by Oliver Mayes
“Should Lucifer come asking, I won’t cover for you. There’s no point when he knows everything.”
“No need to cover for me, I’ll handle it myself.”
He Demon Gated up and picked his way to the edge of the forest, then checked the time: 17:45. He was surprised Lillian hadn’t contacted him already, as they were supposed to be at Godhammer’s headquarters by six and she’d definitely said she was picking him up. He was supposed to help her keep Andrew preoccupied.
A few minutes later, hoof-beats echoed from down the road. The entirety of the Queen’s Guard were all on horseback, along with Andrew and Lillian herself at the front. Damien left the forest and struck out to meet them at the side of the road, so he was waiting by the time they got there. Lillian looked him up and down, then investigated the minions behind him. Damien remembered this part.
“Let me guess: I need to get rid of all my minions for now?”
“No, it’s alright. Your minions don’t draw unwanted attention anymore. The hounds can run alongside, if they can keep up. The imps and succubi can ride with my priests, maybe teach them a little humility. Matthew! Mark! Luke! John!...Derek.”
Four stately priests rode up to the front, along with an unkempt, slightly smelly, unambiguously happier-looking priest than the other four. He looked like a goblin that had been recently transformed into a human and was still working out the kinks, but was just incredibly grateful to be there at all. He sounded like a goblin, too:
“Derek!”
Lillian scratched her head. Every chain has a weak link.
“Yes, Derek, very good. The five of you shall provide Damien’s demonic horde with transportation on your own horses. Damien, I’ve brought you a gift.”
She waved her hand over her shoulder and a pitch-black steed was wrestled to the front by a pair of bemused-looking warriors. It was neither as robust as Lillian’s speckled ‘Boudicea’, nor as aesthetically pleasing as Aetherius’s shimmering ‘Butt-stallion’. But Damien preferred it to either of them. It was a lean, mean, pitch-black ground-covering machine, with glowing red eyes and a temperament to match. It was called ‘Shadowmere’. A bit pretentious for Damien’s tastes, but not a dealbreaker. He’d never had a mount before! He was going up in the world.
“Thanks! This is very cool.”
“Yeah, we thought you needed an upgrade to your status. A horse is kinda like a car, just relatively more expensive to buy and marginally cheaper to maintain. Don’t worry, now you’re not an Enemy of the Realm we can help you look after it. Right, Andrew?”
“If he doesn’t cut its head off, that would be a good start.”
Andrew was looking a bit sour. Given his itinerary, Damien could understand why. Damien himself had been informed already, not only as to what Andrew thought was going on, but about what Lillian actually had planned. It was one of those rare instances where Damien could concretely say he knew more than Andrew did, the kind of experience he hadn’t enjoyed since he’d abused his as yet unknown class. It was important he didn’t give the game away.
“In fairness, Andrew, I wasn’t trying to maintain your Pegasus when I did that. Much the opposite.”
“The way things are going, it seems like my head is next. Did Lillian tell you what we’re doing today?”
“Yeah. She told me all about it. How are you feeling?”
Lillian cut in before Andrew could answer.
“Let’s talk on the move, boys, we’re already running late. I’m going ahead to make sure everything is in order. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John: you escort our guests. I expect you to make decent time. Derek, with me.”
“Derek!”
Off Lillian went, with five warriors, four rangers and a demented priest in tow. Derek was clearly the most chill of Lillian’s five priests, which was probably why she’d left Damien and Andrew with the rest of them. The other four were still arguing about which of them would provide rides to the two succubi. Lillian’s order that they make decent time forced a decision and the group rode on. Damien couldn’t help but notice that the four Queen’s Guard units had encircled him and Andrew as they headed off again. He leaned in to Andrew and whispered in conspiratorial tones:
“So, how are you feeling?”
Andrew was not quite so reserved.
“Annoyed. Lillian’s always been a bit of a control freak. It’s funny, really. I’m sure she knows I could ditch these clowns if I wanted to, but that doesn’t stop her from trying. Unless...she hasn’t put you on trial as well, has she? Have you done anything to annoy her lately?”
