Chapter 32 (Early Version)

Chapter 32 - Priorities
With the birth of the Bone-Dragon, the Dragons were horrified and unwilling to play any further part in the campaign. With the loss of one of their number, they felt the first pangs of fear of newfound mortality. The great lizards left the short-lived races to their fate and flew back across the ocean to their high mountain homes. With their departure, the war began to grow back into a grinding stalemate.

- On the Cataclysm by an unknown Quassian Scholar circa 103 AC


The sharp call of a morning bird rang through the forest, loud and shrill, piercing the veil of dreams and waking me from my slumber. Groggily I shook myself awake, brushing aside the cobwebs in my mind. Aside from the forest noises, the first thing I noticed upon waking was the delicious smell of something roasting on the fire. Getting to my feet I sat down beside my companions who were cooking a meal that looked suspiciously insectile in nature on thin sticks. Sadly I noticed that the pair had eaten all of the remaining sweet Snap-Honey heads.

“Good morning to you,” Elwin said cheerfully.

Taking one of the sticks he offered me one of the insects. Not wishing to be rude, I nodded in feigned polite thanks.

“Much obliged,” I remarked, waiting for the Rogue to eat a piece of his.

Elwin and Kidu both began consuming their portions as if it was the most normal thing in the world. Closing my eyes firmly, I hesitantly took a bite. If I could eat freshly killed amphibious fish then this should be easy.

The shell was soft and crispy. The taste was like delicate crab, but without the taste of the sea. Not bad, I realized, but it could do with a little flavoring or salt. I finished the rest of my meal a little slower than my companions, taking great care not to think too much when I swallowed the head of the creature.

“Do you like them?” Kidu inquired in his deep voice that couldn’t help but rumble.

“Could do with a little more punch, perhaps a little salt?” I smiled back, “but this is the first breakfast I have had as a free man, and it tastes better than any meal at any king’s banquet!”

“I’ll drink to that,” added Elwin, lifting an imaginary cup in the air.

“Here, here!” I played along. “What was that I just ate?” I inquired curiously.

“A variety of lesser Rockcrab, they are a bit different from the ones in the North. A little less of flavor, but a bit meatier I feel,” informed Kidu matter-of-factly, “I always enjoyed them as a snack when I hunted with my friends.”

“The same ones that came with you from the North?” I said carefully, afraid that this might be a sore spot for the big man.

The wild-man grew taciturn and withdrawn before he answered, “Yes, those same who came with me not long ago. If I can, I wish to find and release them from their bondage, to pay their brand-price if necessary or just to know their fates that I may tell their families so they may honour them properly. But most all, my soul seeks vengeance!” saying the last almost growling.

New Quest: Find the fate of Kidu’s Companions

Both Elwin and I raised imaginary cups again as if to toast his last vow, but I had no true intention of helping out an NPC in a quest that could potentially take years and dismissed the prospect out of hand. I had a feeling that this ‘quest system’ was a way for the divine forces of this world to control my actions. The shrine quest, which I rejected, had led to me suffering the bondage of slavery. I blamed it on the fickle whim of the goddess. I remembered all too well the goddess’s Avaria terrible smothering will. How it had almost completely dominated my sense of self when she had chosen me to be her herald, a bond that would have been much worse than the slavery I had experienced.

Worse still was the dark being beyond the void that scoured my soul with pain that threatened my sanity. Both were a form of death of the mind that I had thankfully overcome. Without knowing the potential reward for the quest, dismissing it was the only choice. At best the reward could be new companions or better relations with Kidu. At worst Kidu could leave to go back home to his tribe. When gaming I had cared little for search quests that involved talking to a lot of NPCs to gather information or to solve puzzles all over the game world. Simple kill-and-collect quests were much more to my liking. I cursed that this game gave little in the way of useful information.

In defiance and anger, I concluded that I would only accept quests that were directly in line with my own goals. I would not be a pawn of these beings that called themselves gods. More simply, I just didn’t care enough about Kidu’s grievances. As this final thought crossed my mind, I swore I could see a darkness at the edge of my vision quivering with delight.

“Which reminds me, Gil, what you going to do about these?” Elwin said, bringing me back to the present. He had tried to say it as casually as possible but he couldn’t quite hide the eagerness in his voice.

“Right…I’ll get right on to it,” I answered, giving the Rogue a mocking salute and raising a hand as if to cast a spell in his direction.

Casting Rust now had become a lot easier, though I still had to consciously reign in its power. I began to go through the motions of casting the spell, my tongue now more practiced in saying the eldritch words, my gestures a little more precise and fluid. I noticed to my amusement that Elwin still flinched at each utterance I made. The black lightning flowed from me to his collar, the whispers as always constant companions. The energies visibly ate into the metal corroding it wherever the lightning flickered. He had closed his eyes now, fearing the searing heat he thought was to come. Yet unbeknownst to him I had just cast the level one version of the spell.

I turned to Kidu now and nodded at him, a gesture which he returned in kind. He accepted the spell much more stoically than Elwin, his trust in me more complete.

“How many times do you have to do that, before you know…?” Elwin inquired.

“Honestly I do not know. Casting this spell without causing harm to you is not easy. I do know that this spell significantly weakens the durability of the collar. I will continue to cast it as often as I can, whenever I can until all of us are truly free,” I said as evenly as possible, remembering the tone my father often used with me.

The Rogue shrugged before adding with a smile, “Can you do it again then…?”

