Jack reined in his horse and focused again on the Face of the Earth. He and Lisa had an excellent view of the runner picking his way around the stone piles in the miniature copy of the destroyed city. The man was creeping cautiously along a crumbling wall, often glancing upward… He was afraid of something.

  Now, he was ducking into the ruins of a large building in the city center… had something flashed by there? Or had Jack imagined it? Come on, turn to one of the roads, he urged.

  However, no one emerged from the ruins. Jack waited, but the messenger never reappeared. There was no movement in the ruins, the dead city remained quiet. Jack decided, after waiting a quarter of an hour, that the messenger had disappeared. Something had happened in that destroyed building and now he’d have to go find out just what it was. Was it a trap? Why would someone set a trap here?

  Pickup passed through the ruined arch of the gate, his hooves booming over the rubble, and made for the center. Jack put the map away and readied his sword, except he saw no reason to use it. The city was long dead. Not a single movement disturbed its mournful rest. Here were the same ruins the messenger had passed, and there was the square, surrounded by destroyed buildings. The very ones he’d been moving through when they’d last seen him on the map.

  What was this, now? Faceless’ temple, perhaps? What else would it be, here in the center plaza of a Taunite city? Even the statue of the deity standing next to the entrance had been reduced to nothing but his sandaled feet.

  They dismounted in the square and walked slowly to the quadrangle formed by the wall remnants. Overhead, a sharp hiss sounded, transforming into a shriek. A shadow zipped past and Jack, reflexes kicking in, pushed Lisa under an archway and ducked. The strike from above narrowly missed him. Something scaly slithered over the crumbling walls with a squeal and dropped to the ground at Jack’s feet. Without a second thought, he struck it with the sword, then once more, to be sure. Only then did he look to see what he was hacking to pieces.

  Wyvern

  Health: 120

  Agro Zone: 100

  The mob was still alive. It hissed and tried to stand, which it found difficult to do with its limbs severed. Another blow put an end to its attempts. A wyvern, then. Now he understood why the messenger had kept glancing upward. Speaking of which, where was he? Where had he gotten to?

  Jack entered the crumbling building where he’d last seen the Taunite. There was no trace of Bon Go’s messenger. “Weird. If this is Faceless’ temple, then why aren’t there altar fragments?” he mused.

  “Come look at this mosaic,” Lisa said. “Really bright colors.”

  “Yeah, a mosaic… and it’s the only remarkable thing here.”

  To the left was what appeared to be a landscape. He saw the sky and an image of a tall pagoda, its steps rising up into the clouds, except it was broken. Only the lower levels of the pagoda remained.

  Wait! What had Sartorius told him about the Taunite faith? They collected questions for Faceless, because questions elevated one towards the sky. Every question was another level of the pagoda. If this had any meaning to it at all, then he needed to check the mosaic sky. Jack walked over to the wall and kicked aside several pieces of masonry with his boot. Stairs emerged, three steps that seemed to lead toward the mosaic entrance to the pagoda. He climbed them and stood on the top step, his nose almost resting on the wall. Something hissed and there was a soft cracking sound. Tiny lights ran along the wall, forming a rectangle around the mosaic door of the pagoda… and before him, the door transformed from pieces of colored stone into a real door.

  “Wow, it’s a Portal!” Lisa stood next to him and ran her fingers over the door, shifting it slightly.

  Jack pushed the door open, revealing darkness behind it. They took each other by the hand, stepped into that darkness together… and entered the unknown.

  * * *

  Before them lay a vast chamber. Rows of columns stood to their left and right and the floor was paved with polished tiles. Of course, this wasn’t the temple. Where was it, though? Jack, keeping his sword at the ready, walked slowly toward the bright rectangle of the exit. A shadow flitted across the opening. Someone was running out there…

  They could see out to an open area and a building across the way, the very pagoda from the mosaic. This was Faceless’ temple. All they had to do was cross that sunlight-bathed plaza. That completely deserted plaza, or so it seemed from their vantage point.

  Jack called his goblins out, who immediately began making noise, looking around with curiosity. They heard quick footsteps from outside and a bald Taunite in orange garb filled the doorway.

