Another three dots were on the other end of the big city. They almost all bled together. At first I didn’t understand what they could be, but then I remembered. It was the temples of the gods Random, Fortuna and the Great System.
The fifth and final dot was to the west. Right where we were going.
When I announced to my companions that I seemingly knew where to find a passage between anomalies, they looked on my words with mistrust. I was not planning to try and convince them or prove anything though. I just set a route and headed for my destination. I could of course have shown them the amulet. That would have answered all their questions. But I was not planning to show off my rare artifacts. Whether they believed me or not was their problem. Based on the way Dobbess and Pinebogey kept trudging along next to me, my words hit their mark.
* * *
“You sure?” Pinebogey asked with doubt in his voice.
“Absolutely,” I answered firmly.
“I’m just finding this all so…” the goblin muttered out. But he didn’t finish.
I understood them. The arrow found us a way out of the sewer tunnels, then led us across the western part of the city, which was teeming with undead until finally leading us outside the city walls to our end point.
We were standing on the edge of a precipice and looking down at a gigantic whirlpool twisting and turning on the surface of the sea. And it was the very Passage to another anomaly we were looking for.
Pinebogey snorted.
“Hmm, this ain’t exactly a well. But you can bet your butt this thing smells like mana. I don’t know how you did it, but it looks like you really have found the thing, Highlander!”
The goblin thought so too. A timid smile started playing on his thin lips.
Beyond that, the anomaly we were in was becoming more and more hostile with every minute. It was as if we were being pushed out by some invisible force, letting us know we were no longer welcome. The air even felt somehow heavy and sticky. The Rift was drawing near.
Time to jump.
I recalled Gorgie and started activating all my shields. When Pinebogey and Dobbess saw the ghostly snake constricting around my body, they reacted in different ways. Pinebogey was demure, whereas the goblin was suspicious. But it made an impression on both of them. When I activated chaos shield though, and shared that protection with them, not forgetting the Atrian lady who was still unconscious ― their eyes just about climbed up into their foreheads.
“Ready?” I asked. And, after waiting for affirmative nods, stepped first off the cliff. While I watched the giant whirlpool draw closer, I was distantly considering the fact that, just a year ago, I couldn’t have imagined what I had in store. Then an instant later, darkness swallowed me up.
I came to my senses all at once, as if bursting up from underwater. I opened my eyes and found myself immediately squinting due to the bright light. I could just barely make out the sound of falling water.
Water… That’s right! The precipice! The whirlpool! The passage!
I opened my eyes again. Someone’s face loomed over me.
“Got your wits about you?” the blurry face asked in Dobbess’ voice.
I gave another few blinks and tried to focus. Must be Dobbess.
“You all alive?” I asked quietly, more like rasping.
“We’re just fine,” came Pinebogey with an unsettled expression.
“What about the woman?” I asked, wincing. I was so thirsty.
Pinebogey rubbed the back of his head and responded uneasily:
“She’s doing just fine, Highlander. See for yourself.”
Strange. What’s his deal? He’s acting weird.
I propped myself up on an elbow. I turned my head where he pointed and was struck dumb. A few steps away was the Atrian we had rescued. Honestly though, her sand warrior guise was gone without a trace.
“Hello, Eric…”
“Hello, Midori.”
Chapter 10
WE SPENT THE FIRST few seconds staring at one another in silence. The dryad had hardly changed. She had the same subtle diminutive facial features and huge slanted emerald eyes. And in them was reflected a mixture of bafflement and determination.
While I was lying unconscious, Midori had had plenty of time to wrap her head around the situation. And the fact I was still alive said a lot. After all, I remembered perfectly well how dangerous this forest warrior could be. She could snap you in half like a chicken bone without even blinking an eye. Wouldn’t be so easy to do to me though ― my shields could take quite the beating. Pinebogey and the goblin didn’t seem to be asleep at the wheel either. The idea that they would just calmly watch her murder me seemed hardly plausible. That wasn’t a sure thing though. I had already learned what gratitude was really worth ― and the dryad sitting opposite me was a glaring example.
I wonder how long I was out. I took a quick peek at my shield figures and cringed. So I had been unprotected all that time. The damage from hitting the whirlpool must have been very high.
After I checked my mana supply, I was surprised. Full to the brim. I quickly opened my spells and frowned. All of them were cooled down. Even the spirits. And those had a five-day cooldown. I couldn’t have been lying around that long, right?! I needed to get that figured out.
Checking that and getting myself in hand took a few seconds but I could tell Midori had noticed my mood, though she did not show it.
“I liked the Atrian better,” I said coldly and stared straight at the dryad. “So, was the weepy story about a little dryad losing its tree just made up? After all, it looks like you actually do have magic.”
