The Ice Lands

by William Dickey

  Izusa threw a jab to my face, shattering my nose with her massive beastwoman fist. I would have tried to block it, but I could do nothing with my hands and legs bound. Blood dribbled down my upper lip and into my mouth, the bitter taste of iron sharpening my resentment and adding to my surprise at the beastwoman’s next statement.

  “Am sorry about that. It has just been a hard couple of days and have no idea what am asking,” said Izusa. I knew why she’d had a hard couple of days. Only a couple days ago, I had led Crystalpeak through her people’s attack. Tens of thousands of beastmen had died in the battle. It wasn’t surprising she’d still held a grudge. In fact, that was why I thought she’d taken me. I had struck a great blow to her people and assumed she’d taken me in revenge.

  “If you really want my help with something you should really be trying to make a better impression. You could start by untying my hands. I need to take a piss,” I suggested between deep exhales through my nose as I attempted to clear it of blood. It wasn’t that I even considered cooperating, the beastwoman inspired hitherto unexperienced realms of hatred, but reminiscing over my prior run ins with her reminded me how I’d escaped before.

  Izusa frowned for a couple seconds before half her mouth turned upward in a sly smile.

  “Nice try. But, remember our first encounter. May have removed all the weapons found on, but am familiar with what can do. In a few days, once we get into Othan lands will be happy to untie, but not until then,” said Izusa. During our first encounter, Izusa had already been interested in taking me prisoner. I escaped by pulling a spear out from my inventory and impaling myself on it. Back then, she didn’t know that I was from another world and would resurrect, otherwise she might have waited a week and recaptured me. “If need to relieve self, just do it. It is only a couple days.”

  “I wonder why she was after me even in Mill Valley,” I whispered to myself. Back then, I hadn’t done anything special, I was just a normal guy. Then I remembered how she had been interested in my weapon, a spear I had crafted personally. The beastmen collected craftsmen to build tools to aid their war effort, but that didn’t make any sense either. Why would this beastwoman put so much focus on a single blacksmith, a novice one at that?

  ‘I wouldn’t get your hopes up,’ said Mai. ‘I don’t think she’s interested in you romantically. Muscle heads tend to favor one another and your physique is pathetic. Although, she did want you to pee on her, maybe it’s some form of bestial claim.’

  “Now remember to sit still, we are setting off again,” said Izusa as she picked me up and pulled her arms through a couple hoops of rope, latching me between her shoulders like I was a backpack. “We will stop again in a couple hours, after sunrise.”

  Then Izusa shifted. She leaned down onto her hands and knees as she gained mass and somehow grew even larger. Her limbs changed into paws and her groans of pain changed into howls as her face elongated into the proud snout of a wolf. As she changed form, like all beastmen warriors, the plates in Izusa’s armor rearranged themselves to accommodate the change. This was by no means magical. Beastmen armor was custom made to shift mechanically with its wearers.

  In less than thirty seconds, the transformation was complete and things returned to the way they’d started. My stomach returned to rolling like I was on the ocean, although I wish I still thought that was what was happening. Instead, I was wide-eyed and worried as I endured an endless rollercoaster with Izusa bounding through the forest, zigzagging between trees and leaping across trenches at a breakneck pace, which was quite literal since if I slipped off, I was sure to break my neck.

  Lilith rapt her knuckles against the large metal door with a † emblazoned across it before refocusing her mind on a fire sigil.

  ‘Damn, it’s cold,’ she thought as she used the sigil to convert her mana into the heat she needed to survive. Many forms of daemons relied on such magic whenever they were on the surface, their physiology required tremendous heat, but lately Lilith had been more reliant than normal. That wasn’t surprising above the 60th parallel but several weeks of travel had left her depleted. She was pleased to finally complete her mission and get a chance to rest inside.

  The metal door creaked as the thin layer of ice covering it shattered and the door melted away revealing a disheveled young daemon with deep rings around his eyes.

  “Yes?” he yawned.

