by Sam Ryder
“I didn’t say,” Vrill said. “But most believe they were regular creatures on Tor that were bitten by the Syrene.”
Now that made a whole world of sense. It explained why they were able to go out during the day and why they were more easily tamed than other monsters, even without the use of ooze. They were created by the mermaid vamps rather than the Morgoss. Though the Syrene weren’t exactly “good”, they could at least be reasoned with, something I had managed to do during my first and only meeting with them.
The riders and the dust cloud trailing them came closer. I could make out the riders pretty well now, too. As Vrill had said, they were mostly males and human, though I immediately identified three tall, gilled Oceanians and a handful of felines. Additionally, several blue lions bounded along beside the galuts, keeping up with ease. I only noted one female amongst their ranks, a lean Protoan with whiskers and a long tail that curled around her arm as she rode.
When the riders reached us, they didn’t stop, passing by on both sides as if they hadn’t noticed us at all. However, once they passed, they curled around and began to circle, kicking up more and more dust until it formed a giant cloud that fogged our vision and made us cough. It was more than a little annoying, a clear show of power and disrespect. I endured it without complaint because this was a peaceful mission and starting something at the beginning would only undermine our goal of securing an alliance.
I did, however, set my bag of artifacts down on the ground with an angry clank.
Eventually, the Creed riders slowed their gait and then stopped completely, allowing the dust to settle. Though my throat burned, I refused to cough again now that they were watching me, my fisted hands clenched at each side. I was seething, but I plastered on a neutral expression.
“You are the one they call Vrill, no?” one of the riders said from atop his galut. He was a human of Asian descent, tall and strong but neither as tall nor as strong as I. Which likely meant he’d only been upgraded to Warrior before leaving the ward shield haven. He wore makeshift leather armor and several types of weapons, swords and daggers, hung from his belt. The others in his company were outfitted similarly, except for the blue lions, who were content wearing their own skin and fur. The only weapons they needed were their claws and teeth. The lone female in their group met my eyes, her expression unreadable. At least she didn’t look like she wanted to eat me, like her kin, Lace, always looked. Her long, slender legs hung on either side of her steed. From this angle, I could see her bare midriff, her abdomen visible beneath her smooth skin. Though she was lean, she was far curvier than Lace, her breasts barely covered by a leather bikini, revealing much of her cleavage.
“Yes,” Vrill said, offering nothing more.
“You are known to be a loner, but you are not alone. Interesting company you keep these days. A Demigod and a dragon.”
I was more than a little surprised the man could identify me as a Level 5 so easily, but I supposed my hulking form gave it away. “I am Sam Ryder,” I said.
“I am called Fong, but I already know who you are. Word travels on Tor.”
“Even without the internet?” I joked. I figured a little reminder that we were both from Earth might help to grease the wheels and establish some common ground to build on.
I was wrong. “The internet? What the fuck does that mean?”
Shit. I hadn’t considered that this human man might not be from a recent enough time to know what the internet was. “What Earth year did you arrive on Tor?” I asked.
Fong narrowed his eyes. “You mean what year was I abducted against my will from Earth?” he said.
Uh oh. We weren’t off to a good start. Then again, Vrill might phrase the question the same way, so maybe she could establish the common ground with him. She didn’t. Instead, she looked at me to respond. “Yeah, that works too.”
“1960,” Fong said immediately. “What year is it on Earth now?”
“We’re well past the 2000s,” I admitted. I didn’t want to be too specific because I didn’t think this man would get any friendlier if he knew the exact amount of time that had elapsed since he was ‘abducted against his will from Earth,’ as he’d put it.
He spat onto the dirt. His steed bared its fangs, which were as long as my middle finger, protruding well past its white lips. “State your purpose, Sam Ryder. I know you have not escaped the Three. I know you are leading the Warriors now. I know many things, so do not try to bullshit me.”
