by Elian Tars
I, unlike the archer, had a good idea what they were looking for in Kors. Berg’s continuation of the story proved me right. In Olte, not far from the borders with the Pampey Principalities Union and the Duchy of Oruel, deep in the forest, the Old Man drove his Disciple to a green hill, where Berg met horned Bears that walked on their hind legs. Most of them had the word “keeper” in their name and the biggest and strongest of them had the word “shaman.”
“I didn’t see them right away,” Berg recalled. “Just like before, I wandered for a long time... At some point, the Old Man appeared in front of me. A second later, I felt that somebody was near. Not far from us, the grass and the ground suddenly disappeared. From the giant hole appeared a Keeper. I now know what it is since you told me about the Lake, but back then I was just fulfilling my patron’s will. He asked me to go down there. I don’t know what he talked about with the Keepers and the Shaman. Maybe he named their Shaman, too?”
I was inclined to agree with him, having in mind the fact that the Old Man sent HIM to Kors even before I found the Lake. So, the old geezer was looking for energy sources without me, and he knew the location of two. Perhaps he knew other places, too. He definitely didn’t know all of them, otherwise he would’ve sent me to the Tree Frogs before the Decay had reached them.
Unfortunately, they didn’t find anything in Kors, which meant that the Old Man was guessing and didn’t have solid information. It could also be that a source had really existed in there long ago, but was now long gone. In other words, either the source had dried out, or it was destroyed, not by the Decayed, but by someone, or something else.
I had a strange feeling in my gut during the entirety of Berg’s story. Was it envy? Jealousy? It was difficult to tell. I wanted to be the only person close to the Old Man, so I was jealous of Berg, and I sort of envied the God, who was above us and was giving us orders.
Perhaps I just had a grudge. It was thanks my efforts that he was getting better, yet he gave orders to others and kept in touch with them but kept ignoring me.
I quickly calmed down, remembering a story from the Bible about a guy who was jealous of other followers, and who hung himself…
“And you didn’t talk to those Bears after that?” I asked, trying to shake off the bothersome thoughts. I needed information.
“I did.” Berg smiled. “I couldn’t see what was going on the hill, but soon after that our patron thanked me and then ordered me to wait for the Keeper, find a place to spend the night in, and wait for further instructions. I did as I was told, and a few minutes later, one of the Bears came to me and gave me this as a sign of gratitude...” He materialized three stones, each of which was about seventeen inches in diameter and was big enough to occupy a standard inventory slot. All three bore the same name — The Essence’s Storage.
I immediately cast Tranquility on one. The stone got dark, as if the Darkness itself got a form, and its description changed.
Powder of Simple Tranquility of Darkness
Amount: 14,759
I had no time to do alchemy, so I filled the two other Storages with magic, and was about to take them all when Berg realized what was I going to do and continued his story.
Heading for the nearest town through the forest, he got ambushed. The culprits knew what they were doing. In the twilight, and especially at night, the skills given to him by his patron kept Berg out of trouble, but they were useless during the day.
“Brigands would never be able to get me because I’m a ranger,” he assured me. “I immediately knew that they were, too. It seemed strange to me that someone of their level was hiding deep in the forest — troops didn’t go there. I thought that I could perhaps run away from them, but I decided not to risk it and try to find out what was going on. I thought that maybe I could get some valuable information. “And,” Berg stopped, confused, but quickly continued. “I prayed to our patron and believed that he’d watch after me and wouldn’t let me go where I definitely shouldn’t go. He answered that he’d watch after me and get me out if needed.”
It took me a lot of effort to keep a straight face. Whenever I asked him to do that for me, he never answered by talking to me. Also, Berg had never mentioned that the Old Man took Faith Points from him…
“What happened then?” I asked.
