Delvers LLC: Welcome to Ludus

by Blaise Corvin

  "No, they don't come this close to cities. Cities around the whole planet are basically safe from monsters most of the time." She shrugged. "If we let the monsters run around everywhere, there'd probably be no civilization left on the planet."

  Jason blinked. "'We' as in you and the other High Priestesses control monsters?"

  "Of course. What, do you think Dolos manages the day-to-day on Ludus? Of course not. The creatures you call monsters are not native to this planet in the first place. On top of that, someone has to make dungeons, someone has to put treasure in them, someone has to keep track of nasty creatures..."

  "Wait. You make dungeons and put loot in them?"

  Keeja made a face. "You don't think they just magically pop up out of nowhere, do you? Like I said, for someone who's supposed to be smart, you don't seem to do a lot of thinking."

  Jason couldn't decide whether to be thoughtful or furious. To be honest, he hadn't ever considered that anyone could be actively helping Dolos with his experiments on Ludus. Then again, it made a kind of sense that there would be a team of observers and analysts on a research planet. He thought about what Keeja had said carefully and realized the piece he was missing. "We're all here because of the Dhu, aren't we?"

  "Maybe you aren't completely stupid after all." Keeja smiled.

  Even more pieces started falling into place for Jason. "So people being born on this planet who can learn to use magic, the fact that iron rots so fast, all these things are probably because of the Dhu, aren't they?"

  "More or less. You're missing a lot of background and particulars, but the fact you're here, the fact any mortals are here on this planet, is directly because of Dolos' research. And Dolos' research revolves around the Dhu. Everyone and everything is linked to The Work in some way."

  "But--"

  "No, that's enough questions." Keeja's voice was firm. "I've probably already told you too much. I personally don't see a problem with research subjects understanding what their data is being used for, but Dolos wants everyone to remain in the dark."

  Jason looked her in the eyes again, her ancient, unsettling eyes. "Why do you help him?"

  "You make that sound like such a simple question." Keeja turned and stared into the distance for a while before continuing, "Nobody's asked me that in a very, very long time. You don't have enough information to form any sort of context for what Dolos is doing. Dolos is a vain, power-hungry egomaniac, and I think some of his methods are crude... but he's getting results. What's more, his research may be necessary. Maybe one day you will find out why. You should hope you never do.

  "And at the end of the day, I'm a prisoner here just like you. At least you have a chance of escaping before The Work is done. On the other hand, I'm probably stuck here for another thousand years at least." Keeja smiled, but the expression held no humor.

  Jason didn't know what to say. He didn't even know what to feel. They rode in silence for the remainder of the day until setting up camp for the night at the edge of the fields. The next day, they'd be entering monster territory.

  Bullets of Bronze

  By the second day their little caravan had been on the road, Henry was deeply thankful for the wagons. He usually didn't mind walking, but he found he could think better while sitting with nothing better to do.

  The night before, he'd asked Jason about the huge bar of green energy that had shot up from the lead wagon. He'd thought it was a testament to how fucked up Ludus was that nobody seemed to care when it happened. Apparently in a world with magic and monsters, as long as nobody was dying and nothing was on fire, nobody cared about random beams of deadly energy popping up out of nowhere.

  Then again, he had noticed Mareen tremble a little bit. Maybe some people did know what had happened and just didn't want to get involved? Henry didn't understand people on this world at all.

  Jason had told him about his conversation with Keeja, and most of it made sense to Henry. The part Henry was most interested in was the relationship between the Dhu and the corrosion of iron on Ludus. Henry had been thinking about metals a lot lately, about how steel he generated and maintained with magic didn't corrode but any steel he wasn't running magic through rotted almost immediately.

  Growing up in Washington state, like many kids, Henry had studied the history of the Pacific Northwest American Indians... or Native Americans. He didn't really have an opinion on what they should be called--he'd just always thought they were badass. One of the things he'd learned was that some tribes believed there were spirits in everything: the rocks, the hills, the air--everything.

