“When the time comes when you fight the Jukal and you do have a plan, my leaders might be swayed if it was good enough. As much as I and my people are thankful for all you’ve given us and helped us, we don’t want to expose where we’re located and surviving right now. If we can hold out longer and build our strength, then we can hit them later on. Though, if you give us a way to hit them back, then it is possible that my leaders would allow me to assist you,” Sato said in a strained voice.
Dave nodded and smiled at Sato. He could see how much Sato wanted to help him, though he had people he had to answer to. In the end, going to war wasn’t his decision. It was only when war was declared that he would be able to move his forces and people to assist Dave and those on Emerilia.
“Don’t worry, Sato. When the time comes, you’ll know and the Jukal won’t know what hit them.” Dave smiled.
***
Mal hummed slightly as he swayed back and forth. Mal watched as his son’s eyes fought against sleep, his hands curling up slightly as spit trailed down his chin and onto Mal’s shoulder.
There was a slight rumbling in the other room. Mal didn’t move from his position, continuing on. He knew if he paused, then his little boy would more likely than not wake up in a foul mood and he’d have to start all over again.
He heard light footsteps approaching the room. He turned slowly to find Fire in the doorway to the nursery.
Her face softened into a smile. “How are my two boys doing?” she said in a hushed tone, moving to Mal.
“Just about ready to go for a nap,” Mal said back, in a low voice.
Fire smiled at Mal as his arm wrapped around her and they both looked down on their little Desmond, who had fallen asleep, oblivious of his parents and the world.
Who would have thought that the infamous elven Fire mage Oson’Mal would once again be the nursemaid to his second child?
Mal’s smile grew. He had raised Deia mostly by himself as Fire had been too scared. Now, with Fire by his side, he couldn’t be happier.
Deia and Fire acted more like sisters than mother and daughter, but that was normal with elves after a certain age. After their time apart, they were now finding common ground and their bonds were becoming strong. The fact that they had both been pregnant at the same time had also helped in bringing them closer.
If it wasn’t for the upcoming event, then Mal would have been the happiest man on Emerilia.
“How did things go?” Mal’s voice hardened as he looked to Fire.
She took a deep breath and rested her head on his shoulder. “Water’s advancing his knowledge on spells at an incredible rate. He’s going to be one hell of a force to contend with in the future. As for the rest? I’ve told Jelanos and Alamos to call on the mage’s guild and college.
“When these creatures start appearing, the college will move to its guild duties. I told them to go and talk to the Stone Raiders. With them, they can make the mages even more effective.”
Mal kissed her forehead, hearing the frustration in her voice.
She took a deep breath again, as if trying to push those frustrations and fears from her mind. “Bob says that he has a safe place for everyone to hide.” Fire’s eyes lingered on their baby.
Mal didn’t have to be a mind reader to know what she was thinking. His face hardened. Letting their boy be taken away somewhere while they looked to fight for Emerilia would be a struggle. “Everything we do is for our family and the countless other families on Emerilia.”
Fire didn’t say anything as her arms wrapped around Mal and tightened. Her eyes became cloudy with emotions as his arm tightened around her. “Then it’s time that you started training again. You might be one of the strongest elven mages, though I know you’ve fallen out of practice in your later years,” she said.
“I’d say I’m pretty active.” He gave her a saucy look.
She pouted and hit his chest lightly so as to not disturb her boy resting on Mal’s shoulder.
BAE Chapter 4: First Marker Opens
“People of the Jukal Empire, today we bring you a special event!” The Jukal announcer’s purple fur-covered, toad-like body moved in excitement as his words were transmitted across the Jukal Empire.
“An event never seen before in the history of Emerilia! That’s right—the event Of Myths and Legends! The creatures that were sealed away by the Affinities Pantheon or by the people of Emerilia will once again return to Emerilia! Will the humans survive or will they be torn apart? Will these returning creatures destroy Emerilia or be destroyed by it as we saw with the Dragon King Akatol? Let us find out! The first group have remained undetected before their spawn-in. We have the name of the first released creatures! They are the Elsoom spores! Please refer to your Emerilian encyclopedias to know the stats on the Elsoom spores.”
A male Jukal laid in bed, looking at a screen above his bed as tens of beauties from every single race in the empire, all dressed in sheer clothing that left little to the imagination, attended his needs.
Even with all these beauties, this Jukal, who had only experienced the finest items, lived for one thing: the brutality and entertainment of Emerilia.
His eyes thinned as the announcer faded away and a map appeared, showing where the Elsoom had spawned.
He ate the offered food with little interest. This powerful Jukal was the emperor of the Jukal Empire. From him, all decisions were made for hundreds of races and trillions of people.
He was also the biggest supporter of Emerilia. While his advisers ran the empire, he cared only about the biggest game in the universe—where the humans fought among themselves.
***
Dave was working in the Terra smithy when he got an alert from his interface. His face paled as he looked out into the smithy. All of the dwarven master smiths had stopped working as they, too, had received the same message.
They put down their tools and moved to the conference rooms that held Mirrors of Communication. The Council of Anvil and Fire had been called to a meeting of war.
