CHAPTERS 13 AND 14!

It was my bday!  Thank you to everyone that sent me well wishes :)

To share the love with my awesome patrons here are TWO chapters lol

**********************************************************

CHAPTER 13 – Day 141 – Kuborn 31, 0 AoC

Randolphus, as he begged Richter to call him, continued explaining the spells he’d bequeathed. The chamberlain made it clear that he didn’t want his liege to use his real name and for the thousandth time protested being called Randy. Weak Purify Drink and Weak Swift Swim were obvious and did just what they sounded like. Weak Water Damage gave Richter cause for concern though. 

“My weapons are already enchanted,” the chaos seed protested. “Aren’t I risking a dangerous mixing of magics if I add Water damage to a blade that already has magical damage?”

“It is true that there is some risk, but not with the quality of weapons you use, my lord.”

“I didn’t think quality mattered for melding magics,” Richter replied.

“Where did you hear that?”

“From the sprites. Lady Hisako stressed it to me long ago.”

“Ahhh,” Randolphus commented, nodding in understanding. “We are truly fortunate to have the wood sprites as allies, my lord.” He paused to choose his words carefully, “It is always important to cherish the strengths of one’s allies, but it is equally important to recognize their weaknesses.”

Richter fixed him with a direct look, “Don’t dance with your hand on my ass man, just make your move.”

After a short pause and a disapproving look, which was more than a bit comical on Randy’s inhuman fish face, he replied, “Colorful as always, my lord. What I am trying to say is that while the magic of the sprites is powerful, it is raw. Also, while Lady Hisako is clearly well read, most of her people know nothing of science. While it is true that magics should not be mixed without care, it is entirely possible. Greater control of your Water magic will be something we cover as I teach you. There is more to being an aquamancer than just killing with ice and finding water. For now, I can assure you that between the quality of the blades you wield and the particular metals they are created from, there will be no problem with you using this novice level spell even though your weapons are already enchanted.”

Richter gave him a slightly questioning gaze, and Randolphus laughed, “Doubting my knowledge already? Remember my third condition.” The chaos seed’s look turned slightly abashed. He had agreed to heed the aquamancer’s expertise. The chamberlain was only teasing however, “I believe that a questioning mind is the best way to learn. This is good, but in this case just trust me, my lord. While curiosity can be a boon to learning, trust is essential for me to teach you. Do you agree?” 

Richter nodded, “I will trust you… evil Spy,” he finished with a grin.

“Hmpf. Thank you, my chaotic liege. These spells I taught you today are only the first step in your education. One day you will be able to benefit from them without even casting. Your inherent magic will allow you to do these things. In a very short amount of time, you will become an initiate of Water Magic, and I shall teach you the secret rank bonus.”

Secret rank bonus? How many bombshells was this guy going to drop? It wasn’t surprising that a man like Randolphus would know many things, but secret rank bonuses? Richter had always thought it was strange that the rank bonus of his magic skills only gave a bump to spell strength and resistance. Becoming an initiate in Archery let him recover some of his magical arrows after firing them, for instance. Initiate rank in Light armor gave a 20% boost to Defense of each piece he wore. “What is it?” Richter asked excitedly. 

Randolphus shook his head, “Even if I spoke the words, you could not understand them. Many have tried before. Even writing the words down does not work. People have read them again and again without comprehension. For some, once you reach the appropriate rank, the words may suddenly click. For others, despite years of meditation, instruction and prompting, they never understand the truth of their skill and so the secret bonuses elude them. I do not believe that will be the case with you, however, my lord.”

“Why not?” Richter asked.

Randolphus shrugged, “You’re stubborn to a fault and luckier than a boy in a whorehouse made of candy.”

Richter raised an eyebrow in respect. He kinda liked this new Rogue Randy. “Are there secret rank bonuses for every skill?”

“I do not know,” Randolphus admitted. “I am sure that there are secret bonuses for skills dealing with the other Basic Elements. It is one of the strengths of the royal family of Yves. They long ago discovered all six hidden rank bonuses for the magic skills they excel in; Water, Fire, Earth and Air. I personally have also discovered secret bonuses for several ranks of Stealth.”

