“Tomlin is happy to see you too.”
“Why do I feel like it has been ages?”
And then, Shadow saw Core Beno floating toward her. “Because you’ve been through a lot, Shadow. Enjoy yourself for a while, and then I’ll explain.”
“Hello, Dork Lord. It’s good to see you.”
Core Beno laughed. “You too. Come and have a chat with me.”
Shadow and I talked for an hour, and she had only just left me when I heard a voice in my core.
“Dark Lord?” it said, the words spoken from all the way across the wasteland.
It was Morphant, finally answering me hours after I had announced through my core shavings and that we needed a meeting. It was not unusual for there to be a delay. After all, Morphant was pretending to be Sir Dullbright, and that meant there were duties he needed to complete to carry on the charade.
Recently, though, I had earned the Core Vision Intensification ability, which meant that I could use my core vision to see any location occupied by a monster of my own creation.
This meant that I had requested a meeting with Morphant, and then watched as he, in Sir Dullbright’s form, ignored me and reclined on Dullbright’s bed and stuffed his face with cheese and olives. Then he had read a few chapters from a book, enjoyed a glass of wine, and had a little nap.
Now, while Shadow’s party raged on in the loot chamber, he had finally decided to answer me.
“Dark Lord,” he said. “I am sorry. Your meeting summons came when I was in Dullbright’s form, in an important meeting with the head of the…iron…merchants guild. At your request, I am taxing all the merchants more and keeping the surplus safe in the town coffers.”
“That must have been a very long meeting, Morphant,” I said.
“These things can last hours.”
“Yes. I’m sure. How did your meeting go? I’m a devil for details. Tell me everything, word by word.”
“I…feel tired, Dark Lord. From my duties.”
“Right. Of course.”
This was concerning. The idea that one of my creatures could lie to me wasn’t a new one; though I was their master, my dungeon monsters retained some free will and were annoyingly able to have thoughts of their own. When I issued a command in a certain way, however, their natural bond to me made then unable to refuse it.
Morphant’s lies might merely have been just an aspect of his personality. Or, they might indicate a deeper set rebellion that could cause problems for me, especially with him being so far away. With Eric gone, I’d need to send someone else to keep a closer eye on him.
“You said that Gulliver has gone missing.”
“He has left, Dark Lord. I requested that he come to Dullbright’s house to help me with some things. Hours later, he had not even responded. The next day, I sent a guard to his home, where we found his apartment empty.”
“Did he leave a note?”
“No, Dark Lord. He has taken all of his things and left town. A rug merchant reported seeing Gulliver paying for passage on a trader wagon headed somewhere in the south.”
“And he didn’t say why, or give any kind of indication that he might be leaving?”
“Nothing,” said Morphant.
“It’s completely unlike Gull to just run away like that.”
“If I might say,” said Morphant, “The scribe has shown boredom with his new role in our town.”
It made a certain amount of sense. Gulliver had spent his life as a scribe, traveling all over Xynnar to get material for his stories. He’d followed lords, dukes, mages, merchants. His travels had taken him to most parts of the land, and on the face of it he had a wanderer’s heart.
But Gull was my best friend, and I knew that he was looking to settle down. That was why I’d given him the job in Hogsfeate. For him to just leave without a word was just too strange. Even if he was sick of the job, he knew he could just tell me so.
“Just give me a second please, Morphant.”
Using my core voice, I reached out to Gulliver now, quietly saying his name. I waited a few seconds and got no answer. I tried again.
“Gulliver?”
Nothing.
A sharp pang of fear struck my core.
Was he not answering because he was…dead? Had something happened?
It wasn’t proper of a core to think like this. There was a reason the academy forgers worked so hard to strip us of our human feelings. And though they couldn’t rid us of them entirely, it seemed, I still had to get a better handle on myself. I had to think like a core, and not a miserable human.
