“You’re too late, Grotto,” she said, backing up, pushing into Roan. “He’s to see Klive Skiver first. Those are my orders. After that, I don’t know what will happen, but you will have to wait.”
“Your orders? Who’s paying you?”
She kept backing up, buying time. “It was Magenlune. She told me, and she told me what to do if you interfered.”
Grotto seemed to grow in his fury. “I want it!” he screamed, breathing a cold, foul smelling wind onto Roan. “I want it! I want it!”
“You’ll just have to wait,” she said, trying to sound stern and tougher than she looked and probably felt. Still, she had some sort of trump card over Grotto. Roan figured it was the Doom blade he carried; Grotto was definitely “otherworldly.” It was a demon or something bizarre and disgusting out of hell.
“Don’t defy me!” it screamed and once more they were blasted with a bone shaking cold. It roared again and rushed at the two, but evaporated into nothing just before it struck their swords.
“What was that?” Roan asked, the sweat cooling on his flesh, causing a tremor to ripple across him.
“Grotto the Fist. It’s an earthbound,” she said, as if this was all the explanation needed. She grabbed him and once more began dragging him along, this time at an even faster pace. She seemed almost frantic. “I blew it! I said Skiver’s name. He’s going to go right for the pens, damn it!”
She wouldn’t say anything after that, not until they came to the last door barring their way. It stood open and lying before it were two corpses, fresh blood puddled around them. Tyrean leapt over the bodies with Roan right behind.
The pens were a series of low rooms in which slaves of every race and sex were housed and sold. They were kept in cages that looked as though they had never been cleaned; the conditions were horrible and the smell was atrocious.
In front of the cages were a dozen or so men and women with weapons drawn standing in a semicircle around the Grotto the Fist. Although it was still wrapped in the black cloud, Roan could see that it was some sort of cross between a lizard, a bat and a giant of a man. It had black scales, tremendous bat-like wings, an absurd mouthful of long fangs, and fingers that ended in three-inch long claws, blood dripping from each.
Without thinking of the consequences, Roan charged it from behind, thinking a sneak attack would cut the thing down to size, but before he could plant the Doom blade in its back, it disappeared and Roan ended up hacking through nothing but a dissipating cloud.
He quickly spun around, looking for the demon, ready to cut it into pieces if he could. The demon had not gone far. It appeared suddenly in one of the cages, its cloud obscuring everything but the tips of the bars.
From the cage came the terrible voice, “You have fulfilled Magenlune’s vision, Tyrean, now make him give me my gem or I will kill the girl.”
Roan knew it was Amanda that the demon had within the cage. He was sure of it however when Grotto allowed the cloud to drift into nothingness, he saw that it was truly a girl and not a woman. It was a girl with frightened sea-grey eyes and long dirty blonde hair.
It was Cricket.
Chapter 35
The Slums, Oberast
“Cricket, where’s Amanda? Where’s your mom?” Roan asked, heading towards the cage. Cricket opened her mouth only to have Grotto the Fist slam one of his scaled hands across her mouth. She let out a muffled cry and Roan started to charge.
Tyrean grabbed him from behind and hauled him back, hissing into his ear, “Grotto will kill you and take the demon gem if you get too close. You have to barter if you want the girl released.”
“Wait!” one of the men cried. “No one is bartering anything. The girl is mine, Grotto. You cannot barter with what you don’t own. And you.” He turned to Roan and sized him up, his eyes narrowing. “If you want her, the price is fifty thousand.”
The sum was so shockingly high that everyone around the room gaped, some in astonishment, some in amusement, thinking that the figure had to be a joke of some sort. Even Roan knew the price was ludicrous and yet, if Cricket could lead him to Amanda, he would gladly pay it.
He was just starting to calculate what he could get by selling some of his items when Grotto the Fist snarled, “I know what you are doing, Skiver, and you’ll pay. I swear it!”
Unexpectedly, Tyrean asked. “What’s he doing, Grotto?”
