Shadow Sun Unification: Shadow Sun Book Five

by Dave Willmarth

  “Send a call for help! If he’s so interested in saving lives, let him think he’s coming to save some of my peasants. Tell him…” Rajesh stopped pacing and gazed out toward where the gelatinous beings had now killed half a dozen peasants that had been sent against them. “Yes! Tell him that we’re being attacked by the jellies! That they will soon overrun us, and we are powerless against them! Beg for him to come and save us.”

  Pleased with himself, Rajesh dropped his towel and stepped back into the tub. “I shall make preparations for his arrival. Maybe the quickest way to become Emperor is to take the throne from another.” His eyes unfocused as he pictured himself sitting atop a great throne, millions bowing at his feet. “Tell Fayed to attend me. We have plans to make.”

  Bowing his head slightly, Agni took his leave. He would send Fayed to his nephew, let the boy be distracted with his nefarious assassination planning for a few days. There was no doubt in his mind that whatever plan they settled upon would fail. He would personally make sure of it.

  As he made his way to the radio room, he walked slowly. His instinct was to compose a more suitable and polite message to send to the new ruler of the planet. But a part of him wanted to do just as instructed. To lure Allistor under false pretenses, let Rajesh make his foolish attempt on the man’s life, and suffer the consequences. Which, if Agni were any judge of human nature, would likely result in his nephew’s death.

  Despite his lifelong love for the boy, he was becoming increasingly aware that his Rajesh had been corrupted by the power he’d been granted. He’d become a danger to his own people. There might even come a day when Agni himself was no longer safe.

  He’d need to ensure that day never came.

  *****

  The frustrated lich slammed his staff against the floor once, twice, and a third time. The sound of bone crunching against concrete echoed through the room. None of the adepts standing in an arc in front of him reacted in the slightest. Out of spite, he raised a hand then clenched it, withdrawing some of his life-giving power from each of them, causing them all to drop to their knees. He leaned forward in his throne, a massive raised seat formed completely of bone and sinew that twitched occasionally with some perverted semblance of life of its own.

  “Thirty of your brethren destroyed! Hundreds of thousands of my children gone with them! And still you have yet to even break the surface inside the city? Three days and nights you have had!”

  The adepts all remained on their knees, their decayed or mummified faces lowered. None spoke, none even moved.

  “One hairless monkey of a pretender to the throne of this world! One human has defeated nearly half of my adepts! Yet none of you has managed to put even a scratch on him?”

  Finally, one of the adepts spoke. “He fights without honor, master. He kills from great distances with his primitive weapon. Or surrounds himself with an unbreakable wall of orcanin warriors when he moves closer. He has support from the sky, his ships dropping devastating explosives anytime we gather large numbers together to defeat him. And we have counted several hundred elven and dwarven light mages fighting alongside his people.”

  Another dared to raise its gaze and speak. “We recommend discontinuing the assault on the wall, master. We will not overcome the forces there. It has failed as a diversion, his people having located our forces underground. Further attacks on the wall merely deplete the numbers of your children without purpose.”

  The first adept took up the plea. “Let us appear to withdraw. Recall your children from the surface attacks, have them retreat into the river. From there we can send the entire force underground. We need not take the city by force, master. Let us quietly hide your children deep under the city. We shall endeavor to raise many thousands more, and send them below as well. Eventually there will be enough to spawn your dungeon.”

  The litch thumped his staff again, this time with much less force. His empty gaze took in both speakers as the skeletal fingers of his empty hand drummed on the arm of his throne.

  “Yessss…” his unnatural voice echoed out from unmoving lips. “We shall create the dungeon as commanded by our matron. This will ease her anger with me.” The lich had been avoiding contact with Hel, but could not continue to do so for much longer. “Once we have established the dungeon, we can grow it stronger and larger until it bursts forth to destroy the city from below! We need only time, and patience.”

  Every one of the adepts raised their head and spoke in unison. “Patience is the province of the dead. We are timeless. We are eternal.”