Berg then explained how he started negotiating with the brigands and how he even managed to convince them that he had valuable information that their leader might be interested in. He even offered them to blindfold him, so that he couldn’t see the path to their hideout. Berg didn’t doubt the Old Man’s words. They sure were close, those two…
He then found himself in their camp, which was filled with hungry and wounded people. I didn’t know whether the Old Man had a premonition about such an outcome, or if he was no stranger to human curiosity. It was hard to believe that it was a coincidence.
He ordered Berg to ask the camp leader what he was ready to pay for healing his people, most of which were marked with Injuries and the long lasting Effects of Decay.
“I have nothing but my life and my responsibility for them,” the leader answered tiredly. “I can give you both.”
That was when the Old Man appeared in front of his future Followers. This happened half a day before the battle for Ilyenta, when the Old Man was still healthy. In exchange for their loyalty, he healed all the people with Tranquility, and disappeared at once. I supposed he did it so that nobody could see him lose his strength. Maybe it was because of this that he had such a hard time fighting Aerida.
As it turned out, the leader of the camp, Kazimir, was a prince of one of the northern principalities of the Union. He was a fully pledged ruler only for an hour. The Decayed attacked the city, killing Kazimir’s father who, with his dying breath, gave his last order — to save themselves. An hour later, there was no city anymore. The creatures of the Decay continued to the south, consuming everything on their way. The principality was fully consumed by the Decay, as well as part of the neighboring territory.
Fleeing from the unstoppable curse, Kazimir, together with what was left of his father’s army and subjects, took with him all of the villagers he had met on the way. The young prince did everything in his power to save as many lives as possible.
However, nobody wanted to shelter the survived refugees. The other princes wouldn’t mind sheltering Kazimir’s best warriors, but definitely not his whole squad. Why would they need more people when they could barely feed their own?
Some of the warriors betrayed Kazimir, but most stayed loyal to the prince. Twice did the other princes offer him to settle in the northern parts of their lands. It was very clever to let paupers live in an open field on the border with the dead lands, where they’d become the first victims of the beasts, slowing down the Decay’s spreading.
That’s why Kazimir led his people to the dense forests and away from the border. He wanted to try his luck and perhaps get help from the duke of Oruel or the duke of Urhon. That was when they met Berg.
Through Shelton, Berg managed to make an arrangement with Rugus, who allowed Kazimir’s people to temporarily settle in those parts of the Olte County that were at that time under the rule of the duke of Oruel. In other words, lands that were taken from my father-in-law’s vassal.
Those lands had now been returned to their lawful owners and a part had been given to me. Not every foot of the duchy was divided between the duke’s vassals — there was enough of disposable “no man’s” land, even though, formally, it all belonged to the king anyway.
Chapter 21
The Encounter
I was sitting at the head of the table and looking at the furnishings of my new two-story house — the most beautiful and substantial building in our, let’s call it, main village. I hoped that it wouldn’t be comfortable enough for Tiara — the last thing I needed was for her to find out that my “subjects” had given me property and come here with the idea of making this place her permanent residence.
“First of all, I want to thank y
ou again for giving us shelter… Sir,” said the former prince. I looked at his young, hairless face, and head full of black hair. I’d go so far as to say that he looked like an adolescent. But, according to Berg, he had a wife. A pregnant one at that, who was having a rest in her new home. I didn’t envy the woman; she had been through too much stress in her state. But her persistence inspired respect. She probably had nerves of steel and a strong will. Then again, what did I know about pregnant women anyway?
I asked the system to take a look at the former prince’s stats one more time.
The Prince’s Son, Kazimir
Level 109
HP: 6,170/6,170
Though he hadn’t been a prince for a while, he didn’t change his title. Perhaps he didn’t have the necessary artifact...
“You can call me by name when we’re alone,” I said. “It’ll be easier. I accept your gratitude. Though, you could just as well talk to the duke yourself.”
