The End of Innocence 2 (2/2)
“What? No!” Celia shouted, staring in horror.
Ahead of them, a half-mile upriver, the forest burned. Two dragons wheeled overhead, one rider gone and the other slumped in his saddle. They were visible due to the fires that roared and billowed among the pines, glinting off of corpses in armor, and showing figures rushing back and forth through the trees.
“Yes!” Garon said. “Go and save Dad! Your Dad too!” Garon turned, and started back. “I’m going to get Mom. We can meet back at Oblivion Point, now go! Forced March!”
“But…” Celia gave up, as he sped off down the river. Already enhanced by his movement buff, the weird smoke he’d inhaled supercharged his agility. There was no stopping him, and no catching up to him.
“Come on! Follow me an’ be quiet!” Jarrik commanded, and they waded through the trees and the chaos.
Amazingly, somehow, they managed to navigate the chaos and get to the side of the house. Crouched down, hidden by the remaining bushes, they were secure for the minute. Celia froze, as she saw the remaining windows shake, as a great, hollow bellow of reverberating metal came pouring out from the structure. Flames licked at the other side of the house where a dragon had sprayed it with its breath during a pass.
“I hear Dad!” Jarrik said, pointing off in the woods.
“You!” Caradon shouted from upstairs. “What is this? What the hell is this?” The old man’s voice held a pain Celia had never heard, and she panicked, her somewhat herb-jumbled mind dropping to the worst conclusions.
“We have to save Daddy!” She insisted. The boys shot her a look, looked at each other…
…then looked at the black armored guards, walking out of the burning building’s front door. They saluted in unison, as a huge man in red armor, glowing with almost its own malevolence, walked up the hill. Great horns rose from his helm, his featureless visor turning from side to side as he strode forward, sword out and shield leering, showing a moving, demonic face. Hellish images glowed in the firelight as he strode forward, not bothering to step over the bodies in his path, grinding the corpses of the fallen under his heel as he went.
“Oh my gods,” Celia hissed.
“We can’t take him,” Jarrik said. He pointed at the back porch. “Get to the second story from the overhang, get your Daddy out! We’ll need Dad to get us out of here. We’ll go get him. Use Wind’s Whisper when you’ve got him and we’ll figure out a way to escape. Go!”
Celia nodded dumbly. She threw Threadbare up to the porch overhang, then grabbed a few chairs and piled them together. “Go make sure it’s clear!” She hissed at Threadbare.
Threadbare nodded, and slipped through the broken window. He ran down the hall, just as Emmet burst out of one of the rooms the little bear had never entered. For a second, the toy golem and the armor golem stared at each other, kindred soul to kindred soul.
“Command Gol-,” Threadbare heard Caradon croak from back in the room, before the sound of flesh hitting flesh interrupted him.
“Oh do shut up, old man,” came a familiar woman's voice. “Let’s see…” Paper crinkled. “Command Golem. Go out of this building with your hands up and do nothing once you’re out.”
Emmet stomped toward the stairs and fell off the railing, with an enormous crash. A lot of yelling came from downstairs, and Threadbare realized that hey, there were guards inside the house too.
“Is it clear?” Celia whispered from the end of the hallway.
Threadbare toddled back and shook his head no. No, the direct approach seemed to be pretty much suicide.
WIS +1
“Ohhhh… Fump it!” Celia swore. She glanced up. “The attic window’s broken. Come on, let’s move.”
It took some careful balancing and scrambling to get up into the attic. Half of the house was burning, and the heat sweltered down on them as they scrambled through the boxes and crates, until they heard voices. Celia lay down, and squinted through the cracks. Threadbare did too.
They saw Caradon, in his bedroom, laying against the wall. He was bruised and battered and bloody, with his apron torn and tools spilling around him. Next to the old man, squatting on her haunches, with one red-nailed hand wrapped around his throat, was a familiar figure.
“You!” Celia gasped, then covered her mouth.
Anise Layd’i looked up. She squinted, as Celia pulled away from the crack, covering her mouth…
Metal-shod boots clanked, boards creaking below, as the crimson-armored behemoth stomped into view. Celia looked back, sighed silently in relief as she saw Anise standing, looking away from the ceiling… a sigh that turned to a gasp as she saw the armored man wasn’t alone. Five twisted black blades orbited him, the demonic faces on them gibbering and looking around with glowing green eyes as they circled and looped.
She knew that spell. Sort of… It was Animus Blade, but what kind of blades were those?
“You…” Caradon hissed with a venom Celia had never heard before. “You son of a bitch.” The old man stood, and Anise stood with him.
“Are we alone?” The demon knight said, his voice deep and unearthly.
“No,” Anise said, and pointed upward. “The girl.”
Horns tilted as the man glanced upward and that was all the warning they had.
Celia shrieked as five blades punched a hole in the ceiling around her, then shifted clockwise, cutting through the floor.
Before she or Threadbare could do anything, the girl fell through the floor, into the room below.
No! Celia!
Threadbare threw himself through the hole, going after her-
-and one of the demon blades twisted, blurred into position under him, and shot upward.
SHUNK!
CON +1
Your Golem Body Skill is now level 20!
Your Toughness Skill is now level 12!
