Battleborne Book 2: Wrack and Ruin

by Dave Willmarth

  Max picked up his speed, moving down a narrow corridor. When he reached an intersection, Red shouted “Left!” and he obeyed. “Through that wall!” Red pointed straight ahead at the wall at the end of the corridor. Not seeing any doors, Max produced his war hammer and struck the stone at a run. The hammer passed right thru the wall with no resistance, causing Max to lose his balance and stumble forward through the wall himself, falling to his hands and knees on the other side.

  “There!” Red still stood on his shoulder, not bothered in the least by the fall. Max looked up from his position on the ground, still unable to see the magic. He did, however, see a flash of green in a stone set upon a shelf on the far wall of the small room he found himself in. “D’ya see?” Red pointed again, frantically looking from Max to the stone and back.

  “I saw it flash.” Max got to his feet, brushing the dust off his hands. One advantage of killing ancient undead, there were no messy splashes of blood. Max took a quick look around the room to make sure nothing was about to attack him. The room was maybe ten paces deep, five wide, filled with chests and crates. The back wall was all shelves, and the stone that had flashed was set on one at about waist height for Max. Crossing the room, he reached for the stone. It was about the size of his fist, an oddly shaped crystal with dozens of facets. Clearly not shaped by anyone, it pulsed faintly with the same green light as the lich’s fire magic.

  The moment Max picked it up, notifications flashed across his vision. They disappeared a second later, and Red mumbled, “Hold on, let me sort this.” She chuckled to herself as she worked, then nodded. “Okay, here ya go.”

  Epic Quest Complete: Hard Hearted, Part I!

  You have located and retrieved the Heart of the Mountain!

  Reward: 1,000 gold; 1,000,000 experience; Access to epic quest Hard Hearted Part II.

  Quest Modified! Hard Hearted, Part I (A): You have retrieved the crystal heart of your kingdom’s mountain. However, the lich has used the stone to store his immortal soul. With the stone thus corrupted, it can not be used to restore the mountain’s power. You must remove the lich’s corruption without destroying the stone.

  Reward: 1,000,000 Experience; 500 gold, access to epic quest Hard Hearted Part II.

  “That lying piece of shite!” Red floated down to poke a finger at the stone. “You’ll not get away with this!” she shouted at the lich inside. Looking up at Max, she put her hands on her hips and tossed her head, sending her red locks back over one shoulder. “You’ll not let him get away with this, right?”

  “No, we’ll find a way to kill him without destroying the stone, Red. Are you okay? You seem to be taking this a little personal.”

  The leprechaun crossed her arms, scowling down at the stone in Max’s palm. Her voice was cold as ice as she replied, “After what that other arsebag did to Dalia’s family, killed Battleaxe, and almost killed you, I want this one to die slow and painful.”

  Max chuckled, wanting to hug the little guide. “I agree one hundred percent. Can you hear that, lich? We’ll find a way to kill you, I promise you that!” He started a bit when a golden light encase him and Red both. It seemed the gods had taken note of that particular promise.

  “You’re not done yet.” Red smirked at him. Another notification popped up.

  Congratulations! You have captured the settlement known as Deepcrag!

  Would you like to claim this settlement? Yes/No

  “What?” Max looked confusedly at Red. He’d been expecting to evade and escape, or have to fight his way out of the cavern past the horde of undead.

  “When ya killed the lich, ya killed all his minions. And got experience for every single one o’ them. That’s why ya leveled.”

  “Awesome.” Max mentally clicked yes to accept ownership of the town. This time there were no dwarven allies to take exception, or demand a share. As soon as he was done, he took another look around the room. “So, do you think this is Agnor’s missing treasury?”

  Red shook her head. “Look at the dust on those crates. This has been here a long time.”

  “So, maybe it was Nogroz’s treasury?” Max ventured, walking to the nearest chest. “What’re the odds the damned lich put traps on these?”

