by Ember Lane
Billy appeared lost for words. Sutech laughed.
“Pog, my friend—if I may call you that—I think once this episode is over, you are going to be a very rich man.”
Pog scoffed, “I’m already rich in this land. I just enjoy seeing the ghost squirm. If he fulfills his end of the bargain, he deserves a new yacht. Hell, he deserves a fleet of them.”
Billy perked, clapping Pog around the shoulder. “Did I tell you that I really like you?”
“What next?” Mezzerain asked in his usual gruff manner, cutting straight through the banter.
Billy didn’t answer. He walked along the smooth pathway and vanished into an even darker fissure. We followed, all trailing after the ever-curious Pog who was always first to follow. It led us to a small cave that looked like it had once been used as a traveler's rest.
“Make yourself at home,” Billy muttered, appearing a little distracted—probably still mulling over his boat. “There’s some firewood through there, though you might just as well use my yacht.” He walked on, vanishing into a fold in the cave’s wall. Charlotte darted after him.
“Humph!” Mezzerain grunted. “I thought that at least in death, money and worth wouldn’t be such a curse, but it appears our ghostly friend still values it above all else.”
Faulk and Pog retrieved some firewood, setting it within a small, dished circle under a crack in a cuboid ceiling that we all assumed was a flue of some kind. They soon had a small but welcome flame going, and we set about drying out sodden clothes and armor, reorganizing, and stretching our exhausted muscles.
“I take it this was where he recouped after braving the river,” Faulk said as he returned from the yacht, some food and wine in hand. “We’d best do the same. I get the feeling we haven’t seen the last of the monsters.” He set about heating up some rations. “Plates, Pog.”
Pog rolled his eyes and went to fetch some plates. “What am I, your slave?”
“Out of interest, how much food do we have?” Sutech asked. He appeared to be head of tactics, but Faulk definitely had hold of logistics.
“Not enough,” was the trapmaster’s bleak reply. “We should have kept a monster carcass or two and seen if it provided any edible meat. If it’s eternal night here as it seems to be, God knows when and what else we’ll find to eat.”
“So we could survive all the monsters and starve to death. Fantastic,” Mezzerain lamented.
“There'll be food,” Pog said. “If there are monsters, then they feed on prey. If there’s prey, they graze on something. We just need to be aware.” He shrugged. “I have some reserves, not much, but some. Grandma Lumin taught me well. Always make sure you have your night biscuits, she’d say.”
“She wasn’t my favorite,” I muttered.
“Alexa,” Pog scolded. “She only tortured you a little…”
“She tore me inside out!”
“A bit,” he admitted.
We all milled around, finding our own little spots in the cave and settling. I chose a ledge made from two of the slick, black blocks, which could have easily doubled as a bed, and tugged my boots off, emptying the water out in a pool on the floor. Stripping off the rest of my wet clothes, grabbing an old tunic from my sack of holding, I rested back on the ledge. Thalbear’s armor was certainly the best I’d had to date. I hadn’t even managed to shred it a little bit despite diving into the rock hydra’s maw.
“Do we actually know how long the journey is?” Sutech asked.
“How long from the coast of Valkyrie to its center?” Pog asked. “A week, two? As we have no horses, we have to allow that amount until Billy can confirm, but even if it’s only a few days, we need water and will have to forage for food.”
“Plus the monsters,” Mezzerain added. “Never forget the monsters.”
“Plus them,” Pog agreed.
“Then we eat the monsters and demand Billy sticks close to a river,” I said, taking a meager plate from Faulk. “Thank you.”
Grunts of reluctant agreement sounded around the cave as we all tucked in.
“We need a system too,” Sutech eventually added. “No one needs to row, so we can all fight, but we should decide on a formation so we are ready.”
“Four in a square with Alexa in the middle?” Mezzerain suggested.
“That assumes we’re stuck out in the middle of nowhere and getting attacked from all around. I’d suggest we must be more cautious than that. Hug valley sides. Make sure we are only exposed on one flank. Treat it like the war it is. Imagine this small group was a company, and fight along those lines. When attacked, we form up.”