*

In the end, I cast the weaker version of Rust two more times on them both before we broke camp. I decided to keep the lion’s share of Mana in reserve in case of an emergency, hoping that my Mana Regeneration skill would top it up. Kidu and Elwin thought to leave our chains behind, but good metal could always be traded for something, so I decided to take a length of chain with me. Subconsciously, I had in all probability taken the length of iron chain as more of a reminder of my suffering, rather than for any practical reasons.

We proceeded carefully through the forest in the direction where Kidu saw the smoke, eyes scanning horizontally and vertically, searching for new threats. An uneventful hour or two passed before the world would seek to test us once more.

I was talking with Elwin, trying to fish for more information about this world when all of a sudden and without warning something hard and fast impacted against his head. It knocked him down almost comically to the forest floor. A large solid looking seed was the first thing I thought before I saw him lying on the ground, his chest still and not rising.

Quickly I rushed to him, thinking almost instinctively to perform some form of first aid before I remembered that we were in Gesthe, a land of magic. I began to draw the Heal spell before glancing at his smashed head. I instantly remembered the vision of the angel saving someone from death’s door.

Drawing on my will I began to cast Greater Heal, before something impacted against my bronze helm. The concussive force caused almost twenty points of damage and would have completely interrupted my spell-casting were it not for my Pain Nullification skill. I kept control of the divine energies but by sheer force of desperate will and I began to focus once again and continued casting. My voice rose in a steady cadence, sounding more like a hymn song than a spell and I held my hands over Elwin’s prone form and poured golden energies into the man across long seconds. An echo overlaid my singing voice, a feeling of solemnity filling my soul, every syllable giving thanks to an unknown divine power.

Slowly, oh so slowly, the golden light began to mend the impact against his cranium. Closing the wound, drawing back old blood and bone fragments, and knitting skin together as his skull was restored to its original form. At last, the spell ended, and Elwin was breathing evenly once more, clearly alive but still unconscious.

“Kidu, we need to find somewhere safe!” I shouted out to the northern Hunter.

He gawked at me then for a few moments, still impressed by my display of divine power, before bursting in a blaze of action, running to search for somewhere safe. He came back a minute later and between us, we dragged the unconscious Rogue to a glade, rare sunlight bathing the forest floor where one of the great trees had fallen. Bushes and plants grew in new growths that ringed the fallen titan, all reaching in the race to the sun. We went to the hollow of the tree, searching first for threats before we placed Elwin down, disturbing some furred creatures who chittered as they escaped our company. The three of us rested then, our safe space smelling of earth and the slow rot of wood. Kidu and I were visibly shaken by the recent turn of events and hostile environment.

After a while, Elwin began to stir. I wondered what sort of effect having his brain smashed out would have on his personality, possibly an improvement I thought. Kidu began to shake the convalescing Rogue. From somewhere in my memory I contemplated that Kidu's action was not the correct thing to be doing so soon, but I didn’t quite have the mental energy to stop him.

“Wha…?” Elwin began, voice slurred and eyes unfocused as he searched around for something or someone familiar.

“Be at ease, little man, we are safe here for the moment,” Kidu said brusquely, if not unkindly.

“I believe you got nutted…I mean hit by a falling nut,” I tried to say seriously, a ghost of a giggle entering my voice at the absurdity of the situation but luckily neither Kidu nor Elwin noticed my faux pas.

In the old world, I had heard of large spiked fruit called the durian killing a few people every year; I read online that statistically, it was more dangerous than sharks. Ah, the internet. What I would give to have access to that wealth of knowledge and entertainment at my fingertips once more.

As my mind wandered, my eyes were subconsciously drawn to Elwin’s arm, where he had torn the short sleeve from his linen tunic to make an impromptu gag. There was something about it…his brand was gone!

“Kidu,” I whispered loudly, “his arm…Look!”

“By the ancestor-spirits, so it is!” Kidu exclaimed, his voice going up almost an unnatural octave in pure surprise.

Could it be that my Greater Heal spell had effects other than the miraculous effects of regeneration and healing? Was it a trick of the light or was Elwin’s hair a little thicker, the crow’s feet around his eyes a little less pronounced?  I brushed these thoughts aside as I realized I had a way to finally remove all marks of our previous slavery.

“Kidu, I will need to rest and gather up my magical energies,” I began, a plan of action already forming in my mind, “if you can watch over us and find us something to eat, perhaps start a fire that would be most appreciated. What was that anyways that downed Elwin.”

“That is quite a tall order that you ask for, though I will strive for it. Security or forage, that is a decision you will have to make. As for the little man’s attacker, I know not. We should be more careful and perhaps at least avoid that part of the forest. Here at least with no trees above us we should be spared from the more dangerous fruit of this forest. There is a saying ‘it is the short-lived fool that walks on the thinning ice’,” he then looked at me, waiting for my order.

“We need food and a fire, I leave the order up to you, but please be quick.”  I would have to trust that I could sleep lightly, or that Elwin would be able to come to his senses. It was a gamble but one that I knew we needed to take.

Kidu took a quick drink from a canteen at his hip, before rising and making his way out with a nod in my direction, “Be safe and may the ancestors watch over you,” before he leaped out into the forest, spear leading the way.

I positioned myself just outside the entrance to the hollow of the tree, sitting cross-legged and willing myself into a half-doze as I attempted to clear my mind of any extraneous thoughts. Sleep did not come easily, with the sounds of the forest and worry plaguing my mind.