The Trapped Mind Project (Emerilia Book 1)

by Michael Chatfield

  Durl looked annoyed that he was getting left behind but Dwarves were protective of their people. They would never leave them unguarded, especially out in the open like the outpost was.

  “We leave tomorrow morning. We’ll aim to hit the troll at midday when it’s vision is the worst. Ela’mair and his rangers have confirmed that the troll is in the same place and they will advise us if the thing starts moving. Get some rest and see to your gear,” Wender said.

  Like that, the meeting fell apart.

  “Well, I’m going to get some food and go to sleep.” Dave stood, feeling like a zombie.

  “I’ll tell my grandfather that you’ll be off with us,” Gurren said.

  “Where does Kol stay?” Dave asked, interested. He knew the old man didn’t live in the warband hall.

  “In a tent in the copse of trees in the undeveloped area between here and the wall,” Gurren said.

  Dave heard the note of annoyance in Gurren’s voice.

  “Well, while we’re gone, he can use my place. I won’t need it,” Dave said.

  “I’ll have a talk with him,” Gurren said.

  “Need a damn smith to run that place,” Dave muttered under his breath and headed back out of the hall.

  ***

  Dave woke to someone opening his door. He knew the presence, so he turned over, complaining about Dwarves and their damned battle plans.

  He realized that it was not a Dwarven presence. He looked up and found Deia standing in the middle of his home, studying the house and finally Dave.

  “What are you doing here?” Dave asked, feeling a breeze on his ass. His eyes went wide as he remembered he wasn’t wearing anything under the sheet.

  “Get up. We’ve got a troll to hunt,” Deia said.

  “I’ll be out in a minute,” Dave said.

  Deia sighed and pulled on Dave’s sheet. Dave went bright red as Deia looked at Dave. Her dusky cheeks colored.

  “Out!” Dave yelled.

  She didn’t complain, rushing out of the room.

  Dave growled about headstrong Elves as he got up, trying to recover some dignity. He washed and clothed himself, pulling on his heavy iron armor. He’d altered it slightly to fit him better and allow him more movement.

  He looked around his house. It was filled with items that he’d pulled out of his pack. It felt oddly light without building materials, ores, and other items that weighed over a ton. He’d ramped up his carrying weight to find out his new limits and increase his strength. It was annoying but it had served him well.

  He strapped his two axes to each hip. On this quest, he would be healing. If he got into the actual fight, then something had gone terribly wrong.

  Deia was outside, looking around, as Dave walked out.

  “I…uh…”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Dave said, trying to get past the awkwardness of the moment.

  “Yeah.” Deia nodded and they walked over to the rest of the warbands that were just beyond the copse of trees behind Dave’s kiln.

  Wis’Zel waved to them as they passed. Dave waved back and the artist returned to his painting.

  “Morning, ya ugly bastard,” Joko said as they appeared on the road.

  “You’re always such a ray of sunshine in my mornings,” Dave replied.

  “I’ll remember that next time we’re sparring,” Joko said.

  Dave let out a groan, getting grins from the Dwarves.

  Astaur and her warband were on the opposite side of Wender’s warband, which stood in the middle.

  Dave didn’t say anything, but he felt that the organization of where the bands were had been done on purpose.

  “Move out!” Wender said. Dwarves, two wide with the leader at the rear, moved forward. The Elves with them took off for the trees.

  As they cleared the gates, one of the Dwarves called out a song about a barkeep’s daughter and a Dwarven miner who fell in love.

  Dave shook his head at the Dwarves’ choice of war-chant to keep them walking in time.

  Then there was a story of a dwarf drinking contest. About trolls and Goblins. Some more songs that were barely above drinking songs. By mid-morning, Dave was singing along and the time passed quickly.

  With a whistle, the songs died. The Dwarves pulled on their helmets and checked their swords and shields. An Elf dropped next to Astaur, guiding them toward the troll’s gully.

