“—and straight into a nest of flower minks! I didn’t know they nested to begin with, since minks are supposed to be territorial, but apparently they do,” Brianna said, gesturing at Joy with her mug.
“I’m glad they don’t like the taste of bees, or of apis!” Joy said, grinning as she shifted in her chair, her armor now adorned with thin, subtle silver stripes. “One sniffed me, and I was worried until it pulled away.”
“I believe that,” Rukar said, reaching up to stroke one of his braids thoughtfully. “Still, it does open up some other possibilities, now that we know that. Perhaps—”
“Quiet down, you lot!” Isolde’s bellow cut through the hubbub almost effortlessly, and in seconds the room quieted, as everyone looked toward the Guildmaster.
Isolde was a big woman, and Cora had a healthy respect for her, as the woman likely could have killed the demon they’d encountered without breaking a sweat. The human was older, with cold eyes and a serious personality, which meant the meeting likely wasn’t going to be pleasant, particularly not since Isolde and several other retired adventurers had delved into the Blackstone Mines after Cora and the others had made it back to town and reported in. Anything that got them to come out of retirement… that worried her.
“Alright, so by this point most of you know that something happened in the Blackstone Mines.” Isolde finally spoke, looking around pointedly as she folded her arms in front of her. “A demon around level forty brought an entire clan of motini into the mines and made it a deathtrap, one which killed at least a half-dozen adventurers that we know of, and nearly killed another nine.”
The ripple of surprise through the room was almost palpable, along with fear at the mention of the demon, and plenty of people glanced in Cora’s direction, causing her to tighten her grip on her staff. Fame wasn’t always good, since it could often prompt envy as well, and adventurers… well, they weren’t always nice people.
“Regardless, some quick thinking on the part of those trapped in the mines managed to turn things around. Half the motini were killed when they collapsed part of a cavern on them, then the demon was drawn into a flower mink den, where he was forced to teleport away,” Isolde continued without pause, smiling a little as she added, “The motini haven’t been completely cleared out, unfortunately, so there will be quests going up to deal with them. We don’t want a demonic cult of them getting entrenched nearby. Unfortunately, we have another major problem.”
Isolde’s smile vanished, and a chill ran down Cora’s spine as she spoke. “This region was once the domain of a kingdom called Tarngard, which was a fairly powerful kingdom in its time. They fought against three different demon lords over the years, and were successful in part because they controlled the Blackstone Mines and had a steady supply of luminous titansteel. Unfortunately, the goblins took them off guard when they were fighting another war, and the kingdom fell. The problem is that Tarngard couldn’t destroy all of the things they fought over the centuries, so in some cases they sealed them away.”
“Ah… what do you mean? What sort of things?” one of the other adventurers piped up, his voice a touch concerned.
“A wide variety of them, from a legendary Demonic Juggernaut to several Fallen Angels, all of them were higher than level sixty,” Isolde explained bluntly, and she scowled as she continued. “Unfortunately, one of the sealing stones was hidden in the Blackstone Mines. The guild found it decades ago and hid the entrance to the sealing stone. It couldn’t be moved, as that would weaken the seal, so it was best hidden entirely. The demon stole the stone, which is one of several.”
“Oh shit,” Brianna muttered, paling slightly, and Cora swallowed.
“Yeah, that… that would explain why he was in the area,” Cora agreed, and Joy’s eyes were wide at this point, as the apis looked around the room in fascination as she took in the worried adventurers.
“I’m not telling you all about this to worry you, but it’s concerning,” Isolde said after a moment, pacing back and forth. “I don’t know what the particular stone seals away, but I’m going to need someone to take a report to Irador in the next few days. Also, if you see anything that looks like it could be the activity of the demon, I want you to report to me. If it is, there’s a good-sized award waiting for you. Don’t attack the demon, as you’re not likely to survive it, just let us know. We want to cut this demon off at the knees before he manages to free whichever monster is sealed and put the sealing stone back where it belongs.”