  “If it’s true that the lich was killed after the ritual, then it’s unlikely he was able to steal the treasury. More likely this was stolen from the town above, and he lied to Nogroz about how much treasure there was. Or this is loot from the travelers the lich and his horde have killed. Or both.” Red looked toward the illusory wall. “Go loot the lich’s corpse. There might be keys to these chests.” Max nodded his agreement, and proceeded to do exactly that. He walked through the illusion wall, back to where the lich had fallen. He retrieved his axe and sword, cleaning their blades on what was left of the lich’s robe. When he looked at his loot notifications, he smiled. There was a storage ring, which he immediately accessed. Not as hefty as the one he’d taken from the previous lich, this one had two hundred and fifty slots. Fifty of which were empty. He thought about wanting keys, and a metal key ring appeared in his hands. Hanging from it were a score of keys of different lengths and shapes.

  Heading back to the treasury room, Max was about to try and find the key for the first chest he saw. He was eyeing the lock and his key ring, when Red suggested, “Maybe wait a bit? Take all of this back to Stormhaven, get someone with some stealth skills to check the chests? Just because you have the key doesn’t mean there won’t be magical traps as well. That lich was a devious bastard.”

  “Good plan, Red. Thanks. Time to do a little housekeeping, too.” Max looked into the newly acquired storage ring, taking out items he was sure he had no use for. Body parts, a black staff that had a health-draining curse on it, various nasty bits that he didn’t even want to touch. Dumping it all in a corner, he began storing the unopened chests and crates in the ring one at a time, each one taking up a single slot. When the big pieces were gone, and only the items on the shelves remained, Max pulled out the other lich’s five hundred slot ring. He did the same purge, dumping the items that made him feel queasy, the necromancer’s crafting ingredients, etc.

  When he had a significant pile in the corner, he and Red began to Examine the items on the shelves, checking each just long enough to make sure their description didn’t include a curse. When it was all collected, he cast Jump back to the cavern entrance, then again to the crack of a side tunnel he had memorized. From there, he jogged back through the tunnel into the keep, teleported himself back to the top of the ramp, then ran all the way back to the guard’s quarters near the portal. A quick look inside at the chests still there, and he decided to leave them for another time. One thing new caught his eye. At the back of the room, where a faded tapestry had been hanging, it now lay on the floor, badly trampled. Behind where it had hung, a door stood open.

  Mas shook his head. “Damn. That must be where the extra zombies came from. That’s how they got behind me. Red, remind me when we get back, I need to visit Josephine and see if she has a spell that’ll let me detect hidden doors, buried treasure, that kind of thing. Or maybe even to see magic, like you did with the lich.”

  “Will do, big fella.” Red nodded, then disappeared. Max walked back to the portal room, and adjusted the interface to authorize the portal to connect to the outpost, the temple, and Stormhaven city. He didn’t have the right to authorize the Darkholm portal, but that was okay.

  A moment later, he stepped into the courtyard of his keep, and went looking for Redmane.

  Chapter 17

  Max spent the next two days waiting for his party to regroup. He sat down with Redmane as soon as he’d gotten home, and began to share the story of his explorations. The dwarf’s eyes widened when he mentioned Skytop, and Max paused.

  “You’ve heard of the place?”

  “Aye, most dwarves have. It’s said to be Regin’s original home when he were a mere mortal, before he ascended. As ancient as the mountains that protect it.” The old dwarf chuckled when some
thing occurred to him. “It were said to be like ye plan this place to be, a place that welcomed all races. O’course, this would have been long before some o’ the younger races, like humans, even walked this world. Regin’s been the god o’ craftin’ fer a thousand dwarven generations or more.”

  Max went on with his story, and again the chamberlain reacted when he mentioned Deepcrag. Max just raised an eyebrow.

  “Deepcrag’s an abandoned trade settlement, on an old route no one uses anymore. It’s said the entire population disappeared overnight, taken by a lich. There was a goblin city a day’s walk from there, and a gnome settlement as well. Both were wiped out long ago, both events a mystery. After that, new routes were established, and none but glory seeking adventurers tread that path.”