Logically, just because Gulliver wasn’t answering it didn’t mean he was dead. He might merely be asleep. Or he’d drunk himself into a stupor. Perhaps he’d gotten into a fight in a tavern and had been knocked out. Though he was a scribe, Gull had a way of starting feuds when enjoying himself.
Whatever the answer, I wasn’t going to just stay here and wait around, not while my best friend might be in trouble.
“I’m going to visit Hogsfeate,” I said. “There’s something wrong with this, Morphant. I’ll need you to prepare the town guards for my arrival. The last time I visited Hogsfeate, the guards treated me like a criminal. I don’t expect a party in my honor, but make sure I’m not stopped at the gates.”
“Gulliver and I have been laboring to improve the reputation of cores amongst the Hogsfeate townsfolk, Dark Lord. I am sure you will enjoy the reception you get.”
Our wagon was an old one, with a wonky wheel, a paint job several decades beyond replacing, and paneling half-chewed by woodworm. The horses pulling it weren’t much better, either. I had used gold from selling surplus iron ores to buy it, considering it an investment in dungeon affairs. If I was going to visit Hogsfeate more often, then it made sense to avoid having to pay extortionate rates on trader wagons just to get here. As shoddy as the wagon itself was, I had few complaints about the driver.
“Take us just over there, Klok. Park the wagon by the Hogsfeate walls, next to where the traders have left theirs. See? Then you can take the horses to the stables. Tip the stable boy to make sure they are treated extra well.”
“Yes, Dark Lord!” said the kobold. Rather than having to lash the reins like most drivers or even whip the horses as some did, Klok merely held the reins up and spoke softly, and the beasts responded accordingly.
I had to admit, giving him this responsibility had been a gamble. Klok had found mining so tough that he had fallen asleep on the job, and it didn’t seem prudent to hand him control of a wagon and horses. But the little kobold had repaid me by showing a desire and skill for the role. Even as he guided us to the Hogsfeate town walls, I received a core notification.
Klok’s [Driver] proficiency has increased to 3!
Klok’s [Animal Bond] proficiency has increased to 4!
As Klok steered the wagon toward where the rest were parked, I turned to the kobold sitting on my left, who was wearing a crown of bones on his head, and who carried a staff with a skull on the end of it.
“How are you feeling, Rusty?” I said. “Your first time in a town. Well, you have been to Yondersun, I suppose. But your first real trip away from the dungeon.”
“Yip!” he answered. “If there is a mage, may I visit him?”
I thought about Mage Hardere, and his proclivity for wearing nothing under his robe, and his even worse proclivity for demanding gold and making shady deals. “Not a good idea. The mage in Hogsfeate is not one you should learn from.”
“Oh.”
I looked at the poor bugger, who was clearly disappointed. Demons below, why did I allow his wretched, miserable face to get to me? I must have been the kindest dungeon core in existence!
And the most modest!
“There may be a magic shop selling tomes and such. Perhaps you can visit it. I need to visit a book shop that Gull told me about. Bumbauld’s Tomes, or something like that.”
There was something familiar about the guards waiting at the town gates. Something I
recognized about their lazy postures and the way their stomachs bulged against their leathers. They clearly hadn’t noticed my arrival at the guard gate, and they were busy leering over a book where someone had sketched a naked barbarian woman holding a sword provocatively.
“Len and Ben?” I said.
They jumped. Ben flung the book, sending it sailing out of the guard gate. It landed on the adjoining street, spread open at a page of a half-naked sorceress. An old woman carrying a basket of dead fish glanced at the book, the guards, and walked away, muttering something about the morals of today’s men.
Len, the taller of the two, put his hands on his hips. “Why, if it ain’t the core! Been a while since we last saw you here, fella.”
“Is that because you were demoted to other duties?” I said, knowing it was true because I had, through my mimic, given the order.
“Promotion, as it ‘appens. For sterling service to our town. And it looks to me like we’re about to get promoted again. Ain’t that right, Ben?”
