Delvers LLC: Adventure Capital

by Blaise Corvin

  Dolos smiled and waved, causing a complex-looking device to float over to his hand. The object lit up as he played with it. He exclaimed, “Oh, we can’t have that! I take my duties as a host seriously! Plus, I spend most of my days wasting time with these disgusting mortals, especially Terrans. Have you ever had to talk to Terrans? It is a truly vile experience, I don’t recommend it. However, spending time with a peer, sharing wisdom, this is enjoyable, yes?”

  “I am not your peer,” groused Asag. Frelda was supposed to be paying attention, ready to be responsive in case anything was asked of her, but she could not bring herself to look at Dolos’ guest. Asag continued, “I came because of your assurances, and now I wish to leave.”

  “Oh you do, do you?” Dolos’ eyes gleamed. “You were motivated to talk before. What changed? Could it be you heard something, perhaps learned of something happening on your world?”

  The room grew still, and Frelda felt all the hair on her body stand up as the tension built. Dolos said, “As you know, you have nothing to fear from me, but our kind are rather paranoid. You can’t be sure that I don’t have some unexpected power, and I wasn’t sure that you would be a polite guest. We both agreed to temporarily limit ourselves unless we must act in self-defense against another peer.

  “I must say that I believe we should give peace a chance, and wait the entire week of our agreed upon time to discuss matters! Of course, if you came here with the intention of demanding I surrender this world, I’m sure that this probably won’t happen, but we can still discuss it over the length of our quality time together.” Dolos grinned.

  “I must go.”

  “But this is so sudden! I must protest,” said Dolos. “What is so pressing that you have to leave before the end of our time that you agreed upon? In fact, you practically demanded this meeting before. Perhaps you were expecting something to happen on Ludus that is not happening quite the way you had expected?

  “You should definitely stay. I’m sure nothing so unexpected has happened that you would need to leave, like an attack on your seat of power. But even if that were the case, I’m sure your tools will be able to handle it. After all, we all have agreed to let our mortal tools handle power conflicts. I’m sure you wouldn’t be tempted to directly intervene in mortal matters between us, right?

  “No matter what happens, we should make the most of our quality time together!” Dolos buffed his nails on the front of his multi-colored vestments.

  Asag oozed out of his matching throne and moved towards the exit. “I have agreed to this pointless meeting, so it is as you say, I would lose too much by leaving. I do not wish to stay, but I have no choice but to follow your ridiculous insistences. I do not wish to speak with you any longer, though. I will be in the space you supplied me. Know that I will not forget this. I plan to destroy you, now.”

  The terrible, disturbing, evil being walked through an archway and vanished, transitioning to the pocket dimension that Dolos had supplied as a guest chamber, all of which had been meticulously checked for traps by Asag’s minions before he’d actually arrived.

  “You planned to destroy me before, you cretin,” muttered Dolos, sitting up straight. “You, Frelda, bring me something new to play with. I am concentrating on reports from Keeja and Philana exclusively right now. Let the other attendants know that I do not wish to be disturbed unless the news they bring has world-affecting importance or greater. Everything else can wait.”

  “Yes, Lord Dolos,” said Frelda, still terrified but in better control of herself again. Dolos was powerful and unpredictable, but at least his motives made sense…most of the time. “Shall I remain as an attendant for you and Lord Asag?”

  “Asag’s pouting. The Dark are powerful, but a number of them don’t use their minds for anything other than impressing each other with even more appalling worlds. That vile sycophant with delusions of real power just realized that I got the best of him and was reminded of my natural brilliance. The Dark hate when Griseus prove yet again that we are superior.

  “He won’t come out again for a few days because I’ll just mock him and he won’t be able to do anything about it. Pity. He meant what he said, though. Before, he wanted Ludus. Now he will probably try above and beyond to destroy me, as well.” Dolos grinned. “Excellent. I needed more of a challenge. My minions are feeding me fantastic data! I’ve already been able to put some of it to use!”

