The others sympathized but looked uncomfortable.
If I had to venture a guess, this was his first real confrontation with mortality. Sure, family passes. Friends do too. But this was so much more visceral. I can’t say that I blamed him or found his reaction to be something that would make me think less of him.
We had all been here at some point. Mine came the day I stepped on the yellow footprints at Parris Island, the first time I ever truly realized that I could end up having to take a life. It had taken what little youthful ignorance and innocence I’d had and thrown it away.
I squatted down next to him and patted his shoulder comfortingly. “We’re here for you, man. Take your time. Actually, let’s clear the bodies away into that tunnel. Then we can just sleep here tonight. No sense in going out into any more shit, yeah?”
He just kept crying. That was okay. As I stood and began to relay my thoughts to the others, a clap of thunder followed by lightning rocked us all. I looked outside, and rain began to fall from the sky in thick sheets.
Definitely wasn’t going anywhere for a bit, so we got to work. We looted what we could from the bodies on the ground. None of the clubs or simple weapons were worth anything other than firewood and a stopper for water at the entrance to the cave. There were some copper and silver pieces strewn throughout the inventories of the dead. The same for the bodies in the tunnel, burned and singed as they were. The middle tunnel led to a large chamber with a pile of rags and fronds that looked like a bed.
There were all kinds of… unmentionable stuff on the coverings. We left that alone, and there was nothing of interest in the rest of the room, so we dragged the bodies in the tunnel that we could move in here.
The other tunnels were as interesting as the first—not. The one on the left was where we found the remains of several mountain goats and the right where we found the stench of bodily waste in the form of a communal bathroom.
It was a shit pile. Literally. I gagged, threw up all over the place, and left. I contemplated just blowing the shit out of the tunnel and caving it in, but James said it could be a bad idea.
The Incubus dropped an interesting couple items that I was fairly certain a couple people in the group would fight over.
Elrow’s Horns
+ 3 to Charisma
Horns taken from the Incubus Elrow. A slightly customizable item that attaches with a thought to the wearers head—so dashing.
Given to the former owner at birth by his mare.
That was cool. It was a set of horns that looked exactly like those that had been on his head. After a moment of quiet, heated argument, finally, Bokaj just shouted, “I told you I don’t fucking want them!”
The Ranger stormed over to the small barrier we had erected to try and stunt the rainwater a bit and keep it out of here.
The item went to Yohsuke after that because the rest of us had no use for charisma. He put it on and began to cackle as they shifted into what he wanted them to be. They slid to the sides of his forehead near his temples at the edge of his hairline, then curved slight back along the side of his head at an angle. They bent slightly up and away from the ears, thick near the base and coming to a pointed tip near the back of his head. As they settled, the color shifted from black to a dusting of red at the base to a pure black an inch above that and all the way back.
“Bow before me, fools!” He growled. “I am one step closer to matching that which you already know me to be. I am the overlord! Bow and scrape as you please. You shall all be henceforth known as my vassals.”
We chuckled at his ludicrous outburst—it was a persona that he had in the Marine Corps. He loved that one game with the demon overlord who was a badass. It kind of stuck because he was a badass gamer. So, every now and then, this side of him would peek out to play. It was entertaining as hell. Other times, our enemies found it highly intimidating.
The next item was pretty cool as well; it looked like a barb—long and wickedly sharp—that looked like it could attach to something.
Lady Finger
+ 4 to attack
Requirement: Must be worn on a tail
Although the name may be confusing—this is not something that a lady would find at all tasteful.
Crafted in the third level of the Hells by a surly demon.
With myself and Muu, that made two of us with tails. My own were mainly aesthetic. They were awesome as fuck, don’t get me wrong, but they lacked the muscle and control to actually attack anyone outright. Unless you counted smacking someone in the face with them. I could do that shit all day.
“Hey, Muu, your tail is kind of thick, man,” I began as I held the item out to him. “You think you could use this?”
“Nope,” he said almost dismissively. When I just looked at him like he was crazy, he elaborated, “My tail isn’t that long, and I don’t have the control with it that I would like to use it effectively. Besides, I don’t want someone at my back close enough to have to use it. At least not until I’m good enough to fight on my own.”
“That’s fair,” Bokaj grunted from his spot by the barrier where he was brooding. “Hey, what about T? Think she could use it?”
I thought about it for a second. Could animal companions use weapons like this?
“You want to ask her?” I offered the weapon to him. “I don’t want to interfere with your cat, man.”
He nodded, and I slid it on the ground to him. It skittered and bounced before reaching him.
Speaking of, I opened my bond with Kayda and found her soaring the skies of the storm, trying to work off her anger. Our minds melded a bit, and she saw what had happened.
Okay? Her question was simple, but the complexity behind it with the accompanying visions was insane. She meant all of us.
We’re okay, love. Be safe, and keep an eye out for us. She agreed, and I turned my eyes back to Bokaj and the Lady Finger.
He took it and looked it over before turning to his panther pet. “Hey, Tmont, you wanna throw this on your ass? Stab some things?”
She huffed mightily, looked at him for a moment longer with her tail flicking back and forth lazily, then got up and wandered over to him. She bumped her head off his leg, sniffed the weapon, and growled at it.
