Sandqueen (Rise To Omniscience Book 7)

by Aaron Oster

  Better than all of that was the fact that he now had enough strength to call upon his Soulstream skill. Bringing the Beast King out while remaining in control had been something he’d been trying to do for years now, and with this skill, it was now possible. He felt the Beast stirring again as he thought about it and was reminded of the Soul Well’s warning once again. Growling to himself, Morgan shook those thoughts from his mind, then, just out of curiosity, pulled up his Perfect Self trait.

  Perfect Self - The road to the Pinnacle of power is nearly at its end. Gather the required energy and find your Perfect Self.

  Progress - 72%

  Once again, Morgan found himself shocked by the massive progression. For just a moment, he wondered if the Soul Well was messing with him when it had said that he needed to make peace with the Beast. However, even if he did bathe in all three Wells, passed their challenges and got the same amount of progression for each, he’d only be at 98%.

  The Soul Well had shown him a lot, almost more than he could bear, and it had paid off in the form of progressing further than he had in a long time. The voice of the Well had no reason to lie, at least, not as far as he knew. This meant that if Morgan ever wanted to reach the Pinnacle of power, he would have to make peace with the Beast King once and for all.

  A gust of wind fluttered through the flowers, breaking him from his thoughts and causing him to look skyward. For several moments, he was confused, as the sun was in the wrong place. He’d only been in there for a couple of hours, so how was it possible for it to be further east instead of west?

  The answer came to him just a couple of seconds later, as Morgan realized he had been down in the Soul Well for nearly an entire day! Cursing under his breath, he quickly moved to snatch up his spear and the glowing core next to it, then used Gravity Warp, heading back to the elven palace as quickly as he could manage. Katherine would be waiting on him, and with a Pinnacle King threatening the lives of everyone in the Five Kingdoms once again, he needed to return as quickly as possible.

  38

  “You should come with us. It’ll be far safer for you in the Five Kingdoms, as they will be unable to reach you.”

  It was about an hour later, and Morgan was standing across from his bride-to-be in her small study. Next to him stood Grace, who looked quite disheveled, but well-rested. Lumia was perched on his shoulder, her tail flicking back and forth, while Hilda stood to his left. Gilderon was in attendance as well, standing so close to Elyssa that he was practically on top of her.

  Upon his return, he’d been called up here immediately to discuss what had happened, and though he hadn’t been surprised by the attack, it did make him nervous about the future and their alliance. Without the elven queen, the war would continue, which was probably what the gnomes had in mind.

  “She will not be leaving this palace,” Gilderon snapped. “It’s because of you and your kind that she was attacked in the first place!”

  “I’m sorry,” Hilda said, breaking into the conversation. “But are you blaming us for the fact that one of your allies, a race of Faeland, no less, attacked your queen?”

  Gilderon hesitated for a moment, allowing Morgan to talk again.

  “The safest place for you will be in the human kingdoms. So long as you’re here, they’ll be able to reach you. But as far as I know, there aren’t all that many spies in the Five Kingdoms at the moment. And, even of those who are there, how many would try and assassinate you?”

  “You do make a compelling argument,” Elyssa said, playing with the ring on her finger.

  Truthfully, she’d already been planning on suggesting it to him. Hilda had offered to house and guard her in the East Kingdom while they were there, and it would only be a temporary measure. After all, the wedding was set for just two weeks from now, and once they were married, her position would become much stronger.

  As her spouse, Morgan would technically be first in line to inherit the elven throne, should she die – not that he knew that. But killing her after marriage wouldn’t solve the gnomes’ problems. No, once they were married, they’d likely shift their focus to targeting him instead.

  “You can’t seriously be considering this!” Gilderon exclaimed. “What would your father say if he knew where you were going?”

  “My father is dead,” Elyssa replied, her voice going cold. “He wouldn’t say anything.”

  Gilderon staggered back as though he’d been struck, but Elyssa did not apologize for the way she’d spoken to him. He was the one who’d brought her father into it, trying to use his memory as a weapon against her. One should never draw a weapon unless they accepted the fact that it could just as easily be turned against them.

  “I’m all packed up,” she continued, turning her attention back to Morgan. “When do we leave?”

  “Right away,” Morgan replied, surprised that it had been so easy.

  He’d been expecting more of a fight. Perhaps suspicion that he was trying to capture her and use her as a bargaining chip. But the attempted assassination must really have spooked her. Either that, or it had put what she was really up against into perspective.

  “Good,” she said, rising from her chair. “Gilderon, you will be in charge in my absence. If anyone asks where I am, tell them that I am ill. No one knows of the attack yet, which means that the gnomes don’t know whether they succeeded or not. No one has seen me since before the attack either, which means we now have an advantage.

  “If their spies report that I’m ill and refusing company, they will likely believe their mission had succeeded and will begin spouting claims of my death by human hands. I’ve already spoken with both Ragnar and Malachi, and they’ve agreed to remain silent on the subject. I don’t have any solid proof yet, but if the gnomes start making bold claims, we’ll have all the proof we need.”

