The Slayer

by Darren Hultberg Jr

  Return to the hive.

  “Yes master.” I said aloud. My masters communicated through a psychic bond that we shared. It was an honor, really, to be able to share my thoughts with creatures of such superior intellect.

  I heaved my final rock into the pile and began trudging back up the sloping tunnel, heeding my master’s call. As I turned the corner something caught on my foot, stealing my balance as I crashed to the stone floor. Perched in a small crevice of rock stood a creature, retracting its long blue tail it had used to trip me with. It peeked its head out, meeting my gaze with its tiny yellow orbs. Not this thing again.

  “Zander.” It said, climbing out of the stone as it slowly approached. “Zander, you have to… snap out of this.”

  “Begone creature!” I yelled, kicking my boot in it’s direction. The creature backed away, scaly face clearly perturbed. That little beast had been following me around, occasionally trying to distract me from my master’s work. It was too quick to catch… and lucky for it. Surely, if I were to bring the little beast to my master they could dispose of it properly.

  “Zander…” The creature hissed as I walked away, a profound sadness in its voice. I paused, a strange feeling swelling in the back of my mind, like an itch that I just couldn’t scratch.

  I turned to the beast. Perhaps this creature…. No, I couldn’t entertain such thoughts. Not when my masters were calling for me. I turned, leaving the creature behind in the tunnel as I abruptly made my way towards the center of the hive.

  ><><

  After making my way down a series of winding series of passages I found myself at the center of the hive. It was a shallow cavern that appeared mostly ordinary, though at its center sat a strange sinewy membrane that protruded from the ground. Large and pale and bulbous, the membrane pulsed like a heartbeat, occasionally leaking rancid globs of a clear mucus-like slime.

  My masters, the mind flayers, stood around the membrane, communing with it as it pulsed and wriggled about. From the shared knowledge I’d acquired from my masters, I’d learned that this membrane was actually a small piece of brain matter from the fallen god Crateus, god of the dark caverns. The god was long dead, having been slain by the world breakers, though this small piece of it still lingered on this plane. Those creatures… no, my masters communed with it each day hoping to access the celestial knowledge that remained locked inside.

  I strode up to the mind flayers, taking a knee in front of the leader of the hive.

  Meryz’dynex

  Lvl 20

  Mind Flayer

  I briefly met my master’s gaze before quickly bowing my head as his tentacles caressed my temple. Beside me, four others approached and took a knee as well… a tall female in battered plate mail with flowing blonde locks, a red and black-haired woman with a scowl transfixed on her face, a short angular faced man clad entirely in black, and a spectacled man in fine red and blue robes with sweat pouring down his face.

  You have done well today, my feeble-minded surface walkers. Meryz said, though not with words. He communicated with us telepathically, sending the message to all of us simultaneously. And as a reward… you are fed. The mind flayer lifted a large dead rat out of its robe and plopped it onto the ground in front of us. It was raw and mangled and stunk of death and decay… what a treat!

  Myself and the others began to tear at the carcass, ripping off chunks and shoving the bloody little bits into our mouth… all except the warrior. She winced in pain as she tried to lean forward, nursing a wounded leg that barely seemed functional. The masters eyed her with their beady eyes, studying her labored movements with great curiosity. As we ate, one of them strode over and placed a slender hand on her shoulder.

  Come hither. The creature said. It had directed its thoughts towards her, but I could still hear them due to the communal nature of our connection. You have grown weak… it is time for you to devote your mind to the greater good.

  Two of the masters guided her over to Meryz and forced her to take a knee. Oh, how lucky she was. Soon Meryz’dynex would devour her brain, eternally conjoining their minds as one. It was the ultimate gift the masters could bestow on lower lifeforms like myself.

  I paused my meal and watched as Meryz wrapped his tentacles around the woman’s neck, as his tiny mouth opened, ready to devour her mind and bring finality to her pitiful life.

