Into the Darkness: A Fantasy LitRPG Adventure (Axe Druid Book 4)

by Christopher Johns

  She stood and walked outside as if nothing had happened. I finished my food swiftly, as did Yohsuke. Balmur had been done before us, eating fast had been a habit he picked up in the Hells. He had just waited there for us, watching the room around us observantly, his eyes never really stopping for too long.

  It was a habit that we had noted almost immediately, but it was times like this that we really noticed it. He lifted out his jar with three eyes in it and took a deep breath before lifting out a small organ to sacrifice. He stiffened and grunted as the eye was consumed, and he relived the demise of the poor bastard he’d taken it off of.

  “Bounty hunters?” I asked quietly, and he nodded once. I left it at that.

  We walked out the door, into the cool darkness of the night and began to look for Maebe. I focused on the ring, and it pulsed, leading me toward the far side of the building.

  Once we were near, a dome of shadows that was almost indistinguishable against the trees and night sky appeared before us. I stepped through the dome with the others staying outside because they weren’t certain.

  “It’s okay guys, you can come in.” I poked my head out and motioned to the others to come inside.

  They looked at each other, shrugged, and then stepped through with a shiver.

  “It gets easier once you get used to it,” I comforted them knowingly.

  “Enough.” Maebe calmly stated, her voice taking on an instructor’s cadence. “We waste time. Zeke, call the shadows to you.”

  I focused on the shadows around me, expecting them to come to me as easily as they had been lately, and they didn’t. What the hell?

  “Yes, I am fighting you for control of them, and only you.” She motioned to Yoh and Balmur. “They know very little of manipulating the nether, and you know only a little more. You, though, need to exercise those muscles and train harder. They will go through the same steps that you did.”

  She walked the two of them through working their will and intent of summoning the shadows to them. Balmur seemed to be having trouble with it, his reasoning being that his magic allowed him to move through the ink-black substance. Once he began to treat it like an entity rather than an inanimate object, he started to have more luck, moving it in little spurts.

  Yohsuke was able to call it to him within the first hour, seeming to grasp the necessary mindset fairly quickly. Shadows came to him soon in waves, and he was beginning to have fun with it.

  “Excellent, Yohsuke,” Maebe purred proudly. “Keep focusing Balmur, you are doing well.”

  I struggled to pull a wisp of shadow to me with a grunt, and I just knew the veins in my neck were visible. “Zeke, your focus is good, but your will needs work. You try too hard to order the shadows to you, to bend them to what you want.”

  I released the pent-up breath I hadn’t realized I was holding, and the oxygen to my brain eased the throbbing in my mind. I let my brain relax and reached forth, and out like I was one with the shadows.

  I became them as my consciousness melded with them. I could feel Maebe in them as well, her control tenuous because she allowed it to be. So, I focused on calling a little of my mind and the shadows with it to me as if I were gathering myself.

  I had my eyes closed, so I couldn’t see anything, but I focused on bringing the element as old as time into my left hand that I held palm up at my waist.

  As soon as I felt the build-up there, I cast my mind back out like a net and brought in a little more. And more. Until I had a tennis-ball-sized orb in my hand.

  “I am proud of this,” Maebe’s voice whispered into my ear. “Release it, and start again, this time, with your eyes open. Again!”

  We practiced for another two hours. Both of my friends receiving the shadow version of Elemental Tinkering and became further blessed by the void. Both of them, impressive feats in their own rights, but to have earned them without the same sacrifice of their vitality as I had given was a little galling. Oh well, I was happy to know they had new weapons to fight with.

  As we left the dome, I summoned all the shadows in the area around me to my hand and compacted them, my mana trickling away steadily. I packed it tighter and tighter until it was the size of a basketball, then threw it at Maebe. She grinned and stopped it with her hand.

  “You are learning quickly, this will be the next game that you and I play while you work on gathering shadows to you.” She crushed the ball between her hands and the shadows returned to the world. “No more, you need to rest now.”

