Oblivion's Peril

by M. H. Johnson

  Champion of Your People: +6 reaction from all your citizens. After saving over half a million Jordians from the Red Death, how can they not love you?

  Team Player: +2 reaction from all Terrans encountered off-world.

  Helpful Hero: +1 reaction from Dominion friendly citizens, +6 reaction from forest faeries.

  Ideal Mate: A genetic reputation! +3 reaction from all female Jordians close enough to smell your pheromones!

  Skill Improvements

  Enhanced Shadowmind Rank 8 (Adept) / Psiblade Rank 7 (Adept) / Forceshield Rank 1

  Potion Formulas Learned / Basic Restoration (Jordia) / Cure-all (Rank 2 Expert - Jordia) / Greater Regeneration (Rank 1 Expert - Jordia)

  Greater Skill Improvements

  Greater Alchemy Rank 4 (Specialization: Elemental Infusions)

  PRM Specialized Skill – EM Mastery Rank 4

  PRM Specialized Skill – Enhanced Regeneration Rank 1 (x2 standard health regeneration rate)

  Greater Oathbinding Rank 3

  True Artificer Rank 3

  Jordian Magical Art Improvements

  Creation - Rank 4

  Corpus - Rank 3

  Jordian Spell Improvements

  Cure-all with a citywide radius. (Master Ritual) Save an entire city’s worth of critically ill people, but at a steep price! Level 50 C+M+T / C - Cost to cast: 143 mana (temporary) and 3 vitality (permanent!). Note. City must be immersed in a highly potent electromana field. (Critical failure risk reduced to 5% - you walk the Path of Kings!)

  Level 4 Overlord (Mystic)

  Overlord Perks (2 Tiers Shadow & 2 Tiers Magic)

  Enhanced Shadowmind – You can now slip into Shadowmind 20% Faster, and are 40% Less likely to be pulled from Shadowmind when casting spells.

  Territory Enhancements – You can purchase both arcane and cloaking improvements for your territories of Tier II or lower quality.

  Basic Danger Sense – Sometimes you get that split-second warning that makes all the difference.

  Potent Magus – Your spells are 20% more powerful & 20% faster to cast! You have 20% reduction to spell disruption and critical failure! (Certain spells cast in combat conditions always have 5% risk of failure.)

  Overlord Rituals – Transcendent Level Spells. (Must walk the Path of Kings to cast.)

  Halcyon Restoration – Whenever you purchase or claim a new territory that once held facilities or wonders of interest, you can invest territory points to bend fate itself to your calling! Secrets thought forever lost will be discovered once more. You can restore at least 2 Tier's worth of a lost wonder's properties or a destroyed facility's rank per point spent. You can also rescue an imperiled facility or wonder for 1 point, or rescue an entire city’s structure and resources for 3 points!

  Greater Salvation – Deliver your people from hardship and woe. Up to 10 loyal citizens who receive this blessing shall enjoy days miraculously free of illness or mishap while living upon your lands until they die of old age or make use of a rejuvenation vat. Every point spent increases number affected by a factor of 10.

  Sacred Oath – You can bind an entire territory’s worth of citizens to a Greater Oath of your choosing. Those unwilling to swear will leave before the next full moon. If your oath is too onerous, you will soon find your territory free of productive citizens! Cost: 1 territory point.

  __________________________________________

  Condensed Dominion Matrix

  Overlord Level 4 (40% bonus to one aspect of soul-linked territory attributes per Rank. Earn 6 territory points for every fresh territory claimed and for every new rank each territory gains. Territory points can be used to enhance your territories and buy awesome territory perks! Who says controlling the destinies of millions can't be fun?)

  Territories Claimed: 3

  Lesser Territories: Highblood Province / Greengrove Province

  Greater Territories: Blackenthorp Province

  Key Territory Resources: Tier 5 Research Facility (+40%) / Tier 5 Arcane Academy (+40%) / Tier 2 Elementium & Altersian & Silbion Reserves / Tier 3 Alchemical Garden & Fungal Grove / Tier 6 Agricultural Facilities / Tier 6 Manufacturing Facilities (+40%)/ Tier 5 Mining Facilities / Tier 7 Mercantile Facilities

  Unspent territory points: 12

  __________________________________________

  Val woke up with a lurch, momentarily disoriented until the events of the last 24 hours came crashing back into him, the odd vision or dream that had nonetheless imparted what seemed years’ worth of knowledge in endless moments felt as real and visceral still as the bed he laid upon, or the beautiful young woman before him, gazing at him so intently.

