“Marrow.”
“Well, you are welcome here, Marrow, no matter what others might say.”
“And where is ‘here,’ exactly?”
He chuckled. “I suppose it is a bit disorienting taking the Wind’s Path in. This is the village of Maluwae, in the southeastern corner of the Mired Copses. We’re not precisely hidden from the world, but we tend to keep to ourselves, so it’s understandable if you haven’t heard of us.”
I recognized that name, Maluwae, from Farelle’s name on her stats. “Farelle never mentioned her home,” I said truthfully.
“Yes, well,” Hanil said softly. “Her departure wasn’t exactly a joyful event.” He shook his head. “But enough of speaking of the past. Get you off to bed — you look ready to keel over any moment now.”
He waved me towards the back of the house, and I obliged and went back to the bed there and sat. For a moment, I resolved to stay awake, to watch over Farelle. The next, my exhaustion got the better of me, and I let myself lay down. The one after that, I was asleep.
When I woke the next morning, I found I was ravenous. With all the excitement, I hadn’t eaten since lunch the day before. But first things first — I saw I had a few notifications to take care of:
Swords has increased to level 4!
Magic: Light has increased to level 3!
-5 to Alignment: Moral
Two good and one bad — I supposed I could accept that. Especially considering I deserved that drop in morality with all my bad behavior lately. I rubbed my eyes and stretched, then rose from the bed. I’d barely noticed the night before, but it was composed of leaves and moss, which had somehow kept me plenty warm. Shrugging, I meandered out of the room towards the main segment of the house, where Hanil the druid had been treating Farelle the night before.
But upon entering the room, I stopped with a jolt of panic. The table that had held Farelle was empty. My companion was gone, as was the elderly druid.
Heart racing, I tried to think this through. Had they left me behind on purpose? Did they not want me to attend Farelle’s healing? Did they think I'd get in the way, or did they want the whole thing to remain a secret, and their druidic rituals safe? I set my jaw. I'd be damned if I wasn't there by my friend’s side, whatever their reasons. I felt guilty enough having slept this long already.
Ignoring my belly and my status of Ravenous, I left the tree house and stepped outside. The village of Maluwae was bustling now, naked Satyr jumping and leaping and strutting. My face turned red all over again, but I ignored my embarrassment and strode up to the closest person, and asked them where I could find the Council gathering. Some ignored me, while others spurned me outright. “You do not have the right!” one middle-aged woman scolded me. “No right at all to that holy meeting!”
“Sorry,” I mumbled with my hands up and my eyes on the ground. But after I'd escaped her, I just sought out another local, and then another. Slowly, I wizened up to the fact that nobody was going to tell me where the Council was meeting. Instead, I opted for a different tactic: tracking down Hanil.
I got a bite for the herbalist on my second ask. “Hanil?” a skinny male Satyr said, rubbing his horns. “If I remember, he's down by Mudroot today.” I extracted Mudroot’s location and, thanking the man for his help, went off in search of it.
It took a good hour to find him in the marsh that was Mudroot. Stepping carefully around roots that trembled when you touched them, I found the elderly Satyr bent over a stump, humming as he examined a lime-green toadstool. “Hanil!” I greeted him as I approached. “I've been looking everywhere for you! Why didn't you wake me this morning?”
“Hm?” As he straightened up and looked at me, the herbalist’s eyes were unfocused for a moment before he recognized me. “Ah, Farelle’s Human friend. So you found my little spot, have you?”
I didn’t want to waste time with pleasantries. “Farelle’s gone. You know where she went, don't you?”
Hanil sighed. “Of course, young master. She's with the Council, as I said she would be.”
“So lead me to them.”
The herbalist began moving up the hill towards the village, and I followed. “It's not that easy,” he said. “We have traditions. Rituals.”
“Important secrets,” I said, not bothering to keep the acid out of my voice. “Secrets that might get Farelle killed. Listen to me. None of you were actually there to see what happened to her. What if the Council makes a mistake because they don’t know enough of the situation?”
