Scourge of Souls: The Realms Book Four: (An Epic LitRPG Series)

by C. M. Carney

  “Your armor,” Ovrym said. “It flared white, and I watched as your wounds healed. And mine.”

  “All of ours actually,” Lex said. “Pretty sure you saved my life with that crazy stunt. Well that and this sweet ass ring you gave me." He looked down on Gryph. "As much as I appreciate it, don’t do it again.”

  The armor in question was his Banded Leather Breastplate of the Moon, a powerful piece of armor he’d found right before his pivotal battle with the arboleth back in the Barrow. He’d wondered why such a potent magic item had been lying around in a chest waiting for him to find. Simon told him it had been the Barrow. The ancient sentient dungeon had believed Gryph was the best chance to rid itself of the Lich known as the Barrow King, so it had provided aid in the form of magic items. Gryph could still hear Simon’s taunt in his mind. You didn’t think you were that badass, did you?

  Somehow, right before his health bottomed out his subconscious mind had triggered the breastplate’s Moon Flare ability and healed not only himself, but all his allies within 50 feet. Errat helped Gryph to his feet, his typical goofy grin plastered across his face. Gryph looked around to make sure everyone was okay and then opened the series of prompts he’d received.

  You have earned Experience Points.

  You have earned 12,500 XP (10,000 base + 2,500 Bonus) for defeating Monstrous Transmorphic Chaos Rabbit.

  You have earned 25,000 XP (20,000 base + 5,000 Bonus) for defeating Large Transmorphic Chaos Rabbit (x20).

  You have reduced Raathiel’s XP Deficit.

  You have reduced Raathiel’s XP deficit by 37,500 XP. Current XP Deficit: - 2,462,500

  Gryph smiled at the slow whittling away of Raathiel’s XP deficit, and then his mind turned to the unexpected difficulty of the dungeon. He scowled at Lex. “I thought you said this was ‘a starter dungeon’.” Gryph said, the last bit said with irritated air quotes.

  “That’s what Mo said” Lex twisted his foot like a child seeking to avoid responsibility for their misdeeds.

  “Lex quit passing the buck. Why was a damn bunny almost able to kill us all?”

  “My only guess is that it’s seen a lot of action to have leveled this high, this quickly.”

  “That may be partly true, but the real reason is worse,” Vonn said. Gryph turned to find the half-elf examining a stone table covered with runes similar to those on the Port Gates. The hairs on the back of his neck rose as he walked up to Vonn and saw that much of the surface was smashed.

  “What is it?”

  “This is a Nimmerian control system. I’ve seen one like it before, in a long abandoned Nimmerian research facility. If I had to guess, the Nimmerians built this dungeon to perform experiments.”

  “What kind of experiments?” Ovrym asked.

  “Isn’t it obvious?” Vonn looked down on the corpse of the monstrous rabbit.

  “Chaos,” Gryph said in shock.

  “I believe Vonn’s assessment is correct,” Ovrym said. “The Nimmerians were researchers, but unlike the El’Edryn, they were rash and took great risks.”

  “You mean they were crazy,” Lex muttered.

  “They were experimenting with Chaos Magic.”

  “I’ll take that as a yes,” Lex said.

  “If I had to guess, this panel was only recently activated, and with it a low-grade field of raw chaos,” Vonn said.

  “Well la di frickin' dah, I’m gonna grow a second head aren’t I?” Lex whined.

  “Can you shut it down?” Gryph asked, ignoring Lex.

  “No, someone had a grand old time smashing the control panel.”

  “Could this have anything to do with the chaos incursions back in the valley?” Ovrym asked, rubbing at his forearm where a dormant chaos infection lay buried.

  “Doubtful,” Vonn said shaking his head. “Chaos is virulent, but localized. Whatever is causing your issues back home is likely something else entirely.”

  “Perfect,” Lex muttered. “Does anyone else have the feeling that someday, good ol’ Lex will have to handle this chaos issue?”

  “No. Nobody thinks that,” Vonn said.

  “Some people might,” Lex said, and stared down upon the huge, dead rabbit and his stomach grumbled. “I think I’m gonna try some tasty hasenpfeffer.”

