Or something. I wasn't really paying attention.
“One, are you paying attention?” Cherish asked.
“Mostly. I'm just looking for…”
“I know, Ruin. I don't see her either."
She tried to hide the growing dread she felt, pulling her heart away from mine but I wouldn't let her. I pressed closer to her, body and mind, opening my own heart to her. Showing her she wasn't alone in her fear.
This didn't reduce her fear, or mine, but I wanted her to know she wasn't alone with it.
After explaining why we had been split up the Priestess said, “Those fallen on the edge of the southern lands, are the Elves of Neon, the Light and Shadow Elves of Aegis, as well as their Dwarves. As are the Blood Kin, Savage Kin, Under Kin and Corrupter Kin of Midian.”
Then she got to the part we needed to know.
“The Ogres, Trolls and Quicken of Neon, the Wraiths of Aegis, and the Gargoyles of Midian. Have all fallen to the edges of the Dwarven mountain ranges in the North. Where the Underlands of the Dark Elves also dwell, the Dark Kin have fallen.
I felt a surge of fear from Cherish and sent back a questioning thought.
“I've heard about the Dark Elves in this world. They are… dangerous. If Three has fallen to them…”
I bit my lip in worry, then winced as my fangs cut in. I had to get used to that. I had cut my tongue, like, twelve times already. At least I don't have that many extra parts. Although a tail, like the succubi have would be useful. Wings too. I'm sure I could get used to ha-
“Ruin,” Cherish mentally prodded me.
I jerked my mind back. Like a dog owner hauling on a dogs harness as it tried to follow a much more interesting path.
Stupid attention deficit... something, something, and possibly another something disorder.
I tried sending her everything I knew about how Dark Elves were regarded in various games and books while trying to listen to what the Priestess was saying.
"Four is probably in the east along with all the other Elsekin." Cherish said and I nodded.
“The Empire of the east is ruled by the Half-Orcs. They have a society based on - “
“Wait, an Empire? Like Klingons?” I wondered out loud. "Or the bad guys in Star Wa - “ I trailed off when I felt a rising spike of worry from Cherish.
“- have the Orcs, Goblins, Giants of Midian and the Orcs and Naga of Aegis.”
“We were right, Four's is in the east. Don't worry.” I tried to send her calming thoughts. "Four will be fine. Three will too, out of all of us, he's the smartest, the most practical and the most logical. He'll be fine in the North.”
It didn't help.
“The West is ruled by the Beast People. I have been told this is where the Beast Kin of Rath have fallen - “
“I bet the people from Rath will own that whole area in a few weeks,” I told Cherish.
Her amused agreement surfaced for a split second from the rising tide of her worry.
“- the Nymphs of Midian have fallen to the edges of all four lands with those they are closest to.
"This, some of you already know. However, it has come to my attention that there are a few very important facts about death in which some of you may be ignorant of. What you should know is - "
“Wait. Does she mean closest, like number wise?” I asked.
Cherish raised her hands in a ‘who knows gesture’. “It could be that, or it might be in whatever order we… died in.”
"If she meant closest, as in emotionally, you would of fallen with - "
"I know! Shut up!"
Before I decided whether or not to tease her, the Priestesses next words captured our attention.
“Now, I have had a few requests from people looking for other members of their... Chain? Yes? Well I want to assure you that the Goddess of Death, the A.I. controller in charge of respawns and resurrection, has told me that all who went through the conversion process, have fallen into this world safely.”
I heard several people thanking various divine powers as the Priestess continued.
She explained how some people have yet to be reunited with each other. Saying that she wanted everyone's help to connect the missing people together.
I wasn't sure why, and I didn't care, but she started with Five. She gave a description of her appearance, name and she asked if anyone had seen someone with that description.
People spoke to each other for a while as Cherish held my hand.
“I saw her!” A voice rang out and my head whipped around.
The crowd parted to reveal an Aegis Dwarf who looked around nervously.
