by A F Kay
Chapter 60
“What are you doing here?” Sift said to Lylan.
“What does it look like?” Lylan responded.
Sift walked toward Lylan, his body relaxed, and Ruwen tensed for combat. Sift only got this relaxed when he was about to fight.
“It looks like a trick,” Sift said. “You walk in here with the people that have already tried to kill us twice. It only makes sense you would betray me again by helping them a third time.”
“Oh, there was going to be a third time,” Lylan said. “These two had set an ambush for you outside the dungeon.”
Sift stopped ten feet from the group. Hamma and Ruwen walked closer from opposite sides.
“You followed us,” Sift said, “so you could tell your Naktos friends where we were again?”
Lylan bit her lip. “I am trying to help you.”
“It sure doesn’t look that way,” Sift said.
Lylan’s face twisted in pain. “You know the rules! Telling you her business could cost me everything!”
“I know. You told me before. You can’t trust me,” Sift said, sadness making the words hard to hear.
Lylan’s eyes glistened. “I couldn’t then. But I do now.”
Lylan raised her right hand. The Moonstone Ring of Remembrance glittered in the light.
Sift stared at the ring, then at Lylan. “You found the ring?”
“There’s the brilliant man I love so much,” Lylan said with a smile.
“You remember?” Sift said, his face transforming from pain into hope.
“Yes, Sifty,” Lylan said with a small smile.
“Sifty?” Ruwen blurted.
Sift pointed at Ruwen but kept his eyes fixed on Lylan. “Not now.”
He strode toward her.
“Uh, Sift? Don’t get too close to the –” Ruwen said, trying to warn his friend. But it was too late.
As Sift neared House Captain Juva, the swordsman tried to sucker punch Sift from the side. Sift, without looking, blocked the punch and then struck the swordsman in the throat. Juva collapsed to his knees, gasping for air.
Slib, taking advantage of the distraction, dashed for the tunnel entrance. Lylan, her eyes locked on Sift, stuck out her foot and tripped Slib. The bully slammed into the ground and didn’t move.
Lylan rotated her crossbow behind her, and the two gripped each other in a fierce hug.
“You remember,” Sift said again. “I have missed you so much.”
The two separated, and Lylan wiped her eyes. Then she punched Sift in the shoulder.
“You’ve been carrying this around and only now find me?” Lylan said.
Sift turned and stared at Ruwen.
Ruwen’s cheeks burned. “I’ll take the blame for that. Sift only found out about the ring yesterday. He immediately tried to track you down.”
Lylan nodded. “The ring is how you found me. I thought I had lost my touch.”
Hamma walked closer to the couple and held up a hand. “I’m Hamma. It’s nice to meet you again, Lylan.”
Lylan nodded at her. “I’m sorry about before.”
“What were you doing?” Sift asked.
Lylan bit her lip again. “Mistress Ky had me meet with the assassin to give them information on,” Lylan nodded at Ruwen, “I assume him.”
“Why would Ky betray us?” Sift asked.
Lylan shook her head. “She wasn’t. The meeting was just an excuse so I could place a tracker on the assassin. Then I was supposed to fetch Tremine. We were going to ambush them and eliminate the Naktos threat. And then you showed up. For a Step Master, you have the worst timing.”
Sift looked down, and his shoulders slumped. “Why are you telling me now? You said you’ve never trusted anyone.”
“And that was the truth,” Lylan said.
Sift stiffened.
Lylan looked up at Sift and cupped his cheek. “Then I found the ring you’d thrown, and against my better judgment, I put it on. And then I remembered I had found trust, and more. But those memories had been lost.”
The two hugged again, and Ruwen looked away.
“Are you expecting company?” Hamma asked. “My Sense Harm ability just triggered.”
House Captain Juva, still on his knees, croaked, “I hear them, too.”
Ruwen didn’t hear anything, but he assumed the House Captain had many skills Ruwen didn’t. And the other two people with the most experience in sneaking around and detecting others doing the same were thoroughly distracted.
Lylan separated herself from Sift and had her crossbow pointed at the tunnel in a blink.
