Shadows of the Great Forest (Realm of Arkon, Book 4)

by G. Akella

  "Dummy," the girl snorted and went offline.

  "Dummy is right," the grinning tank was quick to offer his two cents, as always. "Calling a panther a bunny! I wonder which of us is the bigger deviant..."

  "Hey, put that thing away!" Donut held back the archer as the latter nocked an arrow. "Are you blind? That is a rare pet! Any hunter would give their eye-teeth to tame one like it! If we ice this thing, Masyanya will neuter every last one of us! Well, almost," he concluded, casting at a glance at Alyona, who was still a bit pale.

  "Are you nuts?" Rexar gave him an incredulous look, then gestured at the skulls and bones lining the floor of the cell, many of them clearly belonging to sentient races. "Look at all the people this beast has devoured!"

  "He devoured whatever it was they were feeding him!" the rogue persisted. "Let's put you on a chain and see you turn up your nose at food."

  "Personally, I don't care either way," the archer sniffed, putting the arrow back in his quiver. "But if Masyanya drops a deuce at the sight of this giraffe, that's on you."

  "I'll go get her," the rogue winked at Max. "This is the kind of thing that's hard to explain remotely."

  "Why did you call it a giraffe?" Luffy inquired of the archer as the assassin hurried out of the cave.

  "Fine, chipmunk it is," the latter shrugged, leaning back against the uneven surface of the stone wall. The mage was still looking confused, so he continued, with sarcasm in his voice. "Do you really care what this monstrosity is called? The letters above its head spell out 'cerrath,' though it looks like a mix of a bull terrier and a croc on steroids."

  Donut and Masyanya appeared not a minute later. The girl was walking behind the rogue with a hand covering her mouth, her face expressing not only disgust with the mephitic odors permeating the air, but also a promise of somebody's certain death.

  "There! Check out this handsome fella, Masyanya!" flashing a big smile, Donut gestured sweepingly at the snarling animal. "Sure, it's not a Yorkie or a Pekingese that may be closer to your heart, and not even a bear, but... Can you imagine a more convenient taming situation? And all I ask in return is a kiss of gratitude for saving him from these brutes!"

  Max felt a sense of déjà vu—the assassin's presentation reminded him of a kid that had knocked on his door a few years ago hawking some wet-dry vacuum with an astronomical sticker price. The moment Masyanya laid eyes on the roaring beast inside its prison, it was like she hit an invisible wall. Seeing his lady's inscrutable face, it wasn't long before Donut started sneaking panicked glances toward the exit. Eventually, however, the fair-haired huntress' face relaxed and spread into a beatific smile. The girl spun around, threw her hands around the assassin's neck, and planted a long and tender kiss on his lips. Donut appeared more surprised by this turn of events than anyone, and just stood there like a stiff, batting his eyes in the most comical way.

  "And they call me a pervert..." Bonbon shook his head, having removed his helm.

  "Come now," Alyona turned Max gently, prodding him toward the exit. "Let's give them some privacy."

  Was that a note of regret Max heard in the young woman's voice?

  The hall at the end of the cave was spacious and well-lit. Shaped like a square, its walls bore dark hieroglyphics of mysterious origin around the head level. Then again, those could easily be runes for all he knew. Standing at the center of the hall was a rectangular altar, the sight of which made Max a little uneasy. The pedestal was enormous and sarcophagus-shaped, with a relief comprised of human body parts encased in stone running along the perimeter. Mouths opened in muted screams, hands reaching out... It all left an impression that the victims were still alive and aching to escape, but their prison of stone, though it seemed to visibly flex, would not break. Rising from the altar top were thick greasy candles, exuding fumes that resembled fried fat. The enormous sacrificial bowl contained three heads, all of them in varying degrees of decomposition. The pointy ears and dark skin suggested the victims had once belonged to the dark elf race. Standing to the right side of the altar, in the center of an intricate figure drawn upon the slabs, was a strange triangular construction. The final item of interest was located by the far wall: a ten-foot-tall humanoid statue in a close-fitting cassock, its hands resting on the head of a curved staff, its hooded face gaping darkly. The still figure of the mysterious deity seemed to observe the unwanted guests in contemplative silence, but there was something else about its posture—something that made Max want to get as far away from this place as possible. Everything here felt drenched in agony and death.

