The Second Betrayal: A Fantasy LitRPG Adventure (Divine Apostasy Book 2)

by A F Kay

  “Let us know when we get within a thousand feet of Lylan,” Hamma said.

  “Will do,” Ruwen responded.

  “Actually, we shouldn’t approach from the direction of camp,” Sift said.

  “Okay,” Ruwen said and changed his direction.

  Lylan hadn’t stayed in one spot, however, and it took them over an hour to get close to her.

  “I think we’re about a thousand feet,” Ruwen said.

  The forest here had transitioned into mostly aspen with chokecherry bushes, making it hard to move. Ruwen had read in the Collector Novice Manual that the berries from bushes like this could be eaten and the seeds used in poisons. He had turned off the Resource flag on his map as it had become almost solid yellow as they moved deeper into the thicket and were surrounded by the bushes.

  They were at the bottom of a small hill, and Ruwen pointed toward the top. “I think she is up there.”

  They slowly moved forward, still clumped together to take advantage of Ruwen’s Silence spell. Without it, this would have been impossible. The bushes snapped and rustled as they moved through them. Which is probably one of the reasons Lylan had come here.

  As they neared the top, they were careful to keep their heads in the bushes. Two voices could be heard, and all three of them stopped moving when the speakers appeared, fifty feet away. Hamma gasped as she recognized one of them. Ruwen did as well.

  The girl had dark hair, wore close-fitting leather that blended well with the forest, and hadn’t made it much past five feet in height. She wore a pair of knives on each hip and a small crossbow strapped to her back. Her face and body were lean, not in a starving way, but more like a tiger. There was a wildness about her that enhanced her beauty.

  The girl, holding a translation stone, spoke with someone Ruwen had already met: the Naktos Assassin that had attacked Ruwen on his Ascension Day.

  Chapter 55

  “Is that Lylan?” Ruwen asked Sift.

  “Yes,” Sift said, his voice tight. “Who’s that guy?”

  “That guy is the assassin Naktos sent to kill me,” Ruwen whispered.

  “What?” Sift asked. “Then why is Lylan talking to him?”

  “That is a great question,” Hamma said.

  Lylan put the translation stone into her pocket and held out her arm. The assassin grabbed it, and Lylan gripped the assassin’s shoulder.

  “Could Ky have ordered this? She said Lylan would be here,” Sift said.

  Ruwen shrugged. “How should I know? Ky was trying to kill that assassin the last time we were together. For all we know, Lylan is betraying Ky and us.”

  The assassin left in the direction opposite their position. Lylan waited a couple of minutes, not moving, and then walked directly toward them. They all crouched lower.

  “If we move now, we might be seen,” Ruwen said.

  Hamma whispered back. “Well, she’s walking right toward us. It might be worth the risk of moving. Otherwise, she will find us.”

  Ruwen rubbed his forehead as another problem occurred to him. “You’re right. And she won’t even have to see us. She has the Black Pyramid mark, so if she gets too close Black Eye will trigger and she’ll sense our marks. She’ll know we’re here.”

  “Good,” Sift said.

  “What?” Hamma and Ruwen said at the same time.

  Sift didn’t answer, and they all watched Lylan as she approached. The Naktos assassin had already disappeared down the other side of the hill. As Lylan drew within twenty feet, she shifted direction. Probably to avoid the dense brush the three of them hid in.

  “I want to know why she’s here. If she is helping us or betraying us,” Sift said.

  “Don’t be an idiot,” Ruwen said.

  “Too late,” Sift replied.

  Sift stood and strode toward Lylan, leaving the Silence spell. Faster than Ruwen thought possible, she’d slid the harness around, and the crossbow now pointed directly at Sift.

  “You again!” Lylan hissed. “Why are you following me?”

  “Why are you meeting with that assassin?” Sift asked.

  “Stop right there, Goldeyes, or I’ll put bolts through both of them,” Lylan said.

  Sift stopped and held up his wrist. “I am part of Ky’s organization. I know you can feel my mark. So I am asking you again. Why are you meeting that assassin?”

  “Oh, I can feel your mark, and the one on your accomplice to the left,” Lylan said as she pointed with her crossbow in Ruwen’s direction.

