by James Hunter
No damage, but we ran great interference.
The deadly game of cat and mouse continued, but with every minute that passed, the Sky Maiden struggled more and more to stay aloft—every minute that slipped by was one closer to victory. The real end came, however, when the chimps finished wrapping their lengths of rope around the Sky Maiden and sunk the second meat hook deep into her scaly flesh. Up until then, there’d been enough give in the zig-zagging lines for her to flap her wings—even if the motions were awkward and encumbered—but that all came to a screeching halt as those hooks bit down.
She strained against the lines, howling, but they held despite her mammoth strength, and suddenly she was falling. Spiraling like an asteroid breaking through the stratosphere on a crash course for the earth.
With their work done, I recalled my trio of chimps and guided Devil into a measured dive, keeping pace with the Sky Maiden as she careened toward the ground. The dragon flipped end over end, twisting this way and that, struggling against her silky bonds the entire time, but failing to make an inch of progress. The hooks were rune-etched—barbed and nearly indestructible—and the ropes didn’t so much as fray.
At a hundred feet from the canyon floor, I pulled up on Devil’s reins, drifting along as the Sky Maiden finished her meteoric descent. She smashed into the canyon floor a hundred feet from the portal back to the sacred glade, landing like a wrecking ball of flesh and bone. The ground cratered on impact, kicking up a mushroom cloud of volcanic ash and gritty dust. Once the debris cloud finally died down, Devil and I cruised slowly—almost leisurely—to the ground, touching down lightly on the edge of the newly formed depression. The Sky Maiden lay at the bottom, her bones broken, her wings shredded from the rough landing, her neck twisted at a unnatural angle.
She was alive, her HP bar undiminished, but her eyes were glassy and all the fight seemed to have leaked away with the fall. Now, she appeared resigned to whatever end I had in store for her.
Carefully, I slipped from my saddle, boots scraping across the loose scree on the ground. Wait here, I sent to the Drake, inching my way over the crater’s edge and sliding down a few feet to the bottom of the shallow basin. Despite all of her threats of death and dismemberment, while looking at Arzokh—twisted, broken, and utterly defeated—I couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt creep down my spine. She hadn’t always been like this. Five centuries of loss, pain, and torture had turned her into this thing … this monster.
No.
I stomped the doubt down—I needed to do what I needed to do. Not for me, but for all the people depending on me. For Abby and Forge, for Cutter and Amara, for Chief Kolle, the people of Yunnam, and all the players who refused to live under the heel of a dictator. This is the right thing, I told myself, not entirely sure I believed it. I fixed my gaze on the amulet—the size of a silver dollar and meticulously crafted from gold, bone, and jade—buzzing with dull life and ancient power. I pulled my warhammer from my belt, its hefty weight a comfort in my grip, and stalked over to the downed dragon.
Her lips pulled back in a grimace and ribbons of smoke drifted from her nostrils, but she didn’t act, didn’t move, didn’t speak. I was pretty sure she couldn’t—not in the horrendous shape she was in.
I wrapped my hand around the pendant and gave it a sharp tug.
I expected to find resistance, but it came away without a hitch as if it were eager to rejoin the rest of the set. The giant golden chain—formerly holding the pendant in place around Arzokh’s neck—shimmered and distorted, twisting and shrinking until it was exactly the right size for me. Amazing. I slipped it on with one trembling hand, feeling a surge of energy infuse my limbs, refreshing me better than a good night’s sleep ever could. More than that, though, I felt strong, unstoppable, almost godlike.
It was the power of the Jade Lord, a foretaste of the mantle of a king. Not a faction leader, but a monarch.
And it felt good.
Voices ripped me rudely from the moment—whoops of joy and cheers of victory as Abby, Forge, Cutter, Amara, Vlad, and even Chief Kolle streamed through the portal. They all looked ecstatic—understandably so. After all, I’d just brought low the mighty Sky Maiden and now I had the entire Jade Lord set in my possession. I’d done the impossible. Again.
“Bloody hell,” Cutter yelled, a lopsided grin breaking across his face. “I can't believe you pulled it off. And by that, I mean I was fully confident of your abilities the entire time.”
