The Long Road to Karn (Realm of Arkon, Book 5)

by Akella, G.

  "Hart!" I swore at the sight of the book's virgin-white pages, and raised my eyes to meet Lilit's.

  I hadn't any doubts that this was the very book referenced by Gorm and Elias, but where were all the prophecies that had supposedly been committed to its pages?

  "Do you understand now, or do you need a hint?" the demoness inquired with a mocking twinkle in her eye.

  "Anyone involved in a prophecy can only see the parts that pertain to them directly?" I closed the book and handed it back. "And because I happen to be the ship's bow in this prophecy, I can't see anything at all?"

  "You're the one writing the prophecy, Dark One," said Lilit with a nod.

  "And what do you need me for, then?"

  "One of the Seven Lords is offering you an alliance, and you're wavering with your answer?!" Lilit frowned, which only made her seem more beautiful.

  She had me in a pickle, all right. The wily fox had planned everything far in advance! She knew that I wouldn't dare mess with her while wearing a ring that would drop off my corpse with one hundred percent certainty. I wasn't such a cretin so as to not realize that upon acquiring material form, Jaelitte would wield considerable power, even if not quite as considerable as her mother. There was, after all, a reason why Vill had needed the soul of an Elder Demon to craft the ring in the first place. Lords may not trust one another, but having a mediator of sorts in me, the mother and daughter could at least coexist. And two Elder Demons cooperating without fear of being stabbed in the back could wreak quite the havoc... But anyway—that was still a very distant prospect, and far from certain besides. Oh, and to be perfectly frank, I had no interest in getting involved in this family affair any further than absolutely necessary—all I cared about was getting out and finding Alyona and Max. Quit your frowning—I know it's all appearances, I thought with a chuckle, as the demoness already knew I wasn't going to refuse her.

  I allowed myself several seconds to admire the ethereal beauty of this woman, the scatterings of fine freckles over her flaring nostrils... And then I said:

  "Sure, I was for it from the start—I just didn't want to interrupt your impassioned plea."

  "You... you demon," she sighed before indulging me with a smile.

  "I accept your offer of friendship, Lilit," I spoke as bombastically as I dared while shaking a mental fist at the cunning nature of all women in general, and the one smiling at me presently in particular. Now, was there anything else that I needed to say or do?

  As far as I was concerned, this was a win-win situation. Friendship didn't require a trueblood oath, and if she really wanted that ring, she could've already killed me and taken it. And somehow I doubted even the prophecy would stop her, or she wouldn't have mentioned it in the first place. As for me, considering that losing the ring was fraught with my true death, and losing this game—no matter who or what had set it in motion—would surely result in the same, I didn't have much of a choice, anyway. And dying in a world in which one could theoretically live forever seemed like a crummy alternative.

  Attention! You have garnered the attention of a higher being. Lilit, the Elder Demon of Lust and Illusion, is friendly to you.

  Your reputation has increased. Sentient creatures of the Netherworld plane dwelling in the Plateau of Deferred Hour, the Great Geyser Valley and the Saerkahm Veld of Illusion, relate to you with reverence.

  "No, not right now," she shook her head. "You've already said and done everything. I will owe you both in the next six months. When the time comes, I shall come, and you shall allow me into your consciousness. Oh, don't look so scared," she grimaced at the shadow that flickered across my face. "Did you forget the path you've embarked on? Even I won't be able to remain in your body for more than five minutes, and no entity alive is capable of taking full control of it."

  "It's starting!" Elnar's voice sounded in the command chat. "Archers, start firing as soon as they get to the foot of the hill. Mages and everybody else, we wait!"

  "Somehow I doubt you're doing this without an ulterior motive," I sighed, looking over her shoulder at the skeletal army that had begun its march.

  "Who said I was?" Lilit smiled. "We spoke about practicality, haven't we? And besides, I must lend you my assistance twice. That time in the future shall be the second."

  "And the first?"

