Adjusting to 3rd Person Limited… done.
PoV shifting to The Father…done.
Re-engaging vision…done.]
I landed in a small empty chamber, facing an iron-banded wooden door. Breaking in or out of this room would take a hell of a lot of effort. The click of a lock disengaging echoed in the room and the hinges groaned under the weight of the door as it swung open.
The Father walked right through me, and I turned to see him approach a mirror with sconces on either side. Faint ethereal light radiated from the surface of the mirror and shifted as if responding to the Father’s presence. He stood before the mirror and cleared his throat before adjusting his robe with the cut off sleeves. I imagined this is what a red-neck priest living in the bayous of Louisiana looked like.
“Mirror, Mirror on the wall, show me the most [Drama] of all.”
The mirror fogged over, and then the Father reappeared in the viewing area, only he was wearing a gown that did nothing for his figure, and a tiara or crown graced his head.
“What the actual fuck, you goddamned mirror! Why are you showing me in my girlfriend’s ascension outfit… and her crown? No one even knows about the coronation, so how can it be the most drama in the Kongdom, you broken piece of shit.” Without waiting for a reply, the Father stormed out of the room, and the lock reengaged.
“What a drama queen,” The mirror quipped. “I can see you; is there something you’d like to see?”
“I’d like to see Ro, the Goddess of Games. If you are talking to me…?” Confused and unsure, I blurted out the first name that popped into my head. The POV shifts took a turn on me because I did not think I could interfere with anything, especially considering it already happened.
“I am talking to you. Your understanding of [POV Shift] is limited because they aren’t just a linear slide show of events. This entire place is an instance of that event, and all the objects here are real. The only thing you cannot touch is the sequence of events you witnessed.
“If you see a physical object in your instance, you could take it. It means it’s still in the same location as it was during your viewing. I exist here and now—just as you do.” The mirror actually shrugged at me. “I am imprisoned in this room by the Father.”
“That’s not any less confusing,” I told the mirror.
“You are watching the past. I’m an object that exists in all instances where I am linked—currently in this hidden room of the Father’s keep. You are here, as am I, witnessing the past. Locking me away is one of the many reasons the God of Portals is angry with the Father. You should know, gods exist in all realms and instances. If you view her, she can view you too.”
“That’s still confusing.”
“It’s pretty simple; you have created a temporary pocket dimension in which you watch events replay. This space is not the past, but physical recreation—an instance. The objects and place that the event occurred are the same as they are in your viewing. If you break those sconces, next time the Father visits this vault, he will see them broken.”
“Interesting. Who else can interact with these dimensions?”
“I was getting to that. Viewing a god creates a link that they can feel and follow. If you view Ro, she can find and interact with you here in this dimension. It’s dangerous—”
“Wait! Back up a second. If I take you from here, then the Father loses the ability to scry? No more spying on others?”
“Now you are getting it, monkey. She only had to beat you over the head with it three times.”
“Shit tits. NPC, you ass. Should have guessed it was you that was screwing with me.”
NPC appeared next to the mirror as a stuffed teddy bear. He had a ghastly smile that looked like it had been sewed shut at one point. I felt that was poetic justice. One of his button eyes barely hung on by a thread. Stuffing spilled out of the rips and tears across his body.
It was the creepiest damned toy I’d ever seen. Which said a lot considering my parents made me watch Teletubbies, hoping my body would give out from sheer terror.
“Yeah, I know, I’m a little threadbare… Anyway, it wasn’t me putting you on; the mirror is sentient. And because the Father doesn’t carry the item with him, the object is unclaimed. If you take the mirror from here, it is yours. The Father wanted no one to know about the mirror, so he locked it away down here. It’s free for the taking.”
“Yes, please get me out of here.” A face appeared in the mirror. “You should see the crap that lunatic searches for, and he calls me Google, whatever the fuck that is. Ok, Google, where can I find size enhancing drugs? Or… Hey Google, where can I find Chuck Norris? Hey Google, find Betty White on Mr. Skin for me. I don’t even want to know what his ‘queen of the silver bushes’ comment means. Hurry and open your [Bag of Holding] so I can jump the fuck out of this shithole.”