  The lich gave a single nod of his head. “Make it so. Recall my children, send them away. All of them, including those still under the city. We shall make the humans believe they have won.” His eyes blazed brighter with an unnatural green light. “Bring me thirty, no… fifty children worthy of joining your ranks. I will need more adepts to raise replacements for my lost children. When we’ve emptied every burial ground within the old city, we will return. In preparation, wait two days for the humans to let down their guard, then send diggers to begin creating a new tunnel deep under the city.”

  As one the adepts bowed at the waist and departed. The lich’s gaze passed briefly over a brightly glowing crystal embedded in the arm of his throne. The communication crystal was a direct link to Hel herself. The fact that it was glowing so brightly meant that she was demanding to speak with him.

  He knew he’d made a mistake. His failure to kill the human prince out west was his first defeat since surrendering his soul and embracing his path as a necromancer. He had overestimated the intelligence and capability of the human, Kyle, and let that failure eat at him. When he’d returned to the east and found that Allistor had placed a city right in his path, his desire for vengeance had overridden his sense of duty to his mistress. A foolish mistake, since she literally held his soul in her possession. One act of anger on her part, and he would cease to exist.

  With great trepidation, the lich placed a skeletal hand on the crystal to confirm the connection. He would apologize, and explain his new plan. Hopefully she would see the benefits of allowing him to continue to exist.

  *****

  “Sire, Knight Bjurstrom wishes to speak with you.” Nigel’s voice echoed down from the ceiling.

  Allistor lay awake in his bed, though it was nearly three hours before the first sunrise. He’d slept little the past three days, spending most of his time on the wall alongside his citizens. Even with his improved Stamina, the adrenaline of battle and the stress of losing his people wore him down and required him to rest. But when he retired to his chambers, he didn’t sleep well. His bed felt wrong without Amanda in it. More than just empty, it felt… accusing. Almost hostile. He couldn’t put words to it, and didn’t want to spend time pondering it either. After less than an hour of tossing and turning the previous night, he had moved to the sofa.

  Tonight hadn’t gone any better. He simply lay awake, a kaleidoscope of thoughts tumbling around in his mind, so that he was actually grateful for the interruption.

  “What’s up, Bjurstrom?” He sat up and moved to a chair, feeling strange talking while laying down.

  “Heya boss. Sorry to call so late. Or, early. I’m not… interrupting any elfy fun-time, am I?” He could hear the grin in his friend’s voice, and decided not to take offense, even as tired and grumpy as he was.

  “Don’t make me come down there.” He threatened in his best dad voice.

  “Right. So, I called to tell you that they’re retreating. The zombies, I mean. They’ve all pulled away from the wall and are heading back to the river. Kuhns reports the same thing down in the tunnels. The raid groups down there are killing as many as they can as they retreat, but every group says they’re leaving.”

  “What? Why would they do that?” Allistor was suspicious. They had no idea why the lich attacked in the first place, and now even less idea why he was retreating. Had he been searching for something, some relic hidden underground, and found it? Or had he just decided he was
losing too many resources?

  “No clue, boss. We discussed it a bit amongst ourselves, knowing you’d ask. None of us has a good reason. We say just take the win and keep an eye out.”

  Allistor blinked a few times, something Bjurstrom had just said was bothering him. He replayed it in his head once, then again, until finally it struck him. Take the win.

  “We haven’t won yet. We didn’t get any xp for the defense quest. Which means it’s not over.”

  “Yeah, we thought of that, too. McCoy says it’s just because they’re retreating slowly. Once they’ve completely left the city and gotten far enough away, we should get the win.”

  Allistor nodded his head and sighed. “I should have thought of that. I guess I’m more tired than I thought. Thanks, buddy. I’ll see you at breakfast?”

  “Sure thing, boss. Try and get a couple hours of sleep.”

  Allistor let the connection drop, then said, “Speaking of breakfast, Nigel please let the kitchen staff know that we may have a large number of hungry people coming off the wall soon.”

