Eden's Gate_The Sands_A LitRPG Adventure

by Edward Brody

  “I just wanted to tell you again ‘good work’ today.” He held the gloves in his hand out to me. “And as explained, you’ll be rewarded the more you serve.”

  You’ve received: Bloodletter’s Gloves. +10 Armor. Durability: 10/10. Quality: Exceptional. Rarity: Uncommon. Weight: 0.4 kg. +2 Strength

  I smiled… The dark chain gloves were in pristine condition and actually quite useful. “Thank you, Lord Dryden.”

  “So you know, I was aware that the traveler behind me was raising his sword to strike me down. I didn’t counter because I wanted to see how you would react.”

  “I did what any Bloodletter would do…”

  Dryden tilted his head and pooched his lips. “I’m not sure I agree with that, but thank you for your loyalty.” He turned and started to leave.

  “About the Reborns,” I said suddenly before he pushed open the door. “What was your incentive to kill them?”

  “Incentive?” Dryden spun and frowned. “I’m not sure there was a direct incentive, but before I knew those men were Reborns, the three of them were caught trying to steal supplies from one of our horses while we were on a mission. Their punishment for that was death. When we spotted the same trio a week later, it was confirmation to me that the great prophecy of the Reborns arrival had come true. After a couple hours their bodies vanished… I can’t be sure exactly how it works.”

  “So why kill them again?” I asked. “Especially if you know they’ll just return from the dead?”

  Dryden huffed and smiled. “Why kill them? In hopes that they’ll eventually stay dead.” He slapped his hands together. “Why don’t you follow me, Gunnar?”

  “Um, Okay…”

  I followed Dryden down the hall and to the main area with a dining table. He walked to his giant throne and started grabbing at something behind it before pulling out a giant scroll. He moved to the empty dining table and began laying the scroll flat. It was a massive map in much the same style I had seen in the cartographer’s shop at Inner Highcastle.

  “I can trust you with knowledge, right?” he asked.

  I nodded. “Of course.”

  Dryden smiled, and when the map was fully laid out, he put his finger on an area I immediately recognized as Highcastle. “I’ll spare you the fine details, but to make a long story short, I am true heir of the Highcastle kingdom, and only one single person is standing between me and the throne.”

  I raised my eyebrows in faux surprise, but he was just confirming things that I had already learned from Satorin. I wasn’t even sure why he was telling me. “So then you’re a prince?”

  Dryden nodded and winked. “I guess you could say that.” He circled his finger around Highcastle and then made wider circles until it covered The Freelands. “When the King of Highcastle dies and I have enough ships, I’ll sail my army across the Serpent Sea, kill the person in question, and claim the crown as my own.”

  I nodded. “But you already have power here in the Sands. Why sail all the way across the Serpent Sea?”

  “I may have power here, but I am still just a mercenary leader. At Highcastle I will be a king, and when I combine the Bloodletters with the army at Highcastle, I will command one of the most powerful forces in Eden’s Gate.”

  “Wow…” I said.

  “Wow is right.”

  “What if the Highcastle soldiers refuse to serve you?”

  Dryden laughed. “Did you not see the lawn of men outside our keep?”

  “The bodies on stakes?”

  “Those are Bloodletters, Gunnar. Or… they were Bloodletters. Anyone who refuses to serve or disobeys will become no more than a stake in the ground and serve and example to those who might choose to do the same.”

  I gulped, and after what I had seen, I had no reason to believe he was exaggerating.

  “But that brings me to what we were talking about originally. Reborns…”

  “Yeah, what do Reborns have to do with this?”

  Dryden placed his finger back on Highcastle and slid it into the Wastelands. “With my army, I can do what the current king could not and lay waste to the orcs and the Scourge. Any Scourge that survive will serve me as slaves.” He slid his finger north until it was over Knuckle Bay. “This is an ungoverned area filled with thieves, pirates, and rampant smuggling. I’ll take control of it and put under my rule.” He moved his finger south and circled around the Freelands. “I will automatically gain control of the Freelands once I’m king, so I’ll sanitize any stray areas such as this—” He moved his finger to Edgewood, showing up as a small group of trees on the map. “—and place them under the Highcastle Banner.”

