The Elder Demon's Dilemma (Realm of Arkon, Book 9)

by G. Akella

  I reached the ship’s railing and gazed into the ocean... And my blood turned colder than its waters. A huge black shadow was approaching the ship - half of the vessel’s size, at least, floating along the surface of the water, moving its tentacles with great purpose. A red bar hung over its head. Level 686 with eleven and a half billion HP. A death sentence for me and for the ship, which no longer seemed so big. In addition to the tentacles, the creature had a humanoid body and arms in proportion to its size. Ursula was coming at me straight out of The Little Mermaid. This time, though, her name was Arkhana.

  A wave of primordial terror washed over me. All of the bosses, Dark Gods, and companions of the Cursed God I had fought were nothing compared to this beast.

  It is likely that every human has a deep, genetic fear of monsters from the ocean’s depths. But I was no longer just a human, and my rage was stronger than fear. Once my mind regained its grip on reality, I set to figuring out my options. An honorable retreat was out of the question. I couldn’t outswim this terrifying jellyfish, this massive Medusa of the seas, and I didn’t know which way to swim, anyway. All right, what if the monster just happened to be nearby? Maybe it had no concern for this heap of junk on the waves and was just going its own way? Yeah, right. It would go on its own way, sure - after splintering the ship with a bash from its massive head and devouring the demon floundering in the water. If only this ship had a cannon or something! How else could I kill this thing? Only in my dream could I walk on water…

  When Arkhana was twenty yards away, she picked up her speed, emerged from the water and seized the ship. Realizing that I was about to go on an involuntary scuba trip, I grabbed onto the nearest mast as tight as I could. The ship heeled sharply with a deafening crack, and the beast’s hideous face rose up above the railing. It was more toad than human, with terrible ulcers, swollen eyes and a maw full of needle-sharp teeth... It had been unfair to liken this thing to Ursula. In fact, next to this monstrosity, Ursula might as well have been Miss Universe.

  Arkhana was hanging on the bow of the ship, yet despite the distance of about fifty feet, the unbearable stench made me want to gag. On the ship’s starboard side, thick snaking tentacles cracked the railing and slithered onto the deck. The monster threw back its head and pierced sea and sky alike with a chilling howl. My breath caught in my throat as my head began to whirl, almost loosing my grip from the mast. But rage once again proved stronger than fear, and as I mentally cursed the beast, my hold on the piece of mast jutting from the deck grew only stronger.

  Suddenly, the howl turned into a wheezing, gurgling choke as the monster lost a third of its HP. The tentacles, which had nearly reached me, thrashed violently, and the creature lost its grip and fell into the sea. The splash covered me in surprisingly warm salt water. Back to port heaved the ship, and I would have surely been tossed overboard if not for the mast. Actually, I was amazed that the ship was still afloat.

  The next minute was relatively quiet, and I was starting to think that perhaps the episode had passed, but then the ship shuddered again. Splashing more water onto the deck, Arkhana seized the nose again, pulled her massive body aboard, followed by her face, and found me with her bulging, unblinking eyes.

  Oh great. An ogling fan. I braced for another mental attack. But no, this marriage of toad and octopus had realized that howling was poor strategy against me. Instead, she dragged more of herself onto the ship, breaking the boards of the deck and clinging to its now-exposed frame. Under her weight, the ship’s nose nearly touched the water, the stern shot up, and I felt like a kitten on an inflatable mattress floating a hundred yards from shore.

  "Back off, bitch!" I growled, then suddenly realized what was happening. I wasn’t what attracted the monster. It was the ring! The crew had perished from that foul scream, and the mage had collapsed to the floor, knocking the stone from its place. Then, the monster had left. But now she was back, and she wouldn’t forget what I had just done! I had drained a third of her health, and now she would scarcely spare me, regardless of whether I tossed the ring into the sea or yanked the stone from its setting! Even if I shoved the damn thing up Poseidon’s ass, the freak would press on!

  That instant, the tentacle monster grabbed a piece of the other mast, pulled itself forward and tried to reach me. I seized the opportunity, using Step through Darkness that had come off cooldown, sliding down the deck and propping my feet up against the helm. Arkhana roared in disappointment and crawled further. The ship’s stern was dangerously high in the air now. It was about to capsize...

