The Land: Predators

by Aleron Kong

  You have found: 9 Gold Crowns, 4 Silver Marks, 9 Copper Shills and 5 Iron Bits

  There were also two small gems, a fire opal and a water agate. He didn’t know their stats, but Richter was willing to bet that when you added their value to the excess coin that what was in the chest, it would total exactly what the loot he’d already claimed was worth. His Treasure Vault worked! 10% of the loot he’d claimed had come to the Room. That was more than a thousand dollars worth of treasure! His worries over the village’s economy eased slightly. No proletariat rebellions for his village! Richter gave himself a self-five and put another four hundred crowns in the chest, on the off chance an elementum ingot dropped. He didn’t want to lose the money, but elementum was worth it. The two gems he kept in his hand.

  After doing that, he touched the vault’s Node and found himself near the Well of Offering. Roswan and Randolphus were waiting for him. His new jewels went down the hole. Richter then asked the other two men to gather close to him so he could cast Dungeon Transport. They shared an amused glance. Instead, they just walked over and placed their hands on the Node built into the wall of the Entrance Room. A moment after that they vanished, traveling via their own Node roads. Shrugging, Richter called for Alma, but she said she was going to keep hunting in the Dungeon and maybe find the entrance to the new floor. He told her happy hunting and placed his hand on the Node as well.

  Together, the three men made their way back into the village. After they entered the village gates, Roswan made a beeline for the feast area again, not realizing that Richter had been joking about getting one more helping of bacon. As far as the chaos seed was concerned, the man could eat twenty meals if he wanted to. The battle was tomorrow and Richter planned to do some enchanting and find a way to relax a bit, then get some rest. Once morning came, he would be leading his people into war again. Some of them would not come back. Today every villager deserved all the joy they could get. No matter how the battle turned out tomorrow, there would be death and sorrow.

  Randolphus peeled off as well with a “Good day, my lord” and walked towards his office in the catacombs. Richter kept going, planning to go to the Forge of Heavens. He knew exactly what he was going to do with the last few Settlement Points he had. He was kind of looking forward to Krom’s inevitable cursing when he told him. The day was gorgeous. It was hot and he could tell it might be scorching later. Right at that moment though, the sky was blue and filled with white fluffy clouds and a nice cool wind was blowing down from the northern mountains to balance the rising warmth of the day.

  Richter stopped to grab a quick bite in the feast area, and a welcome voice hailed him.

  “Lord Richter! How are you on this wonderful day?”

  The chaos seed smiled broadly at hearing the voice, “Heman! What’s up, buddy?” The two men shook hands, and Richter was struck yet again with how lucky he was to have found a chaos seed that was a friend and not an enemy. It had to be his high Luck stat.

  “Just enjoying the sunshine,” Heman told him. He shook Richter’s hand with a smile, “Where is your little dragon?”

  “Technically, she’s a dragonling,” Richter responded with a smile, putting stress on the last part of the word. Heman adopted a fake look of apology and raised his hands in mea culpa. Richter laughed and told him she was hunting in the Dungeon.

  “Ah,” Heman exclaimed dramatically, “always the worst when the women in your life leave you… unless it’s the best, right?” He elbowed Richter lightly and the chaos seed laughed again. “Seeing as how you’re alone,” Heman continued, “Do you have time to stop for a bite? Or maybe even to take a fellow chaos seed on a quick hunting trip?” he laughed, already assuming that Richter’s answer would be ‘no.’

  Richter stopped and thought about it though. It was definitely a great day, and he had already planned to take some time to relax after he had done some enchanting. The truth was, ever since the battle plan had changed to resemble a surgical strike rather than an all-out invasion, there wasn’t as much need to furiously make more enchanted weapons and armor. Less soldiers involved in the attack meant less equipment was required. That meant there wasn’t any reason he couldn’t fulfill his earlier promise and take Heman hunting now for a few hours. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. He really could use some time to decompress. After the issue with the Blood magic, it might do him some good.

  Richter looked at Heman with a smile, “I already ate, but how about you grab a quick bite and then we go hunting?”

