《NPC》 0.00 ¡°He did it. The kid went and ran away.¡± ¡°So? He¡¯s legally an adult now Veronica. He can waste his life if he wants to and you shouldn¡¯t keep babying him.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care what the law says, twenty years is barely worth anything. Let alone adulthood: the right to vote and sign your life away on a pipe dream. When I was twenty you wouldn¡¯t even let me move out of the house!¡± ¡°Yes, dear, but you¡¯re my dearest daughter.¡± ¡°He¡¯s your dearest son.¡± ¡°He¡¯s my only son.¡± Chancellor Schuler replied flatly before sharply turning and exiting the room. Veronica stared after her mother indignantly for a short moment before mumbling to herself, "And I''m your only daughter." She returned to the work piled on her desk and breathed out a heavy sigh. Behind her, the city teemed with life, uncaring of the millions of family dramas playing out in its many homes. Transporters shuffled busy commuters about, each in a microcosm of existence. Each had little care for the world and people around them, too concerned with their own journeys and desperate to avoid detours. Towering above, pods zipped up and down the orbital cable carrying passengers and precious cargo alike. ***** The International Space Station (ISS) was a well oiled and nano-printed machine of efficiency. Pods were emptied of their cargo in short order, which was then sent off to its next destination in the station. Passengers alighted from their crash-couches quickly upon arrival. There would be no time for rest as attendants aided and sometimes manoeuvred them towards their next destination. Errors were avoided, and the few that ever made it through were caught by redundancy upon redundancy. Such was the operational maxim of the ISS since the time of its conception¡ªallegedly. The newest addition to what was simultaneously the most ancient and most technologically advanced artifact of humanity was an unassuming anchorage. No ships were docked in here; rather, it was being used more as a glorified cargo bay. Sam slowly floated her way through the vast space, making note that each item on her list was accounted for.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. This was the last of it. The colony supplies and backup supplies had been loaded months ago, all that was left was the passengers. Precious cargo indeed. It did not matter that every pseudo-stasis-pod had been documented and accounted for by three separate AI¡¯s in digital triplicate. When it came to the important, sentimental, and necessity of life type of things, people wanted the human touch. Even if it was the least reliable. Sam flicked her finger in a check motion next to the name plaque of an Aiden Schuler, pausing a moment for her mental assistant to ping and register the affirmation. Whether the checks be made through flesh or metal, the data would all be recorded and stored digitally. Sam wondered if the wetware of her augments made any meaningful difference in this. ¡°Above my paygrade.¡± Her quiet contemplation echoed loudly in the silent hall returning her words in piecemeal. The half-spoken ghost she called it. A vast anchorage did not make for an articulate conversation partner. The sound of her chuckles had a haunting edge and today''s guests made the room especially eerie. Perfect, Sam thought. These were the last set of the passengers, all 8,065 of them. They were only a touch visible through the privacy glass of their viewports. Each was a black silhouette standing row on row in their metallic coffins. They would not move for more than thirty years and even then, only a portion of them would first awake to set up the foundations of the colony. In that time, they would still age, although, with life expectancy at two hundred and rising, many were willing to accept the lost time. Except, they weren¡¯t really losing time. They were dreaming. Acting out fantasies and mundane life in the virtual realities they were all connected to. The silent shadows betrayed nothing of their active minds. Surrounded by thousands, only half-spoken ghosts accompanied Sam as she made her way through her checklist, occasionally talking to herself and cracking jokes only she could laugh at. Five hours later, all passengers were loaded and secure within the cradle of CS Abeona. Ten hours later, the ship''s AI has completed its final checks and sent out the final request for launch. At 14:00 GMT, April fifteenth, 1458 United Human Era, the first interstellar colony ship launched into the void of space. The ship would be fully AI automated, with a human redundancy crew on standby to perform regular bi-weekly checks and loaded with enough supplies for two settlements and a passenger manifest of a quarter-million souls. Heading: a green and blue jewel¡ªvisible only as a slight wobble on the speck that was a near-by star. 1.01 - A Simple Potion Amma was born from the Void alone. She knew of no family or friends. She knew of no world to tread on, nor sky to gaze on. She knew of the void, and she knew of herself, and so it was that she existed. As she existed, she began to think it strange that she should exist alone. Thus, Atie was born from the Void and Amma, and from the void, space was separated. ***** The Endless war raged as it always had and as it always would. There would be small respites of peace, some prosperous pauses that beckoned to what life could be. Now was not one of them. Here was a peace born of death. Peace found after the conflict had raged, burned, pillaged, raped the land and it¡¯s people till nothing remained. Not even war. The Demon Lord now walked alone through the former battlefield and basked in this unlikely calm. The place was silent as the grave it was, sombre in the way it must be, and the soft squelch of footsteps sang mournfully in the stagnant air. Above, the sky was the monochromatic grey of clouds threatening rain. Below, the once fertile earth was now an endless stretch of mud and destruction. Still, the Demon Lord walked on; uncaring of the miserable setting, barely taking notice of the growing miasma of blood, bile, and rotting flesh. It permeated the low lying fog which seemed to claw and dance around the stoic figure''s slender legs. A raven cawed, and the carrion birds descended onto the feast below. Corva would be among them, the ancient spirit more loyal to her nature than even her most mundane brethren. The Demon Lord smiled at the thought. Erin would have laughed at that if she knew such an upright and proper being could lose all sense of decorum come mealtime. Was that Erin¡¯s laughter on the wind? Impossible. Wind did not travel in tainted air. No matter, the Demon Lord had long since accepted their insanity. Bare feet sank in the mud, missing a severed hand only an inch to the left, unheading, the march forward continued. On the next step, a foot shattered a small glass vial, its shards pressing harmlessly at impermeable skin, scraping away mud, gore, and blood, though none of it belonged to this demon. The vial was of familiar make and leaked an equally familiar light green liquid, that could replenish stamina. It had been a long time since the Demon Lord had handled one of those. They were common enough to come upon just about anywhere but, well, what kind of Demon Lord would need a minor stamina potion? ***** ¡°Next!¡± Maya called out to the unusually long line approaching her small shop¡¯s till. Unusual because any line at all was rare in her small general store. That the line made up as many as more than her average customer base per week was only a footnote. The most notable peculiarity, however, must be that all those lined patiently in her shop were Heroes. ¡°I¡¯d like to buy some basic gear.¡± ¡°For two Denna and fifty Aes, I have a boiled leather vest and gauntlets, a dagger, two health potions and a stamina potion.¡± Maya listed off the items and prices verbatim. She¡¯d given up on actually providing intelligent customer service and instead now offered whatever cheap weapons and armour were available at inflated prices along with her home-brewed potions. ¡°I¡¯ll take it!¡± The customer said it without discernible time for consideration and rushed out the door as soon as his purchases were in hand. She doubted any of the Hero¡¯s really cared what they got beyond that it worked, provided some modicum of protection, and was affordable with their strict five Denna budget. It didn¡¯t take long to figure out the spontaneously appearing Heroes all arrived with the same amount of money. On top of being horrible at bargaining, they all wore identical clothing and made nearly identical requests. They were even universally handsome. If Maya hadn¡¯t known better or asked directly, she would have thought them all family. ¡°Next!¡± With a perfect smile and overall amiable demeanour, Maya continued her day as she did all those before. The regular rush of Heroes at the opening was followed by shop housekeeping. Occasionally, her ¡®former¡¯ customer base would find the nerve to swing by and save her from some tedium usually after all the Heroes had filtered through. Some showing up most precipitously during an inconvenient moment. Like when Maya was working in the back, teetering on a stool organizing the top shelves, or like now; massaging the aching muscles of her cheeks. So came in Aina, carefully on the lookout for potential eavesdroppers and approaching as a hunter might follow a trail. Maya watched all this, hands still frozen to her cheeks like a deer perking up in an otherwise quiet clearing. It made sense; Aina was the hunter¡¯s wife after all. That also seemed to be where her problems were stemming from. ¡°Maya,¡± she asked feigning nonchalance, ¡°You wouldn¡¯t have happened to have seen Boyd with any of those Hero ladies, would you?¡± ¡°No.¡± A simple answer was best, Maya thought.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°You sure? You know I overheard Tracy and Alda just this morning talking about him heading off into the woods with one. Not just this morning but last week as well! And he hasn¡¯t been at home, what with going on hunting trips.¡± ¡°So? He¡¯s a hunter, he goes on trips. Occasionally he even takes on help.¡± ¡°But with a woman!?¡± ¡°Yes, you go with him all the time, right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m worried! Can you imagine? Boyd and some Hero hussy hiding close in a bush stalking a deer. Only, the deer is not as attractive as the woman beside him and he leans in closer, his hand reaches for hers, she blushes, their faces now only inches apart!¡± ¡°Aina, Aina dear. Please. That is very specific.¡± Ainas¡¯ face tinged red. ¡°Clearly you two love each other dearly. Your mind¡¯s just running away from you.¡± ¡°Are you sure? I swear, that man has been off on his own more often than ever, and whenever I ask, he always brushes it off! That man is hiding something, I know it.¡± ¡°Aina, I¡¯m sure it¡¯s fine. He¡¯s probably just going out farther for hunting. Ever since Heroes started appearing here, they¡¯ve been hunting like crazy, and it¡¯s probably hard for him.¡± ¡°Yes, those battle crazed Heroes are hunting little bunny rabbits. Maya, you know they only bother with monsters and the occasional wolf. They leave as soon as they possibly can; our town¡¯s too insignificant.¡± ¡°And thank the spirits for that.¡± Maya sat down on a stool and began to rub her aching feet. Sure, all the new business was nice. Void, she had enough money to feed her family for a year with this month¡¯s profits alone. There wasn¡¯t much to spend all the new money on after all. In a town as small as Cairn, her own general store consisted of a good portion of the buying options, and traders only came by once a red moon. There was a baker and a smith, but those options didn¡¯t lend well to a shopping spree. Life was simple here and subsisted on simple means. The not so simple Heroes had only been coming for a week, and she was already sick of them. ¡°It¡¯s people like you that make this place so boring,¡± came a new voice. ¡°Erin! Just the girl I was looking for, tell me, have you seen my husband acting odd lately?¡± ¡°Can¡¯t say I have Aina,¡± answered Erin as she sat herself on top of the counter before Maya and pulled at her friends'' shawl. ¡°I don¡¯t know why you bother with these horrible things, your hair¡¯s so pretty, you should show it off.¡± Maya eyed the pale blue fabric she had embroidered with fireweed and compared it to the long dark strands made loose by Erin. ¡°I like the blue better, and you know exactly why I wear it. You should be wearing one, too. It''s dangerous!¡± Maya made sure to give Erin a rather pointed stare to get her point across; this wasn¡¯t the first time they¡¯d had this argument and it certainly wouldn''t be the last, but a girl could dream. Maya pulled a green shawl down from one of her display shelves and held it out to Erin. ¡°Here, put this on.¡± Erin scrunched her freckled nose in disgust, eying the light green cloth like a filthy rag. ¡°I¡¯m fine. Besides, my hair is such a curly mess that no one will notice my horns anyway.¡± ¡°Because they don¡¯t know to recognize them and the people around here frankly don¡¯t care. Cairn isn¡¯t as isolated anymore; we have to be careful.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll leave you two to your argument. Just don¡¯t take so long you forget to eat again alright?¡± Aina said waving the two girls goodbye, neither taking any notice. Maya because she was dedicated to getting her friend in a shawl and Erin because stubbornly shaking your head, hands-on ears, bright red tresses bouncing, left one poorly predisposed to noticing anything. A lengthily back and forth and a bribe of sweets later had Erin sitting disgruntled, a shawl carefully draped and folded over her head. Maya smiled, satisfied that her intuition had been right; that shade of green did suit Erin. ¡°Stop sulking, you look great!¡± ¡°I feel like a granny,¡± Erin muttered. Maya smiled gently, shaking her head. Erin could be such a child sometimes, you could hardly guess that they were the same age of twenty, and it wasn¡¯t just because of Erin¡¯s small stature. ¡°What did you come here for anyway?¡± Maya asked. Erin visibly brightened.¡°I gave a quest! There was Hero who asked me if there was anything he could do, so I told him about how boars had been messing up my garden and how I¡¯d pay him a denna if he dealt with it.¡± Erin took a deep breath and hurried on, excited for the next part, ¡°Veuce recognized it as a quest! A real quest, Maya, just like in the stories. Imagine If I could just go on a quest with them! Maybe next time I¡¯ll phrase it differently, so they have to bring me along? How could I do that...¡± Erin trailed off. Maya recognized the ponderous look on her friend''s face and simply smiled. There would be no getting anything out of Erin when she got like this. It was a slightly wistful Maya that looked out her shop¡¯s window to the small clearing of half paved dirt called a village square and observed the people walking by. The sky was reddening¡ªit would be evening bell soon¡ªthey¡¯d lost track of time again. With a soft sigh, she set about closing the shop, first closing the shutters then boxing away items too valuable to be left on display. Maya was careful to lock everything up tightly. Regardless of her friend''s Hero worship, Maya would never trust the strangers. With that line of thought, Maya pulled a bundle from a hidden compartment behind her shop¡¯s counter. Erin perked up at the thump it made as she set it down on the worn countertop.¡°Hey, will you let me try it out?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a toy, and I¡¯m trying to do maintenance on it; lending it to you would be the opposite.¡± ¡°I resent that!¡± Contrary to her outward defiance, Erin didn¡¯t press the matter further. Maya gently unwrapped the sword and set out her cleaning and polishing tools. Just because it was not in use did not mean the metal could not rust. Her mother¡¯s sword was far too precious for her to let that happen. ¡°If I had a sword half as nice as that one, I know I could be a Hero.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a good thing you don¡¯t then. I couldn¡¯t stand you running off to Wind knows where.¡± ¡°I¡¯d take you with me! And we go on all sorts of adventures too, saving the helpless and vanquishing villains.¡± Maya just smiled and polished the blade. 1.02 - A Blue-Steel Ball Veuce was the youngest of her siblings by a large margin. They were already ancient before she''d taken her first steps, wise in the ways of the world and its secrets in a way Veuce despaired of ever being. She felt a kinship with Ammas¡¯ newest children: Humanity. They were young and bumbling like her. Unable to grasp the essence of the world in the way their older siblings did as though they were breathing. Thus, Veuce found her purpose and became the frame through which humanity would understand and interact with the world. Thusly, the frail race of humanity gained power and knowledge. ***** There was something about knowing you were in a simulation that just made some things disappointing. When Aiden decided to go to space, he, like any other earthbound, looked forward to looking down on the blue jewel that was earth. Granted, it wasn¡¯t very blue and jewel-like anymore¡ªa few too many brown patches and steel megatropolises made that difficult¡ªbut damn it if the first-ever taken photo from space didn¡¯t leave an impression. In an age where the re-terraforming project on Mars was nearing completion and asteroid prospectors kept getting in the headlines for finding the next big gold mine (though only one of those was literal), every kid dreamed of going to space. Most didn¡¯t, but Aiden now had. So, he wanted to look down on Earth with his own two eyes. Imagine his dismay when he found out that not only would he not get a chance to do so, he would spend his whole trip up the Orbital Cable and through the ISS already in his pod as some kind of glorified cargo. Never mind that neither of those had actual windows and their viewing screens were of poorer quality than his pod''s virtual viewing platform. Aiden wanted the romance of it all. Standing in what felt like reality, looking down on the mottled blue globe with flowing white moats of clouds that was the modern-day earth, Aiden was sulking. Where was his body now? On the cable? Being shuttled through the ISS? Was he already on the CS Abeona? It didn¡¯t make any difference to him now living in this virtual world, but Aiden couldn¡¯t help but wonder. He could see he wasn¡¯t the only one. The virtual viewing platform was only one instance of many and the one he was in accommodated somewhere around a hundred other people. The debriefing said there¡¯d be some kind of lift-off party at 20:00 GMT and until then the passengers were free to mingle, enjoy some free virtual hors d''oeuvres, and watch the view. Aiden had only partaken in the latter two options, but others? They were mingling up a storm. There were little groups spread out through the viewing platform clustered around tables or standing near the edge to get a better look. There were fewer of the latter considering the lack of any safety barrier; it was entirely unnecessary, but, well, it all felt so real. Which was the subject of almost every conversation Aiden overheard and inevitably, they would all circle back to: ¡°I wonder how my body¡¯s doing¡±, ¡°I hope nothing happens to it¡±, ¡°Hey, do you think we¡¯ve reached space yet?¡±. Aiden didn¡¯t want to participate¡ªhe¡¯d finally freed himself from all that drama¡ªbut his thoughts kept on asking those same useless questions. Aiden hailed down a drone carrying hors d''oeuvres and grabbed a few. Heck if he knew what any of the colourful, dainty confections were supposed to be, but they sure tasted good. A little sweet and a little tart and a lot of other stuff he did not have the culinary aptitude to describe. His sister would be so disappointed if she knew. Luckily, Aiden didn¡¯t linger long on that poisonous train of thought as an announcement helpfully intruded in on it.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Ladies, Gentlemen, and others welcome aboard the CS Abeona! This is your captain speaking, though I¡¯ll admit the Abeona deserves the honours just as well if not more so.¡± The captain appeared floating just a few feet out and above the viewing platform as he addressed the passengers, the reflected light of the earth illuminating him. He was an impressive sight in his tailored flight suit and well-groomed features. Aiden wondered if he was hired based on his appearance, the ship really could run all on its own. ¡°All passengers have boarded and all systems have been cleared for launch. We are now accelerating away from Earth as you can see if you just look past me.¡± The Captain gestured to the massive earth below and Aiden saw what he hadn¡¯t noticed before; it was slowly getting smaller. ¡°The feed you are seeing is taken with the ship''s own cameras, so you are seeing a real-time view of our departure from Earth, and soon, our Solar System. We will steadily accelerate as we approach the Oort cloud but as we remain in occupied space, we will maintain a slower pace. There will be an announcement as we pass the orbit of Pluto but as we will not be making any near approaches there will be no live feed for any of the planets, though do note that your stateroom libraries contain virtual viewing platforms all passengers are free to visit at their leisure, including views for all our home systems major bodies. ¡°After we have reached the edge of our solar system, we will fully accelerate to our warp point and we will truly be on our way to our new home. If you wish to have any communications, it will have to be before this point as none will be possible thereafter. To be clear, it will take a minimum of ten years to reach this point and you will be notified multiple times, well in advance of this cut-off. The full flight plan is available to all of you within your stateroom library. Now!¡± The captain said with a clap and a wide smile. ¡°Your full virtual suites are open to you. If you wish to ask questions, there will be a question and answer session in one hour for which you can submit your questions to now. Those of you uninterested are now free to leave this instance at your leisure.¡± The captain wasn¡¯t lying. Aiden summoned his passenger menu with thought and saw his previously greyed out stateroom option was now available to him. He didn¡¯t hesitate. Aiden selected the new option and blinked out of existence, the slowly retreating earth forgotten behind him. ***** The stateroom was what you would expect of a five-star executive hotel suite equipped with a full kitchen, a lounge with a roaring fire already lit in the dark granite and marble fireplace, and a separate bedroom with a canopied bed. This was not to mention the study, the library and swimming pool that was also supposed to be somewhere in all of this. Aiden ignored the virtual luxury in favour of his menu and the new options available to him. There were the viewing platforms the captain mentioned, various community rooms, public pools, restaurants and all other manners of recreational locations that could be virtually reproduced and made available to him. Again, Aiden ignored all of this. Nothing could compare to the first option.
Program (Game): Vos Kingdoms
Just a few pale letters in a simple blue box. Aiden could have wiped a tear away at the sheer beauty of it all. He didn¡¯t, but he couldn¡¯t have selected the option fast enough
Enter Vos Kingdoms?
¡°Yes.¡± He said it with a massive grin, not noticing that he was speaking at all. 1.03 - Newb Quests The Weak Humans looked to Veuce in awe and reverence. She had delivered them from their dark and pitiless existence, protected only by the boundless mercy of Amma. Veuce had provided guidance so that they could take their first step from the nest, and what a world it was that awaited them. ****** Transitioning from his stateroom to flying over a vast landscape that could only be that of Vos was nothing like the transition from the viewing deck to his stateroom. That was like blinking, one moment seeing the world literally laid out at your feet, then next looking at what could be compared to palatial chambers. Sure that was kind of awesome, but it paled in comparison to what Aiden was feeling now. The wind beat at his face and whipped his new white robes around his body. The sun warmed his exposed skin while he simultaneously shivered from the sudden drop in temperature. Already such a vast difference in experience, and that was not even accounting for the view. What he was seeing could only be a world out of fantasy. Water fell into clouds around floating islands which drifted lazily in their aeronautic currents. In the sky above him were two moons; one a pale blue, the other a flaming gold. Below him the land stretched out into deserts infested with massive sandworms, an endless mountain range which cut the continent in half, a towering tree only just visible in the distant horizon. Then he collided with a bird and forgot about all of that. ¡°Fuck, that hurts!¡± He knew that low-level pain was enabled in this game module, but seriously? Ouch. Even as the pain quickly faded, the mess the bird left behind was hardly better. His pristine white robes were now stained red and decorated with broken feathers. ¡°Eww¡­¡± ¡°Welcome, Hero, to Vos. I have been expecting you.¡± A wisp-like light popped into existence only inches from Aiden¡¯s face. ¡°Apologies for my late greeting, but there have been many new arrivals today and I can only stretch myself so thin. Let me get that for you.¡± Without a sign to mark the change, Aiden¡¯s robes returned to their pristine state. ¡°Much better.¡± The light glowed with satisfaction. ¡°Thanks¡ª¡± ¡°Right then! Let us get along with business, shall we? Vos is as vast as it is dangerous, each new area presenting its own form of dangers and opportunities, some more alike than they would first appear, some more different. Not all danger is obvious and conflict brews in hidden corners. Will you act as a hero to the people? Adventurer of the unknown? Saviour of the realm? It is all possible within Vos. For your name to bear such great prestige that it be renown in all corners of this land, which path would you embark upon first?¡± ¡°Adventurer I guess.¡± Aiden liked that sound of all of them but, well, exploring this place was awfully tempting when getting a bird¡¯s eye preview. Was that a unicorn? ¡°Wonderful!¡± The light swirled and sparkled. ¡°Do you delve into the dark recess of that which lies below? Search that which is forgotten under the unforgiving sun? What is lonely in the dark oppression of the greatest blue? Or stand at the bulwark of the world withholding great evil and wonder?¡± ¡°Definitely that last one.¡± ¡°So it will be. Your journey begins in the small village of Cairn at the joining of three mountains. It is a peaceful place at the edge of civilization and the darkness that should come. Venture out, oh brave Hero! And may my voice guide you on your journey.¡± ¡°And you are?¡± ¡°Veuce!¡± There was a smile in that bell-like voice and it tinkled even as the light faded. Below him, the land erupted into a quick blur of motion and stopped right as Aiden found himself looking down on an alpine valley. Then lunged towards him. No, that wasn¡¯t right. He was falling towards it, and before he could even think to scream the fall was over and he was gently touching down on well-worn dirt. Around Aiden was a rustic little village square full of little log cabins with steeply angled roofs and decoratively carved window shutters. Small yellow flowers bloomed from well-tended flower boxes, and though the road was entirely comprised of packed dirt, it was clear of any trash or debris. This was a simple, idyllic little mountain village from an era so distant he¡¯d only ever seen pictures of it. The smell was overwhelming. Not bad, but complex? It carried the scents of pine, pollen, wild mountain flowers, and a fast-flowing creek. Fresh mountain air that was somehow sharp in a way that the regulatory filtered air never even pretended at being. And the manure! He¡¯d never really bought that primitive civilization would use literal shit as fertilizer¡ªthis only supported that assumption¡ªwho would willingly live with that smell? What did trained historians and archeologists know anyway? There were people walking about, villager NPC¡¯s and what looked like other players. If it hadn¡¯t been for that fact the players were dressed almost identically to each other¨C¨Cand to him now that he inspected himself¨C¨CAiden wouldn¡¯t have been able to tell the difference. They were also all completely ignoring him, and his sudden descent from the sky. ¡°Wait¡­ Is that it?! No tutorial, no character creation? Just ¡®good luck brave Hero¡¯?¡±Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.
Character initializing¡­
¡°What?¡± It was the return of the bright blue menu box, though this time he felt as if it was speaking to him like some kind of voice in his head.
Would you like to customize your appearance?
A double appeared before Aiden. It was identical in every aspect, right down to the mole under his chin. To the side of his double were a variety of sliders and options. It was all rather overwhelming. Normally he¡¯d be ecstatic over all the options presented before him but now, with the game already playing out around him, all he could do was to quickly clean up his looks with a few default adjustments and change the colour of his eyes to his favourite emerald green. ¡°So do I set a name now or? And what about setting up my character build?¡±
Both will occur naturally as you travel VOS. Remember it is the actions that tell you an individual¡¯s worth and only through those will your name earn great prestige. Please note that while you will lose your identity upon death, your actions will remain.
¡°Well, that isn¡¯t ominous. Not at all. I mean it must be talking about the prestige system in conjunction with death penalties. But what¡¯s all this talk about actions?¡±
There are no character stats as you Heroes seem to expect, only the Skills, Talents and Gifts you possess. Skills may be learned through actions. Talents can be earned in a variety of ways, but most often by following the quest of growth. Gifts must be received from a being of higher power or rarely some other unlikely source.
New Quest! Quest of growth I: Learn 5 skills Reward: 1 Talent point
¡°Was there an update? The last I checked on earth the game was pretty normal besides the prestige stuff.¡± The blessing upon heroes has changed in Nature as a new cohort enters the stage.
As this is a new server made specifically for the colony ship. some changes have been made based on the ships¡¯ unique capabilities. Interactions with Sol system players will still be possible until the ship is out of relay change, but after that, the ship will be running a private instance of VOS Kingdoms.
