The Crystal Bard: A LitRPG Adventure (Kingmaker Saga Book 2)

by Thomas K. Carpenter

  · Nimble-footed

  · Rock Leaf Invisibility: +5 Stealth in Forest or Cave Regions

  Powers:

  · Arbor-Hearted [Not unlocked]

  · Georealm [Not unlocked]

  · Way of the Leaf [Not unlocked]

  Houses Met: Shadowbane, Luck Twins, The Great Decay (minor)

  Terran hoped that the page might provide answers, which it did somewhat, but it opened up even more questions than he had before. Was Andelain the name of the Mother Tree? Or was that a person who had created it? How should he unlock the additional powers of the champion? And the part about the houses confused him further. Of course, he knew about the Shadowbane, since Chanterelle was her champion, but the Luck Twins? He didn't recall meeting a representative of that house, nor did he know their motives. The Great Decay suggested Grimchar, which explained why he was only a minor house, whatever that meant.

  He had someone who knew about the houses, but he wasn't about to risk letting Selune speak. At least not until he had the portal ready. Maybe once he was prepared, he would ask her some questions. He doubted that she would answer, but at least he could try.

  When he returned to the glen, it was late in the night. Terran went straight to the chieftain's quarters and climbed into his hammock. Without Chanterelle to curl up in the crook of his arm, he didn't fall asleep for a long time.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  The next few weeks kept him distracted from his longings. When Terran first told Zoras about restoring the portal, he'd been despondent, claiming it was impossible since they didn't have the materials to grow the green crystals required. But when Terran showed him the emeralds he'd recovered from the Cave Devourer, the head of the crystalline conservatory's eyes had grown very wide.

  Once they had the crystals, they headed to Wunderlust Keep with backpacks full of supplies. Terran missed the signet ring, which would have helped him haul the gear, but it was better in the hands of Lady Aeresteel.

  When they arrived at Wunderlust Keep, Terran could barely believe his eyes. The drawbridge had been restored, and the grime and moss scrubbed from the gate. The inner courtyard had been cleared of scrub brush and the old buildings, which made the area feel fresh.

  They found Lady Aeresteel near the site of the old blacksmith shop, helping lift a crossbeam into place with her powerful arms, while other centaurs on platforms roped the structure into place until it could be properly fastened later. Unlike humans or elves, the centaurs could not climb, which added challenges to construction, but their strength and longer reach made other problems simple.

  "The keep is coming along," said Terran.

  Lady Aeresteel wiped the sweat from her brow with the back of her hand. "It's hard work, but it feels good."

  "May I introduce the head of the crystalline conservatory and his assistant. Zoras and Jondar," said Terran, sweeping his arms towards them.

  In his usual fashion, Zoras puffed himself up, barely acknowledging Lady Aeresteel as he made a show of examining the courtyard as if he hadn't been standing in it for the last ten minutes. The centaur raised her eyebrow, but Terran covertly shook her off, adding an eye roll so she didn't take Zoras' display too seriously.

  "A bit rustic. Nothing like the soaring bridges of Gneiss Glen or, ahem, the glittering hall of the crystalline conservatory, but you're doing good work," said Zoras.

  Lady Aeresteel looked like she didn't know if she were being insulted or complimented. "Uhm, thank you?"

  "Either way, I'm here on the very important business of restoring the portal," said Zoras as he lifted his chin. "I will show myself to the great hall and begin the work. Come, Jondar, your assistance is necessary."

  The uptight elf strode towards the inner areas of the keep, while Jondar shook his head with his hands on his hips.

  "My apologies," said Jondar. "He can be quite insufferable."

  Lady Aeresteel tilted her head. "Is that a keg on your back?"

  The hefty bard had a small keg strapped to his back. "It's a recipe of my own. A mushroom-infused porter. Are you interested in sampling some later?"

  "You had me at keg," said the centaur. "I may be a lady now, but I spent my life in seedy taverns and getting into fistfights."

  The rosy-cheeked Jondar winked as he followed his master into the building.