  Ruwen quit channeling all his spells and stood. After a moment, Hamma did as well.

  “Well, isn’t this a proper ambush,” Lylan said.

  “Nobody is ambushing you, Lyl. I just wanted to talk,” Sift said.

  “Why are you calling my Lyl? Do I know you?” Lylan asked.

  Sift’s face fell, and Ruwen’s heart ached for his friend. The misery Sift felt was apparent on his face.

  “No, you don’t know me,” Sift said softly. “But that doesn’t change the fact that you were just talking with a guy that tried to kill my friend. And I want to know why!”

  Lylan glanced over her shoulder. “Keep your voice down, you idiot.”

  “Why? You don’t want your friend to come back?” Sift asked.

  Lylan focused back on Sift. “He’s not my friend, and you should know better than to ask questions about Ky’s business. If you needed to know, she would have told you herself.”

  “Or maybe she doesn’t know you’re here. Maybe you are betraying all of us,” Sift said.

  Lylan tightened her grip on the crossbow. “I don’t even know who you are. How could I betray you? What I do know is I hate people following me. Now take yourself, and your two friends, and leave. If I see any of you again, I promise you, the next thing you’ll see is a temple tub.”

  “Sift, maybe we should go,” Hamma said gently.

  Sift looked down at the ring in his hand and then at Lylan. “If I told you that you once trusted me, would you believe me?”

  Lylan shook her head. “Not a chance. I learned long ago that trust is for fools. If someone thought I trusted them, then they were an even bigger fool.”

  Sift studied the ring again. He whispered, but in the sudden calm, the words were clear to all of them. “I believe you.”

  Then he turned and threw the ring across the hill. Lylan watched the ring as it flew into the distance and disappeared into the thick brush.

  Sift’s arm dropped to his side, and he stared into the distance. After a few seconds, his shoulders slumped and his face fell. Ruwen’s chest tightened at Sift’s obvious pain. Without saying a word, Sift turned and walked down the hill.

  Light glinted off a small bottle as it traveled through the air toward Sift. Ruwen recognized the brown vial as the acid the assassin had used at The Fainting Goat. Which meant the assassin had returned.

  Ruwen shouted as he cast Retrieve on the small flask and then pushed Hamma to the side as the flask changed direction and flew toward Ruwen. As the acid approached, Ruwen dived to the left, and the acid flew past him.

  He toggled on Detect Temperature and scanned the area. Both Lylan and Sift and had dropped into the bushes, but Ruwen could still see their body heat.

  “You started a fire,” Hamma whispered.

  Ruwen glanced at the fire and squinted his eyes as Detect Temperature flared bright red. The container of acid had shattered, reacted violently with the air, and ignited the bushes.

  “This way,” Ruwen said and led them away from the fire.

  He continued to scan the area and saw both Lylan and Sift crawling through the bushes toward the top of the hill.

  “Why did he attack Sift and not you?” Hamma whispered.

  “Fade is an ability that makes me hard to notice,” Ruwen said.

  “He must be confident to attack with four of us here,” Hamma said.

  “Maybe, or Lylan will help him or he’s scared we’ll bring a hundred people back with us if we leave here alive,” Ruwen s
aid.

  Remembering the Leopard Bat, Ruwen studied the trees. On his second pass, he found Naktos’s assassin partially hidden behind an aspen trunk twenty feet in the air. With his normal sight, the assassin remained invisible.

  “As soon as I fire, buff up,” Ruwen said.

  Kneeling, Ruwen opened his Void Band, carefully aimed it at the invisible assassin, and channeled fifty Energy to one of the granite blocks he’d taken from the Goblin wall.

  Two blocks shot directly at the attacker. Ruwen thought he’d accidentally fired off two, but then recalled the Rapid Fire ability that doubled his projectiles. The assassin saw them and pulled himself behind the trunk. The first boulder crashed through the branches, barely missing the assassin, and continued into the trees behind. The second boulder struck the trunk with an explosion of force, and the tree snapped in half.

  The assassin dropped to the ground, visible to everyone now.

  Lylan stood up, the translation orb in one hand and the other open to show she didn’t have a weapon. “This misunderstanding. Newcomers my party. Confused they are. Should not arrive this place.”

