Warsinger

by James Osiris Baldwin

  “No point in killing them,” I said. “Even if I felt like it, corpses don't vanish in cities. Let's gag them and stick them in the crate, then we can do the wall.”

  After some impromptu bondage, we took the armor with us and scaled the wall. Against the average irate Dakhari citizen, the broken glass mortared into the edge would have been a big problem. For us, it was about as easy as it got. I used Spider Climb to climb it, then the hilt of my old dagger to break off some of the glass. As soon as I had a Hector-sized gap, I climbed up to hang. “Suri, we're about to go in. Can you give me a bead on those patrols?”

  “Four patrol teams spotted from my current position. Team One headed north past interior main gate, Team Two location unknown, last sighted eastern interior yard; Team Three location unknown, rotating behind the building complex. Team Four in the sandstriders, currently at exterior gate.” Suri replied crisply. “Interior patrols are on foot and rotate to the front gate about once every ten minutes. If you're at the back, you've got a safety margin of about five min, over.”

  “Copy that. Did I ever tell you your radio voice makes me hard?”

  I could feel her grin from three hundred feet away. “Sorry, transmission cut. Go again, chief?”

  Grinning, I pulled myself up onto the wall and gave Karalti and Vash the thumbs up. Vash cracked his knuckles, then ran at the wall and jumped. He kicked off it and bounded up to the top, catching the ledge with his new metal arm. I jumped down as lightly as I could while he pulled himself up. He took a moment to slap his aching shoulder and curse the pain, then let a rope down for Karalti. I waited anxiously, keeping an eye on the yard, and was just about to split for the coach house to find cover when the pair of them slid down to join me. I spun a finger around and motioned forward, and we dashed into shelter and out of sight as the patrol started to come around - five minutes, just as Suri had said.

  “So far so good,” I hissed to them. “Vash, can you pick locks?”

  “Do I look like some kind of bastard thief?” he whispered back.

  I grinned.

  Vash made a face. “Actually, now I think about it… don't answer that question.”

  “Hmm…” I studied the door for a couple of seconds. “You know… I think I have a solution.” I did, in fact, have a solution in my Inventory - Aqua Regis, aka the Original Super Acid. Aqua Regis was really good at one thing: dissolving metal, especially iron. We crept over to the intake door, and I used a syringe to draw the Aqua Regis before twisting a needle onto the end. I set the needle into the lock, and depressed it. There was a hiss, and then the sound of bubbling. The lock appeared to bleed as the iron rapidly oxidized and red foam spilled out. I jimmied the handle as the acid worked, until I felt something give and could crack the armored door open.

  [You have gained a new Badge: Boil, bubble, toil and... crime? - Creative and illegal uses of the Alchemy skill]

  [You are the first player to achieve this Badge. You gain 500 bonus EXP!]

  I'd always wondered what those achievement badges had been about. Now I knew.

  I eased the door in. Sure enough there were two guards idling in the doorway ahead, currently peering down the hall away from us as sharp screams of agony echoed from a room some distance away. They had their helmets tucked under their arms. I showed the others a count of three, pushed the door in, and pivoted around the corner as they ran in and king-hit both men. Cold iron knocked one out; cold aurum sent the other pitching forward onto his face.

  “I LOVE stealth.” Karalti caught the guard as he sagged to the ground, lowering him gently so that his armor didn't crash. “Fighting these guys would be so annoying.”

  “Don't celebrate just yet. If Violetta recognizes us, it’s all over.” I equipped my [Dalim City Guard] outfit, replacing my light, sleek Raven Suit with what felt like a collection of heavy tin pans. Karalti and Vash did the same. With our helmets on, we looked like any other patrol group in or out of the jail.

  We left the unconscious guards trussed up to each other near the door - there was nowhere else for them - and tried to look confident as we marched down the hallway, past a guard post, and into an open hall. Thick, barred wooden doors ringed the walls on two levels. There was another short hallway right across from us. The screams were coming through a door at the end.

  “I don’t like this.” Karalti huffed anxiously, head darting this way and that. “There’s no room for me to transform here if things go bad.”

  “Just play it cool. The only people we need to worry about are the ones inside that room.”

  “Let me go first,” Vash said softly. “You need space to use that spear.”

