by Demi Harper
It was clear that no gnome had ever returned from one of these kobold raids – least of all one so unimportant as Gneil. Many of the gnomes averted their eyes from him suspiciously, scurrying for cover as though he was contagious, or as though his very survival were a curse that would call down even more kobolds on them all.
Others remained unmoved; their dazed countenances told of shock and despair, doubtless a consequence of the latest kobold raid to snatch their nearest and dearest away from them.
But there were some gnomes – half a dozen, by my count – who listened raptly to Gneil’s tale; who stared in awe at my avatar, Ris’kin, before turning themselves to face my gem with wonder in their eyes; and who, when Gneil was finished speaking, dropped to their knees and bowed their heads.
The unmistakable signs of Faith shone from them, green and vibrant, accompanied by lines of flowing blue mana.
‘Corey!’ Ket trilled. ‘Gneil’s converted them! They’ve become Faithful! That should easily be enough to push you up into—’
An inrush of blissful sensations temporarily battered my senses. Damn, that feeling of Ascension was almost worth the hassle it took to achieve it. Almost.
‘—god tier four,’ finished Ket.
I checked the Augmentary and, sure enough, the third tier of the triangle was full, and was labelled with the number ‘four’. Better still, the next tier was already a quarter full with shiny emerald Faith.
My progress toward the next, larger tier reminded me that I’d need to accumulate an increasing number of Faithful in order to reach each tier – so my job was only going to get tougher from now on.
That wasn’t a comforting thought. This whole ‘god’ thing hadn’t exactly been a walk in the mushroom park up till now; what more would I have to overcome in my journey to freedom?
On the other hand, my gem had grown a fraction larger, and I’d gained another mana globe. I now had four. They floated in a vertical column down the right-hand side of my Augmentary, their pale blue outlines an eerie counterpoint to the cheerful green triangle on the opposite side.
The top three globes were empty; only the bottom one contained any mana, though even as I watched, the sweet blue flow of power from my worshiping Faithful – eight of them in total, including Granny and Gneil – began to trickle into the second.
I basked in their attention, but it was too good to last. First one, then two more of the new worshipers stood up and wandered away, as though already bored of their commitment to their new deity. The flow of mana from them was cut off, and the refilling of my globes slowed.
‘Fickle creatures!’ I cried, dismayed. ‘Why is the mana gone?’
‘As you’ve already seen, your denizens only provide you with mana when they are actively worshiping you. But fear not, Corey,’ Ket assured. ‘They’re still members of your Faithful; see the green aura they’re still emitting? That hasn’t changed, otherwise you’d have lost some of your progress in the triangle, and maybe even dropped back down to tier three.’
‘Wait – I can lose tiers?’ This was not a welcome development. ‘How do I make sure they remain Faithful, then, Ket?’
‘Short bursts of increased Faith – like when Ris’kin rescued Gneil – are all well and good,’ said the sprite, ‘but you’ll need more than that if you’re to maintain and grow your following. You need something more useful, which benefits them directly. Something enduring, or better yet, permanent. Don’t worry; we’ll get to that in time.’
It seemed nothing good around here could be taken for granted. Which was a shame, since that was my favorite way of taking things.
Sensing my mood, Ket hurried to reassure me. ‘That’s not to say you shouldn’t be proud of this, Corey. It’s a small victory, but it’s worth celebrating.’
I’d been about to inspect my new fourth-tier ability, but Ket’s words recalled my recent conversation with the mysterious interloper. ‘Enjoy your little victory, little god.’
‘Ket,’ I said hesitantly, ‘who’s Grimrock?’
Her good humor vanished instantly. She ceased her endless moving around, and her glow dimmed until she was almost invisible. ‘Where… where did you hear that name?’ she whispered.
My trepidation curdled into something even worse. To feel fear was one thing. But to hear it in the words of another provoked a whole new level of worry.
