14 — The Man behind the Menace

14 — The Man behind the Menace

The ant corpses ended up filling three of my five magic bags by the time it was over. It had been an overwhelming battle, thinking back on it, but I’d made it out with the help of my trusty weapon and reliable companions. One question was still on my mind, though: How? How had this been allowed to happen? I shot a scornful look at the panting Dwarf King, even though he and his kingdom were technically victims.

“Your people can deal with whatever monsters are left,” I stated.

“We plan to,” he replied. His expression softened, filled with remorse. “I’ll tell the people when we return.”

He must have been frustrated that he was the only one to have collapsed. I could hear it in his voice. He was the only one I hadn’t cast Aura Coat on, and the miasma had poisoned him to the point where he could no longer stand.

“You’ve work to do in your kingdom,” Lionel said sternly. “Weeds to pull. Or they will continue to grow.”

“Your boys are gonna run your nation right into the ground,” Ketty added.

I nodded. “We’ll have no part of it anymore. Understand?”

Rockwell bit his lip. He did not reply.

I turned to Lihzalea. “You’re stronger than you look.”

“The spirits bless me with their power,” she replied simply.

“Huh.” Something about her, something I couldn’t describe, felt wrong. Except not exactly. Was it simply distrust? Or something else entirely? In any case, the first thing on my mind was getting out of the cave as fast as possible. I looked up to where we’d come in and realized I hadn’t exactly thought things through. The hole was at least ten feet above us.

“I don’t think we can jump that high,” I sighed.

Just as I was casting Dispel on Rockwell, Lionel said, “You have a rope, do you not, sir?”

“Yeah, why?”

I took out a coil, but Ketty held out her hand first, and I gave it to her.

“Be cautious,” Lionel warned her.

“Always am,” she replied.

She hopped onto the flat of Lionel’s blade, and he flicked it up as she kicked off, flying straight through the opening in the ceiling.

“I’ll go next,” Kefin volunteered.

Lionel nodded and they repeated the same maneuver. The moment Kefin disappeared through the hole, a rope tumbled down.

“She works fast,” I said. “King Rockwell, can you move?”

“You trust me to go first?” he asked.

“You should be aware that your head will leave your shoulders before you can try anything.”

Rockwell snorted. “You’re not as naive as they say.”

“I’ve got a good support network.”

Rockwell turned from my smile and climbed up.

“Lihzalea, you go next,” I told her. “Then Lionel, and I’ll follow behind.”

“I can’t allow you to remain here last,” Lionel argued.

“I’ve got a hunch,” I said. I offered a playful grin. “And I know you’ll all rush to my rescue if something happens,”

Begrudgingly, he surrendered and trailed behind Lihzalea up the rope. The moment I grabbed on to start climbing myself, the entire length was hoisted up with great force. I groaned as my grip nearly faltered and my shoulders ached with the sudden jerk. I flew up and over the hole, where I saw exactly what my hunch had warned me of.

Rockwell’s court and the slaves who’d turned down my offer were waiting for us and the others from my team were already hurt. Rockwell had been the one to pull up the rope. I’d sent Lionel first as a precaution, but I was still too late.

As I landed, I cast Area High Heal, and the dwarves and their slaves stared with wide eyes.

“Anyone care to explain?” I asked them.

“These punks showed up right when Rockwell came up,” Ketty reported. “Fired off a bunch of spells before we even saw ’em.”

I looked at the king accusingly. “Your Highness.”

“I’m sorry,” he said gravely. “I will see to this personally. I remember your conditions, but I will deal with these slaves myself.”

“Oh, father,” Grios scoffed. “You’ve gone soft in your old age. Yes, centuries ago our people witnessed a human wield enough power to decimate old Rockford, but that was three hundred years ago!” he shouted. “The monster is dead and gone! And soon, you and that human you bow to will share his fate. And then I will rule all humans from beneath their very feet!”

“Grios,” his father growled. “You would even bare your fangs at your own father?”

The prince shook with laughter. “Compared to my dear brother, you mean? How blind you are. I’ve been twisting his mind and you were none the wiser.”

“When did this happen?!” Rockwell shouted, stepping forward. “When did your mind become so poisoned?!”

“Oh, a few years ago. I was hoping to give the ants a little more time to complete the tunnels.”

“This... This was your doing?”

“Correct.” Grios sneered. “I brought those ants up myself. Their numbers simply got away from me a little.”

“But why would you want to destroy your own country?” I interjected.