  The man next to me, the spectacled man, began behaving strangely. He abandoned his meal and cautiously approached Meryz and the other masters… did he wish to give them his brain as well?

  Suddenly he rose, lifting his gloved hands into the air. “Activate rune: destruction!” A burst of powerful energy cascaded from his palms, slamming into the masters and sending them into disarray. I could feel their emotions being channeled through me… their distress… their anger.

  The man turned to me as I rose, face frantic. “Zander, hurry! You need to snap out of this! You need to,” the man was cut short as the masters began their mental assault on him, tentacles waving frantically in the air. This fool had tried to trick the masters… he would need to pay!

  Bring him to me, now! they commanded. I nodded, hearing the command loud and clear. I strode up and grabbed the man around the collar. In a panic, he shoved me away with a strength I hadn’t anticipated. I stumbled, tripping on one of the many stones lodged into the ground before crashing into the membrane of the fallen god. Suddenly, my mind went numb.

  ><><

  The world around me melted away as I slammed into the slimy membrane. I immediately hopped off the thing, prepared to fight… but everyone was gone. I was alone, standing in the empty cavern with no sign of my masters or my fellow servants. What the hell was going on?

  A nudge at my back made me nearly jump out of my skin. I turned expecting to meet the gaze of someone familiar. Instead… I found myself standing in the presence of a creature larger than life, a creature whose aura permeated into my very being, an aura that gave off an overwhelming sense of power that I couldn’t hope to comprehend.

  The creature bared resemblance to a giant humanoid form, though it stood at a hunch with limbs that seemed too long for its body. Its skin was the color of sandstone, hard and rigid like the cavern where we resided. I looked to its face, perhaps the things most frightening feature, a hapless face with flat features and hollow black holes where it’s eyes should have been. Its nose was tiny and bulbous, it’s ears nothing more than small slits on the sides of its head. I gave the creature a quick inspection, but my HUD merely produced an error message…. What was this?

  “Ta- take me back to my masters.” I said, voice trembling as the thing leaned in my direction. It was hunched due to the size of the cavern, though standing would surely make the beast fifty feet tall!

  “Masters…”. The thing bellowed, it’s raspy voice causing the cavern itself to shake. “Those creatures are not your masters. They use their tricks to bastardize the minds of others… they are defilers of my domain.” Before I could move, the creature reached a long slender finger down and placed it on my forehead. I leaned away at first, but a feeling of elation immediately began to wash over my mind, like a fog was being cleared that had been blocking my true thoughts.

  “What… what happened?” I said, dropping to my knees as my brain returned to its natural course of thought.

  “I have given you your mind back.” The creature answered, withdrawing its long arm. “You are safe here.”

  I stood, giving the cavern a quick look around once more. “But where is here? Where are my companions…. Hilda, Helena, Brenton… where is Razyr?!”

  The creature shifted. “Your friends are safe… for the moment. Though once I release you, that danger that surrounds you will return.”

  “Release me?”

  “Yes.” The creature’s bellows were so powerful that I feared they would bring the cavern down around us. “I brought you to this place when we made contact… It is the only way that we could speak.”

  I thought back to my actio
ns before finding myself here. I had crashed into that gooey membrane… “Wait.” I said, startled. “Are you… Crateus? Are you a god?!”

  The creature gave a solemn nod. “Perhaps I was once, though now I’m merely a small piece of what I was…. A fragment.”

  “But Razyr told me that the gods of this world were slain.”

  “We were.” The creature’s response echoed sadness. “Though tiny pieces of us remain throughout the realm. These fragments retain our memories, our ambitions, and in some cases… small measures of our power. Through these fragments we live on.”

  I thought back to the massive god sword we had seen near Stormgard, the sword that had caused those powerful storms to brew around it… another fragment of a seemingly dead god.

  I looked up into the hollow eyes of Crateus. “Why have you brought me here?”

