Riftside 3 - Chapter 1

I stared at Roq in his new form, shock passing through me as he spoke.

“What do you exactly remember, buddy?” I asked again.

He turned and held up one of his bladed arms, staring at it.

“I remember everything, Ash. Where I'm from. What the hive mind did to my family and my kin, to my world...”

He looked up at me and I understood in that moment where my hammer’s bloodlust and rage had all come from. His singular focus on killing and growing stronger had all stemmed from wanting to get even with the hive minds.

“I remember everything I lost, Ash. My people, my world, my…” he growled, a low threatening sound that sounded like steel grating on a sharpening stone.

“Excuse me”, Nabeeh said, and he turned his gaze on her. “Am I to understand you’ve been hiding your true form from us this entire time, and that you’re actually a monster?”

“Umm…no?” Roq replied, unsure what to say.

It’s not that I'm not pleased to meet you, hammer, but where in the rift rotten monster balls have your finely bladed arms been when we needed you most?”

I held up my hand, not liking her tone, nor what I’d seen in Roq’s eyes.

“Hold on, Nabeeh. Let's first hear what he has to—”

“No!” Roq roared, his voice booming, the sound deeper and more resonant than before. “The question is a fair one.”

His reasonable response surprised me, and I was unable to find my words. Not just that, but he sounded so much more…human? The way he accented words and spoke them clearly was unsettling.

“I’ve only managed to assume this form a few times in the past,” he said and looked us over.  “Until this very moment, the method was lost to me, a reflex born of desperation. But with this breakthrough, I have reclaimed my birthright. I can assume this shape at will. No longer will you be lost without me, struggling to survive without your most magnificent ally by your side. But,” he said and turned his eyes to me.

“What?” I asked, a slight nervousness falling over me.

“I promise not to assume this form while within your spatial storage. The consequences would be… catastrophic. For you, at least.”

“Catastrophic?” I muttered. “Now isn’t that good to know?”

It hit me at that moment that our relationship had just fundamentally changed. While we were bound, he was no longer dependent on me to move around. What would that mean for us? Would I be stuck chasing after him as he charged headlong into every battle ? Would I be relegated to a supporting role in combat?”

“Nor will I transform without giving you due warning.”

“I… appreciate that very much, Roq.”

“Except if I really feel like it, or if it is imperative for the mission, or… if there is pie and milk,” he added, true to form.

“Glad to see you,” Knut said. “Tell of your memories? While still fresh.”

“Knut’s right. Just in case it is the breakthrough that lets you remember all the memories and they start to fade,” Eryn said, “Like they did for Arclight.”

“We have a new quest, wielder,” Arclight said. “You must get me to my breakthrough with all haste. I miss my true form.”

“Quiet, you glorified stick-thrower,” Roq said, his voice a low growl as he looked at Knut. “I will do as you ask, shield-bearer. I will speak of the hive mind, for it is worse than you can possibly imagine. We start with the end of a world. My world.”

Roq paced the clearing, his bladed limbs carving shallow grooves in the packed earth. The movements betrayed his restlessness.

“It began, like here, with Rifts appearing across our world. From them poured a tide of horrors. Worse than anything you have faced here. At first, the nations and tribes… they were fools,” he spat, and a deep and threatening growl underscored his words. “Blinded by petty squabbles and centuries of arrogance and grudges, they saw the invaders not for the threat they were, but as new pieces for their foolish games. Tribes used the monsters to settle old scores, raiding each other’s lands and doing the Hive Mind’s work for it.”

“So not much different than our world, huh?” I said and sighed heavily.

He stopped, turning his burning orange eyes on me.

“I am a king, Ash.No. I was a king.” He scoffed the words,air bursting from his nostrils. “I summoned them all and called for a confederation under my kingdom. I warned them that divided we would be devoured. Some laughed while others plotted. They called me a fearmonger, an opportunist seeking to expand my own kingdom. I couldn’t convince them, and despite handing out blueprints for our most potent weapons, they were picked off one by one. In the end, only my kingdom remained. I—no, we resisted for as long as we could, but it was futile. The tide had grown too great. In the end, my kingdom fell despite all the incredibly powerful barriers spread throughout my kingdom, Ash. Protection unlike anything you’ve ever seen or dreamed. Even the hive mind couldn’t crack it.”

