The Forsaken God: The Realms Book Five: (An Epic LitRPG Series)

by C. M. Carney

  Gryph’s Godhead had less than six months of evolution, but its deactivation still felt like a Mack truck full of tequila had driven through his brain. Aluran had been evolving his Godhead for a half century and Gryph hoped the murderous despot's suffering was exponentially worse.

  It would only be fair, Raathiel sent.

  Gryph’s chuckle was his last for some time, as the High God, resplendent in plate mail of shimmering gold, stood and drew his two-handed sword. He pointed it at the jabberwock in challenge.

  The jabberwock screeched in a high-pitched tone and charged.

  “Gods, it sounds like an off-key Mariah Carey,” Lex said, his face screwing up in annoyance.

  Aluran did not move as the mad creature came for him. The man’s calm was unnerving and despite Aluran being his enemy, Gryph’s instincts boiled inside him, yelling ‘move, move.’ The jabberwock got close and then spun on its back heel, like a pirouetting ballerina. One of its arms flashed towards the High God, deadly claws moving right at his face.

  At the last second the High God shimmered and was somewhere else. The jabberwock stumbled through the empty space, launching another arm and its tail at Aluran’s new spot. The tail found its mark and skewered through the eye slit of Aluran’s helmet.

  Gryph exhaled in shock, but instead of collapsing in a heap and a geyser of blood, Aluran blinked out of existence and reformed again, this time behind the jabberwock. The two-handed sword sliced downwards and one of the jabberwock’s arms fell to the ground. The jabberwock tumbled and rolled, turning into its Ouroboros wheel of death once more. Its arm did not regrow.

  "Oh great," Lex said between ragged breaths. “The High Douche’s sword is vorpal, cuz of course it is.”

  “How is he doing, whatever that is?” Gryph asked the NPC. Lex squinted, bringing his Mastery of Analyze to bear.

  “Um, it’s called The Trickster’s Doppelgänger. But I cannot tell if it’s a Boon, a Perk or something else. I don’t think Analyze works so good through Eris’ flying eyeball thingy.” He paused for a moment. “Which is kinda creepy by the way.”

  “Would you rather we not be able to see?” Ovrym asked, earning an appreciative glance from Eris for the unexpected aid.

  “No, of course not, I just …” Another blurring shift interrupted Lex’s complaint and Aluran disappeared and reappeared again, this time removing the jabberwock’s head with a one-handed backwards swing of his huge sword. The beast’s head bounced towards the hidden drone, landing face up so the Adventure Party could watch as it spat its last breath and oozed sickening yellow glop from its mouth.

  Eris' drone snapped its vision from the jabberwock’s head up to Aluran just in time to have its wing skewered by a thrown dagger, pinning it to a tree. The High God walked to the sputtering drone and looked right in its eye. “I’ll make you a one-time offer, Miss Yeung. Run. Find a cave in some far corner of my brother’s realm and stay out of my way. Do this and I will let you live. Get in my way and I will kill you, slowly over and over. There will be pain.”

  Aluran reached up and crushed the Hawkeye Drone between his thumb and forefinger with no more effort than a man squishing a mosquito.

  “Am I the only one that finds this both awesome and terrifying?” Lex asked.

  “It is the best news we could hope for,” Gryph countered.

  “Uh, what?” Lex said.

  “Aluran spoke to Eris.”

  “Yeah, so?”

  “He made no mention of us, or anyone else, so…”

  “He is unaware that Errat and friends of Errat are here.”

  “Exactly,” Gryph said, smiling up at the warborn, surprised at just how relieved the realization made him. “Aluran thinks I’m dead. We need to use that to our advantage.”

  “How?” Lex asked.

  “We let him think he’s won.” Gryph said, his mind beginning to form an idea. “Then we lure him into a trap.”

  “I have a spot, ” Eris said and increased her speed. Eris raised her arm and pointed towards the tower in the distance. “That’s the Archive, Cerrunos’ home away from home. Take my advice and don’t go anywhere near those flying bat things. They are nasty business.”

  “You fought one?” Vonn asked.

  “No, but I got close enough to one on my first day here to know I do not want to fight one. Or maybe it was the day after my arrival. Time works oddly here, so I’m not sure. Suffice to say that was the first place I checked out after killing my jabberwock.”