Hanil stopped and studied me. “You truly care for her, don't you?” he asked.
I remembered guiltily how little I'd cared for her when I was trapped in the collapsed bridge. But all I could do was redeem myself. “Yes,” I said firmly.
The old druid sighed again. “Then come. I'll lead you to them.”
Hanil led me back up the hill, but instead of going back to the village, we skirted around the edge of it. I wondered how much trouble I might be getting him in, but considering what was at stake, I knew it was a risk I'd just have to take.
From there, we wound up a hill behind the village to a grove of trees so thick and massive they all looked like they’d had a bad case of giantism. Each of their roots were twice as thick around as I was. I was glad they weren’t like the roots down in Mudroot; one twitch from them would send me sprawling, and likely with a broken back.
The trees weren’t the only giant thing. Ferns as big as circus tents waved overhead, rustling with a wind I couldn’t feel. Toadstools soon joined afterwards, many as tall as houses. The very air seemed to grow thicker with all the enormous vegetation around me. I glanced nervously at Hanil, but the druid looked perfectly at ease, so I tried to relax as well, though it was impossible when I didn’t know what was happening with Farelle.
I knew we were drawing close when I saw the gentle green glow ahead. Then two great fern leaves parted, and our destination appeared before me. The hollowed stump of what would have been the biggest tree yet stood in the middle of a partial clearing, other mammoth trees leaning in overhead to block out the light. But the glow wasn’t coming from the sun, but within the hollow stump itself. Through an archway carved between the giant roots, I could see the vague outlines of shadows against the bright light.
“Come,” Hanil said to me, voice grave. He hobbled forward, and I followed close behind, wondering at what exactly I’d gotten myself into.
Before we entered the hollow stump, a figure stepped out from the overhanging foliage, rage in his eyes. Sulfel, Farelle’s father. “What is he doing here?” he demanded of the druid next to me.
“He may be of use, Sulfel,” Hanil said calmly. “We would be fools to keep him away for tradition’s sake only.”
“This isn’t just about tradition,” Sulfel sneered. “This is about us, our people, and our continued survival.” He turned his fiery gaze on me. “Your intrusion may have doomed us, Human, and my daughter with it.”
I didn’t flinch from his look. “How?”
Sulfel began to reply, but Hanil cut him off. “It’s not clear yet that you have, Marrow. But there is a possibility that more than just that Devalyn prince has awoken across the Mired Copses. There have been sightings of Specters where there have been none for many long centuries.”
Sulfel nodded tightly. “And if Specters invade our people, then we are doomed. You bring chaos, Human. We will see that there is justice for it.” At that, he showed the first sign of a smile, sharp and cruel.
“But we don’t know if that’s the case yet,” the druid reminded him. “Come.” He showed me through to the hollow stump. Ignoring Sulfel’s hateful gaze, I stepped through the archway.
Entering the hollow stump, I saw standing around edges of seven Satyrs, staring into the nearly blinding light in the center. They varied from very young — one girl looked no more than seven — to very old — I was surprised the man was alive, much less even standing — and everything in between. As one, they looked over at Hanil and I as we
entered, but I was busy wincing into the light to see what was at the center. Who, rather — for it was Farelle, prone on a wooden altar, eyes closed and face drawn in pain.
“What are you doing to her?” I demanded, stepping forward.
“Do not let him approach!” the elder Satyr said in a quavering voice. “Dark forces linger about him!”
“Yes,” a plump Satyr woman said, eyes widening. “Yes, I see the Night Sisters have placed their touch on him.”
Everyone present hissed, and I cringed. But what could I say in response?
“You, Human,” the girl druid demanded, pointing at me. “Do you deny it?”
I looked at each of their faces. “No,” I said slowly. “No, I do not deny it.”
The Council again hissed, and I thought they might leap at me and tear me apart. But Hanil raised a hand and said calmly, “Peace, my friends. Has the worst come to pass yet?”
“Yes!” the eldest cried. “Yes! The Fallen Empire awakens! The Specters rise once more!”