  The other chaos seed smiled broadly, “Well all right!”

  Heman made a small plate for both himself and Richter, saying he hated eating alone. Richter humored him and picked at the food while the other chaos seed started telling a story involving two girls, a cup and a toy train. Richter had to stop him in the middle shouting, “That is a disgusting place to hide a child’s toy!” Ten minutes later, they were at the forge, outfitting Heman with leather armor and weapons.

  Krom had some unfortunate news about Richter’s old breastplate. Even with the Forge of Heavens, the damage was so extensive that Krom wasn’t sure he could repair it. Apparently, a bowling ball-sized hole caused by a mauler’s talon piercing it front to back couldn’t just be duct-taped back together. Krom said he would talk to Hisako to see if she could help, but for the moment, all his time was already taken up finishing Richter’s new suit of armor.

  That was why, twenty minutes later, Richter was wearing his original sprite chest plate. It didn’t offer as much defense, and he missed the eight points of Strength the enhanced breastplate had provided, but it was still a solid piece of armor. He also had his elementum short sword and sprite bow, but Black Ice needed to be ‘worked on’ according to Krom. Richter equipped a high steel mace instead and left the forge.

  The villager hunters and patrols had already gone out, so Richter felt relatively safe taking Heman out in the woods despite the man’s low level. As most of the patrols had headed to the south today, Richter headed west in hopes that they could find a deer or fox. The gate guards tried to go with them, but Richter waved them back, sure he could handle most anything that was within a mile or two of the village.

  The two of them quietly talked about this and that as they moved through the forest. Heman always seemed interested in the other chaos seed’s adventures. In all honesty, Richter enjoyed having someone he could talk to from back home. He could always speak to Sion or Alma, of course, but it felt different talking to someone who understood just what it meant to have been plucked from their home and placed in The Land without warning. It made him almost eager to share. He even recounted most of the details of his recent battle with Nien the Death Knight. Before he knew it, Richter had been talking for an hour, and he felt so much lighter than he had before. He was a bit surprised that he felt comfortable enough to disclose as much info as he had, but there was no denying that it felt good.

  Still, when he realized how much time had passed, he suggested that they should head back to the village, but then, unexpectedly, Heman started to share a story of his own. Without being prompted, he opened up and began to speak about his time in the goblin’s captivity. The half-gnome had always been happy when they had spoken before, but now, his voice was haunted. As they continued through the forest, Heman opened up about the beatings, the degradation and the summary executions that had been a part of daily life under the goblins’ harsh rule.

  “At times, the goblins would throw dead bodies back into the cages. They thought it was funny to not feed us, so the only choice…” his voice trailed off and he stopped walking, overcome with emotion. Richter stopped as well, not sure what to do. A moment later, Heman straightened, and forced a smile onto his face, “I’m sorry, Richter. You have enough on your plate. You’re going into battle tomorrow, for god’s sake. I shouldn’t have brought it up.” He took a sip from his water skin, and looked away, ashamed to make eye contact.

  “Don’t feel that way, man. I’ve had my own issues and h
ave needed help to deal with them. Believe me,” he placed a hand on Heman’s shoulder and gave a reassuring squeeze.

  The other chaos seed sighed heavily, but he straightened up. He was clearly forcing cheer into his voice, but he was trying, “Why don’t you tell me a little more about your story then, oh wise and venerable Lord Richter!” He finished what he was saying with a laugh and a flourishing bow, before handing over his water skin without being asked.

  Richter accepted it gratefully. His mouth was so dry for some reason! He had already drained the entire water skin he’d brought for himself. After he’d dealt with the desert between his lips, he gave Heman a smile, “You want stories? I’ve got shorees thatz’ll tun yu wyite!”

  The other chaos seed looked at Richter’s black skin, “Uhhh, okay.”

  Richter shook his head, “Ay mean, zah will…,” he stopped talking, looking extremely confused, “wha hapin ma? What ha-” His body dropped to the ground with a solid thud.

  “Ugh, finally!” Heman huffed.

