The Land: Forging (Chaos Seeds Book 2) (47 page)

“Why did Kurian die?”

Sion was laying on the floor of the tunnel. He couldn’t seem to scrounge up the will to move. Or maybe he lacked the strength. The distinction didn’t seem important right now. His lips were sore, and when he ran his tongue over them, they felt like dried meat. When he first tried to respond, only a squeak came out. The face made of roots seemed to understand that he was trying, and didn’t repeat itself. It merely waited. Sion was in a daze and nothing
seemed quite real. He became aware that both his health and stamina bars were perilously low. There was an icon that looked like a pile of salt next to each of them.

He mustered the strength to drink one of the healing potions Richter had given him. He barely had any rise in his health bar. The portion of the bars that weren’t filled with color weren’t just empty. They looked
greyed out
like nothing could fill them. When he examined the pile of
salt
icon, he learned what it meant. He was dehydrated. He was literally dying of thirst. Sion knew he wouldn’t survive another cycle of memories, but he accepted that.

Even though he was still impossibly weak, he tried to sit himself up. That did not work out well. When he regained consciousness, he realized that he must have passed out from the strain. After that, he decided that he could give his answer lying down. He raised his head slightly and saw that the face was still looking at him. The health potion had at least served to moisten his mouth.

“Why did Kurian die,” Sion repeated. “He died because he and I were too dumb to listen to our elders. He died because we put ourselves in a dangerous situation. And he died, because we were unlucky enough to stumble across evil men. My best friend died because of who I was, and because of who he was, and because sometimes things just fall apart. It doesn’t matter why he died. What matters is that I will remember him.” He mustered his remaining strength for what could be his last words. “So you do whatever you need to do. It does, not, matter, why my friend died. It matters how he lived.”

With those last words, Sion’s head dropped back down to the floor of the tunnel. He kept his eyes on the face made of roots, but he was completely exhausted. The face just
smiled,
though, and then the roots unraveled, leaving the way to the next chamber open. A prompt filled his vision.

You have just completed the secret Quest: The Wisdom to Tell the Difference. You have delved deep into your worst pain. This trial by fire did not destroy you
however
, it tempered you into a better version of yourself. In every life, there will be sorrow. Some choose to run from it, others assume responsibility for that which was always out of their control, many hide behind excuses, and still more try to force an outcome that is beyond their ability. You have taken a finer path. You accepted both the good and ill that you have committed. You have proven that you have the ability to face the truth. May your insight serve you well. Reward: 5,000 experience. Personal reward: Wisdom +10. Personal reward: A new Ability.

You have received the Ability: Know Thyself. You faced your internal demons and controlled them. As such, you will be much more resilient against spells or effects dealing with the Enchantment School of Magic, ie Charm, Daze, Compulsion.

He had barely finished reading when he heard, “Sion? Sion?! SION!!! Yoshi! Daniella! I can see him! Come quick!” Then he was moving
backwards
. He would move and then stop, move and then stop. He realized he was being pulled by the forgotten rope Richter had tied around his waist. He also realized for the first time that he was not about to die. The emotional drain of his ordeal had let him ignore the demands of his body. Now that he again had
hope,
though, that separation from reality dissolved. He began to feel every ache that his prolonged immobility had caused. Also, the dry parchment that comprised his throat felt like daggers sliding against each other when he swallowed.

In no time at all, Richter had pulled his Companion free of the tunnel. In no time at all after that, he was peppering the sprite with questions.

“Where have you been? What happened? What’s with this secret quest? Are you alright? WHY AREN’T YOU TALKING?”

Sion just stared up at his giant of a friend. Richter was sitting on the ground, half cradling his friend. The sprites legs sprawled across the floor while his back leaned against Richter’s chest. The support was welcomed because otherwise he would be probably just be lying helpless and flat on the floor. Despite that, after everything he had just gone through, Richter’s exuberance was a complete overload of the senses. Not having the strength to curse his friend’s attentive but irritating behavior, he just let the twitch in his left eye communicate that for him. He also decided to succinctly verbalize his most heartfelt desire. “
Waaater,” he croaked.

Richter immediately reached into his Bag,
and brought out a water skin. Placing it to Sion’s lips he let a slow trickle of water flow out.

Sion hacked and coughed up that first sip. It made the pain in his throat increase exponentially. A few scant drops were
swallowed though, and some was
even greedily absorbed by the tissue of his pharynx. The small amount of moisture he retained let him swallow more of the next
sip,
though he still coughed some up. It was as if his body refused to believe in a world that he wasn’t dying of thirst. By the third sip, he was able to keep from coughing and a few precious drops slid down his throat. When he drank a fourth time, he
swallowed a whole mouthful and a sensation that could only be called bliss permeated his every cell. He closed his eyes and heaved a sigh of relief.

When he opened his eyes, he saw his three comrades staring down at him anxiously. For their benefit, he gave a weak smile. They all visibly relaxed. He closed his eyes again, and Richter put the water skin back to his lips. For a while, that’s all he did. Slowly sip water, and enjoy the sensation of bringing his body back from the brink of death. When he had his fill, he looked at the rest of his party and said, “I have been on a journey. Several in fact. And while I will eventually tell you everything that happened, I can’t right now. The experience is too fresh, and sharing it might break my heart.” Daniella reached out and held his hand, squeezing lightly.

