Chapter 3.24 — Separate Battles

We all face our own challenges—in life and unlife. We don’t always triumph over those challenges alone, but we don’t always see where the help is coming from either. Sometimes, you just have to accept the fact that someone, somewhere, is looking out for you.

Excerpt from the Journal of the Emissary

Ninth of Striving 1142, Afternoon

Princess Chari considered the approach to the city of Trilsk, the capital of the Kingdom of Melar. Once, she had been proud of her city—the majestic gates, the mighty walls, the feeling that it was huge, timeless and had remained unbeaten for centuries—and then she had traveled to Rish. Bigger, thicker walls, a far more impressive gate, a much larger city that’s been around as long, but sits at the center of a far more profitable kingdom—a kingdom where not only the nobles prosper, but common folk as well.

Somewhere in her mind, she had always known that Melar was a relatively small kingdom, successful only because of its position on the northeast coast of Aestra. Melar called itself the gateway to Gloomhearth, and that description wasn’t an exaggeration. If you wanted to trade with the eastern continent, you had to go through Melar. That or take your chances with the Brotherhood, who didn’t welcome outside intrusion into their lands, and who had never bothered to build the infrastructure to support a shipping industry. Of course, most of the coastline was owned by Andara, at least on paper. Perhaps another kingdom would have tried to build a city along that stretch of coast if they hadn’t seen what had happened to the Kingdom of Lethe when it had tried to claim part of Andaran land as its own.

But the Kingdom of Twyl wasn’t only richer in gold—it was richer in spirit. Her first experience in a Twylian city had been when her ship had landed in Kryst, one of the kingdom’s three southern port cities. People she’d seen there seemed happy, well cared for, interested in the world around them.

More and more she realized that it all came down to King Leonid and how he ruled. Her father wasn’t nearly the man King Terrence was. Melar was like her father—petty, dark, punching above its weight, but it was all just a big lie. She wondered if other rulers laughed at them—probably not. Melar simply wasn’t important enough to ridicule.

But Chari wasn’t just of Melar now, she was married to a prince of Twyl. A prince who had disappeared on their wedding night before he’d even bothered to consummate their marriage. When she caught up with him, and she would, Chari was going to let him know exactly how she felt about that.

The cart had stopped on her order, but no one spoke, no doubt aware of the conflict that had to be obvious on her face. She chided herself for getting lost in reverie when there was work to be done. It’s not like she could make Eric pay now anyway, so she focused on the matter at hand.

“Do you think we can just enter the city with this lot?” she asked.

Sam shrugged. “You are a princess.”

“I am. A princess who’s supposed to still be in Rish. No, keep the cart here, maybe pull it off the road for a bit. Sart, you’re with me. Do you know any gate guards?”

“Most of them. I used to work the gate.”

“Good, that should help. Let’s go ahead on foot and check out the situation. Kalutu, you’re in charge.”

Sam looked affronted. “Why not me? I’m far more experienced.”

“That’s true,” said Kalutu. “I also think Sam should be in charge.”

“Okay,” said Chari. “Sam, you stay here in charge, while Sart and I go have a beer without you.”

Sam jumped to his feet. “You didn’t say anything about beer.”

“No, I didn’t. I gave an order that you saw fit to question. Did it ever occur to you I had my reasons?”

Sam looked thoughtful then shook his head. “No, Chari. I’ve seen how you operate.”

Kalutu laughed.

“Really, Kalutu?”

“He does have a point.”

Chari shook her head then grinned. “Fine, you can come with us, Sam. The rest of you, Kalutu is in charge.” She stopped and looked around as if expecting another challenge. When none came she continued. “Wait here until we get back. We shouldn’t be too long.”

Princess Chari, Sart and Sam jumped off the cart and made their way to the city gate, which was open. Normal enough during daylight hours.

As they approached the gate, the guards sprang to attention.

“Princess Chari, welcome home. Though we expected you to arrive with a bigger group.”

Chari blinked. “You expected me?”

“Sart, you’ve moved up in life I see.”

“Hello, Jonas. It was a rocky road, but I think I might have.”

“Yes, your highness,” said a different guard. “Your father passed through here a few days ago, and gave instructions to allow you into the city no matter how strange your party. He’s waiting for you at the palace.”

