by Sam Ryder
DEMIGOD: Monster Slayer
Book Four of the Monsterworld Saga
Sam Ryder
Copyright 2019 David Estes
Kindle Edition, License Notes
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
My name is Sam Ryder. I was abducted from Earth and brought to a planet called Tor, a world of dying goddesses and monsters. I was leveled up—four times now—turning me from a slightly overweight gamer into a man-beast demigod charged with the unfortunate tasks of kicking demon ass and getting busy with gorgeous goddesses and exotic alien women.
At this point in the tale, we’re about to be attacked by a massive army of shadow monsters conjured from the depths of the underworld (yeah, that part sucks), but don’t worry, there’s hope. Because we’re awesome. Time to have a big ol’ schoolyard scrap.
This is the continuation of my story.
ONE
CROSS THE LINE AND I’LL KILL YOU
It was just like old times. Me, Vrill, and Beat, sitting around, roasting leafrat and talking about how to save Tor from the demon overlords known as the Morgoss. Hell, it was even nice having Lace, our newest Seeker, around, even though when she gave me her catlike stare I swore she wanted to eat me alive.
The rest of the gang was around too. Uva, the female human, with her dark hair and dark eyes enough to give off a don’t-fuck-with-me vibe you couldn’t teach someone. Nrrrf, the blue-furred lioness from Primo, the home to lions and giants. Millania, our latest Protector and resident gilled ocean dweller. Jak, one of our few current males, was from Lri Ayem, like Vrill. Also like Vrill, his skin was the color of night, though his disposition was somewhat sunnier.
The cause of Vrill’s gloominess was Eve, our other Finder, who we’d all just recently discovered was not dead. They had history, unfortunately. Years and years of it. Eve was just now walking up, presumably returning from a conference with the Three, our resident goddesses who were on their death beds on account of having their hearts stolen from their very chests by the Morgoss. Well, two of them were, Persepheus and Minertha. Airiel was in the process of making a full recovery these days, because we’d managed to recover her heart when we killed one of the Morgoss, a murder that was surprisingly satisfying.
Anyway, Eve stopped when she reached our fire circle, instantly turning the conversation from jovial and light to uncomfortable and awkward. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife, or one of Lace’s Wolverine-like claws.
So, of course, I made a bad joke. “Should we find a mud pit and the two of you can wrestle it out?”
Eve glared at me. Vrill glared at Eve. “Let’s get something straight,” Vrill said. “We’re not friends. We’re temporary allies who happen to have the same goal of killing the Morgoss. I don’t care whether the Three, or you for that matter, live or die. My priority is the Warriors.”
“Understood,” Eve said evenly.
“And…I am going to draw a big ol’ line down the middle of camp. You stay on one side, and I’ll stay on the other. Cross the line and I’ll kill you.”
Eve answered without hesitation. “Sounds fair.”
“Now that’s some college roommate shit,” Beat whispered so only I could hear. “Except my roommate used duct tape to make the line. I’m guessing Vrill will just scratch the line in the dirt with a stick or something.”
She was wrong. Vrill utilized her dragon—
(Side note: Yeah, we also had a dragon, Mrizandr. Well, technically it was Vrill’s dragon, who she’d been bonded with while they were both enslaved by the Morgoss. Now the big fire-breathing fella lived behind the ward shields with us. On an hourly basis I hoped he wouldn’t mistake any of us for a snack. End side note.)
—to draw the line across camp. And the line was more like a trench, which Mrizandr furrowed in the dirt using the sharp spikes on his tail. I was worried someone would turn an ankle during the Black if they crossed the line to find a good spot to urinate. And, most likely, that someone would be me.
Speaking of the Black… “All right, everyone,” I said, clapping my hands and trying to organize our people. “The Black will be upon us soon.” Yep, since I was abducted from Earth and brought to Tor to fight monsters on behalf of the dying goddesses, I used words like “upon” on a regular basis. It made me feel smarter.
“Last I checked,” Beat said, “you’re not a Protector anymore, Ryder. You’re a Demigod.” My best friend on this planet had perfected a way of saying my new Level in such a way that she made it sound like an insult. Which was weird, considering I was the first Level 5 Tor had seen in many years.
However, Beat was right. Fighting in the Black was no longer my purpose. Hell, even when I was a Seeker it wasn’t my purpose, though I forgot about that fact sometimes. I nodded, duly chastised. “I’ll leave it to you and Millania then.”
Vrill was close by my side, and we conferred while the two Protectors organized their Warriors, prepared to defend our territory if the Morgoss’s army of monsters attacked on this night. The Silver time was almost finished, the last silvery rays of Tor’s second sun sliding over the distant mountains.
“If things have really changed around here, then we need more allies,” Vrill said. “We need to bring others, like me, who have defected, back into the fold.”
I liked the idea of creating alliances. “Do you think any of the other tribes will go for it?” I asked. The tribes were ex-Warriors who’d left the protection of the goddesses’ ward shield to survive in groups. I’d only met one of them so far, an almost-all-female tribe led by the only male, a giant from Primo named Bu’Ploog, who I childishly referred to as Buttplug. It was the tribe one of our own, a Southern Belle (her name was literally ‘Belle’), had joined. I had fond memories of the massive orgy I’d had with them after helping to kill the giant spider mother that had plagued their forest sanctuary for many years.
