“Soulshield,” shouted Bendi. The little guy had finally joined our fight. Bendi shot a beam of green energy towards me. Unlike Ethan who had tried to stop me Bendi was giving me strength. Using its skills as a healer it was transferring its own health, mana, and stamina to me. It left Bendi nearly depleted. I watched as I lounged forward as Bendi fell to the ground.
A black jet flew down from the sky. It fired blue wisps of energy at the wyvern’s back. As it turned towards this new threat I swung at its chest and dragged my sword downwards across its stomach breaking through the scales and chains that had been grafted to its hide. The wyvern screamed and began to bloat. The jet circled around and fired again and again without stopping. It was an energy based weapon. The jet resembled an arrowhead as it hovered in the sky. It didn’t let up. Even as Fanden screamed and tried to escape. The creature tried to heal itself again this time pulling from both its mana and stamina. It did little. Each blast of blue energy took only 1-2 HP from the creature but it was a never ending attack. Each second the wyvern was losing more and more health.
I fell to the ground. My health was at 90. I let go of the sword and watched the jet and the wyvern battle across the sky. The wyvern tried to attach itself to the ship and use its claws to rip through the hull. It was trying to pull out the pilot inside. The creature didn’t have much luck. The jet flew upwards and then back down crashing into the ground with the wyvern hitting the earth head first. The beast and the jet twisted together as a figure emerged from the cockpit of the jet holding a large great sword. The figure was dressed in black combat armor from head to toe. There were no patterns, no runes, no strange sigils, it was almost a completely flat black bodysuit minus a few pockets and straps here and there. The figure buried its blade into the wyvern who turned to ash.
“My name is Molto, I am one of the five,” he said, “you must be Adam, I’ve heard a lot about you from Croon, he said you were kinda strange but he didn’t say you were crazy,” said the figure standing over me. His voice was low. He was well built and when he took off his mask I could see he had bright red hair that came down over his eyes. The sides of his hair were shaved as well as his face. He placed the giant great sword across his back. He was also carrying a M44 Rifle. He smiled and pulled me up. I stood there for a moment. My entire body felt like it was on fire.
“Don’t worry I’m not going to hurt you or your friends,” he said.
“What are you here for? Why did you save us?” I asked barely able to speak. I had lost my voice screaming so much during battle.
“I’m a friend,” said Molto, “but for now let me be your guide, you have met Croon, he’s back at our base in Blackwall. I guess he got ahead of you guys by riding Garrick all the way down. He probably didn’t tell you. He’s one of the five. Something strange has been happening in the Deadlands, both the goblin kingdom and the troll kingdom have been gathering their armies,” Molto said. So Croon had been one of the five all along. Ok. That was fine. I guess that explained why he was so strong he could tame a wyvern like Garrick. I was pretty blown away thought that Molto had said he rode the creature back to Blackwall, their temporary headquarters.
“Your ship,” I said turning and looking at the smoking pile of rubble half buried in the ground.
“Its ok, I have another one, it was worth it, see this,” he said pointing towards a white gem, “this will go for 20,000 scrip at the hub, Fanden dropped it on its way out, finders keepers,” Molto smiled tucking the gem inside one of his pockets. It seemed to disappear. I tried to get a scan on Molto but I couldn’t read him. I knew his level was somewhere near 50 and that he was using powerful gear but I couldn’t get a fix on his class or inventory the same way I could read other NPCs.
From the distance another ship was coming towards us. It was another jet, no a dropship. It was just a bit longer than the one-man jet and could hold several passengers, “our ride,” said Molto. The dropship came down towards the ground like a helicopter. The engines roared as a group of soldiers came out each heavily armed in black combat armor and holding long rifles I couldn’t get a fix on. Molto picked up Bendi’s rifle and handed it over to me. “Might want to hold onto this, its worth a fortune,” he said. I grabbed the rest of my gear and slung both my rifle and sword to my side. The soldiers helped carry Ethan into the dropship as Bendi and I were last onboard.