“My father said this?”

“Yes, your highness.”

Chari didn’t speak for a while. King Leonid rarely did anything for her, and certainly nothing for anyone else. What was going on with him? Still, she couldn’t complain, at least not about that. She’d find something else to complain about though, she was sure. She couldn’t make it too easy for him.

“We’ll go get them in a bit, but first, we’re going to grab a beer.”

The guard called Jonas shook his head. “Seems unlikely, your highness. At least not at a tavern. The brewers went on strike due to the high taxes your father charges and the taverns, in solidarity, have stopped serving beer altogether.”

Sam stiffened. “This…this is a conspiracy.”

“That’s what they’re saying,” said Jonas. “Brewers can’t make any real money due to the crippling taxes.”

Sam started to reply, but Chari put a hand on his shoulder. “Relax. There’ll be beer at the palace, whatever else is going on in the city. Let’s go back and get the others.”

Sam looked absolutely crestfallen. If it wasn’t so hilarious, she’d have felt bad.

“Come on, Sam,” said Chari. “You won’t have that long to wait.” She returned her attention to the gate guards. “We’ll be back.”

As they returned the way they had come, Chari considered what she’d just heard. “I can’t believe my father thought to let the guards know to expect us.”

“Is it really so surprising?” asked Sam.

“Yes,” said Sart and Chari at the same time. Chari laughed.

“My father is many things. Thoughtful isn’t on that list.”

“Most of us are terrified of him,” said Sart. “And with good reason. King Leonid can be merciless.”

“Really?” asked Sam. “He seemed more like a caricature of a king than actual royalty.”

“That’s because you haven’t seen him here,” said Chari. “Is he a joke compared to King Terrence? Sure, but probably most kings are. But here, in his seat of power, you cross him at your own risk, so I’d watch what I say.”

Sam nodded. “Right. I’ll make sure to keep my mouth shut.”

Chari laughed. “I didn’t know that was something that could happen.”

“I’ll have you know, I have excellent self-control.”

“Except when it comes to beer.”

Sam started to reply, but stopped when Chari burst out laughing and couldn’t stop.

He glared at her. “I should have stayed in Rish. I get no respect at all.”

He didn’t speak all the way back to the cart. Chari decided to back off, not sure just how sensitive he really was—but man, he was easy. If he was going to act like a combat dummy, he needed to expect to take a few hits.

*

Sixth of Striving 1142, Afternoon (Three days ago)

Maynor looked around. They were, as far as he could tell, standing on a prairie of some kind. Mostly flat, grasses of various types and heights, and the occasional tree. No animals were visible.

“If I didn’t know better, I’d say we were in southern Andara. Not that that makes any sense, but it looks and feels very much like it. Hell, it even smells like Andara.”

“We’re still in the dungeon,” said Dreek, “as evidenced by that rather spectacular wall dive you did.”

Maynor nodded. “Yeah. I guess I won’t be using my leap skill in here if I can help it. Dreek, if you can sense both planes, you’ll need to be the one to lead us out of here.”

Dreek looked surprised. “How do you know about planes?”

Maynor sighed. “Dreek, I’m a Level 24 Warrior who spent most of my life living in King Terrence’s palace. I practice constantly. I workout constantly, not just my body but my mind as well. You don’t think I learn things from others in the palace? You think I haven’t had long conversations with Lord Ormund, High Priest Veloran, even Leata, who’s far more knowledgeable than you may have guessed from the brief time you had to speak with her. You do realize that I get to sit at the king’s table during dinner most evenings. There’s no good excuse for a warrior to be uneducated.”

Dreek nodded thoughtfully, then considered Garne.

“Why are you looking at me? I know plenty of stuff. I even remember some of it. I listen. Ressssen and Borin know stuff. Even Dreek occasionally knows something.”

“Occasionally knows something? I live in the Other Realm. I have experiences you not only don’t share, but couldn’t possibly comprehend.”

Garne laughed. “Of that, I have no doubt.”

“Okay,” said Maynor. “We have to get moving. We’ve rested enough. Too long really.”

“You needed it after your encounter with the invisible wall,” said Garne.