  “Yes ma’am.” I saluted, my hand snapping down to my side, then I pitched forward and fell onto my face.

  I looked down to see shadows pooling around my foot. I looked over to Maebe, and she smiled but shook her head.

  Then I looked over to my friends, and both of them smirked and bumped fists.

  And so, the games began.

  As we made our way into the inn, we pulled more juvenile pranks on each other before a sharp stinging sensation erupted on my ass.

  Turning and looking back, Maebe held three long strands of shadow in her fist with a look of mild annoyance. “I thought I said no more?”

  The other two rubbed their asses as well, and we headed up to our rooms for the evening.

  Chapter Ten

  We woke in the morning to the sound of hooves and whinnying and people speaking to each other. We grabbed a bite to eat down in the inn’s dining area before walking into the rising sunlight.

  The crowds had gathered at the gates to wait until they would open. A set of guards exited from a door built into them, and the larger ones began to swing inward.

  “Alright, folks!” Called one of the men, “Don’t worry, we’ll get you all in nice and quick. Just be patient, and you’ll be admitted.”

  “We should go over there,” James grumbled sleepily. “Anyone check in on the elderly couple?”

  “I looked into the room for them a few minutes after waking up and getting dressed. The room was completely empty.” Jaken scratched his face absently. “Didn’t look like it had been slept in at all.”

  That’s weird.. “Did anyone see them go into their room?”

  The others shook their heads, so we walked outside and into the crowd. The guards at the gate this morning only stopped people they weren’t familiar with or who looked to present a threat. There weren’t many it seemed.

  They stopped us, as we were a large, armed group of people. Couldn’t blame them.

  “We’re here to check the boards for any new marks what need huntin’ down.” Manly kindly smiled at the guard who had questioned us. “Braves o’ the Thorn, at your service, my friend.”

  The guard’s eyes widened, and he mouthed the words he’d heard and turned excitedly to his friend who held a logbook. He snatched the book and quill out of his friend’s hands and passed it to Manly.

  “Ahem, if each of you would sign this, please?” He looked hopeful.

  “This ain’t the same page he was writin’ on,” Manly said with a grin.

  The guard glanced around, people were starting to take notice. “It’s, uh… for me, ma’am.”

  Manly signed it and passed it to the rest of her friends who happily did so as well.

  “These ones with you all, ma’am?” The guard looked us over, with another hopeful smile.

  “Sure are,” Nick answered for Manly. “Braves recruits.”

  Yohsuke bristled at being called a recruit, and James just smiled sardonically.

  I was ambivalent about it—whatever helped us get in.

  “I’ll have you all sign it as well, then. Just to be safe. Here you go!”

  He thrust the book into each of our faces and we signed where he pointed. He seemed like a good kid if not a little high strung.

  “You got any suggestions on where we might find lodging and a good drink tonight, friend?” Bonnie smiled at the starstruck boy.

  He stammered at first, then cleared his throat and said, “The Wandering Swallow has some of the best ale in the city, and it’s ne
ar the castle, so only folks what can afford it go there. They have large rooms and baths. Go straight from here, three streets in take a right, then a left at the next intersection, and keep going until you see the castle. It’s along the water, so you’ll see it.”

  “Thank you.” Bonnie stepped closer and brushed a hand along his flushed cheek. “You’ll be there, right? Don’t tell anyone else we’re here quite yet. Maybe we’ll have a story for you to tell?”

  Oh, this poor fucking kid.

  He nodded violently, I thought I heard his brain hit his helmet, then he ushered us through with a grin.

  “One of these days, Bonnie you’ll find a man who makes you want to settle down.” Manly chuckled at her friend.

  Bonnie turned a seductive gaze toward the other woman, then winked. “I have to try looking, don’t I?”

  I snorted, and the others chuckled at her as well. Walking through the city so early was a little bit of a pain so close to the gate, but by the time we needed to make our turn, we had broken from the crowds and worked into the more urban area.