The second box was almost jarring in how plain it was, that, and it didn¡¯t speak in Aiden¡¯s head. ¡°Right then, when do I start?¡± The world shifted almost imperceptibly. The previous sensations that felt overwhelming to Aiden now came into full vibrancy. It was shocking and amazing and Aiden thought he was going to throw up. ¡°Ah, a new Hero, I see that the transition to our humble village is hard on you poor lads. Take this.¡± An old man held a wooden cup of water to Aiden with gnarled hands and he gulped it down gratefully. The cool liquid felt like heaven pouring down his throat and the slight mineral taste just made it that much more refreshing. Aiden didn¡¯t even know it was possible for water to taste like that. Fruit infusions sure, but who would think to infuse water with rocks? Aiden looked to the man to thank him but was shocked by the thick wrinkles layered about a face dark with tan and a light dusting of earth. Did he want to look like a tree? but¡ªno, it couldn¡¯t it be. ¡°Right thank you, er..¡± He was stumbling on his words again. Damn it. ¡°Elder Cohler. ¡°Thanks, Elder Cohler.¡± ¡°You''re most welcome. I welcome all Heroes to the Cairn and get them settled. Veuce told me of your arrival, and I prepared a space for you at the town hall.¡± He gestured to the largest of the log cabins behind him with a crossed square carved on the signboard. ¡°There you will find a safe space to sleep as Veuce herself protects the sleeping Heroes inside from all danger. Mind you, that is rarely the case elsewhere, so I suggest you go to Hunter Boyd and learn light sleeping. You can find him at the hunter''s lodge in that direction. ¡°Other places of note include Maya¡¯s general store right behind you and the Yates¡¯ Bakery next to it. Ask Glinda for any tailoring work you need to be done, but for most things, Maya will have you covered so long as you have the coin, of which you should have five denna. And that is it for the grand tour.¡± The old man smiled and winked his already squinted eye. ¡°Thanks, umm, you wouldn¡¯t happen to have any problems I can help with, would you?¡± asked Aiden, the village elder being the standard newb quest-giver after all. ¡°Ah, young Heroes always so eager to help. Ask around the villagers if they need anything. There¡¯s always something going on. Besides that, you could help with clearing the bush down south of Celties to help make way for a field expansion, or if you''re less battle inclined, our village could always use the help of an eager scribe to record our history.¡±
New quest! Clear the way: Dispatch of 25 Celties Reward: increased favour with Cairn Village, Unknown
New quest! Save the Past: Talk to, and record the stories of 15 Villagers Reward: increased favour with Cairn Village, Unknown
Aiden considered what the Elder had told him. It was a start. Two clear paths forward that would likely lead to more. Money in his pocket and a store to spend it on only a few feet away. It was time to make use of it. 1.04 - Family Celna was always following her brother Vos, and Vos was always out of reach. Celna would always return to Vos¡¯s shadow. She basked in the light of Sellis as her only joy and so reflected a solemn blue glow, fleeting and sometimes lost. Amma could not bear for a daughter of hers to be so lonely. She thought that if only Sellis could be closer to her. So Amma plucked flame from the star, picked a stone from Celna''s iron core, and brought them together. From this, Yid was born. His ethereal flame shone along with Celnas'' solemn blue and together they were harmonious. Happy, the new siblings followed Vos in the skies together. occasionally taking turns playing hide and seek, now with a sibling to find them. ***** ¡°I¡¯m home!¡± Maya called out, jimmying the door open, its latch stiff. ¡°Noa, I thought I told you to oil the door? You might have trapped Erin outside with me and missed seeing her, you know.¡± The two friends walked in, Erin skirting her way around Maya and making a beeline towards the kitchen where the smell of warm food beckoned her. Noa looked up from his book where he was seated in the corner of the room and smiled innocently. ¡°Sorry Sis, it must have slipped my mind.¡± He turned to Erin and attempted a suave expression but missed the mark as usual. ¡°We¡¯ve got a pie in the oven for dessert, Erin. Just for you.¡± ¡°Sweet!¡± Erin licked her lips and hurried to the kitchen even faster than before, not even acknowledging the boy who could have been the mirror image of her best friend had he not been born a different gender. They shared the same citrine eyes that now gazed longingly after his sister''s best friend. The same powder white skin that flushed so brightly when Maya joked, ¡°She¡¯ll notice you eventually.¡± They also shared the same long ebony hair that was the defining trait of the Brennon family. He hid behind it now. Maya sighed and pulled at her brother''s arm. ¡°Come on, it¡¯s time for dinner.¡± She was the youngest of her siblings, but she could have sworn she¡¯d been looking after them as long as she could remember. Stepping into the kitchen, she kissed her father¡¯s cheek before sitting down beside Erin. Noa tried to sit down nonchalantly on Erin¡¯s other side, but he wasn¡¯t fooling anyone, except for Erin, who greeted him only after he, not so subtly, bumped into her. ¡°How¡¯s work going sweetie?¡± asked Maya¡¯s father, passing her a bowl of stew. Maya quickly accepted it from his wavering hand and replied brightly.¡°Great! We made more this week than we normally do all summer. I don¡¯t know how the Heroes already have coin when they spontaneously pop out of nowhere, but they sure do love spending it right away.¡± She ate a spoonful of the rich stew and sighed gratefully, relishing the fat melting on her tongue. ¡°It sure is exhausting though. Where¡¯d you get the meat, Kyle? This rabbit must have been too fat to hop.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why it couldn¡¯t escape when I caught it in Gretta¡¯s garden,¡± he replied. As the eldest brother, Kyle took care of their father and home. He acted as a nurse, chef, handyman, all around silly brother, and now bunny-wrangler. ¡°The little rascal had been plaguing Gretta¡¯s turnips for weeks, when I caught it for her, she gave me some of her carrots too, that¡¯s why the stew¡¯s so sweet.¡± ¡°Did she give them to you, or did you catch them with the rabbit?¡± Maya challenged. She knew Gretta, and she knew Kyle. Gretta would never part with her prized carrots, but Kyle would certainly set up a rabbit to take the fall. ¡°They were a just reward.¡± Maya¡¯s father laughed heartily at this and she let the matter go. If it made Father happy, Kyle¡¯s tricks were all too welcome. The evening carried on with a stream of banter mitigated only by the consumption of stew. Erin went home not long after said stew ran out, to a certain young mans¡¯ chagrin. Maya cleaned the kitchen and put her ailing father to bed; despite his weak protests that it wasn¡¯t necessary. Finally, with all her chores accounted for, she sat down with her prized possession, a geography book. Each page had a map and a corresponding description of the land it represented and the things that lived there. It was hard to imagine a place that burnt so hot in the day that nothing could grow and yet still be freezing in the night. What was even more unbelievable was the tribe that called such a place home. She read of the eleven kingdoms. And she read of the ancient war. The book was old and out of date. Written even before the ceasefire twenty-three years ago. It spoke of the horrifying demons that called the Wild Lands home. Wove tales of how the Voidspawn would eat the babes of the good and honest human folk if only given the chance. How shocked the author would be, to know there was a village of these horrifying fiends on the border of Cinnfhail? If only he knew they slept in beds only a dozen strides away from human babes, that they lived quiet lives like any other, with simple hopes and dreams.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. And now Heroes. Maya scowled and put her book down. It was hard reading by candlelight anyway. Her brothers had gone to sleep now, and she could hear her father¡¯s gentle snores as she put her ear to his door. Gently closing the front door behind her, Maya made her way back to her shop by silver starlight and the solemn glow of Celna absent of her brother''s comforting flame. She emerged from the shop with the glint of cold steel visible in her hands. The blade was held almost reverently to her breast as she navigated her way to the familiar glade to practice her forms. The glade was a silent world of ethereal blue, obscured slightly by a shallow mist that danced through the long grass and wildflowers. Maya found its centre and began as her mother taught her. First, thank Amma, Mother of All. Blade held straight between the eyes separating the world in twain. Bow to the Void to which all must return¡ªher sword swept forward in a slow graceful arc¡ªand sever that which claim to send you there sooner. A sharp jab and lunge. Dance with Atie and distance be no object. Now quick steps, precise and exacting, intermixed with those slow and deliberate. Maya flowed through the forms sometimes so slow as to make the effort not to move gargantuan, or so fast as to barely miss tripping over her own two feet. The sweat dripped from her brow unheeded. Maya did not listen to her body¡¯s aches and pains but to her mother¡¯s voice. A beautiful yet fading memory¨C¨Cthe singular memento of a mother she loved so dearly¨C¨CMaya would never forget her teachings. Never would she forget the lesson mother had taught her. She was a big girl now. Practising in the night left much of her body in shadow, the glint of Celna on the sword sometimes the only indication that Maya was in the glade. It was better that way. Best not to be seen and draw danger unwittingly. Best to be strong for when that danger comes regardless. Maya learned her lessons and took them to heart. ***** ¡°Next!¡± Maya bit back a yawn as she called over the next Hero in line. Why did so many of them insist on showing up just as the shop opened? It was going to be a long exhausting day, even without the muscle aches and sleep deprivation that her night''s training left her with. ¡°Excuse me?¡± Maya started, she¡¯d drifted off and a blank-faced Hero of all things had caught her. ¡°Right, what can I do for you this morning?¡± She managed a weak smile, but he was obviously unconvinced. ¡°Well I was going to ask for some potions but¡­¡± The Hero drifted off. Was that concern on his face? The Heroes normally didn¡¯t even look at her like a person, rather like she was a tool or just another piece of the scenery. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen a shopkeeper that looked as exhausted as you. I didn¡¯t even think it was possible for you to get tired.¡± Maya blinked and stared at the man. He¡¯d said the last part as if to himself, but she¡¯d heard him all the same. Thick brown hair, jade green eyes, and a chiselled chin speckled with stubble made for a roguishly handsome man. His awkward smile as he noticed her pause was at odds with this, but maybe that was another point of charm. He wore the same plain linen clothing and basic leathers that she must have sold him before¡ªshe couldn¡¯t remember when but the light where suggested no more then a couple days ago¡ªand strapped to his waist was a basic dagger. He was a prototypical Hero, and she couldn¡¯t help but wonder if they were all just as idiotic. ¡°Of course, I get tired, just like any other person. Shopkeepers aren¡¯t mage-tech, despite any stories you Heroes may have heard.¡± She tried to be polite. She really did, but she couldn¡¯t hide her exasperation at the man. ¡°Oh right, sorry!¡± he quickly apologized and muttered something to himself. ¡°Say, you don¡¯t suppose I could help you out here in exchange for some supplies? I¡¯m a bit tight for cash.¡± Cash? What did that mean? Maya glanced at the waiting line of Heroes and, noticing their growing annoyance, quickly came to a decision. ¡°Sure, help me through the morning rush and I¡¯ll give you ten potions; stamina or health, we can decide that later.¡± She paused and the man nodded. ¡°Now get behind the counter next to me and watch me deal with the next few, after that you can ask me any questions if you need help.¡± The man poked at the air before complying.
Your Quest has been accepted.
Veuce whispered to her and Maya shivered. The Hero stood to her side and watched her intently as she called her next patron over, this time a female Hero that would put town beauties to shame everywhere. She wanted new potions and a grinding stone for her dagger, and Maya quickly fulfilled her request, pointing out the location of items to her helper. ¡°There are more potions in the back, if we run low, tell me and I¡¯ll fetch us some more.¡± She finished her explanation before turning back to the woman and completing the exchange. Turning back once more to her helper, she realized she didn¡¯t know how to address him; it wouldn¡¯t do to call him Hero with five others filling her shop. ¡°Are you going to tell me your name at some point or will I have to start calling you Hero-one?¡± His cheeks tinged with red and Maya held back a snort; he looked even less a rogue and more an awkward farm boy. He gathered himself and replied sheepishly, ¡°A-Aiden. My name is Aiden.¡± 1.05 - Damn Fluffballs Veuce saw that the humans were weak and that the world outside Sanctuary was poised against them. She would not betray Ammas'' trust and allow harm to come to her new children, but her guidance alone was not enough. She talked to her siblings who like her felt close to the odd mortals. The twins Ordas and Judas answered and guided the humans in working together. Kirn admired their fighting spirit and so taught them to use it. Drys taught them to care for the land in return for succour. Myra could not teach but she provided health to those who asked in a manner to her liking. Veuce asked and was answered; her siblings finding meaning, amusement, worth, and more in her words. From this, humanity gained strength. From this Humanity gained a pantheon of gods. ***** Aiden grimaced looking at what remained of his savings. Two Denna and fifty Aes were both what he¡¯d spent to get his basic gear and all that he had left. He wasn¡¯t really sure how much that was actually worth yet and there weren¡¯t exactly a lot of options in this tiny village, but NPC vendors were almost always rip-offs. It sucked to spend half his money almost immediately and have almost no clue to the value of it. Nothing else for it, time for quests. Aiden pulled up his limited quest menu.
Quest Log Active Quests: 3
Quest of growth I Learn 5 skills Reward: 1 Talent point
Clear the way Dispatch of 25 Celties Reward: increased favour with Cairn Village, Unknown
Save the Past Talk to, and record the stories of 15 Villagers Reward: increased favour with Cairn Village, Unknown
He wasn¡¯t in the mood to spend any more time with NPCs, so the last one was out. The first two looked like they could be done together. Skills were gained from actions, and what better actions to get combat skills than those used to kill things? It was time to actually start playing the game. Now, where was he supposed to go? He spotted the village elder sitting on a bench near the town hall talking with a few other elderly and approached, calling out to him. ¡°Elder Cohler!¡± ¡°Yes?¡± The elderly man slowly looked up and answered. ¡°Where do I go to kill the Celties?¡± ¡°Just down south between the forests and the fields.¡± Aiden wanted to ask for clarification, but the elder had already turned back to his companions. ¡°South it is then,¡± Aiden muttered, turning around. He walked a few steps before coming to a halt and turned back to the elder and his group, this time rather sheepishly. ¡°Umm¡­ Which way is south?¡± The entire group of elderly stopped to stare at him before bursting into laughter. An old woman with a yellow shawl recovered first and pointed to the direction he was heading earlier. ¡°Just that way young lad.¡± She then pointed to the sky. ¡°Sellis is stubborn and only travels east to west; it¡¯s afternoon now.¡± ¡°Oh, right, thanks.¡± Aiden gave a slight smile and a wave before turning around again. It took him a moment to puzzle through the woman¡¯s explanation before remembering his tutor once mentioned ancient humans used the sun and stars for navigation. It seemed a rather imprecise method, but it would have to do; it wasn¡¯t like he had a GPS. He paused on the dirt path leading out of the village, face in hand. ¡°Idiot!¡± A bird flew away and a couple of villagers looked at him strangely for a moment before moving on. Aiden could have kicked himself as he navigated his menu to pull up the mini-map function. It popped into his upper-left field of vision, a quest marker already blinking in the direction he was heading. There was even a damn compass. The Game had felt so real that Aiden had almost started acting like it. Not only that, but everything was so rustic that even every-day augmented reality felt out of place. Aiden looked through the menu options to see if he¡¯d missed anything else. A lot, as it turned out. It had almost everything available in a standard augmentation package down on earth plus a few extras like his inventory space and a character sheet. Right, it would probably be smart to look at that.
Name: ----
Skills: ----
Talents: ----If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
Gifts: ----
Renown: Cairn Village: Common Stranger
Ah. So he was literally a worthless nobody. He should fix that. ***** The south field expansion was a stretch of unkempt land between the villages farms and the forest which surrounded the valley. There were saplings, all kinds of weeds, and of course roughly half a dozen players chasing after bouncing fluffballs; these were the celties, Aiden presumed. Aiden looked at his crude iron dagger and put it back in its sheath, feeling he was more likely to stab himself than hit one of those. He stepped off the path onto the field propper.
You Have found the Celty Field! +1 to exploration skill for first successful navigation
You Have learned Skill: Navigation!
Quest Progress: Quest of growth I: 1/5 skills learned
¡°System. Set automatic notifications to vital only and the rest to simplified standby alert.¡± A notification pending icon appeared in his peripheral vision and Aiden sent it a mental activation
Preferences Applied
¡°System. Set system conversation to automatic.¡±
Preferences Applied
¡°Better.¡± Aiden let out a grateful sigh, happy that the system operated similarly to the augments he had on earth. It was even as literal in implementation. He must have really been out of it to forget about them, and, even while doing something as banal as breathing, it was easy to see why. The air was full of all kinds of smells, some of which he didn¡¯t even recognize. Sure it was similar to the enviro-parks sprinkled throughout the massive Metropolitan-complexes, but they were small regulated microbiomes mandated into existence so people didn¡¯t go insane. They were nothing like an actual mountain valley. ¡°Pretty amazing right?¡± Aiden started, finally noticing the player who had approached him. He looked around Aiden¡¯s age and his hair was startlingly blond; almost white. Aiden wondered if that choice was deliberate or he had also stuck with his ¡®default¡¯. It was impossible to tell, but Aiden couldn¡¯t help but wonder. How a person presented themselves told you a lot about them. This person was well-groomed, had a confident posture and had even approached him freely. That was a lot of data. Sadly, Aiden never really learned the art of reading others despite his sister''s best attempts to teach him. All she managed was to instil a habit of staring the first time he met anyone. Like he was doing now. Damn. ¡°Right yeah, amazing¡­¡± Aiden tried to cover his blunder, the operative word being tried, ¡°Umm, sorry, who are you?¡± ¡°Arthur, no last name yet, apparently you have to earn one.¡± Arthur held out his hand and Aiden shook it. That he could do; all muscle memory¡ªperfect for running on autopilot. ¡°I didn¡¯t know that, I¡¯m Aiden by the way. You were saying?¡± ¡°All of this,¡± Arthur waved his arms around gesturing to the world around him, ¡°it¡¯s amazing. I¡¯ve been to the mountains once back on earth, a resort in the Alps, it''s nothing like this. I mean it is, but there are only a few valleys kept entirely free of human construction and you wouldn¡¯t know it because there are people everywhere even with the strict visitor limitations. I don¡¯t think there¡¯s a place left on earth anything like what we''re seeing now.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve never left the North American Complex, but I heard the Rockies are still pretty great. It¡¯s where all the big shots go for their vacations.¡± ¡°Right, my trip to the Alps; I won that¡ªnever could have afforded to go otherwise. A trip to the Rockies would cost at least ten times that. It¡¯s part of why I¡¯m here. One of the only ways left to see nature is with a one way, thirty-year-long trip away from Earth. Never thought the virtual suite would be so amazing though.¡± ¡°Right.¡± Aiden had never really thought much of nature and while the mountain valley sure was nice he couldn¡¯t see it as something worth leaving earth for. His ideas on that front didn¡¯t mean much of anything though. ¡°You on the starter quest?¡± he asked Arthur. ¡°Clear the way?¡± Aiden nodded. ¡°Yup, it''s harder than I thought. There are celties all over the place, so finding them is no problem. They¡¯re weak, so killing them is no problem. They aren¡¯t even that fast, it''s just you can never tell which direction a celty¡¯s going to jump next.¡± ¡°Think it would be easier if we worked together?¡± ¡°Can¡¯t hurt to give it a try.¡± ***** The sky turned red as the sun descended below the mountains and cast a long shadow over the valley. Aiden still had not completed the quest. Oh, he¡¯d completed a quest, it didn¡¯t take long to earn five skills running after fluffy monsters. He had less luck catching and killing said monsters though, even with the help of Arthur, who¡¯d finished his quest an hour earlier and left shortly after, wishing Aiden good luck. It didn¡¯t help. Aiden might have thought Arthur had cursed him instead if that were possible. In the hour since he¡¯d left, Aiden had not caught a single celty even as his skills rose and helped in his task, even though he only needed to catch one more before that task would finish. Aiden made a sweep at a passing celty and missed spectacularly. He wasn¡¯t putting in all that much effort anymore and his skill gains had slowed as well. Maybe if he used that talent he got? No, Aiden wanted to read through the options first and decide carefully. Maybe talents were rare. The follow-up quest didn¡¯t have them. Aiden paused in his fruitless attempts and pulled up the quest update he¡¯d received earlier.
Updated quest! Quest of growth II: Level 5 skills to 10 reward: +10skill levels in a selected skill
He wasn¡¯t making progress, and it was quickly getting dark, so it was probably best to turn in and try again tomorrow when he wasn¡¯t so frustrated. With his mind made up, Aiden quickly turned around and started on his way back, eager to leave this place behind. There was a soft squeak and notification alert began to blink. Aiden summoned it and stared in disbelief.
Quest Completed! Clear the way: Catch or dispatch of 25/25 Celties to claim the reward report to the village elder.