  I pulled out the ring and glared at it with pure hatred. Why the hell hadn’t I destroyed it again?! That stupid baldie in that stupid painting! What did it say, again? "Alike cleanses alike." A cursed ring, and a cursed creature... This was my only chance. "Choke on this, bitch!" I wound up and hurled the jewelry straight at Arkhana’s mug. Another pounding crash followed, the ship heaved back, and I slammed into the boards behind me as the other end of the deck grew drenched in clouds of venomous green smoke.

  Did that... kill it? I barely dared hope as I peered into the melting smoke. At last, I realized that the ship had not split in half but simply resumed its normal position.

  A tense silence hung over the ship. The waves splashed against the sides, barely audible under the creaking boards and ropes that had survived the attack. Once the smoke had fully cleared, I grinned. At the bow of the ship, on a few of the surviving boards, lay a completely naked girl, arms outstretched. She was short and skinny of stature, with modest breasts and long, golden hair. I couldn’t see her face from this angle, but I knew who she was. Her level and max HP remained the same, but the bar above her head had changed from bright red to green and was now filled back up to capacity. Her name had changed, too - Arkhana was now Ledda now that I had returned her ring to her. The ring itself lay next to her right arm, given a barely visible highlight by the System. So she wasn't a bitch, after all. My bad. Could have happened to anyone. I approached. The inscription had apparently been saying that the curse of the ring would cleanse the curse of its former owner - and vice versa. I had barely escaped this scrap alive. What would happen if I failed the next challenge? Would I return to the beginning? Or worse?

  The girl came to her senses. She slowly rose, staring at her own palms in shock. Looking around sharply, she found the ring and had it on her finger in a mere moment, then stretched her hand out to admire it with a smile. Women. Moments back she had been crawling along the deck threatening me with all kinds of tentacles, but all it took was a little jewelry to calm her down and even make her happy.

  I was hardly back to normal, though. Even her beautiful nakedness was having no effect. The last fifteen minutes had seriously messed with my head. I felt like huddling in some corner, any corner, drying out, and pouring myself about a half a liter of sedative.

  Ten yards away from her, I stopped and waited. Ledda stared at her ring for another ten seconds before finally noticing me. Then she walked over quickly, slightly bowed her head, and peered into my eyes. The girl was very beautiful. Perfect features, a thin waist, hips... She was the one who had come to meet me in that dream, to warn me of her impending appearance in the waking world. We stood there for a minute, then Ledda smiled and slowly extended her hand to me. Her thin fingers touched my cheeks, but the next moment she was over the side, diving into the water like a fish.

  I stood still for a minute, watching after her, then shrugged, sighed, and sat in place. Pulling my pipe from my bag, I lit up and took a couple of deep drags. I considered the deck. The monster’s attack had left a good part of it in ruins. Part of the ship’s nose had snapped off. I could see clear through to below decks even from up here, and most of the starboard railing had been torn off, but we were still afloat, without any leaks. Also, the mold had somehow disappeared completely. Whether the monster’s howl had killed it or some kind of magic had wiped it away, I didn’t know. And didn’t want to know. I had held no grudge against the mold.

 
So, what now? The evil sorceress Keto had enchanted beautiful little Ledda and her ring... Of course, the game’s logic demanded that she couldn’t keep the ring on her "person" - she had cast it somewhere far away from herself. The pirate mage had found the jewelry but had failed to free the princess. Until I came along. OK, sure, but then why had the monster not attacked sooner? Was it because the ring had been held in a case of truesilver? Nonsense! The case had been empty, and without any mention of its contents in the ship’s log. No intelligent being would have taken the case’s contents out. Even Rynec had not touched the key to the Tomb of Arkam, even though he had known quite well what that key was.

  My thoughts on the reasons behind these events were straightforward enough. The monster had come only after the portrait taken from the merchants came within close vicinity to the ring. Dagon, pictured thereon, must have been the father or the husband of the girl I had just freed from her curse. And the girl must have been one of the local goddesses. Though her level was kind of low for a goddess - probably because she was so young. By divine standards, that is. My Lita had reached level 750 only because of the enormity of the soul of the Ancient God my sword had devoured. No one I knew had ever heard of this Ledda, so that meant that not all gods were recorded in the Chronicles. Perhaps these gods and goddesses of the Primordial Paths never traveled to any other realm. But Keto, whose curse I had just lifted, apparently resided in both realms.