“Until they did, huh?” I said, my voice showing the sadness I felt.

“Yes. Until they did.”

The pain in his voice was a raw, physical thing, and I knew it all too well. I felt a familiar, phantom ache in my own chest, a shadow of the rage that had fueled Roq since I’d first held him. It explained so much, and hell, it even justified some of it.

“I am so sorry,” Eryn said.

“What did Hive Mind do next?” Knut asked. “Why come here? How to defeat?”

“The Hive Mind that defeated my world is not the same one who ended it all,” Roq continued. “Those who broke my world were even stronger. Greater in any way imaginable, both in size and in power. The one who captured me was one just like we face here. A lesser hive mind. Young and inexperienced for a hive mind. It used brute force where its betters would have used strategy. All it knew was throwing overwhelming numbers at us, but this one…it is learning. That is its job. To learn and grow while defeating humanity, before adding you to its mass.”

“But what is it?” Nabeeh asked. “You speak of it as if it’s a single entity, but also as if there are many.”

“It is both,” Roq said, turning his gaze on her. “Think of it not as an entity, but as an empire. There is a hierarchy, a network of minds, all connected, all serving the whole.”

He held up a bladed hand, extending one claw.

“At the apex is a Central Hive Mind, the first, or the Emperor. It is ancient, powerful, and vast beyond comprehension. I know little of it because the Branchway hive mind knew little. It thinks of the Emperor as a god. To catch its attention is to invite doom, even for a hive mind like we face here. The central hive mind rarely involves itself in the affairs of a single world. Its commands are whispers that shape the course of many galaxies.”

A shiver ran down my back as he paused. What the hell were we even doing trying to stop an enemy that was figuratively infinite? Yet what should we do? Give up? Let them kill all our loved ones? No, that wasn’t going to happen.

“How can we hope to face, let alone overcome, something like that?” Eryn whispered.

Roq ignored her, extending a second claw.

“Beneath it are Hive Minds like…your governors. Think of them as kings. They oversee one or more planets, with thousands of rifts, commanding wars on hundreds of fronts. One such Hive Mind defeated my kingdom.”

A third claw emerged.

“At the bottom are the Local Hive Minds, the Generals. The Edwins and Harolds. Brute instruments of conquest, controlling specific regions. The Branchway Hive Mind is one of these. A general. A young one, eager for advancement but lacking power and understanding. He is changing, though, that much is clear.”

“So the one we faced in the dungeon--” I began.

“Is a child playing war games,” Roq finished. “A dangerous child, but a child nonetheless, left here to grow stronger while the greater hive minds are fighting stronger worlds elsewhere.”

“What do you mean?” Pa asked.

“Why have the monsters not simply crushed Noros under their claws?”

“They wage war across many planets at once,” Knut said, repeating his past theory.

“Correct,” Roq said. “Humanity is not worth the effort to defeat, because you pose no danger. Or at least, we are far less of a threat than whoever else the hive minds are fighting right now.”

“So the Guild is right,” Eryn murmured. “If we push back too hard, we’ll die. This really is a balanced game of chess.”

“Wrong!” Roq boomed. “If you do not strike now, you will be crushed!” “But you just said they’d destroy us if we become problematic,” I argued, the contradiction jarring.

“True,” Roq conceded. “But if we slay enough of them, grow strong and fast enough, we can kill the local minds before their king can respond. Their attention is divided and very weak like a brood mother taking care of fifty offspring at the same time. She can not be there for all fifty of them at once.”“You make it sound like they’ve conquered hundreds of worlds,” Nabeeh said, her voice hushed. “How realistic is a possible win even?”

“Not hundreds, but thousands,” Roq corrected, the word falling like a stone into a deep well and a heavy silence fell over our group.

Thousands of worlds, now that was quite something. Hell, even dozens of worlds would have been a threat we probably didn’t stand a chance against, but thousands? They had the numbers, the power, and the knowledge.

