The Starry Skies of Darkaan (Realm of Arkon Book 6)

by G. Akella

  "Tents are all packed up!" yelled a young woman running out of the temple over the peals of thunder.

  Saverus nodded and looked at me, his question in his eyes.

  "We're good. Let's move out! Give the five-minute warning. Keep the loot and gold for yourselves and we'll deal with the rest later. Time is short!"

  I washed the taste of dust from my mouth, returned my flask to its place, and nodded toward the center of the platform.

  "We'll put the portal right here!"

  The foxes and mages did a bang-up job, wasting no time. Not that anyone had any reason to idle about. They sure earned their keep, though, never failing to surprise by their endurance and discipline. And all this despite the fact that so much had changed over the three hundred years of their magic slumber. Each of them must have had loved ones on the outside...

  "The people are ready, my prince!"

  I nodded, glanced over the fighters standing behind me, and stepped forward. Then, my hands shaking with real jitters, I used the stone in my belt slot.

  Two things happened at once: An orange square window appeared in the center of the platform, and a bird appeared on my shoulder. The same bird that had shown us the way to the tomb of the Great King.

  I thought an unspoken greeting. Hi there! I was certain it heard me. Let me guess. You forgot your ticket again.

  I don't know what a "ticket" is, the bird's pleasant female voice sounded in my head. But I suspect it is like those tags that grant one a right to be in a city, right? Understand, demon: I do not require any such formalities. I appear where I want to, when I want to. And now, Dark One, you must follow me. And hurry. Vaedarr awaits its hero!

  The bird let out a loud squawk, gave a painful peck on my cheek, and abandoned my shoulder, disappearing into the portal.

  Follow you it is, then. I shrugged and pursued the goddess, disappearing after her into the orange haze.

  Chapter 14

  Darkaan, Horse Ridge area, Foothills of Mount Ama Antar. Zone level 205–210.

  There was a breeze, though I could hardly feel it. It carried the smell of rotting algae to my nostrils. Tiny stones crunching and crackling beneath my feet, I stretched my shield in front of me, stepped forward and then to the side, trying to shake my head clear, orange circles still floating before my eyes. It took a few seconds for them to clear, and I took a look around. Seeing no signs of aggression, I stashed my shield on my back and my sword in its sheath.

  It was nighttime. A bright swath of stars painted the sky, outlining the silhouette of a mountain. Stubby gray trees and groves of dark brush spotted its slopes. Before me reached a valley littered with large boulders, as far as the eye could see. Just over a hundred feet to my left I saw ruins, some kind of once-majestic eight-sided castle tower featuring a yawning black entrance and four tall, narrow windows.

  I cleared the way for the rest by moving fifty feet out, then heard behind me the muffled commands of my captains, the soft clinking of armor, and the weak zaps of the mages' traps. That was standard protocol. We had to be vigilant, since the portal took us into the Dark Empire's territory. Anything could happen here, and there could be enemies nearby, even unseen ones. It was a game zone, of course, and a level 200 area was unlikely to proffer an enemy that could threaten us, but I wasn't going to yell at anyone for following protocol. They were doing their jobs, and I was here to do mine. And I aimed to do it without delay.

  I looked at a massive lizard frozen atop a flat boulder, brought up my menu, and gave a mental command that pressed the icon I wanted. At long last, it had become active again.

  Gloom appeared straight out of the air—by my side, just as he was supposed to. Damn, he's tall! The steed I remembered from Ballan was a piglet compared to this fella, now more than six feet tall at the shoulder, with two pairs of thick, foot-long tusks, scars all over his snout, and bloodshot yellow eyes. My boar exhaled obnoxiously, lowered his head, turned sharply toward me and froze for a moment, finally noticing me. The discovery prompted him to tilt his head, snort indignantly, and waltz up only to muzzle me in the stomach.

  "Gloom! My darling pig! Hello!" I grabbed his massive face with both hands, buried my face in his prickly stubble, and held still.

  Gloom tolerated the tender moments before breaking free, grunting a demand, and nudging me in the stomach again. At least that much hadn't changed. I smiled and pulled a big prickly green fruit out of my bag, one of the morsels Raena had given me. Trying not to so much as breathe, I offered it to the boar, who cared nothing for the prickles and terrible smell of the thing. He carefully plucked the delicacy from my hand and consumed it loudly. The boar's level grew with mine, no matter his location. I opened the pet's menu and added the available point he had to Fortification.