  “Private Lilith Demogorgon of the 16th Reconnaissance Division. I have come to deliver the hard drive from Agent Morrigan,” said Lilith. Lilith had been a Lancepesade but her rank was lowered after I escaped from her.

  “We’ve been expecting you. Come in and welcome to Niflheim,” said the sleepy man. “I’m Legult, one of the research assistants working here. Follow me. I’ll take you to Distlemander, he runs this place.”

  Lilith followed Legult into the ruin past a group of murlimps moving several pieces of heavy machinery. The ruin had once housed her people’s ancient adversary, whom I knew as the Travelers, but since regaining their freedom, the daemons had retrofitted the site into one of several outposts they held on the surface of Tautellus. This particular facility was used for several active research projects whose details were highly classified but given the circumstances, were doubtlessly related to the war effort.

  “Just ignore them. They’re always moving around the facility. You’ll get used to it after a while,” said Legult indicating the murlimps. Daemons came in many forms, the most common of which were the murlimps. Murlimps were frightfully strong and were one of the few daemons whose physical bodies possessed sufficient resilience to survive on the surface without heating and thermal insulation spells. However, Murlimps couldn’t use magic. Their minds were primitive, often making them more like beasts than a proper daemon, and didn’t have the focus necessary to cast sigils, relegating the entire sub-species to manual labor.

  “After a while?” said Lilith, questioning Legult’s last statement. As far as she knew this was just a simple drop off.

  “Oh, I guess Distlemander was supposed to tell you,” Legult shrugged. “We’re a bit short of personnel and it takes so long to get someone out this far. You were already coming so Distlemander asked to have you reassigned.”

  “Okay I guess,” said Lilith as she continued following Legult. Lilith wasn’t quite sure how to take this news. On one hand, it meant she was finally getting to rejoin civilization, but on the other hand, it meant it would be much harder to redeem herself and reacquire her former rank.

  Legult led her through more narrow hallways littered with doors. Most were closed, but through those that weren’t, Lilith made out numerous active laboratory devices studying a variety of curiosities.

  Eventually, they reached a staircase that took them to the bottom level, six floors down.

  “What’s that?” Lilith asked pointing to a large metallic ring in the middle of a large room just as they left the staircase. Inside the ring was a pitch black hole that seemed to vibrate subtly in tune with fluctuations in air currents. Lilith was by no means an expert but even she noticed the massive mana conduits running to the device. Whatever it was, it was a serious power hog.

  “That is this facility’s main project. Its function is classified,” said Legult.

  “And that?” she asked, pointing across the room to a long metal rod attached to a black box with a speaker.

  “Again classified,” said Legult. “You’ll have to wait until you talk to Distlemander. He’ll decide what you’re permitted to know.”

  Lilith left but her mind still wandered back to the rod device. She thought it was strange, not because it was particularly advanced, in fact compared to most things she was used to it seemed quite primitive. No, Lilith was interested because of the noises coming from the device. The sounds were clearly speech but not of a language she recognized, which was something in of itself. Lilith had mastered a great many languages for her work with the reconnaissance division. Yet this language was a complete mystery.

  “It’s j
ust through here, quickly,” said Legult, spurning Lilith forward. “Distlemander abhors sluggishness.”

  After going through a few more long hallways, Lilith reached a small office at the edge of the complex.

  “Sir? A Private Demogorgon is here to see you,” said Legult as he rapt a tight fist on the side of a half-open door.

  “Oh um, go ahead come in,” squeaked a small voice from within.

  The room inside looked like a tornado had run through it. Mathematical equations covered the walls. Piles of open notebooks were strewn across all the unoccupied chairs and the floor except for a narrow path leading to a desk covered by what to Lilith looked like random mana circuit components. Behind it was a shabby old daemon hunched over a half-constructed artifact.

  This was Distlemander. Distlemander was a Maxwell daemon and fitting for his sub-species stood only about four feet tall. Maxwell daemons were small, but made up for their stature with their intelligence and natural talents when it came to machines and artifacts. They were like the daemon version of dwarves.

  “Hi, I’m-“

  “Shh,” Legult hushed her. “Not while he’s working, give him a moment.”

