A Record of Ash & Ruin: The Grieving Lands

Book 1: Chapter 29: Divine Grace

Though a small nation, it was a country of free thinkers. A nation where great strides had been made in the fields of magic. Even so, their mages, who were growing fewer in number, could not protect them from the constant barrage from the skies. Desperate, the Republic sanctioned the use of a newly researched form of magic that combined dark and life energies in an aberration of the natural order.

Necromancy, the art of raising the dead and bringing them back in some corrupted form of unlife.

- On the Cataclysm by an unknown Quassian Scholar circa 103 AC

400 experience gained

You have gained 1 Luck

You have reached level 9

6 unassigned attribute points

2 unassigned skill points

As we ran down the animal trail, I quickly put all of my unassigned attribute points into Constitution, which raised my maximum Health to a lofty two hundred and sixteen points. My two unassigned skill points would prove to be a trickier proposition. I tried to allocate both points to Heal, but was met instead with three choices from the UI.

Purify

Holy Aura

Greater Heal

I had no idea what Holy Aura would do, and with the timer ticking down I made a snap decision and chose to put a single point in both Purify and Greater Heal. As soon as I made my choice, time seemed to stop, flowing at almost a hundredth of normal speed, to my perception. Voices of angels rose, singing righteous hymns of blessing and redemption in perfect harmony and counterpoint to one another. My mind was filled with visions of winged beings guiding those at death’s door back to the world of the living.

Next, I was to be blessed with a new vision of a man in long white flowing robes, gilt in gold. He was crowned with what looked like a bishop's miter, and was giving a benediction to the sick, soft golden light weaving among their number and cleansing them of their ailments. The same man again, this time clad head to foot in heavy armor, with a heavy mace in one hand and a white heater shield in another, was wading through a sea of undead. The same golden light that cleansed the sick now unraveled the necromantic energies that bound them to this world.

As time finally started to flow back to the real, I understood in my gut the purpose of these visions. It was this world’s way of explaining the use of the spells I was gaining. Finally, I was beginning to make some sense of the esoteric nature of this world.

Lost in my thoughts, I barely noticed when Kidu touched my shoulder, urging me forward along the trail down. I looked into his eyes and nodded, now fully returned to the present.

“Come on ladies! Let’s get out of here!” shouted Elwin, a note of panic in his voice.

We ran as fast as we could, going down the narrow trail, almost killing ourselves in our haste. Finally, we made it down to the lake into which the underground river was flowing. We took some time to regain our breath and drank deeply of the ice-cool waters. I then received a notice that both elated and filled me with dread.

You have slain an orc 437 experience gained

“Gather yourselves, we need to go soon. The orc is dead,” I said, with as much seriousness as I could. Almost gulping at my slip, I noticed the eyes of my companions looking at me questioningly. Luckily, I was saved from further inquiry as they just shrugged, probably thinking I had simply made a grammatical mistake as more pressing concerns weighed upon them.

You have reached level 10

3 unassigned attribute points

1 unassigned skill point

Even as I was telling them of the death of the orc, I was already assigning the points. Rust had all but saved my life in the slave pits, but I decided not to spend the skill point on it. My newly acquired spells were all still level one and should be easy to raise to at least level two through practice. Durhit’s death had taught me a valuable yet painful lesson in resource management, so I allocated the bonus point to Mana Regeneration in the hopes that it would also allow me to cast more spells outside of resting. To add a little more punch to my ‘build’, I placed all of my attribute points into Strength.

Snapping back my attention to my companions, I noticed that, to their credit, they had not panicked. With almost military efficiency, Kidu quickly filled up our canteens with water while Elwin stopped to drink directly from the river. Soon enough, we started running once more through the woods, parallel to the course of the flowing water. As we ran along the banks, we saw large silvery willows growing along the banks, swaying softly at the water's edge. Our passing disturbed the wildlife, causing brightly colored waterbirds to burst from the rushes. Further along, we came across a family of otter-like creatures. The animals were perhaps half a meter in length, each with six legs, basking in the afternoon sun along the warm banks of the river. They slipped quickly into the running water as we passed, chittering at us in annoyance.

