Book 4: Chapter 45 - Speedbumps (RAW)

Under the stone that is of old of the Hal-Hassaria, before the years were counted, there is secret. Yes, it is hidden. The ancient ones of it this: "In the deep black, where no light goes, there is a gate. It is a path to a place darker than all." What is there before this gate? It is thing, yes. Wrought from metal, bones, and unhealing wounds. It has not seen the sun for many thousands of years. Its breath is death. It is rot. Its voice is like the ground breaking and the sky crying with great sound.

This thing, it does not wake. No, it waits in sleep beyond Death. Sleep beyond calls of Life. And its very dream is strong enough to stop all who come close. They say its name is much feared. But they do not speak it. Still, it is known. Viseh Vysekhs, Shadow Wings of the Grave, last of the great dragons.

- From the Mafik-law tablets found by the ‘Crest of Cinders’ adventuring party from the City Beneath the Waves. Translated by Cressida de Laney of the University of Quas.

We hurried through the winding corridors of the compound toward the quarters where Lady Aelayah’s guards were stationed, the sound of our passage echoing off the cold stone walls. Those men, clad in fine steel and the cultured arrogance of the elite were only allowed up to the outer circle of the Saint’s Sanctuary, the arena where the Festival was held. 

They were her supposed shield within the city, a city that now seethed with new danger, but as long as they were not by her side they were about as useful as teats on a bull. Her palanquin and her bearers too waited nearby her guard. If it were me, I would have abandoned them all to their fates, seeking a faster and more direct line of escape. Elwin, Kidu, Larynda, and I were more than enough of a match for whatever the Holder Houses of Al-Lazar could throw at us.

Kidu—Enkidu, as he now insisted—strode beside me, his face a dark thundercloud, his breath heavy with restrained anger. “More Warmlander betrayal, I smelled it as soon as I set foot among these tents of stone.”

“I wish I could argue, but you speak the truth,” I replied, my tone matching the grim weight of his words. 

Enkidu’s broad shoulders sagged for a moment as he let out a growl of frustration, his armor clinking as he jogged. “They have robbed me of the honor I had wished for.” 

"Well… I think the honor would’ve been mine to lose, big guy,” the Rogue Elwin decided to comment at the worst possible time. “Considering I won and all.”

Enkidu shot him a look that could have withered a tree, his knuckles tightening on the shaft of his spear. Elwin, wisely, did not press the issue.

Lady Aelayah, struggling to keep pace with our flight, gasped between breaths. “What… nonsense… are you speaking of?” she panted, the rigors of the chase clearly taking their toll.

“There will be a time for explanations later,” was my sharp response. The pampered princess was flagging and slowing us down. She probably had never had cause to run a day in her life.

Without another word, I made a snap decision. “Forgive me, my Lady,” I said, more for formality’s sake than a true apology. I scooped her up, throwing her over my shoulder as one might a bag of grain.

“Put me down this instant!” she squawked in protest, fists beating futilely against my back.

Farzan looked like he was about to object, but he wisely kept silent on the matter. “Just a bit longer, Lady Aelayah… your guards are close by,” he reassured her, though his tone lacked confidence.

“None of this would have happened if my Shadow were still with me!” she complained, her voice muffled against my back. Women—they make one mistake seem like a lifelong offense, I thought, resisting the urge to roll my eyes.

We rounded another corner, only to skid to a stop. More city Council Guards stood in our path, clad in heavy chain and scale mail, their open-faced helms revealing cold, stern expressions.

“Stand aside,” I said, though I knew I cut a far less imposing figure with Lady Aelayah draped over my shoulder like a sack.

“As my man said—stand aside! I am Aelayah of the Salahaem, and I command you to move at once!” Aelayah demanded, though her current state did little to inspire the regal authority she was used to.

“Apologies…” a man at their front, perhaps their leader, stated. “We have orders to investigate an assassination attempt on the Alim.”

“Preposterous…” shrilled Aelayah.

Snickers ran through the men before us, their facade of grim seriousness fading as swiftly as morning mist. Enough was enough.

