Bloody Crucible- Lone Wolf

by E C Chii

  “Another goddess? Did I die again?”

  Lyssa’s giggling stopped, and she appeared in front of him in a human form. Her face was streaked in black of mud or soot, wet greasy hair drooped down past her breasts, dressed in a filthy loincloth and a series of necklaces made of bone, bead, and various stone. She grabbed him by the neck effortlessly raising him up to his feet. Wolf choked and tried to breathe as he struggled to break free.

  When she finally eased up on his throat. Wolf couldn’t help but make a smartassed comment, “You got a little something on your face.”

  Ignoring his comment and tightened her grip again, “Who did you interact with? Which little bitch touched my toy?” Lyssa hissed looking deep into Wolf’s eyes. “Well? Answer me!”

  Wolf frantically pointed at his throat. Lyssa sneered in disgust and casually tossed him aside. He crashed worse than a child star’s career when they hit 18 years old.

  “Dam woman, couldn’t you have just put me down! Last time a woman put me down that hard she at least got me drunk.” Wolf said without thinking. When he recovered enough to realize what he said his face blanched.

  Lyssa stared at him a few moments before she burst into laughter. “Oh, you’re such lovely toy. What was I upset about?” she asked as she appeared straddling him and bouncing.

  “Well aren’t you just a bag of crazy. You were telling me about why I am here.” Wolf said trying to change the subject.

  “You little silly thing, that isn’t what we were talking about. Ah! It was something to do with this guy called Rick. Tell me about him and I will tell you something that no one else will.” She said.

  “Ok, you go first though.” Wolf pressed.

  “No, no, no, no, that isn’t how this will work out. Tell me of this Rick. NOW!” she said sternly.

  “Okay, though I don’t think you will be able to have him as your toy, since he is a made-up character in a cartoon.”

  “Aww” Lyssa said pouting. “Maybe I can create something like him.” She mused.

  “Well if you make him an alcoholic scientific genius with a penchant for exotic drugs to mask a life of pain and regret, you should be ninety percent of the way there.”

  “I think I will take you up on that offer. What do you know about this place and how you arrived here?” she asked with a mischievous smile.

  “Well, I really don’t know anything. I somehow ended up here after being forced to create a new avatar or something. What do you mean by you being with me for a very long time?” Wolf asked

  “Oh, I suppose you should know I guess. Have you noticed that my name seems a bit familiar? I was feared and revered as a god on your world. Other gods, goddesses or whatever they call themselves are one and the same. Less about them and more about me!” She demanded.

  “Ummm, how is it that I can understand you like you are speaking normal English?”

  “That’s an easy one. We don’t like needing to speak all different languages so we all just decided to have everything in a universal language. You may not realize it but you’re not speaking English but Algonian. Really cuts down on the confusion and misunderstandings when everyone speaks the same language and such.”

  “Why did you come to me? I am no one important.”

  “You are just a means to an end, I very much would like to see what kind of chaos you would wreak on this world though. For that matter, I really don’t like the Empire of Kuing so if you could just destroy them I would be a very happy little girl, they just make everything too…stable. This little bitch needs some chaos in her life. You are the way I will get that, I have a fever and the only cure to that fever is more chaos.”

  “Don’t you mean more cowbell?” Wolf couldn’t help himself but say.

  “Nope, chaos breeds anger, and anger creates madness. These are three of my four basic food groups. That and bacon” she said with a giggle.

  “What about pancakes? Everyone loves pancakes”

  “PANCAKES!?! I completely forgot about those golden-brown discs of fluffy goodness. I will need to go get a nice large stack of them. Hey! Stop distracting me! I was telling you things to do. Ah yes, I need you to destroy the Empire, you will do this for me.” She stated as though it were already a fact.

  Wolf was already thinking he would do it anyways but why not get something for his troubles,

  “What’s in it for me? I have no love for slavers and all but that is little reason to destroy an entire empire.”

  She pouted, grabbed his shoulders and started to shake him violently, “Want, want, want, want, that’s all you insects think about. Let’s put it this way, if you don’t do this I can ensure that you’re gonna have a bad time.” Wolf’s head was still reeling from being shaken so violently before he heard her raspy and failing attempt at being seductive voice whisper, “If you do a good job to fulfill this small request of mine, I would be ever grateful and might just see fit to give you a little reward.”

  Leaning as far back against the wall as he could he closed his eyes preparing to tell her where to stick her crazy ass task. Next thing he heard, was her voice filled with cold steel that struck pure fear into his very soul, “If you fail, no god or goddess in existence will save you.”

  She bounced off him, opening his eyes he saw her change form again. This time she was in a very sexy jester-like outfit and sauntering away from him. While her form was incredibly attractive, he knew that he would not touch her with someone else’s’ dick. When she got to the cell door she simply walked right through it after looking back at him and winked.

