by G. Akella
No sounds from the outside permeated here. The beast above might raze this whole castle to the ground, but we still wouldn't feel a thing.
"I'm all right," I said after a short pause. "Here's the thing, though. The undead army isn't here yet. It'll turn up only in nine days, right on schedule."
A silence ensued in the hallway that lasted for a good half-minute. There was nothing but the sound of water dripping from the ceiling and the puffing of Bonbon as he continued chewing.
"The quest terms haven't changed, I gather?" asked Donut, the first to break the silence.
"Correct," I nodded. I had noticed it on the way here.
"Well, mister physicist," Masyanya inquired sarcastically, turning to Bonbon. "Won't you tell us about the possibility of time travel?"
"In a computer game?" the warrior grunted as he inspected the contents of his bag. "Change the time on your monitor and congrats—you've just traveled in time. Even your average blonde can handle it. At least in theory."
"Quiet, both of you," Vaessa shushed them, then looked over at me. "You mean that the invasion will only happen later? What about us being here? It doesn't make sense."
"If you believe Bonbon, someone could have simply changed the time on a monitor," I smiled. "But the more serious answer is that this dungeon probably holds the answers to all our questions."
"What bloody business does Rakot have in Erantia? And how do we stop his invasion?" Donut continued my thought.
"Consider that there were no undead in the castle, and the dungeon ended up being precisely here. A few too many coincidences, no?"
"Then let's go get some answers!" Reece said firmly, gesturing at the hallway.
"Not so fast," Raena gave him a light shove. "Food first, answers later."
"Agreed," I took a seat on a small rock protrusion and took out my water flask. "We've got lots of time. Let's take one hour to eat, smoke, whatever. Then we move out."
"Guys, you need to see this! Over here!" Donut called us over from up ahead.
With Mordred's gifted ability, the rogue was now capable of sneaking through virtually any hole. Even the majority of creatures that saw through stealth couldn't detect him. If he wanted to, he could sneak through almost any instance all the way to the final boss and flip him the bird. As long as he remained invisible.
We walked over, ending up in a spacious well-lit space. The floor was covered with dust from rotted shelving, and the walls were streaked with mold. The place stunk like a long-abandoned crypt.
"Here!" slipping out of invis, Donut pointed out an even row of skeletons on the ground. "Nobody has looted these. And I have no idea what that could mean."
These were human remains, of that I was certain. Vaessa had taught me to discern the different bone structures of races populating Arkon. The skeletons lay next to each other in identical poses: the right hand over the chest, the left alongside the torso, clasping a sword. Some had released their weapon as the bones disintegrated, but they were all there. Their armor of iron and steel had mostly turned to rust. There were three rows in all, fifteen skeletons in each row. One skeleton was noticeably larger than the rest. The surreal scene was so foreboding that I couldn't hold back a grimace. I wouldn't have reacted with such emotion had we encountered some terrible monster instead. These long-dead humans weren't aggressive in any way, lying there peacefully with their empty eye-sockets staring up at the ceiling. They weren't going to rise, that much was clear. Loot only appeared after the slaying of a mob, never before.
"Interesting..." Kan strolled past the first row, examining the skeletal remains on the stone slabs, then turned to me and added in a surprised tone. "They were killed, and then laid to rest here with every possible honor. What is more, this was the doing of one individual. Not many people would leave their fallen foe with a weapon; fewer still would actually put it into their hand."
"How can you tell from the remains that they were all killed by one person?" Donut asked.
"Oh, that's easy. I can describe to you how the battle went down, more or less."
The knight-commander walked over to the far entrance, and pointed at the wall.
"These nicks were made by a blade, likely a bastard sword. The killer came in through here and immediately moved to the right, then kept moving along the wall."
"You would be a forensic analyst in our world," the rogue smiled, then looked over at me. "What are we doing? I looked at these fellows, but didn't loot."
"What do they have?"