“Are you two related?” I asked NPC and the Mirror.
“Hey, retard, make your choice, time is almost up,” NPC growled.
“Fine, get in Mirror.”
“My name is Sveta, and I’m a lady.” The mirror said and the reflecting material melted until it grew limbs and leapt towards the opening of my bag. “Thanks, NPC. I owe you one.”
Before anyone else could reply, I was kicked out of the PoV.
[Point of View Shift
Adjusting to 1st Person…done.
PoV shifting to yourself…done.
Re-engaging vision and bodily control……done.]
This time, the [PoV Shift] happened so quickly that there wasn’t even a lag in my movement. I was not sure I liked the point of view changes; the shift was nauseating. I liked the information they provided even if it felt voyeuristic.
The point of no return concerned me. When did my actions cross a line, and I became no better than the Father? It was hard to conceive, but I wanted to believe he was a victim of circumstance. That he did not wish to become the deceiver he is now. And his obsession with [Drama] was borderline manic. I have issues, but if [Drama] was a woman, I’m sure the Father would have her poster on his wall and a floor full of crusty socks.
[You have acquired Sveta, The Mirror of Worlds.
Sveta has a mind of her own, and while she is in your possession, if you mistreat her she will escape. As an object, her uses are hers to reveal, and hers alone. Good luck, monkey.]
Disoriented from the sudden switch, the snapping of branches and blur of movement gave me no moment to recover. I stumbled back and fell onto my ass, so much for my high [Agility]. However, the tumble saved my ass, so maybe my luck kicked in.
Amard’s hand glowed green as energy coalesced into empty palm. The snake came back to strike at me again after it overshot, and the green nature energy shot over my head and wrapped around the snake. Roots expanded out of the ground and surrounded the reptile with thorn-covered vines, pinning it to the ground. Its fangs stopped just short of my throat as Amard’s [Root] spell arrested all forward movement.
My mouth opened and spat fire into the snake’s evil face. Negative hit points floated above its head, and each tic of damage the numbers grew exponentially larger until it stopped moving and we all smelled the delicious aroma of cooked snake.
[Dodge +1]
[Fire Breath +1]
“Dammit, those things are insanely fast,” I growled, but Butter was chuckling as he picked up the fried snake and broke its crispy skin off. Rooting around, he came out with a chunk of cooked flesh and ate it.
“Could use some seasoning, but [Burned Snake Meat] isn’t bad.” Butter got up and almost walked away before snapping his fingers. “Oh, and you should be careful using fire in a forest, even if it is a jungle.”
“Why? Rather burn the thing down, and all the fire blasted snakes with it.”
“He has a point,” The druid said.
“Except you risk pissing off the God of Dungeon’s servant, whoever that is. They maintain these realms to make sure everything runs smoothly. Burning down an entire forest has consequences.
In this place, a servant could have the powers of a god.”
“Understood, no burning down the forest. What if it was an accident?” I asked.
Butter gave me a dirty look.
“I’m serious.”
“Why? Just don’t do it.”
“Mm, too late.” I pointed over his shoulder.
Chapter 34
Location: Serpent’s Basin
“What the hell, Deuce!” Butter screamed, losing his composure for the first time since I met him.
“Man, you can’t blame that on me. Look the fire is coming this way from the opposite end of the entrance. No way in hell did I start that.”
“He’s right, Butter. Calm down. It looks like an event is happening down in that river valley.”
Butter looked at me and grinned sheepishly. “Dick.”
I chuckled in reply and guided us down the game trail that might have been an actual trail at one point. It was a little too wide to be natural, and in some spots, it looked as if they lined the path in stone.
Anything that moved, we killed it. I tanked the big stuff while Butter worked on ending the fights quickly and Amard kept me alive. Most of the time I could dodge incoming attacks, but it was those times I misstepped or couldn’t move fast enough that had me earning my keep. Shit hurt in this game, but it could be much worse. That [Bark Skin] spell was probably my favorite [Druid] spell.