“Its about time,” said Molto towards the pilot.
“Kept you waiting huh,” said the pilots voice.
“I’d like you to meet Jace, he’s our tech guy, another one of the five” said Molto pointing towards the pilot. He was young, maybe about 17 or 18, black hair similar to Molto’s. They looked like they could have been brothers or even father and son. Jace was wearing the same combat armor as Molto only covered by a blue military style jacket with a dark gray fur lining and hood. Jace looked back at us, “nice to finally meet you guys, we’d been following you for awhile,” he said.
“You couldn’t have stepped in sooner?” I asked.
“We wanted to see how far you would make it, pretty damn good for noobs,” Jace said as we lifted off from the ground. Molto closed the dropship hatch as soon as we were high enough.
“Can you take us to the hub?” I asked. I was hopeful, maybe all my problems had been solved.
“No can do, we’re actually kind of stuck in the valley,” Molto answered. Turns out once the five, their army, Ethan, Bendi, and myself entered the Valley of Decay we were all tethered to this place. I knew it was because we each had some kind of quest to fulfill and that it was a part of the game but to them it was some kind of supernatural barrier. They had tried everything to get. They called it being ‘soul bound’.
We flew for several hours across the valley below. I could see dozens of different creatures ranging from hippo like omnivores the size of trucks to giraffe like creatures with tusks and fangs. We passed over several ruined campsites and structures that looked like they had once been small villages or towns. Lost settlements. We finally arrived at Blackwal and I found myself staring at a futuristic base camp. The town had been surrounded by a great wall with turrets and the inside of the camp looked like a hangar with several barracks that made up a mess hall, barracks, battle center, and a training yard. There were several dozen jets and at least three more dropships and shipping containers surrounding us. On the far side of the camp I saw a giant mech standing tall several stories tall guarded by several smaller mechs with massive rifles that looked like they were six feet long.
“We’ve been putting together an army, its small but its home, outcasts, remnants, scouts that have gotten lost. For many who cross into the valley and survive long enough for us to find them this is home,” said Molto.
“Yeah sorry if its a bit of a mess,” said Jace.
“This place doesn’t look bad at all, not the sword and sorcery setting I’v seen so far, this place looks advanced, I thought there was a problem with technology decaying?” I said.
“New technology, most of this is 200 years old, we do our best to keep it looking new,” said Jace proudly.
“So you can’t just make another jet?” I said looking towards Molto.
“Well… the hub is built out of a crashed starship and inside were hundreds of jets. The merchants guild established by the settlers kinda keeps a foothold on them, selling them to the highest bidders, they are rare but so far we’ve barely depleted half their stock, it takes a lot of skill to pilot one, same with the mechs, almost nobody can integrate with that big one there and the smaller ones are just as rare to find good pilots,” Jace said pointing towards the giant mech.
“I would like to try,” I said confidently.
“That one is mine but give it time, maybe, you just got here and there is a lot to talk about,” said Molto stepping in, “we’re taking Ethan to the infirmary, he lost a lot of blood from using that magic of his, poor kid, Ariane should have taught him better, I feel partially to blame for that, if I hadn’t called
her out here than maybe he would have more self-control,” Molto finished.
“Speaking of Ariane, where is she? Where is Croon? I still have some questions for him about where he found this pendant,” I said putting my hand around the pendant on my neck.
“Ariane is missing, she went to get something for her newest invention and disappeared. We sent out a search party around the same time we found you, there are others still out there looking, we have reason to believe that she may have found a way home,” said Molto. I wish that he knew what home meant for me. We all wanted the same thing here. To escape this valley. Whereas they were trapped in a world within their world I was trapped completely outside my own.
