by Skyler Grant
“Nah, but an old ex did. It’s complicated. Meeting in the lounge in ten minutes to discuss. Riggs, set a course for wherever they want to go,” Cobalt said.
“Vala,” I said. “The last we knew my fleet was headed there for a showdown with Storm.”
“Vala it is,” Riggs said. “That will be a few hours. I’ll be on the bridge if anyone needs me.”
The gathering broke up as the others went to get cleaned up before the meeting, although Lea rested a hand on my arm as I moved to do the same. “A quick word.”
“I’m still alive. You didn’t think that would happen,” I said.
“I didn’t. I’m not sure it will stay that way. This isn’t like her, none of this is like her. Just be on your best behavior and don’t give her a reason,” Lea said.
“I’ll try.”
Lea gave me a worried look, but nodded and released my arm.
A quick wash of my face and we were all settling down in the Vainglory’s lounge, bottles and glasses laid out.
“So,” Cobalt said. “To start things out I think we should try introducing ourselves again. Honestly, this time, can we all agree to that?”
It seemed to me there had already been quite enough honesty today. Of course, lies weren’t working out all that well either.
“Agreed,” I said. “But I warn you that the truth is complicated.”
“You have no idea,” Cobalt said. “I’ll start. I am Cobalt, Captain of the Vainglory and generally scary-ass killing machine. I also once went by the name Alera Sardonis, wife to King Leosi.”
“Any other identities lurking around out there?” Walt asked.
“Lots. I’m immortal. But none of the others seem relevant, it’s somebody else’s turn.”.
“Liam Ottani, King of Genea. Chosen of the Goddess Yvrena. Visitor from another world where I am pretty much a nobody,” I said.
“Really? We’re all in?” Ashley asked. “Fine. Ashley Green. Assassin and Chosen of the Goddess Atlantia. Yeah, another world. I kill and loot.”
“Walt Veers,” Walt said. “Planar mage. Member of the Celestial University. Scientist and scholar.”
“Lea Alli Serassalil,” Lea said. “Navigator of the Vainglory. Holy seer of the sacred city of Delalis. Prophetess of futures untold.”
“Good,” Cobalt said. “Cards on the table. I think we were actually honest there. So let’s open things up for questions.”
“Why did you leave your family to die to a powerful curse, when you’re the most kickass fighter I’ve ever seen?” Ashley asked.
Cobalt winced. “Sure. Start us off easy. I had to go, because there was a prophecy that some really huge badness would happen when I and the King of Genea were together.”
I had an idea where all of this was going and felt an all too familiar sinking in my stomach.
“So you left them? That is cold,” Walt said.
Cobalt let out a low sigh. “I left them in one of the most well defended castles in the world. A fortress surrounded by powerful allies with potent defenses both magical and physical.”
“You tried to get back,” I said. “We found the body of an agent of yours in the castle. He died trying to lower the shielding.”
Quest Completed
A Queen Apart
You have delivered news of the fate of her agent to Queen Alera Sardonis.
I almost laughed at the prompt. I remembered getting that quest when originally taking the castle. The prompt also seemed to have pushed me over and I’d gained a level. I’d pull up the details later.
“I did,” Cobalt said. “I had no idea that Leosi was still alive, but I knew that Maria would be. I wanted to see my daughter again.”
“How?” Ashley asked. “Hadn’t it been a long time by that point?”
“I come from something of a powerful lineage. It’s where my immortality comes from, amongst other things. It doesn’t always take in our children, but it did for Maria.”
“Maria said she was immortal because of spider alchemy,” I said.
“That is idiotic,” Cobalt said. “Are spiders immortal? How does that even make sense. Is my daughter a fool?”
“They make really good healing potions,” Ashley said. “She seemed okay. Weird. She’s good in a fight, but doesn’t seem as badass as you are.”
“They are called rights,” Cobalt explained. “In my family we can have different ones. Sometimes more than one. I have the Right of War. Forever surrounded by strife and violence with the skills to survive it. From what I’ve overheard I think Maria must have the Right of Rule.”
“And that is?” Walt asked.
“That is how one winds up becoming a ruler of all the spiders and have their father rising from the dead to try to hand them kingdoms. She is a Queen, she will always be a Queen. She can’t help it.”
“How did you and Leosi hook up?” I asked. “I mean, you two don’t exactly seem a lot alike?”
“You mean, because he was kind of a stuck-up paragon of virtue and I’m anything but?” Cobalt asked. “He was young and brave and at war, and I’m always fighting. He had never met anyone quite like me and good men are a rare breed. I wanted to try being someone different for awhile.”
“It didn’t work?” I asked.
“It never does,” Ashley said.
