"If you would show him?" Magnus asked.
She bowed her head, her blooded eyes in pain as a ruffling of feathers rose from out of nowhere. Two large wings sprouted from her back like the wings of an angel, or a demon, nearly a dozen feet long and as black as Aliria's heart. Hundreds of feathers rained to the stone as she swept her wings in front of her and over her head. The feathers floated down lazily and completely obscured her from my sight. When the last feather touched the floor, Raven was gone, replaced by her namesake.
Standing before me was a monstrous black raven, easily fifteen feet long and terrifying. Raven stared at me with sharp, blood-red eyes that held a startling intellect.
She snapped her beak at me; it was as black as her feathers and caused me to jump back out of reflex.
"Holy…big bird!" I shouted and stumbled over my feet.
Magnus and Aliria snickered at my expense, while Raven stepped forward. Sunlight dripped down her glossy feathers as she walked next to one of the stained-glass windows. As she got closer, I noticed the massive talons capped at the end of her legs.
By the nine kings of hell, that's huge! I didn't think shifters could grow to that size. Seeing Raven shift also clarified her purpose in all this.
"I'm not riding a horse to Aldrust, am I?"
Magnus flashed a devious smile at me. "Nope."
Well, shit. Though, as I gazed at Raven’s admittedly majestic form, my heart fluttered at the prospect of flying. For all the fantastical elements of the game world, flying still eluded most of us. Well, it’ll be a new experience at least.
It overwrote my prejudices about partnering with a shifter just enough that I got lost in my daydream of flight and didn't notice as Magnus walked up next to me, grabbed my wrist, and drew a thin dagger across it.
"Son of a bitch!" I hissed as blood welled to snake down my hand. My health bar dipped by a fraction to register the damage I'd taken. "What the hell, Magnus?"
He didn't answer, just held my bloody arm out to the giant bird, and true fear crawled up from the pit of my subconscious as I stared into Raven’s eyes; they sparked as she shifted back to her human form. Raven shook herself and let her feathers fall out once more. When they'd disappeared, Raven the human stood and walked over to us.
She scrunched up her face at the sight of my blood, but and after some prodding from Magnus, placed my bleeding wrist to her mouth and bit down.
I sucked in a breath and fought back a grimace. Raven downed several large mouthfuls of blood before licking her tongue over my flesh. With a look of disgust, she wiped the specks of my blood from her lips and held out her wrist to Magnus.
The Aspect, though silent, made its desire known. It hungered for her blood, and its chill pulsed faster in my veins. My mouth salivated without my consent at the thought of biting into her flesh. I had to squeeze my eyes hard and will the Aspect back into my heart before I lost control and did something I’d regret.
There was no way I could let Magnus spill her blood. The Aspect was too strong already. And it wanted blood. Giving it what it wanted was something that seemed like a demonstrably bad idea.
The blade was halfway to her wrist when I stopped him.
"Stop!" I shouted, trying to keep from having to ingest her blood.
I don’t like the idea of bonding with her, but if it has to happen. I refuse for it to be by consuming her blood. I don’t want to experience her memories in the Mnemosyne. I didn't want to see the kind of life she'd led.
But more than that, I didn’t want to give the bastard in my heart an inch.
Though the only other option available to me left a sickening feeling in my stomach. It's better than drinking her blood, but ye gods, I don't want to do it.
Magnus looked at me with a quizzical expression, the knife hanging in mid-air. "Duran, why am I stopping? This has to be done."
"Why? Why can't she just go with me? Why do I have to bind myself to her?"
Magnus stowed the knife back into his tunic and spoke. "Her contract was that she would become mine. She can't leave my side for more than three days without suffering excruciating pain that would render her useless to you."
"That's a pretty ruthless contract," I said.
He shrugged nonchalantly. "The Alice isn't someone you enter into a bargain with lightly."
