Talk about a life saving Deus Ex Machina, I thought bitterly as Korwin’s troops stirred slightly, looking to their defeated leader for what to do. He stared uncomfortably back at Vayde then finally lowered his eyes.
“Fine,” he replied bitterly. “We’ll go.”
A low murmur came from the rest of his guild. They were obviously not happy, but what were they going to do? It wouldn’t surprise me if within a few days most of his forces had left him. They weren’t a real guild—just a bunch of backstabbing ambushers that had stuck together with the success they’d had. But the moment a group like that faced real adversity, they crumbled and fall apart.
Korwin took a few steps forward towards the exit to the Targanic. Slowly, the rest of his forces began to follow. A couple of them hung back, then eventually walked over to Vayde. One of them, carrying a light crossbow, spoke.
“We—we’d like to join with you.”
“Not a chance,” Vayde replied, shaking his head. “There’d be no way I could trust you now.”
“We didn’t want to be part of this,” the other one explained. They seemed like they were being truthful, but Vayde was right, how could you really tell?
“Too bad,” Baltos replied. “Now get lost.”
Vayde turned and glanced over at Baltos, then did a double take.
“Baltos!?” he exclaimed.
Baltos looked up at him. “Vayde!?”
“Holy crap!” Baltos exclaimed, pulling Baltos in for one of those bro-hugs. “What are you doing here!?”
“Came to cleanse this city,” Vayde replied through a smile. “Never thought I’d run into you and D. What have you guys been up to anyway?”
“You know, Vayde,” I said. “That is a long story.”
69
Catching Up
“I can’t believe it,” Vayde said flatly. We were all sitting in a circle at the edge of the stream that cut through the center of the cavern, as I finished bringing him up to date on everything that had happened. There was a lot to go over, from the end of Carrethen to my return and all that had happened in the Dark World. I knew he probably had a thousand questions for me, but I had one for him.
“Vayde, do you know where Jack is?”
He raised his eyes to mine, and I could tell by the way he looked at me that he didn’t. Slowly, he shook his head. A pang of sadness shot through my chest. Vayde had been my only real possible lead for finding him, and without that, I felt like I was back to square one. All the leveling and progress in the world meant nothing if I wasn’t able to find Jack.
“I looked for him in Sheol, but I didn’t find him.”
“You were in Sheol?” I asked. He nodded grimly. “What…what was it like?”
“It was like Hell,” he replied. “Nowhere to go, nothing to do but watch the Sunken continue to spread around you.”
“Gehman told me,” I replied, remembering his story about his time in that wretched Hell.
“Yeah, so about that…” Vayde said slowly. “You said you restored him?”
I nodded. “That’s one of the reasons we need to go talk to Rayne. She doesn’t have to cleanse the Sunken. Neither do you!”
I saw Vayde’s brain working overtime as he tried to process what I was telling him. He said he’d seen Gehman back in Sheol, but got separated when Rayne and her forces attacked and tried to take down the Lord of the Flame, but he wasn’t Sunken then and all he had to go on was my word about what had happened.
“I’m not lying, Vayde.”
“I never said that,” he replied.
“But you don’t believe me.”
“I never said that either.”
“But you don’t.”
Vayde paused a moment. I could see the doubt in his eyes. I understood, but at the same time I didn’t. I was his friend, and back in Carrethen I was higher level and a much better player than him. He’d trusted me then, and he should trust me now.
“Look, D. From everything I’ve seen here, in this world, all I can say is that the Sunken are a virus. An incurable virus. Once you start to go, you keep falling, until nothing is left of you. I’ve never seen anyone come back from it.”
“I did,” Chaucey said timidly from the edge of the circle. “I was Sunken until she found me.”
“And she should have left you like that!” Vayde snapped, getting to his feet. I put a hand on his wrist and shook my head. He wasn’t happy about staring at the face of his long time enemy, but he backed off and took his seat.
