by Dante King
“Aulien, report.”
Puck materialized beside me and watched with interest as I placed the travel stone down beside him. The voice had the same odd tilt that belonged to Elohin.
“Aulien paid for his sins.” I paused for effect. “As will you.”
Radio silence. Then, the voice spoke again.
“Who are you?”
“Always the same questions,” I said. “‘Who are you? Why are you doing this? Please spare me.’ But you’re used to those questions, aren’t you, Sap Lord?”
He laughed like a prepubescent kid. “Every word you speak that does not answer my question simply prolongs your inevitable suffering, stranger. The Sap Lords are not in the habit of playing word games with thieves and murderers.”
“I’m glad we understand each other, elf.” I smiled at Puck as I delivered my spectacular title. “My name is Von Dominus, Tainted Elf Monarch, Lord of Zagorath, and Viceroy of Lilith, Goddess of the Infernal Realm.”
The voice didn’t speak for a few moments, but the travel stone flickered a few times.
“A false title, bandit.” His voice sounded more composed but no less annoying. “Lilith is in chains, and the Infernal Realm has no ruler. Whatever your pretensions, you will be brought to justice.”
“Justice?” I laughed. “The same kind of justice that you dispense to the people of your realm, even the guilds under your control? Governing them with fear, mercilessly crushing resistance wherever it arises? I admire it; I would use the same tactics. Except you forget one thing: there are enemies outside the Nature Realm. I am one of them.”
“You are a cockroach,” the voice spat.
“Your strength is an illusion, and your power is untested. You’ve grown fat on the feats and the strengths of others. While you lounge about in the ivory palaces of Avalonia.”
“Perhaps you are, indeed, Lilith’s pet. I hear her heresy in your words. We maintain the order as imposed by Eveline. And you seek to unbalance it. To cast this realm into chaos.”
“In chaos, the strong truly rise. Tell me, Sap Lord; when was the last time you left Avalonia? Delved into a real dungeon? Faced mortal peril?”
“You do not know to whom you speak!” he snarled suddenly.
“Well, you haven’t been swift in introducing yourself,” I retorted. “Presumably because the fear that you strike into others is the only real weapon you have. But please, oh, mighty bookkeeper, do introduce yourself. The suspense is agonizing.”
“I am Talos. The First of the Sap Lords, of whom you so insolently speak.”
Good. I was getting under his skin. These lords hadn’t fought a real fight in far too long. Their arrogance made their egos frail.
“I know this Talos,” Puck whispered so that he wouldn’t be heard through the travel stone. “Bolnir spoke of him. Apparently, he likes to play dressup. Considers himself such a devotee of Eveline that he puts on the garments of a goddess and parades around his bedchamber in imitation of her.”
I scowled at the Shade. This wasn’t the time to speak of Talos’ nighttime habits. But Puck’s information may be useful later. For now, I wanted to really piss him off.
“Talos. Did you really think that you could continue to sap from the people of this realm without consequence? To upset the order your goddess so highly prizes for your own gain? While you drink of the cup of other’s spoils, while those that you recruited with promises of power and wealth languish in chains. The chains you imposed upon them. Your promises are lies, and their sworn oath to uphold your comfort is heresy against your very own goddess.”
“You dare…”
“Eveline has abandoned you. All of you. If you truly had her protection and if you really deserved the opulence and security that you enjoy, then why was it so easy to crush her servants?”
I’d never met Eveline. My only game plan was to spout blatant heresy against this fucker’s religion to get him angry. Furious to the point where he wasn’t thinking straight. I had no desire to get into a tussle with a goddess. Luckily, I saw no flashes of lightning or animated treants to punish my blasphemy.
“Admit it,” I said. “You are no servant of Eveline. Not you, or any of the Sap Lords. You’re simply opportunists who use faith for their own ends. Charlatans. False merchants of goods that aren’t yours to sell. Cowards that snivel and wait for your next wagon of guildmarks to arrive so that you can continue to grow fat and lazy. Your power is an illusion. You’re no more a powerful lord than I am a simple bandit.”
