Into the Hells

by Christopher Johns

  “Thogan, do you wish this as well?”

  The rock-skinned Dwarf stepped forward and took a knee before his queen. “Ah’ve stood as yer loyal champion and protector as I did yer ma. I love ye like ye were me own niece. I would nae leave yer side forever,” he glanced over to Rowland and put a hand on the other smith’s forearm, “but it’s been so long since I’ve known me kin. I wish ta preserve what I know of me culture from when the first Dwarves roamed these mountains. I wish ta pass that stone on to the next generation lest we truly be forgotten.”

  Maebe stood and began to pace in front of me, between the Dwarves and I. She paced for a moment in thought before stopping in front of Thogan.

  “Thogan Swiftaxe, rise.” Thogan did as she bid him. “You have been found guilty of treason against the crown of Winter and Darkness.” The Dwarves gasped, Xiphyre looked ready to fight, and I had to admit that even I stood up in fury. “Your punishment is banishment from my realm and my service in that realm.”

  Thogan’s face broke. He sniffled once and looked as though he may have just lost everything he loved.

  Maebe leaned down and looked him in the eyes, her face calculated and cold. “You are hereby formally banished from my realm and my service—for two years. By this realm’s standards of time.”

  She smiled and kissed his forehead before noticing the tension in the room. “Come now—Thogan served even my mother loyally. He has spilled more blood than even I have in service to the Cold and Dark. He is as much Unseelie as I am now. This was the only way I could justify my allowing him to stay while still maintaining the safety of my people and security of the crown.”

  I blinked a couple times and looked down at Thogan who stood both shocked and seemingly confused.

  “I, uh, thank ye, yer Majesty?” Thogan blustered a moment, then regained his composure and mastery over what had happened. “I’ll use me time well.”

  “Thank you, m’lady.” Rowland looked around happily.

  “Please, leave us. There is little time and much to do before we are to travel I expect—correct, Zeke?” Maebe looked expectantly at me.

  “Yeah, that’s right. We gotta go do a couple things. One involves a Dragon.” I smiled, and Xiphyre’s eyes sparkled dangerously.

  “You mean to do what to this Dragon?” He drifted closer to me on the air. “Will you fight it? Subdue it?” His eyes took on a crazed light. “Kill it?”

  “We will do what we have to do—why are you touching my face?” I growled at the little man, and he seemed unperturbed as he latched on to my cheeks.

  “Bring the scales here if you do manage to kill it. Or old scales. They are difficult to work with, but they can be made into armor and ingredients to potions. Oh! And their scales can be used as components for enchanting.” Xiphyre’s feet were kicking in the air as he fluttered away.

  “I will keep that in mind,” I grunted. “I don’t know what’s going to happen, but with all of this settled, we’ll most likely leave today or tomorrow. We have to resupply, then head out.”

  “Then we will leave. Come then, Rowland. Lemme show ye the way of elder Dwarves!” The younger Dwarf looked ready to keel over, and Thogan just chuckled. “First, a wee nap, eh? Get to yer fox, lad. We’ll pick up tonight afore we drink.”

  The two Dwarves scuttled out of the room, and I watched as Xiphyre simply eyed me while mouthing scales as he exited too.

  A small pair of hands shot out and pulled me close. Maebe’s hug was gentle at first, then insistent. I felt something wet touch my cheek and looked to see her crying.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked with concern.

  “I never thought I would speak that way to Thogan.” She frowned in thought, then collected herself a bit more. “He looked so hurt. I wish there had been another way, but I couldn’t think of anything.”

  “Hey—you did what you had to, to give him what he wanted and to save face with your people. You did what you could. He still cares for you. I saw it!” I brushed her hair away from her eyes. “Hey, why don’t you and I go get something to eat, then buy some new clothes for us both? I know I need to return this axe I borrowed from Rowland.”

  “You go and purchase your things. I will be going to check on the children and let them know I will be gone for a while.” She kissed me fully on the muzzle, and I returned it gently. Then I shifted, and it was not so gently. We were crunching on time here, so I ended it sooner than either of us seemed to want.