  The Areva woman had no idea what Dolos was talking about, and felt conflicted as she scurried away. Dolos was bizarre and could be incredibly cruel, but if the alternative to Dolos was Asag or others like that… In her heart of hearts, Frelda decided to begin praying for Dolos to remain in power forever. For over a hundred years, she’d gone through her work without any real passion, only ambition. Now she understood how someone like Philana could have worked so hard, so diligently as a researcher.

  Frelda had attained a new perspective, and the entire universe was no longer as simple.

  “Attendant, you, pathetic little Areva!” Dolos called after her.

  “Yes, yes L-Lord Dolos?” squeaked Frelda, spinning.

  “Don’t forget to prepare for my pending world-wide announcement. I have something to tell the filthy mortals on Ludus, soon.”

  “Yes, Lord Dolos!”

  ***

  Aodh stood on the head of the infernal-destroyer he controlled, his attention was split dozens of ways. His zombie army kept growing as his monstrous steed raced across the landscape. One of his flying demons winged closer, pulling another smaller, squirming demon to his position. Aodh casually flicked his dagger hand out, cutting the sacrifice. Then the zombie dropped the dead demon’s now-lifeless body to be crushed under the huge, thudding feet of the infernal-destroyer.

  He was recharging his death magic enough to make a new zombie. He’d been doing this for hours.

  Behind him, Henry and Jason argued about what they should call the infernal-destroyer. “‘Infernal-destroyer’ is a stupid name,” said Henry.

  “It’s shorter than all the names you hate on Ludus, but I kind of agree with you. Who names these things? Then again, you really don’t have a leg to stand on. I mean,

  ‘Volleyball Death?’” Jason punctuated his statement by throwing a knife that vanished with a small clap of filled vacuum. In the distance, a small demon in the sky plummeted downwards, a throwing knife in its back.

  “This suit’s name is strange, but it has grown on me,” said Tanushree from where she stood behind the Battlewagon. The Battlewagon itself was being held in place with one of the infernal-destroyer’s tentacles, and Henry manned the turret. Tanushree guarded the rear of their enormous steed in case any demons managed to climb up or land.

  One of the first things Aodh had done after taking control of the massive creature was order it to pick up the Battlewagon and place the entire vehicle on its back. After that, using one tentacle to keep it in place was simple. If the true-demon had been alive, holding the Battlewagon in place for hours would have been problematic, but it was dead, so it tirelessly plodded on with no complaint.

  After Aodh had ascended to the top of his new mount, locating the helldoor temple had been simple, and his huge zombie had utterly demolished the structure almost instantly. When the helldoor had been closing, he’d followed his magic-fueled instincts. He’d picked up the rest of the Delvers and guided his mount towards the beacon on the horizon where the new helldoor to Ludus was forming.

  The Delvers had been traveling for hours now, with Gonzo sending wave after wave of ice spikes to one side, and Vitaliya constantly throwing waves of fire outwards from the other side, incinerating any true-demons roaming around Brecken that got too close. Meanwhile, Jason had cut down all the large flying demons they’d come across, and Henry had used the cannons on the Battlewagon to gun down larger demons in their path. It was hard, grueling work, but somehow the two Delvers leaders were still finding time to bicker.

  Aodh had not been paying much attention and was completely focus
ed on guiding his zombies and creating new ones, but he understood. This was how these two handled stress. Aodh knew that Mareen’s unconscious body was at Henry’s feet in the turret, and the man wouldn’t let anyone, or anything, come anywhere near her.

  Everyone was exhausted. Uluula and Bezzi-ibbi were the best-rested, but they were practically dead on their feet, too. The Areva woman and Mo’hali boy helped where they could, supporting their comrades with violence and in other ways, like fetching water for the two Berber spies. Honey had reverted to her smaller form, and was sleeping deeply on top of Mareen. Sometime in the last couple hours, Henry had said she’d done it to herself, and Aodh had realized that this was probably how she’d ended up in the goblin cave they’d first found her in.

  At least, he had a hard time imagining anyone catching the fierce, magical beast while she was enraged.

  “Volleyball Death is a great name!” argued Henry. The gruff adventurer fired a couple large rounds from his cannons and said, “If you’re going to spend so much time arguing about the awesome names I come up with, at least pass me more ammo.”

