Equalize

by Ryan DeBruyn

  Upon their deaths, their Essence would return to Gaia, often in a more significant quantity. These creations also helped Gaia by acting as a filter for the raw power of Ether thus helping her in her direct conversion of Ether to Essence. This was further extruded by the lifeform procreating and giving some of its life Essence to the next generation.

  Then the next generation would grow, and since Gaia hadn’t done the first forfeiture of Essence, this was a nearly pure gain. The problem was that this was a very condensed version of what was actually in the book. It was quite possibly more frustrating to have a source for answers but need to wade through useless writing to find them than to not have a source at all.

  All of this had brought him to the sixth day, and on the fifth night, Rocky had chosen to reset the slowly mounting diminishing returns on the potion by having a proper night’s sleep. This is why waking to an incessant flashing from his interface had made him blink rapidly and hold his breath.

  I turned this thing off nearly two weeks ago. What the hell?

  Your Territory has been given direction and is now starting work on your first building, Community House.

  Your current populace is unhappy and the build time of the structure will be increased by 50%.

  Your Territory has been organized into basic jobs.

  Positions created by leader include Hunters, Gatherers, Builders, Lumberjacks, Healers, Launderers, Crafters, and Planners.

  To see a full list of the individuals assigned to each position use Territory Interface.

  An area has been laid out as the first settlement in your Territory; the Leader has named it Algonquin Gorge.

  Due to the area being surrounding by natural defenses on all sides your, settlement will gain a bonus of +75% to any constructed defensive structures.

  Due to the area having easy access to water, and resources, all growth of settlement will be increased by 25%.

  The odd part to Rocky was that it kept saying the Leader. Scratching his head at how that was possible, Rocky explored his menus and finally located his Territory interface options. As he suspected, he couldn’t do anything from his current location, which was why he hadn’t bothered in the past.

  The greater surprise for him was that he still was a leader of his Territory. Part of the other reason he hadn’t gone searching for this particular menu was every time he thought of his Territory, he felt his heart clench and his mouth go dry. When Sela had disappeared, he had worried that it was because his Territory had been captured.

  Since he had the boys and couldn’t have changed the outcome from his current position, he had placed it on a growing list of things to be handled later. To find out definitively that he still had the Territory alleviated that fear but brought up a huge question.

  What the hell had happened to his guide?

  What else could have possibly killed her? Okay, think! What were the exact events that led up to that moment?

  The entirety of his morning was spent considering that terrible day, and he finally stumbled on something. As the boys awoke, he remembered hearing their screams and his immediate check of notifications. The quest that he had completed…

  Hadn’t it mentioned a perk? A greater perk…

  His excitement began to skyrocket. There had definitely been a greater perk associated with that quest. The fact that he had never received it and couldn’t find it through all of his desperate searching led Rocky to only one conclusion.

  Sela was alive!

  The rest of that day flew by in a blur as Rocky’s troubled mind went through his tasks on autopilot. In the end, he decided that the following day he would call Azoth to him. Since he assumed Sela was also in the Territory, he hoped that the summons would inform her of his need for her. He would trust that she would make a decision on where she needed to be most.

  The following morning’s notification nearly upended that decision.

  Your Territory has had a major occurrence!

  The leader has chosen to exile four individuals from the settlement and execute one individual for heinous crimes against other citizens of your Territory.

  The sentence was proclaimed after a trial which occurred this morning. The verdict will be carried out immediately. If exiles enter your Territory, all citizens in the area will be notified of the trespass and given a quest to kill them.

  Brow furrowed and frowning, Rocky re-read the message multiple times, unable to believe what the words implied. His bile rose, and he immediately was frustrated with his choices. His family wasn’t even here in Ottawa, and meanwhile, his Territory was being used for safety by people who were committing crimes. Crimes against other survivors!

  It was long moments before he finally calmed down enough to avoid rushing off in the direction of Algonquin Valley. Unfortunately, he had seen the problem in Ottawa, and as such, he was going to deal with it. Despite his desire to return and just forget all about Corsair, Rocky couldn’t just leave him to carry on with his crimes.

  Expression hardening, Rocky chose to summon Azoth and hope that Sela would take that as a message from him to finish whatever she was doing and get her butt back here. He needed her so he could quickly resolve this issue and get back to the Territory!

  Sela

  A pressure was pushing on Sela’s mind from every direction because anywhere she looked was blackness. The space she occupied felt both vast and oppressive. She was back in that place between again, the place she never wanted to return to.

  She could barely remember the last time, but something deep within her screamed in uncontrollable, maniacal terror. The heart-stopping fear was all the worse after having seen the sun, and now that the darkness was back, it was all the blacker because of it. She was unable to think over the constant screaming in her mind, and every time she attempted to cope, she failed.

  Sela tried to open her eyes again, waving her hands in front of her face, and physically screaming. She jerked back reflexively because while she couldn’t see her hands, she did hear her cry echoed back to her through the darkness. She felt her muscles contract, and her diaphragm pulled in a lungful of stale air.

