Scourge of Souls: The Realms Book Four: (An Epic LitRPG Series)

by C. M. Carney

  “This is that Sliding Doors thing again,” Lex said. He walked up to Vonn Two, received a kick to the shin from the kid, took a step back, flipped the kid off and paused, eyes wide. “Wait, did I just create a bunch of different mes there?”

  “Yes, and some of them are more polite than you,” Vonn Prime said.

  “Barely more polite,” Vonn Two added.

  “So, what you’re telling us is that you pulled another you from one of these alternate realities?”

  “Yes,” Vonn Prime said.

  “How?” Lex asked.

  “Become a Templar of the Source and you may learn how,” Vonn Two said.

  “Is there an easier way?”

  “No,” both Vonns said as one.

  “How long does it last?” Gryph asked.

  “That depends on a variety of factors. If I pull only one, then up to an hour at my current skill level. The more Vonns I draw through the aether, the less time they can stay here, and the bigger hit my stamina takes.”

  “Wait, you can make more yous?” Lex asked, cocking his head to the side at the oddness of pluralizing the word you.

  “He did not make me. I exist, as you do and he does,” Vonn Two indicated Vonn Prime. “He pulls me here, from there.”

  “Errat can see this.” All eyes went to the large warborn. “All things have an aura crafted from bits of their true nature reflected back by the aether.” He looked at Gryph and then Ovrym. “It was how Errat knew what I knew about you when first we did meet.”

  He turned his focus back to the two Vonns, pointing at Vonn Two. “You have a different aura than he.”

  “Intriguing,” Vonn Prime said. “Nobody has ever been able to tell which of us was this Realm’s Vonn. I would like to study this with you when the chance presents itself.”

  “Errat would very much like that.”

  “You guys are boring,” the kid said. “How about you douchebags let me go and then you can have your lil’ fancy talkin’ tea party without me.” Lex looked at him, the beginnings of recognition forming on his face. He motioned and Vonn Two lowered the kid to the ground. Beady eyes stared through a shaggy mop of dirty hair. Lex walked up and pulled the hair from the kid’s face.

  “Furrick?”

  “Yeah, who are you ya dink nozzle?”

  “Dink nozzle?” Lex muttered.

  “You know this kid?” Gryph asked.

  “Yeah, I taught this little ingrate how to pickpocket so he could feed his little sister.”

  “I never met you before you potato nosed git,” Furrick said.

  “Potato?” Lex said, reaching up to his nose self-consciously.

  “Lex. Focus. Who is this kid?”

  “His name is Furrick, and in one of my time loops I showed him how to steal from the rich losers in town. But, he doesn’t remember me cuz it was in an earlier loop, one that technically never happened to anyone but me.”

  “Yet he knows the words douche and asshat,” Gryph said. “Those words are Earth slang. How do you explain that?”

  “I dunno,” Lex said with a shrug. “I use them a lot, they’re good words. Maybe I started a trend in town without realizing it. Yay me, I’m an Influencer.”

  “Yeah, we should limit that in the future,” Vonn Two said. Vonn Prime nodded his agreement and Lex scowled at Vonn Two.

  “When are you going back to your … dimension?”

  “I have most of an hour still. No reason to head back yet.”

  “You're welcome to stay if you can keep this guy on topic,” Gryph said, pointing at Lex.

  “I make no promises,” Vonn Two said.

  Gryph smiled ruefully and knelt next to Furrick. “You look hungry kid.” Furrick’s eyes went greedily to the elvish ration Gryph held. “Give me the amulet and I’ll give you this.” Furrick licked his lips and his stomach grumbled, but then he stared right at Gryph.

  “You gotta do better than that,” Furrick said, trying to put on a tough guy vibe. “I almost died down there and I think I deserve a proper payment, for services rendered.”

  “How ‘bout you consider your life as payment,” Lex said.

  “Nah, that necklace has gotta be worth more than that.”

  Lex stared at the kid, mouth agape. “I don’t even know how to respond to that.”

  “How did you manage that kid disappear trick?” Gryph asked.

  “I ain’t sayin’ nuthin’,” Furrick scowled and thumbed a silver ring on his finger. Understanding came to Gryph.

  “It's the ring isn’t it. It’s magical.”

  Furrick cursed himself and then shrugged. “Maybe.”