  As Henry sat on the bench of the trailing wagon, he slowly turned his Swiss Army knife over in his hands. What if the Dhu were like the spirits in Native American mythology and folklore? If Dhu were responsible for iron oxidizing, could it be because of Dhu in the air? And if steel didn't rot and stayed, well, steel like his pocket knife, could it be because it housed a Dhu of its own? Maybe blessed steel just had a Dhu living--or trapped--inside of it.

  Henry concentrated hard and could almost sense something in the steel sometimes. It was frustrating. He had a notion that his Magic Perception skill helped, but maybe if he had another rank in it, he could actually answer his own questions. Maybe one day he could make steel tools that didn't corrode.

  He kept turning the knife over in his hands. He definitely had more time to think now that he was riding on the wagon, but his thoughts were going all over the place. It was hard to focus. He had a lot on his mind.

  Henry had realized that Mareen had feelings for him.

  He knew it was probably kind of sad that it had taken him so long to figure out. In hindsight, the signs had been there for at least a week if not more. Still, it wasn't until Keeja had started acting inappropriately with him and he'd seen how frustrated Mareen acted that he was able to put the pieces together. He kind of wished he still didn't know.

  He had no idea what to do. Henry didn't think of himself as coward, but he felt crippling indecision about potential romance. On one hand, Mareen was great. She was very pretty, healthy, vibrant, she worked hard, she was smart, she was loyal and kind, she wasn't afraid to speak her mind, and he owed her and her grandfather a lot. On the other hand, she was a decade younger than him and from a different world. He thought the age thing might not be that big of a deal, but what if he ever made it home? Would she go with him? Would he want to stay on Ludus if he was with her? What about kids? If they ever had them, which culture would they be raised with?

  Henry shook his head. He was like a penguin, and penguins mate for life. His first divorce had hurt him so badly he'd almost decided never to date again. But like everything else, he'd gotten over it and realized he couldn't hide from the world forever. Yes, the potential with Mareen now would just be dating, not getting married again. But in his mind, one thing led to another, and he still had a lot to sort through. It wouldn't be fair to Mareen or to himself if he got involved with someone in a half-assed way.

  He felt at the very least he should bring the issue out into the open, but he wasn't sure if that would clear things up or make everything more awkward. The most frustrating thing about the whole situation was Jason's reaction. When Henry had talked to him about it the night before, his smug friend had made no expression at all and drawled, "Is that so?" Henry couldn't be entirely sure because it was dark, but he was pretty sure Jason's lips had been quivering as he scratched the stubble on his cheek.

  God damn him! The fucker knew! He'd probably known this whole time!

  Suddenly, Henry snapped his head up. He smelled something weird. He'd gotten into a habit of cycling through his Enhanced Senses skill in order to train it and possibly even spot danger. He never wanted to be caught by surprise again like with the thugs in Mirana.

  Yes, he could definitely smell something strange on the wind. He glanced up at Bezzi-ibbi, sitting on top of the first wagon. The Mo'hali boy's big ears were perked up, and he was visibly wary as well.

  Henry signaled an alert
to everyone on his wagon and switched to his enhanced hearing. He could hear... nothing. The forest was quiet, too quiet. Uh oh.

  When the lead wagon came to a stop, Henry grabbed his weird helmet made of sewn tusks, fixed his chin strap, and jogged to where Jason sat.

  Henry didn't waste any time with pleasantries. "I think we've got trouble."

  "Yeah, Bezzi-ibbi already let us know something was up." Jason was standing up, scanning the forest around the road in front of them.

  Henry quickly did a mental inventory of their party's gear. He and Jason were both armed and armored. Mareen had a recurve bow and a decent amount of arrows as well as a dagger. Uluula had her long bladed spear, a dagger, and a huge crossbow she'd found somewhere. Henry had never even seen it until they left Mirana. He'd decided not to ask any questions.

  Bezzi-ibbi had his weird arm thing. Henry sincerely hoped the kid would just stay out of danger, but he knew he couldn't control him and it'd be stupid to try. Plus, Mo'hali Hero rings were supposed to be kind of like Dolos orbs, right? The boy still wouldn't talk about his arm, but he probably wasn't defenseless. He was also part jaguar... or something.