  They didn’t rush on the way there. Wender wanted to keep them fresh for battle. Running there just to be too tired to hold a shield was a mess waiting to happen.

  Astaur might dislike Dave but she knew her craft well. Her people moved into position with practiced ease. Wender’s group moved in behind.

  Lox’s warband had been carrying cloth packs. They pulled the cloth covers away, revealing short spears with barbed heads. Dave checked his axes to make sure that they could come free at a moment’s notice.

  The smell grew as they advanced.

  Astaur called out a command. Her warband and Wender’s moved into a single entity, with five Dwarves in the front flank and five behind them covering their heads.

  Dave pulled out his new bow. His strength was too much for his simple bow, so Deia had got a new one made.

  Enhanced longbow

  Quality: B

  Damage: 62

  Durability: 20/20

  Dave was already thinking of making a compound bow. Coupled with his Strength and Stealth, the weapon could be deadly.

  He pulled out an arrow and strung his bow, holding it ready.

  Ahead there was a roar. The troll’s eyes were bad in the day but it had noticed the creatures that dared to enter its home.

  Wender called out instructions. The two forward warbands moved up. Lox’s warband held back, all of them holding a spear ready in their hands. Astaur taunted the troll. It didn’t need much. It charged, crashing into the shield wall.

  If there hadn’t been two lines deep and with their shields’ nails stuck into the ground, the Dwarves would have been thrown out of the troll’s path.

  The troll bashed at the Dwarven barricade. Dwarven steel tasted troll blood as their weapons flashed in the midday sun.

  The troll held its fists together, bringing them down with punishing force on the second rank.

  “Loose!” Wender yelled.

  Dave pulled back his longbow, releasing his arrow. He barely needed to angle upward, the troll was so close.

  Three more arrows streaked in from other places in the forest. Lox’s warband threw their spears.

  The troll yelled out as its Health dropped twenty percent.

  Dave only paid half attention to that. The troll was already healing and pulling the spears from its body.

  Dave fired again and again, keeping one eye on the party bar, watching the Health of the Dwarves. Yusa got a nasty hit but he took a potion, bringing him back up to Health.

  It was going well. The Elves were now dropping out of the trees, running behind the troll and cutting it with their razor-sharp blades.

  The troll turned, in a blood rage, and tried to catch them after their attacks. The Dwarves’ attacks to its front kept it occupied as it pounded on shields and did everything he could to make it into their lines, to break out and get the Dwarves hiding in their formations.

  Lox’s warband ran out of spears, so they pulled the covered spears from Wender’s back and threw them.

  It was slow work, but the troll slowed from its blood loss. An Elf got the last blow, appearing behind the troll and driving both of their blades through the creature’s back and into its chest. The Elf pulled out one blade, leaving the other as the troll casually hit the Elf back a few feet.

  Its Health dropped as the troll swayed. Blood loss and pain clouded its judgment. It dropped to its knees and onto its face, dust rising up from the large creature’s final resting place.

  Dave put an extra arrow into the troll. It didn’t move.

  The Dwarves’ shield wall came apart. Lox’s warband moved to the front,
ready to take on anything that came out of the dungeon.

  Wender gave instructions to the Elves, and Dave moved to the Elf who had been hit.

  Kol’ersi

  Elf

  Level 57

  Dave used his Touch to sense the Elf’s body. It was similar to how he had felt the metal in the nails he had worked on. He could see the various elements in a new configuration. He moved the Elf, saying calming things as he cried out. Dave set bones and aligned things as best as possible, feeding the Elf’s major organs a small amount of Mana to keep them operating.

  “Need a hand?” Jules asked from Dave’s side.

  “What are you doing here?” Dave twisted a bone into place.

  “Well, we saw the warbands getting ready and we wanted to see what was going on. Do you ever go offline?”

  “Bit busy right now.” Dave closed his eyes and invited the Elf’s body to grow and mend itself. It meant that the Elf was going to be hungry and thirsty the next day, but Dave needed his Mana to heal others if necessary.