“I believe we have given enough warning,” I pronounced, secretly glad that I was now given more than enough pretext of an excuse to do my next action.

For too long, this spell had lurked at the edges of my mind, slippery and elusive, waiting for its moment. Rust. It was not just a curse to weaken and erode arms and armor—it was something far darker, far more sinister. Like all the magic gifted from the void between worlds, it hungered. It thirsted.

Rust wasn’t called, it was wrenched into existence, bound by force of will. The voices within helped me wrestle it into reality, their whispers guiding my tongue as I uttered words no human mouth was ever meant to shape. The syllables rasped like iron grinding against bone, and as I spoke them, black lightning crackled to life, leaping from me with dark wings toward those who dared block our path.

It tore through them, an uncontrollable force. Where it touched unwarded iron and steel, the metal ignited in searing iridescent yellows and oranges. The metal hissed and groaned, burning hot. Their screams filled the air, shrill and panicked. Now they would die an agonizing death by liquid metal. The cries of their pain was a cruel melody, but one my ears had learned to appreciate. It was only the acrid smell of burning hair and roasting flesh intruding upon my senses that marred this otherwise pleasant symphony.

“What is happening, Gilgamesh…” Lady Aelayah twisted, trying to steal a look. The moment she glimpsed the carnage, she froze, her face pale as she turned away, her body convulsing as dry heaves racked her. “Put me down,” she whimpered, but I ignored her plea.

Captain Farzan’s face had gone ashen, his skin a sallow hue as he stared at the still-burning guards. Even my companions, hardened as they were, looked queasy, their expressions tight.

“Move!” I barked, cutting across the death howls and snapping them out of their trance as the first death notifications blinked into my vision, superimposing themselves over the macabre scene.

We picked up the pace, working our way through the charred remains of the Council guards. Perhaps my example would serve as a warning to those who sought to do us harm.

*****

It was a small stroke of fortune that we reached Aelayah’s guards without further incident. We found them lounging around, but fully armored for battle. A few sharp commands from Farzan snapped them into order. I took a heavy axe, its curved blade engraved with faint runes of power, from one of their number. I had earned enough of their respect and fear that he did not dare voice any complaint.

The guards formed an escort around us as we exited the arena, shoving back the crowd when they ignored warnings to stay clear. Kidu’s face was tight with restrained violence, and I could almost feel the heat of his simmering temper. I would soon need to explain myself and the situation I found myself in.

Larynda had seated herself beside Lady Aelayah, who was seated atop her palanquin. With narrowed, watchful eyes the half-elf kept a guard over the leader of the Salahaem. Though she now traveled in the luxury that befitted her station, the soft, velvety cushions did little to ease Aelayah's worry, visible in her eyes. Still, reunited with her men, some of her commanding presence had returned. She issued orders from the palanquin as if it were a queen’s throne.

We pressed on through the streets, forcing our way through the surging masses—people teeming like vermin freshly flushed from the sewers. I wondered why neither the Council nor the Alim had sent forces to stop us or to end the Holder princess' life.

Then I saw them, a small group of ratlike Beastkin, armed with crude, rusty weapons and wearing filthy rags that stank of the fetid sewers. Most disgusting of all were their sinuous tails that wove behind them as they moved. They were attacking a unit of City Guards. Why, I did not know, but I had long learned that Beastkin needed little reason to unleash violence on innocents. Panic spread through the crowd, and the civilians broke into a stampede. Aelayah’s honor guard quickly formed a shield wall to block the surging mass.

After the press had fled, I realized that this had worked to our advantage. The cleared streets provided us with a quicker path, and the rat-men, too absorbed in their fight with the guards, seemed not to even notice us.

Our group carried on to the Mahdi Al-Maraquis, the Place of Dancing Water, and the seat of Power of House Salahaem. It took a particular type of bravery to attack a group of two score men, armed and armored as most of us were, especially with the giant Kidu at the fore. The large man positively loomed over the seemingly diminutive locals, like a man grown among children.

It seemed that the rot of betrayal had not reached all levels of the City Guard, with most of them barely giving our group a second glance as we made our way back to the palace of the Salahaem.