“It works, Vayde,” I assured him. “I promise you. And we have to tell Rayne before she ends up killing any more people that I could save!”
Vayde sighed and shook his head. “Fine, D. If you say so. I’ve got no reason not to believe you. But Rayne’s gonna be even harder to convince. You better hope there’s a few Sunken around when we get back to Neydeesa so you can show her, or she’s gonna think you’re full of shit.”
“She’s a tough cookie, eh?”
“The toughest,” Vayde smiled. “Probably the single baddest-ass player in the Dark World.”
“How does she do it?” I asked. “Get rid of them for good?”
“She calls it cleansing,” Vayde replied. “And honestly, I couldn’t tell you how it’s done.”
“But I thought you could do it to?” I asked. “Kalihan said she’d ‘blessed’ you.”
Vayde chuckled. “That’s one way of putting it. She gave me something.”
“She gave you something…” I repeated.
Vayde pulled something from his inventory and held it out in his palm. A tiny fragment of black steel, no bigger than an arrowhead. “A piece of her sword. This is what I use to cleanse them.”
“And you’ve done it?”
“Not yet,” Vayde said, shaking his head. “But I was prepared to if it turned out the Underground City had turned.”
“Okay, that’s it,” I said, getting to my feet. “We have to get to Neydeesa and talk to Rayne. Do you have a portal or something?”
“A portal?” Vayde chuckled as he stood up. “I’m bound there, D. Haven’t you ridden a Bindstone Recall yet?”
“Huh?”
“Oh, come on. Don’t tell me I know about a glitch the Great D doesn’t know about!”
I frowned as Vayde had a good chuckle, but then my mind went back to my first encounter with Kodiak, all the way back when I first entered Carrethen and was almost killed by the Lake Beast.
“Oh!” I exclaimed. “Yeah, I do know that one!”
“Okay, then,” Vayde smiled, extending a hand. “Everybody grab on. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.”
I took his hand, and Baltos took mine. Curafin took his and Chaucey brought up the end of the line as Vayde pulled out his Bindstone Shard. He called out to the rest of his group that were sitting on the other side of the stream.
“Adnan!” he called out to one of his top players. “You’re in charge of the city for now!”
“Got it, boss!” Adnan replied cheerfully, waving back with a dangerous looking triangular mace.
“Here we go,” Vayde smirked as he activated his Shard.
Vayde’s body began to dissolve in front of me, breaking apart into an uncountable number of tiny purple sprites. I felt a force begin to tug at me and my ears filled with the sound of rushing water as I was yanked into portal space.
Vayde was right—the ride was rocky.
I felt like my entire group was stuck in a drain pipe being hammered deeper and deeper by an angry homeowner trying to clear a blockage. The walls of the portal were flecked with black holes that seemed to suck and pull at me as I passed. Behind me, Chaucey was screaming.
“What’s happening!?”
“Just hold on!” I cried back as the portal twisted around us. Analog fuzz hummed in my ears. A deep feeling of bass ran through my body like a low electric current. My body felt like it was going to be pulled apart. The strain on my limbs was almost unbearable. I started to scream.
Just when it was ge
tting to be too much to bear, the portal began to dissolve in front of me and the world came into view. I was coming in sideways, but tried to right myself and get my feet aimed towards the ground, but it was no use. The portal disappeared and spat me out like a tough piece of meat.
I hit the ground hard and tried to roll out of the way, but Baltos and Curafin smashed down on top of me like a hammer trying to drive me into the ground.
“Ugh,” I groaned as they sloughed off of me. I heard Chaucey land somewhere behind us and turned around to see him face plant in a puddle. Vayde, on the other hand, was standing triumphantly over us like a statue to a famous wizard, his brilliant red cloak blowing gently in the breeze.
“Not experienced Shard Riders, huh?” Vayde joked.
“Shard Riders?” I asked, getting up and dusting myself off.
