So rather than possibly waking up the loudly snoring Diane who was using his shoulder as a pillow and sneaking out, he hopped into the dungeon.
Wanting to see what was going on with the church, he made his way over to the temple building grounds. Standing all around the build site, and not a foot inside of it, were workers, churchgoers, church members, and even some of Veronica’s soldiers.
They all stared inward towards the middle.
And standing in the center of the temple grounds, a staff perched on her shoulder, was Marybelle. Dressed in her leather armor and looking rather deadly for a well endowed beautiful Hob woman.
A group of normal Hobs in various armors stood in front of her, numbering at least ten. They were all regular spawns, and he could even see their blueprints off to one side of the grounds.
There was a pile of corpses to the rear of the area.
All human in various states of being whole.
Apparently the church hadn’t taken the Fairy and her troop seriously.
He came in close until he was practically hovering over Marybelle’s shoulder.
“Master,” she said, her eyes shifting to one side, looking to him. “Good morning.”
“Good morning,” he said. There was no one within hearing range or the Hobs would probably be attacking them.
“I’ve held the grounds since first light. They put up resistance, but underestimated me. I do not think I’ll survive a serious push, but I’m glad to have you appear while I hold the center,” she said, a smile curling her lips. “Do remember to reward me.”
Ryker laughed at that and looked to the pile of dead bodies.
He briefly wondered if she understated her ability.
“I’ll reward you, have no doubt of that. You look good in that. How are you keeping them from simply rushing you, by the way?” Ryker asked.
“The sign out there gives them the rules. For each person who crosses the site, another monster will spring to life. As it’s such a clearly stated rule, the mana is insignificant. And yes, master, I can answer what you would of the rules, but I beg you not to. You are my master and king, and I’ll serve you in any way you ask, but she is my queen and has ordered us to be silent on the matter. Please don’t force me?” Marybelle asked him earnestly. Her entire being seemed to beg him to do as she pleaded.
Ryker didn’t press the matter.
She’d never done him wrong, and always gave him comfort of any sort when he needed it without question.
He’d not wrong her now.
“As you like, Marybelle. As you like. I—” Ryker paused as he felt Diane lift her head up off his chest. “I’m afraid it’s time for me to go. I’ll drop by later in person.”
Fleeing back to his body, he opened his eyes.
To Diane kissing him, her hands pressed to his shoulders.
She pulled back a few inches and smiled at him.
“Good morning,” she said.
“Morning. You seem chipper,” he said, grinning.
“After last night? Yes. I feared you were taking an interest more in others than I. And while I admit that… that wouldn’t be a concern in a normal noble marriage, I felt hurt,” she said, as if admitting something silly. “Scared.”
“Well, that wasn’t my intention. I’m just stressed. Forgive me, wife. Now, I do need to go see Chadwick about what happened yesterday,” he said.
“Ah… how about… how about you… ah—” Diane said, her cheeks flushing.
Getting the hint, Ryker smiled widely at her. “But only after I attend to my wife. Of course.”
Roughly an hour later Ryker managed to make it to the temple grounds.
Marybelle and her troops were gone.
Standing in the middle of the temple grounds were soldiers from Veronica’s army. Leading them was what looked like an acolyte of the church.
“They cheated,” Marybelle whined. “They attacked from outside the grounds and then ran in. Wynne has modified the board, and we’ll be enacting a penalty in the next attack.”
Ryker nodded his head once.
“And who—”
There was a sudden explosion of noise as Sierra appeared from midair. Her axe crashed down into the head of the acolyte, splitting it like a ripe watermelon.
Two other Fairy avatars popped into existence and a squad of dwarves with hammers.
All around him was panic and pandemonium as the humans were cut down.
No sooner were they were all dead, than the other two Fairy avatars vanished, leaving Sierra alone. Slamming the butt of her axe down onto a corpse she lifted her chin up.
“For violating the rules of battlegrounds, a penalty was assigned. Further penalties will be increasing in severity with each incident,” Wynne said aloud.
Sierra snorted, then started hacking up something. Audibly clearing her throat, she turned her head and spat up a wad of something onto the banner of the church that was on the ground.
Pointing a hand at the other dwarves, she said something to them he couldn’t understand.
One by one, the dwarves all went over to the banner. The flag of the church.
And emptied their bladders and bowels.
Wynne’s sigh in Ryker’s ear was strange.
“She might as well be a dwarf instead of a Fairy,” she mused.
“About that. They all seem to be taking on traits of their avatars. Is that going to be okay?” Ryker asked.
“It’ll be fine. But yes, their personalities are changing. I don’t think Charlotte, Tris, or Marybelle have left their Avatar bodies in… a very long time. They keep their Fairy bodies in small comfortable boxes in their rooms. It’s… mildly unnerving to me.
“And speaking of Fairies. There are no dungeon fairy villages, cities or communities left on this continent. They all belong to us, or fled beyond our reach,” Wynne said, her voice sounding rather smug.
“You… captured them all?”