Nervousness that turned into outright fear as he saw me coming straight at him.
Without thought or hesitation, I pushed off the side of the statue, burning so much magic, so quickly that it hurt.
I saw his eyes widen and he tried to back peddle, but he couldn’t get far with the press of the crowd at his back. People rushed to get out of my way as I came down.
I burned through the rest of my magic, cushioning my fall as I landed. Sliding on all fours, my body skidding sideways on feet and claws for balance.
Then, going with the momentum, I reoriented and surged forward. Running on all fours until he was within arms reach.
Savage Kin instinct made the transition from quadruped to biped motion seem smooth and natural as I came to a standing stop.
I resisted the urge to grab him and shake him until words started falling out.
The people behind him abruptly pulled away from me and the Dwarf tripped over his own feet and fell backward.
“Ruin.” Cherish's mental voice was a mix of alarm, frustration, sympathy and urgency.
“Stop." My voice was a growl and the Dwarf froze in the act of trying to stand.
I took a deep, calming breath and said, “Please. Stop. I am 24601-01. Ruin. I am looking for my… my Chains fifth. Please stop.”
He blinked up at me and I tried a wide disarming smile. Judging from all the blood draining from his face it was an epic fail.
“Look, I'm sorry if I'm coming on a bit… intense.” I slowly held my hand out to him. "Here, I'll give you a hand.”
He hesitated and looked around at the widening circle of people before letting me help him up.
“Ruin!” An approaching Cherish yelled. “If you scare our only lead away I am going to hurt you! Purple nurples and wedgies galore.”
I pointed a thumb over my shoulder and said, “I'll let my friend ask. She's much nicer than me.”
“Move it! Out of my way! Yes, you! The guy with the confused face standing in my way! MOVE!”
“Well… when I say nicer…”
Cherish pushed, shoved and “accidentally” elbowed her way to us amid complaints, stifled insults and a multitude of noises implying physical distress.
When she finally reached the cleared space, her hair was messy and her scowl thunderous. Both of which, did nothing to make her less attractive, and in some respects, more attractive.
She paused, straightened her shirt, smoothed down her hair and looked at the Dwarf. Smiling a bright smile she said, “Hi! Sorry about this. 24601-02. You can call me Cherish. And you are…”
He stared at her for a few seconds before answering. She had that effect on a lot of males. "I… uh, 20331-04. Thorum.”
“Right. Nice to meet you Thorum!”
He smiled hopefully. "If you want, you can call me Thor, for short."
I restrained the first four things, no, six. The first six things that came to my mind and settled on, “Can? Yes. Won't? Also yes.”
“Be nice!” Cherish gave me a mental jab before asking the Dwarf, “Please, can you tell us where you saw her?”
”Was she okay?” I interrupted. “Did she look hurt? If she's hurt whoever did it is going to die!”
“Ruin? Love? This is Five we’re talking about.”
“Oh, right. Then, whatever group of already injured and dying people who hurt her is going to die! Or…
well, die faster!"
Thorum looked back and forth between Cherish and me as we spoke. Then he said, “She… matched the Priestesses description and she passed me on the road. She wasn't hurt but she was… I don't think upset is the right word. Is… Face Murderery, an emotion? Because that was how she looked. Not upset. Face Murderery.”
“Yes!” I grinned. "That's her!”
“What road?” Cherish asked, “You said she passed you. What direction was she going?”
“The West road, oh, and she was going away from the town.”
Cherish made a sound of disgust, her frustration and worry flowed over me like a wave. "That is so typical of her. Why can't she… Ruin? Where are you going? Ruin!”
Chapter Seventeen: Beee Preeepaaaared! The Boy Scouts Motto And A Song About A Lion Using Hyenas To Kill His Brother. Either Way, Good Advice.
When Thorum said west I checked the position of the sun and started in that direction.
“We need to go. Now. She's out there, alone.”