“I’m here, aren’t I?” Vrill pointed out. It was a good point, considering she was the last person I would’ve expected to help the goddesses, even if indirectly. Then again, her situation had been somewhat different. Regardless, it was worth a shot.
“Where do we start?” I asked.
“Demetrius,” she said. “He runs a tribe located closest to the mountains. He’s literally on the frontlines. If anyone would be willing to help us, it would be him.”
“Good idea. Should we invite Eve?” I was only a half-joke, as I really was delusional enough to think I’d one day be able to create at least something of a mutual respect between the two women I cared greatly about.
Vrill gave me a look that would kill most human men who hadn’t been upgraded to Demigod status. “I’ll take that as a no.” Both our stares roamed across the rugged terrain to where Eve sat by herself right up against the line she wasn’t allowed to cross. The deal was that our meetings would take place on alternating sides so each woman could participate equally. I’d suggested having the meetings right up against the line, but I almost got my head bitten off, so I backed off.
“The less interaction I have with that woman the better.”
/> Lace chuckled, joining our little pow-wow. Now that she was a Seeker, she liked to pretend the Warriors and Protectors didn’t exist. She was taking this Level 4 shit pretty seriously. She flopped down beside me and said, “What do we do during the Black?” While she waited for a response, she flicked her footlong claws in and out of her knuckles, a skill she’d grown rather adept at. Physically, the change from Protector to Seeker had been subtle for her. She was leaner and more agile, able to cover vast distances with incredible speed. She was also stealthy as hell, which was saying something considering she was a cat.
“We fight,” I said.
“What?” she complained. “I thought that was just a phase you’d gone through. We’re above all that now.”
Sometimes I wasn’t sure whether statements like that encapsulated the real Lace or were just an act. More than once she’d shown me another, more caring, side of her, but those glimpses of humanity were fleeting at best. “It’s your call, but Vrill and I will be fighting.”
“That’s good,” Beat said, approaching after having finished giving instructions to her Warriors. “Because otherwise I’d have to refer to you from henceforth as ‘Chicken Liver’.”
“Nice use of ‘henceforth’,” I noted.
“Thank you.”
Lace huffed and carried on for a few seconds and then finally said, “Fine. I’ll slice and dice some monsters. If I didn’t help you, we’d probably be overrun anyway.” Good ol’ Lace on her high horse.
“What about Eve?” Beat asked. She wasn’t one to walk on eggshells, not even around this new, darker, version of Vrill.
“She can do what she wants,” Vrill said. “So long as she stays out of my way. But I doubt she’ll fight. She wouldn’t want to risk getting her hands dirty.”
I was tempted to tell Vrill that Eve had fought in more than a few Blacks recently but thought better of it. “I’ll ask her,” I said instead.
I made my over to where Eve sat, gazing at the mountains, which were capped in an aura of light cast by the last rays of the Silver. She didn’t look at me but was still the first to speak. “Even now, even like this, I think of Tor as a beautiful place,” she said.
“Oh…uh…yeah, I guess.” I didn’t really. The barren landscape was more like a vision of what Hell might look like, except without the fire and brimstone. Then again, when I was in the Morgoss’s underground lair, it had been exactly like what Hell might look like.
“One day I hope you’ll see it the way I see it,” Eve said. “The way Tor was before. When it was lush and green, filled with flowers and trees.”
I had seen trees here, although they were the home to hundreds of giant spiders trying to poison and eat me. I had also seen a beautiful oasis pond near the forest. Unfortunately, the pond had been the home to three vampire mermaid chicks known as the Syrene. I’d only managed to escape them by striking a deal I would still need to fulfill at some point.
“I’d like that,” I said.
“Let me guess,” Eve said, changing the subject, “Vrill doesn’t want me to fight in the Black tonight.”
“No,” I said. “She said you can do what you want. Just stay out of her way.”
Eve looked at me sharply. “But if I do fight tonight, she might find a way to kill me.”
“She’s not like that,” I snapped angrily.
Eve recoiled, frowning at my outburst.
I sighed. “Sorry,” I said. “I’m just sick and tired of you two assuming so much about each other. You have history, I get it. But this is the present, not the past. You’ve both changed, and I would hazard to say for the better. I don’t want to be referee in whatever game you’re playing.”
“You’re right.”
Those two words were ones I knew Eve didn’t speak lightly. “I am?”
“Yes, Sam Ryder. I don’t know this version of Vrill. We’ve been at odds for many years. For good reason. I make no excuses for my side of things. I’ve given her plenty of reasons not to trust me. And I won’t sit the Black out. No, I will fight with the Warriors I’ve brought to Tor. I will lead by example. And if I die—”
“You won’t die,” I said.
“And if I die…” she continued, gripping my hand. I loved how her fingers felt in mine. “…it will be for a cause I believe in with my whole heart—the restoration of Tor to the beautiful planet it once was.”
