by Aaron Oster
“I will, I promise,” Morgan replied, finding his throat unexpectedly tight as he hugged her back.
He felt guilty. Not only for continually shunning her advances, but also for avoiding her over the last few weeks. He’d had a good reason for keeping his distance, but now that he was going off to Faeland once more, it rang hollow in his mind. After a few more moments, Morgan broke the embrace and stepped back.
“Good luck,” Katherine said, her hand flashing up to swipe something away from her eyes.
“I’ll make sure to stay in contact this time,” Morgan replied, tapping the communication amulet sitting around his neck.
“You’d better,” Katherine said with a halfhearted chuckle.
There was nothing more for either of them to say then, so Katherine stepped back, falling from the roof of the carriage and landing lightly on the ground below. Morgan gave her one last look before using his Flight skill and taking off, ascending quickly, but not so fast as to give anyone vertigo.
Everyone had already been briefed on the first part of the journey, and even as he ascended, he could feel the people inside the wagon bracing themselves and clutching small bags in tight fists. Morgan took a deep breath, filling his lungs with the warm air of late spring, then used Gravity Warp. The world around him vanished into a blur of confusing color, the harness jangling lightly as the wagon beneath him swayed.
He was inside the tunnel of color for just a few seconds before he exited, coming out over an expanse of sparkling blue water. The wagon swayed forward, and Morgan could feel the weight try to drag him a bit, but he was more than strong enough to remain rooted in place. From inside, he could hear the sounds of retching, as his passengers – aside from Grace and Lumia, who were used to the experience – emptied their stomachs into the bags.
While he hadn’t been willing to take this risk the last time he’d come this way, Morgan now knew that the barrier separating the Five Kingdoms and Faeland would also stop any alarms or wards from going off on their side. Because of this, he’d saved himself several days of travel and had come right up to the barrier.
The wall of black stood before him, an endless darkness that seemed to signal the very edge of the world. However, the cracks, now far more numerous and widespread than before, told a different story. His eyes traced the wall of blackness, noting just how degraded it appeared and how quickly the lines were spreading. At this rate, they had perhaps a week before it became completely unstable, and two, at best, before it failed entirely.
This mission would have to be a fast one if they hoped to make it back before Faeland began launching their attack, and Morgan planned to make it just so. He waited several more minutes to allow everyone’s stomachs to settle, before flying forward once more. From here on out, he would be unable to use anything but short-range teleportation. Faeland was only a few days away, so he was perfectly fine with taking things a bit slower.
He’d need to make several stops this time, as his passengers were being dropped in different locations. But that was several days away, and right now, Morgan had other things to think about.
12
Katherine watched the spot where Morgan had been just moments before, feeling a profound sadness threaten to overwhelm her. For just a moment, she’d been sure that Morgan would reciprocate. She’d been trying to work on him, break down the defenses he’d built after Sarah’s death, and get him to love again.
She knew that she could never replace Sarah, but she would be a good wife. She knew him, had known him longer than anyone still living – well, besides Gold, but he didn’t count – and knew all he had been through. She knew everything that he’d sacrificed, and what stopping the Pinnacle King had cost him. While the world went on living, mostly oblivious to what he had done, Morgan had very nearly given up.
Even now, she could still feel the anguish and well-remembered the last words he’d said before disappearing for two whole years. She could see him in her mind’s eye, emerging from the crumbling glacier, covered in blood and carrying Sarah’s limp body.
“I’m going to bury her, and after that, I’ll be joining her. If there is an afterlife, perhaps I’ll see you there. Goodbye, Katherine…”
“…Your Majesty?”
Katherine started as the voice finally broke through her memories of the past. She was about to turn around when she felt something wet on her cheeks and tasted the salt on her lips. Moving her hands up, Katherine realized she’d been unconsciously shedding tears, and in public no less. Her eyes darted around as she wiped them off, checking to make sure no one had seen their queen crying.
Thankfully, the courtyard was empty, having been cleared for the departure of their spies. This mission had to be kept secret, as agents of Faeland seemed to be everywhere, and the smallest of slip-ups might cost their people their lives.
“What is it, Bell?” she asked, turning around to face her aide.
If Bell noticed the tear marks on her cheeks or the redness in her eyes, she didn’t say a thing.
“The King of the West is here with his Captain of the Guard.”
“What? When the hell did they get here?” Katherine exclaimed.
Though the other rulers had sent a delegate from each of their Kingdoms, none of them had come in person. For Hu Kiln to come now, especially with his Captain of the Guard, meant that something bad must have happened. So bad, in fact, that he’d come here, of all places. While the North, West and South were now on friendlier terms than they had been due to the threat of Faeland, they were anything but friends.
“They arrived by Portal Scroll just five minutes ago. They are waiting for you in the throne room.”
“Is Shul still here?” Katherine asked, already tearing off toward the room in question, with Bell jogging to keep up.
“I believe he was just preparing to depart.”
“Good, go fetch him and bring him to the meeting.”