“Thank Mother Moon,” Stella murmured softly, closing her eyes as the woman let out a soft breath. “I was afraid we were being called on to hunt the demon directly.”
“Yes, that would be bad. Not that this isn’t terrible enough as it is,” Rukar said, tapping his chin thoughtfully. “It also gives quite a bit of context, and none of it good.”
“What sort of context?” Joy asked, looking at him as her eyes shined brightly. At the same time, Cora could see Isolde answering someone’s question up front a good deal more quietly than normal. “I do understand that he’s mean, and that those creatures getting out is bad, but I’m not sure what you figured out.”
“Well, one of the things that isn’t quite as well-known is that Dark Lords aren’t just born that way, though often they are. Rather, some of them gain their title and power by performing deeds of sufficient power and destructiveness that they attract the notice of the dark gods,” Rukar explained, and let out a soft sigh as he shook his head. “It’s very, very likely that such is this demon’s goal. That’s what I meant by context.”
“Oh! That’s right, Brianna and the others told me about Dark Lords… so he’s really mean, got it,” Joy said, nodding enthusiastically. “I don’t know if we’re going to see him again, but I’d really rather not. He wasn’t very nice to me.”
“You mean he grabbed you by the throat and was strangling you,” Cora interjected, her tone dry, and just a hint of bitterness rushing through her. It was her throwing a spell at him that had led to her being poisoned, though Cora wasn’t sure what else she could have done, since Joy might not have survived if he hadn’t been distracted.
“Yes, that’s right,” Joy agreed, then paused, tilting her head as she pondered. “He also seemed really confused by me. I think he hadn’t heard about us apis yet.”
“That would make sense, if he was in the mines that entire time,” Rukar said, nodding slowly.
The sound of Isolde clearing her throat distracted them before he could continue, and Cora’s gaze rose as the Guildmaster looked around the room for a moment, then spoke. “Alright, as there don’t seem to be any major questions, I’m calling the meeting done for now. If you want to take the dispatch to Irador, come see me, and let me know immediately if you have information on the movements of any demons. There shouldn’t be any in our region to begin with. Try not to panic, either, as there are at least two seals for things like this, usually more. That gives us time to send out groups to protect the others and nip this in the bud. Be safe out there, all of you!”
The rumble of conversation abruptly increased, but at the same time people began streaming toward the front doors, to Cora’s relief. She was about to get up when Stella cleared her throat, meeting Cora’s gaze.
“Do you think we should let Isolde know we’re going to Irador?” Stella asked, having to speak loudly to make herself heard. “If we’re going there anyway, it seems like it’d be a good idea. If she wants to go with someone else, she could, but more income never hurts.”
“True!” Cora said, looking at the others, and Joy just shrugged, grinning, while Brianna laughed and stood.
“I’ll go let Isolde know. How about you go to the temple, Cora? You may as well get the token for your job change,” Brianna suggested, grinning. “We’re a good part of the way to level fifteen, so you never know when we’ll hit it.”
“I was going to save that to buy—” Cora began, only to have Joy interrupt.
“Go ahead, Cora!” Joy said brightly, sm
iling at her. “We have to find someone who has the jelly, first, and I got a lot of coins from the sales! I’d rather you were able to get your job, than miss it if we could afford the jelly anyway.”
“You heard her,” Brianna said firmly, making a shooing gesture. “Now go!”
“In that case, I suppose I’d best get back to the inn as well. I need to discuss what to do with my group,” Rukar said, standing and nodding to them as Brianna headed toward Isolde. “Have a good journey, all of you.”
“I’ll try!” Joy chirped, standing and all but diving into the flow of people heading toward the exit. It shocked Cora how easily she moved through them, though considering how busy the hive had been, she supposed that it wasn’t that shocking.
Stella laughed and stood, looking at Cora as she said, “I’ll come with you, Cora. I’d like to pray at the shrine, and someone has to keep an eye on Joy.”