  My heart felt like it skipped. “But that’s a forest, right? Aren’t the forests under elven rule?”

  “This forest is overridden with dark elves,” he said contrarily. “I’m not sure I’d trust darkies as slaves, so we’ll just kill them all and collect their ears.”

  “But what about the high elves? If they’re the current rulers of the forests, they won’t allow you to just… claim it like that.”

  Dryden took a deep breath. “You’re not paying attention, Gunnar. My plan isn’t to just take all the tiny forests that are outside of the elven homeland, but to unite all regions east of the Serpent Sea under one ruler… We were talking about Reborns, right?”

  “Right,” I said, trying not to show panic that was bouncing around inside me.

  “Eden’s Gate is a huge world filled with many different kings, queens, kingdoms, and factions. But now that the Reborns have arrived—the immortals—we can no longer operate this way. If all of Eden’s Gate doesn’t unite as one, the Reborns will take over, and everyone else will merely be puppets. They’ll take our power and they will make us all slaves.”

  “I don’t think that—“

  “They will,” Gunnar interrupted. “I promise you, they will.” Dryden looked back down at the map and slid his finger towards Addenfall, then to The Vale. “It may take some time, but with my army, I’ll force the elves to serve me. The forests will no longer be exclusively under elven rule.”

  I snorted a little, part of me in fearful denial, and another part of me thinking his plan was far too pretentious. “I’ve heard of the elven Queen there. They say she’s very strong.”

  “So I’ve heard as well... But I will defeat her in time.” He moved his finger back across the Serpent Sea and to several areas of land that I didn’t recognize. “When I’m finished with the humans, the Scourge and the elves there, we’ll move back here and take control of all regions west of the Serpent Sea and beyond. Humans, elves, dwarves, gnomes, and all other races will serve under my banner. I’ll be first to rule all of Eden’s Gate.”

  “What if…” I trailed, trying to find a way to sow doubt into his mind, or maybe trying to find some assurance for myself. “What if the elves and humans or other races band together to fight back at you? What if they had an ancient weapon or a relic? What then?”

  Dryden closed his eyes and bobbed his head up and down. “That would be a problem, and that’s why I need to take my time.” He slowly opened his eyes, and waved his hand at me. “Follow me again. Let me show you something else.”

  Dryden walked back up to his throne, and on the wall behind it, he pressed his hands on two slightly off-colored stones simultaneously. There was an almost inaudible clicking sound, and then a rectangular section of the stone began to push outwards away from the rest of the wall, revealing a hidden entrance. There was a small, dimly lit tunnel ahead, and he motioned for me to follow as he stepped inside.

  I followed him into the hidden passageway, and he pressed another stone on the wall, causing the secret doorway to shut behind us. Several meters ahead a guard was sitting on a chair and another door behind him.

  “Lord Dryden,” the man said and stood from his chair.

  “We won’t be long,” Dryden replied.

  The guard nodded and pulled a key from his pocket. He unlocked the door, pushed it open and stepped aside.
<
br />   In the next room, there were several chests and random pieces of weapons and armor strung about in disarray. We stepped over the items on the floor to reach another door that Dryden pushed open to reveal yet another hall, this one wider than the first. On either side of the hallway were two soldiers, and on the far wall was a set of double doors with a third soldier sitting in a chair. He was a bit larger than the others and was wearing a shiny nasal helmet with a heavy flail attached to his side.

  The man stood as we entered.

  “Step aside,” Dryden ordered, and when the man cleared out of the way, Dryden reached into his pocket and pulled out a thick silver key. He opened one of the double doors and again motioned for me to follow.

  I found myself standing in a huge, circular room with very little light. Directly ahead of me was a gigantic twenty-foot door with a tiny window at the top, and to my right, was a long, curved table that was built into the entire side of the wall. Above the table was one more tiny window, letting only the faintest amount of light to shine through and revealing an abundance of flasks, bottles, potions and curious alchemy equipment. The left side of the room was completely blacked out.

