by Skyler Grant
It dug a large gash out of my armor, but I kept my focus on the sword, working it deeper as flames poured from the open wound. The flailing of the huge beast grew weaker and finally stilled as we hurtled towards the ground.
On the carpet, Lea swooped from below and snagged my wrist, pulling me away. I slipped Intemperance free as I held on for dear life. Runes glowed as Lea dragged me onto the carpet and we both sat there for a moment panting.
"You couldn't have bought a magic carpet with decent handling?" Lea asked, wincing as she leaned back on her elbows. "I almost ran into a hillside before I could come back for you."
"Yeah? You try buying expensive magic carpets when you have Ashley watching the coin purse," I said, breathless.
It wasn't that funny a joke, but we laughed until our sides hurt. Near-death experiences will do that for you.
I searched the skies and couldn't see the Vainglory.
"I'll get it," Lea said, her fingers moving in the air and scry windows opening.
The Vainglory soon came into focus and Lea's lips pursed unhappily.
We changed direction and soon the ship was close.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
A figure flung itself off the side of the ship and a parachute opened. One of the riders.
"Kill them please," Lea said.
Well, since she asked politely.
Smite
I focused the magic and the divine fire sprung up around the parachute. The figure started tumbling in a freefall towards the ground.
Lea was moving her hands with considerable force, her body glowing bright.
Whatever magic she was attempting, it wasn't in time and there was a massive explosion at the rear of the ship. Splinters rained down on us.
I just managed to cover her with my body. My heavily armored form was able to deal with things a lot better, although a few did find their way through the joints. I was getting used to being a pincushion.
When I looked back up the Vainglory was lurching to the side with smoke pouring from the stern.
"What was that?" I asked.
"Bombs on the engines. I was hoping I could get back and shield them in time. This is bad," Lea said.
The carpet took us to the deck and Lea leapt off. There were four dead griffons. Which meant another two must have appeared after we left.
Cobalt was slumped against the mast although she looked unharmed. Riggs was in rougher shape with his clothes blackened and one arm showing massive burns. The others had joined the fight and were squaring off against two of the riders.
I wasn't worried about them. The last place I'd want to be right now is on the other side of a dagger from Ashley.
I rushed to Cobalt and knelt beside her, trying to pull up her stats. I never could—and I still couldn't. Everyone else in the game I'd at least get something on, but from her I simply got a buzz and a headache.
"She's all right, lad," Riggs said. "High-level sleeping spell. They came prepared. The lass is good, but she's not immune to magic."
I shook her and she let out a low groan.
I said, "Good. I'd have a lot more elves to kill, if something had happened to her. They blew up our engines though."
Riggs' eyes widened in alarm and he tried to push himself up. "Lad, if they hurt the engines we've got bigger problems. We need to get to them."
"He's right," Cobalt said blearily, with her head lolling to the side as she yawned mightily. "If they’ve damaged the engines you need to get them working. I'm fine. Go."
There was a violent tremor beneath our feet and the ship lurched to the opposite side as another pillar of flame grew.
I grabbed Cobalt and I dragged her over to the magic carpet, stretching her out on it. I didn't care what she said. I wasn't leaving her without an exit plan, if the ship went down. "If we start crashing, get her out of here," I said to Lea.
"We're already crashing," Lea said with a weak grin. "But I know what you mean. Go."
I rushed back to Riggs. We needed him healthy and able to walk, so I pushed out a heal and his arm knitted itself back together.
"Like having your arm set on fire," Riggs complained, shaking his arm violently. "And I'd know."
Was it? I always found the rush of Yvera's healing rather more pleasurable. The dangers of a Goddess of multiple natures, I supposed.
Back on his feet, Riggs quickly made his way to the hatch and below deck. I followed.
Behind me, one of the riders was covered in spiders and the other was getting bits cut off him. Right. It was a bad day to attack the Vainglory.