He had a fair point, and it was the reason I distrusted shifters. Never make a deal with the queen of the fairies—she'll find a way to screw you over every time. Only the damned or the desperate chose to make that deal. Still, contract or not, I didn't want to be a part of this. Here goes one more futile attempt. "Any chance I can get you to say you'll let me go alone?"
"None."
"Damn it all to hell, but I had to try," I said, marching over to Raven.
"Don't you need the knife?" Magnus asked.
"Hopefully not," I said as I reached her.
She shrank under my harsh glare, and I eased off a bit. She looked ready to bolt from the room at any second, and as much as I didn’t care for her kind, I needed her acceptance.
“Look,” I whispered. “I really don’t want to drink your blood. It would be problematic for a number of reasons. There is another option, but it’s not really a better one.”
Raven nodded, waiting for me to continue.
“I’ve found that it doesn’t always have to be blood that is required to bond. Saliva works just as well, but that would mean we would have to kiss.” I held up a hand. “I don’t particularly like either option, but since it seems I can’t get out of this, I’ll leave the choice up to you.”
Her eyes widened as her lips parted just so. “You would give me the choice?” she asked softly.
I nodded.
She paused over the choice for what seemed like ages. When she spoke again, it was nothing more than a whisper.
“Kiss.”
All right. It’s better than feeding the Aspect, at any rate.
Before my nerve could remind me what an awful idea this was, I grabbed the nape of her neck and kissed her.
It was hardly a kiss. As soon as our lips touched, I brought my tongue into her mouth so our saliva could mix. For half a minute, I swirled around her mouth with no response, and I was about to resign myself to tasting her blood when a force tugged on my heart.
At first, it was only the black magic side of my heart was being drawn out, but it was no longer just one side of magic in my heart, and both came at the call. It flowed through my veins, searching for an egress, the gash in my wrist.
An itch nagged at my arm before tendrils of thin smoked drifted out from my bloody wrist. I pulled away from our kiss as the smoke gathered around my arm and slithered around to enter Raven's mouth.
She jerked as it flowed down her throat and into her lungs. She stopped breathing as it seeped into her bloodstream. She twitched and wheezed when she started breathing again, doubling over and nearly falling to the stone floor. I caught her and lowered her to ground before stepping away while my magic tore through her body. She shuddered and groaned softly in pain but did not cry out. For several long moments, her body was wracked with spasms of pain, before finally settling.
I knew it when it stopped; some twitch in the back of my head told me when we'd bonded. Different than mine and Eris’s bond, but similar enough.
All in all, the entire encounter took less than three minutes but left me mentally drained. I was itching to leave, the gray stone walls felt claustrophobic.
I scratched at my beard and left Raven to get up on her own. "All right, Magnus, I did what you asked, now I'm ready to leave. I don't want to spend another minute here."
He nodded. "I understand.” Magnus held up his hand and flicked his fingers to the side a few times. “Here you go.”
Quest: Steal Lachrymal’s Heart
Type: Unique
Difficulty: S
Reward: 48000 Exp!
“I do apologize for demanding it of you, but rest assured, I can undo the bonding if the job gets done,�
�� Magnus said after I accepted the quest.
"If?"
"I said when, didn't I?"
"Doesn't matter," I said, turning to leave through the same door Magnolia went through a few minutes prior. “I'll bring you your accursed rock. The Gloom Knights always get the job done."
"Safe travels," Magnus said, smiling.
I was thankful I didn't have to speak to Aliria as I left; I wanted nothing more to do with either of the two lords of this castle. I'd been cooped up inside for too long, and already the outside world beckoned.
I rounded the corner just as Magnolia came into view. She spotted me and walked over, large canvas pack in hand. “I was looking for you, Lord. I was given clear instructions on what needed to go in, so you should find everything to your liking.”
I took the pack and dropped it in my inventory. “Thank you, Magnolia. You’ve been very kind to me.”
