“Um … ” I glance at Wolf. “You healed him too?”
Deathdale nods, her eye locked onto me in a way that tells me she wants something more.
No way.
I massage my temples for a minute. I must still be hallucinating. Definitely. Rage has got me all sorts of fucked up.
“So, um, let’s talk. Lots to talk about.”
She nods and takes a seat next to me. Both of us now face the fire she’s lit at the entrance to the cave. The flames lick seductively at the cold, crisp air, the fire dancing before us.
Seductively? I shake my head at this last thought. What the hell am I thinking?
Get out of your own head!
“What is it?” she asks.
The struggle is real.
“Nothing,” I say as I rub the back of my head. “My mind is a broken faucet continually dripping sewage into the polluted river of my thoughts. Or something like that. I don’t know why I’ve all of a sudden become so pathetically poetic. I blame the rage and your medicine. You make this yourself?”
She chuckles. “Bought it, warmed it.”
“Cool.”
Silence permeates the space between us for a moment.
“I’m feeling good – better – like a million bucks, or a million lira is more like it. Ahem. But enough about me.” I clear my throat again. “And we can talk about the fact that a hybrid between a wolf and an orca shouldn’t exist later. Dammit, Wolf almost died back there. My rage keeps knocking me out after I’ve made my kill. I believe there may come a time when it knocks me out before I can get somewhere safe, or at least, safe enough.” I gulp at that thought. “So there’s that.”
“Respawn.”
“Yes, I could respawn, but … ” I gulp again. “I’d lose Wolf. And besides that, the world is dying. There may not be a Unigaea in the future if we aren’t able to do something. But that’s not what this is about; that’s not what I want to ask you. I want to tell you what the Drachma Killers did to me, why I plan to take them out, and then I want you to tell me what they did to you.”
She nods.
“And it will take more than two or three words.”
“I understand.”
Wolf rests on the ground, his head tucked between his legs. Deathdale to my right, Wolf to my left and a fire blazing before me, I feel at home, at ease. I relax a bit further and notice that the Solar Mage is sitting close enough to me for our bodies to touch. I begin my explanation of what happened to me.
“... and that’s pretty much it,” I tell her after I’ve finished. “The Drachma Killers destroyed the thriving village I’d built from the ground up. Like a coward, I took my own life rather than face their torture.”
As I say this last part, Deathdale’s expression sours.
“I know I was a coward; you don’t have to remind me.”
“It’s not that,” she finally says.
“What do you mean?”
“You did the right thing.”
(^_^)
Deathdale looks away from me and to the fire. “The Drachma Killers,” she says bitterly.
“Yes?”
She takes a deep breath and smooths her hand across her face. “I was traveling with a caravan to Tagvornin. My last avatar, I mean.”
“I understand. Go on, please. What happened?”
Terror blooms across her face. “They came riding out of nowhere, the skin of people they’d recently killed hanging over the backs of their horses. They’d skinned them whole … first thing I remember. It was daytime and I could see the skin, the hair, the drying blood. Their boneless faces like Halloween masks.”
“Shit.”
She nods. “The Killers surrounded us. We tried to fight back. I wasn’t strong enough. Just a merchant. They tied me to a wagon wheel, gagged me.” She sighs deeply. “They brought the other merchants before me, male and female. Killed them one by one. Raped their dead bodies, made me watch. Laughed like hyenas … ” Her voice trails off.
“I get it,” I say bitterly. “They’re sick, twisted, the motherfuckers.” Wolf places his big head in my lap and looks up to me. “We’ll get them.”
“They turned to me,” Deathdale says, her voice wavering. “It was late afternoon now. One of them started a fire and boiled oil. They pulled my head back and poured the oil into my eye.” She touches her patch. “The pain. I couldn’t log out. Then I passed out. Woke up naked, I remember that. Somewhere else. My body splayed open. One eye gone. In and out of consciousness as they cut my limbs off. Started with my right arm. Left arm. Leg. And that’s when I died, I think.”