“You sure you’re okay?” asked Dreek.

“I’m as okay as I’m going to be, but our food won’t last forever. I may not need to eat at my level, but Garne still does for sure. So, which way?”

Dreek looked around and set off in a direction Maynor would have thought of as south, though whether it actually was south, he couldn’t say. Several times they turned and moved in a slightly different direction, as if walking along a wall he couldn’t see. A couple of times, he reached out to see if he could feel anything and one time, his palm actually came in contact with the stonework of the dungeon. This place was unreal.

Dreek stopped about ten minutes later, staring at something Maynor couldn’t see.

“What is it?”

“It’s a heavy, reinforced stone door. It looks like it slides, but I don’t know that even with all of us pushing we could move it.”

“Show me.”

Dreek led Maynor a few steps to the right and guided his hands to the edge of the door. Maynor tried sliding it, but it was locked into place. He gave up before further straining a body still hurting from his earlier collision.

“Give me a few seconds to see if I can find a mechanism,” said Dreek. “It’s harder because I’m sensing this, not actually seeing it.”

“Exactly how does that work?” asked Garne.

“It’s like using detect skills, without using a skill. I can detect the door, but not see the door. I’m getting a different type of intuition. I know the door is there, I can get certain information about it, but I’m actually seeing what you see.”

“That’s weird,” said Garne.

“I’ve never experienced anything like it,” said Dreek.

They remained silent while Dreek considered something they couldn’t sense at all. Then, suddenly, there was a loud grinding sound from in front of them.

“Good work, Dreek,” said Maynor.

“I didn’t do that.”

“No? I wonder who did.”

Beyond was a giant room filled with columns. Maynor entered first, still holding his hammer. A lower level Warrior wouldn’t have been able to carry a weapon that heavy for that long, but at Level 24, having passed two Tier boundaries, Maynor was more than human.

The others showed real talent, but they were still Tier 1. At Tier 3, Maynor was physically stronger, faster, more agile, had better vision and hearing, and even better intuition. Tier 3 was the last Tier boundary you could reach and still call yourself completely human. It was the only reason he’d survived the collision with the wall. Maynor wondered if he’d live long enough to reach Tier 4.

The others followed him, Dreek first, Garne taking a position in the rear. Maynor looked up, but the entire ceiling was shrouded in fog that obscured his vision. He turned his attention back to ground level.

“Let’s keep moving. Hopefully, after this room we’ll meet up with the others.”

He never heard Merck shouting from above as he walked below, but he did hear other stone doors grinding open in the distance and the cacophony of animal sounds that followed.

*

Ressssen racked her brain trying to figure out some way to help the others. There had to be something she could do. But she was stuck on a pillar, twenty feet away from Merck, even further from Borin. The rest of the team was below, about to do battle with the gods know how many creatures. Too far to jump. No way to join them. Think—there had to be an answer. The dungeon had been cruel, but had also provided solutions. It was simply a matter of thinking correctly. Borin had proven that in the monster maze.

With nothing else to do, she used her detect skills and did detect magic, not in the distance like before, but closer. Where? She looked down. She was standing on it. Something inside the column was magic. And she believed the room had already taught her what she needed to do.

She reached out with her magical senses and found a device similar to the one that had opened the door. Then she started filling it with magic the same way she had before. The same way Borin had activated his device with magic. And when she was done, the sound of stone grinding on stone from somewhere below came to her. An image popped into her mind—a large stone door sliding closed. And then, she understood the shape of the game.

“Creatures will keep coming as long as the doors are open, but we can slow the flow of creatures by closing doors.”

“How do we do that?” called Borin.

“Use your magic senses. Find a switch like the kind you already found. Fill it with your magic.”

“I don’t have magic,” said Merck.

“Everyone has magic,” said Ressssen. “Not everyone knows how to access it, however.”

“I’m not sure how that distinction helps.”

“Are you ready for your first magic lesson?”

Merck looked panicked. “Me? I’m no mage. I’m a priest, of a god named George, no less. Hell, I can’t even access my god in this forsaken place.”

“Merck, magic doesn’t come from your god, it comes from your soul. You don’t need a god to cast spells.”

“Oh. I didn’t know that. So are you saying I could learn magic?”