Aiden looked down at the pink fluff poking out from under his boot an odd smile twitching on his face. He was happy¡ªthe situation was even a bit funny in an exasperating kind of way¡ªbut damn those fluffballs. 1.06 - Sunny Mortality was an odd child. He was the younger brother of Mort, twin to Adam, son of Amma, Harbinger of the Void. Born with wisdom few could ever comprehend; his childhood was simultaneously lonely and all-encompassing. His workings are sometimes confused with Entrope and while similar, Mortality guides the spirit while Entrope takes the physical. Mortality walks alongside every mortal and, together with Mort, delivers them unto the void. ***** Aiden wasn¡¯t impressed by the village provided accommodations in the town hall, but he didn¡¯t have to be. It didn¡¯t matter that all he had to sleep on was a small pallet on the floor squeezed in between two others because that wasn¡¯t where he was really sleeping. Heck, if you wanted to get really literal about it, he was sleeping in a pod on a spaceship, which is why his sleeping conditions in Vos didn¡¯t matter so long as it was in a protected area. The city hall was exactly that. A safe place provided by the game¡ªto store player characters while logging¡ªwhere one wasn''t at risk of dying in their ¡®sleep¡¯. Why couldn¡¯t bodies just disappear like in other games? To increase the game''s immersion, of course. Why did the game automatically log players off into their staterooms? Because medieval living standards were shit and this was supposed to be a game. More people would have probably complained if the death penalty wasn¡¯t so odd. When players died in Vos, they didn¡¯t lose experience and stats¡ªthose didn¡¯t exist in VOS. Instead, players lost all reputation metrics and earned a time out from the game. The player''s old identity died for good and a new in-game identity had to be taken. All that meant for Aiden was that he could act as recklessly in the game as he wanted, and if he really messed up, he could kill himself to get a blank slate. Recklessness included the act of sleeping alone in the woods without a lookout, but he didn¡¯t have to do that this night. The pallet provided to him was itchy and smelled funny, but Aiden could stand it long enough to lie down and log off. The night spent sleeping in his massive fourposter bed was wonderful, if a little gaudy. Aiden promised himself to re-customize the room when he wasn¡¯t hurrying back to the game as he was waking up the next morning¡ªbut could it really be called morning if he was in space? Aiden shrugged, logged on, and stumbled over the body lying next to him. Good thing that girl was as good as comatose. He was still shaking out his sore wrists as he emerged from the dingy little town hall and into the blinding sunlit town square. Aiden stumbled again, this time over his own feet. ¡°You alright there, young lad?¡± asked an elderly looking blob. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m fine. Is it always so bright in the morning?¡± Aiden replied trying to blink away the spots from his vision and recognized Elder Cohler speaking to him. ¡°Morning? Noon is only a bell from now. But yes, a nice cloudless day like this one will always be rather bright; Sellis can only be obscured not dimmed.¡± It took Aiden a moment to parse that. According to the mythology blurb published during the game''s announcement, Sellis was the sun god, only not a god because there were no gods¡ªonly primordial idea-being-things¡ªexcept the humans worshipped Sellis as a part of their pantheon of gods. Was that right? Aiden¡¯s memory was hazy and he¡¯d checked-out at most of the religious crap. World-building was fun and all, but ten-minute exposition dumps were not. ¡°Right, thanks Elder Cohler. I finished one of those quests you gave me, you know the one to clear the Celties?¡± ¡°Ah, that¡¯s right, I can hear Veuce telling me now, here''s a Celty pillow for the trouble.¡±
Quest Completed Clear the way Reward: Renown with Cairn village increased, Celty pillow
Celty Pillow Gain a well-rested bonus for one hour after waking up in the morning
¡°Oh. Wow. thanks.¡± Aiden felt at the light pink pillow given to him. It was very fluffy. ¡°I can¡¯t wait to have a nice rest on the corpses of my enemies.¡± "That''s nice, sonny." The elder gave Aiden an odd look and slowly walked away. ¡°That was a joke!¡± Aiden called after him. There was a light snort of laughter coming from behind him and Aiden turned to find the girl he¡¯d nearly face-planted onto earlier. ¡°You know, normally you don¡¯t need to explain that you¡¯re joking unless it¡¯s a bad joke right?¡± ¡°Is that just a convoluted way of saying I¡¯m not funny? I can be funny.¡± Another snort.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°See, you¡¯re laughing.¡± ¡°The question is, am I laughing at you or with you?¡± ¡°Most people wouldn¡¯t admit to laughing at someone; it¡¯s poor manners.¡± The girl lifted a bright red eyebrow at him. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Oh, nothing. I was just wondering if this really was the guy Arthur spent the whole afternoon with.¡± ¡°Well yeah, we helped each other out yesterday, you know him?¡± ¡°He¡¯s my little brother.¡± Aiden looked at her flame-red hair, emerald eyes, and the abundance of freckles that flecked her small button nose, cheeks, and even arms, then compared it to Arthur¡¯s Nordic blond hair, blue eyes, and chiselled features. They did share the same almost vampiric skin though, even if one already came with freckles. ¡°You don¡¯t look alike,¡± Aiden stated the obvious. ¡°Duh, this is a game, we can look however we want. Don¡¯t tell me you actually look like this?¡± ¡°No, but I didn¡¯t change anything major.¡± ¡°And neither did we. You just can¡¯t see past the freckles.¡± ¡°Well, I mean, they¡¯re everywhere.¡± ¡°You¡¯re a real charmer, you know that?¡± She spoke in a flat voice and deadpan expression that quickly lifted into a bright and bubbly tone as she changed the topic. ¡°Any-who, today you get to help me out getting stories from the locals. Come on!¡± Without waiting for a response, she grabbed onto Aiden¡¯s wrist and started walking towards an NPC. ¡°Why do I have to help you?¡± Aiden protested following the girl who he still didn¡¯t know the name of. Oh, right. ¡°I don¡¯t even know your name!¡± ¡°The name¡¯s Morrigan.¡± She turned and gave him a savage grin. ¡°And you''re helping me because you helped my brother and it wouldn¡¯t be fair if only one of us got help.¡± ¡°Right... What-¡± Morrigan cut him off. ¡°Hello, sir! We¡¯re collecting stories for the towns Archive and would like to ask if you have any to share.¡± Morrigan adopted a cheerful, friendly demeanour and waved to a woodsman-stereotype NPC. Aiden noticed a recording symbol flashing above her head and quickly activated his own recorder, the familiar hollo-frame and recording symbol appearing in his augmented vision¡ªvirtual vision? ¡°More heroes sent my way by Cohler is it?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the Elder!¡± Morrigan affirmed. ¡°Right then, let''s get this over with.¡± The NPC mumbled then began rehearsing what was likely the same story he told every player. ¡°I am Hunter Boyd. I was not born in this village, but I came here looking for a new start after the ceasefire. I was a soldier on the frontlines fighting in the pass where the wall now is. I¡¯d marched all the way there from my hometown in Jashra and had no intention of finding my way back or getting stationed at the Wall so I settled down here. That¡¯s how a lot of us came to Cairn actually.¡± ¡°Wait, the Wall? What ceasefire?¡± Both Boyd and Morrigan looked at Aiden like he was some kind of idiot. ¡°Please tell me you at least know about the war?¡± asked Boyd. ¡°The one with the demons right? I heard it never ends.¡± ¡°Yes, and right now we¡¯re in a ceasefire with them. The wall was built by the gods shortly after the demons pulled back into the Wildlands. Only took them a week, if my memory serves me, though I¡¯d been suffering from a rather nasty knock to the head at the time.¡± ¡°Dude,¡± Morrigan hissed in Aiden¡¯s ear, ¡°haven¡¯t you read the updated wiki for the Abeona? There were a bunch of updates made for the launch.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t even know it existed.¡± Boyd cleared his throat, startling Aiden and Morrigan back to attention.¡°As I was saying, I settled in Cairn after the ceasefire. I was handy with the bow, so I thought I¡¯d make a go at hunting. I was horrible at it¡ªarmy archery focuses on frequent volleys rather than Aim but Arril¡ªthat¡¯s Maya¡¯s Mother, pity how she died¡ªshe taught me how to hunt properly.¡± ***** ¡°So there I was, a young girl, barely seventeen, when I saw the most handsome boy I ever did see.¡± ¡°Handsome? That old Reter had the face of a brick.¡± ¡°Well, we hit it off right away.¡± Continued the elderly woman by the name of Yelda, ignoring her friend¡¯s corrections ¡°Maybe a bit too well. When I learned I was pregnant, well, you know how it is¡­¡± No, Aiden really did not know ¡®how it is¡¯. ¡°There was this whole kerfuffle and my sweet Reter got down on his knees and proposed to me. My father was livid!¡± Yelda cackled like it was all some big joke. ¡°Of course, he was livid, that Reter went and got his little girl all knocked up then completely bypassed him when he proposed to you.¡± ¡°As was right. I far prefer our Cinnfhail traditions then that stuffy Lapris nonsense my father was always on about. Really, if he was alive to see Olna propose to Lorn he would have died from the shock.¡± ¡°I¡¯m from Lapris!¡± ¡°And? You fainted when you heard about it.¡± The quest updated and Aiden and Morrigan stealthily extracted themselves from the bickering grannies. ***** ¡°I was born in the Village, never really been far from it, Ma and Pa say it¡¯s too dangerous to go out on my own. Maya does too, but she¡¯s worse than a mother hen, or bear. Hey, which do you think fits better?¡± Aiden and Maya looked at each other, not quite sure if they heard the question right. ¡°You want to know if this ¡®Maya¡¯ is more of a hen or a bear?¡± asked Aiden. ¡°Who even is she?¡± asked Morrigan. ¡°She¡¯s my best friend!¡± The girl¡¯s face lit up, blush red cheeks and cornflower blue eyes practically glowing in cheery delight. ¡°We¡¯ve always played together, used to plan to go on adventures too. That stopped when her mother died." Her smile slipped. "She hasn¡¯t even stepped foot into the forests since then, won¡¯t let me either. I''ll get her to come around eventually though. We¡¯ll get out into the world one day, and I swear I¡¯m going to save a prince from a dragon. That¡¯s how it goes right? Again Aiden and Morrigan shared a look, though now in bemusement. ¡°Right,¡± said Aiden, wanting to rap-up this session. ¡°You never actually got around to telling us your name.¡± ¡°It¡¯s Erin!¡± She smiled brightly. Aiden noticed how her light red curls almost looked like sunbeams emanating from her heavily freckled and youthful face. 1.07 - A Sister’s Resemblance Dea whispered to young Adam. Spoke to him of the vast world beyond Sanctuary. ¡°The Wildlands are terrific, don¡¯t you want to explore them?¡± Adam trusted in the gods, trusted their words that the wildlands could not be tread upon. He said ¡°No¡± and Dea cursed. Adam remained in lands provided by the gods where he and his fellow kin could flourish, for Amma had blessed him with siblings in her joy at seeing his. Adam met his mate Uli and she bore him six children. Of the children Jasic was loyal, Het was clever, Fen was gentle, Bann¡¯an was brave, Leta was practical, and the youngest child, Erin, was curious. ¡°The Wildlands are terrific, don¡¯t you want to explore them?¡± whispered Dea to Erin. The young girl smiled and laughed while shaking her head. ¡°Papa said I should never go there.¡± ¡°But what is there to be afraid of?¡± tempted Dea. ¡°What indeed?¡± asked the curious girl as she followed deep into the trees. ***** ¡°Hey thanks for bringing me along today, I don¡¯t think I could have sat through all those stories on my own.¡± Aiden shifted on his feet trying not to look awkward and failing. Always say thank you, it was one of the few lessons that stuck, though maybe not for the intended reason. ¡°Daww.¡± Morrigan made a dramatic showing of getting embarrassed, which Aiden appreciated. ¡°Thanks for coming along with me. I just know Arthur gave up after the third grandma he talked to; our old granny used to drive him insane with her stories.¡± And a savage grin replaced her theatrics. Aiden chuckled at this. He¡¯d never met a person whose expressions would change so rapidly. Any expression beyond ¡®politic smile¡¯ and ¡®sincere regret/condolences¡¯ was quite novel, well, those two and ¡®Aiden you idiot¡¯. A glance at his UI clock told him it was approaching dinner time, and Aiden noticed he was getting hungry. More brain shenanigans; he wasn¡¯t hungry at lunch or the entire day before. Why should he be when his real body was entirely taken care of? Food did sound nice though, virtual or not. ¡°You want to get dinner together?¡± ¡°You''re hitting on me?¡± Her grin was now downright predatorial. ¡°No! I mean, not that I don¡¯t find you attractive, I mean¡ªsince I don¡¯t know anyone else on the Abeona, and I never did get contact information for Arthur...¡± ¡°I¡¯m just messing with you. Sure, it sounds like fun. I¡¯ll just message Arthur and¡­ there we go.¡± You have been invited to the [Hexagonal Table] group chat. Accept Y/N? ¡°Thanks,¡± Aiden said and thought yes.
Hexagonal Table
Morrigan: Hey Aiden invited us to dinner! Arthur: The Awkward kid from yesterday? Aiden: Hey! You didn¡¯t look all that much older, and I¡¯m not a kid. Arthur: 20, right? That¡¯s the minimum age requirement to be on this ship. Aiden: Not a kid! Morrigan: Stop teasing the poor guy. Wait. No. Scratch that. I want to see how red he gets. Aiden: So, dinner? Arthur: Right, sounds good. Where should we eat? Morrigan: How about the Star Lounge? It will be nice to see the solar system while we still can.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Aiden: It¡¯s just a recording. Arthur: We can still pull it up from the library later. Morrigan: But this is Live and we¡¯re here! It¡¯s just not the same later. Aiden: Time? Arthur: I¡¯m good whenever; logged off a while ago to recover my sanity. Morrigan: Knew it! See you in 10? Arthur: Yup Aiden: Sounds good
¡°Let¡¯s get going!¡± Morrigan led Aiden by the arm back to the town hall, not even waiting for him to close the message window. He smiled and let her have her way, wondering how Arthur dealt with having a sister like her. ***** ¡°Hey, Elder, got another quest for you.¡± ¡°Why, good morning, Hero!¡± ¡°Please, it¡¯s Aiden¡± ¡°Of course, yes. Here¡¯s your reward¡±
Quest Completed Save the Past: Talk to, and record the stories of 15 Villagers Reward: increased favour with Cairn Village, Journal
Renown Increased! Favour with Cain village now at [Familiar Face] (positive)
journal Records the story of your journey in Vos: Use to recall fond memories of past quests and see the roots of future greatness
¡°Thanks, got anything else for me?¡± ¡°Not I, but there''s always someone that needs something doing, or you can go hunt celties to make more pillows¡ªyou¡¯ll get a couple of aes a piece for that.¡± He said this innocently enough but Aiden could have sworn there was a teasing glint in his eyes. ¡°I might just do that.¡± Catching celties sucked, but it sure levelled up skills fast. The other quest only got him two lousy points in Conversation. A glance at his character sheet confirmed that.
Name: Aiden [not yet earned]
Skills: Athletics: 4 Capture: 4 Sprint: 3 Dagger: 2 Identification: 2 Conversation: 2
Talents: ----
Gifts: ----
Renown: Cairn Village: Familiar face (positive)
Granted, Morrigan did most of the talking and he still had a skill point to assign, but apparently it was common practice to save it until better talents unlocked later on. Aiden turned toward the general store, thinking if he was going to chase after celties all day, he was going to need the stamina potions. ***** ¡°Next!¡± The shopkeeper called Aiden forward. ¡°Morning! How many stamina potions can you get me with a denna?¡± The Shopkeeper didn¡¯t respond, only looking forward with a vacant stare, ¡°Excuse me?¡± The shopkeeper jumped slightly and asked with a weak smile, ¡°Right, what can I do for you this morning?¡± ¡°Well I was going to ask for some potions but¡­¡± Aiden paused, confused by the heavy circles under her eyes, and noticed how her shoulders sagged and unkempt hair poked from under a sky blue shawl. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen a shopkeeper that looked as exhausted as you. I didn¡¯t even think it was possible for NPCs to get tired.¡± Oh, there was the ¡®Aiden¡¯s an idiot¡¯ look, she even cocked her left eyebrow up the way his sister did. ¡°Of course, I get tired, just like any other person. Shopkeepers aren¡¯t mage tech, despite any stories you Heroes may have heard.¡± Aiden even recognized his sister¡¯s irritated, sleep-deprived, tone. ¡°Oh right, sorry!¡± he quickly apologized and muttered under his breath, ¡°damn these NPC feel lifelike.¡± She just looked at him blankly and Aiden relaxed; this NPC was not his sister¡ªshe would go full lecture mode on him. ¡°Say, you don¡¯t suppose I could help you out here in exchange for some supplies? I¡¯m a bit tight for cash.¡± ¡°Sure, help me through the morning rush and I¡¯ll give you ten potions; stamina or health, we can decide that later. Now get behind the counter next to me and watch me deal with the next few. After that, you can ask me any questions if you need help.¡±
New quest Help in the shop: help tend the shop until the end of the morning rush Reward: 10 potions ????Failure: Decreased reputation with Maya
So this was the Maya he''d heard about, thought Aiden, stepping to her side. He watched her actions intently as she called her next patron over, and followed along as she pointed out the locations and prices of various items. ¡°There are more potions in the back; if we run low, tell me, and I¡¯ll fetch us some more.¡± She finished her explanation before turning back to the woman and completing the exchange only to quickly turn around once more. ¡°Are you going to tell me your name at some point or will I have to start calling you Hero-one?¡± Aiden felt his cheeks redden as he gathered himself and replied sheepishly, ¡°A-Aiden. My name is Aiden.¡± Damn that stutter. Big sis would not be impressed. 1.08 - Careless The Godlands were beautiful, safe, made just for humanity, but the wildlands beyond beckoned¡ªthe Void beckoned¡ªand humanity was tempted by that which was unattainable. ***** "Dea''Ammat, I am at your service." The Demon Lord''s thoughts returned to present and their gaze shifted from the still shattered vile underfoot. Flat sulphur eyes observed the kneeling shadow before them and betrayed nothing of the soul beyond. Always contradictory, always burning and frozen. Pale lips parted and a soft rush of air was expelled, "Arise." Quiet and almost raspy, the command was music to the shadow¡¯s ears. The shadow rose to its pinprick feet and kept its head bowed. "The remains of the enemy forces have retreated to the lowlands, the kin have secured the fortifications and the last of the peasantry have been culled." A pause then the shadow answered the unasked question. "The nobility have long since fled." A small disappointment, the Demon lord never expected to exterminate the Cinnfhail aristocracy. Dregs of the empire they may be, but still, of the empire. Pity¡ªit would have been satisfying to expunge a few of the parasites. "Dea''Ammat, we await your orders." The shadow broke the growing quiet. "We know." The shadow shivered, far beyond, the hordes of demons shivered. Rarely did Dea''Ammat speak so many words permitting the world to hear and listen. They basked in their lord''s acknowledgement and revelled in the correcting whispers carried on an errant breeze. The demon lord smiled; the joy of the kin was their own after all. As was their sorrow, pain, fears, and hatred¡ªso much hatred¡ªwhere the kin''s began and the Demon lord''s ended was uncertain. It didn''t matter. Humankind must end regardless. ***** Maya sat back and watched her heroic helper deal with the last of the customers. He''d done a well enough job, she''d even managed a short nap in the backroom¡ªas unnerving as Veuce was, she would report the outcome of the quest in truth, and stiffing Maya should run counter to the terms of the quest given. She watched him enter a conversation with the last patron and withheld a groan as he pointed her out to the customer and gestured for her to come over. Maya ignored it. "Excuse me, shopkeeper? Would you mind helping me out a bit?" asked the customer with a slight pleading expression in his sparkling blue eyes. Yes, Maya did mind, but he was a customer and Maya was, indeed, a shopkeeper. "How may I help you?" "I''m collecting stories for the village archive and Aiden suggested to me I ask you to help me with my last entry." Maya shot a look at Aiden. He squirmed a bit before explaining, "See, Arthur here is worried he''ll go insane if he listens to another old person go off on their life story, and most everyone else is working, but since I''m working for you right now, you could help him out." Maya wanted to glare at him. Her life''s story was none of his business, and this whole quest was nothing more than something the Elder devised to appease Veuce, but the Elder and his ancestors had been kind to her family and she would repay him in turn. "Then I''ll give you the short version and you can be on your way."Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Arthur visibly brightened. "Yes, that sounds amazing!" Ah, Bertha had probably talked him into a coma earlier if that was his reaction, she did have a clever way of taking advantage of these quests and sticking it to Veuce. "Right I was born in this village, as was my father; my mother wound up here during the war and decided to stay some thirty-odd years ago. My father''s family were some of the original settlers of Cairn several generations back after escaping slavery in Laprise. The Cinnfhail mountains are one of the few places where the talons of Laprise do not reach. At least that was the case before the ceasefire." Maya didn''t mention that her ancestors were trying to return to the wildlands but couldn''t get past the everpresent battle-line. "Anyway, Cinnfhail is still mostly uncivilized; life here isn''t easy, though we have it better than some since this shop is the main trade post for the region and even highwaymen dislike living so close to demons. It''s dangerous here. "My mother was murdered, I took over the shop and I now live with my brothers and father. That should be everything. Now run along." Maya shewed the hero Arthur and turned to Aiden. "And he was the last of the morning rush, your quest is over pick out your potions and leave." And to Maya''s pleasure, Aiden set about doing exactly as she asked. When his hands touched his reward Maya did her best to ignore Veuce''s confirmation. The shop door burst open and a red-faced Erin stormed in. She was soaked from head to toe and her normally bouncing hair was plastered to her face and neck. ¡°What is wrong with your brother? One moment I was having a nice conversation with a Hero; next, he is dumping a bucket of water on me!¡± ¡°Did he give you any explanation?¡± Maya asked, quickly grabbing a blanket to conceal Erin and draping it over the girl. ¡°Something about a stain on my dress. I don¡¯t buy it.¡± ¡°That idiot, he¡¯s like a little boy with a crush,¡± Maya swore and turned to the hero who was staring at them dumbly. "I told you you''re done here¡ªshops closed, get out!" That was sharper than intended but Maya wasn''t going to bother with pleasantries. She watched Aiden carefully as he exited the shop. He¡¯d looked curious, who wouldn¡¯t be when a fiery-haired girl came storming into a shop soaked from head to toe? There was danger in that curiosity. Erin''s curls normally hid her horns, but not when her hair was plastered to her scalp with water. Maya hoped she was quick enough with the blanket. ¡°Did anyone else see you?¡± Maya asked. ¡°The whole town saw me! That¡¯s the problem,¡± Erin replied exasperated. ¡°Yeah, but did any outsiders see you? Heroes?¡± ¡°Maybe, I don¡¯t think so.¡± ¡°Erin. This is why you need to wear a shawl or at least a hat. I love you, but one wrong person seeing those horns could mean death.¡± ¡°Maybe you should tell your brother that!¡± Erin snapped. ¡°I¡¯ll be having words with him later. Void, he¡¯s even worse than a child. As are you.¡± ¡°Me?¡± ¡°Yes, you! Either you''re denser than the mountains or you need to stop pretending not to notice Noa.¡± ¡°I notice him.¡± ¡°But you ignore him. I was going to stay out of this, but seeing as that¡¯s worked out so well, I¡¯ll just say it. Noa likes you, and has liked you since we were all kids.¡± ¡°He does not!¡± Erin laughed but tailed off upon noticing Maya''s pointed look. ¡°You''re serious?¡± Recognition was dawning on Erin¡¯s face as her dear friend simply nodded at her naivety. ¡°I¡­ I have to go.¡± "Wait." Maya dried Erin¡¯s hair as well as she could with the blanket then wrapped it in a bright red shawl and gave her a large smile. "Good. Now, what are you waiting for?" Erin gave Maya a playful hit in the arm before running out the door. After the flurry of excitement moments before, soft chuckling became the only sound in the otherwise quiet shop. Maya put her unease out of mind and began cleaning the puddle that had formed under Erin, then continued to clean and lock up the rest of the shop. Today would be a good day to close early, she thought, most of the day''s business was done anyway. She hummed as she cleaned, and the lingering thoughts of pointed horns and the ruthless hunters that followed were forgotten as she daydreamed. The two of them had always been joined at the hip, more sisters than friends. Maybe sometime in the near future, that feeling would become reality. Father would certainly be happy to see one of his boys start a family of their own, and Noa would be happiest of all. Life was hard in Cairn¡ªdeath and hardship never too far away¡ªbut at this moment Maya smiled in pure joy. She let herself imagine a happy future where all was well and all the people she loved were safe and happy with her. 1.09 - Wake Adam mourned for the loss of his youngest daughter and cursed his wretched brother Mortality. How could he do this to him after he stood by the awkward boy''s side despite Mother''s reticence? This was betrayal, plain and simple. Dea whispered to Adam, "come to the wildlands." And for the first time, Adam followed. Not to explore. Never to visit. Adam brought an army to take compensation for what he had lost. *****
Prestige quest: Enter the Demon War reward(s): unknown (note prestige quest rewards are highly variable and can range from detrimental to godly)
quest type [chain]: 1, report the demon You have spotted a demon within the borders of Cinnfhail. Report your finding to the nearest military outpost. The location has marked on the map, turn on Quest beacon [Y/N]?
