by Skyler Grant
“The others know, don’t they? This is why they hunt you so?” Yvera asked.
“They know some, though not the full extent of what we have in our heads,” Walt said.
“Why are you still here?” I asked. “Neither I or Ashley were in our right minds, but you seem to be.”
“We don’t tend to dwell in the memories we have in our heads. Explore them. The knowledge is there if needed, but we don’t think about the consequences,” Walt said, as he stared at the screen.
“It wasn’t you,” Ashley said, touching his shoulder.
“It was,” Yvera said. “He is a drop in an ocean.”
“The memories of my predecessors are always within me,” Walt said. “I’m the man who nuked this city. I am the man who has done more atrocities than can be counted in pursuit of a better world.”
“But they are just memories, right?” I asked. I was with Ashley here. This wasn’t him.
“We are all the sum of everyone’s memories. Guided by them. Influenced,” Yvera said.
“So, won’t things like this prevent mistakes like those? Doesn’t remembering them help?” I asked.
“I’m a monster, Liam,” Walt said. “Most people get the freedom of lying to themselves about things like that, but I can all too clearly see the results of the man I am. I’ll try to be a good man and I’ll try to do the right thing, and I shall do such terrible things in pursuit of it. I could leave this place, but I shouldn’t. I’m safer locked way.”
I didn’t want to believe that, but I couldn’t be sure. What I was seeing here was telling. This was inside Walt, this had always been inside Walt. All the justifications that led to doing something like this.
Could I judge Walt without judging myself? Yvera had sworn herself to destruction just such as this, and in my love for her I had as well. Perhaps love wasn’t the salvation from my own dark side, but the doorway to it. Perhaps nothing was simple, however much this palace might try to cast it into black and white.
“Yvera, Walt isn’t wrong and I don’t give a damn. We need to go. Can you burn this place to a cinder?”
Yvera smiled. “You ask the sweetest things.”
“You’re going to set my mental prison on fire? Are you trying to break me mentally?” Walt asked, horrified.
“They burned me to death,” Ashley said conversationally. “Well, half of me. Liam also spent weeks having sex while we were being tortured.”
“We have the worst friends,” Walt said.
The computers exploded into showers of sparks, flames springing from behind the monitors as the room began to burn.
The world flickered with darkness and we were back in the cell with Walt blinking himself awake on the chair. My clothes seemed to have come with me. I wasn’t quite sure how that I worked, but was grateful for small favors.
I heard shouts down the hall and peeked out to see a guard rushing in our direction. No time to linger. I recalled how they could suppress abilities. If he got too close our ability to make an exit would be gone.
“Walt, we need a teleport. To the blue moon,” I said.
“It really doesn’t work like that,” Walt said. That sounded familiar.
“I’m told it will and you have about ten seconds to figure out how.”
Ashley reached out to grab his hand and mine.
Walt closed his eyes for a few seconds. “I’ve got an exterior point of reference for the teleport. I’m not sure where it is, but we’re headed somewhere.”
Group Teleport
The dungeon around us shimmered and we were elsewhere. The city was visible in the distance. A stone plinth half-buried in the dune was tipped by a sigil of a blue moon.
“Everyone okay?” I asked.
“No,” Ashley said. “Absolutely not.”
“I’m pretty much broken,” Walt said.
Well, I was feeling pretty good about everything except my sword and armor being missing.
“Yvera, Intemperance is a divine weapon tied to you. Can you locate it?” I thought.
“I can do you one better. It is linked to you, I just have to pull. I can’t help with the rest of your gear however. Before diving out of even figurative windows do make sure you get your clothes first.”
There was a quick flare of heat and Intemperance was back sheathed at my hip.
I could have done that earlier, but I supposed a sword wouldn’t have done me any good back in the dungeons. Those guards were out of my league and stealth would only have been made more difficult with a flaming sword.
“Was any of that even worth it?” Ashley asked.
“I’ve got the location of Mela’s prisonand the key we need to open the door. It might have taken us longer than expected, but we’re still on track. We should head back into town and get supplies for an expedition,” I said.
“You think that’s a good idea after we just pulled a jailbreak?” Walt asked.
That was a fair question. I didn’t think they would be looking for me. Whatever rules the palace operated under, I’d played by them when I pulled myself out of the spell. The others were a different story.
“I’ll go alone. It’s complicated, but I’ll be fine. I’ll get myself new armor and a shield, and find what we need for an expedition into the desert.”
Ashley frowned at me. “I suppose that means you’ll want money then? Fine. But don’t go wasting it.”
“What would I waste it on?”
“Women,” Ashley said.
“Wine,” Walt said.
“Got to say I’m siding with them on this one,” Yvera said in my head.
I couldn’t even think in peace.
“I’ll be good. I even have the barter skill.”
Ashley unhappily transferred over a large sum of coins to me. “Here, this should be enough. Make sure you’re back by nightfall.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Coin went far in the city. While my barter skill surely helped, I still managed to pick up transportation and supplies for only about half of what Ashley had given me.