  The Elf had, thankfully, passed out. Dave set the bones and gave the Elf enough healing to be okay to move.

  He opened his eyes. Wender and Astaur were talking but looking at him as he worked.

  The injured and fatigued were resting.

  Dave carried the Elf over. Jules followed him.

  “What level healer are you?” Jules asked.

  “Dunno.” Dave put the Elf down.

  “That kind of healing, it takes a lot of Mana to do,” Jules said.

  “Depends how you do it. If you set their bones, or close the skin, then getting their own body to heal it at a faster rate isn’t too hard. Cheaper on magic that you might need later,” Dave said.

  Jules’s face screwed up in thought. “So, you’re saying that first aid has a place here. The more aid you give someone, the less that you have to use magic?”

  “Magic is like water against a sand wall: if you blast enough water against the sand wall, it’ll come down. If you know the sand wall, its weaknesses and strengths, you can use a tenth of the water to make the wall come down,” Dave said, stopping next to Lox.

  “Looks like you lot can’t keep your noses out of anything,” Lox said to Jules.

  “Well, if you saw three warbands walking off in full armor, you’d be a bit curious too,” Jules said.

  Dave noticed Esa stood off to the side. Mikal was probably in the trees.

  “Let us know if we can help. We’re itching to try out our new skills,” Jules said.

  “You know them better.” Lox looked to Dave, tapping his side.

  Dave grunted, understanding the trust Lox was putting in him.

  “You can join, so long as you don’t get in the way. Also, the loot is going to the Dwarves. They’re giving you training for free—think of this as paying your debt,” Dave said.

  They weren’t a bad team and if they did die—well, they could come back again. Better they got the blade of whatever was in the dungeon instead of one of Dave’s friends.

  “Okay.” Jules’s fingers moved by her side. Dave had no doubt that she was sending a message to her party.

  Mikal and Esa moved up to where they were.

  “You can take point,” Dave said.

  Lox looked at Dave with a questioning stare.

  “If nothing else, then they take the hits instead of us. They respawn,” Dave said.

  Lox shrugged and Jules looked unperturbed.

  “Joko, Tounk—up front. We’ve got a dungeon to clear!” Lox yelled.

  Chapter 20: Dun Dun Duuuu-ungeon!

  Esa went first, pushing the remains of an old wooden door, its wood black withage.. It creaked and groaned as she kicked bones and leftovers from the troll. Finally, she got it open enough to get through sideways, beyond was a rough cave. Esa had to bend almost double to get through the small crevice in the side of the hill.

  Mikal and Jules followed her.

  “I’m going to put on my video feed so you can see what I see,” Jules said, using the party chat function to talk to Dave as if she was right beside him.

  “Okay.” Dave pulled up her profile and requested access to her cam. She granted it and he saw through her eyes.

  They worked through a cave barely wide enough for a human to fit through.After some time it seemed to open up, the walls showing signs that someone had taken time to shape them.

  Magical blue flames burst into light, racing farther down the cave.

  They continued on, noting what looked like rotten bookshelves. Then they got to the end of the tunnel. A new door faced them. This one was made from black stone so smooth that it shone in the blue flames light.

  Green, gold, and white runes had been carved into the door. They seemed to shimmer as if the runes were smoking.

  There were also black runes but they were harder to understand. The runes created a complex series of magical circuits.

  Esa tried the door’s handle. Other than the runes, it was unmarked.

  Quest: Boran-al’s Darkness

  This citadel has been sealed for eight decades with powerful magical circuits and a door of imbued ebony. Do you wish to venture through the dungeon and finish what the Magi-ki of Versan-oul were not able to?

  Y/N

  Esa accepted it just as Dave was about to tell them to wait.

  The runes flashed, growing in power.

  “The hell is happening?” Lox asked.

  “There’s a quest down there, called Boran-al’s Darkness,” Dave said as he minimized Jules’s feed to half of his screen.

  The Dwarves made signs of protection, their faces and boisterous attitudes gone.