  “Heh.” Max grinned at the dwarf. “I might be able to help fill in some information there.” He went on to tell of his encounter with the undead, his meeting and battle with the lich, and the history lesson he’d received. “Keep in mind, the lich lied through his teeth about several things, so I don’t know how accurate the rest of his story was.”

  Max let Redmane absorb that information for a bit, the dwarf even pulling out pen and parchment to make some notes. When he finally looked up, Max said, “I think it’s about time you showed me our palace treasury.”

  Suspicious of the sudden right turn in the conversation, Redmane nonetheless simply nodded, getting up from his desk and leading Max down a wide stairwell, then a narrower stairwell, and through a maze of corridors. Producing a ridiculously oversized key the length of his forearm, the dwarf unlocked a massive metal vault door, then pulled it open. Inside was a large room, maybe fifty feet deep, three of the walls lined with shelves. All of which were empty, as was the rest of the room.

  “You weren’t kidding when you said they cleaned it out.” Max shook his head. Redmane cleared his throat, then pointed around the corner of the doorway. Max stuck his head inside, seeing a small shelving unit just inside the door. On it were several stacks and trays of coins. “The funds you instructed me to remove from the bank and deposit in the treasury.” Redmane informed him.

  Max snorted. The few thousand gold that had looked like significant wealth just a few weeks ago now seemed pitifully insignificant in the empty room. “Let’s see about filling this place back up a bit.” He stepped into the room and began removing chests and crates from the lich’s storage ring, placing them neatly in line in the middle of the room. As he did so, he told Redmane about looting the lich’s stash, and their concern about traps or curses. “Can you find someone with the proper abilities to make sure all of these are safe before we open them?”

  “Ha! Indeed I can, Max.” Redmane watched as item after item appeared. When he was done with the big pieces, Max switched rings and began unloading the items from the lich’s shelves onto one of the side wall shelving units. He kept the gold he’d received as quest rewards for his personal use, but deposited the gold and platinum he’d taken from the guards’ chest on the shelf next to the cash from the bank.

  “One last thing…” Max removed the empty chest from his inventory, then poured the heavy square silver coins into it. “Any idea where these are from, or what they’re worth?”

  Laughing, Redmane bent down and picked up one of the silvers. He hefted in his palm checking its weight, then Examined it. Finally he bit the metal, then nodded his head. “It be pure silver, right enough. Heavy as five o’ the silver coins we use. If yer askin’ me where they came from, I’ve no idea. But give me a few days, and I’ll ask around. Might be one o’ the merchants knows, or one o’ the historians in Darkholm.”

  “There are thirty eight hundred of those things in the chest.” Max did a little math in his head. “At five silver each, that’s nineteen hundred gold worth of silver.”

  Redmane nodded. “Aye, based on weight alone. Though it may be that they have additional value as collector’s items. We’ll see soon enough.” The dwarf pocketed the coin he held, and the two of them left the vault, Redmane carefully closing and locking it behind them. He offered the key to Max. “I’ve a second key, if ye want it.”

  “Max shook his head.” Nope. If I get killed and looted, I don’t want someone to be able to sneak in here and empty the treasury. Which reminds me.” He pulled the lich’s key ring from his inventory and handed it to Redmane. “I have no idea which key opens what, but I’m sure whomever you bring in can figure it out.”

  As they walked back to Redmane’s office, Max told him about the quest to cleanse the lich’s soul from the Heart of the Mountain, producing the crystal as he did so. Redmane carefully took the stone in his hands, gazing at it reverently. “It be a worthy quest, and it’d be my honor to help ye.”

  Max instantly pulled up the quest and shared it with Redmane. “Maybe you can help us figure out how to remove him without damaging the stone?”

  “I’ll have old Puckerface here first thing in the mornin’, and we’ll begin searchin’ fer a way. Would ye mind if I share the quest with him? Epic quests be rare for us oldsters that don’t go adventurin’ anymore.”