“You know full well what he’s doing. He’s going to make me pay fifty large for something that is rightfully mine. And I won’t do it, Skiver. The deal was for ten thousand. It was a marker for ten, not fifty, and that’s the price I am willing to pay.”
Ten thousand was something Roan could do in a snap and he would gladly pay it, except he didn’t trust anyone in the room, and that included Tyrean. He had no idea what her motive was, but as she was on a first name basis with a demon and a slave trader, he knew that she was the last person he could trust.
“Can someone please tell me what’s going on?” he asked.
“It’s very simple,” Tyrean said. “A few months back, Grotto was on a losing streak at the tables and used his soul to cover a bet with Genny Four-fingers. He lost and had to give it up. But Genny went and got herself killed and lost the gem. After that it was hidden from sight right up until you came across it the other day.”
The demon was nodding its monstrous head. “And it’s worth ten thousand, not fifty.”
Skiver, an ugly, scowling man in full plate armor, didn’t agree. “It’s worth whatever you’ll pay, and I know you can pay fifty. So all you have to do is give up the girl and the fifty large; we’ll all do a little dance and you’ll get your gem.”
Grotto considered this, his heavily fanged mouth opening and closing slowly. “How do you know the human will go for it?”
“He probably won’t,” Tyrean said. “He’ll be giving up fifty thousand in gold for a girl who isn’t worth more than a few silvers.” She turned to Roan. “Magenlune the seer is much cheaper and likely more reliable than a kid. I’ll bet it’ll only cost you a few thousand to get whatever information you seek, and you can pocket the rest. Trade Skiver the gem for the fifty and let him and Grotto fight it out.”
Cricket’s miserable eyes could be seen over the scaled hand. She was frightened out of her wits and it broke Roan’s heart to see her like that…and yet, there was a voice inside of him saying, she’s not real, but Amanda is. Play the game. Take the money.
“No, I want the girl.” He reached into his Dimension Bag and found the gem right on top. He turned to Skiver. “Here’s what’s going to happen. I’ll give you the gem and you can use it to collect what you will from the demon. And you, Grotto, will let me have the girl. She isn’t worth fifty thousand or even ten. I don’t know why she’s here but I know there’s no one in Daggerland who will pay more the than twenty gold for her.”
When the demon hesitated, Roan growled, “Or I keep the gem for myself and teleport out of here.” The teleportation was full bluff but both Grotto and Skiver bought it.
“Wait,” Skiver said. “They said you’d pay anything for the girl.”
“I’d pay anything for woman named Amanda. Do you have her?” Skiver looked back at his cages and then shook his head. Roan shrugged. “Whoever gave you your information was wrong. I will trade the demon gem for the child and consider yourself lucky.”
Skiver grinned. “Ten large for a kid. That’s all the luck I need. It’s agreed.” When Grotto agreed as well, Roan tossed over the gem to Skiver. A second later Grotto disappeared from the cage and reappeared in front of Roan. It thrust Cricket at him. Roan took her gently. “There you go,” Grotto hissed. “An anchor to weigh you down.”
“Don’t listen to him,” Tyrean said, stepping between the two. “We have to go. You don’t have much time.” She pushed Roan and Cricket back towards the door they had come through, leaving a very tense group behind.
“Where are we going?” Roan asked. “To see the seer?” Tyrean nodded, but said nothing more. “A
re we going straight away?” She nodded again, still quiet. He stopped her, grabbing her by the bicep. “I think I need more of an explanation. This seer knew Cricket was here and she probably knew when she had been taken. If she is such a good seer, why didn’t she stop it? She had to know I would have paid for any expenses incurred for the rescue.”
Tyrean pulled her arm away with surprising force. “Magenlune does not tell me what she knows and what she doesn’t know. Seers aren’t exactly omniscient. They see some things whole or in tidbits, and even then, they have to actively look. And even if she had seen when the girl was taken, she would have only helped her if she could profit in some way.”
Roan was confused. “Are you saying she’s evil?”
“Oh, yes. Magenlune is very evil. She is wicked and cruel. You would do well to keep that in mind when dealing with her.”