“I’m an initiate in Stealth,” Richter said excitedly. “Can you teach me the secret bonus?” Everything else fell away and the old excitement of leveling and gaining more power rose up inside of him.

“We can start,” Randolphus acceded, “but again, it may take time.” Richter waved away the man’s warning and spun his hand in rapid circles to get the man started. The chamberlain just managed to forestall an eyeroll and he did as he was bid. Randolphus began to speak, but not merely in words. Images appeared in Richter’s mind, a bug walking across water, a black silk scarf sliding over black marble, a man reaching out from a darkened alley, ready to choke the life from an unsuspecting woman. 

Richter tried to hold on to his chamberlain’s exact words, but they faded like smoke in the night. Randolphus stopped speaking and looked at him for a moment, before saying, “You do not truly understand Stealth yet, my lord. Do not be frustrated. You will.”

“Wait,” Richter protested. “Just tell me again.”

“Patience, my lord,” Randolphus told him softly. “You will understand soon, but you are not yet ready. Trust me.”

Richter didn’t want to wait, but he’d already misdoubted Randy once. Also, a truth he had learned long ago was that few things were messed up by taking his time, but many things were ruined by moving too quickly. Besides, he had another question. 

“Okay. That aside, I still don’t fully understand the differences between the Dungeon and the Labyrinth.”

“A common confusion, milord. The Labyrinth is an entire world. No one knows how large it is or if it even ends. What is known, is that it is a source of great treasure and great danger.” His voice took on the sing-song of recitation again, “‘The Labyrinth hides death and power around the same corner.’ Each Dungeon is part of the Labyrinth, but your Dungeon won’t provide entrance to the Labyrinth until it reaches level ten.”

“So…” Richter started thinking about the ramifications.

“Adventurers will be coming, my lord.”

“Because of the beam that shot into the sky?” Richter asked. “That only lasted for a moment.”

Randolphus shook his head. “You may have some Adventurers try to come overland to find you, but they would have almost no success unless they were already nearby. An unlikely proposition as we are so far removed from civilization. Even if that were to happen however, the mists should still protect us. No, milord, the danger comes not from without, but within. You are the actual Master of the Dungeon, correct?”

The chaos seed nodded and Randolphus continued, “That is good. No Adventurers will be able to leave the Dungeon without your consent, but this will not last forever. Your Dungeon has just been born and so it is level one. It will be safe from them until it is level ten, but after that it will be vulnerable.” Richer nodded for him to continue. 

“You Dungeon can be destroyed,” Randolphus stated simply. Richter’s jaw clenched at the thought of someone coming into his house and trying to cause problems. He was almost tempted to make a ‘chest beating’ pronouncement, but Randolphus continued. “If the Harbinger is slain, and the Item of Power is found and removed from the Dungeon, the entrance here will disappear. Everything the Dungeon was will just become part of the Labyrinth. Even if we dug deep into the earth, we would not find a way back in.”

“How do we stop that from happening?”

“Make your Dungeon as powerful as you can, as quickly as you can. Do not let me overly alarm you. Most Adventurers only want to claim loot and leave. Harvesting a Dungeon’s Item of Power, something that can only occur if the Dungeon Harbinger is given the true death, is a massive undertaking that few would risk. There are those who seek to amass Items of Power, however. Though their numbers are few, they are extremely powerful.”

“Okay so we need to watch out for those a-holes and make the Dungeon stronger. How do we do that?”

“The same way you make any monster stronger,” the Spy replied. “You feed it.”

“I’m not going to send innocent people into that thing to die,” Richter said firmly and with a touch of anger. Was this Randolphus’ evil nature shining through?

“I would never suggest that, my lord,” Randolphus promised him. “Honestly, I knew that you would find that idea abhorrent, but it is still good to see your reaction.” The Spy’s eyes grew hooded, “I have served others who were not bothered by such atrocities.” He shook his head. “Though we will not condemn innocents to death, it does not change the fact that one of the best ways to grow the Dungeon is to feed it. A steady of diet of Adventurers will give it the energy it needs. There are multiple ways to accomplish this, but we can discuss them at a later date.”