“I am.”

“Right, what do I do?”

“I want you to close your eyes and just relax.”

“Because this situation lends itself to relaxation.”

“Just try, Merck. This is important.”

Merck sighed heavily enough that she could hear it all the way on her pillar. “Right. I’ll try.”

He closed his eyes and started breathing. She could see this, at least, was something he was used to. He was calming himself, grounding himself. Good. It would help.

“Good, now I want you to try to picture yourself as something more than just your body. Expand your mind, Merck. Just relax and let yourself grow larger.”

Merck thought for a second. “Oh. I understand.”

“You do?” Ressssen was surprised. It usually took people far longer to learn this step.

“This is what it felt like when I used to take sizzle. It expanded my mind, or it felt like it did anyway.”

Ressssen smiled, which basically meant showing her fangs. “Good…that’s really good. You’re not starting from scratch.”

“I sense something…I think.”

“Already?”

Merck was already ahead of her because he had done this before and just hadn’t named it. Ressssen was aware that sizzle had been created accidentally as part of an attempt by alchemists to create artificial veresh. Veresh was always temple-made and required a god’s blessing. Obviously this wasn’t available to the narcotics industry, so they tried to replace that blessing with soul magic. It didn’t work, but that didn’t mean that the magic used in the creation process didn’t have some effect. And if that effect helped them now, helped them save their team, then Merck’s sizzle addiction would have served some positive purpose after all.

“Yes. There’s something in the pillar. I can feel it. It’s like a toy.”

“A toy?”

“Yes. I think it wants me to play with it.”

“Play with it?”

“Yes, I just have to…hang on.”

Ressssen bit her forked tongue so she didn’t reply. Trust your team. She knew that’s how it worked, and Merck had already shown enough mettle in this dungeon for her to apply that to him, even if he was only Level 2. So she waited… and waited.

A few moments later, she heard the sound of a door grinding closed, but not just that. A crystal walkway appeared between her pillar and Merck’s. She tested it with her foot—solid. She took a deep breath and hurried across it, eyes on the ground in front of her, making sure she didn’t fall off the sides. Fifty feet below, she could hear fighting but dared not stop to look to see what was happening.

Merck, perhaps sensing her need to focus, didn’t speak until she’d reached his platform.

“Well met.”

Ressssen chuckled. “Now we just have to find a way to get to Borin.”

Merck used Detect Suite.

“I think the pillar has changed. There’s another toy to play with.”

Ressssen expanded her senses and felt it at once. Another box beneath, a machine of some kind that ran on magic. She focused on it, but it wasn’t filling. Not this time.

“I can’t fill it. Maybe because this is your column. You try.”

Merck nodded and closed his eyes. After a minute or so, he opened them. “Nope. Nothing.”

“Then perhaps together.”

“Okay.”

She closed her eyes and assumed he’d done the same, then started trying to fill it. At first nothing happened but then she felt the magic flow. Not just her magic but his, Merck’s magic, stronger than it had any right to be. It made her wonder if his sizzle addiction hadn’t served some higher purpose all along. After all, it was his sizzle addiction that drove him to try to swindle the Misfits out of three gold for fake healing potions, and they’d never have met Merck without that inciting event. And now, months later, that same addiction provided him a much-needed boost to his magical ability. Ressssen didn’t believe in fate, but she couldn’t help but feel the hand of some conscious design had been involved in their first meeting.

She was pulled from her reverie by the feel of the device activating, almost as if it was waking up. And then another crystal walkway appeared, going from the top of their pillar, all the way to Borin. A moment later they heard another door grind itself closed.

“Borin, join us.”

But Borin had already started toward them on the walkway. He didn’t seem to have the same fear as Ressssen. He just strolled along the same way he did everything else.

“This is amazing,” he said as he reached them. “I’ve never heard of anything like this.”

Ressssen had to agree with him. Soulsplit was a very strange dungeon. She wondered what had produced it.

*

Maynor, Dreek and Garne formed a rough triangle, each facing outward. They kept a reasonable distance from each other, because they didn’t want their backswings to catch allies, but also didn’t drift so far that something could get between them and attack one of them from the rear—a balancing act every experienced adventurer was familiar with.