“Especially now that she can fly,” Cora agreed, grinning, though she found her emotions tinged with more concern than she could rightfully explain.
In either case, they quickly hurried after Joy, or as much as they could with people crowding the exit.
Chapter 6
“Alright, here you go, Cora. Be careful with this, you hear me?” Ryan said, offering her the wooden token carefully. “They aren’t that common outside of elven lands, you know.”
“I know. It’s half of the reason I came to Seldrim to begin with, since I knew that the temple here had the tokens,” Cora said, taking the token and studying it, then added, “They aren’t that fragile, either. Unless you target them with death magic, they tend to be really sturdy.”
The token was made of polished, gold-veined wood that’d been carved with a complex magical symbol, a circle with seemingly endless interconnecting lines within it, and even the touch of it made Cora feel better. It was the innate life energy of the token, she knew, and she mentally reached out to the item.
Token of the Tree of Life (Level 15)
Made of the wood of the Tree of Life, this token has had a fragment of the tree’s magic imbued into it. The possessor of this token may choose to consume it to take one of several rare jobs on reaching level fifteen or above.
“If you say so. I know we’ll try to get another, just because it’s nice to have those on hand for the people who’re going for rare jobs, but it will probably take a while,” Ryan said, shrugging and glancing at Stella, who was at the small shrine to Mother Moon behind some of the more popular shrines. “I’m sorry to hear you’re leaving, though.”
“There’s no real choice, at this point. If we want to help Joy, we have to,” Cora said, internally debating on whether or not to tell him how much time the apis had left. Before she could make a decision, he spoke again.
“Speaking of Joy, where is she?” Ryan asked, looking around curiously. “Is she with Brianna?”
“No, she said she wanted to see what the view was like from on top of the church spire, so we left her outside,” Cora replied, and couldn’t help a smile as Ryan opened his mouth, then shut it, looking at her in confusion.
“Ah… the only way to the top of the spire is through the bell tower, and that’s not accessible from outside,” Ryan said, looking at a side door for a moment. “She didn’t decide to climb the exterior of the church, did she? That would be dangerous.”
“No, of course not,” Cora said, her private amusement growing stronger as she decided to take pity on him and continued. “She has wings now, Ryan.”
Ryan’s mouth snapped shut, and his embarrassment was entertaining enough to make Cora smile.
* * *
Joy balanced on the spire, happy it wasn’t too narrow. The copper rod sticking out of its peak puzzled her, but it didn’t respond to her mental prodding, which meant it wasn’t an item she could figure out that way. Since she couldn’t, the apis decided to ignore the rod to admire the view as the sun settled toward the horizon.
The light this late in the day was closer to orange than to yellow, with hints of red that played off the clouds above her, and Joy breathed in slowly, enjoying the fresh air as she looked out over the town, with the glow the sun gave the buildings and the growing shadows they cast. It was beautiful and fascinating, one of the things she enjoyed about being an apis. As a bee, she didn’t really see red before, and pausing to take in the beauty of anything other than a nectar-rich flower had been completely beyond her. It had been practically incomprehensible, in fact, which was a little saddening, when she thought about it that way.
Still, she could enjoy it now, and that was what mattered to her, looking across the sky as she took deep breaths of the lovely air. The world was so huge, and she was so small compared to it. It made her happy that the others wanted to extend her life, because Joy wanted to see all of it.
As she thought, Joy spotted a bee go zipping by, wavering back and forth through the air due to the gusts of wind, and she wondered what it was doing up so high, but all she could do was laugh and hum at it for a moment.
“Fly, little bee, fly!” Joy said, grinning broadly.
“Joy!” Cora’s voice was tiny, and the apis looked down to see the elf and Stella in front of the church, or rather, a bit off to the side so they could see her. Cora was waving, and called out. “Come down, we’re done!”
“Be right there!” Joy said, then laughed at herself as she murmured. “Bee, indeed!”
She took flight, abandoning the setting sun as she headed for the ground and her friends.