“You will pay for your heresy,” Talos hissed. “Your family, your friends? All of you will die for your insolence. You speak of power, but you haven’t the first idea about it.”
“Oh, I know power. For a supposed legendary warrior and figure of fear, you’ve not even mastered the first basic principle of a great fighter. Control your emotions. Look at you, falling apart into impotent rage over the words of a stranger. You are Eveline’s chosen adventurer? Please. The half-orc scum who wander aimlessly through the Infernal Realms and fuck their sisters have a thicker skin.”
There was a stir of movement, and I wondered if my banter partner had finally cracked.
“You’ve made a fatal mistake, scum of Lilith. The mistake of antagonizing those who are stronger than you could ever imagine.”
His voice was controlled and far more lethal-sounding than his laughably childish anger. This sounded more like the tone of a guy who meant business.
Good. I meant business too.
“Do you even know the properties of the item you currently possess?” Talos continued. “What it means for your life in the next 10 minutes?”
Well, I’d been right to get the stone out of Elderwood House. Talos’ implication was that he could use the miniature obelisk to teleport right into my midst. He’d made the mistake, however, of telling me exactly how much time I had before he arrived. He didn’t exactly seem stupid, but perhaps I’d made him make a foolish slip of the tongue in anger.
“It means that you’ll send through a knot of your foot soldiers,” I said, “and they’ll die at my hand. It means you’ll continue to feast in Avalonia until I lay siege to the city and come and drag you screaming from your bed.”
I hoped my words ensured that this Sap Lord, and any others of his kind, would venture through the stone. I didn’t want to fight against his lackeys—I wanted every last lord in Zagorath. All their items, all their essence, would be mine.
Talos’ voice shook with laughter. “Oh, no, insect. No, no, no. You’ve earned the right to my personal attention. The price of your impertinence is your lingering, agonizing demise at my hands. No less.”
Gotcha.
“Do you speak for the Sap Lords, or your own wounded pride?” I couldn’t keep the satisfaction from my tone. “Do you even know where your stone sits? I could strike you down the moment you materialize, my friend. Strip your body naked and hang your corpse upside down for the creatures of Eveline to feed upon. Maybe then, you’ll actually be serious about the balance of nature.”
More stunned silence. Von Dominus’ stat screen should have shown a bonus to shit-talking, because I’d have maxed it out by now.
“Pray to your depraved goddess, Von Dominus,” Talos said. “Pray she delivers you from the agony we will bring. And when you are gasping, wishing, begging for death? Then, perhaps the power of Eveline will become evident to you.”
“I’m waiting,” I said.
The guild’s travel stone went still, and I stepped away from it. We had only a short distance to the forest’s obelisk. I couldn’t guarantee the portable stone would transport the lords all the way from this realm to mine, so I thought of a failsafe.
I beckoned Puck to follow me as I sprinted toward the obelisk that would take me back to Zagorath. I let the miniature travel stone rest beside the larger one. I wasn’t sure that the lords would be able to activate the magic that would transport them to Zagorath, but I was damned sure they’d give it their best shot. Talos had been infuriat
ed, and I figured he’d even cross into the unknown to punish my apparent heresy.
With my hand pressed against the larger travel stone, my cells began to shift apart as I was transported from this realm to the realm of Lilith.
The black pillars of the First Floor materialized around me. I immediately dissolved Von Dominus and entered my jewel. It would be minutes before the Sap Lords would arrive.
“Champions!” I called out to Bertha and Abby. “Ready yourselves. Tonight, we’re entertaining a very special party of adventurers.”
I hadn’t forgotten my promise to my women. They would be the first to face this new threat. And if the lords managed to defeat them, then Von Dominus, Tainted Elf Monarch, would be waiting for them upon his obsidian throne.