  I changed into a fresh pair of clothes—a brown shirt with a pair of black breeches, then decided to shift back so I wouldn’t look like a total stranger to the villagers. It was time to buy more clothes. But first?

  Food.

  * * *

  I had eaten, purchased some new clothes, and was having my old ones laundered as I walked back to the tavern. Rowland had been asleep, so I left the axe I had borrowed on the counter with two gold pieces for him. I even spent Coal’s points for his level up. One point to both strength and dexterity, putting them to twenty-one each, and both his last point and natural point went to constitution, leaving him at a healthy sixteen and 160 HP.

  The others had been chatting and wanted to leave the following day, and I couldn’t blame them. Time passed swiftly today, and some of the villagers were still recovering from the fighting. Jaken had healed them—sure—but that wasn’t enough to stop them from reliving the nightmares of the undead hordes that had kept attacking them for three days.

  I spent the rest of the day observing from the ground or flying above the village, watching the people as they shrank with each flap of my wings. I looked down and was pleased to see the prosthetic had shifted into a perfect mirror of my old feathers except for the colors, which was really damned cool.

  The thermals felt good beneath me, and I turned my thoughts toward what we had been through recently. We had so much to tell Balmur if—when, gods dammit. It was when. We would be getting him back.

  We were almost strong enough that we could go to the Hells and hold our own. Hopefully. Going to see this Dragon was just a way for us to try and ensure that we came out of it without someone else losing an arm or leg.

  I spent some more time mindlessly flying before banking and turning around.

  That night, we partied. It was a proper sending away like we had before going to Maven’s Rock. Rowland had Vilmas, Thogan, and Maebe trying his home-brewed mead. They loved it. Maebe ordered a barrel of it be kept on hand for her to take home if she so wished it, and Rowland gave her his word.

  Vrawn was sullen but understanding that we had to leave. Eventually, everyone ended up going to their rooms or passing out on their own in the tavern’s dining area in chairs, on floors, and benches. One particularly sloshed Dwarf had passed out on a table. It was a wild night.

  Chapter Eight

  I smacked my lips and loosened my tongue as I came to consciousness the following morning. I was immediately greeted by a large draw on my mana pool flowing directly into my right hand. I had 2 MP left after that and the beginnings of a headache.

  “That’s going to suck every morning.” I harrumphed and looked around me. I noted that I was on the floor, to my surprise. I sat up and looked around. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Vilmas lay sprawled out between Vrawn and Maebe on my bed.

  Maebe was awake, stroking the smaller woman’s hair gently, and when she saw me poke my head over the edge of the bed, she smiled at me.

  Last I had remembered, Vilmas had been passed out on the table, and Vrawn had been right next to her on a bench.

  I looked down, felt a hand touching my leg, and noted that Vrawn’s massive hand was on my thigh. I blushed and gently took it from the limb.

  “Party pooper,” she grumbled groggily and then went back to snoring.

  Maebe sank into a pool of shadow, then reached out from beneath the bed to touch me, making me jump. I started to speak, but she held a finger to her lips and pointed up to the two in the bed.

  We snuck out of the room, and
she filled me in, “They came in shortly after you had fallen asleep. They wanted to cuddle, and you simply weren’t having it, so you rolled off the bed and started snoring. They laid down, and you seemed content.”

  “Well, thank you for letting me not be in the center of that. I have a thing about not being able to move freely, so being in a puppy pile like that without knowing beforehand would have freaked me out.”

  “Puppy pile?” She quirked her head in thought, then smiled. “Yes, that fits well.”

  You all eating? I called to the others.

  James, Bokaj, and Jaken are in the dining area at a table with chow, Yohsuke responded. Muu went to go purchase some more potions and other supplies for me. The Chef’s wife, Daliah? She gave us a whole fucking supply of that tea, and she taught me how to make it.

  I grinned—that tea was the shit. We walked out to the dining area, loaded up our plates, and proceeded to wolf down the snackrifice Yoh had thrown together for us with gusto.

  Muu joined us shortly after and handed me five more mana potions, enough to put me back up to ten.