  “That doesn’t even make any sense, but here,” said Jason, pulling huge gold shells out of midair to hand to his friend.

  “Thanks. Are you going to change the music? It just went to pop again and Keeja is still up there,” said Henry, pointing upwards to the green flashes in the sky. About an hour early, Keeja had zipped out of the cloud cover, her huge halberd in the gut of a demonic-looking woman, both combatants had crackled with energy. If Aodh wasn’t riding multiple types of magic, the sight would have been breathtaking and terrifying at the same time. Both demigoddesses. Keeja and Philana had been fighting above them since they’d come to Brecken.

  Jason said, “Yeah, hold on.” He adjusted the music player for a few seconds, and a new song started playing. “Here we go! Crazy Train. Seems appropriate to be playing Ozzy in this situation.”

  “I’ll allow it,” Henry sniffed. “But let’s get back to the subject of the fucked up thing we’re riding. If you could, what would you name this big, ugly ass demon, like, what would you call it? I bet you can’t come up with anything better than ‘infernal-destroyer.’”

  Jason paused for a moment, then said, “Let’s call her Sue.”

  “Why?”

  “Sue is the name of an awesome Tyrannosaurus rex in a Chicago museum. It was also the name of that same dinosaur being turned into a zombie in one of my favorite series of fantasy books back on Earth. The demon we’re riding kind of looks like a T-rex, so it seems like a good name.”

  “That all sounds really stupid,” muttered Henry. “I mean, a zombie dinosaur? Who the fuck comes up with stuff like that?”

  “We’re currently riding inside a bronze APC being carried on the back of a giant zombie demon across a hell world,” said Jason with a level look. “Our lives are the most bullshit thing I would have ever heard of in my life. Also, Aodh’s dagger and magic are total hax.”

  It was difficult for Aodh not to pay more attention to the conversation, but his zombies were bringing him another demon to kill. He needed to generate more life energy and death magic from at least a couple more sacrifices before he could make a new zombie minion. His hoard currently followed Sue, the name he decided to adopt for his zombie mount, or flew through the sky to either side. Aodh was building an army. He would protect his friends.

  Henry chuckled. “You started thinking about Tony’s magic, huh? I just completely avoid the subject now because it’s a total mindfuck. You know, every single thing we’ve done on this planet might have been influenced by his power, maybe even from the future.”

  “You’re right. I don’t want to think about it.”

  Jason kept talking, but Aodh tuned out the rest of the discussion. He had a job to do, and he had to keep killing demons to keep repairing his body as well as staying awake. Without the constant supply of life energy, controlling this number of zombies would eventually kill him, and he planned to make more.

  In the distance, a couple of howling funnel clouds full of razor-sharp rocks began to form, and Aodh adjusted Sue’s course slightly. In a world like Brecken, heading anywhere in a straight line was a death wish. In the distance to one side, a pit, home of a truly colossal worm-like demon was probably too far away to give them trouble, but Aodh eye it warily. As usual, he ran magic through his body, harming himself in the process, but the payoff had been staying alive this long so far.

  The magic burned in his gut, and Aodh followed its call.

  ***

  By the time the Delvers had reached the helldoor to Mensk, the Berber capital city, they were already too late. Even after riding Sue the whole way across the barren Brecken landscape, the rend between worlds stood tall, crimson, and spinning. The portal was very open, and streams of demons pushed their way forward, trying to make their way through. Just like at the last helldoor, larger demons trundled forward in the distance towards the gate.

  Aodh was exhausted, more tired than he’d ever been before in his life, even with the advantage of draining life from demons the whole ride. The last few hours had been harrowing and disjointed, much of it lost to fragmented memory. Aodh had controlled his zombies, clearing the way for Sue to keep running forward, charging towards the red beacon on the horizon, towards the newly forming helldoor.

  Flashing magic, the screech of dying demons, the thunder of huge true-demons, the crunch of nightmare creatures being crushed under Sue’s heavy feet...all of it ran together. During the last hour, in particular, the effort had been a grim testament to all the Delvers’ conviction and endurance. If Sue hadn’t already been dead, the hell ride across Brecken probably would have destroyed her mighty heart...or hearts. Whatever she had in there.