  "I like him," said Lady Aeresteel, nodding.

  "He's a nice balance to the insufferable ass that is Zoras," said Terran with a sigh. "Thankfully, most of my training was with Jondar, but Zoras, while a pain, is quite knowledgeable of the crystalline craft."

  "Will the rebuilding of the portal take long?" asked Lady Aeresteel.

  "Hopefully no more than a few days. The hard part was growing the green crystals. Well." He sighed. "The hard part is going to be the final activation. Zoras did the best he could with his research, but we're having to make up what we don't know."

  "Is it risky?" she asked.

  "I don't know," said Terran. "Hopefully not. I would hate to damage your keep in the middle of rebuilding."

  "It is yours to damage," said Lady Aeresteel.

  "Let's hope not. My bigger worry is that it hurts my friends somehow, but I guess the likely thing is that it just doesn't work. Right?" Terran paused. "How is your grandfather?"

  She touched the signet ring. "Resting. He learned how to make himself seen for the other centaurs, but it wears him out."

  Terran shifted his mouth to the side. "May I speak to him? Alone? There are some things I need to ask him about."

  Lady Aeresteel immediately pulled off the signet ring and handed it to him. "Absolutely. I'll go check on the smithy building while you speak with him."

  Away from the others, Terran slipped the signet ring onto his finger and mentally called for Lord Ostric. The bushy-mustached former lord of the keep appeared.

  "Terran, my boy," he exclaimed, shaking with mirth. "Good to see you."

  Terran imagined that if Lord Ostric had a corporeal body, that he'd be getting his ribs crushed in a bear hug.

  "Lord Ostric," he said, inclining his head. "How are you faring?"

  "Wonderful," he said, smiling wistfully at the progress. "It's good to see my progeny back in the keep. This place will be a shining light when it's done."

  "Great." Terran rubbed his arm absently. "I have a few questions. About, you know, before?"

  "Whatever you need, Lord Terran."

  "Do you know the name Andelain?" he asked tentatively.

  Lord Ostric squeezed his lips tightly. "I do."

  "Is that the Mother Tree? Or the person who created it?" he asked.

  Lord Ostric sighed heavily. "I wish I could give you the answers you seek, but I'm afraid that I only know that Andelain, or what the Rock Leaf Elves call the Mother Tree, is an ancient being. Much of this I know from my connection with the essence, but it is mist thin. I know that she has been around for many, many cycles of this world."

  "The times when offworlders come and go," said Terran.

  "Yes," said Lord Ostric. "Your return renews the old battles, gives them life, like blowing air onto embers, waking the flame within. I cannot claim to understand why you offworlders come here, or the nature of what you are, but I know that our world revolves around your existence, like the planets to the sun."

  "I thought this was a fresh world," said Terran softly, mostly to himself. "But no matter, it is the life I lead now, I'd better get used to it."

  "That's the spirit," said Lord Ostric with a broad smile.

  "Do you think there's a way to speak to Andelain? To talk to her?" asked Terran.

  Lord Ostric crossed his arms. "I'm afraid that consciousness is deep within the Mother Tree. Maybe when all the essences have been returned, she might fully awaken, but that is only a guess."

  "A good guess," said Terran, and even though he didn't receive a quest, which he thought he might, he knew that was his long-term goal. For the Mother Tree and the Rock Leaf Elf settlement wouldn't flourish until all had been rest
ored. But he knew that Grimchar would not rest until he'd destroyed the Mother Tree and taken her essence to fuel his immortality, which made him, not the Trio, his true enemy.

  "I have a lot of work to do," said Terran. "The first of which is getting my friends back."

  He returned the signet ring to Lady Aeresteel and joined Zoras and Jondar in the great hall, restoring the portal. Zoras in true fashion barked out commands, even to Terran, but he didn't mind if it got him what he wanted. They labored for three days, catching naps on a pallet near the portal.