For transport I acquired a large flying carpet. Perfect, I was told, for travels in the desert and it wouldn’t need water or rest as a pack animal would. Beyond that I also got a dozen waterskins marked with replenishment runes that would allow each to be magically refilled multiple times before the spells were exhausted.
On a personal level I picked up new armor and a shield that I was quite pleased with.
Chain Armor of the Desert
AC: 330 Type: Uncommon
Worn Position: Legs, Arms, Chest, Hands, Head, Feet
The Desert is a harsh place for armor. The unrelenting heat of the sun and the the penetrative power of sand make for miserable conditions. This chain set is specially designed to offer both maneuverability and comfort. An under layer of silk helps to resist sand while dissipation runes help to deal with the heat.
Mirrored Shield of Projectile Deflection
Type: Uncommon
In addition to the standard properties of a shield this one has been designed with projectiles in mind and will reflect 25% of them back on their source.
I hadn’t forgotten how completely miserable my time as a pirate had been due to snipers. While I had yet to see a firearm here, I did like to think I learned my lesson. In the future those trying to overwhelm me with guns or bows would need to be a lot more cautious. Returning only a quarter of their shots may not be much, but most rogue sorts were a lot less tanky than I was.
I made it back to the others just before nightfall. Ashley and Walt had their backs to the moon plinth.
“I see you two have been relaxing,” I said.
“Taking it easy and sharing our mental trauma,” Ashley said.
They really needed to let that go. I mean, I couldn’t have broken them too badly, they were still functioning.
“Will it help that I came in under budget?” I asked.
“Always,” Ashley said, looking cheerier.
Saving money seemed to be
almost as good as stealing it, for making Ashley happy. Good to know.
I gave the excess back to her and they studied the supplies.
“A flying carpet?” Walt asked.
“Doesn’t get tired, we can go all day and night. It’s perfect.”
“You have a flaming sword. You use lots of flame magic. You have a Goddess literally wreathed in flames who pops in every so often to make snarky comments,” Walt said.
Not factors I’d considered.
“Neither I or Yvera intend to set our only mode of transportation on fire.”
Walt and Ashley exchanged dubious looks, but boarded the carpet all the same.
The carpet accepted simple commands, but wasn’t capable of fully handling the more complex directions Aria had given. As such we decided to split ourselves into shifts so someone would always be awake and watching.
*****
It was two days later when Ashley shook me awake. It was the middle of the day and the sun seemed enormous overhead.
“Are we there yet?” I asked, as I wiped the sleep from my eyes and sat up.
“No, but we’ve got something worth checking out,” Ashley said.
What had attracted her attention turned out to be a small pyramid barely emerging from the top of a dune.
I confessed it was intriguing, but this wasn’t what we had come in search of.
Ashley sensed what I was thinking and gave me a warning look. “Don’t even try to shoot me down. I know we’re weeks behind, but you know some of the best treasures are always found in random tombs in the middle of nowhere.”
“We’re also in an area that is supposed to be vastly above our level,” Walt said.
“We killed those thieves back in the city. They were something we could take. Just because it’s here doesn’t mean we can’t take it. Liam, I need to kill something,” Ashley said.
That was creepy as hell. I suppose this is what I got for choosing the sadistic torturer Ashley. Still, she made a valid point, we had taken those thieves and the potential for treasure did appeal.
“Let’s do it,” I said.
I ordered the carpet to the sand and we got off, making our way to the pyramid. It stood around ten feet in height and was composed of several pieces of stone held together with mortar.
“I’m thinking this is part of a larger structure, the rest buried beneath the sand,” Walt said.
“Do you see a way inside?” I asked.
Ashley was circling around. “No hidden doors. No secret switches.”
“That makes sense. If it is the top of a structure we were never meant to enter here. The actual entrance would be somewhere far below,” Walt said.
Ashley began to chip away at the mortar with one of her daggers, some crumbling beneath the assault.
“Even if you get the stones loose I still won’t be lifting them. I’m strong, but I’m not that strong,” I said.
“It may be enough for us to see if there is a chamber beyond at least. If so I can teleport us,” Walt said.
“While you’re doing that I’ll do some prep work and bless some water,” I said. “Ancient buried structure in the desert is going to mean undead of some sort.”
Yvera might be an evil goddess, but blessed water still did a number on the undead, especially if set ablaze.
“Don’t bless all our water,” Ashley said. “We still need to get to our destination and then back again.”
I wound up blessing three skins, ones that we had already used the refill runes on several times. That would give us one each that we could carry in our inventory and expand our combat options some.
Ashley had continued to chip away and was squinting into the gap. “We’ve got something.”
I leaned in to press my face to the hole, trying to see beyond. I couldn’t see anything but darkness.
“You sure? I don’t see it.”
“I’m sure, the sun caught things at the right angle and I saw space. There is a gap in there. Really.”
Great. A gap. No harm could ever come of teleporting into a gap of unknown dimensions.