Bell didn’t ask any questions, merely peeling off and dashing away to do as she was told. Katherine ran exactly three more steps before her brain caught up with her. She whirled, hand extended, and opened a red-edged portal right before her aide. Bell didn’t even slow, dashing right through. Katherine opened another portal then, stepping through and emerging just down the hall from the throne room.
She waited there, concentrating on holding both portals open. Moments later, she felt two people step through one, and a few seconds after that, Bell emerged into the corridor, with a very-confused looking Shul trailing behind.
“What’s going on?” the man asked.
It seemed that Bell hadn’t filled him in yet, which made Katherine feel even more grateful to the Captain of the Guard of the East Kingdom. Le’vine had a loyal subject in him. He was technically her brother-in-law, even if his older brother, the king, had died some years back.
“Hu Kiln is here with his head captain,” Katherine said, already striding down the corridor. “They came by Portal Scroll. That’s all I know.”
To his credit, Shul simply nodded and hurried to follow. As a representative of the East Kingdom, he understood both his place here and the implications of a ruler coming for an unannounced visit.
“Ah, Katherine,” Hu Kiln said as she came marching around the corner. “I must apologize for the rude and unannounced visit, but I’m afraid this was something that couldn’t wait.”
“Clearly,” Katherine said, noting the looks of worry on the faces of both the king and the tall, tanned woman standing at his side. “Well, shall we go in?”
Kiln nodded, glancing towards Shul and Bell for a moment as Katherine strode past, pushing the doors wide. The throne room was a grand structure. Built entirely of hardwood, marble and granite, it was meant to inspire awe and a sense of majesty. Katherine loathed it with a passion but knew the necessity of having it for times just like these.
She ignored the actual dais with the throne, moving to one side and sitting by a marble table to its left. Kiln, seeing her take a seat at the table’
s head, moved to take a seat at her right, while the woman accompanying him moved to stand behind him. Bell moved to the same spot next to Katherine, but when Shul moved to do the same, Katherine motioned for him to sit.
“This is Shul, a delegate from the East,” Katherine explained as he took a seat. “The news must be dire indeed if you’ve come all the way here via means of such a valuable item.”
Hu Kiln shared a look with the woman before turning back to Katherine and nodding.
“Yes, I believe we have a serious problem on our hands, though it isn’t one we can confirm as of yet.”
Before Katherine could ask what he meant by that, the woman stepped forward at a motion from the King.
“My name is Sadi’, and I am the head of the military in our kingdom. Several weeks ago, we started receiving reports of strange things going on out in the desert. There were sightings of beasts that we could not find or had never heard of, unexpected sandstorms when our weather mages had not predicted them, and strange howling in the night.
“At first, we thought they were just stories, excuses from our soldiers who are lazy and do not like desert duty. But, after a few weeks of reports, we decided to send soldiers to look into the matter. They were sent to the farthest village on our border to set up a base and communicate with the locals, but…” Sadi’ trailed off, looking to Hu Kiln for permission.
“They never returned,” Kiln said, finishing the sentence. “We sent another patrol to look for them, but they were swallowed in a sandstorm. After our third patrol failed to report in, we decided to come straight here.”
Katherine felt a chill run up her spine as she listened to the story, finding many of the details oddly familiar. Shul, who’d been made privy to the situation, thanks to his proximity to the queen, also had the same look in his eyes.
“You don’t think…” he began, looking between Katherine and Hu Kiln.
“I think we all do,” Katherine replied grimly. “This story sounds all too familiar, with a few differences in weather patterns.”
“That much is to be expected, seeing as we live in desert lands,” Hu Kiln said. “But…Do you agree?”
“There isn’t a single doubt in my mind,” Katherine said grimly. “A new Pinnacle King is rising in your kingdom, Kiln, and at the worst possible time.”
Silence greeted her statement. Now that Katherine had uttered the words aloud, there was no taking them back. Every single person in this room remembered what the last Pinnacle King had done, how much damage he’d caused in the North and how many millions had died as a result. The North was only a quarter of the size it had been only two years ago, and only six of the nineteen cities were populated. The rest were in ruins. They had been abandoned after the people there had been all but wiped out, turned into the twisted monsters who served Octagon’s bidding.
“What do we do?” Kiln asked, his voice coming out in a harsh whisper. “Are we all going to…?”
“No,” Katherine said, her voice ringing out with far more strength than she was feeling right now. “We won’t give up. We won’t roll over, and we will not allow what befell the North to happen to the West. How long ago did the first incident occur?” she asked, addressing this question to Sadi’.
“Maybe three weeks ago?” Sadi’ replied.
“And how many men have you lost? Include the population of the border village and any within a fifty-mile radius as well.”
“In total, we sent sixty troops. The estimated population of the village was around two-hundred, and if we’re counting all the surrounding villages…” Sadi’ trailed off, looking into the distance as she brought up the land’s layout in her mind.
“Six more villages in total, and a larger town – though that’s just outside the fifty-mile radius.”
“Does this town have walls?” Katherine asked.
“Yes,” Sadi’ replied. “They’re roughly fifteen feet tall and surround it entirely.”
“Don’t count the town then,” Katherine replied. “Just give me an estimated total.”
“Probably around twelve-hundred, maybe fifteen at the most then,” Sadi’ replied.