As they arrived in the conference room that the council always used, the normal laughter and cheerful chatter was missing. Endur sat at the head of the table; there were four dwarves around him, two on each side.These dwarves were the leaders of the military council, they also commanded the warclans across the entirety of Emerilia.
“It seems that the event has started,” Endur said.
An interface appeared in front of everyone. A marker appeared in the forest at the base of Norkurn Mountain, which bordered on Ossai, a Zolun tribe city that bordered the Northern Grasslands and Heval plains on the Heval continent.
“We had people reporting that they were being affected by a corrosive poison on the southern side of the mountain. The wind was passing through this forest when it reached the mountain. We’ve since sealed the mountain and sent out messengers to the surrounding area. The corrosive poison is not only powerful but it has a parasitic element to it. One of the infected had their forearm affected, which attempted to then kill him and wound others to pass on,” Endur said in a grave tone.
Fighting an enemy straight up was one thing; fighting an airborne pathogen was hell.
“Do we know if they have any weaknesses?” Dave asked.
“Fire seems to do the trick,” a war council member said.
“Are we in contact with Ossai?” Kol asked.
“They are evacuating, for the most part. Others are staying behind. I’m scared that they will simply pass on the infection,” Endur said. “The only good news is that it seems after two minutes, the poison loses its effectiveness unless it has gained access to a person’s body. Even then, if someone is to take an anti-effect or poison potion, then they could defeat the poison.”
“I think it’s best that we hold up and we take this to Terra. We are mostly skilled in Dark and Earth Affinities. If we can get people with Fire Affinity to aid us, as well as the strength of Terra, it would go a long way to firming that alliance, as well as showing everyone how
we’re in this together,” Dave said.
Endur looked to the war council leaders and the dwarven master smiths. “Very well. Send a message to the Stone Raiders in Terra. If they do not act within a day, then we will combat this ourselves.” The latter was said to the war council, who nodded their heads. It was on them to come up with a backup plan to defeat this poison and whatever was behind it.
“Dismissed!” Endur said.
Dave exited the Mirror of Communication and reappeared in Terra. Immediately, his messages popped up with a full report from Endur.
He sent the message to the Stone Raiders’ leadership, as well as Party Zero, Fire, Bob, and Jung Lee.
Dave ran to the top of the smithy. As soon as he was on the roof, he shot off toward the Stone Raiders’ tower.
An emergency message flashed across the city.
Stone Raiders and the armed forces that various embassies had brought to Terra all stopped what they were doing and moved to their staging positions. The air was filled with people flying from one place to another. The roofs had a sea of bodies rushing over them as squads on the ground bellowed for people to move out of the way as they moved.
Dave passed through a barrier around the Stone Raiders’ towers. His amulet, made to look like a simple rock, allowed him entry. Doors opened ahead of him as he quickly made his way to the conference room.
Leaders from all of the different higher-leveled parties came in as they could. The guild leadership also rushed in from wherever they had been.
“Shut up and listen up!” Dwayne’s voice cut through the room after ten minutes. People were still drifting in but Josh and Lucy stood from their seats, ready to start the briefing.
“It seems that the first of the spawn points has opened somewhere in the vicinity of Norkurn Mountain and the city of Ossai in Heval. I will let Lucy get into the details.” Josh sat down.
“It seems that the creatures or whatever has been released excrete a kind of corrosive poison that has an added parasitic effect. The poison can reduce your hit points slowly. If one is to have an open wound, then the poison can get into the body, increasing the rate that one will lose hit points as well as take over their limbs.”
“Elsoom spores!” Jekoni yelled, his face a mass of angry wrinkles as he floated cross-legged, with his arms over his chest.
Everyone looked to him as Jung Lee seemed to teleport behind him with his great speed. Jung Lee didn’t even have a touch of sweat on him after displaying that speed.
“Elsoom spores?” Lucy asked.
“They were around while I still had a body. They look like five-foot-tall mushrooms. They release spores all over the place. Given time, they’ll make a spore field around themselves that no one can get through without being infected. You have to burn the bastards out. They’re weak creatures but their poison and its effects are powerful. The spores can take over a person, turning them into a mad beast. Many called them zombies. Once the spores have bodies that they control, they’ll multiply within and move to attack other living creatures. Once they get spores into open wounds, then the creature has just hours before they lose control. Creatures that have been heavily infested can explode from being hit, turning into a mass of spores,” Jekoni said.
Dave shivered at his words.
“How did you defeat them?” Kim asked.
“We Fire bomb spelled the hell out of the infected cities and then burned everything that was close to them,” Jekoni said in a dark voice.
“Is there a way to cure the infected?” Jules asked.
“Well, as long as a person gets a Health potion before they’re fully infected, they can stop the spread and start fighting back. Otherwise, once infected, removing the infection would take a powerful healer,” Jekoni said.
“I might be able to make a potion that could counteract the effects of the poison, allow people to enter this spore-ridden area for some time, as well as destroy the infection within people,” Jung Lee said.
“Anything you need, let us know,” Josh said to Jung Lee, who nodded. “Jekoni, anything you know, we’re going to need to learn.” A prompt stopped Josh.