“So what would you suggest?”
Sutech pondered Mezzerain’s question. “You and Faulk take the center with myself and Pog on the flank. We form a loose horseshoe around Alexa who concentrates on her magic. She has the range, we don’t. If Billy and Charlotte can help, we extend the line.”
Mezzerain nodded. “As sound a plan as can be. So, eyes and ears, that’s what’s needed next. Who will guide us on such a safe path?”
“That would be mine and Charlotte’s job,” Billy said, returning. “All your concerns are valid, if understated. The first part of your journey isn’t even above ground. So yes, sort out your fighting formations, get as organized as possible, but ultimately, I’m looking after my little investment, and I’ll steer you away from as much danger as possible.”
He waited for a response.
“There’s a ‘but’ coming,” Pog said.
Billy cackled. “Yes there is. But this is Ruse, my friends, and Ruse is unlike any other land. Monsters roam free and there are few around with the inclination to prune their numbers. You aren’t in a land ravaged by humans; you are in Ruse—their land.” He patted Pog on the shoulder. “Think about that. I’ll do what I can, but I can’t promise much.” He clapped his hands together. “In the meantime, why don’t you all get some rest? By my reckoning, it’s night in Valkyrie—not that it matters.”
We ate, and we took Billy’s advice. When I woke, the fire had died down a little, but my clothes were all dried, my belly was full as can be, and though every muscle in my body ached, I was at least rested. We dressed, packed up, stripped the boat of anything useful, and we moved out.
Our line consisted of Pog first, then Mezzerain, me, Faulk, and Sutech. The order designed to easily morph into Sutech’s defensive horseshoe. I entered the fissure, wondering where Charlotte was, wondering if she was finally being useful and playing the scout.
The crease was only a few feet wide and dead straight, a fault between the rock cubes. It smelled sterile, like the glassy rock gave no hint as to its makeup. Only the sound of our shuffling feet, our creaking clothes as they reforged their creases and folds, broke the ominous, voidlike silence. I conjured a small glowsphere, muting its light so that it sat around us but not too much farther. Nervousness riddled the whole group.
We exited the narrow alley and all stepped onto a balcony that overlooked a vast block cavern. I turned up the glowsphere’s brightness to reveal its extent. The black cubes formed a long, arched tunnel that led away from us, its peak some ten feet above us, but its legs plunging fifty or sixty feet down to a smooth-looking base pocked with puddles large and small that seemed to be fed from a grid of small streams that almost grouted the glistening floor. The cavernous tunnel stretched away into the distance without any apparent end, just fading to black.
“It’s called the Nexus Fault,” Billy told us all. He shrugged. “Don’t know why.”
I nodded, knowing that nexus indicated a connection and was satisfied with that. The only problem I could foresee was a way down. Each cube was around four by four feet, and each was as slippery as hell. I hunted around for a spot to secure my scarletite grappling hooks but could find none, nor any other option apart from retracing my steps to the cave and finding something there.
Billy vanished over the edge with a theatrical leap. We all peered down. He looked up from about fifteen feet below. The ledge he
was on was precariously narrow, not quite half a cube but close. “What?” he called up. “Jump or use your climbing skills.”
Faulk coughed. “I’m not bad at climbing, but this is sheer?”
“Mezzerain?” I asked.
“Nope, no climbing skill here. Never needed it mashing heads.”
“Me neither,” said Sutech.
“I’d jump, but if I overshoot the edge…” Mezzerain merely said what we were all thinking.
Pog brought out a coil of rope. “The big man goes first; we all lower him down. With four of us, we should be able to manage. Faulk goes next then Sutech. With Mezzerain down at the bottom, we’ll only have to lower the others a little before he can grab them, plus they’re lighter than Mezzerain. Me and Alexa last—we’ve got the climbing skill.”
