Right in front of the thrones, an enormous dirty-gray crystal protruded from the ground. Rather tall and slim, a bit like a spearhead, it appeared to be piercing its way out to a long-awaited freedom.
I looked around me. I got the impression that the whole of Brutville Halls were in fact built around this ancient crystal which had been here long before the castle builders had arrived.
Forgetting everything around me, I admired its primeval beauty.
“So how do you like the Twilight Obelisk, my dear grandchild?”
Chapter Twenty-One
I SWUNG to the sound.
An Ennan man stood just a few paces away from me, cross-armed, his right shoulder leaning on the obelisk.
His crude padded leather vest was covered in oil spots and burn marks. He wore sleeve protectors with plenty of little pockets for all kinds of tools. His face was surprisingly clean-shaven — which was more than compensated by his disheveled head of hair.
A cunning smile hovered over his narrow face.
I looked up at the tag above his head. “Master Brolgerd?” I was so dumbfounded I’d even forgotten to say hello.
“Yeah, whatever’s left of him,” the Ennan replied with a sarcastic grin.
I took a better look. Of course. I was talking to a ghost. His translucent shape was proof enough.
He nodded at the obelisk, “You didn’t answer. How do you like it?”
I glanced at the murky gray crystal and replied in all honesty, “I’ve no idea what to think.”
“Don’t you have an opinion? This is one of the oldest artifacts around. The stuff of legends and ballads. Didn’t your parents tell any of them to you?”
I shrugged. “I don’t think so. All I know is that this object has something to do with the Gods.”
Brolgerd gave me a studying look. “You’ve come here to activate it, haven’t you? Not to steal it or chip off a fragment? Just to activate?”
“Of course. You don’t need to worry,” I raised my hands in a reconciliatory gesture. “I don’t think you’ll find somebody more interested in activating this crystal than me. Master Adkhur clearly told me-”
“Adkhur?” the man’s furrowed face cleared. “Is he alive?”
“Yes, I suppose so. I hope so.”
“No! You don’t understand,” the man pointed at his own translucent body. “Is he alive for real?”
“Oh, I see. Yes, he’s alive all right. Gained some weight even.”
“Cheeky bastard!” his face dissolved in a smile. “So he managed to avoid the massacre, then.”
I looked around me. “Is this where you died?”
The ghost heaved a sigh. “It is. Someone had to defend the Obelisk.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, uncomprehending. “I thought it was Master Grilby and his machines that became the Der Swyors’ undoing?”
The ghost curved his lips in a smirk. “You could say that, I suppose.”
What kind of Machiavellian intrigue was that?
“I can see you don’t understand,” Brolgerd said. “I find it strange Adkhur didn’t tell you. He must have had his reasons. Oh well. No point in me trying to keep the truth from you. Do you know what ‘Der Swyor’ means?”
“No idea.”
“It’s the ancient language of the underground dwellers. Literally, it means ‘the Rock’s Keepers’. Later it became our clan’s official name. Ever since the War of Gods, we’ve been the guardians of the Twilight Obelisk. For centuries other Ennan clans used to respect our mission. But over time, they forgot their fear of the bloodthirsty Gods of old. Craving their magical powers, more and more Ennans longed for the return of their patron God who used to protect the underground folk. Luckily, the Rock’s Keepers knew of the god’s scheming and of his cruel nature and so managed to prevent a new catastrophe. Still, in their greed and ignorance, other Ennans decided to challenge the ancient laws. As is often the way.”
“Does that mean that all this hoo-ha with the ‘ancient knowledge’ and Master Grilby’s legacy was only a cover up?”
“I didn’t say that,” the ghost said with a sly look. “The creation of the first Brock was what prompted it. I gather, you already got the chance to witness its efficiency.”
“Did I ever.”
“In which case, you’re probably familiar with my little inventions too.”
