“We have a Revenant problem,” Panadel said after the pleasantries were over. “It appears that some of the monsters in your custody were not wiped out after all.”
“Leara saw me erase them from my vaults. I thought you couldn’t come back from that.”
“Not usually, no. It appears that an Arbiter colluded to rescue some of them from oblivion. Even worse, at least one of them can create others of its kind.”
Hawke grunted. All the Arbiters he had met hated it when rules were broken, but if Makers were messing with the system, having their errand boys do the same wasn’t all that surprising.
“The Court of Thorns is causing all kinds of trouble,” he told the Fae. “They are turning a Labyrinth into a Chaos monster factory.” He went on to explain the events that had led his party to Crystal City.
“And they have neatly embroiled the Unseelie Court in a war against all other Sidhe factions,” Panadel said. “Not to mention kidnapping several High Fae for the likely purpose of creating more Undead aberrations. The new brand of Revenant can create Elemental Undead, by the way.”
“We’ve seen lots of Chaotic Elementals in the Labyrinth, so I’m not surprised.”
“Which brings us to our current predicament,” Leara interjected. “Clearly, time is not our friend. We could spend hours comparing notes, but we don’t have that luxury.”
“No, we don’t,” Hawke said. “Will you help us deal with the Chaos Archduke? We’ve recruited one Eternal but could use more high-level backup.”
Panadel and Leara exchanged a look. More than that, Hawke realized, picking up telepathic pulses between them. They were having a private conference and he couldn’t listen in.
“We could help you,” Leara said. “But we have problems of our own. We would require your help in return.”
“If you want to kill Laryn and the other Revenants, I’m all in. I meant to wipe them out when I deleted them from my inventory. I’ll be happy to do it again by hand. Or sword.”
“We need to find the Revenants’ Lair,” Leara said. “The Court of Thorns neatly framed the Unseelies for their attack, and their embassy has been wiped out after some fighting. There were no Undead there, of course. Not that it matters. Blood has been spilled on both sides, and the Courts of Faerie are at war. It is left to us to find the real culprits.”
“How about this?” Hawke proposed. “You help us take out the Labyrinth boss. That should take a few hours, maybe a day. After that, I will join you, along with anyone from my party that wishes to come along.”
He realized that he was signing up for what might be an open-ended contract, but if it kept his Domain safe, Hawke was willing to pay the price.
Panadel and Leara had another mental exchange. “Agreed. We will join you and bring along a handful of Fae mercenaries. Given that we are facing the Court of Thorns, there will be plenty of volunteers.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Hawke said.
Well, that’s a relief, he thought.
He didn’t know what Panadel and Leara were, exactly, but as soon as he’d met them he’d gotten an ‘assume the mantle’ prompt, which he had ignored. That meant one or both of them were greater beings, with a Tier to go with their high levels. Even capped at level thirty, they should be able to handle a Labyrinth boss by themselves, let alone with the help of a band of Fae and Hawke’s party.
You think we should bring in more people?
“When do we leave?” Hawke asked. “I need to do a bit of shopping and maybe recruit a few more “Adventurers.”
“You will find most of what you need at the Exotic Items Emporium,” Leara told him. “We shall leave first thing tomorrow morning. Or Designated Primary Waking Time, as they call it in Crystal City.”
“Very well.”
The magical item franchise must be pretty common in the higher Realms, and that was just the place to get a replacement Soul Jar for Alba before they went off to kill the Archduke. They would have a full day to buy things, recruit additional forces, and even rest up a little. And it would let them move a little ahead of schedule.
“Desmond will guide you. He is familiar with Crystal City.”
From the way the heavily tattooed warrior glared, he was as unhappy to tag along as Hawke was to have him around.
“Sounds great,” he said with a big fake grin.
Alba, Gosto, and Tava were just as un-thrilled, of course. They remembered Desmond’s betrayal during their first Dungeon crawl. Alba had an even more personal grudge, having been in a relationship with the guy. But they had to work with him and could at least enjoy his anger at being forced to do the same.
Might as well make the most out of a bad situation.
Thirty-One
“That will be twelve Soul Shards, or twelve hundred platinum marks or wu-zhus,” the Emporium worker said, a warm smile on her face.
She looked identical to the workers Hawke had seen in Akila’s Emporium. So did the Master Trader overseeing the place, although he didn’t show any signs of recognizing Hawke. The store itself looked the same on the inside, although it was twice the size as the one in Akila, with many more glass displays showing all kinds of magical or unique items. The clientele was more numerous as well. But the employees were the same. Higher-level, but otherwise the same.
The magical clones got on Hawke’s nerves, although he was happy to find that Soul Jars were cheaper at the local store. He had a mere thirty-three Shards left. That was more than enough to make him the wealthiest guy in Akila, assuming he could find anybody in the Common Realm willing to make change for the ten-thousand-gold magical snowflakes. The discount helped, but after buying enough potions for everyone, plus two extra Dispensers, one for Tava and another for Blaze, his gold reserves were down to near zero.