  “It can’t be,” Astaur said, close enough to have the conversation.

  “What does the sealing door look like?” Wender demanded.

  “It’s black, imbued ebony with magical circuits made from Dark, Light, Earth, and Air magic,” Dave said. “It was said to be made by the Magi-ki of Versan-oul.”

  If the Dwarves were able to get any paler, then they did.

  “Ela’mair! Send word to the clans. We found the citadel of Boran-al. We need reinforcements immediately,” Wender said.

  Ela’mair appeared for a second, bowed his head slightly and took off as fast as possible.

  “Guys, I think you should pull back,” Dave told the three Players.

  “Dude, this looks like a cool quest. What are you talking about? Also, the door is already opening,” Mikal said.

  “The Dwarves up here are not playing about. They’re sending messengers to their clans. Seems that Boran-al is some bad damn news,” Dave said.

  “Okay, we’ll close the door and wait it out,” Jules said.

  “Damn it. I wanted to try out fighting with these things. Damn super—” Esa saw something behind the door.

  Dave couldn’t see its features under its tattered cloak, but it was thin. Dave looked at its hand that held a staff of black and green runes. The wood looked as if it had been stained in blood.

  The hand holding it was skeletal. It wasn’t the only one. It stood in a massive room easily two hundred meters by two hundred meters, with three angled pillars rising to the roof. At the base of the pillars was a bloody table, thick with dark runes that seemed to leak miasma into the area around, creating a pool of Dark energy.

  “Shut the fucking door!” Dave yelled as he looked around the room. There were dozens of the skeleton priests in the room.

  The Dwarves looked at him, startled.

  “They didn’t open it, right?” Wender sounded almost as if he were pleading.

  “There’s a dozen skeletons wearing robes and holding weird staffs,” Dave answered.

  “Formation! Magic users and people who can smith to me!” Wender barked.

  The massive ebony door was still opening. Esa, Mikal, and Jules were doing everything they could to shut it.

  Dave could sense the skeletons’ amusement at their struggle. Dave looked to Wender; the Dwarves moved around him. Dwarves sto
od in front of the dungeon, holding their shields ready.

  “We’ve found Boran-al’s cesspit of a citadel.” Wender raised his voice so everyone could hear him.

  “Who is Boran-al?” Dave asked.

  “He is a demi-god of darkness and despair. His worshippers hid here, building their power and their army. It took the combined forces of the Dwarves, Humans, and Elves to push them back. The greatest wizards were not able to fully suppress Boran-al’s highest priests. Many fought to slow the Boran-al cultists while the magicians sealed the cave with ancient and powerful magic. Boran-al cultists were necromancers who could raise armies of thousands. For a time, they were lost to us. Knowledge fell away but Dwarves remember,” Wender said.

  “We’ve found a way to shut the door, though the runes look less bright,” Jules said. Dave looked through her eyes, seeing the door closing.

  “The door is closing,” Dave said.

  Wender nodded but his hardened features didn’t relax. “Opening the door will have weakened its power, maybe enough to allow the cultists to destroy it. They are powerful magic users and must now be undead to have survived this long. We need to silver our blades and imbue any weapons possible,” Wender said, talking to the group of three magic users and two maintainers.

  “Dave, Master Smith Kol has taken you on as an apprentice and I am told that you can touch the heart of the land,” Wender said.

  “Yes,” Dave said.

  “Good. Follow me,” Wender said. His warband moved with him. “Lox, Astaur—you are to hold here no matter what.”

  The Dwarves nodded their agreement. There was no time to argue here.

  Dave walked past the door and into the cave. Now that he was in it, he could feel the magical circuits that covered the place. From the outside, its magic had been shielded, making it invisible to him.

  Dave could feel the magic; it was powerful, only marginally less powerful than an Altar of Rebirth. Whereas the Altar only showed its power in bursts, here it was constant. Power from across the area was fed into the prison. Thousands of grand and even black soul gems had been used.