Aiden read through the quest prompt for what felt like the millionth time since seeing two little horns poking out of the redhead''s soaked hair. He still wasn''t quite sure what to make of it. For one thing, a random encounter with a demon in a newb village was just unlikely. Add to that, that the shopkeeper didn''t seem even remotely surprised, the girl in question was the bubbly NPC he''d interviewed the day before, and the whole affair felt even more incongruous. What sort of demon dreamt of being a hero? It was the word prestige in front of quest that did it for him. Prestige quests were relatively uncommon and appeared mostly by random, but they all had the potential to evolve into epic or even legendary tier quests. Aiden felt that something named ''Enter the Demon War¡¯ was very unlikely to turn out as something mundane. The rewards mirrored the evolution of the quest, and while random, they were almost universally useful. This was the first he''d read of detrimental rewards though, and that gave Aiden some pause. Which was why he was sitting out in front of the town hall reading over the quest prompt for the umpteenth time. "Someone shit on your bed?" "What? No!" Aiden looked up to find Morrigan and Arthur approaching. "Then what are you doing sitting out here on the dirt for?" asked Morrigan. "Thinking." "About?" she prodded. "I got a prestige quest." "Seriously man?" Arthur broke in. "Already?" "They''re mostly random, right? I''m just trying to figure out if it''s good or bad luck." "Obviously it''s good! Hey, I''ll pretend to be your girlfriend if you share it with me," Morrigan suggested. Arthur rolled his eyes at his sister''s antics. "Why would I want you to do that?" Aiden asked calmly. His face was certainly not red and his voice definitely did not break. "Because you''re obviously a lonely virgin who''s never had a chance with a girl before and I don''t want to be your actual girlfriend." "Again, why?" Not that she wasn''t entirely inaccurate, but Aiden wasn''t going to admit that. "So you can brag about being with a pretty girl?"If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. "You sure are confident while insulting a guy like that." "Aww, don''t take it to heart. You''re kind of cute, in a dopy sort of way. Some girls dig that." "Not helping, sis." Arthur finally stepped in, to Aiden¡¯s rescue. "Aiden, just ignore her; she''s full of shit." "Hey!" "You think you could tell us about your quest?" Arthur continued ignoring his sister. "Sure." Aiden looked up and down the street and, noting it was clear of NPC''s, explained in a low voice, "I spotted a demon and got a quest to report her at the nearest outpost. It''s a chain quest and has a pretty awesome title, but there''s a note about rewards possibly being detrimental." Arthur let out a low whistle and Morrigan muffled a squeal before asking excitedly, "A demon, like a real and actual not-a-bad-human-but-a-demon demon?" "Keep it down! And yes, a real demon with horns; it was that bubbly redhead we interviewed yesterday." "Damn girl, that''s a good disguise. Bubbly naive ditz on the outside, evil demoness on the inside. I could learn a thing or two from her." There was a sinister glint in Morrigan¡¯s eye''s that Aiden didn''t like the look of. A good thing then that he was a friend; he pitied the fool who got on her bad side. Wait, was he a friend? Arthur ignored his sister''s antics and kept to the point, "I get why you might be hesitant but it''s a minor risk with the potential for massive rewards, I say go for it! And invite me along too." Aiden smiled, Arthur had the kind of level head that was great to have around to help clear out his own indecision and Morrigan was fun; it would be nice to have them around. A mental command sent the quest invites over and they were accepted readily. "Awesome, let''s get going!" Both Aiden and Arthur looked at Morrigan in disbelief. "No sense wasting our time here, it''s only noon!" Aiden was ready to protest but Arthur was already speaking. "As rushed an idea as that may be," Arthur made his map visible and displayed it, "the outpost is far enough away that we''ll have to spend a night outside regardless. If we leave now, we''ll arrive tomorrow around dinner." "But we don''t have the supplies to make that kind of journey and the general store is closed." Was Aiden the voice of reason in this group? "We can just log off to eat, and our renown is so minor that the death penalty is negligible. None of us have identity tied quests they''d lose right?" No, Aiden was just the worrier. He took out his map and set the beacon. A light shot into the sky some distance away, he couldn''t tell how far, the lack of buildings and massive mountains having messed with his sense of scale. Saying the hike would take a day and a half didn''t mean much to Aiden as he didn''t have any context for it¡ªhe''d never walked more than an hour to get anywhere. "Alright, you''ve convinced me, let''s get going," Aiden acquiesced, deciding he would just have to trust Arthur knew what he was talking about. Was this what it meant to have faith? "Fuck yeah!" Morrigan was quick to lead the group out of the village and onto the crude mountain path headed towards the beacon. The journey resulted in some of the first combat where the challenge wasn''t chasing the target, rather, they had to avoid being the targets. There was never any great danger, though, the group of three making it to the outpost without any close shaves and a few skills better than before. All that remained was to turn in the first phase of the quest. ***** Corva watched the trio approach the soldiers silently, unflinching. She watched the soldiers exclaim vehemently at the news and rush to their communication room. The High Marshal must hear of this¡ªwould hear of this. So quick and eager they were to spread the news, they needn''t have bothered; the war was in no hurry. She watched as older men swore at the news and Corva silently agreed with them. A return to the old times would not be pleasant. Younger men bristled with excitement, eager to banish evil, and maybe for a chance at glory and the hand of that pretty girl they fancied. Was Corva once like that? Young and foolish with naive determination? Maybe¡ªshe couldn¡¯t recall¡ªit was so long ago. Her sisters were seeing similar sights across the eleven kingdoms. This was not even one of the first. She should have been prepared, but seeing the coming of chaos greeted so warmly by these men made her want to cry out for them to stop. If she could, that is. She must be getting truly old if she was letting herself be influenced by the habits of humans of all things. She stretched out her wings and admired their dark sheen. Rid her feathers of that dusty stone grey and returned them to their beautiful obsidian black. She¡¯d been still for so long, watching for so long, but there was nothing here for her now. Her king would need his report, and she had long wished to be by his side once more. Corva took off from her perch, quickly reaching a height where she could soar high above the mountains. Soon, she would clear Dea¡¯s Claw and be soaring over the wildlands and approaching her lord¡¯s keep, high in the world tree. It felt so good to be free of the stone. Around the world, raven idols were going missing, but few took notice. They¡¯d been there since the coming of age of a new generation and had simply become a part of the scenery. Besides, there were more important matters at hand; like a prince taking over for his ailing father, an army in need of creating and training, or a demon in need of being excised. 1.10 - Never Again The Wildlands were even more strange and wonderful then Dea had promised and Erin couldn''t have been more happy with her decision to follow the spirit. Even as the girl''s body grew weaker, she thought that this was only a fair price to pay for the adventure Dea was taking her on. The Elder Spirit told no lies; it protected Erin from whatever harm may have befallen her, but it could do nothing against the Wildlands magic, nor strengthen the fragile tether which bound Erin''s soul. ***** The Horde would wait upon the carrion birds to finish their meal, a potion may even partake of it themselves; no need to waste good human flesh. It was substandard fair, but so were most things in the mortal lands, they would have to make do lest their strength fade even faster. These lands were dead and dying; desolate. No demon desired to claim them, no demon would stand aside to see them grow. Not as humans would so like it. Better they die and follow the lands they stood on. Let their flesh and blood mix with the soil and bring new life. Perhaps one day the killing would end. The pantheon may not be defeated, but left with nothing more to protect and fight for they would not live. Maybe then there would be a stop to the senseless violence, pain, and bloodshed. No more need for Dea''Ammat. It was a nice dream and it came from deep within the heart of every Kin. Or was it the Demon Lord''s? Was there ever a difference? ***** Maya had closed the shop early but other than running home and spreading the happy news there wasn''t much left for her to do. She arrived at her small home with a light and cheerful step that could almost have been called skipping. Kyle noticed and initially upon her rare cheer, "What''s got you so happy?" ¡°Erin finally got the hint that Noa likes her.¡± ¡°Hint? It was right out there in the open.¡± ¡°And I still had to tell it to her straight in the face.¡± ¡°I thought she was ignoring Noa on purpose,¡± said Kyle chuckling and shaking his head in disbelief. ¡°So did I, and I wasn¡¯t going to interfere until Noa pulled that stupid prank.¡± Maya scowled recalling Erin¡¯s hair plastered to her scalp. That was no minor inconvenience; it was dangerous. ¡°I heard about that, you¡¯d think he¡¯d have more sense than a twelve-year-old.¡± Both Maya and Kyle laughed at this. Everyone knew Noa could act with the maturity of a child. It was part of why they loved him, and why he infuriated them all the same. ¡°I¡¯ll prepare something special for dinner tonight. I assume Erin will be coming?¡± "I¡¯ll let the Ma and Pops know to come as well. They¡¯ve been worrying about her ever settling down, this might get them to ease up on Erin.¡± ¡°Or it could make things worse. Mrs. Shale has been going off about grandchildren ever since Sheena gave birth to her first.¡± ¡°Leave it to the baker¡¯s daughter to have a bun in the oven so quickly.¡± Maya sighed. ¡°It doesn¡¯t hurt that she has nice buns herself.¡± Kyle jested, and Maya slapped him on the shoulder. ¡°Ouch! What was that for?¡± ¡°You may like to gossip like a housewife but you¡¯re still a bachelor with his head in the gutter. I¡¯ll let Mrs. Shale know to set you up with a wife when I see her.¡±The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. "No, you won''t! I''ll go and invite them over; I need to find and talk with Noa anyway." "What about?" "Manly stuff. You go and do whatever it is you do when you''re not working, or sleep¡ªyou look exhausted." He didn''t wait for Maya to reply and immediately set off in the direction of the Shale residence. Maya knew she wasn''t in the best of conditions; she''d been out of sorts ever since the heroes had arrived and unable to get much sleep. Now she was too giddy with excitement to sleep, never mind that small knot of dread in her gut that she had been trying her best to ignore. Maya spent the afternoon in her mother''s glade communing with her through sword forms and whispered words. Her mother wasn''t there. Maya knew this. Her spirit had long since departed and been reclaimed by the void. There was no pantheon to safeguard and return their departed souls to Vos. That honour belonged only to humans. It was only human souls who lingered and watched over their loved ones. Only human souls that existed in a cycle of death and rebirth, withheld from Mort, withheld from the Voids embrace. Maya''s mother was dead and gone. Still, Maya spent this time as though with her mother. Same as she had all those years ago when mother had taught her the forms and led her through them each day. Maya was calm and clear headed when she returned for dinner. The small home was packed with both her and Erin¡¯s families. Erin and Noa were red-faced and giggling; trying and failing to ward off Mrs. Shale''s love advice and Mr. Shale''s fatherly warnings. It looked like Noa¡¯s afternoon had gone very well considering whose hand he was now holding. Maya didn¡¯t know if she should be amused or annoyed that his idiotic antics worked. She settled on the former considering how miserably his previous attempts failed. True to Kyle¡¯s word, dinner was a decadent affair with roasted pheasant and an extra dose of cheer. They¡¯d all stayed up late, yet when it was time for Erin to leave, she nearly dragged Noa out the door with her to ''watch the stars''. What had happened in one afternoon to make the girl become so attached, Maya didn¡¯t know. She noted Kyle''s knowing grin and made a mental note to get details from Erin in the morning. Her father was showing signs of exhaustion, it was time to rest. ¡°Father, I think it¡¯s about time for you to turn-in,¡± she said as she helped him out of his seat. He grumbled something weakly in defiance but allowed her to return him to his room. The remainder of the evening was quiet. Kyle had dragged Noa off somewhere to continue their chat between ¡®men¡¯ and Maya was left on her own. The exhaustion of the past week''s stress finally caught up to her, so she elected to go to bed early for a change. Her mood had been poor ever since the heroes had shown up in Cairn, but it looked like things were going well, despite those strangers. ****** Over the next few days, a new routine formed. Fewer heroes showed up and more left, allowing Maya to relax somewhat. Erin was spending more time with Noa, and hearing her brother described through love-addled vision was a unique experience, to say the least. This combined into Maya spending more time in solitude without her outgoing friend to drag her into social interaction outside the confines of the shop. Maya was fine with that; she appreciated the peace. She enjoyed the calm of her shop without customers on the morning of Kirnsday¡ªit figured that it would be the morn of the god of war that brought them. There was no notice of their arrival. Maya didn''t notice anything amiss even as the ever-present sounds of village life came to a halt. Her head perked up from her reading when she heard an unusually loud commotion from the square. Then there was a scream and Maya didn''t need to think. With her mother''s sword in hand, Maya was out the door as fast as she could manage. That was the sound of terror in the voice of her dearest friend. There was a part of her, Maya was sure, that took in the sight of a small company of soldiers, that saw that they were well equipped and from their postures could tell that they were well trained, could see her family and neighbours beaten back and helpless. That was only a distant part. All that mattered was what was happening just down the road from her shop where a man she''d never seen was dragging Erin down the road. Her red hair was tangled in the shining gauntlet that held it, her hands bloodied as they clawed ineffectually at the plated steel. Screams of fear were made with a voice gone hoarse, her eyes wide with fear and brimming with tears, her body bloody, scraped and bruised. Still, Erin did not cease her struggling, her painfully desperate attempts to free herself did not falter. Erin was a fighter¡ªalways was. There was no hesitation, no fear of reprisal, only well-forged determination as Maya ran forward blade in hand. She called out to Erin, her friend, her sister. She swore to the Void that this time she would save her. Maya would kill the evil man and save her friend. Maya would not be helpless. Never again. This time would be different. Harsh iron met soft skin. The world turned on its head. 1.11 - The Wound Which Does Not Heal Amma loves all her children. It pained her to see them lost, to see them suffer, to see them in conflict, dying, and killing. Perhaps that is why she closed her eyes when the endless war began and perhaps that is why she has not ceased weeping. ***** The woods within the Cairn valley were vast and beautiful. They were even a bit magical to the young girl who called them her playground. Light streamed down from the treetops in ethereal beams and caught on floating wisps of pollen and dust. This place was quiet in a way that the village never managed even at night, and yet there was an unmistakable music of life that radiated from all around. There was a chorus of leaves rustling in the wind and light trills of bird song, small animals scurried almost, but never entirely, silent, and the almost forgettable chirp of insects that would all be missed if absent. The forest was never silent; it was quiet. Maya¡¯s mother called it the perfect place for focused and peaceful contemplation. This was why she always trained Maya in a glade that exemplified all these features. Peace and quiet weren¡¯t all that interesting to a child. The peace of the woods made the joyful laughter of a young girl easy to hear within the trees. It was not the ancient song of life but there was still music to be found in it. The music was cut short. Maya did not mean to wander so far into the forest but things like that tended to happen when chasing celties. You never quite knew where they would lead you. She wasn¡¯t lost¡ªeven if she didn¡¯t know exactly the way back to the glade, Maya would find it¡ªand she wasn¡¯t scared¡ªthe forests were as much her home as the village. She wasn¡¯t, however, looking forward to the scolding she would revive from mama. Which was why Maya shifted uncertainly on her little feet wondering what to do. Could she hurry back before mama caught her absence? Unlikely. Mama was probably out tracking her down already. Then should she keep running through the forest? Maybe, but Maya was tired from the morning of training and play, and she could feel her tummy rumbling for lunch. Home then it was. Once the decision was made the actions to take were simple. Maya bolted up a nearby tree with practice and enthusiasm that only a child could muster and was soon at the top overlooking the tips of pines and aspen. Not far in the distance, Maya could spot the unnaturally cleared fields surrounding a cluster of homes and the smoke of cook fires gently rising to the sky. Target set, Maya grinned and descended the tree in what was little more than a controlled fall; snatching at branches to slow down. It was a task that required focus and quick reflexes to spot and then grab the oncoming branches accurately. A flighty child, Maya might have been, but she gave the task the focus it was due, and what little could be spared remained focused on the cook fires and thoughts of lunch. Perhaps then, it was only natural that she did not notice the man below¡ªa hunter with a powerful bow. The fast descent of Maya was not quiet. Between the occasional snaps of branches and the unhindered giggling of a young girl, it would have been difficult to miss. The hunter noticed her. He saw the child crashing down the tree in a flurry of ebony locks and nimble ivy limbs. It was a scene in its own right to be sure, but the two protruding horns he spotted made it so much more. The man was shocked but quick to react. Maya still did not notice him. She did not notice him notch an arrow and pull his bow taught. She did not hear the loud snap as the bow was let loose, nor did she hear the whistle of the arrow''s flight. So much was going on and it was all happening so fast after all. When a massive force intercepted her outstretched arm and made her miss the final branch Maya noticed. She screamed as her arm burst into throbbing, burning, pain and the ground racing towards her became an imminent threat. She hit it in a tangled heap and was grateful that in spite of this fact nothing felt broken. She would have been in a lot more pain then, like the time she broke her arm two summers ago. In her disorientation from her fall, Maya noticed the arrow protruding from her arm only belatedly and with quite a bit of confusion. Why would there be a branch sprouting from her arm? She then heard the deep footsteps of a powerful man approaching and looked up. Maya finally noticed the hunter.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. He was tall and powerfully built with dark brown hair that cast a disconcerting shadow over his bearded face. From his clothing and bow, Maya could tell he was a hunter. Perhaps he had mistaken her for an animal? Boyd had warned her such a thing was possible on a previous misadventure, but Maya somehow doubted this was the case. Though she couldn¡¯t see his face¡ªcurled up at his feet as she was¡ªshe knew it was filled with contempt. ¡°Well looky here¡­¡± he said almost jovially but a sneer implicit in his tone. ¡°A little monster out playing in the woods. What are you doing out of the Wild Lands?¡± Maya didn¡¯t respond and tried to back away. Her small, beaten body was trembling and could only curl up in terror as its pathetic retreat was halted by the tree behind her. Snot and tears began streaming down her face. Her voice was hoarse from her pain and wails when Maya began calling out to her Mama. The man gripped her arm forcefully and pulled her to her feet before growling in her ear, ¡°Shut up and behave.¡± Maya only cried harder, screamed harder so that her voice cracked and her throat was pained but kept on crying out desperately.¡°Mama! Mama save me! Please, mama-¡± He hit her across the cheek cutting her off. Maya felt her left cheek burn and begin to swell as her head swam incoherently and lights flashed before her eyes. The man wrapped a grubby hand over her face and held her mouth shut. ¡°Quiet.¡± He commanded. Maya bit him. His blood tasted of iron. ¡°You little bitch!¡± He hit her tummy and her legs gave way under her. She was held aloft only by the man''s massive hand gripping her face and his other hand digging into her arm. It hurt. It hurt so much. It hur¡ª ¡°Listen here ya little monster, the bounty doesn¡¯t care if you dead or alive, but I don¡¯t want to haul your corpse through these abysmal woods. I also don¡¯t want to deal with a wild little demon, so here¡¯s what we¡¯re going to do.¡± He pulled Maya¡¯s face to his and spoke his instructions enunciating every word, spittle flying in her face. ¡°I¡¯m going to tie you up and you''re going to let me, and then you''re going to follow me all nice and quiet like. Got it?¡± Maya¡¯s eyes widened and she tried to nod affirmation, but only managed to squirm in the man''s iron grip. He threw her to the ground harshly, making the arrow still logged in her arm jostle about. A yelp escaped her lips only to be muffled by the forest floor. She felt her hands being yanked backwards and the coarse rope wound tightly around them. She heard footsteps approaching. ¡°Let my daughter go.¡± Her Mamma¡¯s voice was low and flat, and it made Maya¡¯s heart soar. ¡°Another demon bitch, eh? My lucky day.¡± He let Maya go and rose above her. She heard shuffling, the clang of metal, cursing, hisses, and a grunt. She rolled to her side so that she might see her mama and saw the man falling from her blade. ¡°Mamma!¡± ¡°Sweetie.¡± Her Mamma rushed towards her and hurriedly untangled Maya from the bindings before embracing her completely. Maya sniffled and cried anew, this time in relief. ¡°I know sweetie, I know.¡± Her Mamma rubbed her back and continued to whisper soothing noises into her ear, calming Maya down. It was only when her Mamma''s arm fell from her back the Maya noticed anything was wrong. She felt a warm wetness sticking her dress to her skin and her mamma¡¯s breath grow shallow then vanish altogether. When Papa found her that night, the arms around her were frozen and stiff. ***** Maya hung limply her head swimming in an all too familiar manner. Her eyes wandered unfocused until they met two other eyes; clearwater blue and glistening. They were wide with fear and Maya wanted to help them so much. her body wouldn¡¯t move. Something was stopping her. She focused on the eyes¡ªErin¡¯s eyes¡ªshe watched them stare back at her. They closed for a moment; slowly, as though in acceptance, then returned to staring at Maya. They were swimming with despair and determination, hope and resignation, and they were commanding Maya to do¡ª Something? ¡°Enough,¡± someone was speaking, ¡°the head is proof enough.¡± What were they saying? There was a flash as the sun reflected off a polished blade; it quickly descended, and Erin¡¯s beautiful cornflower eyes lost their life and light, turning cold as mama¡¯s arms. Maya had no more tears, no more screams of despair to beseech the world for mercy. They were all spent a decade ago and the world was merciless. She had failed and there would be no recovery. Just like that. As her peaceful existence fell apart around her, Erin''s eyes stared wide and unseeing towards the death and cold reflected in her friend''s sulphur depths. 1.12 - Chaos and its aftermath The origin of the endless war is something of a mystery. It has existed since the dawn of memory and all evidence suggests that it predates even that. For the common populace, the question of how the endless war began is in itself befuddling ¡®It has always been and always will be and that¡¯s just how the world is¡¯. Why do we fight the demons? Because they¡¯re evil and will see humanity destroyed¡ªit is imperative we rid this evil from Vos. Why do they fight us? Because they are evil. Then why did the demon lord proclaim a ceasefire? Such is the nature of the endless war; it ebbs and flows. The Ammaite''s preach that humans will one day win and end Mother¡¯s sorrow and the aid of Veuce and the rest of the pantheon in our efforts seems to support this, but I find myself questioning nonetheless. ¡ªExcerpt from ¡°the banned book¡± The Village was in chaos. Screams echoed, and the smell of blood was thick in the air. Maya noted this but only as if from within a thick fog. Nothing seemed real, or it did, but it felt distant. She was sinking in an endless pool of water and the world was getting farther and farther away and harder and harder to make out. It was cold and dark in these depths. ¡°-aya.¡± It was quiet and lonely in these depths. ¡°-aya!¡± But it was safe here; the bad men couldn¡¯t reach her here. No one could reach her here, not even Noa, who was struggling against the soldiers pressing down on him. ¡°Maya!¡± Noa kept on yelling at her. That was just like him¡ªthe persistent fool¡ªwhen mama died he¡¯d follow after her no matter how she yelled at him or hit him so that he would leave her alone. That was why he was there for her when she couldn¡¯t take it and broke down into desperate fits of sobbing. It was also his persistent struggling that got Erin to finally see him. The chaos around Maya seemed to crystallize. Instead of the bottomless ocean she was sinking in, the world became something more; every sensation was sharp. The pungent smell of blood made her eyes water. She could feel bile rising up her throat. There was a sharp pain in her ribs, arms and legs. Every part of her felt broken and weak. She was in pain, and the world was falling all around her. She could see the terror and desperation in her brother¡¯s eyes. She saw the moment he recognized Erin¡¯s corpse and railed against soldiers who did not possess a notion of restraint. They were well trained and knew how to respond. The yelling stopped. Just like before, the body fell, and the head remained in a soldier''s hand. A quick decapitation had become the fate of any villager who struggled. Noa was no exception. This was no mild ocean she was drowning in; this was the abyss. Even as every inch of Maya''s body ached, all she could feel was the gaping hole in her heart. ***** The Raven King was pacing. Each step echoed loudly in the hollow chamber of polished wood. Behind him, his throne, a nest of precious metals and stones, glowed in the dim torchlight as if reflecting the furnace burning in its master. Corva watched silently from the place where she had told him her news. She had not moved since. Nor would she until her lord dismissed her. ¡°You were the last one.¡± He finally spoke but it was as if to himself. ¡°I had hoped¡­ but no. They were in more danger on the border, not less.¡± ¡°My king?¡± She spoke with concern; it was rare for him to act so distractedly. ¡°Corva.¡± He looked to her with his dark gaze and seemed to relax as he recalled her presence. ¡°Do you know what has become of the village?¡± ¡°Purged. I did not see it myself, but my children told me of it not long after my arrival here. Those that showed any resistance were decapitated without mercy and the remainder were gathered, but for what purpose they could not tell me. The village was then burned.¡±The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°And the human villagers?¡± ¡°Charged with aiding and abetting, those that did not die will work in the mines.¡± ¡°Is that mercy from the human lord?¡± The king chuckled darkly. ¡°No, not the lord I know. I forget how quickly human kings change. Who is the current lord?¡± ¡°Orin¡¯s second son Donald. He is not yet named Thane, but he rules in his ailing father¡¯s stead.¡± The king raised an eyebrow.¡°He must be quite ill indeed for his son to act so freely. What became of his brother? It was my understanding Cinnfhail ruled under the laws of primogeniture.¡± ¡°Dead in the final raids. From what my children tell me, Donald is eager for revenge and glory in battle, with little understanding of what a war could bring.¡± A fool in Corva¡¯s opinion but it was not her place to say so. ¡°Will bring; it never truly ended, and this will strike it anew.¡± The king turned sharply and returned to his splendid nest and settled on velvet cushions. He was poised, almost perching as would befit a spirit of their nature, but Corva thought she detected a wisp of exhaustion in his shadowed face. ¡°The brief respite was pleasant, but I fear it may do more harm to us than good. How many of the spirit kin reside outside our lands? How many were born in the barren lands of the kingdoms without an inkling as to what they could be here? We retain those warriors who fought before, and they will serve well, but I fear for the children that were raised in peace.¡± ¡°Many of whom are now dead or in chains,¡± she replied. Corva knew of what he was speaking, had seen it in her observations. For the first time in memory, children had been raised in peace into adulthood. It was beautiful. Now those same children faced capture, death, and the renewal of the endless struggle. ¡°I do not know who or how many remain in the kingdoms, but I fear the number has been greatly reduced. Those born within our lands remain safe; it saddens me however, that they must now become warriors.¡± ¡°Such has been the way of our kin for millennia." The king''s face went hard, wiping away any surface emotions. "Had it not been, we would be dead and our ancestral lands just as barren of spirit as the kingdoms.¡± Corva knew this, her king knew she knew this. They both needed to remind themselves. She could only shudder at the thought of the coming bloodshed they would encounter. Never mind that which had occurred mere hours earlier. She needed to brace herself for her duty and watch over the spirit kin as all ravens must. She would watch the coming war and observe her kindred spirits die ad infinitum, and her lord would watch over them all. He would suffer the sorrows of all her sisters and lead them in their duty. That is what being king meant. The Raven king broke their silent contemplation with her name, ¡°Corva,¡± and she looked to him, desperate hope sparkling in onyx eyes, ¡°have your children locate our captured kin, we will not abandon so much of a new generation before it has had the chance to act upon this world.¡± ¡°Yes, my king,¡± She bowed her head to the polished oak floor and rose only to look into her lord¡¯s beautiful eyes. He would look human if not for them; dark as the abyss save for a faint glimmer. Those eyes looked at her softly and she wished to stay, to bask in that warm gaze forever. Now was not the time. Corva turned and took flight through the chamber''s single entrance, a large opening high above, and flew out into the night. The world tree rose high above her and still, she felt as though from her height she could see the entirety of what the kingdoms called the Wild Lands. Fools. These were the lands of spirits. Here, vitality reigned supreme above all and the denizens shared in the power of the land or were overcome by it. It was why those of the kingdoms feared them she thought. That or they were jealous in the lands they had wasted and made barren. No spirit folk could flourish there. Children hear me, she spoke to the night, find our captured kin and report to me of their whereabouts. ***** Still wandering the supposedly lifeless battlefield, the Demon Lord paused to observe a body. The man was alive, if barely. They nudged the wounded man and his body rolled limply, turning over to reveal a gash sealed with flame. They stepped on the man¡¯s thigh and snapped the femur, eliciting a shriek of pain, and smiled darkly. "It''s no use playing dead," they said, not really speaking to the human whimpering incoherently from pain and fear. "Sever." A blade of emptiness appeared and severed the man''s head from the body. Not the easiest manner of execution, but the Demon lord wasn''t one for robbing humans of their traditions. Their lips twitched in something approaching mirth, a rare emotion. What was it about dead battlefields that made them so nostalgic? They never felt like this during the battle when death and fear abounded in chaos reminiscent of that miserable day. It was only in the aftermath when their thoughts wandered and time slipped from its forward determination and made dips into the past long gone. There were few remnants of that time, a few more from the time between, the Demon lord called on one of these remnants¡ªa messenger¡ªand a raven of black stone answered. "Yes, my Lord?" There were only two beings in all the world this raven would deign to call lord and only one raven who would dare address the Demon Lord as such. "Corva," they said with a rare smile telling of a particular affection reserved only for those remnants. They didn''t need to say anything more, Corva knew the task as intimately as though she''d conceived of it, and that wasn''t too far off the mark. "Yes, my Lord." Corva took flight; off to scour the lands and called upon her children in that way she had since the return of war. The aristocracy had fled, the peasantry taken care of, and the heroes defeated, except¡ªno, heroes never stayed defeated. New heroes took up the mantle in startlingly close proximity, and these heroes Corva would find. 1.13 - Dark Shadows The ¡®Demon Lord¡¯, as we have deigned to call that creature, has appeared rarely throughout the history of the endless war. There is little at all known about it other than it¡¯s a being of overwhelming power and the manner in which the demon horde grows around it. The arrival of a demon lord always heralds a dark time for humanity, though, with the notable exception of the demon lord of the ceasefire. ¡ªExcerpt from ¡°the banned book¡± As the Raven King looked solemnly upon the world from his perch above the clouds and the children of Corva scoured Cinnfhail for the captured Kin, Major General Conall sat in his dimly lit office with his face buried in his hands. Fragile flames danced on the wicks of the candles struggling to light the room, a feature he normally admired in the tiny lights and found lacking in the magical varieties. Today they brought him only a little comfort. He couldn¡¯t understand how he had forgotten the raven scouts¡ªthe harbingers of the demon horde¡ªthey who feasted on human flesh and suffering. No soldier of the last brigade would forget the sight of them blotting out the sun, and they wouldn¡¯t knowingly abide by the presence of raven idols, and yet... Again the black scouts were forming in the skies above and he was receiving confused reports of missing stone idols from various outposts, including those privy to sensitive information. Sensitive information like the killing, capture, and entrapment of demons. The ceasefire stated in no uncertain terms what would happen in the event of hostility towards the ¡®Kin¡¯. The extermination of villages, wholesale slaughter and forced confinement of that very same Kin was a blatant violation of that. Never mind that Cinnfhail was imperial land now, it wasn¡¯t at the creation of the ceasefire and no leniency would be found. The war would renew in full force, only this time the kingdoms were mired with petty rivalries, ideals of pacifism, and an entire generation with no experience fighting the demon threat. They¡¯d grown fat on stories of heroism, good harvests and peace. Conall would need to defend the wall with a half garrison of greens, misfits, and noble outcasts. Gods save them all. There was a knock on the door. ¡°Enter,¡± Conall called out and straightened behind his desk, hiding his misgivings under the familiar mask of command, and watched the old oak door before him open. The ethereal glow of elf-light spilled into his office, causing him to squint, and oppressed the soft warm glow of his candles before being shut away again as his adjutant closed the door behind him. At the sight of him, Conall allowed himself to sag back into his chair slightly. Farrel was one of the few competent men in this gods damned place and one of the fewer still that he trusted as a friend. Besides, there would be no hiding his worries from the perceptive bastard. ¡°I¡¯ve talked to the veterans; none of them had thought of the ravens until seeing them in the sky again. The fault does not lie solely with you.