by David Burke
Kyle mentally kicked himself. He needed to keep referring to Raina as Meeka in his head, otherwise he might slip in front of the team. He hated keeping secrets from the team, though. More than that, he was angry with Raina… er, Meeka… for putting him in this position. He just couldn’t shake the feeling that the benefits outweighed the risks.
He could imagine what Hilde would have to say about it, if she were still inside his head.
With Kierra and Gilthan scouting, Nyda busy, and Hilde gone, that left only Skrug. The powerful dire troll was not exactly the best choice for a mission where collateral damage to the mine was to be avoided. The expression ‘bull in a China shop’ came to mind.
Although Kyle could handle this on his own, he was trying to make a point of connecting better with the team. It would be good for him to spend some time with Skrug. The man was definitely not a rocket scientist, but at least he could speak in complete sentences now—well, mostly.
As Kyle walked downstairs to the kitchen, where Skrug spent most of his non-training time, Meeka followed him. He looked back at her over his shoulder. “I’m not ready to talk about this anymore.”
“I was just going to say that if your team is stretched a bit thin today, I could come along as back up,” the succubus in disguise said.
Kyle didn’t say anything and instead, kept walking. She continued to follow, but at least remained quiet. When he saw Skrug, the troll dropped the sheep leg he been raising to his mouth and stood up.
Kyle was just glad that the meat was at least roasted. “Hey, big guy, wanna go monster hunting with me?” Kyle asked, while the troll scrambled to wipe mutton grease off his face.
“Boss man, no need ask. Boss man tell Skrug where go. Skrug go there. Boss man say what to fight. Skrug bash what boss man say bash.”
Far from refined, what Skrug lacked in social graces, he made up for with loyalty.
“Okay, well,” Kyle chuckled, “if you are done eating, we need to go kill a monster that is attacking a salt mine. It is a few miles away, so we will need to travel quickly.”
“Mmm, salt. Skrug like salt. Bad monster should no take Skrug’s salt.”
“Exactly. Are you ready to go?”
The dire troll looked around a bit for the weapon Kyle had made for him. It was his most prized belonging, and he never went anywhere without it, even bringing it with him to the large bathing facilities which were attached to the guild hall. The two of them headed out the guildhall’s front gate and ran along at a pace that would eat up the miles. Skrug was nowhere near as fast as Kierra, so keeping up with him was no problem, and it was easiest just to let him set the pace.
They made it through the city gate without any trouble. The Governor must have left instructions with the watch to leave them be, because they weren’t stopped or questioned. Not that any of the guards could realistically hope even to hold them back, but anything that reduced nuisances was welcome.
Kyle could detect the presence that followed them out the gates. He knew Raina would have no problem slipping past the guards undetected. With her wings, he didn’t doubt she’d be able to keep up with them. Hopefully, this wasn’t a mistake.
The mine was twelve miles outside of town. At their pace they would make it there within half an hour, not including the time they spent stopping to question witnesses. The reaction they got from the people they questioned was almost comical.
Kyle knew he was intimidating enough, at eight feet tall and full of muscle, but Skrug was something else. Most of the groups they came across tried to avoid them. And truthfully, Kyle understood why. The dire troll definitely looked like a monster. Then, after that initial fear and panicked reaction, the relief and gratefulness that they expressed upon learning the nature of Kyle’s mission was a complete transformation.
If nothing else, it all amused him.
The entire time, their shadow followed about half a mile behind them. If they slowed down, so did she, and when they sped up, she did likewise. Kyle thought about ordering her to go back. On the one hand, if she obeyed him, it would be a point in her favor, since she’d have demonstrated she could listen and obey—but Kyle wasn’t training a pet. He needed to know how she would react in more volatile situations. Most importantly, he needed to understand her motivations. Trust was out of the question, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t work together.
As they got close to the mine, they came across groups of miners and support staff who were trying to make their way back to Nargossa. The first few groups were unharmed, so Kyle assumed they’d gotten out and away without being caught up in the attack.
The next wave was of individuals with minor injuries. They had a number of cuts, scrapes, and bruises. Logically, they were probably the ones who been present when the monster first burst into the caves where they were mining salt. Based on the limited descriptions they got, the monster was described as a green lizard.
But they were half descriptions, at best. Even eyewitnesses were hardly reliable.
When they arrived at the mine’s entrance, Kyle found a number of bodies torn to shreds. Humans, elves, even horses. Nothing had been left alive. The entrance to the mine was made up of massive stone blocks which had been worked decades before to secure this lucrative location. Those same stones had been scored by giant claws.
Kyle was actually looking forward to this. As excited as he was for a good fight, he still wasn’t an idiot. He sent his senses deep into the mine. It wouldn’t do to charge in blindly. Then he sensed it. A presence that he could identify. This wasn’t just a monster. This was a being that he recognized.
He turned to Skrug, “Back up and be ready to strike if you see an opening, but this enemy is beyond you.”