  Jack stabbed him with the sword before the NPC had time to wonder at the peculiar, little green-skinned goblins.

  He sucked in a large breath and shouted, “After me! Follow behind and shoot anything that moves! Lisa…”

  He fumbled a little.

  “Lisa…” he began. Damn, he couldn’t find the right words. “Lisa, don’t get yourself killed. Please.”

  She gave him a small nod. The goblins needed no explanations. They dashed off after their master, twirling the hilts of their Chu-ko-nu bows over their head as they ran. A second false monk was waiting for them right outside the door. Shoving him out of his way, Jack tossed a quick glance at the plaza they had to cross. Two hundred feet, enclosed on both sides by building walls. Two men in orange stood at each doorway and across from Jack lay the temple. It was a confined space, no room to move, and he could only run toward his goal. Though, it was likely the temple was guarded by at least one orange warrior. They were guarding the building’s entrances, each of which probably led to a portal, he guessed. And these portals led to various regions in the Taunite Lands.

  So, they ran. Upon spotting the intruders, Princess Ki’s orange assassins rushed to cut them off. Their first opponents were approaching… any second… then a swarm of short arrows beat Jack to the punch. The goblins, along with their larger size, had increased strength and improved firing accuracy. They felled the first monk with their arrows and he hit the ground before Jack even reached him. Jack cut down monk number two, staff and all, then grappled with another pair. Lisa screamed and released her necromancer-green magic. Goblins shrieked, sending arrow after arrow, and Taunites collapsed to the stone tiles, liberally splashing them in red.

  Battling with the soldiers, he missed the moment when the second-floor balcony doors of the building to his left burst open. Hercules suddenly froze, staring from under his gold helm. His jaw dropped and his eyes bulged, like saucers. He nearly paid for his carelessness, too. Jack barely managed to stab his sword tip into a monk preparing to finish the goblin.

  “What are you doing?! Wake up!”

  “Sorry, master… It’s just… she…”

  “What?”

  “Ugliest old woman I ever saw!”

  And then Jack cast his eyes to the balcony. There stood a ghastly, wrinkled crone with a hooked nose and shaggy brows.

  The old woman shouted in a hoarse, cracking voice, “There he is, the great hero promised by the ancient prophesy has come! But all the prophecies lie!”

  Lisa fired green sparks from her wand as she ran, but couldn’t get close to the old woman. A magical protective shield flickered around the Princess and the green fire simply splashed against it.

  Jack sunk the black sword into the final monk, who was bristling with arrows, and turned his gaze back up. This shriveled, wrinkled old hag was the Princess Ki, the Bride of Monsters herself? The same sorceress who closed the way to the Land of the Taunites three hundred years ago? That Fo Bai called the most beautiful maiden in all of Gaerthron? Jack thought the man had spent too much time in monster form. Now, the crone had a face that only an undertaker looking to make a quick buck could love. Well, and the goblins, apparently.

  Princess Ki (Bride of Monsters), Taunite

  Expertise: 75

  Health: 50

  “Ha!” the old woman cawed from the balcony, “the great hero has decided he is capable of defeating a woman. Unfortunately for him, this woman has many admirers. Open the gates! Go, my suitors, prove your loyalty!”

  A wide gate appeared in the walls of the buildings lining the square. The doors swung open, sections of the walls parting in some places, and the most diverse group of monsters Jack had ever seen came streaming through the newly-formed openings. There was a huge lion with tiny wings that fluttered when he roared and a beast that resembled a rhinoceros, but with more than a dozen horns poking out all over. They jutted from its forehead, temples, and the back of its head. There were also hairy creatures, like Fo Bai, who ran on their hind legs and looked like wingless birds with toothy beaks. Monsters of all sorts – lizards, rats, dogs, crabs – except they were all huge with bloodshot eyes. They flew out into the sun-drenched plaza, snarling, fangs bared, horns shaking, hooves stamping and snapping at one another, but each wanted only one thing: to kill the outsiders.

