorable when you blush.”

  Mika cleared his throat, bringing me back to the present. “So, next stop Elf-land?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, looks that way. Just gotta figure out how to, you know, cross a giant desert in a timely fashion. Anpu said the priests here should have some way of helping us, but the look on Kaluitep’s face when I asked didn’t look promising.”

  The dýrafólk shrugged. “Well, I’m not going to waste my time sitting around waiting for bureaucracy to take its course. The guard who brought us here said we could make use of their workshop, so I’m going to go and patch up my armor and get my daggers resharpened. What about you guys?”

  Kjara nodded thoughtfully. “Yeah. I think I’ll do the same. No point in struggling through with the repair kits if there’s a workshop.”

  Grinning, I replied, “Sounds like a plan. I know my gear could use a good once over. Especially after getting manhandled by the rejected hentai monster.”

  Kjara snorted at that comment and then gave me a look.

  “What? Why do you think he was so pissed off?” I asked and then dodged a playful smack as we followed Mika towards the workshop.

  …

  34

  We moved through the corridors of the temple with little resistance. Every now and then we would run into a guardian, but one look at my stole was enough to let us pass. That was, of cour
se, until we reached the workshop itself.

  Like the other rooms in the temple, there were guards posted at the entrance. Unlike with the other rooms, these guards were decked out in the armor and vestments of the temple elite.

  They gave Mika a distrustful look as he entered the room, but he was allowed through. Kjara entered next, earning another suspicious glare. She almost made it all the way into the room before one of the guards spotted the Temple Blades on her back and his eyes filled with fury.

  With a growl he pulled a straight bladed gladius from his belt and brandished it at Kjara. “Heretic!” he growled.

  She looked back and her eyes went wide upon seeing his drawn blade. She whipped around and drew her own blades with a smooth gesture and raised them defensively, holy flames flickering along their lengths.

  “What the hell!” I yelled and dashed into the room, cutting in front of the second guard who had just finished drawing his blade to position myself between the guards and Kjara.

  Everyone in the workshop had gone silent. The soldiers in the room had drawn their weapons, looking between the guardian and Kjara with uncertainty in their eyes.

  “Stand down!” I bellowed at the guardian, drawing my spear and extending it into its shortspear form.

  Mika was standing with the rest, weapon half drawn and uncertain of what to do.

  The guard turned his gaze on me and looked to my stole, conflict evident on his features. “Why do you defend this knife-eared heretic, Adept? Can you not see she has robbed the gods of their blessed blades? Even now she flaunts them for all to see.”

  I gestured for Kjara to lower her blades and dropped my guard slightly. “I think there has been a misunderstanding.” I said and gestured to Kjara. “Let me introduce you to Ahn’ep Kjara of the Temple of the Restless Dead, Blessed of Anpu.”

  The guardian looked at me as if I’d sprouted an extra head. “Ahn’ep? An elf?”

  I nodded and said, “Yes. An elf. Now please, put your blades away so we can proceed with our business while we wait for Hierophant Kaluitep’s return?”

  The guardian looked hesitant, but I turned on the heat in my gaze, milking that Presence stat for all it was worth. Eventually he stepped back, giving the barest nod in apology before leaving the room.

  “I could have taken the bastard,” Kjara whispered.

  I looked back at her and smiled as she sheathed her blades. “No doubt, but it might be a bit harder to convince the priesthood to help us across the desert if you shank a temple guardian.”

  I gestured around the room. “Plus, there are no giant wicker baskets or wagons full of hay to hop into, so we’d probably end up getting murdered by the rest of the guards.”

  She smiled. “Nerd,” she said and motioned towards an unoccupied workbench. “Let’s get everything patched up so we can get out of this place once Kaluitep gets back.”

  Mika was already doing his own thing. Ever since his death during the last fight versus the Manifestation of the Devourer he’d been keeping his distance. From what I could tell he still planned to come with us to the Vale on the next quest, but I wasn’t sure what his deal was.

  Kjara and I headed to the section of the workroom set up for leather work. Work benches with knives, awls, and even small boxes of materials were set against one wall.

  Hanging on the wall between the two available workbenches was a sign written in Saa that read, “Suggested donation: 10 gold per hour.”

  My eyes widened at the price, and I glanced around the room to see similar signs hung near the stations for the other crafts. Now it made sense why the crafting stations were mostly unoccupied, with the majority of people in the room on the floor.

  I looked up to see Kjara looking at me expectantly. “Hmm?” I said, and she looked at me and then at the sign.

  “Oh. Yeah,” I said, raising my hands in the universal air quotes gesture. “The ‘suggested’ donation amount is ten gold per hour.”

  “What the hell? Ten gold just to use the station?” she said and switched to an improvised old timey English accent. “A mere pittance for the privilege of using such a luxurious crafting table. Bah!”