  "Jeez... Kind of blows your mind, doesn't it?"

  The animal's growling behind them had ceased, so Bonbon's comment thundered through the uneasy silence like a gunshot.

  "What the hell is that, Donut?" Max turned to the rogue, swallowing a hard lump in his throat. "Hey, get back here! Save the daydreams for later!"

  "Huh?" wrested from his sweet reveries, the assassin glanced around with interest, then frowned. "Shit! We should get the hell out of here, Max. Like, right now. That triangular thingie is a frame of an attuned portal, which is being sustained by the altar. This clears up the mystery of where these bastards procured their victims! This was their bridge to the mainland, and if we don't get out of here, we may be entertaining guests real soon!"

  As if in response to his words, billows of black mist began rising from the surface of the altar; moments later, the darkness took shape of gangly tentacles that started moving toward them.

  "Go, go, go! Nobody knows what hellspawn may crawl out of there!"

  Donut pulled on the mage's sleeve, trying to drag him toward the exit, but Luffy broke free and hurled three fireballs at the altar in quick succession. The hair on one of the severed heads in the bowl caught fire, and one of the fireballs knocked four of the burning candles off the altar. That aside, the magic flame simply trickled down the black stone, having caused no material damage.

  "It's hopeless! Only the servant of a god can destroy the altar of another deity! Don't be stupid! Let's go!"

  "Hopeless?" Max turned toward him. "Screw that!"

  The warrior rushed the altar, raising his sword in a sweeping arc, and brought it down onto the foul structure with all the hatred that was bubbling inside him. The blade shattered bone and stone alike, crunching and grinding and ending up lodged around the midway mark. A bone-chilling howl went up from the altar as the twisted faces on the relief stirred to life. Many hands reached for Max, but the warrior paid them no mind. As his companions stood there in stunned silence, he dislodged his weapon and swung again. The third blow proved to be decisive as the loathsome structure sundered. The black mist evaporated at once, and the cleft halves of dark stone began to melt like hot wax, morphing into a viscous black substance. Within seconds the sordid liquid was sucked into the stone slabs of the floor, leaving behind a black irregular stain and a pile of yellowed skull and bone fragments.

  "Suck on that, asshole," tossing the bastard sword into his left hand, Max turned toward the statue by the wall and made a gesture that was universally recognized in his former life.

  The eyes under the hood flashed a furious crimson as the statue reeled and crumbled to the stone floor. A silence engulfed the chamber, broken only by the melodious singsong from the hallway, where Masyanya was taming her new pet in a trance-like state. The next moment, the system log erupted.

  Attention! You have garnered the attention of a higher being. Vill, the God of Torment and Torturous Death, relates to you with hatred.

  You have gained a level! Current level: 67.

  You have 2 talent points to allocate.

  Racial bonus: +1% to resistance to earth magic.

  Class bonus: +1 to constitution, +1 to strength.

  You have 6 stat points to allocate.

  ……………………………………………………………………………………….

  You have gained a level!

  You have gained a level!

  ……�
��………………………………………………………………………………..

  You have gained a level! Current level: 76.

  You have 11 talent points to allocate.

  Class bonus: +1 to constitution, +1 to strength.

  You have 33 stat points to allocate.

  You have earned a new title, Ally of the Great Forest.

  Your party has destroyed a level III altar belonging to adepts of a god hostile to the Great Forest. The Great Forest doesn't forget its allies! You will be granted the following bonuses for as long as you remain on the territory of the Great Forest:

  3% increase to physical and magic damage,

  3% increase to the effectiveness of healing spells,

  3% increase to armor class.

  "What the hell are you up to in there?!" came Masyanya's indignant voice. "You've totally ruined my concentration! And what was all that..." the girl quieted down for a moment, apparently noticing the log. "Oh, snap! Who did you ice in there just now?! Tell me before I start breaking ankles!"