Chapter Nineteen
I pulled every Hellbat, Storm Sprite, Lesser Imp, and Lightning Imp I had onto the First Floor. Bertha was on her feet in a second. She sprinted down toward the Pretzel from the Antechamber. Abby’s avatar materialized behind a pillar as Bertha appeared from the corridor. Abby’s skin shone a blinding blue as her powers manifested and she took on the form of a Storm Elemental. Electricity crackled through her and filled the First Floor with the smell of ozone and fresh rain. Puck found a high perch on one of the pillars and cloaked himself in shadows. The Shade was all but invisible amidst the screeching hordes of my Infernal minions.
“Puck,” I said as I watched the travel stone in anticipation, “what can you tell me about these Sap Lords?”
“Bolnir was rather ignorant of them, Master. He knew their names and titles, but little else.”
“Give them to me.”
“The charming fellow you are already acquainted with is Talos. He is the First of the Sap Lords and a Paladin of the Leaf. There are two others who are called Knights of the Root. One is a human named Harven. The other is an elf named Althir. Two elvish sorcerers join their number, Marlyn and Silrin. The final member is known only as the Bladesinger.”
So, there were three tanks, two magic-users, and a damage-dealing enemy. It was a well-rounded party, the most versatile group who’d entered Zagorath yet.
The travel stone began to throb as the veins along its obsidian surface glowed in green and gold flashes.
“Lilith is smiling upon you, my champions,” I said. “Impale, eviscerate, and decapitate in her name. You will be rewarded for your valor and your skill.”
Essence swirled out and around my travel stone and formed itself into my friendly neighborhood extortionists.
“No one move,” I commanded my champions and minions. “Stay hidden. This is our home, and we fight on our terms.”
Six stood in a loose knot and faced outward. Two wore heavy armor of steel plate and chainmail while carrying teardrop-shaped kite shields. Their curved glaives caught the light of my crystal skulls as the pair shuffled forward warily. Close-fitting helmets hid their faces but couldn’t quite mask the Nature Essence shining through their eye-slits.
Two sorcerers stood behind the knights, their flowing robes of deep green shining with embroidered gold sigils and commanding attention. Wide sleeves hid their hands, and deep cowls obscured their faces. I was almost disappointed they hadn’t brought magic staves with them to finish the effect. The essence flowing from their bodies was so thick I could smell it.
The last two lords looked like specialized warriors. One was armored in a mail-and-leather hybrid with a collection of four katanas strapped to his body. Two of the swords were sheathed over his shoulder, and the the other two were buckled at his hip. The Bladesinger.
The final lord wore no headgear or hood to obscure his face. A delicate braid of sugar-white hair lay draped over his shoulder. His armor was identical to that of the Bladesinger. A giant scimitar of gleaming silver hung at his side beside a set of daggers and a small leather pouch. The arrogant curl of his lip marked him as Talos.
“Von Dominus,” the white-haired elf spoke and confirmed his identity. “I expected your home to be more impressive. So, you are a dungeon champion? No, you spoke too highly of yourself. I assume you are the avatar itself. Your dungeon is about to be cleansed, in the name of Eveline.”
“Now,” I said.
I didn’t hesitate. I pulled the trigger on every minion on the First Floor. The Storm Sprites and Hellbats congealed into a huge spinning mass and slammed right into the side of the party of lords. My Lesser and Lightning Imps swarmed the other side. A torrent of teeth, claws, and electrifying energy bolts assaulted the enemy.
The knights moved to the front, raised their shields, and protected the sorcerers from the brunt of the attack. The Bladesinger unsheathed two katanas from his back and cut down the Hellbats and sprites that made it past the huge shields of the knights. Talos whirled like a spinning dervish as he cut down both the regular imps and the ones I’d imbued with lightning.
The Hellbats were a storm of leathery wings, snarling fangs, and murderous intent. The two armored tanks moved shockingly fast for their size and weight as they struck Hellbats from the air and crushed their skulls with armored boots. But the sprites proved too agile for the knights, and one managed to slip through their guard. A knight shuddered as the sprite bit him through a narrow gap in his plate armor. Electricity surged, smoke bled into the air, and the Hellbats closed in for blood.
