by Aleron Kong
He was going to live! And he had gotten his shit back! Richter quickly placed his moonstone dagger back into its belt sheath and grabbed the rope with both hands. His legs still hung free, but as he hung there, he threw his head back and laughed maniacally. “All I do is win!” he shouted up as his stamina bar grew close to bottoming out. The damn rope swayed back and forth and he heard a shout from the top of the pit as they started to pull him up. Richter wasn’t about to wait. In a feat of athleticism that he hadn’t even known he was capable of, the chaos seed started pulling himself up the rope using only the strength of his arms. His abused muscles trembled. An electric pain shot from his shoulders and up into his neck. He pushed through it, but his head began to grow foggy as his stamina entered single digits.
Knowing there was not much time left, Richter wrapped one leg around the rope and used his other leg to trap it. He freed one hand and reached into his Bag of Holding. Focusing on what he wanted to retrieve, a potion materialized in his hand. He brought it to his mouth and grabbed the top with his teeth. A slow pull was all it took to free the stopper. He spat it out and poured the green solution into his mouth. He almost cooed as sweet, blessed relief swept through his body. The stamina potion made the green bar on his interface start to rise. He dropped the glass vial into the abyss and tilted his head back as he was pulled back up out of the abyss. A smile of pure lassitude grew on his face, and he spoke quietly to the air around him, “Win, win, win no matter what!”
CHAPTER 2 – Day 140 – Kuborn 30, 15,386 EBG
As soon as he was over the lip of the pit, he rolled over three times. Richter didn’t care if it made him look ridiculous, he was absolutely NOT trusting the integrity of the earth right next to the hole. When he was what he considered a minimal safe distance away, he just lay on his back and looked up at the sky. His heart continued to thud in his chest.
Richter closed his eyes and took a deep breath. A moment later, he exhaled while thanking whatever gods might be listening. The chaos seed never thought he would be so thankful for the simple pleasure of gravity being his friend again. A familiar weight settled on his chest as Alma landed to comfort her master.
Only a few moments passed before a voice interrupted his peace and zen. “Are you just going to lay down all day? There is still work to do, you know.”
Richter cracked one eye and stared at Sion, “Do you know that I almost died down there?”
“I could always throw you back down the hole if you left your balls behind,” Sion retorted. “Do you seriously not hear all of that?”
Richter honestly had been blocking everything out, just happy to be alive, but then he heard what his friend was talking about. Muttered curses in goblin-speak, muted moans of pain, and an urgent voice speaking in the sprites’ tongue, “I have to speak with him!”
The irritation left Richter’s face. Sion was right. His own near-death experience aside, there were still things to be done. He sat up and Alma flew into the air. Richter looked around for the first time since the battle had ended. What he saw was a charnel house.
The dismembered and hacked bodies of dozens of goblins dotted the area. The inevitable scents of blood, piss, vomit and shit filled the air. Even though he had been through several battles over the past few months, the horrible smells and sights still surprised him. Severed arms and legs lay next to their previous owners, and large wounds showed spilled viscera out over the ground. The flies had already found the site and were buzzing around, delighted in their feast.
This was the part of the battles that had never been portrayed in movies and TV shows he used to watch. Richter was actually surprised that he had been able to ignore the noxious potpourri for even a few moments and wondered what that said about him. What it said about who and what he was becoming.
Unfortunately, the goblins were not the only fatalities. Three of his guards lay unmoving on the ground, never to rise again. As he looked around, Richter realized that no one had made it through the battle unscathed. Everyone sported minor, and in a few cases major, wounds. Caulder was leaning back against a tree, and blood ran freely down his face from a scalp wound. He was awake, thankfully, and was being tended to by one of the Life magi. Almost all of the sprites had suffered wounds as well, though thankfully they all still breathed.