  A strange, heavy scent hung in the air, and I found it hard to breathe.

  “What is this?” I asked.

  “Well, Gunnar… We were talking abou—“

  The giant door on the far side of the room started scratching against the ground, cutting Dryden off. There was a grunt from the other side of the door, and the door moved an inch, then another grunt moved it a few more inches. When it was cracked open far enough, a slender man wearing a long, grey robe slid through the opening. He leaned down and pulled a small lamb through the crevice with him before turning and putting his back against the door.

  He did a slight squat, pressing hard against the door, and during his push, he looked up and noticed Dryden and me standing there. “Dryden!” he exclaimed in a raspy voice.

  “Good to see you, Noriega.”

  “Just a minute,” Noriega grunted as he pressed his back hard against the door again. “Just let me get this damn thing closed.” After another two pushes, the door boomed shut. He stood up straight and started to catch his breath.

  “How are things?” Dryden asked.

  “Things are going well, except for this annoying door,” Noriega answered. He nudged the lamb forward with his shin and followed it towards the long table filled with alchemy equipment. He appeared pale, old, and hairless, though I couldn’t tell for sure if there was anything up top as he had the hood of his robe pulled almost over his eyes. “It’s been some time since you’ve paid a visit. Do you have news to share?” He turned to me. “And who is this?”

  “Nothing new to share right now, and this is a new recruit.”

  Noriega raised an eyebrow. “You’re bringing new recruits here now?”

  “No,” Dryden said. “Just this one. He’s done very well so far. He helped us capture and kill the group of Reborns today.”

  “Oh… So you found more Reborns or the same ones?”

  “The same group as last time,” Dryden confirmed.

  “This is what you wanted me to see?” I asked. “An alchemy room?”

  Dryden snickered, and Noriega looked towards me and then back to Dryden with a comical smirk etched across his lips.

  Dryden cleared his throat. “I believe we were talking about the possibility of the elves banding with humans or dwarves or something of the sort.” He flicked his hand in the air dismissively. “Or perhaps you mentioned that they could get an ancient weapon to challenge me.”

  I nodded. “Yeah…”

  “Well, I happened to have an ancient weapon of my own.”

  I creased my brow and looked back and forth to Noriega and Dryden. “What is it?” I pointed to Noriega. “Him?”

  Dryden laughed, and Noriega looked offended.

  “I’ve still got some years to go,” Noriega hissed. “You can hardly call me ancient.”

  “Calm down,” Dryden snorted. “I’m sure he’s just joking.” He snapped his lips together. “Would you like to show him what I’m talking about?”

  Noriega snarled at me but then gave a slight nod.

  I reached behind me and scratched the back of my head as Noriega bent over and grabbed the lamb behind its neck and urged it towards the other side of the room. The lamb walked forward and stopped in the center of the room.

  “Oh, come on…” Noriega barked and stepped up to the lamb, tapping it a few times on the ass with his leg. The lamp scurried forward and Noriega fell back.

  I turned to Dryden. “What is it?”

  Dryden raised his chin towards the lamb, encouraging me to watch. “Just wait.”

  We stood there for several seconds as the lamb moved forward and then stopped again right at the edge of where the dim light cut into black. It was pretty much silent inside the room, but then I heard the slight rattling of chains.

  In the blink of an eye, there was a heavy pattering stomp, and before the lamb could react to the incoming sound, it was crushed by sharp yellow teeth and strong, clenching jaws.

  I instinctively took several paces back until my back bumped against the alchemy table, causing the bottles and flasks to rattle.

  It was a dark grey dragon with red and green speckles scattered across its scales. It didn’t appear to be as big as the dragons that I saw flying over The Vale, but even in its crouched position, it was at least ten feet tall. A thick metal collar was wrapped around its neck, and a chain dangled to the side. Its wings were covered in a thick layer of cloth.

  The dragon lifted its head up to the sky and chomped a few times as lamp chunks slid down its throat. When it was satisfied, it shook its head a few times and leaned down, looking at Dryden, Noriega, and me.