Before they could take advantage of the injured enemy, a sorcerer gestured, and an aura of liquid light radiated from his robes. The moment the emerald energy touched the knight, a wave of emerald energy exploded in a wave around him. The Hellbats were vaporized in mid-air, along with a half-dozen sprites. The knight regained his composure and protected the front once more with his kite shield raised.
“Is it our time now?” Abby’s voice entered my mind.
“I grow impatient,” Bertha added.
“Soon,” I said. “I’m using the minions to understand the lords’ weaknesses.”
“Have you found any yet?” Puck retorted.
Their words grated on me, but I wasn’t ready to pull the trigger on my champions. Not yet.
“This is all you have, Von Dominus?” Talos’ petulant voice echoed throughout the chamber as he carved a Lightning Imp in half. “Your minions are weak. You skulk in the shadows, hiding from us. What of your brave talk beforehand? Where is your bravado now, heretic?”
It was clear this Talos wasn’t going to flee. He would clear my dungeon or die trying. Well, I could arrange the latter.
I hadn’t seen a weakness yet, but my minions were obviously just fodder for the lords. It was time for the second phase.
“Abby, Bertha, it’s showtime. Puck, support them from the shadows.”
Bertha’s purple tattoos blazed on her emerald skin as she blurred out from behind a pillar. What remained of my minions kept the lords busy, and they didn’t even see her coming.
My half-troll champion surged toward a knight and introduced herself with a kick that could have decapitated a horse. The knight managed to deflect most of the strike with his shield, but he was still pushed back a few feet. Both knights closed in on Bertha, and it was only the sudden arrival of Abby that prevented her from being overwhelmed.
The Storm Elemental blasted the armored lords with wave after wave of lightning. The enemies were forced to raise their shields, and it seemed that their armor had specific magical dampeners to avoid electrocution. The distraction was all Bertha needed, and she drove her spiked halberd into a knight’s chest. The spike penetrated the armored lord’s armor, but he managed to slip away before she would have impaled him.
The sorcerers behind him responded to the attack by uttering arcane phrases. Magic started to pulse from their hands as they curled their fingers into a quick series of formations. Bertha immediately activated her Chaos Nova rune, and the Nature magic was disrupted in a wave of black energy.
Talos and the Swordsmen closed in on my champions, and now, it was six against two. Bertha and Abby could no longer take the offensive, and they resorted to darting around the ene
mies. Puck came to their aid as he bathed the enemies in a thick cloud of shadow magic. Their coughs and wheezes told me they didn’t have a counter to this attack, but I was proven wrong when another emerald wave of energy exploded from the center of the lords and nullified the shadow smoke.
“Are you sure you want to handle this yourself?” I entered my champions’ minds. “I have a giant chasm filled with traps and a great, big varidu just waiting.”
“We can handle this,” Bertha grunted as she deflected a strike from Talos’ oversized scimitar.
Halberd sang against scimitar as Bertha pressured the paladin. The Bladesinger joined his side, and together, they pressured the half-troll. Blue light flared throughout the First Floor as Abby skipped in from behind. Lightning rippled from her fingertips and smashed into the Bladesinger. He came off his feet like he’d been launched by a rocket.
Bertha whirled away from a scimitar strike, sliced downward with her halberd, and hissed as the paladin parried her blow with his shield. She twisted her weapon and slammed the end of it into his chest. He stumbled backward as Bertha slashed upward, and blood sprayed as she took his nose clean off. Blood cascaded down the paladin’s face and ran into his mouth as he smiled.
“Marlyn! Silrin!” he yelled.
The sorcerers bathed him in a healing aura, and his nose regrew in less than a second.
“By Lilith. . . “ Bertha whispered, but she had to recover quickly as Talos resumed the deadly duel.
Abby’s eyes blazed with blue hatred as she whirled out of range of a slash from the Bladesinger. Her reflexes were fast, and she cracked her hammer into the lord’s side. Lightning blasted his torso, and the swords clattered from his hands. He dropped to his knees, and Abby raised her hammer for a killing blow, but the Bladesinger drew his other katanas from his hips. Before either my champion or the lord could strike, Puck barrelled into the man. They tumbled together, a ball of shadows and leather armor.
