With Perihy and Vindicator Dita at her side, she followed six Blackguards down into the Keep’s bowels. Ihuet, Khafra, Neferna, and Perihy were behind her. Six more Blackguards brought up the rear.
Bakui Assam’s voice had trembled with rage when he demanded her presence in the Comm Orb message. Yet, she had no fear. She was calm. Serene.
When the guards marched toward the dungeon’s torture chambers, cold fingers slid down Setnana’s spine. For a moment she considered ordering those with her to attack and for her men upstairs to fight. She and her people could flee. But where would we go? She shook off the idea. She would see this through. No weakness. Strength always.
The lead guard gestured for them to enter the chamber. When the group complied, only half the guards followed.
Upon entry, Setnana schooled her face to calm at the spectacle before her. Neferna hissed. Dita gasped. Neither Khafra nor Ihuet reacted.
Strapped to racks near the far wall were two of her men. Naked. Sergeants left in charge of the Genesis Engine excavation. They had been stretched unto death, legs soiled by their shit.
Not far from them was Bakui Assam, dressed in black robes that offset his violet skin, his eyes little beads of assessment. But he wasn’t alone.
Exarch Aishani was with him. Her face wore a frown, thin lips downturned. Her buttermilk grand kora skin was paler than usual.
When Bakui Assam spoke, he did so with the leaden weight of his authority. “I am glad you returned, Setnana. Imagine my surprise when I arrive to find you gone, off on some quest to save your son, according to these two. A corrupted son. Or worse, if I am to believe one of them. And why shouldn’t I? When I find holding cells filled with corrupted dvergar.”
Setnana remained quiet. As did everyone else.
“No words, then?” Bakui Assam clasped his hands behind his back. “To add to the madness, I discover the accident with the Engine. But wait.” He held up a finger. “Not an accident. The dvergar attacked you in an attempt to recover their loved ones.” The man’s face darkened. “What were you thinking, you dumb bitch? Your idiocy came at the price of my Engine.”
“I am no one’s bitch.” Setnana’s hands formed fists at her side. She strained to keep her voice even. “And you mean the Black Hand’s Engine, don’t you? Unless… you really mean your Engine, which would explain the absence of Shadows.”
Bakui Assam became livid. “You heaping pile of lupine shit. To whom do you think you speak? You are who I say—”
The man’s face parted at the mouth, a horizontal slit appearing. The upper half of his head fell to one side. Blood splashed Aishani.
Perihy appeared next to Bakui Assam’s corpse even as it thudded to the ground. His Mirage was still beside Setnana.
The guards made to move, but Perihy was faster still. In a blur of motion, he was among them, katars flashing, lightning energy crackling from his storm lance. He, himself, was a storm.
Setnana turned to the door. The first guard who poked his head inside caught a Nether Lance to the face. Fighting erupted from outside as Khafra, Ihuet, and the rest of her men joined the fray.
It was over in seconds. All of Bakui Assam’s men were dead.
“That went smoother than I anticipated.” Setnana hawked and spat on Bakui Assam’s corpse.
“What have you done?” Aishani was standing with her hand covering her mouth, eyes like saucers.
“What have I done, my dear?” Setnana smiled grimly. “I have begun the thing we dreamed of. Made the first step. Which was to take his place as Exarch.”
Aishani was shaking her head. “But Benediction. The cure. We needed it to proceed. And with the Genesis Engine—”
“We have a Benediction.” Setnana gestured to Dita, who produced the zhua. “We have the cure. I will inform the Fingers. They will be pleased to know we can match the Coalition on that front. I will also tell them of the Genesis Engine, so they can send Shadows to collect it. Gifting the Engine to them, and my deed here, should let them see our value.”
Aishani was frowning. “You keep mentioning the Engine. You really don’t know, do you?”
“Know what?”
“Follow me.” With those words, Aishani led them through the dungeon to the chasm.
When they reached the chasm’s edge, Setnana saw that glimmerwands illuminated the bottom. There were numerous bones. The Genesis Engine was nothing more than a shattered cylinder and dented or broken struts.
“How?” Setnana began.