“That’s good,” I said, “because I don’t do bullshit. I am here to seek an alliance against the Morgoss. They are in the process of summoning a new type of monster, one that may turn the tide against all of us. This is the time for us to join together and end this darkness once and for all.”
Fong stared at me sternly for several seconds, but then his lips curled into a smile. Wait, no, it was more of a sneer, not in the least friendly. “Join together? Ha. We have no desire to ally ourselves with the Three. We hope the Morgoss’s new monster kills them. It would save us the trouble.”
Dayum. This really wasn’t going well, and thus far Vrill had been content to let me do the talking when I suspected she might have a far better chance of getting through to this guy considering she’d deserted the Three just as he had. Something was off about her mannerisms. She was staring at him with tightened eyes, her lips pursed. It was like she was studying him. “I, uh, understand where you’re coming from, I really do. I once considered leaving the Three as you all have done.”
“You didn’t have the balls.”
“Actually, when I was upgraded to Level 5 my balls turned into coconuts,” I said. He didn’t look amused, even though I was being serious. I was larger in all areas these days. “Vrill, anything to add?”
She looked at me and blinked, finally snapping out of whatever funk she’d been in. “The artifacts,” she reminded me.
“Oh, yeah, of course.” I’d totally forgotten about the bags of artifacts we’d hauled from Mrizandr to here. “We come bearing gifts.”
Fong’s eyebrows lifted. I’d finally surprised him. “Those are the Three’s artifacts?” he asked. “The ones recovered by the Seekers?” I could see a hungry gleam in his eyes. Now I had his attention.
“Yep,” I said nonchalantly. “I asked for them and they handed them right over. See? We’re in charge over there now. Not the Three. If you make an alliance, it will be with us, not them.”
I could practically see the wheels turning inside Fong’s head. Finally, he said, “And yet we’ll still be working to restore the goddesses to power.”
“To restore peace,” I said.
“At what cost?” This question came from the Protoan woman rather than Fong, her whiskers twitching slightly. She seemed on the edge of a cliff, trying to decide whether to jump off. Whatever her history with the Three, it wasn’t pleasant.
I met her feline gaze. “I won’t lie—the cost will be great in terms of lives. But after the Three have been returned to their thrones and have their kingdom back, each and every one of us will have the opportunity to decide whether we want to stay on Tor or return home.”
“They could return us home now,” the cat-woman said.
I shook my head. “I wish it was that easy, but two of them are on death’s doorstep and Airiel must reserve her strength for growing our numbers.”
“By Finding,” the cat-woman said, her fangs showing.
“Yes, but not like before. We’ve already abolished the Circle. Now our Finders—”
“Eve,” she interrupted. Again, anger was written all over the cat-woman’s face as she spat Eve’s name with the same level of disgust as Vrill usually spoke it.
“Eve remains a Finder, yes, but Vrill here has also been Leveled up.”
The cat-woman, who seemed to hold some level of respect with Fong, dismounted and strode over to stand nose-to-nose with Vrill. “You not only returned to the Three but became a Finder?”
Vrill didn’t look intimidated in the least, hol
ding her ground as she said, “Yes, Silk, I did. But you are missing several key facts. Like I was abducted and enslaved by the Morgoss for months. And I returned to the Three on my own terms. The art of Finding has changed. Now we only recruit those who are willing to fight for us, who understand the risks before they are brought to Tor.”
I was slightly surprised that Vrill knew the cat-woman’s name, Silk, but I shouldn’t have been. Vrill had been here much longer than me. Hell, for all I knew, these two beautiful women had been Warriors at the same time.
I tried to break the tension. “That’s what I was trying to say. The entire game has changed. The Three have changed. They are more reasonable. Their way hasn’t worked. Now it’s time for us to do things our way. We take input from everyone.”
“Sounds like a real democracy,” Fong said with more than a hint of sarcasm. “Now about those artifacts…”
I bent down and opened the mouth of the bag, recoiling when I noticed something glowing inside. “The hell?”
“Is there a problem?” Fong said.