  “That’s all they had this time.” He sighed and bit into some bacon, almost moaning. “Fuck, his bacon is so good.”

  While he chewed noisily, making the fur on my neck stand on end, he pointed to my new arm. “They give you a fake arm?”

  I grinned. “Sure did! Feel it.”

  He reached his bacon-grease covered hand out to me and grasped at my arm curiously. “That’s dope.”

  I flipped him the bird with it and smacked him in his jaw as the others laughed.

  “Real arm, but it required an experience sacrifice.” The others seemed confused. “A whole level’s worth of it—and a mana sacrifice daily for it to stay active.”

  “Damn,” Bokaj muttered. “That’s heavy, man.”

  We finished our meal after that, gathered what we needed to—for me, it was my freshly-laundered clothes and the ones I had ordered for Maebe. They had been existing styles, but they were altered a little to fit her better.

  We said our goodbyes to Willem, then left with a note to the people we needed to say things to on the table. There were people I wanted to say goodbye to, but then again, others that would make a hasty departure difficult altogether. Like Vrawn.

  Rather than going straight to the now-abandoned cultist village, we Teleported outside of the jungle and began our trip toward the ocean north west of our position.

  Now, some of you might be thinking that it would’ve been better for me to fly off and find the location we needed to go to as an owl, then teleport back to the others to bring them to the new place. If we hadn’t had our asses handed to us for doing things on our own a few times, I’d be tempted, but we needed to be together after all of that. It was a security thing, feel me? Awesome, I thought you would.

  There were no towns on the first couple days of our ride, and the city that we did see was too far out of the way to really condone going to see it. Each day, we stopped to spar and train with each other.

  Jaken spent more time in silent prayer than he had before, and the others were a little more respectful in how they treated him. It made me curious, though.

  On the third day of travel, the ocean visible on the horizon. I rode Thor up next to Jaken’s battle charger, a sturdy war horse wearing radiant armor that protected him.

  “Hey, Jaken, those things that were said back there…” I left the question out in favor of a pregnant, hopeful silence.

  He responded simply, “They were true.” He seemed to think better of that response and added, “At least in some respects. I was angry over not being able to overcome the mana poison in your body to heal you properly. Then feeling useless because we keep getting fucked around while we level up to go get Balmur. I’m homesick, and I miss my baby—we don’t belong here. And Luca used that to get into my head.”

  He sighed and let his head fall back on to his shoulders, his gaze skyward. “I’ve been asking the Lady for guidance since we returned, hoping she can spare a moment, but she’s busy with the other Gods keeping War from coming here or sending more of his Vanguard.”

  “You know you can speak to us, right?” Muu rode up beside him on his Plague Wolf mount, Nolorn. “I mean, Zeke has a kid, and all of us miss Balmur. Hell, I only knew him in our world from conversations with Zeke; I can’t imagine how much cooler he is here. I may not completely understand—but I’ll always listen with an open mind and an open heart. So cheer up, sugar lips.”

  Jaken looked at Muu oddly, the reptilian man waggling his eyebrow ridges suggestively. A roar of laughter made me flinch as the Paladin smacked his knee and bent over in his charger’s saddle.

  “My faith is stronger than ever, and if that display in the lich’s presence was anything to go off, Lady Radiance sees me as Hers still.” Jaken’s shoulders squared, and he looked forward. “We’re going to need to find a way across that water. Hey, James, you have a clear idea of where this thing is?”

  The reading monk shook his head over his book and responded, “Just a circle the size of the several islands that are there.”

  “Think you could turn into a whale or something, man?” Yohsuke joked.

  “Probably,” I shrugged, “but I’m not into that whole Jonah stuff. We need a boat, and we have our woodworker right over there!”

  “You lazy bastard,” Bokaj grumbled. “I don’t have that much wood.”

  “We can get to the ocean and then just teleport to the jungle to cut a tree down for the work if needed. Then I’ll help it get back to rights!” I smiled, and a thought occurred to me. “I’m a Druid. I should be able to help nurture and grow trees. Right?”