He handed the Jar over to Alba. “Here you go,” he told her. “Hopefully you won’t need it anytime soon.”
“Thank you,” she said. “I don’t know how I will be able to repay you for two Soul Jars, or even the one I used, but I will devote my life to that purpose.”
Hawke wanted to tell her not to worry, but she’d only get mad about it. People in her culture took debts of honor very seriously. At least she wasn’t offering to pay him interest on the ‘loan.’ In any case, it was the least he could do. He could afford the expense; besides, if he had chopped off Zippo’s head the first time he screwed up, he wouldn’t have unleashed the demon that ended up killing her. Her death was on him.
“What the hell is that thing?” Desmond asked as Alba accessed the Soul Jar. He had led the party to the Emporium, although he didn’t show any interest in buying something.
“It allows normal mortals to experience what you Eternals are given freely by the Makers,” Tava told him. “A second chance at life.”
“Oh.”
“Yes,” Alba told her ex-boyfriend. “Now even if you manage to kill me, I will return and avenge myself.”
“I wouldn’t do that.”
Alba looked him in the eye for several seconds before she spoke. Hawke thought there was a hint of sympathy in her voice. “I suppose you wouldn’t. Unless your mistress ordered you to.”
Desmond shrugged. “Yeah, if she wants you dead, I’ll have to make you dead. And being able to respawn won’t save you, either.”
I didn’t want to take a closer look, Hawke admitted. But I’m not surprised.
the Drakofox went on.
I don’t know if I can.
ympathy.
Oh.
You’re too young to be figuring things out so well.
Blaze yelled in the tone of an old anti-drinking commercial Hawke had heard when he was a child. He chuckled.
“Is something funny?” Desmond asked him.
Hawke shrugged. “Something Blaze said. Nothing to do with you. But if you want to do the whole Joe Pesci ‘do I amuse you’ bit from Goodfellas, go ahead. We could all use a laugh.”
“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about,” Desmond growled.
“I guess that movie was before your time. Sorry,” Hawke said. “Listen, maybe I can talk to Leara, see if I can buy out your contract or whatever.”
The offer seemed to make Desmond even angrier. “Yeah, so you can use that to lord it over me for the rest of my life? Even assuming she would do that, which she won’t!”
“You are disturbing our customers,” one of the workers said, no longer smiling. “Please vacate the premises.”
“No problem,” Hawke said.
They left the Exotic Items Emporium, which on the outside looked like a featureless square made of blocks of black obsidian. Desmond started to stalk off, but Hawke caught up to him.
“Listen to me,” he told the Engraved Warrior. “Do you want to be a slave forever? I’m offering you a way out. No strings attached. You’re high-level enough that you can make your own way. I even know a guild in Crystal City that would love to have an Eternal in its ranks.”
“She won’t let me go,” Desmond said in a resigned tone.
“So I’ll make her an offer she can’t refuse.”
“You think you’re tough enough to go up against her?”
“You’d be surprised. Like the Necromancer, Kaiser Wrecker, and a few others have been surprised. I’ve got friends in high places.”
“Who, the Makers? They aren’t your friends. They pull your strings, puppet. Same as Leara pulls mine.”
That was close enough to the truth to hit a nerve. “At least I’m not somebody’s personal chew toy.”
“I just want to be left alone.”
“I don’t think that was an option the moment we pressed the ‘play’ button, Desmond. Just got to make the best out of what we’ve got.”
“Never gonna happen, bro.”
“Up to you. You have options, Desmond.”
Desmond glanced at the rest of the group before looking at Alba.
“Can’t go back with you. They’ll never accept me.”
“Probably not, but you don’t have to stay under Leara’s thumb, either.”
The Engraved Warrior shrugged. “You can try. After we handle the Labyrinth, I guess. She’ll punish me, but you can try.”
Well, I’m committed now. Hope doing this doesn’t bite me in the ass.
“All right,” Hawke said. “Time to make a social call.”
Tava looked grim as she nodded. “It would be rude not to pay a visit to Mother.”
“It would be nice to see her,” Gosto said, although his expression did not match his words.
Thirty-Two
The Silver Fists had their headquarters next to the Iron Fortress, a gigantic castle made of dark metal that served as the main barracks of the city’s Home Guard. The close proximity suggested that Kassia’s Guild had a good working relationship with Crystal City’s authorities. Hawke hoped that would turn out to be a good thing.
The guild’s walled compound looked like a castle of its own, although a small one that filled about a city block. A main gate with an open portcullis was guarded by two bored-looking Adventurers, both fighter types in mismatched but high-quality armor. One was human, the other a Demi-Elemental whose gray skin appeared to be made of concrete. They were both level thirty. Hawke wondered how they ranked in their guild.
Mentioning Kassia and Horosha got them through the gate. A servant led them to a meeting room, with a central table long enough to fit a dozen seats, and provided refreshments while they waited. Soon enough, Horosha showed up. His traveling clothes had been replaced by a silk kimono, and his face showed no emotions but Hawke picked up a twinge of surprise when the swordsman identified him as a fellow Tier 1 entity. He probably couldn’t know exactly what Hawke had become, though.
