by Matthew Peed
Gently pulling the sliver back toward me, I checked my mana reserve. It was at its lowest point in months at barely over two hundred thousand. I carefully channeled mana into the sliver. Using pure mana was a task in itself. However, I didn’t want to tax her core by using tainted or attributed mana. I briefly thought about using nature mana, but I wasn’t exactly good at that branch.
“Monarch, I don’t sense any unholy mana from the sliver,” Queen said as she met up with me. She was walking on the side of the crater as if walking down the road.
I explained my theory. “Yes. I believe the necromancers utilized some type of ritual using her core as a part of it. This sliver is probably the only part of her core that wasn’t completely corrupted. Her heart if you will.”
“Is this a good thing?” Queen asked.
“Of the various methods I was planning to try, this was the last I wanted to try. As long as I can remove the collar from her or just allow her avatar to ‘die,’ then she should be free. Her core is no longer bound, after all.”
Suddenly, a massive influx of mana hit my mind. All my connections were returned, and I instantly realized that massive damage had been done to my main dungeon. I couldn’t just leave Alara’s core here, however. I didn’t trust that the dungeon was safe, but I couldn’t pull her core from there. Nova was about to engage in battle with what looked like a black dragon. I went ahead and linked all the mana being generated by the space station to him.
I grimaced in pain when his blast ripped through several floors. Just before the beam hit a section of the goblin city, I managed to teleport the goblins in the area of the blast to safety. It wouldn’t do to have Nova accidentally killing nearly a hundred goblins. Looking back to the fight, I saw he had disabled the attacker. I would let them handle it for now unless they managed to reach my core.
“Alara!” a voice said suddenly.
Anubis and Vetur spun toward the sound with their weapons raised. We didn’t see anything for a moment until a small form flew from the side of the floor. I didn’t sense any taint at all from it, which was amazing considering where we were. I held up my arm for them to lower their weapons.
Finally, a fairy that was a bit smaller than Ignea flew up to us. She looked like a flying plant, with brown and green skin and leaves for wings. Twigs extended from her forehead forming tiny horns. Green tears were running liberally from her eyes.
“Stop! Who are you?” I demanded, though I felt I knew the answer.
“Oh, Great Master! I am Alara’s dungeon fairy, Lena!” Lena answered with a bow in the air.
“Lena, then. Can you tell me how you’ve managed to stay untainted this whole time?” I asked. I would not be falling for a trap this late in the game.
Lena burst into tears. “This is all my fault!” she cried.
“If you would explain,” I said, forming a table for us to sit at. I kept Alara’s core close to my chest as I channeled mana into it.
“Those . . . those . . . monsters captured me! They used me to lure my sweet mother out of her dungeon. She . . . she should have abandoned me!” Her tears grew worse.
“Calm down. I know Alara would never abandon one of her own, because I’m the same way with my children,” I said with a calming tone. “So, what happened after that?”
“They attached something to her. To make it worse they released me and forced me to watch as they did terrible things in her dungeon. Mother saved me. She created a hole in the dungeon that was safe for me to live in. That’s when I knew there was still hope! I maintained my link to Mother so that one day if someone ever managed to defeat the monsters and shatter her core, I could save a part of her.” She had to repeat several parts of her story, as she was crying so hard she grew difficult to understand at times.
“So, I have you to thank for protecting this,” I said, holding out the sliver of Alara’s core.
“Mother!” Lena cried, holding out her hands to the core.
“Lena, you have a link with Alara, correct?” I asked and got a nod. “Your mother’s avatar is still controlled by the monsters. The easiest way to break their control is to destroy the avatar, but I don’t want to do that if her core can’t handle it.”
“I can tell you when it will be safe!” Lena said, hitting her chest with her hand.
“Good to hear!” I smiled and reached out my hand. Lena landed on it, and I enveloped her in the aura of mana that was around the sliver. She gently lifted Alara’s core, hugging it to her.
Looking around the floor I was on, I found a massive amount of tainted mana still. If I allowed Alara’s recovering core to absorb this, it would defeat the purpose. I checked my mana. It would be a few days before I could create a system like I’d done for Alpha. For now, I could go with the system I’d done for my main dungeon. It was cheaper and less efficient, but it would protect her core until I got the better version down here.
“Great One! What year is it?” Lena asked suddenly.
I tilted my head. “Mana Era 2769,” I answered.
“We’ve been trapped for a hundred and fourteen years, then,” Lena said, her wings dropping noticeably.
“That sounds about right. Ah, tell me. Where have all the necromancers gone?” I asked.
“My connection with the rest of the dungeon was only returned completely a few minutes ago, but I sensed a tremendous number of deaths just before that massive spell took place. They also had a teleport matrix with the old north capital, so they could have fled,” Lena answered.
“Lovely. I knew we would have to deal with the old capital, but this is just getting old,” I said with a sigh. Lena tilted her head, making a cute confused expression. I smiled and patted her head. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of your mother first.”