As dismayed as he was at the deaths of his men, Richter was relieved that it hadn’t been worse. They had attacked a numerically superior force and destroyed them. If nothing else, the battle had proven what his grandfather had told him when he a child. The plain speaking, retired soldier had been telling old war stories and had impressed one point on his wide-eyed grandson: there is no replacement for training and superior weaponry.
Thinking of the gruff old man almost brought a smile to Richter’s face, but then he continued looking around. In addition to the death and blood, he saw that to his right several trees were on fire. The flames were already in the process of being quelled, however, by a single, isolated cloud that was raining on that exact spot. Without being told, the chaos seed knew that his Companion’s Air magic was to thank for that. Gentle Rain might not be of much use in combat, but the versatile spell was showing its value in quelling a potential forest fire. Richter was especially glad of the rainstorm seeing as how the fire was his fault. His Weak Fireball spell was more than effective, but Sion was right. It couldn’t be used in a forest without consequences.
Another bout of goblin-speak caught Richter’s attention. His gaze shifted to a group of three goblin scouts and two of the larger goblin fighters that were bound hand and foot. At the end of the battle, it seemed his guards had been able to capture some of the enemy warband. The goblins were cursing and threatening his people even as some of the guards were starting to gag them. Richter didn’t know what the green-skinned captives thought they were accomplishing considering the fact that his people did not speak goblin, but then, maybe they weren’t that bright. The point was he had time to figure it out. The battle was done.
Richter reached an arm out, and Sion reached down to help him up. When the chaos seed was back on his feet, he was once again struck by how strange it was to have Sion be a foot taller than before. Even though the sprite was still only four and a half feet tall, it was a marked difference from before his Companion had undergone the meidon bonding. Before he could make an appropriately asshole comment about growth spurts, though, he was distracted by a sound of extreme disgust. Turning his head, Richter saw a sprite that was starting to gag and followed the woman’s gaze. His own eyes widened, and he shouted, “Stop!”
His shale adder, not at all bothered by the carnage of the battle, had uncoiled its body from the death lock it had had on the Witch Doctor. Apparently, the snake thought it deserved a little treat for its contribution during the battle and had laid claim to a particular piece of post- battle booty: the body of the goblin Mage. It had dislocated its jaw and was proceeding to ingest the caster feet first! The Witch Doctor’s face was still frozen in a leer of hatred that was only made worse by the bulging eyes and burst blood vessels that had resulted from being squeezed to death. It had to be Richter’s imagination, but the dead Mage seemed to be staring at him as the chaos seed’s tamed creature started to ingest it.
“I said stop!” Richter shouted for a second time. Everyone looked over at him, including the adder. Again, it had to have been in his imagination, but the snake’s eyes seemed to widen in innocence as if to imply that what it was doing couldn’t possibly be the cause of its master’s ire! The guiltless image it was trying to portray was obviously undercut by the fact that it had already swallowed the Witch Doctor’s body up to the knees.
“Yes, I’m talking to you!” Richter said, walking up to the creature. “Now drop it! How are you even supposed to get back to the village if you eat a whole goblin right here? I’d have to roll you back through the forest! Spit it out!”
He knew he wasn’t imagining it this time. The snake fixed him with an accusing and petulant gaze as it began to regur
gitate the goblin. It wasn’t a fast procedure. The adder had to disgorge the goblin’s body inch by inch, and the process was accompanied by a wet shulck, shulck sound. The sprite that had been gagging, before, progressed to full vomiting. Soon one or two others joined her. Richter didn’t really blame them. His own face wrinkled in disgust. He realized that, once again, TV fell short of real life. This was not the way nature was portrayed on Animal Planet.
Once it was clear that it would obey, Richter turned his attention to helping with the healing efforts. Before he had taken more than a few steps, though, the sprite that he had rescued ran up to him. “Are you the leader of these people?”
Something about the sprite seemed off to Richter, or at the very least… different. The chaos seed used Analyze.
