I picked up the pace, charging out the twister, this time from behind the Black Guardians. I went straight for Lazarus, Dawnbreaker’s blade ready to dig into his back. I heard a clash as I struck him, and force pushed against my attack.
“Ah, I see,” Lazarus said, his sword against his back, blocking my blow. The man turned around, a grin on his face. “Clever.”
I backed away fast. “Freya, NOW!” I yelled.
The elven assassin threw her hand up into the air. “Peona Ilius!” she yelled. A wave of mini spheres of white emerged in the sky and shot to the ground, striking the men of the Black Guardians. They tried to fend them off with the weaponry, and that was exactly the distraction I needed.
“Got you,” I surged to Lazarus immediately, my blade up in my hand.
The man caught a glimpse of me and put his sword up. I swung from the right and he moved to the same side to block.
Check, I grinned. I let go of my blade and in a burst of speed, rushed up to his chest.
“Uher,” I said.
The bird of darkness surged out of the ground, thundering into him at point blank and pushing him into the twister. The winds of sand and dust picked up for a second, turning chaotic.
And then they died.
A wave of mud sprayed onto me and I shielded my face quick. When I put my hands down again, Freya and I were the only people left. I looked around, searching for anyone else.
But they were all gone.
“That mass spell gave them an escape route too,” Nyx said. “Clever.”
Yeah, I sighed.
“Are you okay?” Freya walked up to me, concern in her eyes.
I nodded. “Thanks for coming to get me,” I said. “It was pretty hard taking on those men alone.”
“I noticed,” she smiled. “Didn’t think the Phantom Lord would have trouble with something like that.”
I laughed. “In all seriousness though, it’s quite worrying.”
“I know,” she said. “They seemed to be evenly matched with you. What was that about?”
“I’m not sure,” I said. “My thoughts are that they probably specialized in the Dark Arts, and that was why it was hard for me to take them down.”
“Aren’t you a specialist in the Dark Arts too?”
“Lazarus seemed to know a lot more than I did.”
“I see.”
“Also, just saying,” Nyx started. “But it’s very likely that mass spell they cast for the twister also cut down your strength as well.”
You mean like a handicap? I asked.
“Sort of.”
Hmmm, I said. That’s possible.
“How did this even happen?” Freya asked, sliding her sword back in.
“I was ambushed,” I said. “Joseph and his adventurers were a trap all long.”
“Oh,” she squinted.
“Yeah,” I said. “Some group called the Black Guardians seems to have come after me.”
“Any leads on why?”
“No clue. They knew I was an Eternal and that I was the Phantom Lord.”
“Yeah I figured as much when I saw you use your more specialized moves.”
“Their leader, Lazarus, did say that something big was coming,” I said. “Although I’ve heard that line from enemies too many times to take it seriously at every instance.”
Freya smiled. “I think it’s best you relax for now.”
“Wait, how are you even here in the first place?” I asked. “How did you even know where to find me?”
“Well for one, you never responded back to my message on the Ga’em messaging service so I got a bit worried,” she said. “I decided it’d be best to come after you and so I got Ijyela to look after the village and then came your way.”
“Oh, Ijyela is at Ikarius right now?”
“She was close by anyway, luckily for us,” she said. “The place is in safe hands don’t worry. Ijyela will take good care of-”
BOOM!
A sound wave rushed through us, loud enough to be felt, but not strong enough to hurt anyone. My head instantly turned in the direction of the source.
“What was that?” I asked.
“No clue,” Freya said, curiosity in her voice. “It seems to be coming from far off.”
“We need to check that out,” I said.
“How far is it though? It looks like it might take us a while to get there.”
“Meh,” I grabbed the elf’s waist and lifted her up in my arms.
She immediately turned flustered. “Wait wha-”
I blast forward, my legs carrying us at top pace. At level 500+, one’s agility was fast enough to get around places quick. Of course, I could have used an instant teleportation skill, but that trick tends to work well only when one has a certain clue of where they’re going, and in this case, we had absolutely no idea.
BOOM!
Another sound wave radiated through us, this one a little stronger than the last.
Good, we’re getting closer, I thought.
“Closer to danger,” Nyx said.
Do you have no clue what that is? I asked, ignoring the voice’s sarcasm.
“No clue.”
BOOM!
The sound was starting to ring more frequently now. A shred of color piqued the corner of my vision and I instantly stopped, sliding across the ground and nearly dropping Freya from the force of the stop.
“Well that wasn’t any fun,” the elf complained as I let her down. “Why did we stop here anyway?”
“That,” I pointed behind her. She turned around and her eyes widened.
There in front of us, was a deep pit and at the center stood a tall pillar of white metal, rising high up into the air. I took a few steps forward, not getting too close to the steep downward slope ahead. I skimmed around the edge and placed myself flat on the ground.
The pit was even wider close up, and at the center of it stood the massive machine. Its base was like a pyramid with the pointy half cut off, and from the flat top rose the pillar of white, going at least two hundred yards in the air before ending in a pointed tip. Markings of gold and silver sat on the machine, glowing with haunting shades of iridescent light.