“That was the same thing we asked.” Aishani shrugged. “We concluded the Engine must have exploded when the men were trying to dig it out. Your men said that wasn’t the case.
“When we arrived, we found them upstairs. Or what remained of them. They were deathly afraid of the dungeon, claiming some monster was down here. They blamed it for the bones. We placed men here and waited but saw no sign of any creature.”
Setnana found herself thinking about the drake. Had it survived? It couldn’t have. Not buried under all that rubble. She dismissed the thought. Of more importance was the destroyed Engine.
For all of a second she considered not telling the Fingers. But a part of her knew they would find out eventually. And they would send Shadows for an entirely different reason.
“When the Fingers ask, we blame this on Bakui Assam,” she said. “I will tell them that I assumed he had informed them of the Engine, and I was simply following orders by bringing it here. I do not know how it was destroyed, but once I realized Bakui had not revealed its presence to them, I recognized his betrayal. I slew him for it.”
She smiled. Yes, that story will work. It most certainly will. She saw it all clearly now. She would move up in the Ranks of the Hand, and was well on her way in the Road to Kalarch.
CHAPTER 38
In ethereal form, Sidrie stood outside the strange doorway atop the Crypts. Void Gate, read the symbols carved above the door. The symbols nor the door no longer glowed as they did when Frost and Gilda had gone inside.
Sidrie had tried to step inside, but she’d merely passed through and ended up on the other side of the wall within the Crypts itself. That room was a Guardian area, featuring a low level draconid general.
“Why isn’t it working?” Grinding her jaw, she tried again.
“It’s the protocols,” Zhi Yin said through voice chat. “They’re rejecting you.”
Sidrie glared at the Void Gate. Another protocol transfer into Frost and Gilda was the very reason she’d ended up here. The glare became a frown.
“Zhi, check every dungeon to see if there are more of these Void Gates.”
Minutes passed.
“Yes, Miss Malikah, there are more. Dozens of them.”
“Let me guess. We cannot penetrate any of them with surveillance.”
“We can’t,” Zhi confirmed.
“Your job, and the job of every tech we have, is to find a way in.”
“Yes, Miss Malikah.”
She craved to find out what the gate hid. She had an idea, more of a hope, a fervent wish, but she tempered it as she had learned to do over the years. An idea came to her. Perhaps she could find another use for Alphonso’s clone. Maybe it could help solve this mystery.
“Miss Malikah.”
“Yes, Zhi?”
“Dr. Redmond just called in. He said you’re to come immediately.”
Sidrie arched a brow at the demand. At the same time, she knew whatever had the man speaking out of character had to be serious. With a thought, she logged out of the game.
CHAPTER 39
Early the next morning, Frost, Gilda, Dante, and Meritus landed outside the underground home of the Kaigake dvergar. Elder Agnar and several other dvergar waited at the main tunnel entrance, the Elder’s long silver hair and beard standing out amon
g his peers. All of the dvergar wore black.
A notification popped up in IM.
Servers will be brought offline in 30 minutes for an update. Get to a safe location.
“I hope everyone saw that,” Frost said in group chat as he dismounted. “Let’s at least get this done before shutdown.”
“In position on the ridge overlooking the keep,” Saba said. “Place looks abandoned. I haven’t seen a soul. Ryne and I’ll keep watch in case anyone shows up.”
“Alright.” Frost strode toward the dvergar.
“We are honored by your presence, Emissary Frost.” Elder Agnar bowed. “I did not expect you to return.”
“First, just call me Frost. Second, I gave my word that I’d come back to cure your corrupted.”
The Elder’s head bobbed up and down. “Pyrini be praised.”
“Lead the way.” Frost gestured to the cave entrance.
He also had another more pressing reason for his return: the chance of getting his hands on the Genesis Engine. He knew it was a long shot. Most likely Setnana had recovered the machine from the cave-in. But it was worth a look to be certain. Not for the first time he found himself wondering if RnB had somehow lived.
They made their way down into the belly of the dvergr home by way of the braziers, the scent of burning dragonwood filling the air. The Elders brought them to a large room occupied by several dozen corrupted.