¡± Farrel wasted no time with pleasantries. ¡°Maybe so; but the responsibility for this misstep does lay on my shoulders, and I¡ªwe¡ªare in no way prepared for what that entails. Forget the royals, we will soon have a demon horde on its way that this garrison is not ready for.¡± ¡°Then we only need to prepare.¡± ¡°You know it¡¯s not so simple.¡± ¡°But you¡¯ll get it done regardless.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll have to start with cleaning up our mess.¡± Conall shuffled through his papers before pulling out the report on the Cairn raid and skimmed through the damning evidence. Demon sighting reported by a hero¡ªa bit strange, but then, he¡¯d heard their type was always eager to help and was always looking to get into the good graces of those in power. Some acted on the opposite extreme, which was rather thankfully rare; pity the poor soul faced with an anti-hero. Conall blinked and returned to focus. Now was not the time for wandering thoughts, nor would there be any in the foreseeable future, this moment was the time for decisions to be made and actions taken. ¡°The demons of Cairn have been locked up as of this morning correct?¡± ¡°Correct.¡± ¡°Have the guards liquidate the pens; the courts of Lapris will make do with the dust and regents they already have. And make sure the guards properly dispose of all waste materials.¡± ¡°It will be done, sir.¡±You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡°You are dismissed.¡± Farrel turned on his heels and was swiftly out the door, briefly flooding the stone office in early light before living it once again in near darkness. The flickering candles were no longer comforting, the dark shadows they cast so much more unnerving. ***** There was an echo as a drop of water fell an unknown distance in the dark and landed in a puddle. Around the drop, a crown of unseen liquid leapt up to greet the drop before falling back in with it. The sound was sharp and clear, and then it was gone. Silence returned to the darkness but not before the sound could wake a demon. Maya woke to the darkness and found it thick and pressing down on her. Suffocating her. Her body was numb to the cold and the pain but she knew that it was there, waiting to greet her once more. She tried to move but found it impossible. She tried to speak but choked on a mouthful of frigid air. Her body shook as fits of coughing and wheezing tore through her lungs desperate to expel phlegm, blood, and take in breath. Her coughing ceased, and Maya grew still once more. Tears tracked crystal paths down her cheeks and Maya wondered at her ability to still cry, thinking her tears all used up by now. Pity. The previous movement caused some feeling to return. Pins and needles stabbing at her limbs becoming burning flames of pain and persistent aches. Being numb and immobile was better than this. Was she still immobile? She could wiggle and shift but her body was bound by physical restraints as well as bodily limitations. Escape wouldn¡¯t be possible then. Go figure. Slow as it was, Maya was coming to her senses. Though still, she couldn¡¯t see. That was wrong¡ªall demons could see in the dark¡ªhad she gone blind? Panic rippled through her confusion repeating the question over and over in her mind obscuring her thoughts. Where was this pla¡ªWas she blind? Why was she boun¡ªWas she blind? She couldn¡¯t feel her¡ªWas she blind? Erin. That stopped all thoughts and began them all anew. Erin was dead, Cairn destroyed and she was captured for some reason she couldn¡¯t fathom. That wouldn¡¯t last long she knew; all demons had to die and Erin was dead. She wouldn¡¯t mind dying too. Even as Maya''s thoughts cleared, a wave of exhaustion hit her and slowed them to a crawl. Soon Maya returned to the world of dreams; there, fire lit the night as a small village was destroyed before her eyes again, and again, and again. ***** Maya bathed in flames and smiled as their golden tungs licked at her flesh painting her in charred black. She sunk into the inferno¡¯s embrace and welcomed it to rip into her and feed on her blood. Let every one of its thousand ethereal blades stab her interchangeably with scorching heat and frozen steel. The flames were all that existed. All that ever had and could exist. They were everything and she was a part of them. Maya could lose herself in them. A burning shop. A scream ripping through a horribly sunny day. Lines of beaten people dragged through mountain passes. The unseeing eyes of living corpses. The stares of the dead. Erin. The flames were of the void¡ªa rip in space where no light was to be found, no warmth to be felt, and no sorrow to eat at her soul. They coiled around her, enveloping her. Beckoning her to come closer. They promised oblivion and they were beautiful. The dark flames enveloped her, readied to swallow her whole. She was going home, and Maya was eager to be there. A shiver coursed down her spine. Odd. It felt like- Was she forgetting something? It was something important. She had failed. Maya wasn¡¯t supposed to fail. Why was that? She had trained, hard and unrelenting since that day. The day when¡­ something...happened? She felt the darkness sink into her mind and felt herself drifting. How nice it was to float so serenely in soft waves, she could do this forever. Forever? what an odd thought; as if there was anything else. A light giggle echoed as though coming from every direction. What a beautiful sound; all tinkling and light. Oh, right. That sound belonged to her. She sounded happy. Thoughts came to her mind as quickly as they flitted away. How strange that she could not hold on to them¡ªa ridiculous thought¡ªwhy would it be strange? She was remembering something before. Something about the past. Now that was a funny idea. The past. It was a memory of her mother. Maya loved her mother. Why did she feel sad? Sad¡ªwhat¡¯s that? No, that was wrong. She wasn¡¯t sad but angry. Was it frustration? She had worked so hard, but she had failed when it mattered most and now everything was gone. Nothing mattered anymore; that made sense. The flames tore at Maya. When had she forgotten them? They insisted she move, that she tear free of her restraints and scream. She needed to lash out, and destroy the bastards that did this to her, to Erin, and Noa. How had she forgotten Noa? Her dear, scatterbrained, wonderful Noa. What had happened to the rest of them? Her Father was weak, could he possibly be alright? Kyle would be with him; that was a measure of reassurance. The world returned to Maya as her thoughts hurried to organize her most recent memories. She could not say for how long she had been in this place or where this place could be. She remembered being dragged through mountain passes in a daze unable and unwilling to take notice of her surroundings. Then they tied a blindfold around her head and led her staggering down a long series of steps and turns. The heavy band of material could still be felt pressed onto her face¡ªshe wasn¡¯t blind then. She had stumbled often, her aches reminded her, and she had not been fed. That was the pain in her belly. Her throat was parched but she had to have had water at some point or she¡¯d be dead. She wasn¡¯t dead though, and she could feel. And she could hear. Steps fell on a stone corridor and echoed down the long hallway accompanied by shouts too distant to comprehend. Then she heard the distant scream of life coming to an abrupt end. There was no mistaking that; it was all too familiar a sound. 1.14 - Broken Humans worship the Pantheon and our gods provide us with gifts and protection. Demons have none of this. They think they stand among our gods and disrespect Amma in their reverence of the Void. How any sapient being could revere such an evil as the Devourer¡ªeven such wretched things as demons¡ªis beyond me. Yet demons recite the mantra; ¡°As all are born from the void, all will return.¡± As if Amma were not the mother of all. Their blatant Heresy, if not vile nature, is reason enough to exterminate the vermin of the face of Vos and return them to that Void they love so dearly. ¡ªexcerpt from, ''Against the Ceasefire'' The silence, once broken by life, now returned. It swallowed all and left nothing in its wake. Silence: Herald of the Void. Devourer of sense. The silence drank in the fetid air and suffocated even the weakest rasp. Stillness remained. Stillness: The latticework of frost glimmering weekly under the light of the full moon. The perfect creation of the long night waiting to be broken by the light of the first dawn. Dawn that was yet to come. For now, the stillness reigned; at this moment that was an eternity. Silent, still, lifeless as the grave. The Void met with reality. Fleeting, terrible, great. A moment passed and it shattered. Maya blinked at the darkness, nothing changed, and the moment was gone. The scream had long since faded and once more footsteps echoed down stone halls¡ªeach step a little louder, each scream a little graver¡ªa drumroll to her death picking up pace as the climax neared. A light, crazed, choke of laughter sputtered forth from Maya¡¯s lips tasting of bitter iron and decay. This miserable cell in the dark reeking of death and despair, this was to be her final resting place? A tomb of darkness, still and forsaken¡ªso lost to light and life that she¡¯d felt the Void come press down and welcome her into its embrace? Absurd. Absurd that she should laugh in this place and situation yet this was happening all the same. Choking, sputtering, gales of laughter tore free from her throat and shook Maya in her bonds. Tears of mirth that should not be welled in her eyes and spilled forth in a trail that stung of ice as wet skin met with cool air. Her bonds chafed and her blindfold slipped to reveal yet more darkness and prone forms scattered around her. Perfect. The steady beat of steps paused. A man¡¯s shout echoed through the black and lost its worldly meaning. The pounding renewed; fast and hard. Running. Her laughter ceased as abruptly as it began. Despite her lungs now burning Maya felt calmer than she had since the world burnt down around her. Her turbulent thoughts of pain and sorrow stilled into a razor focus. Approaching were agents of her doom; the enemy¡ªher prey. Maya waited near blind and roughly bound. Gone was her fear. What did life matter when it held less comfort than the unforgiving Void? Her light was gone, her home was gone, her family was gone, Erin was gone. In the forest long ago a young girl played joyfully under glittering beams of light. She too was gone. She left with her mother. The rest could go too. The Void in its ever-welcoming embrace would accept them all. A soft tear of light broke the darkness. Flickering in intensity, torchlight outlined the door to the cell as though reefed in flames. Shuffling could be heard, then the clink of mettle. Sounds that may have shattered the still air felt muffled in Maya¡¯s calm. There was the clank of a lever falling away, the creak of old hinges reluctant to allow trespass. The blinding light of a torches flame and the crash of a door hitting its adjacent wall assaulted her senses. Maya did not finch, even as the world became incomprehensible. ¡°The ruckus came from here, did it?¡± said a low voice, harsh in the way one became after years of shouting. ¡°My ears ain¡¯t wrong. This is where I heard the madness come from.¡± This voice was quiet from a meek demeanour rather than harsh use. The sounds of fidgeting likely emanated from this man as well.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°Well the Banshee ain¡¯t howling no more is it?¡± said the first voice. ¡°Heard us coming, it did,¡± replied the second. ¡°So the demon got some sense.¡± ¡°Still aught¡¯a pay us for the fright it gave. Ain¡¯t ¡®at right, Pert?¡± said the second. His voice came from the smaller of two blobs Maya could make out as her vision returned. The blob was shifting, and she could hear a slight quiver as he spoke. Fear perhaps? She smiled. ¡°Coward. We don¡¯t want these demons to get any ideas, is all. No racket will be had under my watch.¡± The big blob, Pert, held himself in what might have been a confident posture if false bravado hadn¡¯t seeped through every word he said. He was unnerved¡ªthey both were. ¡°Well, what are you waiting for? Get to it.¡± ¡°Um- Right, Pert. I¡¯m on it.¡± The small blob stepped through the doorway and let out a howl. ¡°Fuckin¡¯ ¡®ell!¡± The man¡ªfor she could make him out as a man now¡ªgrabbed hold of his boot and pulled out the longest length of horn Maya had ever seen, before kicking at the offending demon''s head and stabbing it several times with a short sword for good measure. ¡°Let the Void take you, ya¡¯ bloody demon bastard. Fuck it, ¡®at hurts!¡± ¡°Take one step and yer¡¯ already screwing up, eh¡¯, Angus?¡± ¡°Fuck ya¡¯ dog, Pert!¡± Pert snickered. Neither of the men noticed the darkness encroached upon the weak corona of torchlight. Angus renewed his task of demon culling, albeit with a pained limp, and approached the edge of the torch¡¯s shrinking world. ¡°Hold the light up, would ya?¡± He asked, and Pert held the torch aloft. It didn¡¯t help. Angus shivered as an icy breeze snaked down from the nape of his neck to the base of his spine, razing gooseflesh in its wake. Maya watched on silently. He limped as he approached the prone forms of demons, plunging his sword into the helpless victims before hacking at horns larger and more beautiful than any she¡¯d ever seen¡ªgreat branches of obsidian¡ªevidently sharp and, for some reason, desirable. From some he would pluck strange feathers and, from others, scales that shone with the colour and lustre gems. Maya was confused at what she was seeing and yet¡ª Mother told her tales of the wild ones. Demons who came from beyond the mountains in hordes to fight on in the endless war. Beasts of wonder and beauty and terror, who fought with savage grace. Not like cowering descendants of slaves lost so long in deadlands they¡¯d come to resemble humans themselves. Mother was once one of them until the wall appeared and barred her way home. Trapped in the deadlands, she too began to die and lost the very manifestation of her soul. The deadlands were named such for a reason. No demon could manifest feathers, scales, or grow out their horns in the deadlands. Which meant deadlands this must not be. For the first time in Maya¡¯s life, she was ¡°home¡±; for the first time, her body was truly her own. Yet she lay helpless, waiting for her death and watching her kin butchered before her like livestock. Her hands clenched and drew blood from her palms. Easily. Since when had her nails been so sharp? A muffled yelp began and ended abruptly. Next came the hacking of a blade against horn and the unheard severing of rope. He didn¡¯t see her coming. Didn¡¯t notice a shadow rise above others and lunge towards him. Didn''t even flinch when a hand of wicked claws speared forth and gouged out his eyes, at which point his body registered the pain and screamed. A second hand tore at his throat and the scream cut short. Maya panted raggedly over his body bleeding out and focused on her next victim. He had to die; she could not let him get away and alert any others. Ignoring her screaming cracked ribs and raw bare feet, Maya lunged again. The man was ready for her. Pert¡¯s blue eyes tracked her movements with a measured gaze and his body took on a practiced stance. Feet planted, weapon bared. Maya didn¡¯t stand a chance. Her wild lunge was a little good against a prepared opponent. When Maya swiped at the man he sidestepped and parried the blow with a stab towards the heart. She tried to dodge the stab and was rewarded with a blade in the left shoulder. What was more pain? She was still alive, this man still needed to die, and she was close now. Tearing out the throat of the last one worked well enough and she was just tall enough for her eyes to be level with his nose. Demon fangs were sharp and easily one of the most defining features of demons living in deadlands, ignoring horns. Which was why Maya had always, always, made sure to keep them filed down. An interminable time in captivity and exposure to whatever caused the other changes in her had undone these efforts. Her fangs pierced effortlessly into the man¡¯s jugular, a simple twist of her head was enough to rend his flesh. Again Maya alone was left standing over a body bleeding out at her feet. She swayed, the loss of blood not a minor issue. Her shoulder ached, her ribs ached. Her feet, legs, arms, hands¨Call of her ached. But the Void had tempered her in the fires of the damned and quenched her in the cold of the great emptiness beyond. Or maybe she had just lost her mind. It didn¡¯t matter; Maya had work to do and the pain wouldn¡¯t stop her. She spat out a mouthful of flesh and grimaced. Void. She was really beginning to hate the taste of iron. 1.15 - Purpose We fear the night forgotten by the playful moons. On these days the darkness is that much more present and the shadows are that much more wicked. So we huddle around our campfires, tell stories, and do not linger on what lies beyond their tender glow. ¨CA Candle Merchant There were only three other demons in her cell still breathing, the rest lay butchered beside the humans who now joined them. Maya felt less than she thought she would observing the corpses of her brethren. When Cairn was destroyed it had set ablaze a raging inferno of rage inside of her and now¨C Now all warmth had left her leaving not cold, just a lack of that maddening heat. Her mind was clear, as was her purpose. Approaching the living remainder of her cellmates, Maya¡¯s footsteps fell without strength but with assurance. When she reached the first of them¡ªa child clothed in honey down, their midnight horns the smallest of the lot¡ªit was enough to shake them gently for their eyes to flutter open. Maya gazed into the child''s soft brown eyes and felt the fear residing within them. The child shivered as she took them into her embrace and gently smoothed her hand over their soft down. It¡¯s okay; I am here. Next was a man of maybe thirty¡ªdecked in feathers of gold, his horns a bronze crown curving around his head¡ªthe child''s father perhaps. It would be a kindness if so, but Maya was skeptical of the fates¡¯ regard for her kind. Supposedly they were neutral in this war. Supposedly the ceasefire still held. A woman with an ocher pelt was the last, her horns light alabaster as opposed to the more common dark shades. That was good, Maya thought, the demons could use a spot of light in this darkness. The woman smiled at Maya, a note of thanks hanging between them, and a spot of hope collected among the four. No words were spoken. There was no need, for their purpose was evident. Escape and rescue. Heading in the direction away from where Maya had heard the footsteps approaching, the group opened the doors to the cells of demons one by one. Maya had at first worried how they would open these cells but they were only sealed with a simple latch. Clearly, the demons were so wretched and weak that they didn¡¯t warrant more. She couldn¡¯t really argue with that. Cell after cell was filled with their prone forms, some hardly breathing, others no longer breathing at all. Why bother with the effort of killing them when they would do so all the same if left alone? Some of these people, Maya recognized. Sweet old Getta was the first familiar face Maya came across. She was also dead. Her stubborn old bones enough to make the harsh journey, only to die in the cold and dark destination. She was not the last familiar face, many more soon followed. The village prankster, Egan, lay still in his mother¡¯s arms. Mor could not wake him, she could not protect him, nor could she let her little boy go. That little boy was lost to the Void. Maya lay a hand on the Mor¡¯s arm and they shared a determined gaze. They would take the boy with them, he would have a proper send-off, his killers would pay. Boyd was inconsolable, Aina was dead. All that was left of her was a lock of golden hair. Maya found Boyd clutching the bundle close to his chest, murmuring and weeping, shaking in his bonds. When the others in the cell were freed¡ªCairns baker and a mix of farmers Maya wasn¡¯t very familiar with¡ªBoyd would not respond. He did not move even when his bonds were removed and the group of farmers tried to stir him into awareness. He did not twitch as the two strongest of the group hauled him to his feet and tried to guide Boyd out of the room. Enough was enough. Every face would be remembered. Every horror etched in their hearts. Now was not the time for morning, ¡°Move,¡± Maya rasped.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. There was a stirring in the air, a heavy silence that followed, a compulsion to move from this place. Boyd took one step then another. His eyes met Maya¡¯s, burning with rage. Not now, soon. He nodded and proceeded out of the cell and on to the next. The ever growing horde of demons followed. The mass of battered bodies blotted out the occasional light of torches. No one minded. Here were demons coming into their own. No longer restrained by lands that would kill them. Darkness was no impediment to their glowing eyes and though broken and exhausted, they had never felt more alive. Eventually, they found the end of the dungeon and Maya began to lead their trek back. Not long after passing Maya¡¯s old cell, live demons became a rarity. They had still not found Kyle or Father and now Maya wished they never would. The fates were not kind¡ªKyle was dead in the next cell¡ªbutchered and robbed of his horns. They left him glassy-eyed, the golden hue dull. Shards of splintered obsidian were scattered around his corpse, some of their edges splattered dark red. The one who did this to him did not come away unscathed but Maya couldn¡¯t bring herself to care. ¡°Rest now,¡± she whispered and drew his eyelids closed. ¡°Go peacefully and know that you will be avenged.¡± Kyle couldn¡¯t hear her, the Void had already taken him, but the words were necessary. They knew the remaining cells would all be the same but check them they did. They noted the dead, shed their last tears, and returned stronger and more broken. Maya stood taller as her body¡¯s protests sounded louder. We¡¯ve reached the end. Light shone from under one last door. Guards could be heard moving around and talking on the other side, not alerted to the demons'' silent march. They were unsuspecting prey. Maya smiled. The demons smiled. They tore through the door in a wave and shredded their enemy into pieces. Blood painted the stone walls and giblets came to decorate the room, the demons emerging clothed in red and hate. Stairs led out of the guard room and into a yard flanked by a towering wall on one side and a valley bathed in shadow on the other, within the yard man and woman sparred with sword, shield, and spear, and in another section, an archery range was in use. The lively action of the training grounds slowed quickly to a halt as red horrors emerged from the dungeon. A captain called for order and the ranks came to attention. The order was made to fall into formation around the dungeon¡¯s exit. The demons finished emerging surrounded on all sides. There was a wall to the backs, one Maya recognized as The Wall. The Wall that stood between Cinfhail and the Wildlands¡ªand Maya could not think the desolate valley before her was the Wildlands. For one thing, humans could not abide by the living earth. Which meant they were trapped. Despair seemed an appropriate response. Gone was her brother; butchered. Dead was the cobbler sloped against a wall. Dead was the farmer''s wife; torso gutted like a fish. Dead was Lily, a lively girl of six, dyed red in the colour of her favourite flowers. The miller¡¯s boy, dead; the carpenter, torn to shreds. Dead, dead, dead¡­ So many dead. The laughter returned, in that raw, raspy voice. Giggling uncontrollably. This was all a massive joke. Maya had sworn to become strong so that never again would she fail to save her loved ones. So that they could not be taken from her. How foolish. How na?ve. Those were the dreams of a girl denying reality. This was a world where her kin had to fight for the right to exist. Where Kingdoms made it their mission to destroy all that mattered to her. Where strength reigned supreme. Where sweet Erin died and the fates didn¡¯t care. Where every hope was dashed upon the shores of reality. But her purpose would not die. Maya stopped laughing. She watched the surrounding guards regard her warily. As they should. She was a demon, a killer of babes. The beast in the shadows, the horror of the night. While before she¡¯d been shaking, now she was still. All that was left was to move forward. The sky above darkened and around her ravens swarmed. Some came down to meet her, others darted off into the distance in search of unknown prey. There was tension in the air. Something had changed. Beaten ragged and barely able to stand, Maya felt power. Not just that of coming home. True power like nothing she¡¯d felt before. The ground, the sky, everything was pulsing with life. Energy. She heard, no, felt the words come to her. The spirits were calling to her. Guiding her in what she must do calling her back to her purpose. It was without question that she spoke to the world. This was right; this place, this time. It would be here that she made their proclamation. ¡°I say unto you of the fallow Kingdoms: The Kin do not lie quietly. The Void pulses and we wake to your horrors. It is in dismay that I declare your sentence: surrender unequivocally or be annihilated.¡± Short and to the point. Her voice was raspy and hardly recognizable as her own. It was scarcely even a whisper. Yet the words were filled with the power of Vos himself and were heard in every corner of his lands. The endless war, the war of ages. The Void war, the demon war. The war which needed no name, for it had always existed, returned. 1.16 - Quests It is when we are lost and on the precipice that Veuce¡¯s guidance is most vital. At these times it is our sacred duty to follow. ¡ªHead Cleric of the First Order The glade would have been picturesque if not for the fresh corpses littered about. The scene wasn¡¯t exactly grisly, the dead trolls resembling torn up weeds more than anything, but their corpses had begun to pile up after days of luring the dull creatures into this kill zone. The once soft grass had turned into a muddy mess after their milk-white ichor seeped from fresh wounds and mixed in with the soil. The trolls'' yellow petals lay strewn about like frayed carpet failing to cover up a mess. All in all, the glade was becoming a dump. ¡°Aaaaaaand done!¡± Aiden announced.
Quest Completed! Kill 15/15 Troll Dandies, return to the Captain for reward
The playful ¡®ding¡¯ and the refreshing blue box formed together to present that beautiful quest completion notification. Simply heavenly. Aiden might have been getting addicted, but that was ridiculous. People didn¡¯t get addicted to silly blue boxes no matter how satisfying they were. Aiden was sure. ¡°What are you making a big deal over? That¡¯s like the tenth time we finished that quest.¡± ¡°Well, Morrigan.¡± Aiden drew out her name, taking the time to make sure it was absolutely dripping with faux condescension, ¡°That was actually the fourth time we completed the quest and the third time I got the most kills in this little party of ours. Inconsequently, that was also the third time you got the least kills; you better step up your game.¡± ¡°Or what, I miss out on the biggest killer award?¡± ¡°Is that a thing?¡± Aiden perked up. ¡°No idiot, I made it up.¡± ¡°Just checking.¡± ¡°You think we could wrap this up and go collect our real reward?¡± Arthur cut it. He¡¯d taken up the leadership role in their small party for all that it counted. Mostly that meant keeping the group on track and or at least moving through distractions at an accelerated pace. Aiden was just glad someone in their trio was paying attention, and that it wasn''t him. Aiden didn¡¯t try to be flighty. He didn¡¯t like going off track; it just kind of, happened. He¡¯d be powering through quests, then get distracted by a new skill and forget the one he was trying to train. They left Cairn to pursue a prestige quest but now they just faffed about on random kill quests when there was no clear way forward. Sure it was fun, and they were levelling up skills, gaining new ones, and getting rewards, but¡ª He was getting distracted again. Aiden looked up to find Morrigan waving a hand in front of his face and Arthur already making his way down the trail towards the outpost. ¡°You still with us?¡± Morrigan asked, a hint of concern in her voice that Aiden chose to ignore. ¡°Just distracted, you know me.¡± Aiden laughed and followed after Arthur, leaving Morrigan to shrug and follow. The party only made it a few steps before the air around them stilled and a shiver ran down their spines. Around them, the gentle rustle of trees vanished and bird song paused mid-note. Aiden would have thought time itself had paused if not the pounding of his heart and their exhales forming icy clouds before their lips. When did it get so cold? ¡°I say unto you of the fallow Kingdoms:'''' The command came on a quiet breeze, its raspy notes only clear in the sudden deadness, ¡°The Kin do not lie quietly. The Void pulses and we wake to your horrors. It is in dismay that I declare your sentence: surrender unequivocally or be annihilated.¡± The chill was gone and the forest came to life around them. As if the voice of death did not just send ripples through the world, everything returned to normal. Only, not quite. There was a cheerful ¡®ding¡¯ and a bevy of blue boxes appeared before Aiden¡¯s eyes. ¡°Hey guys, you seeing this?¡± he asked. ¡°You mean the Legendary grade global quest announcement, the Notice, or the prestige quest update?¡± Arthur asked. ¡°All of it¡­¡± Aiden trailed off and re-read the notifications in case he¡¯d missed something.
Legendary Global Quest: The Endless War Hostilities with the demons have reignited, during this time skills gained fighting the demon Horde increase 1.5 times faster! Earn contribution points per kill against the fight reward(s): Contribution points may be spent at altars for special boons, additional rewards awarded based on total (including spent points) contribution point ranking
Notice -New contribution Ladder now in the menuUnauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. -New Guild functionality available to players
Prestige quest: Enter the Demon War reward(s): unknown (note prestige quest rewards are highly variable and can range from detrimental to godly)
Quest type [chain][Unshareable]: 2, ¡°Oops¡± Looks like you just helped reignite hostilities; that might have consequences. A) Prepare yourself and/or take advantage of your situation to continue. Hint: ask around at the outpost B) Or run away from the coming conflict to avoid retribution and your probable annihilation
¡°This game had a really limited guild system, right?¡± Aiden asked ¡°Yup,¡± Arthur answered. ¡°And the new skill gains and contribution points against the demons are pretty rad, right?¡± ¡°Hell yeah,¡± Morrigan helpfully supplied. ¡°And it looks like our prestige quest puts us in the center of this, and the system seems to think it will kill us.¡± ¡°Definitely.¡± the siblings agreed. ¡°This is so fucking awesome.¡± The trio of adventurers looked at each other, looked to the path ahead of them, and grinned. ***** Frist Outpost lay just shy of a chokepoint on the mountain pass between the Cairn and Nynf valley systems. The lonely palisade looked over a vast forest that only abated around a barely visible lake and a clearing far into the distance where the freshly scared black earth was just shy of hidden and a trail of smoke had abated just over a week prior. At the gate of the wooden palisade, the young guards were locked in an exciting discussion over the best ways to kill a demon. One advocated for disembowelment for maximum suffering, another was espousing the virtues of decapitation and a third was debating the merits of an arrow barrage. Just beyond the gate, the mood became heavier. The outpost was of two moods and it formed a palpable rift in the general atmosphere as the party navigated their way back to the Captain¡¯s cabin. On their way, they passed several despondent soldiers staring blankly at each other and the empty air. They saw the muscled shoulders of a middle-aged man shake as he wept, muttering to himself ¡°We¡¯re doomed. We¡¯re doomed. We¡¯re doomed...¡± unendingly. ¡°Will someone shut him up?¡± Called out a younger man. His squared jaw was locked in annoyance and his eyes were visibly disturbed. A woman with braided red hair and a solemn expression put her hand on his shoulder and shook her head ¡°No¡± before guiding him away and speaking to him quietly. Aiden only caught ¡°The man lost his entire company¡­¡± before the pair were about earshot, but it was enough. He felt a flash of pity for the powerful man rendered to weeping before reminding himself it was just an NPC and this was just a game. A game which was was fucking awesome. Aiden forced himself not to smile and tried for a serious expression more fitting of the gravitas of something called ¡°The Endless War¡±. Around him, the NPC¡¯s were split; some wanted to run, others wanted to battle for glory. Aiden¡¯s options were split as well. He could stand and fight whatever mysterious retribution was on its way, or he could run away to safety. His choice was obvious, and he was sure the others would agree. They would stay and fight even on pain of death¡ªthey were functionally immortal regardless. A construction of solid wood stood at the centre of the outpost. At its entrance, two guards who had not been there previously prevented the party from entering. They were some of the oldest soldiers in the outpost and from what Aiden had gathered from how other soldiers spoke of the pair, they were ¡°true veterans¡± whatever that meant. Aiden could make a few guesses based on their hard, no-nonsense expressions and the scars that littered them. ¡°What business do you have with the Captain?¡± asked the guard on the left. Arthur began to step forward to reply before a sharp look locked him in place. He spoke from where he stood instead. ¡°We¡¯re here to turn in our quest to kill 15 Dandy trolls; the Captain is our quest giver.¡± ¡°I recognize on behalf of the Captain the completion of your quest and present to you the reward of a communication crystal.¡± The guard shot his partner a glance and he quickly ducked behind the entrance to the cabin. A few seconds later he emerged clutching a fist-sized crystal the colour of grass, which he handed to the left guard who then handed it to Arthur.