“And what would a dead man walking want with that information?” the dwarf spat back. “Kill them,” he ordered. “But leave my father. I have plans for him.”

The other dwarves charged as the slaves began to chant spells.

“Ketty, Kefin, Lihzalea, deal with the slaves!” I commanded. “Lionel, stay back!”

The trio flew towards their targets. But something wasn’t adding up to me. They had seen firsthand how strong we were. So why were they so confident? My companions sliced the tendons in the slaves’ legs and stabbed at their arms, but they never stopped casting.

“What order could he have given them?” I muttered. I started to cast Dispel with a long-range magic circle when the dwarves set upon me. “Lionel! Nonlethal!”

“Understood,” he replied, swatting our assailants away like he had in the audience chamber.

“Grios! What did you do to them?!” I shouted.

He huffed. “Turned useless pawns into valuable tools!”

My spells had no effect on the dwarves. Not Dispel, not Recover. I sensed miasma emanating from them. They weren’t right. They didn’t feel alive.

“It’s futile!” Grios cackled. “You and the old man are done!” He turned to his minions. “Focus on the one in the robe!”

The others dragged themselves off the floor like ghouls and darted straight for me before Lionel intercepted them with a swing of his sword. I tried Purification on a hunch, and they finally fell.

“What have you done?!” Grios blustered.

“I’d like to ask you the same thing,” I countered. “You turned your own people into undead monsters!”

“Undead?!” Rockwell shouted, his face reddening with rage.

“What?” the prince demanded. “Am I not free to do with my servants as I please, father?”

“You will,” Rockwell threw his fist to the ground, scowling, “learn your place, boy!” The earth surged and plowed into Grios’s gut, but the prince merely cracked a smirk. “What? Impossible!”

“You’ve grown weak, father.” His son gripped the stone blade and it crumbled to dust.

“How?!” Rockwell stammered.

“Is that really your full power? You’ll never best me with—”

Light engulfed him.

“Sorry, we don’t do business with the undead,” I said.

The slaves had been purified and dispelled, and the ramparts of Sanctuary Circle burned bright. When the light died down, Grios lay defeated. I made sure that the slaves were still alive and freed the ones who hadn’t turned out to be Illumasian spies.

“Why?” Rockwell pleaded, reaching out to hold his son. “Why did you never come to me?”

“Don’t touch me!” Grios hissed. “Come to you? I’ve always hated you, father. Always.” His body began to disintegrate. “To think,” he scoffed. “There was a man capable of stopping me. Me, a devilspawn, infused with the powers of a magic stone. It seems...fortune was not in my favor.”

The prince crumbled away, leaving nothing but a magic stone. When he did, the Illumasian spies immediately seized up, then perished themselves.

“Grios!” King Rockwell cried. Tears streamed down his face. “Grios!”

The king continued to call for his son in vain. We had saved the Kingdom of Dwarves. We had saved Rockford. But our victory was bittersweet.

I purified what was left of the king’s son—the magic stone—and handed it to him.

“I’m worried about how they managed to get this far,” I said to no one in particular. “Grand and the others could be in danger.”

“What of the slaves?” Lionel asked. “Former slaves, that is.”

I gave them a glance and they shivered in fear. “Let’s get back first. They’re free to leave if they want, but we can’t guarantee their safety if they do.”

“Please!” one of them begged.

“Don’t abandon us!”

They’d had their chance to volunteer when I had asked. How much easier things would have been if I was coldhearted enough to leave it at that. I thought about what to do with them, but Grand was waiting and I prioritized him.

“Your Majesty,” I said, “if I might suggest saving your tears until after you’ve made sure your other son is still well.”

The king wiped his eyes and stood, stowing away the gem that had been his son. “You’re right.”

I cast Area High Heal, restoring the former slaves and dwarf retainers. “Kill anything that moves from here on out,” I told Ketty and Kefin. “Lead the way.”

We swiftly departed the way we had come.

“Still monsters around,” Kefin remarked.

“Not too many though,” Ketty said.

The two cleared our path, and we efficiently forged ahead, not forgetting to collect the Substance X I had placed around earlier. Rockwell and the dwarves followed from the rear.

“I think your people should manage fine on their own,” I said.

“True,” Rockwell murmured, scowling. It was only one of a handful of words he spoke on our way back.

“It’s gonna take a long time to get rid of all these corpses,” I commented.

“Pola and Lycian will make good use of the stones,” Lionel replied. “And Rockford would be happy to have the monsters’ remains, I should think.”

“Not a bad idea. Not like we can do anything with them.”