“I am. I can’t tell you how grateful I am to you-”
He waved my words away. “That’s nothing. Especially as you’ve only just studied the first pages of my notebook, haven’t you?”
“I do what I can. To tell you the truth, even this small fraction of your knowledge is mind-boggling.”
The ghost chuckled. “I’d love to see you when you make it toward the middle of the book.”
And so would I.
“But talking about my mentor’s machines,” Brolgerd looked me in the eye and added, “Or should I say, our mentor. As I told you already, our possession of such a powerful weapon promised nothing good to the advocates of the so-called ‘Divine Comeback’. And what’s more, had we not procrastinated with building them, the future of the Der Swyors might have been entirely different. Unfortunately, procrastinators are every society’s curse and undoing. We were no exception. To cut a long story short, we didn’t make it. The Divine Comeback supporters — which included several dozen Ennan clans — jumped at their chance. They raised a powerful army and invaded Twilight Castle. The rest you know.”
“The Keepers were killed.”
“And not only them,” Brolgerd said with a predatory smile.
“Pardon me?”
“You don’t mean it? Adkhur didn’t tell you?”
“He told me about the Black Grisons, if that’s what you mean.”
“Heh! That’s Adkhur for you! Our animal lover! He was always away with the fairies.”
“What did happen, then?”
“Well... When the last defender of Brutville Halls finally fell, the invaders seized the opportunity to deactivate the Obelisk.”
“Why?”
Master Brolgerd heaved a sigh. “Part of it was my fault, I suppose. At the time, I’d made a divining charm for ore seekers. It was supposed to serve peaceful purposes, like all of my inventions. The charm sought new ore deposits. All you had to do was place a tiny fragment of freshly farmed ore into it and it would give you the vein’s exact location.”
“What’s that got to do with the obelisk?”
“Simple. The Obelisk is also a fragment. It’s a fragment of the Divine Portal.”
“The Mirror of the First God,” I whispered, remembering my conversation with Tronus.
“Aha! You’re not as hopeless as I thought!”
I chuckled. “What happened next?”
“Next they tried to chip off a tiny fragment of the Obelisk. Admittedly, that was quite smart. Unfortunately, it also showed their utter ignorance. Their attempt to damage a fully loaded Obelisk caused the instant death of everyone who happened to be in the room. All the clan leaders, the freshly-baked priests, the warlords and their best warriors... not to mention everyone else in Twilight Castle. You saw the state of the city, didn’t you?”
“I did.”
“Having destroyed the elite of Ennan society in one clean sweep, the Obelisk’s magic prevented the Keepers’ souls from leaving the city. For centuries, Master Satis, Master Axe and myself used to guard this place, awaiting the arrival of our worthy descendant.”
“That’s right,” I said. “They gave me the keys to the city and the magic sphere which was almost discharged. Then they just left without really explaining anything to me.”
“That’s right,” he said in dead seriousness. “It was a test, one of the many you need to take along your way. Only a Keeper who is a valiant defender of the city could find his way to Brutville Halls. Which means you’re worthy of the title. Even when the magic sphere expired, you still continued to defend the city.”
“We had no choice, did we?”
<
br /> He pursed his lips. “By ‘us’, do you mean the descendants of our sworn enemies? Don’t look at me like that. The Calteans are the sorry remains of those who attempted to control the obelisk and its magic. Having lost their elite, their society fell into decay, slowly retrogressing until they returned to the stone age. Hah! Had it not been for your help, they might have soon reverted to stone axes and bone arrowheads.”
“I don’t think so,” I murmured. “Their shamans were about to take them south.”
“Shamans!” he spat. “That’s what’s left of their priests! They probably have no idea who they used to be. Did they really think they’d be welcome in the South? Idiots.”
“They didn’t do it because they wanted to,” I tried to defend my friends. “They were forced out of their homes.”
“You don’t mean it! What could have possibly made them leave Silver Mountain Valley?”