Cobalt flashed a weak smile and shrugged. “She’s right. Lying to yourself never does. So, your turn. Visitors from another world, why are you here?”
“Accidentally,” Walt said. “We were looking to gain unauthorized access to some places we weren’t supposed to and we wound up here instead.”
“Yvera was here once before though, and she was glad to be back. She thinks that there is something special about this place,” I said.
“She isn’t wrong,” Cobalt said. “This is the place you come to change your story. To forge new paths.”
“To lie to yourself?” Ashley asked.
Cobalt was rueful. “Maybe. But also to change the truth of who you are. Every person here wants to be someone new.”
“Does that apply to you too?” I asked.
“I’m not from your world, but I’m not a local. Of course it applies to me as well. We’re all running from something.”
“So why did you have us save Atlantia?”
“It wasn’t my original intent, I assure you. I don’t much care about deities or their games. It’s nice to have a favor tucked away though and you knew about the events at Castle Sardonis,” Cobalt said.
“So what changed?”
“She found out she’d been bedding the King of Genea,” Lea said flatly.
Cobalt cleared her throat. “Thank you for contributing, Lea. She’s right though, that was it. You seriously, massively, screwed up, Liam.”
“I’m pretty sure there were three of us in that bed,” I said.
“And it wouldn’t have happened, if you had been honest about who you were. We’d have dumped you on the nearest ship and ran to some distant land to stay the hell away from you,” Cobalt said, leaning forward. “Instead it happened, so I’m not assuming the worst case scenario is in play.”
“That involved saving Atlantia?”
“That involved your Goddess going from a potentially amusing diversion to a needed ally,” Cobalt said. “I win fights, it’s what I do. One crazed goddess and her puppet of a boy-toy against the world isn’t a winning combination.”
“Ouch,” I said.
“Keeping it real, Liam. You want to be more, be more.”
“I like this new honesty kick,” Ashley said.
“I do things. I’m a king. I’m a pirate admiral, what more do you people want?”
“You came here because of your brother and to get away after you got dumped. You became a king because Yvrena wanted it, and you became an admiral because Cobalt wanted it,” Ashley said.
“You don’t have to do something nobody else wants you to do in order to be your own man,” I said. “That is just being an ass for the sake of it
.”
“That would be a lot more believable, if you weren’t so accepting of what Mellaise did to you,” Ashley said. “I want to believe you, but you’re just a puppet so used to his strings that you can’t even understand our horror there.”
I reached over and poured myself a drink. Why did open and honest discussion always seem to turn into ‘give Liam shit’ time?
Cobalt said, “I’m weaker than I should be. Part of that bad stuff happening, and I’m only going to keep getting weaker. Even an undead Leosi should have never been able to hold his own against me. With that said, at even a fraction of my full strength I’m still dangerous. For the time being you’ll have use of the Vainglory. I need to see my daughter again.”
“We don’t know where she is,” I said. “She… kind of went on a mission to kill you.”
“Kill me? Why?” I could hear the pain in her voice.
“Leosi. It was his dying request to her.”
Cobalt sighed. “Love turns and good guys always make the worst assholes when they go bad. That’s enough honesty for one day. Go and get some rest. We’ll be at Vala soon.”
As the gathering broke up I pulled up my sheet to check my level notice.
Congratulations!
You have reached level 11
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 Luck. 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…
Lay on Hands: Channeling. You can now channel this ability with an extended cast and increase its effectiveness by the expenditure of more mana.
You have gained the following innate ability…
Burning down the house: All fire damage you inflict is now boosted by 25% and is more likely to spread to adjacent targets.
I assigned a point to Awareness. Dexterity being so low bothered me, but something had to be my dump stat.
Name: Liam Ottani
Class: Paladin of Yvera
Deity: Yvera
Titles: Chosen of Yvera, King of Genea, Admiral Flame
Level: 11
HP: 400/400
Stamina: 170/170
Mana: 80/80
XP: 75 of 1000 to next level
Alignment: -1000
Stats
Power: 17 (+6) Endurance: 17 Dexterity: 2
Intelligence: 8 Awareness: 6
Charisma: 13 Luck: 8
Skills
Long Blades: 87
Blunt Weapons: 16
Hand to Hand: 12
Mounted Combat: 15
Light Armor: 15
Medium Armor: 28
Heavy Armor: 17
Persuasion: 36
Seduction: 70
Meditation: 4
Barter: 15
Shield Use: 15
Arson: 8
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
Another level, another passive. I still lacked any abilities specifically to draw attention to myself in combat. Still, perhaps added healing and damage would do just that.