  “You killed a jabberwock, by yourself?” Ovrym asked, giving Eris a newfound look of respect.

  “A vorpal bullet between the eyes does wonders.”

  The party went silent and a wave of respect for Eris’s survival skills flowed through them all.

  “How did you know you’d need a vorpal weapon?” Gryph asked.

  “The same way I know that Cerrunos is hiding in the Archive. I had a nice chat with one of the Forsaken God’s Seekers. He was quite obliging. I learned much from him, including the Incantation of Entry.”

  “Obliging?” Lex said, eyeballing the small woman.

  “She means she tortured him,” Vonn said.

  “If you must know, I used truth serum.”

  “What’s a Seeker?” Gryph asked.

  “A servant of Cerrunos tasked to go out into the Realms and find information, hidden secrets, powerful and rare spells, codices, artifacts and the like. Apart from Lex, the Seekers are the only ones with the ability to gain entry to this place.”

  “Evidently not,” Ovrym said, glancing behind them. Somewhere, out there, Aluran was coming.

  “Yeah, him too.” Eris looked troubled for a moment. “I'd hoped killing the Seeker would stop him from telling his secrets to anyone else. Somehow Aluran still learned how.”

  “You killed the Seeker,” Gryph said, an edge of judgement in his voice.

  Eris stared him straight in the eyes. “I did, because it needed doing.” She held Gryph’s gaze, but Gryph saw that she took no enjoyment in killing the man “I do not know how Aluran uncovered the knowledge.”

  Gryph suspected he knew why. Aluran had used Resurrection, the same Divine Perk Gryph had used to give Wick a new, if short, lease on life. It had been just enough time for Wick to save his love Tifala, and ultimately Gryph himself. He decided Eris did not need to know about the ability.

  “Why would Cerrunos risk discovery to collect baubles and gossip?” Vonn asked.

  It is his nature, Raathiel sent. He cannot help himself. He is addicted to the acquisition of knowledge, no matter the danger it puts him in. The idea felt true, but there was something off about it.

  “Or maybe he wants to be found,” Lex countered.

  “What do you mean?” Eris said, bewildered and interested.

  “Well, think about it. If what Gryph saw in his Soul Reverie thing is accurate, then Cerrunos is more than just a gutless coward, he is likely a man wracked by powerful guilt.”

  “As he should be,” Ovrym said.

  “That fits with what I read in the Writ of Cerrunos,” Vonn agreed. “The book is full of passages of regret and shame. Now that we know it was authored by Cerrunos’ own hand, that tone makes perfect sense.”

  “He’s guilty, we all agree on that,” Eris said. “How does his guilt help us?”

  “Cuz maybe, just maybe he wants us to find him,” Lex said. “Maybe he wants to atone for his sins.”

  34

  It took them the better part of a day to reach the Archive. During that time, they kept a furious pace staying ahead of Aluran while evading notice from the many odd creatures that called Cerrunos’ Realm home. Eris’s drones proved useful for attracting the beasts' attention and leading them into Aluran’s path. Without them, Gryph was certain the High God would have caught up with them already. After some time, they reached the edge of the forest, revealing a large clearing surrounding the tall tower of the Archive.

  Across the wide grassy area, that would leave any approach without cover, a h
igh wall protected the tower, manned by humanoid shapes made from twining vines. Lex identified them as root golems, fanatical automatons made from the tough roots of trees.

  A few minutes later a pack of large, panther like cats padded by their hiding spot, forcing the group to duck for cover. The cats stopped, the quill laden tips of their tails flexing as they sniffed the air. When they moved on, they all exhaled.

  “Bandersnatch,” Eris said to their unspoken question.

  “What the hell are bandersnatch?” Gryph asked.

  Aetherial predators, Raathiel sent. Although they resemble panthers, they are pack hunters like wolves. They propel the quills from their tails with extreme accuracy. They teleport anyone hit to another location, one where the bandersnatch can toy with them at their leisure, before they feed.

  “Indeed, but this pack belongs to Cerrunos,” Eris said. “Anything stung by their quills ends up in a deep dark hole, likely somewhere beneath the Archive.”

  “How do you know that?” Ovrym asked.