“Besides,” Sion continued, “I seem to be lying in my own feces. Would you help me,” he asked Richter, somewhat embarrassed.

“Of course,” his friend said. Moving slowly so as not to jostle his Companion, Richter stood and cradled Sion, carrying him to the pool of water. With a wry
smile, Richter said, “I was trying to be polite and not mention the smell.”

“Oh, is that why you looked like that? I thought you were just constipated,” Sion replied. Richter gave a small chuckle and started walking toward the underground lake.

Sion looked up at his best friend
and thought how lucky he was that in only one lifetime, he had found two men who were like brothers to him. Then another thought occurred and he said, “If you tell anyone you carried me like this, I will literally cut your balls off.”

Richter just laughing and kept walking.

After Sion was cleaned, he promptly fell asleep. He drifted in and out of consciousness over the next day or two. While he was
awake,
he told his group about how he had been reliving the past. He didn’t include every minor detail, but he did share the salient points. He answered their questions as best he could, but much of what he had experienced was indescribable. When he was done speaking he further explained how the events of those long lost days had contributed to his initial animosity towards Richter for being a human. He asked for forgiveness.
Richter, of course,
said it wasn’t necessary, but thanked him for the apology and looked away. Sion
saw
a faint glisten in his friend’s eye before he turned his face.

Daniella was feeling much improved
and had more color in her face. Yoshi still looked wan,
but at least was able to
walk and talk. He wouldn’t discuss exactly what the demoness’s last spell had done to him, simply saying he would be fine.

Sion also explained the secret quest. Apparently all of the party members had been notified that the quest had been completed and gotten the experience, but not the personal reward. Richter complained jokingly that next time Sion finished a secret quest to let him drink a Potion of Clarity first next time. Right after
that though, he shared with a big smile that the quest had let him reach level 17.

Sion received a shock when he was told that he had been in the tunnel for almost three days! It was no wonder he had almost died of thirst. Daniella told him that through the entire first day, Richter had barely looked away in hopes that he would reappear and he could be pulled to safety. Daniella had tried to convince him to leave the hole the next day by saying she would watch. Yoshi had awoken so he offered to help too. Richter still wouldn’t agree until Yoshi pointed out that standing around wasn’t helping his friend.

That reasoning apparently worked because against both Daniella and Yoshi’s protests, he had walked up to the sigil-inscribed
door and walked in. Yoshi was mustering the strength to go in after him when, surprising both sprites, he walked back out five minutes later with a key in one hand and a tube in the other.

“What happened,” Sion asked. “How did you beat the last door so quickly?”

Richter smiled, “It was a riddle. When I walked through the first
door,
it shut behind me and vanished. All that was left behind me was a blank wall.” Sion nodded in sympathy knowing exactly what that was like.

“In front of me were two more doors. Each door had a sculpture attached to the front. The one on the left was a blond haired angel, dressed in white. The door on the left was a
redheaded
succubus. Dressed in nothing,” he gave Sion a wink. Daniella sniffed in the background.

“Well, they both started talking in sync. The
jist
of it was that one door led to safety and the other led to certain death. No matter what question was asked, one statue would always
tell the truth, and the other would always lie.
Trick was, I didn’t know which statue was the liar.”

“Sooo,” Sion asked drawing the word out. “How did you figure it out,” he asked impatiently.

“Well,” Richter exclaimed, clearly enjoying torturing his friend a little bit by drawing the story out. “I just asked one what the other would say if I asked what the right door was. Then I went through the door opposite to what she said.” Richter’s tone was offhand as he relayed the
solution,
as if such logical leaps were commonplace.

Sion face screwed up as he tried to work his way through his Companion’s reasoning. It had obviously worked or he wouldn’t be here, but thinking through the various permutations was starting to make his head hurt. “How did you figure that out so quickly,” Sion asked.

Richter laughed loudly, then extended two fingers on
both hands in what he told Sion were called ‘peace signs.’ He slapped his fingers together twice quickly, and said in a gruff voice, “Hashtag DavidBoweLabyrinthBitch!”

He reached into his Bag, and pulled out the pipe he had found, showing it to Sion. It had four grooves cut into it, and the handles of each the three keys they had collected fit perfectly into one of the grooves. One end of the pipe had a lens, and the other end had a stylized eye etched into it. When he had gone through the door (the succubus one, Richter added with another wink), there had been a small room with just the key and the pipe. He had then walked back the way he had come. The door back to the central chamber had reappeared by the time he tried to leave.

“So you just sat around waiting for me to come back? I guess you missed me,” Sion said with a little grin on his face.

“Well! I
did
take the finish my first Lore book, and I gained the skill. I also,
cough,
took the time to do some training,” Richter said examining his nails.

“He’s been casting nonstop! Light spells, his
Grease
spell, moving around hasted! The worst has been that damn fire spell,” Yoshi snapped. “He would shoot one of those icicles, and then melt it. Over and over! It’s not like the smell in here was that great to begin with!”

“So that’s why it’s so muggy in here,” Sion said with a laugh.