  Everything kept getting more and more complicated.

  So what else did I know? The mage with the cursed ring had seen the portrait and must have connected one with the other - the locals probably knew of both the man and his daughter/wife - and had decided to address Dagon. Had the mage offered to free the girl? Perhaps asked for something in exchange? Now, no one would ever know. Only that Dagon summoned the monster to the ship, and the mage ended up dead.

  Where did that leave me? First off, it meant I should go back to that cabin to ask for my reward and to prepare for my next shitty mission in this world. Just as soon as I finished my pipe...

  Blowing smoke out through my teeth, I gazed thoughtfully at the sky, and for a few minutes, I forgot where I was. We sentient beings sure were strange For some reason, we truly believe we can change the world. But not even the gods can do that. Factories, airplanes, nuclear weapons, castles and palaces - all you had to do was look up at the night sky to realize how ludicrous all of it was.

  The moon still smugly watched the demon sitting on the deck, the water splashing softly against the ship’s sides, and the stars gleaming brightly. If I looked at them long enough, I would lose touch with the world and begin to feel like I was flying off somewhere, but then the feeling would vanish, and I would be a mere mortal once more.

  With a sigh mingled of relief and disappointment, I returned my pipe to its place in my bag and headed for the mage’s cabin. I couldn’t afford to stare at the stars and transform into a dark philosopher. Not yet. And preferably not ever.

  In the cabin, everything was in the same place as before. The desk was against the wall, the portrait hanging over the desk, and Dagon sitting in the portrait, but the tension in the air was gone. That was only my sense, though. Perhaps I would do well to be apprehensive. Dagon was giving me a strange look, one of surprise and disbelief. It was the kind of look a teacher might give a mediocre pupil who had just nailed a perfect exam score. Yes, Dagon, I’m no ordinary noob. I approached the desk and gave the man in the painting an inquisitive look of my own. Dagon pretended to be a painting again for a while, and then - perhaps having at last gained a handle on his emotions - nodded at me and grinned. At that moment, two completely naked girls entered the room where he was sitting. One of them, Ledda, I had just met about ten minutes back. The other looked like an older version of her. Mother and daughter, to be sure. They might have been sisters, in fact, but some intuition told me that wasn’t the case. Suddenly clouds of multicolored sparkles surrounded each of them and they were clothed in elegant gowns the color of lake-blue and dark turquoise, respectively. They stood on either side of the man and put their hands on his shoulders, the way families would stand for photographs a couple of centuries ago. As soon as their pose was complete, all three gave me a friendly smile, and the man pulled his ring from his finger and tossed it onto the table at which he was sitting. The ring rolled towards me, towards the "fourth wall" edge of the painting, and with a magical flash of sapphire, fell from the living portrait to the desk in the mage’s cabin. At the same instant, the painting became lifeless. An ordinary portrait. Or as "ordinary" as the situation could allow, anyway. All the museums of this world and my old one would have still fought dearly for the right to possess it.

  You've completed the quest: The Curse of Keto.

  You have gained a level!

  Current level: 448.

  You have 1 talent point to allocate.

  Class bonus: +1 to intellect; +1 to spirit.

  You have 3 stat points to allocate.

  You have received: Gratitude of the Divine Triad.

  You have gained a level!

  …

  You have gained a level!

  Current level: 450.

  You have 3 talent points to allocate.

  Class bonus: +1 to intellect; +1 to spirit.

  You have 9 stat points to allocate.

  Attention! You have garnered the attention of a higher being. Dagon, the God of the Stormy Seas, is friendly to you. From now on, during any storm, water will never flow onto the decks of ships under your command.

  Attention! You have garnered the attention of a higher being. The Goddess of Still Water and Patroness of Sailors, Lota, is friendly to you. From now on, the speed of all ships under your command is increased by ten percent.