  “But…Your Majesty,” Gilderon tried to protest. “What about your…”

  “My duty is to my country first and my own life second!” Elyssa snapped, whirling on her caretaker. “Or have you already forgotten about your own duties?”

  Gilderon stared at her for a few seconds, then allowed his shoulders to slump.

  “I will go fetch your things,” he said, his tone somber.

  Once he left, Elyssa let out a long breath, then slumped back into her seat.

  “I hope I’m making the right decision,” she said, rubbing at her temples.

  “You are,” Morgan assured her. “You will be safe in the East Kingdom until the wedding. Then, we can return and seal the alliance. Once that is done, the gnomes will have no choice but to back down.”

  “And if they don’t?” Elyssa asked. “What then?”

  Morgan’s eyes hardened at that, and his voice took on a dangerous edge. One that made every single person in the room shudder in fear.

  “Then we make them regret the day they were born.”

  ***

  “So, these are the human lands. How…interesting.”

  Grace resisted the urge to snap at the elven queen, and instead distracted herself by shoving her nose even deeper into the book she was reading. She was sitting inside a new wagon, alongside Hilda and the elf in question, with Morgan once again acting as their transportation.

  She hadn’t had much time to speak with him since they’d been reunited. When she’d awoken from her nap, she had received the shock of her life when she found out that Morgan would be marrying this elf. Of course, she had no right to complain, as it was hardly any of her business and would only be a temporary arrangement. Still, she couldn’t stand the thought of anyone else taking away the time she had with him.

  Morgan also hadn’t had much time to train her in the past few days, and now, with them going back to face a Pinnacle King, a fact that both terrified and excited her, she doubted he’d be giving her any more of his time. And, to make matters worse, she was now stuck in this wagon while the elf talked about how ‘quaint’ their human kingdom looked.

  It grated on her nerves, simply becaus
e the East Kingdom was anything but ‘quaint.’ If anything, the palace, which they were now approaching, was twice as large as the elven queen’s.

  She’s probably just jealous, she thought to herself, practically glaring at the woman over the lip of her book.

  Though deep-down Grace knew that Morgan was doing the right thing, she couldn’t bring herself to accept it. It wasn’t fair, not at all! She’d only just gotten back to him, and they already seemed to be drifting apart once again. He’d been too preoccupied to give her more than a passing glance before they’d left, and now that they were back in the Five Kingdoms, chances were slim that they’d have any time together in the next few days. When they went after the Pinnacle King, though, they’d have a little time.

  The wagon slowly touched down in the courtyard, Morgan landing next to it and removing the straps from his shoulders.

  “This is our stop,” Hilda said, rising to a half-crouch and pushing the door open.

  The area had been cleared well in advance so that there wouldn’t be many onlookers. They were trying to keep Elyssa’s presence a secret, and if the gnomes somehow got wind of her still being alive, they might attempt to send more assassins here. And, in the human kingdoms, it would be even easier to blame her death on them.

  Grace remained seated as Elyssa rose, following Hilda out of the wagon. She felt her eyelid twitch as the elf walked past her without even giving her a second glance, as though she didn’t even exist. She was more than a little tempted to blast the bitch in the back, but Morgan had taught her better than that. Besides, if this woman ruled over an entire race, chances were slim that Grace could actually do any damage.

  “I expect to see you again soon.”

  Grace turned to see Elyssa talking to Morgan outside the window. The two were standing close, far closer than she was happy seeing. Even worse, she had placed her arm on his, the massive ring glittering on her finger. Grace looked away and felt a wave of low, burning anger in the pit of her stomach, as well as shame for being so selfish.

  No matter how she felt personally, she knew that this alliance was important for their race as a whole. When they got married, the war would officially be over, and millions would be spared. That was why she’d kept her opinions to herself, keeping her mouth shut and not disparaging the elf, no matter how badly she’d wanted to.

  “Grace, you can come out,” Morgan called. “We’re not taking the wagon back.”

  Grace felt a small thrill as she heard that. If they weren’t taking the wagon, that meant that he would be carrying her. She shook herself, trying to force all the muddled thoughts out of her mind. She remembered Lumia’s warning quite well, the one about not seeing Morgan as anything more than a mentor or friend, but there was little she could do to control how she felt.

  She hopped out of the wagon, only to come face to face with Elyssa. She stopped for a moment, staring the elf in the eye. But, if she were expecting her to say anything, Grace would have been very wrong. Elyssa simply stared at her for a few seconds, then turned on her heel, her silvery-blue hair fanning out in a curtain as she moved to follow Hilda.

  “Good luck,” Hilda called back, acknowledging her existence. “Hope you squash that monster!”

  Grace smiled at that, albeit grimly. From the stories she’d heard, Pinnacle Kings were not to be trifled with, yet here they were, going to face one. At least it would be a story she could tell one day. How, as a new supermage, she faced down one of the most dangerous beasts in the world and came out on top.

  “Don’t worry,” Morgan said as he came around the side of the wagon, with Lumia perched on his shoulder. “You won’t be facing the Pinnacle King. I’m going to leave you with Katherine before I go.”

  “Wait, what? Why aren’t you taking me with you?” she asked, her heart sinking.

