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

by Christopher Johns

  It took him a while to truly grasp the concept, but by the time an hour had passed, he was able to sit still comfortably breathing. I was happy enough with that. We could introduce more when we were getting ready to move on.

  “Good work.” I patted his arm. “Now, tell me about your powers. What can you do?”

  He blinked at me and pulled up his status screen before reading some things to me.

  “Stone Heart lets me control the earth a little better, Elemental Tinkerin’ for Earth lets me fiddle with spells an’ makin’ them.” He put his sausage-like finger up to the screen. “an’ last, I have somethin’ called Elemental Call. I think that’s what lets me summon Pebble.”

  “You think?” My eyes narrowed at him as I asked, and he gulped. “Or you know? Have you read it?”

  He looked down bashfully as I sighed heavily. “Read it to me.”

  “Elemental Call,” his reading voice was uncertain, so he continued slowly. “The earth mage can call his elemental partner to his side an’ release them home at will.”—he stopped and grinned triumphantly— “See? I knew I were right!”

  I made a continuing motion with my hands and stared at him pointedly.

  He cleared his throat and continued, “Based on the level of the mage, the elemental who responds could be stronger than the previously summoned one.” He seemed worried as he said that last bit, his eyes flicking to Pebble.

  Silence between us grew as I continued to eye the dwarf, trying to decide if my instincts were correct or not. Finally, I decided to just say what I thought.

  “You knew that, didn’t you?” More of a statement than I had meant it to be, but it was out there now. Looming over him.

  “Aye.” He lifted his chin proudly, stepping between Pebble and me.

  “Didn’t you say that you grow together? And Pebble said something about being bound to you.” I blinked in confusion.

  “We do grow together,” Pebble spoke from behind Fainnir. “But he worries that if he were to summon another in my place, that I would be gone forever.”

  “If you’re bound to him, and he summons another elemental, what happens?”

  “I do not know for certain,” Pebble admitted, “I could ask my father, but it would be better to do it once and find out.”

  “I don’t want to lose Pebble,” Fainnir said, then harrumphed stubbornly.

  “But you don’t know that you will lose him, and besides, are you even strong enough to summon another elemental yet? Are there stronger elementals?”

  “Yes, Zeke, there are.” Pebble raised himself from the ground. “I can tell I will not rest much for now, so allow me to explain. My brothers and sisters are vastly stronger than I am. I am a minor elemental. As we grow older, some of us become stronger, but I never will.”

  “How do ye know tha’?” Fainnir challenged with his hands on his hips.

  “Because I am one of my father’s first children.” Pebble shrugged as if it were common knowledge. “I can imagine that the Water Primordial has also positioned one of her eldest children to teach her champion. We are the teachers, and knowledgeable in our elements. That is why we have come to you. We are not nearly as suited to combat and battle as our siblings would be. And that is why I believe it likely that you will still be able to summon me, specifically. You will have much to learn, and only I or one of the others amongst my generation could teach you.”

  I rubbed my forehead for a heartbeat, then sighed. “Okay. That’s actually really useful information, but my question stands for Fainnir; can you even summon another elemental, right now?”

  “I don’ know.” He frowned deeply, looked to Pebble, who nodded at him. Fainnir closed his eyes and spoke loudly. “Bones of the world and element of my peoples’ body, answer my call; rise from your slumber and walk beside your new master. Protect me and mine, serve as my shield and axe.”

  A tremor shook my body as the dwarf lifted his hands in front of him. Beads of sweat formed on his brow and trickled down his face, but he held fast. Finally, the rumbling stopped, and nothing happened.

  “Doesn’t look like you are quite ready yet,” Pebble observed out loud. “But you are close. Your enunciation was flawless. I am proud of you, Fainnir.”

  Fainnir looked a little pale and plopped onto the ground. “I be mighty tired, Uncle Zeke. I think I be nappin’ here for a bit.” As soon as the last word cleared his mouth, he fell back with a crash and began snoring loudly.

  I blinked at him with a grin forming on my face. “Watch over him, Pebble.”

