Chapter 14: The Other Mind (1/2)

Viv spent her evening with a book for the first time in two weeks, or maybe more if you counted time the earth way. Cernit had kindly provided her with a magical candle, a sort of rave glowstick that she could charge and be done for a few hours. The light was more than enough for her needs. It was also easier to use than her stone. Reading with that thing required her to always have it in hand with a clear line of view to the text. And that was annoying.

Arthur made a choice just before it was time to sleep. The tiny dragon decided that it was too bloody cold and climbed on the back of her bed with her sleeping bag in her maw. Viv used to have a dog who did that, so it wasn’t too weird. Kind of nostalgic, in fact. She managed to steal a few scratches on her companion’s smooth, soft scales and then, she was out in seconds.

The in-between.

Two souls manifested from the void. The in-between was a curious place where euclidian notions like distance only had a tenuous grip. Space itself was merely a reference used by entities used to more traditional dimensions. The souls were infinitely far apart, yet in other ways they were quite close. Close enough to communicate.

“How are things on your end?” Maradoc, the God of Secrets, asked.

“Decent enough. I am honor-bound to serve this land’s military for another two years but I already sent some feelers for when I get out. This Viviane Saint-Lys’ resources are amazing. How are things on your end?”

“The throne remains empty. Your wife cannot claim it since you were not defeated or cast out, just as you said.”

“Your sister, you mean?”

“I know what I said.”

There was, for lack of a better term, a pause.

“Just be careful. She will be more destructive when she turns desperate,” Emeric continued.

“I know.”

Another pause.

“Your… replacement. She is still alive.”

“Why wouldn’t she be? I sent her to the concentration of magic that best matched her personality. Priests would know what she is worth with one look.”

“There were no priests, Emeric.”

“What do you mean?”

“You sent her straight to Harrakan. In the imperial palace.”

Another pause.

“Fuuuuuuck I should have guessed it. Dammit! Arg.”

“How did it even happen? Could you not tell that she was black-aligned?”

“There were no signs. She was rich, from a powerful family. No quest for vengeance or anything. I did not know until I searched her memories.”

A pause.

“You know, she chose to be a medic in the army? That’s a healer of sorts. I thought that she was a kind-hearted soul with a care for her fellow people, until I dug deeper. One day, there was a fuckup and the perimeter where the wounded were kept got breached. A wall that fell down. She threw a… sort of fireball in the hall, then walked through and executed four soldiers by shooting them in the head. Calmly, and one by one. And she enjoyed it. She returned to her patient after that as if it was no big deal. This is when I figured it out. Agh, I should have taken more time to check her memories.”

“I like her already. I don’t see the problem.”

“She is no Halurian warborn, you dunce. Her world is not as warlike as ours, especially not the place she came from. She’s… not kind at heart, although she thinks she should be. It took me a while to understand that.”

“Relax, Emeric. Even if she makes waves, your pursuers will never tie her to you. She is not the only one with a divine spark of luck. Maranor will just think that she’s a lucky inheritor.”

“It’s not waves that bother me, I just... I don’t know why I worry. About her and the world. I think this human shape is messing with my mind.”

“Perhaps for the best. You have been an insufferable asshole for the past two centuries, so much that I considered siding with your wife.”

“…Thanks Maradoc, you’re a good friend.”

“The best. See you next time.”

“Take care.”

Viv woke up to someone rummaging through her stuff.

“Arthur, no!”

“Squee!”

“Arthur, no. No stealing. You wait. I said no.”

“Squeeeee!”

“I know you are hungry. Now, kindly fuck off.”

//Good morning, Your Grace.

“And to you too, Solfis. Need a charge?”

//Please.

Viv stood up and tried to stretch but Arthur kept squawking, so she fed her. Then it was time to help Solfis, who had finished the enchantments for the core and part of another arm during the night. She pushed power into the massive core. It felt like trying to inflate a bouncing castle with her mouth.

When she was done, she plugged the now operational power-core with the hose-like cable she had used to charge the emergency batteries. It was impressive how much progress Solfis had managed to make in such a short time.

A short cleaning session later, she came out in search of food like some sort of cavewoman. It was early morning outside. A soldier jumped to his feet when he saw her and ran into the barracks, from which Cernit promptly exited. The tanned soldier looked a bit green around the gills which was his normal state so that was fine. It was just… still strange. It also made her realize that she would look like a foreigner around here no matter what she did.

The lieutenant escorted her to the mess hall where soldiers were already dining. They sat at a separate table, soon joined by Benetti. Breakfast was a congee soup with pieces of pickled vegetables and salty meat in it. It tasted simple but nice. It also made her feel warm.

“Today. Go out to battle again?”

“Yes, Cernit. Agreed.”

The man smiled. He was more confident now. His eyes turned to the side and she could almost see the cogs turning in the man’s mind. He had a plan.

They ate quickly, then she went back to her room. She spent a few minutes teaching Arthur basic hygiene rules, charged Solfis while practicing forms, stretched, and then it was time.

The second village was further away, to the north when considering the axis between Fort Stone and Fort Sky. As far as she could tell, they were south of Harrak, so going north meant more concentration of black mana and more powerful undead.

She realized Cernit’s logic. Fort Stone, which had been demolished, lay to the east. He had emptied the village directly between the two forts because it was the closest to the necromancer. The next one was the most dangerous and also on the way. After that, they would probably go south-east.

It felt weird to return to a more concentrated part of the deadlands. Jor, before her, felt more tense than usual as the empty plains succeeded each other before them. She kept the poisoning at bay by casting regularly.

“Yoink.”

Hey, she had just gained something, hadn’t she?

Viv focused and tried to cast two yoinks at once. It failed miserably, but she realized that she could cast one just after the previous one was in the air.

“Yoinkyoinkyoink.”