  "You must hurry, Dark One. Our conversation mustn't be the reason for any delay," she said, ignoring my question as she nodded at the advancing army. "Remember about practicality, Krian. Till next time..."

  With those words, the woman walked up to the ledge of the battlement, spread her wings like a bird, and hopped off.

  "Hart!" I cussed, dashing instinctively after her. It wasn't until I reached the ledge a moment later that I realized how silly my knee-jerk reaction must have looked—having assumed her true form in midair, my eyes beheld one of the Seven Lords of the Netherworld. Her body radiated a savage, lethal beauty, with serpentine skin the color of dark crimson, and a menacing stinger at the tip of a tail that swayed in tact with massive, membranous wings. Violating every conceivable law of physics, Lilit soared to a height of fifty yards in the span of a second; then, stilling herself in the air, she threw up her arms, rippling with wiry muscles, and dropped them just as suddenly. An unnatural darkness fell over the valley at once, and what happened next finally gave a visual to a phrase I'd read many times before, but had never actually seen until now: the skies opened up, disgorging great forks of lightning as the ground under the undead army began to churn like an ocean in storm, dark clouds of smoke rising from the fissures that were starting to form. Within moments, the valley sprawled at the foot of the citadel became the setting for a kind of local Armageddon. The rain of fire summoned by my legion's mages looked like a drizzle compared to the deluge of death that exploded onto the undead horde from skies above. Engulfed with flame, the earth shook and cracked, releasing orange magma from its ruptured bowels. "Hart," I whispered in shock, watching the terrible spectacle from above. With a crash, stacks of logs that had been prepared beforehand were thrown over the side of the fortress, drowning out the roaring flames, the crunching and snapping of bones, even the burning meteors swooshing down from the skies. The command chat exploded with cries of shock and exultation—and plenty of swearing. In the world whence I came, ninety nine people out of a hundred would flee like the most craven of chickens at the sight of this nightmare—hell, I'd probably be the first to run, elbowing past women and children... But that was there. These people weren't even close to fleeing—no, they were standing there, laughing! Saverus' mages and Kan's knights are just as happy as my guys, I noted to myself, seeing the rapt expression on Raena's face, the woman herself stationed not far below me. And their joy had nothing to do with the fact that the attacking force was being absolutely decimated before their eyes. No, the truth was that we would have been fine even without the assist, but to see the power of one of the Seven manifest, and live to tell about it to the posterity—that was indeed a gift. Good thing the wind is blowing out toward the mountains, I noted mechanically, watching the billows of black smoke that had blanketed the valley whole. It was only in Hollywood that the smoke dispersed almost instantly after similar scenes; here, however, though the visuals could rival the most spectacular special effects, the consequences were designed to be much more realistic. And the old town downhill of the citadel, which had endured even the devastation of Erisjat's assault, would burn for as long as was required by the laws of nature, which the developers did remember, if only on occasion.

  Everything ended just as quickly as it had begun—the Elder Demon had needed no more than a minute to completely wipe out an undead army half a million strong. Having finished off the commander with a pair of fireballs loosed in quick succession, Lilit turned away from the massive carcass, obscured by the billows of smoke rising up to the sky. Standing tall against the devastation wrought, she looked especially deadly—and especially beautiful—the three-foot-long horns sprouting from her triangular head
glistening. Hart! How was she managing to still remain so sexy with her seven-foot-tall frame and other attributes that no sensible man could possibly find appealing? Or was the problem with me? Had the criteria of female beauty been irreversibly transformed in my not-so-gradually transforming brain?

  "Don't forget about our talk, Dark One," her low entrancing voice rumbled in my head. "Take care of my daughter till we meet again..."

  With a flap of the wings, the air around the demoness began to scintillate, and just like that she was gone, with only the smoldering wooden structures of the old town and clouds of black smoke reminding of her presence.

  Attention all clans and players in Demon Grounds! The continental event known as The Cursed Princedom has been completed with the capture of the main citadel in the Craedia Princedom by the Steel Wolves clan.