“I could write you a list, but I don’t think she wants me dead just at the moment. I’m sure she’s just ordered them to encircle us for our protection.”
Damien didn’t believe it even as he said it, but it was the best he could come up with. Andrew raised his eyebrows, apparently putting even less stock in Damien’s words than Damien did himself.
“It’s not like either of us needs protection. You could murder most of these guys in a heartbeat. I could use ‘Blink’ with ‘Time-Skip’ and be over the horizon before they even flinched. That’s why you’re here, right? To chase me down if I try to run? I bet you’d enjoy that.”
“Funnily enough, I wouldn’t. Not at all. If you try to run, I won’t do anything to stop you. I’m just here for...you know...emotional support.”
Andrew, not finding the fight he’d been looking for in Damien, turned instead to the Queen’s Guard.
“It’s just as well I don’t intend to run. The thing that’s making my palms itch is having these guys covering me so closely. Ordering them to encircle us is a show of weakness, more than anything. It makes me feel like demonstrating how easily I can escape them, then deciding whether or not I’ll come back afterwards.”
Andrew hadn’t bothered keeping his voice down while he delivered this statement. The riders around them drew further away. Ain’t modern AI something? Andrew was very talkative today. Damien knew, vaguely, what Andrew had been told was happening. He wanted to know what Andrew thought of all this, from his perspective.
“If you’re so sure you can get out of your trial, why are you still going?”
“I messed up, Damien. I messed up bad. You know that better than anyone. I thought I was doing the right thing. Everything I did, I thought it was exactly what anyone else in my position would’ve done if they knew how. Now I know better. This trial is my chance for me to move on. I don’t know exactly what punishment Lillian has in mind, but after it’s done we can all call it quits. Did you know this only happened because I told her I was quitting?”
“She might’ve mentioned it, yeah.”
“If I hadn’t, she’d have let me stay on indefinitely. She wanted to reward me, for “loyalty”. She said I’d redeemed myself. Do you feel like I’ve redeemed myself? Have I redeemed myself by tagging along with you and Lillian, just to get the bag you took from me and because we had a common enemy?”
Damien hadn’t expected to be put on the spot, at least not this way round. If anything, he’d expected the reverse. Damien didn’t have any prepared statements for this scenario. He’d never considered Andrew might want to be judged. He did his best to roll with it.
“You’re not really doing yourself justice here, Andrew. You might’ve tagged along with us at the start, but nobody forced you to stick with Lillian afterwards. She already told me she couldn’t have done this without you. If you hadn’t come, we’d never have spoken like this. I’d never have seen you as a human being, rather than as a half-human, half-troll.”
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. I didn’t like being allies, at first, but I’m glad it happened. There was more to you than I realized. If you haven’t redeemed yourself yet, you’re well on the way.”
“Maybe. Hopefully the trial will fast-track the process and I can move on. I hope we stay in touch, though? I could use your help tracking down Magnitude’s party. Even if you don’t want to do that, we could still talk. If that’s alri
ght?”
“Let’s see how this goes, first.”
They continued riding in silence. Damien knew he was supposed to be keeping Andrew preoccupied, but Andrew was doing a better job of preoccupying himself than Damien ever could.
They made it to Godhammer’s guild headquarters twenty minutes later. Damien could still remember when this had been under Rising Tide’s control and he and Lillian had laid waste to it. Lillian, mainly. It looked no less imposing than the first time he’d laid eyes on it. The circular parapets set into the slanting walls were now well manned by rangers, who watched their progress as they rode over the open ground to the gate. The gate was closed. The sun was going down. Aside from the clop of horses’ hooves, there was total silence.
While the rest of them dismounted, Andrew stared at the gate and shook his head.
“Why did it have to be here? Nothing good has ever happened here...oh, I see. She’s cementing Hammertime’s authority in my absence. Clever.”
Damien couldn’t bring himself to say anything. He was too afraid to ruin it. All he could manage was a shrug. Andrew dismounted, brought his gaze back to Damien and sighed.