2—
“She’s evil?” Roan asked again. He glanced down at Cricket. Her little face was tense; her lips drawn in and her eyes wide and afraid. “Maybe, we should find a different seer,” Roan said, mostly to Cricket. “Or maybe we don’t need one. Do you know who took Amanda? Was it Corvo?”
She shook her head. “Orcs came out of the marshes and Miss Amanda was very brave. She killed lots and lots. Only then a man in black was suddenly behind her and before I could warn her, he did something to her and she fell into the bog. The orcs pulled her out and wrapped her in sheet. They took my mom next and they…and they…”
Although she ceased making sounds, Cricket’s mouth worked up and down for a few seconds and her eyes went blank.
“It’s alright,” Roan said, dropping down to one knee. “Are they both still alive?” Cricket’s chest began hitching as she nodded. “Good, good. Do you know where Amanda or your mom are now?”
“M-my mom came here with me, only she got solded away to fat orc with green teeth. I don’t know what happened to Miss Amanda.”
Tyrean made a clucking noise. “What did I tell you? This was a waste of time, she doesn’t know anything useful.”
“And Magenlune does? How much is it going to cost me? And will the information be real, or will it simply lead me into a trap? That’s what I’m wondering. Sorry, but after everything that’s happened I can’t say as I trust too many people especially when you tell me she’s evil.”
“You’re going to have a tough time finding anyone to trust, then. Especially since I was told to find the last good man in the slums.” She paused and lowered her voice. “I was told the world depended on it. I asked Magenlune which world, this one or the one on the other side, and do you know what she said? She said there is only one world.”
Now Roan saw one way where Magenlune could profit from helping him: she profited through self-preservation. He could trust her to look after her self-interests and for the moment his self-interests ran parallel with hers. Deciding on the spot to keep going to see the seer, he took Cricket’s hand in his and allowed Tyrean to lead them deeper into tunnels beneath the slums. They paid two more tolls and wound their way to the shores of an underground lake. It might have been the same lake that sat beneath the Temple of the Infinite One, Roan didn’t know.
Drawn up on shore was a long, lichen-covered canoe and in the front, looking as if he had been stuffed into the prow, was a dwarf holding a paddle in one hand and a lantern in the other. His beard hung so long that the tips dragged in the water. He greeted Tyrean by name, raised an eyebrow at Roan and Cricket and then, when they were on board, shoved off using the paddle.
For a few minutes, all they heard was the constant splash of the paddle and the heavy breathing of the dwarf, who sounded like a sick bulldog, but then the dwarf warned, “Whatever question you have, let me be the first to say: it’s not worth it. Turn around and go home. Damn your curiosity before you damn your soul.”
Tyrean glared at the dwarf, but he didn’t seem to care. When he saw Roan’s confused look, he asked, “Don’t you know what Magenlune asks for in return for her answers? She takes your soul. Sometimes forever, sometimes for years, depending on what you ask. She’s got mine for three more years. How long does she have yours for, Tyrean?”
“Shut up.” Her face was set like a rock as she stared out at the dark water, which went much further than the meager light coming from the lantern.
“I don’t want her to have my soul,” Cricket whispered. “She might hurt it or something.”
She was sitting between Roan’s long legs. He gave her a squeeze with them. “She won’t touch your soul. Chances are it’s my soul she’s after.” His would be a prize, especially if she was a player operating in both worlds. He wasn’t all that worried. She could only have his soul if he came back to Daggerland when he finally caught Arching’s assassins. Something he didn’t plan to do.
“Try not to worry,” he told her.
“Yeah, try,” the dwarf snorted. Roan wanted to stab him right between the shoulder blades; and if he knew the way to the seer, he would have. He gave Cricket another squeeze to try to reassure her, however just then they came upon the first strands of a spider’s web. They were many thousands of times bigger than ordinary strands, each as thick as his arm.
They hung suspended from an unseen roof above the black waters of the lake. At first there were only a few strands, then they found more and then came webs of them, blocking their way. The dwarf, his thick arms working hard, turned on a parallel course and then shot between two of the webs.