Max HP +2
The sword pinned Threadbare to the roof of the attic. The blade sunk in easily and kept on going, until the hilt slammed against him, stuffing spilling out, spraying to either side of him as he felt the blade rip through.
He hung there, suspended, as a red ‘159’ filled his vision, and floated up through the ceiling.
“You leave Daddy alone!” Celia yelled, shouting, going red in the face as she ran to Caradon and hugged him.
The old man, staggered, clasped Celia to his apron. He stared at the demon knight, and the womanlike thing that smiled serenely next to the intruder.
“Please, just let us go!” Celia howled.
“I can’t do that, Cecelia,” The demon knight rumbled. He waved his hand, and his whirring blades fell silent one by one, landing in a clatter on the floor. The one holding Threadbare blackened as he stared at it, green eyes fading out and fiendish face twitching before it fell still. But it was still stuck in him, holding him suspended above the people below.
“It’s time to go,” the demon knight continued. “Here. Invite Cecelia. I’ll explain everything.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you!”
“Yes you are. It’s time to go home.”
“This is my home!”
“Judging by those flames, not for very much longer,” Anise said, smling serenely. A smile that turned to a gasp of pain, as the Demon Knight glared at her, and a yellow ‘84’ floated out from her.
“Now is not the time for your twisted brand of humor, dear.”
“Sorry love,” Anise caressed his visor, pretending to forgive the moxie damage he’d just dealt her. “I’ll behave for now.”
“What did you do to her,” Caradon rumbled, finding his courage in outrage. “Why is that thing wearing Amelia’s face!”
“Wait, what?” Celia whipped her tear-stained face away from his apron. “You’re… my mother?”
Anise winked at Celia.
“No, it’s… run, Celia! Run!” Caradon shoved her toward a window-
-and the armored figure shook his head. “Animus, invite sheets,” he said before the little girl could react. The sheets peeled off of the wrecked bed and wrapped Celia before she could escape.
Caradon grimaced. “Ani-“
Anise punched him, and he fell, with a bloody nose.
“This is pathetic, old man,” The demon knight said. “Especially against your own family.”
“You’re no blood of mine!” Caradon growled, hand over his nose.
“No. But I’m blood of hers,” The figure said, pointing to Celia. “And you’ve kept her from me long enough.”
“I… I don’t understand.” Celia said, from her binding among the sheets.
“He never told you, did he?”
“Told me what?”
“Don’t listen!” Caradon shouted, then Anise was hauling him up, and wrapping her hand around his mouth.
The demon knight bowed his head. Then he reached back behind his helm. “Hello Cecelia…”
And as clasps fell away, the big man lifted away the horned helm, revealing a stern face, almost luminescent green eyes, and a manelike spray of red, frizzy hair.
The same kind of hair that Celia combed every morning, and had wrestled with all her life.
“…I’m your father,” said King Melos Ragandor the First.
Spoiler: Spoiler
Name: Threadbare
Age: 9 days
Jobs:
Greater Toy Golem Level 9
Bear Level 6
Ruler Level 3
Scout Level 3
Tailor Level 3
Model Level 2
Necromancer Level 1
Duellist Level 1
Attributes:
Strength: 68 Constitution: 72 Hit Points: 33/194 Armor: 28
Intelligence: 46 Wisdom: 76(81) Sanity: 121(126) Mental Fortitude: 18
Dexterity: 35 Agility: 51 Stamina: 96 Endurance: 38
Charisma: 52(57) Willpower: 36 Moxie: 88(93) Cool: 20(30)
Perception: 57 Luck: 49 Fortune: 106 Fate: 9
Generic Skills
Brawling - Level 20 (21)
Climb - Level 6
Clubs and Maces - Level 9
Dagger - Level 9
Dodge - Level 2
Fishing - Level 1
Ride - Level 7
Stealth - Level 3
Swim - Level 2
Greater Toy Golem Skills
Adorable - Level 15
Gift of Sapience - Level NA
Golem Body - Level 20
Innocent Embrace - Level 8
Magic Resistance -Level 4
Bear Skills
Animalistic Interface - NA
Claw Swipes - 16
Forage - 7
Growl - 1
Hibernate - 1
Scents and Sensibility - 10
Stubborn - 7
Toughness - 12
Ruler Skills
Emboldening Speech - Level 1
Identify Subject - Level 1
Noblesse Oblige - Level 1
Royal Request - Level 1
Simple Decree - Level 1
Scout Skills
Camouflage - Level 1
Firestarter - Level 1
Keen Eye - Level 1
Sturdy Back - Level 5
Wind's Whisper - Level 1
Tailor Skills
Talioring - Level 10
Clean and Press - Level 1
Model Skills
Dietary Restriction - Level 1
Fascination - Level 2
Flex - Level 1
Self-Esteem - Level 1
Work it Baby - Level 2
Necromancer Skills
Assess Corpse - Level 1
Command the Dead - Level 1
Soulstone - Level 1
Speak With Dead -Level 1
Zombies - Level 1
Duelist Skills
Challenge - Level 1
Dazzling Entrance - Level 1
Fancy Flourish - Level 1
Guard Stance - Level 1
Weapon Specialist - Level 1 (Brawling)
Equipment
Rod of Baronly Might (Level 5 Club, +5 CHA, +5 WIS, +10 Cool)
Quests