by Skyler Grant
Horror got the upper hand this time, an elbow driving upwards to break Wolf’s jaw, following with a vicious jab to his eyes. Wolf withdrew, already the wounds healing.
Lightbringer
Veros got involved. I’d never even wondered what sort of god powers he might have. Vicious beams of light, blindingly intense, caught Horror and blasted her out of the room.
Yve had managed to mostly knit herself back together and she stumbled over to Ashley, kneeling down to release a healing blast into her. At once a multitude of broken bones mended themselves.
Veros said, “That little interruption done with, we can get back to business. We’ve determined you can’t beat me and it is quite clear you need my strength.”
Horror stepped back into the room. Now she looked to have been in a proper fight, a number of fresh bruises beginning to darken her flesh.
“I came here to tell you to stay out of my business, Liam. I’d heard about your little visit to Diamond. It seems I find myself involved in yours,” Horror said.
“That had nothing to do with you,” I said.
“Boss? Are they really taking a moment in the middle of this fight to ignore us?” Wolf said.
“They are,” Veros said.
I said, “This is Veros. Mad God and major dick. The other guy is Wolf, he seems pretty cool.”
Veros said, “Well, at least they like you, Wolf. Maybe I should have had you make the offer?”
“I’m personable,” Wolf said.
Horror asked Veros, “So, are we on the same side against them? Or are you on their side against me? Or are we teaming up against you? I get the feeling we should have teams here, but I’m just a little confused as I don’t actually like any of you.”
Veros said, with a strained smile, “Talking of not liking someone I should point out—if anyone cares about such things—that I’m busy firing Beauty and Beast as we speak. By which, I mean to say, I have them tied up and being plunged into a lake of fire.”
I said, “I think that’s Veros giving us a good reason to get out of here so that he and Wolf can take Horror on solo. We’re going to take him up on it.”
“We are?” Ashley asked.
“Horror has a natural gift for murder and destruction. I say we leave her to it,” I said.
Horror said, as she rolled her shoulders, “Nobody ever wants to team up. Enjoy your rescue. Interfere in my business and I’ll hurt you.”
I dragged Ashley away and we beat it for the exits. I didn’t know exactly what was about to happen, but it was well time we were elsewhere.
Chapter 28
Even once healed we remained in rough shape. Yve at this point was completely naked, the last of her armor finally torn to shreds. Despite that awkwardness she still had the huge two-handed sword.
Ashley had taken more than a few blows and her own attire was skimpy at best. Meanwhile my Diamond-conjured armor was serving the job decently, although it now had a few rents and tears.
Walt, for his part, was still in his work clothes, which seemed to be holding up far better than any of the armor.
“We need to gear up before we go on any rescue missions. Not that I don’t appreciate the view,” I said.
Yve said, “Noted and appreciated back. I’m still damned hot even as meat. We used up the sales samples, although they were pretty horrible to start with.”
“What about security? Almost everyone has been sent home and we just killed a lot of guards,” Walt said.
“Yeah. Let’s find it,” I said.
The castle shook regularly and we could hear the sounds of combat echoing through the halls.
We found the security office and it was all that we could have hoped for. Unlike most of the company-made armor we’d seen this seemed of high quality and soon Yve and Ashley had completely reequipped themselves.
“Why do you think the other armor is so bad?” Ashley asked.
“DLC basically is funneling all these adventurers towards Veros so he can kill them. If they die a little faster they get turned into undead to help the other adventurers to level-up. All of the gear is probably bad on purpose,” I said.
“Makes sense. You don’t want anyone putting up a good fight. I really hate this place,” Yve said.
“I don’t suppose they have any god-slaying weapons lying around?” I asked.
“I wish. That would be just a bit too convenient. I forged your sword in my divine blood when I was your Goddess. It can hurt him, so can my divine magic. I don’t know if either is going to be enough to kill though,” Yve said.
“Do you think Horror stands a chance?” I asked.
Yve shrugged, “You tell me.”
I’d been thinking about it quite a bit.
“I don’t think so. Ashera could kill him bare-handed. Cobalt, probably, if she knew she was going to have to fight a god,” I said.
“But Horror is third generation,” Yve said.
“Right. Terrifying and given the Right of War she could bring an army with her and bolster them as well, but on her own? I don’t think so,” I said.
“So. Lakes of fire. That sounds just like Yvera’s sort of thing. You have any leads?” I asked.
“We’ve got something weird below this building. Way below it. The resonance has been bothering Yvera since we got here,” Yve said.
“We’ve been in the basement and we didn’t see anything,” I said.
“Private elevator?” Yve said.
It was a good idea, and it wasn’t like we had any better leads. We’d already covered most of the floor finding the security office, so we searched the rest of it. We found an elevator just off what must have been Veros’ bedroom. The panel had only four buttons.
“It obviously doesn’t stop on every floor. These must all be special destinations of some kind,” Walt said.
“Usually you’d label things with the topmost floor last and the bottom first. Let’s hit the first button and see where we go,” Yve said.
