Unbound Deathlord: Challenge

by Edward Castle

  © Adept Energizer:13

  Adept Mage:11 + 10 [Items]

  Diviner:2

  Gold Digger:2

  Scavenger:2

  Scout:2

  Antimage:1

  Athlete:1

  Crafter:1

  Healer:1

  Meditator:1

  Mind Seer:1

  Negotiator:1

  Nitpicker:1

  Shadow:1

  Strategist:1

  Tactician:1

  Warrior:1

  22. Truth?

  'Come here, give your aunt a hug! '

  - Aunt

  My rage didn't recede as I went to Sorina. But once I got to its cave chamber, part of my emotion turned into curiosity.

  A lot of smoke was coming from the direction of the camp. The damn crystals everywhere didn't allow me to see anything in detail, though.

  Instead of going directly there, I crouched and decided on a more cautious route. Where there's smoke, there's fire.

  I unsheathed my sword. My six morbs – four fire, one darkness, one death – were floating above my head.

  Ten minutes of a slow walking later, I found the first sentry above a rather tall crystal, looking around.

  He was wearing full plate armor. A loaded crossbow was in his hands, and five almost transparent white morbs were visible. I knew from experience that it was not light magic; maybe air. His blue cloak with green borders marked him as a Sorina's guard.

  What or who was he looking for? Me?

  Happy I had thought of trying to be stealthy, I hid from his view and tried to go around him.

  And I found another sentry.

  Minutes turned into tens of minutes, which turned into hours. I eventually got to the mark on the ground that designated Sorina's territory. I stepped over it.

  Warning!

  Entering hostile territory!

  What the hell?!

  I immediately stepped back; I didn't know enough about Valia to know if they had any way of detecting my intrusion.

  Had Marbareus finally decided to kill me? But what about the smoke in the camp's direction?

  Wait, does it mean... Did the earthbound find out about him? If so, why are there Sorina's guards in the area? What is going on?

  There was no easy way to get through the guards. Maybe I could-

  My line of thought was interrupted by a hand covering my mouth and an arm firmly holding my body. I bit the hand hard, but it didn't budge. Struggling also didn't get me anywhere.

  You have received a party invitation from Tardas.

  Accept or refuse?

  Tardas? Shit. I accepted the invitation.

  He said.

 

  My morbs suddenly blinked out of existence.

  Status effect received: Short Silence (level 1)

  For 5 seconds, you:

  » Cannot use magic

  "We have no time for this. I'm sorry, but if you don't come for good, I'll-"

  I mind yelled incredulous.

  <'What' what?> He asked confused.

 

  He took a few seconds to understand.

  I'd never have gone quietly if he hadn't said he was sorry. More than hostile territories, smoke in the air, and badass looking guards, that made me realize something was terribly wrong.

  He released me, and I turned around. Black blood covered his body whole, his longbow and purse were missing, and his dark green scale armor was half destroyed.

  He started walking crouched. Everything was so out of character that I followed.

 

 

 

 

  We walked for an hour until we reached a clearing. Two bodies covered by dark cloaks were there, and I recognized Marbareus' big axe close to one of them.

 

  Tardas sat on a small crystal and shook his head slightly.

  I checked the corpses under the cloaks. Marbareus' body was there alright. So was Daggers'.

 

  He let out a quiet laugh.

  I laughed awkwardly with him. Everything was so weird.

  He didn't answer.

 

  I laughed more.

  As if to prove my point, he completely changed the subject.

 

 

 

 

 

  NPCs could choose whether or not to reward players for verbal quests? That was news. And completely different from normal quests, since Marbareus' sister had been forced to reward me.

 

 

 

  He asked suddenly.

  My eyes widened.

 

  I thought about the answer. If I was being played, this was something so above my level that I'd better not even try to comprehend it, or my head might blow. I sighed.

 

 

 

 

 

  He closed his eyes, put his elbows on his knees and supported his forehead with his hands. A lengthy period followed. He finally said.

 

 

  I got totally confused. I think that was the first time an NPC said 'please' to me and meant it too. I shut up.

  d from itself. The only thing that saved him was his pure-blood training. They are taught since birth, you see. Their mothers teach them to wage war, and their fathers teach them politics. If they can't lie or kill well enough when they are thirty, they are murdered by their own parents.>

  I gulped. Except for the getting killed part, that was uncomfortably similar to my own upbringing.

 
 
 

  The game manuals had no mention of that. If it also worked on players, I could predict some impressive lawsuits soon.

 

 

  He looked at me in disbelief.

  Manhart had told me about the Devourer and the priests. Maybe Tardas knew about that talk and was trying to discredit the lich. The ghoul could become completely invisible when he wanted, after all, and I had no way of knowing if he had been following me since Ter'nodril.

  I wasn't in the mood for cheap talk.

 

 

 

 

 

  It was hard, but I forced myself to ask a question.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  He took a moment to answer.

 

 
  There was no lost love in his tone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  I asked.

 

  If there is any truth at all in it, Marbareus did a damn good job at it.

 
 
 

  I raised an eyebrow. That was a little too much to believe.

  He gave another quiet laugh. It sounded tired.

  He allowed silence to hang in the air.

 

 

  He ignored me. acrificed herself to allow us to escape. I took her body with me out of respect.

 

  A lot of willpower on my part made me stop a joke before it could leave my lips.

 

  Note to self: never call a god's judgment upon people unless I'm sure I'm right.

 

 

  He smiled mockingly at me.