“There is no stopping it,” a fourth druid said solemnly, the tallest of those assembled.
I was starting to sweat now. “The Fallen Empire… You mean the old Devalyn nation?”
“Of course,” the same tall druid responded in the same tone. “A people full of discontented souls.”
That was one hell of a chain reaction if it were true. I wanted to deny it could be true, but what the hell did I know? Besides, I was more concerned about something else. “But Farelle. You can save her?”
“Possibly,” said a barrel-chested druid. “But suppose doing so somehow accelerates the uprising. Farelle knows the laws of Maluwae, even if you do not. None are to enter the barrows, on pain of death.” He gazed down severely at my companion. “Perhaps Yalua intends that this curse is to be her undoing.”
I swallowed. I didn’t see how we’d get out of here without violence, and I had a feeling everyone present was a lot more powerful than I was. But I couldn’t let Farelle die, not to her own people. Not when it was my fault.
I held up my hands as if surrendering to a police officer. “Please, Council. If you would tell me more, perhaps I could—”
Suddenly, everything came to a halt, like someone had pressed the pause button. The Council druids’ angry expressions were fixed on me, unmoving. Hanil was frozen next to me. The green glow coming from Farelle and her altar, which had been pulsing, became a somehow crystalline light. The leaves, the branches, the wind — all was still and silent. I alone had control over my body.
I immediately suspected the worst: that the barrow prince had found me, and commanded even more powerful magic than I’d suspected. I stared about wildly, and though I saw no sign of the malevolent Specter, I didn’t doubt he was there. “Come out, you coward!” I shouted into the stillness. “I know you’re there!”
“I’m here, Marrow.” A voice, that of a young boy, spoke from everywhere and nowhere. “But I’m not the Specter you think I am.”
It was certainly a different voice than the barrow prince had used before, but I suspected it was a trick. “And which Specter is that?”
“You know,” the boy’s voice said, almost seeming uncertain whether or not I was teasing him. “The barrow prince.”
He was a good actor and better guesser. But I wasn’t going to be drawn in so easily. “Okay, so I thought you were the barrow prince,” I hedged. “If you’re not he, who are you?”
“A friend,” the boy’s voice whispered, though it carried all around me. “Like I hope you’ll be my friend.”
“Your… friend?” This was a strange trick if it was one.
There was a long pause of silence before the boy spoke again. “You’re one of the Everfolk, right? From Beyond?”
There was that term again — Everfolk — which apparently meant players. Was Beyond supposed to mean Earth? Chills ran up my spine. If Farelle was any indication, NPCs weren’t supposed to have much of a conception of Earth. This was starting to get a bit too curious for comfort. “I think so,” I said.
“You’re learning here, Marrow. I like that about you. You’re still growing up like me.” The boy sounded wistful. Lonely, maybe. Like an only child with inattentive parents.
“Yeah. I guess so.”
“I hope you’ll be my friend. I know you want to save your friend. So I’ll help you, okay?”
Suddenly, the middle finger on my right hand burned, and I cried out and held it up to look at it. For a brief instant, a band of what looked like liquid mercury wound about it. But when I blinked, it quickly faded from sight, and the burning stopped.
“I know you’ll use it well,” the boy said. “But I have to go now. My parents are calling.” He seemed very sad as he said it.
“Well, thank you,” I said, wondering if I’d just been cursed myself.
“Come visit me soon, okay?”
I didn’t have time to answer. Just like that, without any warning, everything shifted back into normal time and speed. The Council resumed its angry jabbering, the altar continued its pulsing glow, and Hanil was eyeing me scrupulously. As time shifted gears, they all flinched. It took me a moment to realize why. Before the time-stop, my hands had been raised, whereas now they were down. The instant change must have looked eerie.
“How did you…?” Hanil muttered, and the others druids looked equally perturbed.