“Thankfully,” Randolphus continued, “it is not only people that can feed the Dungeon. It should generate a small amount of power each day in the form of Dungeon Points, and monsters can also feed it. This you must also know: just because Adventurers cannot currently enter the Dungeon from the Labyrinth does not mean that high level monsters of the Labyrinth are under the same restriction. Dungeons are concentrated magic. They will make the density of magical power grow in the areas surrounding them, but they will also concentrate that magic in themselves. That focused power will draw other monsters from the Labyrinth into your Dungeon. It could happen at any time. With your Dungeon being so young, it is unlikely that we will attract high level monsters at this point but it is possible.”

“Okay, so what’s the problem with that though?” Richter asked. “Obviously, if we’re in there when it happens it will be dangerous, but otherwise it’s just monsters killing monsters. Either way, we get the energy and the Dungeon grows, right?”

“That is true,” Randolphus conceded, “but you are not thinking about the infrastructure of the Dungeon. Over time Rooms will develop that provide useful and valuable additions to the Dungeon. Traps will be laid, and resources will be developed that can be harvested to boost village growth. All of these things are just expressions of concentrated magic however, at least until they are taken out of the Dungeon. A truly high level monster from the Labyrinth could kill every Dungeon monster, including the Harbinger.  It could consume all loot and chests, destroy any Rooms, and then absorb ambient magic from the Dungeon and the Item of Power. There are tales of Labyrinth monsters absorbing every ounce of accumulated energy from a Dungeon. It does not kill the Dungeon, but such a monster could take so much that the Dungeon is forced to start over at level one.”

“Okay,” Richter said, “that’s bad too. Got it, but you still haven’t answered my original question. What is the Labyrinth?” There was more than a touch of exasperation in his voice. He hated not knowing things, and he hated even more being shown the complete depth of his lack of knowledge. He’d always heard about how there was no shame in ignorance, only in willful ignorance that does not seek to correct itself. Richter had always thought that people who said things like that could eat a dick. 

The chamberlain saw his lord’s irritation and tried again to explain. “Every Dungeon ever created adds to the Labyrinth. They are entrances and exits from this world to that world. There are unfathomably large areas that comprise the Labyrinth that are not Dungeons, but they operate in much the same way. The Labyrinth contains every terrain and situation you can imagine. To even begin to understand however, you must also add in every dream and nightmare that anyone has ever had, and then add in the wildest thoughts of every child that has not yet been born and that will never be born.” Randolphus suppressed a small chuckle at seeing Richter’s irritation grow. He’d had a similar reaction nearly a hundred years ago when a mentor had said something similarly nonsensical to him. Though the chamberlain believed in propriety, he was not above having a little secret fun at his lord’s expense.

With a straight face, Randolphus continued, “I know that may be difficult to conceptualise, my lord, but that is by design. There are areas of the Labyrinth that would assault your sanity just from one brief glimpse of them. I have seen and done things that would make some run from me in horror, yet even I am sometimes plagued by memories of what the Labyrinth holds. Add in then whatever terrors might fuel your worst nightmares and you will perhaps have the barest inkling of what you might meet in the Labyrinth. It operates independently of space and sometimes even time. Entering the Labyrinth from this location, you might find another Dungeon that lets out on the other side of the planet though you have only traveled a mile. You cannot even be sure that taking the same path in the Labyrinth will always lead you to the same place. The only sure way to return somewhere are the Nodes. Otherwise, you will be trapped in a nightmare that makes demons piss their cloven hooves.” The Spy shivered. That involuntary reaction, even more than his rare breach of decorum, sold to Richter what Randy was trying to impart. The Labyrinth was not to be trifled with. 

It was quiet between the two men for a moment, until Richter asked, “The black spike outside of the Dungeon?” 

“It is a Node, my lord.”

“Then why did a prompt I received about the Dungeon call it a ‘transport sphere,’ dolphin-head?”

Randolphus blinked, before responding with just a touch of heat, “If you were a dwarf it would have been called a ‘bogadh s’fein’ and if you were a gnome it would have been ‘kiniso kar’. There are tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of languages in The Land. Do you not think that terminology might change based on the language used?”