  “I thought you were poor,” Lex grumbled. “Where did you get a magic ring?

  “I may have liberated it from the constable’s office when nobody was looking. I may have snuck in while everyone was up the hill waiting to see some loser hang.”

  “Hey, I was that loser,” Lex complained and then scowled upon realizing he’d just insulted himself.

  Furrick squinted. “If you say so. Anyway, it lets me hide in plain sight as long as I don’t move, and when I move I can move real fast.”

  Gryph identified the ring and told the others it was a Ring of the Zipping Chameleon. It had some very impressive Stealth capabilities, and a serious boost to dexterity and speed. “What were you doing in that dungeon?”

  “I was hired by this bunch of jerks called the Vex to be their guide.”

  “The Vex?” Vonn said in alarm. “Are you sure?”

  “Sure. Creepy bunch of jackholes, but they paid good.”

  “Who are the Vex?” Gryph asked.

  “An organized crime gang,” Lex said. “

  “They’re more than that,” Vonn said. “While the lower echelons are petty criminals, the inner circle are all chaos cultists. They were the reason I was in Harlan’s Watch.”

  “You didn’t tell me that?” Lex asked, annoyed. “Why?”

  “I was on a secret mission, and you have not shown that you can keep your mouth shut.”

  “Fair enough,” Lex said with a pout.

  “It was the Vex who turned on the chaos device in the dungeon,” Gryph realized and turned to Furrick. “You saw them turn it on, didn’t you?”

  “Yeah,” Furrick agreed. “Right after we beat the dungeon, they messed around with that creepy altar. Then stuff got weird. Not too long after that the big bunnies showed up. One of the Vex went nuts and smashed the altar, and the others couldn’t turn it off. Then the bunnies got bigger and meaner. So, I hid, and the Vex were all eaten and then I was stuck. I’ve been hiding for days.”

  “Fascinating story kid, but it's time to hand over the amulet.” Lex stood, legs splayed wide in his best tough guy stance.

  “Nah,” Furrick said. “Think I’ll keep it.”

  Gryph decided on another tactic, one called bribery. He pulled a ring from his bag. It was the least valuable of the rings he’d found in the Barrow, but still worth at least a hundred gold pieces. He held it up and saw the greedy glint in the kid’s eyes. “It’s magical, like the one you already have.”

  “What’s it do?” Furrick asked, eyes greedy.

  “It gives its master the power to blow off limbs; arms and legs gone.” Gryph made an explosion noise with his mouth and watched as excitement and greed battled on the kid’s face and knew he had him. “Give me the amulet and it's yours.”

  Furrick thought for a moment, but no kid, especially one as headstrong as Furrick could resist the power to blow off limbs. He dug into his jerkin and handed the amulet to Gryph.

  “We have a deal then.” Gryph tossed the ring and Furrick grabbed it out of midair and slipped it on. He held his hand up admiring the glint. “Oh, there’s one more thing,” Gryph said, drawing mana into his hand. A green glow flowed from Gryph’s hand and into the ring.

  “What did you do?” The kid demanded.

  “I needed to activate it. A simple spell.” Gryph knelt and stared the kid right in the eye. “Now, I want your wor
d you won’t say anything about any of this to anyone.”

  “That’ll cost you extra.” The kid smirked, thinking he’d played Gryph.

  “Only fair,” Gryph said smiling. “And I have the perfect payment for you. I’ll let you keep your arm.”

  “Arm?” Furrick asked, fear leaking into his voice. “What do you mean?”

  “I told you the ring gave its master the power to blow off arms and legs. What makes you think you’re the master?”

  Understanding dawned on Furrick and his eyes snapped to the ring. He reached down to tear it from his finger.

  “Uh, uh,” Gryph said, wagging his finger back and forth. “Wouldn’t do that if you wanna keep the arm.”

  “You’re the master?”

  “Yup and here are the rules. You listening?” Furrick nodded. “Good. One, you will tell nobody you saw us, including that darling lil’ sister of yours. Two, do not try to remove the ring. Fail to follow these rules and BOOM, no more arm.”

  The kid jumped back, startled by the volume of Gryph’s voice, and for a moment Gryph almost felt bad for him. Then the feeling faded. Saving Brynn required this kid keep his yap shut. A few days of well-deserved fear would ensure he complied.

