by Aleron Kong
He was able to make good time. No large predators reared up to block his path and before long his village was in sight. The secondary trench had been dug around the village, nearly ten miles long and shaped like a broad “U,” where each tip ended against the cliff faces that rose to the north of the village. The trench was at least ten feet deep and ten feet across. The distance was too great to patrol, so the displaced earth had been gathered to make a series of earthwork towers spaced every few hundred yards. Mist workers continued to make the ditch deeper and wider every day.
Only three sections across the secondary trench had been left alone. Each was about ten feet wide. Wide enough to cross easily, but not wide enough for an army to surge across en masse. One of the sections was to the west; another was to the southwest, and the third was directly south of the village. It was to the southern bridge that Richter headed now.
Each section was manned by a five-man squad, and two earthwork towers were clustered behind the passages with a crossbowman on top. The squad leader saluted Richter as the chaos seed approached, clapping a fist to his chainmail shirt, directly over his heart.
“Greetings, my lord.”
Richter used Analyze in what had become almost an instinctive maneuver, and he said, “Hello, Delino. Is all well?”
“Quite well, my lord. Captain Terrod left word with each squad to communicate that he is looking for you.” After giving that message, Delino gestured with his head, and one of the other guards jogged off towards the village.
Richter chuckled wryly, “I bet he is. How mad did he look that I wasn’t in the village, this morning?”
A smirk threatened to break Delino’s forcefully stoic visage, “I am sure that I could not say, my lord.”
Richter laughed aloud and clapped the guard on the shoulder, “Of course you can’t.” His levity was interrupted by seeing the other guards clutch their weapons tightly. Richter looked behind him and saw that the shale adder had caught up and had begun sliding across the narrow path.
The chaos seed quickly held up both hands and said, “It’s with me! That’s my snake!” Still, he saw no reason to upset his villager’s unduly. A quick mental order ensured that the snake would hunt around the periphery of the village, but not wander too far. The adder reversed direction and activated its camouflage. In less than a minute, it was hidden even from Richter’s view. He stared at the creature. He would have to try and tame it again soon. Seeing what a danger it could be, though, he knew that if he failed to master it, then he would have to destroy it.
Richter let go of such dark thoughts and started walking back towards the village. To either side of him were patches of tilled earth and he was happy to see that the crops were thriving, but it was no great surprise. Three factors were working to make a bountiful harvest almost a guarantee. Richter’s Life ability, Bounty of Life, increased crop growth by 30%. Isabel’s new spell, Virol’s Blessing, increased the yield of the plants by 5% every time it was cast. It had a cooldown of one day, but the effects were cumulative and could ultimately increase a plant’s final growth by 100%. Last, but not least, there was the presence of the Quickening. As the tree had reached level two, all resources in his domain yielded 25% more than they otherwise would have produced. Richter wasn’t sure if this included growing food, but on his village interface, food was listed under resources, so it might. Whether the Quickening affected the crops or not, the reality was that some of the plants were already massive. Crops had been destroyed during the bugbear attack, but from what Richter could see, that loss had been made up.
As usual, his villagers were pleased to see him. Each and every one of them greeted their lord with a smile and a hail. He smiled back and waved while Futen and Alma flew along behind him. The mist worker carrying the knight’s body brought up the rear.
“Futen, go find Sumiko. She is probably in the healer’s tent. Ask her to come to the northern meadow. Tell her there are tortured souls to lay to rest.”
“Yes, my lord,” Futen replied before floating off. Richter kept walking.
The gate guards greeted him as well, communicating Terrod’s desire to speak with him. He nodded with a slight amount of irritation and kept walking. He knew it was a bit cocky for him to have left on his own, but jeez! He was the lord of these lands, wasn’t he? Terrod was just being a bit of a mother hen.
“Went on a little walk, did you?” a melodic, yet masculine voice called out.
Richter looked to the side and saw Sion walking up with a broad smile on his face. He raised his hand and gave the sprite a high five. The Companions fell in lock step together. “I didn’t plan to leave for so long, but things happened.”