  Richter tried to look up to see what the man was talking about, but he couldn’t move his neck at all. In fact, he couldn’t move his whole body. All that worked was were his facial muscles. That was when he saw a new icon in the corner of his vision. It was in the shape of a man bound with ropes. He knew that icon. It was the paralysis icon! This couldn’t be happening. Not again! No! No! No! No! No!

  “Nooo,” Richter let out with a low moan.

  When he had fallen, he’d landed facedown. It was only because his head was at an angle that he could breathe at all. Since he couldn’t see anything except the grass an inch in front of his eyes, he listened as hard as he could. Of all things, he thought he heard the creak of a door open and then close a minute later, something that made no sense out in the middle of the forest. He still couldn’t move anything except for his mouth and eyes, but he could hear Heman chanting. Seconds later, he saw a flash of bright light and a heard a zzzt sound. He thought the other chaos seed might have used lightning magic on him somehow, but he felt no pain and his health remained the same.

  A moment later, Richter felt a hand on one of his shoulders wrenching him up. He was pushed into a sitting position with his back against a tree. Heman’s face came into view, but with an ugly expression that Richter had never seen on the man before. He was smiling and his eyes danced with malice, even as he avoided looking directly into Richter’s eyes.

  “Let’s just give you a little more, huh?” Heman sneered. He picked up the water skin Richter had dropped, the skin he had only been pretending to drink from minutes before. Pouring the poisoned water into the Life Master’s mouth, he then held Richter’s nose and mouth shut.

  “Too bad we’re out of range of your little dragon, huh? Thank you again for letting me know the limit of your communication range. I’d tell you how annoying it is hearing you gab like an old woman, but it did help. If you hadn’t told me, I would have poisoned you half an hour ago just to shut you up!”

  Heman kept Richter’s nose and mouth shut, but also looked around to make sure nothing was sneaking up on them. “You know, I was starting to think I wouldn’t ever get you alone before you left to go fight that undead guy. Honestly, it sounds like he would have killed you anyway, so this really shouldn’t be too much of a problem. I’m just moving up the timetable on your death a bit.” He kept prattling about this and that while he waited until Richter’s air ran out and he was forced to swallow. Richter despaired as he realized Heman was right, both about the stupidity he’d shown in sharing such private information and the fact that Alma was out of range. The Life Master had started calling for her soon after he hit the ground, but there was still no answer. The other psychic connection he had to the tovuut mauler was much weaker and would only work over short distances.

  After he swallowed, the paralysis timer increased to four minutes and thirty-eight seconds. Whatever poison Heman had put into the water was potent. Richter kept trying to call for Alma, but there was still no response. His heart beat wildly in panic. He couldn’t be killed because of paralysis poison again!

  “Dun do ths,” Richter pleaded, some of the poisoned water leaking out of his mouth. “Dun du thz.” How had he ever trusted this guy? Now he literally couldn’t understand how he had ever felt at ease talking to the other chaos seed. He knew just how duplicitous his people could be. How could he have been so stupid?

  “Sorry,” Heman replied with a smile and a wink, but still careful not to make eye contact with Richter, “but there is no choice. I’m committed, and I’m sure you already feel the enchantment I placed on you fading away. There just isn’t any other choice now. I doubt you’ll still want to be bffs after what I’m about to do to you,” he added with a chuckle. “Before we get to the… messy bits though, I want to show you something. It’s pretty cool if I do say so myself.”

  Waggling his eyebrows, he reached a hand out and seemed to grab at thin air. Pulling his arm back though, Richter heard the creaking sound again. To his astonishment, he saw Heman open an invisible door that was hanging in midair. It revealed a three-by-three-foot cubby that looked to be one foot deep. As strange as that was, the fact that it was made of wood and had two small shelves made it even weirder. Heman had basically opened a rent in space and on the inside of that impossibility was something that looked like it had come from Pottery Barn? Richter screamed in confusion and frustration inside the confines of his own mind, though he could only manage a low moan through his mouth! What the fuck was going on?