  “I would advise against consuming any of the creatures from this dungeon,” Ovrym warned. “It is likely that chaos has infested their meat. Ingesting it could cause random mutations.”

  “Who knows, maybe it would be an improvement,” Vonn said, smacking Lex on the back as the Ordonian tried to back away from the corpse.

  “I’m willing to let you take the risk,” Ovrym added.

  “Ha, ha, ha, you guys are a riot,” Lex said with a pout, before kicking the rabbit corpse.

  Vonn turned away and gazed at the back wall. "There is something here." He laid his hands on the wall.

  Gryph joined Vonn as the rogue traced his fingers across a scene of men fighting various beasts. Multi headed wolves and a horror that looked like the top half of a woman and the bottom half of a snake. Each one seemed to be some unnatural hybrid entity.

  “Are these their experiments?” Gryph asked, gazing at the odd collection of drawings. His hand froze over one, a creature with the body of a lion and the head, wings and talons of an eagle. Shock pushed through Gryph as he realized this carving was newer than the others and carved in a different style.

  “It’s a gryphon,” Lex said. “It’s you.”

  Gryph traced his fingers over the carving. “He’s right.” The carving was exactly like the gryphon Brynn loved as a child. She had this book, with drawings of all these fantastic creatures. The gryphon was her favorite, and the origin of the name Gryph now bore. As he traced his fingers across the smooth carving, Gryph felt an anomaly. The noble creature’s left eye was raised compared to the rest of the carving.

  “Brynn left this for me to find.”

  42

  Gryph didn’t detect any traps and even though he knew he should let Vonn confirm the fact, he could not wait. He pushed the eye with a firm thumb. A small click announced success and the entire carving of the gryphon popped out several inches, revealing a hidden compartment.

  He reached into the space and removed an amulet cast from a shimmering white metal. It was vibrating slightly, a distant hum more felt than heard. It was circular and not much bigger than the palm of his hand. Carved into its face was the same gryphon that graced the wall carving.

  “That is white elementum,” Ovrym said amazed. “I have only seen the metal once, an amulet like that one, borne by The Mistress of the Purity when I was a boy.”

  “What does it do?” Gryph did not take his eyes from the amulet as the xydai spoke.

  “Most magical items in the Realms are crafted for one specific purpose. But white elementum is different. It is like a reusable slate board. A mage can cast any spell they wish onto the metal and it will gain powers and buffs resulting from that spell. Then at a later date, the mage can erase the old spell and cast another onto it.”

  “It’s a programmable magic item?” Gryph looked down upon it again. “What did Brynn program onto this?”

  “Only one way to find out,” Lex said. The others turned to him. “Someone has to put it on. Should we draw straws? Vonn get us some straw.” The half-elf did not respond, causing Lex to turn towards his friend. The rogue looked tense as if something had triggered his sixth sense. “Uh, Vonn, buddy, you’re making me nervous.”

  All eyes snapped to the one-time rogue. His head was cocked to the side, listening to something that wasn’t there. He turned to Gryph. “We are not alone.”

  Vonn’s words were barely out of his mouth when a blur materialized a few feet behind Vonn. A rush of air zipped past Gryph and the weight of the amulet disappeared from Gryph's hand before his eyes had the time to register the theft.

  Another flash of movement caused Lex to spin 360 degrees, and he nearly fell on his ass. The blur zipped by him and then past Vonn, wh
ose hand flashed out snagging a bit of cloth. The blur slowed and came into momentary focus and Gryph saw what looked like a small boy.

  “It’s a kid,” Lex said and then his eyes widened. “Hold on … I think…”

  The cloth, which turned out to be the sleeve of the boys ragged jerkin, ripped free and the boy shimmered, rushed towards the door and disappeared.

  “Do not let him leave this room,” Gryph howled. This was the first bit of concrete evidence on Brynn’s whereabouts, and Gryph would be damned before some street urchin would run off with it.

  Lex raised his hand, palm outwards and cast Order Bolt. A single knife of white energy zipped towards the fleeing blur, but a second before the unnerving missile hit the blur disappeared and the Order Bolt soared to the roof, zipping back and forth like a heat-seeking missile searching for a target. A moment later it dove harmless into the ground.