  “Go.” I let him advance. “Suri, we’ve found our primary. Moving in.”

  “Roger that. Let me know if you need a diversion.”

  Vash swung around the corner, and almost walked right into Violetta and the captain as the door banged open and they swept out. Her white dress was bloodstained down the front.

  “My lady, I can only express apologies on behalf of the Witchhunter General,” the Captain who escorted her in blubbered as he trooped along beside her. “The sage put up a fight when he was brought in, but we had no idea he would go to such lengths-”

  “Neither I or Emperor Hyland will accept your excuses,” Violetta said coldly, sweeping past Vash without any recognition whatsoever. “The order was simple: take Mehkhet the Illuminator alive, and keep him alive for questioning. The Mata Argis would never allow something like this to happen. You can be sure that word of your organization’s incompetence will reach the ears of the Sultir.”

  “M-My lady, I beg you-”

  “Quick. Look like a guardsman.” Heart pounding, I snapped to attention as the pair of them swept by. Karalti did the same, but Vash was right: she wasn’t expecting us to be here, and because we were disguised, my player halo wasn’t very noticeable, if it was noticeable at all. Neither the Captain or Violetta gave us a second glance as they marched by.

  “Stop following me around like a whipped puppy, pack the body in ice, and get it ready to load on an airship,” Violetta snapped at the man. “I’ll take him to Ilia and find ways to question him there.”

  The Captain resignedly saluted. “Yes, lady. We’ll do that, straight away.”

  Violetta gave him a flat, angry stare before turning and striding off toward the doorway we had entered – the carriage entry, where we had left the unconscious guards. My gut tensed in anticipation.

  “My lady, the exit is this way,” the Captain called to her, gesturing toward another door. “That route leads to the yard.”

  With a sound of irritation, Violetta reversed course, and brushed past the Captain on her way to the front of the building instead.

  “Phew,” Karalti breathed. “That was close.”

  “We need to bail,” Vash muttered, falling in beside me. “The sage is dead. It’s over.”

  “It’s not over until the shadow sage sings,” I said. “I haven’t gotten a quest failure notification, and I’m pretty sure I know why. There’s still a chance we can talk to him.”

  “Unless you have a way to make the dead talk, we…” Vash trailed off. “Wait a second. Can you?”

  “Courtesy of our friend the Demon,” I replied. “We need to get in that room before anyone else does.”

  “Burna forgive me,” he sighed.

  We turned the corner and half-walked, half-jogged to the interrogation room. Two men were posted outside the door, still cracked open, and there was movement inside: the sounds of people cleaning up.

  “Hey, you three,” the man on the right of the door said in Dakhari. “Did you hear what that bitch said to the Captain?”

  “Sure did.” I pulled the Spear, turned it over, and hit him as hard as I could with the blunt end as Vash and Karalti attacked the other.

  [Sneak attack! You deal x3 non-fatal damage!]

  The guard crumpled to the side, and we kicked the door in to find a horrific scene. Five more men were working aroun
d the corpse of Mehkhet the Illuminator. He had been a tall, thin man, his head as bald as a billiard ball. He was slumped against the straps binding him to a large wooden torture chair. There were slivers of wood still under his nails, but it wasn’t torture that had killed him. The man had bitten off his own tongue and spat the gory mess all over himself – and at Violetta, I guessed.

  “Huh!?” the guard nearest us exclaimed. “Help! Intru-!”

  We slammed the door closed, and rushed in. Without the element of surprise on our side, we had to fight the old-fashioned way.

  “You guys take two!” I called out, Jumping forward. The guard parried my polearm with his, taking two times damage rather than the full four times. I swept into a forward push, bowling him over and sending him sprawling as I cut into the other two down. Vash and Karalti didn’t argue, flanking one guard and beating him down. The last remaining one cut around and ran for the door.

  “Help! Hel-GRRK!” His scream cut short as Karalti planted her boot in his kidney from behind, pitching him to his knees. She swung her leg around, slashed down with her heel. The blow took him in the head and knocked him to the floor.

  “Damn, girl. You learn quickly.” Vash dropped the man he’d been holding and rolled his shoulder, wincing.

  “Yeah! Learn ALL the things!” She punched the air. “Learning is the best!”