“And you respawned as a Solar Mage. How long after?”
“Weeks. I couldn’t … just couldn’t come back to Unigaea. Other Proxima worlds out there. But I didn’t want them to get away with it. So I came back, and I was gifted a rare class.”
“And the eye they took?”
She exhales deeply. “Now the most concentrated source of my energy.”
“Can you see out of it? Weird question. I mean, when you move your eyepatch.”
She shakes her head.
“It seems like the Obelisk gave you this power to remind you of what the Drachma Killers did. I don’t know if this is to your advantage or if it is somewhat of an insult.”
“Advantage.”
I nod in agreement. Seeing Deathdale take out dozens of people with her eye only reminds me that everything happens for a reason, no matter how cruel that “everything” is.
“Agreed, although I don’t know how I’d react if I were Cyclops.”
The seriousness leaves her face. “From X-Men?”
“Yeah. That’s what your power reminds me of. You spawned with the eyepatch, correct?”
She nods.
“And if you lift the flap, it just blazes out … or do you will it or something?”
“I don’t will it. The eyepatch stops it from constantly firing.”
“See? Cyclops. No pun intended.”
I picture Deathdale with the eyepatch off, a constant stream of light pouring from her face. Good thing she spawned with the patch.
“Well, now that we’ve both confessed our reasons for revenge, um, tell me more about you. I mean, you up there. My name is Eric Renfro up there. I’m from Chicago, and I’m permalogged in using my UBI to pay for it. Which is a scam, really.”
“Universal Basic Income?”
“No, that’s a necessity since Humandroids have replaced – what is it? – fifty percent of the workforce? Something like that.”
“Something like that.”
“Imagine what it’ll be like in thirty years.”
“I try not to.”
“What’s your name up there?”
“Blanche.”
“Just Blanche?”
“Chmilenko. Blanche Chmilenko.”
“Okay, so where are you up there? Are you on UBI?”
“Yes. Calgary.”
“You’re Canadian?”
“Is that odd?”
“No not at all. I love Canadians. Well, I guess that’s not how I wanted to say that. I mean, we are pretty much the same, Americans and Canadians.”
“Except for guns, language, and social services.”
I laugh. “Well, there’s that. You know what I mean, though.”
“I do.”
Silence moves like a slow cloud over our conversation. We both stare at the fire as it flickers, lost in thought about god knows what. My thoughts jump like a crazed monkey from life in the real world to what Deathdale has just told me about the Drachma Killers to the first time I met her in Tin Ingot.
It’s weird how thoughts work, how they hardly stand still yet they can crystallize as quickly as they can berate me, a thousand miles a second.
Somewhere in all this cranial chatter – damn you, MIND points – Deathdale’s hand moves from her lap to my leg, close to Wolf’s snout. His tongue comes out and he licks at her fingers.
“He’s a good dog.”
; She moves the hand up my chest until it rests naturally at the side of my face. Her fingers are warm to the touch, even with her black glove on.
“Are you sure about this?”
You’re an idiot, Oric, I think as soon as the words leave my mouth.
Deathdale’s face softens. “You aren’t very smart, are you?”
“That’s not what my stats say,” I joke as I press Wolf’s head away. He protests, but gets the picture as Deathdale slowly shifts into my lap.
“Not what I was expecting,” I mumble as she wraps her arms around my neck and kisses me. Deathdale pulls back and stares at me long and hard, my heart fluttering as she moves in for the kill.
Chapter Nineteen: Canal Views
I don’t know anything about the general happiness of clams, or what it is they have to be happy with in the first place. That said, if a colloquial saying fits, why attempt anything else?
I sigh audibly, happy as a fucking clam.
Deathdale is cuddled up next to me, her porcelain skin warm against mine. I push her blanket off my body and focus on Wolf, who sleeps next to me, snoring lightly.
I’ve heard that dogs take on the illnesses of their owners. If the owner has a skin condition, the dog will inevitably get a skin condition, or if the owner has a cough, the dog will have a cough. Surely this is just superstition, but as I look at Wolf, I wonder what my condition is and if he has somehow taken it on.