“What’s going on here?” Freya asked, her voice quiet.
A high-pitched hum hit the air, increasing in frequency every moment. The markings on the machine started glowing bright, until its light was nearly blinding. All of a sudden, both the noise and the light cut off.
Only for a moment.
BOOM!
A sound wave ruptured from the pillar, ruffling through us as it went past.
“What the hell?” I asked. “What’s that machine doing?”
“Absolutely no clue,” Nyx said.“But I can take a guess on who it belongs too.”
“What?” I asked, and then I realized what he was talking about. My eyes looked closer at the base of the machine. A small group of knights stood there, all of them dressed in pure white armor.
“Oh gods,” Freya whispered, catching the sight just as I did.
Unease spread through me as I realized who we were looking at.
Out of the frying pan and into the fire, I sighed.
The Lumina Knights were here.
***
CHAPTER FIVE
It’s always nice to meet old friends.
Unless of course they were friends who’d taken you in and then completely double-crossed you. And those were exactly the kind of ‘friends’ the Lumina Knights were to me - they weren’t friends at all.
“What are they doing here?” Freya asked, hunched beside me on the dry ground.
“I have no clue,” I said as I peered down at them once more. “But I wouldn’t imagine they’re up to much good.”
“It looks like they’re the ones that set up that machine.”
I looked at the flecks of white that scuttled around the base of the tall machinery. “Looks like it,” I said, not too happy.
“I can’t recall anything of what that towe
r might be,” Nyx said. “It appears foreign to me.”
That’s fine, I thought. However, the machine sent me into quite a bit of an unease. It didn’t unnerve me that I didn’t know what it was, but it certainly did that I had no clue what it was doing. So far it’d been booming at regular intervals, sending waves of sound and light permeating the lands far from us.
“It looks like a beacon, to be honest,” Nyx suggested.
A beacon for what? I asked.
“I’m not sure. Nothing obvious comes to mind even given that we’re in the desert.”
“What do we do?” Freya asked, sounding a little concerned. “We can’t just stay still here.”
“Yeah,” I said, watching the knights crowding around the machine. I could see no obvious openings to exploit at the moment, and a full on frontal attack, even though it was something I was strong enough to do, was not exactly the smartest of ideas.
Right now we had a pretty good advantage because of the higher ground we were on, but I wasn’t sure how much of an advantage that was. It certainly helped with scoping the Lumina Knights actions from afar but if it had any other significant attacking benefit was left to be seen.
“I can’t find any openings to exploit,” Nyx said.
Same, I said, watching the tight circle the ranks of Knight formed around the machinery. I couldn’t help but feel curious about how exactly they were here in the first place. I couldn’t see any tents or forms of shelter close by, and this place was a while away from Aingard’s border.
They probably set up camp somewhere further down, I thought.
“That doesn’t seem like a smart thing to do, considering how they’re in possession of this huge machinery,” Nyx said.
Maybe they’re confident nothing will happen to it, I said.
“Look,” Freya tapped me on the shoulder. “One of them is leaving,” she pointed, tracing the path of a man in white robes walking away from the crowd. A few people followed him, and the rest slowly began to disband, albeit very slowly. Though it seemed more like they were relaxing rather than actually leaving.
“What are they doing?” Freya asked.
“Not sure,” I said and we sat there, watching the knights as they moved around, not really performing any particular task. The man who’d left before didn’t go far either, hovering a few yards beyond the rim of the pit. I and Freya lay still on the floor, trying to keep ourselves as hidden as possible.
“Boy, you probably hadn’t expected to see them here did you?” Nyx asked.
I had not, I said. To be fair, this is the first time I’ve seen the Lumina Knights ever since…
“That battle with the Dark Lord?” he asked.
…yeah, I said.
“Hopefully this doesn’t end in a similar way.”
…yeah, I said once again, more robotically than the last.
“Look. They’re dispersing,” Freya leaned forward, giving herself a better field of vision. I looked down and saw the white crowd slowly move away, all heading to the direction directly opposite to us. My mind raced as I formulated a plan in my head.
“Follow me,” I said as I shuffled around the pit, not taking a step onto the slope that led down to it. I could see the Lumina Knights empty out quickly as we made our way around. I hastened my pace a bit, making sure I didn’t lose sight of the big crowd.
“Where are they headed?” Freya asked as she followed beside me.
“I have no idea,” I said. “I’m assuming they’re heading back to a local camp they’ve set up.”
It didn’t seem like there were enough horses for all the knights in the crowd, and that meant they were headed somewhere closer by, since walking all the way back to their headquarters in the kingdom would not be practical.
I turned to Freya. “Stay behind them for now,” I said. “I’m going to sneak up closer and see what they’re talking about.”
“You realize I’m an assassin, right?” she rolled her eyes. “The kinds of stealth skills I have are more diverse than yours.”
“Yeah, but I’d rather have you out here as backup in case the Lumina Knights have something up their sleeve.”
She sighed. “Fine, go have fun.”