Reward: communication crystal Lets you communicate with friends carrying another communication crystal over a range of 2 x [communication skill] km
Reward: Skill Increase! +2 skill points in communication
Reward: Renown Increased! Favour with Frist Outpost is now at [Friend]
The demeanour of the guards actually lightened with the update and Aiden felt himself relax in the absence of hostility he hadn¡¯t been fully aware of. ¡°Nice thing you heroes did, helping us out,¡± said the right guard. ¡°What with always being understaffed and low on supplies, keeping up with the weeds just ain¡¯t been a priority.¡± The left guard grunted in affirmation. ¡°We¡¯re happy to help!¡± Arthur flashed the guards a winning smile, ¡°Say, you don¡¯t suppose there''s anything more we could to help the Captain with? I¡¯m sure the whole demon war situation isn''t helping, and we want to prepare ourselves for the threat they present.¡± The guards looked at each other, a silent message passing between them before the left guard responded. ¡°Forget it.¡± ¡°Best you run away while you still can.¡± added the right. ¡°That was the voice of a demon lord; there¡¯s no fighting them.¡± The last was said in a serious low tone.
Quest Updated! Oops! The Demon Horde is headed by a Demon Lord, option B is strongly recommended
That was not at all ominous. It didn¡¯t change his decision though; the pros and cons were still the same. Morrigan and Arthur just shrugged and Aiden decided to take the initiative for once. ¡°We¡¯re Heroes; we don¡¯t run away from fights,¡± he said. ¡°If we¡¯re too weak can you tell us where we can become stronger?¡± ¡°It will mean your death.¡± ¡°If it must,¡± Aiden said solemnly. He was having fun with this role-playing thing, words were coming easily for a change. ¡°Then head westward along the Nynf river and towards The Wall, you can¡¯t miss it. It will put you closer to the demons, but if you want to help, the garrison there will make use of you.¡± ¡°But will it make us stronger?¡± Morrigan pushed, tired of staying quiet. The guards shared a low chuckle and the left said with a wolfish smile, ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sure of it.¡± It sounded like the man was telling the truth, but it wasn¡¯t very comforting. 1.17 - Hiking Simulator 1458 Common wisdom says to be wary of the feral beast, for it will be that much fiercer, and there is some merit to it. Another thing to consider is that a feral beast is likely a weakened beast and that might be your only chance to put it down. I''m no scholar but I have killed a fair number of beasties I shouldn''t have been able to. ¡ªHunters Manual; version 3 2/3 In the year 1458 UHE, people didn¡¯t get out much. That is to say, the great outdoors wasn¡¯t so much a thing anymore and what little remained of it was a luxury most often reserved for only the most elite of the elite, and maybe the occasional publicity stunt. It was no exaggeration that Aiden had never walked for longer than an hour at a time and never over terrain more difficult than a set of stairs before entering the virtual world of VOS Kingdoms. Even then he couldn¡¯t really say anything had changed since it was all virtual. On their way to Frist Outpost, the trio has opted to set their avatars in automatic travelling mode. This way the system would move their bodies for them and send a notification to their virtual augments if they entered combat. It wasn¡¯t exactly the safest way to travel but there also wasn''t anything much more dangerous than a celty. The journey to the Wall would be different. To begin with, Aiden didn¡¯t have a guidance beacon so there was nothing for the automated travel mode to target. Even if he did, questioning the guards further revealed that the beasts they were likely to meet would be more dangerous than Troll Dandies, which were the most dangerous things Aiden¡¯s party had met so far. Which meant the minimum five seconds it would take to reconnect to the game from elsewhere on the colony ship could be enough time for their characters to already be dead or severely wounded, and that¡¯s not even accounting for the severe disorientation from an emergency reconnect. For these reasons and a few more, the party would be walking¡ªnay, hiking¡ªto this new destination. Arthur was thrilled, Morrigan was suspiciously optimistic, and Aiden wasn¡¯t really thinking that hard about it. That was until four hours had passed in uneventful tedium marked only by the occasional ¡°Ding!¡±
Skill Increase! Walking +1
Which was becoming increasingly rare. ¡°You know,¡± Aiden wondered aloud, ¡°I thought this game would be more, you know, game-like. Like with fast travel and magic and shit. Not ninety percent walking.¡± ¡°You realize one of the game¡¯s major marketing campaigns was its revolutionary fidelity in the replication of sensations and realistic environmental design?¡± Arthur challenged. ¡°So?¡± ¡°So most games aren¡¯t realistic and half the point of this ¡®game¡¯ is how realistic it is. Some people just want to go back to a simpler time that never really existed and live in that world, that¡¯s what VOS Kingdoms is good at.¡± ¡°But walking?¡± ¡°I happen to like hiking.¡± ¡°Camping also used to be a popular recreational activity back in the early atomic age,¡± Morrigan added. ¡°They were also crazy enough to come up with MAD and then too pussy to actually use nuclear tech for anything good. Plus they were just plain weird in general; they had entire religions dedicated to worshiping cats!¡± Aiden shivered at the thought of those vicious creatures. ¡°Sure MAD was crazy and the people who lived back then were crazier, but it says something about a people for them to be perfectly content living alongside nuclear armageddon and go out to the middle of nowhere for fun instead of hunkering down in bunkers.¡± Morrigan pointed out cheerfully. ¡°You were saying something about simpler times, Arthur?¡± ¡°I said they never actually existed. Besides, the imaginary time I¡¯m referring to is typically set in pre-literate Europe.¡± ¡°When people lived in shit?¡± Aiden elaborated. ¡°Yes.¡± Arthur deadpanned. ¡°Speaking of¡­¡± Morrigan said with a smile playing on her lips, ¡°I think my favourite thing about this new virtual existence of ours is the lack of shits.¡± ¡°I hadn''t really considered that,¡± Aiden mused. It was true; he had yet to take a virtual shit or take care or any virtual body functions. The closest he¡¯d come was taking a chai tea bubble bath while they were on their way to the outpost, and that was just pure indulgence, as was eating he supposed, but we wouldn¡¯t give that up for the world. Aiden loved baths. They were just so relaxing and left you feeling so clean and at peace. Whenever he was feeling stressed back on earth, he¡¯d always find a way to dunk himself in a nice tea infusion; there was something about feeling clean and smelling good that just made life that much more bearable. Except all this thinking of baths was reminding Aiden that he was currently tired, sore, covered in dust and dirt and sweat, and certainly did not smell good. ¡°I want a bath.¡± ¡®ding!¡¯
Skill Upgrade! Skill: [Walking] has spawned subskill: [Hiking] -> Hiking +1
Aiden groaned,This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.
New Skill! Complaining +1
¡°Huh, I thought I¡¯d get that one sooner if it existed.¡± Aiden stumbled on a root in his distraction and swore. ¡°God! will you lay it off already?¡± Morrigan raised her arms to the sky in a beseeching manner and made a grand show of her dismay and annoyance. ¡°Great Veuce delivered me from this annoying whiner before I¡¯m swallowed by the void. Oh, the humanity!¡± Arthur chose a more subdued approach; ¡°It¡¯s just hiking. Some people will pay a fortune to be out in nature like this. It¡¯s really quite nice once you take it all in.¡± ¡°I¡¯m surrounded by crazy people,¡± Aiden grumbled and picked up his pace to gain some peace of mind. There was just no reasoning with some people. Arthur had a point in that hiking wasn¡¯t all bad. Aiden wasn¡¯t so set in his opinion that he couldn¡¯ recognize a great view when he saw it, or revel in a cool breeze that relieved some of his exhaustion. The trail they were currently traversing was lined by wildflowers and aspens forming a picturesque ark above him. The aspens did little to spare Aiden from the hot midday sun which broke through their leaves in golden motes and left him sweating. A small stream rushed over glazed pebbles and sparkled in the light, as did Aiden''s sweaty forehead. Soft green grass swayed in a light breeze and Aiden cursed that the breeze wasn¡¯t stronger. Really, this would all be so much nicer without the sweat. They could get rid of unpleasant realities like going to the bathroom but getting rid of perspiration was a step too far apparently. And sore muscles. Why did he have sore muscles in a game?
Skill Increase! Endurance +1
Oh, right. In the weird-ass game with no levels, STAT points, or even experience points, everything was a skill¡ªeven things that were typically STATs. It was annoying, over the top, and made checking relevant skills difficult but the system also had its upsides. A mundane skill like ¡®Walking¡¯ could become damn useful as it increased walking speed by 2% per level and could eventually become a significant factor in travel time. Hiking worked to a similar effect by giving an added bonus to the ease of navigation through tough terrain. Get a skill high enough and he could get some absurd effect¡ªget ¡®General Fitness¡¯ high enough and he¡¯d never feel physically tired in the game no matter how he exerted himself. So an increase in cardio? Fuck yeah; that was awesome. Aiden dreamed of the day sore muscles would be a trifle of a long-forgotten past. This dream was so beautiful, in fact, that Aiden didn¡¯t take notice of the world slowly passing by. It didn¡¯t take long for him to stumble over yet another root and land squarely on his ass. His ankle twisted painfully in the fall as it was caught in the obstructions harsh angles, and his skin tore on sharp protrusions as it came free. Bloodied and broken, his ankle still only felt like a mild sprained through the game''s pain filters, but then Aiden never had a high pain tolerance. ¡°Fucking Hell, that hurts! Fuck.¡± He kicked at the root with his uninjured leg in frustration and froze as it gave out a yelp. ¡°Holy fuck¡­¡± Aiden stared in awe and disbelief at the creature laid out on the path before him; a woman dressed in tattered rags, which did little to hide her modesty and even less to hide her inhumanity. She had a pelt of matted fur the colour of mud. Protruding from her crown were twisting branches of startling white which stood in bright contrast. She might have been beautiful¡ªif he¡¯d been into that kind of thing. Aiden was not a furry nor was he a sadist, and her pelt was absolutely stained with blood. And she smelled. Fuck, how hadn¡¯t he noticed it? She reeked, she was groaning and looked to be twisted up in pain. She wasn¡¯t exactly small either. He needed to work on his perception skill if that existed¡ªor just look where was going. ¡°Hey, you okay?¡± called Arthur. ¡°Did a celty get you?¡± asked Morrigan. ¡°Fuck you!¡± answered Aiden ¡°I think he¡¯s ok, brother dear.¡± ¡°Just wait for us, you shouldn¡¯t be walking ahead on your own; this is a more dangerous zone,¡± Arthur called out. ¡°Yea, yea, can¡¯t walk much now anyway. Hurry up, there''s something you need to check out!¡± Aiden could hear the siblings approaching footsteps and the loudening snaps of branches. The creature could as well. Her cloven ears twitched and her body stilled then tensed. She was alert, her eyes were wide and panicked, then they flashed gold and became that of a predictor. ¡°Hey, you think you can hurry up?¡± Aiden called, getting nervous and scooting himself away from what he now suspected as being some sort of monster. The creature raised itself to a crouched position and tracked his movements with unblinking eyes. He thought he saw recognition in them but discarded the thought he¡¯d never seen anything like this. The closest he¡¯d come was the demon girl since she had horns¡­ Could it be? ¡°I think it¡¯s a demon!¡± He could hear Arthur and Morrigan break into a run and saw the red of Morrigan¡¯s hair rise above the small hill separating them. The demon lunged at him a vicious smile playing on its lips, sharp teeth bared and fangs glinting. Aiden tried scrambling back to his feet only to fall back to the ground as his injured ankle failed to bear his weight. He tried to crawl. The demon caught his leg with a clawed hand pinning him in place. Aiden reached for his dagger. A second hand gripped his neck tearing streaks of blood and deprived him of breath. His breathing skill was inadequate to save him. It became hard to focus. The demon¡¯s red eyes burned with rage and the vision of the two orbs would not escape him. His hand found his dagger. It easily slid free of its sheath. Aiden plunged the blade deep into the demon¡¯s flank. The demon did not flinch. Its hand did not loosen from his neck. Only Aiden seemed to weaken in the exchange. His vision blurred and dimmed till he saw nothing but red eyes and smiling fangs. Arthur and Morrigan could be heard calling out to him and running to his aid. Which would have been comforting if Aiden thought they could make it in time. More likely he was going to die like an idiot after not paying attention to where he was going. He would lose anything related to his player identity; his quests, his reputation, his friends list. Fuck, he¡¯d been starting to enjoy that whole ¡°friend¡± thing¡ªeven if it was all fake. Fuck it. Aiden pulled out his dagger and stabbed again. The blade lodged between two ribs. He could hear the demon¡¯s breathing hitch. The hand around his neck did not loosen. A second joined it. Aiden was seeing black spots now, even where the hateful eyes had been so clear before. He tried to pull out the dagger for a third strike but he¡¯d become too weak and the blade was stuck. Starting over was going to be such a drag. Aiden might have sighed had he been able to and waited for the game over notification. Only it never came. A feral scream pierced through his dazed mind and the hands fell away from his neck. The world came back into focus revealing the smiling faces of Arthur and Morrigan standing over him and the fresh demon corpse at his side. ¡°Need a hand?¡± Arthur asked. ¡°Thanks.¡± Aiden smiled shakily and took the proffered hand. Even with Arthurs help, standing was a challenge. Arthur simply guided Aiden to a fallen log to rest on before joining his sister to loot the corpse. Aiden relished the chance to relax and allow his speeding heartbeat a chance to slow. ¡®Ding¡¯ A flood of prompts entered into Aidan¡¯s vision. He closed his eyes; not now. 1.18 - In the Company of Darkness Vos is ancient; this we know. We do not know the histories of the many kingdoms, empires, cities, and cultures which have come and gone in this time, but there have been many; this we know. We do not know how the endless war began but we know it has always raged. We know there are beings who have stood against our gods since then and continue to do so now. Our foe is as ancient as it is evil and terrible. We must fight on regardless; this we know. ¡ªImperative 3:15 Maya was alone in the dark and the world was nothing. Her sight was sound, the darkness was not an impediment, there was simply nothing. The world was emptiness and she was the lone observer. Perhaps the Void was like this, but common wisdom proclaimed thought difficult in the Void. Her thoughts felt quite clear, thank you very much. Maybe this was how Amma felt, back when she was born. All alone, not sure how she got there, not sure where she was going. Not sure of anything, really. It was probably scary, or would have been, had Amma not known herself. Amma was born with knowledge of herself and the void; knowledge of everything in a way. True omniscience. The void was unknowable, but Maya knew herself. She was the shopkeeper of Cairn, daughter to Mirin and Cole, Sister to Kyle and Noa, friend to Erin. True now only in spirit if no longer in life. She was a demon to the deadlands and would be Death to the heroes and the humans residing there. Death to traitors, wretches, bastards¡­ and Aiden. Yes, she would be his Death above all. Only fitting as he was the death of all but her. When Erin¡¯s horns were exposed in the shop, Maya had been concerned but had become distracted by happy news. Distracted, but not foolish. She knew two and two made four and noticed Aiden absent from the village not long after the incident. Travel to Frisk took a day and a half by foot¡ªthree days there and back¡ªa little extra to gather the troops. The soldiers came to Cairn on the fourth morning after. And one and one made two. Simple really. Death would come to Aiden. For that matter, death would come to all the souls who slew her people. Maya would come for them and grant them their due, but Maya was more than death, and she was more than ¡®The Shopkeeper of Cairn¡¯; she had both shop and Cairn no longer. She was a demon. Demon; who prowled the dark of night. ¡°Drank blood from human flesh, stole babies from their nests.¡± She emerged from a man-made hell and called judgment on the foe. Led her kin¡ªher Horde¡ªto freedom. She felt their pain and promised them a future. Promised revenge and destruction on their enemy. Would give absolution only by way of annihilation. The enemy that was not here but was there only moments before. Moments before she was Horde and the enemy were present¡ªand now¡ªnow she was Void [almost]. Time had not passed, the moment was trapped. The moment was noticed, and then it was gone. The void was gone, the Horde was gone, the darkness stayed. Above, a full moon beckoned. Celna welcomed Maya into her cool light¡ªtoo weak to rid the dark, but strong enough to play on the place around her. It was cavernous but free of stone, all surfaces composed entirely of a singular stretch of wood. There were no seams, planks, or carvings and the floor flowed into the walls and the walls into the great latticework of branches comprising the ceiling above. The ceiling in which the single entrance to the hall was located and through which Celna cast her gaze. The sky was of velvet night, the dawn which graced Maya¡¯s escape nowhere in sight¡ªnot that the dawn had been especially apparent after the ravens descended or while passing through the Void. An action that Maya did not understand and yet knew she had taken. Just as she knew that only seconds had passed since then and now.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Yet now had become night, and here was someplace strange. Wondrous, dark, and still. Empty save for a throne. Not a conventional throne, like those described in Maya¡¯s books, but one formed from a nest of twisted gold, studded with gems, matted with veins of platinum and other precious ores. It did not resemble a chair of any sort, never mind the kind of grand chair reserved for human kings. It looked like a bird''s nest. It was a bird¡¯s nest. A bird¡¯s throne. A dark figure perched on a beach of gold and beads of pearl. A man. His figure was not a shadow but simply appeared so due to his black skin and robes. Skin which on closer inspection was fine black feathers and robes which were revealed to be massive wings. Wings that took flight and blotted out the moon. The Raven King landed softly before Maya and knelt on silent knee. She did not register him take flight from his perch, only watched him glide down to her in a daze, saw him show her deference but did not believe her eyes. And then he spoke. Words like music resonated in the hall; a quiet baritone containing the wisdom of great age, the dignity of kings, and something not ¡®civilized¡¯. ¡°My Lord.¡± he said, ¡°I have waited for you.¡± Maya was speechless, the Raven King was not. ¡°I did not expect for you to come quite so soon nor so spectacularly, but it appears we have a prodigy this time around.¡± He raised his head and smiled, a playful glint dancing in his obsidian eyes. ¡°Y-you were waiting for me?¡± Maya managed. ¡°Yes.¡± was his calm response. ¡°You called me your ¡®Lord¡¯. ¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°You¡¯re kneeling.¡± ¡°I am.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Maya¡¯s voice shook with incredulity and she managed a small step back from the being before her. An old rhyme coming to mind. Above the world on nest of gold, Sits the Raven fair and bold. To whom all demons bow and scrape, And from no mortal may escape. The Raven King; nightmare incarnate. A figure etched in verse. The boogie man whom mothers warned misbehaving children of was submitting himself to her. Maya questioned her sanity, then disregarded that as a foolish question¡ªher mind was no-doubt broken, the real question was if she was hallucinating this scenario in particular. ¡°Ha!¡± the Raven King laughed, then restrained his amusement to a low chuckle, ¡°This is real, and I kneel before Dea''Ammat; Avatar of the Voids, bearer of our will, Demon Lord to the humans. You have already led our kin against the eternal foe and declared that hostilities renew. Just now you harnessed the void to come here. You are my Lord, what is there to question?¡± ¡°But how? Why?!¡± ¡°Because you embody the Kin and the Void recognized this.¡± He raised himself to his whole height, his tall stature head and shoulders above her, and met Maya¡¯s gaze with one that spoke of great pain and fatigue. His voice gained severity and his demeanour lost joviality. ¡°Fate has determined that the Kin return to war and regardless of the reason, you are our leader. Dea¡¯Ammat is more than a powerful demon leading the Horde as humans believe. You know this, I know this, any and all of the Kin know this. Your purpose is to end the war we all so despise.¡± ¡°To carry the Kin¡¯s will.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°And you will help me?¡± ¡°With pleasure.¡± He said with a bow, levelling his gaze with her own and Maya knew he was sincere. And that he pitied her. His face blurred¡ªshe was crying again. Crying with sorrow for what she had lost, frustration at her powerlessness and anger at her killers and her captors, but also with relief that she would not be alone. Maya wrapped her arms around the Boogie-Man''s neck and pulled him into an embrace. She hid her tear-stained face into his feathered shoulder and spoke two words nearly forgotten. ¡°Thank you.¡± The words were quiet, choked and muffled. The Raven King heard them all the same. It was dark. The room was still and silent. The life which radiated throughout the Wildlands was tense waiting in bated breath. Celna lingered, Dawn approached the velvet night. Soft sobs and hiccups broke through and a welt of emotions broke out into the land. ¡°Thank you.¡± Maya said again, ¡°Thank you for being with me.¡± The words were hoarse and obstructed by tears, their volume barely above that of a whisper. The Kin heard all the same. Maya was not Alone. 1.19 - Call Me Je’Hiantl, Call Me Maya We call them demons, and for the most part, that term is fitting. They are demons, they are also more than that. Each demon is different from the other. Some only in so much as siblings would be different, but many are so different, one could not comprehend how the two creatures are related if not for their unnatural features. ¡ªHow Not to Adopt a Demon Pet A long time spent crying, combined with the previous days of abuse left Maya feeling exhausted and sore when she finally managed to collect herself. The Raven King was patient and kind, even going so far as patting her back while she cried all over him. What was she thinking? Her face burned and not just from salty tears stinging raw cheeks. Maya now hid said burning face in the shoulder she had been crying into moments prior. To think that after all that had happened she could still get embarrassed. She shivered slightly as a light break raised goose flesh on her back and arms then froze. The cold air had met with her skin directly. She was naked. Why was she naked? The feathered man wasn¡¯t quite so comforting anymore. Rather, she was feeling increasingly awkward. He was also nude, except he also had a natural sort of clothing from his feathers smoothly lining his skin. Oh my. Without thinking, Maya took a hurried step back and managed to hide behind a curtain of hair. It was much longer than she remembered it being, also somehow darker than its previous black¡ªwhere once it was glossy, now it swallowed light. Something to consider later; Maya was simply glad it managed to cover herself and there were stranger things she was already ignoring. It was good she managed to stay standing in her panic, it would not do to cower before one who had only just bowed before her. Maya may have been a simple ¡°peasant¡± but she could figure that much out. She straightened her spine and stood tall from where she¡¯d hunched in on herself. No, she would not cower before an ally over something as silly as nudity. Her face heated up and she missed the shawl she would normally hide in. Now she hid in strange, void-black, hair trying to stand tall before a monster. This monster who had submitted to her¡ªthe ¡°Demon Lord¡±. Maya was the true monster, if only in human eyes. Wonderfull. She needed to stop thinking like a human. Clearly blending in with them was doomed to failure. ¡°It¡¯s been a trying few days for you.¡± Stated The Raven King, ¡°Are you feeling better now?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± And she did feel better. Her mind was clearer and the room felt less hollow. The aura death and stillness had receded, returning to it home in human crypts and warrens dug in the deadlands. The life of the Wildlands was thick in the air. It was a new sensation, but Maya had never felt more at home than she did while breathing it in and feeling it dance against her skin. Being naked wasn¡¯t so bad. The shock and embarrassment weren¡¯t fun, but she wasn¡¯t human and didn¡¯t need to conform to human customs¡ªThe Raven King certainly wasn¡¯t. The few rags still stuck to her body itched and Maya peeled the dirty things off. ¡°I feel much better,¡± She smiled and only felt a little out of place, ¡°Is there something I can call you? "The Raven King" is a bit of a mouthful.¡± ¡°I am The Raven King, what else would I be called?¡± ¡°By a name.¡± He laughed and broke into a broad grin, ¡°I am older than names and am in no need of yet another label to be identified by.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t change that ¡°The Raven King¡± is a mouthful and calling you ¡°Nightmare¡± seems rude.¡± ¡°Then call me Je¡¯Hiantl. It¡¯s an old epithet, from a dead tongue, I once took a liking to.¡± ¡°Je¡¯Hiantl? I can bearly pronounce it,¡± Maya complained. ¡°Too bad, you asked for a name and I gave you one.¡± Je¡¯hiantl winked, turned around, and returned to his perch on his throne. Somehow, in the tangle of harsh metal spines, an alcove of plush cushions made a cozy place to rest. ¡°Come,¡± He patted the space beside him, ¡°We have much to discuss and dawn approaches.¡±This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. ***** The Hollow once bathed in a wash of blue now basked in golden light. Songbirds serenaded above and a squirl had laid down an offering of acorns a foot from the golden nest¡¯s base. Morning had come to the World Tree but Maya pondered on how it was now noon at The Wall. Four hours of time was travelled in a moment through the void. Now four hours had passed in which her Horde was left without her, stranded behind the Wall, just out of reach of freedom. Her Kin was surrounded by the enemy and she was secure in the hollow of Kamna¡¯ah, leagues above the dangers of Vos below. Maya had abandoned Kin¡ªThe Demon Lord had formed a Horde and cut it loose. Dea¡¯Ammat had done her duty; so said her vassal. Horrible word; vassal, yet that was how Je¡¯Hiantl referred to himself. He said all spirits of any sense were subservient to Dea¡¯Ammat and that the position of Vassal was a great honour. He also said that humans had a way of butchering language and desecrating sacred roles... ¡°They make a mockery of a Lords and Lady¡¯s and do not possess the ability to be called ¡°King¡±, yet the fools prance around and demand fealty of their subjects.¡± Je¡¯Hiantl complained, ¡°and they have the audacity to call us ¡°evil¡±. ¡°Unnatural¡± even! They¡¯re the unnatural ones¨C¨Ccan¡¯t even stand to rest on Vos¡¯s living flesh.¡± ¡°Their vermin,¡± Maya said darkly. ¡°Silly little things, I¡¯ll grant you that,¡± and he smiled as if at a joke only he could comprehend and expressed a warry sigh, ¡°Running around like their heads chopped off and dying just as quickly¨C¨Cyou could almost call them pitiful.¡± ¡°They don¡¯t deserve pity.