“No problem. It just seems that one of the artifacts has been activated by one of you.” I’d seen it before, with my own hammer. When the intended recipient got close to the artifact, it glowed. I reached inside the bag and pulled out the glowing object, a chest-shaped locket dangling from a golden chain. I wracked my brain to try to remember whether any of the Three had told me of its history or explained its purpose but came up empty.
Vrill, however, knew exactly what it was. “Valencia’s Locket,” she said, a thread of awe in her tone.
“Give it to me,” Fong demanded. “If it belongs to one of us, we shall have it.”
Although I still didn’t know the significance of the locket, it was obvious these people did, which made it an excellent bargaining chip. I closed my meaty fist around the golden trinket, hiding its glow. “It doesn’t belong to you. Not yet anyway. First we will have your promise that you will fight with us when the time comes.”
Fong moved forward, hands on his weapons, as if prepared to draw them and slice me to ribbons. Let him try, I thought. He stopped a few feet short of me. “The artifact is useless to you but can be of great value to one of my tribesmen and yet you’ll deny us its use? And you say you’re different than the Three? Ha!”
I looked at Vrill and I could see the disappointment in her eyes. Because she agreed with him. Holding back an artifact from the rightful recipient wasn’t right. “You’re right,” I said, nodding. I opened my hand to once more release the locket’s glow. “Take it as a show of good faith. You don’t need to decide whether to forge an alliance with us now. All I ask is that you sleep on it. You can give me your decision later.”
Fong was clearly surprised again, but he tried to hide it as he snatched the locket from my palm. He strung it around his own neck. The locket’s glow immediately dimmed and then winked out completely. He frowned, and then grudgingly pulled the chain back over his head. The glow returned.
Silk said, “May I?”
Fong’s head snapped in her direction. He sighed and handed it over. Slowly, she slid the chain past her furry scalp, over her pointy cat ears and settled the golden links on the back of her neck. The artifact glowed brighter for a few seconds before returning to its steady glow. Silk smiled a broad smile, the first I’d seen from her yet.
Vrill nodded. “It seems we’ve found the correct recipient. May Valencia’s Locket serve you well.”
Silk’s demeanor changed completely. “Come back with us to our camp. Eat with us. The Black will be upon us soon and we can provide protection.”
I felt the need to move onto the next tribe but gaining the Creed’s support was crucial to our cause. “Fong?” I said. “Is this course of action acceptable to you?” I was pandering to the man’s obvious need to control things. Thankfully, it worked.
“Yes. Silk is right. You should stay the night and we will see what the silver light brings.” With that, he remounted his frightening steed, wheeled about, and led his men back in the direction from whence they came.
Silk lingered with us, fingering her locket. “Thank you for coming here. You are a light in a dark place.” I frowned, sensing a hidden meaning behind her cryptic words, but before I could ask what she meant, she said, “Ride with me? Shadowflash can carry all of us. Even your exceptional girth, Sam Ryder.” She winked at me and turned away.
Vrill looked at me and offered a single nod. Then she followed Silk, mimicking her graceful leap as each of the women mounted the galut. Vrill slid forward along the platform until her hips were pressed tightly against Silk’s behind. Clearly, these women were comfortable with each other. I’d need to find out more about their history later. Silk turned her head and said, “Coming?”
“Yes.” I strode to the steed, placing a hand on its back to steady myself. Then I threw one leg high in the air and jumped. This was typically one of those moments where I made an ass of myself. It would be like that Charlie Brown scene when Lucy says she’ll hold the football for him so he can kick it but then pulls it back at the last second so he whiffs and lands on his butt. I expected the horse-like creature to move, or my leg to glance off the side. Either way, I would end up on my ass with two beautiful women laughing at me.
Or not.
I landed somewhat roughly on the platform mounted to the creature’s back, but the galut barely seemed to notice. It was strong. I was over three hundred pounds at this point, and yet I might’ve been nothing more than a bothersome gnat for it to swat with its scaly tail.