Name: LiddleRace: Hill SpriteDisposition: Neutral
Hill Sprites have several marked differences from their woodland cousins. Just as comfortable below ground as above, they have greater strength, but less agility than wood or forest sprites. Underground, they have had to engage in melee combat to a greater extent and are more comfortable with close quarters combat. They are also gifted with a limited darkvision. Hills sprites get three points to distribute per level, and each level gives +1 to Strength and +1 to Dexterity.
Age: 35
Level: 11, 28%
Health: 172/210Mana: 81/150Stamina: 62/170
Strength: 23
Agility: 15
Dexterity: 23
Constitution: 21
Endurance: 17
Intelligence: 15
Wisdom: 12
Charisma: 12
Luck: 11
“I am the war leader and the Master of these lands, Liddle,” Richter asserted. “You may call me Richter. Before you say anything else, hold still a moment.” Raising one hand, the chaos seed focused his will and spoke a word of Power. Golden light enveloped his hand as he cast Weak Slow Heal. The hill sprite’s bruises and wounds began to disappear, and within seconds, most of them were gone. The relief on the small man’s face was immediate and obvious. Liddle’s shoulders relaxed, his breathing eased, and he looked at Richter gratefully.
With that done, the chaos seed continued, “Now. What do you need to tell me? And why were you being pursued by such a large warband?”
“Thank you for healing me, Lord Richter,” Liddle began. “There are many things I need to tell you, but first, I must warn you of the Bloodstone.”
Sion’s head whipped around, “A Bloodstone? Are you sure?”
The hill sprite gave Sion an inscrutable look for a moment but then answered, “I am sure. They have already begun the sacrifices, and they have held me captive for weeks. I felt the call of my meitu’meidon though. It gave me the strength to endure and escape.”
Sion’s face grew even more concerned and agitated. Seeing Richter’s questioning expression, he explained, “A Bloodstone is an object of Deep Magic. As far as I know, they can only be fully utilized by Blood mages, but sprite history is full of stories of other mages using them to breed havoc and ruin. They are relics from long ago. I do not know much about them, but one thing that holds true in all of the stories is how the stone gathers power. It must be bathed in heart’s blood.”
Liddle began nodding emphatically, “The wood sprite is correct, Lord Richter. They are killing people right now! That is why I need your help, and quickly! Thankfully, it seems the Bloodstone can only absorb the energy from one sacrifice per day, but other prisoners told me that dozens of sprites, humans and elves have already been sacrificed!”
“Where is their encampment?” Sion asked urgently.
“Do you have a map?” Liddle asked. “I can show you the rough location.”
Richter removed his Traveler’s Map from his bag and unrolled it. Currently, it showed a large swath of the forest. He zoomed out until Liddle was able to recognize landmarks. The hill sprite exclaimed in surprise, so the chaos seed quickly explained the properties of his magical map. Liddle nodded in understanding and stabbed his finger down on a location to the east.
With an exertion of will, the chaos seed made the map zoom in to that area. Liddle continued to help narrow down the location until he was able to point out exactly where the settlement was. It was Richter’s turn to be surprised. The encampment was only fifteen miles past the border of his domain. It meant there was an enemy village within thirty miles of his own. Even without the threat of this “Bloodstone,” he knew that a hostile encampment that close was something that would have to be dealt with.
Unfortunately, the area Liddle was pointing to showed only unbroken forest. To make matters worse, that portion of the map looked like it had been drawn with ink. That meant that the Traveler who had made the map hadn’t actually been to the area. Instead, that section of the map must have come from second-hand information. Specifically, another map that the Traveler had seen and whose information he had decided to add to the Traveler’s map. If the area had been in grayscale, that would have at least indicated that the information was based on firsthand experience, albeit experience that was hundreds of years out of date. Richter placed almost no trust in what he was seeing.
“Are you sure that is the location?” Sion asked Liddle. “All I see is forest.”