“Walt?” I asked.
“I think if it is solid matter the spell won’t actually go off. So, either we’ll teleport or nothing will happen.”
“You sure?”
“No. Hey, I can go alone if you want,” Walt said.
“Liam, man the fuck up. We are not letting Walt go into danger alone, we’ll be fine,” Ashley said.
A bit unfair. I wasn’t suggesting that he go into things alone.
I sighed and massaged my forehead. “Let’s do this. Walt, conjure a light first.”
Walt gestured and a swarm of fireflies appeared in the air around him. Then he reached out to rest a hand on each of our shoulders.
Group Teleport
My immediate sensation was one of falling. In the light of the fireflies I could see sloped walls. The entire inside of the structure seemed to be hollow and larger than I’d expected. Instead of dealing with too little room the problem was far too much. I grabbed my shield and swung it beneath me. My descent at once slowed a bit. Ashley was busy doing some badass crouch in midair, her movements like flowing water. Walt was flailing and screaming.
Walt hit the ground first with a sound of shattering bones. Ashley landed with grace, looking none the worse for wear. I hit with a resounding clang of metal that shook my teeth, but left me with only a small chunk taken out of my health bar.
I moved at once to hit Walt with a heal and felt the divine power wash into him, knitting his broken form back together.
Lay on Hands
I hated using a heal outside of a fight. I didn’t have all that many of them, but that was a devastating fall and I wasn’t sure he was in any shape to even trigger a health potion.
We were roughly in the middle of a massive, pyramid-shaped room. The floor was a brilliantly colored mosaic of gemstones.
Corpses were everywhere, dressed in tattered clothes with skin clinging to their bones, parched from the heat. They were beginning to stir, the sounds of their rising a dull scratching against stone.
I pulled the stats on one so that I could have some idea what we were dealing with.
Desiccated Corpse
Level 12: Type: Undead HP: 100/100
The corpses of those who fall in the desert become dry and brittle from the heat. While fragile and slow their touch can desiccate flesh.
On the plus side, they were relatively weak. I could take down one of these on my own—and I was never all that dangerous when it came to raw damage output. There were a lot of them though. I saw bodies stirring throughout the large chamber.
I drew Intemperance and flames wreathed the blade. Ashley pulled out her daggers and a still shaky Walt raised his staff.
I cut down one of the corpses almost at our feet, cleaving my sword deeply and leaving it for several moments as flames wreathed the body.
Ashley beheaded one with strikes from her blades, while the tip of Walt’s staff erupted in a fire blast driving another across the room.
“They fall quick,” I said.
“Too many of them,” Walt said. “Even if we go back to back they’ll be able to surround us.”
“If they cluster up, my fires will have an easier time spreading. That’s a plus,” I said.
“You can sometimes do some unreliable area of effect damage, but I can’t and Walt doesn’t have anything that reliable,” Ashley said.
“I can throw quite a few displacement fields with my mana,” Walt said. “But I should keep a reserve in case we need to make a quick exit.”
Ashley spun under the reaching hands of one corpse to deliver dagger blows to the knees of two others, severing their legs clear off and leaving them to collapse on the ground.
With my shield I blocked the touch of another that was reaching for me, and thrust my sword into its midsection until fire wreathed the body and sent it tumbling down. I didn’t have all that many moves in a fight apart from the basics. I real
ly did need to find a blademaster one of these days who could teach me. Elsora had hoped Leosi would fill that role instead of becoming the problem that he had.
“We can use the holy water,” I said.
“Even if you set fire to it and we get explosions at the cost of three water skins, they aren’t going to take enough out,” Ashley said.
I didn’t like it, but she was right. We’d get perhaps twenty that way, but I thought there were far more of these things than that. We needed crowd control or massive area damage and we had neither.
“I can teleport the skins above us,” Walt said, glancing towards the apex of the pyramid. “Blow them up there and we can get it raining down.”
It was a good idea, but with three skins it would be three smites. I wasn’t that bad at chaining them, but I wasn’t always that precise.
“I won’t be able to detonate all three. Perhaps if we do them one at a time,” I said.
Ashley stabbed a corpse in the eye before rolling away from its touch and offering me a few crossbow bolts.
“Enchant them with your spell. I’ll hit the skins.”
I didn’t know how loading a crossbow would be any better, but Ashley seemed to have a great deal of confidence in what she was saying. That was good enough for me.
I focused on the bolts and imbued them with my Smite smell, each pulsing red for a moment before I handed them back over.
It was harder to imbue an object than to cast the spell directly and my mana was all but exhausted. Hopefully nobody would need any healing for a time.
“Problem,” Walt said. “If we rain down fiery death, how are we going to protect ourselves?”
That was an issue. None of us had any shielding spells that I was aware of. Ashley could dodge all kinds of damage, but even she wasn’t badass enough to dodge between droplets of rain. Walt could teleport away from danger, but there was no place inside the pyramid to do that.