Insanity. Bloodlust.
I smile at this thought as I turn back to Deathdale, my hands on her nude body. I touch her breasts and she stirs, her warm hands falling onto mine.
Her hands aren’t quite hot to the touch, but if she holds mine for too long, I start to lose hit points.
Odd.
“I have food,” she purrs.
I consider this. Sure, I’d like some meat, but whatever gerbil food she has will probably hit the spot.
“Meat too.”
“Well, that settles it.” I hop up, nude as the day I was spawned, and start doing jumping jacks. “It’s cold!” I say, my breath visible.
Deathdale sits up and pulls the blanket to her chest.
She has a full bed set, apparently, including a fold-out mat big enough for three people. I’ve already made a mental note to get one, and I act like an idiot for a moment longer as I hop up and down in the air. Boys will be boys, and my jumping jacks are in lieu of full on celebrating that I’ve scored with the hottest Solar Mage I’ve ever met.
Dammit, I’ve become a man-child.
“Why did you stop?” she asks.
“I didn’t want you to watch this thing flopping around for too long.” I give my proof of digital manhood a flick and my skivvies appear on my body. The rest of the armor comes – the easy way to equip stuff – and I’m dressed up before Deathdale can take her next breath. I’ve even gone with long sleeves, just to keep me a bit warmer.
“Well, we were supposed to talk strategy,” I say as I make my way to the entrance of the cave. Wolf follows, sniffing the air as soon as we’re outside.
“And?” Deathdale dresses instantly too; I turn to find her walking towards me, not quite a seductress but not far off, with a small package of food.
“I have a plan.”
“Wolf.” She bends and pets the Tagvornin beast. She opens the package and a solid slab of uncooked meat falls out.
“Damn, I’ll have what he’s having,” I say as Wolf goes to town.
She hands me a smaller package.
“Or this.” I unwrap the package to find a sliver of fish wrapped in seaweed and brown rice. One bite later and I’m in heaven. “Hey, not bad!”
I eat quickly and once I’m finished, I equip one of my magnolia-pine-cone IEDs. “So about my plan. There don’t seem to be pine cones up here, but I have two of these, and we can get more pine cones at the market in Drachma. Plus I got toy soldiers to fill them with to work as shrapnel.” I wave away the skeptical look on her face. “I guess I should explain that better. Here, check this out.”
I toss one to her and she examines it.
“Consider it a bomb. The pine cones are filled with Aramis weed, Aramis being some place on Tritania. Heard of it?”
“Another Proxima world.”
“Bingo. Anyway, if I light the fuse, or if someone else lights it with, ahem, with her solar power, it explodes. So it is a pine-cone IED, for lack of a better term.”
She gives the IED back to me and I inventory it. I pull up my herb list and scan through it, reminding myself of what I have.
Mandrake Flower (6)
Sunset Root (1)
Jatla Root (1)
Wizardous (1)
Karuna Seaweed (11)
Yellow Bonnet (4)
Cinnamon Flower (3)
Aramis Weed (3)
Burn Bush (3)
“Yeah,” I think aloud, “that could work. Here’s what we could do. I’ll swim up under the Drachma Killers’ headquarters, which is in the Canal District. Once I’m under there – remember, I can breathe underwater now – I’ll affix IEDs to the main structures keeping the place up. I’ll spread the rest of my burn bush and Aramis weed around the IEDs, creating a sort of web. You attack the place with your solar power from afar. Boom.”
“How will you make it stick?”
I point at the seaweed wrap in her hand. “Drachma seaweed is like duct tape, and we can pick some up in the market.”
“I see.”
“I used the seaweed all the time in Ducat; it’s sticky as hell. The Canal District is actually built on stilts to adjust for high tide. The homes and streets in the district have little stairs that go down to the main thoroughfares, where the gondolas are. I know; I’ve been there a few times as mayor of Ducat. There’s plenty of space for me to swim up under the district and attach IEDs to the structure holding up the Killers’ guild.”