  Our damage output was pretty crazy already, but Gloom didn't have armor, so a defense boost wouldn't hurt.

  Fortification 2/3.

  Cooldown: 5 minutes.

  Increases the rider's armor class by 40% and maximum resistances by 7% for 2 minutes.

  I closed the menu and reached for the next treat, but Gloom—still chewing—circled around me and approached Vaessa, who was pointing at her nearby pets and explaining something to Saverus.

  Bastard! I missed my steed, but it looks like he... eh, what the hell do I care? What mattered was that the boar and I were back together. I smiled as I watched him, feeling happy for the first time since I leaving Craedia.

  ***

  The dire beauty of the blood-red moon graced the dark mountain lines. A light breeze stirred my overgrown hair. Nothing was finished, nothing was certain, but I still found myself wanting to shout for joy. I had gotten out of there. I had done it!

  Dawn was breaking, veiling the valley in a blanket of fog, all the way to the horizon. The tops of the boulders stuck out of the mist, like deadly threats on a whitewater course. The quiet was profound. Silence hung over the mountains, broken only by a waterfall to the east and the rumblings of my napping boar a few feet away. Raena came from the direction of camp to speak with me, stopping just to my left as she took in the gray shroud about her feet and then gazed up at the sky.

  "You know, prince," she began. "In the human legends, they say the stars are the souls of heroes who have died. And that whenever our troubles seem impossible, they come down to help our descendants. To help us."

  Her glance strayed my way, then returned to the fading stars over the valley.

  "Monsieur, my teacher, Lars, the Order's Council of Masters... Not long ago everything was so simple, so easy. But what now? What do we do now, prince? You're a dreamer, so you should know!"

  Gloom shifted to our right, opened his eyes to check on things, and fell back to sleep.

  "Six months ago, everything seemed so easy, so simple." I sighed and looked her in the eyes. "But none of it worked out. You know what happened next. Vaedarr, and that beast in the catacombs..."

  "Shh. Listen!" The sorceress grabbed my wrist and leaned forward to peer into the valley's vapor covering. "There's a battle happening." She pointed to a mountain of black just a mile or so away. "It's not a big one, going by those sounds, but we should wake up Saverus and Kan. Thanks for chatting, prince."

  Raena turned and sped back to camp, leaving me in complete bewilderment.

  Here it was, a new day in a new world. I sighed, shook my head, and clapped my boar on his side, strong and warm. Then I moved towards the camp, thinking to myself that I wouldn't mind a visit from those star heroes right about now. Or at least once we got to Vaedarr.

  A hundred feet from camp, I stopped and lit my pipe, taking a seat on a rock. There was no point getting in the way of everyone as they woke. They would tell me whatever I needed to know, anyway. The night before, we had quickly decided to proceed immediately to Erantia. Kan was again picked as commander, being the most experienced and familiar with the locale. The border with the human empire lay over seven hundred miles away, meaning ten days of travel, assuming straight, flat roads and no dis
tractions. And there were always distractions. Still, a century of level 300 NPCs with my buffs and Kan at the helm could mow down pretty much anything, especially if we kept close to the Great Forest, which lay three hundred miles west.

  A couple of deep draws on my pipe, a glance at the camp as it stirred awake, a scratch behind Gloom's ear, lounging at my feet, a sigh. Soon I'll be needing a rake to do this. I'd never scrubbed an elephant before, but I was willing to bet that was easier. They didn't even have bristles like Gloom did. And this pig's skin had the consistency of a car tire—you can scratch and scratch and never be sure he actually feels it. As if reading my mind, the boar demanded more with a wriggle of his head. I smiled and resumed scratching. There was really only one big concern here: Erantia, as far as I knew, was crawling with undead. Maybe I could make peace with the demons stationed along the Great Forest, as my sister had claimed, but I'd never be able to negotiate with the spawns from the Gray Frontier. At least there weren't five of us now, like back in Dorca. Saverus would blast those undead to atoms—no, quarks—from a mile away. On to it, then.