  That left Keeja. The priestess was sitting on the wagon bench next to Jason and fluttering her eyelashes at Henry. Shameless. She was just shameless. Henry narrowed his eyes at her. "Are you going to fight if we get attacked? You could probably just handle anything that comes along by yourself, couldn't you?"

  Keeja pursed her lips at him. "Yes. But I won't. I'm just watching. I am forbidden to interfere except in specific cases... like self-defense."

  "Well, if monsters attack, couldn't you just put yourself in front of them so it'd be self-defense?"

  Keeja replied, "No, because any lesser demons, or 'monsters' you will encounter pose no legitimate threat to me. I have to follow the Laws." Keeja smiled. "Sorry! Rules are rules. But if it makes you feel any better, I'll be honestly disappointed if you die."

  Henry turned to Jason. "Can I shoot her?"

  "No," Jason sighed, "and even if you did, she'd probably just laugh at you. You shouldn't waste ammo."

  Henry gave Keeja one more flat look and jogged back to the rear wagon. His shoulder blades were starting to itch. That usually meant something violent was about to happen. "Mareen! Can you get on top of the lead wagon where Bezzi-ibbi is? On the roof struts?"

  Mareen eyed the climb, but to her credit, she immediately understood why Henry was asking. She hefted her bow and slowly nodded. "I think so."

  "Okay, hurry up and go." Henry watched her trot to the lead wagon and start climbing with mixed feelings... she had a really nice ass. As she climbed, he got a really good look at her body from behind. He really wished he could still be blissfully ignorant about her feelings. Oh well, at least she'd be a little bit safer on top of the wagon. Bezzi-ibbi helped pull her up the rest of the way.

  Henry absentmindedly checked his weapons as he scanned the tree line. The feeling between his shoulder blades kept growing stronger. He decided it was time to use some magic. First, he started channeling strength from the earth. He did so slowly, starting at an extremely low level and dialing it patiently up to max in order to conserve magic.

  Next, instead of changing both forearms to metal, he gave his right forearm and right hand a steel carapace. Through experimentation, he'd realized that he had a limit how much skin he could convert into steel, but he could put the actual metal wherever he wanted. There was also a limit to how much metal he could generate from his steel skin to make blades and such, but it was fairly substantial.

  Next, he fixed a magic cannon barrel to his forearm. He really needed to come up with a name for his invention. Bronze blasters? Mystic boomers? Ma-cannon? Exogun? Actually, exogun didn't sound too bad. Maybe he could call the bigger tube his "exocannon." Exoguns and exocannon... I like that.

  He hefted his shield as the feeling in his shoulder blades got even stronger. Then he got his first look at why the surrounding forest was so quiet. A demon wolf slowly stalked out of the bushes and glared at him; its red, baleful eyes didn't blink.

  Henry and all the other members of the caravan stood still as the rest of the pack came out of the tree line. Henry counted twelve of them and confirmed this number when he used his magic to map the surrounding earth. He still couldn't directly feel the demon wolves themselves, but he could sense when bushes were moved and the ground was disturbed in enough quantity. He'd been training his earth mapping ability, and it showed.

  Henry shouted, "Uluula, Mareen, do you have a shot?"

  Uluula answered by firing her ridiculously oversized crossbow. Her aim was good, and the bolt nailed the closest demon wolf high in the back. After that, everything got confusing and messy.

  Henry only saw flashes of the others engaged in combat. He had plenty of his own problems to attend to. A demon wolf jumped at him, leaping over a dozen feet. Henry planted his feet and used magic to give himself leverage, using all his strength to bat the huge canine monster out of the air with his shield. He heard a hollow crack as the creature's neck broke, and it landed in a rubbery heap.

  Another demon wolf leapt at him from behind, and Henry both heard it with his enhanced hearing and felt the bushes behind him rustle as it sprung. He whirled, swinging the khopesh in a deadly, glittering bronze arc. The magic-sharp sword backed by earth strength entirely beheaded the demon wolf as Henry pivoted.

  Henry flicked the blood off of his blade and saw one of the monsters running towards the covered wagon. Mareen shot an arrow but missed. The demon wolf was about to jump when the bronze ball from Henry's exogun blasted right through its lungs and heart. It collapsed in a twitching heap, coughing bloody foam.