“They will put the materials to far better use than we could, and it will earn more of their favor.”

“Hopefully these magic stones can help fund the process of getting the former slaves on their feet,” I muttered.

“Let us first hope that Grand is in one piece.”

We emerged to much the same sight as when we had left. Things were calm, and when some dwarves noticed our arrival, they started announcing it to others. It was nice that my worries had been for nothing for a change.

I picked out Grand and approached him. “Glad you’re all okay.”

“Nothin’ out o’ the ordinary here,” he reported. “Other than the monsters crawlin’ back into their holes all of a sudden.”

“Good to hear. Did Grios or any other dwarves pass through?”

“Not that I ever saw.”

He didn’t seem to be hiding anything. I looked at Lionel and Ketty, who shook their heads.

“Fair enough,” I said. “We took out their queen and a whole army of her ants while we were at it. Once the kingdom’s forces clear out the stragglers, the threat should be gone.”

“No tellin’!” Grand exclaimed. “Headin’ back to Rockford, then?”

“Believe me, I want to, but we need to heal the wounded and work out our pay.”

“Yeah, you ’n your healin’.” He flashed a knowing smile. “Get on with it.”

I grinned. “Will do.”

We were met with many cheers of thanks on our way to the king’s estate. No other ants loitered around the other few holes that remained. We’d avoided the worst case scenario.

Rockwell took the lead as we entered his home, pacing to the middle of the audience chamber, before turning and groveling on the ground.

“Luciel. Please heal Aleslei’s arms,” he pleaded. “I’m begging you.”

I had kept his son from succumbing to his wounds but done nothing to return what he had lost. I questioned his judgment. A dwarf like Aleslei couldn’t lead their nation to a brighter future.

“Why?” I asked plainly. “Forgive my bluntness, but I think your kingdom needs to be in far more qualified and honest hands than his.”

“This isn’t about succession. It’s about my boy. The last son I have.”

“Then what will happen to the throne?”

“I will live and breathe for him,” the king said. “Hammer every ounce of wisdom into my son until he’s fit. And if he never is and I die heirless, then my line ends with me. I swear it by the spirits.”

“You’re serious.”

He was willing to throw the entire monarchy away, to bet his entire country on his ability as a father. Just how did he expect to pull that off?

“Nothing less could atone for the mess I made for you and my people.”

The man was sincere. That much was clear. I decided to accept, on several conditions, of course.

“All right,” I said. “Spirits, are you listening?”

There was silence, then Rockwell said, “They seem to be hiding.”

“From what?”

“Perhaps...” King Rockwell trailed off, but I caught his drift.

“Everyone except for Lionel, Ketty, and Kefin, return to the slave quarters,” I ordered. “Including Lihzalea.”

Surprisingly, everyone left without much resistance. Except for Lihzalea.

“Get a move on,” Ketty barked. “What, cat got your tongue?”

“No, ma’am,” she replied quietly, turning to leave.

I stopped her. “Leave the magic item and weapons.”

“Okay,” she acquiesced. She placed the light, sword, and shield on the floor, then left the room.

Rockwell manifested a stone door behind them to give us some privacy. “Spirits of land,” the king called, “reveal yourselves. Even a voice would suffice.”

At once, the spirits appeared, and their words began to echo.

“The heck was that?”

“Like a shadow.”

“Gave me the creeps.”

“Hey, meathead, doofus, what’re you two doing bringing our nemesis here?”

“You sure you’re gonna trust that?”

“The big baddie in the ground is gone, but there was a big baddie right next to us and we never knew. Only Dusk’s ever managed to do that.”

“I didn’t feel Dusk’s blessing, though.”

“I need to ask something,” I said. “How did none of you notice Grios’s transformation? Couldn’t you have warned us?”

“Does it have something to do with why you were hiding?” Rockwell asked.

“Uh, I’m not about to be someone’s puppet.”

“We tried to warn Grios.”

“Why didn’t we notice?”

“That thing’s dangerous. You better kill it before it gets out of hand.”

“It’s why we’ve been too scared to manifest.”

“It’ll swallow us up.”

“Wait, who are you referring to?” Rockwell asked. But there was only one person who wasn’t there.

“It’s Lihzalea,” I murmured.

Lionel voiced his concerns first. “Sir,” he said, “who is this ‘Lihzalea’ you speak of?”

“Doesn’t ring a bell,” Ketty said.

“Was she with the former slaves?” Kefin asked.