Sion looked back at the mist worker carrying the nude undead knight and said, “No shit.”
Richter just shrugged. He filled his Companion in on what had happened during the morning. Sion reacted with shock about hearing of the ritual sacrifices. His mouth dropped open at hearing that an undead lord could still be laired up somewhere nearby, “My mother works so hard to ensure that evil cannot gain a foothold in the forest, and you are telling me that Death magic sacrifices are taking place?”
“I don’t know if it’s still taking place, but they did, and apparently it has allowed evil to endure. That leads me to the next thing you, and probably the Hearth Mother, need to know. I found a Dark magic portal. I’m not sure where it goes, but I am almost sure that it leads to somewhere in my lands. We are going to need to explore it, and remove whatever threat we might find.”
Sion’s face adopted a grim expression, “Just say the word.”
“I knew I could count on you,” Richter said, clapping his friend on the back.
Sion nodded, “Always. Now will you tell me why we are going up to the meadow?” A smile broke out across his face, “Unless you are trying to hide from Terrod.”
Richter stopped walking, “No, I’m not fucking hiding from Terrod. Terrod works for me. Just what has he been saying?”
Sion held up both hands, “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Why are you getting all worked up? He just wants you to be safe.”
“Hmpf, maybe he can hold my cock while I piss then.” Richter started walking again.
“Might not be a bad idea,” Sion called after him, “but when he has to keep looking to find it, things might get awkward.”
“I wouldn’t start talking shit, Sion,” Richter responded without even looking back. “Daniella told me some stuff about you.”
Sion stared after his friend, not sure what he should say. “What stuff?” Richter just gave a sardonic smile and kept walking. The sprite started jogging after Richter, “What stuff did she tell you, man!?”
CHAPTER 20 -- Day 112 -- Kuborn 2, 15368 EBG
They reached the top of the hill and as per usual, Isabel and the other gardeners were hard at work. She waved to Richter with a brilliant smile when she saw him. Her love was next to her. Terrod’s expression was decidedly less sunny.
“Greetings, my lord,” Terrod said curtly.
Richter let loose and expansive sigh, “Go ahead. Speak freely. Let the haranguing begin.”
Terrod didn’t hesitate, “It is my job to keep you safe, Lord Richter. It is my job to ensure that you remain alive so that you can lead us. That job is made much harder if you keep running out into the wilds by yourself! The monsters that we are seeing on a daily basis are all dangerous. You are powerful, my lord, but you are not all powerful. If you had run into that pack of skaths on your own, they would have eaten you. Torn you limb from bloody limb! You are also not the only one at risk. Only these mists protect us from hostile forces. Where would we be if you… did not make it back?”
Richter didn’t interrupt Terrod while the man was speaking. The captain clearly had some things to get off of his chest. Initially, the chaos seed was just planning on enduring a lecture. Afterwards, he would apologize, and they could all move on. When Terrod almost slipped up and revealed the truth about his resurrections, though, he understood that this was no
small matter for his Companion.
Terrod was not a man with loose lips. The captain had operated an underground railroad in Yves for years. To put it another way, the former innkeeper wasn’t the kind of man to let secrets slip. In this current moment, he was apparently so upset that he had almost revealed Richter’s most precious secret.
The lord of the Mist Village looked at Terrod and, as calmly as he could, said, “Come with me. You too Sion, this is a Companion type of talk.”
Richter led the way with his two Companions, away from the garden and towards the freshly turned graveyard. He started summoning more mist workers as he walked. When they arrived in front of the monument to the fallen villagers, Richter set the workers to digging. Their grey hands formed into shovel heads and they set to their appointed task.