“I really couldn’t,” Kazimir answered dryly. “I doubt that anyone would be interested in a bunch of vagabonds. If it were only my warriors and me, we could’ve gotten some land and even some money for potions. With the potions that I have brought from home, we might’ve gotten rid of our Injuries and the Effects of Decay. Unfortunately, we wouldn’t have had enough for the peasants and the citizens then... Had I gone to the duke, I would’ve chosen money, not land. I would’ve become a mercenary,” he said and I nodded, having already heard that from Berg. “So, I’ll say it again — thank you. Now, let’s drop the subject.” The young man smiled.
I expressed my gratitude, too, thankful that his peasants had prepared a house for me. And although the plot of land that the duke had given me wasn’t the biggest, on its premises were a forest and an old sawmill. As for tools and other necessities... Some of the things the refugees brought along with them, and Kazimir had reserved some money from his treasury for the rest.
“Does it bother you?” Mara chuckled, addressing Kazimir, who looked at her with unease after she had chewed a piece of raw meat. “You’d better get accustomed to it, you’ll see worse.” She demonstratively sank her teeth into her delicacy again. Kane sighed helplessly and silently offered her a napkin to clean her lips.
The table had already been set when we arrived. At that very late supper, we discussed domesticities, got better acquainted with Kazimir, and gradually got to the main topic of the meeting. I didn’t start the dinner with it, and my companion noticed that.
“Ken, you haven’t said anything about the upcoming campaign yet.” Having finished his meat with trimmings, Kazimir drank some wine and looked at me all focused. “Do you have any doubts about it?”
I shook my head. “None. I just haven’t decided how many people to take with me yet. I urge everyone,” I glanced over the three Disciples and one Wight, “to think. We’ll make our final decision tomorrow. We’ll definitely need the elite warriors. We should also take higher level villagers,” I told Kane, who was, willingly or unwillingly, looking after the residents of Ilyenta more than anyone else. “However, we shouldn’t forget about defense and training. On one hand, there’s pretty much no one left to be afraid of in Olte County after my father-in-law has allied with the duke of Oruel. But, despite that…” I spread my hands. Nobody argued.
We then discussed the further development of our fighters. Berg and Kazimir had already created Simple Tranquility of Darkness Potions from one of the black stones. The second one I gave to Erg, the leader of my “team of medics,” who was also an alchemist now. I explained to him that he had to grate the stone, and then mix the dust he’d get with water.
We decided to make Shawn and Olyest, Kazimir’s former castellan who was level 106, responsible for managing the land, training, and household activities. Despite the huge difference in experience and levels, the men were appointed to equal positions. I couldn’t let Kazimir’s men have everything served to them on a silver platter, even though they were kind of my people now…
Shawn and Olyest, whom I had appointed majordomos, had a right to choose and appoint assistants by themselves. I’d try to look after Shawn as much as possible, but I was sure the he wouldn’t do anything stupid.
After inquiring Kane about the preparations for our transfer and getting a satisfying answer, I closed the meeting — the outside noise was dying down, which meant that the people had been more or less accommodated. We could all finally get some sleep.
***
My morning began with persistent knocking. I hadn’t locked the front door last night. Whenever I’d go to bed, Vella would come and plop down right in the center of the hall, so that strangers couldn’t go past her. The “guests” were knocking on my bedroom door, which was securely locked.
“Ken, wake up! We have a problem,” Kane yelled.
Getting up, I let the necromancer into the room.
“Hey, sleepyhead,” Mara smiled and waved.
“Someone disposed of Bat No. 2. I lost connection with it,” Kane said without delay, not giving me a chance to say anything. Despite the alarming nature of the situation, he was calm. He even yawned.
I had collected a bunch of shards from different gravestones in advance and put them into my inventory, ready to make a new resurrection point at any moment. And I did. After talking to the duke, I sent Bat No. 2 with the important cargo to the mercenary island to save us time on the road.
I greeted Vella, who replied with a quiet bark, opened the front door with her paw, and went outside, leaving the three of us alone. I went to get myself ready, while Mara and Kane waited for me downstairs. Cleaning myself up, I thought about Kane’s words. When I had finished, two village women with pots and cups came in.