We even fought a three-legged bear, which oddly was our toughest fight yet. Damn thing’s fur was so thick that my attacks might as well have been caresses, and I think the bear even tried to kiss me with all the tender loving I was giving her. In the end, we weren’t compatible
“It’s me, baby, not you,” I crowed, not realizing I was talking out loud.
“What the did you say?” Amard asked but hesitated as if he might regret the question.
“Nothing, just my screwed up head giving me flights of fancy.”
“Ok… I withdraw my question.” Amard laughed at me and looked around. “You realize this dungeon is massive? There is no way we could clear this place in a few days.”
“The way that fire is raging, I doubt that’s a problem. We are getting herded towards something.” Butter was distracted by our talking, but the man had eyes like a hawk. He could spot danger before I even knew we were in trouble. I hoped never to do a jungle biome again. It’s not that snakes bothered me, but I did not like how tense I was.
Our path was leading downhill, which was going away from the entrance at an angle. The fire would overtake our entry point in a few hours at the rate it was moving, leaving us trapped. Occasionally, the trees opened up, and we could see the entire basin which is what caused us to stop. A few miles distant was a large town, and from here I could tell the residents were short green-skinned humanoids.
“Goblins,” hissed Butter.
“I think that’s our destination,” the druid pointed out. “Look beyond it. The mountain is riddled with cave entrances. And that temple on the hill—I’d bet that entire hill is the temple, covered after centuries of neglect.”
“That’s a temple of Sissra,” the thief’s face was slack, but I couldn’t tell if it was shock, fear, awe, or all the above.
“Who is Sissra?”
“A snake god worshiped long ago. She was temperamental and prone to fits of madness. It is unclear if she is one of the [Fallen]. Either way, most of the old gods are long gone and dead now. Still, to find one of her temples here of all places—we should tread carefully. If the goblins worship her, then she could still live. If she lives, then we need to flee. Understand? No arguing, we run. The serpent goddess demanded sacrifices of flesh and bone, and the goblins would have no problem sending us as a tribute.”
“Maybe we should just volunteer. I bet we get an amazing reward.” It was clear entering the temple was inevitable.
“Wha—You! What is wrong with you? Why would you volunteer to be a sacrifice?”
“Look around you, we have a fire at our back, and that massive mountain to one side, and some swamp thing to the right, and the only clear destination in our path is that damn temple. You can’t tell me we aren’t going in there already, and again, if we volunteer, we might even get rewarded. I’d guess we are supposed to clear out the temple and save their people or some other nonsense. We could demand whatever we want as a reward. No way in hell’s inferno would they refuse the people that entered the temple and survived. Those little bastards would fear us.”
“Man, you are a whackadoodle,” the druid said. “But… Butter, I can’t fault his logic, and its a point well made.”
Butter’s mouth closed with a click of his teeth, but I could see him reassessing everything. I’d seen gambler’s doing it in my dad’s hidden backroom, where he hosted illegal gambling rings every Friday night. It was the look of a con man, analyzing all the data and calculating the odds. “Fine, I agree it looks like that is our destination, but I do the negotiating with the goblins. They are evil little imps that will trick you into unbreakable contracts. Fucking hate dealing with goblins, but if you two do it, we’d most likely owe them for the honor of being sacrifices.”
“Fine by me, look at those razor-sharp teeth, lack of lips, and beady black eyes. No thanks, I’d rather burn the village down and move on to the temple.”
Butter laughed because I imagine the stick up his ass was moving around and giving him the tickles. “I like the way you think Deuce, but I’d bet all my gold we won’t be able to get into the temple without them.”
The town wasn’t far, and we were approaching the short wooden palisade within minutes. The goblins had spotted us the moment we entered their clearing. Not one of them moved from their post, and they did not shut their gates.
