Legends of Tarthirious: The Complete Collection

by Zachariah Dracoulis

  “I’d say so, yeah. Maybe it’s a good time to get a coatrack?” I asked with a little laugh.

  Gerald’s smile had returned and that was enough to warm my soul a bit, “Perfect.”

  Now, I’d like to say we went out and had a brilliant time in the great outdoors, and there were adorably romantic moments and jokes had, but I’d be lying. No, instead of having a big great adventure we were bombarded by people asking if I felt better and saying that I looked quite ill.

  Apparently news of my interview turning south had kicked up quite the stir, and there’s nothing more fun than being at the centre of said stir, she said sarcastically, for it was actually Hellish and anxiety provoking.

  Good news was we managed to find a coatrack at a local discount store, and were back in the safety of home before so much as twenty minutes had gone by, collapsing on the couch in an act of pure social exhaustion.

  “Are we just going to feel this way forever?” Gerald asked with a hopeless little laugh.

  “Possibly.” I joked back, “How are we not happy yet? We’ve gone out, we’ve gamed, we moved you in, how is none of that making us feel any better?”

  “Maybe we’ve just got a hole in us now. Like seeing someone die has changed us in some kind of irreversible way.”

  I contemplated that for a second then screwed up my face with scepticism and shook my head, “Nah, I reckon if that were the case we’d just have turned into a couple of depressed vegetables. We are having fun, it’s just temporary.”

  “So what do we do then?”

  “I think… I think we should try and stick to one thing. Make a decision as to what we’re doing and just do that until we don’t feel bad anymore.”

  Gerald chuckled at that and gave me a cute little smile, “Burying negative emotions under piles of random acts of pleasure? Where do I sign up?”

  I returned the smile and gave him a kiss, “Let’s try Tarthirious, see if we can go five minutes without distracting ourselves with our feelings and then take it from there. Happy with that?”

  “As long as it’s with you, I’m happy with anything.”

  See that? That amazingly romantic thing he said? That’s why I’m positive I am the Queen of oral.

  I know, I know, I’m crude, but it’s all a part of my undeniable charm.

  Armelia: Chapter 20

  Our party of four slowly found its way through the dark fort, the bare rooms and hollow halls only increasing the sense of dread that washed over us. Honestly, it was creepy as Hell, and I was starting to get to the point where I thought we’d be lost in it for all time.

  But then Gerry found something, a door in the highest level of the fort that had some kind of incredible light seeping under it.

  “You think this is it?” I whispered as I pushed my back against the wall on the right side of the door, my sword drawn and ready to deal some damage.

  “I hope so,” Gerry said, his hand against the door and ready to push it, “otherwise we’ve definitely all got some kind of radiation poisoning.”

  A giggle escaped me before I could stop it and I quickly silenced myself, “Alright, open it.”

  Gerry gave me a single affirmative nod before slamming into the door at full force, equipping his daggers and going into a roll as the rest of us piled in behind him.

  Probably should’ve had a quick look in the room before making that decision, if we had we probably would’ve shown a bit more finesse.

  “So,” the incredibly beautiful winged woman labelled as the High Lord Faerie said as she shuffled off of her fluffy white bed and came to stand at the foot of it, “you’ve come to kill me, have you? I’d have dressed for the occasion but, well, I’d prefer to leave this world as I came into it.” she said, gesturing to her gorgeous nude form.

  Progress made in mission: The Hidden Fort.

  Objective completed: Find the High Lord Faerie.

  Objective added: Return to Tarthirious.

  High Lord Faerie discovered.

  Journal entry made.

  “Well there’s no need for that,” I said with a sly smile, lowering my sword but not sheathing it, “all we need is a way back home.”

  “Oh,” she said in what seemed to be exaggerated surprise, “is that all? I’m sure I could do that.”

  “Brilliant.” I said as I waited for the level up to my speech.

  I am far too cocky for my own good.

  “You misheard me young druid. I could, but I won’t.”