A moment later, she lowered it as Tremine entered the cavern. He stopped and looked around and gave Ruwen a sad smile. Ruwen’s heart thumped in worry. Had something terrible happened?
“There are so many of you,” Tremine said. “I didn’t expect such a crowd.” He waved at Hamma and Ruwen. “Gather up so I don’t have to keep looking around.”
Juva helped Slib to stand. The bully had a cut on his temple where his head had slammed into a rock.
Tremine stepped up to Ruwen, hugged him, and then readjusted Ruwen’s cloak.
“You have grown into a fine man,” Tremine said. “Your parents will be proud when they see you again.”
Ruwen blushed at the praise. “Thank you. I’m headed for the Grey Canyon shortly. I’m going to find them.”
Tremine nodded. “Maybe I’ll see you there.”
“Really?” Ruwen asked.
“I gave you my word, remember,” Tremine said. “But, first, we need to take care of some business.”
“Something doesn’t feel right,” Hamma whispered to Ruwen.
Tremine walked away from the group and back toward the tunnel. When he was ten feet away, he turned and faced them.
There was no sound, no indication at all that Tremine had cast a spell, but a debuff appeared, and a moment later, two more. Ruwen read them.
Gravity Well: Immobilized.
Chaos Field: Magic items, Abilities, Spells, and Skills inaccessible.
Drain: Health, Mana, and Energy reduced to one, and Regen to zero.
Confusion and worry exploded inside Ruwen. Why would his friend place such powerful debuffs on him? Something wasn’t right. Tremine had never treated him like this before.
“What are you doing?” Ruwen asked Tremine.
“Only what is necessary,” Tremine said.
“I don’t understand,” Ruwen said.
“You will,” Tremine said sadly.
Tremine faced the tunnel and shouted. “Ready.”
Ruwen realized Juva had said “them” earlier when he heard Tremine. Who had Tremine brought with him? Ky? But why wouldn’t she come with Tremine right away? Were they going to be punished because Lylan had broken the rules by telling them the plan?
“I can’t cast anything. The images are being scrambled in my head,” Hamma said.
“Same,” Lylan said.
“What is your friend doing?” Sift asked.
“I’m not sure,” Ruwen said.
“I only have one Health,” Slib cried. “Remove this debuff at once. Do you know who I am?”
Ruwen didn’t feel bad for Slib. The bully had left camp to kill Ruwen and had instead been pulled into a very dangerous situation. Maybe if Slib had known Shade’s First Rule, he would have stayed in bed tonight. He really did only have himself to blame.
From out of the tunnel, a familiar figure emerged. Ruwen had seen him at the library on his Ascension Day.
It was the Naktos Mage that had tried to cast Naktos’s Embrace on him.
Chapter 61
“Prayer Five,” Hamma whispered and started to chant.
Tremine stiffened and whipped around. Hamma’s voice suddenly cut off as a silence spell surrounded her.
“Impressive, priestess. I’m shocked you’ve made such progress. But, please, save your prayer points,” Tremine said.
“Why here be so many?” the Naktos Mage asked.
/> Ruwen’s Hey You ability still functioned even in the Chaos Field debuff. Was it because the ability was passive, or because nothing seemed to work normally on him? He tried to toggle Magnify, but his head filled with the sound of crashing water, and it became impossible to focus. So that meant the ability worked because it was passive.
Unfortunately, all Ruwen’s other passive abilities buffed his attributes and skills, which had been effectively restricted by Tremine’s debuffs. Ruwen couldn’t even open his Void Band without killing himself.
Tremine spoke to the Mage. “No choice we had. All must take.”
The Mage frowned at Tremine and then looked at Ruwen and smiled.
“Such honor Naktos. Fourth Uru this,” the Mage said.
“Know. Me offer all you. Naktos debt owed me,” Tremine said.
“You’re the reason the three previous Champions were lost?” Ruwen shouted, finally understanding enough to be sure. Then in a quieter voice, he continued. “And now you’ve betrayed me?”
