by A F Kay
Sift pointed at Ruwen. “That is a good point.”
“I think we should just draw it on the tent,” Ruwen said.
“But won’t that be too obvious?”
Ruwen thought about it for a few moments. “Near every campfire, they have a small pile of extra items. Go and fetch another blanket. We can use it to hide the door.”
Sift nodded, handed Ruwen the shaker, and left. Ruwen walked to the head of his bed and removed the Portal Chalk from his Inventory. He sat the shaker on his pillow and then drew a rectangle on the tent just big enough that they could fit through it sideways. Carefully, he copied the gate runes for the Blood Gate down the center of the rectangle. He picked up the shaker and studied each of the runes. He’d verified they were correct twice by the time Sift returned with a blanket.
Ruwen tossed Sift the shaker, removed the last Floating Clasper Sucker from his Inventory, and stuck it to the tent just over the portal. The other Suckers had been destroyed in his battle with the Clapping Brawlers. Sift walked up next to Ruwen and handed him the blanket.
Ruwen stuck the blanket to the sucker and stepped back. The top of the portal was just visible, but most of it was concealed.
“What do you think?” Ruwen asked.
“It’s good enough. How sure are you about your gate runes?”
“Positive.”
Sift looked worried, and to be honest, Ruwen felt a little nervous as well. This was the first time he had drawn them entirely on his own. What if he ended up in some crawling insect world? But if he showed any doubt, Sift would be out for sure.
“How about this. I’ll go through, then come back. That way, you’ll know for sure,” Ruwen said.
Relief flooded Sift’s face, but then he clenched his jaw. “No, that’s not fair. We need to trust each other, and Ky said –”
Ruwen didn’t hear the rest as he stepped sideways through the portal, not giving himself any more time to think of where he might end up.
His right wrist grew icy cold, and the Black Pyramid mark appeared as he stepped onto the soft mat of Blood Moss. It felt like he’d just left this place. Sift had been scared to cross through the portal then as well. That gave Ruwen an idea, and he took a few moments to prepare himself.
As Ruwen stepped back through the gate, the blanket pushed against his face, and he brought his hands to his throat. He made a choking sound and then stepped clumsily away from the blanket. He staggered to his bed, keeping his eyes as wide as they would go. Sift yelped and jumped to catch Ruwen as he fell. Ruwen continued to make choking sounds.
“Ruwen, are you okay? What happened?”
Ruwen made a gurgling sound, and Sift’s eyes grew wide in panic.
“I’ll go get Hamma!” Sift said as he stood.
Ruwen laughed, and it took Sift a moment to figure out Ruwen had been joking.
“That was not funny,” Sift said.
Ruwen rolled to his side and then pushed himself up. “Yes, yes it was.”
“You will pay for that.”
“Still worth it.”
“So, I take it the gate is safe?”
“I don’t know about that, but it takes us to the Blood Gate.”
Sift nodded and placed the shaker under his pillow. The only light now came from the small amount of moonlight that made it through the tent fabric. Ruwen’s clock read 10:07 PM.
“Big D said she’d fetch me tomorrow at seven. So if we plan to be back here around six tomorrow morning, that would give us thirty-two hours in Blapy.”
“Sounds great. We can use most of that time making your Step training extra fun. You didn’t think that joke all the way through, did you?”
Sift didn’t wait for an answer. He pulled the blanket aside and stepped through.
Ruwen stared at the blanket. No, he hadn’t thought that through. He really needed to get some points in Wisdom before his bright ideas caused him any more pain. But now wasn’t the time to distribute his remaining points. For every second he stood here, four elapsed in Blapy. Sift would be even more upset if Ruwen made him wait too long.
“Shade’s first rule: you only have yourself to blame,” Ruwen whispered.
Then he pulled the blanket aside and stepped through the portal and into the Blood Gate.
Chapter 11
Sift stood in front of the doorway that would take them into the Black Pyramid. Ruwen joined Sift, and they walked through the door. Once again, Ruwen stood in the familiar hallway, and the two of them strode toward the cavern.