  "It's all right, Masyanya," Alyona tried calming her friend. "Keep singing, the boys really like your voice. I'll update you a little later. So far, I fear I'm just as lost as you are."

  "What's so unclear?" Rexar said with a grin. "Our fearless leader has just destroyed the altar of a dark god in three swings, and now we're on good terms with the trees. Don't ask me how he did it, though. As for the middle finger that had caused the dark god's statue to crumble to dust, I don't think I'll forget that scene for as long as I live!"

  "I hereby dub you, Knight of the Middle Finger!" Bonbon proclaimed in a solemn tone. "Too bad you don't carry a shield—I'd engrave the sigil myself. And I almost have the motto worked out..."

  "Hacked that thing to death, Max. Never did take you for a hacker..." Donut mused, scratching his chin.

  "Screw you, guys," Max smirked, pulling off his helm. "Or did you forget about this?" He produced the emerald from his inventory, illuminating the shadows with a vibrant green color. "The goddess' token! It worked with the sword fragment, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to try with the stone."

  "Indeed," the rogue shook his head. "I am truly speechless. Here's my advice to you, Max. When we get to Ellorian, the first thing you should do is visit Sata's shrine and thank her for this inconceivable stroke of luck."

  "I've been thinking about that myself," the warrior nodded. "I wonder what she looks like..."

  "We'll go together and have ourselves a look."

  "Luffy, as soon as Masyanya is done catching her Pokémon, go ahead and burn it all down. Donut, please sweep the room for any secret caches in the meantime. I'm feeling a bit nauseous, so I'm going to get some air. Could be all those black fumes I've inhaled."

  Having finished distributing all his new stats and talents, Max was already on his fifth cigarette by the time Masyanya came out of the mine—pale from exhaustion but beaming with joy. Donut was alongside her.

  "Uh, what..." Max rose to his feet, noting that no animal was following the two.

  "There was a weird chain on him," the huntress explained, settling down on the grass and stretching out her legs blissfully. "A real pain to remove, and it had strange symbols on it besides... No point taking risks, so I decided to release him and re-summon in twenty four hours. That's what the guides recommend as well."

  "She named him Mopsy," Donut groused, shaking his head.

  "Mopsy?" Bonbon snickered, then exploded with laughter.

  "Don't laugh," Masyanya protested. "Back home I had a cat named Flopsy and a Pekingese named Mopsy. My new pet didn't really look like Flopsy, so there you go," the young woman explained her rationale, looking defiantly at the rogue.

  "I don't have a problem with anything!" Donut held up his hands placatingly. "I was the one who said he looked like a Pekingese in the first place, and not so much like a cat... Not at all like a cat, actually," he mumbled to everyone's uproarious laughter.

  "Max, everything that could burn back there, is ashes and dust now," said Luffy, emerging from the mine. The mage's face was covered in a thick coat of soot. "Want me to burn down this hovel, too?"

  "Go ahead. And don't forget the shed," the warrior nodded his consent, then turned to everyone else. "Get ready to set out—we've got some three miles to schlep through the forest still. We'll rest at camp. Or at some inn should our employer decide to reward us by building a portal to some town."

  When they were roughly half a mile away from the devastated den of the disavowed, Max, who was bringing up the rear, turned around to gaze at the billows of black smoke rising over the forest. His attention was instantly caught by a solitary woman's figure on the path behind them—the dryad was standing perfectly still, observing the party as it disappeared into the depths of the forest. Max smiled and waved at the magical creature. Fortune be with you, Gray Brother, a voice rustled in his head. Aeoli raised her slender hand in farewell, and vanished amid the verdant grasses and leaves.

  Chapter 4

  Upon returning to camp, Max decided not to delay with the quest's completion. And so, exhausted though they were, the party made for the shrine of the Two-Faced Goddess. The emerald tear vanished with a plop as soon as it was laid on the altar, and... and that was pretty much that. Nothing of interest followed—not even a confirmation from the system about the completed quest.

  "So... What does that mean?" Rexar voiced what everybody was thinking.