He’s digging at me for calling him dolphin-head, Richter thought, hiding a smile. He liked someone that could push back if shoved. 

“And of course,” the chamberlain continued dismissively, “prompts are not actually based on language.” When he saw Richter’s confused look, his own eyes widened in shock. “You do not think that people are actually reading prompts, do you my lord?”

“What else would they be doing?” Richter asked with genuine confusion.

“Prompts are a law of nature, of the very cosmos,” Randolphus said slowly as if speaking to a moron. “They reflect our connection to the Universe itself. Do you think that only those who are literate can understand their prompts? That everyone else just has boxes that appear in their vision that they can never understand? You do know that most of the population of Yves is illiterate, correct, my lord?”

Richter was not quite meeting his chamberlain’s gaze at this point. There was another moment of silence between the two of them. Randolphus opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it with a small pity-filled frown. He opened his mouth to speak again, but closed it a second time. Then he just blew out a breath, loud and slow. Silence reigned, until Richter couldn’t take it anymore.

“Of course I knew that!” he blustered.

“Of course you did,” the chamberlain agreed quickly, nodding like his head was about to fall off.

More silence, with both men not quite looking at each other. Richter realized he had just admitted to the equivalent of thinking the sun moved across the sky because of solar wind. Of course, everyone couldn’t read the prompts. It was a fucking feudal society! This was not easy to recover from. Still, he had to know, “For the sake of argument, just as a mental exercise you understand,” Randolphus nodded and pursed his lips in ‘sympathetic’ total agreement, “how else would someone understand their prompts if they didn’t actually read them.”

“Well, my lord,” the chamberlain started slowly. Still a bit too slowly by Richter’s estimation, but the chaos seed didn’t interrupt, “most children are taught this exercise-” He coughed harshly when he saw his liege’s glare, “As I was saying, this is an exercise that someone as wise as you should grasp easily. When you are given a prompt, I am sure you know how to minimize it to the side of your interface. For lack of a better term, you can maximize the information instead. When the prompt comes, let the information wash over you. Your deep mind will register the knowledge at a fundamental level and will supply the relevant portion to your surface mind.”

Richter assumed that the man meant conscious and unconscious when he said “deep mind” and “surface mind.” Even if Randy didn’t, the chaos seed would be damned before he asked another question until he tried to figure this out himself. The only question was, “How do I test it?” He didn’t have any prompts waiting at the moment.

“The easiest way to summon a prompt immediately is to take a small amount of damage,” Randolphus supplied.

“Can this technique work in combat too?” Richter said with enthusiasm, his chagrin quickly replaced with excitement. The possibility of being able to register his combat log in a way that wasn’t distracting was enough to make him forget his earlier embarrassment.

“Yes, my lord. What have you been doing with your combat notifications up until now?”

“I just turned them off,” Richter said reasonably. “They were distracting.”

Once again Randolphus gave him the look and Richter felt like he actually heard it this time, “Ohhh, honey…”

The short-lived, embarrassment-free moment passed and Richter flared his nostrils, “Alright, alright. Let’s do this.” 

*I need damage,* he thought to Alma. *Please bite me.*

She immediately latched onto his hand hard enough to draw a good amount of blood. 

“Yeaoow!” he shouted, yanking his hand away. He knew that he had told her to do it but…

*Not even a small protest before you maul me?* he protested.

*It is always my goal to serve you, master,* she thought to him sweetly.

His health had dropped by a small amount and continued to fall slowly as his Bleeding status took another health point every few seconds. Prompts appeared in his view, but he consciously didn’t read them. 

“Now,” Randolphus started, “if the notifications windows have reappeared, imagine them becoming even larger and closer in your view until they wash over you.”

“That’s it?” Richter asked. The chamberlain nodded, so he focused his will on the prompt. It was surprisingly easy. The translucent window grew larger and flowed easily towards him, then he just knew.

Richter bitten by Alma for 5 damage. Damage Type(s): Piercing. 

A faint smile came to his face as Alma healed him, leaving only a small bleeding effect. Richter turned his focus to the other prompt that had appeared; once again it flowed over him and he just had the information.