¡± ¡°Is that right?¡± He raised a feathered brow. ¡°Give it and you would be dead in a heartbeat.¡± ¡°Maya dear, we will all die one day, but I can assure you; I will be one of the last.¡± ¡°Is that right?¡± She challenged ¡°It is.¡± Maya hoped he was telling the truth, but didn¡¯t hold her breath. Everyone died, even immortal monsters; she didn¡¯t doubt that the infamous Nightmare would be any different. She was weak and incapable of protecting her kin. Unworthy of leading the Horde. She knew this to be true, yet a thousand hearts spoke otherwise. Feeling them came naturally over the course of their conversation. Small feelings in the back of her mind at first, then gradually becoming a web of emotions leading to a multitude of souls. Now she could feel Je¡¯Hiantl stretching his wings above. He¡¯d said it was his duty to greet the sun in this way and when Maya began to doubt him, a stray thought from a foreign mind told her otherwise. Tracing a strand of the ethereal silk brought whispers of the ancient king¡¯s thoughts. He was brooding. The jovial attitude he displayed was not a lie, rather, a means to make her comfortable and for him to maintain some form of sanity. She¡¯d never been this good at understanding other¡¯\s before and didn¡¯t see how becoming the Demon Lord could change that. ¡°Dea¡¯Ammat,¡± Maya startled at the voice coming out of nowhere. ¡°What?¡± Maya searched the chamber but found nothing save for a tingle on the back of her neck. ¡°You are Dea¡¯Ammat, not this ¡°Lemon Lord¡±. Did my Lord explain nothing to you?¡± Speaking to Maya was a stone bird, small and almost perfectly blending in with the dark wood around it. It spoke without inflection yet She was almost certain she¡¯d felt the bird scoff. She had little basis for it, but she new "my Lord" was Je"Hiantl. ¡°What are you?¡± ¡°Corva, Dea¡¯Ammat,¡± the bird dipped into a small bow. ¡°Stop that! My name is Maya.¡± ¡°You are Dea¡¯Ammat. It is your purpose, your being, your will. Dea¡¯Ammat is no mere name or title; it is you, just as I am Corva.¡± ¡°I like my name, it¡¯s Maya.¡± ¡°But did not Maya die in Cairn?¡± Maya wet her lips and opened her mouth to speak, but held back as her voice caught. ¡°You felt it¨C¨Cwe all felt it¨C¨CDea¡¯Ammat was born in the depths of darkness and emerged with the first true horde in decades. The course is clear. Humans and ¡°demons¡± have failed to coexist time and time again, just as they have failed to live separately. One must go.¡± ¡°And debts must be paid.¡± Maya managed. ¡°Too true.¡± Corva smiled; the web smiled; demons bared their teeth. ¡°But my name is still Maya, and I don¡¯t know how I feel about this whole Dea¡¯Ammat business.¡± Corva was skeptical. ¡°Ok, I know how I feel¨C¨CI know how you feel¨C¨Cbut I don''t know how I feel these things or if I can trust them.¡± ¡°My Lord surely explained it to Dea¡¯Ammat¡± ¡°Your Lord Je¡¯Hiantl? Crazy how I know who you''re talking about, just like that!¡± Maya snapped. Actually snapped, with her fingers, ¡°And that! I¡¯ve never been able to snap before now.¡± ¡°Why does this distress you so? I felt you take the mantle and lead the charge. You accepted our purpose.¡± Corva was concerned, no, frightful. Things were getting out of hand and she didn¡¯t know why. Things were supposed to go differently, Dea¡¯Ammat was acting strangely. Ferries paused in their hunt unease swelling in their chest a sense of wrongness permeated their being. Liarus missed a step and allowed her prey to get away, overwrought with pain and confusion from a source she didn''t expect. Killi let out a wail calling his mommy to his cradle. Maya clutched her head as a thousand thoughts, feelings, and desires made themselves known and threatened to drown out her own. She was afraid. They were afraid. 1.20 - Her Name Was Sian ¡°Through its eyes, I saw the soul of another and I saw death. This was ancient evil spying on me, the thing which lurks in the void. I am not ashamed to say that I ran. I ran from the child with smiling fangs and pointed horns just as I stand before you this day. My company stood fast, the idiots; they¡¯re all dead now.¡± ¡ªJarik Kolsson, on trial for desertion. Sian couldn¡¯t move and her heart raced. Every last ounce of strength she possessed was used fighting her way free of the guards at the Wall, and more when fleeing from their sight. Strength she didn¡¯t know existed had taken her far, but it had to run out eventually, and it did. A shaky step failed to support her weight and lo, she fell to Vos. Her weary limbs did not have the strength to return her to her feet. There she lay¡ªtime passing, Sellis burning, Vos her stoic companion¡ªuntil she heard the rustle of leaves and the trample of careless feet. Danger was approaching, but this did not change her helplessness. That same danger hit her head on; a boot to the ear that became tangled in her horns as he fell and wrenched her neck. Danger groaned in pain, ¡°Fucking Hell! Fuck.¡± He kicked her then let out a yelp and swore. Sian wanted to swear. This was not good. She hadn''t come this far to be killed by some idiot literally stumbling into her. She tried to move, crawl, anything! All she managed was to feel more pain. Shouts came from afar; the man had friends. They would be here soon and they sounded far more intelligent than the man still sprawled before her. They were likely more dangerous as well. Sian stilled her movements trying to think over her options. She could try tripping the newcomers¡ªfat chance of that¡ªbite their ankles? Demons in their true forms had not been seen in the deadlands for over twenty years; perhaps that wouldn¡¯t recognize what she was and not kill her. Yeah right. Damn them! Damn herself. Why was she so helpless? Sian stared wide-eyed at the harbinger of her doom and¨C This man was familiar. His annoyingly sculpted features and thick brown hair. Hateful grey eyes¡­ This man was an enemy. He was Aiden. Dea¡¯Ammat glared at the foolish boy looking foolishly back at them. He had no idea. The Bastard. The killer. He needed to die. Sian focused on their prey, exhaustion somehow diminished. Wonderful energy surging through her veins. They raised themselves to a crouch and fixed their gaze on the target. ¡°I think it¡¯s a demon!¡± he shouted, fear leaking into his words. Good. He should be afraid. Dea¡¯Ammat smiled; Sian smiled; demons bared their fangs. They lunged for the bastard''s throat and chased after his mad scramble to escape their deadly clutches. He fell in his attempt to stand, slipping and stumbling over his stupidity. His ankle was just there for the taking. Their claws sank into the boney appendage and their hands wrapped around his fragile neck. Cruel fingers curled precisely over his life''s breath if they were made for each other and squeezed His skin paled. Bright red jewels of blood dripped free from delicate lacerations that they had drawn, and It. Was. Beautiful. Truly a sight to behold. The hated man squirmed like the bug he was, his eyes shining with fear. A great, burning pain pierced Sian¡¯s side. Their grip almost weakened. Not yet, almost there. They were so close. Again a blade pierced Sian''s side, the pain somehow greater. It would not be enough to stop them. A second blade joined the first ripping through Sian''s back, a third came shortly after. No! They screamed and rage tore through Sian¡¯s throat. Their grip weakened. Sian was no more. They became less. Tears stung Dea¡¯Ammat¡¯s cheeks as once more a hole was left in their soul, and once more they were too weak to kill the enemy. Vengeance had failed. Maya had failed again, and now she knew what that horrible feeling in the darkest recesses of her mind was. Her Horde was dying, and each death killed her that much more. ¡°Damn it.¡± ***** Sightless eyes stared into Aidens and he held back the urge to blink. He knew this was no contest he could win, but it just somehow felt wrong to look away from the dead monster, like it might come back to tear apart his larynx. That, and the eyes looked a touch accusatory; resembled his sister¡¯s a bit too closely now that they stayed a chestnut brown. That those same eyes had been glaring at him in blood red and glowing yellow earlier only made it worse.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Fuck, this sucked. Aiden let out a deep sigh and rose to his feet, lightly testing his twisted ankle and prodding at his miraculously whole throat. Thank the Dev¡¯s that the ridiculous realism didn¡¯t extend to out of combat healing; that would have been a literal pain. The accelerated healing had sealed shut the line cut into his throat and eliminated any pain from standing. He could walk again, which was nice, and also kind of important, so, ¡°yay¡±. They¡¯d also managed to take down a demon and the increased skill gains from that were huge. Aiden had levelled up damage taking, healing, brawling, daggers and a bunch of other strange skills multiple times. He was fine, the gains were great, and this was a game. Aiden smiled and ignored his pulse pounding in his ears and his still shaking hand. He was fucking great. ¡°Hey, check out the loot!¡± Morrigan called out. ¡°What loot? That¡¯s a corpse.¡± Aiden walked over and rolled the body over with a toe. ¡°All I see are rags.¡± ¡°Idiot, the body is the loot, or the horns are anyway; they¡¯re glowing.¡± ¡°They''re white and mildly clean Morgan¡ªnot even sparkling clean¡ªthat¡¯s not glowing.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a perk of my gathering skill. It just reached level 25 and now highlights valuable flora and fauna.¡± ¡°So how do we collect the horns then?¡± Arthur asked. ¡°That¨C I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t have the perk for that.¡± ¡°How do you already have a skill at 25?¡± Aiden complained, ¡°I¡¯ve just got over a hundred skills at, like, 17.¡± ¡°Should we cut off the head?¡± Arthur suggested ignoring Aiden. ¡°Eww! Brother, I didn¡¯t know you were into that.¡± ¡°Quit insinuating I have a decapitation fetish, Witch.¡± ¡°Oh, hey my walking skill is at 26.¡± ¡°Tight Ass!¡± Morrigan name-called, also ignoring Aiden. ¡°Harpy!¡± ¡°Says I¡¯ve got the ¡°blind walking¡± perk...¡± ¡°Nerd!¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t we just chop off the horns? I¡¯ve got a hand axe,¡± Aiden cut in. ¡°That could damage them,¡± reasoned Arthur. ¡°But it¡¯s probably our best option. Let¡¯s just get it done so we can be on our way. Boys! If you would do the honours please.¡± Morrigan gestured to the corpse and sat down a couple of feet away, leaving little room for argument. Aiden and Arthur looked to each other, the corpse, then at Morrigan lounging back and waving at them to ¡°get on with it,¡± and back at the corpse again and shrugged; Best be ¡°getting on with it¡±. The work was messy, turned out there was blood in those horns, would that make them antlers? Did they care? The grim work of slaughter left one with many philosophical questions. After that was done, and the horn antlers were tied up with twine and slung over Arthur''s back, the trio continued on their way down the path and towards the Wall. This time carefully walking in close proximity and watching the path before them. 10 minutes into this tedium the group agreed to have rotating member scouting out ahead. This accomplished little except level a new scouting skill and give the pair left behind a chance to gossip behind the scout''s back. ***** ¡°Do you think Arthur knows?¡± asked Morrigan. ¡°He can¡¯t. Can he?¡± replied Aiden. ¡°But it¡¯s so big.¡± ¡°And probably wet.¡± ¡°Sticky too.¡± ¡°And probably stinks.¡± ¡°The Horn-antlers would stink the same.¡± ¡°Right.¡± ¡°What are you two talking about?¡± Arthur asked, returning from the trees. Morrigan¡¯s eyes went wide saying, ¡°He doesn¡¯t.¡± Aidens eyebrows rose; ¡°Holy crap.¡± Aiden and Morgan silently agreed not to tell Arthur about the bloody brown stain on the seat of his pants or the Horn-antler blood dripping down his back and joining it. ***** Arrival at the Wall came in three parts. First, they saw a flat line of solid white connecting jagged peaks in the distance. Next, they approached the Nynf valley following the snaking river of the same name, first seeing then feeling the great shadow that bisected it. Only a few steps were needed to cross from warm sunlight to cool and deepening shade. The walking continued for several hours even after entering the Wall¡¯s shadow. The final step in arriving at the wall was, fittingly enough, the wall itself. A small collection of outbuildings and training yards were clustered around its base through which the path they followed led and ended at a small guardhouse. Solidly built of sculpted stone and solid pine, the guardhouse looked like a scar set into the impeccable white wall. Granted, it was a damn sight better than the rest of the camp which looked like a hurricane had gone and had its way with it. The training yard was scored with pits and broken equipment. The outbuildings were trashed, showing broken shutters and doors hanging on broken hinges. All of this was clearly visible from a ways away and while Aiden remained distracted by the bundle bouncing in Arthurs back, the siblings grew silent as they figured something was not quite right. They approached regardless, following the pattern of tedium which had taken them this far already. Left foot followed by right foot, right foot followed by left, hop over the root, sidestep that ditch and right foot follows the left. All the while the Horn-antler bundle bounced, no longer dripping blood, the splatter pattern on Arther¡¯s back had turned from red to rust to brown. So it was that the party consisting of three arrived at Wallven, passing through a shattered gate and greeted at speer point. They froze. The group of spear bearers shared some meaningful glances and nudges before a scrawny freckled boy stepped forward and spoke, ¡°Y-You there, what be your business here?¡± there was some more shuffling and nudges, ¡°and show us the tops of your heads!¡± ¡°Umm,¡± Aiden replied eloquently, ¡°You looking for these?¡± He pulled the bundle from Arthurs back and held it before the guards. The once alabaster spirals swung in his grip, a pendulum splattered by blood and dirt. Freckles let out a squawk and fell flat on his ass. 1.21 - The Wall At the mouth of a valley bathed in darkness stands the bulwark of humanity. There, we send our brave sons and daughters to stand against the forces of evil. There, we stand vigilant against our eternal foe. There, we stand tall upon the monument of the gods and look down on on the unholy Wildlands. So sleep well, child, your home is safe. ¡ªIntroduction to The Lapris Book of Fables ¡°Um, are you alright?¡± Aiden asked the kid hesitantly. Kid, because ''Freckles'' was a kid on closer inspection. Probably no older than fifteen, sixteen tops. The others in the group of spear bearers weren¡¯t much better, more kids and few that looked to be elderly or worn out, but they all bore the same crest and colours and the crest was that of the wall. ¡°I-I¡¯m fine! Just, um, surprised.¡± The kid stammered out while scrambling to his feet. ¡°I can see that.¡± Said Morrigan dryly. ¡°So what¡¯s the big fuss about? Why do you feel the need to meet us heroes, by spear point?¡± ¡°Heroes?¡± The kid squeaked. ¡°Peace Westly,¡± Said a calm older man who stepped out of line and made his way towards the trio. ¡°The Heroes don¡¯t bite, do ya?¡± ¡°That is correct sir,¡± chuckled Arthur. ¡°Right, so odds be they¡¯re here to help us like that other lass who showed up.¡± ¡°Indeed we¡¯re here to help against the demon threat.¡± ¡°Hence the horns.¡± The man nodded the bundle. ¡°Hence the horns,¡± affirmed Arthur. ¡°So they were horns,¡± murmured Aiden. ¡°Duh, what else would they be?¡± Asked Morrigan. ¡°They bleed; only antlers should have blood.¡± ¡°It was a demon, why should it make sense?¡± reasoned Morrigan. ¡°Plus they''re white like ivory, it would make more sense to compare them to tusks.¡± ¡°But horns don¡¯t bleed,¡± Aiden repeted. The soldier cleared his throat and Arthur took over. ¡°As I was going to say. We came to the wall after hearing the declaration in the hope that we may receive some training and fight demons.¡± A blond man snorted in laughter, ¡°You fight demons? From the looks of you lot, I¡¯d say you barely manage to kill that one.¡± He pointed at the bundle. ¡°And all the escaped monsters were newborns already half dead.¡± ¡°Sorry, What?¡± Aiden interjected. "you tell ''em, Deegan." ¡°You see this mess around you?¡± Deenan, the man who had been speaking, asked. The trio nodded. ¡°And you notice how this group here looks about to shit their pants?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t talk like you ain¡¯t one of us!¡± shouted one of the pants-shitters. The man ignored them and continued. ¡°This is all the result of the demons escaping their holding pens led by a brand-spankin-new Demon Lord. That same Demon Lord making a declaration, not ten strides from where we are standing, then disappearing in a storm of darkness and ravens.¡± ¡°So,¡± Morrigan prodded, ¡°what happened next?¡± ¡°The bloody Abyss broke loose, that¡¯s fuckin what.¡± the man spat, venom dripping from his words and continued in a low growl. ¡°Damned demons let loose on the garrison without pain nor fear, faught like the god¡¯s damned hoard of legend and ripped through the recruits like fucking paper.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± ¡°Your fucking right, ¡®oh¡¯, and you little shitstains think you got what it takes to fight them?¡± ¡°Well you lot don¡¯t look much better,¡± Aiden retorted. ¡°Us older men are tired, and the younger lads are green, but we¡¯ll pass on our wisdom and the sprouts will learn; they now know what it is we¡¯re fighting. We also don¡¯t have anyone walking around with literal shit stains.¡±Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. ¡°So do we,¡± Aiden insisted shaking the bundle of horns before him. The man laughed, ¡°take a second look,¡± and pointed at Arthur. ¡°What?¡± Arthur twisted around and finally noticed the giant brown patch of the seat of his pants. ¡°Seriously you guys? You didn¡¯t bother to mention this?¡± ¡°Brother dearest, we thought it was a fashion statement¡ªdidn''t want to embarrass you.¡± Morrigan kept a straight face, Aiden choked out a snort of laughter, Arthur glaired. ¡°Well, it¡¯s not a fucking shit stain.¡± ¡°Right then,¡± Deegan stated, his only acknowledgment of the childish spat being the whisper of a smile and a twinkle in his eye. ¡°Follow me; I¡¯ll take you to the Master Sargent for assignment.¡± ¡°Assignment?¡± Arthur asked, but the man was already moving. The trio hurried after him. As majestic as the Wall¡¯s exterior was, the interior was rather spartan. Deegan led the trio down long unadorned hallways lined with plain doors and lit with pale blue light coming from no discernible source. This was either the first instance of magic the players had seen in the game or an instance of the developers being lazy. Aiden hoped it was the former, but had a sneaking suspicion that it was both. Occasionally Aiden could see some geometric symbols carved into the stone walls breaking up the monotony of the endless corridors, and from the way Degan was checking them, Aiden guessed they served a similar function to high-density residential signage back on Earth. That was not comforting. Aiden had either lived in or visited those massive complexes of steel for most of his life and he would still get lost in them if his augments didn¡¯t guide him every step of the way. If something went wrong, Aiden didn¡¯t like his chances of finding his way out and he suspected that might be on purpose. The Wall was a major fortification, and any decent fortification tended to be built somewhat like a maze. They did pass by other soldiers in uniform, some standing at guard, most rushing by, and all appearing far more capable than the ragtag group that met them by the gate. They didn''t seem the sort to give out directions at any rate. Finally, after too many hallways and far too many stairs, Deegan stopped at a door slightly different from the rest and knocked three times then waited. Four uncomfortable minutes passed before the word ¡°Enter,¡± sounded from the other side and Deegan ushered then all in. Aiden noticed three things immediately upon entering, the room was nothing like the bare halls. Maps covered the walls with marker and lines dotting the mountain range they depicted, where there weren''t maps, there were shelves full of documents and where the shelves were full, documents were stacked neatly on the floor. Frankly, the room should have been cluttered but somehow it maintained a ridged order; this was the first thing Aiden noticed. On the far wall was a beautiful painting depicting a vista overlooking a sprawling rainforest marked the second object of interest. A beautiful painting to be sure, but it was the flying birds and the resulting trees that drew Aidens eyes to it and then to the final, but likely most important aspect of the room, sitting at his desk in front of it. The man, Aiden assumed to be the Master Sargent, radiated power. His eyes were cool steel and seemed to cut into Aiden as he examined him. Aiden tried examining the Master Sargent, in turn, but could only feel more intimidated. His hair was flame red and his frame looked as though it had been chiselled from hard stone only to be marred by grisly scars, one of which ran up his neck and just past his square jaw. Aiden let out a relieved breath when the Master Sargent¡¯s eyes moved on from him and landed on Deegan. ¡°What have you brought me solder?¡± the Master Sargent¡¯s words were low and grated like a mill-stone. ¡°Three Hero sprouts hoping to join up, Sir.¡± ¡°Join?¡± Aiden began to voice his confusion. ¡°Quite.¡± Just that one word Aiden could not speak, he didn¡¯t even need to try, he just knew somehow. Forget the weird hallway lights, this was the first real magic he¡¯d seen in the game and it was fucking awesome. ¡°We¡¯ve had a few Heroes enlist and I¡¯ll give you lot the same deal I gave them. This is a proper military installation and we do not accept mercenaries. You will either enlist as fresh recruits or you will leave. There will be no special treatment for being heroes; you will serve within the ranks and potentially rise within them as any other solder would, and you will serve a minimum term of service of two years or be branded a deserter. This is not negotiable. Your response?¡±
New Quest Enlistment: Join the ranks of the Garrison as an enlisted soldier for a minimum of 2 years Reward: 50 Aes per week, skills training while enlisted, minor skills learning boost while enlisted, assorted bonuses based on performance Failure: Death (death penalties applied), Desertion (you will be named a deserter and will be punished as one), Disobeying orders (specific instances will be punished according to severity, severe instances will instantly fail quest)
Aiden felt the restriction lift but did not feel like speaking. Two years of commitment? Instant failure for death or desertion, possible failure for disobeying orders and penalties based on military law. Not just military law but feudal military law. Aiden had no doubt that it would be unpleasant. The rewards were at best ambiguous and at least mundane. Basic pay didn¡¯t seem to be worth much without anything to spend it on, but he supposed it would be useful in the future. The training was what he really cared about though. Doing random things and getting random skills was fine but it wouldn¡¯t make him great. He¡¯d already noticed his skill gains becoming slower as they passed level 15, and if this was like any game at all that problem would only become more pronounced. More important than all that though, was that he was tired of always being mediocre and bumbling about like some idiot. He knew on some level that he wasn¡¯t really an idiot, that he was even decent at some things, but it sure as hell didn¡¯t feel like it. He didn¡¯t want to an idiot, and this felt like a chance to be something more. Besides, even with the penalties, he could still run away¡ªit wouldn¡¯t be the first time. Aiden took a deep breath and made his decision, not waiting for the others. ¡°I accept¡­ Sir,¡± Aiden said. He didn¡¯t sound half as confident as he wanted to. Morrigan stepped forward and declared ¡°We accept as well.¡± Arthur simply nodded. The Master Sargent smiled and Aiden could have sworn he was looking at a wolf baring its fangs. 1.22 - A drop in the Puddle One could barely guess that the Simmenti share the same love of Amma as we do here in Lapris. They twist her teaching in incongruous ways and theory culture seeps with absurdity. They expose Brotherly virtue to the obscene and teach their daughter¡¯s impious ways. I would not fault a man for mistaking than as demons; they are nearly as strange. But I entreat upon you that you might look past their strangeness for the sake of the eternal plight¡ªthey make good infantry ¡ªFirst Son, Yesrale Hampton II The room was beautifully silent, save for the quiet hiss of the bath bomb as it fizzed and propelled its self around the tub. The prominent sensation was that of the floating in warmth and the aroma of good tea. Absolutely heavenly, thought Aiden. This bath in his virtual suite had become a refuge of sorts in the last few weeks of gruelling training. His simple bath on earth had been the same, though nowhere near as palatial as his new virtual paradise. Silly that he would seek refuge from a game, but then, seeking refuge was a familiar response. That this refuge happened to be soaking in a bath for far too long also wasn¡¯t anything new. Old habits died hard. The fizzing became a string of tapping and Aiden nudged the shrinking sphere of salts, oils and scents away from the tub wall, closed his eyes, and allowed himself to sink into the water down past his ears. The sounds were different down there; like they belonged to a different world. A world in which he was entirely alone and safe and content. A world devoid of thought, concerns and worries. Technically, he was in a new world now, having left earth, and he had left behind many of his terrestrial concerns when he left that rock. Just not as many as he¡¯d have liked. He was still the same old Aiden after all. Time passed and the water cooled from just bearably hot to only possibly warm; it was time to get out¡ªtime to return to ¡®reality¡¯. Ha! The paradox was a virtual life. Aiden didn¡¯t think he would get tired of it any time soon. He would keep making bad jokes about it even after arriving at their destination so long as no one killed him over it. He cringed; the number of people who snapped at him for making a pun was not small. Aiden shivered as he exited today¡¯s tub selection¡ªa freestanding tub with golden claws¡ªand quickly summon bath towel of the fluffiest kind; heated for maximum comfort. Once dry he pulled on his current favourite bathrobe and strode back into his main suite. Maybe it wasn¡¯t all that odd that he felt the need to escape reality when in a game, the game was way more realistic than the frankly absurd luxury he enjoyed while in his rooms. Luxury that was far beyond his reach even as the son of the Northwest American Chancellor. He wished he¡¯d seen the look on her face when she read the note he¡¯d left her; it might have actually contained a hint of real emotion! ¡°Unlikely,¡± Aiden sighed. He flopped onto the default four-poster that he decided was actually quite nice and snuggled into the silk sheets. There he lay unmoving his eye¡¯s closed and waiting for sleep to come. It would come easy, he hadn¡¯t had a poor night''s sleep since arriving on the Abeona¡ªit wouldn¡¯t let him¡ªbut his mind was turning and the phantom aches and pains of the military training ate at his limbs. It wasn¡¯t real, and while the game simulated reality the pain of exercising wasn¡¯t nearly what it should have been. He would wake bright-eyed an energetic and remain so upon returning to the game. So why did he feel so exhausted? Why was he subjecting himself to this? Aiden asked the same questions every night. He knew the answers to his questions every night. And every night an unseen timer built into one of many strings of code counted down and gently persuaded his mind to sleep. The optimum number of REM cycles passed, and the arbitrary morning arrived. Simulated sunshine landed on Aiden¡¯s eyelids and drew him from regretfully dream-filled sleep. The room was silent. Bird song wasn¡¯t really his thing. No, the silence suited him better; it was familiar. As were the empty halls and the home far too big for just one person. A home that wasn¡¯t really a home but more a place to sleep and recover. Aiden did not live there. He lived in VOS and it was time to return. ¡°System initiate program: Vos Kingdoms,¡± Aiden called out.
