Second Skin Omnibus

by M Damon Baker

  Her eyes flew wide open as the Artifact’s true nature was revealed to her, and she looked at me in horror as she suddenly realized the truth.

  “He lied to us,” she said in shock. “Gilfri’s pitting us against the will of the Gods themselves!”

  “Tell me what he plans.” I pressed her. “How many more of you are here?”

  “We were sent to—”

  Before she could finish the sentence, her words were drowned out in a series of gurgling sounds, and I heard the wet snapping of her windpipe being crushed by some unseen force. I hadn’t done anything to harm her and I pushed myself away in a panic as she died almost instantly from the severe trauma that had been inflicted on her.

  “He made his own soldiers sign a blood clause,” Venna whispered in mixture of astonishment and disgust.

  “That means it’s no use even trying to question the other two,” Tási sighed.

  “I had her,” was all I could say. “She believed me. I saved her from his filthy lies, and he killed her.”

  “You can’t save any of them until Gilfri’s been dealt with,” Venna responded. “He will have to release them or die for the magic of the clause to be removed.”

  “I vote for die,” I growled as my vision shifted into shades of viridian light.

  “Oh, fuck,” I heard Tási utter as she backed away from me.

  I marched back towards the two remaining prisoners with my eyes ablaze and called out to them as I approached.

  “Gilfri bound your friend with a blood clause, and now she’s dead because of it,” I told them icily. “Unless one of you were wise enough to avoid doing the same, you’re useless to me.”

  “She only died because she betrayed her race,” one of them replied without any trace of remorse, while the other just stared at me in shock.

  “What about you?” I asked the silent one as I loomed over them.

  “I didn’t want to, but they made me sign it too,” he lamented.

  “Then all I can offer you is a swift death,” I replied as I slammed the black orb I’d been holding into the side of his head.

  The dark energy rushed into him and he died almost instantly as the power of my rage turned his skull into a misshapen lump in mere seconds. His body spasmed in its death throes and fell to the ground as the orb continued to course through his remains, reducing his corpse almost entirely to ashes before its energy was spent.

  “You will die much more slowly,” I said as I turned to the unrepentant elf.

  “I would rather die an elf than live for even a second as one of you vermin,” he spat back in defiance.

  “Then I shall grant your request,” I replied as I launched my second orb at his feet.

  The ball of blackness hit him just above his ankle, and immediately shattered every bone in his leg. The dull sound of wet, snapping bone filled the air, competing with his primal screams of pain for dominance as they both echoed loudly in my ears. I watched with a sort of detached interest as the orb’s power wound its way up his body, shattering his bones and rending his flesh as its energy gradually reduced him to a pile of black ash beside his companion. When the last trace of his screams faded away, I finally released the anger I’d been holding and let the light fade from my eyes as I began walking forward once more.

  “No need to take any more prisoners,” I announced flatly as I began searching for the rest of the band of elves Gilfri had sent against us.

  Although everyone followed as I resumed the search, no one spoke or even approached me too closely until Tási cautiously came to walk by my side.

  “Are you alright?” She asked hesitantly.

  “Mostly, yes,” I replied to her honestly.

  “That was… somewhat disturbing,” she commented. “Even for you.”

  “What other choice was there?” I responded, as I tried to keep my composure. “Drag them with us? Leave them behind, tied to a tree?”

  “I understand what you did, it’s how you did it that makes me feel concerned for you,” she explained.

  “You know what’s inside me,” I reminded her. “You know I’m not pure. You’ve not only seen it, but you’ve been inside me and felt it for yourself. I’m not going to hide my darkness, and I’ll use it whenever it’s necessary. To be honest, I sometimes find a great deal of comfort in just letting it go.”

  “What if one of those times you let it go, it doesn’t let you come back?”

  “Then you’d better run,” I replied with deadly seriousness. “Fast.”

  We continued from there in utter silence, as neither of us had anything more to add. Both of us had spoken our truths, and there was simply nothing left to say.

  Tási renewed her reflection Spell on as many of us as she could while we walked on, and we tracked the elves back towards their camp as quietly as possible. We’d traveled nearly another hour through the wilds before Bane’s thoughts entered my mind again.

  There is a camp not far ahead, Sintári. I counted 22 of them.

  ‘Did you see any sentries outside their perimeter?’

  No, I did not, but they could be hidden in the forest.

  I stopped and quietly called a halt to spread the news. Knowing that we were close was helpful, but unless we could eliminate their lookouts, we would lose the element of surprise.

  “Khorim and I will sneak ahead and see if we can locate their sentries,” I decided.

  “Out of the question,” Venna objected forcefully. “Send someone else—you can’t go out there alone.”

  “Actually, I can,” I replied as I glared at her.

  “Sintári, please,” Stel tried to reason with me. “You are the Empress now, and you shouldn’t even be here. Think of what you are risking if you are captured.”

  “No more than anyone else,” I responded.

  “You’re wrong,” Tási added her own voice to those against me. “Without you, your fragile new Empire will crumble, and everything you’ve worked so hard to build will fall with it.”