  Another couple of deep inhalations, and I knocked my pipe clean on the rock and tossed it in my bag. I stood to wish Kan a good morning, but then memories of Alyona came flooding in, souring my mood. Where was she? What was she up to? Why did these quests all run directly against what I actually wanted to do? Savior of humankind, bloody hell...

  Look out! Jaelitte screamed in my head.

  Her warning cry was still ringing as I rolled sharply right, leaped back to my feet, and drew my sword and shield. Gloom rose with a growl, and Kan whipped out his weapon as well.

  "Greetings, Prince Krian!"

  A man emerged from the air and showed us his open palms, as a sign of goodwill.

  "My Mistress has sent me to speak with you."

  Ah. Now I knew why my wife "woke up" like that. The uninvited guest was level 563, and a companion of Morrigan. That was all his legend said. No name, no health information. The guest displayed long, dark hair, fair skin, a neatly trimmed beard, and a friendly green disposition towards us. No fight would break out here, so I sheathed my sword and patted Gloom reassuringly. Then I approached the goddess' companion, greeting him with a nod.

  "Greetings to you as well!" I drew a leather pouch from my bag and offered it to the scout. "For you!"

  You've completed the quest: The Dispatch.

  The man took the missive, examined it, and looked back at me.

  "Thank you, demon. But this is not why my Mistress has sent me to meet you." He put the pouch in his own bag, turned and pointed northwest. "The one you call 'friend' is waiting for you. He and his men fought hard in the wastelands and are now retreating to the Gorge of Anda, pursued by two hundred Dark Empire scouts. But a rockslide has obstructed the gorge, and they cannot escape." The phantom lowered his hand and looked straight at me. "My Mistress wishes good to you, Dark One, and to your friend. She does not want his mission to fail. I would help him myself, but she has strictly forbidden any interference on my part. So, she altered the portal and brought you here..."

  An ethereal liquid nitrogen poured into my soul, drowning my consciousness in cold rage. I suppressed the idiotic clarifying questions I could ask and threw open my map, trying hard to keep a calm voice.

  "Where is... this... gorge?"

  I'd let the B movie actors waste time with stupid questions like "Is it Max?", "Is he alive?" or "Is Alyona with him?" I had only one friend on this plane, and if he really was there, my sister was with him.

  "Right here," the scout replied, showing the route on my map. "Under an hour away, on horseback."

  "Please give my... gratitude to your Mistress," I said with a nod, turning to our commander.

  He had understood everything, and was already barking out orders without looking at me. It took some time, but eventually they pushed through the rage pounding in my ears.

  "...summon lizard mounts. Don't break down the tents until we've returned. We ride in one minute!"

  I nodded, mounted my boar, took a few more deep breaths, and looked the way the scout had pointed. Those bastards dared to attack my sister?! I'm coming, Alyona!

  ***

  "...keep those hooks on the walls! Cover the archers! Mages, archers, wait on my command. Ready, aim..."

  Bonbon was deep in thought. "I wonder what lizard women are like? You think they got tits? Or maybe they lay eggs, which would mean no tits..."

  "Idiot," mumbled Masyanya. "What, you looking to get some of their—"

  "Shut it!" Myrrha held up her hand, nodding towards the cliff on the right. "Hear that?"

  A few seconds later, they all heard it: the long howl of a wolf, sounding from the entrance to the gorge. It echoed further in a cold slimy wave, bouncing off the rock walls. Next followed the clamor of metal and an animal stampede. Within moments, a rider flew out on a monstrous black boar. His helmet was adorned with horns curved back like a buffalo's, and he was clad in black plate armor from head to toe. His lance was at the ready. So strange and terrible was the sight of him that Max knew right away that death would evade his people once more today. Behind him rode four more, then two silver dragons as big as the rider in the lead. A cavalry of armored knights took up the rear, fifty feet behind the others. Then again, referring to them as "cavalry" was a stretch, considering they were all riding brown lizard bipeds. Their levels ranged from 235 to 350, and their names were all hidden. But their disposition towards the humans was yellow. Neutral.

  "What the hell kind of natives are these?" standing beside Max, Donut broke the channel's deathly silence with his astonishment.