  Henry ran forward toward the front of the caravan and caught a glimpse of Uluula impaling a demon wolf on her long spear, withdrawing it, and dodging another attack with graceful, dancelike motions. Henry had to grudgingly admit she was good, very good. If they'd sparred before he had the magic mojo, she probably would have won.

  He clenched his jaw and focused again. He couldn't afford distractions. He was almost past the front wagon when he heard a sound like someone dragging a giant butter knife across rough plastic. He spun and saw Bezzi-ibbi on top of a demon wolf, his metallic arm locked onto the creature's neck right below its head, his talon like-fingers penetrating all the way to the bone. Bezzi-ibbi was snarling and spitting as he stabbed the monster in the side of its head again and again with a glittering silver dagger.

  Henry quickly reloaded his exogun and shot the demon wolf Bezzi-ibbi was riding through the chest. The boy lightly jumped off the collapsing beast and pushed his dagger into his metal arm, where the weapon was seamlessly absorbed. Then a handle began to emerge from his palm, and Bezzi-ibbi slowly withdrew a glittering, curved short sword.

  Bezzi-ibbi nodded at him before they each took off different directions. Henry had more demon wolves to kill. He could wonder about mercury-looking arm- sword- things later. This planet is fucking weird and murderous.

  He reloaded his exogun, attached two more tubes to his arm, and rattled off all three shots at demon wolves running through the trees. He managed to get a glancing hit on one, and it spun to the ground. Henry took the opportunity to run forward, piercing it with his khopesh and slamming the edge of his shield down to crush its skull.

  He dashed back the other direction and passed Keeja, still sitting on the front wagon's bench. She was eating a pear and cheerily waving at him. She winked and pulled the top of her shirt down just enough to show cleavage. Henry ignored her.

  He caught a brief glimpse of Jason teleporting out of nowhere next to a demon wolf emerging from the trees. His friend impaled the creature with a short sword and a dagger before teleporting away again with a bam of displaced air.

  Henry reloaded his three exoguns and took a shot at another demon wolf. His first shot missed, and before he could fire again, the monster was hit by two throwing knives seemingly out of nowhere. Jason is getting good with that attack... Henry li
ned up another shot and fired both of his two loaded projectiles. The heavy bronze balls slammed into the demon wolf and punched gaping wounds through its center of mass.

  Henry wasn't even using half his max power, and his exoguns were ripping the demon wolves to shreds. The last time he and Jason had fought this type of monster, he'd felt desperation, exhaustion. This time he felt like he'd barely begun to tap his magic reserves.

  Suddenly he realized the fight was over. All twelve demon wolves lay still or thrashing around in death throes. Henry glanced around and didn't see any casualties in their little caravan. He sheathed his sword and began thoughtfully patting his scarred leg. This was not bad, not bad at all.

  Keeja started laughing and clapping. Crazy bitch, thought Henry.

  * * *

  A couple hours later, they had a subdued celebration. Henry was drinking some water that Mareen had just cooled for everyone with magic. Her Water school magic was weak but still enough to chill drinks without too much effort.

  The whole group was checked for injuries, and a few minor scrapes were healed. Everyone was in high spirits about their relatively easy victory over an entire pack of demon wolves. Then they all started hearing things in their heads. It can't be... Henry recognized the voice, although this time he was speaking Luda, not English.

  This is the Great God Dolos! I have an announcement to make!

  Henry put a hand to his forehead and looked around for confirmation. Yes, they were all hearing the same thing. Mareen looked terrified. Keeja just rolled her eyes.

  I really despise talking to mortals even if I don't have to be there in person. Oh well, needs must.

  Mortals are truly just a step above stupid animals, their lives just one disappointment after another. It's a good thing I can suspend my sense of smell, or the stench of this world would force me to incinerate it. Truly awful.

  I'm not even sure why I bother with communications like this. The little mortals, especially those dreadful Terrans, will probably run around panicking, making their little sounds of worry. Perhaps a few will even fall into a well and drown. Yet here I am, taking time to give this message. I am simply too kind and generous for my own good.