Chapter 374: Prison Break |
We had a total of five of Brae’ach’s followers in our custody. Savant was the first, although she was still over by Etja, inside her magic bubble. The mana density in this chamber wasn’t as extreme as it had been in the forest, but it was still enough to stress the Geulon woman’s mundane constitution.
The other four were in front of me, standing stiffly with Shog’s tentacles draped over their shoulders. They looked stressed, which was understandable. One was a woman of indeterminate heritage who had some uncomfortably worm-like characteristics. I found myself trying my best not to look at her, since her banded, flexible skin was very unsettling. She didn’t have eyes either, so it’s not like I’d have known where to look when addressing her anyway.
The next was a fairly normal looking Hiwardian man, with a middling build and forgettable features. I didn’t know what his deal was. The third was another Hiwardian guy, although he was notably small and frail looking. The world kind of changed colors around him, transitioning from unsettling yellows to desperate blues. He was carrying a wooden box that looked hand made. It was of decent quality, although it was worn from use.
The fourth was a large Davahn woman, about an inch taller than myself with pronounced ridges along her scalp beneath her coarse black hair. The hair transitioned into fur as it descended across her body, and the woman emitted an unnatural amount of heat. I assumed she was the leader since she had the most powerful soul, the most commanding presence, and we knew that Brae’ach’s core United were all Davahns themselves.
Shog had also told me she was in charge.
The Davahn woman opened her mouth like she was going to say something, but I held up a hand.
“Do all of you speak Hiwardian?” I asked.
“Yes,” she answered for the group. “I am Zun’zun.”
“Good. I’m Arlo, in case any of you didn’t know that already. Party leader of Fortune’s Folly, King of Closetland, Triple Backflip Guy, yadda, yadda.” I waved my hand as though to banish the titles. “Anyway, you’re all released.”
“Listen, I considered holding onto you all until we could do some kind of prisoner exchange or let you go somewhere you’re less likely to cause trouble,” I said, “but honestly I’m not up for it. The more I think about doing that, the more it seems like going back on my word. After all, I’d have to keep you contained and making those arrangements could take a while.” I shrugged. “That could take however long I want it to take, which is the same as keeping you imprisoned. So, I’m taking the first opportunity to kick you out.”
Once they’d processed all of that, I pointed at the portal. “My familiar has the PSA evolution and has already made sure everyone we’ve met in New Krimsim knows that this portal has appeared on the outskirts of their newly rebuilt city. Needless to say, the people there would be eager to give you all an unfriendly welcome should you choose to go through it. Whether or not you four had anything to do with the Hierophant fleeing the forest, the Littans are looking for some blood to pay back the destruction of their city.
“That means you folks can either go down those stairs that just opened up, or figure out another way out of this chamber.” I gave them a sober look. “I’ll also point out that by leaving my custody and returning to Brae’ach’s forces you become a valid military target. That means the next time I see you, things won’t be so friendly.” I let them take a moment to consider that before jerking a thumb over my shoulder. “All right, get lost.”
“Uh,” said the small Hiwardian clutching his box. “I don’t want to be a military target. Is there a way that doesn’t happen?”
“I don’t know what you’ve been told, but Brae’ach is at war with the entire world.”
The Davahn made a noise between a cough and a scoff. “Brae’ach seeks to unite us in common purpose. It is the world that seeks to be at war with Brae’ach, not the way you have said it.”
I held up a hand. “This isn’t an argument. I’m telling you how it is. Brae’ach is conducting a war of extermination, and the only response that invites is a violent one.” I turned back to the Hiwardian, who was tinting the world a shade of mustard. “If you’re working for Brae’ach, you’re the enemy of every living thing on the planet.”
The Davahn turned to him. “Hirallo, do not let this man’s ignorance mislead you. We must all contribute, but no one is forcing you to fight.”
“This isn’t a game where you can play from the back,” I said. “It doesn’t matter what your role is; if it’s supporting Brae’ach’s genocidal campaign, the world will come for you.”
Zun’zun gave me a sour look before gesturing to her companions and shouldering her way free of Shog’s grasp. The c’thon let them go, and while Hirallo lingered for a moment, looking between the two of us, he eventually followed behind her. They walked over to Savant, where they all conversed, but the group eventually went down the stairwell without her. Etja had watched the exchange from a slight distance without saying anything, although her worried expression had been communication enough.
“He saved them from death,”said Shog, “grants them power beyond belief, and asks nothing in return. They will feel compelled to follow him, whether through obligation, adoration, or simple self-interest.”
“Is that something they teach in Brood King leadership classes?” I asked, giving the monstrous man a tired smile.
“It is a lesson taught to me by a tyrant.” His feelers swished. “One I later killed and consumed.”
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“Glad that tale came with a happy ending at least.” I nodded at our pair of temporary prison wardens, now freed of their duties. “I’m gonna go check on our other guests.”
WIth that, I wandered back to Specialist or possibly Interrex Tomomaru. Many pieces of the man’s armor had been destroyed and what few pieces remained removed by the women attending him. His iguana still lay on his chest, taking quick, shallow breaths. Both of them were missing a number of important body parts. As I walked up, Xim was casting another Heal into the pair.
“Is something blocking the healing?” I asked. “I can try to get a response team to meet us in Closetland.”
Xim sat back on her heels and looked up at me. She blew out an exhausted breath. “Nothing’s interfering. It took twenty casts of Cleanse to get the Toxicity cleared up, and that’s after Nuralie gave them both her best course of antidotes. The problem is that these two have a bottomless pit for a health pool. I’m dumping heals into it and I haven’t even heard them hit the bottom yet.”