This was the first time on the Vainglory I hadn’t gotten an invite back to Cobalt’s cabin. Walt and Ashley had to show me the way to the visitor’s quarters and we settled in. Soon we’d be in Vala. Storm had outmatched us every time we’d come up against her so far. This time had to be different.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
I didn’t want to be impressed by Vala. From all that I knew of the city, they were people who hired mercenaries to prey upon refugees. The fact that the refugees were fleeing from me only made the situation confusing, not any less irritating. They were also not only refusing my rule, but they had struck an agreement with my rival amongst the pirates. I wanted to hate the city enough to see the whole thing burned down.
But the city was beautiful. The Vainglory hovered overhead. The ports were busy with traffic and majestic grand thoroughfares cut through the buildings towards a great hall for the merchants in the center. It was vibrant and civilized, and I didn’t want to destroy it. I wanted to possess it.
Lea had a multitude of scrying portals open on the deck, searching the docks for our fleet. Most of our ships had already been found and were now flying the Lightning flag.
“That is the Charger,” Ashley said. “In the fourth window.”
“This one?” Lea asked expanding one of the windows.
“Err… The fifth window. How do you keep them all straight anyways?” Ashley asked.
“Practice,” Lea said, expanding another.
“That is the Charger,” I agreed. “But I don’t see the crew.”
“Bull stopped answering a while ago,” Ashley said. I could tell that she was worried.
“I’m not seeing them,” Lea said. “I’m sorry.”
“What is the plan, Liam?” Ashley asked. “I’m really in a killing mood.”
“Most of our allies have betrayed us to take up with our arch-nemesis or traitors, and those that haven’t are dead or prisoners. We go down and we play nice, and when they give us any pushback at all we stop being the good guys in dramatic fashion.”
“I’m not sure about that first part, but I like the ending,” Ashley said.
“Can Atlantia give us anything flashy in the harbor? Tidal wave? Massive water spouts?” I asked.
“Sure. She says she doesn’t suck and that’s no problem,” Ashley said.
“When we’re dealing with a lake of fire I’m pretty damned impressive too,” Yvera said with a huff, as she appeared in a swirl of flames.
“Feel free to contribute if you’ve got a miracle to add,” I said.
“I can supercharge the sparks in their guns? Burn out all the fire at once so they go boom,” Yvera said.
“That would have been very useful when I was getting shot to death repeatedly.”
“Should have asked,” Yvera said and vanished again.
“We three will go in. Lea, keep watch and if things get violent have Riggs open fire. Cobalt, I know you aren’t at full strength. Can you manage a jump?”
“No problem. I’m a little slow, but I’m still sturdy.”
“Bring us in over the Merchant’s Hall. Walt, when we’re close enough let’s teleport to outside the gate.”
“Not inside?”
“They’ll need a little time to get together and they’re going to want to make a proper effort to kill us first. Storm knows us, she’ll be expecting a fight, but the merchants won’t. Scare them enough and they’ll want to make a deal,” I said.
“Bold,” Cobalt said. “I can’t decide whether or not it’s smart or stupid, but at least it has a lot of fighting.”
“Whatever it is, we’ll make it work,” Walt said.
When the ship maneuvered into position I nodded to Walt and soon the world flickered away.
Group Teleport
We materialized outside of a set of solid gates. Guards on duty moved their hands to their weapons.
“Liam Ottani. King of Galea and Admiral Flame of the pirate fleets, here to meet with the administrators of Vala,” I said.
The guards exchanged looks. I was a problem far above their pay grade.
“Your Majesty. Do you have an appointment?”
“No, nor do I require one,” I said, putting all
of the conviction I could into my words. I’d spent most of this trip hiding my title. It felt good to throw it around.
“Please wait, Your Majesty, while the Council is informed of your arrival.”
I tilted my head.
“They don’t seem to be going straight to the killing us,” Ashley whispered.
“I expect they’ll leave that up to Storm,” I said. “They’ll hit us before we’re allowed through the gates. Be ready.”
It was a good ten minutes before the guards at the gate began pulling back and I nodded to the others even as I slipped loose my shield. Ashley drew her daggers. I may have simply been failing perception checks, but I wasn’t seeing anything in the crowd—although I was certain an attack must be coming.
There came simultaneous explosions from the tops of the nearby rooftops.
“Snipers?” Ashley asked.
“Must have been,” Walt said. “Yvera really did overcharge the powder.”
“They put their best shots up on those rooftops with us as unmoving target with all the time they need to line things up. Storm is playing for keeps, that would have been multiple critical hits and killed us all instantly,” Ashley said.
“We never doubted she’d do this properly,” I said. “The question is what’s her backup plan?”
Everything around us began to pulse and I felt my power diminishing in a way that was familiar.