  An avalanche of horns claws and toothy maws bore down on Jack. The main thing now was not to slow up. He either needed to break through this mob in one go, or it would be over.

  He decided not to face off with the rhino monster and chose another smaller beast.

  You receive damage!

  You lose 2 hit points!

  Jack drove the sword into the beast and activated the Bracelet of Ghosts. His mana bar shrunk dramatically. He cut down a toothy opponent on his right, deflected an attack to the left, then activated the Bracelet again. Each cast of the Bracelet brought two ghostly duplicates to life, and now four more fighters stood with him, leaping and swinging black blades. I look stupid when I jump, he had time to think, as he cut down another enemy, this time a toothy, wingless bird. Then he impaled a squat, scaly thing with a long snout.

  Your dark servant has died!

  The beasts leaped at the ghosts, colliding and entering battle. Behind him, Jack heard goblins shrieking. Lisa was, too.

  Your dark servant has died!

  Although the goblins may have grown, they were no match for such opponents. Good thing the phantoms, larger and more noticeable, were drawing the attention of the Princess’s “suitors” onto themselves. Jack himself burst through the swarming throng of stamping hooves, rattling scales and snapping jaws.

  You receive damage!

  You lose 6 hit points!

  Your dark servant has died!

  He tried to create another pair of phantoms, but didn’t have enough mana. He was shy by just a little, but the Bracelet wouldn’t work. Only one option left, then – to chop, stab and shove… and to see that Lisa was keeping close.

  The battle seethed all around him. Monsters were attacking the goblins, Lisa, Jack and his doubles. The old woman on the balcony shouted a new order in her raspy, nasty voice, and soldiers in orange rushed onto the square. These were wearing armor and held, not staves, but curved swords, halberds with bent blades and flails. However, this only worked in Jack’s favor, as some of her “suitors” began attacking the soldiers.

  You receive damage!

  You lose 5 hit points!

  He struck with his sword, slicing in half a monster that looked like a two-legged snake. His ghostly twins flashed nearby, swinging their black swords, while Princess Ki’s monsters flew right through them, then roared in indignation. They shook their horns and rushed their invulnerable enemy again, and again flew through them, and seized whatever lay on the other side in their fangs… which was usually a similarly infuriated monster.

  A void formed in front of Jack, as the princess’s suitors turned on the soldiers in orange, and he dashed with all his might for the temple, shouting, “Lisa, with me!”

  Hey, okay, they were already at the middle of the square. Just a little push and… Orange-painted shields closed the gap before him, forming an iron wall. Jack activated Sprint and ran for their ranks. A swarm of green sparks passed him. They were pale, weak. Lisa had run out of mana, too.

  With a running start, Jack slammed his shoulder into an orange shield, parried with his sword, cutting off the blade of a halberd, and broke through. The line of monks had scattered, and now he was surrounded by Ki’s assassins. He spun inside the ring of blades aimed at him from all sides. Lisa cracked a soldier across his orange helmet with her rod, now devoid of mana. In response, the blade of the halberd rushed for her. Jack barely managed to deflect it.

  One soldier crumpled to the ground with an arrow sticking from the eye slit of his helm, and somewhere nearby, Hercules cried out triumphantly. But Jack had no time to turn around. He was too busy slicing, ducking, and casting aside shields. He had to watch out not only for himself, but also for Lisa. He felled an enemy with every attack, red textures spraying like fountains.

  As always, the effects of Sprint ended at the most inconvenient moment, immediately slowing his movement, and he felt the blow of a flail smash against the Helm of Theokrist.

  You receive damage!

  You lose 7 hit points!

  You are stunned. Duration: 3 sec.

  The picture before his eyes darkened. Jack saw nothing, but sensed that he was lying on the ground. So, he began to twitch, insomuch as his position would allow, so they couldn’t finish the job.

  Another messaged popped up against the dark background:

  Your dark servant has died!