It made sense. We all prepared and lowered a humiliated Mezzerain down. He barely stopped apologizing, but soon it was all over. Pog’s plan of action was faultless, and we were all soon down. Billy led us along the narrow ledge and then down a series of single, four-foot drops until we were all standing on the nice wide floor of the Nexus Fault. It looked remarkably like a shiny, tiled floor vanishing into the distance.
Charlotte appeared about fifteen feet in front of us. “It seems all clear, but then I’m hardly likely to draw any monsters out.”
I bent by a nearby pool and dabbed my finger in its clear water, licking the wet off with my tongue. It tasted fine, if a little soapy. Cupping my hands, I took a gulp. It sat strangely on my stomach but didn’t cause any sickness apart from the need to immediately burp. Pog giggled at that as it echoed around.
“Well?” Sutech asked, ignoring it all.
“Small and often—you wouldn’t want to drink a gutful. We stop to drink regularly.”
“First problem solved,” he muttered. “Form into your lines.”
No one argued. Sutech had assumed command, and I think we were all a little relieved at that.
Charlotte smiled and spun around, running a little way along the tunnel before vanishing. As soon as she did, Billy led us out. After a brief discussion, I let the glowsphere light up the whole passageway as we reasoned that any lurking beast would know we were there anyway, so we might as well get a good view of them coming.
We began our journey down the Nexus Fault.
“Where did all these monsters come from?” I asked as the thought crossed my mind.
“What do you mean?” Pog replied from the front.
“Well, it’s not like Valkyrie or Mandrake had this many, and I know Billy said 'This is Ruse; it’s different,' but why?”
“Our lands had some. Remember the valley above Whitewater? It may just be that as we mostly stuck to the villages, towns, and cities, they’d already been slaughtered. Perhaps whatever plunged this place into darkness mutated a load more, and like Billy told us, there was no one here to kill them.”
“If this place does one thing, it gives me the creeps,” Mezzerain said.
As we walked, I tried to read between the lines. Pog wasn’t saying everything he thought. As usual, he was ever subtle. He’d come to some solid conclusions about Ruse but didn’t want to share with the others. My own conclusions about Ruse were that the release of vast amounts of shadowmana had altered its nature: both the ship and the land, and now we had to deal with its mutants as well as its ghostly crew. Barakdor was this strange mirrorland, and the Nexus Fault did nothing to dissuade me from that conclusion.
It was an explanation: not an encouraging one. It meant we’d have more fights.
“Loads of monsters,” I muttered out loud, without meaning to.
“What does it matter?” Mezzerain asked. “At least we’ll be fighting them with firm ground under our feet. Those last battles were unnatural.”
We threaded our way through the pools and streams of the Nexus. It did begin to remind me of a vast, empty corridor on an abandoned space station, and once that thought entered my mind, it stuck there, along with images of stalking aliens, with fangs like sabers and plasma guns swinging from their buglike hips.
Maybe it wasn’t too far away from the reality Barakdor was mimicking. It made it all the more chilling, though. Its emptiness became claustrophobic. Its length became daunting. We trod along merely waiting for the inevitable.
Charlotte reappeared just as the skittering of tiny feet erupted.
“Some kind of ewearghhh!” she reported, her face paler than usual and scrunched up like she’d stepped in something.
“Exactly what?” Billy asked, a resigned tone about him.
“I don’t know,” she snapped. “What do you think I am, some kind of botanist?”
Billy sighed. “A botanist studies plants.”
“I’ll study you in a minute.”
“All form up against that wall,” Sutech barked, pointing.
We followed his command and were soon in our defensive horseshoe.
Billy continued his altercation with Charlotte. “Ewearghhh is not a comprehensive description. Are they alive or dead?”
“Alive,” Charlotte snapped.
“Fine,” Billy snapped. “We can’t interfere.”
The skittering grew louder.
“Why?” Pog suddenly asked. “If the Cers can attack us, and they’re dead, why can’t you help us with the monsters?”
Billy stopped in his tracks, pondering. As he did, an eerie, green glow lit the edges of the Nexus Fault.