Deathdale’s eyebrows rise.
“You will need to charge all day. No levitating. We will book a hotel near the canal, I’ll set the bombs, you’ll fry the place until it explodes.”
“How many are there?”
“How many Killers?” Wolf approaches me and licks his lips. I pet him behind the ear and smile down at him. “That’s a good question. We’ll have to poke around a little bit, but that should be fairly easy. Everyone in town knows who the Drachma Killers are.”
“Explosives are for cowards.” Deathdale’s face hardens.
“Shit, I want to make them pay as much as you do, but at our levels, they’ll fillet us alive.”
She turns away from me and looks back at the cave. I cautiously approach her and place a hand on her shoulder. “There will likely be a few who make it out. They’ll be on fire. I’ll be sure to handle them.”
“No rage,” she says without looking at me.
“Yeah, I won’t if you’re down from energy exhaustion. If you’re still up after blowing the place … I can’t guarantee anything. All of this is a risk.”
She turns to me, a light burning behind her eye.
“What is it?” I ask.
“Let’s destroy the entire Canal District.”
I take a step back from her. “But ... ” I think about what she’s said for a moment, envisioning the entire district on fire. “There are dozens of homes and guilds there, innocent lives, PCs, RPCs, NPCs.”
“We are Player Killers,” she says firmly. “The attribute bonus.”
I run my hand through my long hair as I consider this. “That could be like … a thousand people or more.”
Deathdale nods.
That’s not why you took this avatar, I remind myself.
“Destroy it all,” she says bitterly.
I finally shake my head at her. “No, we can’t do that; we can’t torch the place. Just the Drachma Killers’ guild. That’s not who I am. I don’t care if we could net a ton of attribute points. That’s not why I’m going to Drachma. I’m going for one reason, and one reason only.”
Deathdale huffs and takes a few step
s away from me. I circle around so I’m in front of her again. She stops, and I place both hands on her shoulders.
“I’m not that kind of bad guy,” I say, wincing at the simplicity of my terms. “What I mean to say is, it is not my desire to become as cruel as the Drachma Killers. If we destroy the entire district, we are no different than them.”
“They torture.”
“Yeah, but if we kill everyone, we’ll be hunted.”
“Our levels.”
“You’re right, they will be higher – much higher – if we wreck the whole place. But no. I can’t. Please understand that.”
The hard look on her face softens.
“Please understand that we are here, we’ve been joined together for a much bigger purpose. Hell, the fact that you and I are riding to Drachma goes against our bigger purpose of saving Unigaea, but I promised you we’d take the Killers out and it is a promise I’ve made for myself.”
“Okay,” she finally says.
I pull her in tight and give her a hug. “Thanks.”
She laughs. “For what?”
“For seeing things my way.”
“You’re right,” she says after a deep breath. “It’s not why we came here.”
(^_^)
Riding with Deathdale pressed into my body in front of me is a much better way to get to Drachma than watching her levitate to my left or right. At least for me. And if Wolf is uncomfortable or anything, he doesn’t show it.
The hint of blue melon radiates off the Solar Mage. I can smell it even with the wind hitting my face.
Deathdale wasn’t wrong to suggest we destroy the entire district. The rewards for doing so, in some respects, would outweigh the rewards for not doing it. I’m aware of that, but I can’t, I won’t, have that many deaths on my conscience.
It’s not why you took this avatar, I remind myself for the hundredth time as we ride east.
The snow from last night begins to melt as soon as the sun reaches its apex in the sky. The main path to Drachma remains semi-dry, mostly due to the clay that has been packed onto the path to prevent freezing. There’s still a chill in the air, but soon it will be warmer, the temperature moving up a few degrees every hour.
As we ride, I feel a sense of guilt for leaving Sam and Lothar, for impulsively heading east rather than north. I swallow it down. A vision of the Obelisk comes to me and I swallow this down too.
The Last Warrior of Unigaea Box Set: A Fantasy LitRPG Adventure Page 36