  "Who knows," Max shrugged, peering at the faces of the statues standing on either side of the altar.

  "Maybe we ought to chant or something?" Luffy mumbled musingly as he scratched his chin, then looked at Masyanya for some reason.

  "Maybe dance a jig, too?" she snapped in response to him looking. "If so, that's not for me. We've got a couple of pros here—let them sing and dance all they want. You just make sure to keep the booze coming."

  "You are such a mean girl," Bonbon looked at her with a smile. "Donut and I were merely taking a load off then! Besides, our performance was harmless. Just a bit of clean fun."

  "You mean to tell me that when two grown men get piss-drunk, strip down to their unmentionables, and start a circle dance going while singing 'Mary had a little lamb,' that is your idea of 'clean fun?''

  "It sounds even better, the way you tell it," the tank retorted without bating an eye amid uproarious laughter. "Anyway, why are still standing here, Max? Let's roll—my brain works better on a full stomach, anyway." Fixing his scabbard, Bonbon spun around and made for the exit.

  "The only thing that one's brain thinks about on a full stomach is how to keep it full," Masyanya snorted, then went after him.

  Finding no answer in the statue's faces, Max clapped Donut on the shoulder—the rogue seemed lost in thought gazing up at the shrine's ceiling—and followed after the rest.

  "See! I told you, didn't I... Hey, peeps, there's something out here! Looks like a portal," he heard Bonbon's voice from further ahead.

  "Why is it gray?" Helliona stepped aside to let Max through. The rectangular portal window was hovering above the ground in front of them, its surface billowing with a gray haze.

  "They ran out of pink ones down at the warehouse," Rexar quipped. "But don't worry, darling, for you I will—"

  He wasn't given the chance to finish his thought.

  "Get back!!!" came Donut's desperate shriek as the rogue emerged from the shrine.

  At that very moment, a tall white-haired man stepped out of the portal. His black waistcoat bore fanciful ruby symbols, contrasting starkly with the unnatural paleness of his triangular face. The man wielded a long curved staff, its tip fashioned into a human skull out of some silvery metal. G'Larnus, a level 400 necromancer boss with three hundred million HP. Max hadn't met an NPC anywhere near that level before, and the burning hatred in the eyes of this uninvited guest left little doubt as to his intentions.

  "What the—" Max began to speak, but he wasn't allowed to finish.

  The necromancer's face cont
orted into a scornful smile, and he threw out his left hand, palm forward. A powerful force struck the warrior's chest, knocking him backwards into one of the columns that made up the shrine's frame. His teeth ringing from the impact, he felt the salty taste of blood fill his mouth.

  You have been stunned for ten seconds!

  The party channel exploded with groans of pain, as the boss emerged fully from the portal, swung and thrust his staff into the ground with a loud crunch. The skull on the tip flashed its beady scarlet eyes, then lassoed the incapacitated players with what looked like frayed electric cables.

  You have been paralyzed!

  The system log flashed information on the estimated duration of their helpless state. The situation proceeded to worsen by the second, as twelve dark elf players materialized from the portal, all in the 120-160 level range. Looking at their sneering mugs, Max recognized one of them: Grath, the same asshole who had threatened them from the other bank of the swamp, and whose head was worth a thousand gold pieces to the leader of the Night Blades clan. But... how?! A bunch of players in low- to mid-100s in cahoots with a level 400 NPC?! And how had they managed to open a portal to an isle lost amid the marshes? Max felt a chill from the wave of terror that washed over him. He knew exactly what fate to expect from the Ravens, and he shuddered at the thought of what awaited the female members of his party... He gritted his teeth, trying to break free, but it was no use—the spell kept him completely immobilized.

  "Wait here!" the necromancer barked to his companions, then made his way—leisurely, without hurry—toward the supine warrior.

  A powerful kick in the stomach with the toe of a boot—reinforced with a light, hard metal—knocked the wind out of a paralyzed Max, and stripped roughly a third from his HP bar. The next blow was to his uncovered face—he jerked from the pain, his mouth filling with blood as his life plunged further into the yellow. His vision swam in a sea of crimson red.