"Nothing special," Donut shrugged. "A few silver each. Except for that one," he motioned at the largest skeleton. "He's got two hundred gold, three rare cloaks and some recipes."
"In that case, we leave these guys alone and keep going," I waved toward the exit to the next chamber, and started that way. "We can always grab the money later. For now, we're better off observing these oddities, and not touching."
The next two chambers were empty, not counting the same piles of dust and metal rusted beyond recognition. The third saw a repeat of the same scene, only this time it was sixty three skeletons lying on the ground, ten of whom had been mages in life. We looked but found no other apparent differences. Two chambers later, the same thing. We kept moving through this strangely extinct dungeon, counting the skeletons until we got to three hundred. We were mystified. Had the skeletons been without loot, one might theorize that back in those times the dead were buried in this manner in catacombs. But they did have loot. And nobody could have visited this dungeon before us with it being on the Ancients Paths! But then, who did all this? And why?
"There's a boss here, a living one," Donut reported in the channel in a strange, flat voice as we were examining the deceased in the tenth chamber from the entrance.
"What is it?" I asked.
"I... I don't know how to explain it," the rogue sighed. "Come and see for yourselves."
In a large rectangular hall, illuminated by eight bright orange lanterns, a level 250 human male sat on the floor, leaning against the far wall. From afar he appeared to be sleeping. His mithril breastplate was full of scrapes and holes, his fauld deformed. A dented open helm lay to the side. The man's right hand clutched a bastard sword shrouded in blue mist. Out of five hundred million HP, less than one percent remained. The bar over his head was green—friendly. Baron Friedrich an Gal'vert. It would appear we've met the castle's master. And with that, all the pieces fell into place...
"Nice and easy," I said quietly. Leaving Raena and our ranged characters behind, the rest of us moved toward the man resting on the slabs.
You could never be too careful in situations like this. It was hardly clear what the System had in store for us next, so exercising caution was only prudent. When we drew to within twenty yards, the knight opened his eyes and looked up at us. His gaze was cloudy.
"You... have come," he spoke in a hoarse voice. "I've been waiting..."
I didn't know who he had been waiting on, but the bar above his head didn't change colors, so I'd take it.
"A moment..." Friedrich's gaze gained clarity now. He tried to stand, but couldn't so much as push off the ground.
Raena swore behind us like a retired boatswain. A healing spell landed on the knight, but trickled helplessly down his mighty shoulders.
"Oh, no," the baron chuckled. "There's no bringing me back from this." He leaned back against the wall, taking shallow breaths, and continued with visible effort. "You must inform King Erast that the body and soul of Duke Edgar of Arkaetania has been taken over by Rakot! The king must know that the Dark God prepares an invasion..."
"I'm sorry to tell you this, baron, but King Erast has been dead for several thousand years now," I replied, looking him straight in the eye. "The invasion didn't happen then..."
"Then I was indeed asleep..." a trace of doubt flickered across Friedrich's face. The knight sighed and slowly dropped his head. "There's no pain in this room... I've no need for food... But I can't kill myself, either," he added softly, then looked up a
t me. "Tell me, what is happening up above? What news of Arkaetania, and who sits in my castle today?"
"Arkaetania has been known as the Dead Duchy since those days," I said without averting my eyes. "All the citizens had disappeared, most likely taken by Rakot. Your castle has been without a master since."
"Rakot! That damned villain has taken everything from me!" the baron wheezed with hatred. "What a pity that I must leave this realm..."
"Can you tell us about what actually happened here?"
"Yes, of course," Friedrich nodded. He raised his left hand slowly and pulled on a string tied to his neck.
What did he mean when he said there was no pain in this room? It was obvious that every moment caused him tremendous pain.
"Here," the baron demonstrated a lump of gray metal hanging on his neck, then dropped his arm, closed his eyes, and started his story.