  This portion of the city was okay. There was money here, and that was obvious, but there was nothing really here but food stalls and children who looked to need a bath and a few good meals. They begged, pleading for food and money, their clothes torn, muddied, and sometimes too small.

  Maebe took my hand as we walked on and I felt her heart breaking, through our new bond, as she saw some of the children.

  “Don’t worry, love.” I comforted her. “We will get ourselves set up with a room, then we can wander before seeing the king, or after. But first, we get lodging out of the way.”

  “Why don’t you guys just go to the guard and get it over with?” Balmur wondered.

  “Because they may try to attack us if they find out what we are exactly,” I answered carefully in a low tone. “At least with the royals themselves, they may listen to reason.”

  More children stared out at us from the alleys and shadows near doorframes, pitiful looking and poorly clothed.

  “If they approach us, I will not be able to tell them no,” she whispered, her hands rubbing her arms as she went. “The iron here is already making me uncomfortable. Please, do not make me deny them.”

  “I won’t unless it gets too bad.” I kissed her forehead, and we moved on. Walking silently before I had to ask. “You know, in some of the Fae lore where I come from, the Fae steal children, some to replace with changelings, others just outright. Why?”

  She thought for a moment. “Changelings are fickle things, but if you can bind them to you, they make excellent spies. Those children who are taken are usually assimilated by the changeling sent there. Meaning they become one being. They aren’t harmed, and very rarely do they ever hate their lives. They have the strength and resilience of the Fae and retain autonomy when they are awake.”

  “And the other thing, I asked?” I blinked, keeping my voice low as I glanced about us.

  “The others, at least from the Unseelie perspective, are taken, and given what they would never have in the Prime Realm,” there was a sadness in her tone as she explained. “As I said, not all Fae can have children, but most of my kind love them fiercely. They are taken and made Fae, if they wish, and given the love and adoration they deserve. These children… these little ones deserve so much more.”

  “They aren’t harmed? Even if they want to return home?” I tried to keep the judgment from my tone, but it crept in, anyway.

  “Oftentimes, they are given back with gifts.” Maebe took a coin from her pocket and chucked it into the lap of a small child sitting to the side of the street. The girl looked around wildly to see if it was a trap, then snatched it up and skittered away.

  “Those gifts vary, some monetary, some magical, some with a Fae creature who serves as a guardian until they are strong enough to protect themselves.” there were tears in her eyes as she stopped herself from doing more.

  “What would need to be done to see some of these kids taken care of?” Jaken asked from behind us, startling me out of my own thoughts on the matter.

  “First, finding Fae royalty, or nobility, who could stand to be around this much iron for an extended time.” Maebe scooted closer still. “And one powerful enough to take them to our realm. Someone like me, or someone who would rival my strength. All of them. All of them could go if someone strong enough were here.”

  It was hard to follow at first, but as we walked by a house, I noticed the nails in the walls. They were everywhere—iron was everywhere. And she was right here in it.

  “What about an extremely powerful Fae who owes their loyalty to you?” James offered, and I looked about angrily. Who the fuck else was listening in?

  Those two were it. Good.

  “They would need to be highly intelligent and magically gifted.” she frowned as she thought. “I know of one, but I do not know that she would be interested in ferrying them across to my realm.”

  “Let’s get to the inn, and we can talk more.” Jaken said as more and more people filled the streets.

  It took us about an hour and a half of walking to get to the point we could see the castle, a large, copper-looking affair that turning green with time loomed in the distance.

  Bokaj asked around, and someone pointed us to this building with vibrant green walls, a dark roof, and sign out front embossed with a large swallow on it that held a small fish in its beak. How cute.

  Bird? Kayda landed on my shoulder in her smaller form and eyed the signage.

  “It is a bird, not as pretty as you, though.” I reached up and stroked her feathers affectionately.

  Bokaj went in first to ensure they had rooms available, which they did. He got each of the others a room for themselves at six gold apiece, a steep price, but it included dinner and bathing. Mae and I got our own room at eight gold, but there were two tubs in this one and a slightly larger bed.