When I activated my magical senses, I realized Midori had no supply. Though she did have a few mana-bearing artifacts. Beyond that, without her disguise, she was back to level twelve. But the tree topic clearly pained her.
Continuing to press, I nodded at Pinebogey, who was standing apart and watching us constantly, then added:
“My buddy here said your disguise must have been put on by a powerful mage. Heh… I’m not surprised. You’re a master of fakery.”
Midori’s eyes squinted threateningly. Looks like I finally hit her hard enough. That’s good. I need information. My dad said that if you want to get something out of someone give them booze or, failing that, make them mad.
“So, you two know each other?”
I struggled not to wince. Dobbess had great timing as always. Pinebogey had already placed his hand on the goblin’s shoulder and was whispering something quietly into his ear.
The goblin’s joining in brought the dryad to her senses. She was about to say all kinds of vile things to me but held back. I though, in my turn, did not let up.
“As a matter of fact, my friend,” I nodded at Dobbess. “I used to think we were friends. Right up until a certain point.”
Paying no mind to Pinebogey’s raised hand, the goblin asked:
“So what made you change your mind?”
“Easy,” I answered, watching Midori’s expression. “My loved ones and I were betrayed.”
I spent a bit of time in silence, letting my new buddies digest what I said, then asked:
“Based on the disguise, Papa Gino must have given his familiars a new assignment.”
The dryad gave a slight shudder and, her teeth clenched, responded:
“I am no longer a familiar. Gino is dead.”
“So, with Mee gone, did the dark ailment finally take him down?” I asked.
The dryad kept quiet, staring at the ground but I could tell I was right.
“If it makes it any easier, Gino didn’t want to tell them about you until the very end,” she said quietly, not raising her head.
“And yet, it wasn’t enough to stop him from turning me in to the secret chancery and the Steel King’s agents at the same time.”
Midori looked up abruptly. I saw bafflement in her eyes.
“Wait, did you not know he was spying for both of them?”
“No,” she shook her
head and quietly added: “I thought he served only the King.”
The dryad’s emotions were sincere. With my Will and Mind, it was no longer hard for me to tell such things.
“He didn’t give a crap about me,” I waved it off. “I’m sure he was even glad to get rid of me.”
“I don’t believe that!” Midori pronounced firmly. “He never would have done such a thing. He spent whole days thinking it over! I saw how he was… He really tortured himself over that decision…”
I tilted my head to the side and shot a mocking stare at the dryad. She wasn’t exactly a simpleton. But seemingly, she trusted her master through and through. Surprising. So the story of the little dryad that lost her tree and got taken prisoner then was bought by a kindly lanista at a slave market was true?
“Alas,” I said more softly than intended. “But I have to disappoint you. It wasn’t good intentions that stayed Gino’s hand. He was waiting for the sale of the female whipsnake to go through. He didn’t want the chancery’s spooks to botch the deal.”
I chuckled.
“He was keeping me close. As insurance. The old schemer didn’t want to leave anything up to chance. What if your potions stopped working and the brute woke up? Then he’d have Eric the fool there to use his lightning again.”
Midori tried to object, but I got out ahead:
“I’m not just making this up. They told me this in the chancery. Gino really didn’t give a crap about me.” I slowly got up and stretched out in satisfaction, continuing in the meantime: “Back where I grew up, people used to have a saying. You’ve only got one ass. Don’t try to sit on more than one chair. In the best case, you’ll lose your seat. But in the worst… Ghhm… Well, you see where I’m going with this…”
I just barely heard a little giggle from the goblin.
“It occurs to me,” I continued. “Papa Gino had never heard that saying before. And he wanted more than just his big fat piece of the pie from selling the dark beast.”
“What are you talking about?” Midori got on guard.
“Did you know that not a single day went by during our journey that Gino did not try to convince Mee to forsake me? I can see in your eyes that you did. For the record, that didn’t make me particularly mad. I could partially understand the old man. With an ailment like that, having a personal healer would be a dream! I understand you too. As long as your master was alive, you would be fine.”
As I spoke, I was looking around the place we’d landed with my peripheral vision. We’re at the foot of a small cliff. To the right, twenty paces away, there’s a little waterfall. All around, at first glance, this appears to be a normal forest. Based on the bright sun, warm weather and succulent green leaves, it is the end of spring or beginning of summer. A regular landscape. The kind my native Orchus is chalk full of. But I shouldn’t forget where we really are. At any time, the labyrinth could make our day with a nice surprise.
I wasn’t overlooking my companions though. Pinebogey and Dobbess are still hanging in there. They appear to be alive and well. They’re both taking it all in. Whereas the goblin smiled understandingly at my every word, Pinebogey was reacting with somewhat more restraint. I can read sympathy for the dryad in his animal eyes. Meanwhile, just a few hours ago he was having doubts over whether to help the Atrian or not. My heart can sense that this odd mage and I have a lot left to discuss.