“Geez, what have you been doing all this time?” Vayde replied. “Shard Riding is what we just did. Game’s totally glitched and lets you share a Shard recall. But it takes some getting used to.”
“I’ll say,” Chaucey groaned as he pulled himself from the puddle and stood up.
“The Great Chaucey,” Vayde mocked as he glared at him. “Lying in a puddle. My how the times have changed.”
Chaucey looked at me like a little kid being bullied. I wanted to say something comforting, but the whole situation with him still had my head spinning and all I could do was look away.
“So, this is Neydeesa,” Curafin said. I turned and looked in the direction he was facing and saw the castle.
It was the strangest structure I’d ever seen. Seated at the mid-tier of a series of three waterfalls, it jutted out over the water below like the bow of a ship. A massive fall raged beneath it, spilling down into a lake below where we were standing.
The entire thing looked like it had been carved out of an enormous piece of sea green crystal that had grown out of the ground. Rows of cathedral style windows lined the walls about half way up the structure, but the bottom walls were completely solid with no obvious way inside.
“Hard to attack,” I said to Vayde.
“That’s the idea,” he replied.
Behind us were what I could only assume were the Velsilian Isles, a series of tiny islands scattered across the water like a bored giant had just tossed them there and left them where they landed. Far off in the distance, I could see a boat crewed by several players fighting off some kind of sea monsters trying to board them.
“Quite the place,” I mused, looking back up at Neydeesa. “So, how do we get in?”
Vayde looked at me and raised an eyebrow. “That’s the cool part. Come on.”
70
A Sacrifice
We followed Vayde as he circled the lake towards the lower falls. The roar from the water crashing down was almost deafening as we followed him. Silver and green moss hung from the walls of the cliff face where a narrow path had been carved into the stone. Carefully, we formed a single file line and made our way behind the waterfall.
As we stepped into the hidden cave, I felt like a kid again, exploring secret areas, looking for loot or quests no one else knew about. But when I saw the line of players with bows and wands aimed in our direction, I felt a little different.
“Oh, Vayde!” one of them said, a relieved look on his face. He lowered his wand and so did everyone else.
“Hey, everyone,” Vayde said as we strode up to them. “Ran into some old friends. Bringing them up to see Rayne. Summon a portal, please.”
“Right away, boss,” another mage replied. The group fanned out, making room for him, and he quickly cast a Summon Portal spell. The purple sphere of electricity sprang into existence, softly humming and casting its soft glow across the wall of the caves. “This way up.” Vayde grinned, stepping into the portal.
I glanced back at my group, shrugged, and followed after him.
This ride through portal space was a lot smoother and faster, and dropped us off inside an enormous room inside the castle. From the lack of windows, I gathered we were most likely on the first floor. I glanced around, expecting to find the place bustling with players, but the chamber was completely empty. I turned to Vayde as the rest of the group portaled in behind me.
“Where is everyone?” I asked.
Vayde frowned and nodded towards the ceiling. “The only time the castle’s this empty is when we have a cleansing.”
“A cleansing?” I asked. “Does that mean what I think it means?”
Vayde nodded. “Come on. Let’s see if we can find her before she goes through with it.”
Vayde took off running towards a stairwell at the far end of the hall. I raced after him with the rest of my group following. We took the steps two at a time to the second floor, where we ran into a small group of players on their way up.
“Coming through!” Vayde shouted. They scattered out of the way of immediately, making room for us to pass. Vayde was obviously highly respected within the guild. We kept running until the stairwell opened up onto the top floor of the castle.
It was a single flat expanse like a giant town square. A mob of players had formed at the far end in front of a small, unassuming tan building near the edge that overlooked the falls. It was simple, minimalist with a single door and no visible windows. It was extremely modest looking, especially when compared to the spectacular crystal of the castle on which it stood. I understood immediately.
That’s where Rayne lives.
A modest home for a powerful leader.