Tremine locked eyes with Ruwen. “There is a bigger picture, Ruwen. If we can play even a tiny part, we should be thankful.”
“But why save me in front of the library? Why drag this out for so long?” Ruwen asked.
“Naktos’s followers found you without my aid. Had I let them take you then, it would have been meaningless.”
Ruwen’s shock prevented him from speaking, and it took him a few seconds to recover. “Let me make sure I understand. You put a knife through my eye, to keep Naktos from killing me first, all so you could give me to them later for your prize?”
Tremine clenched his jaw and locked eyes with Ruwen. “Yes.”
Ruwen stared at the man who had meant so much to him. “So, you’ve betrayed me twice.”
Tremine turned back to the Mage and held out his hand.
Ruwen couldn’t comprehend how Tremine could do this. It made no sense at all. The librarian had treated Ruwen like a son. Had taken him in and spent countless hours talking and mentoring him.
A terrible thought occurred to Ruwen. Tremine was a Hand of Uru. He might have known Ruwen would be the Champion from the moment of his birth. Could Tremine have arranged for the disappearance of Ruwen’s parents? Planned all of this for some treasure? But the fact that he was a Hand of Uru made all that seem impossible. How could the goddess not know about Tremine’s actions?
And an even more terrible thought came to Ruwen. Uru had to have known, which meant the goddess had planned this from the beginning. Like pieces in a game, did she exchange her Champions for something she needed from Naktos? What could be so valuable that she would sentence her Champions to a living death in the Spirit Realm?
The Naktos Mage removed a book from an ordinary bag at his hip. The lettering was large, and the silver foil glittered in the light: Terium Vein Survey.
“My eternal limbo is for more terium?” Ruwen said in disbelief.
Tremine immediately placed the book in another ordinary bag at his hip and faced Ruwen. “You’re a librarian yourself now. You should know better than to judge a book by its cover. To judge anything by how it appears.”
“But you’re her Ha –” Ruwen yelled.
Another debuff appeared, but Ruwen already knew it was a Silence. Anger boiled over and consumed his thoughts. He had worked so hard, had gained such power in a short amount of time, found friends he would die for, and still, it would end like this.
He had never even left to find his parents. He won the prize for the most worthless and naïve son. Blapy had warned him multiple times how the search for Knowledge twisted people. She had been trying to warn him about Tremine.
The worst part was he had dragged his friends into his mess. They would suffer because of him.
And the Silence debuff kept him from even saying sorry.
The Naktos Mage started the spell he’d tried to finish at the library.
Ruwen desperately tried to think of a solution. Some way out of this. And a moment later, one occurred to him. Just like at the library, if Ruwen died first, he couldn’t be sent to the Spirit Realm. And if he couldn’t be sent, there would be no reason to send his friends. Maybe they could fight their way out somehow. It would give them a chance at least.
Dark blue ropes of energy shot from the Naktos Mage and struck everyone in the chest. Ruwen felt like he’d been rolled naked through the snow. He looked at his Resource bar, took a deep breath, and gritted his teeth.
Energy: 1
Before the spell could wrap him any tighter, Ruwen willed his Void Band open with his mind while channeling a hundred Energy to it.
The sound of crashing water filled his mind as Tremine’s Static Shield activated. He couldn’t open his Void Band. He couldn’t kill himself. Tremine had thought of everything.
Ruwen’s stared in hatred at Tremine as the Naktos’s Embrace spell enveloped him, and his vision turned violet. He felt a sharp painful tug, and then his soul was ripped from his body.
Chapter 62
Ruwen knelt on the beach in the dungeon, the area around him brightly lit. Even with all the light, only shades of grey could be seen. It took a moment to remember the last few minutes, and then the memories came crashing into his thoughts.
Tremine had betrayed him. The librarian had caused a death that had crippled Ruwen with debuffs for days. Now the man that had been his best friend had done something worse. He had stuck Ruwen in eternal limbo. And for nothing more than a book.
Blapy had told him people do terrible things for knowledge. He hadn’t understood what that meant or comprehended the sacrifices others would make to feed their obsessions. Ruwen might be naïve, but looking back, there wasn’t a hint of Tremine’s true character.
