by Dante King
The world itself suddenly felt like it had split in half, and I was blinded by a dazzling flare of the brightest light I’d ever seen. Next thing I knew, what felt like a Jotunn’s dropkick hit me and smashed me down through the deck, through the cabin below that, and into the hold at the very bottom of the ship.
For a few moments I just lay there, pressed against the hull, splintered and shattered wood lying all around me. A shrill whining screamed monotonously in my ears. The shield lay a couple of yards away, battered and twisted and glowing red hot. There was a biting sting in my palms. When I looked down, I saw that my hands had been burned where they’d been holding the shield. Without all the Death energy I’d summoned last minute, I certainly would have been fried to a crisp. It had been a lightning strike that had hit me, I was sure of that, but this was no ordinary lightning strike. It was magic lightning, sent by the Warlock. The ugly son of a bitch was stronger than I’d thought.
Anna-Lucielle was the first to get to me.
“Vance!” she gasped. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I grunted, sitting up and dusting myself off.
“My ears are ringing, it sounded like the world was ending! What happened?”
“That was the Warlock,” I said. “And I have a feeling that that was only a taste of what he’s capable of. Prepare yourself, because Yeng is gonna be one hell of a ride.”
Chapter Nineteen
Three days passed without any more sightings of the Warlock or the Transcendent Sails, and we approached Gongxiong Harbor at dusk. The pirate crew spent these calm days repainting all our fleet’s sails. In place of the Church of Light’s white sails with the golden sun sigil, and the pirates’ plain black sails, all eight ships’ were now black with a gray skull sigil.
The Temple of Necrosis had officially come to Yeng.
Before we entered the westernmost port, we sailed through a fascinating bay where hundreds of tall, steep karst mountains jutted from the water. The rock was covered with dense green vegetation, producing the effect of gentle abundance. The land beyond the bay was just as mountainous and richly green, and the setting sun added a sizzling orange fire to their tops that stretched all the way to the end of the horizon.
The bay was filled with curious-looking fishing junks. They were long and curved, like brown bananas in the water. They had small square sails, and paper lanterns in tones of red hung from their masts. When we finally entered the harbor at the end of the bay, we saw more fishing boats, some Yengish and even Prandish merchant ships. There were also a couple of Yengish warships moored some distance from the main quay. Their sails were red, with a stylized gold dragon sigil. This, Rami-Xayon told me, was the sigil of the Glorious Emperor of Yeng. The warships didn’t come out to meet us; they didn’t even seem to be manned.
The town of Gongxiong reminded me a little of Lough Harbor back in Prand, with the tight-packed jumble of buildings. The buildings here were very different, though: the yellow-and-red-tiled roofs curved up in grand gestures off their eaves, and there were similar-looking awnings above the doors and windows. Other ramshackle buildings and market stalls were constructed with bamboo and woven roofs and walls of dry palm leaves. Crisscrossing paper lantern festoons gave the town a pleasantly welcoming atmosphere.
When we were finally mooring our ships, however, we saw that the marketplace was anything but lively. There were only a couple of vendors and a handful of people strolling among the stalls. Some were dressed in flowing robes of brightly colored silk, which seemed to be standard attire for the rich locals. Others were dressed in simple white shirts and brown pants; it was so regular it almost looked like a uniform.
Despite Gongxiong’s pleasant looks, an atmosphere of gloom and hopelessness pervaded the place. When the sun set and darkness settled across the town, I saw lightning raging in the black distance above the far horizon, and a howling gale began to blow. Even Zhenwan didn’t seem too happy to be back home. But he had pledged to accompany me as translator and general assistant to thank me for saving his life, so this was exactly where he had to be.
Rami-Xayon and Zhenwan had suggested that we split the party up and leave the undead army on the ships for the time being. I didn’t want to hide my presence here, but I also didn’t want the Emperor of Yeng to feel like I was bringing an invading army to his shores.