  I snorted and looked around the room once again. Near a glowing forge I spotted several of the city guard hammering away on their armor on the floor feet away from what looked like a complete metalworking setup.

  Kjara followed my gaze to the men, and my expression must have said a lot because before I took the first step towards them, she was pressing a handful of gold into my hand.

  I looked up at her and smiled, giving her hand a long squeeze before walking over to the group of guardsmen.

  The group was so focused on their work that only one of them even noticed my approach and looked up, almost tripping in their haste to follow whatever proper priestly praising protocol had been hammered into their heads.

  The rest looked up at their companion’s movements and struggled to rise. I gestured for them to remain seated and said, “I take it the temple has neglected to waive their suggested donations for those not of their ranks?”

  One of the guardsman, an older Saa with close cropped white hair and scar-covered arms bowed his head and answered for the group. “No, my lord. But we shall make do.”

  “Nonsense,” I said. “You risk your lives protecting the people of the city. The least you deserve is the proper tools to keep your gear functional.”

  “Here,” I said, handing him a sack with forty gold in it. “I’m not sure how long it will take you to get your kit back in shape, but if this isn’t enough come and see me. I will be over at the leatherworking tables repairing my gear.”

  He looked up and me and down at the gold in his hands and I could see the battle raging behind his eyes. “My lord, I cannot accept this-”

  “Please,” I said, closing his scarred hands around the gold. “The Underworld is already flooded by all those who lost their lives in the initial attack. If it will make it easier for you to accept, think of this as a down payment for your services in keeping Lord Anpu from being inundated with any more dead.”

  A small smirk formed on the man’s lips and he nodded, “Of course, my lord. Anything to provide such a valued service to the Lord of the Dead.”

  The other guards watched the entire exchange with both expressions of mixed hope and fear.

  I nodded to each of them in turn. “If there are any more of the city guard that have need of the stations here, have them find me and I will see what I can do to help them as well.”

  All four bowed low and whispered their thanks before gathering their things and moving over to the actual workstations where the older guardsman began issuing instructions after depositing the first ten gold in the collection box.

  When I returned to the leatherworking station Kjara was watching me with a grin on her face. “Ready to get to work?” she asked.

  I chuckled. “No time like the present.”

  Not wanting to have a crafting session in my underwear, I decided to start with the smaller pieces. I stripped off my gauntlets and set them on the table, triggering a new message.

  *** Warning: You have not purchased the use of this station. Further action may result in a loss or reputation with the Temple of Heru-et and potential disciplinary action. Continue? (Y/N) ***

  So much for “Suggested” donations, I thought. I looked over at Kjara and relayed the warning to her.

  Laughing, she slotted the ten gold coins into the box like an old school slot machine and began her own repairs on the next table over.

  Shaking my head at the absurdity of charging people in a damn war zone to use the facilities that could save everyone’s hide during the next attack, I deposited my own coins into the “donations” box and set my gauntlets back on the table.

  With the tools, materials, and the bonus built into the workstation I was able to remove the damaged bits and replaced them in almost no time at all. In fact, every one of the non-magical armor pieces I had on me flew by like a breeze.
<
br />   Things only started to get complex when I got to the magical stuff. It was much more resistant than the normal armor, but there were still a few tears that I needed to mend, and one or two buckles and straps that needed replacement. Luckily, the magic in the items wasn’t lessened by any of the replacements.

  I finished my repairs and glanced at my skill list with a frown. There was a downside to the workstations after all. Less progress. Whatever magic the workstations had built in to make things easier came with the cost of skill gains.

  Had I struggled through the same processes in the field I might have even reached rank eleven. I was almost mad. Almost.

  I was on my second ten gold’s worth of time when I finished, and still had a half hour left until the table would “suggest” I make another donation, so I called over some of the soldiers who were working on their own leather pieces and delegated the time to them.

  Kjara finished her repairs shortly thereafter and Mika was… somewhere doing whatever Mika was wont to do.

  I started scanning the crowd, looking for someone else I could assist when Kaluitep and several other priests arrived.

  Those laboring about the room went silent and bowed but a quick gesture from the older priest had them back to work in no time. Kaluitep caught my attention and beckoned for us to follow.

  I looked around for Mika one last time, but he was nowhere to be found, so Kjara and I followed along without him.

  We passed through the halls and into a much more opulent section of the temple, eventually coming to a large room where another group of priests were waiting.

  Standing in the center was the High Priest himself, his features pinched with worry.

  I bowed low as we approached, and Kjara followed my lead, rising only when the High Priest gestured for us to do so.

  I kept my gaze averted, hoping to avoid any questions for the very knowledgeable man on my current ocular state.

  “Adept Kheph,” he said in greeting. “It is good to see you once again.”

  A strange look passed over his face and he reached out and cupped my jaw, raising my golden eyes to meet his own.