Skrug was a true warrior and only nodded his assent as he pulled back. As Kyle looked around for the best place to set up, he saw the troll pull out his weapon. It was the vorpal axe that he had forged for Skrug from the dwarven metals. That gave him an idea.
Holding up one hand, he focused on the axe. He pulled into himself all the death essence around him, of which there was plenty. This many brutal deaths, in such a confined space, had generated a ton of it. He filtered it through himself, or rather, through the splinter in him which made him a demi-god of death. This was an ability that he’d not developed enough, but now was as good a time as any to start rectifying that oversight. Kyle refined the death essence by stripping away any impurities and concentrating it as tightly as possible.
Then, he bound it with his war essence and wove the two into a tight lattice of power. He imbued the axe’s blade with the power of the effect. He wasn’t sure how long it would last, but it should be a significant upgrade to Skrug’s axe.
Alterations have been made to a soul bound weapon by the deity who bestowed the weapon in the first place.
Divine Forged Razor Axe: the blade never dulls and so long as the god who created it is alive it can never be broken. The blade has a vorpal effect. Additionally, it will automatically cut through any magical barrier of Mortal Tier. The chance to cut through higher tier magical barriers is reduced by 20% per tier.
The weapon has a new aspect—Death Edge.
Death Edge: a cutting edge of Death Essence extends a foot beyond the edge of the blade and has a life withering effect.
This weapon can only be bestowed upon one wielder and not used by any other while the owner is still alive. The owner gains STR: +4 and CON: +4 while holding this weapon.
That was definitely a significant upgrade in cutting power, stat boosts, and defense penetration. And the new aspect sounded cool. Only time would tell how well Skrug could use it. One thing was for sure—it resonated with his nature as an earth infused dire troll.
Kyle dropped his hand. “Your weapon should be able to hurt the enemy this time,” Kyle told Skrug. “I believe our foe is the same dragon that we fought in the arena back in Thena... but he is in for a surprise this time.
Kyle turned and yelled
into the mine, “Barak, you might as well come out. I’m not going to chase a snake into its hole.”
A thunderous roar erupted from inside the mine. There was no doubt the dragon had heard him. Kyle stepped back and, since he hadn’t found a suitable bit of cover, he raised up a wall of earth in front of himself. The demi-god would tear through it, but hopefully it would protect Kyle from the attack he anticipated would come first.
Soon enough, he sensed Barak charging up through the mine. He was causing a great deal of damage, but Kyle didn’t care about the mine. He had even considered fighting the dragon inside it. Doing so would have deprived the dragon of flight, but it also would have allowed their enemy to choose the site of battle, which was never a good idea.
Either in baseball or in combat, home field advantage was a real thing. More than that, who knew what traps Barak might have placed down there?
A second later a great jet of golden flame burst out of the mine’s entrance—just as Kyle had predicted. And, just as he’d hoped, his wall of earth absorbed the attack. The instant the flames stopped; Kyle charged around his stone wall with his soul bound weapon back in its lance form.
Barak wasn’t able to get fully clear of the mine’s entrance before Kyle sank his lance into the creature's massive flank. Still, the flame had bought Barak enough time that when he jerked in pain, the dragon crushed the rest of the opening before leaping into the sky. His blood dripped to the ground, where it sizzled.
As the dragon came around in the air, Kyle could see that Barak's wound was already closing. He would have to hit him harder to cause a lasting injury. Truthfully, he wanted to see how far he had come lately. This was certainly the battle to do so. A part of him worried that he shouldn’t be this excited, but he pushed the concerned voice to the back of his mind and exulted in the rush of battle.
“Pretend, god, I see Raina hasn’t kept up her end of the bargain. She was supposed to have weakened you by now. If anything, you are stronger,” Barak growled. “Maybe… It’s hard to say. Something is muting your aura.”
“Stop your yammering and fight, you overgrown lizard. Or is that all your mouth is good for?” Kyle shouted back.
Although he could take the battle to the sky, he would prefer to draw the beast down to him. Especially with Skrug in reserve. For all that Barak screeched in the sky, though, he didn’t take the bait. Instead, he collected a bunch of energy. Kyle could feel the Sky Essence gathering.
Barak apparently had a tremendous amount of Sky Essence at his command, which was particularly impressive given his parentage. Kyle’s senses hadn’t been refined enough to recognize it before, and it was surprising, given that Barak was the son of his older brother, Lige, the god of justice.
If Barak had this much Sky Essence, Kyle had to wonder just what he could do with Justice Essence.
Then, the spell took form and a deadly twister descended from a cloud free sky in an instant. The wind whipped around at speeds that had to be well over 300 miles per hour. It was enough to rip up everything around Kyle—whether or not it had deep roots or was even bolted down, like the mine’s track rails . Worse, everything that the twister lifted began to spin around. With the incredible force of this vortex behind it, even small rocks became deadly weapons.