  In Druidic, I turned my attentions inward and prayed, “Mother? Would I be able to grow trees? Should I be able to?”

  A warm ray of light burst through the cloud cover, and I felt a stirring in my soul. Mother Nature’s matronly voice reached out to me, and I felt it more than I heard it.

  You can, with your Regrowth spell, but you need seeds, and you do not have them. Being able to seed a tree at any time would be too close to what I do, and while I like you, you are not ready for that kind of responsibility, little one. Grow as a Primal Warrior. You will find ways to take on new aspects to grow your power and even obtain new spells, but let me do what I must. Find your way, but do not inhibit mine. I will allow you to take four trees from the edge of the jungle in order to make this boat. But you will regrow them.

  I smiled as her warmth bathed my face and responded with a sincere, “Thank you, ma’am.”

  I looked at the others and grinned. “We can get a boat from the jungle. Four trees—hope that’s enough?”

  “Plenty. I’ll start trying to come up with a suitable blueprint. Might need you to chop it down though, man.” Bokaj started to try and draw on a large wooden board while he was riding his large, icy-pawed polar bear. Then he decided that trying to draw while bobbing up and down was a shit idea.

  By the end of that day, we came to a cliffside that led down to a long beach with tan sands.

  The sounds of water crashing against the side of the cliff and the waves sloshing against the sand below were both relaxing and a source of trepidation for me.

  Once we got down to the water, I noticed a sea turtle coming on to the beach from the water, his large, heavy shell just skimming along the sand, green skin glistening with salt water, but he seemed off, somehow—not entirely natural. Then I realized what it was—there was a trail of water behind him that his tail bled into.

  “You’re an elemental?” I asked, hoping I was doing okay by using one of the four elemental languages—Aquan.

  “You’re a fox?” the slow, sarcastic reply came. It blinked at me once. “Tell me when you’re ready to go, and we will leave. The Primordial has blessed you with the spell Water Lung. It is a long way to swim without fins, so if you desire a boat—build it swiftly.”

  I relayed his message to the others, and Bokaj snorted. “Funny thing for a tortoise
to say.”

  The sea turtle looked at him and blinked once before simply saying to me, “I hope he swims better than he thinks he tells jokes—otherwise, he will drown.”

  I laughed out loud at that one and simply shook my head when they asked what was said.

  “And Druid?” I looked back to the turtle. “Do not use your water elemental form in the ocean here. You will lose yourself, and then you will be susceptible to the pollution.”

  I wasn’t about to argue with my guide in one of my worst nightmares, so I just clamped my mouth shut.

  After that, it sat there, staring at me, so I ignored it and looked out into the ocean.

  I grew up in a land-locked state. The largest body of water I had seen as a child had been a lake. When I enlisted, I had expected to travel the world. Possibly go on ship, you know—Marines do that occasionally—but when I first saw the ocean, I was both enchanted and stricken by fear. See—I watched a lot of movies as a kid, and some of those were shark movies. You know the ones.

  Duh-nuh-duh-nuh—SHARK!

  Yeah, those ones. So, I had been terrified of going into it, but it didn’t seem so avoidable now.

  It will not be, the gurgling voice of the Water Primordial swam through my mind. I have a task for you. I need you to rid this place of this Dragon as well, and I can ensure that you find it. Its influence poisons these waters, and they run dangerously close to a byway into my realm. The poison mutates creatures in the water and kills many others. I do not want my children affected by this. Clear this infection, and I will reward you all handsomely. Fail? And you will know what it means to drown.

  QUEST ALERT!

  On Cleaner Tides – The Primordial Water Elemental has ordered that you find the Dragon and rid the area of it in whatever way you deem necessary.

  Reward: What the Primordial deems “Handsome” and a hefty monetary sum.

  Failure: A slow, torturous death by drowning.

  Accept? Yes/No?

  “I guess I’ll accept,” I grumbled. To the others, I explained, “Lady of the Oceans wants this Dragon found and gone. A-S-A-P. Standard awesomeness for a reward, but if we fail, she’s going to drown me.”