  “I don’t like it when you’re right, Tási,” I gave in with a thin smile. “But Khorim and I have the best chance of succeeding at this. What’s our other option?”

  “I can do it myself,” Khorim volunteered. “It will take a bit longer, but I’ll clear the area between here and their camp. Then the whole lot of us can sneak right up on them.”

  “If you die again, I swear I’ll kill you, master dwarf,” I teased him.

  “And I’ll let her do it, too,” Broda added.

  Khorim left, melting into the forest as he went off in search of the enemy’s lookouts. The rest of us hunkered down in the underbrush and hid ourselves as best we could while we waited for him to come back. It took over an hour for him to finally return, but when he did, he pronounced the area clear without reservation.

  “There were three of them,” he informed us. “The last one gave me a bit of trouble, but I’m sure there’s no more.”

  The plan from there was fairly straightforward; we would sneak up to the camp and launch a surprise attack as soon as we were in place. With over twice their number, we felt it would be fairly simple to overwhelm them, and so, we made no intricate plans for our attack. It would be brute force alone, and we would take no prisoners.

  With the sentries eliminated, we marched forward quietly but confidently until we reached the edge of their encampment. It was an extremely orderly affair and showed obvious signs of a level of organization that was almost exclusive to military units. The tents were arranged in neat rows, and the camp itself was tidy and nearly spotlessly clean. Even if we hadn’t already known what we were up against, the camp itself gave away the fact that we were not faced with a simple group of bandits.

  The elves we could see were going about their normal business, performing the various tasks of maintaining the camp. A few sat around idly, while more were doubtlessly concealed within the tents. When the signal was sent down our line, everyone with a bow nocked their arrows, and we took aim at the targets that were in
our sights. The one lone piece of strategy we employed was that the attack would commence after I sent a Shockwave arrow into their midst to take out as many as I could and generate as much confusion as possible.

  I aimed not at any of the elves that were in sight, but at the tightest cluster of tents I could find. The rest of our archers would fire at the more obvious targets, while I intended to eliminate the ones that we couldn’t see.

  The arrow pierced the canvas of the tent I had sighted in on and detonated inside with a resounding clap of thunder, and the ensuing shockwave that was the Spell’s namesake ripped through the surrounding tents with a vicious roar. When the sounds of mayhem tore through their camp, many of the elves turned towards them in shock, much to their misfortune, leaving themselves completely exposed as our arrows pierced their bodies.

  The crash of thunder was almost immediately followed by the almost equally loud shouts of our soldiers rushing forward as they hacked and slashed at anyone that was still standing. I took aim and shot fire and ice arrows into the few remaining targets, each of which burned or froze huge chunks of flesh wherever they struck one of the hapless elves. One ice arrow froze the shoulder of an elf solid, and when he fell to the ground screaming in agony, the block of frozen flesh shattered into hundreds of shards of ice, while the fire arrow I shot next simply incinerated the chest of the elf it struck. Then I remembered the unproven abilities of the shafts that were imbued with the power of air and decided to use the opportunity to test one out.

  The unfortunate elf that was stricken by my shot convulsed wildly as the fierce electric current ran rampantly through her body. She jerked and spasmed as the power that Chel, God of Air, had imparted to the shaft coursed through her. Even after she was quite dead, her corpse continued to thrash about while her form began to smolder from the electric heat. Then, as I looked up from her smoking remains, I caught sight of Bane dragging the body of one of the fallen elves back into the forest.

  ‘What are you doing, Bane?’ I asked him.

  Please do not ask me that, Sintári.

  ‘Tell me or I’m coming there right now,’ I threatened him.

  I killed this one and I feel compelled to… consume him, his voice came to me in an unfamiliar, primal tone.

  ‘Are you alright, Bane?’ I replied as I was consumed myself with worry over him.

  I am fine, Sintári, but I must do this.

  His actions and the forces that compelled them made me uneasy, but then I remembered my own dark conduct just a short time before and was able to relax somewhat. Whatever it was that Bane was dealing with, it seemed remarkably similar to my own inner shadows, so I trusted him to handle things himself, at least for the time being, and returned to my own concerns.

  As I looked around, it became apparent that the battle had ended almost before it had begun. The element of surprise and our superior numbers rendered the outcome an almost foregone conclusion, and while the few minor injuries we had suffered were being tended to, the bodies of our fallen enemies were carefully searched for clues before they were piled together in preparation for a pyre. Unfortunately, just like the others we had slain, the corpses and the camp itself yielded only their own possessions, and no clues or evidence that would allow us to link them to Olóra or Gilfri himself. With the elimination of those that had attacked our patrol complete, there was only one issue left to be decided.

  “What shall we do with the spoils?” Stel asked, keeping true to both himself and his role as my Finance Minister.

  “Any coin recovered goes to the treasury, but divide their possessions among those who accompanied us as a reward,” I decided.

  “Generous,” Ella commented. “Their equipment is fairly high-quality and should fetch a fair price if they can sell it to one of the passing caravans.”

  I took a seat while the loot was being divided up and ran through the notifications that I’d received while I waited for the process to be completed.