That earned a round of chuckles, followed by a chorus of “finish her.” Everyone seemed happy except Abby; she looked forlorn and marginally disgusted, but she didn’t voice a complaint.
My hammer was glowing, burning with spectral green light, and when I looked back at the Sky Maiden I was shocked to see her HP meter had plunged deeply into the critical zone—from the fall, no doubt. A single hit would finish her off, end this quest for good, and earn me the Blessing of the Jade Lord. I circled around to her front, raising my hammer, preparing to drive the spike into her skull and put her out of her misery. To annihilate her for good. As I stood there, the conquering hero, Arzokh shot me one last desperate look, and with it she offered me a peek into her heart and soul.
All her defiance was gone, stripped away, and all that remained was deep, unspoken grief and terrible acceptance: acceptance that this was finally the end.
An end devoid of justice or mercy.
She was a victim—her family killed and taken, her soul driven to madness by their eternal separation, and that act would go forever unpunished. I saw something else in her eyes, too: I saw myself, standing above her with the face of a stone-cold killer. In that instant, I looked an awful lot like the Jade Lord preparing to smash her eggs for the sake of his kingdom. Even more importantly, I resembled Osmark, making shady, unethical backroom deals, spurred on by the thought of the “greater good” and a hunger for personal power.
I turned away, unwilling to meet her eyes for a second longer as my conviction wavered like a candle flame in a stiff breeze.
This wasn’t right.
Maybe it was pragmatic, smart, and efficient, but it wasn’t the moral thing to do. This road led to victory, but victory at a steep and bloody price. The black handprint, branded into my skin by a dying Murk Elf so long ago, tingled and burned with icy power, a subtle reminder of how I’d gotten to here—not through the diplomacy of the sword, but through mercy. I’d helped that dying woman, even when Cutter suggested I scalp her for the price on her head, and it brought me to the path of the Shadowmancer.
That was who I was, and that was who I wanted to be. I was willing to be a leader, but I wasn’t willing to lose myself to do it. I dropped my weapon, letting it fall into the sand with a thunk.
“What’s the holdup, friend?” Cutter asked, eyebrow cocked, hands on his hips. “This is it. You’ve done it. Now finish it. Let’s unite the bloody Storme Marshes, dance a victory jig on the corpses of our enemies, then head back to Yunnam and drink until we can’t stand straight.”
“No,” I said with a shake of my head, pulling the crown off, followed in short order by the belt and the amulet. “Nope. This is wrong. We can’t do this. This creature”—I swept a hand at the downed and dying dragon—“isn’t evil. She’s the victim of a well-intentioned man who was willing to do bad things for what he believed to be good reasons. That’s who the Jade Lord was. And that’s also Osmark to a T. That’s what we’re fighting against. Maybe this stuff”—I lifted the items in my hands—“will help us defeat the Empire, but they’ll also help us become the new Empire.
“I’m sorry, but I won’t do this. It’s not enough to beat Osmark,” I said, “we need to be better than him. And this?” I glanced at the dragon huffing and puffing in the sand, only inches from death and utter annihilation. “This isn’t any better. So, I’m going to do the right thing. I’m going to side with a monster, who isn’t a monster.” I trudged out of the huge divot and over to the magma river burbling mindlessly along. I paused on the ro
cky bank, staring one last time at the priceless relics in my hands. God this was stupid.
I closed my eyes and tossed them all into the river of molten rock.
“This is for you, Priestess,” I whispered under my breath, opening my eyes and watching as the magma went to work. Chunks of bone sizzled, popped, and melted. The gold dissolved into orange slag. The fat jade stones disappeared beneath the surface.
In the span of seconds, the artifacts were gone, destroyed for good.
THIRTY-FOUR:
Blessings and Curses
I heard a muted round of gasps—utter disbelief over the insane thing I’d just done. Those gasps faded and died quickly, though, replaced by murmurs of awe as Arzokh shuddered and rose into the air, held aloft by swirling streams of golden light like a thousand shimmering butterflies all working as one. I stared too, captivated as the ropes fell away and her limbs, so badly broken only moments before, popped and straightened while her neck twisted back into place, and her wings mended themselves—skin, muscle, and sinew knitting together in double speed.