  Suddenly Gerry and I were somewhere completely different, some kind of wide stone platform in what appeared to be a tornado, “Please tell me I don’t have to kill you.” I said as I got back into a fighting stance, Gerry rolling back and joining me while the others were Gods know where.

  The faerie shot me a wink and blew me a kiss, “I’d love to see you try.”

  The High Lord Faerie has challenged you.

  Level 85 High Lord Faerie, HP: Unknown.

  “I do not like the sound of that…” Gerry muttered at the ‘Unknown’ HP bar.

  “Me either. Any ideas?”

  Gerry shook his head, “Not a one, these daggers’ll hold up against necromancers, but a freakin’ faerie? Better luck catching water with a sieve.”

  “Sigils!” I exclaimed excitedly before leaping out of the way of what appeared to be some kind of flower bomb that was thrown our way.

  “What!?” Gerry yelled back from the other side of the platform.

  “Sigils! Place all the sigils you can!”

  “Got it!” he shouted with a smile before slicing across his hand then looking back up to me, “Hey! Try not to use Ky-Len’s Heal! I don’t know how stable that’d make this thing!”

  “Agreed!” I said as if I’d already thought of that.

  I decided I’d keep the pissed off faerie’s attention for a while so that Gerry could do some work, but it was proving to be quite the task, especially with how close she was getting.

  “How’re those sigils coming along Gerry?” I asked as I rolled passed him.

  “Almost got this entire place littered with the things. How’re you holding up?”

  “Well, you know- shit!” I yelped as something exploded in front of me, sending a massive net of vines flying into the air, “Mind letting me know if I’m about to roll to certain death?”

  “Where’s the fun in that?” Gerry laughed as he put the finishing touches on his last sigil, “Done! Hold still.”

  I did as I was told, coming to a dead stop mere inches from one of Gerry’s sigils, and waited for the plan to start taking effect.

  Turns out that that was a far more harrowing experience than expected as the High Lord Faerie, with all her beauty and grace, stalked toward me with a maniacal grin, “Now you’re mine…” she whispered darkly as she approached, her hands building some kind of blue light in her hands.

  “Correction,” I said as she finally stepped on a sigil and was trapped in a web of vines, “now you’re mine.”

  Without saying another word I ran at her, driving my sword into her ribs, drawing blood but no damage, instead a pained squeal followed by laughter as she slowly broke her way through.

  “Gerry! I could use an extra set of hands!”

  He was only too quick to respond, his daggers flashing and slicing as he ran over to us and started cutting into her, leaving wounds as I had but still apparently leaving no damage.

  “Fools!” she cackled, breaking away the last of the bindings that held her and fluttering her wings until she was a good ten feet from the platform, “No mortal blade can truly kill a faerie!”

  “Great,” I muttered, “she’s gone all wicked witch. You got anything else here?”

  “Couple of insta-tree sprouts, but that’s not going to do jack to her while she’s up there, you got anything?”

  I started trying to think of something, anything that I could possibly use to at least ground her, “Hey, I know you said Ky-Len’s would be bad, but…”

  “Whatever, do
what you gotta do,” he said sternly, the battle clearly starting to piss him off, “I’ll keep her distracted.”

  It was damn near impossible to focus, but I successfully managed to get down a few Heavenly Smite sigils around the platform before putting down a Ky-Len’s Heal near the centre.

  I was so focused on getting the lines absolutely perfect that I didn’t even register Gerry shouting “Look out!” until the last possible second, rolling out of the way and having a ball of brilliant blue energy blasting into my sigil.

  I didn’t even get a chance to think I’d have to redo it before everything around me started exploding, beams of Heavenly light shooting up into the sky beside pillars of wood and vine as the knock-on effect of magical explosions set each other off.

  The roaring sound of the explosions coupled with the High Lord Faerie’s screams was nigh unbearable, and as the ground beneath me started to shatter and crack I prepared for the absolute worst, but then I was back in the safety of the fort.