  The easiest part had been placing the green crystals in the prongs of the brass ring. Jondar had a jeweler's eye, and adjusted the fittings until they stayed snug. The hard part had been fixing the runes. While Jondar had brought his keg, Zoras brought a host of books, and had Lady Aeresteel send a runner back to the glen for more when he'd exhausted his research.

  But on the third day, when the last rune was restored, a strange hum emanated from the portal, so Terran sent for the Trio. They arrived, bound and guarded, with Lhoris and Petram.

  Before the final activation, Terran had Selune brought to him alone, and ungagged her. She spit on his chest as soon as the binding was removed. She was as furious as a cat who'd been thrown in a pond.

  "I will stop at nothing to destroy you, Star Killer," she said.

  Terran patiently wiped the spit from his armor. "I have a question for you, Tabitha, and you don't have to answer, but I would appreciate it."

  "Don't call me that name. I'm Selune," she said, shaking her blonde hair.

  "Before you joined the game, you were contacted by Grimchar, made an offer in return for your help," said Terran. "That's why you were so far ahead in the early days, when most people were just figuring out how this world worked."

  She squeezed her lips together defiantly, but the way her eyes creased with recognition confirmed what he suspected.

  "What were you offered? Power, I assume, but in what form?" he asked.

  She looked away at first, but then snapped her head back around, her eyes glowing with purpose. "To become a god."

  Terran studied Selune, who glared back as if she weren't bound.

  "It's hard to remember why I had such a crush on you. So I guess I should thank you for showing me who you truly are. I don't have those feelings anymore," he said.

  She opened her mouth to fire back a retort, but he shoved the rag into her mouth before the words escaped.

  "Bye, Tabitha. I hope you get what you deserve," he said.

  Terran called for the others, who gathered around the portal. They set the Trio in front. He was going to face them against the wall, but decided that he wanted their audience as he activated the portal.

  "Are you ready for your solo?" asked Zoras.

  Terran glanced at Selune, who stared back with murderous eyes. "Ready as ever."

  The first notes of the portal song flowed from his lips like a gentle stream, glittering in the sunlight. It meandered through a high forest as Terran firmly planted the images of his friends in his mind. As the song climbed on an arpeggio, the crystals woke with a responding hum, summoning swirling mist at the center of the portal. His voice danced with the notes, spinning the mist faster, rotating it until the white contours became a blur. At the peak of rotation, Terran pictured his friends and the Trio swapping places.

  Tendrils of mist reached out from the spinning abyss, caressing the bound forms of the Trio, capturing them, binding them to the mist, until at the crescendo of the portal song, he hit the activation note, and the Trio was catapulted backwards through the portal, and almost as instantly, three other figures appeared in a flash of brilliant light.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Terran's first thought was that he'd made a mistake, and pulled three random people through the portal, rather than his friends. It hadn't been half a year since he'd seen them, but the time, and the world, had changed them, just like it'd changed him.

  The redheaded Zara raised her darksteel battle-axe with a muscled ochre-red arm that didn't match the rest of her, and released a war cry, which made everyone take a step back, while a brightly clothed Flynn with a skull tied to his hip held up a strange spear that seemed to shift in his grip like a mirage, shaking it threateningly, and last, the bespectacled Newt, in robes the color of dusk and with a tome under his arm, held up a crackling ball of energy in his fist.

  "Back away or we'll slaughter the lot of ya!" screamed Zara, eyes strained wide.

  Except for a few hands that went to weapons, no one moved.

  "Zara. It's me, Terran," he said, stepping forward. "I brought you here through the portal."

  The big redhead blinked as she studied him and then the rest of the room. "This isn't a trick?"

  "Well at least I know that it's really you, despite whatever's going on with your arm, because only you would ask that, knowing full well that if it was, I wouldn't tell you."

  "I'm just giving myself cause for putting an axe through your skull if you were lying," said Zara.

  Flynn jammed the butt of his spear onto the stone floor. "So it's really you, Terran?"

  "In the flesh," said Terran, opening his arms.

  "Wait," said Newt suddenly, holding up his hand while staring into an orb that he'd produced from his robes. He squinted into the glass before finally nodding. "Yep. That's Terran."