Through all that had happened in our short time together, I’d never heard so much as a drop of fear in the sprite’s voice. Alarm, yes; urgency, plenty; but this, now, was something else entirely. Something that sounded very much like terror.
‘Corey, where did you hear that name?’
‘There was a voice!’ I blurted out. ‘When we left the tunnel. A voice spoke to me out of nowhere. Called me ‘little god’, the patronizing git. Said someone called Grimrock was watching me.’ I shuddered at the memory. ‘It was pretty creepy, if I’m honest.’
Ket was trembling now. ‘Another God Core,’ she said slowly, ‘jealous of their new competition and trying to knock your confidence. Don’t think on this any longer.’
‘But who is this Grimrock? Could this guy be one of his surviving minions? And how did he know—’
‘Look, Corey, Grimrock was… bad,’ said Ket quietly. ‘Really bad. He was infamous. In times past, there wasn’t a living soul who didn’t know his name, and shiver when they heard it spoken.’ She shuddered, as if to prove her point. ‘But he’s gone now. It couldn’t possibly have been him.’
She didn’t sound convinced, and neither was I. But I’m a firm believer that the best thing to do with your problems is to bury them; eventually, they’ll go away naturally. At least, I seemed to remember that being the case with all living ‘problems’ in my former life.
Another memory flashed before me, as clear as the image of the underground city had when I’d first come to my awareness in this cavern. This time I saw robed, hooded figures lying crumpled and broken at the bottom of a rocky fissure, and knew them to be my former enemies.
I dragged my mind from these disturbing revelations, both new and old, and returned my attention to our surroundings. Not content with simply converting the new worshipers, Gneil was leading them toward my gem, gesticulating wildly as he went. They trailed after him like a gaggle of wayward ducklings.
I watched anxiously, remembering the last unfortunate occasion he’d led others to my hillock only to be scornfully pelted with mushrooms. One of the gnomes stopped for a moment, bent down, then straightened and continued on. The others followed suit.
My concern doubled when I realized what they were doing: these so-called ‘Faithful’ gnomes were collecting rocks on their way over to my gem. What if they decided to use them to smash me?
‘What are they doing, Ket?’
She frowned down at them for a moment. Then she began to glow again, and zipped from side to side excitedly. ‘Corey,’ she said, her voice suddenly brimming with glee. ‘They’re building you an altar!’
Eleven
The Gold Core
The gnomes were certainly building something. As the base of a small, shoddy structure slowly took shape around my gem, Ket expounded on the positives of this new development.
‘Just you wait, Corey,’ she told me, the Grimrock incident apparently forgotten for the time being. ‘A completed altar opens up a whole new world of possibilities.’
‘I am waiting,’ I said grumpily, still underwhelmed by the gnomes’ construction efforts.
All eight of them – the six new converts, as well as Gneil and Granny – were toiling up and down the hillock, dragging rocks and dumping them in a rough circle around where my gem sat propped on its own pile of flat stones. It was hard to believe these wonky foundations would open up anything except a possible tripping hazard.
‘Still waiting,’ I added.
Ket fizzed disapprovingly at my impatience. ‘Well, while we wait, how about you take a look at your new abilities?’
‘Are you sure? I can barely cope wit
h all this excitement as it is.’
One of the gnomes dropped his rock; it rolled back down the hill. Gneil and the others watched gormlessly as the first gnome chased after the rock, arms outstretched.
‘See?’ I told Ket. ‘This whole ‘altar’ thing is truly overwhelming.’
‘Corey…’
‘Oh, fine.’
I opened my Augmentary, slightly miffed to note that my new fourth mana globe was empty, and the third was still barely a quarter full after that earlier bout of worship.
I must find a way to make the gnomes worship harder, and more often.
Sighing, I navigated to my list of abilities. If I’d had a heartbeat, it would have quickened at the sight of not one, not two, but three new entries at the bottom of the list.
Observe
Tier 4 ability
Mana-based
Using a denizen as your target, extend your vision to see beyond your Sphere of Influence for a short time. This ability consumes a small amount of mana per second.