"Myrt's Fortitude... Erast the Great awarded this amulet to me for the Tyalen Crossing. The militia swore their oaths to me on it when I became the lord of Gal'vert. They say this amulet still remembers the Holy One's touch..." His eyes still closed, Friedrich leaned the back of his head against the wall. "They all went up in black flame. Everyone... People, horses... Count Reid's son who had been staying as a guest in my castle... Not even their ashes remained. Only me and my fighters—three hundred and twelve people who survived... "Then we all heard the Call. A sinister whisper in our heads. And the pain... But nobody broke for as long as the Holy God's amulet was intact. The Call felt weaker outside the walls. When it became unbearable, we went down into the catacombs. After a month down here, the amulet melted, warped by unknown magic which also blocked the exit from here, and my men all turned into monsters." Friedrich opened his eyes and looked up at me. "I killed them all, prince! All of them! To save them from falling prey to that bastard! And I am certain that Rakot got not a single one of them in the end!"
"You were right to do what you did, baron," Vaessa nodded, walking over to us. "None of your people ended up in Limbh."
"Priestess?!" the baron exhaled at the sight of the necromancer's daughter. "He wants Helstaad! He aims to take it from Mistress! I heard his Call, I know..."
"What about Erantia?" asked Donut with surprise.
"Helstaad is still deemed a territory of Erantia," Kan explained for the baron. "And now it all makes sense."
And indeed, the explanation was as logical as it was simple. And I had wondered what Rakot wanted with Erantia... Alas, though now we had an explanation, that didn't help our predicament much. Were that bastard to capture Helstaad, Celphata would have no chance at revenge. Which meant one thing—Rakot had to be stopped at any cost!
"I've said all there is to say. It is time!" With that, Friedrich pulled on a strap over his shoulder, and his breastplate fell onto the slabs with a clang. "Grant me this honor..."
The knight set his jaw and made an inhuman effort to stand up. Donut rushed toward him instinctively to help, but the knight-commander stopped him.
"He must do it himself..."
The baron turned to Kan and nodded with gratitude.
"I know that the barrier will disappear with your arrival, and that the amulet will not save me this time. And if given the chance, I prefer to go out like my troops!"
He did manage to stand in the end. Pushing off from the wall, he took a step forward, and looked me calmly in the eyes.
"I am ready, prince," he said with a smile.
"Wait!" Vaessa held back my arm as I went to unsheathe my sword, then turned to the baron.
"I have two options for you, Friedrich an Gal'vert," she said daringly. "Yes, you can simply pass to be reborn. But you can also have your revenge while preserving your will and reason! If you tell Mistress what you've told us, and that Krian, the Prince of Craedia, possesses items with which she could stop Rakot's invasion, the Beast will go back to its home in Limbh, and the residents of Arkaetania that he had claimed will get their just rebirth. And now, warrior, you must choose!"
In the silence that followed, the words of Celphata's high priestess of death seemed to echo off every wall, filling every nook of these strange catacombs.
The baron was quiet for a good ten seconds, then nodded, seemingly to his own thoughts, and said contemplatively:
"You said that several thousand years have passed. Which means that I will not meet my men anymore. Arkaetania is dead, my castle is abandoned, and I have no more family left... And so I choose revenge!" he said with conviction, turning to look at Vaessa. "That is my decision, my lady."
The necromancer's daughter nodded, then handed me a long curved dagger, its blade shrouded with a grayish mist.
"It must be you who does it, prince," she said quietly, her eyes lowered.
"Aye," I accepted the dagger, drew back my arm, and drove the point into Friedrich's chest.
Should I have said something solemn beforehand? Perhaps, only everything had already been said.
The baron staggered, took a spasmodic breath, and began to slowly topple over. I caught his body and laid him carefully on the slabs, then quietly walked away.
Attention! You've earned a unique achievement, First in Gal'vert Prison. You and your allies have been granted a permanent 3% increase to your physical and magic damage.
Leaning over the body, Vaessa pulled out the dagger, then put both hands over the wound and began to softly sing a pleasant melody.