  “Of course, sire.” The AI went silent, and Allistor laid down on the sofa. He really did need some sleep. With the weight of the battle at least partially lifted from his shoulders, it didn’t take long for him to drift off.

  He got a solid three hours of sleep, and was just getting into a dream that heavily featured Melise when he was awakened by a ground-shaking gong. The moment his eyes opened he received the accompanying notifications.

  Quest Complete: Defend the City!

  The stalwart defenders of Invictus City

  have repelled the undead invaders!

  Quest Reward: 100,000,000 experience; Kill experience: 0

  Bonus Quest Reward! For defeating an army more than ten

  times the size of your own: 50,000,000 experience.

  Bonus Quest: Win without losing allied lives – failed

  Bonus Quest: Eliminate one hundred percent

  of the attacking force – failed.

  Allistor grimaced at the quest failure reminder that he’d lost some good people during the extended battle. They would need to gather everyone soon for a memorial, but he’d let it wait a few days. His people needed food and sleep, a chance to unwind.

  After a second quick read-through of the notifications, he wasn’t surprised that he’d personally received no experience for kills. The common zombies had mostly been twenty or so levels lower than him. Even the adepts he’d killed hadn’t come within ten levels. The System didn’t award much for taking out monsters so far below you. The quest and bonus experience did get him a large chunk of the way toward level 66.

  On the upside, he was sure that Melise and the orcanin who had accompanied him had picked up some levels. Both from the quest rewards and from the kills. At level thirty five, maybe half of the common zombies and all of the adepts killed would have granted Melise some experience. He would have enjoyed seeing her face as she leveled up. And despite the early hour, he was sure his own people were already celebrating.

  He chuckled to himself when he heard a loud hoot from William and cheering from the girls. Dressing quickly, he abandoned his lonely bedroom and went to congratulate the kids.

  He was already mentally composing a way to gently tease William once more about putting some points into Charisma. Maybe the girls would catch on and play along.

  *****

  Breakfast in the cafeteria became a two-hour long victory celebration. Everyone except the highest level raiders and inner circle members had leveled up at least twice. Unlike Allistor, they had all received significant awards of klax as well, corresponding to the number of kills credited to them. The droids had gone out as soon as the retreat began and looted the piles of corpses, and the citizens were receiving their shares. Already there was a significant pile of scrolls on one of the tables to be taken back to Ramon and his inscriptionists. People were showing off newly acquired enchanted armor pieces and weapons. One of the healers was generating laughs off to one side. Having received an ugly looking skull helm as loot, she was stomping around with it on her head, the terrifying thing looking slightly silly with her green flower-embroidered robe and soft green leather boots.

  Small groups were gathered around raiders who were sharing stories of nasty fights down in the tunnels, or the pain of being struck by the necrotic spells. The most popular of these was the tank who’d had his legs withered by the adept’s staff. The healers had finally decided to amputate his legs above the line where the rot had stopped, then use the regeneration machine to replace them. Several kids who were enthralled by his story kept poking at his legs with forks and table knives, asking if he felt anything.

  Allistor was happy to see Nancy accompanying Ramon and Chloe as they arrived to retrieve the scrolls and grab some food. Ramon had reported that she was up and about and feeling normal the day after her injury, but it felt good to see her laughing and smiling in person. He walked up and grabbed her without saying a word, hugging her tightly until Ramon cleared his throat.

  “You know that’s my woman you’re squeezing there, buddy. Go find your own!”

  There was a collective gasp, then silence in the immediate area. Ramon instantly realized what he’d said and covered his mouth with his hand. “Oh, shit. I’m so sorry, man. I didn’t think…”

  Allistor let go of Nancy and grabbed hold of Ramon, bringing him in for a bro hug. “Don’t sweat it man. I keep forgetting she’s gone, too. I turn to say something to her, or reach out expecting to find her next to me. Then I remember, and feel like an ass for forgetting. I know you loved her too.” Ramon hugged him back hard, tears forming in his eyes. Allistor let him go when Chloe tugged on his shirt and demanded hugs of her own. He whisked her off her feet and spun her around, causing her to giggle. Max barked and hopped around them with his tail wagging like crazy, thinking a game was afoot.

