Pinebogey fell silent for an instant.
“And what happened next?” I asked, struggling to maintain calm.
“Nobody knows for certain what happened there,” he continued, casting thoughtful looks at me. “All that is known for sure is that the hunters lost that battle, but somehow they were able to weaken the Steel King as well. And they weakened him so badly that his authority as Emperor took a tumble.”
“And the Order of Mages stepped into the vacuum,” I added thoughtfully.
“True,” nodded Pinebogey. “Bit by bit, the mages were able to get Egbert the Seventh off the Imperial Throne and drive the order of hunters to destruction.”
“And how does that explain you joining up with the forces of chaos?” I asked.
“I help to reinforce the only Citadel of Chaos in this world.”
I got up right next to him. That made Gorgie shoot me another anxious glance.
Pinebogey noticed my mood and took it in his own way.
“I understand this must all sound very strange. Most likely, all the other foresters consider my tolerance of chaos tantamount to sacrilege, but we have left our hostility in the past. Just like our former majesty, it was smashed by darkness. A new time has come. The time for working together with former enemies. If I really think about it, that Citadel is the only bulwark against Darkness that currently exists.”
After he said that, Pinebogey trailed off and smiled.
“Actually no… Not anymore.”
The conversation dwindled all on its own then, a few minutes later, I heard a measured snoring. So, Pinebogey did get to sleep in the end.
His tales were making my head spin. The great forest, chaos, darkness, the steel king, the order of mages. For the umpteenth time, I found myself asking what sorcery could have possibly gotten me tied up in all this crap.
I had heard a lot. Including answers to a few of my burning questions. But at the same time, now I only had more questions. There was one thing I had learned for certain though. Egbert the Seventh’s melodramatic speeches about vast hordes of dark beasts and villainous mages were nothing but cynical lies concocted to trick a simpleminded boy who had blindly stumbled his way into the secrets of the order of hunters. And the monster hunters must have had one specific secret the King wanted. And whatever it was, they must have hidden it so far out of reach that it could only be accessed by a magister. He didn’t really care about bringing the order back or protecting the people against otherworldly beasts. Pinebogey seemed to be right. Gunnar had somehow managed to weaken Egbert’s ancestor. And so much so that it impacted all of his descendants. But that meant if I could uncover that secret, I could use it as a bargaining chip to save Mee’s life.
I was never able to get my eyes shut that night. Ideas, one more elaborate than the next, were just tirelessly storming the walls of my mind. Just before morning, I peeked over at the sleeping Pinebogey. Yesterday, the primordial had flat-out refused to take the seed. And asked me not to activate the keeper summoning amulet just yet. He explained that it would be safer with my Will for protection. But Pinebogey also let me know that he and I were now bound together. Midori too. And that I would be finding more and more allies like them. Devotees of the Great Forest would find it impossible to withstand its Call. And they had only seen one seed. I wonder what will happen when I show them the other two.
Pinebogey also said the Woodwose was right. I should only summon a keeper after finding a suitable forest. Preferably next to a place of power. But alas, I had no choice but to let him down. The founder’s amulet could only search for places of power in other worlds. In our world, the function was inactive.
Though I did hurry to give him hope. The thing was, I remembered how fast the Heart of the Forest was replenished in the otherworld by swallowing up the hostile energy of the chaos anomaly. That cheered Pinebogey up. I also mentioned that I had a forest in mind. Since I was last there, a huge amount of hostile energy had most likely been spilled and would now just be lying around for the taking.
The sun in the anomaly peeked up over a mountain ridge I could see far on the horizon. Our meadow grew brighter. Dobbess was first to stir. For the record, the goblin hadn’t said a single word all that time. He was trying to keep his head down as much as possible. He seemed to understand that he had become an unwitting participant in something that would not welcome outside witnesses. I even asked Pinebogey directly whether the goblin would be a problem, to which he unexpectedly interceded on Dobbess’ behalf.
After the goblin, Pinebogey and Midori woke up almost at once. And just in the nick of time. Before we could squeeze out two sentences, before each of our eyes appeared a long-awaited message:
― Attention! Your time in the Labyrinth of Fright has expired!
― You may now return to your departure point!
― Would you like to cross over?
― Yes/No.
― Attention! You have 30 seconds to make a decision!
Before giving permission, I recalled Gorgie and traded glances with Midori.
“Remember the name?” I whispered to her.
“Yes,” she nodded with concentration, gradually turning back into an Atrian. “Madi Belvokrut.”
“Good,” I nodded and said now a bit louder: “May the Great Forest keep you!”