  “If it’ll encourage him to help without emptying my supply of Firebelly’s, then go right ahead!” Max grinned at his chamberlain. Thinking about the dwarven mage, Max stopped and looked around. Every twenty feet or so, there was a light glowing softly on the corridor walls. Max had been in the keep for over an hour, and hadn’t even noticed! “The lights are done?”

  “Aye, finished this morning. As well as some o’ the extra protections we discussed.” Redmane paused, then cleared his throat again. “On second thought, it might be a day or two before Puckerface be sober enough to assist with the quest… I paid him the agreed upon bottles before he left.”

  *****

  While he waited for Dalia and Smitty to return, Max did some more alchemy work and smithing, alternating between the two, working at each for six hours at a time. He and Redmane spent a few hours each morning going through issues, but Max noticed that the piles were steadily getting smaller. Redmane said it was because precedents and procedures were being established, and his advisors were getting adjusted to the way Max wanted things done. Fewer issues needed to be sent up the chain for his review.

  On the second day since his return from Deepcrag, two interesting things happened. First, a small party of merchants requested an audience with Max. When Redmane brought them into the throne room, where Max had just settled down to receive them, he was pleased to see that the group represented several races. Their leader was a dark elf, as was another of the group. There were two gnomes, one a female, a kobold, a lady dwarf, and the first human Max could remember seeing on this world!”

  The entire group bowed deeply at the waist when they’d reached some invisible line in front of the throne. Max, always uncomfortable with formality, said “Welcome to Stormhaven! It makes me happy to see such a diverse group. What was it you wished to speak with me about?”

  The group all straightened up, several of them smiling up at Max. The leader spoke with a surprisingly deep and pleasing voice. “My name is Indoril, Majesty. My associates and I represent the Greystone Conglomerate, a newly formed merchant’s association. We’ve recently been informed that your majesty has claimed the abandoned settlement of Deepcrag.” He paused for a moment, and Max nodded for him to continue.

  “We came here to Stormhaven just a week ago, after news of your open city reached us. Our plan had been to purchase a guild hall here in your city, and potentially a warehouse too, once we had confirmed that your majesty truly embraced all races.”

  “Except grey dwarves.” Max interrupted before he could stop himself.

  “Yes, of course.” The elf grinned at him. “However, now that we have heard news of Deepcrag, we would request permission to purchase facilities there, as well. My great grandfather once operated a branch of our family business there, and I would like to return, now that the… danger lurking below the town has been removed.”

  Max raised an e
yebrow. “One danger has been removed, certainly. Though I traveled through a tunnel that looked like it was made by a giant stone-eating worm of some kind. It burst right up into the entry hall of the palace. I didn’t run across the creature, so there’s a chance it’s still … worming its way around the area.” He grinned inwardly at his own pun, which all the others pretended not to notice. Except Redmane, who rolled his eyes.

  “That is a danger we are quite capable of dealing with, Majesty.”

  “And you’re aware that the entire trade route that used to pass through Deepcrag has been abandoned as well?” Max leaned forward a bit, interested in the answer.

  “We are, Majesty. We hope to be able to correct that, in time. Until then, the portal would keep us connected to our trade partners, and allow us to provision ourselves.”

  Max’s mind spun, his instincts telling him he was missing something important. He understood their interest in a rapidly growing city like Stormhaven, but why set up shop in an abandoned settlement on a defunct trade route? Acutely aware of everyone staring at him, he shook his head.

  “You’ll have to forgive me, ladies and gentlemen. As I’m sure you’re aware, I’m very new to this position of king. I’m a soldier by profession, and not at all familiar with the business of trade. It seems… odd to me, your interest in Deepcrag.” He paused to look at his chamberlain, who was rocking slightly on the balls of his feet, hands clasped behind his back. “Chamberlain Redmane, what am I missing here?”

  Surprised, Redmane approached and spoke quietly. “Perhaps you would like to discuss this in private, Majesty?”

  Max shook his head, giving the dwarf a wink. “It’s okay, I’m sure these fine merchants won’t mind observing as you teach me a lesson.” He grinned at the group, who were looking uncomfortable.