by Stone Thomas
Vix and I froze in place. I had seen what smaller explosions could do. I didn’t want to trigger a larger one, even if it would put an end to the frail, ugly man that used his head priest position to siphon off funds from Laranj’s temple.
“An anibomb,” I said, signaling to Carzl deep inside the supply closet that we were all in danger.
He smiled. “A man of my resolve has little to fear from Kāya’s familiars.”
“So that’s it then, Father Cahn?” I asked. I locked eyes with him, careful to avoid glancing at the hideous knob of extra skin that grew from the side of his nose. “Laranj dies and you switch your allegiance to Kāya?”
“It’s not Kāya I serve,” he replied, gently stroking the anibomb’s furless body. “I serve the world, Arden. I’m sure you’ll understand soon.”
With one Piercing Blow I could trigger a quick thrust with my spear and more than double my usual damage. There was no guarantee I wouldn’t set off the deep purple explosive in Cahn’s arms though, and I wasn’t sure I had it in me to aim right for Cahn instead.
Carzl tiptoed out of the supply closet. I kept him in my peripheral vision. Cahn was so focused on me and Vix that he didn’t notice the third member of our little party.
Carzl glanced toward the open door at the back of the room.
“What I understand,” I said, “is that I’m a head priest now too. And I’ve been skillmeistering for free, something you’d never understand. All someone needs to do is give me a nod and I’ll improve their combat skills, special skills, everything. As long as they trust me.”
Carzl glanced back toward me. It took him a moment for my words to register, but when they did, he nodded.
“You must feel so noble,” Cahn said, tracing a finger from the spot between the anibomb’s ears all the way to its tail. “Would you believe I agree with you there? The empire has a chokehold on the people’s power. It must be destroyed for us all truly to live.”
It would take a lot of focus, but I had to split my attention between Cahn and the status menu floating before me. If Carzl had a combat skill that would help us out of this, now was the time to unlock it.
“And I suppose you’re the one to take the empire down?” I asked. Carzl had the Hardiness he’d need, but his Vivacity was disastrously low. I’d need to unlock my own Leveled Playing Field skill first to bring that attribute up without spending down all of Carzl’s XP.
“Arden,” Cahn said, “simple boy. I’ve spent your whole life keeping you locked away in the dark, but the time has come to reveal the light. To bring you into the truth.”
“I like the truth,” I said. “Lay it on me. Don’t leave anything out.” I needed Cahn to keep talking so I could finish skillmeistering without worrying about an explosion. I finished unlocking my newest skillmeister skill while he rambled on.
“Don’t you find it odd that you should land in Meadowdale?” Cahn asked. “The most remote outpost of the human lands, equally far from the elves and the beasts, impossibly far from the Imperial City. But also distant from Martinstead, a city unafraid of the war to come.”
“Gee, Father Cahn,” I said, “I hadn’t really thought about that. I mean, it’s not like you ever taught me geography. Or anything really. All you ever taught me was fighting bats and squishing cockroaches in the catacombs.” I opened Carzl’s skillmeister menu again and prepared his upgrade.
Δ
Skillmeister View of:
Carzl Sgeldin
Base Attribute / XP to Next / Intended Change / Total XP Cost
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10 Constitution / 250 XP to Next / none / Total XP Cost: 0
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1 Vivacity / 25 XP to Next / 1 –> 9 / Total XP Cost: 650 [Leveled Playing Field activated]
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9 Strength / 225 XP to Next / none / Total XP Cost: 0
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12 Hardiness / 300 XP to Next / none / Total XP Cost: 0
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10 Focus / 250 XP to Next / none / Total XP Cost: 0
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11 Resolve / 275 XP to Next / none / Total XP Cost: 0
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TOTAL BASE ATTRIBUTE XP COST: 650
Stats Affected by Change
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[Constitution] Health Points (HP): 973/1000
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[Vivacity] Action Points (AP): 14/20 –> 174/180
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[Strength] Phys. Damage Inflict Range: 90-110
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[Hardiness] Phys. Damage Block Range: 65-91
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[Focus] Mag. Damage Inflict Range: 100-122
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[Resolve] Mag. Damage Block Range: 59-84
Skills For Weapon Class: Sword
Locked. Spare Charge 1. Funnel action points into your attack prior to release. Increase damage dealt by 1% for each action point spent. [Variable AP cost] [Requires: Vivacity 9, Hardiness 9] [125 XP to unlock].