“Well I’ll be a spriggle slock, ye be humans. Ain’t see no human afore. Pappy said ye existed, but I no be believ’n ‘im. And here ye be.” A goblin in a shredded dark purple robe said from right inside the gates. I couldn’t tell if it was a guy or a girl, but that annoying voice made my ears bleed. “Now the question I be wantin’ an answer for is… Is ye edible, or we gonna send ye to Sissra.”
“Well, I don’t know what a struggle rock—”
“Spriggle slock.”
“Yea, that. Wait, what was I talking about?” Butter lost his train of thought because the goblin’s robe had a slight malfunction. A large green breast exposed itself through one rip across the center of the robe.
“I bride you, yes?” To our shock, the goblin was looking right at our druid.
“Uh no, while you are desirable, I no—will marry no one.” Amard struggled to keep his voice steady, and then the little goblin licked her face.
“Yea, bride tasty, you be bride.” The creature had no lips, so her words were jumbly, and her smile stretched almost the entire front half of her face—pointy teeth glinting in the sunlight.
“Why is she asking you to be a bride?” I was not sure if it was a communication problem or I was missing something.
“Bride, yes.” The goblin hissed. “Son, marry.” The lady goblin’s breasts were both exposed for the world to see, and they mesmerized all three of us. I barely noticed her slap the back of another goblin’s head. “Do that, you stay, no sacrifice, you not be food. You not do, you stay out there, [Firestorm] get ya ‘ventually.”
“Shit tits,” I muttered after looking over my shoulder. Away from the tree, we could see the sky more clearly. The jungle wasn’t on fire, well, not yet. The sky rained fire and destruction. It called to me, my [Inner Dragon] was hungry for it.
“I’ll marry your son—”
“No she won’t—She?” I asked not sure why I was asking, but Amard just nodded, and I reassessed her. The men’s clothing and hairstyle made her look rather dull but knowing she was a woman gave it a different slant. There was a hardness to her, and her lithe body I assumed was because he—she was a dancer. The choice of leather armor hid the shape of her body rather well.
“We can talk about it later, what are we go
ing to do about the [Firestorm] coming our way?”
“You will do nothing. Stand about five to ten feet back from me, and under no circumstance to do you interrupt me. Protect me if anything tries to attack, especially those gremlins.”
“No gremlin. We goblin. If braving fire, mayhap I help.” The female goblin produced a vial I recognized. “I see you know. You want?”
“Depends… what is it going to cost?”
“You stay, one night.”
I looked over to Butter who tore his eyes away from the goblin’s breasts, but he was frowning. Amard just raised an eyebrow at me.
“Any advice you two?”
“What is that potion?” Amard asked.
“Prevents my flesh from burning.”
“And do you need it?”
“Well, I need to absorb the [Firestorm]—well not the entire thing. It’s something unique that can give me a permanent upgrade to my [Ku].”
Butter finally stepped up and negotiated.
“What does ‘One night’ mean?”
“He share bed, one night. No force. Friends.” She smiled and batted her eyes, but her razor-sharp teeth gave me a fear boner.
“Nothing else, just share your bed, see what happens. Yes?”
“Yes. I a [Dark Herbalist], may try things.” The Dark Herbalist goblin said, but I did not understand what that meant.
“You share your bed with him and do not use your concoctions on him without his consent. Same with anything you try in bed. You must get his consent. Yes?” Butter was adamant about the consent, which was making me more and more nervous.
“Yes, yes. I get consent.” The goblin was smiling, her eyes twinkling mischievously.
My group stepped away from them for a moment.
“Did I get sold out for a [Fire Immunity Potion]? I feel dirty.”
“It is on you now, man. You slice your thumb and smear her forehead, and she’ll do the same to you. After that, the deal is struck, and she’ll abide by it.” Butter barely contained his laughter.
“You sure you want to do that?” Amard looked concerned, and I shrugged at her. She looked back at the goblin. “I mean she’s not ugly, and if she didn’t have a shark mouth, you might get the better deal. The other option is we burn the town to the ground.”
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