  “I taunted one with a Hawkeye Drone until it speared it with a quill, and that’s where the drone ended up. Something crushed it within minutes of its arrival.”

  “Sounds like the perfect place to send the High God,” Vonn said.

  “Exactly,” Eris said with a smile. “I doubt it will contain him for long, but if we are lucky, it will buy us the time to get what we need from Cerrunos and get the hell out of Dodge.”

  “We just need to find Cerrunos,” Ovrym said.

  “He’s up there,” Lex said, pointing to the top of the tower. He seemed unnerved. “I’ve been here before. I don’t remember when.”

  Eris turned to him. “Interesting, we always suspected you’d been here before.”

  “When you say we, you mean the Resistance.” Gryph said. It was a statement of fact, not a question.

  “It's not like it was a big mystery. But, now we’re all part of the same big, happy work family I can congratulate you. Good work freeing Brynn.”

  Mention of his sister brought a frown of worry to Gryph’s face. “Have you seen her?”

  “No,” Eris said, and despite her cool as a cucumber attitude, worry hovered below the surface. “She’s been really careful about reaching out and we haven’t been able to get any new assets anywhere near her.”

  “New assets?” Lex blurted, understanding that that meant the old assets had not survived Aluran’s wrath.

  Eris looked at Gryph. “Your actions have made the High God nervous. First you show up with a Prime Godhead he cannot explain, then Lex somehow escapes his agent and then you try to ‘kill’ his favorite daughter. At least that part of the plan sold him. He is unaware of your connection to Brynn.”

  “Whose plan?” Gryph’s nerves fired and the itch of a barely formed suspicion dug into his brain.

  “You can keep asking, but I won’t answer, so let’s just agree to let that lil’ mystery remain mysterious, for now.” Errat lurched over Eris, violating every tenet of the law of personal space. She gazed up at the leering warborn, first amused, then unnerved. “Can I help you, big guy?”

  Errat thinks pretty, short girl is hiding many somethings.

  Ya think, Lex sent. Yo, Ovy, any chance you can root about in her thoughts and find out what it is.

  I told you to never call me Ovy again. He waited until Lex apologized and then spoke. No, I cannot. She has a powerful resistance to Thought Magic for someone who is not a trained thought mage. Her defenses remind me of your own, Gryph.

  Gryph stared down at the small, raven haired woman and understood catching her off guard would be no easy task. She’s been trained, Gryph realized. The same as I. He’d have to monitor her and wait for her to give something away.

  “This private chat room of yours is bound to make a girl feel unwanted,” Eris said, looking from one member of the party to the next.

  “Tough, lady,” Lex said. “You’re not on the guest list.”

  Understanding hit Gryph, like the light of the dawn on an eastward facing mountain. She had his training, because the same people that trained him had trained her. It was almost too obvious, but it felt right. Eris worked, or had worked, for Control.

  “You worked for the Colonel,” Gryph said.

  The briefest moment of shock filled Eris’ eyes and Gryph saw the truth in her eyes. She understood that she’d been outed, and like any good agent she tried to turn it to her advantage. “Yes, and I still do, in a way. Your father started the Resistance against Bechard long before he invaded the Realms. He’s the reason you are here, alive. He’s the reason you have Lex and the Prime Godhead.”

  Gryph’s eyes widened. He hadn’t expected her to admit working for the Colonel, much less any of the other confessions. Anger surged inside him. “Bullshit. My father tried to kill me.”

  Eris laughed out loud and with gusto and Gryph’s anger grew white hot. “Oh, Finn, you poor sap. The Colonel shot you to protect you. Don’t you know that?”

  “What?” Gryph sputtered, coming to a halt. The others formed a defensive perimeter. All except Lex who barreled full into Gryph, nearly knocking both men to the ground. Lex scowled up at him, but he ignored the NPC. His eyes were on Eris.

  “Your father was the best marksman I’ve ever seen. Have you ever seen him miss?”

  She was right. Memories of shooting with the Colonel filled Gryph. No matter how far away he’d set the targets, the Colonel always hit them dead center mass. In his mind he saw his father shoot, but this time the old man turned on him and pointed a gun at him and pulled the trigger. A loud gunshot pulled him elsewhere, and in an instant Gryph was back in the alley in Seoul, his father hovering over him, his gun smoking.