“That’s right.”
“Two intelligent, athletic lads like you. The sky’s the limit, I’m sure. You’ll be generals in the king’s army before you know it,” I said.
“Well…you won’t know it. Because you won’t be around.”
“We’ve been through this before. You can’t stop me entering town just because I’m a core. What’s more, I know for a fact that Sir Dullbright has changed the legislation of the town, allowing for free entry into-”
Ben produced a horn from somewhere and gave three deep toots on it.
“What in demons’ names are you doing?” I said.
“Yip!” shouted Rusty. “Yip, Dark Lord! More guards are coming!”
I saw what Rusty was yipping at. Guards were approaching us from each fork of the streets beyond the gates, and more approached from behind us. Rusty and Klok stood either side of me, bunching close to shield me. Klok drew a dagger, Rusty brandished his shaman staff.
“Settle down,” I said. “Don’t give them a reason to attack you. Make a single threatening move and they’ll say you've given them just cause to use violence.”
Soon, thirty guards surrounded us. Twelve formed a circle of spears, which they pointed just inches away from us, while the rest stayed on the outer ring with their swords drawn and their faces set in mean scowls.
“Dungeon Core Beno,” said one. “You are hereby placed under arrest. Any attempts to resist will enable us to use fatal force.”
“Good luck with that,” I said.
“Any attempts at escape will also enable us to use fatal force. Any attempts at bribery-”
“Would probably be welcomed,” I said.
“Enough of this blather! Get the lump of rock out of my sight.”
“Don’t you do people the honor of letting them know what made-up charges are being held against them?” I asked.
“I don’t give the orders.”
“That’s right, he don’t,” said Len.
“Yeah!” said Ben.
“Then who does?” I asked.
“Sir Dullbright. Who else? Put the core in a sack and shackle his little wolf creatures.”
“Kobolds, actually,” I said, just before my world was replaced by darkness.
CHAPTER 18
There are two things a person can do when they are arrested at a town’s gates. They can complain and cause a fuss, but that would only show the guards that their stunt was having its desired effect. Or, the unfortunate person could just keep their mouth shut.
After my recent dealings with Anna and from various hero battles in the past, I knew that one of the most frustrating things is for an opponent to greet punishment with nothing but silence. Since physical force wouldn’t get me anywhere, that was the option I chose.
The guards said little during the hours I spent in the darkness of the sack they’d put me in. When it was removed and I could see again, I realized that I wasn’t outside in the daylight anymore, but instead was in a dark cellar lit by a sole lamp fixed to a wall. The walls themselves were made of cold-looking stone, and the floor was covered in red stains and a few straws of hay. It wasn’t too much unlike my dungeon, truth be told. I quite liked the place.
Turning around to get a full view, I saw that it was a cell of some sort, with two rows of thick steel bars blocking one side of it. Rusty and Klok were with me, as well as a man sitting by the furthest wall, hidden in the shadows but with his head bent forward and resting on his forearms.
“We must be in the town cells,” I said. “Evidence by our friend over there. No doubt a drunk. Rusty, are you okay?”
“Yip. But manacles were tight, Dark Lord. See?” He held his wrist, showing a deep red line on his skin.
“They took your shaman staff?”
“And my bone crown!”
“Klok? I trust they weren’t kind enough to leave you with your dagger?”
“Afraid not, Dark Lord.”
The man across from us started giving a wheezy laugh that grew and grew until, though he still hadn’t lifted his head, his whole body was shaking.
“What’s so funny?” said Klok.
“You, if you must know,” said the man, his voice sounding fatigued and strained.
“Don’t laugh at me!” said Klok, leaping to his feet and hopping foot to foot.
“I wasn’t laughing at you, as such. More at you, me, this whole thing. Most of all, at the Dark Lord here.”
“Just who the hell are-” I began.