  “Always,” The little elemental responded almost happily.

  The others eyed me critically, but when I gave them a wave, they just smiled and returned to their various doings. Jaken and Balmur looked to be talking over some designs for items they wanted to make. James and Muu were sparring off near the water across from the tree where Fainnir slept. Bokaj strummed on his instrument and sang a wordless tune as Tmont slept behind him, her body moving with his in time with her breathing.

  A few moments after that, Yohsuke hobbled out of the dome, his leg bloodied. I cast Void’s Respite and Renewing Flames on him immediately, his flesh knitting back together easily.

  He sighed with relief. “Thanks, man.”

  “What the fuck happened?” I glanced toward the dome and saw that nothing had changed.

  “She had me fighting a shadow monster with nothing but shadow magic. Didn’t really work all that well after a while.” He shrugged. “I’m getting better, but I’m not that good yet.”

  “That seems a little advanced, doesn’t it?”

  “Not really, no.” Yohsuke sighed and reached into the air. A swathe of shadows burst from the ground and rose to his hand, forming a scythe. “We have this power because we’re strong enough to use it. Shadows are ours to command. But the drow elves thrive in the darkness too, and they’ve lived there exclusively. We need every advantage.”

  I nodded and marveled at his use of the void before I entered the dome myself.

  “Hello, husband,” Maebe’s voice greeted me with no point of origin.

  “Hello, wife,” I returned and called the shadows to me. They obeyed and began to coat my flesh, like armor that conformed to my skin. Once it was solidified, I pressed, tugged, and pulled it until it looked like a death knight’s armor. Spikes on the shoulders and elbows that could impale my enemies. Slight ones on my knees for the same, and the plates were cruelly ridged so that if anything grabbed me, they would realize it was a bad idea. I hoped.

  Dreadnaught Armor – A compression of the void around your flesh has increased your defense by 20 for a short time. Cost: 127 MP. Duration: 3 minutes.

  “Most impressive,” Maebe’s voice echoed around me. Then I saw red eyes on the far side of the dome and knew the fight was on. “I hope that you can create other spells so swiftly.”

  I spent some time healing my injuries after I had been mauled by the gigantic shadowy abomination. Its claws like pitchfork tines and covered in frost that sapped my strength with each successful strike. I hadn’t been able to kill it, but I’d injured it a few times.

  It was a start.

  “Thank you, hon.” I grunted as I cast Renewing Flames once more, the warmth of the healing magic doing more than enough to make me feel like myself again.

  “You did well, not nearly so well as Balmur, but you did well.” Maebe stepped from the shadows and swayed toward me. “Tell me, how did things go with Fainnir?”

  “They went pretty good. He’s got a little more of an understanding of meditation, and I will use that to assist him in connecting to the earth like you taught me with the shadows.”

  “A wonderful plan.” She sat down next to me, her hand on my thigh. “I have been watching you with him. You have improved in a short time in your dealings. I ask that you keep improving.”

  “I hope to do my best always.” I shifted into my human form and pulled her close. “I have a promise to keep.”

  She raised an eyebrow, and I
snarled playfully as I lifted her into my lap. She laughed, and we spent the rest of our time together at play. After a while, slumber found me, and rest came at last.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Get that axe up!” I called as Fainnir stepped into the trees. This was the first floor we were trying today as our own party, but he seemed to be in brighter spirits than yesterday.

  Bea screeched at their opponents to try and get their attention. The wolves growling at them seemed torn, they didn’t want to attack Pebble since he was made of stone, and that hurt, but trying to attack the hatchling proved almost as fruitless.

  That left Fainnir as their outlet of bloodlust and anger. The wolves, only level four each, moved in groups of three. The dwarven mage had been able to surprise one of them and killed it almost instantly. The other two were trying and failing to circle him. It was going to be fun for him to try and work out how to get through this.

  Maybe not for him, but it would be for me. He wasn’t in any real danger, we would heal him, but that was it. Anyone could heal, but it helped me be able to really watch over them.