The face of the dryad or now more like Atrian lit up with a happy smile and, an instant later, she disappeared into thin air.
A second after that, a glowing portal arch appeared before me as well and I stepped through.
An instantaneous warp and I was back in the gloomy room in the citadel of chaos. I looked from side to side. Pinebogey and Dobbess were here, too. They nodded at me in turn as if to say they were just fine.
“I see you were taking your sweet time!” the magister’s voice came loud and mocking, breaking the silence. “Everyone else is back already! I’d started to think the Labyrinth was going to keep you for itself.”
Hm… The others she was talking about must have been able to leave the labyrinth via the initial invitation. I wonder if the alpha of the werewolf pack survived. If yes, would he dare attack me in the citadel despite it being forbidden? In any case, I’m prepared to finish what I started.
I’m reminded that the troll said time passes differently inside the labyrinth. I wonder how long we were gone.
I must have asked that out loud because, much to my surprise, I got an answer from the magister.
“A couple hours.”
Almost one week in there was just a couple hours here. A great place to do some training. I just had yet to understand if there was any point in risking it for the sake of these chaos particles.
“Come along, newbie!” the magister said and, turning around, ducked down the nearest hallway.
Before following after her, I glanced at Pinebogey. He gave an encouraging nod as if to say everything would be alright.
Quickening my pace, I quickly caught up to the magister and, matching her gait, followed after. This time she was alone, no retinue. I wonder why.
“Did you have to kill all the werewolves?” she tossed out over her shoulder in dismay. “Ulf is furious. He’s calling for your blood.”
“I did,” I answered shortly, not planning to make excuses. “If he’s calling for my blood, then why did he run away from me?”
Nure-onna stopped short, squinted and looked me straight in the eyes.
“Well, I could make an exception and permit him to challenge you to a fight.”
I just shrugged as if to say, “it’s your call.” She observed my reaction for a few seconds and clearly came to some sort of conclusion, then turned around and started walking in silence again. Only after we’d made it ten steps did I hear her voice again:
“It’s settled then! You’ll square off tomorrow!”
Before I’d even grasped what the magister said, she stopped in front of a big stone arch and silently nodded, inviting me to step inside.
I complied. Once over
the threshold, I found myself in a wide room that looked a lot like the portal room.
I quickly looked around and turned. Nure-onna was still outside. There wasn’t a single drop of emotion in her serpentine eyes.
“Up until this moment, you have lived up to all my expectations,” she said in a flat slightly hissing voice. “Try not to let me down this time.”
After that, the arch disappeared, and darkness swallowed me up.
― Attention! The Unity with Chaos process has initiated!
Chapter 12
THE DARKNESS gradually abated. It got a bit brighter but not enough to see my own fingers. Then an impenetrable lilac fog enshrouded me. And with that fog came the sensation that someone else was in the room.
I hurriedly activated Sixth Sense and half closed my eyes ― the fog was shimmering and glinting with millions of bright lilac protuberances.
“Who’s there?” I asked, trying to make my voice sound flat. In reality though, I was as far from calm as I was physically from Orchus.
“It is I,” murmured the reply.
It was impossible to tell where the voice was coming from. The bristly mocking voice seemed to be coming from every direction. As if the fog itself was speaking to me.
It was like thousands of eyes were studying me. I again felt like a moth about to be pinned to a board and made part of a collection.
From quiet contemplation, the mysterious bristly speaker got straight to action.
— Attention! You have been subjected to mental magic!
― Attack repulsed!
This unity with chaos is proving quite strange. I clenched my teeth and attacked the fog with lightning.
“You’re wasting your mana,” came the mocking voice again.
— Attention! You have been subjected to mental magic!
― Attack repulsed!
Abyss! After blasting a ram in front of me and casting a few icicles in various directions, I stopped and panted. I decided to save the powerful spells until I could determine my opponent’s location. Tossing on muckwalker’s aura and invisibility, I took another look around. I thought for a second, and also activated ice golem’s breath.
My actions just amused the unknown being. I heard mocking laughter.
— Attention! You have been subjected to mental magic!
― Attack repulsed!
Suddenly the laughter stopped.
“Curious,” came my foe, clearly surprised. “How about this?”
Yet another notification popped up to say I’d repulsed a mental attack.
“Impossible!” the unknown figure exclaimed, baffled. For the first time, new emotions started slipping through in its voice.
In the following several moments, I saw dozens of new notifications flash before my eyes. They were all identical to the first. The mysterious lilac fog could not hack through my will. But for how long? I was getting the impression that the intensity of the mental attacks was gradually increasing.