  The bullet had left a ragged hole in his shoulder, mere inches from his heart. A dim streetlight had shrouded the Colonel’s face in shadow. Gryph had always imagined the look on his father’s face to be one of disappointment and grim satisfaction, but what if he’d been wrong? A hundred questions swarmed inside his skull, all fighting, all begging for attention, but Gryph was so stunned that none of them formed words for his mouth. Finally, one pushed to the surface. “Why?”

  “Because he was grooming you for this,” Eris said, pointing around. “Always meant to be the god to fight Aluran. He trusted nobody with the power of a Godhead, not even himself. You know the things he’s done, the lengths he’d go to get the job done. A man like him, with the power of a Godhead …”

  She didn’t have to finish, because Gryph understood exactly what that kind of power would do to a man like his father. “He’s become just like Aluran.”

  “Yes. Your father fought on the side of the angels, but he was not one of them. You on the other hand, always did what was right. It cost you your commission, your purpose and nearly your life, but you did it anyway.” Eris gave him a sly smile. “I kinda hated you for that.”

  “Why not Brynn?” Gryph asked. “She’s better than I.”

  “Because Brynn is no killer.”

  “And I am.”

  “When circumstances call for it. But you never once enjoyed it. And that was why it had to be you.”

  Gryph wanted to sit, to process everything he’d just learned. For the last five years Gryph had lived with a heavy core of hatred for his father. But what if the Colonel had been preparing him, protecting him? Sure, his bedside manner could use some work. "Why did he shoot me?”

  “Because dead men pose no threat. He made you the perfect foil for Aluran, one he cannot understand, one he cannot see coming.”

  It all made sense, but Gryph did not want to let go of his anger or his hatred. It had become such a defining characteristic of his existence, that he wasn’t sure he knew how to function without it. From the deep recesses of his mind, the Colonel spoke, and for the first time in a long time, Gryph did not rage at the interruption.

  This is not the time to wallow in the past, his father’s voice said. The very purpose of your existence is at hand. Despite the harshness of the message
, Gryph imagined the Colonel’s tone had eased, become almost warm.

  Gryph unclenched his fist, looked at the others and spoke. “Let’s get moving, we have a trap to spring.”

  35

  The forest was silent as if sensing the imminent outbreak of violence. Gryph had experienced the phenomena many times back on Earth. It was almost as if the world was holding its breath in dire anticipation. Invariably the level of silence equated with the fierceness of the battle.

  Gryph’s Adventure Party huddled in the thick foliage on each side of a nearly dry streambed. The furrow the water had carved into the forest floor was five feet deep and perhaps ten wide. It was the only obvious path through this part of the forest. The rest was a mess of overgrown bushes, tangled trees and thick vines.

  They had chosen their spot well, as evidenced by the dozens of animal footprints that littered the floor of the small canyon. Gryph had ordered his group to move single file through the small brook that was all that remained of the once larger stream. By now Aluran must suspect that Eris was not alone, but there was no reason to believe he knew how many enemies he faced, or who they were. Aluran was no fool and he would suspect an ambush. Gryph’s job was to give the High God no choice but to spring it.

  Aluran is here, Raathiel sent from her scouting spot high above the forest canopy. With a mental nod, Gryph switched to a triple split-screen view, one sent by his own eyes and the others by Eris’ last pair of stealthed Hawkeye Drones.

  The broad form of the High God came into view, his movements agile for a man of his size, a man wearing armor that looked capable of stopping a tomahawk missile. Aluran slowed his pace, eyes scanning left and right.

  He’s not gonna fall for this, Lex sent.

  No unnecessary chit chat, Gryph commanded and apart from Lex’s mental harrumph, the link was silent. The only sound Gryph heard was the thunder of his own pulse slamming against his eardrums.

  Lex wasn’t wrong. Aluran was not taking the bait, perhaps sensing the obvious trap. Lucky for them all, Gryph had built an additional incentive into his plan. Life was about choices. One made careful measure of the positives and negatives of any situation and chose the path of least resistance. To spring their trap, Gryph simply had to convince Aluran that entering the dry stream bed was the better of two bad choices.