by Dakota Krout
“I go by The Master now, Madame.” The Master’s voice had lost a bit of its frigidness, and a touch of sadness had entered his tone. “We were all wrong. We were manipulated, we lost sight of everything we had hoped for, and all of the world events in the last five hundred years that brought us to this point were calculated and plotted.”
“What? Who would…?”
Chandra’s voice faltered as Xenocide waved at them lazily. “That was me! Thank you for the recognition! Do you have any idea how hard it was to convince the entire world to hate each other? Alright, fair enough, not that hard, but still, it is nice to be noticed for your dedicated efforts. Nap time!”
“There is no way a triple S-ranker needs sleep,” Dale muttered as Xenocide fell backward and snuggled up to a no-longer-animated zombie bear. Snores drifted to them in moments.
“We should strike now!” Barry was pulling himself out of the crater his impact had created and was intentionally not looking at The Master.
“Shut up, Barry,” the Master ordered coldly. “We are all exhausted, our forces are devastated, and if we couldn’t defeat him with the most powerful combined forces of the entire known world, what could we do now that he slew them? Listen, all of you. We were all led astray; it is clear to me now. Things in my past that confused me, the reasons people acted the way they did to my powers and the power of my followers… all of the blame rests at the feet of Xenocide.”
“Aww. I’m blushing.”
The Master grimaced and ignored Xenocide’s words. “We need to quit the field, and those of us that remain need to find peace amongst ourselves, no matter our personal feelings. I want this to happen, but I will warn you only once: attacking my people means that you forfeit your life.”
There was silence on the field, but slowly, the surviving people began grouping together. It took three hours for everyone to cross the massive battlefield, but soon, Elves stood by Dwarves, Northmen stood near Amazons, and Guild members uneasily eyed black-robed necromancers. The tension in the air proved that the only thing keeping these people from attacking instantly was the shared fear of what loomed above them. The Runes in the air shifted again, the once pure red was now tinged with green and creating a sickly light. The Master strode forward in the air, looking at the assembled people with tired eyes.
“Alright. Please, believe me when I tell you that this war is the absolute last thing I ever wanted. It should have never progressed to this point, and if pride, tradition, and fear hadn’t gotten in the way… we would be living in a much better world right now.” The Master took a deep breath, and in that moment, one of the Amazons tried to derail the conversation.
“Was destroying our society twice not enough for you, male? Wouldn’t this issue never have happened if you had followed the law!” Instead of a question, her words were an admonition.
“I had no interest in being a slave, nor did I care for your rules or what happened to males that learned how to cultivate. Murdering a child? That is what you wanted to do? Don’t speak; I know the answer. I was there, wasn’t I?” The Master’s words were a command with a touch of power in them, and the Amazon found that her mouth would no longer open.
The Master continued, now uninterrupted, “Everyone, I am uncertain what your individual cultures and practices are, but I doubt any of them include dying without a purpose. I am uncertain how much time we have before this Rune pulls down the moon, but I am certain we can do nothing about it right now. We need to gather the new leadership of nations and unite as a world to combat this threat.”
“We don’t even know for sure what this Runescript is doing! I say we call for Spotters to inspect it!” a new voice shouted out. “As far as I know, it is making illusions and you are working to set yourself up as the leader of the world!”
Power rolled off of The Master, causing everyone but Barry to be forced to their knees on the sodden ground. Even Barry was bending heavily, panting as he pushed himself to ignore the power. The Master’s voice thundered in the air, causing noses and Essence-enhanced ears to bleed, “Do you think I would need to ask to rule you? Your leaders are dead, slain by that madman! You want to resort to bureaucracy as the world is literally ending? I should castrate you here and now so that your genes don’t spread!”
“I have thirteen children,” the man whimpered in a desperate plea to be released.
“Of course you do.” The Master sighed and reined in his power. The pressure eased, and he looked around. “Find yourselves new leaders, gather the remnants of your societies, and gather on the flying dungeon. It… where did it go? I’ll go get the dungeon, you all have a day. Do not make me come dig you out of whatever place you think will be safe. I will guarantee this: it won’t be.”
He vanished in the direction he had last seen the dungeon, and soon, people were muttering and looking at each other with distrust. With no one overly powerful enough present to protect them, the necromancers started a hasty retreat. A few people discussed going after them, but after the world-shaking events of the day, no one had the energy to act upon their grumbling.
Tom looked around, searching the sky. “The dungeon really left us here?”