“And with the people of the town?” Katherine asked.
“Another ten to twelve thousand,” Hu Kiln replied grimly.
“Then we’ll just have to hope the town is still in human hands,” Katherine replied, shoving her chair away from the table and rising to her feet.
“How quickly can you get a large force over there?”
“Using all our Portal Scrolls, we could have around five-thousand there in a matter of minutes,” Sadi’ replied.
“Good,” Katherine said, holding a hand out and opening a portal. “Kiln, this will lead to your palace. Gather your men and send them through to the town. In the meantime, I’m going to take Sadi’ with me to the East Kingdom and pick up Le’vine.”
“Not that I think this is a time to be questioning your orders,” Kiln said, “but why exactly do you need Sadi’, and why Le’vine?”
“I’ll need your captain so I can find my way to this city using my portals,” Katherine replied. “And as for Le’vine, she’s definitely someone you’ll want around if we’re going to have to face the forces of a Pinnacle King. We’ll also need to alert the other Kingdoms about the threat.”
“But do we want to sound the alarm before we even have confirmation?” Hu Kiln asked.
“Trust me,” Katherine said, her voice deadly serious. “We’d rather raise a false alarm than take the chance of not raising one at all. Because if another Pinnacle King is rising, chances are that we may be facing others as well.”
Hu Kiln’s face went pale at that notion.
“What makes you so sure that the others will rise?” Shul asked, his tone grim.
“Because there was nothing to instigate this one’s rise in the first place,” Katherine said. “According to Morgan, a Pinnacle King will only rise if one kingdom tries to overthrow another. Right now, despite there still being some tension, we’re putting up a united front against Faeland. That can only mean one thing. That something else, something beyond our control, is causing them to rise.”
No one said a thing after that. They all knew that if a single Pinnacle King could nearly wipe an entire kingdom out in a matter of months, then another four would have no problem doing so, and in even less time.”
“We’ll meet back at the town-”
“Sandhill,” Sadi’ provided.
“Sandhill, in four hours,” Katherine said. “I’ll hopefully have Le’vine and a few extra troops in tow. My own Garrison Blue is off dealing with another beast swarm in City Fourteen, but Le’vine will probably have a few soldiers to send along.”
Shul nodded in agreement as Katherine opened another portal.
“I’ll see you in a few hours,” Hu Kiln said, giving Katherine a nod, before stepping through the portal.
“Bell, I want you to handle things while I’m gone. And whatever you do, do not let anyone in the kingdom catch wind of this.”
Bell nodded stiffly, her grim expression saying more about how she felt than anything she could have said.
“Will you be calling Morgan back?” Shul asked as Katherine stepped up to the portal.
“His mission is important,” Katherine replied, stepping halfway into the portal with Shul right on her heels. “Until we have solid confirmation, I won’t tell him about this. If need be, he can be back here in a matter of minutes, so best to let him focus on his own problems for the time being.”
13
Morgan felt the shudder run through his body as he ranked up, and he watched the dust of the last beast core trailing behind as he flew. He felt the energy coursing through him, strengthening him ever-so-slightly as his defenses were boosted and his potential increased. He knew that the cost of moving to the next rank would be exponentially higher, since it was a breakthrough rank, and he pulled up his status to see just how much it was going to be.
Name: Morgan
Advanced Supermage: Rank - 68
Energy to Next Rank - 265,450/450,000,000
Ability Advancement - 15,000,000/15,000,000 (Max.)
Ability - Natural Disaster
RP - 7,220/7,220 (Regen - 72.4 per second)
Strength - 701
Agility - 1,048
Constitution - 831
Intelligence - 722
Wisdom - 724
Skills - Hypersonic Flight, Maximum Increase, Maximum Stormforge, Earthen Shift, Nature’s Wrath, Compression, Gravity Tear, Sunblast
Traits - Dense Body Max., Recovery Max., Aura Sense (inherited), Aura Flare (inherited), Perfect Self, Soul Stealer, Suppression (inherited)
Extra - Gravity Storm (7th category), Starbreaker (7th category), Collapsing Star (HyperNova), Shooting Star (Comet), Massive Meteor (2nd category), Continental Crush
Morgan let out a low whistle when he saw the exorbitant price he’d need to pay to advance to the next rank. Nearly a half-billion energy, just to get to rank 69. That much energy could get a thousand people to around rank 20. This was something which most never even achieved in their lifetimes. And yet, to continue to grow, Morgan would have to pay that price. It would go down once he was finished, but growth always had a high cost, especially if there was going to be a marked increase in strength.
“How’re you holding up out there?”
Morgan looked down to see Hilda, her upper body hanging out of one of the windows, and her long blonde hair whipping in the wind.
“Doing just fine!” Morgan yelled back.
“Care if I join you?”
He shrugged, and Hilda took that as an invitation. She didn’t come alone. When she climbed out of the window, she paused to haul Grace out and practically toss her atop the wagon. It was clear by the way she was protesting and how she immediately clutched onto the harness that she was less than thrilled at being treated so roughly.
“The water looks really weird on this side of that black wall,” Hilda commented as she took a seat on the top of the wagon.