I chuckled. “If you say so.” I closed my eyes, focusing on my chest and feeling the presence of all the mana inside my body. “Hiestia,” I whispered. Darkness surged out of the ground, like liquid rising from the earth, and sealed my body, plunging into a world of darkness.
When I could see again, I found myself on a solid pathway of black. I looked around, noticing small openings in the space around me, images of the outside world filling them as a dark haze floated from their borders.
“Shadow Travel,” Nyx said. “This skill is so trippy.”
“Which is why it takes about six hours just to recharge,” I said as I looked at all the images surrounding me.
There, I smiled as I caught the image of white armor against a muddy background. I walked along the pathway till I was standing right under it and I looked through. I saw a cohort of Lumina Knights marching along, the image keeping along with them as they walked over the muddy terrain.
I mentally focused on the image, willing it to move closer towards the head of the pack. The portal’s image shimmered for a bit and started shifting, contorting and dissolving until it focused on an old sage.
He wore a classic outfit of white robes, although his outfit had pristine gold threading to them, of a kind I had not seen before. He held no staff in his hand, which was surprising to me, considering he was a sage. I could see he was saying something to someone else but what it was I could not hear.
“Might be something useful,” Nyx said.
“It probably is,” I said. “I’ll go listen in.”
“With your Shadow Cloak skill? Are you sure?”
“Yeah, it’s fine.”
“If you say so.”
“Utulio,” I said, thrusting my hand into the air. The darkness around me swirled in like a maelstrom, twisting around my wrist and sinking along my skin, coating me in a hazy black. I willed the portal I was looking into to come closer and it did, the image floating right in front of my face.
I pushed my head through, letting my eyes push out first. I could immediately tell I was in the shadow of the man and his horse, and that neither he nor the knights around him could tell that I was even there.
The Shadow Travel Shadow Cloak combo works so well, I thought to myself as I pushed up a bit more, letting more of my face lift up. I moved along with the shadow I was in, and my Shadow Cloak skill kept me concealed, hidden from all view. I perked my attention to the sage and listened in.
“....there are still many locations to scout.”
“I get that,” another voice said. “But we need to be faster with this. I want progress, and fast.”
What are they talking about? I wondered.
“Beats me. It doesn’t sound good though.”
“It’ll be hard, my Lord,” the old man said.
My Lord? I moved a bit, trying to see who he was talking to. Where I’d expected to see a person was instead a screen hovering in the air, and on it was shown a young man with brown hair and sky-blue eyes. I saw some text at the corner of the screen and focused hard on it.
Markus Goodfield, I read, and my eyes widened. THE Markus Goodfield?
“Seems like it,” Nyx said.
“You already have all the resources you need,” Markus said. “I do not want any more delays in this.”
“I understand your concern,” the old man said. “However, I heed you to save this conversation for a more private time. We do not want our enemies catching wind of our plans.”
His eyes shot towards me, power within them. I stumbled back through the shadows, falling out the portal.
I was on the dark pathways once again, sprawled on the floor, breathing hard. I was completely shaken.
“Did he know we were there?” Nyx asked, sounding confused.
“It seemed like he
did,” I said. “But that isn’t possible. Shadow Cloak and Shadow Travel are both untraceable magic skills.”
“Well clearly he seems to have traced something.”
“It was probably just sheer luck. We’re over reacting. It was a coincidence.”
“Maybe,” he said, not sounding one bit convinced.
And to be completely honest, I wasn’t convinced by what I said either. That had completely thrown me off. I had not expected to be called out like that, and now that I had, I was forced to fall back onto plans that I wasn’t entirely sure of.
I focused on the dark space I was in and swished my hand aside. The darkness around me folded fast, quickly dissolving fast into nothing. I was back on the desert-like land again, on the rim of the pit holding the machine. I looked around but Freya was nowhere next to me.
What the hell? My eyes widened.
“The field map says she’s moving away from here,” Nyx said. “I think she might be following the Lumina Knights.”
“Why the heck is she doing that?” I muttered. I quickly opened up the Ga’em menu and sent her a message.
“Hey. Is everything okay? Where are you right now? What happened?”
And then I waited. My feet skirted around rim of the pit, and I peered down, watching the incline up to the machine. The tower of white metal stood there silently, no longer making any loud booms. I still had no idea what it was supposed to be doing. I wasn’t even sure if it was a weapon. Seemed to me like it really wasn’t, and that was just confusing.
DING!
A Ga’em prompt popped up.
“Everything’s okay. Two men came up to where I was and so I used ‘Air Cloak’ to hide myself. They said something about the machine being used to ‘find something’. I ended up following them given that I was already well hidden and that we needed to know more about the machine. I’m about half a hundred yards behind the Lumina Knight squadron. I’m still using ‘Air Cloak’ right now and they haven’t noticed me so I’m gonna keep pushing forward.”
My mind immediately thought of the man leading them, of how he had scoped me out. Coincidence or not, I wasn’t willing to take the risk of having him find out about Freya. I quickly sent back a message
The Eternal: Dragonborn - A LitRPG Saga (World of Ga'em Book 2) Page 5