She smiled. “It’s no trouble, My Lord. Though I do apologize for my daughter’s behavior. She’s been spending too much time with Aliria, and I fear it’s had an effect on her personality. Jasmine has also never been around someone her own age before. I think that has caused her to become a little enamored with you.”
I laughed and waved her off. “Jasmine’s a nice girl, but Aliria could corrupt even the gods with that attitude of hers.”
“I like your daughter, but not in that way. I should’ve been more direct with her. That was a blunder on my part.”
Magnolia shook her head. “Don’t worry, I’ll talk to her about it, make her understand. But I must truly thank you for your kindness towards her. She’s never had friends before. I’m grateful.”
With those parting words, she bowed and showed me to the exit.
Magnolia led me up to the ramparts of the castle. Once outside, the burning heat immediately brought budding beads of sweat to my skin, only to be swept away by a stiff, salty breeze blowing in from the east. I couldn’t see the ocean from the castle, but the wind was unmistakable, and it all but confirmed that I was right about my assessment of the castle’s location.
In the distance, the sands of the Badlands loomed. Swirling sand dunes extended as far as I could see; waves of heat rose from the baking surface. On the furthest wall of the castle rose a tower ringed by parapets. Jasmine was at the top already, and we headed over.
We were at the highest point in the castle, and I still couldn’t see out past the dunes. The sun scorched mercilessly overhead, and even with the soft breeze, standing around wasn’t doing any good. What’s taking Raven so long?
Jasmine smiled at me, her hair drifting in the breeze as she reached into her uniform and pulled a long emerald green cloth from her uniform. “I have a gift for you.”
She held it out to me, and I took it, confused. Is it a scarf? No. Too long. Jasmine smiled at my obvious confusion. “It’s a sword sash. It can be worn horizontally or across your chest, whichever you prefer.”
“Thank you, Jasmine. I’ll see you around,” I said, removing my sword and wrapping the green cloth around my waist.
After tying it, my new sword slid into the hole by my belt nicely, and the rich green accented the black of my armor well, even if it was a bit too ostentatious for my liking.
“Till we meet again.” She bowed and departed with her mother, sparing me a glance just before she went back inside.
She really is a nice girl, but that’s not going to end well for me.
Before long, Raven joined me on the tower. It was just the two of us now, and I wanted to set some ground rules. I turned to her.
“I’ve made my feelings on you accompanying me abundantly clear. I don’t trust you, but if we are going to be working together, I want to make sure you understand. You do what I say, when I say. No debates, no discussions. Do you understand?”
She nodded, bobbing her head up and down rapid fire. “Yes, Master.”
“Yeah, no. Don’t call me that. That’s rule two. I’m nobody’s master.”
“Okay, then what would you like me to call you?”
“My name, if you must. Now let’s get going, we’re burning daylight.”
Without further conversation, Raven backed up and shifted, going into her giant bird form. Her voice came from nowhere, even though her beak remained closed.
“Climb on, Duran. And please be gentle, my feathers break easily.”
Grumbling, I did as she asked and hopped on as gently as I could. Her feathers were incredibly soft under my hands and warm to the touch. It was like the world’s softest down comforter, and I indivertibly spoke aloud.
“These feathers feel amazing,” I said before I could stop myself.
“That’s kind of you to say,” Raven said.
“Whatever, let’s just go.”
Raven knelt and launched herself in the air so fast, I had to grab handfuls of her feathers just to keep myself from falling off. She soared high into the sky before opening her wings and leveling out to glide forward.
I looked back to see the castle, already well behind us on the cliff face, the speed Raven at which flew rapidly turned the large castle into a dot on the horizon behind us.
The air was cold despite the heat as we climbed higher. Wind whipped past as we flew through the air. It took more than a few minutes for my heart rate to settle and get used to the sensation of flying, but when I did, I laughed aloud as the sands of the Badlands raced past at frightening speed. I lowered my head and clung to Raven’s warm feathers and found a nice balance between the chilled wind and the desert’s heat.
The Badlands were nothing but vast stretches of sand, easily hundreds of miles wide, so I settled in for looking at the same hues of brown for a while, and we flew in silence for a few hours.
A shrill tone interpreted my daydreaming. A name flashed across my interface. Miguel.
”Problem with the Gloom Shrooms?”
He laughed, breathing heavily. ”Not at all. Delivery went smoothly, dropped off the payment.”
”Then what do you need?”
”I have a job for—”
Click.
I closed my interface and stared at the ocean in the distance. By the third hour, I was getting sore and tight from staying in one position for so long, and without a proper harness to sit on, my ass was killing me. I wanted to stop and rest for a few moments but wasn’t about to complain in front of the shifter.
I’d just about resigned myself to enduring the aches that wormed into my muscles when we passed low over the wastes. I could make out dozens of small dots below us, walking in disorganized chaos, or shambling as it were.
Roamers, and quite a large horde of them, too. I was itching to do anything other than continue riding at the moment, and a delicious thought came over me.
“Raven, slow up and circle back.”
“Of course, but why?”
“Don’t worry about it. Just do it.”
She slowed down considerably and dipped low over the dunes, kicking up a gust of sand in the process. She lowered one shoulder and circled around, spying the horde of roamers as I had.
“That’s a lot of them in a single group. Is that what you wanted to see?”
I grinned. “Yep, it’s absolutely perfect,” I said, tensing.
Raven tilted her head to look at me, her large, blooded eye staring at me with concern. “What are you about to do?”
“Just a little power leveling,” I said and jumped.
“Duran!” she shouted, but I was already in freefall.
Chapter 8 - The Roving Dead
I timed my jump precisely, but my landing was anything but smooth as I dropped on to the top of the largest sand dune. I sank deeper than I was expecting and fell off balance, tumbling down the hill.
“Damn it,” I cursed as I spat out a mouthful of sand, the gritty grains fouling my mouth and slipping down my throat. Ignoring the roughness in my mouth for a second, I stood up, dusted the worst of the sand from me and pulled out a waterskin, washing out the remaining sand and spi
tting for good measure before draining a good fourth of the water. Next time, make sure I know what I’m jumping on if I’m going to pull a stunt like that again.
Raven swooped down near me, and I shielded my face against the small dust storm she kicked up in her wake. She quickly transformed back to her human form and marched over, clearly displeased.
“That was reckless of you,” she said as she knelt beside me.
“Was fun as hell, though,” I said with a chuckle before dropping my smile and focusing on the roving dead.
We’d landed behind the moving horde, and they were brainless creatures who could barely spark enough brain cells to move, let alone think. Pure instinct and need drove them to consume the flesh of the living.
As I peered out at the hundred or so roamers, I found a mixture of soldiers, farmers, and even a few who’d once been mages. All of them in various stages of decay and rot. Black magic kept the somnambulists mobile and slowed the rate of decay, sometimes stopping it altogether if the necromancer was strong enough. I don’t see anyone leading them, so maybe this is an unbound horde. Maybe their creator is already dead.
Dead or not, I was excited to get to work. Roamers in small groups were chumps, even at high levels, but since each undead lost a quarter of their levels during the resurrection, there would never be an undead higher than level seventy-five, barring a lich or any of the spectral undead. Easy enough in small doses, but a hundred is more than I can take at once unless I do this smart.
I eyed Raven, who wasn’t much to look at. She still wore her thin black dress and had no weapons. A liability, one that would only slow me down.
“Do you have any armor at all?” I hissed at her.
She flinched and nodded. “It should be in my pack.”
I withdrew her pack and tossed it to her. “Get dressed, quickly.”
She didn’t bother responding; instead, she stripped out of her dress then and there, giving me a brief glimpse of the smooth, pale skin of her abdomen and her ample bust before I could turn my head.
I put her out of mind and focused on watching my prey.
Hive Queen Page 12