Still, pointless bravery in betrayal in the guise of honor-bound duty could be found. A small group of Council Guard, backed up by men and women of the Copper and Silver ranks of the Adventurer’s Guild stood in our path. Another piece of entertainment for me to savor. 

“By what right or law do you block my way?” demanded Lady Aelayah imperiously, peeking out from the palanquin.

One of the Adventurers, a lanky foreigner with orange hair and freckled skin, seemed to take that as an opportunity to draw his bow and nock an arrow. He had doomed the men and women who accompanied him with that single action. 

Faster than a man could blink, a glint of swift metal found the man’s throat. Elwin the Rogue was as deadly as ever, his thrown knife a ruthless messenger. The man gurgled his last complaint as my companions and I fell upon them.

Aelayah’s honor guard, with all their fancy gear and arrogant posturing, did nothing. Like statues, they stood stock still, merely watching as I hacked through Council Guards and shocked Adventurers alike. I had already healed Elwin, and I told myself I needed to conserve my Mana—but truthfully, part of me just wanted the visceral satisfaction of smashing enemies with a weapon in hand.

The lower ranks might as well have been straw-filled dolls, their movements sluggish, lacking any finesse. Kidu, his spear like a serpent, struck with death almost as swiftly as I did.

With Knife, axe, spear, and spell we brought about a veritable carnage.

As I worked the spike of my axe through a Silver Ranker’s heavy coat-of-plates, a mace slammed into the meaty part of my arm, dealing around thirty points of damage. Foolishly, I had grown too accustomed to fighting unarmed foes and reflexively ignored the hit, as if I were wearing armor that would’ve deflected it.

Fen would have chided me for such. I had become ‘Too sure in the current situation,’ as she liked to call it. Never use one weapon too much, never think that tomorrow will be as today, and never believe the lie that your opponent's next move will be like the last.

Still, for being unarmored, it was far less damage than I’d expected. With an irritated grunt, I drove my axe deeper, ignoring the mace-wielder as I twisted the spike through a gap in the Silver Ranker’s armor until the sharp metal found flesh. Another forceful push, and the weapon pierced his heart, ending him.

You have slain a human 10 experience gained.

Dismissing the notification, I turned to the man with the mace with a feral grin, feinting a strike to the left. Predictably, he raised his shield. Hooking with the axe, I pulled his shield down, ready to finish him—only for Kidu’s spear to pierce through his open-faced helm, burying itself past the eye and into his brain, killing him instantly. The big man gave me a wild grin and a throaty laugh that was more suited to a beer hall than this slaughter.

You have slain a human 5 experience gained.

Half the experience.

The maceman was the last to stand in our way, and with his fall, the sudden skirmish on the streets came to an abrupt end.

“If you don’t raise a blade to defend your Lady next time, I’ll cut you all down myself, you sniveling cowards,” I snarled at Aelayah’s honor guard. Their eyes flashed with indignation, but they held their tongues.

“Gilgamesh,” Farzan growled, his usual affable demeanor gone. “Our duty is to protect Aelayah… we didn’t even know—”

I tightened my grip on my axe. “Cowardice will ever find a thousand excuses. A group of armed men tried to block our path. Rat-men Beastkin are spreading chaos all around us. That’s more than enough reason to draw blades first and ask questions later.”

“And now you’ve left none who can answer,” Aelayah snapped testily. I couldn’t help but give her a thin-lipped smile, remembering how she’d been squealing and squawking on my shoulder not too long ago.

I decided to try diplomacy. “In the heat of battle, it’s quite different when you’re fighting to take a man alive. Forgive my lack of foresight, but for the sake of speed, I chose the faster solution.”

“Then for the sake of expedience,” Aelayah replied sweetly, “if you could stop harassing my men, let’s continue on our way.”

I gripped the handle of my heavy axe tighter, forcing a smile just as sweet as hers. In that moment, with my companions at my side, I briefly considered abandoning all current duties and position altogether. Were it not for the promise of future gain, I would have done.