“Never mind,” I said hurriedly. I held up the hand where the band of silver had been, wanting another look at it. Sure enough, the faint outline of ring appeared around the finger, a faint shimmer like oil on water showing where it was. So it hadn’t all been a temporary glitch, or a dream. But if it wasn’t, I didn’t know what that meant for the boy who had spoken and given it to me. And stopped time itself in the Everlands.
The girl druid gasped. “Look!” she said, pointing again. “At his finger!”
The members of the Council blinked and peered closer. One by one, each of them similarly blanched. They all seemed to recognize something about it, which confused me even further.
Hanil grabbed my wrist with uncharacteristic force and scrutinized the ring. “Ah,” he said with a satisfied smile, letting it go. “I believe, my fair Council, that we have had a solution thrust upon us. I’m sure you all recognize this ring.”
Awed expressions had come over the druids’ faces. As I looked at each of them my confusion only grew. “I don’t. What is it?”
“The Ghost Ring,” the deep-voiced druid answered. “Whoever wears the Ghost Ring has dominion over all the Specters across Kalthinia.”
I stared at the phantasmal circle on my hand again. “Really? Over the whole continent?”
“Really!” the girl druid said enthusiastically.
“So I can command them to, I don’t know, simmer down?”
Hanil nodded. “In a manner of speaking.”
I paused to take this in. “So… it isn’t a curse.”
They stared at me like I was slow. “How could it be a curse?” the burly druid asked incredulously. “Besides, where did you get it from?”
That was a bit of an uncomfortable question. “I’ll tell you later,” I said hurriedly. “Right now, you need to tell me how I can use it to save Farelle.”
The Council members looked troubled, glancing among themselves. “That we do not precisely know,” Hanil admitted.
I tried looking at the stats of the Ghost Ring, but didn’t come up with much:
Ghost Ring
Quality: Divine (unbreakable)
Rarity: Celestial
Attributes: A Dominion Ring. Commands the Specters of Kalthinia. Cannot be unequipped, lost, or stolen.
It was obviously a powerful artifact, as the druids had told me. But if the boy-god person had meant to help me, he could have told me what to do with this thing.
“Perhaps,” quavered the elderly druid, “if we had a Specter guide who could show us…”
A Specter guide — I lit up at that. I knew just the person for the job.
Hoping she’d survived her wrestling match with the barrow prince, I held up my right hand and spoke in my best commanding voice. “Ava! Come, please, if you can!”
Ava materialized at once before me. Her sweet smile, her bob of hair, her sad eyes — my initial guide and recent savior was with me again in the flesh. Kind of.
“Marrow,” she said with a smile. “Who knew you could be so polite?”
“You saved me,” I blurted. “You took on that Devalyn prince by yourself!”
Ava smiled and nodded. Cast in the green glow of the altar, she looked even more otherworldly than usual. “I am bound to protect you, Marrow. My master commands it.”
I wondered if her master was the boy, but I didn’t want to ask her in front of all these other people. “And you’re well? He didn’t hurt you?” I assumed even Specters could be hurt, though I wasn’t certain if they could “die.”
“I’m fine, Marrow.” Her gaze shifted to those around her, then back to me. “But don’t you have something to ask me?”
“Ah, yes.” Hanil and the Council were staring, waiting for me to get to the point. I held up the hand with the Ghost Ring again. “I just discovered I’m wearing this.”
“I know,” Ava said simply. “The Ghost Ring.”
I blinked. “Do all Specters know of it?”
“No. But I bore witness to the one who placed that Dominion Ring on your finger.”
“You did?” I asked eagerly. “Then you know who he is!”
“I do,” she said simply. Her eyes shifted to those around us, reminding me again not to ask further about it, as much as I wanted to. “All I will say now, Marrow, is that for some reason, he has made you the Catalyst.”
He. The Catalyst. Once again, I felt there was another layer to everything that was going on, and I barely had an inkling of what it all meant. “I don’t understand.”
“You will when it’s time. For now, Marrow, command the dead to rest.” The Specter’s eyes bored into me, telling me to drop it.
Absalom’s Fate Page 15