  Lilith and Legult waited for twenty minutes while Distlemander assembled the complex artifact and tested it out. When the artifact activated, it floated up and circled around Distlemander a few times before turning its attention to Lilith and Legult.

  A beam of light shot out of the floating artifact. It ran up and down Legult’s body before announcing, “SPECIMEN 002, TYPE: ORC, INDIVIDUAL: LEGULT UGDON, DESIGNATION: ALLY.”

  It then turned to Lilith and repeated the process.

  “SPECIMEN 003, TYPE: SUCCUBUS, INDIVIDUAL: UNKNOWN, DESIGNATION: INTRUDER. DESTROY IMEDIATELY.”

  The floating artifact started blaring a loud alarm and several gun barrels popped out of panels on its previously smooth surface.

  Legult immediately dove outside the office, distancing himself from Lilith as quickly as possible before yelling back.

  “Drone, knock it off. Disengage. This is Lilith Demogorgon. She is an ally,” Legult tried while cowering on the other side of the office’s doorway. Though that was considerably more than Distlemander who just stood there and watched, his eyes darting around excitedly as he took in every detail.

  “WEAPONS DEPLOYED. ENGAGE TARGET.” The artifact made a series of clicking noises as its guns attempted to fire. “WEAPONS DISABLED.” The artifact continued to alarm for a few seconds until Distlemander shut it off.

  “I really wish you would stop testing the auto defense drones inside the base,” said Legult.

  “All my machines need to be tested. How else am I to be sure they’d work in a real situation? You should be praising my foresight for disabling the weapons,” said Distlemander.

  “You don’t praise someone for taking obvious precautions, especially after there have been accidents,” said Legult.

  “Accident. That was just one time,” Distlemander waved it off. “Besides Nietzsche was always such a downer. He should have been happy. He worked in the most interesting place in the world.”

  “There were also the incidents with Marx and Locke,” Legult sighed. “And you wonder why we have staffing problems.”

  “Shh, you don’t want to say that in front of our newest,” said Distlemander.

  “She’ll learn how things work in this place soon enough,” said Legult.

  “From your lack of surprise,” said Distlemander, turning to Lilith. “I take it that Legult has told you, you have been reassigned here.”

  “Yes,” Lilith answered.

  “I’ve looked through your records. You don’t have any experience with artifact design so you won’t be any help to me. Instead, you’ll be assisting Malphestos with his little murlimp project. It doesn’t require any special skills and he’s been asking for a replacement assistant for a while now.”

  After this incident, Lilith was relieved not to be working under the master of Niflheim, but at the same time, she was a bit concerned. ‘Why had Malphestos requested a replacement assistant?’

  “Legult will show you to the lab as well as your quarters once we’re done here, but first, the business for which you came here. Do you have the hard drive?” Distlemander extended out a hand.

  “Umm, yes. Here it is,” said Lilith as she reached into a pocket and pulled out a metal box. “Strange little thing, never seen anything like it before.”

  “Oh boy,” Distlemander cheered as he grabbed the palm-sized box from Lilith’s hand and plugged it into a display he had set up in a corner of his overcrowded office. Within seconds, Niflheim’s head researcher was lost in a stream of characters Lilith couldn’t recognize.

  “Not surprising, it’s technology from another world after all,” said Legult, responding to Lilith on behalf of his master. Working under Distlemander for the last ten years, Legult was familiar with his flights of fancy. Although not a long time as daemons counted it, it was a record for someone working near Distlemander, much less directly for him.

  “Is he always like that?” Lilith asked.

  “Afraid so, whenever he gets into his research he drops everything else,” Legult explained.

  “And what exactly is his research? He seems to make drones, but the hard drive came from another world…” Lilith began.

  “Distlemander has a number of different ongoing pursuits. But as I said before, I can’t tell you what he is working on,” said Legult. “Since Distlemander is likely to be a while, why don’t I take you to Malphestos. I’m sure you’re eager to find out what exactly you’ll be doing here.”