That was logical. I pushed the button and the doors slid closed.
It was a long elevator ride.
When the doors eventually slid back they revealed a massive cavern we could only assume was deep underground. It looked a lot like what I had seen briefly in Veros’ mind—enormous lakes of magma with islands of rock jutting out of them.
Ash swirled and Yvera appeared, flames flickering angrily about her form.
“She’s a little pissed. Me too,” Yve said.
A cage in a distant part of the cavern contained Beauty and Beast. They were slowly being lowered down. It was the classic super-villain setup.
“You want an underground lake of fire of your own?” I asked.
“I have one. This is mine. Mine,” Yvera said. This Yvera was a lot more stable than the old version, but she didn’t seem it at the moment, the magma on her flesh starting to boil and pop.
“Remember when we first found Atlantia’s sanctum and I was angry I did not have one of my own? This is it,” Yve said.
“Veros stole your sanctum? How?” I asked.
Her answer had to wait. What I thought was just a rock formation on one of the isles was moving. A huge dragon with flesh carved of stone turned towards us and blinked, puffs of flame emerging from its snout.
“Really. A dragon. Are we ready for a dragon?” I asked.
“Don’t worry. This isn’t your fight,” Yve said.
Yvera walked across the platform towards the dragon. It puffed another gout of flame at her approach, this one rippling around and washing over her form. The Goddess of earth and fire stopped right in front of the mighty creature and met its stare.
Fire exploded everywhere around us, a blaze that enveloped everyone and everything. I couldn’t see the others. I smelled the heat and felt the burning enter my lungs. It didn’t hurt, it was a caress almost forgotten, the divine essence of Yvera made manifest.
The flames faded and the dragon dipped its head to Yvera. The Goddess flicked her wrist and the cage appe
ared before us in a swirl of flames, bars glowing white hot before melting away to pool on the ground.
“Woah,” Beast said.
“What was that?” I asked Yve.
“That was her reclaiming what should have been ours all along. This explains a lot,” Yve said.
“Is this how Yvera was able to steal your divinity?” I asked.
“Probably. I was never completely the Goddess of Fire without this place, I was never at my full strength. I always knew that something was missing, but I thought it simply did not exist,” Yve said.
“You sure we don’t need to worry about the dragon?” Ashley asked.
Yvera looked to be petting the dragon on the snout. They seemed to be getting along fabulously now.
“We do not. He was serving Veros, now he serves his proper Mistress. To have mastered this place Veros must have been the God of Fire himself,” Yve said.
Ashley narrowed her eyes at that. “So you two were connected all along. No wonder the fucker got off on burning me alive.”
“That was a part of it,” Yve said, troubled.
“What are you thinking?” I asked.
“That he knew what we’d do when we got here. This wasn’t really any effort to kill those two. This was him making another overture towards peace by giving us back this place,” Yve said.
“Stealing your lunch and giving it back isn’t really doing you any favors,” Ashley said.
“It is more than just that. It means he likely gave up the element so that I might have it. That means it was probably Veros that freed me from my prison, his actions that first brought us here,” Yve said.
I got her meaning. If so, then she really did have some reason to be grateful to him. All that she had been through here was far better than her fate before coming to this place.
“You already knew he was a manipulative bastard,” Ashley said. Of course, she was advocating for a hard stance against him.
I remembered the days when things were as simple as the alignment on my sheet, and I wished that things really were that black and white again. That it was so easy to pick sides.
Yve and Yvera had some reason to be grateful to Veros, but Ashley hated him. Veros looked to be trying to stake out a position against both Elsora and her plotting, and against the machinations of the other intelligences from Earth. He would make a potentially useful ally against the Nine and had shown no hostility to the Silver City.
So where did I stand? I hadn’t put much thought into these things at this point, but I needed to start. Being neutral meant not having any friends when your back was against the wall.
I loved Ashera, although I knew that to be a fair bit of mind-control. Even so, I thought I’d grow into it in time, if things were allowed to progress. I loved Elsora too, even though I knew that she’d been using me from the start. I didn’t have to pick a side yet, but this choice mattered.
Working with Veros was better for Ashera, killing him was better for Elsora.
Yve was inclined to give him a chance and Ashley wanted him dead. It made a difference there, too, I couldn’t keep both of them happy.
“This doesn’t change anything. He’s still a target,” I said.
Yve didn’t look happy and Ashley was relieved.
Beauty asked, “You shut down the new adventurers feeding into the system, but he’s still killing people. I know you’ve already done so much, but please, can we ask you for one more favor?”
“Go on,” I said.
“The Oracle is the final encounter people have. It is her guidance that sends people to Veros so he can kill them. If you can shut her down you’ll save a lot of innocent lives,” Beauty said.
“If you’re intent on going after him, we still need to wait for Diamond. We have the time,” Yve said.
“Give us a location. We’ll get this Oracle shut down,” I said.
Chapter 29
It wasn’t that hard to find the Oracle, the bartender at the inn was able to give us directions—fair enough, the Oracle wouldn’t want to be being too hard to find. The adventurers had to meet their eventual terrible end, after all.