Ruwen’s clock read 5:18 PM here, but he knew that in the seventeen hours he’d been gone from the Black Pyramid, sixty-eight hours had passed here. To Madda and Padda, Ruwen and Sift had been gone almost three days.
As soon as they crossed the cavern, Sift touched his wrist to the wall. “My room.”
A portal appeared, and they both walked through it, stepping into the hallway in front of their room. Madda stood waiting for them.
“Hi, Mom,” Sift said.
Madda hugged Sift and then turned to Ruwen.
Ruwen crossed his arms over his chest and bowed to Madda. “It’s good to see you.”
Madda placed her fist out, and Ruwen quickly placed his palm over it.
“Well met, Ruwen,” Madda said.
Madda turned back to Sift. “Back so soon? Did you miss me?”
“It is easier to train here,” Sift said.
“Do you two have time for dinner tonight?”
“We just had dinner with you,” Sift said.
“That was three days ago,” Madda said. “The time difference, remember?”
Ruwen realized the past three days were probably the first time Madda had ever been away from Sift. Her face remained calm, but Ruwen wondered if it hid any sadness at not having her son close by anymore. The fact that she had appeared as soon as they’d arrived couldn’t have been an accident.
Ruwen’s chest tightened as the pain of his missing parents surfaced. As soon as this camping trip finished, he would begin his search. Sadness wouldn’t help his training, though, so he pushed the pain back down.
“We’d love to,” Ruwen said.
Sift looked at Ruwen in surprise.
“Great, see you two in a few hours,” Madda said.
Madda gave Sift another hug and then strode down the hallway.
Sift frowned at Ruwen and then entered their room.
“Okay, I didn’t think coming here all the way through,” Sift said.
“She misses you,” Ruwen said. “You’re lucky.”
“I think you agreed just so you could get out of training.”
Ruwen shook his head. “That didn’t even occur to me.”
“Right, now change into some training clothes and take off all your rings. We don’t have any time to waste, Sijun,” Sift said, calling Ruwen the Step word for a student.
“Yes, Sisen,” Ruwen said, using the Step term for a teacher.
Ruwen took off all his gear, including his Clapper skin undershirt and long underwear. He changed into the black pants Fluffy had issued him when he’d arrived last time but left his chest and feet bare.
They walked to the center of the room, faced each other, and sank into the sitting squat of the first step. Ruwen remembered what Sift had said last time, and Ruwen straightened his back, angled his feet correctly, and spread his legs until they were under his shoulders.
“Good,” Sift said.
“No meditation today?” Ruwen asked.
“Maybe later, but I’m scared you’ll take up too much time meditating. I do want you to focus on your breathing, though.”
After a minute, Sift spoke again. “Good, now I’m going to teach you a wheel.”
Ruwen nodded. His legs already hurt a little from squatting.
“Make fists and keep your upper arms in line with your body. Raise your fists until you’re able to see your thumb and fingers.”
Sift leaned forward and straightened Ruwen’s back. “Relax your shoulders, Sijun.
Okay, I’m going to slowly punch at your face. Bring your left arm up and across your chest and face to block it and then push my arm to the side. Let’s practice that.”
As Sift punched at Ruwen’s face, Ruwen brought up his arm and pushed Sift’s arm away. Ruwen continued the movement and brought his arm back to its original position. They did this for another minute.
“Great, now we are going to add a punch. After you block my punch and are bringing your arm back into position, punch with your other arm. Your body should remain in balance, the left arm returning as the right arm thrusts outward.”
When Ruwen punched, Sift blocked it, and as Ruwen’s arm returned to his side, Sift threw a punch with his other arm at Ruwen, which Ruwen blocked, and started the cycle again. Ruwen understood now. The two of them alternated between blocking and punching.
Between the eternal squat and the constant punching and blocking, Ruwen’s Energy bar fell, unable to keep up with all the activity. He kept his mouth closed and just nodded as Sift gave him directions.