He looked out over the area he was standing in and took in the almost grass-covered mound that contained the remains of the villagers that had died in the bugbear attack. He then looked at the denuded earth that marked where he had buried the remains from the dark aberration caverns just the day before. Now he was about to dig another hole. When you included the dead goblins he had buried upon first claiming the Mist Village, he was averaging almost one mass grave a month. Richter shook his head. Did that mean that his actions were leading to all of this death? Or was he acting like a scalpel, cutting away diseased sections of The Land? If that were true, then the process might not be pretty, but it left the patient healthier. Or was he instead living up to his name? Was this simply the natural result of a being a chaos seed?
“What did you want to say?” Sion asked gently. He recognized the pensive look on his friend’s face and so brought him back to the current moment.
Richter nodded his appreciation to the sprite. He looked at his other Companion, “Terrod, I want you to know that I hear you. I appreciate all that you do on my behalf and the way that you are training our guards.” The captain nodded, but Richter wasn’t done, “You need to understand something, though. While your job is to protect this village and to protect me, my job is to prepare for the future. My job,” Richter pointed to the mound that contained the bodies of his villagers, “is to make sure that that does not happen again. I cannot do that by playing it safe.” His expression softened, “Also, with only a few exceptions, no one in this village is stronger or faster than me. If you train an absolute badass who can be my personal guard, all well and good. Until that time, though, I’ll knock down who I can and run from the rest. I will not allow good men and women to be killed facing opponents that are beyond them. Our enemies are coming, Terrod. I have to be stronger. Do you understand?”
Terrod’s face showed that he didn’t like what he was hearing, but he nodded.
Richter was thankful that he had gotten through to the captain. There was one more thing to say, though. His face hardened, and he clearly enunciated his next works, “Despite any of that, though, you must NEVER share the secret of my resurrection with the other villagers.”
His captain nodded again, “As you will, my lord. I apologize for my near-indiscretion.”
Richter held Terrod’s gaze, “Like I said, I think you have a good point. We are in this together. The Universe has made us Companions. Honor me and I will be with you to the death. Train the men hard and then I will start taking them with me. Until then, I will not have them be fodder for monsters that are too strong for them. Can you do that, my friend?”
Terrod smiled faintly and clapped his fist to his chest, “I will redouble my efforts!”
“I know you will,” Richter said, smiling back. They clasped wrists, each glad to have been heard by the other. The two men fell silent.
“You guys going to make out or should we get back to work?” Sion asked.
Richter smiled at his friend, thankful to him for dispelling the small amount of residual tension. “I’d give you a kiss, but my legs are too stiff to bend down.”
“My lord, you should never admit you’d be more comfortable with your legs in the air,” Terrod quipped. Richter and Sion looked at the former innkeeper in surprise; then a broad smile broke out over Sion’s face that basically said, ‘You should have never started this man!’ And with that, Terrod became a true shit talking Companion.
Richter chuckled as he listened to Sion congratulate Terrod. Both of them started verbally going toe-to-toe without any signs of stopping. He looked around to see if Sumiko had come up to the meadow yet, but there was no sign of her or Futen. Knowing they had a bit of time, Richter decided to lead his Companions to the Quickening. Something inside of him wanted to bring all of his Companions into one place, despite the fact that Elora was still cocooned.
The three of them walked along while Alma flew in circles around them, leaving the mist workers to dig. Richter left Futen to direct them. As they neared the celestial tree, two figures phased into view. They were the guardians Sumiko had left behind to ensure the celestial tree’s safety. What had hidden the sprites wasn’t exactly the same as invisibility. After they appeared, his mind knew that he should have seen them before. It was almost like Stealth, but he admitted that the sprites Concealment ability was superior, albeit limited in that it only worked in the forest. No matter how it worked, it was always amazing to see someone appear out of nowhere and he was happy that the sprites were his allies. The now visible warriors greeted him.
“Hail, Lord Richter,” one said.
“Well met, brother,” said the other to Sion.
“Is all well with the Quickening?” Richter asked.
The two sprite warriors exchanged glances, “All is well, but the light coming from the cocoon has intensified. It also shudders from time to time as well.”