  Congratulations! Your party has successfully managed to confirm the capture of the settlement of Craedia! [Demon Grounds, Craedia Princedom] [Citadel. Category 8].

  Congratulations! Based on the results of the Cursed Princedom continental event, the Craedia Citadel and all the adjacent zones, as well as all the zones and settlements in the Xantarra, Suonu, Callehzia, Dareah, Osman, Ceriah, Liguahta, Favia, Mishtah, Zellyn and Careolla satrapies, are now under the control of the Steel Wolves clan.

  Steel Wolves clan bonus for the continental event: 218,700 gold coins.

  Steel Wolves clan bonus for the continental event: 1,270 victory points.

  The Craedia Princedom control menu is now available! [1,270 victory points available].

  Whom the hell did I marry? I thought belatedly amid cries of shock and exultation, gazing pensively at the spot from where the beautiful demoness had just vanished. If I hear anyone make a single mother-in-law joke, they're getting punched in the mouth. This is about survival now...

  If ever there was a case to fear the old tale of one's wife turning into one's mother-in-law someday, this was it. And if that day were to come sooner rather than later, my story may end up having an ending far less glorious than I'd been envisioning. Not that I had ever doubted the awesome power of Great Essences, but this was the first time I'd witnessed that power firsthand. Even in my vision, when Kirana had unleashed serious fury on the demons attacking the dwarven legions, I was more of a bystander, but here... Sure, had the undead army been an organized company of level 400-500 warriors with high fire resistance, they would have survived even this Armageddon, but those weren't exactly a dime a dozen. In truth, I bore no ill will toward Lilit; it was just that the situation called for some analysis. For instance, how were you supposed to kill some Erantian count if the self-aware NPC were to suddenly start avoiding the tank and going after ranged damage dealers instead? That would make it downright impossible for even several hundred level 500+ players to take down even one Elder Demon. And that was considering the game's top players hadn't even reached level 300 yet—as far as I knew, at least. The conclusion was simple: if you wanted to slay a self-aware raid boss, you needed a raid of players equal to their level, and that was much easier said than done! On the other hand, now that we had eternity on our side, anything was possible. And this is where I've got a leg up, I chuckled to myself. With a wife who could dispose of a T-Rex just as easily as a chihuahua, that's some serious firepower in my corner. Now, I had no intention of living under her heel, but I'd probably need to think twice before taking out my frustration on her after a hard day, lest a simple domestic quarrel leave me without a limb—or worse.

  With a pointed grunt, I turned toward Kan Shyom who was ascending the stairs to the top of the battlement. The warrior's expression was brooding and somewhat absentminded, like an accountant wondering about the length of his imminent sentence after being presented with a piece of paper with his signature on it.

  We should hightail from the princedom as soon as possible, I realized, listening to the lively chat and looking at the faces of my troops. Though only Kan had witnessed me actually speaking with the Elder Demoness, some would surely put two and two together, and the ensuing rumors would catapult my status to nothing short of divinity. To this day Elnar and Reece had been quick to share the Sata story with anyone willing to listen—even though the scoundrel mage wasn't even in the tent that morning, it didn't stop him from recounting the story in the most vivid detail. And everybody just lapped it all up like naive children... Hart! After Lilit had so graciously displayed some of her assets to the world, they were bound to start wondering my connection to her, maybe even tie her appearance to my recent betrothal... I didn't need to worry about anyone prying for details—save for maybe a few particularly curious and/or daft individuals—but the idea of being looked at as a god among men hardly enthused me. After all, I knew better than anyone how little of that reverence I'd actually merited. Nor could I pin the blame squarely where it belonged—on RP-17, whom the locals seemed to have dubbed "Providence." No, if I wanted to put a damper on the rumors and keep them from escalating into unfounded veneration towards my humble person, I needed to keep them busy.

  "Is she typical of the company you keep, prince?" the warrior asked after clearing his throat.

  "Alas," I sighed. "Well, I only know one other like her, but there are others who are similar..."