“This is definitely a cleansing,” Vayde told us, his voice growing worried as we walked towards the crowd. “But it hasn’t started yet. We may have time to stop her. Are you sure you can do what you say you can do?”
“Of course I am, Vayde,” I snapped.
“Look, we just have to be sure,” he replied as we reached the crowd and began pushing our way through. “Out of the way!”
But then, a loud cheer rang out and I looked towards the front to see a woman emerge from the small house. I knew who she was without needing to inspect her, but I did anyway.
Rayne—Level 180.
“180,” I said slowly. “Damn.”
“Highest level I know of,” Vayde replied as we continued to push forward.
“Fallen God!” the crowd began to cheer. “Fallen God! Fallen God!”
It was like a rock concert and trying to get through the mob was proving difficult, even with Vayde using his seniority to get people out of the way. Everyone was simply whipped up into a frenzy, their eyes fixed on their leader.
“Rayne!” Vayde shouted, but his voice was lost among the roar of the crowd. “Rayne!”
I jumped up to get a better look of what was going on, and saw Rayne had another player with her, tied by a chain that she held like a leash. Someone cheered beside me and threw a fist into the air, catching me on the side of the chin and knocking me sideways.
“Hey, watch it!” I shouted back, but whoever had hit me wasn’t paying attention. No one was. Their eyes were glued to Rayne with a level of intensity and admiration I had never seen. It was like a feverish mob of religious fanatics worshiping their leader, and it honestly kind of gave me the creeps.
“Members of the Redeeming Blood!” Rayne’s voice rang out, strong and commanding. “Welcome to the Cleansing!”
Another roar from the crowd, so loud I had to clamp both hands over my ears as I fought my way forward. The bodies moved like a wave, swaying this way and that, threatening to crush me as I struggled towards the front. There was almost nowhere to put my feet as I fought not to lose sight of Vayde, who was desperately trying to get his men out of his way.
I saw his mouth moving as he tried to shout to his leader, but the cries from the crowd were just too loud. Rayne must have had some method of amplifying her voice to be heard over the uproar.
Someone’s foot caught my ankle and I fell, but the crowd was so thick I didn’t hit the ground, I simply wedged in between a couple of people who took no time pushing me off them. I
stumbled again, stepped on someone’s foot, then managed to get my footing again. Someone slammed into me, and I looked back to see Baltos, looking absolutely furious as the crowd drove him forward.
I jumped up again and saw Rayne standing with the Sunken by her side, her face filled with pride and determination. I managed to inspect the mindless player, who was wearing nothing more than a loincloth and swinging violently in every direction, and when I saw who it was, I started to panic.
Hectar—level 95.
“No!” I bellowed, charging forward through the mob. Hectar, Anwi’s lover, stripped bare of his armor by Stitches, then found by somehow by Rayne and
“Today we have another Sunken to remove from this world!” Rayne’s voice called out. “It is our noble duty to make the Dark World safe for the living, and today we take another step forward towards that goal!”
Everyone howled and cheered in response. My anger took over and I just started throwing elbows in every direction. Someone cried out as I drove my arm into their nose, but it was working. I started making better progress, eventually catching up with Vayde and overtaking him.
I kicked an enormous man wearing a huge suit of plate mail to our left. He went over like a statue, creating a domino effect that cleared a path in front of us. I leapt from player to player like I was using rocks to cross a river.
“Stop!” I shouted, uselessly fighting to raise my voice over the howl of the throng. Someone slammed into my knee, sending me toppling forward. I hit a group of players in front of me and knocked them forward. An entire line of Rayne’s followers collapsed and spilled down across the open ground ahead of us—I’d reached the edge of the crowd.
I tried to stand, but my leg was stuck on something. Turning back, I saw at least three players stacked on top of it, each of them rolling around, trying to get to their feet. The crowd looked like a swarm of ants, all climbing over each but without any visible destination.
Lord of the Flame: A LitRPG novel (Call of Carrethen Book 2) Page 34