  “Do we have an understanding?”

  Furrick nodded. “Yes, sir.”

  “Good. Now go sit by that tree and stay out of the way until you’re called.” Furrick backed away, his arm held rigid at his side as if he feared that any sudden motion would cause the ring to explode.

  Lex walked up and whispered in a low voice. “That was cruel. Well done.”

  “Thanks,” Gryph said with a sly grin, but then a feeling of guilt built inside him and his grin turned sour. “Let’s see if this whole thing was worth it.”

  44

  Gryph turned his attention to the amulet. Identify told him it contained a spell called Transmission. He asked, but none of the others had ever heard of it. He examined the amulet closer, searching for some kind of trigger, but found nothing.

  “I don’t understand,” Gryph said, looking up at Lex, his face showing the signs of worry. “This has to be from Brynn. There has to be a way to activate it.”

  “Let me try,” Lex said, holding his hand out. After a slight hesitation Gryph handed him the amulet. Lex stared at it for a moment before shaking it, like a frustrated father trying to force his kid’s uncooperative toy to work. Gryph was about to berate Lex when a pale blue light illuminated the eyes of the gryphon. “Huh, something is …”

  Twin beams of searing blue light as bright as a lightning strike erupted from the amulet and slammed into Lex’s eyes. The NPC seized, shaking like an electrocuted man. A pained gurgle sputtered from his mouth followed by a froth of cappuccino like foam.

  Then, with a flash, the twin beams blinked out. Lex stood rigid, wide eyes focused on nothing. “Oof,” he said calmly and then teetered backwards, like a falling tree. The others reacted, but none reached the Ordonian before he hit the ground with a fleshy thud.

  Gryph rushed to his NPC’s side. While his own Analyze skill was not the equal of his downed friend’s, it sufficed to tell Gryph that Lex had lost only a few points of health in the fall. Behind closed eyelids Lex’s eyes were spastic, like a man caught in the throes of a dream.

  Gryph looked to the others and shrugged. He had no idea what was happening to Lex, and by the looks on their faces neither did anyone else.

  “Ha,” Furrick chortled from his spot leaning against the tree. “What an asshat.” The kid added insult to injury with a bout of exaggerated laughter. Without looking Gryph pointed at the kid, a small amount of mana glowing around the fingertip. The threat had the desired effect and Furrick went quiet, his hand rubbing at his forearm as if willing it to remain intact.

  Ovrym knelt by Gryph and placed a hand on Lex’s forehead. “I can feel him, but he is distant as if…”

  With a start Lex surged up into a sitting position and looked around in confusion and panic. “What the hell!” he yelled.

  “Lex, you okay?” Gryph asked and the shorter man closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. Gryph and Ovrym hefted the stocky Ordonian to his feet.

  “Ow, this is so weird. Gimme a minute here.” Something about his voice sounded different. The others noticed as well and the entire group fanned out, encircling the NPC. The Lex that wasn’t Lex looked around, his body growing tense as he saw the force arrayed against him. He traced his hands down his body and scowled. “Man, all that hard work and this is how he ends up. Disappointing.”

  “Who are you?” Gryph asked, his grip on his spear growing tighter. Ovrym placed a hand on the hilt of his blade. The presence inhabiting Lex did not seem at all frightened as he looked from face to face, finally settling on Gryph.

  “Hey man, you’re Finn, I can tell by the eyes. Same as Brynn’s. What is it with players? Always keep their eyes. Must be some kinda masturbatory identity self-love thing.”

  Gryph grabbed not-Lex by the throat and pushed him against the nearest tree. “Quit yapping and tell me who you are and how you know my name?”

  “First off, you can’t strangle me, but you can strangle Lex. Second, I’m a friend, so like chill dude.”

  Gryph held his grip and stared. Whoever was inhabiting Lex sounded an awful lot like an Earth slacker. “You’re a player?”

  “Sure am. One of maybe two dozen left in all the Realms.”

  “Who are you?”

  “Thought my charm and witty repartee made that obvious. I’m Sean man.”

  “Sean,” Gryph said releasing his grip slightly. “You worked with Brynn, back before all this started.”