“You’ve actually surprised me, mortal!” I could sense excitement and frustration in the unknown entity’s intonations. “Who are you?”
“It is I.” It was now my turn to joke.
“Acting smart?” the being asked with a colorless voice.
“Take it as you will,” I answered.
“Alright,” the entity squeezed out, somehow too softly. Its tone beckoned me to come closer. “We seem to have gotten off on the wrong foot. I am a Chaos Spirit, Keeper of this Citadel. Now who are you?”
My intuition was telling me that the spirit’s voice hadn’t just become so soft and kindly for no reason. I suddenly got the sense that the being was amassing power for a new attack. There, the fog even seemed to lose color. And why wasn’t it using any physical attacks? Was this whole thing meant to be a mental fight? There was no one to ask. Pinebogey and Dobbess didn’t know a thing about the Unity ceremony. Seemingly, this chance was only given to those that killed a powerful agent of chaos, or those bearing the blood of the ancients. That must have been what the Gatekeeper meant when he said there was no one like me here.
“A contender that came here to be tested,” I answered without missing a beat.
“You are the first to be brought before me in a long time.”
The voice grew softer. It must be killing time.
“You are not just any old contender,” came the spirit, continuing in what felt to me like an overly dramatic tone. “You are here to become one with Chaos!”
“And what does that mean?” As I asked my question, I could feel in my bones how happy it made the spirit. It thought it had my guard down.
“It means that Chaos will share its power and might with you! In return you will become Its loyal servant and constant aide!”
The last part put me on guard. The tricky Snake had neglected to mention that when filling my head with sky-high prospects and opportunities. Actually, why neglected? No, she had intentionally left this out – the most important part. This was yet another attempt to enslave me! I must give the Gatekeeper his due though. Back in the tunnel, he made a point to say it was all up to me.
“And what if I refuse the honor?” I asked, preparing to activate everything in my arsenal.
The lilac fog flickered again just like before. The protuberances seemed to be larger though. My question was clearly not to the spirit’s liking.
“That’s no longer of any importance!” the chaos spirit said vengefully and attacked yet again.
I got extremely dizzy and a system message came before my eyes saying the spirit had managed to break my will.
“Yes!” it wailed out joyfully. There was so much excitement and satisfaction in its voice.
But its triumph was short lived. The Great System informed me that one of my hunter abilities had just tripped ― Shield of Will. I now had much more mana than before, so the spirit again failed to subjugate me.
To say that the keeper of the citadel was incensed would be a massive understatement. The lilac fog grew denser, threatening to suffocate me like a little insect. But I already knew that I had nothing to fear but mental attacks. However though, during the brief instant when the spirit had been able to subdue my will, all its feelings, emotions and even clipped fragments of its memory flooded down on me.
I learned that it was not exactly free either. And that, by chaos spirit standards, this one was not all that mighty. Just a minor spirit, which was imprisoned in this citadel by a supreme Primordial a very long time ago. It nourishes this place with its magic, and the forces of chaos nourish it by bringing particles from the labyrinth. However, the once free chaos spirit, accustomed to liberty and disorder, had been transformed by its centuries of captivity into a world-weary and spiteful entity.
I also knew that it hated this place and was secretly waiting for a chance to escape. And now today its chance had come. With my help.
The momentary wave of its thoughts and emotions that flickered through my head was extensive and vivid. It felt like thousands of red-hot needles being poked into my brain all at once. The gods alone could say how I was able to keep my wits about me.
I somehow got a handle on the weakness that had overtaken my entire body and hurriedly glanced at my magic supply. Just a quarter left. Now I knew: if I didn’t stop the spirit soon, it would break through my defenses. The only thing standing between me and the fate of becoming a submissive little puppet was the mana in my supply, which was gushing out like water from a leaky bucket.
The spirit understood that, so its attacks were growing more frequent. Based on how the fog was turning pale and the once lilac protuberances were losing color, it was also about to tire itself out.
I was not going to give up just like that, so I dashed toward the exit. Or rather to where I thought the exit should have been. The spirit didn’t react to my moves whatsoever. It was too concentrated on my defenses.
I took a few long jumps and hoped I was next to the arch. But alas, there was fog everywhere. Another couple jumps. Nothing. No
walls, no arch. Solid fog.
But there was a floor beneath me! I crouched down and lowered a hand. I felt cold scratchy rock. There we go! I’ll break out through the floor.
Labyrinth of Fright (Underdog Book #5): LitRPG Series Page 13