“Come on, T,” Bokaj reasoned with her. “It’ll help you protect me. You want that, right?”
I could hear the rise in pitch of her growl into an agitated yowl, but she seemed to acquiesce that it was her wish. She offered her tail, and the item slid on to it—then shrank to fit snugly. And Tmont went apeshit. She hissed, spat, and tried to run away from her tail as the weapon flailed wildly behind her.
“Sweet vengeance!” I howled in delight. The cat yowled in my general direction, and I smiled even harder.
* * *
We spent the night going over what happened during the fight, explaining our positions and combative tactics to Muu so that he could learn our thought processes. He seemed to be getting everything. Yohsuke was making dinner while we spoke.
“Hey, man, seven levels in one day! That’s nuts!” Jaken said in a lull. “What are you going to do with the points?”
Muu pulled up his stats and began to tinker. Finally, he decided on spending his points trying to even himself out. Of the thirty-five points he received for leveling up that many times, he put ten into strength, eleven into dexterity, and fourteen into constitution. That got him to an even thirty in strength and dexterity and thirty-five in constitution. Already better than me health wise and very close to the rest of us in total HP.
“Cool, man.” I nodded. “Now, what will you do with your proficiency points? With the three you got, I imagine you could get the spear tree open and your short spear, too—maybe even an attack.”
“Hmmm.” He poured over his stats for a moment, found what he was looking for, then looked at me quickly. “Did you say three?”
“Yeah, man,” I explained patiently. “We all get a point for every level above five.”
“Dude, I have n
ine,” he informed us.
The rest of the group perked up and got closer. “No fucking way, dude,” Yohsuke muttered. “How?”
“Think it could be because he’s a Fighter?” James proposed. “I mean, it makes sense. Fighters aren’t really magic oriented in a lot of games, so they have to have something to give them an edge, right?”
That did make sense, now that it was explained Barney style like that.
“Okay,” I said slowly. “What are you thinking of doing with them, man? It’s your choice.”
“Do they go away if I don’t use them in a certain amount of time?” Muu asked.
“Nope.” I shrugged. “I got past five before I figured out I even had them.”
“Okay, I’ll purchase what I need,” he made some selections quickly, “then save the rest for when I meet another Fighter for some advice on what to do with the rest. What kind of build I want.”
“That’s a good idea,” Yohsuke said as he stirred the food he had begun preparing. The pot above the flame was starting to boil, and he added some seasoning. “It never hurts to seek advice, but never forget this—this is your life. You do it how you want to do it and no other way. Not for me,” he pointed at me, “him, or any other motherfucker but you.”
Muu nodded and seemed to fold into himself in thought. We ate a good meal that night, some soup that Yohsuke had brought the ingredients for. I don’t know what kind of meat that had been, but damn, it was good.
Muu and James opted to take the first watches, and I would take the last. I looked at Muu in concern, his eyes on the outside of the cave as he watched the rain fall. Deep in thought, as he was, I knew he likely wasn’t really okay. I’d have to talk to him later.
As I laid down, my flame mark pulsed again, throbbing like it had earlier. This was so weird. I closed my eyes and tried to go to sleep in my sleeping bag on my bedroll.
As I fell into slumber, I felt heat. It started in the center of my being and radiated outward. It was comforting at first, the nurturing warmth of a beloved pet sleeping next to you in bed—or a loved one’s warm chest. Then it grew steadily hotter, like a space heater. Then to the roaring heat of a raging flame. I opened my eyes. Something had to be wrong and found that I wasn’t where I had been. I was standing in a room made wholly of flame.
The room seemed to breathe and wasn’t adorned with anything that I could discern. It was just fire.
Forgive me, Druid, but this was the only way for me to reach you.
It had been hard for me to realize that the great flame before me wasn’t a wall but a great elemental. But the voice sounded familiar. So familiar.
“You’re the Primordial Flame Elemental, aren’t you?” I asked. The heat was becoming more and more abrasive. I held my arm up in an attempt to ward the heat away.
I am. Forgive me, little flame, I cannot make my spirit burn lower for your comfort. Attend me, and I will make my visit brief.
“Please, what can I do for you?”
One of my children, a small flame like yourself, is lost in the winter lands of the Prime Realm. Find it and care for it for me until it is strong enough to come home on its own, or it decides to walk its own path.
“A small flame?” I queried. “An elemental?”
No, a creature born of fire and will. A small, chaotic creature of my realm. It will take the form of an animal that it has encountered. I do not know what that will be, but it is in the North. I can feel him, and with your connection to me, you will too. There are those who are seeking to take him and keep him as a source of raw power, corrupting his light and fire. Do not allow this to happen. Do this for me, and I will bless you further still.
“Okay,” I said simply. Sure, this was a big deal, and the way he made it sound, there were other forces at work, but he had helped me immensely, and he seemed like a cool dude. “I’d be happy to help, but can you tell me if you can help my friends and I get into the Hells? Our friend is there, and we need to get him back. We’re on a time crunch, I think.”
The flame wall bent and crackled brightly and louder than before.