  I stood there motionless a moment, thinking that it was surely some kind of glitch and that we were moments from excruciating death, but then I saw the defeated faerie curled up and smoking by her bed, her wings burned completely off and her skin charred beyond recognition.

  “I-I-I… I had to bring us back… H-how did you do that?” she sobbed.

  It was hard seeing her that way, like finding a unicorn with its horn sawn off, but I couldn’t help but feel a little proud that we’d managed to take her down.

  “Great teachers.” I said, smiling at Vilor and Lyrias who still seemed rather stunned by our sudden reappearance.

  The faerie managed a small laugh and shakily rose to her feet, “I suppose there is something that can be said for that. Congratulations mortals, you’ve bested a faerie.”

  I gave up trying to be the proud victor, watching her suffering the way she was, was simply too hard. I crossed the room and placed my hand on her.

  Cast Touch of Life.

  A brief second passed and the faerie’s wings had returned, and her charred flesh was healed.

  She appeared to be waiting to explode, but when it became apparent that she wasn’t going to she started looking over her body, “Why?”

  “Because it was the right thing to do.” I said with a comforting smile before taking a few steps back to where I was and waiting patiently for her to decide whether or not she’d like to return us to the battle.

  End of Conflict Report:

  Abandoned Conflict.

  No Experience Points awarded.

  It bummed me out seeing as it appeared as an ‘Abandoned Conflict’ as opposed to ‘Gracefully Ceased Conflict’, but it was better than the alternative of being turned into druid mash potato.

  “Thank you,” the High Lord Faerie finally said after a tense few moments, “thank you so very much.”

  “You’re most welcome.” I said with a respectful bow, “I’m just glad that this could be done without excessive bloodshed.”

  “I’d say the same, but I do like a fight.” she laughed, “I suppose you all will be wanting to return home?” she asked, looking between the four of us.

  “If you wouldn’t mind,” Lyrias replied, the shock apparently wearing off, “provided you have the energy.”

  The faerie smiled, “In here? My powers are beyond imagination Grand Master, it’s why that filthy necromancer Aldok sought me out.”

  “You spoke to Aldok?” Vilor asked in shock, “Can you take us to where he is?”

  “I’m afraid not, I could of course open a portal there, but that would only allow him to send more of his men into my realm, something that I most definitely do not want.”

  When she finished I thought I heard a faint song coming from somewhere, but dismissed it as some random sound hiccup, “We respect your wishes,” I said before Vilor could start issuing threats like I was sure he wanted to, “perhaps only back to our home? The Girit Mage’s College?”

  “Why of course,” the faerie said with a bow, “and would I be correct in assuming it is in need of some repairs?”

  “Yes, the necromancers successfully managed to cause a great deal of damage to our home before we could force them back.”

  There was a flash of light and a portal opened between the faerie and I, similar to the one the necromancers had come through but blue, and on the other side sat the destroyed college, bodies and rubble strewn about like streamers at a party.

  I went to thank the High Lord for all her help, but stopped when I noticed something happening on the other side of the portal. It was subtle at first, bodies disappearing into puffs of blue smoke, but then chunks of the college started to come back together until, after only a few seconds, it had been returned to its former glory.

  “Go,” the faerie said, remaining out of sight, “I will send your four-legged friend through once my guards fetch him, then you will hopefully never set foot in this plane again.”

  I wanted to say something along the lines of ‘I’d love to visit’ but realised that she probably wasn’t saying it for my benefit and stayed silent.

  I stepped through the portal, the others close behind me, and started to hear that song again. Again, I dismissed it and smiled as I got another mission completed.

  Mission Completed: The Hidden Fort.

  +2500 XP.

  Level 12 Completed!

  Level Up!

  Level 13 Progress: 1270/4500.

  5 Skill Points awarded.

  “You did well in there,” Vilor said proudly as the portal closed, Shadow-Stal trotting around where the corpses had once been in a disturbingly cheerful way with Gerry close behind, “especially for a… student.”