  “Because,” Morgan said, his expression becoming deadly serious. “I will not bring you into a fight where I am not one-hundred percent sure that I can protect you.”

  “But…You’re going to win…right?” she asked, her heart rate speeding up just a bit.

  “Truthfully, I don’t know,” Morgan replied, looking off into the distance. “Pinnacle Kings are beasts of such power that most cannot face one and hope to live, let alone win.”

  “Didn’t you beat a Pinnacle King before?” she asked as he bent down, allowing her to climb onto his back.

  “Beat? Yes. Kill? No. Octagon the Bitter is still very much alive, though I managed to seal him away and ship him to the bottom of the ocean. If you’ll recall, I wasn’t the only one to face him. Many other fighters joined in and had it not been for each and every one of them, I would not have succeeded.”

  “Are you going to go alone this time?” she asked as they rose into the air.

  She could feel her heart sinking lower and lower into her stomach, as the tone of voice he was using was sad and detached. It also contained just a hint of suppressed rage.

  “No one else will die because of my weakness.”

  Before Grace could ask what he meant by that, the world warped around them, distorting into a tunnel of swirling color. Several seconds later, they were emerging on the other side, flying high above the deserts of the West Kingdom.

  39

  Morgan landed on top of the wall of the small border town, his Aura Sense having guided him here. He had been able to feel the Pinnacle King’s power as soon as he’d entered the West Kingdom, rising like a pillar from the direction of the Ruined City. The fact that that was where Sarah’s body was now resting made him all the more anxious to go over there, so he was happy to see Katherine already waiting for him, along with Hu Kiln, the King of the West, and Le’vine, the Queen of the East.

  He touched down, allowing Grace to slide from his back and silently directed Lumia to stay with her. Lumia let out a puff of hot air, then drifted from his shoulder and landed on his student’s. He knew Grace wasn’t happy with him for what he was making her do, but it was for the best. Not only would it be almost certain death if she came along with him, but he didn’t want her to see him when he faced that monster.

  The anger and rage boiling inside of him would be on full display, and Grace didn’t need to see that.

  “I can’t tell you how glad I am to see you,” Katherine said, giving him a tight squeeze. “The Pinnacle King is…”

  “In the Ruined City. I know,” Morgan said, extricating himself from the hug.

  “I’ve already prepared a bunch of…”

  “No,” Morgan said, once again cutting her off. “I’m going alone.”

  Katherine’s eyes widened just a hair, then she seemed to come to herself and immediately shot back.

  “Are you crazy? You want to go after a Pinnacle King on your own?!”

  “I have to agree with Katherine,” Le’vine said, stepping forward. “You are a very valuable asset, one that we cannot afford to lose. We still have the war to consider, and…”

  “There will not be a war,” Morgan said. “I wanted to tell you in private,” he continued, turning to Katherine. “I have agreed to marry the queen of the elves temporarily. She has agreed to the proposal. I’m sorry that I made this decision without consulting any of you, but I had the opportunity, and I took it.”

  Stunned silence was the only response to his declaration, which was the exact opposite of what he’d expected.

  “I’m sorry,” Katherine said after a few seconds. “Would you mind repeating that?”

  Morgan let out a long breath, then turned to face away from the Queen of the North and the oldest friend he had left.

  “Grace can explain everything. I’ll be going now.”

  Then, before anyone could stop him, he vanished, using a short-range teleportation to take himself a half-mile from the town before taking off in the direction of the Ruined City. He could feel his heart beginning to pound as he flew, fighting to keep both his nerves and rage under control.

  Reaching into his pack, Morgan fished out the few remaining beast c
ores he had and began absorbing them into himself. He didn’t assign the energy, as he had to see how much he actually had. It was only once he removed the final core, the massive one that had belonged to the guardian, that he took a moment to even examine it.

  Name: Core of the Guardian of Soul

  Rank - 70

  Total available energy - 1 Rank/Skill

  This core was taken from the Guardian of Soul. Unlike other beast cores, the Guardian’s core does not have a set amount of energy, but rather, it will immediately boost the absorber to the next rank or increase a skill by a single stage. The Guardian of Soul cannot be re-challenged.

  “Well, seems like I’m in luck,” Morgan muttered grimly.

  He now had a choice to either boost his rank up to 69, which would have taken nearly half a billion energy, or increase one of his skills by a full stage. Aside from this core, he had a total of about two million energy. This was a lot by normal standards, but almost nothing when weighed against the massive stores he now needed to advance. He honestly wasn’t sure which he should take, so he decided to check how much energy his skills would take to increase before making any decisions.

  Skills:

  Hypersonic Flight - 25M/100M

  Maximum Increase - N/A

  Maximum Stormforge - N/A

  Earthen Shift - 12M/75M

  Nature’s Wrath - 18.5M/25M

  Compression - 68M/100M

  Gravity Tear - 46.2M/85M

  Sunblast - 54M/120M

  Traits:

  Dense Body Max. - N/A

  Recovery Max. - N/A

  Aura Sense (inherited) - N/A

  Aura Flare (inherited) - N/A