Silicate-mutant Scorpion
No further information available
It emerged from some hidden passageway about fifty yards ahead of us. The glow spread the entire length of its four-foot-long body, curling up to a vicious-looking stinger that pulsed white like a beacon. Once it had taken up position in the corridor’s center, it turned to face us and waited.
“Only one?” Mezzerain said, taking a step forward. “Not too bad.”
As his last word slipped out of his mouth, another dozen trooped out.
He took a step back.
“Because I’m mostly dead,” said Billy, answering Pog’s earlier question. “Because they’ve never attacked me, I don’t attack them.” He let out a huge breath. “I don’t really know.”
“Then perhaps you’d like to try,” Sutech growled. “You and Charlotte fall in line. You’re both fighting, or at least trying to.”
“I haven’t got a sword,” Charlotte pointed out.
Sutech made a strangling noise. “Then go and scout something—anything.”
The scorpions formed up. Charlotte sidled through the horseshoe and hid behind me. “I’ll sit this one out,” she whispered.
“Are we ready?” I barked, flexing my muscles and jumping up and down on the spot.
“Ready,” Sutech replied.
“Speak for yourself,” Charlotte muttered.
I waited for a few breaths more then sent a focused blast at the lead scorp. My gray magic cracked across the Nexus, smacking the beast between its eyes. It went down, its front legs collapsing, making it skid along the shiny floor.
“Easy enough,” Mezzerain said, and as he did, the rest charged.
“Will you shut up?” Sutech cried.
I loosed more magic, squeezing it between Faulk and Mezzerain but feeling restricted, like I couldn’t quite function right. Glancing behind me, Charlotte was cowering down, her hands over her head. Trying to see a clear path, I shouted in frustration. Charlotte nudged me from behind. I wanted to explode. Spinning around to berate her, I noticed the square ledge above.
Without hesitating, I jumped, pushing myself off her ethereal form and grabbing the cube’s ledge above. Hauling myself up, I spun around just as the scorps closed in on the defensive horseshoe.
It was the City of Spokes all over again.
My magic flashed out now, no sight lines inhibiting it. I had half of them down before they clashed. Mezzerain moved forward a little, taking the brunt of the snapping claws, drawing away the bulk of the attack from Faulk and the others. The man was a gi
ant in battle. Pog and Sutech started working on the flanks. Billy and Faulk attempted to protect Mezzerain’s sides.
It appeared our half ghost could help.
“Get the stingers!” Sutech screamed at me.
I sent out a disc of power, scything through most. One began to pulse, changing from white to red, like it was primed and ready. I moved my focus onto it, sending a severing bolt, but it was too late. My moment’s distraction had cost us.
It struck with unbelievable speed, biting into Faulk’s shoulder, my magic cutting it in two a millisecond later. Faulk staggered back but regained his footing as he fought through the pain. His sword strokes soon became labored as his strength failed him. I cleared the scorps in front of him, knowing their weak spots from before. Pog moved into their center, stabbing away with his usual efficiency, fast, furious and exact. I blasted another, freeing Mezzerain to catch the falling Faulk. Sutech polished the last one off with a flashy thrust.
I jumped down, straight at Faulk’s side, my guilt plain to see. The stinger was embedded in his shoulder. Fortunately, most of its poison was dripping out harmlessly from its severed end. That was the end of the good news. Two evil-looking pincers pierced his skin, which was already bubbling with red welts.
Mezzerain tried to prize them apart with his fat thumbs, to no avail.
“Pog, tool bag,” Faulk whimpered through gritted teeth. “Pliers, there should be two pairs.”
Pog pulled out Faulk’s tool bag, rifling through it and finding what he needed. He gently pulled the pincers apart, and Mezzerain grabbed the stinger and tossed it away. The big man ducked down, sucking out what poison he could, spitting it on the glistening floor, but the corruption was already spreading.
Once Mezzerain had done what he could, I laid my hand on the wound and injected it with some mana. Faulk closed his eyes, but with his last breath before he lost consciousness, he said, “Whiskey.”
Mezzerain tucked a roll under his head, and Pog pulled a blanket over him. The little thief then jumped up and inspected the scorpion carcasses.