by Jamey Sultan
Sands of Blood and Bone
By:
Jamey Sultan
Sands of Blood and Bone
SultanLitrpg.com
Copyright © 2021 Jamey Sultan
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without the prior written permission of the Copyright owner, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
To request permissions, contact the publisher at [email protected]
ASIN: B08W1M9KF1
Edited by Adam Luopa
Cover Art by Jonathan Elliott
To my readers, who are helping me realize this dream.
To my mom, who gave up her weekends to help me with my final draft.
Contents
Sands of Blood and Bone
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Thank you
Note from the author:
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As always, thank you for reading.
Prologue
Danforth’s gaze pierced the darkness, every minute glimmer of light illuminating more than it should. To him, the lantern light reflecting off of the glass panes in the windows was as bright as daylight. His Night Vision had no trace of the typical green overlay thanks to the Journeyman Ability, Colorize.
He had considered choosing the Outline ability, which highlighted movement in the darkness with a darker green glow but decided against it. He hated green. Besides, it became obsolete at Rank 50 when he could purchase the Adept bonus, Enhanced Luminosity, which made it easier to see in lower light. He still couldn’t see in pure darkness; he’d need the Master bonus, Dark Sight, for his vision to pierce pure darkness, but that was a long way away. He still had time to decide between Heat Vision or Dark Sight.
A soft red glowing floorboard caught Danforth’s eye as his Journeyman Traps bonus, Effortless Detection, activated. He carefully avoided the creaky floorboard and navigated his way around a golden statue of King Errin, the fifth Dwarven king, to a window ledge, where he surveyed the room.
Everything was as he remembered it; the carpeted pathway to the throne room lined by the ancestral statues, the intimidating iron doors, the decorative urns lining the walls. His roaming eyes stopped for a second on a painting of Queen Enise, a last reminder of the long-dead monarch. The painting, titled Lips of the Lady, depicted the queen nude in a rather… compromising position. Her narcissism had earned Queen Enise the nickname Mirror Queen until she and her husband had been assassinated in a bloodless coup - well, mostly bloodless. The transition was still legendary among the scribes, who had processed a mind-boggling amount of paperwork in the following years.
By now, thousands of years later, most of Queen Enise’s mementos had been destroyed, mostly through great effort on the part of Queen Aisha, the current—former queen. Danforth corrected himself, remembering the pool of blood he’d just left behind. Queen Aisha had been jealous and hated the portraits, statues, and even one decorative urn left by Queen Enise. She’d made it her mission to destroy every lewd sign of the former queen. She’d almost been successful too, but Queen Enise had been as clever as she was vain. She’d passed a law declaring the painting a historical landmark, blocking anyone from damaging or even moving the portrait. Not that they could. Powerful runes protected the portrait, preventing anyone from moving or damaging it. Queen Aisha had even spent the night in a cell after she’d attempted to remove the wall itself.
Danforth grinned internally at the sight of the crumpled cloth next to the painting. The king covered the image whenever his queen visited the throne room but removed it as soon as she left. It was a point of public contention between the two of them. Especially when King Terin sided with the council and refused to remove it, citing it as a “piece of national and cultural significance.”
Danforth’s enhanced hearing picked up the sound of footsteps as a patrolling group of six guards approached the hallway. Above each of their heads was a glowing number that depicted their level. Each number varied in shade from green to a dark red depending on their rank compared to his. Anyone under his level had a green number above their heads. Anyone up to twenty-five levels above him had a yellow to orange number. Anyone greater than twenty-five levels above him had a red number above their head.
Before any of them noticed him, Danforth triggered his Master Stealth Ability, Chameleon Cloak. His body rippled, the color fading as he gained 50% Clearskin. It was a useful ability, but only while standing perfectly still in darkness. He was still very much visible during the day. Not for long, though. Ozure had promised him a reward for services rendered. He just had to collect.
Danforth waited for the guards to pass before he approached the throne room door. As he approached, he dropped his Camouflage and checked his Mana, grimacing. About a thousand left. Danforth placed his ear against the door and concentrated, activating one of his class-specific Abilities, Amplify.
Assassin III
Amplify (1/10):
*Requires Improved Senses 35
*Ignores 30% of material
Amplifies the caster’s sensitivity to sound waves, allowing them to hear through any material as if it weren’t even there.
He’d only invested a single point into Amplify. Assassins only got three Ability points per level up; over the years, it had paid off.
Instead of the chorus of sound he expected, there was a flash of light, almost blindingly bright to his enhanced vision. Lines of script sprung up around his ear along the door, and he heard the click of a lock as a piercing wail screeched out.