  “We did more than work together,” Sean said. “If you know what I mean. Nothing serious, just friends with benefits.” Sean paused and looked at Gryph, as if remembering whose mind, experiences and skills dwelled inside the tall El’Edryn warrior. “Not that I didn’t want to get serious, but she’s a real modern girl, and…” He saw the look on Gryph’s face and felt the grip on his neck tighten. “Umm, I’ll shut up now.”

  “No, you will answer my questions, quickly and without unnecessary bullshit.” Gryph forced himself to calm and released his grip. Sean rubbed at Lex’s throat. Apparently he could feel the pain that Lex’s body experienced. That was good to know. “Where is Brynn?”

  “I don’t know, I’m a little out of the loop. Been locked up in the Pit.” Sean took on an air of braggadocio. “Got sick of it, so I escaped.”

  “The Pit!” Vonn said, his voice alarmed. Gryph looked to him for explanation. “It’s Aluran’s private prison, and the most feared place on all Korynn. Only the worst criminals are kept there. Escape is impossible,” Vonn said.

  “Escape was impossible, Let’s say I took drastic action I'm not in the mood to talk about and leave it at that.”

  “But, you are not … here,” Errat said. “You are elsewhere.”

  Sean looked to Errat and squealed. “Woah, what the Sam Hill are you?”

  “Errat is warborn. Errat is wrong.”

  Gryph waved a hand. “We don’t have time for life stories. Why should I trust you? For all I know you deserved to be locked up?”

  “There’s no need to disparage my character guy. I’m no saint, but I have done nothing bad enough to warrant getting tossed in that hell hole with those nutbags.”

  “Whether you deserved it is a moot point,” Vonn said. “If Aluran put you there, he had a reason, which means he either wants something from you or he fears you. Both are bad news for us.”

  “You do not strike me as one who would scare the High God,” Ovrym said. "What does Aluran want from you?"

  “Hey, I’m a lot scarier than I look in this body.”

  “Bullshit,” Gryph said. “Why were you locked up?”

  “Fine,” Sean said. “It’s not like it's some big secret. He wants me cuz of the things I build. I have this secret identity that is kinda famous. They call me the Maker.”

  “The Maker?” Vonn said, awe and disbelie
f warring on his face. “There is no way you’re the Maker.”

  “Says you,” Sean retorted.

  Gryph looked at Vonn, once again aware of how limited his cultural knowledge of the Realms was. “Who is the Maker?”

  “He is a legend, perhaps the most accomplished artificer on Korynn.” Vonn’s eyes grew wide as admiration filled him.

  “There’s no perhaps about it. I’m the best.”

  “What does Aluran want from you?” Gryph asked.

  “A weapon.”

  “What kind of weapon?”

  “The player killing kind. The permanent player killing kind as in no more respawns. That’s why I escaped when I did. I was close to finishing it. He knew I was close. Once I finished he'd have no more use for me and I'd end up dead, so I skedaddled.”

  A surge of fear rushed through Gryph. His ability to respawn, to come back from death, was arguably his most potent ability, one that might even trump the powers granted him by his Prime Godhead. If Aluran got his hands on a weapon that could kill players permanently, he’d be unstoppable.

  “He knows I’m gone,” Sean said. “He’ll send people to find me. I need you to get to me first.”

  “Where are you?” Gryph asked.

  “Harlan’s Watch.”

  “Then why don’t you come to us," Ovrym asked.

  “Cuz I need your help with something,” Sean said in a tone Gryph knew meant he’d be in the thick of the shit soon.

  “What kind of something?” Gryph asked.

  “I need you to break me out of jail.”

  “Wait, didn’t you already do that?” Vonn asked.

  “Different jail. I’m currently an unwilling guest in the finest iron barred room in Harlan’s Watch, courtesy of these dickknocker psychos called the Vex.”

  Gryph and Vonn exchanged glances.

  “Why don’t you break out?” Ovrym asked, snark in his voice. “Should be an easy task after the Pit.”

  “You’d think so. I guess I blew my wad on that one.”

  “You talk a lot like Lex,” Vonn said.

  “Aw thanks," Sean said. “Makes sense, since I’m kinda like one of his dads.”

  “Can we stay on point here?” Gryph grumbled and looked back at Sean. “So, let's cut this short. You need us to break you out of jail before Aluran’s minions get here and force you to complete a weapon that can permanently kill me?”