What a grim world this was! Here we were, holed up in a catacombs filled with three hundred corpses, with the high priestess of the Goddess of Death singing a lullaby to a fresh one, and none of us were batting an eye. Even a pregnant Masyanya was unperturbed, studying a pattern laid out on the floor with genuine interest. I felt a kind of dread tugging at my insides. This man had endured more than any of us could imagine. What kind of willpower must one have to resist the call of one of the Gray Frontier's rulers? This amulet had prevented Rakot from taking them all at once, but I couldn't begin to know what these people were thinking as they sat here, wondering what awaited them beyond the pale. Or how this indomitable warrior went around these halls, putting to death his own soldiers, then placing their weapons into their stiffening hands, and standing there, watching in silence...
With a soft rustle, the baron's body jerked, and his eyes opened, now radiating a blue magical glow. Vaessa nodded, stood up and took two steps back. Rising to his feet in one fluid motion, Death Knight Friedrich an Gal'vert took a look around, his lips curling into a smile. No, this world wasn't so grim, after all. But it was just. Much more so than the one we came from. The baron's level and HP remained the same—the only visible changes were the skin color and this new glow in his eyes. With a nod to us, Gal'vert swooped his breastplate, sword and shield up off the floor, then threw up his right hand and froze. The catacombs shook as the magic lanterns on the walls blazed brightly, and a faint rustle sounded from the hallway. Within moments it grew into a loud rattle as skeletons began pouring into the hall in small groups. Archers, mages, warriors... Friedrich may never see his troops again, but he wouldn't be without a militia. Good thing we didn't loot them—would they have resurrected if we had?
The undead soldiers lined up unhurriedly in three rows and were still. The death knight nodded to Vaessa, then walked over to me and offered his hand.
"I hope that Mistress will hearken to my words, prince," he said, his voice unchanged from before. "Best of luck to you all, and farewell!"
He stepped off to the side, raised his arm, then dropped it shortly. A gray portal window manifested before the formation. The catacombs shook once more, and reality blinked again...
"Honey, we're home!" Bonbon said with relief, expressing everybody's thought.
He gazed up at the sun setting beyond the forest, then turned to Raena, and nodded toward the lake.
"Would you have a suitable spell for the occasion? Or a bundle of dynamite? As much as I like fishing, Reece had fed all our bait to that lobster back there, and I'm starving."
Chapte
r 6
When I was a child, my father once told me about a primitive electronic toy he had. It had four buttons on each side, and a wolf with a basket in the center of the screen, with four chickens with trays for the eggs to roll down. When you pressed one of the buttons, the wolf would swap the basket out for the corresponding tray and catch the egg. If you let three eggs drop, or five, or something like that, you lost. Like any game, this one started out easier, and the eggs rolled slowly. But with time, they picked up speed. Eventually, they turned into blurs, and only the most insane of reaction times could stop them from falling. I sighed, gazing thoughtfully at the thickets of lilacs flowering along the road. I was feeling more and more like that wolf these days. Rakot, Vill, the Ancients, and now this orc bastard had to be found. All of the eggs were falling simultaneously! But though the wolf could drop an egg now and then, I couldn't. I could not fail as there was no way to reload or restart the game. No save button. At least the necromancer's daughter had assured me that the knight would find the goddess within a few days, and I very much hoped that she was right. That would be at least one egg caught.
"And what do you think about all of this?" Vaessa asked as she approached.
Women. In the old world and in this one both, they always wondered what you were thinking.
I smirked on the inside, then shrugged. "The carp really was delicious."
That caught her off guard. "Carp? What do you mean, dar?"
I returned her inquisitive glance. "What do you mean? I can't read your thoughts like George can, you know."
"I'm talking about Vill and Rakot," she explained with the tone of a professor growing tired at her student’s stupidity.
"So let me get this straight. You specialize in creatures from the Gray Frontier, and you're asking me?"
"Assuming we still believe this used to be a game, my knowledge of the undead is nothing compared to your understanding of the ones who built this place," she replied without hesitation.