“What are you guys talking about?” I asked them, baffled. “The arcanist swordswoman who fought the ant queen with us.”

Lionel replied with complete confidence, “We did battle with the five of us here, did we not?”

“Yeah,” Ketty affirmed. “You need a cat nap, Chief.”

“The exhaustion may be getting to you,” Kefin added.

Rockwell shared their confused expressions. They’d completely forgotten, as if their memories had been rewritten.

“Spirits, what’s happening here?” I demanded.

“A bit of forced forgetfulness.”

“Illusions. I think?”

“It’s supposed to be Dusk’s power. But she doesn’t have Dusk’s blessing.”

“You’re protected against it, doofus, so guess you got lucky.”

“You’re welcome. We accept donations in the form of mana or honey.”

“She’s strong, so be careful. It’s a spiritual power, but without spirits.”

“But not even you realized that when she was here,” I said.

“’Cause all her powers besides holy magic were sealed away when she was enslaved. We couldn’t sense anything weird in her mana.”

“That massive wave we got when her pact was undone... Yikes.”

“Felt like we were gonna get sucked right in.”

“I ain’t ever gettin’ near that thing again.”

“Be careful so you can give us more mana and honey.”

“Your life will be in danger, so yeah, watch out and stuff.”

With those ominous words, they vanished. They had mentioned a “Dusk.” So this girl was using the powers of a dusk spirit, but without its blessing.

King Rockwell was still agape and incredulous at what he had just heard. He collected himself. “I don’t know who this former slave is,” he said, “but if they’re a threat to my son, then I will deal with them personally.”

I relayed what the spirits had said to my team about the sixth member of the group who had defeated the ant queen, and gradually they felt the uncomfortably missing pieces in their memories.

“She played us,” Lionel muttered. “Had us right in the palm of her hand.”

Ketty shuddered. “I don’t wanna mess with any dusk spirits.”

“Maybe it’s not an illusion so much as a kind of one-way telepathy,” Kefin mused.

“If the Spirit of Dusk truly is unrelated to this incident, then it bears investigating,” Lionel said.

Unperturbed, my team was already looking forward. I pulled out my arclink crystal to discuss the situation with Her Holiness and to verify whether those five healers really were with the Church. I described the situation to her, and she promised to look into the matter, then told me to distance myself from anything involving the empire.

I ended the transmission. “King Rockwell, I will uphold my part of the deal,” I said. “But we need to take care of Lihzalea quickly. Can you lower the stone?”

“Of course,” he agreed, crumbling the door to the ground.

“We need to incapacitate her,” I announced. “Then we can get the truth from her.”

The team cried out in the affirmative. To be honest, I was a little disappointed. I had half expected her to be one of those partners I was destined to meet, courtesy of the spirits. Not that I had any basis for thinking it, but I felt stupid for trying to act all cool and aloof around her.

We entered the slave quarters, but Lihzalea was nowhere to be seen. We asked if anyone had seen a stranger among them and came up empty. She was gone.

“Did she realize I hadn’t been affected?” I wondered aloud.

Reluctantly, I gave up and we met with Aleslei. I restored his arms in private with Extra Heal, and King Rockwell offered many thanks upon seeing his son back to normal.

“No thanks needed,” I insisted. “Dhoran will be around at a later date, so I expect you to offer him an apology as well as the contents of your treasure room.”

“I will,” he said. “Are you leaving?”

“I wish, but I need to work out what’s going to happen to the freed slaves, talk with Grand, and figure out what we’re going to do about Lihzalea.”

“Understood. What will you do with the former slaves?”

“I don’t really want to dump them in Rockford. Can we keep them here for the time being?”

“You’re certain?”

“They can earn their keep by helping to take out the monsters that are left, so they’ll get on fine. I’ll be back for them as soon as I can.”

“If you say so.”

I returned to the slave quarters and explained that I would sort out the issue of carriages and money, but some were itching to leave as soon as possible.

“You’re free to leave as you please so long as you swear under contract to never cause trouble for me or the dwarves,” I said.

Several made their oaths and immediately departed.

“Keep these guys fed,” I told Rockwell for the rest.

“We will,” he replied.

We bid him farewell and left the building, where we found Grand waiting outside.

“You could’ve come and said hi,” I said.

“Just takin’ in the sights,” he answered. “Don’t come home often.”

“I understand. We’re heading back to Rockford.”

“Then let’s be off.”

We set out on the path leading out of the cavernous kingdom, but a subtle fear wouldn’t leave the pits of our stomachs. Its name was Lihzalea.