  “I thought food was the best?” I turned my attention to the body, but froze when I heard boots thundering toward us. “Fuck. Hold the line while I see what I can do.”

  “Yeah! Come on, Vash!” Karalti punted the fallen guard to the side of the doorway and squared up. “The beatings will continue until morale improves!”

  “Oy. What monster have I created?” Vash shook his head, and took stance beside her.

  Mehkhet the Illuminator was only Level 27, which meant I had a good 60% chance to be able to summon his shadow. I equipped my Gauntlet and checked the juice in it. There were still two little capsules of mana in there, enough for two summoning attempts.

  “Alright, old girl. Don’t let me down.” I snapped the storage compartment closed, drew a deep breath, let it out. Then, I flung my hand out like I meant it. “Suund'karon, Karalt', Binah!”

  The mana discharged as dark light that flashed forward and engulfed the corpse. It soaked into the dead man's flesh... but nothing stirred. No whispering voices, no sighing shadows, no awesome necromantic might.

  [You have failed to summon Mehkhet the Illuminator]

  [Summon effectiveness reduced by 10%]

  [You have two attempts remaining.]

  “Okay. Fifty-fifty… No worries.” I shook myself out, flinching as the sounds of battle started behind me. “One more try. Suund'karon, Karalt', Binah!”

  The second discharge flashed out, and the corpse twitched. I held my breath.

  [You have failed to summon Mehkhet the Illuminator]

  [Summon effectiveness reduced by 10%]

  [You have one more attempt remaining.]

  “You have got to be fucking KIDDING me!” It took everything I had not to go to my knees and screech at the sky. I didn't have any more mana.

  “Hector! Help!” Karalti was pushed back, bleeding from a slash to the face. The soldiers trying to break through the doorway cried out in alarm.

  “Karalti! Come here and bleed on this guy!” I ran from him to join Vash, who was striking away spears from the entry as he battled to close the door. Riflemen were lining up behind the melee fighters, sighting down like a firing squad.

  “Bleed on him?” she squeaked.

  “I’m out of mana!” I grabbed the edge of the door, struggling to push it forward. “Suri! We need that diversion!”

  “On it. Listen for the screams.” Suri cut the radio, and not five seconds later, I heard a small explosion rip through the market square.

  Karalti rushed over to the corpse. “Hector, I can’t! He’ll Strange!”

  Fuck. I’d forgotten about Stranging. With a snarl, I left off the door, grabbed a spear bristling at us through the doorway, and hauled forward instead of trying to push back. The guard dropped it with a yelp rather than be drawn in, giving us enough time to slam the door closed. There was a cry, and then the riflemen began to fire on it as a second explosion rumbled through the compound.

  I pivoted back to Karalti, who rocked from foot to foot in agitation. She had a hand clamped over her cheek. Shining blue mana leaked between her fingers, and the air was sharp with the smell of ozone.

  “Here.” I pulled out an empty mana capsule and a minor healing potion. She hadn’t taken much damage, but it would stop the Bleed effect. “Do you mind?”

  She shook her head, and uncovered the wound. “No. Go ahead.”

  Vash was doing his best to hold the door as volley after volley struck it, shredding the wood. “You might want to hurry it up, Dragozin!”

  I smiled at her even as the [Mana Poisoning] debuff set in and my HP began to tick down. She took the potion from my hands, and held it while I scraped the capsule up along her skin and collected the blood. When it was done, I snapped it into the gauntlet, eyed the pale corpse of the sage, and let out a tense breath.

  “Okay. Last chance.” I raised my hand. “Suund'karon, Karalt', Binah!”

  Chapter 39

  Karalti flinched as the blood still trembling on her skin turned black and vanished, the spell sucking the mana from the gauntlet and out of the air. Mehkhet's corpse sighed, and then seemed to sag further as the dark magic condensed on and then faded into his body. I felt the air tug, then turn chilly as it seeped back out, and a tall, lean shadow stepped free of his body.

  [You have gained a thrall: Mehkhet the Illuminator - Sage (Level 27)]

  Mehkhet the Illuminator (Greater Shade)

  Unit Rank: 5 (Level 27, Rare)

  Type: Incorporeal Undead

  HP: 833/833

  MP: 400/400

  Speed: 190 (Extremely Fast)

  Melee Attack: 10

  Melee Defense: 34

  Abilities: Life Drain, Incorporeal, Lore Master, Researcher, Magic (See full character sheet for details), Inspire Terror.