  “I’m sure you’re wondering what’s going on, right?” Heman asked. “Don’t try to answer. It’s actually a bit gross the way you keep drooling on yourself. Hold on. This will only take a second. Five, to be exact.” He took a large vial out of the cubby. It was filled with a brown liquid that somehow gave off a distinctive grey light. With a sinking feeling, Richter realized just how the other chaos seed must have gotten the potion. There was only one magic he knew of that emitted that color. Chaos.

  Heman waggled the vial in front of Richter’s face, “This is how I beat you. This, and a small amount of water, was all it took to take you down,” his voice filled with pomp, “the great and powerful Richter!” Speaking at a normal volume again, but with a hate-filled tone, he concluded, “That was all it took to destroy your arrogant ass.” Heman made a loud snot-dragging noise and hawked a sticky, wet blob onto Richter’s face, still taking care not to meet the other chaos seed’s eyes.

  Feeling the gross nastiness on his face filled Richter with rage, but he still remained in the same position he had been placed in, as helpless as a babe. Heman left the spittle to slowly ooze down Richter’s face, leaving a slimy trail behind. When the deceitful chaos seed spoke again, his voice was cheery once more, “Now, we have a little time before I have to go. Let me fill in some of the blanks for you. As you may have guessed... though possibly haven’t, you never did strike me as particularly bright... I have an ability. Two actually, and they work together quite well.

  “The first is what let me beat your little truthsayer when she asked me those questions about my loyalty. It’s called False Comfort. Simply put, it sets peoples’ minds at ease. They see whatever I need them to see so that they don’t consider me a threat. Those little questions you had the sprite ask were very clever,” he laughed, “but that spell only tested someone’s intent. Since my ability makes others only see the best about me, that wasn’t very hard. It even confuses skills like your Analyze. Thank you again for telling me about that, by the way. You really should shut up sometimes, you know. Just food for thought. Where was I? Ah yes, my ability. Admittedly, it might not sound like a very powerful one, but it works oh so well with my other one.”

  Richter started to try and speak again, but Heman shook his head with a “tut-tut.” Then he took off Richter’s helmet and slapped the Lord of the Mist Village ringingly across the face. Then did it again and again… and again. Richter’s fury burned within him, but he knew threats wouldn’t do anything agains
t this monster. Not in his helpless position. All he could try for was reason, “Pees. Peas, yu dun hv tadu ths. We kin be frnds. I can hep yu.”

  Heman leaned close, “Help me?” he asked in an amused voice. Then one of his hands wrapped around Richter’s throat and he pushed on his captive’s windpipe. “Help me?” he asked again, louder and with a tone shaking with anger. “You think you are good enough to help me?” he screamed into Richter’s face, specks of spittle flying.

  “Who are you to think you can help me? Who are you to think you can be my friend? While you’ve been aboveground, becoming a lord and enjoying the sunlight, I was buried! I was eaten three times until I found the tribe of gnolls. Then I was enslaved, beaten and abused until I could learn their language. Ha! Even that would have come easier for you and your goddamn Gift of Tongues! You were given everything!

  “All my ability could do initially was convince them not to eat me. It doesn’t work right if people can’t understand me. I had to persuade them in other ways. Use nonverbal communication. I had to find a way to touch them for my other ability to work. How do you think I was able to do that, Lord Richter? How do you think I survived?” He was screaming the whole time and spittle rained over Richter.

  “Do you know what it’s like to be violated, sometimes several times in a row, by a tribe of degenerate dog-faced gnolls? The stink, the way their coarse hair felt on my skin? Did you know they find the scent of blood to be sexually arousing? They would rake their claws across my back while they ripped me again and again!” There was an insane light in Heman’s eyes as he relived the atrocities that had defined his early existence in The Land.

  He looked at Richter again, still careful not to meet his eyes. His voice was much more calm, but heavy with scorn and condemnation, “Where were you then, my friend? Where were you as I slowly learned enough of the gnoll language from the other slaves to take the tribe over? Where were you for the months of violence and pain, when the only times I saw light meant I would be raped and cut again and again and again?”