  I didn’t understand his hesitance until I noticed Lyrias giving him a stare, “Nice try Vilor, but I wasn’t born yesterday. He’s right though, you did amazingly in there, so well in fact that I don’t think we can rightly call you a student anymore.”

  For some reason I automatically assumed bad news, but managed to hide my nervousness with a confused smile, “What do you mean?”

  “Well, I’d say you’ve more than earned the title of Master, wouldn’t you? Not only did you help defend our home from the savage onslaught wreaked upon us, but I’d also say you were responsible for the repairs. Congratulations fellow druid, you’ve made us all very proud.”

  Guild Rank Changed!

  Guild Rank: Master.

  ‘Master Armelia Fireheart’. I quite liked the sound of that, unlike the message notification sound that rang in my ears like a thousand bells.

  You have one new message. Open chat?

  Opening chatroom.

  Will The Conqueror: ‘Answer your damn phone!!!’

  Kylia: Chapter 11

  I rubbed my eyes tiredly as I got up out of my seat and went to my bedroom where I’d left my phone, the source of the random song that was somehow leaking into my ears through my headphones. Hypersensitivity to familiar tones I guess.

  Anyway, Gerald followed me, a loud yawn coming out of him as he stretched and flexed in our bedroom’s doorway, “What’s up?”

  I gave a shrug as I picked up my phone and saw Will’s caller ID, “Probably just the call Griegs warned us about,” I said with a relieved smile as I hit answer and pressed the phone to my ear, I’d been kinda waiting for the call all day, and with it about to be out of the way I felt a Hell of a lot more zen, “yello?”

  “Christ Kylia!” Will shouted in panic, “Ever keep your phone on you? Doesn’t matter, turn on your TV, now.”

  “Huh?” I asked, my brain a bit too used to talk of faeries and magic to quite process what he was saying.

  “Television, now!”

  “Jeez! Fine, just calm down,” I said in an unintentionally mocking tone as I stepped out of my room and turned on the telly, “what channel?”

  “Doesn’t matter, it’s on all of them. That damn kid cameraman at the station leaked the footage. What!?” he growled at someone on his end of the call, “I gotta go.” and
just like that the line went dead.

  Thinking back on it I probably should’ve taken that as my first hint that things weren’t exactly super groovy, but I was still kind of catching up. The last session hadn’t been all that long, in terms of sensory assault it was pretty darn intense though.

  My TV lit up and started its quick look for a signal and I dropped my phone next to it.

  “What was all that about?” Gerald asked as we both took a seat on the couch.

  “I dunno,” I said with a bored shrug, trying to get comfortable after spending so much time in a slightly more supportive chair, “he just…” I trailed off as the picture finally came on.

  It was Bishop, beaten and bloodied and on his knees, a man with a pistol hiding his face with a bandanna wrapped around it stood beside him.

  “-otage was released to us from an informant on set, and as you saw our peaceful spokesperson was executed in front of the hero Kylia Redmond.”

  A clip rolled of Eric sitting there talking with me, asking me a few questions about how I felt and whatnot, before the gunshots were spliced in and the image of him sitting there with bullets in his face was plastered across my screen.

  It was all lies, tricks of the trade, but I had to admire whoever chopped the footage together.

  Without warning the feed swapped back to the gunman and Bishop, and we were privy to yet another berating over the television waves, “As you can see we are in an age where if you disagree with the establishment, the establishment puts you down.”

  “Do you know that guy?” Gerald asked surprisingly coolly while the gunman went on an extended monologue about the dangers of our government’s policies.

  “Well I can’t see his face, can I?” I laughed, the gravity of the situation not quite hitting me as hard as it maybe should’ve.

  “Not him,” he said as if it was obvious, “the other one.”

  It was strange to me that Gerald didn’t know the face of the man who hospitalised me, but to be fair I hadn’t actually seen much footage circling with his face, figured that the MPs just wanted to handle it internally.