The other sprite opened his mouth for a moment, but didn’t say anything. Richter looked at him meaningfully and nodded. The sprite took the prompting, “I am the only one that has detected this, but I believe that I hear a voice. It is very small, but I know that it is calling to me. The voice does not speak aloud, it communicates to my heart. It started yesterday after I had gazed upon the cocoon.”
Richter considered what he had just been told, “What does the voice say?”
The sprite looked him somewhat embarrassed, but still said, “There are no actual words, Lord Richter. Despite that, I know two things. One, that I will not be alone for much longer. Two, it talks about a sprite woman. I have cared for this woman for some time. The voice urges me to tell her about my feelings. It says that she is part of my destiny.”
The other sprite snorted when his fellow stopped speaking. Richter looked at him, “So I take it you haven’t heard any voices?”
“No, Lord Richter,” the sprite responded with a laugh. The other warrior looked at him in irritation.
“Who do you think was talking?” Richter asked the first sprite.
The sprite who had heard the voice looked Richter in the eye and said definitively, “It is one of the pixies. She is telling me that she will be here soon.”
Richter smiled, “Well that’s good news! Let’s go check on them.” The five men walked under the canopy of the Quickening. While the outward appearance of the tree was that of a gigantic willow with huge velvet-white leaves, the underside of those leaves was something else entirely. Richter looked up, enjoying seeing the light reflected off of the silvery bottoms of the foliage. Mist lights had been summoned in the past and they still hung there, promising illumination for the next year.
They all continued on until they were standing right next to the trunk. Eight silver roots extended up from the ground, each five feet in diameter. They interwove into an octuple helix, leaving gaps so the hollow interior could be seen. When Richter looked inside, he saw the cocoon of spun silver that housed Elora and the first pixies that would be born into the Land for countless years. Just as the sprite guardian had said, the light coming from Elora’s cocoon had intensified. Only the other day, Richter had observed the cocoon and he had seen filaments of gold, yellow, blue and black light seeping through the thr
eads in places. Now, the four colors shone through like a spotlight.
“I hear it,” Sion suddenly exclaimed.
Richter looked at his friend. The sprite’s eyes were widened in shock and he had the expression of someone listening intently for something that was barely audible. “What do you hear?” he asked.
“Shhhh!” Sion said, waving one hand for silence. He cocked his head to the side, then he blinked and looked down. The sprite laid one hand flat on his chest. He looked at Richter and said, “I hear it here.” Sion looked at the other sprite who had heard a voice too. The sprite nodded back with a slightly relieved expression, likely pleased that he wasn’t going crazy.
“What do you hear?” Richter asked for the second time.
“He was right. I am not hearing actual words, Richter. It is more like a feeling.” Sion closed his eyes, listening intently. When he opened them again, he smiled, “They will be born tonight.”
Richter smiled broadly in response, “Is there any way that we can tell your mother? I know she would want to be here for this.”
Sion shook his head in response, “Not in time to be here.”
One of the sprite guards spoke up, “Are you sure that the birth will be tonight, Sion?” Richter’s Companion nodded. “Then I can notify the Hearth Mother.”
The sprite took a pouch off of his belt and reached inside. He pulled out what looked to be an acorn without a top. The sprite brought it to his lips and spoke softly to it then he dropped it to the ground. Before it struck, it started spinning quickly and when it struck the ground it burrowed in like a drill bit. In a moment, it was gone.
Richter watched the seed disappear and realized it was the only means of long distance communication he had seen since coming to The Land. It drove home just how isolated and alone he was in the forest. He was so busy each day that he didn’t think about it much, but the truth was he knew nothing of what was happening in the world around him. The current state of affairs in Yves, whether Count Stonuk was still plotting against, or if his friends in the kingdom were faring well. The truth was, he didn’t even know anything about this Jupiter-sized world except for the small bit of geography that was the River Peninsula. Richter knew he couldn’t ignore the world around him forever, but he also knew that it was not something he could resolve today.