  “Pebble, you move in when the left one charges. Grab him and hold him still.” Fainnir’s back shifted like he was going to lunge at the one on the right, and as he had predicted, the wolf on the left had tried to capitalize on his carelessness. Pebble touched the ground and stone rose to protect Fainnir’s left flank, the wolf crashed into it with a meaty thunk, then the little elemental bustled forward to grasp the stunned creature.

  Fainnir dipped back with his axe and exposed his left side to the wolf. The beast lunged forward with its slavering jaws held open wide, snarling and bit into the flesh of his arm. Fainnir grunted and bashed the creature on the temple with the pommel of the axe in his hand. Bea hopped onto the wolf’s back and began slicing through flesh like it was papier-mâché. The creature released its prey and tried to buck her off.

  Fainnir’s axe flashed and cleaved the wolf’s head in half, then he began his grim work on the wolf in Pebble’s arms. Honestly speaking, I only had one complaint, and judging from the wound on his arm, I knew that he had an idea of what it might be.

  “The next time you offer up your arm as a Scooby snack, I’m not going to heal you.” I sighed dramatically as I cast Renewing Flames on him. The wounds closed as the flames swept over his body.

  “What is that?” Maebe turned beside me and stared at me intently. “This ‘Scooby snack’ you speak of?”

  I smacked myself in the forehead with my palm. “Sorry, it’s a different way of saying a dog treat. Meaning, he shouldn’t be careless and act as though he has a healer with him constantly.”

  The dwarf nodded bashfully but took the criticism much better than he would have the previous day.

  “What way do you think you could improve what you just did?” Balmur surprised me as he moved past me.

  “Uh, I don’ know?” Fainnir stated lamely after thinking for a moment. “I got the drop on the first one, but that left the last two.”

  “Okay, that’s good, but let me ask—does Pebble know that same earth spike spell?” Balmur asked, to which Fainnir nodded. “Then why not have him cast it on one, and you attack the other?”

  “Because I might give away the plan,” Fainnir reasoned. “Dwarves ain’t the most stea—most dwarves, I mean—ain’t the stealthiest sorts.”

  “You don’t need to be stealthy; you need to be cunning.” Balmur tutted and pointed at the younger dwarf. “You’re already forgetting some of your best tools right now. What are you wearing?”

  Fainnir looked down at his new cloak. “This.”

  “Put the hood up.” I growled. He did so, and his outline blurred significantly. I could still see him perfectly, but it was like he had faded a little.

  “And where are your throwing knives?” Balmur asked with an edge of rebuke in his tone.

  “Me inventory…” Fainnir looked abashed, and Balmur took pity on him.

  “Now, knowing what you have at your disposal, what could you do to make things easier and more efficient?” The elder dwarf led Fainnir hopefully.

  “I can be puttin’ me hood up and having Pebble cast the spell while I use the knives and me axe if it be helping?”

  I clapped, and Balmur gave Fainnir a thumbs up. He was learning, slowly, but he was doing it.

  “Think of it like this,” I said, the young man watched me intently for a moment. “You have to come up with a style of fighting all your own, so holding to normal dwarven convention isn’t going to produce the results you’re looking for. Think outside the box.”

  Fainnir used the time after that to reflect then went at it harder than ever.

  After the next few groups of mobs, he was finally beginning to get the system of it down. He would attack at the same time Pebble did, Bea would launch herself at the last one to distract it, while Fainnir dispatched the wounded one. Then all three of them would converge on the final wolf.

  The last group—what we had thought to be the last group—had been a little trickier. It had been a group of five. The wolves sat inside a small set of bushes around a corpse that they were in the process of picking clean. Bloodied leather armor and bone scattered in the area, and there was gore on their muzzles as they eyed the area.

  Before we even allowed Fainnir to go into the pre-battle phase, we had him join us a good distance from the wolves so he could explain what he would do.