“I have something for you,” said Jace. He handed me a cybernetic arm and helped me attach it where my stump was. It was a little larger than my right arm. I felt a sting as tiny tendrils inserted themselves inside me. I started screaming and than I felt both of my hands move to cover my face. The pain wore off and I was whole. Something about it didn’t feel right. I knew it wasn’t my arm and I wasn’t moving it with my arm. I was moving it with my mind.
“What the hell did you do to me?” I said making a fist with my new cybernetic limb.
“Temporary fix, the metal will decay in a few days but we can have a new one made for you by then, its a cybernetic limb, Ariane’s design,” he said.
Molto laughed and said he liked it the way it was before.
Many things could be said of Molto. The two traits most people enjoyed the most were that he was capable and forthright. Of course the was also humble, resourceful, and brilliant. Far less strongly and often mixed with being deceitful as well just as all the five were known. His capabilities though, he was loved for. There were many times when friends counted on his innovative nature in times of need. The five and their army were struggling. Ariane was missing. Something was stirring inside the Deadlands. Nobody was perfect of course and Molto had plenty of character faults too. He could sometimes let his over ambition get the best of him.
“Ethan’s injuries will take a few days to heal, wash up and than come meet with me in the battle center so we can talk, I’ve never met an unchained before,” Molto said gesturing with his hand which direction I should go.
And so my party disbanded with the exception of Bendi and myself. Ethan was down for now. I had the feeling he would be back. I knew he wanted to find and rescue Ariane but given his current state that was impossible at the moment. I moved towards the showers in the barracks and washed up. When I came out I found new clothes waiting for me. A black tshirt, cargo pants, and a scraggy worn blue jacket. After I dressed Bendi and I made our way to the battle center and waited half an hour for Molto admiring the detailed maps and blueprints that were hanging on the wall. The battle center looked like the inside of a starship. Scavenged pieces of tech were used to monitor the area around us and there were several officers sitting down with headphones tracking the creatures outside our walls. Molto finally arrived. He was wearing normal clothes. Nothing special but he looked smaller than he had in his military gear.
“Its the little things that matter most, don’t forget,” he said lighting a cigar. He offered one to me and Bendi. Bendi took it and put it inside his satchel while I refused.
“Where is Croon?” I asked wondering.
“Disappeared again, he only comes here when he has too, he’s kinda the black sheep of the five,” Molto said.
“You said he was going to be here.”
“I’m not his keeper, Croon and I disagree on a lot of things and he tends to keep to himself a lot. He’d rather be out there with the monsters taming dragons and speaking goblin than defending our walls,” Molto said.
“Bendi like Garrick,” Bendi said with a kind of half smile. I almost started to laugh but Molto’s face changed. The room grew quiet. I knew what he was about to tell us was pretty serious so I listened carefully.
“The troll kingdom and the goblin kingdom have been amassing their armies. Both kingdoms already have about 100,000 troops. The troll kingdom has been kidnapping people from both Arcadia and the hub, I’m sure you already knew this… in fact I believe that is why you are here, Ethan has been going on and on about Deep Infantry and their mission to defeat the troll king, well its a bit more than that at the moment. The troll king is planning a takeover of all of Eda. Believing it is his right to rule over all. Trolls are unruly creatures with little intelligence but they are strong, especially in large numbers. If the troll kingdom and goblin kingdom unite against us it will be all out war and we won’t win,” said Molto.
“What can I do about that?” I asked.
“You are unchained, we’ve heard stories about unchained before, I believe after watching you fight that you could be our greatest weapon, since you’ve awoken you have grown stronger and stronger everyday, give us a month, a year and you’ll be just as strong as any of the five, give us two years and you’ll be among the strongest in all Eda,” he said. Jace walked into the room. “Ethan has disappeared, he cast some kind of spell that healed most of his wounds and than another and we couldn’t find him,” he said.
“Conjuicus vex, augment vexation,” I said, “it turns the caster and his companions invisible.
“Damn kid must have overheard one of our soldiers talking,” Jace said.
“Talking about what?”