  While we were there, we hatched a plan to help put Maebe at ease and help the children.

  “Would it be smart to ask the crown before we just send the Fae in to take care of these kids?” Balmur sat on the floor near the door as we spoke in one of the rooms we had procured.

  “What kind of noble is going to willingly agree to have the waifs of his kingdom relinquished to the Fae?” Muu, tapping his foot because there was almost no space for us all to move in the private dining room we had crammed into.

  “None.” Bokaj shrugged, frowning. “If they let these kids rot like this, they don’t have the infrastructure to take care of them, or they don’t care.”

  “And if we act before we know, we could turn the whole city against us.” Maebe’s hand tightened on mine as I aired my worries. “So, I think we should wait until we know more about what’s going on.”

  Jaken growled, his teeth grinding a little. “They’re suffering now.”

  “And another few hours to a day at most.” Yohsuke put a hand on his shoulder to calm him. “Look, man I know that you’re gung-ho about this kind of thing. Maebe too. And I’ve got little brothers and sisters too, so I know how you feel about wanting all of these kids to be safe.”

  He looked at the rest of us, his eyes resting on Maebe. “We have to do this smart. But we may not have to wait too much longer after finding out.”

  He closed his eyes in thought, the rest of us watching to see what he came up with, but it was Balmur who surprised us.

  “We get the Fae ready before we go talk to the royals.” he glanced at Maebe. “You know any Fae who are adept with portals?”

  “Many, but they need an anchor. Something that would create a natural rupture in the veil.” She frowned, her finger tapping her jaw. “We could try and find something to use as one. A mushroom circle, or a stone henge?”

  “Can Zeke make something?” Muu proposed and shrugged as I stared at him. “He’s made some really amazing things so far, and he’s not even at master level in enchanting. He could do this if he has access to the proper materials, right?”

&
nbsp; “I might be able to, but I wouldn’t really know how or feel comfortable doing so.” I sighed, wishing I was better at this. “I’m not good enough, I don’t think. And other than blood, I don’t think there would be a powerful enough component to use that would attract the Fae we needed.”

  “What about that spell that Nicolas used?” Maebe’s gaze flashed. “He was able to forcibly send me back to the Fae realm. Could he pull something here?”

  “I guess what I don’t understand is why you don’t just open a portal like you have been?” Yohsuke looked confused. “If you’re strong enough to open the door for yourself, letting some Fae you trust through wouldn’t be that big of an issue.”

  “Because when I come through, I forcibly tear through the veil and come here,” Maebe explained patiently, using her hands to show what she meant. “Doing so taxes me greatly, and if I am simply returning home, it would be fine. My strength recovers faster there. Here? It returns slower. Much slower. And it would leave me vulnerable.”

  “Okay.” I frowned, then smiled. “So then, we need to weaken the veil.”

  “That’s what I’m sayin’!” Jaken threw his hands in the air excitedly, accidentally elbowing Muu. “Sorry, man.”

  “It’s cool, just my face, no worries.” He rolled his eyes before looking at me. “What’s the play?”

  “I make the items, but I design them in a way that they only weaken the veil so that way whoever does the tearing doesn’t get weakened too much.” I grimaced. “I’m not sure what kind of materials to use.”

  After a few minutes of quiet thought, Maebe sighed heavily, looking at my arm, then the others. “I want this. And it gives me an opportunity to teach Zeke more of the Fae.” She stood slowly. “I am going to call in another favor from Xiphyre.”

  “But, Mae.” I stood with her, the two of us perilously close to being too close. This room really was too small. “I can do it; it shouldn’t be too hard—”

  “Like last time you were out of your depth?” She shot back, Yoh and Muu nodding in agreement. “He can teach you. He can help you understand, but he will be doing this. Better that I keep all of you safe and help those children than keep another two favors to lord over him for another few centuries.”