“The Noctean horde,” I said. “Which is incidentally besieging this city even as we speak. No idea how long we can hold Twilight Castle.”
I won’t lie to you. I really hoped I could save the Calteans by activating that damned Obelisk.
“They can’t have fled a bunch of wild animals, surely?” his voice rang with disbelief. “I’d love to have seen the face of the Silver Mountain King when someone showed him the despicable future of his people!”
Now I was getting angry. “Please don’t say that.”
The ghost’s face lengthened in amazement. “Are you defending our enemies, boy?”
Was he getting familiar with me?
“No, I’m not,” I said pointedly. “They’re not my enemies.”
I paused, trying to calm down. “Think for yourself. They’ve no idea what their ancestors used to be like. They’re not responsible for their fathers’ sins. And what’s more, they’re my friends. We fought shoulder to shoulder. We shared food and shelter. No one’s going to debase them in my presence. I don’t care whether it’s you or anyone else.”
The ghost cracked a sarcastic smile. “That’s an answer worthy of the City Keeper! Sorry, but you can’t save them anyway.”
I tensed up. My nails dug into my palms. “What are you going to do?” I barked. “If you hurt them, I’m gonna smash this wretched Throne Room and your precious Obelisk to kingdom come!”
Brolgerd threw his head back and guffawed. “What makes you think I can do that?” he wiped away the tears of laughter. “I’m a ghost, for pete’s sake. The Obelisk’s magic preserved part of my identity and left it here so that I could teach a worthy contender how to use the artifact. I can see you know what I mean. Oh yes, my funny descendant, I can only serve as your guide. It’s up to you to do the work.”
“Yes, but-”
“Come and touch the Obelisk,” he interrupted me again. “Then you’ll stop asking useless questions.”
Seeing my hesitation, he added,
“Come on, go ahead. It won’t bite you.”
Reluctantly I took a step forward and reached out.
The moment my right hand touched the obelisk’s hard surface, a new system message appeared before my eyes,
Congratulations!
You’ve found the Twilight Obelisk!
Warning! Activating the Obelisk will deprive you of 10,000,000 pt. pure energy!
Would you like to activate the Obelisk: Yes/No
How much?!
I snatched my hand away. Ten million points pure energy?
That was the end of it. All my hopes had been crushed.
Impossible. It was a mistake, surely? I was probably seeing double. How many zeroes was it again?
Trembling with shock, I brought my hand up to the Obelisk.
Same message.
That’s right. Ten million points pure energy.
Dammit!
My brain habitually kicked into its stress calculating mode. I could scrape together 20,000 pt. energy every 24 hours just to feed this bottomless pit. That’s not counting the emergency reserves I always had to have at hand to feed my Brocks and glaive throwers.
Now. What did we have? Nothing.
This was an utter fiasco. This way it would take me a year and a half just to charge the wretched thing.
“Aha. Do you see now what you got yourself into?” Brolgerd’s sarcastic voice came from behind me.
How I wished I could wipe that smirk off his face!
I slumped to the floor. “Come on, spit it out.”
His face grew serious. “That’s better. Now listen. It’s very important you activate the Obelisk.”
It was my turn to be sarcastic. “Is it really?”
“Of course. By doing so, you’ll activate the City’s extended protection. It works similar to the sphere Satis gave you but it’s much more powerful and lasts much longer.”
He knew how to get my attention, the bastard. I didn’t say anything, inviting him to continue.
Ignoring my reaction, the ghost went on, “And not just that. The Keeper — you, to be precise — will have access to all of the city’s secret rooms and passages. You’ll have all the maps and schemes offering you full knowledge of the place. When the news of Twilight Castle’s revival spreads all over the world, the descendants of our clan will come to you. You’ll need weapons to give them. And by weapons I don’t mean the miserable pittance you’ve found in the Armory.”
What, did they have more weapons? I’d love to know where they kept them.