Hm. An interesting skill. If only I’d had it earlier, I’d have been able to track my captured denizens, and perhaps learn where the kobolds’ filthy lair was situated.
Trying not to be too annoyed at this untimeliness, I moved down to examine the next ability.
Scout
Tier 4 ability
Mana-based
Instruct denizens to leave your base in search of new resources.
‘Ket, what exactly does it mean by “resources”?’ I asked.
‘Anything that the gnomes construe as being useful to their tribe,’ came the sprite’s reply. ‘Building materials, metals, food, plants, animals…’
I didn’t care about plants – did anyone? – but the idea of having access to a much wider menagerie of creatures when creating my god-born minions was very appealing indeed.
Why make squirrel-foxes when I could have… I don’t know… dragon-bears?
My mind buzzing with possibilities, I scanned down to the final new ability on the list.
Raid
Tier 4 ability
Mana-based
Instruct denizens to leave your base and attack a rival faction.
‘Brilliant!’ I exclaimed to Ket. ‘We can take revenge on those damned kobolds, and maybe even rescue some of the captured gnomes! This is perfect— oh, wait…’
My initial excitement fizzled and died when I re-read Raid’s description. Denizens. That meant…
‘I’m meant to send gnomes to attack them?’
I’d initially pictured being able to send my god-born. An army of forrels would no doubt easily tear apart the enemy and bring back their prisoners, who would fall down and worship at my altar-in-progress and make me Ascend once again.
But… gnomes? They’d shown me that they could barely put one foot in front of the other without tripping over their own toes. I couldn’t send gnomes!
Could I?
Ket glowed sympathetically. ‘Not yet, of course. In time, your gnomes will become more—’
‘You know what?’ I interrupted. I’d had an idea, and began searching the settlement in the vain hope of recognizing some of the heretics who’d pelted Gneil with mushrooms not so long ago. ‘Let’s send some of the less devoted ones, see how they get on. It’s about time they contributed around here.’
‘You can’t be serious.’
‘Why not? None of my so-called ‘denizens’ are irreplaceable, except Gneil himself.’
As if to prove my point, the same altar-building gnome from earlier dropped his rock again. This time, it landed on his foot before rolling once more down the hillock.
He squealed and hopped after it, but lost his balance and toppled forward. His dirty brown toga rode up his legs and exposed pale buttocks that looked like a matching pair of potatoes. He managed to yank the treacherous garment down again, and clutched the material tightly between his legs as he rolled down the hill, the very picture of indignity.
‘They’re not exactly fighting material,’ said Ket earnestly. ‘Wouldn’t you agree?’
It was hard to dispute that. But as they say: nothing ventured, nothing gained. And I had a lot to gain from this potential venture. If we could strike at the kobolds now, we at least stood a chance of hurting them, which would deter them from future attacks.
Even better, perhaps we could steal back some of the captured gnomes, aka. potential ready-made worshipers. Best-case scenario, we defeated the kobolds in their own den, ensuring no more raids would ever take place again. Surely they would not be expecting an attack from such unlikely quarters.
‘They’re not fighters,’ I admitted to Ket. ‘But…’
Down by the altar, Gneil was remonstrating crossly with a gnome who had abandoned his building duties in favor of examining the insects on the bottom of the rock he was holding. The distracted gnome was staring avidly at a woodlouse, happily oblivious to Gneil’s waving arms and reddening face.
I sighed.
‘They’re not fighters,’ I said again, ‘but they’re all I’ve got for this.’
‘All right,’ said Ket, that now-familiar note of challenge in her voice. ‘Go ahead. But first, I suggest you use Observe to see what’s in store for your intrepid new forces.’
Suspicious of the sprite’s sudden acquiescence, I considered her suggestion. Was she trying to trick me into using up all my mana so that I’d be unable to trigger Raid?