“Did you see what that slap did to it?” Rose shook her head sadly. “I would have fled if it were possible. Right now, though… I think we are stuck here until this ends one way or another.”
Chapter Fifty
“You seem a little loopy, Cal,” Dani stated unnecessarily. “Did that slap rattle you harder than I thought it did?”
“Ha, as if! We’d never survive the deeps!” Dani chuckled like I had made a joke, and when she realized that I was serious, her tone completely changed. “Cal, you do know that the most powerful beasts in the world live in the deep oceans or deep underground where the Essence concentrations are highest…?”
I sighed as I felt feet touch down on my surface.
My attention turned to my entrance as The Master walked in. You could have heard a pin drop as the tension mounted in the air between us. I created a pin and dropped it on the second floor to test this theory. Yup. His head twitched as the tiny noise reached him. He cleared his throat, which was probably just as useful for him at the S-ranks as it was for me not having organs.
“So. Dungeon.” The Master’s powerful voice shook dust from the ceiling. I really needed to clean the place up. Xenocide’s slap had done a number on me. “I came here… to apologize. To you and your Wisp both.”
“What?” Dani’s screech could be heard five floors away. “Oh, abyss no, you don’t get to walk in here and-”
My pleading voice cut off the incoming tirade,
“I hear that your Wisp remembers me.” The Master sighed deeply, running a hand through his hair. “Listen, the both of you. I have been experimenting with Dungeon Cores for a century, and I have never encountered one that could be considered actually intelligent. Every single one of them was nothing more than a bundle of instinctual hunger. I had no reason to believe that Wisps were any different. I had heard legends of Wisps and Cores and assumed that binding them together was what made the intelligence of a Core happen. I didn’t realize it
was… more.”
He paused, either deep in thought or pretending very well. “Little Wisp, when I had captured you, I was shocked that you were able to speak aloud. By then though, I stayed the course despite my better judgement. I have now learned why. Xenocide’s power is far-reaching and insidious. I met him when I was but a child, and he gave me something that allowed me to attain great power. I now am able to break past his control but only because I finally recognized it for what it was. A seed of Madness.”
Dani didn’t answer, though she could hear him clearly. The Master started walking deeper into my dungeon. “I know you have no reason to listen to me, and you certainly have no reason to trust me, but I do need your help. There are a lot of people that are stranded in a field between fallen Kingdoms that have no way to send aid. I need you to come back and be the bridge that connects us together. We are likely all going to perish to Xenocide’s plans, but without you, this becomes a certainty.”
“If I may offer an opinion?” One of the Human Attendants piped up, breaking the current mood. This was one of the ones who was planning on taking the slow but easy route to his growth. “Can we convert them…”
“…into corrupted ash?” the man finished his thought, my words only now penetrating his thick skull. I made a note immediately that this man was never to be given a position of power over another person. Or animal. Probably not crops, either. When there was no response; he slunk to the back of the group and pouted.
She bobbed in the air, her version of a nod. “Fine, Mr. Master. We will consider helping you.”
“I do thank you.” He stepped out of nothing, appearing in the room with all of us. The collective butt clench could have created a diamond if there had been a Mage nearby that could harness the sudden pressure. “There are so many lives that we can save, and that is all I’ve ever been after.”
“Cal! The Master is coming to drag you back to the battlefield!” Minya burst through a portal that connected to the surface, the sudden shouting causing the already tense Goblins to react in certain ways. A few squeaked, a few got into battle positions, and one fainted. Huh.
Her incomprehensible squeak of terror answered that question easily. I was going to ask Dani to step in, but Minya rallied and straightened her spine. “I will speak for you, Great Spirit!”
His hand moved fast enough that I was certain no one else noticed, and the droplets were gone. He swallowed deeply, nodding a few times. “I have missed laughter. Actual laughter, not the… maniacal cackling version. No one laughs around me anymore, and even with my abilities… hearing it always catches me by surprise. I have only greater respect for you, dungeon. If your people are comfortable laughing near you, you are doing something very right.”
“Calm down, Cal,” Dani whispered soothingly.
“Cal? So that is your name, dungeon?” The Master got nods from all around the room. “Interesting! I only met one other dungeon that had a name, and Kantor was a worthy foe.”
The absolute silence that followed his words caused the incredibly powerful man to shift with discomfort. “Once again, I would like to reiterate that I-”
“Was it you?” Dani whispered darkly. Her colors were icy blue, and she was pulsing like a poorly created Rune. “Were you the one that killed them?”
The Master looked down at the ground. “I can neither confirm… nor deny that statement. I pledged to never speak of it, and so I cannot deny it without breaking my word.”