  “Dam, she is crazier than a coked-out wolverine on LSD.” Wolf shuddered to himself.

  Crawling back over to the mat he collapsed back down and fell fast asleep. He woke up stiff to the clanging of the cell door unlocking and opening. Instead of the door opening a small hatch at the bottom did, a tray slid in with a bowl of some sort of stew sloshing about, a pitcher full of some liquid he assumed to be water, and a hunk of bread. Immediately after a set of clothes were slid in after along with a rather fowl smelling pot that left nothing to wonder about its purpose.

  “I guess this is the complementary part of my five-star visit.” Wolf joked

  Getting dressed in the clothes, placing the waste pot in as faraway corner as possible he sat cross legged to eat. He quickly found that trying to eat the hard-stale bread was nearly impossible, so he resorted to letting it soak a few seconds in the bland soup. This allowed him to eat it without breaking a tooth. When he finished he used the wooden soup bowl to drink his fill from the pitcher. Once finished he used a strip of cloth and some water to wipe himself down and remove as much grime as possible.

  With nothing to do Wolf started going through the SERE school training he received before. He picked up a rock and started to scratch a schedule onto the wall. At first, he didn’t notice that he was writing in Algonian and completely understood it as though it were perfect English. It was unsettling since he was writing it like he had been reading and writing it all his life. Taking another page out of the SERE School playbook he had to consciously write in English using the motions of each letter from memory. Once finished he made a mark to indicate that day one had already passed and began to implement the routine he would carry out until he decided it would be time to leave.

  Like with any good routine you start with physical training, having little to no room to do any sort of running he had to resort to prison style workouts. This would be followed by personal hygiene, and eating the meal that they would provide at what he assumed was mid-day. Until it was time to sleep he would meditate and practice conjuring his magic in the various elements. He experimented by trying to combine, infuse, or anything else he could think of. Some were successful others had explosive results, literally. He tested many theories. He discovered that while he couldn’t do direct damage. He could do damage with secondary or tertiary effects.

  Additionally, he found that moving simply generating or using the element without its natural element p
resent it would cost extra MP. Simply creating or dissolving stone would also cost the extra MP. He did discover that the softer more malleable dirt beneath the stone cost but a fraction.

  During his meditative sessions, he would ponder the charges levied against him several things didn’t add up. If they were speaking about Ezie then it was an obvious case of self-defense, who could he have killed in the short time he was in the village. The more he meditated on the matter the more doubt seeded in his mind. He consistently had nightmares of when his team had lost four of its members due to his reckless rage. If Lyssa was right about anything it was the rage and madness that dwelt within him.

  Weeks went by as he continued his routine in captivity and that was the worst part, at least if they tortured him he would have some form of contact. One of the benefits was a new trait ‘Conditioning’ that he earned allowing him to build his base stats faster working out.

  Though his training he managed to discover a progressive spell tree ‘Magical Infusion”, leveled up ‘Elemental Manipulation’ to 3 and placed the two skill points into ‘Combat Maneuver’ bringing it to level 3

  Conditioning Level N/A (Passive, Trait) – Stat points accumulate 5% faster

  Elemental Manipulation Level 3 (Channel, Progressive) – Channel various elements by fueling them with MP to change the world around you. Effects are 15% faster and more complex changes are capable. Requirements: Elemental usage is variable, 5MP per second.

  He was interrupted from his reverie from the door being opened with a pair of fully armored guards flanking Charle.

  “Come out and don’t try anything funny the final decision on your fate has been decided.” Charle stated coldly

  Chapter 20 – Dog and Pony show

  Wolf was escorted to the town hall where the village had been gathered. On a raised platform he saw the Elder, Siris, and Sienna all standing with sullen and grim faces. Wolf had much to think about during his time in the cell, he sure that Ezie was dead. This was confirmed that she was not present at the trial. Sienna was covered in bandages, with one arm in a sling slightly supported by Siris.

  The elder stepped forward, “Wolf Mikall, we the village of Kokuri have gathered to hear your words on the accusation of being a spy for the Empire of Kuing and to pass the sentence for murder. First let us hear what you have to say about the accusation of being a spy.”

  “What is there to say? I have nothing to do with them, I am currently hated with the Empire and pretty sure that there is a General who will be hunting me for killing his son. At least I hope he will. Those that deserve to die, should” Wolf said trying to seem impassive.

  “Is that why you murdered Ezie? Did she deserve to die?” Siris jeered.

  “She attacked me along with two others, claiming to be ELFs”.

  Siris stepped forward anger splashing across her face, “What?! Not only do you murder her, but you also insult her memory?! Elf is a term only used by the Empire to describe us Huldufolk. This only further proves you to be a spy. Do you have anything else to say in your defense?” Wolf thought the outburst was a bit over the top and a little too rehearsed but let it go.