  All the Delvers were practically dead on their feet, but like Henry would say, they had a job to do.

  After the group arrived at the open helldoor, Aodh wasted no time. He controlled over one hundred zombie demons now, and he immediately sent them foward into action. Larger minions were sent to secure the area in front of the gate, smaller demons supported them, and flying demons kept the skies clear.

  Sue was like a battering ram of snapping claws and whipping tentacles.

  The surprised demons, larger at this helloor than the last one, and the handful of Asag cultists barely knew what hit them. Dozens of furious undead bodies that felt no pain and had no fear crashed into the defenders like a wave of zombie retribution. A handful of cultists screamed, and true-demons bellowed as they were torn apart by Aodh’s creations.

  Aodh directed Sue directly to the temple, though it was more of a hidden gazebo made of stone. The building wasn’t much to look at, but it held the gate open. Aodh knew from experience that after the little temple was destroyed, they’d only have a few minutes to make the transition to the other world. Considering that Keeja’s battle in the sky hadn’t abated the entire time, closing the helldoor and getting through to Ludus as soon as possible seemed like a good idea.

  The next few minutes ran together for Aodh. There was just violence. Violence everywhere, and he directed his zombies towards it. As the gate began to close, Aodh instructed Sue to set the Battlewagon down in front of the fading helldoor. Still in the turret, Henry triggered his last two blasts from the Battlewagon’s cannons, decimating entire ranks of demons before the rest of the Delvers scrambled out of the venerable vehicle.

  Henry carried Mareen, her body looking much closer to that of a human woman after a few hours of being unconscious. Honey was awake again and followed her friend. The group ran through the helldoor one by one while the zombie demons kept their living kin at bay. A few stray bolts of magic from cultists or the Brecken equivalent of mages zipped through the air, but amidst so much other chaos, Aodh couldn’t determine the source.

  A couple figures flashed down from the sky, one of them briefly recognizable as a battered and wounded Keeja. The demigoddess was burned, and otherwise looked like hell, but she flashed a smile as she retrie
ved her music player from the Battlewagon. Then both she and Philina darted through the helldoor.

  “Have Sue step on the Battlewagon!” shouted Henry as he jumped through the portal. Aodh mentally shrugged and instructed the enormous zombie to do so, the result looking like a bronze pancake. Then he prepared to leap through the crimson slash in reality next, to be followed by Vitaliya. Just in case, before he entered the portal, he gave one last command to his zombie demons.

  Every zombie that could fit through the portal was instructed to attempt following him. Zombie creatures that were too large to fit through the helldoor, like Sue, were given orders to destroy everything around them that wasn’t a zombie.

  Flashes of memory, disturbing imagery, and random thoughts bombarded Aodh just like the first time he’d gone through a helldoor. This time when he stepped out on the other side, he didn’t need time to recover. He ran forward with his friends, Uluula and Bezzi-ibbi peeled off to climb a rooftoop near the hole punched in the palace to watch the other Delvers’ backs. The barrier surrounding the entire palace was barely visible, but flickered against the night sky.

  With a dying hiss, the helldoor closed behind them, cutting off the final resting place of the Delvers LLC Battlewagon. Even through his exhaustion, Aodh was glad to be free of Brecken. That place had felt like it had been changing him. All the demons hadn’t really been pleasant, either.

  Flashes of combat, roaring demons, splashes of blood... A bolt of fire flashed past Aodh, only a portion of his consciousness registering its passage. About fifty zombie demons had made it through the helldoor before it closed, and they were a huge help, but were being destroyed too quickly. Every time one of them was neutralized, Aodh noticed his connection being cut off.

  The Delvers weren’t exactly standing still, though. Henry and Jason were as terrifying as usual. Henry had stashed Mareen’s unconscious form in a small room he’d created inside some solid stone somewhere, Honey watching over the unconscious woman, so his hands were free to deal death. Jason was everywhere, Breeze crackling with electricity.