  “Ragul, my son,” Dryden said and paced fearlessly towards the dragon, rubbing his hands against the scales of his face.

  The dragon snarled but didn’t move, so it wasn’t clear if it actually enjoyed Dryden’s touch. But the dragon didn’t attack. Instead its eyes darted back and forth towards Noriega and me and breathed so heavily that I could feel every puff of its air even from across the room.

  “This is Ragul, Gunnar,” Dryden said. “The Bloodletters who know about him refer to him as ‘The Broken-Winged Dragon’. And this is the reason why one day I will rule Eden’s Gate.”

  Noriega smiled.

  “Broken-Winged Dragon?” I asked.

  “There’s only one dragon that occasionally flies over the the Sands, so I assume that she’s Ragul’s mother. But when dragons teach their offspring to fly, they hoist them on their backs and drop them off high in the sky. Most all of them take to flying naturally, but Ragul must have fallen and broken his wings.” Dryden stepped to the side of the dragon and rubbed his hands across one of its cloth covered appendages. “If their young don’t make their first flight, the mothers either eat them or leave them to die. I guess Ragul was one of the lucky ones.” Dryden shrugged and started walking back to Noriega and me. “To tell you the truth, I don’t know what happened to Ragul, but I discovered him in the sand dunes nearly dead, and I brought him back here, and we began nursing him back to health.”

  “He’s been here over a year now,” Noriega added. “He’s growing fast.”

  “How’s the recovery process coming along?” Dryden asked.

  “He’s recovering nicely,” Noriega answered. “The bones in his wings are re-fusing, and the ointments and potions I’ve been using appear to be working. I suspect we can do our first test flight in one to three months.”

  Dryden smiled and nodded. “Good.” He turned back towards me. “Dragon bones harden into a material stronger than steel, so the healing process is slow and strenuous. But one day Ragul will fly for me.”

  “So—“ I began.

  “So,” Dryden interrupted, “I don’t fear the elves or any factions that wish to bind together and oppose me. I have Ragul—a dragon that will one day be able to take down an
entire army on his own.” Dryden chuckled. “The prophecies that are written in Highcastle are apparently true. The Reborns have arrived, and the dragons will soon breathe fire again.”

  “Indeed, they will,” Noriega clucked.

  “At least Ragul will.” Dryden’s eyes were glued to his dragon. “I will be the ruler and protector of Eden’s Gate, and I’ll not allow Reborns to take over this world. I’ll build a giant prison, and any immortal that I can’t find a way to kill will be captured and left to rot out their everlasting lives.”

  “I… um…” My mind was racing, and my heart was pounding. I wanted to stay in character, to at least have an inkling of the hardness that I been trying to portray over the past couple days, but it was just too much. He had finally pushed my fear of the edge where I was afraid… very afraid. I didn’t know what to say.

  “Remain loyal to me, Gunnar, and maybe one day I’ll make you a lord of one of my Kingdoms. Eden’s Gate is huge, and I will need people I can trust to help me govern.”

  I took a deep breath of air and forced a straight face. “Thank you, Lord Dryden.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  1/23/0001

  I quietly walked down the hallway, and when I arrived to the third door where Rina and I agreed to meet, I gave it a push, and it quietly swung open. I had a vague recollection of trying to open the door before, and it was locked, so Rina must have already made arrangements for it to be opened that night.

  When I pushed inside, I found it a little hard to breathe. It was small, dusty and there was no internal lighting or windows. On the either side of the tiny room were shelves with dusty scrolls, books, and dried out plants.

  I ducked inside, closed the door silently, and noticed that there was a thin crack in the ceiling where a small amount of light was leaking through, so the room wasn’t completely blacked out. Regardless, I raised my hand and cast Divine Sight on myself, so I could see everything clearly.

  That might have been a bad idea…

  After casting Divine Sight, I could see a small web in the corner of the room with several spiders dangling from it. They weren’t monstrous, giant spiders like the ones in Gramora, but my heart immediately started to pound. Spiders were still my bane.