“Yes. I did. Next are the dungeon imps. Cousins to my people. We’ll be taking them as well. They mocked me just as much.,” Wynne said, her voice turning razor sharp in an instant. “I’ve already captured several. They are much more crafty than Fairies. They typically serve dungeons that deal in the black arts, or serve dark mages. Arria really hasn’t done so well as your assistant, she’s a bit too busy, honestly. I’m considering using an Imp instead.”
Right. Destroying her own people isn’t enough, she wants to get her cousins.
“You see!? This is what you get for worshiping a dungeon. Nothing but darkness and vile blasphemy,” shouted a cleric of the light.
“Hah, you’re the ones that challenged the dungeon, you dumb twat,” catcalled a citizen.
“Yeah! Idiots. It wasn’t until your leader said it’d fight the dungeon head on. Then it decided it wanted that fight,” called another.
“Hm. It seems the pantheon of light has worn out their welcome,” Ryker said, changing the subject.
“Yes. They have. I’ll be sending you the dungeon imps some time in the next few weeks. They need to learn their place. I’m removing Tris, Marybelle, and Charlotte as your bodyguards. Though you’re welcome to spend your free time with them as you see fit,” Wynne said, not letting the subject be diverted.
“Fine. At least keep their races as something workable though. Walking around in public with a troll or an ogre won’t work.”
“I’ll make sure they’re all something you can take to bed, I promise. Your tastes in women are an interesting thing to study.”
“Not what I was asking, damnit. And really, Wynne, since—”
There was a sudden and massive accumulation of mana. The likes of which he hadn’t seen since his days as a student.
The type of buildup he saw his masters use before they put on demonstrations.
Ryker’s head snapped to the left and found a man that you’d see any day of the week and think nothing of.
He held his hands close to his chest, and was clearly putting together a spell for
m.
Slapping down a basic energy shield form, Ryker built in a spirit attachment. It would siphon the energy of the spell that impacted the shield, and feed it back into the strength of the shield.
The man pushed his hands forward, a ball of bright blue flame leaping out of his hands.
Fixing together a quick air spell Ryker pushed it into the shield, creating an upward slant to the entire thing with an air current. With any luck it’d shift the entire remnant of the spell that didn’t get eaten by the shield upwards and away.
“What’s happening!?” Wynne cried.
Not waiting for the next spell, Ryker turned on his heel, and started to sprint away.
That single spell had drained him considerably, but it didn’t drop him like it would have only a few months ago.
In fact, he was sure it would have damn near killed him.
Except he had a familiar now. Even if the familiar wasn’t around he was still much stronger than previously.
Even if this wasn’t his avatar body and it wasn’t a simple construct he could plan out in advance.
Ryker knew, though, that even with his newfound strength, he was no match for this master.
He needed an exit now.
Taking a running leap off the ground, he slapped a massive construct of air down beneath and behind himself. Sending himself sailing through the air like a cast stone.
The landing was going to be awful and probably break some bones, but it was better than dying. This would get him the distance he needed.
“Its an assassin. A very high level magician!” Ryker called, finally responding to Wynne.
Even as he went flying away, he felt the danger.
Any good mage would be able to target him. A flying object was predictable. The trajectory was set.
Ryker struggled to put up a shield behind himself as he went.
There was a crash of magical energy and the sound of a shield shattering.
Something hit his left foot and blinding agony raced up his spine to his brain, scrambling his thoughts.
Ryker had enough energy, and enough presence of mind, to tuck and roll before he hit the ground.
Though he managed little else.
He flopped along the road, the crackle and snap of his bones audible.
It was all he could hear.
Right up until his head smacked into something and the lights went out, and he heard nothing more.
Chapter 31- The Front -
Ryker managed to pry his eyes open. He could see the sky above him, even if it was hazy and wildly rolling around.
Then Adele’s face was the entirety of his view.
“Ryker? Hang on. I’ve got you,” she said.
He could feel her arms under his shoulders, pulling him somewhere.
“Whhahhhffh—” he slurred.
“No fucking idea. It looked like you were flying and someone tossed a spell at you,” she said. “Getting you off the street.”
“I’ve got Charlotte on her way to you!” Wynne called out.
Her presence was fluttering around him in a worried ball of emotions.
“Sssassssssin,” Ryker sent back.
“Assassin? He’s still chasing. He’s the most powerful human I’ve ever seen. We don’t have anyone who can take him out alone. Tris is massing a force of Avatars,” she said.
Adele dropped him to the ground. Ryker groaned as the back of his head bounced off the stones.
“Sorry, I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I need to do something else though. This isn’t working,” Adele said.
Roughly she began to move him around. Then suddenly he found himself slung across her shoulders.
Lifting his head slightly, he could see the side of Adele’s face. She looked determined. Managing a step, she started forward down the side alley she’d pulled him into.
With every step it seemed like she got steadier.
“Stay with me. You cracked your head hard enough that you probably hurt something in there. I don’t know why but my instructors always told me not to let head injuries fall asleep,” Adele said, her eyes flashing towards him angrily.
“Yeffff,” he mumbled.
“Good. You make me a widow already and I’ll dig your corpse up and feed it to a zombie just to raise you as an undead,” she grumbled.