  “You did it. I can’t believe you really did it.” An awed Angelica Blackenthorp shook her head before flashing him a tender smile. “I cannot tell you how astounded and grateful my father and I are. Even if we had not already sworn ourselves to you… no matter how dark the games Father plays, he loves his people fiercely. And you, somehow, managed to save not just a handful of us, but the entire city from the Red Death. A plague we had no hope of surviving, no resistance or immunity from, that spread with hideous efficiency. And not only did you save our entire city, you regenerated everyone to the peak of health, even if they had been on the brink of death.”

  Her soft hand touched his cheek. “Do you even understand how remarkable that is? Even cured, we were so ravaged it should have taken most of us weeks to recover, assuming our damaged organs wouldn’t have simply ruptured without the aid of regeneration vats. But Val, everyone in the entire city has been cured. Of everything.”

  Val blinked. “What do you mean?”

  “What I mean, Val, is that hospitals flooded with dying victims just the day before are now almost entirely empty! Save for autoimmune diseases, you’ve cured the citizens of our city of every ailment under the sun.” She flashed a grateful smile. “You can see it for yourself. People from all walks of life are flooding the city center hoping to catch a glimpse of their salvation even now. And every single one of them is in the peak of health.”

  Val blinked, surprised. “Everyone’s gathering in the city center? Why?”

  Angelica chuckled softly. “To catch a glimpse of the hero who saved them all, silly. You, of course.”

  Val frowned. “But how would anyone even know it was me?”

  Angelica’s gaze turned rueful. “You truly don’t know? You didn’t sense at all the twisting of destiny’s cords when you defeated my uncle and claimed this territory by Rites of Conquest and Submission both?” She shook her head. “Gods above, Val, are you not even aware of how your spirit, your sacrifice, touched us? Touched all of us when you poured your will, your very life force into the city? I swear, Val, the way the people speak your name, it is as if their hearts are oathbound to you already.”

  Val gazed at Angelica in speechless wonder, realizing to his horror that that meant everyone in this province knew who, and what he was. That he had somehow touched everyone’s soul with his own.

  Insight gained! Few Jordians can sense the weave of magics so many mages master, but it seems transcendent-level spells are another story entirely! You walk the Path of Kings, Val. Your citizens can’t help but to sense the noble deeds of a virtuous ascendant, or tremble with awe and fear before the might of a ruler who knows no mercy. Not even a Dauda prince can hide from this destiny, Valor. All who fight under your banner will know the worth of their king.

  Val gave a rueful shake of his head. “I guess I should have figured it out from the +6 reaction roll I’m receiving from everyone in our province.”

  Angelica couldn’t help smiling at that. “I’m glad you recognize it as ‘our’ province, Valor Hunter. For all that you are now my lord and master, even a king needs a queen by his side.”

  Val blinked at this, pulling free of his racing thoughts sufficient to realize he was lying in none other than Angelica’s bed, as plush and luxurious as ever, now free of all medical equipment and smelling of roses and exotic spices, the stench
of disease and despair gone as if it had never been.

  Angelica gave a throaty chuckle even as she slid into the bed beside him, her expression both amused and rueful. “But another woman has already claimed your heart, hasn’t she? It’s alright, Val. I assumed she was the young Highlord in the veli just at the periphery of our territory. No, please, don’t be alarmed. When our mech units locked onto it with long-range cannons and reported it in, I immediately ordered them to cease targeting, that it was as likely a friend as neutral or foe. And Father has already contacted Lady Christine and… explained the situation. I believe they have achieved a mutual understanding. So no need to panic, Valor.”

  Val blinked and eased the claws his hands had instantly become, leaving marks on the young woman’s pristine flesh. Val flushed, suddenly ashamed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you! I was just...”

