Healer Book 5 -- Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Fer’la’vina opened her eyes in confusion, even as she continued to bleed out from the horrific damage she’d already taken.  Her Physicality was high enough that she could already feel her body repairing itself and slowing down her Health loss, which convinced her that she would survive if she wasn’t hit again in the next minute or so. 

But that begged the question of why she wasn’t dead.  Her open eyes immediately landed upon the piles of dead Dramolga creating a veritable wall of flesh surrounding her last stand against the Level 500 monsters, many more than she or her Party had achieved despite their best efforts, and her confusion only heightened from there.  As the realization that she wasn’t dead yet and might actually survive filtered into her mind, her awareness of everything around the area she knelt in snapped back into place, causing her head to whip to the side and above her position as she detected the odd concentration of Adversarial energy she’d noticed earlier.

She immediately locked eyes with the Human Contender named Thaden that she and the other Wardens had been tasked to find, and her hands instinctively grasped at her knives that she’d let drop to her sides earlier as the futility of fighting had overcome her at the end. 

“There’s really no need of those,” the smooth voice of the Contender said, his ridiculous outfit looking even worse up close, as he stabilized himself approximately 20 feet above the ground on the wall of corpses surrounding her.  “After all, if I wanted you dead, I wouldn’t have run back here to save you.”  He said it dispassionately, but she knew that he meant it; if he wished her harm, he could’ve done nothing and let her die.  The question on her mind was, of course, why?

Despite being a Warden, one of the most powerful people in the developmental world of Tarth, she felt extremely intimidated by this individual.  As such, she didn’t make any threatening moves, as she simply let her hands rest on her weapons’ handles.  What made the whole situation even worse was that he wasn’t looking at her anymore, as if she was unimportant; he was staring toward the tower in the distance instead, and she had the distinct feeling that he was annoyed for some reason.

“I’m glad to see that you can understand me,” he said as he turned back to her.  “The last time I met an Aelveen, we had some issues with communication.”

Of course I understand him; as soon as I entered the region, the translators immediately kicked in to convert our speech to Charee.

As she felt her wounds begin to knit back together and her Health Regeneration officially kick in, she cautiously stood up.  His eyes narrowed as she lifted her knives up slowly, before sheathing them behind her back; the action seemed to make him relax slightly.

Being this close to the Contender made her realize just how powerful he was, as she could practically feel the strength pulsing out of him, threatening to overwhelm her.  Most people on Tarth, including other Contenders, couldn’t normally feel this kind of power, but as a Warden she was granted such an ability; it was normally very beneficial, as it allowed Wardens to assess threats and act accordingly, but this was almost too much for her to bear.

“We only have about a minute or so before the next chunk of the Dramolga army arrives, and I have some quick questions for you,” Thaden said abruptly, jumping down next to her while looking up into her eyes.  She was taller than him by nearly 2 feet, but despite the height difference, she felt somehow smaller; it wasn’t a great feeling, and she struggled to push past it, as it wasn’t something she’d felt in a long, long time – at least since she’d become a Warden.  “How you answer will dictate whether I decide to help you again,” he further stated.

His attitude spurred a bit of righteous indignation in her, because as a Warden of Tarth, appointed by the very Assimilation System that brought him there, she thought she should be afforded at least a modicum of respect.  It was probably not the right time for such a protest, considering that she was pretty much at the mercy of the Dramolga if he decided to abandon her, but she couldn’t help herself.  “You can’t talk to me that way—”

He cut her off with a hand he held up on front of him.  “I apologize if I come across a bit rude, but, frankly, I don’t trust you.  You’re the one that entered my dungeon, after all, and inserted yourselves into my Party – without my permission, I might add.”

“That’s because—”

“We don’t have time for this,” he said, again cutting her off.  “Now, will you answer my questions truthfully?”

Without really any other choice, it only took her a second before she nodded. 

“Good.  First, my companion here says that you were likely sent by the System.  Who are you, exactly?”

While she wasn’t supposed to share who she was with Contenders, as Wardens weren’t supposed to interact with them in more than a disciplinary context, there was technically no rule against it.  “I’m a Warden of Tarth.”

“A Warden?” he asked her with a frown, before looking past her, where she had detected the giant squirrel companion leaping down behind her a few seconds ago.  “Like someone in charge of running a prison?”

She had no idea what he was talking about, as she shook her head.  “No, I don’t know what you mean by that.  Our primary duties include protecting Tarth and ensuring that the Contenders don’t get out of hand once they manage to reach Developmental Phase 4.”  That was about all she was allowed to say about her duties, as there was a rule about sharing that kind of advanced information.

“Phase 4,” he mused for a moment.  “So, you’re from beyond The Citadel?”