That was cool, but tiring. She decided to return to her previous, lazy casting.

Intimidation: Beginner 7

Aww come on. Magic was not that scary, she thought, while watching tendrils of absolute darkness ripping the energy out of undead abominations and sending them to an ashy demise.

The trip was quick after that.

The next village was built around a bridge over a dry riverbed. The stone was greyer here, but otherwise there was little to differentiate it from the other wind-swept, ash-mired ruin they had previously visited. They used the same technique as before to empty the south side. There was a small moment of panic when four crawlers jumped out after them, but a burst of speed from the horses allowed them to stay ahead for long enough to avoid dismemberment. She had to take a short break afterward.

As before, the powerful black mana coursing through her conduits brought a sweet sort of pain, and she felt them grow clearer. More defined. It was probably a good thing if she could survive the experience.

They made their way back in and killed a crawling gut spiller which was missing a leg. Then, to her surprise, the three dismounted by the village’s entrance. Revenants started to converge on them almost immediately.

Benetti and Cernit took out blades while Jor handled a massive axe.

[Magic sword (enchanted): this officer sword is issued to officers in the Barran military if they do not bring their own. It can pierce through magical and mundane defenses alike.]

[Benetti family rapier (enchanted): this family heirloom can only be wielded by the blood of the Benetti. Precise strikes from this weapon are particularly devastating.]

[Heavy infantry shieldbreaker axe: a standard issue weapon of the Barran military. It is particularly heavy. Designed to break shields and shield-lines.]

The three men stood side by side and dispatched the revenants with grim efficiency. Enemies felled by the enchanted swords stopped moving. Those struck by the axe kept squirming a bit, but they could do little since Jor tended to cleave his targets in two.

Viv was certain that they were using skills. She had difficulties following the speed of their movements and there was a small light coming from the blades sometimes.

The purge lasted for a few minutes, after which the men had a pile of dead at their feet. They were all sweating and breathing heavily though, so fighting at this intensity clearly took a toll. She took the liberty of covering them while they dragged all of the dead in a small mound of rotting bodies. Cernit took a sort of brown ingot from one of his saddlebags. He recited a few words and threw it on the pile.

It ignited and fire slowly spread over the dead, some of whom were already twitching. Black smoke soon filled the air.

“We fight,” Cernit declared, looking pleased with himself. Benetti rolled his eyes.

“We go north to fight the dead,” the smarmy man elaborated. It was his turn to look proud.

Jor said nothing.

They climbed back on their mounts and made their way through the now considerably less crowded streets. They made their way to the south end of the bridge.

It was deserted. There were only a few circling birds — normal-sized this time — and revenants milling in the distance.

“Hold,” she said.

They kept going, though they turned to her.

“Hold. Stop.”

They didn’t get it.

She lifted her right fist in a ‘wait’ gesture. That made them stop, for some reason.

“Trap?”

No reaction.

“Ambush?”

Ah, they got that one. Possibly a military term or something. They looked around warily.

“No. Ambush. Maybe.”

Again with the lost looks.

“Maybe. Perhaps. Possibly. Hypothetically.”

“Oooh,” Benetti answered before she could go through the whole thesaurus. Honestly though, when they were on the bridge, they would be out in the open with no way to go. It was worth their time making sure that their avenue of retreat remained free.

The knights stepped down and started securing the houses nearby. Viv sighed and approached the bridge, having a look down out of habit. You always checked bridges for IEDs and other stuff if there were any doubt. Otherwise, even if the explosion did not kill you, the fall would.

She looked down and stopped time by instinct.

There were two scythe-like jaws closing in around her head.

[Defiled centipede: very dangerous]

FUCK!

It was Viv’s soldier reflexes who saved her. Instead of pulling back into the closing circle of chitinous death, she dived low, behind cover. The dreadful blades snapped close with a dreadful clack. She bumped the top of her skull against one in her rush to escape, but the cloak’s hood protected her.

“Yoink!”

The tendril shot out with as much strength as she could manage. It slammed against the creature’s head like a slap, then she invaded its conduits.

And slammed into… something else.

If she had to compare, it would be like taking a sledgehammer to a wall, only for the wall to collapse at the last moment and the sledgehammer to end in the bollocks of the person behind it. There was a presence in the insectile monster. Or had been. Her torrential power had kicked it out.

With the death of the creature came a concert of ear-splitting screeches. Another centipede rushed up from below the bridge.

“Yoink!”

She missed. It was too small and too fast.

And then Benetti was here. He pierced the creature’s skull with his rapier and jumped back when the centipede tried to disembowel him. She aimed at the base of the body.

This time, the spell flew true. The centipede could move fast, but it moved in a line. The creature fell and she felt flooded with energy again.

On the other side of the bridge, a mass of revenants was charging, led by a large crawler. Viv was ready to offski the fuck away. Cernit had other ideas. The three knights created a battle line in the narrow corridor and Cernit turned towards her, eyes frantic.

“Necromancer!” he screamed, “Necromancer!”

And she finally realized what had happened. Undead were too stupid to lie in ambush in such a coordinated manner, especially revenants.

They were being controlled.

That was the presence she had felt when she had killed the first. The blow must have made the enemy caster lose control.

She was confused, though. Her understanding was that the necromancer was super dangerous and that they would try to hold in the fort? What had changed?

In the two seconds of hesitation that followed, Cernit screamed her name and pointed at the ghoulish, siminan form of the crawler.

“Yoink!”

It fell dead and black mana flooded her conduits.

They were right in a way. This was a perfect chokehold. And they had cleared most of the houses at their back, which meant that they had several avenues of retreat and horses to do so.

She focused on the next large creature, a sort of undead bear covered in tattered fur that trampled revenants in its haste to reach them.

[Defiled grizzly]