  He heard Hercules crying out nearby, though, and Jack rose to his knees. Unknown hands grabbed him by the elbow and pulled him up, helping him stand. His vision began to return. At first, he saw everything like he was looking through a layer of water, then the image sharpened again. Now he could see a curved blade falling from the sky directly for him. Lisa, who was the one dragging him, threw herself into its path. Jack shoved her from behind, sprang to his feet, and cut the legs out from under the orange warrior. Two more warriors took his place, poking Jack with their spears. Hercules, Chu-ko-nu lost, appeared on their right with a found halberd, which was three times longer than what suited his height. His Harbinger’s Helm gleamed gold as he fearlessly rushed at their opponents. Sharp spear tips dipped to meet him… and the pair of orange soldiers were tossed aside by the huge hulk of the rhinoceros-looking beast.

  The goblin hacked the beast’s side with the halberd. It gave a harsh roar, turned in place, and Jack separated its horned head with a swipe from the black sword. The monster crashed to the ground. Jack, Lisa, and Hercules leaped over the huge carcass and ran for the temple, which stood only three dozen feet from them. The fighting roiled behind them, but his ghostly doubles ran behind their creator. The wave of snarling, howling, and thundering hooves, too, rushed after them in pursuit.

  As he ran, Jack tossed a quick glance over his shoulder. Princess Ki stood on her balcony, shaking her wrinkled fists and opening her mouth, but her cries were lost in the noise.

  A creature that looked like a wolf, though twice as large and which moved by taking enormous leaps, tore ahead of the furry mob and began to catch up to the escaping players. As it ran, it made for one of Jack’s phantoms and the beast soared in a beautiful leap that should have landed directly on the ghost’s back. The overgrown wolf flew through the incorporeal figure and rolled across the tiles. Jack didn’t give it the chance to gain its feet again, and took off its head. A monster with gleaming scales stumbled into the wolf’s carcass. Another fell over the first, then another… Jack opened his menu and – oh! He’d accumulated some mana. He created another pair of phantoms and, without another glance, bolted for the temple. He pushed Lisa inside and flew in after her, then spun around. By some miracle, Hercules was still alive. He’d leaped into the semidarkness of the temple just behind his master. A massive horned head poked inside and Hercules, with a spin, struck the beast across the forehead with the halberd. The beast, however, simply shook its head and the goblin, with an angry chirp, flew back into the darkness. The monster tried to shove its way inside, but was too massive. While it struggled in the tight doorway, Jack was able to run up and slice it across its giant muzzle. The beast roared, spraying red streams, then sagged heavily in the doorway, blocking the entrance.

  The beast’s dead body would melt away in a couple minutes. That’s all they had. But it was something! Jack ran through the dark interior of the temple toward the altar.

  Something creaked dryly in the dark. Uh, the previous temples had been guarded by dead priests. Would it be the same here? After all, this temple wasn’t completely abandoned. It sat in the heart of a city inhabited by lunatics and monsters. Resurrected skeletons didn’t belong here. And yet, there was still an undead priest! A skeleton in orange rags greeted them, it’s bony knuckles wrapped around a gnarled staff. Jack crashed into the dead man at a run.

  Resurrected Priest of Faceless

  Expertise: 65

  Disease: 50

  The skeleton set the staff in front of itself, parrying the swipe of Jack’s black sword but the Shadow of the King, as usual, smashed the weapon to pieces and sliced off its left hand at the same time. It, unperturbed by the loss, twisted away from the second blow and a dagger appeared in its remaining hand. Jack struck again and again. Each time, the skeleton evaded and jumped away. It had seen what the black sword could do when it tried to parry the first blow. While, the thing moved with great speed, slipping under the black blade to avoid Jack’s strikes and turn up again nearby. Lisa couldn’t keep up with the tempo of the battle, but managed to kick the dead priest’s hip bone. However, the agile old corpse didn’t even lose its balance. It struck with the dagger clutched in its hand with a lightning movement.

  You receive damage!

  You lose 10 hit points!

  Jack brought the sword hilt down hard on the skeleton’s crown. Its skull crumbled and its body dropped to the floor, bones scattering. Jack rushed to the altar, checking his health bar as he ran. Much too little left, just over ten points. He wouldn’t survive another fight. Theokrist did tell him that getting out of the Secret City was harder than getting in.

 

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