Chapter 22
Izora
Hatsu, Alphonso, and I entered Grandma Ku’s house while the rest waited outside. It was a very neat place with a wooden table set in the middle. Grandma Ku lived alone, from what I knew. But since she had lived here her whole life, she wasn’t at risk of losing it to a younger person.
She led us to the table, then excused herself to brew some tea. I made myself comfortable, nostalgic for the mats of the floor. Lord Regan liked the main continent’s way of things, with chairs and high tables. I would need to see if I could persuade him to change a few customs of his place to be more like home when I get back.
A few minutes later, Grandma Ku returned with the tea and served us all in porcelain cups. When I took mine, I truly felt like I had returned home. We all sat in silence as we sipped our tea. Alphonso was having an interesting time, he burned his mouth when he chugged it. I took one more sip, then set the cup on the table.
“Grandma Ku, tell me, what is wrong?” I asked, looking her in the eye.
“Strange things . . . nightmare things,” she said, glancing around, then dropping her voice to a whisper. “At first it was just some of the men. They were called for an audience with the king. They were gone for a full day before they returned. Everything seemed fine, but they were . . . different.”
“Different? Different how?”
“It was hard to tell at first. They acted like they were just tired or stressed. We all know the king has declared war on the necromancers, but after so many years, most of us have really forgotten what that means.”
“Are you sure they aren’t just stressed like you first thought? If my father has conscripted them into service, that would explain it.”
“Aye, I thought that too and left it alone. But people who haven’t gone to the king have started showing signs similar to the first few who saw him. I’m just an old lady and know nothing of the ways of magic or technology, but even I can tell something isn’t as it should be,” Grandma Ku said with the deepest frown I’d ever seen her make.
“I promise to find out the cause!” I said, rising and bowing to her.
“Thank you, Your Highness. Hopefully, it is just these old bones conjuring up ghosts in the night.”
&
nbsp; I talked to Grandma Ku for a few more minutes before we left. The mystery of my home was growing foggier by the moment, and I didn’t like it. What could my father have possibly been doing to cause this? I glanced around the few people out on the street, but most walked with their heads down and avoided each other. Only the guards appeared normal, and even they stood stiffly at attention.
Turning, I started walking toward the gate to the next circle. I only made it a few steps when Sasori caught my arm. I looked at her, but she was looking around as if trying to find something.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Someone has been watching us. They’re good though, and I can only just barely detect them,” she explained, releasing my arm.
“Understood. Everyone keep an eye . . .” A peal of thunder cut me off as a streak of lightning from the storm outside collided with the barrier around the city. What I’d always thought of as a clear wall turned blue as ripples of mana vibrated along the barrier. “It looks like the storm is getting worse. We need to hurry to the castle so I can complete my task from Lord Regan.”
“That would be wise,” Tsuzuki said, observing the storm with a critical eye. “I’ve studied the maelstrom for many years. I believe the storm caused by the terra wave might soon reach that level. If Jade Wind is in the middle of both of them, I’m not sure we will survive. Even if we do, we won’t be able to leave.”
“You heard him. Let’s go,” I said, turning back around and heading for the gate.
The rest of the circles showed increasing tension the closer to the castle we went. People obviously avoided us in the fourth and third circle. The streets were completely empty of people on the second circle. I was really growing worried about what could cause such a thing.
“Hmm. Why is it smoking? Factories?” Alphonso asked.
His question caught me off guard, as I hadn’t seen anything even moving on this circle. Sure enough, smoke rose from places all over the street. I frowned at the situation, then morphed my cape into my wings. With a powerful flap, I took off into the sky, heading for the first fire. A few seconds later, what looked like a riot came into view. I tried to see what was going on, but there was too much chaos. With no other choice, I angled down, aiming right for the center of the chaos. I took off like a speeding bullet.
When I was roughly ten meters from the ground, I righted my direction and infused mana into my wings, causing a massive gust that knocked several dozen gnomes over. That was when everyone realized I was there. The fighting slowed to a stop as everyone stared at me.
“What is the meaning of this?!” I shouted, looking around.
Everyone looked down, no one volunteering to answer. Finally, a young gnomish woman stepped forward from the crowd. She couldn’t have been more than fifteen, though there were signs of fighting all over her body, all very fresh. Her clothing showed her as an apprentice magic technician.
“Is that you, Princess Izora?” the girl asked. Her voice was weak but underlined by a courage that I felt someone so young shouldn’t need.
“Indeed! I have returned home!” I answered, channeling mana into my voice to let it carry. Hovering in the air, I hoped I struck an impressive image.
“Praise to the fates! Please! Stop the king! His Majesty has gone mad!” the girl cried, falling completely flat to the ground.
“What do you mean?!” I asked with more force than I intended.
“He is preforming strange magic on the people! They return as if dolls, with no will of their own!” she cried.
I glared at the rest of the people in the street. As if spurred on by her, they each nodded, and dropped to the ground, bowing fully. I turned to the other side and noticed that the people they were fighting indeed had a . . . blank look to them.
“You there! What is your name?” I pointed to one of the men in the front.
“. . .”