“Kassia is unavailable,” he said after a curt greeting. “But I am here to see what this is all about.”
Not very friendly, Hawke noted before speaking. “We are about to fight a Labyrinth Boss. Level thirty, in the final zone, which is likely full of monsters. We have put together a strong party, but could use more help.”
Horosha asked for details. Hawke told him everything he knew about the M&M and its Chaos infection, as well as everyone he was bringing along. He wouldn’t ask people to risk their lives without knowing what they were up against. If the Makers messing with his life had paid him that courtesy, he would respect them more. Instead, they liked to throw them into the deep end of the pool without bothering with any swimming lessons. Oh, well. Complaining about his situation was worse than useless. All he could do was act better than them.
“Dangerous,” the swordsman said. “What do you offer?”
“Well, the standard rewards for beating the last level of a Labyrinth. No charges for entering it, either.”
“That is the least that would be expected. What else?”
“What would you suggest?” Hawke asked. He was prepared to pay through the nose, but he figured letting the other guys make the initial counteroffer would keep them from overpaying too much.
“A ten-platinum wu-zhu fee for each member we assign to your party. One of them will have a high Leadership score, allowing all of you to fight at the maximum level of the Labyrinth.”
That was double what Bak Sun-Ah had asked for. “A thousand gold each? That’s nuts. Five platinum.”
“Nine.”
They ended up settling on eight wu-zhus per Adventurer. Horosha provided a list of candidates, between levels twenty-nine and thirty-three, and allowed Hawke to choose as many as ten mercenaries. The list was part of a magical interface that provided a picture of each candidate as well as all basic stats, spells and abilities, and their gear. That was probably a guild option that Hawke hadn’t unlocked. He made a note to look into it when he got back. Being able to see everyone’s numbers could be very useful, although it was also a breach of privacy. That didn’t seem like an important issue in the Realms, though.
Hawke picked seven people (fifty-six platinum’s worth), including Kastor, a level 32 War Chief-Warrior whose Leadership score included Generalship IX, which would boost member’s levels so that even the weakest among Hawke’s party would be near or at the level cap. The other six (all level 30 Adventurers) were a balanced team: two magic specialists (one human, one goblin), two tanks (both Ogres), and two healers (human), including a priest of Lumina and a priestess of Vitara. Might as well have servants of two friendly goddesses tagging along.
“Kastor will be in overall command of everyone except the Fae contingent,” Horosha announced after Hawke handed over a Soul Shard and got forty-four platinum coins in change. “True Fae do not join parties, so they will operate on their own. Kastor is an experienced Proving Grounds explorer. He has mastered two Labyrinths, eight Dungeons, and dozens of Lairs. Trust his wisdom, follow his orders, and victory is assured.” He frowned. “Unless the Fae see fit to spoil everything. That is beyond our control, however.”
Hawke didn’t like the idea of having a divided command, but the Fae were brin
ging a lot of firepower to the party. They would have to work things out on the fly. Tight schedules sucked. By his calculations, they were going to enter the Labyrinth while he still had ten or twelve hours left on his Soul Shatter debuff. But he didn’t think they could wait until it wore off. The Gatekeeper had said the takeover process might accelerate. Even next morning might be cutting things close, but they needed to get everyone together and do at least a few hours of training as a group before heading out.
Besides, if they lost that fight, not being able to respawn was probably the least of his worries.
* * *
“At least it is a pleasant room,” Tava said when she and Hawke were finally alone.
“For five gold a room, it’d better be pleasant,” Hawke grumbled. “Prices are insane over here.”
Paying for lodgings for his party had set him back twenty gold, plus another fifteen for dinner. At least breakfast was included. The inn had been recommended to them by Horosha’s guildmates, and Hawke had a sneaking suspicion that they were getting a cut of the inflated prices.
They could use the rest, though. After finding Sun-Ah, Hawke’s team and the mercenaries had done some practice runs in the Silver Fists’ courtyard. Although most of Hawke’s party wasn’t available, they now had a good sense of what the new team was capable of, and they in turn knew what Hawke and the partial group he’d brought along could do. Including the Archon stuff; he’d decided that not giving Kastor that important bit of information was too risky. They had to beat that boss. The War Chief had told Hawke not to use the mantle ability until told to do so; Hawke figured the leader would know the best time to spring that surprise on the enemy.
The only factoid he had omitted was the Dungeon Core he had in his head. He wasn’t planning to use the damn thing until he was back in his Domain in any case. And Dungeons could provide treasure and XP; people might decide he could be turned into a loot machine or something.
Desmond had tagged along until the evening, when he had headed back to his bosses. He had been slightly less unpleasant than normal. Whether that was because he was hopeful or just hiding his anger was anybody’s guess.
Court of Thorns: A LitRPG Story Page 23