Zhenwan explained that there were two main roads to the City of Jewels where the Glorious Emperor’s Forbidden Palace was located. Each road passed through a different part of Yeng, and Rami-Xayon, Elyse, and Isu would take one, while I, Zhenwan, Anna-Lucielle, Friya, and Layna would take the other. Along the way, we would pick up whatever clues and information we could find. I’d ordered Drok and Rollar to stay on the ships with Percy and the pirates, in case anyone came and caused any trouble. As for my undead sea creatures, they would remain hidden in the depths of the bay.
Before any of us could disembark, some sort of government official and two burly warriors approached my ship. The official was a rail-thin fellow in his fifties with a long, drooping mustache in the same style as the Warlock’s. He wore a red silk robe with baggy sleeves, and a big, broad, white cloth hat of an elaborate design. His long, thin fingers were covered with jeweled rings, and barely concealed malice gleamed in his small black eyes.
The warriors’ armor was quite different from our Prandish plate and chainmail. It was made of thick, ridged sections of leather mixed with fluted sections of steel, all painted red, topped with full-face steel helms fashioned into the shape of aggressive faces. Their weaponry consisted of katanas, bows, and long poleaxes with thick, curved blades.
“Greetings to you, foreign traveler.” The thin man stroked the ends of his long mustaches and smiled condescendingly.
“Hello,” I said. “We’ve come to Yeng to see about purchasing some of your fine wares.” I didn’t want to get on the wrong side of this man because it might impede my quest.
“Are you here on business or pleasure, foreigner?” the man asked.
“A little of both,” I said. “But I’m no merchant, and I’m not bringing any goods ashore to sell, so if you’re trying to milk me for import duties or you’re fishing for a bribe, you can look elsewhere.”
“These are troubled times, foreigner,” he said, still smiling, “and whatever business you intend to conduct here, no matter how inconsequential you may feel it may be, must be declared in full to the Birds of the Glorious Emperor. Your business is our Glorious Emperor’s business, from the moment you step off that ship onto Yengish soil. No matter who you may have been in your land, you are subject to our Glorious Emperor’s laws.”
“And you’re one of his ‘Birds,’ right?”
“I am one of many.” The man bowed. “The Glorious Emperor has eyes and ears all across this majestic continent. So tell me, foreigner, who are you, and what is your business here? No more wordplay, no more games.”
Before I could say anything else, Rami-Xayon stepped forward and spoke to the official in a curt tone, jabbering at him in rapid-fire Yengish. The smug smile quickly faded from the man’s face, and a look of contempt entered his eyes as he stared at me. Still, he stiffened up, folded his arms defiantly across his chest, and muttered something to Rami-Xayon. Without another word to me, he turned and strode briskly away with his two thugs in tow.
“What did you tell him?” I asked Rami-Xayon.
“I explained that I was the Goddess of Wind, returned at last to the land of my birth, and that you were the great God of Death, leading me and the others on a quest upon which the fate of the world itself depends, and that he risked bringing our combined divine anger on his foolish head if he continued to antagonize us with his petty questions.”
I chuckled. “That’s a good way to put it. What did he say?”
“He said that he was too busy to waste time on nutjobs, but that the Glorious Emperor would be informed that some foreign madman and his lackeys had landed on his shores, claiming to be gods.”
�
�He’ll find out what’s the truth soon enough. At least you got him off my back though. Thanks.”
“Come, let’s head to the Five Phoenixes. It’s a tavern in Gongxiong. I know the owner well, and if there’s any recent news from my family, he’ll have it.”
“I think we could all use a drink on land after all that time at sea.”
We all disembarked and set off on foot through Gongxiong. Its cobbled streets were as eerily quiet as the harbor market. I suspected the chaos caused by the Warlock and his Spirit of Prosperity cult had spread to this part of Yeng.
The market extended quite far out into town. The sights and smells were all quite different to those I was used to back in Prand. Even the food and culture of the northern barbarians seemed more familiar to me than what I saw here. Strange-looking, colorful dishes with bizarre aromas abounded, as did all sorts of weird potions. There were a great number of aromatic spices, many of which I’d never heard of. Some stalls sold jewelry and ornaments of jade and ivory, carved into impossibly intricate designs. The local artists and craftsmen were legendary for their attention to detail, and it was fascinating to see this in the flesh.