  As breakfast was winding down, Daigath and Helen appeared. Allistor immediately looked behind them, hoping to see the bears. But he had no such luck. Helen hugged him, speaking quietly. “Fiona’s still in a bad way, though she’s getting a little better. Fuzzy stayed with her.”

  “Helen!” Chloe jumped into the woman’s arms, nearly knocking her over. Though she hadn’t aged, the levels that the little girl had earned had altered her body, making her stronger, healthier, and heavier than any girl her age had a right to be. “You missed the big fight! I got eight levels!”

  “Yeah, nobody ever invites me to the good stuff!” Helen winked at Allistor as she booped the little girl’s nose. “Pretty soon you’ll catch up to me!”

  “Yup! Ramon says I’m gonna be a real badass when I grow up!” Her eyes widened as she looked toward her mom. “Oop! I wasn’t supposed to say that in front of momma.” She looked guilty as Nancy smacked the back of Ramon’s head, then held out a hand for Chloe. Helen set her down, and the guilty-faced little one shuffled over to stand by her mom.

  The little family drifted away, Ramon mumbling one last quiet apology, though Allistor wasn’t sure if it was meant for him, or for Nancy. Helen went to grab some food, and Daigath stepped closer to Allistor.

  “The time grows near, and I would speak with you, young man. If you have the time?”

  “I always have time for you, Master Daigath.” Allistor did some quick math in his head. He’d been so distracted by the battle that he’d nearly forgotten his pending encounter with Baldur and Loki. “Shall we go upstairs?”

  “The roof will do.” Daigath nodded, and the two of them headed toward the exit and the elevators, Daigath taking a quick detour to grab some pastries off a buffet table. Just as they were leaving the room, Andrea approached.

  “Hey boss. Sorry to interrupt.” She bowed her head to the elven master. “Got something I think you’ll want to hear right away.” When Allistor nodded, she continued. “We’ve had radio contact with some folks who work for an Earl Rajesh over in India. Earl as in that’s his title, like you had when I met you. Anyway, they just called
for help. They’re reporting being under attack by this new world’s equivalent of slimes. I was going to just send a couple raid teams, but their leader has apparently asked for you personally. Wants to meet you.”

  Allistor had planned to start making goodwill trips before the attack anyway, and had no objection to helping out this Earl. He looked to Daigath. “Would you mind if we talked on the Phoenix?”

  “Not at all. I would be interested in seeing this place you called… India?” He looked to Andrea for confirmation and got a smile.

  “Alright, Andrea load up two or three raid groups, and fifty droids. Try to pick folks who haven’t been on the wall all week. Volunteers only. And please let Kira know we’re headed to the Phoenix. Oh, and… see if there are some healers available. And some trainers, too. We might as well make this trip as useful as possible. Have everybody meet at the Phoenix in twenty minutes. Let the folks in India know we’ll be there in an hour, tops.”

  Andrea gave a mock salute and a wink before dashing off, already speaking to Nigel. Allistor shouted for Helen, distracting her from her breakfast and waving for her to join them. She stuffed her half-finished plate into her ring and caught up to them as they left the lobby and began the short walk toward the parking garage and the Phoenix.

  “Any objection to Helen joining in this conversation?” He asked Daigath.

  “I have none if you don’t.” The elf smiled at Helen. “I will not ask if you’ve changed your thinking regarding the taking of Loki’s life. Instead I seek to better educate you on your options and consequences.”

  “Alright. Options first?”

  Daigath nodded. “First let me remind you that taking the life of an ancient one such as Loki will grant you enough personal experience to become one of the higher leveled individuals in the collective. While there are much older and higher level entities out there, myself among them, you would be within the top ten percent or so. On a level with longtime Emperors and faction leaders. Making such a leap at this time would certainly earn you some powerful enemies. Some from jealousy, others who will see you as a potential threat.”