“Breathe out forcibly when you attack, but try to do it quietly. Many experts have unnatural hearing, and you don’t want your breathing to alert them to your intentions…straighten your back…snap your arm so your fingers face the ground as you finish your punch.”
Sift increased the speed for a few minutes, and then they switched to Ruwen’s right arm blocking and his left punching. Even though Ruwen’s legs screamed for a rest, the constant movement of his arms and directions from Sift distracted Ruwen enough to make it bearable. The automatic points placed in Strength and Stamina for leveling as a Worker also helped immensely, as well as the positive impact those attributes had on his Endurance.
“Let’s practice the correct way to fall, and then we’ll finish off with the throws I taught you earlier and some staff work,” Sift said.
“How can you fall wrong?” Ruwen asked.
“Have you ever hit your head and gotten dizzy during a fight?”
Ruwen realized that happened almost every fight. “Sometimes.”
“Well, then you’re falling wrong.”
Ruwen nodded. As painful and uncomfortable as this training made him, this was just another example of why he desperately needed it. He would have never imagined you could fall wrong. How could something so simple be wrong? It was like breathing. Ruwen frowned as he realized his breathing was also wrong much of the time.
“Why the frown?” Sift asked.
“I’m just thinking about how I do even the most simple things wrong.”
“Good, you’re right. But to fix a problem, you have to see it first. So that is progress.”
They spent another hour practicing falling and the simple throws Ruwen had been taught before. In the last half hour, Ruwen practiced with his staff. By the end of it, his whole body felt tired.
As Ruwen showered, he went through the notifications he’d received from all his practice.
Shing!
You have advanced a skill!
Skill: Unarmed Combat
Level: 2
Effect: Increase unarmed damage by 1.00%. Increase chance to deflect or dodge a blow by 1.00%.
Shing!
You have advanced a skill!
Skill: Unarmed Combat
Level: 3
Effect: Increase unarmed damage by 1.50%. Increase chance to deflect or dodge a blow by 1.50%.
Shing!
You have advanced a skill!
Skill: Staff
Level: 5
Effect: Increase damage by 2.5%.
Ruwen dressed and walked back into the room he shared with Sift. Ruwen felt proud of the progress he’d made. Sift sat on his bed talking to Io, so Ruwen put all his rings back on, rubbing his arms as the Energy made his arms tingle.
“How did your mom know we were coming?” Ruwen asked. “She was here as soon as we stepped out of the portal.”
“She must have sensed my aura when we arrived,” Sift said.
“So she took a portal to your room as well?”
Sift shook his head. “She hates portals. My theory is she teleported, which is really the same thing as a portal in my opinion.”
“She can do that?”
“She says she runs the whole way. But it looks like teleportation to me. She is in one spot, and in a blink, she appears somewhere else. She says I’m just not advanced enough to see her movements. But I –”
Sift stood and put Io in the hip sheath.
“What’s wrong?” Ruwen asked.
Sift stepped into a ready stance and slowly scanned the room. “Mistress Ky is here.”
Ruwen looked at the door, which had remained closed, and then around the room. “How could she get in here? The door never opened.”
“Shadow Striders don’t need doors.”
Ruwen remembered Tremine using that term when he’d officially introduced Ky back at the library. That seemed like forever ago.
“It’s true, I don’t,” Ky said from right next to Ruwen.
Ruwen jerked away at the sudden voice next to him.
“I hate it when people do that!” Ruwen said.
“Good job keeping alert even in here,” Ky said to Sift.
Sift nodded. “Your last appearance is still fresh in my memory. It would have been embarrassing to repeat that failure.”
“It’s good you listen so closely to my words. Like that time I told you to let Ruwen die, so you could follow the attackers and root out the source of the attacks.”
Sift’s face looked like he was in pain. “That happened really fast, and I acted without thinking.”
“Shocking, but we both know you would’ve done the same thing even if you’d had time to think,” Ky said.
Sift didn’t respond.