“Ready?” Silk said, looking back.
I scooted forward until I was flush with Vrill. I roped my arms around her bare stomach, threading my fingers together. “Yeah. Let’s move.”
Silk didn’t use the typical “Haw!” or “Giddyup!” command one might expect when commanding a horse. Nor did she dig her heels into the beast’s sides. Probably because this was no horse. Apparently these galuts had been trained differently. Instead she leaned down and whispered something into the animal’s ear.
I was almost thrown from the galut’s back as it exploded forward like a Ferrari off the starting line, accelerating from zero to sixty in 2.4 seconds flat. I’m not joking. This motherfucker was hella fast. I clung to Vrill as she clung to Silk. Silk hung onto a wooden bar attached to the platform on which we sat as the wind battered us on all sides. If Mrizandr was the fastest creature in the air, this beast was the fastest on land. Shadowflash suddenly felt like the perfect name.
As the creature carried us at lightning speed, Silk whooped, obviously in her element. I thought of Lace, another Protoan who seemed to love speed, always running at full tilt as we fought in the Black. She would probably love riding Shadowflash too.
The leagues fell away under the animal’s feet. She never seemed to tire, as if she could run like this all day and well into the Black. Eventually, however, she began to slow, just as a stone wall at least twenty feet high came into view. She carried us at a more even pace until we reached the wall, which had a wooden gate, already open, set into it.
We trotted inside, where all sorts of activity was taking place. The human men were drawing water from some kind of a well and filling a wooden trough for the galut to drink from. Several men were tying rows of skinned leafrats to a long rope hanging from two wooden poles to drain the blood. The second female I’d seen, a dark-eyed human, was going around with a torch dancing with demonfire to ignite other torches positioned throughout camp to ensure light reached all corners.
All corners except one, which remained in shadow, I noticed.
Silk dismounted and then assisted Vrill and I from the platform affixed to Shadowflash’s back. Her hand was warm as she steadied me on the ground. “Thanks,” I said.
“Thank you for bringing me Valencia’s Locket,” she said. “For the first time, I am eager to fight in the Black to see what it is capable of.” I was interested too. The first time I’d witnessed the raw supernatural power of my hammer was awesome.
Fong strode up to us. “Eat with us. Darkness will be upon us soon.”
“Thank you,” I said. “Where can I take a leak?”
Fong gestured over to a long trough located along the side wall. I made my way over to the trough, drew my pants down in front, and did my business. I wondered who was responsible for emptying the trough from time to time. I also wondered where they had to go for #2. When I was finished, I turned back to find no one was watching me. Vrill was locked in what appeared to be a heated discussion with Silk, while Fong was conferring with a few of his men. A tantalizing aroma had arisen from the spit, where a hand crank was being used to turn dozens of roasting leafrats.
I took advantage of the solitude to scope out the area, which wasn’t particularly large. There were three structures. One was long and likely contained the sleeping quarters. Another was small and men scuttled in and out carrying supplies. The third was tucked in the shadowy corner, and I could barely make it out amidst the swarming darkness. The Bronze time had almost passed away—the Black was racing toward us.
I looked back toward Fong to make sure he was still occupied—he was—and then headed for that darkened corner. Even up close it was hard to make out the structure. Although it was getting late, there was nothing natural about the darkness of this corner. It didn’t make sense. It simply shouldn’t be this dark. There was even a torch positioned relatively close, but the light cut off in a line of orange around the space.
I inched closer, eyes narrowing to try to make out the shape within the shadows.
“Ryder! Food’s ready!” a voice called. I turned away from the darkness, feeling heat rise to my cheeks. I’d been caught, by Fong no less. If the man was concerned by the fact that I’d been snooping around, he didn’t show it, offering a broad smile as he waved me toward where the leafrats were being placed onto square wooden plates.
I smiled back and walked away from the darkness.
The weirdest sensation crawled over my skin.
It felt like I was being watched.