No; when I consulted the Augmentary, it showed me that Observe would use up only a tenth of one of my mana globes per second. I had two and a quarter currently filled. Even if that hadn’t been the case, I supposed it did make sense to do a bit of reconnaissance rather than barging in blindly.
‘Fine. Good idea. Now, how do I do this?’
My acceptance seemed to surprise her, for it took her a moment to respond. ‘There are some things you need to understand first, Corey, before using Observe. Now, it’s useful for exploring – scouting, if you will – just outside your Sphere of Influence. Remember when you tried to travel outside it, and met that invisible barrier?’
How could I forget?
‘The barrier will be a little further out now, of course, because your Sphere expands with each god tier you gain, but it’s still there.’
Fighting the urge to mosey on down the tunnel and find out exactly how much my domain had grown this time, I asked instead, ‘That’s neat, but what’s it got to do with me using Observe right now?’
‘Everything,’ the sprite replied. Her usual enthusiasm seemed dampened somehow, as though she was finding the conversation difficult. ‘If you’d possessed Observe earlier, you’d have been able to use it to follow that kobold beyond your Sphere, and keep an eye on it for as long as you had mana to power the ability.’
I interrupted, my impatience getting the better of me. ‘I know this, and I’ve already read the—'
‘However,’ Ket interjected in a warning tone, ‘now that you do have the ability, it’s imperative you conserve enough mana to return to your Sphere. If you expend all your mana before you make it back…’
I reeled back as a sudden vision entered my mind. I sensed Ket’s reassuring presence behind it, but also her urgency. I tried to shake off my shock at the sudden intrusion and focus on what she was showing me.
In the vision, a glowing golden rock perched atop an altar made of rocks. It was a God Core, I realized. And it was in exactly the same place my gem was resting right now.
Why is she showing me this?
But the vision wasn’t done. The gold Core began to shudder, then to glow brighter. Sickly yellow light shone through the cracks appearing on its surface.
That can’t be good.
With a screeching sound and a final violent judder, the golden rock shattered into a million shards.
Aureate shrapnel shrieked through the air in a thousand different directions. I instinctively tried to duck, though the scene was taking place within my mind’s eye only. When I looked again, all that remained of th
e shining Core was a dull, dead black pebble, sitting amidst a mound of cracked and smoking altar stones.
Twelve
Den of Thieves
The vision faded. There was silence between Ket and I for several moments as I pondered the horror of what she’d just shown me. Eventually, I asked with apprehension, ‘That Core… it was here before me? And you were there when it… it shattered?’
‘Yes,’ she said, so quietly I almost didn’t hear her. ‘That’s what will happen if you expend all your mana using an ability such as Observe. Do you understand my caution now?’
Of course I did. But—
‘You were the one who suggested I use it in the first place!’ I accused.
‘Yes, Corey,’ she said wearily. ‘But only because I want you to see exactly what you’re planning on sending your poor gnomes into.’
Poor gnomes? Poor me, more like, for being saddled with the useless sacks of snot.
‘All right,’ I told Ket. ‘I understand the risks. Now how does it work?’
‘Well…’ Ket still sounded hesitant about the whole thing. ‘If one of your denizens is somewhere outside your Sphere of Influence, you can use Observe to transport yourself – in god’s-eye form only, of course – to their location,’ she said.
‘That sounds easy enough.’
‘Don’t get cocky,’ warned the sprite. ‘There’s still the possibility that you’ll expend too much mana – just like you almost did when experimenting with Growth.’ She injected brightness into her tone, though it sounded forced. ‘But that’s why I’m here! I’ll monitor your mana levels and call you back when you’re running low.’
Ket still didn’t quite sound convinced. She needn’t have feared, though; I had no plans whatsoever to follow in the footsteps – so to speak – of that foolish gold Core she’d shown me.
‘It’s only been a couple of hours since the raid,’ I pointed out. ‘Wherever the kobolds are now, it can’t be far. The raiders weren’t carrying any supplies other than weapons, so I suspect their base is quite close. They may even have arrived there by now.’