I look down at the Littan and his familiar. “So long as he’s stable we can let his natural regen do the rest. If he needs some kind of special treatment then Surgeon General Olivia will be able to handle it, but we’ll need to get him back to New Krimsim for that.”
“Wasn’t she supposed to intervene if things went to the hells?” asked Xim. “She was in the city.”
“We’ll figure out what happened, but for now I just need to know if we’re safe to move these two.”
She stood and put her hands on her hips, then twisted from side to side to stretch out her back. “Yeah, they should be fine to travel. Do you think those United you just set free will try to ambush us when we come back?”
“We’ll leave a group behind to keep watch from this side. This is our beachhead into whatever the Chasm is–”
“Our what?”
“Our…” I looked up and thought about the phrase for a second. This world didn’t have an equivalent to the allied invasion of Normandy that I knew of. “Our landing area.”
“Such as a bridgehead, I assume?” said Varrin, striding over. “It is shorthand for an advanced position exposed to the enemy.”
“Can we use normal words and phrases?” asked Xim. “Or do you two want to keep using military codes to flirt with one another?”
“I prefer penning heartfelt letters expressing my romantic thoughts in verse,” Varrin said dryly. He ignored my skyrise eyebrows and moved on. “My brother says one of the United burrowed into a wall, taking the other three with her. So far as we can tell, they’re already outside of our detection range.”
“All right,” I said, “then tell the continentals to saddle up.”
“Of course, Your Majesty,” said Varrin. “I’ll station some troops in the defilade to daff any potential chivvy. By your leave?”
I nodded like I understood what that meant. “Make it so.”
The big guy gave Xim the faintest hint of a smirk as he went to get people organized. The cleric rolled her entire head along with her eyes, then did a final checkup of Tomomaru and his familiar. The brief humor between us evaporated as she looked down at the Littan for a long moment.
I stood with her, letting my mind wander to the memory of Sergeant Guar’s death. It had been so sudden; so quick. Despite all the death I’d been around, it felt unreal. I was already beginning to doubt my own memory of the event, like we’d run into him as soon as we saw Team Pio again. I knew it wasn’t true, but that hope clawed at the folds of my brain, hanging on despite my attempts to rip it away.
Once it was gone, all it would leave behind was a simmering anger.
Maybe I was more vengeful than I’d thought.
I opened a portal to the Closet but stayed behind along with Joma, Nottagator, and Drift. I needed to spend an hour in light meditation to establish a Checkpoint. Once that was done, I could open a portal directly to this spot once per day that could last for up to one hour. The number I could have was based on my Dimensional magic skill, and I could have 5 at the moment.
The current ones were in the Eschendur capital city of Eschengal, Club Dragon, New Krimsim, a Littan perimeter camp inside the forest, and Hiward. Me and Grotto were both in contact with the imperials, who let us know they’d pulled back and out of the forest once avatars had been reported, so I dropped the one in the Littan perimeter camp.
The one in Hiward was permanent and could be used as often as I liked since it had been established with a reality anchor. It still counted against my limit, but the portal had thus far been a boon for Closetland. Now I was less optimistic about that arrangement, given the kinds of trouble that might come through it. I spent some time examining those feelings while setting up the Checkpoint here.
Rufio’s betrayal and the Timan ambush had nearly unbalanced me, although Rufio’s backstabbing hadn’t been much of a surprise. The Timan general being the one trying to take me as a political hostage had been more of a curve ball, although it didn’t seem so strange once I’d thought it through. The Timans were desperate, and while I’d briefly become the target of their desperation, they themselves had become the victims of it.
In the same vein, I would still be in the crosshairs of the Heronwytes, perhaps even more so now that Leon was dead. Their house had effectively declared war on Closetland, and I was going to allow them to enjoy the consequences of doing so. Of course, I wasn’t so foolish as to think I could personally take on an entire Hiwardian noble house.
I had friends for that.
Aside from my deep ties to houses Duckgrien and Ravvenblaq, I'd personally rescued their king from an avatar. I was about to be calling in a lot of favors, and it didn’t stop in Hiward, either. The Littan Empress would certainly want to know why a Hiwardian noble house had felt like endangering her mission in the forest, and that support would pull double duty pushing back against the Timans as well.
As for Cerulean camping out in Closetland with her portal ultimatum, that had been unpleasant, but she wasn’t the only elder dragon on the block. Her actions had endangered Silver’s daughter, Princess Ishi, and threatened the lives of Hep’s two favorite smithing apprentices. If losing his most talented students weren’t enough, the most ancient of all red dragons was also directly opposed to the type of wide-spread destruction Cerulean had been trying to accomplish with her current brute force methods. While the Mystical dragon ruler had surely fucked me over, the blowback she’d face for doing so would just as surely be worse. I’d make certain of it.
The ambush had been dealt with and its fallout would be well managed. Orexis and Anesis had been thrown off our trail. Most of the Littans had escaped the forest. The last of our major, immediate worries were figuring out what the United were doing down here. We knew their goal was one of Unity’s monoliths; one that the System relied heavily upon although we didn’t know why. We didn’t know where the monolith was, what the United’s strategy was, or what kind of preparations they might be making to slow us down. They knew we were coming. There was no hiding it.
They’d been able to take us by surprise some so far, but Brae’ach’s people weren’t Delvers. Ultimately, they were outside of their element, whereas my party lived for this kind of environment. Out of control Labyrinths and off-limits System installations were practically a playground for us. For them, it would be a death trap.
Whatever the United were up to, we could handle it.