I had a level up pending and opened the menus to deal with it before doing anything else.
You have reached level 14
You have one stat point to assign. As a Paladin of Yvera you have gained a further 15% skill to Persuasion. As the Chosen of Yvera you have further gained 1 point of Charisma. Due to your attunement you have an increased presence in the physical world and have gained 1 point in both Power and Endurance. You have further gained enhancements to the following abilities...
Divine Steed: Your steed will now be armored and may assist you in combat.
You have gained an enhancement to an innate ability...
Sense Alignment: In addition to a physical glow you will now get an empathic sense when an entity is greatly aligned with or opposed to your own alignment.
Neither of those was exactly useful. We traveled so little on land I wasn’t getting much use out of my steed and while an enhanced passive could only be a good thing sense alignment was one I barely used. I threw my new point this level into Luck and checked my updated sheet.
Name: Liam Ottani
Class: Paladin of Yvera
Deity: Yvera
Titles: Chosen of Yvera, King of Genea, Admiral Flame
Level: 14
HP: 490/490
Stamina: 200/200
Mana: 80/80
XP: 78 of 1000 to next level
Alignment: -1000
Stats
Power: 21 (+8) Endurance: 20 Dexterity: 2
Intelligence: 8 Awareness: 6
Charisma: 16 Luck: 10
Skills
Long Blades: 92
Blunt Weapons: 16
Hand to Hand: 12
Mounted Combat: 15
Light Armor: 15
Medium Armor: 29
Heavy Armor: 18
Persuasion: 57
Seduction: 81
Meditation: 4
Barter: 32
Shield Use: 18
Arson: 14
Double Attack: 2
Blademaster: 1
Spells
Smite
Sense Virtue
Lay on Hands (3 uses per 4 hours)
Bless Water
Bless
Divine Steed
Divine Power
Zealous Blow
Holy Object
Innates
Blessed Nature
Fire Resistance: 50%
Sense Alignment
Fire Within
Fueling the Flame
Aura of Destruction
Aura of Kings
Burning Down the House
Feast of Flames
The air from the open hatch was hot enough to scald our lungs and eyes.
We couldn't let that stop us. We headed below.
CHAPTER THREE
Flames roared in the corridors ahead. Whatever bombs the riders had detonated, they'd done their work well and the Vainglory was burning.
"Can you do anything about this?" I thought to Yvera.
Yvera appeared in a swirl of flames. She was going without clothing today, a sight that no matter the circumstance I always found distracting. I couldn't help admiring it now, even the perfection of her movements as she walked down the passageway, trailing a finger along the wall.
It was a strangely sensual movement. Intimate. Tender. The flames seemed to agree—like a lover's caress, the fire flowed from the walls and into
her flesh. The fire loved Yvera as I loved her. Ached for her as I ached for her. It would answer when she called, as I would.
"Well," Riggs said, the dwarf looking a bit at a loss for words. "That's disconcerting, isn’t it?"
"She does things like this," I said.
Yvera moved down the passage and wherever she went the flames slipped from the surfaces to surround her. Feeding her aura. Reaching the corridor's end she struck a pose, grinned, and blinked out of existence.
I really wasn't in my right mind when it came to her. Right now, I didn't even care.
Riggs was less taken with the spectacle and was rushing into the engine room. I hurried after him.
"Oh, those idiots," Riggs said, sounding relieved. "We've hope yet, lad."
I didn't see what he was seeing. I'd only ever gotten a glimpse at this room. The main centerpiece was an ornate gold and crystalline assembly—that currently resembled an assortment of melted metal and shattered stone.
"Looks pretty ruined to me. You can put that back together?"
Riggs shot me a pitying look and turned his attention to a maze of metal pipes along the wall.
"The big shiny thing wasn't the engine," Riggs said. "Oh, it looked impressive, but that was just the stabilizers. Useful for flight and it helped our thrust, but we don't need it to stay in the sky."