Improve to Spare Charge 2 to increase damage multiplier to 1.2%. [Variable AP cost] [Requires Vivacity 11, Hardiness 10] [250 XP to improve].
Intended Change: 0 –> 1
Cost Subtotal: 125
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TOTAL SWORD SKILL XP COST: 125
Skills For Special Class: Itemancer [expand]
Summary
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Available XP: 762
Cost of Intended Changes: 775
Precision Training Discount (5%): 39
Total Adjusted Cost: 736
Total Projected Remaining: 26
Confirm?: Yes / No
∇
“I was under strict orders to keep you in the dark, Arden Hochbright.”
“Wait,” I said. “You know my last name. For so many years, I thought I never had one.”
“It would have given away too much,” Cahn said. “You are the one to lead this war, not me. You are Duul’s chosen commander, meant to marshal his army against the Great Mother. You are meant to free us from the empire from within!”
“That doesn’t make sense,” I said. I should have been focused on Carzl’s menu, but my heart was racing. What Cahn was saying, it was impossible. How could I be destined to serve as Duul’s champion? I was leading Nola’s temple, helping her prepare for a world where Duul couldn’t hurt anyone.
“The imperials were afraid of you,” Cahn continued. “Sajia told them all what you were capable of. Rather than provide you the life you deserved, your parents cast you out. Little did they know, all of your isolation would only prepare you for the role to come. Fill you with loneliness and anger and a thirst for justice.
“I see it in you, Arden,” he continued. “There’s a little piece of me deep inside of you.”
“Um,” I said, “that’s gross.”
“Oh,” he said, “that came out wrong. I just mean I raised you. I taught you what you know of this world. You harbor the same desire to rebalance the scales.”
“You’re wrong,” I said. “It’s not anger I feel, it’s pity. I feel sorry for you, Cahn. You served this temple for the wrong reasons. You got no joy from your work. I do. I have people who rely on me, people I help and provide for. My life has meaning.”
“Your life has only the meaning your parents gave it when they abandoned you on my steps,” he said.
“My parents,” I asked, “who were they?”
“It’s who you are that matters, Arden,” he said. “You are the prophet of war.”
“No,” I said. I confirmed the final changes to Carzl’s new sword skill, Spare Charge.
The merchant swordsman lifted his blade toward Cahn’s back. He paused, glancing at me and waiting for confirmation.
“I want no part in your war,” I said. I hesitated to give Carzl the signal. Cahn was vile, but he wasn’t some cretin or anibomb. He was a man.
Cahn straightened his back. He realized, in the moment that I held back, that something was amiss. He turned his head to the side and saw Carzl, who took a step backward once he was spotted. His face drained of color.
“I’m not he
re to recruit you, Arden,” Cahn said. “You’re already on your path. To destroy the Great Mother and the empire she protects!” With that, Cahn dropped the dark purple anibomb from his arms.
I expected an explosion. I expected heat, and magic shrapnel, and a deafening boom.
Instead, a blast of deep purple darkness burst from the anibomb’s body. I lost my footing and reached out instinctively, grabbing hold of something that stopped me from falling.
It was a railing. I was in a stairwell, alone, and had just barely avoided falling down… two flights of stairs. “Vix?” I called out. “Carzl?”
“Up here!” Vix yelled. I took the stairs two at a time, but I didn’t let go of the railing. I might have avoided Nola’s premonition for the moment, but there was no guarantee an embarrassing tumble wasn’t still in my future.