She really had come a long way from the perpetually pissed off, frustrated, cold woman she’d been when I’d first arrived here. If only Vrill could see that maybe things could be different. Speaking of whom…
I looked back to find Vrill watching Eve and I, her eyes laser-focused on our entwined fingers. I released Eve and stood. “I’m sorry, I have to go. See you on the battlefield?”
Eve looked slightly stung, but she firmed up her chin and said, “Yes. Of course. Talk later?”
“Of course.” I hated how stiff my words sounded. I hated that I felt awkward around Eve after all we’d been through and after she was literally brought back from the brink of death by Airiel’s healing power.
But I did. Because of Vrill. I owed Vrill everything. Without her, I might’ve died in the Circle the day I arrived on Tor. And it was Eve who’d put me in that Circle. I loved Vrill with all of my being. Maybe I could say the same for Eve, too, but it was a different kind of love, one that was still developing.
I needed time to make sense of it all.
So I walked away, back across to Vrill’s side of the line, where Millania, Beat and their groups of Warriors were getting ready for battle.
The Black fell like a curtain at the end of a Broadway show.
Mrizandr the dragon released a roar that would be heard all the way in the Morgoss’s stronghold in the mountains.
I hope they heard it.
TWO
HERE WE GO AGAIN
The Black was not darkness so much as the absence of light. Think of it as being in a cave without a flashlight or headlamp. You could wave your hand in front of your face and not see a damn thing.
In order to see, we used torches painted with ever-burning demon blood. Seekers, with their supernatural senses, could also see during the Black time, but only well enough to make out general shapes and movement in the darkness. This was Lace’s first Black since being Leveled up to Seeker, and I heard her say, “Wicked,” under her breath when she first realized she could see.
I said nothing, though this was my first Black since being upgraded to Demigod. The Leveling up process always changed you physically, at least to some degree. From basic human to Warrior, I’d gained muscles in places I didn’t even know were possible. I’d also grown somewhat taller. When I’d Leveled up to Protector, I’d become massive, just like Beat had. When I’d made Seeker, things had gone in the opposite direction. I was still buff, but more chiseled, leaner and more agile. My senses had gotten a major upgrade too. The latest upgrade, however, was wild. I was still chiseled—my six pack had a six pack—but I was larger once again, like when I was Protector. What I didn’t expect was to get another improvement to my senses, which were already remarkably good as a Seeker. Basically I was the best parts of Protector and Seeker, all rolled into one man-beast.
For me, now, the Black was no longer the Black. I could tell it was different from daytime, but my vision was as good as if the silver sun had never set. My eyes were wide as I looked around at the landscape that should be as black as tar, but which instead was illuminated to my eyes. I wondered if this was how the Three saw the world all the time.
I said nothing, because I didn’t want the others to know. I felt…embarrassed. Why should I be able to see when none of them could without the demon torches, the light from which barely reached a distance of ten yards? I knew the Three weren’t able to Level up everyone at the same rate. They simply didn’t have the energy. Just creating enough primordial ooze to heal our nightly injuries took a lot out of them these days.
Still, I was grateful to have vision. I knew I would need t
o tell everyone eventually. Hell, it would give us a big advantage. I could see all the way to the mountains and would know exactly how many and which monsters were coming for us. If they came tonight, I would have to admit to everyone what I could do.
I glanced at Eve, who was walking apart from the rest of us. Not by choice necessarily, but simply because she’d passed through the ward shield on her side of the line Vrill’s dragon had drawn and kept walking in a straight line. We did the same on our side of the line.
It was strangely exhilarating seeing the Warriors decked out in shiny armor and well-equipped with weapons. Previously, it had been our fate to fight wearing the bare minimum, loin cloths and rusty, chipped weapons. The “artifacts”—ornate weapons and beautiful armor, amongst other trinkets—had been squirreled away by the Three, until the time was right for them to come forth. Apparently now was the time, although many of the artifacts were still unused. You see, the artifacts chose who could use them, which meant they would only work to their full capacity for the “right” person. Like my war hammer, for example, which, upon impact, had a percussive effect and a blast of light. Regardless of the timing, it was nice to see the efforts of dozens of Seekers over the years, including Vrill, finally coming to fruition.
We stopped. Vrill was on my opposite side on Mrizandr’s back. The dragon hadn’t taken flight yet, instead lumbering along well clear of anyone who might inadvertently be impaled by one of his tail spikes. I walked next to Beat, though she said it ‘undermined her authority’. I said, ‘Screw that,’ and walked with her anyway.
All around me, I could see the Warrior’s life meters. It was another skill I’d gained when I was Leveled up to Demigod. Each being had a life meter, a maximum amount of ‘life’ in them. When one was healthy, uninjured and rested, the number was at its highest, the maximum level. If it went to zero, you were dead. I watched as each person’s life meter slowly decreased, on account of the effort of walking across the terrain. Sleep would increase their life meters again. I hoped I wouldn’t have to experience seeing a life meter drop to zero on this night.