You are not ready to venture to the Hells—none of you are. They will corrupt you and consume you. You must be stronger. Better prepared. I will help with that how I can. Help my child, and I will make you stronger.
I thought for a moment before agreeing. If a Primordial Elemental, likely an equivalent to a god, knows we weren’t ready, we would need to be stronger for certain. I nodded mutely, and the flames’ intensity leaped into me for a searing second.
Thank you for proving my initial judgment sound. Burn bright, little flame.
The crackling sound of the Primordial Flame’s voice began to fade, and I felt someone shaking me awake. I looked up to see James.
That hadn’t been a dream—it was a vision, and the quest I’d received proved it.
QUEST ALERT!
A Small Flame in a Snowstorm – The Primordial Flame Elemental has requested that you find the small flame in the winter lands of the Prime Realm.
Rewards – 2,000 EXP, unknown.
“Hey, man, you got next watch.” He looked at me for a moment then shook his hand. “You good? You’re burning up.”
I dismissed the notification that was flashing in front of me to look at in a bit. I glanced at my sweat-slick body and wiped some of the moisture from my forehead and started to stand and stretch. “Yeah, bud. You get some more rest if you need it. Or do what you gotta do. I know you don’t need much rest.”
“Thanks, man.” He smiled, went to his things, and began to meditate.
I rolled my bedroll up and packed my things, like my axe and pillow. I opted to stand my watch with my back to the cave wall by the entrance in my Ursolon form.
The two thousand experience was a damned nice chunk toward my next level. Ten percent of it at least. And the unknown portion was interesting. I’d do it for the experience and as a favor to the Flame. But hey—gotta love it when cool shit can happen right?
I shifted back into my fox-man form and called to Kayda outside.
She shuffled her feathers and observed our surroundings before resting her eyes on me next to the cave mouth. I jerked back in surprise, and she tilted her head at me.
“Go fly, my love.” I patted her head. “Let me know if you see anything strange, okay?”
She cocked her head the other direction and touched the top of my head twice with her wing before hopping out of the cave mouth and taking off. Smart-ass bird.
After I was sure she was gone and the others were either asleep or preoccupied, I cast a spell I hadn’t yet—Shadow Speak.
Shadow Speak is a spell that Queen Maebe had passed to me so that she and I could communicate with each other. It was helpful as one of her chosen champions in this realm and as her friend. One of her only friends, in fact. I liked to think she thought of the others as more than acquaintances, but I couldn’t be fully certain.
As I cast it, I watched the shadows next to me congeal and begin to mold into the face of the person I was contacting.
“Hi, Maebe,” I said as she finally fully formed.
Her figure was of pure shadow but still appealing—an hourglass shape with the outline of her angular cheeks and her large, pointed ears that stuck straight out and back from the sides of her head. I could see slightly darker pools of shadow in her eyes and mouth. She was smiling.
“Hello, Zekiel.” Her musical voice reached my ears, and I was overcome with joy.
Look, she may not be much to look at right now, but Maebe was gorgeous. Intelligent. Thoughtful. Deadly.
That last one was terrifying, but she hadn’t really ever threatened me outright, and you know what they say about men and women right? Behind every man is a strong-ass woman.
They don’t say that? Well, they fuckin’ should, man.
I stood and stepped forward to try and pull the small shadow into my arms, but the cool shadows that greeted me in return were enough to chill me.
I’d spent ni
ghts sharing her bed—ALL PG, I SWEAR! Don’t you gimme that look. Despite the fact that she’s the reigning Queen of Winter and Darkness, she could be warm. Delightful, even.
Touching her now and not feeling that warmth in this alien place was almost as unsettling as learning my friends and I could die here.
That was an exaggeration—I had a crush, happy? I got the hots for the gorgeous, likely homicidal Fae Queen.
At least I have good taste.
“Would that I could return your embrace, dear friend,” she said sadly, “but tell me of what has transpired. I have heard from my emissaries that your mission was a success and your loss. I am deeply sorry. What have you been up to? How long has it been since you thought to inform me of your days?”
I wanted to say that I thought of it daily, that I wanted to see her and spend more time with her than the few days we had in her realm, but there were other things to say.
“He’s not dead,” I said hurriedly. “We’ve been working with another friend from my other life who came to us after Balmur was taken—we believe to the Hells. We are currently trying to track down information and help our friend level as we gather our strength.”
Maebe’s shadow looked at me, and I could see stiffness in her shoulders as she stepped closer to me. “I will do all that I can to help from my side of the veil. Please, do keep me informed. And I will contact you as well. It has only been a day here since you left. Maybe I could contact you every few hours in my realm?”
I grinned like an idiot. “So, every day or couple days my time? I would like that.” I scratched behind my right ear. “Uhm, you know, is Samir capable of speaking this way? Or could you talk to him?”
“I suppose I could attempt to contact him,” she said wearily. “Why? Do you have need of the Fae?”
“I was more interested in seeing if I could come and see you at some point in the near future,” I said with a little bit of hope. “I don’t have a way to right now, but I think there has to be a way to traverse the veil at will if you can do it by being banished.”
Into the Dragon's Den (Axe Druid Book 2) Page 17