Dreek had a double-bladed short sword, Garne had a sword that was longer than most, but not quite long enough to be a bastard sword. Maynor had traded his hammer for two scimitars, both pulled from his pack. Dual scimitars was a strange fighting style he’d picked up years ago and practiced enough to make it useful. It helped that he had trained himself to be ambidextrous.

Those were all the thoughts he had time for as the wave of creatures crashed into him. So many.

Some were natural, like bears and wolves. There were dara-class creatures in there, and some even more monstrous. He thought he saw at least one demonling. They came fast and furious and Maynor had an answer to each of them.

He fought as he always fought—efficiently. He killed a wolf with a single thrust, which he hated because wolves were often associated with Sheba. Still, defending yourself wasn’t a sin. He put it from his mind and turned to face a giant serpent of some kind.

No sooner had he dispatched it than he found himself face to face with a giant spider. Then several creatures attacked at once. It was easier because they weren’t coordinated. Just an endless stream of enemies that fought without any sort of strategy or sense of self-preservation. It would have felt like a useful sparring session if he hadn’t been so sore from his earlier encounter with the wall.

As if reading his mind, Garne spoke. “This is some workout. We should do this more often.”

No one answered right away, presumably because they were busy finishing something off.

“Speak for yourself,” said Dreek finally. “This is not my idea of a good time.”

The sound of a door grinding reached them.

“Did another door just open?” asked Garne.

“Maybe,” said Maynor, “or one of the open ones closed. Doesn’t change our situation. Just stand your ground.”

They fought on. Maynor would normally have been up to this battle, but healing potions tended to make you tired. Since they accelerated your healing, they drew more from your body. And if he was tired, he couldn’t imagine what the others were feeling.

“How are you guys holding up?”

Garne laughed. “Are you kidding? This is awesome, in an I-wish-I-was-killing-monsters-instead-of-animals kind of way.”

“Monsters? Animals? What’s the difference?” asked Dreek. “I don’t get it. If something is trying to kill you, you return the favor. Who cares what it is?”

“Nah,” said Garne. “Animals aren’t trying to kill you, I mean, these are, but not normally. They’re just doing what they do to survive. Monsters are trying to kill you. They’re designed to kill you. That’s not a subtle difference.”

Dreek thought about that. “Are kreve animals or monsters then?”

“Animals,” said Garne without hesitation. “They exist in nature. Monsters come from other planes, or they’re created. They’re malevolent by nature. Animals belong here. Well, not here exactly but on Thysandrika. You know what I mean.”

“For once,” said Dreek, “I do. It’s a distinction I’ve never really made before.”

Garne chuckled, then grunted as he forced his blade into some creature or monster. “You’re becoming more human all the time.”

“Being teammates doesn’t mean you have the right to insult me.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what it means,” said Garne.

*

Merck was glad they were back together, even if it meant crowding onto a column that made it slightly dangerous for three people to exist on all at the same time. There was a bit of room, but a single misstep could cause one of them to fall over the edge.

As he was already near the edge, he took a moment to watch the battle below. From this height, it looked like some sort of weird pattern magic, the kind magicians use in shows to impress the audience. They called it visual magic, and rich people paid handsomely to attend such shows.

Creatures descended on them as the three martials fought, all with swords, and though the flow of creatures never really stopped, they never broke through either. This was a kind of skill Merck had never really appreciated before. He’d seen Maynor fight. But fighting one creature at a time was different from what he was witnessing now.

Obviously none of these creatures were as dangerous as the greater fire elemental had been or even the air elemental, but there were so many. And somehow, the three of them managed to maintain their position and keep killing.

Maynor, of course, was higher level than the rest of them, and might be expected to keep going longer. Garne, however, was only Level 7 and should be getting tired at some point, but he just kept going. And Dreek was Level 7 too, though Merck didn’t know whether phase-shifters ever tired. So much he didn’t know.

Ressssen was doing her magic sensing thing again. Merck turned to watch. Then she opened her eyes, triumphant.

“There’s another device to fill. My guess is, it will take all three of us. Are you ready?”

Merck nodded.

“Ready,” said Borin.