Riggs handed me a wrench. "Turn the things I tell you to. They don't move easy."
As we started working side by side it seemed a moment to bond.
"So, what is your story?" I asked.
Riggs raised a scruffy eyebrow at me. "What makes you think I have a story, lad?"
"You're on an airship that can travel between worlds with two of the most kickass women I've ever met," I said. "Of course, you have a story."
Riggs had me twist one of the pipes, then leaned in to peer at the assembly.
"Used to be a God. Not here, though," Riggs said, and gestured at another pipe.
"You gave up divinity to be a ship’s engineer and hairdresser?"
"Any idea what Dwarven gods do?" Riggs asked. "It's all metals and blacksmithing and big, dark caverns."
"Doesn't sound that bad?"
A pipe began to gush steam and Riggs scrambled away. Pulling a valve from his toolkit he worked it into place.
"You try living it. So, there I was just being divine, and the Vainglory crashes into the great cavern. Ludicrous sight, this here ship meant to fly in a place where nothing could."
"What happened?" I asked, trying to get a good look at what Riggs was doing. Maybe Walt with his hints of Mela could have made some sense out of the Vainglory's engine, but I was having no luck at all.
"My people were at war with Goblins. Had been for pretty much forever. We made better swords and armor, but they always had numbers. We'd think we were on the verge of something and they'd just swarm until my people were driven back," Riggs said with a grunt. "My people wanted to see what weapons they'd have, so I told Cobalt, 'Help with the Goblins and we'll fix your ship.'"
"What happened?" I asked, although I could make a guess. I'd seen Cobalt in a fight.
"What do you think happened?" Riggs was rearranging the pipes into a new framework to avoid some that had been warped by the fire. "Lass asked to borrow a sword, then vanished into the deep dark caves. Was gone weeks, everyone thought she'd died."
"She didn't, did she? Not all of them?"
"Every last one. They didn't know fear, swarming had always worked before, and they tried. The old, the young, every goblin there was until there weren't any left at all," Riggs said quietly. "She got back and found no work at all done on her ship. Why bother, when she was presumed dead?"
"Your people survive that?" I asked.
"I settled it. Came down from the heavens and offered to get things back running myself. We've been together a long time since. Hairdressing I picked up along the way," Riggs said. "Lass decided to spend a few years running a beauty salon, if you can believe it. I did makeovers."
I couldn't picture it. I couldn't picture any of it really. That just didn't fit what I'd seen of either of them.
"Why?"
Riggs studied the pipes for a long moment and then looked at me. "Because she runs from it, lad. The death, the killing, the war. She loves it, but whenever she gets too drenched in blood, she tries to run away and pretend nothing ever happened."
I'd never considered how she must feel about being what she was. Somehow, I'd just always assumed she must enjoy it. Every player wanted to be the biggest badass in the game, to have the best stats, and to be able to take on anything they encountered.
"Oh," I said, lamely. "So, you've been with her a long time. Even before she was Queen?"
"She loved Leosi," Riggs said, tossing one of the ruined pipes to the deck with a clang. "She'll pretend otherwise now, if you let her. It broke her heart to run away from him."
"She wanted to spare him the curse, right?"
"When she had Maria, she knew that he was a danger. I don't claim to know how it all works, but I know that not every King can give that Gift. He was never meant to rule though, and he did. So even though it tore her apart, she took off and told herself the lie it was what she really wanted," Riggs said, sadly.
I was feeling a bit guilty for not talking to Riggs before this. I guess I really did focus on women more than men. That might not be entirely my fault with Yvera playing games with my head, but it was something I needed to remedy going forward.
"Is she going to be okay?" I asked.
"You're not really asking that." Riggs threw another pipe to a ground with a clatter. "Or if you are, you're asking the wrong question. Of course, she's going to be okay. Whatever happens, she'll survive."
I guess I wasn't asking that. Not really.
"Is she going to run away again?" That was the question burning in my mind.