  Her heart caught in her chest. Was she blind? As suddenly as her heart had frozen, it began to beat in a fast tempo which didn’t stop increasing as her brain processed that issue. She sat up quickly and was surprised again that her body complied.

  Her hand moved, and she felt her thigh under it. Sela felt the warm, smooth skin of her leg and traced her hand up the side of that long limb. It joined her torso, and her hand trailed up the side of her muscular butt and continued along her body.

  Giggles escaped her as her hand passed over her ribs and caused a sensation she could barely remember. Was that tickling? Her hand continued along the curves of her chest, cupping her breast momentarily in confirmation.

  Then her hand continued to her long neck and past her chin before coming to rest on a familiar face. When her palm rested on her face, it stopped, her body convulsed, and a sob tore itself from Sela.

  Selaphelia Ardensai felt her face! She had a body, and it was hers! Emotions took a roller-coaster ride through her body, causing her to weep uncontrollably. When she was in control again, she felt goosebumps standing out on her skin, and her brain finally kicked into gear.

  Sela could feel smooth, cold rock beneath her lower body and her other hand, which she had used to brace herself. That hand was telling her it was a flat rock surface that felt almost like a table top. As her body calmed further and the dump of adrenaline reduced, she began to notice a sound of dripping water.

  Whatever was left of that oppressive force dissipated, and she smiled. It stood to reason if she could hear water, she could find an exit. Out of a habit ingrained in her previous life, she brought up a notification and was rewarded with a familiar blue screen.

  Quest Update: Recovering Gaia Quest Timer Elapsed

  Total Golem Hearts Crushed 932

  Calculating Reward …

  Congratulations! You have destro
yed the largest number of Golem Hearts in your immediate area.

  You have been awarded one Greater Perk.

  250,000 Etherience added to each group member.

  200 Crystallized Ether will be awarded to the leader of the group to split.

  Greater Perk Received!

  Greater Perk Chosen…

  Quest reward is chosen!

  Greater Perk – Rebirth

  Title added Champion of Gaia, this title is due to your class and that Gaia has taken a personal hand in your rebirth. Congratulations!

  Congratulations! You have been reborn!

  Congratulations! Your class has been changed from Ghostly-Druid to Druid!

  Personal Ether Pool added, fully corporeal body added, stats slightly adjusted, and place of rebirth chosen.

  Congratulations! You have specialized! Class changed from Druid to Dark-Druid!

  Skills changed to reflect this new specialization! The path was chosen due to Guide Link to a descendant of Azrael.

  You now have access to your full class skill list.

  Azrael! How do I have a connection to that notorious figure. Wait, Rockland is a descendant of the General of the Darkest Night? How?!

  To Sela, this made no sense. She knew her lineage, and it did not contain a single connection to Azrael. The fact that she was an ancestral guide to Rockland had led her to believe that he had a connection to Selapheliel, her great grandfather. When she had seen his character sheet and seen the “(hidden)” portion in his class, she had assumed it spoke of that connection.

  My first clue should have been his Dark specialization. Selapheliel and all of his descendants had a Light alignment.

  Sela’s heart was in her throat. In her previous life, she had been a Light Justicar and had been a lieutenant in the Cathodiem guild. Her class was quite unique, and she had been proud of her specialization. Light was the embodiment that the founding leaders of Cathodiem claimed.

  During her crusades against Mars and other planets, she had worn this specialization with pride. Now she was something else? When Rocky had specialized in a Dark affinity, she had felt this same panic but had consoled herself with the explanation her mentor had spoken to her.

  Dark and light are but two parts of a whole. If light shines too brightly, only darkness can quench it, and subsequently, only light can unveil the dark. In the balance between these two has Cathodiem maintained its standing.

  Now she realized she should have questioned it more.

  Sela had worked beside Dark aligned people her entire life but now faced a real test of her character. Something about being one of them made her feel off. It wasn’t a comfortable feeling to describe but skin crawling came close.

  Something about it clashed with an image of herself. Her internal story warred with the knowledge, and she felt almost embarrassment. It took many moments before she was able to store that internal dilemma away for a better time.

  Wait. The rumor that Azrael left and took all of his blood relations with him—could those rumors be true? Then how in the hell is Rockland a descendant of the Dark General?

  In some ways, it was incredible. Rockland was a descendant of Azrael, one of the most influential individuals to have ever walked the halls of the Cathodiem guild. It had been rumored he was a Legendary class and was one of the only reasons the Cathodiem guild hadn’t crumbled during his reign.

  The fact that Rockland hadn’t been given a blood-related ancestor gave her pause. To be qualified as an ancestral guide, you needed to have made it to Master class and died upon Gaia.

  Does that mean none of Azrael’s descendants died on Gaia? Or that none made it to Master class? Or a combination of the two?

  Sela had been part of the corporation after Azrael, and while she grew up on rumors of his greatness, there were many other whispers of his insanity, of how the Dark had corrupted his soul. Sela had always assumed all of his relations in the guild didn’t come forward openly because of this stigma. Now she was forced to reconsider.