  The assassin stood up straight. “Deal made we. Alone.”

  Lylan nodded. “Sorrow deepest. We go now.”

  “What’s she saying?” Sift yelled. “Is she making a deal to kill us?”

  “Loud poop head say sorry. Me punish him disobedience later,” Lylan said.

  The assassin narrowed his eyes but didn’t make any further moves.

  Ruwen realized that Hamma and Sift couldn’t understand the conversation. Ruwen raised his hand enough for Sift to see Ruwen’s Shade speak. Slow. Retreat.

  “Let’s back away,” Ruwen whispered to Hamma.

  Sift didn’t yell any more questions, and Ruwen and Hamma moved back down the hill. The assassin glanced at them and then again at Lylan. The assassin’s forehead creased, and he gazed back at Hamma for a few seconds. Then he turned his attention to Ruwen, and his brow furrowed even further.

  “Not good,” Ruwen whispered. “I think he recognized you, and I’m next. Fade isn’t going to hold.”

  “What are we facing?” Hamma asked.

  “My Perception isn’t picking up anything. Which means his level is high,” Ruwen said.

  “We go now,” Lylan said.

  The assassin shook his head, smiled, and then waved his arm in a circle. “Duty.”

  The same thing he’d done when Ruwen asked the assassin why he wanted to kill him back at The Fainting Goat.

  “Bad news,” Ruwen said.

  Lylan cursed, put the translation stone away, and raised her crossbow. She had reached the same conclusion as Ruwen. They would have to fight.

  Chapter 56

  Ruwen channeled twenty Energy to his hands. He didn’t have the weapon skills to strike the assassin, but Ruwen hoped even a glancing blow with Scrub would damage the killer. Maybe his Copper reflexes would help him.

  The smoke from the fire drifted toward Ruwen, and his eyes watered. He wondered if the smoke affected the assassin and guessed the gills probably filtered it out. Also, since Ruwen was the target, he wanted to get some space between himself and Hamma. He didn’t want her to get hurt because of him.

  Ruwen held the icon for Leap in his mind as he channeled four Energy. A second later, the spell activated, and Ruwen leapt to the right. The assassin immediately leaped toward Ruwen, only the assassin covered the thirty feet like he took a single step.

  The assassin, five feet from Ruwen, stopped and leaned back. Two crossbow bolts flew through the now empty space. Thunder boomed as Hamma’s stun Fist of Order descended, but the assassin seemed unaffected. The sound of chimes filled the air.

  Sift sprinted past Ruwen, running through the shrubs like they were made of paper. Ruwen didn’t have that kind of physical strength yet. Sift, honed by over a decade of rigorous training, did. If Ruwen wanted to help at all, it needed to be where he could move freely.

  Sift dropped out of sight as he tried to sweep the assassin’s feet. The assassin jumped upward and grabbed a tree branch, hanging there while Sift attacked.

  Ruwen stopped channeling Scrub and instead channeled ten Energy into both Hurry Up and Strong Back, boosting his Dexterity and Strength by two. The remaining two Energy of his Regeneration he stuck in Dash and then ran for the hilltop and the clearing there.

  A loud crack sounded as Hamma’s Heaven’s Wrath spell struck the hanging assassin. The spell didn’t appear to damage him, but the branch snapped, causing him to fall. Sift struck at the falling killer, and they traded six quick blows.

  Ruwen reached the hilltop and turned. He stopped channeling all his spells and funneled the twenty Energy back into Scrub. Lylan, a dagger in each hand, flipped in and out of the fight like an acrobat as Sift and the assassin fought.

  The assassin didn’t care about Sift or Lylan, and as soon as Ruwen moved, the killer moved toward the hilltop as well. In moments, all three of them emerged from the brush and into the clearing.

  Lylan threw one of her daggers, but the assassin caught the blade and flung it back at her in one smooth motion. The knife struck Lylan in the middle of her chest, and Sift screamed, jumping to catch the falling Shade.

  The assassin turned and locked gazes with Ruwen. A heal landed on Lylan, followed a second later by another one. Ruwen tried to relax his muscles as the killer approached. Sift, if it had just been unarmed combat, could match the assassin’s skill, maybe even beat him.