“You coming in with me?”
“I’ll stay out here for now. They’re waiting for you, not me. I’ll follow in after.”
“Alright. Wish me luck.”
“Good luck, Andrew.”
Andrew nodded and paced toward the gate, his arms tightly pressed against his sides and his shoulders hunched up around his silly, pointy elf ears. The moment he turned away, Damien went into his chat box.
Daemien: 10 seconds.
Lillian: Thank you.
The gates swung open and Andrew crossed over the threshold. He’d taken a few steps inside, his eyes cast to the floor, when all the lights came on. Andrew’s head snapped upward as the noise hit him. Damien saw over his shoulders as they slumped down. The courtyard was lined with lanterns, magical lights and fireflies. There was a huge banner spread across the entire courtyard, the letters within it flashing with bright magic that lit up the players arrayed around it. Godhammer and Rising Tide players, all. Lillian and Hammertime stood in the very center, at the edge of a huge custom-built stage. The banner hanging over their heads bore a single word:
CONGRATULATIONS
Lillian was in her menu. Her hand swished, and swished, and pointed. A notification appeared in Damien’s HUD, the same type as had appeared when Lillian had taken Excalibur. It was a global notification. Every player in Saga received it simultaneously.
‘Due to work constraints, Lillian, Queen of Camelot, is unable to bear the burden of rulership alone. She has appointed Aetherius as King of Camelot. Should Aetherius accept, he and Lillian shall rule Camelot as equals. They will share a single, sponsored Mobius Enterprises channel and revenue from this channel shall be evenly split between them.
Thank you for your attention,
Mr. Adler.’
Godhammer was clapping politely. Rising Tide was less reserved. They’d truly risen from the ashes. They were whole again. Lillian dropped down from the platform and headed toward Andrew as Hammertime spurred his guild to match the enthusiasm of their former rivals. Andrew hadn’t moved since he’d looked up. He was frozen on the spot. They’d got him. A hell of an achievement, with so many players who needed to stay quiet. Lillian moved in close and embraced her prospective partner.
“This is what you deserve, and what I deserve. Better late than never, right?”
Damien nodded to himself. Check, and mate. Lillian had done exactly as she’d said she would. She was way out of his league, anyway. He could only hope Andrew had the common sense to make the right choice.
The global notification was extended by a single flashing line.
‘Aetherius accepts.’
Done. And there was much rejoicing. It may not have been exactly what Damien had wanted, but he couldn’t deny how perfect it was. Andrew’s guild had surged forward to throw their guild leader in the air. Damien passed them by and walked into the compound, straight to the extremely long table Lillian had set aside. This was the time for his class to represent, while there was nothing that could bring them down. He put a hand to his ear.
“Everyone, move in and mingle. Through the gate, walking, please. We don’t want it to look like an attack. Lillian told the guards you’re coming, act like you belong.”
The occultists filed out of the trees where they’d been waiting for his order. The furor was just dying down as they came in. Damien waved a hand and they huddled together and ran for him. They had green names now, so hopefully their presence wouldn’t cause too much of a disturbance. However, the minions, Damien’s included, sort of gave them away. A group of Godhammer players came walking over, looking quite nervous. Damien’s guard went up, then they spoke and his guard went all the way down.
“Could we take screenshots with you guys?”
Bingpot. The Godhammer party gathered behind Damien, with all the occultists crowding in around them and filling every spare inch of space. This was new territory. Damien was certainly used to attention, but none of the occultists were used to being appreciated. As soon as the first batch of occultist tourists left, another took their place. It wasn’t long before almost all the players were lining up for their own picture opportunities with the former outcast group. They were a novelty and an oddity, but it was a start.
Hammertime was explaining the criteria for a dueling tournament when Damien received the call that cut his celebration short:
Voice Chat Invitation: Lucifer, Gamer ID 000666, A/D
This was new. Damien figured he should probably take this. While many of the occultists were lining up to surround the stage and hear the rules for the tournament, Damien rose, then veered out the now open gate and around the side. He answered the call.