Eager vendors offered liquor bottles containing the dead bodies of poisonous serpents pickled in wine, roasted body parts of exotic creatures I couldn’t even identify, and skewers with spiced scorpions and spiders. While I wasn’t too keen to sample the spiders and scorpions, Layna wolfed down anything offered to her, no matter how bizarre.
We reached the Five Phoenixes tavern after around half an hour of walking. It was a small, cramped place, with gentle illumination provided by a sea of tiny paper lanterns. Since the place was empty when we arrived, we had plenty of space. The barkeep was a stout, matronly lady, with a friendly cast to her face, which lit up when she saw Rami-Xayon.
She rushed out from behind the counter to embrace Rami-Xayon, who jumped into the woman’s flabby arms and flung her arms around her neck.
“Tong-Tong!” Rami-Xayon said.
They jabbered in Yengish for a while, before Rami-Xayon introduced me and the rest of the party to her.
“My my, what a handsome god you are!” Tong-Tong looked me up and down. “My Rami certainly has good taste in men. When are you two getting married? You’ll produce gorgeous babies, and many of them!”
“Uh. . .” I hadn’t exactly thought of children, and I was tongue tied for the first time in a good while.
“Here in Yeng an important, powerful man—god, I mean—is expected to have many wives and concubines!” Tong-Tong continued.
I had to chuckle at her enthusiasm. This was a woman who, within seconds of meeting me, already felt like an aunt who’d known me all my life.
“Sounds like I’d fit in here,” I said to the matron.
“You should stay here in Yeng, all of you,” Tong-Tong said. Then, as she continued, the smile melted from her face and she sighed sadly. “Everyone else is fleeing. Look at this place! No customers for the third night in a row. Gongxiong is becoming a ghost town. And even with this steep drop in business over the last few months, the Glorious Emperor’s tax collectors still hound us relentlessly and do their utmost to squeeze every last drop from us. I’ve owned this tavern for three decades now, but it’s looking more and more like I’m going to have to abandon it. I can’t afford to keep it going anymore.”
I opened my purse and pulled out a couple gold coins.
“I’d like to buy a drink,” I said as I dropped the gold coins into her hand. “Whatever you recommend, Tong-Tong.”
“I’ve got some excellent ales behind the counter,” she said, “but I don’t have nearly enough money to give you change for this!”
“Keep it.”
She stared at me. “But this is more than enough to pay for several barrels of ale.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I said with a smile.
“Thank you, Vance, thank you!” She gripped me in a tight bear hug, tears welling up in her eyes. “Come, sit, all of you—drinks for all, after your long voyage!”
My party and I took a seat around the largest table in the venue while Tong-Tong went to get us all drinks.
“Your aunt seems fun,” I said to Rami-Xayon.
She chuckled and nodded. “She was always my favorite relative growing up.” Rami-Xayon’s expression turned serious. “When we were talking in Yengish, she told me she’s very worried about my parents. She heard reports that the Warlock’s reptilian creatures were ransacking villages near their home, and she hasn’t heard from my parents in weeks. I need to go straight there and see if they’re all right. I’m worried sick now, and so is she. There are also some Wind temples in that area, and I need to see if I can rally what’s left of my former worshipers to gain some more powers for our upcoming battles.”
“I get that. Family comes first. If my father had still been around, I’d have done the same for him.”
“You’ll have some extra help in Yeng,” Rami-Xayon said. “Tong-Tong also told me that my sister, Yumo, has returned after a long enjarta mission. Tong-Tong will send a sparrow to tell her to meet you on the road in a day or two.”
“A sparrow?”
“You know, the little brown birds. We use trained sparrows in Yeng to fly short messages across distances. We tie tiny scrolls around their legs. The birds know where to go.”
“Interesting, but I think I’ll stick to my harpy when it comes to flying.”