You are Bleeding! You will lose 1 HP every 5 seconds for the next 32 seconds.

“This is amazing!” Richter said looking at his chamberlain. A golden glow surrounded his familiar as Alma healed the bleeding. This time he didn’t hesitate. The window barely flickered into existence before flowing over him.

Richter has been healed by Alma using Weak Slow Heal for 94 Health (30 base x 50% Life Mastery x 164% Intelligence)

“Uhhh… yes, my lord. Amazing!” The fact that Randolphus was humoring him was not lost on the chaos seed. Richter was too taken with just how strong his familiar was to care though. Seeing as how he was already getting schooled he figured: why not ask another question? 

“I’ve been wondering about this for a while. What is the importance of my attributes in changing the strength of spells or combat damage? Alma has a 164% boost to her spell power, for instance.”

Randolphus blinked, “Just what is your familiar’s Intelligence?”

Richter did a quick check, “Eighty-two.”

The Spy looked at Alma with renewed respect. For her part, the dragonling strutted a little when she saw Randy’s obvious admiration. 

*Brat,* Richter thought to her.

*Hater,* she thought back, still preening.

I have got to stop teaching her these phrases, Richter thought to himself. 

“Your familiar is quite impressive, my lord. Is she also able to develop her own skills?”

“No,” Richter replied, “at least I don’t think so. Life magic is an ability for her.”

“Then I would say it is your affinity that affects her Intelligence bonus, though it would be her own attribute that determines the base.”

Richter just drummed his fingers on the table and fixed his chamberlain with a glare.

“Let me attempt to explain in a different way, my lord. As you have already found, one’s attributes can affect their ability to, in turn, affect the world. Intelligence increases spellpower, Wisdom increases spell defense, and Strength increases melee damage. Agility can also increase melee damage to a smaller extent, and in addition increases accuracy of both ranged and melee weapons. Dexterity increases ranged damage. There are countless other examples, but those are some of the most common. The bonus that a person gains from a stat varies however, based upon…” The chamberlain trailed off as something occurred to him. He looked at Richter with fresh wonder in his eyes. “I know that I have said it before, my lord, but your Limitless ability is truly powerful. I believe my earlier assessment that it might be rare or epic was too modest. It could very well be mythic or even legendary.”

“Wait for it!” Richter said with a smile, channeling NPH.

“My lord?” Randy asked, completely not following. 

“I was just saying that I’m legen… what do cows make?”

“Milk?” came the slow response a few moments later. 

“Dairy!” Richter exclaimed, delighted with himself. “Legend-dairy.” He was busting a gut at this point. 

All he got back was a deadpan stare, which was actually a bit lucky because Alma was considering biting him again just to punish him for his horrible sense of humor.

“If I may continue, my lord?” Randolphus asked.

Richter rolled his eyes at his Companion’s distinct lack of comedic appreciation. “Go ahead.”

“As I was saying, the bonus an attribute provides is based upon the skill being used and your affinity in that skill. A 50% affinity in Life magic, for example, would mean that each point of your Intelligence would increase spell power by 1%. A 100% affinity, conversely, would give a 2% increase for each point. Your familiar’s spell power seems to be affected by her own Intelligence, but your Limitless ability also means that all of your skills have a 100% affinity no matter how far you progress. That is why her Intelligence of eighty-two gives her a 164% bonus to spell power when using Life magic.”

Richter thought about this newly-revealed facet of his Limitless ability. An affinity of 100% meant not only that he could learn any skill, but that it was also much easier for him to progress in those skills. Most people lost affinity points as they progressed in their skills. That meant the next level was harder to obtain both because their natural ability had less of an effect and because higher levels were just harder to obtain. Richter didn’t have to deal with one of those handicaps as his affinity remained at 100% whether he was skill level one or one hundred. He’d been told that once an affinity had fallen to 50% it could take years to progress even one level. 

All of that had brought him great power in only six months, but now he was hearing the ability had an even greater impact than he’d known. If Randy was right, every point he invested in an attribute would make the associated skill stronger to the max amount. It didn’t change anything per se; he’d always known he wanted more attribute points. It was nice to know that he was even more of a thug than he’d thought!