  "Two, then," he muttered with an estranged expression that left me feeling a little awkward. "I mean, I already knew about the fox, but two Elder Demons to boot... I know not a single sentient who could boast of such a thing."

  "The other isn't an Elder Demon just yet," I gave another sigh. "But she's on her way, it would seem."

  "Spare me the details," Kan put up his palms in protest. "I'm a simple soldier, and, frankly, I fear for my sanity. I'm actually here on another matter, prince."

  The warrior paused, hesitating. You could see clear as day that asking for things just wasn't something he did very often.

  "Vaessa?" I decided to help him.

  "Is it that obvious?" he frowned.

  "Not at all," I shook my head. "But I remember you asking to be introduced, so I kind of figured..."

  "Well, I actually wanted to talk about something else, though it relates tangentially to her. Or maybe not so tangentially. Gods!" the warrior exclaimed, then exhaled and at last began to speak plainly. "You plan on going up to the realm above. Is she going to follow you?"

  "I would like that very much," I replied honestly. "That said, the curse still hangs over the princedom. Though I do have a matter to bring up with Alcmehn's Overlord, and I'm confident he won't deny my humble request."

  "Again, spare me the details, prince," chuckled the knight-commander. "I admit, I'd been skeptical of that windbag mage until today, but no more." Looking out over the smoke billowing over the valley, Kan continued. "It's unlikely I'll ever make it to the rank of champion in the Order—too much time has passed—but I don't see myself playing second fiddle to anyone. If only Lars were here..." The warrior gave a heavy sigh and shifted his gaze to me. "I want to go with you, prince. In part because of her, but also because, if today is any indication, the journey should be anything but boring. Now, I don't claim to be Lars' equal, but trust me when I saw few creatures have seen the business end of my blade and lived to tell about it."

  "What about the Order?" I was a bit surprised by Kan Shyom's proposal, even though I probably should have seen it coming.

  "What about the Order?" he shrugged. "I'm not quitting it—I just won't be actively partaking in operations. And besides, as far as the hierarchy of military societies goes, the Order to which both you and I belong is at the very top."

  "It's settled, then," I gave Kan a smack on the shoulder and gave his hand a firm shake. "We'll discuss the details when I return from my trip."

  "Aye," he nodded, following me toward the stairs. "That gives me enough time to find my replacement."

  Well, that's another nice boon, I thought with satisfaction as I looked over the citadel that now fully belonged to me. I was no idiot to refuse such an offer, especially since, if Kan wanted it
, I could accept him into the clan like Gorm and Elias—without changing their stats. Things are definitely looking up. And who cares that it's only the third floor of a 100th-floor walk-up?

  Down in the courtyard, a veritable welcoming committee had already gathered, though, to their credit, sufficient numbers of the troops had also gone out to start putting out fires and clearing the mountains of corpses lining the floor of the ravaged valley.

  "I am beyond inspired, dar," said Reece, appearing out of nowhere as usual, with total sincerity. "I'm even considering giving up magic and becoming a wandering minstrel! Then I'll just follow you around Karn, singing epic ballads of your conquests—both in war and of the other kind—on every corner! Naturally, the public will pay more for the latter, but I vow to—"

  "Where are you supposed to be?" Elnar cut him off with a chilly tone. "With the rest of the water mages, I assume?"

  "Figures," Reece drew a heavy sigh. "The soldier will never understand the artist. You see, prince, penning your story will involve raking through burned logs and blackened corpses. I'm going, I'm going!" Reece turned to Elnar as the latter crossed his arms, drew another ostentatious sigh, and was off with a Jump toward the gate.

  "Report," I said to James in command chat. "Nobody fell off the walls from gawking, I hope?"

  "Everybody's alive and mostly well," chuckled the legate. "But you're not wrong—there were a couple of dozen falls. Though, in our defense, it wasn't only our people it happened to."

  "I'd rather have them dying of shame than actually dying," I said, then nodded in the direction of the gate. "I want to see all that filth cleaned up as soon as possible."

  "It'll be done," James nodded. "But what do I tell the men?"