  “Sure,” Lilith agreed, taking a step towards the door, but before she could take another Distlemander interrupted.

  “YYEESSSS,” Distlemander hollered, his high-pitched voice stinging both Lilith and Legult’s ears. “This is exactly what I was looking for. All I have to do is recalibrate the power and frequency modulation settings to match these measurements and… LEGULT.”

  Distlemander shouted the last word, forgetting that his assistant was already present.

  “I’m right here sir,” said Legult.

  “Quickly, come take a look at this. We must test this out immediately,” said Distlemander.

  “But, what about Private Demogorgon? I was just about to take her to Malphestos,” asked Legult.

  “Forget about that, our work is the top priority,” Distlemander ordered just before diving back into his data.

  “Sorry about this, but he frequently goes into these fits,” Legult apologized.

  “No problem, I can just wait,” Lilith offered.

  “No, no, we could be busy for days, one time he went on without any sleep for two weeks.”

  “LEGULT,” Distlemander called again.

  “You go ahead. Find someone down the hall, anyone in the facility can point you to Malphestos,” Legult excused himself in a hurry to join Distlemander at the display. Distlemander wasn’t a man to keep waiting.

  “Okay,” Lilith replied. Her voice half muted not out of nervousness or annoyance but because she knew her response was already meaningless. Both men were already lost in their work.

  She headed back into the hall and travelled down it. The metal geometric architecture of the facility felt slightly alien, but Lilith supposed it was to be expected. Distlemander had said their ancient enemy designed this place.

  Eventually, Lilith came across a small goblin covered in grease stains.

  “Excuse me,” said Lilith.

  “Hmm, yes… do you need something?” said the goblin nervously. Daemon society had a strict social hierarchy. Succubae placed much higher than goblins who were only one step above murlimps.

  “I’ve been assigned here and I was wondering if you could lead me to my supervisor,” said Lilith.

  “Sure, I can do that. Who is it?” the goblin asked.

  “Someone called Malphestos,” Lilith answered.

  “Shibat-” the goblin hissed, his mouth turning down
for a second before returning to normal as the goblin realized Lilith was paying attention to his every move.

  “What is it?” Lilith asked.

  “Err, ah, it’s nothing. I’ll take you to Master Malphestos right away,” said the goblin hurriedly. Lilith knew this wasn’t a good sign, but she had little choice. These were her orders and she was in no position to change them.

  Ch. 2: Dewpoint

  My journey with Izusa continued uninterrupted for five straight days. For five days, I spent my evenings trying not to unload my stomach contents all over the worst mode of transportation imaginable. For five days, I was continually bound, barely able to move more than an inch or two. For five days, I was forced to urinate and defecate in my own eternally soggy trousers.

  At first, I was hesitant to take such action. Chalk it up to a reflex burned into an early childhood so long ago I could no longer remember it, but eventually no level of psychological will can override nature’s call. I’m just thankful I wasn’t riding on Izusa’s back at the time but lying on the ground while Izusa rested. The smell was bad, but after a few hours, I got used to it. What was worse was a severe version of diaper rash as I was unable to clean myself for a prolonged period. I hadn’t thought I’d have to revisit this infantile experience until I was an old man, but this world like any other was full of surprises.

  During the first three days, the journey was monotonous. We rested during the day and rode through the night. The landscape was a continuous blur of a seemingly endless forest that I wouldn’t have even been able to make out in the dim moonlight if it wasn’t for Mai, who intercepted the signal from my eyes and enhanced its brightness and contrast like a computer before passing it on to my brain.

  On the fourth evening, the landscape changed. Relatively flat land turned upward into hills and the trees grew sparse enough that I could occasionally get a peek at snow-topped mountains in the distance. From my knowledge of this world’s geography, I had a rough idea where I was, Monstone Pass. The place lied on the border between Xebrya and the Othan Confederation, between human and beastman territory. I knew somewhere nearby, the Crystalpeak legions had been decimated by the beastman, though I didn’t see any sign of it. That fact didn’t surprise me. I knew from my experience with the ruins of Mill Valley that the beastmen were thorough looters.