  But, the assassin had magic, and they were all too low a level to fight it. The killer raised his arm and clenched his fist. It felt like the air had been sucked from Ruwen’s lungs. The fire next to Hamma instantly died out, like the ocean itself had fallen on it. Hamma grabbed her throat and weaved. Her Light Guardian cast a heal, but it didn’t help the priestess. Hamma staggered and then fell into the bushes.

  Lylan and Sift weren’t much better. Lylan’s eyes were large as she gasped for air, her body too weak from the dagger blow to even raise her hands. Sift, unwilling to let go of Lylan, pounded on his throat as if the strikes would bring back the air. Ruwen collapsed as well, knowing he needed to conserve his oxygen.

  As the assassin approached, Ruwen frantically tried to think of a way to fight. Instead of attacking Ruwen, though, the assassin stopped and knelt a few feet away.

  Ruwen lay on his left side and stared at the assassin who seemed to be studying him.

  “Powerful me. Joy watch Uru best fail,” the assassin said.

  Ruwen realized the reason he hadn’t been knocked out immediately was because the assassin liked seeing Ruwen helpless. Ruwen’s status as a Champion made him a prize, and even though he’d only reached level six, it still represented a huge victory for Naktos. The assassin was enjoying the moment.

  The gills on the assassin’s neck flexed as the killer released methane from the gas reservoir in its throat. The same reservoir Ruwen had accidentally ignited in the Mage’s servant with his Fireball spell a lifetime ago. Naktos and his followers didn’t need oxygen to breathe, and they had turned this into a weapon.

  But Ruwen had spent hours and hours lately in this same state. His Suffocation Bracer felt almost like this. Ruwen’s friends couldn’t resist their immediate panic at the loss of breathable air. He had been the same before his Harvester training. But now, it felt almost normal.

  The brain needed far less oxygen than it thought, and there were plenty of places in the body that would offer it up when required. Ruwen had also noticed his new Copper body did everything better, including processing oxygen. Ruwen figured he could last a few minutes like this at least, although his friends had already passed out, their minds insisting on the need to preserve what oxygen they had.

  “Go sleep take you Caster. Put in spirit join Uru friends,” the assassin said.

  That made no sense, but Ruwen wasn’t foolish enough to respond as that would be a terrible waste of oxygen. He slowed his gasping sounds, acting as if he would pass out momentarily.


  “Yes. Sleep. None matters this. Soon Naktos this land belong. Mouth breathers all dead.”

  Did the assassin just say Naktos meant to invade Uru? He wanted to grab the assassin and make him explain. But while he could think clearly for the next minute, any physical movement would use his oxygen up in seconds. A fight was out of the question. He looked through his spells but didn’t see any hope there. He could try to cast Campfire on the assassin’s neck, but that spell lacked the explosive piece of Fireball.

  He thought about releasing the acidic gas he’d captured on level five of Blapy, but it would harm him as well, and the assassin could just walk out of it. Assuming his skin wasn’t resistant, and his gills wouldn’t just filter out the acid in the first place.

  The rocks, swords, and arrows he’d taken from level six might strike the assassin, but he’d seen the killer snatch a dagger from the air after dodging two crossbow bolts. Ruwen might use them as a last resort, but he had no faith they would kill the assassin.

  Hamma and Lylan would be reborn. His stomach lurched at the thought of Sift dying forever. It sounded like the assassin meant to take Ruwen to the Naktos Mage so they could put Ruwen in the Spirit Realm. At least he would still be alive. He had to figure out something because he couldn’t let his friend die permanently.

  Time slowed as his brain started to die.

  Rami, I need help.

  I know. I’m forbidden to directly help you in situations like this.

  You mean life and death.

  Exactly.

  That’s stupid.

  Mom had to agree to many dumb things to allow our bond.

  Who is your mom? Ruwen had been too respectful to ask earlier, but he would die soon, and his curiosity no longer cared about propriety.

  Rami remained silent.

  Let me guess, you can’t tell me, Ruwen said.

  All I can say is she is a powerful force inside and outside of the Black Pyramid.

  It sounds like I was lucky for once.

  Well, you are the Black Pyramid’s Librarian. As a Custodian, you have rights the gods, by their own rules, cannot deny you.