The man stood up and stepped into the light. His hair was dirty and matted together. His face was beaten and unwashed, and the dark patches under his eyes were less like bags and more like burlap sacks. Even so, when he stood under the glow of the lamp, I knew him.
“Gulliver! What in all hells happened to you?” I said.
“A short and horrible story,” he said. “Which coincidentally, is what my father said when I showed him my first piece of writing.”
“Are you okay?”
“You almost sound concerned!”
“Gull, I came all the way here to see what the hell happened to you. Morphant told me that you’d just emptied your apartment and left town. Nobody knew where you’d gone, or why. It didn’t make any sense.”
“You were genuinely worried?”
“You’re my best friend. Of course I was.”
“Beno, I’m equal parts touched and guilty. Looking for me is what they wanted you to do, I think. That, or it’s a happy coincidence for them. Either way, coming here for me has landed you in the same mess as me.”
“They? Who are they?”
“Morphant, Pvat, and that damned half-naked, arse of a mage.”
“You better tell me everything.”
“There’s not much I can really say,” said Gulliver. “For a while, I was sure that I was being followed around town. Never by the same people, but they were there, lurking in the background.”
“You never mentioned it to me.”
“Well, here’s the thing. This is a little bit delicate, my friend. What I say next might shock you, and I pray that you do not think badly of me. That you do not let this alter your whole impression of me. I have done a bad, bad thing, and I know that you may judge me harshly, but please try not to. Alright?”
“Get on with it.”
Gulliver sighed. “I have been…spending time…with a married woman, Beno. The shame! The shame!”
“I don’t really care about your romantic life. Get to the evil part. What have you done that’s so wrong?”
“That was it. You aren’t surprised?”
“Gull, that is just the sort of thing I expected from you, in truth. I would be more surprised if you weren’t having an illicit dalliance of some kind. You are my best friend, but that is just who you are when it comes to love. You’re like a magpie always looking in other people’s nests. Your behavior is shameful, but you’re a shameful person, so your behavior is consistent.”
“Well…as much as I’d l
ike to have my ego boosted some more…I was sure that my new love’s husband was getting people to follow me.”
“Who is she, this woman? Don’t tell me it’s a noble lady. I know they’re your type, but their husbands tend to be rich, powerful, or both.”
“It’s Kathryn. She is the head of the town guards.”
“What?”
“And her husband is also a guard. I believed that he had put his colleagues up to following me, having grown suspicious of Kathryn and me. But after being followed one night, I then received a summons to go and see that mimic of yours. When I got to Dullbright’s house, I was smacked on the head. Here, in this pit of luxury, is where I have been ever since.”
“You’ve got the wrong end of the sword on this, Gull. Morphant wouldn’t attack you. I’ll use my core voice to talk to him. One second.”
“Wait! Beno, I am telling you that Morphant summoned me to his home, and then this happened.”
“You must have been waylaid by your girlfriend’s husband on the way here. He and his pals gave you a beating before you got to Dullbright’s house.”
“I remember getting there. I remember seeing Morphant in Dullbright form, and how he seemed to have put on weight. I remember wondering how someone could put on weight so quickly, and whether it was even possible for a mimic to gain weight in his mimicked form.”
“It isn’t possible. Morphant would have to actively change himself into a heavier version. Any weight gain you saw was purposeful.”
“He’s been acting strange, Beno. Drinking lots. Hanging around with some beggar woman in his bed chambers.”
“Well, you aren’t one to pass judgment on romance, are you?”
“Beno…”
“Fine. Let’s assume that Morphant is behind this. How? Why? Who?”
“I…uh…this, again, is shameful,” said Gulliver.
“Out with it….”
“If it wasn’t Kathryn’s husband, then my next guess was…well, I half-thought it was you.”
“What?”
“Look at it from my point of view!” said Gulliver. “Morphant is your mimic. He summons me to his home, I get whacked on the head, and I wake up here. I was under the impression only you could give him orders.”
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