  With the pronouncement, Zara put down her battle-axe and Terran approached his friends with a grin so wide on his face that his cheeks hurt.

  "We shall leave you to your friends," said Lady Aeresteel as she ushered everyone from the room. "Later there can be introductions, and drinks."

  His friends nodded, bewildered but relieved.

  "You can't believe how good it is to see you, Terran," said Flynn as he patted the skull on his hip. "Things got really weird after you left. Right, Skully?"

  There were markings on the bone, but Terran didn't have time to read them as he gave each of his friends a hug in turn, holding them by the shoulders after each, a grin plastered to his lips. After nearly half a year of toiling away alone, he was finally reunited with his friends. His overwhelming joy was only tampered by the lingering loss of Chanterelle.

  "I think we have a lot to discuss," said Terran as his mind whirled with questions.

  "The first of which," said Zara as she punched him in the arm, "is where are we? I know we got your message a few months back about a settlement, but you didn't say anything about centaurs."

  "They're a new addition, but I think you'll like them," said Terran. "What got weird?"

  "About a week after you disappeared, an army attacked the newbie area, taking prisoners, scattering everyone. We hiked across the desert, fought demons in the wastes, all sorts of things. We were being chased by creatures that swam through the sand before your portal took us," said Flynn.

  "We have a lot of stories to trade," said Terran. "Looks like you got some nice gear."

  Zara tilted her head at him, leaned over, and flicked his ear. "You an elf now?"

  "Rock Leaf Elf partially," he said, touching the pointy end of his ear.

  Flynn wandered around the room, craning his neck, stretching his arms. "At least we can relax now. I'm sick to death of running all the time. Be nice to have a home, settle down for a bit."

  Terran chuckled. "Yeah, about that. We have a few problems on this end. Namely a murderous wannabe god who enlisted some of our former cohort against us."

  "Wannabe god?" asked Flynn. "Sounds dangerous."

  "Very," said Terran. "Especially because we're going to hunt him down and end his fledgling godhood."

  "Whatever, Terran," said Flynn. "As long as we're together."

  "Together at last. No more disappearing." Zara looked around. "Now can we get something to drink here?"

  As the centaurs and elves returned to the great hall, Terran wrapped his arms around his midsection. Petram approached, hands behind his back, and nodded towards the burgeoning festivities being organized by Jondar.r />
  "Not joining the party, Terran the Tenacious?" asked the shaman.

  "I will in a moment," he said. "I'm just trying to take it all in."

  "Enjoy it while you can," Petram said knowingly as he walked away.

  Terran didn't have to ask what the shaman meant by his comment because he knew it the same. While the return of his friends filled a hole in his heart, the challenges ahead were only growing. When he'd first come to this world, he thought he'd be spending his life on a carefree adventure. He knew now that it was going to be a life-and-death struggle. And if there was going to be a winner in this game, it would have to be him. It was the only way to survive.

  ###

  Purchase the third book, The Glass Tower, in Kingmaker Saga Series on Amazon in January.

  If you love LitRPG, then you might like the completed Gamemakers Online series. The first book, The Warped Forest, is on Amazon and in Kindle Unlimited.

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  Or try the first book in the other completed Hundred Hall series, which is also in Kindle Unlimited, The Reluctant Assassin.

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  Special Thanks

  As always, it takes a good raid party to successfully slay all the gremlins hiding in every manuscript. So to all those people that helped make this possible: thank you! People like my editor the Tamara Blaine the fighter who deftly slayed the errors in the manuscript with her mighty pen, the beta readers (Tina Rak, Carole Carpenter, Lana Turner, Melanie Coupland, and Andie Alessandra Cáomhanach) who provided the DPS for the raid, and to the Vanguard (Inger Tucker, Joseph Zygnerski, Elaine Stoker, Phyllis Simpson, and Tami Cowles) who played crowd control on all the adds. Your time and effort have helped bring to life this moment of joy in readers' lives. Thank you!