The watching crowd parted around me, Cherish trailing behind.
I snarled at anybody who didn't move out of the way fast enough until Cherish caught up. Then she used smiles, politeness and the occasional threat to get them out of the way.
“Ruin, we can't just run off into the woods.”
“Of course we can. Here I'll show you. By doing that exact thing.”
I exited the crowd and walked a few yards when Cherish jumped in front of me and stood her ground. “We are going to discuss this like civilized people and - eek!”
I didn’t slow down, instead and without missing a beat I bent low, grabbed her by the waist and hoisted her up in a fireman's carry as I kept walking.
“Me Ruin. Me no civilized,” I said in my best caveman voice.
She sighed. "I should of expected this.”
I frowned. "We say that a lot, 'should of expected this' why did we start saying that?"
"Three always said it. He always expects himself to think of everything that needs thinking about."
“Ohhh, yeeaah. Not important. We're going. We are going to rescue her and then we will find the others.”
“Ooh, you just pricessed Five!”
I winced. "Please. Please. Don't tell her that.”
Instead of teasing me like I expected her to she said, “I can't go with you.”
I froze. Just stopped in the middle of the street and stood there. It had never occurred to me that Cherish would change her mind about staying together. That she would leave us. That she wouldn't even want to help me find…
“Oh, stop that!” she said. “I didn't mean that! Of course I want to stay together. I just want to be smart about this.”
“Now put me down,” she said, then slapped me on the butt.
“Ah!” I yelped and slapped her on the butt in retaliation.
She yelped too and slapped me again. So I slapped her back.
This went on for… too long. Long enough to draw a crowd of confused onlookers and an Half-elven city guard with a pained expression on his face.
“Sir." Just that one word held a level of tiredness and exasperation usually reserved for parents who had been dealing with many, many small hyperactive children for the entire day.
I took pity on him and apologized to Cherish before putting her down. She apologized to me and we both apologized to the guard before continuing on our way.
Cherish said that if I was going to go into the woods I needed supplies. She told me of a shop that specializes in that sort of thing and steered me towards it.
“So.” I said, after several long seconds. "What do you mean you can't go with me?”
She took a deep breath and said, “The mental link is supposed to be limited only by distance. The farther away we are from each other, the more magic it takes to communicate. Together like this, the power drain is negligible. Within a city its still small.”
I nodded to show I understood.
“That's one of the reasons I want to stay here. Because if she does respawn in the area, she will be drawn here. If that happens we can add her to the contract and I can let you know.
If you find her first then you can do the same.”
I tried to ignore the tiny little voice of doubt in my head, telling me that Five may not want the link. Or not want to link with me.
Then hope flared up and hit doubt with a running spin kick to the face when Cherish said, “She was really mad at me when I asked if she wanted to split from us, to go her own way. She threatened me with so much bodily harm, in so many creative ways. It was very sweet.”
I smiled, because that did sound like something she would do.
“Okay, so, the plan is for you to stay here in the nice, safe city while I go into the dangerous dark forest?”
“Confirmed.”
“And after I save her, or she saves me because I'm not trying to princess anybody, then we meet back here.”
“Well,” Cherish hesitated, “I was thinking that if you found her first I would go ahead and travel... North?”
I looked at her for a long moment before asking, “Is this about Three? You're worried about him?”
“Well, just a little. He's a Dark Elf. Dark Elves in Midian aren't like the ones in this world. The Native Dark Elves have a society is based around narcissistic sociopathy and Three is…”
I let her feel the confidence I had in Three and said, “I know how he is. I know what kind of person he is. That being said, like I said earlier, he is also the smartest of us. The most logical and calculating. I’m positive he will be fine.”
Her shoulders relaxed just a bit. “You're probably right. It's just… why did they have to separate us? I mean, I expected us to have to find each other, but I thought we would all randomly spawn around a village or whatever.”