  EXP: 27,000 (+2060 to next level)

  “Yay! It worked!” Karalti punched the air. “Welcome to Team Karalti!”

  “…” Mehkhet was a very different kind of shadow to the bandit. His features were better defined, and he radiated presence, intelligence, and power. The first thing he did was look at his hands, then down along his own incorporeal form. Then he turned back to look at his corpse.

  “I killed myself to preserve my secrets,” the shadow hissed. “I died an honorable death. And this is the fate that befalls me?”

  “I'm sorry we didn't make it in time,” I said to him. “We came here to rescue you, but things went pear-shaped. Come on: we need to get out of here.”

  The shadow's Willpower tugged against my own. I narrowed my eyes as he swayed uncertainly, testing my command.

  “What do you want of me?” he whispered, his ghostly voice harsh with fear. “Why have you brought me forth to walk the world in this cursed form?”

  “Sorry to have to do this, man,” I said. “I wouldn’t have summoned you if it wasn’t really fucking important, I promise. Let’s work together.”

  “Do I have a choice?” Mehkhet turned to stare at me. His eyes were nothing more than dancing white embers floating inside of hollow sockets.

  “Burna’s balls, Hector! What have you done!?” Vash, behind us, sounded aghast. “I thought you were just going to talk to the poor man?”

  “Save it for later.” Exasperated, I pulled the medallion from under the collar of my armor and let it hang out. “Believe me, if it wasn't for a good cause, I wouldn't be doing this.”

  “That is… that is one of the Shields of the Firmament!” The billowing shade shuddered with excitement as he drifted closer. “How incredible! To think I spent my whole life searching for something like this, but passed the veil before I was able to lay eyes on it. Very well. I a
m curious now; I submit to your command.”

  “Great, wonderful. Let's go.” I winced as the first round punctured the door under Vash’s armpit, sending chips of wood flying. The bullet thwipped straight through Mehkhet like he wasn’t there, but it grazed Karalti in the arm.

  “Okay, shadow goes first!” We ducked and ran to the side. “Go scare the pants off them!”

  “A man of my station, reduced to being a common haunt…” Mehkhet muttered. He breezed past Vash and phased through the door, and the screams began.

  “We’re having words about this later,” Vash said, glaring at me as he threw the door open and ran out into the melee.

  Mehkhet had almost no attack power, but thanks to Inspire Terror, he didn’t really need to do anything except raise his arms and wiggle his spectral fingers. He loomed up over the guards like a vision of the Grim Reaper, and they tripped over themselves to get away from him, shouting and cursing in terror. We broke out through the pack and ran for the carriage exit door, the one we knew to be unlocked. The yard outside was empty, but the street beyond the fence to our left was in chaos. Suri was boxed in by at least thirty enemies, hacking down guardsman after guardsman with her sword.

  “Time to shine!” I bolted out the gate, tensed, and sprung into the air. “Karalti! Protect Mehkhet!”

  “Okay!” She squared up inside of the gate, while Vash sprinted for the edge of the pack.

  I landed on the back of one Witchhunter, driving the Spear through the gap between his armor and his helmet, then sprung back up into the air with an exhilarating rush. Time slowed as I fell; I used the precious seconds granted to me by Leap of Faith to group a pack of enemies, then hit my newly leveled Master of Blades. Freezing dark flames rushed up and condensed into six black shards, each one as long as the Spear of Nine Spheres. They burst forward like missiles, powerful enough to push me back into the air as they rained down on the crowd of baddies. The shards smashed three of them and badly wounded several others, blowing apart into arcane shrapnel. Suri roared, put her head down, and dashed forward in a blur of boiling red heat that bowled five men over and set another three on fire. Teeth bared, eyes blank with rage, she waded through the injured and slammed her sword down onto a witchhunter’s neck like a guillotine. Three more set onto her from behind: their swords bounced off her armor, but one of them had a mace that crackled with lightning. He swung and connected. Suri bellowed in sudden pain, stumbling forward.