  “Because child… you are like them…. The wardens.” I took a seat in front Crateus as he spoke, resting my hands on my knees. “The wardens were the champions of this world, protecting it from those who would come to drain it of its greatest resource… the very thing that gives life and magic to this world.”

  “The Aether.” I mouthed.

  “Indeed. They protected this world for thousands of years… until finally an enemy arrived that the wardens could not defeat, an enemy wielding those terrible weapons they called world breakers. After the wardens were defeated, they came for us, for the gods themselves. They nearly destroyed our world!” The god’s voice grew angry, causing the cave to tremble. “But something happened that our attackers hadn’t expected… when the wardens fell, and the gods were slain… the Aether, it began to lose its shine, its power began to fade. Soon our attackers left Aetheria, assuming the world would turn to dust. And it nearly did…That is, until the gates opened, and everything changed. Hundreds of thousands of new souls began to enter our realm, and with them, a vitality that breathed new life into the world, that brought the Aether back to life.”

  My mind raced. Hundreds of thousands of people entering the realm… he was talking about launch day… my last full day in my real body. Thoughts began to swirl in my head as I tried to piece it all together. The fact that I couldn’t log out, the fact that I couldn’t feel my body anymore. The very real pain I felt when A sword struck my body… I shuddered as I began to entertain the craziest of thoughts... This realm… it couldn’t be real, could it?

  “This… this is just a game!” I yelled, rising back to my feet. Though I wasn’t certain if I was trying to convince Crateus or myself

  The god shook his head dismissively. “The fate of an entire realm is no game child. Now, come forth… our time is short.”

  Was he implying that this, that the body and world I currently inhabited was somehow real. That was impossible! Still, I stepped forward hesitantly as the God’s massive hand hovered in the air. “Now that life has returned to the realm, those who have slain me will return with their world breakers. They will not be able to resist the power of the Aether. You must prepare. Free yourself from your captors and uncover the power of the wardens. You must do better than others if this realm is to survive.”

  “But,” I began to protest. “I’m just trying to get home, to get back to my body.”

  The gods hollow orbs met my gaze. “Then perhaps you must make a choice… this realm or your own.” His words resided in me with a certain finality to them. Suddenly, a soft blue light began to envelop me, pooling at my temples as it absorbed into my skin.

  Boon of Crateus

  +15 Intelligence

  “I have given you a gift… this should protect you from the influence of your captors. Seek the power of the wardens, child. Do better than they did and save this realm.”

  A blackness washed over me as I left the chamber of Crateus. In seconds I was back in the hive, staring down an angered group of mind flayers that we’re ready to harvest my brain. My eyes immediately shifted to Hilda who quietly knelt, entrapped by one the creatures as it prepared to bite into her soft flesh.

  I shadowshifted, calling forth nevermore as I phased beside the beast. With a jolt I slammed my blade upward through the creature’s mouth and out through the back of its head. Though highly dangerous, the mind flayers were delicate creatures with little HP to speak of.

  The tentacled beast fell dead at my feet as experience points showered me like tiny little translucent petals of leaves. Despite shadowshifting my mana bar was still nearly full, bolstered by my increased intelligence score.

  I turned to face the other mind flayers, Sword outstretched and dripping with blood. “My mind is my own.” I said, calling Razyr to my other hand. The creatures gasped in terror as I phased in their direction and began my assault.

  24

  The mind flayer lurched back as I dived in with lunging strike. Suddenly, I felt in stabbing pain in my head… it was using mind spike, a mental attack that should have left me crippled if not for my increased intelligence score. I ignored the pain and leveled my blade before shoving nevermore into the ugly creature’s chest. It let out a terrible howl of pain as its tentacles flailed through the air. I heaved my drake sword up with the other hand before slamming it down into the creature’s skull, draining the remainder of its small health bar and ending its pain.

  I traced the shadows to another pair of mind flayers and immediately shadowshifted behind them.

  Double-strike!