I ran up the familiar spiral steps toward the top of Laranj’s temple. Standing in front of the belfry’s large bronze bell was Vix.
“What just happened?” I asked.
“That bomb,” Vix said, “it didn’t explode with damage, it distorted our location and sent us all in different directions. It must have sent Carzl further than us because I don’t smell him.”
“He was closer to the blast than us,” I said. “I wonder where Cahn ended up.”
Vix walked to the tower’s open arch windows and stared at the majestic landscape below.
“I used to spend a lot of time up here, just staring at the mountains and imagining the water beyond,” I said, pointing to the ice-capped peaks that stretched to either side.
“Is it the ocean out there?” she asked.
“The Savior’s Sea,” I said. “I’ve never been, but some of the local fishermen would head out there for the summer to bring back food and pearls. There’s a narrow pass between the mountains that leads there.”
“It’s beautiful up here,” she said. “So is the rest of the temple.” She ran a hand up the window’s stone arch frame.
“Is now really the time to admire the architecture?” I asked.
“It may be the only time,” she said. “The way the arches support the weight of the floors above, the detail in the design work. I’ve never seen beyond a temple’s main room before. This is all a revelation to me.” She bit her lip and shook her head.
“The only revelation I want,” I said, “is your safety when this is all said and done.”
“And then what?” she asked. “Arden, this temple is so much more advanced than ours. Multiple levels, enchanted capstones. I can’t compete with this. Nola deserves better.”
“No one’s competing,” I said. “And if they were, they’d lose to you. You’re learning so quickly, and you have creative courage. You built all of our defensive towers, and who knows what else.”
“Exactly,” she said, “who knows what else. I wanted to show you earlier, but now it seems foolish. I’m just an amateur, Arden. I can’t make a difference in Halcyon. We need more skill than I have, or Nola’s not going to make it.”
“When I met you, you offered to fix a single door,” I said. “Now you’re constructing an entire settlement. Don’t tell me you can’t do this. You’re already doing it.”
“A door that couldn’t stand up to a brute’s bare fists,” she said. “How do I show my face in Nola’s temple again? I don’t have the talent Halcyon needs.”
I put my hands on her shoulders. She met my eyes with hers. I traced the outline of one of her foxkin ears before running my hand down her long hair and gripping the back of her neck.
“Vix,” I said. “I need you in Halcyon. You were the first person to help me after I became Nola’s head priest. I didn’t know what I was doing. I never will, without you. We’ll get through this. Together.”
For a moment, I didn’t care that Cahn had vanished, or that we were surrounded by motion-detecting anibombs. All I cared about was Vix, and making sure she knew how much I valued her, needed her. I tossed Razortooth to the floor.
I pulled Vix toward me, pressing my lips firmly against hers. I felt her legs buckle, so I wrapped my other arm around her waist to hold her up. I let my hand run from her neck down her upper back, following her spine until I reached the straps that held her top in place.
Her top had a lot of stat boosts, so it was a fine piece of armor, but it was skimpy nonetheless. It held her breasts close together, and they pressed against my body as I pushed Vix up against the wall. She raised a leg against my side and I took my cue, reaching my hands around the backs of her thighs and lifting her from the ground.
She slung her arms around my neck, never once breaking from our kiss. Her breathing was heavy, and her fox tail curled around my back. She panted, finally voicing a quick yip as my lips moved from her mouth to her neck.
I would have teased her with my teeth. I would have forced goosebumps down her skin with the warmth of my breath against the cool breeze that blew through the belfry. I would have reached up to untie the laces on her top.
That is, if a shrill, entitled voice hadn’t echoed through the silent city below.
“By imperial decree 85, I demand an audience with the man in charge of this village!”
+12
“What is he doing?” Vix asked as I set her down on the floor. “He’s going to blow us all up!”
“Stay there!” I yelled, my voice booming over the bomb-infested city. “The rabbits explode!”