“We think we’ve located Ariane in the Deadlands, there is a small dungeon there and she may have gone after some kind of cursed weapon, she had been experimenting with cursed items, using them to power our tech,” Jace said.
“I have to go after him,” I said.
“You won’t stand a chance, not out there, most all the monsters in the Deadlands are just as powerful as the Fanden, we’ll get a party together and go after both of them when the time is right,” Molto ordered.
“I don’t take orders. I’m not part of your five or your army,” I said standing up.
“Detain him,” Molto shouted. Jace stood back as two guards with heavily armed rifles grabbed me. I kicked one in the face and the other in the stomach as I moved past running outside. Another set of guards were waiting for me. I felt an electric shock against my spine.
“Don’t make me do this kid,” said Molto.
“Don’t be so harsh, he only wants to save his friend,” said Jace. Did I? Was that why I was doing this. I had known Ethan a few days and he wasn’t real, none of it was. Why was I worried about him? What was I trying to accomplish by leaving this place. If I fell in line I could work with them kill the troll king and finish my journey. This path would probably take me all the way to the hub and from there I could find out if the forum was still active and contact home.
“He’s an unchained, we need him,” said Molto, “lock him up in the brig, he’ll come around,” he finished as two guards began taking my gear.
“So much for us being friends,” I said spitting on the ground towards Molto.
“We don’t all get friends in this world, not when we are fighting for our life,” he said as the guards carried me off.
Three hours passed as I sat in total darkness. They had taken my weapons and my armor. I still had my magic but it wasn’t strong enough to defend against them and we all knew that. I heard a knock against the prison wall. The brig was located underground. Beneath the barracks. It was night now and everyone was beginning to settle in for the night. I could hear their footsteps. +10 Abilities.
“Look, Adam, I know Molto can be harsh sometimes but he’s led us all through a lot of troubled times, its hard for any of us to say but sometimes he’s not always right,” it was Jace. He came closer holding a light. Bendi was beside him. “There is a lot more going on here than you think, this world, its only one of nine realms, the other eight are bleeding through the rift. I know you aren’t from here and you sure as hell didn’t just wake up from stasis onboard Sanctuary. I’ve been through there a dozen times and I know for fact nobody in any of those pods w
ere alive,” he said.
“You got me,” I said almost wanting to clap my hands.
“Bendi here explained to me that you need to see the witch, that you are trying to get to her as quickly as possible, I hate to say it but if Molto has his way it will be years before you even leave the valley, you’ll be stuck here like the rest of us.”
“Are you going to help me?” I asked.
“More like I forgot to lock the door back,” Jace smiled and threw me some bread. I waited another five minutes before making my move. Bendi went in front of me. I wanted to take a detour and grab my weapons and armor but they were under close guard. Molto had taken a liking to my cursed sword. I couldn’t risk being caught. Not now. I crouched and snuck through the base camp until I found one of their jets unattended. +10 stealth. I felt myself level up. Level 10. It felt good. Like a shot of adrenaline straight to my heart. I moved inside the ship.
“Shit I don’t know how to fly this thing, do you Bendi?” I asked.
Bendi shrugged and climbed in beside me practically sitting on my lap.
The jets were smaller than I thought they would be. It looked huge against the wyvern but it was just a little larger than a full size car. I began studying the controls. They were actually pretty simple. I felt it all click into place as I started the jet’s engine. We began hovering on the ground. I could already hear the soldiers outside shouting. They were firing at us when I started to steer us upwards towards the front gate.
The giant mech activated. Molto’s mech. I could see its eyes glow red as it turned on. The whole thing looked like it was controlled by some kind of daemonic energy. He had said that Ariane was using cursed weaponry to power their tech. The giant mech must have been a part of her experiments, her latest invention. It swatted at us. It didn’t look armed. Maybe Molto was determined to try and take us alive.
Glimmer, A Throne of Souls (Convergence Book 1) Page 10