“It’s a maze,” Cricket said in fright. “We won’t be able to get out!”
“You’ll get out only if she lets you out” the dwarf said. “She’s watching us right now, so careful what you say. She easily offended. Luckily, she doesn’t like the taste of dwarf. We’re too tough and full of gristle. Tender children are more to her tastes.”
Roan didn’t like the way the dwarf was trying to scare Cricket. “Cricket is very tough, Sir Dwarf. And you act as though Magenlune eats people. She is a person, isn’t she?”
The dwarf chuckled and shook his head, but would not say more about Magenlune. Neither would Tyrean, whose lips were pursed so tightly together no words could possibly squeeze from them.
They took more turns, becoming more and more lost within the maze until they came to a structure within the webs. It was a thirty foot circle of gauzy webbing that floated upon the water. “Here’s where you get out,” the dwarf said. “Good luck.” He sounded as though he meant it.
Roan touched the webbing, expecting it to cling to him as though it were a floating pile of glue. It did have a sticky quality to it, though it was no stickier than a normal spider web or a like amount of cotton candy. Stepping onto it, he lifted one boot and then another, and found he would be able to walk. He helped Tyrean and Cricket from the boat and then watched as the dwarf paddled away.
“Now what?” Roan asked.
Tyrean said nothing, she only pointed upwards. Roan looked up and felt his heart skip a beat at what was descending from the darkness above. It was a spider of tremendous size, silently slipping down a strand of web of its own making. When it got close, his heart thumped again. It wasn’t a true spider after all. It had the body of a great black widow, but it also had the torso of a human. Her flesh was black as jet and her eyes were huge orbs without whites. She was female though without breasts which made sense seeing as she couldn’t possibly give birth to anything that resembled a baby.
“What the hell is it?” Roan asked.
“It’s a drider,” Tyrean whispered.
3—
The three backed to the edge of the platform as Magenlune slid down. Despite her ponderous bulk, she stepped with all eight legs onto the platform without rocking it.
“You have done well, Tyrean,” Magenlune said, speaking in a rushing breathy whisper. She breathed with her lungs as well as two strange vents that looked like gills. These opened down low on her torso where her kidneys should have been. “You have done well indeed. There are many looking for this person. The short-sighted among t
hem wish to kill him, while the intelligent ones wish to hold him and use him to their gain.”
“And what do you wish to do with me?” Roan asked.
She moved forward, her insect legs stepping silently. When she was close, she towered over him and had to crane her human torso to see him. “Me? I wish to give you advice is all. Well, maybe not ‘give’ per se. I will make a trade for advice that will benefit you in your quest.”
“I need answers not advice,” Roan said. “Who is after me? Tarranon? Is he in with the assassins? And do you know where a woman named Amanda of Water Fell is? I will pay in gold.”
“I don’t need gold.”
He shrugged, trying to bluff. “There are other seers in the world. I have enough to hire someone to teleport me to the Pelinores,, where the seers are very good.” She scoffed at this and he went on, “Then maybe to the Ash Forest. There are people and beings in this world who owe me a favor or two.”
“You may do this, but you will not be in time to save the girl. She has been asleep for thirty-six hours now, before that she had been under for twenty. She is already showing signs of dehydration. I calculate that she has twenty-nine hours left before her kidneys shut down. Her blood will be poison to her three hours after that. Now, if you wish to go on your own, it will take you four hours to find your way out of the slums…if you live, that is. Then it’ll take you another four hours to find a proper wizard who is both a high enough level and not interested in the bounty on your head—there is only one such person in Oberast, by the way. After that you will go hunt down seer after seer in the Pelinores wasting precious hours, and each will tell you the exact same thing.”
She paused, waiting for him to fill in the blank. “To come back and see you?” he answered.
“Exactly.”
“And you expect me to believe this? It sounds like an easy gimmick to get a piece of my soul.”
Infinite Assassins: Daggerland Online Novel 2 A LITRPG Adventure Page 33