Ruwen looked right, and his heart sank. Sift, Hamma, and Lylan lay on the rocky ground. Even Slib and Java were here. They had all been sentenced to the Spirit Realm as well. Hamma stirred and Ruwen moved next to her.
“Are you okay?” Ruwen asked. “I’m so sorry.”
Hamma opened her eyes and immediately closed them, squeezing them tight and putting her hands over her eyes.
“What’s wrong?” Ruwen asked.
“Your face,” Hamma said.
Ruwen stood and placed his hands on his face. His hands felt hard, almost like metal, but they worked normally, and as he felt his face, he relaxed. He’d thought Hamma had meant his face had been disfigured somehow, but it felt fine. His stomach twisted with what she probably really meant. The sight of his face was unbearable because of what he’d done to them.
“Ruwen, look the other way,” Sift said.
Ruwen faced Sift, glad his friend had woken.
“No, your other way! Toward the tunnel,” Ruwen said.
Ruwen turned. “What’s wrong with me?”
Sift cursed. “It comes out the back too.”
Hamma’s hand appeared on his shoulder. “Don’t worry. It’s just you’re a little hard to look at.”
“I’ve always said that,” Sift said.
“Sift, this isn’t the time for jokes,” Hamma said.
“I don’t know. Humor might be the only thing we have here,” Sift said.
Ruwen’s heart thudded. “What is wrong with me?”
Ruwen watched as House Captain Juva and Slib ran up the tunnel.
“Should I chase them?” Sift asked.
“No, there is nowhere to run here,” Ruwen said.
“You know where we are then?” Hamma asked.
“Kind of,” Ruwen said.
The robe he’d had the Blood Moss in was still over his shoulder. He hadn’t had a chance to put it away before everyone had shown up. Hamma grabbed it, and Ruwen heard ripping sounds from behind him.
“You are really bright. It’s like looking at the sun,” Hamma said.
“What?” Ruwen asked.
Hamma wrapped the strips of cloth around his head and neck until only his eyes were visible. She pulled his hood up for good measure.
“Okay, turn around,” Hamm
a said.
Ruwen turned to find her squinting at him, but her face returned to normal when he didn’t blind everyone.
“Why is my face like a lantern?” Ruwen asked.
“There’s a little light in all of us,” Lylan said as she pulled her shirt up, revealing her stomach.
Inside Lylan’s abdomen, visible through her skin, appeared something like a tired firefly. Three pairs of hair-like tendrils left the tiny luminescent dot and disappeared under her clothes.
“What is that?” Hamma asked, pulling up her shirt to look at her own stomach. “I have four pairs. Are they some sort of parasites?”
Ruwen noticed Hamma had wrapped her right hand in a cloth strip.
“Did you hurt your hand?” Ruwen asked Hamma.
Hamma shook her head and bit her lip.
Lylan’s face looked confused.“Uh, has anyone else opened their Profile?” Lylan asked. “Everything is grey, and I can’t cast any spells.”
“My abilities don’t work either,” Hamma said.
“That’s because we’re in the Spirit Realm,” Ruwen said.
“Where is that?” Hamma asked.
Ruwen shrugged. “I think it overlaps our normal world.”
“How do we get out?” Lylan asked.
“I’m not sure yet,” Ruwen said.
“This is the first time I’ve actually ever been able to see my center,” Sift said, his voice filled with terrible sadness.
Ruwen looked at Sift’s exposed abdomen. Inside his body, a black raisin could be seen. Black hair-like tendrils crisscrossed each other and formed knots. Not a single one connected to Sift’s dark center.
“It explains everything,” Sift said as his shoulders slumped.
Lylan hugged Sift.
Ruwen lifted his shirt to see his own center, and everyone screamed. The light under his clothes was blinding, and he immediately pulled his shirt down.
He tried to open his Void Band, but it remained closed. It looked like they’d only come through with what they’d been carrying. He opened his Inventory and verified his theory. The only things available were what he had on him. His brow furrowed at the last item. Something he didn’t recognize.