A winding path through the forest led us to an ominous-looking castle. The walls were dark with gathered gloom and undead scurried about the grounds tending to a large apple orchard. It reminded me a lot of home.
There was no fight to enter, doors opened at our approach, and a gallery quickly gave way to the throne room. A Queen lounged upon the throne languorously, her attire done in black and silver. She was undeniably beautiful. There was something hauntingly familiar about her features and her brilliant blue eyes. Nearby stood an enormous shimmering mirror.
“King Liam and his companions. Welcome,” said the Queen.
“Go for it,” Yve said.
“Excuse me?” I asked.
“You know you were thinking about it. We all hate that bitch in white and this queen seems like our kind of people. You could do worse. You have done worse. Lately,” Yve said.
Well yes, I had been. Still, I didn’t need Yve’s permission.
“Thank you. You seem to be aware of who we are,” I said.
“I’d be a rather poor Oracle if I didn’t. You can call me Silver,” the Queen said.
With those eyes and a name like that, I had to ask.
“I don’t suppose you happen to be related to Queen Ashera of the Silver City?” I asked.
“Sure, jump right into the sore subjects. Of course, I knew you would,” Silver replied.
That wasn’t exactly an answer. If any Gifts were being used on me I couldn’t feel them, but then you’d have no idea something like the Right of War existed until you got into a fight.
“I’m her. Sort of,” Silver said.
“Pretty sure you’re not,” I said.
Silver laughed and shot us all a grin as she straightened on her throne. “The Silver City and those important to it cast echoes. Sometimes they’re quite powerful and in a few rare cases we even know exactly what we are. I’m one of Ashera’s echoes, but a hell of a lot more fun than the original.”
If I looked close there was a hint of Ashera in her features, but she was no copy.
“Are any of the other fairy tales the same?” I asked.
“Rose Red is a reflection of Rose, and Snow White of Frost.”
I’d heard the name Rose before, she once sent assassins to try to kill me. I’d never heard of Frost. I imagined if I ever did now, it would make for a rather awkward encounter.
“So if you are truly a copy of Ashera, why don’t you look like her?” I asked.
“That is such a good question—that is the most important thing you’re going to ask this whole visit. I’m going to decline to answer, of course,” Silver said.
Of course. Why possibly be helpful? Well, we really hadn’t come to talk or sleep with her, so much as to kill her.
Yve must have known what would be running through my mind. She reached out and rested a hand on my arm. “Keep your mind on the bigger picture.”
She was right. Stopping the flow of adventurers to Veros was undoubtedly a good thing for those adventurers. We weren’t really heroes though. We were on this little expedition to pass the time until Diamond could finish up, and if Silver could provide information it was worth listening to her.
“Please,” I said.
Silver rose from her throne and snapped her fingers. Liveried skeletons appeared.
“Be my guests for dinner. You’ve fought many battles and could use some time to recover,” Silver said.
We did need a chance to rest up. I wasn’t sure I trusted in her hospitality, but for some food and a bed I was willing to take my chances.
“It would be our pleasure,” I said.
A scrumptious meal had been prepared. Silver sat beside me and the others took their places at the table. There was a lack of any other guests although the undead made attentive servants.
Silver said, “First of all, I have no interest in killing you. I know you
were intending to kill me, but I assure you that it is not necessary. I’ll stop sending adventurers to Veros at once.”
“No negotiating? I’m surprised,” I said.
“You’ve left a path of murder and destruction behind you since coming here. I’ve no interest in joining the list of casualties,” Silver said.
“That’s really smart. Why don’t we fight more smart people?” Ashley asked.
“The smart ones run away,” Walt said.
Okay. We may be getting a little cocky. Considering how we’d gotten our asses handed to us earlier we were definitely getting too cocky.
“Still, you want something,” I said.
“Wishing to stay alive is not enough of a reason for you? I believe in preparing for the future,” Silver said.
It wouldn’t be the first possible enemy who had come over to our side, although usually there was more bloodshed involved first.
“So prove yourself useful. Give us something we need to know,” Yve said.
“Is dinner and a bed not useful enough? Give me a reason to be more useful,” Silver said.
“We threw White out a window,” I said.
“A third story one. I’d say that only provides a sense of being mildly gratifying.”
“What do you want?” Yve asked.
“I’m a Queen without a land to call my own or an army to steal one from somebody else. Guess,” Silver said.
I could work with that.
Yve said, “Still waiting for you to prove yourself useful. We don’t pass out lands to every well-dressed beggar.”
The Queen glared at Yve for a moment and sipped from her wine before saying, “A question each.”
“How do I kill Veros?” Ashley said, without hesitation. I wondered if she’d had the question ready.
“You’ll see Diamond soon. When you do, demand that the debt Queen Ashera owes you be repaid. She will not like it, so insist. You’ll be provided with what you need,” Silver said.
I remembered the debt. Ashley once had a weapon capable of killing a God. Ashera had borrowed it and broken it in a fight.