The man below stood just inside the city gates, which he had managed to open wide even though Vix had locked them behind us. It was difficult to make out his features from this far away, but he almost looked like he was taking notes.
“Let’s get down there,” I said. Vix moved toward the steps, but I put out a hand to stop her. “I’m destined to take a fall at some point. Let me go first so I don’t take you down with me.”
“Nonsense,” she said. “Nola told us not every premonition comes true. Besides, I’ll catch you. Foxkin are quick on their feet. Quicker than you dumb humans, anyway.” She tapped me lightly on the cheek with her hand and darted down the steps.
“Be careful what you wish for!” I yelled, chasing after her. “Humans fall quickly and heavily!”
At the base of the steps, we entered the temple’s altar room again. Still no sign of Carzl.
Then something like a series of explosions happened all at once. Just above Laranj’s altar, bursts of violet, lilac, and lavender erupted in silent puffs of smoke.
When the smoke dissipated, a woman dressed only in a corset and boots hovered above the altar. Her face was young, with supple mauve skin. Long purple hair hung from a high ponytail. Her corset was all black, with a strange choice of design. Placed over each breast was the image of a large eye with a striking green iris. It was nearly impossible not to make eye contact with her boobs.
“That should do it,” she said, reaching down and flipping the stone slab off the top of the altar. Hidden beneath the surface had been a gleaming gold-colored stone the size of a fist. As the walls of the temple began to shimmer with a deep golden glow, I knew Cahn’s appearance for what it was. A distraction.
“The bastion stone,” I said. “It was installed here the whole time.”
“Right-o, daddy-o,” the goddess said. “That’s what the kids say these days, right? I always try to stay down with the lingo.”
“Um, no,” I said. “No one says that.”
“Oh,” she said. “I should have known. Cool isn’t exactly my forte.” She feigned a curtsy while floating above the altar, pretending to pull at a skirt that wasn’t there. “Kāya, goddess of chaos, pleased to end your acquaintance.”
“Chaos?” Vix asked. “What happened to awkward moments?”
“Never can escape that one,” she said. “Must be why his fly is open.”
I glanced down. She was right. How long had my fly been unbuttoned?
“Papa was always the chaos-monger in the family,” Kāya continued, “but that’s my power now. Along with a few others I’ve absorbed.”
“Does that mean Duul killed your father?” I asked.
“No other way to inherit a power,” she said. “Duul’s on quite a spree. There’s one special power he promised me that isn’t mine yet. One that will make me an indispensable member of his growing entourage. Premonition.”
My stomach sank. Vix’s tail fell flat. Kāya’s corset winked.
“This is not a good time for your breasts to flirt with me,” I said.
“Eyes up here please,” she said.
“Tell that to them,” I replied.
“My father was afraid of his power, but I’m not,” Kāya said. “Once the bastion stone is fully operational, I’ll have the strongest city in this territory, and a captive congregation to feed me strength.”
“It’ll be impreggerable,” I said.
“Impregnable,” Vix corrected.
“That’s what I said,” I replied. “But why? Duul is killing your kind, he’ll kill you too.”
“Or,” Kāya said, “he’ll finally let me live. Look around you. It’s all falling apart thanks to him, the careful structure that kept us all in place. Your precious goddess, all gold and light with angel’s wings. Of course the Great Mother favors her kind! But what about me? I’m a second class of citizen. I want to be free to use my powers, and I’m not the only one.
“Duul’s armies continue to march, and where they lead I will follow,” she said.
“You said there’s a captive congregation here,” I said, “but you’re wrong. Duul sent you to an empty city where you can’t possibly grow stronger. There’s no one here.”
“Isn’t there?” Kāya asked.
I looked around. “Those rabbits… they’re not people are they?”
“Wouldn’t that be something,” Kāya said. “You’ve given me a neat idea! But no, they’re not people. And you won’t be either when I’m done with you!”