  I plunged nevermore through the flayer’s backs, scoring critical hits as their violet-colored blood sprayed across the stone. I heard another approaching from the rear. I turned, swinging my blade in an arc and shearing off three of the creature’s tentacles. I continued my rotation, bring my blades around in an entire spin before slamming them both into the midsection of the mind flayer. The creature fell to the ground, writhing like a squid pulled from deep waters. The remainder of its health bar drained as violet blood continued to spill out of its wounds.

  I could feel it; my instincts had returned… my mind was once again my own. These things had stolen my thoughts, had tried to erase the very person that I was. How dare these creatures try to take that away from me!

  Cease this violence. The voice of Meryz echoed in my mind… that damned creature would pay for such intrusions. I turned, looking on as the flayer stood above Helena, a long, grey tentacle wrapped tightly around her neck. Damnit all, I thought I’d shoved a blade through that things skull. Instead, a much weaker flayer lay dead near its feet… another trick of the mind.

  Leave this place, and I will spare your mind. Even as it reasoned with me, I could feel its psychic assault slamming into my mind, causing a pain to flare in my temples. Meryz was over a dozen levels higher than me… there was just no way I could beat the creature in a straight up fight.

  “Give me my friends and I’ll leave you be. I’m not leaving without them!” What was I doing, trying to reason with these things. Had they turned me into a fool?

  The flayers free tentacles wriggled about, as if the creature was laughing at my proclamation. I will not. This is your final warning… stand down or be harvested.

  I grimaced, clenching the hilts of my blades so tightly that my knuckles went white inside my gloves. Could I phase there quick enough to save Helena?

  It was then I noticed movement in the corner of my eye, a man slowly rising from the ground just out of Meryz’s sight. He raised a glove hand, hastily painting a runic symbol in the air. Meryz turned, sensing the build-up of magical energy. A barrier of energy rose from the stone as the creature blocked Brenton’s fiery conflagration rune.

  The tentacle tightened around Helena’s neck, causing tears to build in her eyes. She was still under the flayer’s control… she would not fight back.

  Another form appeared behind the distracted mind flayer, a small winged creature that latched onto the back of its head… Helena’s familiar!

  “Release my master you squid-faced freak!” the gargoyle spat, driving its clawed little hands into the flayer’s eyes. A blinded
status appeared above Meryz… this was my chance!

  I traced the shadows across the room, phasing behind Meryz with a perfect shadowshift. “Please let this work.” I muttered, before placing a stiff kick into the flayer’s back. The creature stumbled forward, slamming into the godly membrane at the center of the cave. Celestial knowledge poured into Meryz’s mind, overwhelming the creature with an immense, otherworldly power. Its tentacles stiffened, and its eyes sunk into its head as the fragment of Crateus mentally assaulted the creature, eventually claiming the mind flayer’s life.

  The last of the remaining flayers fled into one of the cavern’s many tunnels, fearful of the pulsing membrane that they once worshipped. I turned to catch a glimpse of Helena who sat, rubbing at her neck. “Are you… well?” I asked, hopeful that the dark bonds entrapping our party had been broken. She shot me a grin… a pained one, but a grin all the same.

  “I don’t know how the hell you define ‘well’, but I’m here.”

  Yeah, she was definitely back.

  ><><

  After a taking a few moments to recover (including quite a bit of vomiting), the five of us regrouped and gathered our things before making our way north towards the tunnel’s exit. Bits of the mind flayer’s knowledge still lingered in our minds, including the way out of this terrible place. The flayers had created quite a network down here, using the native l’karri as their own personal repertoire of slaves. The cavern we had first stumbled into had actually been one of their slave pens.

  Thankfully, our journey to the surface didn’t take long, and the remaining mind flayers worked to actively avoid us. That was good, considering we were quite battered and Hilda could barely walk on her leg. After a few hours of limping about, we finally reached a tunnel that led us into some long-awaited sunlight. A message materialized in the air above.