You have been [Deafened].
- Duration 00:00:30
Nice one. How long have you been doing this again?
Stupid. Amateur. He’d been working for House Morten for as long as he could remember and had been in this throne room hundreds of times. How could I forget to check for traps? To be fair, his Abilities should have warned him of any defenses, except, of course, runic mines.
Reacting quickly, Danforth triggered Enclose, an Ability granted by his Belt of Distortion.
Belt of Distortion:
Rank: Epic
- Grants the Ability Enclose
This belt emits a strange aura that seems to distort the surrounding light. It was crafted by the mad craftsman Aeon, who wanted to be where he was and wasn’t. Don’t worry, I’m confused too.
<
br /> The belt itself was woven from Cave Spider Queen Silk and featured an off-white stone the color of a robin’s egg. It was hard to look at directly because the air around it constantly shimmered as if from great heat. His father, one of the three blades of the House Morten assassin guild, had gifted it to him upon his appointment as House Morten’s Handle.
Enclose activated and surrounded him with a translucent bubble that removed him from the dimension. The bubble benefited from removing him from the room entirely but would not let him move or interact with anything while it was active. It also cost him most of his remaining Mana. He’d been hoping not to use it, but House Fractus guarded the king from the longest day to the first snow.
If they’d waited until after the first snow, eight weeks at most, House Morten would have been guarding the king and the operation would have been much easier. Unfortunately, their timeline had sped up when the Human arrived earlier than intended. Remaksta had wanted more time to redirect the Dwarven hatred from Orcs to Humans. Still, when Terrin had let the Humans walk free… well, it was too good an opportunity to miss. He still had trouble believing the Humans hadn’t been attacked in the street; the priests had been spreading anti-Human hate for weeks now.
Hurried footsteps accompanied the guards as they entered the room, fanning out. There were more of them this time—about twenty, all sporting serious expressions with their weapons drawn. Karim, the leader, spoke with a commanding tone, “Search the area.”
Danforth was immediately glad he’d used Enclose. Karim was a well-built Dwarf in his early second century, with his hair just starting to grey. Above his head hovered a dark red number, eighty-five, and in his hands was an unstrung bow. But Danforth didn’t let that calm him. He knew that if Karim detected him, he’d be punched full of holes before he could react.
Karim was uniquely suited to work as a guard commander due to his class of Hunter. He’d specialized in tracking and knew how to reveal hidden enemies. Even as Danforth watched, Karim’s eyes let off the green glow of nature mana as he scanned the room.
Once he’d finished his scan, Karim frowned, his nose wrinkling in annoyance. He then screwed his face in concentration, and his body emitted a pulse of green light. The light bounced around the room, leaving a glowing outline around every individual it touched. Even though he knew what would happen, Danforth still had to force himself to keep still when the light hit him—any movement would cancel Enclose.
As expected, the light passed through him—after all, he wasn’t in the room.
Karim’s shoulders tensed. “To the throne room. Now,” he ordered.
Stupid. I just got the Blade position, and I almost ruin everything on my second job. If Dad hadn’t given me that belt… He shuddered at the thought. He’d almost started a civil war. I’m trying to save my people, not kill them.
As the last guard filed into the throne room, Danforth acted. He’d almost ruined the mission already, but all good assassins came prepared.
Danforth stepped forward as the door to the throne room slammed shut, the bubble around him dissolving at his touch. Out of habit, he checked his Mana. Only two hundred left.
The Enclose Ability was useful, but it cost a lot of Mana, leaving him barely enough to finish the job, and if he didn’t… well, that didn’t bear thinking about. Danforth reached into his pack and pulled out a metallic tube that ended with two prongs on one side and a bell on the other. If he couldn’t do this with his Abilities… well, there were ways around that.
Thief’s Stethoscope:
Rank: Rare
+ 200% sound volume
+ 100% sound quality
A hollow tube of metal created to amplify sound. It has been further enchanted to improve the output sound volume and quality.
The Thief’s Stethoscope was a practical tool for Rogues who hadn’t made the advancement to their Advanced class. Most Rogue Advanced classes had the Amplify Ability, but not all.
Danforth placed the prongs in his ears and the bell against the door.
“—happened.” The voice was slightly muffled, but Danforth could make out just enough to distinguish Karim speaking.
“Very well, but make it quick, I have work to do.” The sound of paper shuffling cut off Karim’s reply, but it was enough. Danforth had at least a minute as the guards searched the throne room.
Good, he thought, springing into action. Danforth removed a scroll of parchment, wrapped tightly with a ribbon and sealed with a wax stamp that glowed a faint cherry red at its center, almost like a burning ember. The scroll itself let off a light campfire scent and flaked with a light coating of ash whenever he moved it.