Device? He saw it as a toy. Still, whatever it was, he knew what he had to do. So he counted, calmed himself and, as he had done before, reached out with his mind. And then he started filling the toy. It was working. He could feel it when suddenly it stopped and faded.

When he opened his eyes, the others were standing there stunned.

“What happened?” asked Borin.

“I don’t know,” said Ressssen. “This one seems different. And if we’re to help our team, we have to figure out how.”

Borin closed his eyes, obviously trying to study the device. Merck triggered Detect Suite, and could feel it working, but the skill was unable to provide a reason why their attempt had failed.

Why had filling it with magic worked before and, more importantly, why didn’t it work now?

Merck thought about it. All three of them were trying to fill the device with magic, all with different levels of experience. What if… no, that was silly. Maybe he shouldn’t say anything. Still, what if he was right?

This had always been a problem for Merck. He hated being wrong. Hated looking stupid. It came from his childhood and his father’s abuse. He knew that. The constant barrage of insults. The humiliation he felt day after day. The pain of knowing he wasn’t enough—would never be enough. He shouldn’t let it control him, but the very idea of Ressssen judging him because he’d made a mistake…

He couldn’t think like that. Not now while his team was taking a beating.

“Ressssen, I have an idea. I don’t know if it’s true or not, but I was thinking…”

He trailed off. He was still reluctant to open himself up to criticism. His fear infuriated him, but he was having trouble pushing through it.

“Yes?”

“Never mind. It’s probably stupid.”

Ressssen tsked, a sound so human that Merck, who had dropped his gaze, had to look up. “Nonsense. You are many things, Merck Vanderoth, but stupid is not one of them. If you have an idea, I would like to hear it.”

“Me too,” said Borin, as if he didn’t want to be left out.

“Okay…okay. So, what if the device has a slot for each of us and we have to fill those slots at the same time? I mean, I obviously can’t fill it as fast as you or Borin. I’m new to all this.”

Ressssen looked thoughtful. “That’s a good idea. Something to try at least. We can’t know that’s the solution, but it’s absolutely worth testing.”

Merck breathed a sigh of relief. Ressssen noticed it.

“Merck, you’ve probably had a hard life, and I’m sure many disrespected your choices, but that was then. You’re not the same person anymore. You’re not a Swindler, you’re a Priest. Your god gave you a prophecy and a holy quest. If you must question yourself, and I can understand why you might, at least trust your god. He must have seen something in you.”

Merck started to look down again but stopped himself. Trust his god. So easy to say, so hard to do—especially when his god was named George. Yet, Ressssen was correct. If he couldn’t trust himself, then he had to trust others.

“Okay. So how do we do this?”

“You start filling it first, then Borin will join in, then I will. See if we can get it that way.”

Merck nodded, did his breathing exercise first, then reached out with his mind until he located the toy. He still couldn’t think of it as a device. Then he started to play its game, filling it with magical power.

This time, when Borin started filling it, he felt it as well. And finally, Ressssen began and that was so strong it almost overwhelmed him and broke his concentration. This time, he finished first, and the toy lost its power. He cursed.

“I think you were right, Merck. I could feel it this time. Three channels. It’s just that Borin and I came in too late. We need to come in a bit sooner. I have to say, you’re actually faster, a lot faster, than I expected you to be.”

Merck beamed with pride at the remark. “Just let me know when to start.”

“Start now. Borin, get ready.”

Merck couldn’t focus on what Ressssen was actually doing, but he got the impression she was keeping tabs on the total fill and estimating how fast Borin could fill his part.

“Now, Borin. Go.”

And Merck felt Borin begin. Soon after, sooner than Merck thought it would happen, Ressssen joined in and together they filled the device.

He felt it start to fail, but then it kicked in. That beautiful grinding sound floated up to them and another crystal walkway appeared, leading to one of the columns none of them had yet stood on.

“Progress,” said Ressssen.

Merck let out a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. Borin looked at him with an admiration that made him uncomfortable.

Merck glanced down at the battle below. “How are they still going?”

“They are adventurers, Merck. It’s what we do.”

Merck thought about that for a long time. He too was an adventurer now. A new one, true, but this was his life. And one day, he’d be like these others, more powerful, more confident, more—just more.

And that was something he could absolutely live with.