Confirmation: Enter Vos Kingdoms?
¡°Yes¡± A heartbeat passed, then a second, and Aiden was lying on his bunk in the barracks, his in-game timer counting 5 minutes and 43 seconds till the wake-up call. He was already dressed since there was no reason to change, and his bed was still made since he never actually slept in it. Morning rollcall was far easier for those who didn¡¯t actually sleep in the barracks and instead used them to store the empty husks of their avatars. That the NPC soldiers gave the players funny looks was more of a bonus, really. He was up 5 minutes early. Damn, that meant 5 minutes to just lie there and do nothing. He thought he had timed this whole thing better. Stupid biological brain.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Having had enough of lying around doing nothing, Aiden tiptoed out of his bed and began acting through a series of stretches. He not only touched his toes but nearly managed to fold himself in half¡ªa feat his stiff real body would have never dreamed of attempting¡ªand after counting 20 heartbeats of blood rushing through his head, Aiden pulled up and stretched out his back, arms, and neck. Still 2 minutes remaining Aiden began the stretches he would never attempt even virtually if kicks didn¡¯t look so damn cool. He was going to try and do the mother fucking splits. Yah, that¡¯s right, virtual Aiden was a badass. Rollcall arrived and in the time that NPCs rushed out of bed, made their beds, and made up themselves (and Arthur casually walked to his place in line), Aiden hobbled over his spot, barely managing to stand up straight. Maybe he¡¯d been a little over-enthusiastic in that last attempt¡­ but it was worth it.
Skill Increase! Flexibility +1
Skill Milestone reached! Walking: lv 15 Minor skill perk: stretching before exercise will reduce fatigue and muscle pain
Sure, he was still a bit sore from his ill-fated leg maneuver, but it would make the gauntlet he was about to run a hell of a lot more baerable. More importantly, Morrigan was still stuck at lv 13 and they¡¯d made a bet on how would reach the milestone first¡ªoh, how he looked forward to rubbing it in her face. Aiden looked to the recently appointed lieutenant standing at the end of the line, closest to the door, anxious to get going so that he could meet Morrigan at the mess hall. Normally the lieutenant would have already called out the beginning of the morning exorcised by then and they would be out the door and running through the maze-like interior of the wall¡ªlearning how to get around while levelling up their cardio. It was an efficient form of training that forced soldiers to either keep up or get lost and then probably miss mealtime because being lost in The Wall was not a minor obstacle. The maze-like interior of the fortification seemed to be very much intentional and as Aiden had found himself stumbling upon many murder wholes after getting left behind on these runs, he could imagine there effectiveness in wiping out intruders. More time passed as Aiden¡¯s mind wondered his mental map and the solders began shifting about in place and fidgeting having noticed something different from the daily routine. The Lieutenant cleared his throat and addressed the room, ¡°Calm down little drops, today¡¯s the day you grow into puddles.¡± He smiled as if that really did explain everything. The Lieutenant was an odd guy, the word was that he haled from the far eastern desert tribes and was some kind of exiled nobility. What this meant in action was that the bronze faced pretty boy just sort of showed up one day while Aiden and the rest of the ¡°freshies¡± were running their paces and automatically became their squad leader. Obviously, this resulted in a lot of grumbling, name-calling, and idiotic snickers. A large man, even by the standards of modern Earth, was made into quite the example. He¡¯d approached the slight lieutenant, who could not have been much more than 165cm tall, and towered over him by head and shudders¡ªa pale giant looming over a bronze dwarf. The Lieutenant was unfazed, he simply raised his malachite gaze and offered a faint smile. The giant didn¡¯t notice the glint in the Semmenti¡¯s eye, not many did, but they would all soon learn to recognize it. ¡°What can I do for you?¡± he asked gently. The Large man threw his head back and belted out a laugh resembling a roar. ¡°What can I do for you? That is our line. What the fuck can a mousy ¡®brafta¡¯ do for us? How in the Abys did a thing like you get here?¡± He sneered. ¡°How indeed? the lieutenant lightly laughed. ¡°Well, that isn¡¯t really your concern now is it?¡± The lieutenant¡¯s smile dropped, and he became like stone; his medusoid eyes passed over the gawking men and froze them in place. Aiden shivered; he¡¯d seen eyes like those too many times not to fear them. ¡°I know what it is I can do for you,¡± the lieutenant addressed the giant, ¡°Why you appear to be lacking a great deal of discipline.¡± The giant man didn¡¯t even get a word in reply before the Lieutenant¡¯s heel whipped around and slammed into his jaw. There was shock in his baby blue eyes, and then his face was planted in the dirt, a boot holding him in place. The rush of violence began and ended so abruptly that not even a cry of alarm could begin before shocked silence took over the incongruous scene. Aiden saw David standing over Goliath and felt real fear freezing him in place. David smiled good-naturedly and a weight lifted from Aiden¡¯s chest¡ªhe could breathe again. The lieutenant helped the large man to his feet patting his back and joking, while the man in question looked as though he was still not sure what had happened. ¡°Enough of the unpleasantness, today we need not level up ¡®Damage Tolerance,¡¯ I hear you still need to catch up on the basic endurance skill set.¡± The Lieutenant brushed himself off and stood proudly before ¡®his¡¯ men and offered a bright smile that stood in stark contrast to his dark curling hair. ¡°I am Lieutenant Bz''Atran of Kihtz and I hail from Simmenti as you all have of doubt presumed. I look forward to whipping you into shape.¡± He did not lie. The lieutenant with a barely pronounceable name took great joy in leading Aiden, Arthur, and the NPCs through exhaustion and pain. All told their squad levelled their skills more in the past week under Bz''Atran than in the two weeks that preceded it. The assurances of Lieutenant Bz''Atran that they were to grow and become ¡®puddles¡¯ was in no way reassuring¡ªmore like horrifying. There was a knock on the door and a woman entered. Aiden spotted Morrigan in the hall behind her and nodded to her. She snuck a wave and a rude gesture. Standing at attention wasn¡¯t so bad, but he really did want to flip her off in turn. His smile became a frown and Morrigan laughed silently, out of reach. Morrigan was here, so it seemed that whatever was happening would be done in conjunction with the woman¡¯s training squad. They were kept separately at almost all times, just what could be planed for them to be doing something together? ¡°Perk up drops!¡± Bz''Atran grinned, ¡°We¡¯re off to fight a demon.¡± 1.23 - Puddle Our knowledge of the Wildlands is limited by the sickness which resides there. While our knowledge of the sickness is also limited, we have learned by observing expeditionary troops that it comes in three distinct stages. The onset of the first stage happens on average after about two weeks in the Wildlands. At this point, the soldier will manifest symptoms of discomfort, aches and hard rashes. These symptoms will get worse as the soldier remains in the Wildlands. In as few as three days, the soldier will begin manifesting demonic growths; at this second stage of the sickness, the soldier¡¯s fate is sealed. Once the demonic growths begin to manifest, regardless of if the soldier remains in the Wildlands, they will undergo dramatic change before becoming a mad abomination. It is suggested the Soldier be euphemized before reaching this final stage. ¡ªAbnormal Ailments, Vol. II This was not the first time Aiden had entered the so-called Wildlands, but this was the first time he¡¯d gone more than 5 meters from The Wall. No big deal right? Compared to the massive scale of The Wall 5 meters was minuscule, but 5 meters was where The Wall¡¯s influence ended abruptly, and voracious greenery took over. Four steps further, was all it took for the comforting sight of towering white stone to become obscured in green, ten more steps and it became a memory. The men¡¯s training squad and women¡¯s half squad trekked through thick foliage, being forced to hack away at greenery with their swords. So much so that within 5 minutes, almost every trainee had gained the gardening, forestry, and machete skills if they had not already possessed them. Aiden¡¯s hiking skill finally reached level 20 after having stalled for days and his vaguely phased Trail Trotting perk came in handy. He¡¯d been disappointed when he¡¯d gotten the perk upon reaching level 15 of hiking. Its description simply said that it would make finding the easier path forward, well, easier. Since he¡¯d been following nothing but obvious hiking trails and didn¡¯t see that changing he¡¯d thought the skill useless and was peeved that he didn¡¯t get something to help him in reaching the wall that at that point was long in sight and never seemed to get nearer. Oh, how little past Aiden knew¡­ Present Aiden was way smarter, and better looking. He was waking weeds and taking names, and the weeds didn¡¯t have any. The Wildlands would come to fear Aiden Weedkiller; trotter of the easiest trails. ¡°just what are you looking so smug about?¡± ¡°Morrigan?¡± Aiden jumped and spun to face the sneaky redhead. ¡°What are you doing over here? I thought the women¡¯s squad was at the back of the formation.¡± ¡°They are, Lieutenant Brent has us on rotation levelling our scout skills and it¡¯s my turn right now.¡± ¡°Then shouldn¡¯t you be up ahead?¡± ¡°I thought it would be fun to visit you and Arthur on my way. I wasn¡¯t disappointed.¡± She said with a teasing smile. Aiden chose to ignore the blatant provocation. ¡°So then how¡¯s Arthur doing?¡± ¡°Oh, you know¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Well he¡¯s just so handsome and the NPCs don¡¯t know its fake¡ªmy squad mates haven¡¯t left him alone since they saw him at the end of the men¡¯s line.¡± Lost was the teasing glint¡ªthere was now mischief in Morrigan¡¯s eyes.¡± ¡°And why are you smiling that?¡± ¡°Well, I might have said a few things, suggested a couple more¡­ insinuated the rest. Arthur is quite the dashing figure in their eyes.¡± ¡°That should be a good thing. Why does this sound horrible?¡± ¡°Oh honey,¡± Morrigan stopped Aiden with a hand on his shoulder and looked straight into his eyes, ¡°just wait until you hear what they say about you.¡± ¡°Morrigan!¡± The harsh call of a woman cut off whatever response Aiden was working on. ¡°Shit, that¡¯ll be Brent, gotta run!¡± She gave Aiden a wink and a wave before disappearing into the green. Aiden stared for a moment at the stare-shaped shrubs Morrigan had disappeared behind and slowly shook his head. ¡°da¡¯ fuck?¡± Aiden didn¡¯t think he would ever understand that girl. ¡°What are you spacing out for? You better get a move on before the lieutenant notices.¡± ¡°Right.¡± Aiden nodded thanks to his helpful squadmate and hurried on with felling grass and bush. He was near the front of the snaking line of trainees¡ªluckily just out of conversational range of the lieutenant who was at the very front guiding them. The frontrunners hacked away a small portion of the greenery; enough to make the path visible and Aiden, along with a few others, hacked away further to make that ''path'' into a proper trail. This had started as a rotational duty, but the lieutenant caught wind of his hiking perk and thought to exploit it. What had once been a refreshingly easy task had quickly morphed into unending drudgery.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. While not difficult, the work was mind-meltingly boring. Combined with the oppressive heat and humidity, Aiden felt like he really might just melt in the godforsaken place. There was a reason the Amazon got torched and walled off¡ªrainforests were awful. Luckily there was a cure for boredom. A nice little patch added to the game ten days earlier when too many passengers complained about the boring realism. Aiden thought to the System Resume play and let his mind drift into a world of action, adventure and magic. Supposedly he was already in one such world, but (virtual) reality being what it was, he would settle for the book version during the slow bits. The narrator was good, he had that ancient British accent that just went so well with swords and sorcery. His voice just had that quality that dew Aiden in and made him forget about his surroundings, disregard the odd shaking of a bush and react late to his neighbour''s screams. ¡°Holy shit.¡± [Jory approached the dark emperor and drew his vorpal bla--] ¡°Stop! Fuck. System, stop.¡± Aiden panicked and only belatedly remembered to raise his blade in defence as he turned to his suddenly silent squadmate. Douglas? Or was it just Doug but no, that was just blood in his hair¡ªhe wasn¡¯t really a redhead¡ªhe was blond now that Aiden looked closer¡ªso not Doug... Charles maybe? Fuck, he needed to focus. Assess the situation. [The emperor laughed a single harsh note-] ¡°God damn it System.¡± Aiden hissed, forgetting the proper protocol. [and looked down upon the so-called hero, eyes laced with derision.] Aiden fought to ignore the stupid book and latched his attention onto the body before him. Big mistake. Its eyes were wide with shock and red with blood. Lost of life; the eyes stared unblinking and burning holes of accusation into Aiden. Why hadn¡¯t he been paying proper attention? Why the fuck where a bunch of trainees led out into a place with fucking hit and run monsters? Why wasn''t Aiden the dead one? ["Well ''hero¡¯ " the emperor sneered, ¡°with what do you grace me with your presence?"] Aiden tore his gaze away from the haunting eyes only to become transfixed upon the ribbons of flesh and blood that once comprised the poor man''s limbs. [¡°You Know full well why I am here!" Jory yelled. "Enlighten me." ] Focus! Aiden needed to focus. Object of note one: Doug¡ªCharles was dead. Two: Charles died quickly. Three: whatever killed Charles was nowhere to be found but whatever killed him had a penchant for tearing people to sheds. Four: lucky it didn¡¯t have the strength to shred chainmail¡ªlittle victories. [¡°Today will mark the end of your rein-] ¡°Aiden!¡± His name and a slap to his face brought Aiden back to the world around him. How long had he just been standing there? Shit, that thing could have snuck- ¡°Aiden!¡± he was slapped again, and this time Aiden focused on the face belonging to the man holding his. ¡°Arthur?¡± ¡°You, with us buddy?¡± Arthur asked, his face laced with concern. [¡°My rein will never end!¡¯ the emperor screamed and called thunder down upo-] ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m fine. Let go of me, will ya¡¯?¡± Aiden smiled and forced out a short laugh. ¡°I¡¯m not about to blank out again.¡± ¡°You better.¡± Arthur let go and gave Aiden a big slap on the back. ¡°Enough with the slapping!¡± ¡°Then look alive and get in position so I don¡¯t have to.¡± ¡°Right.¡± Aiden took his place in the defensive circle that had formed around him and Charles and corrected his stance. A yell erupted from his right and blood sprayed in a long ark, painting bright crimson on the verdant green. All hell broke loose. [Jory lunged out of the way of the heavenly strike-] Men were yelling. The demon was on the right. "Left!" called a woman somewhere behind him. Bz¡¯Atran called for order, ¡°You will call direction like in training drops!¡± and the demon took another life. For a moment there was peace and the women arrived to reinforce the defensive circle. ¡°Men keep your eyes out for movement. Women, I want eye¡¯s up in the trees.¡± Bz¡¯Atran ordered. Aiden watched the heart-shaped leaves, now grizzly and splattered with blood. They swayed slightly in the breeze. There was no breeze. ¡°3 o¡¯clock!¡± Aiden yelled and cursed that he had left his buckler strapped to his back. He was such a fucking idiot. [Jory emerged from his roll, sword already drawn, and charged at-] A beast with twig-like limbs and emerald scales launched from the gore-splattered leaves and swung its hooked claws at Aiden¡¯s face. He cringed and held his sword up to make an inelegant block, barely managing to arrest the motion of the wicked claws. One claw had already penetrated the soft skin of his cheek and drawn a red bead. [The emperor grinned madly and goaded the hero, "come!"] Finally, Aiden got a good look at the thing''s face and stumbled back in terror of the razor teeth and calculating eyes. [Jory accepted the challenge and approached while dodging the invisible onslaught of blades the emperor sent his way-] A wild swing of his blade managed to catch it hip and bring it to the ground at which point Aiden¡¯s squamates made short work of it. [Finally, Jory made it before his hate foe and made to strike the mortal blow. ¡®To slow,¡¯ admonished the emperor. Jory fell to his knees, a small dagger having pierced-] System end playback. Silence was never so beautiful. The demon was dead, and now that Aiden could take a good look at it, he saw that it was small, scrawny, and kind of cute actually. ¡°That which we just fought here¡± Bz¡¯Atran announced, ¡°That thing which killed a man and wounded three more. That was a demon child. That was the least of the enemy which you have signed up to face.¡± The lieutenant paused and levelled his gaze upon the trainees one by one. They were shaken. Aiden saw that many of the gathered recruits were pale-faced and to his left, he saw a woman gently pat the back of a man dry-heaving on his knees. ¡°Congratulations!¡± Aiden looked up to his lieutenant and recognized that same smile he could never quite describe plastered on Bz¡¯Atran¡¯s face. ¡°You can now call yourself puddles.¡± The fight had taken less than 2 minutes all told, but no one who had been there would see demons in the same light ever again. Aiden shivered, then joined the procession of soldiers following Bz''Atran back to the Wall. He took care to avoid the puddle of Charles'' blood. 1.24 - Demon Child Something has changed among the demons. No longer are they mad hordes, but there seems to be an intelligence about them. There is something in their eyes that tells of something deeper¡ªdarker. I see the Abyss in their being and it terrifies me. This time last year we were victorious; we had pushed the creatures back beyond the mountains after decades of them infesting the entire range and striking out into the plains of Ashrad. Today my company was decimated by the monsters while traversing the Cairn Valley pass. I can not sleep for fear of what I saw in that demon¡¯s eyes¡ªthe darkness behind my eyelids resembles the Abys to closely. ¡ªrecovered journal of a soldier of the lost regiment Sirit watched the Pinkies stumble through her home. There were a lot of them; more pinkies than she¡¯d ever seen before, then again, she¡¯d only ever seen one Pinky before. It was tasty. Sirit licked her lips at the memory. Mama had chopped the Pinky into small bloody pieces, a little at a time so the pinky would stay fresh. Mama also said revenge was the best seasoning. Sirit didn¡¯t know what revenge was, but it sure tasted good. Too bad papa couldn¡¯t try some. These pinkies were not as loud as that other one. That one was so noisy¡ªit kept yelping and yelling and screaming, ¡°Mercy! Mercy! Kill Me! Kill Me!¡± Sirit scrunched her little button nose and batted at her ears as if to beat away the memory and annoyance. Finally, when they had eaten all the arms and legs¡ªplus a little more¡ªthe Pinky went quiet. The next day mama left on another Pinky hunt. She still had not come back yet. Surly mama was just having trouble finding a pinky because so many of them had come here instead of wherever she went. Mama was really just silly. Maybe Sirit could surprise mama? There were so many Pinkies right here and wow¡ªwhat was that¡ªthey were being led by a Browny. Sirit Had never seen a brown Pinky before. The Browny was leading the Pinkies and yelling at them. Sirit decided she did not like the Browny, it probably tasted like tree bark anyway. Bleh. What was she thinking about? Right. Sirit was going to surprise mama. She could catch a few Pinkies. Easy peasy; her claws were sharp¡ªbut mama said to stay hidden. She should do what mama says but mama didn¡¯t know there were so many Pinkies here. Mama also said that decisions had to be made with ¡°today information¡± and not ¡°yesterday information¡± and Sirit should do what mama says¡ªstaying hidden was ¡°yesterday information.¡± It was decided then; Sirit would hunt the pinkies. That out the way Sirit needed to choose which one to take out first. A brown-furred one looked like it wasn¡¯t paying attention to anything and Sirit knew a thing or two about hunting¡ªunaware prey was perfect. Except something about that Pinkie made her mad. Sirit didn¡¯t think that one would be too tasty. The Pinky walking next to brown-fur looked good. The rest of the herd was not paying attention to it and the closest Pinky to it was the oblivious brown fur. Yes, the prey was perfect. It had round cheeks that told her of juicy fat, and it was a little slow. A little tired. Less able to fight back. Noises startled Sirit. The brown-fur pinky was talking with a red-fur. Sirit didn¡¯t like the red-fur, it was very noisy¡ªit probably tasted bad and was stringy. More noises the red-fir jumped then ran. The red-fur was running towards Sirit. That was bad¡ªvery bad. Sirit could not be seen yet. Good hunters did not get seen by prey. Sirit was a good hunter; mama said so. Therefore she could not be seen. Good thing the stupid red-fur did not lookup. Red-fur separated from the Pinky herd and entered Sirit¡¯s domain. It didn¡¯t even notice when it passed right under Sirit¡¯s branch. How easy it would be to take it out, but Sirit didn¡¯t want to hunt the stringy red-fur and she didn¡¯t know how to kill it quietly. Mama said it was sometimes best to let prey go, Sirit would do as mama said¡ªSirit was a good girl. The red-fur made a mess of the yeldressi as it tried to tear its way through the leaves but eventually got out of the way. Finally, Sirit was clear to pounce, and the funny brown-fur was looking even more oblivious than before! There was no sound of branches snapping or rustle of leaves shifting when Sirit carefully stalked the round checked prey. Sirit was a quiet hunter and Sirit was quick. She was on the Pinky in a flash tearing away at the soft flesh and getting sprayed with the Pinkies blood. The Pinky was screaming¡ªnot good¡ªSirit tore at its mouth and throat. The Pinky went quite¡ªgood¡ªbut the oblivious pinky was not so oblivious anymore¡ªnot good. Before brown-furs eyes could spot her, Sirit was gone.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Unlike the stupid red-fur, Sirit knew her home and so knew how to move and hide in the yeldressi without making a sound. She hid her small form within the large glossy leaves and watched the panicking Pinkies intently. They were running to make a circle but there were stragglers. There were always stragglers. Those separated from the herd were Sirit¡¯s to hunt. Right there. A yellow-furred pinky ran towards her bush, more than three strides away from any other Pinky. Would it taste like a Troll Dandy since it had the same yellow top? Sirit hoped not¡ªTroll Dandies were bitter. Yuck! The right moment to pounce was almost there. Now! The Pinky was directly before Sirit and she sprang from her hiding place to rake her claws down the prey¡¯s back. They sliced into the back of Yellow¡¯s neck only to be harshly stopped by horrid mettle scales; looping and iron and In. Her. Way. She snarled and pushed, tore, ripped at the horrid links. Sirit would kill this prey, strange scales be damnd! Her ears twitched. There was movement in the air¡ªsomething fast¡ªsomething moving towards her. Danger. Sirit twisted away from a Pinkie¡¯s straight metal claw. The straggler was no longer straggling. Drat. Pinkies with huge metal claws were approaching her. Double drat. But the Pinkies claws were odd; held in hand instead of a part. Sirit could use this. A dash forward and to the right brought her to a startled Pinkie¡¯s side. It couldn¡¯t track her speed, let alone dodge her strike. Sirit¡¯s sharp claws made quick work of the Pinkies wrist and it yelped in pain and dropped its claw. Just like planed. Sirit was so smart, she would have to tell mamma all about this when she returned. Another mettle claw swung towards Sirit, and again Sirit nimbly dodged out of way. Another wrist was torn to shreds and the claw was dropped to the forest floor where it stabbed the dirt. Poor dirt¡ªbut better dirt than Sirit. She quickly whispered ¡°Sorry¡± to the attacked soil then scampered off to the trees knowing a failed ambush when she was in one. The Yeldressi shivered as Sirit ducked into its leaves but settled quickly; hiding Sirit and letting her catch her breath. Fighting was so tiring, no wonder mama said to always ambush prey. The prey, as it were, was now alert and grouped together. There would be no more ambushing but that was ok. Sirit had downed at least one of them and now Sirit needed to only wait for the herd to leave in order to collect her prize. She watched and waited¡­and waited. Waiting was boring but important, Sirit reminded herself. Watching wasn¡¯t so boring¡ªSirit would do more of that. She watched the Pinky herd closely. Observed their shuffling movements and tracked there searching eyes. Ah-ha! They were searching for Sirit but they would not find Sirit. Sirit was a very good hider and a very good watcher. A Pinky caught Sirit¡¯s eye. It was the oblivious one¡ªthe brown-fur. Something about it, Sirit did not like. It made her feel bad¡ªangry. Its face made her just so angry. Oblivious was a very bad Pinky. It had done something very not nice. Sirit felt it deep within and felt De¡¯Ammat. De¡¯Ammat was Angry, no, livid. De¡¯Ammat hatted¡ªloathed¡ªdespised the brown-fur, so Sirit hated him too. So much so that Sirit forgot mama¡¯s words for a moment. Forgot the downed prey waiting for her and forgot the strange mettle claws and scales of the Pinky herd. Sirit attacked the brown-fur and then Sirit never did anything again. De¡¯Ammats eyes stung but they withheld their tears. Sirit, the poor child, was not the first to die for their folly and would not be the last. Not while De¡¯Ammat still felt hatred, so not while humans still lived. This was the nature of war after all¡ªthe death would not end until the war did. Still, the death of Sirit was regrettable as it was meaningless. Mamma was already dead. They laughed but did not smile¡ªthe story was all too familiar. Kirrial smiled but did not laugh¡ªDe¡¯Ammat had given him a mission¡ªthere were humans nearby. They must have felt so safe this near to the wall. Idiots the lot of them. He would show them the there were more than children in this area. No No? De¡¯Ammat reined in their thirst for blood. They knew that Kirrial was too far away from the humans, they would be safe in the wall long before he could arrive. Kirrial wanted to protest, De¡¯Ammat understood¡ªall Kin understood¡ªKirial knew his mission. He would bury the child with her mother. They deserved at least that much. May the Yeldressi grow from their grave. High in the World Tree, the air was chill and thin, but Sellis shone brilliantly and warmed Maya skin. It had become bone white and the same way her hair had become Abys black and it drank in the star¡¯s warmth gladly. Maya knew that if a human were to touch her, they would say she was ice cold. Even a lesser demon might say as much but they would know that there was no warmth to be found in the Abys and they would know that she was Abys personified. Maya still found that odd. In the blur that was the destruction of her world, the darkness of the dungeon and then the bloody escape therefrom, she had not quite been herself. She had been more than herself and she still had difficulty grasping this not to mention the multitude of minds they became, were, are. De¡¯Ammat was still a baby barely one moon old. And Maya was easily lost.