But Kyle had more than sufficient earth essence to bind himself and Skrug to the ground firmly enough that no tornado could ever dislodge him. His armor protected him from rocks striking with the force of bullets. Even so, his head was uncovered, so he spun his lance faster than they eye could follow to create a shield which stopped anything headed his way.
Kyle wondered how Barak would integrate his father’s element into the spell. Ah, there it was—Kyle started to see golden streaks in the storm. They weren’t visible to mortal eyes, but he recognized Justice Essence for what it was, even in these infinitesimally small quantities. So far, Justice and Lust Essence were the only ones that Kyle didn’t possess, but that didn’t mean he was blind to them.
Barak shouted out, his voice somehow carrying over the storm. “Now, you will face your final judgment as a pretender. Storms of wind and water may scour the land clean, but justice shall scour your corruption from this world. You are a pretender, and I will not tolerate your lies any longer. This world needs to be cleansed and I shall begin with you.”
Kyle prepared a deadly attack to answer this, but first wanted to see just how much power the demi-god could bring to bear. The storm and debris swirled around him, but Kyle took the brunt of its fury and stood firm. He could feel more justice essence being worked into the twister as it swirled about him, like a saw trying to cut through his defenses.
Kyle resisted. He spun his lance, but eventually just opted to shift his soul bound weapon to a massive shield. Defense was as important as offense, and he wanted to show this demi-god that he couldn’t be moved.
He was a god. It was not within Barak’s power to judge him. This needed to be established first, then the fool could be dealt with. It wasn’t enough for him to bring Barak down, Kyle wanted—no, he needed—the dragon to know the folly of his beliefs.
Then, seemingly for no reason, Barak dove at a spot a couple hundred feet to Kyle’s left.
Chapter 15 - Older Foes
The storm dissipated almost instantly, and Kyle looked on in confusion as the great dragon demi-god attacked an empty wagon. He took it in his mouth and crushed it, but then continued biting down on it. Barak shook his head like a terrier shaking a rat, all the while growling in victory.
Then Kyle’s senses revealed the truth. Barak was being affected by Deceit Essence. It was subtle and so well done, that he hadn’t felt it at first, and obviously, the demi-god was deceived. The distraction created enough of an opening for Skrug to charge forward.
A battle cry burst from his lips, “No take Skrug’s salt!”
As lame as the battle cry was, the fire troll’s attack was anything but lame. The huge troll was strong enough to leap high enough to come down on Barak’s back. That seemed to break the spell which had been distracting the great dragon, but it was too late for Barak to dodge. Skrug’s axe was already descending.
The divinely empowered weapon cut into the wing and triggered the vorpal effect. The dragon bucked and threw Skrug from his back, but more than just the troll flew off his back. His right wing had been severed at the spot it connected to his back. Green blood poured out and Kyle wasn’t about to give him a chance to recover.
“Raina, you betrayed me!” the dragon bellowed before Kyle’s lance drove through his armored scales and punctured a lung.
Kyle only paused long enough to allow a portion of his mind to check on Skrug. The dire troll was still alive and, though injured, would be back in the fight momentarily.
A wheezing Barak sent his great tail lashing out at Kyle. The lance was a perfect weapon for piercing dragon armor, but not so good for blocking a tail strike. Still, Kyle could shift it at the speed of thought, and he was only an instant too slow as he reformed it into an axe. Barak’s tail battered Kyle, sending him flying, but took a glancing blow from the axe, nearly severing it.
The time it took Kyle to shake himself off and stand back up was enough for Barak to draw out a small crystal from some interdimensional space. Kyle wasn’t sure where it had been hiding on the dragon, but there it was, all the same. It probably was not tiny but only looked small in the dragon’s claws. Barak crushed it and suddenly, a blue haze appeared.
He called out in a raspy croak while coughing up blood from his punctured lung, “Honor our agreement. Come to my aid and you may claim any of his essence you can gather.”
The blue haze took shape—deadly shape that Kyle was also familiar with—as what looked like a floating orb with tentacles came into view. Except it wasn’t actually floating, it had three long spidery legs holding it up. Even worse, it wasn’t alone. Behind it, a second Aekor took shape and began to move with the first one to flank Kyle.
Scrambling unde
rneath the two Aekors was what Kyle now knew to be offshoots of the monsters. They had the bodies of lizardmen, with scales and jagged spikes coming off their bodies at odd angles. Instead of a head they had a single stalk with an eyeball the size of a baseball atop it. They all wielded sawtooth-edge swords and wore banded splint armor.
Fortunately, by now Skrug was up and had rejoined the battle.
Kyle shouted to him, “Keep the small ones off me and I will handle the big ones.”
Then, without another word, he leapt horizontally so powerfully, he might as well have been flying along the ground. His lance plunged into Barak’s chest and perforated the great dragon’s heart. Only the demi-god’s powerful essence allowed him to cling to life.