Brolgerd chuckled. “I can see you’re interested. Forget it. No activation, no weapons. Otherwise the risk is too great that they might fall into the enemy’s hands. It’s all or nothing. Got it?”
“Yeah.”
He fell silent, piercing me with his dark unblinking stare.
“What’s wrong?” I finally asked.
“Just thinking.”
“About what?”
“I’m wondering if I should share my secret with you, my pro-Caltean City Keeper.”
“Why, do you have a choice?”
“Well, I might just as well stay here for another thousand years.”
“Yeah, right. Pull the other one.”
His translucent face cleared. “It actually might be a good thing you brought them here. The presence of our enemy’s descendants might simplify our task quite a bit.”
I climbed back to my feet. “Don’t even think about it.”
Brolgerd ignored my threatening tone. “How many times do I need to tell you, I’m long dead. I can’t do anything even if I wanted to. But I might help you.”
“How?”
The ghost tilted his head to one side and gave me a studying look. “What do you know about the Desolation ritual?”
* * *
“You’re a stupid fool!” he shouted after me. “You’ll have to come back here, anyway! You have no choice!”
“You can stuff it,” I grumbled, heading for the exit. “The guy has some sick ideas!”
To cut a long story short, that monster had suggested I sacrifice most of the Calteans to the Obelisk. According to him, the released energy — their life energy — would be well enough to activate the wretched thing.
“Think of those who are waiting for you!” the ghost’s voice echoed behind. “It’s time to fulfil your promise!”
Did you hear that? The devs openly suggested I smoke all of my friends. That was definitely a way out, I agree. For someone else, maybe, not for me. Not at that price.
My inner voice joined the struggle, as if asking, What’s the problem, dude? Just activate it! Then you can go back home to your family. These are NPCs, for crissakes! They’re virtual! They’re just senseless bits of binary code!
Well, whatever. They were real enough for me. They’d saved my backside enough times. They’d given me warmth and joy. We’d worked and fought side by side. And how about their children that had been born in the city? We’d celebrated their births together.
It didn’t matter what they were. What did mater was my own integrity. Provided I was still a
human being and not a heartless player who only cared about his own gains like loot and leveling.
And as for my loved ones... I was pretty sure Sveta and Crista would understand.
Killing over a thousand sentient beings albeit NPCs? Oh, no. That wasn’t in the agreement. There had to be some other way.
In which case I was going to find it.
As I left Brutville Halls, I could still hear Brolgerd’s muffled voice calling after me. He just couldn’t leave it alone.
I hurried back through the tunnel and flew up the stairs toward the hatch. For the first time I found it very unpleasant being underground.
I climbed out and squeezed my eyes shut, blinded by the light. Blinking and rubbing my eyes, I looked around.
All of the Calteans stood around me. I saw Droy the Fang and his son. Laosh, surrounded by his disciples. Badwar, Gukhur and Lavena.
Pritus gave me a squinting look from behind his cracked pince-nez. Lia stood in the crowd with her grandfather Crunch behind her, his hands on her shoulders, his gaze focused on me. And all the others with whom I’d traveled many miles across No-Man’s Lands.
What was going on?
Seeing my confusion, Laosh spoke,
“When you jumped into the tunnel, many of us followed: Droy and Lavena, Badwar and Pike... When the bewitched ghost of the old Keeper arrived, they decided not to reveal themselves to him and hid behind the columns.”
“We heard it all, my friend,” Droy said.
“We thank you for keeping your oath and saving our children’s lives,” Badwar boomed. “As well as our own. You confronted your own to save us! Allow us to follow you!”
I looked around me, uncomprehending. When I finally opened my mouth to speak, my voice was drowned out by the roar of a thousand throats,
“The Keeper! The Keeper!”
A new system message appeared before my eyes, informing me of a thousand-strong addition to the Red Owls clan.
Chapter Twenty-Two
The Twilight Obelisk (Mirror World Book #4) LitRPG series Page 21