  The lizard commander turned, pointed behind him, and shouted something in his oddly sibilant speech. The whole formation surged and unfurled its ranks towards their new enemy, away from Max's group. The rider ahead flashed crimson with some kind of buff as his boar Charged, cruising to meet the enemy at the speed of a sports car. The black beast crashed into the turning enemy line, scattering level 200 elite warriors and flying straight into their commander. The lance struck Oualeeshch in the chest with a crunch, the boar added its fangs, and the lizard's rag-doll body flew thirty feet through the air. A woman dressed in black leather, still three hundred feet back, waved the two dragons into the fight, who beset on the foe like dogs unchained, tearing into the Darkaanese mages. They were so frightening, and so beautiful. Each spell cast at them failed to pierce their silver scales. In the blink of an eye, the dragons wiped the mages off the map, like two bull terriers charging a mob of rats, and sped with a roar towards the riders. Lizard bones crunched, wounded animals howled, and bloody parts flew in all directions.

  Another warrior clad in purple adamantine armor and wielding a glowing blue staff joined the fight, with an attractive black-haired sorceress holding an identical staff. They turned their lizards, circling the formation of archers on the right, and raised their weapons in unison. With a dry crack, a full fifty lizards were frozen in Ice Shackles. Some fell dead at once, while the rest were wrecked by a veritable giant trailing the strange quartet.

  "She just took half of them out!" Luffy exclaimed in the general channel. "And that was just a control spell! How on earth—"

  The sharp-eyed Myrrha hissed at him. "Did you see her level?"

  The black rider, meanwhile, gripped the reins of his fearsome steed and turned it towards the ranks of soldiers rushing him. He stood in his stirrups, pulled his coal-black sword from its sheath, and let loose a deafening roar—but his cry was drowned out by the clash of steel, the moans of the wounded, the growls of animals, and the crashing of ice blocks from sky to earth. Scarlet vortexes began to swirl around the boar, covering an area around three hundred feet. The Dark Empire's warriors caught in the spell broke and began to flee. Seconds later, the gorge shuddered as the cavalry smashed into the demoralized, disorganized enemy formation. It was over in minutes—the mystery warriors' levels were simply too high. Some went to help the dragons while the rest dismounted and casu
ally began looting the slain enemies. The commander shouted something to the giant and leaped off his boar, slapped him on the side, and started toward the fortress in a leisurely gait.

  "Now that's how you use a mounted regiment," muttered Teetotaler, envy in his voice. "You all would do well to learn. As if you... never mind. Everyone's alive, and that's what matters. Haven't got a clue where these NPCs came from, but it sure was good timing. You do what you want tonight, Max, but I'm getting hammered!"

  Before Max could reply, he saw Alyona lean forward suddenly, her face pale.

  "Roman!" She whispered the name. "It's Roman! He's alive!"

  In a flash she was over the wall, covering half the distance between her party and the demon in three bounds.

  That he was a demon was obvious when he removed his helmet. The fierce crimson light had vanished from his eyes, but the horns had not. A moment later, his form rippled and morphed from that of a black demon to the face she had known as a child, though with much more hair. A few dozen steps remained between them as Alyona shifted into human form. She struggled to remain on her feet as she ran to meet her brother, nearly choking on her tears.

  "Well, there he is," said Max with a grin, patting Donut on the shoulder.

  ***

  Rage! All-consuming, inhuman rage! These creatures dared threaten the person closest to me? And that bastard in the green armor brought them all here!

  Infernal Rage! Fortification! Gloom's Frenzy! Charge! The flat helmets and elongated faces of the archers whipped past. The left infantry squad turned towards me. Bam! Gloom cut through the formation like a knife through butter. A lance to the chest and fangs everywhere else, and the lizard commander's body took its last flight. Not a single one of these creatures would break through to my sister. Not a one!

  I turned my boar towards the ranks, drew Ruination, and cast Aura of Horror. Behind me, Reece and Raena took out two dozen archers in a matter of seconds. Kan burst in, and the second group of fifty archers only had time for a single volley. A dozen arrows flew, but none could penetrate the sorceress' shield or the armor of the late Saethdien Roa. The foxes surged screaming into the enemy, routing them. Damn! The demon within me thirsted for blood, but there would be little blood if the enemy all fled in terror!