“I’ve ordered you breakfast,” Mara replied, seeing my bewildered expression.
The women poured porridge in our plates, put bowls with honey and nuts and a teapot on the table, and hurried to leave.
“So, I have two questions,” I began as I started eating my breakfast. “The first is the obvious one — who destroyed your Bat?”
“I’ve no idea,” Kane answered dryly.
“As I thought,” I sighed. “All right, second question — was it far from its destination?”
“Not very far. I’m not sure, but it was probably close to the nearest island. Was it in the shallows or onshore, I can’t tell.”
“Great…” I sighed again.
“I can send Wing No. 1, choose a different route for it, and…”
“No,” I said decisively, interrupting him. “It’d be better and less risky, yes, but we’re limited by time. The sooner we make a deal with the mercenaries and set out to Ishiria, the faster we’ll acquire the Part and join the dukes in Longera. I’m sure that the capital is a tough nut to crack, but if we take too long, the king will prepare better and will get his troops back from the Steppe. Not to mention that the Decay gets deeper into the territory of the living lands every day. The tragedies like the ones that happened in Ekheim and in Kazimir’s principality will happen much more often…” I sighed heavily and shook my head. “We have only one option.”
One that I don’t like very much, I thought to myself.
But it’s the right one, the Old Man replied.
I didn’t wince although I was surprised. My patron suddenly decided to contact me. This didn’t happen often, but it happened. However, he didn’t take any Faith Points from me. Did he finally get stronger and stopped being petty?
Do you know where the piece of my gravestone is now? I asked, but got no other reply. I doubted that he got offended by my thoughts, but the silence spoke for itself.
Before noon, when the cooldown of Elusive Darkness would end, I had another meeting with the Disciples and held a speech in front of the rest of the congregation. Once I had restocked my supplies, I said goodbye to everyone and, mounting Vella, set out to the forest. For a couple of hours, I increased the number of “lives,” while Vella made friends with non-hostile Cougars. Yes, these predators prevailed on m
y lands. They weren’t as common as Wolves were in the south, but they were a high level — the weakest one that I had met had managed to reach level thirty-two. I wondered how did animals grind. While hunting? What about herbivores? Did they level by fighting off predators? Had the recent fighting in Olte influenced this Cougar’s level? Who knew how many helpless refugees tried to hide in the forest and became food for the giant cats…
However, the most amazing thing was that the felines listened to Vella. I had two theories about that, both of which were based on the fact that she was the Old Man’s Disciple. I supposed that her title was equally important to animals as mine was to the humans. With that in mind, my two theories were as follows: either most predators were loyal to Darkness; or, animals, unlike people, could feel the ancient energy, which they worshipped and followed. Vella was both the bearer of that energy and a transmitter of its will.
Taking Wing No. 1 out, I poured some mana into the dead crow. When the bird began to stir, I asked Kane to warn the others about our new allies — the Cougars.
When I felt that I could use my teleportation skill again, the total number of “lives” had reached 204 souls!
“Not bad at all! I ca use “Power of Light” two times, or refill my “Rebirth Energy.” I’ll decide what to do later. For now, I’ll leave everything as it is.”
Glancing around the forest, I jumped on Vella’s back and scratched her behind the ear.
Should we go scouting? I thought when the Old Man’s voice sounded in my head again. He approved of my idea, so Vella and I set out. If something disastrous happened, I’d die, but would be able to resurrect at once. Any other Follower would leave this world forever. As for Vella… It seemed to me that our patron would make sure she escaped. Even without teleportation, she was faster than any human.
I hoped that our journey would be without accidents. Our God was with us!
With this thought, I activated Elusive Darkness.
For now, I had four resurrection points. One was at the bottom of the Lake of Grace, and was, unfortunately, closed. Perhaps it was silly and paranoid of me, but I didn’t want Tiara to know about it. The energy source and the Shaman were too important to the God of Darkness. The fewer people knew about my ability to teleport there, the better.