  “I need to kill two of them in one go, so Pebble and I will both cast Earth Spear on the biggest two. From there, Bea will serve as bait, and we can try at least one more before my mana runs dry.” He eyed the area the wolves were in for a moment, then grinned. “I’ll have a good plan after that.”

  Before any of us could stop him and ask what he had planned, he was off toward the wolves with Bea in tow and Pebble sinking into the ground.

  A moment later, yelping and snarls burst the quiet like a balloon popping, and a storm of growling and baying moved toward us.

  Three of the wolves chased a fleeing Bea from the brush, and a fourth hobbled out with a severely wounded rear left leg. For once, I didn’t see Fainnir. But I saw that his health was fine. So, I waited.

  Suddenly the rear wolf crumpled with a screaming whine, and Fainnir appeared, taking his hood down and shouting at the wolves, “Come and get me, ye mangy blankets!”

  Two of the wolves broke from chasing Bea, who squawked indignantly at her pursuer and bore down on Fainnir.

  The younger dwarf hollered, “Now!” And a wall of stone six inches thick burst from the ground in front of him. He pressed his hands to it, and a lance-like protrusion of stone grew from it spearing the lead wolf and goring the other’s right shoulder.

  “Fuck, yes!” Muu howled in delight.

  “Let him kill them in peace, man,” James whispered harshly. “See? You pulled that one over there away from Bea.”

  Bea noticed that the wolf was no longer behind her and that it was springing at us. Dumb, if you asked me, but hey—dungeon wolf was an idiot.

  She did not take kindly to that. Bea wouldn’t be able to turn sharply enough to get back to us, so she leapt into the air and bounded off the air like she had when she walked on it. This little thing was amazing! Her path was now right behind the wolf, and she gained on it swiftly. Before it reached us, she jumped and latched onto its back, driving her envenomed talons into the flesh and tearing as harshly as she could with squawks of barked outrage.

  Fainnir stepped around his barrier and kicked the wolf in the injured shoulder, pushing it to the ground in front of the earthen spear. He grasped the wall with both hands and pulled the heavy construct on top of the beast, killing it instantly.

  Bea leveled up again, and surprisingly, so did I. That put me to level 38! Woohoo. I’d take care of her first, though. She got a natural point to her intelligence, taking that to five, and I put the rest of her points into strength, putting that to six.

  For my own stats, I added one point to dexterity, and four to
constitution, making my stats look like so.

  Name: Zekiel Erebos

  Race: Kitsune (Celestial)

  Level: 38

  Strength: 55

  Dexterity: 50

  Constitution: 49

  Intelligence: 85

  Wisdom: 45

  Charisma: 19

  Unspent Attribute Points: 0

  That was a good feeling. Still magic heavy, sure, but it was expected. My spells and animal forms were important. No new abilities, but I did suddenly have an awareness of the work around me that I hadn’t felt before. Weird.

  “Fainnir, did you level up?” I called to the heavily breathing dwarf.

  “Aye!” I looked over to see that he had collapsed onto the ground, his chest heaving up and down as he tried to catch his breath.

  “Go ahead and put your points where you need them, then. We’re here if you have questions or need advice.” I tried to recall correctly whether people here got the same as the animals or if they got less. I thought it was less. “How many points do you get per level, Fainnir?”

  His head whipped around and he stared at me as though I were daft. “I get two to spend by me self, and a single point tha’ goes where it will.”

  “Sorry if that’s a weird question.” I backpedaled a little, need to throw suspicion. “See, when Muu got to level five, he got more points than the rest of us to spend on weapon proficiencies. Oh, damn, did I not make that clear?”

  He blinked and fiddled with his status screen and smiled when he got to the screen he desired, “Looks like I get two on account of my Dwarven Proficiency. But it looks like it’ll only work if it’s used for axes.”

  I glanced at Balmur, who shrugged and fiddled with his own status screen. “Doesn’t look like I have it.”

  “Might be because your people are more proficient with different kinds of weapons, cousin.” Fainnir shrugged as he sat up. “Do your people pass down weapons as a rite of passage?”

  Balmur shook his head. “Not that I can recall, no.”