  “I won’t stand here and make excuses, trying to justify or beg for forgiveness. Such things are wasted on the dead. Yes, I killed her. Though only after she told me that Sienna wanted to meet me under the moonlight in the forest. I went with every intention of agreeing to any proposition she would give me.” Wolf looked each in the eyes glaring at them until each looked away.

  Taking a deep breath, he continued his voice dropping to a truly arctic level and his eyes glazing over, “Then, when we were in the area with no Sienna in sight she had two fucktards attack me. Wanted me to tell her how to make rifles and other weapons of destruction. I will not become death, destroyer of worlds here regardless of how many innocents or good people die because of it. That is a level of destruction I will not bear on my shoulders.”

  Siris took a step back in fear and shock, “W-what about justice the attempted murder on Sienna? You can’t even prove that you did get attacked first. We only found you and Ezie in the clearing as far as we can tell you lured her there just for murdering her.”

  “I just explained why I was there, if you don’t believe me that is your problem. The facts are the facts. Your concerns for the dead and their justice is simply your own ego and selfishness. It is me that must carry the burden of her soul from now until the day we pass for the final time in this world. When I finally do pass, it will be my soul which must atone for each death that occurred by my own hand. Be they wicked or innocent I will pay, and pay dearly with my very being.” He lectured.

  The elder spoke up, “Does this mean you are un-repentant?”

  “Why should I repent to you and your village? You put me on trial proclaiming me guilty with little to no proof. I ask you a simple question, how many knives did you find in the area? One, two or three? One should have been on the ground completely clean, with a second in the one of their bodies, and the third would be in the skull of Ezie. Did you happen to find them?” Wolf said.

  Charle responded this time, “No, we only found the one knife you call a kukri. Though you not having the others does not disprove that it was murder.”

  “Okay, that’s fine you yourself have seen that I never, EVER leave my room without those three knives. Why would I leave with only one and still be wearing my sheaths? Additionally, I have another question; how could two people produce as much blood as you obviously found and why didn’t you have any of your seasoned hunters look at the area? Any competent tracker could tell you that there was more than just me there.”

  Sienna glanced over to the elder who stiffened at the comment. Quickly he spouted, “That still proves nothing. You yourself have admitted that you did kill her, I think we can leave that accusation to rest that you are guilty.” the elder concluded.

  Wolf sneered as the elder immediately continued, “That just leaves the accusation that you are an Imperial spy and attempted to murder Sienna here.”

  “I have no knowledge of either of those. How can I be their spy and being actively sought by them for killing a General’s son? They relate to me with hatred, they will likely be seeking me out for killing almost a half century of troops. I doubt they will be trying to find me to offer tea and cake. Hell, I can even prove it. Is there a way to send you my stats?”

  Siris responded, “Yes when looking at the screen just think of allowing others to see it.”

  Doing as instructed he willed the screen to be visible to the Siris, Sienna, the elder and Charle. All four’s eyes seemed to glaze over as they began looking through the screen with scrutiny, before their eyes came back to life. They all got together except for Sienna, whispering a brief deliberation.

  The elder was the first to speak up from the pregnant silence, “We formally withdraw our accusation of being an Imperial spy. Though that still leaves you with murder and attempted murder. Sienna here tells us that you attacked her when asking to meet her in the forest at night several hours after sunset. Did you do this?”

  “No, I was in my tavern room until Ezie came to me.”

  “Then how is it that Sienna distinctly remembers you asking her to meet you in the clearing to the north and then attacked her?”

  “I didn’t, it is as simple as that. I didn’t meet her to the north. I was in my room and then exited the south gate.” Wolf defended

  “None of our gate guards saw you leave the south, only Ezie left through the south gate. You were seen leaving the north gate shortly after Sienna was. Which is where the assault took place, you have no way to prove that you did not assault her, and the murder of Ezie is rather questionable.”

  Wolf was growing frustrated by this circular argument, he found himself trapped in. With no way to prove that he didn’t assault Sienna. The look on the elder’s face told him that nothing he could say would be good enough. “You’re going to find me guilty regardless of what I say. Weren’t you?”

  The
elder replied, “Yes, we have all heard the testimony and seen the evidence long before you even stepped foot before us. Except for being a spy, everything else is considered final. We always let the accused have his final chance to repent for any crimes they have committed. Will you repent?”

  Wolf was a bit shocked, “Repent? For what? Defending myself? For being accused of assaulting Sienna when I didn’t? Fuck you and the bitch who birthed you. I am innocent of both these bullshit charges. I thought this was a trial not a fucking dog and pony show, you cry about how the Empire is committing all these atrocities while you are here committing just as many.”

  Wolf’s words became heated as he was beginning to lose his temper, “Sienna! Why do you not speak? Are you mute now? Unable to speak and falsely accuse me of something else?” His near shout made her look away, whether in embarrassment or fear he did not know