Onward, we kept running until a tributary joined the river we were following. Kidu advised that we should cross, in an effort to hopefully shake off further pursuit. With no reason to question his advice, we forded at a shallow area, all of us floundering against the swift current. Exhausted, we finally waded onto the opposite bank.

In the distance, we could see thin columns of rising smoke. With no better options, we decided among ourselves that it would be as good a direction as any. Slowly, as we penetrated deeper into the woods, the deciduous earth-like trees gave way to veritable giants to which I could draw no real comparison. Huge sequoia-like trees rose like towers questing towards the sky, dwarfing their smaller cousins. Their branches created such a thick canopy that they darkened everything beneath, casting a cool pall on the forest floor.

The underbrush was less thick here, allowing us to make greater speed. Up above us, birds fluttered among the great boughs in a riot of color, their musical songs competing with one another in a symphony of nature. Looking up from beneath the branches, I saw creatures running across the massive limbs of the trees and lithely jumping from branch to branch, some even sporting three sets of limbs. There seemed to be a whole world filled with life above us, but I was the only one of my companions to be taken in by the wonder.

Slowing to a fast jog, noticing my look of wonderment, Elwin asked me, in more of a statement than a question, "First time seeing the Sainba?” He drew a deep breath before continuing, “I was lost for words too when I came down here once with a caravan in my youth. Don’t have trees like that back home, do you?”

“No, we don’t,” I answered lamely, still gawking at the forest vista, “...I mean I don’t remember.”

At that moment Kidu signaled to stop. We were standing just before strange-looking green growth that covered a thick root of one of the giant trees. Wide-bladed leaves in differing shades of green spread out from the base of the plant. The most impressive feature, however, was its great spikey open flowers. Like giant maws colored in a delicate pink, they rested on thin stalks of viridian, resembling an enormous venus flytrap.

Cutting himself slightly with the blade of his spear, Kidu smeared a few drops of blood onto a twig that he picked from the forest floor. He then threw the bloodied twig casually at one of the open traps. The rapacious maw launched itself energetically, snapping shut with great force and swallowing the twig. He repeated this until all of the vicious traps were closed, after which he walked up to the plant and cut the flowers from the stalk.

Picking up one of them, he opened it up before us, ripping it in two halves and removing the stuck twig. He offered Elwin and myself one of the halves each.

“Sweet and good eating on these. Snap-Honey,” he said simply, gesturing for us to take a bite, before turning back to gather the rest of the heads.

With some trepidation, I took a bite, my hunger winning over hesitation. An explosion of sweetness filled my mouth, and greedily I took another taste. The flavor was somewhere between wild honey and watermelon, and I ate it all with gusto, leaving only the inedible spikes. This was the first delicious food I had eaten since coming into this world, and it was my first meal as a free man since I won my freedom. It appeared that Elwin shared my enthusiasm, as he had thoroughly ravaged his portion and was making his way to help Kidu collect the other heads. Oddly, when I had finished eating and made to join them, I noticed that my Health had increased by a few points.

“I think it best that we make camp for the night,” the Hunter said as he scanned the forest with his icy blue eyes, “if they come this far, best we are rested. I’ll take the first watch so you can both regain your wind,” he finished as he sat against one of the great roots, his spear resting across his knees. The feral man looked positively in his element.

“Much appreciated, Kidu,” I said, giving a nod in thanks that was mimicked by Elwin as we settled down into the softness of the moss-covered forest floor. Finding a comfortable position, I removed my bronze helm from my head, and placed it on the ground next to me. I closed my eyes but for a moment before falling into a deep sleep. From the darkness of my subconscious, I saw my fallen dwarven friend glowering at me with eyes filled with anger. The stout dwarf seemed to be screaming accusations at me, his mouth moving in a storm of silence. Suddenly, he was consumed by a seething mass of tentacled shadows. Just before he was completely devoured, his face broke free from the living darkness and I could hear only two words.

“Bronzegate…Evenes.”