After he finished patting himself on the back, Richter started thinking about what that meant for others though, “So if everyone else’s affinities will gradually decrease as they advance in level... this means that the bonus they get from their attributes will decrease as well, right?”

“Yes, my lord. You have stumbled upon why most skilled people also go out of their way to increase their personal level. More points help to defray this decreasing return. Philosophers also state that the decreased benefit from attributes is a counterbalance to the bonuses from advancing in skills. Moving from level nine to ten in Small Blades for instance will increase the damage bonus from 18% to 20%. If that person’s affinity decreased from 90% to 80% with that level increase, then the bonus from each attribute point would also decrease, from one point eight to one point six. The bonus from advancing the skill far outstrips the loss, but it is still a check on the power of a fighter. You,” Randolphus finished with a speculative tone, “do not seem to face the same limitations as every other skilled being in The Land.” He gave a faintly wry smile, again somewhat ruined by his sharp teeth, “I am glad we are on the same side, my lord.”

Richter gave a short laugh, “Me too, bud.”

Randolphus continued talking about the ‘new’ way of absorbing prompt information, “As you can see, letting the notifications flow into you is must faster than simply reading them. You could do this with every prompt you are provided, but I do not advise this. The prompts can become nothing more than random noise, and if you are distracted when one appears, you may forget the information. What I recommend is that you make your combat notifications automated. With training, your deep mind can filter what is important and what is not. Knowing what is happening in a battle may save your life one day. I further recommend that you continue to address individual prompts in your daily life. They can be minimized until you are ready, without any real danger.”

So basically, the exact opposite of what I have been doing, Richter thought. Still, it was a good point. “I’m so glad I’m finally able to talk about this stuff, man. Now my next question…”

Richter was interrupted by the sound of footsteps in the hallway outside of the room. Without even a wave of his hand, the chamberlain resumed his previous appearance. With a low and urgent voice, he cautioned his lord, “Remember, tell no one of my true nature. I will not be using my ability to cloak myself while in the village; it limits my power too much. I am using a Talent of my Specialty to look completely human. It will not limit my capabilities, but it is also not perfect as a disguise.”

“I will keep your secret,” Richter promised. “Do not break faith with me, and I will not break faith with you. Please know that you can be yourself in this village though, if you choose to be.”

Randolphus bowed his head in thanks. The guard knocked on the door and Richter bade him enter. The man was carrying Richter’s weapons and armor. A village woman followed behind with a steaming ewer of water. The woman helped him wash, and the conversation between the two Companions turned to more mundane village matters. Also important, but boring as Mormon sin. 

Once Richter was more presentable, the guard helped him don his armor. Richter didn’t like walking around the village in full gear, but the chamberlain said it was important that his people saw him as powerful, especially after a battle. Richter checked to make sure his blades were loose in their sheaths, almost a matter of reflex at this point. Then his face hardened and he spoke firmly, “Let’s go bury our dead.”
 

CHAPTER 14 – Day 141 – Kuborn 31, 0 AoC

Alma flew up to his shoulders and they all walked out of the catacombs. Futen was waiting by the cave mouth and silently started floating along beside Richter. At the bottom of the hill, Sion, Terrod and Caulder were waiting along with a contingent of guards and the meidon sprites. All clapped their hands to their chests in salute.

“I have assigned twenty guards to watch the refugees,” Terrod informed Richter. “Forty are standing watch by the grave. The rest of your forces stand beside you, my lord.”

“The meidon sprites are with you, Lord Richter,” Sion seconded loudly, and his entire squad of magic archers, more than eighty strong, straightened to attention. 

Richter was blown away. He had led his forces to victory, but it had been at a heavy cost. Families were broken in a way that could never be mended. Open revolt by his people wasn’t something he had overly worried about, but he still hadn’t been sure that his people wouldn’t be cursing his name either. Seeing such a unified show of support touched him to his core. 