Shocked, Fer literally couldn’t say anything.  Fortunately, he seemed to sense this, as he changed his question.

“I’m going to assume that’s a yes, but you can’t talk about it.  Then, what are you doing here?  My companion says that you were likely sent by the System to eliminate these Adversarial monsters popping up everywhere.  Is that true?”

 She nodded.  “Yes.”  She didn’t volunteer any additional information about her Quest in the Region.

“Then why are you following me?” he demanded, stepping toward her along with his question.

She took an involuntary step back as he got closer, and for the first time, she glanced up at his nametag.  Level 450?  There’s no way that’s correct.  It must be some sort of item messing with what’s displayed.

Before she could answer, a voice coming from behind startled her.  “Oh, wow; she’s afraid of you, Thaden.  I’m guessing the System finally put out a Quest for the Wardens to track you down.”  With a quick hop, the squirrel landed next to the Contender and faced toward Fer.  “Was it to be an evaluation and then the potential for elimination, or was it straight-up elimination?” the female voice of Thaden’s companion asked curtly.

She was reluctant to answer, but it seemed as though this squirrel had already put together what was going on; because of that, she decided to be truthful.  “Locate and evaluate.  If was determined…” she trailed off, as she realized that didn’t want to finish.

“…that Thaden was an agent of the Adversary, you were to eliminate him.  Was that it?”

She didn’t respond with words or any movements, but the squirrel nodded anyway. 

Strangely, the chuckle full of amusement coming from Thaden was almost more unnerving than anything she’d seen him do up to that point.  “Here I thought that you were some sort of magical hit squad that the System sent out to kill me… and it turns out that I was right.  Unfortunately for any bloodthirsty desire you might have to end my life, you’ve got the wrong guy.  I’m not in anyone’s or anything’s employ; I’m what you would call a free agent, I suppose.”

The skepticism on her face must’ve shown, because the squirrel interrupted Fer before she could say anything.  “She doesn’t believe you.  You’re entirely too freaky for her to comprehend and she’d already made up her mind.”  The squirrel looked her in the eye, its expression quite serious.  “What is it you sense when you look at Thaden?”

The question took her aback; it was so unexpected that she automatically responded.  “There’s an abnormally dense concentration of Adversarial energy within him.  It’s… different from what I feel coming from this dungeon, but its presence is still quite clear.  That, more than anything else, is why I believe he’s working for the Adversary.”

Thaden appeared more thoughtful than angry at her words, as he glanced over at the squirrel.  “Hmm… I wonder if that’s what these monsters keep detecting in me, too?  It would make a lot of sense why they keep confusing me for one of their own, I guess.”

…huh?

“Yes, that’s very likely the reason.  I can’t detect it because I’m intrinsically a part of you, so knowing that there’s something in you that they’re reacting to might help you connect better with your next conversation.”

Conversation?  Wait…  “You’re talking to these entities?!” she practically screeched, her shock overcoming her fear at the Contender’s sheer presence. 

Thaden shrugged.  “Not exactly.  They speak into my mind, like telepathically or something like that, so it’s more like I’m talking at them.  What’s weird is that they keep believing I’m one of them for a short time, but when they discover that they’re mistaken, they tend to get violent.”

He’s communicating with them?  That shouldn’t be possible… unless he’s an agent of the Adversary, of course.  But why does he say he isn’t one?  Is he trying to trick me?  What would be the point?  As loathe as I want to admit it to myself, he has all the power here; he could’ve just let me die, after all.

 “But that’s not exactly here nor there,” the Contender went on while she was momentarily lost in her thoughts.  “The most important questions I have for you are next.”  He paused for a second before continuing.  “What are you going to do if you end up getting out of here alive?  Are you going to continue following me?  And finally, if you decide I’m a threat – even though I’m not – are you going to try and kill me?”

It all came down to this.  She had a feeling that if she lied, something that she had difficulty doing as a Warden and agent of the System, he would immediately abandon her to her fate here in the dungeon.  Having already lived longer than she expected, she figured that she might as well tell the truth.

“If I end up surviving, I will have to track you down and follow you.  The Quest given to me by the System won’t let me do anything else to complete it.  And if I feel it is necessary, I will try to kill you to eliminate the threat you pose to the world of Tarth.”  Fer felt some pressure on her while she spoke, as she was skirting close to things she wasn’t supposed to reveal, but thankfully she was able to get out what she needed.

He stood looking at her for a few seconds, causing the Warden to twitch in nervousness.  While she couldn’t see past the wall of stacked up bodies around her, she could only assume that the next wave of the Dramolga army was nearly about to attack.