Danforth placed the scroll along the wall underneath Lips of the Lady and, with the utmost caution, peeled the very edge of the wax away; he wanted the scroll to burn slowly. As soon as he peeled the wax, the edges of the scroll glowed red hot and crumbled to ash. Slowly it fizzled and popped, sending sparking embers into the air. When the guards finished their investigation, they’d come out to see the painting burning and assume the queen had done it.
Danforth didn’t stop to watch the painting burn; instead, he moved further down the hallway, away from the opulence, and into a small room—barely a closet. At the back of the room hung a tapestry. It was faded and discolored, but he could tell it used to be quite impressive; he couldn’t make out what it used to show but knew from his father’s description that it was a flag with the old royal crest.
When he lifted the tapestry, a cloud of dust overwhelmed him. He held his breath and waited for it to disperse. Rubbing at his irritated eyes, Danforth swore softly. He traced the wall under the tapestry with his fingers until he found what he was looking for—a brick, slightly smoother than the others. Without his enhanced Touch, a hidden Stat, he wouldn’t have been able to feel it. Normally his Traps Ability would have picked it up, but his father had warned him that the passage entrance would be warded.
Danforth sent a small push of metal Mana into the brick. He wasn’t a mage but, like most people, he could still manipulate his Mana to a small degree. The brick shuddered and warped, revealing a long-abandoned tunnel. Cobwebs lined the sides, and a damp, musty smell escaped the previously sealed passageway.
With great care, Danforth avoided the spiders and followed the passageway to a hidden alcove. This time when he activated Amplify, it worked. Frantic voices filtered in from the throne room as a guard noticed the smoke leaking in from under the throne room door. With a cry of alarm, the guards all rushed out, leaving the king alone. Danforth sent his Mana into another smooth brick, causing the wall to melt away before him, revealing the throne room.
Endless stacks of paper made it difficult to see, but Danforth could still make out a hunched figure sitting at a wooden desk next to an enormous throne. The throne was huge, garish, and inconvenient, which was why most Dwarven monarchs elected to use the wooden table and chair next to it.
The throne had been made by King Essin IV. Merely two feet tall, he’d been short, even considering Dwarven standards. He’d built the throne so that he could tower over his subjects. To keep the massive structure from toppling, he’d built it directly into the wall of the throne room, making it impossible to remove without a complete redesign of the entire structure. Since his reign, the garish monument had been all but abandoned, left to gather dust in favor of a series of more practical designs.
The current king, known for his humility and wish for peace, used a simple, unadorned wooden chair and desk, where he sat hunched and scratching at a parchment. The king’s shoulders moved, and Danforth tensed, hand resting on the hilt of a dagger underneath his cloak. He was ready to sprint towards the monarch if he displayed any signs of turning. He didn’t have enough Mana to activate his Chameleon Cloak Ability and finish the job. But the king simply dipped his quill into an inkwell and tapped it against the vial to get rid of a few clinging droplets. He then returned to his writing.
From his position in the alcove behind the king, Danfo
rth couldn’t see his face, but he could see a gleaming red number hovering above the king’s head. 119. Seventy levels above his own. Not that it mattered much. Generally, levels were only important because they meant that a person would have more stat points. Still, there wasn’t much anyone could do to mitigate a dagger to the back of the neck.
Danforth pictured the king in his mind. He was a rather plain Dwarf of average height, sporting a thick brown beard. Nothing like the Dwarves of House Igno, with their fiery red beards and loud booming voices. It was a shame, really, that Danforth would have to kill him. He was a good king, but he wasn’t the right king. The Dwarven race needed a king that would stand up for them. A king that would win the war with the Orcs. Not a king that would cower in his castle.
So, with some regret, Danforth acted. He triggered one of his Tier IV Assassin Abilities, Blind Spot. It had taken a lot of points to unlock the Ability, but it was worth it.
Assassin IV
Blind Spot (2/15):
*Requires Improved Senses 50
*Requires Stealth level 75
Outlines the victim’s blind spot and causes the victim to hyper-focus on their current task.
Blind Spot was one of the most useful Abilities an Assassin could have because not only did it reveal his opponent’s blind spot, it also affected their minds, buffing them with a powerful boost of concentration. Most people didn’t have protection against buffs—after all, why would your enemy try to strengthen you?
As soon as the Ability triggered, a cone of dark smoke expanded from a point on the back of King Terrin’s head directly opposite his eyes. The sound of the king’s writing got louder and more frantic as he sped up as if he’d cracked open an Ampule of Adderralius.