  “Alarmed for your friends.” She nodded, not upset at all, it seemed, her fingers gently running through his hair. “I’m glad my hero is fierce, strong, and passionate in his rescue.”

  Val flushed at that. She flashed a teasing smile, somehow curled up next to him, her hand on his chest, and how sheer her silken robe was. Beautiful, a masterpiece of color and artistry, with scores of roses and hummingbirds sewed upon the fabric, but it was so thin that he could feel the heat from her skin as the fabric molded against her flesh. Noting as well the chrome ports her curls almost hid.

  His fingers gently touched the ports. She closed her eyes and smiled at his touch.

  He swallowed. “Sorry.”

  She clasped his hand, running his finger around the edges of where metal met skin. “Don’t be. I’ve been piloting mecha since before I even went to the academy. Father had me tested, and when he found out I had basic aptitude, he did everything he could to see me excel. Within a year, I was training regularly with our pilots, and by the time I left for the universities of Phoebe, I was more than capable of leading our entire squad.” She smiled. “My cybernetic reserves might be modest, but I can interface as well as any pilot who’s trained diligently to achieve her dreams.”

  “What’s it like?”

  Angelica’s face lit up with animation. “Like nothing you can imagine! You truly become one with your battle-mech. You feel like the giant titan that you are, able to race across the face of Jordia, firing Vulcan autocannons capable of tearing through virtually anything!”

  Val couldn’t help frowning at that. Angelica’s eyes widened slightly, instantly understanding. “Don’t worry, I wasn’t part of the assault. Honestly, as much as we feared Christine’s power, her potential for madness, my father and I were both opposed to the strike.” She shrugged. “My uncle and his cousins overruled us. Which meant our role was to stay behind and guard our city and the surrounding province, which we did. Until that awful plague caught us all utterly off guard.” She shivered, haunted gaze catching his own. “We were dying, Valor. And for that final day, I felt nothing but the most hideous despair.” She swallowed, squeezing his hand. “And then you came.”

  Val looked away, shaken by the intensity of her gaze.

  A soft kiss against his cheek caught him off guard. “So tell me, Valor Hunter, hero who rescued a girl just moments away from death, a girl so grateful she would give that man any prize he desired, how by all the gods were you able to save an entire city?”

  Val smiled. “A flash of inspiration. Somehow I was able to infuse the power of a Cure-all potion and a Greater Regeneration potion into a spell that resonated within the electromana energies reverberating through your entire city, thanks to the force barrier all around us. It served as a powerful medium, and it allowed me to reach everyone.” He winced in remembered pain, a portion of his very life force having been torn away. “It came at a cost, though. A terrible cost.”

  Angelica nodded, sympathetic eyes peering into his own. “You seemed to wither before our very eyes, even as I felt the hideous waves of power you were giving off. Then you crumpled and fell.”

  Angelica swallowed and trembled, Val surprised to find himself holding her tight, comforting her shakes. “And somehow you walk among us, fully healed once more, as if you hadn’t danced with fate itself, just hours ago.” Her breath turned husky, violet eyes luminous as dark silky curls caressed her cheeks. “I feel you pressed against me, Valor Hunter, and never have I wanted a man as badly as I want you.”

  Val blinked, gazing at the beautiful girl before him, luscious curves a delicious sensation against his skin. A hot flush crept up his cheeks. “Angelica...”

  Golden laughter washed over him. A soft butterfly kiss to his cheek and a teasing smile. “But you have just claimed your first-wife, and want her to feel secure as the head of your future pride. I understand, Valor Hunter.” She snuggled against him, her warm flesh pressing against his side as she wrapped one arm almost chastely around him, resting her head upon his chest.

  Angelica took a deep whiff of his scent and smiled. “You smell utterly divine.” Her gentle smile turned wicked. “I’m a determined girl, Valor. Once upon a time, I wanted nothing more than to rule my own pride, and our man as well. I’d pick only the strongest, most competent of mates to rule by my side, and our second and third wives we would pick together.” She chuckled throatily. “Oh, the games my sister and I would play, catching lovers in our wiles, tugging the heartstrings of so many. Silly games all noble girls play while attending university, I suppose. Still, even when I had won the board with my pick of lovers to choose from, none were more than diversion. None struck a chord in my heart.”