"I don't know, lad. I know that I should know, if anyone could, but truly I don't. She's been running from this a long time, but it's happening anyways."
"But she'll want to stand with our child," I said with some conviction.
"Like she stayed with Maria?" Riggs asked, shaking his head. "Don't get confused on who she is. For all I'm fond of the lass, she has no problem turning her back on family. She's been doing that her whole life."
I'd been doing a lot of running away myself. My whole time in this world might be running away from reality, and I wasn't in any rush to go back. Maybe we all just spend our lives running.
The pipes were coming together, intricate shapes of brass and glass connectors with fluid flowing through.
"So, what were you a god of?" I asked. "You fixed up the airship, so you must have been some sort of god of clockwork?"
"Hafts," Riggs said. "I'm going to try to power things back up. Let's see if it will handle a twenty percent load."
Riggs turned a knob and the pipes began to tremble. Some began to drip a thick fluid and he quickly moved to seal them with putty.
"Hafts?" I asked. That hardly seemed very clear.
"Pickaxe hafts. Axe hafts. Handles," Riggs said, a bit sheepish.
"That isn't really a thing. That can't be a thing."
"You don't know much about gods," Riggs said, smoothing down the putty. "You happen to be one of the first gods and you get all the good things. Battle, sex, ale and the whole lot. You come around later and there's nothing left. I have a sister who is the Goddess of beard waxes."
I just stared. I wasn't even helping in the repairs. When I'd decided to get to know him a bit, I hadn't expected to go down this particular rabbit hole.
"No wonder you wanted to leave home," I said. "Hafts aren't even all that interesting."
Riggs glared and squared his shoulders. "You'll be wanting to take that back now. Just because I don't do it anymore doesn't mean they aren't important. Take that pretty sword of yours, for instance."
"I've never even thought about the haft of it. The blade is badass and catches fire. A once-heroic blade warped by
the blood of a Goddess. She probably didn't even bother to bleed on the hilt," I said. I didn't really mean to needle him, but it was true. I was right, nobody gave a damn about hafts.
"Does your hand get sore while holding it? How often have you lost your blade even when your palms are slick with blood?" Riggs asked, staring me down.
"Okay, I guess it's a good haft."
"Good?" Riggs threw up his hands, "It's divine. It's the sort of thing I'd make back in the day. Oh, the blades get all the glory, catching fire or throwing lightning, but it's the hafts you rely on. It is the haft you work with the most, depend on. It's the haft which has to do its job right every time or you aren't even in the fight."
I thought I was going to be punched. He was certainly passionate about this. It even made sense.
And something else. I don't know if he quite grasped it, but I suddenly did.
Cobalt was his blade. She was the sharp edge cutting through all of reality, the bloodied savage point that brought war wherever she went. She wasn't alone. Riggs had been there for a long time taking care of things in the background, taking care of her. He was the dependable and always present force that kept her balanced and kept her from cutting herself. The God of hafts had run away from his responsibilities and yet he couldn't change his nature.
"It's a fine haft," I said, giving in. "A work of art, and I'd not nearly be so dangerous in combat, if it wasn't."
"Your hands would be on fire every time you tried to use your sword," Riggs muttered, but he looked pacified. "Forty percent power now."
The pipes rattled violently, but no further leaks appeared.
"Are they supposed to shake like that?" I asked.
"Of course not, lad. We're broken."
Walt ducked his head through the doorway. "Maybe I can help?"
Riggs looked doubtful. It was clearly a specialized system, but Walt did have a goddess of engineering in his head—although it seemed to be driving him a bit mad.
He saw my expression.
"I know you're worried," Walt said. "But I can do this. Working on something without knives or buzz saws is good for me."
"I was thinking we could rewrite a bit of the network with parts from the stabilizers," Riggs said gruffly. "You could lend me a hand."
I left them to it. Even if they could get things working better, it wouldn't be enough. We needed options.