“I’ll accompany you, Rami-Xayon,” Elyse said. “Even if you’re making a detour to your parents’ place.”
“I’ll also come along, as planned,” Isu said.
With that settled, we chatted over drinks about our plans for Yeng, leaving enough space for banter in the gaps. And then, booming rolls of thunder and a howling wind appeared out of nowhere and cut our conversation short.
“Another storm.” Tong-Tong sighe. “Even the weather has changed. Thunderstorms like this were once a rarity in Gongxiong. Now they happen every other day. And they seem to be getting stronger all the time too. One of these days my whole tavern’s going to get blown away. If you all want to cram into the two spare rooms upstairs you’re welcome to, but I have to batten down the hatches before the storm hits.”
“We’ll find an inn,” I said. “Judging by how many people we saw about, it shouldn’t be too hard to find enough beds.”
“You’ve got that right,” Tong-Tong said, shaking her head sadly.
I surreptitiously slipped a few more gold coins into Tong-Tong’s pocket before we headed out. Streaks of lightning flickered across the sky, illuminating the deserted port town every few seconds in brief flashes of violet. The wind was so strong we could barely walk against it, and we’d gone too far from the Five Phoenixes to return there.
“This is the work of the Warlock!” I yelled at Rami-Xayon. “You’re the Goddess of Wind; can’t you counter whatever magic he’s using?”
“I’ll try!” she answered.
She balled her hands into fists and scrunched her face as she reached into her core to summon her strongest powers. Then she raised her hands to the sky and blasted two long, madly whirling tornados into the black sky.
Rami-Xayon’s face was contorted into an expression verging on agony, and it didn’t look like she was succeeding at all. She gritted her teeth, intensifying the blast of her twin tornadoes, sweat beaded on her forehead, her limbs started to tremble. Then, just as it seemed as if she’d banished the gale, it came back in brutal force, bowling her over and blowing her twin tornados away completely. The howling hurricane knocked everyone except me off their feet, but even I had to struggle to keep my footing against its power.
“His powers are too great!” Rami-Xayon cried. “The warlock is too strong!”
“Come on, we need to find shelter!” I yelled. “Preferably in a thick stone building. We don’t want to be out here when the lightning strikes again.”
There was a sturdy-looking inn, named the Plump Herons, around fifty yards from us. Although the dista
nce was short, it took us a good ten or fifteen minutes to fight our way there. Once we reached the doors, it took a good five minutes of hammering on them and yelling before anyone heard us over the storm and opened up.
The innkeeper seemed happily surprised to see anyone, and gladly took our coin and showed us to our rooms. While the others went to sleep, I needed to head to a different place, a different plane altogether. The battle against the Transcendent Sails had given me plenty of souls, and I suspected there would be a new skill waiting for me on the Gray Sentinel. Considering how powerful the Warlock was, I couldn’t get this skill soon enough.
As soon as I was alone in my room, I traveled to the Black Plane, and in one gigantic leap I reached the Gray Sentinel. Sure enough, a brand-new skill was glowing in the upper branches, heavy and ripe for the plucking. I jumped vertically upward, soaring like a loosed arrow into the black sky. I landed with acrobatic grace on the branch below the new skill, and when I saw what it was, a broad grin broke across my face.
The three-dimensional image was that of a titan, a monstrous being who made Frost Giants look like shrimps. But this was no ordinary titan; his entire body was made up of hundreds of corpses and bones, human and animal, all stuck together like grotesque building blocks with the power of Death energy.
“A Death Titan,” I murmured. “Nice, very nice.”
Then I grabbed the skill, felt the jolt of the new magic fuse with my soul, then backflipped off the branch and zipped back into the physical present before I hit the ground.
I was sure that the Warlock was looking for me, and that the storm raging outside was directed at me. It was only a matter of time before he discovered where I was and began directing his lightning strikes at this building. In the same manner I had used to strengthen the tower shield with Death energy, I began to fortify the inn’s walls and rooftop.