“Answer me!” I shouted angrily. The man turned his gaze toward me. I thought he was about to answer when I sensed a surge of mana. I held my hand out, forming a barrier of ice right as a shard of metal nearly twenty centimeters long pierced through it. I growled, then threw a ball of ice at the man, turning him into a statue. It started to crack as the man inside worked to get free, regardless of the pain he must have been in.
“There is no reasoning with them! They only respond to the king!” someone in the crowd shouted.
“What is going on?” I mumbled to myself.
Glancing up the street, I found there were almost twenty of the mindless ones. I wanted to just incapacitate them, but I wasn’t sure it would last long. Without many options and with a heavy heart, I channeled mana into a spell. A moment later, beams of energy fired from my wings, piercing the hearts of the mindless. Even then they still stood and tried to retaliate for several seconds before they collapsed.
“Flee to the docks! My men will protect you!” I ordered the crowd. I pulled a short-range communication device from my coat. “Captain, take command of the dock sector. Something is happening in the city. We will treat that as our command center for now.”
“Yes, Princess!” a reply crackled back.
The others soon caught up to me while the citizens fled around us. I waited to make sure there were not anymore mindless ones. I wanted to go confront my father right that moment, but my duty was to my people. I needed to make sure they were safe.
We made our way around the first circle. People were out in force to try to protect their loved ones. After an hour we managed to suppress five instants of the mindless ones and sent all the victims to the docks. The guards there had already been suppressed and were being held in case there was any way to reason with them.
When we were sure the first circle was clear, I used my authentication as the princess to seal the gates. The king would have to come out himself to open them, and they were durable enough to take a beating from any below tier three for several days. That should keep the other circles safe until we could figure out what was happening.
When we came back to the docks, there was a skirmish taking place at the gate. A few mindless ones, which I assumed came from the other circles, were assaulting the dock gates. Not wanting this to turn more bloody than it already had, I moved in and quickly froze all the aggressors. I used just enough mana to lock them in place without outright killing them.
“Captain! Please tell me you have some information as to what the hell is going on?” I demanded when I landed on the Raiu’s deck.
“Princess. Unfortunately, I have no idea. We tried interrogating the prisoners, but . . .” He trailed off as he pointed to a spot where a large blood smear covered at least four meters of deck, along with charred wood.
“What the hell?”
“When we asked about the king, he detonated his mana pool. We’re lucky we had a mage who could put a barrier around him, or half the ship would be gone right now.”
“So, we can’t get answers from the traitors. That just leaves going straight to the source,” I said, pounding a fist on the deck. What in Lord Regan’s name are you doing, Father?! I gripped the pendant Lord Regan gave me hard enough my knuckles turned white.
My Royal Guard and enough regular guards who wouldn’t threaten the safety of the docks quickly assembled, making a forty-strong force. It was a little . . . very weak to try to break through the castle defenses. I would have to do my best so that we all made it back alive. These people may have sworn an oath to die for me, but that didn’t mean I wanted them to honor it on their home soil.
“Captain Shido, I have no idea how this is going to turn out. Please start evacuating all the citizens into airships. If it is a plague of some kind, we will have to abandon Jade Wind. If an enemy has somehow made their way into the city and they prove my match, then there is no reason for us to give them even more soldiers for whatever they plan,” I said seriously.
“As you wish. However, I pray that we do not have to abandon the city,” Captain Shido said with a bow.
“As do I.
”
Chapter 23
Louella
“Father is back. From what I can tell, he won his battle and is leaving this to Nova for now,” Ignea said right after Nova’s announcement.
“That is good news. But why isn’t he coming back to his dungeon?” I asked.
Nova was powerful, but this was basically Regan’s body. He was putting a lot of trust in Nova to protect his core. I wasn’t sure I could do the same if something like this was happening to me. I shook my head and refocused on the fight that was currently at a standstill.
“I can’t tell much from the link. We’ll just have to ask him when he comes back. I do sense that he is channeling his mana into something. He might not be able to pull away from that if it’s important to him,” Ignea said, orbiting me a few times.
I nodded and turned back to the two dragons. The black dragon was still leaking shadows, but they were slowing. She was tier three, after all. It would be surprising if she couldn’t repair that amount of damage. Even I could channel mana to repair damage to my body if I needed to. A need hadn’t arisen yet, and I hoped to keep it that way.
“A new home? What is wrong with your old lair?” Nova asked.
“Destroyed . . . long ago . . .” the black dragon gasped out.
“What is your name?”
The black dragon bared her teeth at Nova. “Morka,” she hissed out.
Nova made a noise as if considering something. “Very well. You can be one of my females. This one is great and plans to have many,” Nova said, speaking of himself.
I gaped at the sudden declaration. Then remembered the few lessons about dragons back at the academy, which told me that this was actually in line with regular dragon behavior.
“Do you think Regan will approve?” I whispered to Ignea.
“I don’t think he will really care as long as Nova is able to control her,” she whispered back. “Father is rather lenient about those kinds of things.”
“So, there will be two dragons a stone’s-throw away from my town. Lovely!” I said, throwing my hands up.