  Gryph reached out and grabbed the Ordonian by the wrist. “I said don’t let him leave, not kill him.”

  “I only shot one,” Lex protested. “It probably wouldn’t have killed him.”

  The blur moved again, and a plan came to Gryph. “Cast another one,” he yelled at Lex.

  “What? But you just said…”

  “Do it! And keep doing it until I say to stop.”

  “I have a one-second cooldown between shots.”

  “Thanks for yelling it loud enough for the invisible speedster to hear,” Gryph said as he and the others ran towards the blur.

  “Whoops, my bad.” Lex fired another single bolt, and it flashed towards the blur once again forcing it to stop. While he waited the one-second, Lex turned to Vonn who stood there, shaking, or more accurately vibrating. “Uh, buddy, whatcha doin’?”

  Lex fired another bolt without looking, his attention on Vonn. The half-elf was vibrating so quickly that another visual echo of himself seemed to peel from the original and flash towards the passageway leading from the room. Lex blinked his eyes several times, trying to understand what he’d seen when Vonn stopped vibrating and fell to one knee. The NPC fired another bolt and rushed to the half-elf’s side.

  “What the hell was that?”

  Vonn held out a hand that said both give me a second and help me up. Lex pulled the rogue to his feet. “I’m fine, really. Shouldn’t you be firing another bolt?”

  “Lex!” Gryph yelled. “He’s getting away.”

  “Oh, shit.” Lex fired a bolt. This one flashed up and over Errat and through the doorway into the passage beyond. A moment later a dull explosion let all of them know it had impacted the floor again. “Crap, Gryph is going to kill me.”

  “I got it covered” Vonn said, grinning at Lex. He pulled a Stamina Potion from his pack and downed it. His breathing eased, but he still looked like he might vomit.

  “How? And don’t you go yackin’ on me dude.”

  Gryph ran having no time for anger at Lex. Plenty of time for that later, he thought. He reached the entrance to the passageway moments after Ovrym did, with Errat right behind them. He cursed the one-hour cooldown period on his boots and the one day cool down of his tier ability Swift as the Wind. If he was to catch this speedy youngster, he’d have to do it the old-fashioned way.

  Gryph, Errat and Ovrym redoubled their efforts, sprinting up the steep incline and catching occasional glimpses of the fast-moving blur. They emerged into a large stalactite and moss filled chamber with hundreds of disturbingly large piles of rabbit droppings. He heard Lex’s voice in his head. All ingredients have their uses, my friend, even the gross ones. A small part of him chuckled at the idea of forcing Lex to harvest the droppings as penance for his sloppiness, but then he scowled. He was still pissed at his NPC.

  But am I being an ass? Am I taking my fear and my frustration out on him? he wondered to himself. He knew he was, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t make Lex sweat a bit if, when they caught this thief. Gryph scowled as he ran through another entrance and up another incline. Light bled in from above and Gryph knew the surface was close. If the kid got out before they caught him, they’d lose any hope of catching him.

  We need to pick up the pace or this kid is gone, and with him any chance of saving Brynn.

  Errat is fast and never tires, but blurry small man is far faster. Errat is confused.

  As am I, Ovrym sent. His Stealth is impressive, one could say illogically so for one so young.

  Maybe he is not young, just tiny like Lex? Errat suggested.

  I heard that, Lex whined.

  Quit complaining and run harder, Gryph sent and Lex cringed at the ire the player sent through the link. Then a calm voice eased into everyone’s mind.

  You may slow your pace my friends, I have him, Vonn sent.

  No, you don’t, Lex said. You’re running next to me. Wait, why does your voice in my head sound so distant?

  Gryph ignored the idiocy and kept running. The light grew brighter and a second later Gryph, Errat and Ovrym emerged from a cave well hidden in the split trunk of an ancient tree. Standing in the grove under the canopy of leaves was Vonn, holding a boy of maybe ten years, by the scruff of his shirt.

  Gryph skidded to a stop and stared.