  Attention! You have garnered the attention of a higher being. The Goddess of Fair Winds, Ledda, is friendly to you. From now on, the wind will always fill the sails of all ships under your command, even when the wind isn't favorable.

  So it really was worth it! I scanned the lines of text, then looked up and smiled at the images of the gods. Then I quickly but carefully took the painting down from the wall and placed it in my bag. There! It was mine now, and I could admire it more closely later. First, the ring. The System could not send me anywhere until I collected my reward. If I had grabbed the ring first, I probably would not have gotten the opportunity to nab the painting.

  A magical light played a fascinating dance along the edges of the large, blue, square-shaped stone. The ring was made of black iron. I picked it up from the table and focused my eyes.

  Gratitude of the Divine Triad.

  Accessory; ring.

  Bound item.

  Durability: 24,185/25,000.

  Artifact.

  No minimum level.

  The speed, maneuverability and strength of all civilian and military ships under your command are increased by ten percent.

  Well, now I had easy employment once the Prophecy was done with. As soon as my current adventures were over, I’d set out to sea. And it didn’t matter that I didn’t know quarter-decks from poop decks and gunwales from cleats. When you’re an admiral, you can use whatever terms you damn well like!

  In all seriousness, though, the ring was truly priceless. And worthless. A fourth artifact in my collection. Two rings, a sword, and a boar. Actually, my boar was epic, but to me he was more valuable than any artifact could ever be.

  I turned to the door and realized I was still aboard the ship. What the hell? What could possibly be left for me to do here? Oh, Hart take the ship! I could reflect on things in the morning, after a good, long night’s sleep! I thought for a moment, then took off one of my dwarven rings and put on the gift from the sea god instead. If I had to wait for this ship to reach its destination, at least now it would reach it ten percent faster.

  Chapter 11

  The day still had a surprise left for me. Once up on the deck, I saw that I was no longer alone. Skeletons lined the deck. Or holographic projection
s of skeletons, in any case. There were no HP bars above their heads, no levels, and no scraps of clothing on them. They waved their hands, unfurling translucent sails on the ship’s masts. So passionate they were about their work that they paid me no heed. The sails swelled in the wind... Only they were actually swelling against the wind. I had the blessing of the Goddess of Fair Winds, and in this world that was more important than every law of physics, no matter what Bonbon might say.

  I stared at the surrealism of the deck a while longer, then grinned and headed for the helm. For some reason, the System could not send me directly to the place of my next mission. I had to arrive there at a specific time, but the old ship could hardly match the required speed. So as the gods had departed, the power of their appearance had raised these phantom skeletons. And done away with the mold. Not that the mold was relevant - I didn’t care about that, remember? So Roman was Van der Decken after all, and his Dutchman was closer than ever before to flying over the sea. I doubted I would be allowed to steer it, though. A pity.

  With a dubious look at the skeleton standing near the wheel, I smiled again. To hell with that dream! A passenger had no duties and could sleep whenever he wanted. After one last look around, I spread my cloak out on the deck, and once more slipped out of consciousness as soon as I was horizontal.

  I slept until midday. When I woke, the sun burned at its zenith, and as its rays broke through the thick clouds hanging over most of the sea, they revealed a melancholy sight. At night the ship had looked mysterious, magical, even charming. Now, it looked like a wounded battle hound abandoned to die. The skeletons had disappeared, yet the vessel still moved vigorously against the wind, towards a range of mountains that had appeared on the horizon.

  After a quick breakfast, I walked to the bow of the ship, sat by a length of ruined railing, and pulled a flask of coffee from my bag. A couple of sips was enough. I considered the snow caps. There was no ascertaining how much longer I had to travel to reach those mountains, but that wasn’t what occupied my mind. The Primordial Paths were, to some extent, a reflection of the upper world. If I was right, those mountains on the horizon were the Kraet Peaks. That was the range you would reach by traveling across the sea from west to east. And somehow I knew I wasn’t here to visit the dwarves. I didn’t even know whether there were any dwarves in this dimension. But even if there were, there was no reason for me to visit them. Nor did I need to see the drow. So my journey would likely take me to the creation of my own two hands - the valley I had been journeying to for the past six months.