“Wow.  So, I’m the target of a Quest now?” he said abruptly with a short chuckle.  “One last follow-up question, then.  What would it take to convince you that I’m not a threat?”

Fer’la’vina froze at the question, as she was unsure how to answer it.  She had gone into the quest already half-convinced that they would find this Contender to be a threat to the System, so she had been looking for ways to confirm that.  However, now that she thought about it, she wasn’t exactly sure what it would take for her opinion to be changed.

“Well, I suppose that there would have to be incontrovertible proof that you aren’t an agent of the Adversary.”

“What exactly would count as proof?”

Hmm… the only thing I can think of is… “You would have to help eliminate all of the Adversarial entities trying to infiltrate Tarth.  Only when there is no longer a threat of the Adversary coming through would I consider taking that as proof that you aren’t secretly working for the enemy.”

“Oh.  Just that, huh?  That’s not a big ask or anything, right?  ‘Please, just save the world and I might consider that you’re not all bad.  Shouldn’t I be innocent until proven guilty?  This feels like the complete opposite of that.”

Fer could see where he was coming from, but she couldn’t really think of any other way to prove that he wasn’t working for the Adversary.  Everything she’d heard coming from him had only solidified her belief that there was something unbelievably wrong with him; whether or not it was due to him working for the enemy would only be known in time.  That was, of course, if she lived long enough to discover that evidence.

“I can only assume that if you fail in your Quest, the System will simply send more of you?”  She immediately knew what he wasn’t saying out loud.  If he allowed her to die to the monsters in this dungeon, would the System send more Wardens to track him down?  While she wasn’t absolutely sure, since there was a finite number of them, it wouldn’t surprise her to learn that this Quest would become even more of a priority if a trio of Wardens inexplicably died in their hunt for the mysterious Contender.

“I don’t know for sure, but that is most likely the case.”

She could see him thinking at that point, but Fer was twitching in preparation of the Dramolga arriving at any second, as she kept glancing around with her awareness in order to detect any Voidwalkers trying to ambush her.

“So, my only real choices are to let you die, which will probably just piss the System off so that they send more of you, or to let you live, and you’ll simply make a nuisance of yourself following me around and probably trying to kill me while you’re at it.”  He sighed, quite dramatically, in fact, before shaking his head.  “How about choice #3.  I bring you with me, let you see that I’m not a threat by helping to eliminate these annoying infiltrators, and then you can leave me alone to do my own thing.  Do you think you can restrain yourself long enough to hold off trying to kill me, especially when I’m actively trying to help you?”

She had to think about that for a few seconds before she answered, despite the danger breathing down her neck.  Could I be impartial while he tries to prove his innocence?  She didn’t know for sure; what she did know was that if she didn’t agree to at least try, then it wouldn’t matter since she’d likely be dead.  “I will do my best to refrain from attacking you; but if you do something that irrefutably proves that you’re working for the Adversary, then I will do my utmost to take you down.”

With a rather nonchalant shrug, Thaden said, “Fair enough.  What about your fellow Wardens?  Do you think they will be able to ‘refrain from attacking’ me?”

“What?” she asked, thinking he was talking about the Wardens back in the Stronghold, but then it finally occurred to her that he was a Support Class.  With the waves of power he unconsciously gave off, it was difficult to reconcile his Class with what she could feel coming from him.  “You mean…”

“Of course.  I’d be a pretty crappy person if I just let them die permanently like this.”

Relieved that she wouldn’t be alone with the Contender anymore, she reluctantly held up a hand for him to stop.  “You should probably wait until all of the Dramolga are gone, otherwise there’ll be a risk of them dying again.”

He waved away her concern.  “Oh, don’t worry about that.  They’re already dead; the way is clear all the way to the tower.”  He smirked at her, before turning away toward the remains of Lyn’ar’deia.  “Hey, that name seems familiar…”

Anger boiled up as she realized she had been tricked: There wasn’t a looming threat of a Dramolgan army ready to sweep down on her at any moment.  He had simply pretended that it existed so that he could get her to answer his questions.

Balling up her fists, she nearly attacked him, but she remembered her promise not to attack him.  Taking a few deep breaths while she closed her eyes, she opened them again to see the giant squirrel right in front of her, having moved so silently that she hadn’t heard them.  “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it.  He’d not at all a bad person, but he’s not as good around people as I wish he’d be.  The fact that you look like a lecherous artist’s rendition of an impossibly attractive elf, despite being covered all over in different shades of blood, doesn’t help matters.”  The squirrel reached up and patted her on the shoulder, nearly causing the Warden to flinch.  “Don’t worry, I’ll help take care of you.  Everything is going to be alright.”

What in the name of the System have I gotten myself into now?

Chapter 19: https://www.patreon.com/posts/120345207