It also reaffirmed his determination to lead his people to power and security. He had been doubting his decision to attack the goblin settlement since seeing the butcher’s bill, but knowing his people remained steadfast in their support of him erased that worry. The goblins had been a threat to his entire community, and after seeing the power of the Bloodstone he knew that Hisako had been correct. The stone could have defeated even the magical mists that protected his village. The death toll would have been far worse if they had waited until the goblins were entrenched and reinforced. 

He didn’t even want to consider what might have happened if the goblins had been able to get through the shield that had protected the Chaotic shard. The best-case scenario would have been that the chaotic energy was unleashed all at once. Just a small fraction of it had escaped when Richter had found it. That small bit though had been enough to change the very landscape of The Land. It had created his Dungeon and the three strange areas around it. Unleashing all the Chaos at once could have literally done anything. The only thing worse might have been the goblins harnessing the power to their own dark ends. 

Richter returned the salutes of his fighting men and women. Then, with them marching behind him, he started walking towards the village gate. Night had fallen, but mist lights hovered in the air all around them, easily lighting the way. Before he had crossed half the distance, he was met by his Companion Elora, queen of the celestial pixies. She hovered in midair, wearing a snow-white dress made from the leaves of the Quickening. Behind her flew what remained of her children, those that had not suffered sakeru, the severing.

“Queen Elora,” Richter greeted her softly.

“My Lord Richter,” she replied, curtsying in midair. There was no accusation in her gaze when she straightened, but there was sadness. Behind her, the pixies sang a low pitched dirge of lament and remembrance. 

“I am sorry for the loss of your children,” he told her with feeling.

“The Land is a place of harsh truths. The most cruel is the most common, that death comes quickly to us all. I learned that long ago as my people died from a magical plague, one by one, until I was the very last. I have not forgotten that you are the reason my children have been able to live in safety unto this point.” She flew closer until she was only inches from his face. Her skin shone with the faintest of luminescences. He would not have been able to see her in the dark from even a few feet away, but this close he could see the faint glow coming from her silver skin, like a moonlit sea on a clear night. Alma shifted on his shoulders, not liking any being coming so close to her master, but the brilliant dragonling knew Richter had little to fear from the pixie queen.

“I do not blame you for their deaths, Lord Richter. I have learned that keeping them away from their meitu’meidon is no guarantee of safety, however. Out of respect to you, my liege, I fought against the dictates of my own heart when you suggested they stay out of battle. I know now that was wrong. Despite their age… my children…” Elora paused, pained, then spoke with resolve, “Pixies belong with their bonded sprites. My children must be allowed to accompany the other half of their souls into danger. At least then they can help to protect one another.”

Richter had indeed been pushed to keep the pixie children safely within the confines of the village. They had petulantly protested, but neither the meidon sprites nor Elora had resisted his will. Now, though, he couldn’t argue with what Elora was saying. Disregarding the facts that she was their mother and their queen, she was right. He hadn’t known at the time that the death of a meidon sprite would also cause this sakeru in their bonded pixie. At least together, they were both more likely to survive. Richter sighed with the weight of his responsibilities. Once again, he was reminded that his old conceptions of right and wrong that had worked on Earth might be too rigid for The Land.

“It will be as you say, Queen Elora,” he replied formally. Then, with a softer tone, he asked her, “Will you come with me to put our fallen to rest?” 

“Of course, my lord. My place is at your side.” So saying, she flew over his head and hovered above and behind him like a halo. When he started walking forward, the pixie children fell in behind their queen. Such was the procession of Richter of the Mist Village. To his left, the men and women of the guard followed his Companion Terrod, strong and steadfast. To his right, the meidon sprites walked silently behind his Companion Sion, loyal and true. Behind him trailed his Companion Randolphus, silent and watchful, and above him flew his Companion Elora, noble and hopeful. The five Companions moved together towards the new gravesite of the Mist Village, united in purpose to give honor to their dead.  

*************************************************************

 If you felt like giving me a gift, what I want just takes 60 seconds!
PLEASE leave a review Book 1 on Amazon, Goodreads and/or Audible lol
You can just cut and paste the same one
It may not seem like much, but it really helps an indie author like myself.
https://tinyurl.com/TheLandFounding
https://tinyurl.com/Book1Audio
https://tinyurl.com/GoodreadsTheLand