Ruwen faced Ky. “First, I really appreciate Sift risking his life to save mine, and second, Annul Strongspell, an overprotective mother, orchestrated that ambush this morning, not Naktos. My guess is, like a lot of people, Annul isn’t happy we’re heading out into the wilderness with her son right after Deepwell was attacked.”
“Are you sure?” Ky asked.
“Sure about what?” Ruwen asked.
“That Annul isn’t working for Naktos,” Ky asked.
Ruwen leaned back. “Why would she do that? They make snow globes.”
Ky shrugged. “Why do people do anything? Money, forbidden or lost knowledge, power, hatred, who knows why? The point is, don’t underestimate Naktos’s ability to manipulate humans, and if a motive appears obvious, it might be fake.”
Ruwen thought deeply about ideas and things he had an interest in, but he tended to take people at face value. Could Annul have other reasons for wanting him dead? That seemed absurd.
“Anyway, that’s why I’m here,” Ky said. “My network has seen agents of Izac inside Uru’s lands.”
“Who is Izac?” Sift asked.
“Uru’s brother,” Ky said.
Ruwen leaned forward. “Isn’t that good? Is he here to help?”
Ky shook her head. “You are so naïve it hurts. No one wants to help you. Everyone wants to kill you.”
“But they’re siblings,” Ruwen said.
“They are also gods, and we don’t know enough about their motives to guess their behavior,” Ky said.
“So, you are going to do what, exactly?” Sift asked.
“I’m going to be gone for a few days while I check on this information, so you’re going to be on your own. Don’t do anything stupid,” Ky said.
Ruwen’s heart sped up. “Is that a good idea? Naktos still has agents nearby.”
Ky nodded. “I know, but if Izac’s forces get too close, and they figure out who you are, not even I can save you. It’s better if I handle this early. I have help arriving tomorrow, and we have a plan that should create doubt and confusion in Naktos’s people for a few days. Plus, Tremine will stay nearby.”
That didn’t sound very promising to Ruwen. He would rather have Naktos’s people dead than confused. But
hearing his friend Tremine would be nearby cheered him up. Tremine would provide powerful protection. Although he’d actually killed Ruwen the last time. But that had been to save him.
Ky stood. “I approve of you two coming here. It is much safer than your tent. The real danger is getting ambushed when you return. Sift, you need to go first and make sure it’s safe for Ruwen.”
Sift nodded.
Ky would be leaving for at least a couple of days, maybe longer. The longer Ruwen kept secrets from Hamma, the more damage it did to their relationship.
Ruwen’s mouth went dry, and he cleared his throat a couple of times. “In the process of saving Sift this morning, Hamma had a lot of questions about where I’ve been and the gear I’ve gotten. I don’t want to lie to her. Is there any way you could let her come here?”
“Here? Absolutely not,” Ky said. “This area is only for my people.”
Ruwen’s shoulders slumped, and Ky studied him for a few seconds.
“Having a healer near you is valuable, and I know how hard it is to lie to friends,” Ky said, and paused for a few seconds before continuing. “I won’t give her my mark, but I’ll give her access to the dungeon. That way, you can bring her safely into the Blood Gate and then create a connection to the lower levels.”
“That would be perfect,” Ruwen said in relief.
Ky grabbed his shoulder, and a notification appeared. Ruwen opened it.
Mistress Kysandra has offered you the Gate Runes for the Black Pyramid Level One. These runes will only work when drawn inside the Blood Gate. Do you wish to update the map with these Gate Runes?
Ruwen chose Yes.
“I’ll speak with Hamma before I leave and give her the Black Pyramid Adventurer mark. It is the same one Tremine has and lets them travel to any level under fifty,” Ky said.
“Thank you so much,” Ruwen said.
Ky nodded and then looked at Sift’s waist where Io was sheathed. “No, you stay with the kids. As terrible as your decisions usually are, they are still better than these two oafs.”
“I get to keep Io for a bit?” Sift asked.
“Yes, but if all three of you think something is a good idea, promise me right now you won’t do it,” Ky said. “Actually, now that I think about it, I should have been the one to suggest adding Hamma to your group. She at least has some common sense.”