For some reason, Dani calmed down when she heard his words. She pulled in a deep gust of air and spoke normally again, “I see. Thank you. Is there anything you can speak about? The bound Wisp?”
“I cannot say.” He sadly shook his head. “Please, once more, forgive me for what I tried to do to you, for what I tried to do to both of you. I need to get back, and I will see you soon. We… can we talk?”
He stared at the air, and in an inexplicable way through the air. Without awaiting an answer, The Master stepped forward and into something, vanishing without a trace. I watched the spot where he had been trying to detect any differences in the Essence or Mana of the area. Nothing. How bizarre. I looked at all the uncomfortable faces in the room and directed my thoughts to only Dani and Minya.
Chapter Fifty-one
Rose was having trouble with the loss of Adam. They all were, but she didn’t seem to understand his heroic sacrifice. “I don’t care what he said at the end, Dale! If he had just told us, we could have found another way!”
“Rose, you know how Adam-” Dale was forced to drift to the side, letting another arrow skim past his head. Dale decided that Rose had been getting considerably more violent.
“Don’t you tell me how Adam… Hans, what are you doing? Do not get any closer to me!” Hans was staring at Rose, his face a blank slate. He trod forward with heavy steps and used his daggers to deflect the arrows she sent at him. With a scream, she swung at him with her bow, only for him to gently use her momentum against her and leave her wide open. He stepped forward once more, sweeping her up in a tight hug.
Dale could see Rose struggle violently, but Hans turned his head slightly and whispered something in her ear that was too soft to be heard from this distance. The fight seemed to go out of her, and she collapsed onto him shaking with shirt-muted sobs.
Tom stood near Dale, nodding at the horizon. “The dungeon’s on its way. See that dot? Pretty sure that is it, but take a look for yourself.”
Dale nodded as well, turning away from his friends and peering at Xenocide. The man always seemed to lock eyes with him whenever Dale looked over, and it was creeping him out. The man waved from his perch in midair, causing Dale to shudder and look away for the umpteenth time. He looked up, seeing that night was falling and the moon was extraordinarily bright. It was still crossing the sky, so at least it wasn’t moving so fast that nature lost all of its patterns.
In fact, as the darkness around them deepened, the moon finished crossing the horizon and vanished from sight. The Runes that had been casting a nauseating light went dark in an instant and ceased their erratic spinning. Dale’s eyes lit up in opposition to the shadows, and a hushed whisper left his mouth, “A reprieve.”
“Brianna!” Dale shouted into the night, causing several battle-damaged people to scream in terror. The Dark Elf appeared beside him in moments, nodding at him.
“I noted the change as well. I’ll seek out the others and… this Master,” she
spat the name, “and call for a meeting. We may have more time than we thought we had.”
“Thank you, Brianna.” Dale reached out for her as she turned to go. “Is… is it Queen Brianna now?”
Brianna smiled at him sadly. “None of your abyssal business.”
She vanished, leaving Dale looking at her previous location incredulously. “Aren’t I a Duke? I feel like this is something I should know. Is she my Queen now?”
He shook his head, fighting off the fatigue of the day. Hans and Rose were now sitting and talking, and Tom had two fresh-faced female clerics healing his ‘wounds’. Dale really hoped there weren’t more serious cases because they seemed fixated on repairing Tom’s torn and strained muscles. For some reason, they swore they needed to massage him to ‘heal’, but Dale just rolled his eyes and looked away. What was it about the mountain of a man that drew ladies to him like flies?
A commotion near the edge of camp drew his attention, and he drifted over to hear what was going on. Two men were shouting at each other, a necromancer and a Mage. The Mage was being the loudest. “What do you mean I can’t take this armor? I killed the thing wearing it, and it has excellent Runes of protection on it!”
“You can’t loot our undead!” the necromancer bellowed in return. “How many times have you threatened us now when we got close to the people we killed?”
“They were our friends!” the Mage snarled, eyes getting a bit too wild for comfort. “You touch them, and we’ll tear you apart!”
“These were our creatures! You think they equipped themselves? I paid through the nose to get that armor crafted. Boris was my main defender!” Black air was whipping around the necromancer’s hands, and it looked like they would come to blows over this issue if no one stopped them. Dale waited, but no one else stepped in. Everyone seemed ready to join in, but no one looked like they would stop the fighting from beginning. He strode forward to put an end to it but was knocked backward and off his feet as the Mage slapped the air like it was water and a shockwave erupted from him.