  Why hadn’t Rockland told her?

  She swore inwardly and paused, considering. She had never asked! Then she recalled most of the time spent with Rockland had been spent in animal form avoiding conversation. Sela sighed and finally put that entire discussion aside to have with the man when and if they saw each other again.

  At least he isn’t infernal or celestial aligned.

  Feeling foolish for her weakness, she chose to try to find her way out of the deep dark of the cave. Interestingly, as she relaxed, she felt an incredible connection to the land around her through her hand. By touching the stone under her, she could actually ‘see’ the entire section of the cave.

  In fact, she could even feel how far underground she was and got a sense that this location was beyond ancient. Brows furrowed in confusion Sela slid her legs off of the stone altar, which she identified as such with her new ‘sight’ and hopped the short distance to the tiled cave floor. Somehow, she was aware of these objects even though her eyes were useless.

  Surprisingly, the sense of knowing increased when her bare right foot touched down. Sela carefully walked slowly forward, confirming objects and pillars this ‘sight’ gave her with her hands.

  After many hours of walking through carved and molded tunnels, Sela felt a change in the rock. Under her feet, she felt the rock shift from that of worked stone to that of rough, natural shapes. The more she walked, the more natural the caves and tunnels became until she suddenly found her eyes were able to make out shadows in the dark.

  It wasn’t long after, and a sliver of light coming from an opening far in the distance made her eyes widen in delight. The daylight caused her to lose focus, and she momentarily became disoriented as her sense and sight warred for dominance. Tears began forming in her new eyes, which had never seen sunlight before.

  After several disconcerting moments and a furious rubbing of her eyes, Sela was able to make out the exit far off in the distance. Smiling widely, Sela completely ignored her previous gift of perfect sight through contact, and it cost her.

  When Sela exited the cave, her toes were bloody from where she had bashed them against jutting stones, and she had a few large bumps on her head that had almost cost her consciousness. Still smiling, though, she stood in the exit from the cave and took a deep breath of the beautifully fresh air.

  The freshness of the deep forest was a gift after the stale, slightly heavy air of the deep cave. Sela stood there with not a stitch on and reveled in the feel of the wind. She twirled in the sun which dappled her skin through the forest canopy. Laughing, she pressed her battered toes into the soft soil and marveled at all the signals it sent to her brain. The most relaxing and calming part to this whole experience was through her deep connection to both the earth and the area she currently was in; Sela knew she was at home in the Territory.

  There was a lake nearby, and Sela somehow knew that while there were creatures inside of it, they were low level and would be afraid of her. Still laughing, she ran the intervening space and took a leap from the shore. She entered the water in a shallow dive well out from the coast due to her increased Strength.

  The feel of the water against her body awoke every sense within her. As it passed over her nakedness she shivered in delight and marveled at every caress. Holding her breath, she swam deep into the lake, scattering the evolved wildlife of its depths.

  When she finally came back to the surface, she just laid there, lounging on her back, floating half submerged in the chilly waters.

  A cough and a quick scuffle broke her out of the moment of absolute peace, as two men shoved each other in a frat boy way, arguing about who would say something to the naked Lady of the Lake. At first, Sela’s brow furrowed at the actions of the two, and then she realized her breasts were fully exposed above the water. When she looked the men’s way, her blue eyes seemed to carry the power of ice, and the two men froze, terrified that they had intruded on this peaceful moment of a woman from a dream.

  Sel
a, who just moments ago had been in absolute wonder, flipped to complete embarrassment and then anger in a split second. In a blink her body changed into that of a massive bird of prey, and the two men were frozen in terror as a pitch black raven the size of an albatross flew over their heads.

  Once the bird was well above the canopy and winging away, both men looked at each other, their eyes wide with wonder before they both shook their heads. The men walked away from the lake with a rather broad smile on their faces.

  Sela, who now had to stay in bird form for the remainder of the day, swore at herself and clenched her beak. She flew around the Territory, looking at the groups who had been sent to the area, and the numbers didn’t add up. Rocky had sent maybe sixty people total to the sanctuary, but there seemed to be over one-hundred. The fact that none of the groups worked together made her beak clench harder, and the more she looked, the more she realized that these imbeciles were actually working against each other.

  After a full circle, Sela counted six different groups and was now clenching her beak to stop a screech of outrage from escaping. A few moments later, she had located Azoth, and she flew in low to land on a branch above the sleeping Chimera before rudely speaking into his mind.

  “Wake up, Azoth! Why have all these humans chosen to live in separate groups?”

  One of the intelligent, golden eyes slowly opened and lazily scanned around, looking for the source of the disturbance. Azoth had no reason to fear anything in the area. When he had first returned, he had hunted anything that was sporting and eliminated it.

  Now in the most recent days, he had been venturing outside of the Territory and finding better prey. The Chimera had felt like today would be a day of lazy sun tanning, and the mental shout had only partly registered in its somewhat adolescent mind.