“Lucifer, I’m kinda busy. What’s up?”
“Either you come to me, or I come to you. Your choice.”
The call was ended. A second later, a black orb pulsed in front of him and expanded to a swirling disc, two meters high and one wide. It was a portal. Apparently Lucifer could conjure them to players, rather than being limited to Gateways. Huh. Like the scroll Magnitude had used to summon Archimonde.
Andrew’s party was going well. Lucifer showing up might put a crimp on things. Possibly. Damien called his minions to him, sent them through the portal and followed on after them himself.
He arrived in front of Lucifer’s throne. Lucifer was holding up an orc by the back of its head. Archimonde did not look quite so threatening in its regular form. Damien had been there. Archimonde had not made peace with its circumstances. The orc was kicking, struggling and pleading, to no avail. Lucifer hummed over Archimonde in a deep baritone.
“How nice of you to finally join us, Damien. I didn’t want you to miss this.”
“What’s ‘this’, exactly?”
“An example.”
Lucifer twisted Archimonde round in his grip, the fingers of his free hand clenching together to lock the sharp nails together. His arm uncoiled, piercing into Archimonde’s stomach. Archimonde’s screeches became a little higher. Lucifer’s eyes did not leave Damien’s as his hand rummaged around within Archimonde’s core.
“Listen well. You have only one master. I will not compete for your attention, because there’s no competition to be had. You remain my property, an unruly pet yet to be properly trained. I’ve allowed you a fair amount of freedom as you came to grips with your power, so you could learn to appreciate what you have to lose if you go against my wishes.”
He pulled his hand out of Archimonde’s guts. It was holding a small, black sphere. Lucifer held it out for Damien’s inspection: it was the unknown black gem, the material for Archimonde’s Embodiment. Now Damien knew why he was here: he’d been uncordially invited to Archimonde’s un-knighting ceremony. He felt his own Embodiment pulse painfully. The Embodiment disappeared from Lucifer’s grip to who knows where, be it his inventory or the ether.
> “If you fail to follow my instructions in the future, you will be discarded. Those who cannot obey are less than useless to me. I demand your unwavering obedience in the future, or else.”
Lucifer’s hands coiled again and struck Archimonde straight through the top of its head. Archimonde sustained the second of its back-to-back death cooldown timers.
“Copacetic?”
Lucifer couldn’t stand to let him think he’d won. Right when Damien had felt as happy and secure as he had in a long time, Lucifer had been compelled to ensure Damien didn’t get too comfortable. That’s how he worked. Damien wouldn’t let it spoil his evening, if he could help it. This was a problem for another day.
“Yup. Crystal clear. Is that all? Great. See you later.”
He’d have to walk all the way back to Andrew’s party. For the sake of this stupid little hazing ritual, he’d been forced to stop everything he was doing. At least with his Embodiment switched on it wouldn’t take long. He messaged Vargus to see if he could build an emergency Gateway with the other occultists. They had a lot of imp power between them and plenty of resources in the environment around. That would be even faster. Maybe he could get back in time for the dueling tournament.
He sent the message and summoned a portal back to his base, which he ushered his minions through. Just before he passed through it himself, Lucifer suddenly spoke again.
“Do be a dear and tell Noigel I wish him well. It’s incredible he managed to achieve his own Embodiment at all, considering your lack of imagination.”
The portal Damien had conjured shimmered and almost died. He barely managed to hold it as he glanced back at Lucifer, unable to hide his confusion. Lucifer was undeniably sneering, just slightly more malignantly than his immutable resting-sneer-face could account for. Damien braced himself and stepped through the portal.
The succubi were no longer gathered around Noigel. The four of them were cowering at the edges of the walls, covering their faces and weeping. Damien’s own summons had joined them. Something was standing on top of Damien’s Soul Well. It was slightly larger than a succubus, about the same size as Damien with his Pride-acquired extra inches of height. It looked more or less like a succubus from the back as well. Damien checked Noigel’s basic information:
