by Ryan DeBruyn
He turned to the attendant. “What do I put in here?” he asked, indicating the hollow Pen.
The attendant paused, chirped a few times, and said, “We personally do not have access to the answer. Instead, we asked the seller. Their response was, ‘Only the strongest and most fragile of mediums can hold Enchanted Ether.’ Did we answer your question?”
“No, that doesn’t answer the question at all.”
“Would you like us to search the shop for a book or item that may contain the answer?”
He nodded.
“Complete. There is one item that is related to Enchanting. Enchanter’s Pen. Would you like to see it?”
He was ready to scream. He placed his purchases in his Bag of Holding and stalked out of the shop. Like everything else in this place, he would figure it out on his own. He knew better than to count on people sharing knowledge in this new world.
He paused, letting his eyes adjust from the darkness of the night to the brightness of the interior shop. Where was Azoth? Usually, he would contact the birdbrain, but that wasn’t possible now. He closed his eyes and tried to feel out the location of his friend.
Their connection existed, though whether it was system-generated or something else, he didn’t know. Still, he knew it had to be there. He was about to give up when he felt something—it wasn’t Ether, though. Whatever the thin strand was, it acted like an Ether channel but was invisible to his Ether Manipulation. He followed it, not sure what it was, but his gut told him it would lead him to his pet.
The strand guided him to a cleared space beside stacks of 2x4s, nails, shingles, and other building materials. Azoth was curled up with his back to a pile of cut timber.
Rocky approached him and sat in front of the tight bundle of fur and feathers. He laid out his purchases on the ground in front of him and prepared for some work. Before Rocky could begin, a pulse shot along the new external connection. It alarmed him for a split second and then Azoth purred. Rocky reached back, patting the gigantic lion paw. The thread hummed with energy, and Rocky enjoyed the connection.
He settled into the silent companionship and turned his attention back to the task at hand. He entered his Meditation and began some of the exercises that Tao had taught the citizens of the Grotto. After fifteen minutes, he had cleaned up and reinvigorated his internal channels. Feeling refreshed, he reached forward to pick up his first Enchanted purchase. His hands closed around the Jerkin of Protection, and he brought it close to his chest.
Gortuk Jerkin of Protection
● This item is made from Gortuk skin.
Ether Pool level: Tiny
Current Ether Pool Level: 20/20
Enchantments: Protection I (15%)
Protection I
● Ether Pool will be used to directly reduce melee damage to any area covered by this armor. Magical damage requires three times the amount of Ether from Ether Pool to reduce damage. Damage reduced up to 15%, depending on the strength of the blow. This effect can be increased by having an Enchanter increase the rank of the Enchantment.
He took a deep breath, steadied himself, and forced out a tendril of his internal Ether. It was surprisingly more straightforward this time than it had been in the past, By no means easy, but definitely easier. Sweat broke out on his forehead as he examined the item.
He had been right. He could replicate this effect.
There was a pool of Ether, and off that pool ran intricate channels of viridian blues. It was almost identical to his internal channels—but this one almost formed what he guessed were letters. He studied the pattern and memorized them before placing the item down and pulling a blank leather chest piece out of the Territorial inventory.
He didn’t need the pen to replicate this enchantment, either. Maybe he was right and only needed it for high level enchantments? Wouldn’t that be a waste of Crystals.
He studied the leather and immediately found an empty place where a pool could reside. He filled the void with his own Ether and sensed when it reached its limit. He pulled a thread of Ether and wove it into the intricate patterns he had memorized. It took some time, and when he had finished, his body was hot, and his face was drenched in a thick layer of sweat.
Excited, he pulled his awareness back and mentally let go of the Ether. His head pounded as his Ether pool dropped by one hundred and fifty points. He pushed the headache out of his Meditative state and watched. The Ether was flowing in the same patterns as the Enchanted Jerkin. Pain registered dimly on his awareness, and he ignored it. He had just figured out how to Enchant gear! Not only that, but his entire populace possessed the ability to Enchant.
His hands screamed in agony, breaking his Meditation. His eyes flew open and he cried out, throwing the flaming piece of leather away from himself. His hands were blackened and bubbling with blisters. He nearly vomited at the smell of burnt leather and human skin.
Azoth shot up behind him and trampled the burning chest piece, but the fire wouldn’t go out. His pet’s actions broke his shock, and he cast Dark Mend on his hands and Azoth.
“Azoth, stand back. That fire is fueled by Ether.” Rocky forced out between clenched teeth.
Azoth retreated from the blue-flaming leather. He stepped gingerly, avoiding too much pressure on his burnt front paws.
Shit, I should have bought Health Potions.
Without Health or Elixir potions, they watched as the leather burned until it was nothing but a wisp of smoke. Every time his Ether pool ticked up enough, he added a stack of Dark Mend to himself or Azoth.
Well, that hadn’t worked out the way he had planned.
Azoth curled back up on the ground behind Rocky. He leaned into his pet, the exhaustion of the day overwhelming him. He would just rest his head and wait for his pool to fully regenerate before his next attempt at Enchanting. His eyelids grew heavy as Azoth’s warmth enveloped him. As he fell into a deep sleep, the last thing he saw was Sela, jogging toward him and shaking her head.
Chapter Nine
Azoth moved beneath Rocky, jostling him awake. A sizable wet cat tongue scraped its way up to his scalp.
“Gah, Azoth, are you planning to eat me?”
Sela chuckled from where she lay wrapped in his arm.
When did she end up cuddled in my arms? Stop thinking about how nice it feels. Damnit!
“He says you taste cleaner than normal. Maybe you would be tastier, too.”
Azoth stared at him with dog-like eyes. His pet licked its snout, and a laugh escaped from Rocky. He disentangled himself from Sela.
“Just try me. I'm nothing but bone and sinew.” He shoved the behemoth and only succeeded in moving himself a few steps back. He mimicked a battle roar and jumped on Azoth, performing a graceless scratch attack.
Sela's laughter cut through the quiet morning air. Azoth's feathers and fur smelled of wet dew, and Rocky reveled in what they had built in the Grotto. What they had achieved.
Sela stopped laughing and stared at the sky. Rocky disentangled himself and followed the beautiful Ancestral guide’s gaze. How in the hell had he missed the colossal tower that dominated the clearing? The flapping guild tent mocked him as it fluttered from the tip.
“What do you think that massive dome at the bottom is?” asked Rocky.
The dome at the bottom of the tower easily doubled the height of every building in the Grotto and formed a wide, black semi-circle around the base. From its center rose a pillar that supported a small sphere at the top of the tower. After the sphere there was clearly some sort of lightning rod structure but it was hard to tell from the bottom as the center skewered the guild tent. Most of the hanging fabric kept flapping over the top of the dome obscuring it from view. His neck spasmed, reminding him that he had craned his neck for too long. He looked away and rubbed his complaining muscles.
“I have no idea, but we should probably go find out.”
Azoth flew off above them and inspected the tower from the air.
“Sela, can you remind him not to bre
ak anything? Offer him a treat if he figures out how to get the Guild tent down—without damaging it.”
Rocky continued after Sela’s chuckle, “How far away from here do you think people can see this Tower?”
Sela shrugged, lost in thought.
They turned down a grass-filled path between two Longhouses. Early risers wiped sleep from their eyes and congregated, gaping at the newest pitch-black building. Threading through the crowd, they approached a set of double doors that even Bathilda the dragon could fit through.
“You going to stand here staring or find out what's inside?”said a familiar voice Rocky hadn't heard in a while.
All the gawkers whipped their heads around to find Smith in a fluffy pink robe, escorted by Victoria and Letoya.
Sela hugged him, welcoming the Native American man.
Someone in the crowd wolf whistled, and another man crowed, “Smith is back, and he is wearing that fluffy pink robe. Pay up, I told you all that's the outfit you are reborn in.”
A kaleidoscope of red spread over Victoria's face, and Rocky laughed along with the crowd.
He pulled a spoon out of his Bag of Holding, and handed it to Smith. The fluffy robed man frowned and squinted at the spoon, then slowly looked up at Rocky. A few others in the crowd looked between the pink-accented Smith, holding a spoon, and Rocky. He didn’t explain, he just laughed harder. This was picture perfect!
Smith’s return lifted a weight off Rocky's shoulders that he hadn't known he was carrying. But something else would take its place. He couldn’t shake what would happen to Amber—or his role in it. The burr that was Amber wormed its way into his subconscious, but he wasn’t going to let it overshadow this happy reunion.
It took about five minutes before the crowd calmed enough to allow for any sort of conversation.
“Why are you three sweating and out of breath?” asked Sela.
Victoria stepped forward, planting her feet at parade rest, with her hands behind her back. The stance highlighted her new black bone-chestpiece. “Smith appeared last night, right after many quakes assaulted the tunnels. Letoya and I were just about to retreat when we found him on top of the altar. Shortly after, the quakes intensified, and tunnels began to collapse. We were forced to use the cave your group first entered through as an alternate exit. We were forced to sprint to stay ahead of the tunnel collapse.”
The onlookers murmured worriedly.
Those tunnels had always been a backup plan. They added a layer of safety the Territory could fall back on. He opened his mouth to ask a follow-up, but Sela beat him to it.
“Is the altar gone, then?”
“I would have said yes, but since we got to the surface and saw this—” Smith indicated the dome and tower, “—I have been thinking. The collapse was strange. It wasn't due to weight or instability. All the networks of tunnels and that central room seemed to be moving upwards.”
“Oh—Oh!—we didn't know, guys. Holy hells, we just chose to build this thing last night too,” Rocky confessed.
Smith waved away the apology. “No way you could have known. If my theory is correct, I bet we could have just stayed put in the altar room. My guess is that it’s somewhere there.” He pointed up the tower, indicating where he thought the room had relocated itself. “Want to go find out?”
“First, can we get you out of that wardrobe slip waiting to happen?” Rocky reached into his bag and pulled out a set of Nanoweave under armor and handed it to Smith.
Smith pulled Rocky in close, and growled, “You gave me a spoon instead of this?” Then he took the orb and pulled away. Rocky tilted his head as his resurrected friend held the metal ball to his chest before trading the pink bathrobe back to Victoria. The man wasn’t exactly angry, but…
Maybe I shouldn’t tell him that was my set of Nanoweave that was inside an ogre.
Rocky offered Smith a plain tunic and breeches from the Guild’s inventory. His friend lowered the facemask and put on proper clothes over the skin tight garment.
The crowd followed Rocky to the dome. He tried the doors but they wouldn’t open, and onlookers released a collective sigh of disappointment.
Sela sorted through notifications and whispered, “It needs three Ether converters to gain functionality. We need to go pick those up or force the doors open with brute strength.”
Rocky looked around, searching for Tao or Gamma, who were nowhere to be found.
“It just needs power, folks. We will be right back!”
***
Rocky and Sela entered the shop.
“A message from Garnell awaits you, Lady Sela,” said the attendant.
Rocky raised an eyebrow.
Why is it a message for Sela?
His Ancestral guide accepted the envelope and read it quickly.
“Amelia wants to meet with us at our earliest convenience.”
Rocky narrowed his eyes. If the invitation was for both of them, why was the note addressed to Sela?
She handed him the letter as she approached the counter to find the Ether converters.
He read over the missive, wanting to make sure Sela hadn’t left anything out. There were only a few sentences, and he didn’t find any information that differed from what Sela had said. He shook his head, freeing it of his suspicious feelings, and breathed deeply to center himself. He needed to relax. The letter was probably addressed to Sela because she did most of the talking in the meetings. She was co-leader of the Grotto, after all.
His Bag of Holding got heavier. He looked up to find the last Ether Converter vanishing inside and Sela sternly frowning at him.
“What happened to the majority of our Crystals, Rocky?”
He ran his hand through his hair and looked down. Collecting his nerves, he forced himself to meet her gaze. “Umm...I purchased an Enchanter's Kit.” He braced himself for an explosive reaction.
“Actually, we really do need that. Was that what you were doing last night?”
On the way back to the tower, Rocky and Sela discussed his failed Enchantment attempt, and she pointed out the obvious. He hadn't used the pen at all. He had gotten ahead of himself last night. Maybe he had been overtired. He should have thought harder about that. Why would there be a pen if he wasn’t supposed to use it?
Dad used to love to say that Rocky was a ‘leap before you look’ kind of idiot.
The unexpected memory of his dad saddened him. But the Tower, once powered, may be able to finally give him an answer about the rest of his family.
The domed base of the tower came back into view, an even larger crowd amassed beneath it.
He turned to Sela and whispered, “Where do we even put these Ether converters?”
“No idea.”
As they approached, Gamma and Tao were present, having taken up positions on the opposite side of the dome. There was another set of doors ninety degrees offset from the ones he had attempted to open that morning. Tao and Gamma's position, and the people clustered around them, highlighted a pattern of gatherings. Each large gathering would likely be in front of doors. They veered in that direction.
As they reached the two, Gamma said, “Well, can we go inside now? Tao.”
Rocky was used to the rudeness of the ax-wielding Knight. “Good morning to you as well, Gamma. Good morning, Tao.”
Tao bared his teeth in an attempted smile and managed to only look partially constipated—which was an improvement. “The weather is fair today, and the excitement of a new toy tints the air. Perhaps we shall explore what Gaia has granted us?”
Sela clapped, having always shared a kindred bond with the wise Knight. She bounced excitedly on her heels and said, “Yes, please, Sir Tao.”
Gamma and Tao stepped up to the double doors, each taking a side.
The Knights, now dwarfed by the entrance, would understand how the humans felt around them. And now more than ever, Rocky felt small.
This new world was vast.
The two strained under the weight of the doors, and thei
r feet sunk into the grass. Nothing like seeing Newton's third law in action. The door moved an inch, cracking loudly, and a whoosh of air escaped. The two continued pushing, and the door began to swing faster on its fresh new hinges until they were able to hold the doors fully open.
Gamma strained to keep his side open. Through clenched teeth, he said, “Rocky, Sela, these doors are going to swing shut as soon as we let go. Hurry up.”
“Everyone stays here. Tao, Gamma, Sela, and I will get the power converters in place.” A sleepy-eyed young man pushed his way through the crowd, his red hair in disarray. “And Zippo.”
They jogged through the doorway, and Zippo conjured a fireball.
Clear of the colossal slabs as thick across as Tao and Gamma, Rocky said, “You two can let go now. We’re going to need your strength.” Both Knights released the doors and sidestepped the swinging motion created by the release of pressure. The doors boomed shut, echoing the crash in all directions.
The sound ricocheted off the hard Dragonscale surfaces further and further away from the group.
Zippo's fireball highlighted an arched ceiling that towered above the Knights' heads, revealing a passage on each side of the chamber that led to closed doors. His vision couldn't penetrate past the illumination of the fireball, and he suspected that they would find doors at regularly spaced intervals.
“Probably time to figure out where we should place these Ether converters,” Rocky said. His voice echoed off the surrounding walls.
The group continued down the unadorned hallway. He had been right—enormous doors barred their entry to regularly-spaced side rooms. Or maybe other hallways.
Should we examine every doorway? I mean, we’ve already walked by eight.
He glanced back but kept following the current hallway, hoping that some sort of electrical room would be in the center of the dome. The hall was straight and could only be leading them to the base of the tower. Two sets of doors later, they entered a circular room. The roof of the corridor sloped up and created a cathedral ceiling.