On one side were those who were docile or enfeebled by the Gray Death. On the other were those chained to a wall. They seemed more beast than dvergr, often growling and snarling.
“There were some who transformed completely.” Elder Agnar gestured to the corrupted. “They became draconids or void beasts. We were forced to kill them, but a few escaped. We were able to track them north until they entered Puria.”
“Meritus, you and Dante handle things here.” Frost nodded to the corrupted in need of healing. “I’m gonna check for the Engine with Gilda.”
“Alright.” Meritus headed toward the docile dvergar with Dante following.
“Elder Agnar, is there a way through the mines and into the dungeons other than the tunnels we destroyed?” He’d sneak in through the keep itself if he had to, but it wouldn’t hurt to inquire about an easier way.
“Yes, there is.” The Elder beckoned to a dvergr, who ambled over. “Scout Paedar will show you the way. But be careful, there might be corrupted or worse down there.”
“No prob. After you, Paedar.” Frost gestured for the scout to take the lead.
After an uneventful trip, they stood in the keep’s musty central dungeon within the glare of Frost and Gilda’s glimmerwands. The place was empty. Still hopeful, Frost treaded over to the chasm where the Genesis Engine had fallen.
He held up the glimmerwand, but the fissure was too deep for him to see the bottom. Frost retrieved another glimmerwand from his inventory, activated it, and threw the radiant stick down into the hole. He took another and tossed it a dozen or more feet from the first.
The glimmerwands spun end over end for what seemed an eternity, illuminating rocky walls and dirt. They clattered to the bottom, the sound echoing. The light revealed a host of white things strewn about the bottom.
“Are those bones?” Gilda asked from beside Frost.
“Looks that way.” Frost squinted. “Yeah. Definitely bones. I see a few skulls.”
Gilda pointed. “Found the Engine.”
His gaze followed her finger. Jutting up from the rubble was the shattered remains of the Genesis Engine. The struts were bent or broken. Half the cylinder was missing.
10 minutes until server shutdown.
Frost sighed heavily. “Ah well, now we know.” He offered a silent prayer for RnB.
“Hey, Frost,” Saba said. “You have got to come up here and see this.”
“On my way.” Frost trudged back toward the mines.
As he and Gilda made their way outside, Frost couldn’t help the feeling that they’d missed a golden opportunity. The Genesis Engine would have given them the upper hand. Particularly with the group being on WaR’s KOS list.
Meritus was done curing the dvergar by the time Frost got back to his friend. Save The Kaigake Dvergar completed, granting twenty-five thousand exp and a thousand LDC. They said their goodbyes and prepared to leave.
5 minutes until server shutdown.
“You really need to hurry up,” Saba implored. “Like, get up here ASAP.”
Curiosity piqued, Frost led the way out at a jog. They mounted and flew above the ridge.
Saba was waving frantically to them from a spot to their far left. “Up there.” She pointed to where a cliff rose from the ridge to form a steppe.
60 seconds until server shutdown.
“What is it?” Frost asked.
“Just go. Hurry. But be careful.”
Frost directed his drake up the cliff. His mount cleared the top, giving him a good vantage of a large opening set against another cliff face. Frost gasped. His heart became a drum.
A massive red and black creature basked in the sun. Void energy radiated around it.
“Fuck me,” Meritus exclaimed. “That’s a damn baby void dragon.”
“That’s RnB.” Frost landed on the steppe.
The server shutdown.
******
Dre woke to bright lights and hands helping him from the pod. He took a minute or two to get his bearings and steady himself. A tech passed coveralls to him. Dre stepped into the clothes and zipped them up.
It was at that moment he realized Dr. Redmond was there with the tech. The doctor’s face was deathly serious.
Dre’s chest tightened. One thing came to mind. “What’s going on? Is Mom okay?”
“Your mother went into premature labor.”
The End of The Forsaken Crypts
<<<<>>>>
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Copyright
The Forsaken Crypts is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Golden Arm Press
Copyright © October 2019 Terry C. Simpson All rights reserved
Mapwork by Terry C. Simpson
Cover Art by Terry C. Simpson
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ISBN 978-1-939172-24-2
KINDLE edition
The Forsaken Crypts Page 35