Distantly Ryker heard the sound of an explosion followed by screams. There was a deep rumble, and then everything cut off abruptly.
“He’s dead. I’m going to start going through his memories. Stay safe,” Wynne said, and then flew off.
“I’m getting close. There’s a lot going on and the city is panicking,” Charlotte said.
Unable to help himself, Ryker closed his eyes, and the world faded out.
“Wake up!” Adele growled at him, giving him a shake.
His eyes popped open. Adele was still carrying him. It didn’t look like the same street anymore though.
In fact, it almost looked like one of the side streets that led to the farmhouse.
“Adele?” asked someone from the other side.
It took Ryker a second to recognize the voice as Diane’s.
“Diane! Someone tried to kill Ryker,” Adele said, quickly moving towards where the voice had come from.
“What?! I don’t even… what happened?”
“I don’t know, but help me get him to the farm. The dungeon previously said it would take trespassers as enemies. I know for a fact it responds violently to them, too. If we can get him there, he’ll be safe,” Adele explained.
“Okay. Okay, we can do that. We can do that,” Diane said. “Is he okay?”
“No. He’s fading in and out, broken bones, and he can’t seem to talk very well.” Adele turned back down the street and set off again.
Diane made a worried noise at that.
“I’ll make sure we get the strongest healer we can,” Diane said, her voice gaining some steel. “And then we’ll find out who did this.”
“What if it was your mother?” Adele asked.
“What?”
“What if it was your mother who tried to have him killed?”
“She would never.”
“No? Even if he’s at odds with the church? You don’t think she would?”
“I… if it was her… I don’t know…”
Adele clicked her tongue, her face full of annoyance, yet she said no more.
Diane popped into view in front of his face.
“Hello, dear. Don’t worry. Everything will be taken care of. You’ll be taken care of. I promise it,” she said, smiling at him.
Ryker blacked out again.
***
Ryker’s consciousness floated back to the surface as if he were a bubble coming up from the bottom of the sea.
Everything felt distorted, misshapen.
Broken.
Then, with an abruptness that was breathtaking, everything snapped into perfect clarity.
Adele, Diane, Charlotte, Tris, Marybelle, and a small sized version of Wynne were all staring down at him.
“Good work, Marybelle,” Tris said, her head turning to the Hob.
“Thank you. There was some… strange… damage inside his head,” said the Hob. “But everything is as it should be now. He’ll need rest.”
“Ryker? Are you alright?” Diane asked, leaning in closer to him.
“I think so. Weren’t we just in an alley…?” he asked, looking from her to Adele.
“About an hour ago. The city is in an uproar. News spread quick about someone trying to kill you, and then the dungeon literally spawning hundreds of… hundreds of people to kill him. Drowned the fucker in bodies,” Adele said.
“Then your bodyguards showed up, spoke with your Fairy, and have been working on you since,” Diane said.
Ryker nodded his head and closed his eyes. “Great. We have any idea who he was or who hired him?” Ryker asked.
“Master magician. From Trevail. Chadwick hired him personally,” Wynne said in his mind.
“No,” Wynne said aloud.
Ryker grunted once.
“Alright. Cut off his head, mount it on a pike, and put it up at the center of the temple. Dump his core into Robyn’s prison,” Ryker instructed.
“You’re taking this too calmly,” Diane said, her brow furrowed. “This isn’t the first time, is it?”
“Huh?” Adele asked.
Ryker opened his eyes and met Diane’s stare.
He briefly considered lying, but realized she’d see right through it. Her mother trained her well in politics and reading people, even if she ended up creating a blind spot when it came to romance.
“It isn’t. It might be the sixth. Or seventh. Up to this point the dungeon has handled it fairly well,” Ryker admitted.
“And that doesn’t include the one who came after me, does it,” Diane said. It wasn’t really a question, but a statement.
“No, it doesn’t.”
“Wait, what?” Adele asked, her volume going up two levels. “They’ve tried to kill you seven times? Who!?”
“The church,” Diane answered, her face smoothing. “He resists them, and counters them. Mostly because they’re trying to take away Dungeon, but also because they’re abusing the population already. Isn’t that right?”
Grimacing, Ryker nodded his head.
“And it was your mother who did all this. All for the sake of getting the throne,” Adele said, practically shouting. She slammed her palms into her thighs. “At this rate there won’t be a throne left to sit on! No matter who wins, they’ll just get run over whichever side is on the throne!”
After she stopped yelling, no one said anything.
Because it was true.
If Chadwick felt confident enough to try and kill Ryker, Veronica’s son-in-law, then there was probably very little he wouldn’t do to meet his goals.
“Mother, what have you done,” Diane finally said into the silence.
“This is a good thing anyways. You weren’t willing to stay put,” Wynne said. “We just detected a massive influx of people on the edge of the border to the dungeon. I sent Arria to look. They’re all members of the church of light. At least ten thousand of them. They’ll be equally matched to Veronica’s forces now.”
In other words, it’s now deadlocked between loyal forces and those who work for the church.
Dungeon Deposed Page 33