I put my arm around her, drawing her closer. "She said it was to avoid as much disruption as possible. Imagine dropping a bunch of Giants or Neon Ogres in the middle of an Elven city. All those poor Elf chairs."
She smirked. "It would of been a furniture massacre."
"Oooh, that would be a good name for a Heavy Metal song." I pitched my voice into a long, low guttural growl. "Fuuurnituuuure Maaassacrrrre!"
"You are so weird."
"Thank you! I think you're very weird too."
"Aaaw, you're so sweet."
"Yep. And since I'm so sweet can you explain how respawning works again? We die and end up at the closest temple?"
Cherish gave me a hard look. "The Priestess explained all that."
"Umm, I must of missed that part."
Her hard look grew spikes.
“Ouch, um, okay… Sorry?” I tried to sound contright but winced as I failed miserably. Luckily for me she could feel my sincerity, even if I was bad at showing it.
She huffed and I felt her irritation fade. “Well, basically, when you die within the proximity of a temple dedicated to the Goddess of Death you are drawn towards it. You can also ask the Goddess to have your soul return to a specific temple. You do this at the temple you want to respawn to."
"Just like any other game. Got it."
"Except if you're not within the proximity of a temple and haven't asked the Goddess to have you respawn at a temple, you will just be blown around in the spirit world until your body reconstitutes itself."
"Oh."
"Or. If the temple you want is too far, your body may reconstitute itself along the way before you reach your intended destination."
"Well that sounds like a recipe for - "
"And, if you get the Goddess mad at you and then die… well you might just get a reincarnation instead of a resurrection."
I really hoped the Goddess only got mad at you if you violated the "No Necromancy or Else!" law instead of something like… working on a holiday or whatever.
When we got to the shop Cherish waved at the large bearded man behind the counter.
“Hello Alonzo, I'm here to get my friend a few things.”
/>
A big man with multi lensed goggles perched on the top of his forehead gave her a wide smile and spoke with a voice that was soft but very deep. "Cherish! My dear!”
Then he jumped over the counter and I saw that he was in fact, a Dwarf. He strode over to us and took her hands into his.
He looked me up and down. “My dear, is this the young man you have been pining over? You have found him? Hmm, a little on the thin side. Not that I have anything against that, I am dating an Half-elf after all. I just pegged you as wanting a bit more… more...”
“Taller, darker and handsomer?” I asked slyly.
“Yes.” Alonzo nodded his head. "That.”
Cherish blushed a deep green and glared at me without meeting my eyes as she said, “He's no… this isn't… I… shut up! Shut up your face!”
I smiled innocently back at her while Alonzo looked between the two of us, his lips pursed.
I decided to take pity on her and said, “We don't have that sort of relationship. We're friends and intend to stay that way. I'm 24601-01, Ruin. By the way.”
“Ah.” He held out a hand and I gave it a shake. "I've been meaning to ask. Every Fallen says a number when they introduce themselves. I understand it is a designation of some sort?"
I looked over at Cherish and she made a go ahead gesture. So I told Alonzo the basics of the Grey Hell as Cherish walked around the store, picking up things and putting them on the counter.
By the time I was done, Alonzo looked horrified and Cherish said she was ready.
He walked back around the counter to a small set of stairs that led to a raised platform, perfectly placed to give him the impression of height.
At first he was subdued as he tallied up the small mountain of purchases but as he listened to Cherish chatter on he seemed to brighten up.
She paid him and I put everything in my bag without looking to see what she had bought. I could always check later.
Then Cherish hesitated and asked how much a good map would cost.
"Well my dear." He stroked his beard thoughtfully. "It depends on what kind of map. It's detail, region, and how accurate it is."
I frowned. "Wait, why wouldn't a map be accurate? What would be the point of an inaccurate map?"
"Ruin, remember. Maps here are different. People actually have to go to places and eyeball what they want to hand draw."
Dubstep Succubus Page 32