The golden light didn’t just repair the appalling damage, however, it also changed her. Black skin flaked away, replaced by radiant scales the color of fresh grass, etched with swirling runes of pulsing golden power. The spikes running along her spine, like a forest of sword blades, shimmered, bubbled, and disappeared as a mane of lush golden hair sprouted, running from her serpentine head down along her graceful neck and all the way to the tip of her tail. Her wings—vast leathery appendages—likewise morphed, the dry, cracked flesh replaced with golden plumage that gleamed and shimmered in the light of the lava river.
Wow. She was beautiful. Breathtaking, even.
And then, she ascended. The swirls of golden light drew her up above the canyon,toward a swirling vortex suspended high above us in the air. The rift, easily a hundred feet in diameter, offered us a peek into a beautiful landscape filled with lush rolling fields, shimmering lakes, endless blue skies, and immense floating islands defying all the known laws of physics. Kuonela, the land of dragons. A host of serpentine faces stared down at us—little baby dragons flitting about in the air—but one stood out: a slick green creature, not much larger than Devil, with burnt-orange eyes and a host of violet feathers. Irrinth, the Sky Maiden’s mate.
He didn’t smile—couldn’t—but he dipped his head low in thanks, opalescent tears leaking down his cheeks.
Then, Arzokh was gone, disappearing through the immense portal, which snapped shut, leaving only the starless, cloud-strewn sky behind. Peace and fierce joy bloomed in my chest like a flower. Yep, maybe that hadn’t been the smart thing to do, but it was definitely the right choice—I’d be able to sleep tonight and look at myself in the mirror the next morning.
No amount of gold coin or sweet gear could replace that.
I turned back to the others, but stopped dead in my tracks as a group of ghostly apparitions appeared before me in a semicircle. All hard-faced Dokkalfar men. A few were big and bulky: bruisers and tanks in heavy plate mail, brandishing brutal two-handed weapons. One was whip-thin—built with the hard lines of a razor blade—wore dark leather armor, and carried a beefy warhammer that could’ve been a twin to my own. A Shadowmancer, then. Others sported the flowing robes of mages, while another still was decked out in conjured armor built from yellowing bones.
It was the man in the middle that drew my eye, though.
He was a taller than me, with broad shoulders and a swath of ebony hair streaked at the temples with silver. He stared at me from dark eyes like chips of burnt coal, set above a hooked nose and a thin, cruel mouth, while leaning casually on a double-edged sword pulsing with violet runes of power. The Jade Lord, Nangkri, in the flesh.
“I’m sorry,” I said, staring him dead in the eye, refusing to blink, “but I couldn’t do what you wanted. Even if it means I won’t ever get your blessing.”
For a second, he didn’t respond—he just stared at me, frosty and stone-faced. But then, his somber features began to loosen as the ghost of a smile appeared on his flat face. “I’m not angry, boy.” He shook his head. “No. I’m proud. For the past five hundred years, my descendants have told stories built on pride and lies, seeking the artifacts with the sole aim of eternally destroying Arzokh’s soul. All in a futile attempt to free me and my brothers from a curse that never existed.”
My jaw dropped. “Wait, what do you mean there’s no curse? If there’s no curse then why are the seven of you stuck here?”
“We’re not stuck,” Nangkri replied somberly, hands flexing and clenching around the hilt of his blade. “We’re held here only by guilt for a crime we committed, but could never atone for in life. Killing the Sky Maiden and her brood to get that gold … Well, it was a decision that haunted me every night and every waking moment. And then, when I finally died, I was forced to pass through this blighted land”—slowly, he looked left, then right—“to enter the sacred resting place of our people.
“Instead of simply passing on, I saw Arzokh, stranded forever in this place because of me. Because of my evil, my vanity, my pride. I saw a once wise, beautiful creature twisted into a monstrosity by a grief I inflicted on her out of greed. So, I refused to move on—and my brothers, faithful men that they are—have kept me company ever since. I chose to stay, to stand vigil for my transgression until the wrong I committed all those years ago could be righted.” His smile stretched as he reached out and clapped me on the shoulder.