  43

  Gryph’s mind cycled through a variety of logical possibilities to explain how Vonn was standing in front of him, clutching the filthy boy, but none jumped to the fore as likely. Sweat dripped down his brow and a cold ache filled his chest. I’ve put my faith in this man, but how much do I know about him and can I trust him? He gripped his spear.

  “You may relax friends, I have him.” Vonn grinned and then grimaced as the kid kicked him in the shin.

  “Lemme go you asshat,” the kid sputtered.

  “Errat is much confused. Are you very fast too, friend Vonn?”

  “Something like that,” Vonn said from behind them. Gryph spun to see Vonn and Lex emerge from the dungeon entrance at a sprint. Lex was heaving, his stamina nearly depleted after his sprint.

  Lex’s jaw dropped, and he pointed at the Vonn holding the kid and then at the Vonn standing next to him. “What? Who? How? When? Why?” Lex regained his breath. “Huh?”

  “I concur with our confused friend here,” Ovrym said. “With less vapid yammering.”

  Gryph walked up to the Vonn holding the kid. “You aren’t Vonn’s twin brother by chance, are you?”

  “Nope, we’re an only child,” the Vonn next to Lex said while the one with the kid just grinned. “Probably the only reason our parents stayed sane.”

  “You mind explaining all this then?”

  “I apologize for holding back on some of my capabilities,” the Vonn next to Lex said. “But what you are seeing is one of the greatest secrets of the Templars and one we only use when absolutely necessary.”

  “How?” Lex sputtered. “I’m a Master of Analyze.”

  “Do not believe any mortal power in the Realms is absolute my friend,” the Vonn next to Lex said.

  “There are always ways around the impossible,” the other Vonn said.

  Lex’s head snapped from one Vonn to the other and then back again. “Wait, wait, wait,” Lex said, holding his hands up. “We need to name you guys, or this will get real damn confusing.” He pointed at the Vonn next to him. “I’m gonna guess you're the real Vonn?”

  “We are both real,” the other Vonn said. “But he is the original Vonn of this reality, so you can call him Vonn Prime. I will answer to Vonn Two.”

  “This reality?” Ovrym asked.

  “Yes adjudicator,” Vonn Two said. “If you are patient, I promise I will answer all your questions.”

  “To the best of our ability,” Vonn Prime added. Vonn two nodded at his double.

  Ovrym nodded and went silent. Lex opened his mouth to ask another question, thought better on seeing Gryph’s glare and shut up.

  “What you are seeing is called Dimensional Duplication, an ability I earned after attaining my Calling. To understand how it works, you must understand how the Realms work.” Vonn Prime looked aro
und to ensure that everyone was paying attention. “The Source created the Realms some untold time ago as a grand experiment.”

  “To what end?” Gryph asked.

  “Only the Source knows.” Vonn Two said.

  “That type of ambiguity empowers zealots and madmen to abuse the faith of the simple,” Ovrym said. “And turn them to terror and violence.”

  “That can, and has, happened,” Vonn Prime said.

  “And will again,” Vonn Two added.

  “But while the Source contains all possibilities within it," Vonn Prime said. “We individuals are responsible for charting our own course through the waters of reality.”

  “So we’re all lab rats?” Lex asked. “To be poked and prodded and fondled oddly.” The others gave him sideway glances. “Sometimes I have weird flashes and … never mind. Continue please.”

  “When a researcher conducts an experiment they set up parameters and measure the results,” Vonn Prime said. “This is what the Source does with every one of us, all the time, for all of time. When any of us make a decision, say to go left at the fork in the road versus right, or to kill or spare an enemy, we create a future for ourself, one we cannot undo or alter. I cannot un-kill someone I have killed.”

  “But I can decide the path I took sucked donkey nuts and go back and take the other path,” Lex said, grinning like a college freshman convinced his frail argument was sounder than the philosophers of old.

  “But you will still not be where you would have been had you taken that path in the first place,” Vonn Two said. “And you will again generate a split. The Lex who continued down the path and the Lex who turned back. Within the Source both possible futures exist, and infinite more.”

  “You’re talking about the multiverse theory,” Gryph said. “The concept that every decision we make creates two possible universes.”

  “Yes,” Vonn Prime said with a smile. “It is a truth in your universe as well?”