“I am sure,” Liddle responded, “and it is not surprising that the map shows only forest. The goblins are in a hidden valley. The entrance is easy to miss, and the trees grow tall. I would never have found it if those green-skinned devils hadn’t captured me. I have no idea how the goblins found the valley, but I promise you it is there.” There was no doubt in his voice.
Richter was about to ask more questions when Liddle grabbed his arm, “My brothers are still being held prisoner, and they are not the only ones! I do not know how many are there in total. I was kept in a cage near the wall, which is how I escaped. I do know that there are women and children also being held captive, Lord Richter. You have to save them!”
You have been offered a quest: Bloodstone I. Dozens, if not hundreds, of captives are being sacrificed to fuel an item known as the Bloodstone. Your Companion is clearly distressed by this. You have been charged by the hill sprite, Liddle, to save his family and the other captives. The problem is, they are in the middle of a goblin encampment. Reward: Variable, increases with the number of lives saved. Penalty for failure or refusal of quest: Large drop in regard from Liddle. Do you accept? Yes or No?
Richter gritted his teeth, but he still accepted the quest without hesitation. The truth was, he couldn’t afford to let an enemy base sit at his very doorstep. He had already decided that the goblins would have to be… removed. His frustration came from knowing that there were lives at stake. He was on the clock. The cold and analytical side of him was already measuring how many more lives he would allow to be sacrificed to maximize the success of an attack. He wasn’t a machine, though. Another side of him was beginning to be tortured thinking of child sacrifice. Richter shook his head; the urgency was something he could live without.
“I will do my best to save your people and all of the others,” Richter said. The relief on Liddle’s face was tragic. The sprite’s shoulders fell, and he started weeping quietly. The stress of running for his life while knowing that he was also running away from his loved ones must have been a horrible burden to bear. Now that the weight had been lifted, he could admit his mortality and feel the pain he had been ignoring. Richter did not want to take him from that place of relief, but he didn’t want there to be any misunderstandings.
“Liddle,” the chaos seed continued. The sprite looked up at Richter’s stern visage and nodded. “There are things I need to know. Before that, I need you to know that I will not rush blindly into danger, nor will I allow my people to go into danger without being properly prepared. We must return to our village and gather our strength.”
“But my family-” Liddle interjected. Richter raised a hand to cut him off.
“I will do everything I can for your family, but some of my men have
already died to save you. We are battered and bloodied. We need to heal, know more about this encampment you described, and gather reinforcements. Any information you can provide will speed the time that we can move against the goblins and improve our chance of success. Now can you help? Can you be strong enough for your family, that you maximize their chances of survival?” Richter felt like an absolute monster for speaking so firmly to a man that was clearly suffering and sick with worry, but he would not just blindly rush into danger again. He would already be digging three graves that night. That was already three too many as far as he was concerned.
Indecision and impatience warred on Liddle’s face, but Richter’s words reached him. He nodded and his shoulders slumped again. Sion reached out a hand and laid it on the sprite’s shoulder, “Are you sure they only sacrifice one person a day?”
The hill sprite nodded, “Yes. I heard two of the goblins complaining about the fact that they couldn’t slaughter us all at once, but the Witch Doctor had made his orders clear.” Suddenly, Liddle’s face twisted in hate. “The green-skinned bastards! I will kill them all!”
“You will get the chance,” Sion promised grimly. “Have they already sacrificed someone today?” The sprite’s question might seem cold, but Richter realized that it was also pragmatic. Someone having died today meant that Richter could have as much as twenty-four hours to save the rest.
Liddle looked at him with pain in his eyes but still nodded. The fire went right out of the hill sprite. and he said with a voice colored with shame, “Yes. They kill each day at noon. All of the goblins get quite excited when it happens. I- I used the distraction today to escape as they sacrificed a human girl… I could still hear her screaming as I ran into the woods.” His eyes were haunted and guilty as he quietly added, “They like to take their time.”