by Simon Archer
I was about to say something when Gobta turned toward me and spoke.
“I suspect that is a sword, my liege.” He swept a hand toward it. “To me, that looks like the gemstone one might put in the pommel of a sword to gift it with magical abilities.” He held his hands out toward it. “Surely you must feel its pulse of power.”
“It does sort of look like that,” I replied to him before I knelt on the ground and then, very carefully, reached out to dig away some of the earth.
Only before I could, Gobta grabbed me by the shoulders and hauled me backward. “What are you doing? What if it was a trap and destroyed you?” he said matter-of-factly. Then, before I could say anything, he plunged his hand into the sand beside the gemstone and scooped a handful away, revealing the glimmering silver handle of a sword. He stood then and smiled. “It appears to be safe.”
“Great,” I said with a laugh as I rubbed the back of my neck. He was right. It could have been a trap, and if it had been, I might have died. Hell, for all I knew, this could have been the lure for some giant, sand-dwelling angler fish. I shivered a bit at that thought before I turned my attention back to the sword.
“What will you do, master?” Queenie asked as her eyes flicked from me to the sword and back again. “Do you wish me to dig it out?”
While I was inclined to let her try, something about the sword let me know that wasn’t possible. Sure, we might be able to dig away some of the sand and reveal it a bit more, but in the end, the sword would have to be pulled from the ground. And, oddly, as I stared at the weapon, I knew that I had to be the one to try.
I took a step forward. Then another and another until I was standing over it.
“No. I’ll do it,” I said as I reached out and dug away the handle. As more and more of it was revealed, energy seemed to crackle off it, though I wasn’t sure if the others could see it.
A few minutes later, I’d managed to scrape away enough of the dirt and sand to reveal the hilt of the sword, and while I could have kept digging a while longer, I knew there wasn’t a point. I’d either be able to pull it out or I wouldn’t.
“You can do it, master,” Queenie called as I reached out and gripped the sword.
As I touched the metal, the strangest thing happened because I felt Rhapsody’s hands on mine. No, that wasn’t quite right because, in addition to that, I felt Mab’s icy hands as well. Their power seemed to course through me, filling me from the tips of my toes to the tops of my air, and as my hands tightened around the hilt, I let loose a hard breath that was mostly frost and ice.
Then I pulled, and the massive silver sword slipped free of the earth like it had been plunged into soft butter. I stood there dumbfounded for a moment as water rushed up from the ground and spurted into the air in a geyser of force that rained down upon us.
“You really are him,” Morlaon murmured as I beheld the Sword of the Destroyer King.
“Of course, he is,” Queenie said with a dismissive glance at the goblin bard. “He is master of all things.”
I wanted to reply to that, to say something about it, but as I stared at the sword, I couldn’t help but feel strong in more ways than one.
You have completed a Hidden Quest: The Destroyer King’s Mantle Part One, but are you worth to carry the power of the Destroyer King? Only time will tell.
I was still reading the message when I got another notification.
Your planet has finished cooling, and you may now add atmosphere.
That last one made me smile and more than a little anxious to get back to my world so I could begin to add atmosphere. Because after that? Well, after that, I could start introducing life.
Still, now that I had a shiny new sword, albeit completely unidentified, I couldn’t just leave without power leveling, now could I?
“So,” I said as I leaned my sword on my shoulder, “I’m thinking we get this identified and then go slaughter some bad guys.” I looked at my compatriots. “What say you guys?”
“I would love to slaughter and kill,” Gobta said with a smile. “There is a dungeon in my lands to the west that I’ve been meaning to conquer for quite some time.”
Only as he spoke, I got another message.
You are not high enough level to begin this quest.
That was bad. When that happened in Terra Forma, it meant that the game had drastically increased the level of all the monsters. If this place followed the same rules, and I had no reason to think it didn’t, well, it was time to leave for now. After all, I had to come back as soon as I could. And not just to do the quest, but to see Jane as well.
“On second thought, I have a planet to build,” I said with a smirk as I made my way to the giant scorpion. “So, let’s get going.”
42
Zaxcs
“The Goddess’s plan is bold but will amount to nothing, my lord,” Erlking said as we stood in his misty, fog-filled courtyard surrounded by the aged, grey willows of death and the bright, golden poppies of life.
“For you are as inevitable as entropy,” Erlking continued with a smile that revealed his shark teeth. “What was here before and what will be after.”
“That is true,” I said as we watched the goddess’s champion pull the sword of the Destroyer King from its eternal home in the soil of Nylian. He was displayed prominently in our Phoenix Cube, and while I could have had it show me anything, and in fact had made it shown me everything, for now, it was focused on this man, this Garrett Andrews of Earth.
The sight made me wish I could just head out into the world and deal with Rhapsody’s meddlesome champion directly. “But it does not mean we should be wary, for even the mightiest foe can be slain by the most insignificant among them. It is why the Great Beasts fear those they would otherwise deem specks beyond their notice.”
“Then let me go and smite him from this world,” Erlking said as he turned toward me and stared at me with his one, unblinking eye. “I will tear him into specks so small even specks will not notice them, and then I will cast those specks across the universe itself.” He paused, likely realizing he had said the word specks many times.
“If I could, I would, but to do so might violate the ancient covenants.” The words came out in a growl though I had not meant for that to be the case. “Should we violate them, the primordial forces of the universe will grow unbounded.” I smiled. “Besides, I am infinite. What will be forever before and forever after.” I pointed at Rhapsody’s champion as he spoke with his compatriots. “Waiting a while longer will make no difference to me.”
Still, even as I said the words, I did worry. I worried about this champion who had pulled the Destroyer King’s Sword from the world and wondered if he would find the other scared objects. If he could, he would be dangerous, so I should act. Only I couldn’t. Not directly, at least, and not now.
“Something still seems to trouble you, my lord,” Erlking said as he turned his black eye back to the Phoenix Cube. “Is it really this man?”
“You know me well, Erlking,” I said with a sigh. “And you also know the cause of my unease.” He turned then, and I found his eye locked on mine. “Perhaps you could do something with that information.”
“Perhaps,” he said and gave me a small nod, “but perhaps not.” Then, almost imperceptibly, he shifted his weight to a different foot and scratched his left antler as it spiraled off into the air. It was his thinking pose, and often, I wondered if the action pained him. “I think it might be time for me to pay my sister a visit.”
“Oh?”
“Yes,” he said with a nod. “After all, I do so love speaking with Titania, and it has been ages.”
“Has it really been so long?” I asked, quite curious as to why he would speak with the Queen of Fire and Light. “After all, I could have sworn the Fairy Queen never wanted to speak to you again.”
“That was eons ago.” Erlking waved away the comment. “And besides, I will come bearing news she will want to hear.” He smiled as he turned his attention bac
k to the Phoenix Cube. “After all, if there is one thing my sister Titania loathes more than me, it is our youngest sister Mab.” He looked back at me then. “Did I ever tell you the story of our youth on Erlmas?”
“The one where Titania smashed all of Mab’s playthings and then placed them back in the brightly colored gift boxes so that when your youngest sister opened her presents, she found nothing but the broken remains of her favorite toys?” I inquired. “I do find that I quite like that story.” I smiled. “The look on Mab’s face must have been priceless.”
“It was, truly.” Erlking nodded as he turned and headed toward the door. “And it seems my favorite sister just found a new playing. It would be such a pity if Titania were to find out about it, now wouldn’t it?”
“It would,” I supposed, but even as my loyal minion turned to go, I worried that his plans would not be enough to stop this Garrett Andrews from becoming an even greater threat.
A Note from the Author
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