What did we have?

We weren’t even united on our own planet.

“Then what hope do we have?” Eryn asked, voicing the thought that gripped us all.

“You have something unique,” Roq said. “Something I have never seen or heard in all the Branchway Hive Mind’s memories. Something about Noros crystallises the energy of the monsters. Mind Gems, class gems, and soul gems. You sap the enemy’s very strength and turn it into your own. The king overseeing the attack on humanity doesn’t seem to understand that significance. It sees you as weak, and so it allows you to live. You have the chance to become the weapon of its demise and possibly even save your world.”

“Why?” I asked. “Why would it be so blind?”

“Because you are weak,” Roq stated flatly. “I only said there is something unique about you, not that you were strong. In my true form, I could slay every soul in Dawnwatch with… a sneeze.”

“So this king hive mind could know exactly how powerful we can become, but even that isn’t enough to make us into a priority,” Nabeeh pointed out. “You’re not being very very motivating, Roq. By the scorched sand, from what you are telling us, there might be even worse things than the hive mind out there if it is struggling!”

“I am not trying to be motivating,” Roq said. “I am giving you the truth. The truth is this. The Hive Minds themselves are not physically powerful. Their might comes from their knowledge and ability to command legions. They can possess their minions, take direct control for brief periods, and make them do their bidding. But the process is flawed. Weaker monsters cannot survive it, and their brains burn out when the hive mind retreats. Stronger beings, like myself and like Arclight,” he murmured, voice barely audible as he glanced at the bow on Eryn’s back. “We can fight it. We retain a sliver of self, a fragment of free will.”

“Wait, Roq. Why don’t we start at the very beginning. What is a Hive Mind?” Pa asked.

Roq paused, a low growl building in his chest.

“A Hive Mind is born by taking a thousand conquered foes, from as many worlds as possible, and crushing their souls into a single, disgusting mass of consciousness. Then it is set free to wage war upon a world like Noros, to learn and grow.”

I raised a hand to stop him for a moment.

“Why weren’t you in the tree thingy then?” I asked. “How come they didn’t use you to become a Hive Mind?”

“I am not so easily contained,” he said with a hint of pride. “The souls who rebel, who fight against the collective’s will… they are not destroyed but  rather reforged. Twisted and made into something more powerful. Something like me.”

“We need to convince the guild to go on the offense,” Eryn said.

“They won’t,” Nabeeh said. “You heard their stance, and they’ll double down even more after hearing what we have to say.”

“What? Why not?” Eryn asked.

“Think about it,” Nabeeh said. “What Roq just told us? Central Command already knows all of that. Or, even if they don’t know every detail, they know enough. They must.”

“How do you figure?” Ma asked.

“Riftrot,” I said and touched my forehead. “You’re right. The guild also has soul weapons. There’s no way we’re the first people to talk to someone from a conquered world.”

“Roq not first weapon to break through,” Knut said, nodding. “We know that much. From many level 60 adventurers.”

“Exactly, Knut. Some of the weapons must be like Roq,” I said. “They must have regained their memories and know what the hive mind is. That’s why they are so focused on maintaining the status quo. They know, but then they also have to realize that the defenders usually end up losing in the end if nothing but by attrition. We don’t mature in mere days like monsters do.”

“Cowards,” Roq snarled. “Their soul weapons must be forged from lesser beings, cowed into submission, and—oh, no.”

“Uh oh?” I said, just as I winced, a hollow feeling filling my core.

Black smoke burst forth to cover Roq. Just as before, he had been burning my mana to stay in his living form.

A relief flooded through me, though it was tinged with shame at the thought.

We are still linked.

I hadn’t lost my status as a soul weapon wielder. No, this has made us both stronger, just like it should, but it has also done something else: given Roq at least a bit of freedom.

I strode into the odorless smoke and lifted Roq from where he rested in the shape of a gorgeous, two-handed warhammer with a fantastical spike and beautiful runes etched into him, head down and haft up.

“Riftrot,” Roq said, his voice laced with frustration. “I had hoped to be free of this dependency.”