Event: Of Myths and Legends
You have figured out a race of the first creatures to spawn in!
Elsoom Spores have once again returned to Emerilia. These spores control armies of living creatures. Letting them run rampant will lead to infected cities that you must retake or destroy.
Objectives:
Stop the spread of the spores and infected.
Defeat the Elsoom Spores
Remove the infection
Failure:
Emerilia becomes overrun with infected
Become infected
Rewards:
Experience
Resistance to all poisons increase by 10%
Change in relationship with Dwarves/Zolun tribes depending on actions.
“Well, at least we know what they are for sure,” Dwayne said.
“The dwarves are ready to fight back in any manner. Is it possible to make potions to kill off the spores and rain them down on the Elsoom spores?” Dave asked.
“I can make the potion. I do not know about how to disperse it,” Jung Lee said.
Dave and Malsour looked to each other.
“We can take care of that,” Malsour said.
“I will inform the other races and embassies that are within Terra,” Josh said.
People moved from their seats, looks of excitement on their faces. The event had finally started!
“I will need to go to Ossai,” Jung Lee said.
“We have a number of onos on standby for just this thing. Dave, get one placed in Ossai,” Lucy said, overhearing Jung Lee.
“Can do.” Dave nodded. Unlike the other members of the Stone Raiders, the leadership all had solemn expressions on their faces. They knew the reality of the situation.
***
Just twenty minutes later, Jung Lee stepped through a teleport pad in Terra and exited an ono into Ossai.
“Time we get to work,” Jekoni said.
Jung Lee sniffed the air. The spores had spread here but they weren’t that thick yet. The infection would start off slowly within these people.
Waiting for him was the city’s tribe leader, as well as a number of tanned men and women wearing polished bronze armor and holding spears.
“Mister Jung Lee, thank you for coming.” The tribe leader of Ossai extended his hands in greeting.
“Thank you. I must go to the point closest to the edge of the city. I can sense that the spores have made it here in limited numbers. I would advise that you lock the city down. If people with even a slight infection are to leave the city, it will grow slowly at first before taking over their bodies. I will have a cure made soon enough,” Jung Lee said.
The tribe leader paled at Jung Lee’s words. “Seal the city!” the tribe leader ordered without hesitation. With the tribes, infections and disease were common, their effects enough to cripple entire tribal towns. Passing it on or allowing it to spread to the other tribes would cripple the Zolun tribes.
People with spears ran off as the tribe leader waved for Jung Lee to follow him. “I will show you to the wall closest to the forest,” the tribe leader said.
“Thank you.” Jung Lee tilted his head as they quickly moved through the streets. No one stopped them as they moved.
Jung Lee stood on the wall, his eyes closed as he took in the smell and taste of the spores. It was much thicker at the wall. If one was to see, waves of heat emanated from his body, killing any of the spores that made it into his body or rested on him.
After five minutes, Jung Lee frowned. “I will begin.” With a wave of his hand, an alchemist’s table appeared with all manner of objects on it. He pulled out ingredients from a pouch of holding on his waistband.
“Jekoni, could you screen people and put protections in place?” Jung Lee’s head bent to his work as he put different ingredients into a bowl, grinding them up.
�
�Can do. Tribe leader, going to need some of your people and mages. Also, we should activate the ono’s shield now so that more spores don’t make it into the city,” Jekoni said.
The tribe leader nodded, his scarred features tight. This man, who had been a warrior in the past, once again emerged. His battle was not on the dunes of the Heval plains or the grasslands. Now he was fighting for his city, his family, and the tribes that looked to him for their governing.
Time didn’t have any bearing on Jung Lee as he worked at his table.
A shield appeared around Ossai, keeping people in and blocking any more spores from entering. A number of guards on the wall looked at Jung Lee nervously as he ground up different ingredients, boiled them, and turned them into pastes and powders, putting them through different instruments with quiet precision.
They had lived to fight off enemies of all kinds—people and creatures—and could stare down an army easily. Facing this infection, they were scared. There was nothing to fight: all of their hopes were in Jung Lee.
Mages were guided by Jekoni to create rain within the shielded city. This water was then boiled, destroying any of the spores that were on the buildings or in the air to slow the progression of the infection. Wells were also brought to a boil. Jekoni sensed infected tribe members and had them picked out to help with the wall defenses. Telling them they were infected would only create a panic.
Jekoni might be brash but he wasn’t heartless.
Jung Lee opened a tap from one of his different glass purifiers. A glowing blue-green liquid filled a vial as big as Jung Lee’s thumb, and with a wave of his hand, the heat of the solution was removed by the Fire Affinity spirit as he passed it to a guard.
“Give this to Jekoni,” Jung Lee said.
The guard nodded and hurried off, another taking their place.
“Fill these vials—don’t spill.” Jung Lee brought out boxes of vials as he waved at the spout filled with blue-green glowing liquid.
Jung Lee moved to another part of the table, the guard now working as his assistant without complaint. Jung Lee waved his hand and a large cauldron appeared in front of him. He tossed in a large number of ingredients.
Beyond All Expectations (Emerilia Book 8) Page 5