Chapter 7
The fires throughout the encampment were being kept small, like Major Damaris had ordered, but they still produced more smoke than she liked, and the human tapped her leg unhappily as she considered them for a moment, then let out a sigh and shook her head.
“No matter, I suppose,” Damaris murmured.
“Lady Damaris?” Velk asked, the big orc sounding a touch confused. “Is something the matter?”
“Oh, I was just considering whether the smoke would give us away or not,” Damaris said, waving a hand dismissively. “Lord Alethus commanded us to move quietly to begin with, after all.”
“Ah, of course! Do you want me to have the fires doused?” Velk asked, glancing around the encampment as he rubbed his chin, pausing rather than honing his beloved axe further. Few people took as much care of their weapons as he did, something which amused Damaris much of the time.
The camp wasn’t enormous, not with the relatively small number of soldiers they could slip across the border, but the people Damaris had weren’t the common riffraff that most armies were made up of. Most armies had level seven or eight soldiers as standard, with level ten and above being relatively rare, but that wasn’t the case where Alethus’s soldiers were concerned. Every soldier in the camp was at least level ten, all four hundred of them, and the squad leaders were level fifteen. Even better, this was only one of Alethus’s battalions, not even close to his entire army, and he’d equipped them with excellent gear.
The soldiers themselves were about as varied as could be, though. There were demons, dwarves, elves, dark elves, humans, orcs, and even a couple of giants and trolls among their number, though hill giants were the biggest she’d dared bring with her, at about nine feet tall. Any bigger and she’d have a hard time hiding them, which was a touch vexing, but Damaris did what she had to. The majority of her soldiers were human, but that was to be expected, as one of the most common species.
“Don’t bother. We’re nowhere near any towns, so at worst some adventurers will come investigate, and that’ll go poorly for them. This is a level five region, from what we’ve heard,” Damaris said, shaking her head. “No, we should be fine. Are the officers gathered yet?”
“They are,” Velk replied, nodding in understanding. Damaris was just glad he’d gotten over his arguments with some of the elves in the battalion, as he was an excellent warrior. She’d have hated to give him up to another commander, and for more reasons than just his fighting prowess.
“E
xcellent, then it’s time to get to work,” Damaris said, turning toward the command tent and nodding inwardly, happy that it wasn’t too ornate. It’d been hard to convince the quartermasters to be subtle.
She made her way through the battalion and into the tent. A makeshift table had been unfolded, on which was a map of the region. Around it were the four captains that led her companies. Two men and two women waited for her, the men a handsome human and a brown-bearded dwarf, while the women were a scarred half-elf and a pretty, silver-skinned dark elf. Damaris trusted all of them, and she smiled as they saluted.
“At ease, there’s no need for that here,” Damaris said, and nodded at the map as she added, “That said, I know all of you have been wondering what we’re doing here. We’re pretty far from home, and without much support.”
“Well, yeah, of course! Getting hustled through a teleportation portal in the middle of the night does kind of make the troops wonder, let alone me,” Egan said, the dwarf tugging on his beard as he grinned. “Not that I’m not looking forward to some action, mind you! Training is good, but it gets stale, from time to time.”
“There also are the rumors that Our Lord was injured making the rounds. The troops are concerned,” Ovlin said, the dark elf’s voice sharper than her appearance might have indicated.
“Yes, well, it’s time for me to tell you,” Damaris said, and her smile vanished as she continued. “Now, first of all, Our Lord is fine. He was injured, yes, but it wasn’t anything permanent, and Minna informed me that he claims he was overconfident when facing a level ten woman who, unfortunately, possessed luminous titansteel. Still, he completed his objective, which is why we’re here.”
There were looks of concern between the others, but they held their tongues, obviously trusting that Damaris would get on with it. She appreciated that, considering the situation, and she reached out to touch a dot that indicated a town.
Webs & Wards (Beesong Chronicles Book 2) Page 5