  Gentle fingers stroked his cheek. “Until I met the strange hybrid that could have taken my father’s head off and claimed this city for himself. Until I met you, Valor Hunter. A Terran so noble you’d give us both back our lives, even when our House had declared war against your own.” Her eyes grew luminous with tears. “You saved my entire city. You gave me hope, and my father, when I had thought I had lost it all. And now, for the first time in my life, I think I know what it means to fall in love.”

  Her brilliant smile left Val breathless. “I think for you, Val, I can let certain dreams go. Maybe I don’t need to be the queen of our pride, bending everyone to my will. Maybe I don’t even need to be first-wife, so long as I can have the promise of a man as strong, capable, and beautiful as you by my side.”

  Soft lips caressed his own. It was all Val could do to keep control, to resist supple hands hungering for more, though their kiss had sparked a blaze roaring through him.

  And it was Angelica who broke it off, pulling away with a soft chuckle. “Get some sleep, hero. Tomorrow will be a busy day.” She closed her eyes and Val spent some moments just trying to get his head around what was happening, trying to understand the beautiful girl somehow in his arms. A girl content to use him as a pillow, which was a torment and a relief all at once.

  And just when Val thought he could bear it no longer, sleep claimed him at last.

  27

  A hot flush crept up Val’s cheeks when awareness snuck up on him once more, the bed he lay in empty save for himself, for all that awkward memory blazed upon his mind’s eye.

  Val hissed as he lurched fully awake, stumbling out of bed. Julia and his friends. Never mind how close he had come to straying, for all that Christine had basically warned him that things like this were bound to happen, he still had to let everyone know he was safe. But first, recalling just how precarious things were with numerous reds struggling for succession, he had to make sure his city was secure.

  In the bitter calculus of warfare, damaged and weakened as the city had become, the moment word leaked from joyous survivors that they had survived the plague, Val knew preemptive strikes of one sort or another would soon be coming their way. It didn’t matter that Val had fully rejuvenated the city populace with his miraculous spell. The rest of the world no doubt thought them a weakened, broken people. So it only made sense that Blackenthorp foes would seek to strike when the territory seemed most vulnerable.

&n
bsp; Before Val did anything else, he had to see to Blackenthorp defenses immediately.

  But first, a message to send, if Spirit Link was as strong an ability as he hoped it was. He closed his eyes, concentrating for a moment, imagining himself connecting with a distant member of his party, and psionically shouting for all he was worth. - Julia? I’m okay! Securing fresh territory. Be safe! -

  Val blinked, catching himself before he stumbled over, surprised by how much that simple mental shout had cost him.

  Congratulations! You have successfully used Spirit Link in ways never intended, knocking your lover off balance in the middle of her training session. Let’s hope it wasn’t fatal! 200 Psion spent. 200 Mana spent.

  A sudden surge of anxiety flooded through Val before he caught the tiniest whisper of a response. - Val? -

  - I’m okay! I won’t distract you again. Blackenthorps are now our allies. Train carefully! -

  And Val was suddenly on his hands and knees, stomach roiling, having depleted almost all of his Psions and Mana in a handful of seconds, shouting to his lover god knew how many miles away. He shook his head, having no doubt that there were far more efficient ways Psionicists communicated. But all he had was a short-range skill that let him be aware of and send emotional surges and form arcane connections with his fellow party members. He suspected that it might let him better heal and boost his party members with some practice, but now he was twisting that talent in ways never intended, thanks to his massive, and now depleted, Mana and Psion pools.

  And snark aside, he would take that mocking, mysterious voice’s warning to heart. If Julia had been training with something truly dangerous, he could have seriously imperiled her. He didn’t dare reach out like that again unless it was a dire emergency.

  Minutes later, a fully dressed and recovered Val discreetly opened the bedroom door, catching sight of a well-dressed servitor snapping a salute. “Your Eminence. Please come this way. The Blackenthorps would be honored if you would grace them with your presence.”