“I know.”

“Roq?” Pa said.

I looked at him, eyebrows raised.

“Yes?”

“Can you say something?” Pa said.

“Something.”

“He did,” I said.

“Oh,” Pa said. “I can’t hear him anymore.”

“Me neither,” Ma added. “Too bad, I have to say. I liked talking to him. He is very mature.”

“Mature,” I said, but then thought the better of it. “He is, huh? The breakthrough must have done more than just power him up, it has brought out a part of his old personality. Or so I think?”

“Bring me to the smith,” Roq commanded.

“Excuse you?”

“You heard me.”

“What exactly are you planning to do?”

“I will not harm him. What do you take me for? A common brute?”

“Someone who has blown the hands of everyone who grasped your hilt, except Ash,” Arclight said. “I, for one, completely understand his hesitance.”

“Just do it, Ash. Trust me,” Roq said. “Hilt first, mind you.”

I did as he asked.

“Roq wants you to hold him.”

“About bleeding time!” Pa said excitedly, and Ma winced at his poor choice of words as he eagerly grasped Roq by the hilt, only to wince in pain and drop him to the ground. “Ouch!” Pa hissed, rubbing the palm of his hand and smeared out a tiny bit of blood.

“You said you wouldn’t hurt him!” I yelled, snapping up Roq. “What in the cracked bells are you doing!?”

“Now,” Roq said, his voice resonating in Pa’s mind, “We can truly speak.”

“What about!?” I said. “You don’t—”

“Ohh! This is great!” Pa said, regaining his excitement. “Hey, Roq, could have given us a warning!”

“Hi…umm…Pa.”

My eyes went wide and I gaped at Pa.

“You can really hear him?”

“Yes!” Pa said enthusiastically. “Clear as day!”

“Now, the Matron.”

“He wants to do the same with you,” Pa told Ma.

“Oh, goodie,” she said, reaching for my hammer.

I pulled him away.

“Whoa! This is happening way too fast! What exactly are you doing to my family, Roq?”

“I’m embedding them with a little shard of myself that will allow us to communicate.”

“You what?” I asked.

“With my breakthrough, I realised this is why we can hear each other, both you and I, and Arclight. So I put a tiny fragment into Pa’s hand, and now he can hear me.”

“Go ahead, Helena,” Pa said. “You should hear this. It’s brilliant!”

“Oh, no,” I said, knowing we were all about to suffer from his poor choice of words.

“I always perceived you as a man of wisdom, Smith,” Roq said. “I am pleased to have it confirmed by your swift acknowledgement of my brilliance.”

“I go next?” Knut asked.

“No. The Matron, then Eryn, then the Shield-Bearer, and finally, the Desert Flame.”

I sighed, giving up. Having the others be able to hear him talk would be considerably easier than having to relay parts of our conversations.

One by one, Roq pierced their skin and embedded a tiny bit of himself in them, and right in the order he had dictated.

Arclight protested about him marking Eryn, her wielder, but Eryn insisted, wanting to ensure she could hear Roq even when she had Arclight stored.

“Congratulations,” Roq announced. “You are now bonded to the most superior consciousness on this world—mine! Your lives will never be the same.”

“Is it too late to change my mind?” Nabeeh asked, and I could hear that she was only half joking.

“This will drive your pack nuts,” Arclight said to Eryn.

“Whoa!” Knut said. “Who’s that?”

“You can perceive the bow’s thoughts as well?” Roq asked, a hint of surprise in his mental tone.

“Yes!” Ma said. “What a wonderful voice you have, you beautiful bow.”

“I do, don’t I?” Arclight said, letting out a proud purr. “Especially compared to the stone on a now longer stick:”

Knut and Nabeeh laughed.

“I do now see why you are all so fond of the matron,” Arclight added.

“Silence, you glorified kindling,” Roq commanded. “We have matters of true import to discuss, not listen to your mewling!”

“Starting with finding out what else changed with your breakthrough,” I said, bringing up Roq’s stats. “Let’s see if the investment was worth it, buddy.”