  Experience gained – You have gained 660 XP.

  …

  Experience gained – You have gained 660 XP.

  Commander’s bonus – You have earned party credit for every kill made under your command or the direct command of one of your party members.

  Experience gained – You have gained 95 XP.

  …

  Experience gained – You have gained 95 XP.

  Quest completed – You have completed the hidden quest Defender of the Realm. An attack against your lands has been successfully repelled. In addition, your forces incurred no casualties during the battle. For these feats, you have been rewarded with 3300 XP. This Quest is repeatable.

  I hadn’t managed to quite gain a level, and a quick peek told me that I was still just a little over 8,000 points shy of that mark. My math was never to be trusted, but I realized that my party kill credit was a little low. The easy division of 660 by the six of us, myself, and my five companions lent me the confidence to question what went wrong. It seemed that someone else had been added to our group unbeknownst to me, and I struggled to figure out who it could possibly be until the answer came to me. Literally.

  “We’re almost ready to head back now,” Ella let me know just as I closed the last window.

  Of course! The link I shared with Ella had almost certainly caused her to be considered as a member of my party by whatever forces remained to determine such things. Once the mystery was solved and I was able to finally make sense of things, I got up and joined everyone else as we got ready to depart.

  The trip back was mostly uneventful, as we had already cleared the main threat from the area. I knew that the display of my darkness was unnerving for most the first time they saw it, so I sought out Ella as we walked along the road back to the Imperial District.

  “So, tell me what you think about what I did back there,” I asked her as we strode side by side.

  “Which part?” She tried to deflect.

  “You know exactly which part I’m talking about,” I responded.

  “It was terrifying,” she finally admitted. “I knew you had powers that I hadn’t seen, but that was more than I ever expected.”

  “Are you afraid of me now?”

  “Not until your eyes change again,” she joked tentatively before turning serious once more. “But then, yes. I absolutely will be.”

  “I would never hurt you, Ella,” I assured her. “I don’t lose control over myself when I’m in that state. It just makes it… easier for me to do what needs to be done sometimes.”

  “What does it feel like?” She asked hesitantly, as if she really didn’t want to know, but couldn’t help herself from inquiring.

  “It’s like being in the middle of a storm,” I replied as I conjured up the impressions from my mind. “I’m in the calm of its center, while everything around me is swirling in chaos, but it’s all under my control.”

  “That sounds strangely comforting.” Ella responded.

  “I’m glad you feel that way,” I laughed as I replied to her.

  “I mean that it’s reassuring that you feel that you’re in control,” she explained. “I trust you completely—what I was afraid of was that it wasn’t really you anymore when your eyes looked that way.”

  “It’s still me,” I reassured her. “It’s just a different side of me.”

  Ella nodded back in understanding, and we continued on down the road together for a while as the day grew late. We reached the Garrison gates a couple of hours later, and Evans greeted us as we walked inside. A memorial service was scheduled the next day for the fallen soldiers, after which they would be interred alongside the others who had died protecting us in the resting place I had founded at the far end of the valley after our final battle with the orcs. It had come to be known as the Heroes’ Vale and was a hallowed place for us. A place not only for mourning, but also for reflection, just as I’d hoped.

  “I would be one of them if it weren’t for you,” Rhia noted as we walked past the infirmary where the bodies were being
kept.

  “But you’re not, so don’t dwell on it,” I responded. I knew that some people reacted badly after being resurrected, becoming listless or obsessed with what might have happened, and I didn’t want anything like that to happen to her. Uncharacteristically, Rhia had no answer. She only looked at me with a curious expression for a moment before silently turning her attention back to her duties again.

  We made it back to the Palace, and everyone returned to their own offices and quarters. Even Tási left my side when we reached the Barracks level as she and Ella went off to attend to their responsibilities. So, with just the members of my personal guard remaining, I strode up the last set of stairs and into my quarters, completely unprepared for what awaited me there.

  “While you were out, I received a reply from Queen Nadiel, and you have a guest waiting to see you,” Talína informed me when I stepped into what had become the shared office for my aides.

  “Who?” I asked, curious over just who she would have allowed to do such a thing.

  “Queen Líann insisted on seeing you immediately upon your return,” Talína responded. “She is waiting for you in the west meeting room.”

  I had no idea why Líann might have wanted to see me so urgently, but I was in no hurry to see her again so soon, so I decided to deal with Nadiel’s message first.

  “What did Nadiel’s letter say?” I asked Talína.

  “She interviewed the former Ambassador’s staff,” Talína related Nadiel’s words. “And when they verified the allegations, she stripped him of his titles and properties and sent him away. Alone. He will have to walk alongside one of the caravans and find his own way across the straits if he wants to return home again, and even if he does, there will be nothing waiting for him there.”

  “That’s more than I expected,” I replied, somewhat impressed by Nadiel’s response.

  “She doesn’t tolerate that kind of behavior,” Talína explained. “And I imagine her attitude is even less accommodating, now that she’s joined your Empire. I’m only sorry that I didn’t bring things to her attention sooner.”