“That’s why I picked you, Grim Jack. Why I ensured you received the crown. Because I saw mercy in you. I saw someone who might do the just thing. Only someone who could do that—who could throw away power for the sake of goodness—deserves my blessing and the mantle of the Jade Lord. A good leader, Jack, is not someone who blindly follows orders. No, such a person is a pawn. And neither is it the person who is willing to sell their soul for the power to rule.” He shook his head again. “Such a person is a despot.
“A true leader—someone others will follow out of respect instead of fear—is one who has vision, backed by the power of conviction and determination of will. You, Jack, have such vision, conviction, and will. Now, you also have my blessing. You’ve earned the right to be the new Jade Lord, ruler over the Dark Conclave, and Lord over all the Storme Marshes. And, as a symbol of your new position, I grant you these gifts—a little something to replace those ghastly relics you destroyed.” A series of notifications popped up, one after another:
∞∞∞
x1 Level Up!
You have (10) undistributed stat points. Stat points can be allocated at any time.
You have (2) unassigned proficiency points. Proficiency points can be allocated at any time.
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Quest Update: Path of the Jade Lord
Congratulations! You’ve traveled to the Twilight Lands and defeated the great Sky Maiden, Arzokh. However, by destroying the set of the Jade Lord in an act of mercy, you’ve freed her spirit, allowing her to enter Kuonela, the eternal resting place of Dragons. Moved by your act of kindness, the Jade Lord, Nangkri, has granted you his blessing and mantle. You are now the new Jade Lord, ruler over the Dark Conclave, and Lord over all the Storme Marshes. In appreciation for your efforts, Lord Nangkri has provided you with The Set of the Benevolent. Additionally, you’ve earned 40,000 EXP and 1000 Renown—in-world fame—for completing this ultra-rare quest. Greater renown elevates you within the ranks of Eldgard and can affect merchant prices when selling or buying.
∞∞∞
Notifications:
You’ve been appointed the Jade Lord, ruler over the newly revived Nangkri Dynasty!
You are now the High Commander of the six named Dokkalfar clans!
You have received the Cursus Honorum (Rank) of Consul!
You now have access to the Keep interfaces for Yunnam (Ak-Hani clan), Rai Nam (Lisu clan), Baan Tung (La-Hun clan), Baan Luang (Karem clan), Mae Sawan (Chao-Yao clan), and Nan (Na-Ang clan)!
You can now appoint Magi
strates to govern your Keeps!
Your relationship with the Viridian Empire has been lowered to Nemesis!
Your relationship with the Eldgard Rebellion has been raised to Exalted!
∞∞∞
Viridian Gate Online Universal Alert!
Notice: Traveler Grim Jack Shadowstrider, honorary member of the Ak-Hani clan, has completed the ultra-rare quest, Path of the Jade Lord! His faction, the Crimson Alliance, now owns the cities of Yunnam, Rai Nam, Baan Tung, Baan Luang, Mae Sawan, and Nan in the Storme Marshes!
Notice: Traveler Grim Jack Shadowstrider has been appointed Lord over the newly revived Nangkri Dynasty!
Notice: Grim Jack Shadowstrider is now a Nemesis of the Ever-Victorious Viridian Empire!
∞∞∞
I read over the message, feeling numb and stunned. This was huge … this would change everything. Not knowing what else to do, I toggled over to my inventory. The original set of the Jade Lord was gone, burned to slag in the magma river, but a new set had taken its place:
∞∞∞
Crown of the Benevolent
Armor Type: Medium; Obsidian Helm
Class: Ancient Artifact; Set Item
Base Defense: 51
Primary Effects:
Vitality Bonus = .75 x Character Level
Dexterity Bonus = .75 x Character Level
20% Resistance to Blunt Trauma Damage
Secondary Set Effects:
+10 to all Resistances per set piece worn
All Spell Costs are reduced by 20% (2 pieces)
+1 to Class Specific Skills (3 pieces)
The Crown of the Benevolent, hand forged by the Jade Lord, Nangkri, and imbued with a small part of his soul, radiates authority and power.
∞∞∞