“Do you mean to say you’re any different?” Midori asked with mockery in her voice. “Do you think I really trust that you treat your gremlin familiar like a member of the family?”
“Trust me or don’t. It’s up to you,” I shrugged my shoulders. “By the way, that was precisely Gino’s mistake. He didn’t trust. But he should have. The reason Mee never forsook me was not because he was my familiar, but because we are family. Just so you know, Mee decided to join us of his own accord. I had no choice but to accept.”
“Oh, sure! We’re talking about a healer familiar here!” Midori shouted sarcastically.
“I wouldn’t say no to a familiar like that either,” the goblin spoke up.
I turned. Dobbess and Pinebogey were grinning, as was the dryad, who could sense their support.
“The only thing is, there isn’t exactly a line of gremlin healers waiting to become my familiar,” Dobbess continued making fun. “Think you could tell me your secret?”
I snorted and shrugged my shoulders.
“It’s easy. For starters, you gotta go to the Wastes. Then take down a couple of orcs. Find a gremlin, rescue him and set him free. After that, all you gotta do is defeat an orc shaman, get an iridescent tablet with a healing spell and give it to the gremlin. And that was pretty much it.”
The more I said, the more the smirks crept off their faces.
“Are you trying to say you gave an iridescent tablet to someone else?” Pinebogey asked with suspicion.
“Do they even exist?” Dobbess asked, stunned.
“Yes to both questions,” I nodded calmly and turned to Midori.
Unlike the mistrusting looks on the goblin and mage’s faces, I could read understanding in the dryad’s eyes. No matter how you slice it, during our journey together from the borderlands to the capital of Fradia, she had ample opportunity to judge our bond.
“Papa Gino thought the poor gremlin, slain by the sorrow of his master’s disappearance and left all alone in the big city would be easy pickings. Does that conjure any memories?”
My surprise question made Midori shudder. After all, he hadn’t just bought her out of slavery for no reason. I remember the ogre complaining he spent too much on her. But to be frank, I didn’t give a crap what the old man wanted out of the little dryad. There was just one thing I wanted to know, and I was smoothly steering our conversation toward it the whole time.
“But there was one little thing your master overlooked. They were not able to make me submit. And the only lever they had to pressure me was my friends. Unlike you, the Steel King realized that right away. So let me ask you a question right now. And so you know, your answer will define whether you live or die. Do you know where they’re holding Mee and Maya?”
Gorgie appeared out of nowhere and made Midori shiver as well as Dobbess and Pinebogey, who had fallen silent. The harn bared his teeth and loomed over the shivering dryad with a menacing growl. Compared to the monster Gorgie had become, she looked like a small child.
“I don’t know where Mee is,” she responded with a quavering voice. “They took him away a few hours after they came for you.”
“Chancery men?”
“No,” she shook her head. “The Steel Scouts.”
“Isamu Takeda?”
Midori sharply raised her fearful eyes and whispered:
“Yes… You know the captain of the Steel Scouts?”
So while I was cooling off in the secret chancery’s cell, Takeda had already had Mee for a while.
“Your master actually had a hand in that,” I snorted. “And yes, I did know the captain.”
“Did?” Midori asked with hope in her voice. “He’s…”
“He’s dead,” I said shortly. “But what about Maya?”
“They didn’t touch her,” Midori responded. “She left Gino’s house the day after they took you. I never saw her again.”
I breathed a heavy sigh and considered it. While I tried to think through my next moves, Midori carried on. At first quietly, but her voice grew more forceful with every word. And then, she popped like an old boil. I truly was not anticipating the dryad to start pouring her soul out to me.
“They let Gino go a few days later,” she said, staring at a fixed point. “When he came back home, we didn’t even recognize him at first. Without treatment, the dark ailment sucked all his life force away. Then he was laid up and babbling incoherently almost the whole time. My potions were no use. We called in doctors and healers, but they all just threw up their hands. The ailment was what killed him in the end.”
I frowned. I didn’t feel bad for the traitor,
but I did catch myself thinking that Midori’s feelings were close to my heart. I was also caught off guard by her frankness.
“Gods forbid you ever have to experience how a familiar feels when their master dies!” the dryad said, her eyes blazing. “When Gino took his last breath, I thought I was going to lose my mind!”
That sent a chill running down my spine.
“At first, Tusk and I weren’t even eating,” she said and, with a lopsided smile, added: “But the ogre had an easier time. He drowned his sorrows in ale.”
She sat in silence for a bit, then laughed:
Labyrinth of Fright (Underdog Book #5): LitRPG Series Page 11
