Arrival: A LitRPG Series, page 20
While the man was temporarily distracted by Sparky’s attack, Mute charged silently out of cover from where he had lain in wait on the other side of the clearing. He held his war hammer high, muscles rippling in power as he sped behind the man, intent on delivering a killing blow.
The heavy metal weapon made it within six inches of the man’s black robes before it blew away like dust in the breeze. Mute stared at his empty palms as his weapon dematerialized and vanished in his hands. He looked down at the two dendromancers, stone-faced in calm acceptance as he spoke a single word. “Run.” Then his body peeled apart and vanished as well, leaving empty rags and a heavy metal collar to flop to the gray ground below.
“Reign, why didn’t you take care of the rabble already?” the man said, his eyes flickering to the boy’s prostrated form.
“Forgive me, master, I thought they would be of use to support the new Arrival’s growth,” Reign replied in an empty voice.
“He has his pets for that.”
The man, whom Leo was starting to believe was some sort of reaper, towered over their fallen forms like death’s very shadow. Lila’s brother had managed to struggle to his feet, refusing to succumb to the immense strain the man’s presence exerted on them. He was desperately trying to pull his sister back into the garden but stopped to jump protectively in front of her as Vizon shifted his attention to them.
“I won’t let you hurt her!” he shouted, standing over Lila’s fallen form as his whole body shook.
“Only the strong may make such declarations,” he said with a lazy wave of his hand that froze the boy’s body like a statue.
“Brier!” Lila cried out, her hand floundering out to grab at her brother’s sleeve, fingers touching unmoving flesh but for a moment before his body crumbled to the ground like a billion grains of sand. “No…” she whispered in anguish, her hand clutching a stray piece of fabric. “Nooo-!” Her heart-wrenching scream was abruptly cut off as her face froze in despair.
“Why is it always so irksome to get rid of pests,” the reaper said as Lila’s delicate figure fell apart to join her brother, some of her ashen remains drifting off to coat Leo’s horror-stricken face. The man removed one of his black leather gloves and began to swat at his clothes, releasing a cloud of errant ash that had stuck to his figure. “If you are going to die, at least do so with some civility. Don’t you agree, lad?”
Leo couldn’t process the man’s words after watching those lives extinguished with the same casualness as one took in blowing out a candle before bed. His mind kept flashing through images of Lila’s face, the light twinkling in her kind amber eyes as she smiled and helped him to his feet after healing him, to the all-consuming terror that leapt out of her as she realized her brother had just been murdered.
“Hmm, was that not enough to fan the flames of rage in your heart? Perhaps I need to take away something a bit more personal.” His black eyes fell on Pride, the Chari’s fur standing on-end under his heavy gaze, then he looked at Sparky, who took a few steps back, feathers bristling in defiance. “Decisions, decisions.” The reaper spoke with a perfect smile, as he slipped his glove back on his hand and stretched his arm up and over his head. “I choose…”
“No, please,” Leo begged the man, wondering which of his beloved companions he was about to lose. Just as the words dripped out of his mouth, thunderstruck. The blast was so powerful that the shockwave it expelled blew both Leo and Pride to the outer edges of the clearing.
“Vizon!” roared a voice filled with unbridled fury from up above. Amira descended through the large opening in the cavern ceiling. Her wings blocked out the light and draped an ominous shadow over the garden, making Leo feel like a hunted rodent before the terrifying visage of an eagle. Atop her back stood Zeld, his white robes billowing with the hurricane winds generated by each flap of Amira’s wings.
“…you,” finished the cloaked man, Vizon, with a grin. He lowered his arm from where it had blocked the incoming blast, the ground beneath his feet a charred mess of scorched earth. “You come at last! I was getting bored waiting on you, Arrival!” he shouted, face filled with mirth and anticipation.
Leo’s eyes widened at the title as he watched Zeld hop off Amira’s back, plummeting several stories through the open air to impact the ground with a slight bend in his knees and a spray of dirt. He straightened himself, the dark thunderclouds that marred his face a stark contrast to Vizon’s wide-open smile.
“Zeld, you’re an Arrival? What’s going on?” Leo asked hesitantly, his voice breaking through the palpable tension that hung heavily in the air.
Vizon roared with maniacal laughter at his question. “You never told him! Oh, this is too good!” he cried out in delight. “We are your overseers, sent by the one who brought you to this hellhole of a planet! We are both your beginning and your end!”
“Oh, save the monologue,” Zeld snapped in irritation, turning his attention to Leo.
“Zeld?” Leo said warily, the distance he had gained from the crazed man finally allowing him to unsteadily reclaim his feet.
His mentor turned to him, the cloud of anger blotting his features softening as he saw his student’s apprehensive look. “I turn my back on you for a second and you shoot up how many levels?” the old man said with a slight grin, his face a mask of twisted emotions.
“Zeld,” Leo repeated, fear beginning to trickle into his heart by the usually calm old man’s mixed expression.
“I’m sorry, my boy, I honestly thought we would have more time.” Zeld’s face broke momentarily, letting Leo see the sorrow and pity that filled his mentor’s gaze.
“I already told you, I’m getting tired of waiting,” Vizon said, his voice layered with malicious intent.
“You’ve waited twenty-seven years; you can wait a moment longer!”
Irritation flashed across Vizon’s face as the two held a brief stare-down, then surprisingly the tall man gave a shrug and turned over to share some muffled words with Reign.
“Tell me what’s going on, old man. You’re not really going to go…die on me, are you?” Despite all that he had gone through since coming to Asylum, despite the decade that had passed back on Earth since his father’s death, Leo couldn’t help but feel like a child again. The same boy who had watched his dad walk out the door of his family’s old home for the last time.
“They are who I told you about, the ones who brought Erreth to ruin, the Order of Lazarus. They are the ones who bring us here at the beginning of every cycle, and the ones who take us away if we live until the end.” He looked at Leo’s crushed face, watching the tears swell in his eyes. Zeld knelt. “Leo, dry your face and listen to this old man’s prattle for the last time. Neither the gods above nor the abyss below controls who you are and what you can do. In this world, there are those who accept their lot in life, who trudge on to obey the expectation of others without a word, simply because it is the road most traveled, but the harder the climb, the more rewarding the view.
“I failed. I lost heart and stumbled back on the beaten path others had carved for me, too weighed down by the burdens of my past to try and carry on for a better future, but I know you can do better. Pick up the burned-down trail that I left behind and struggle through the ashen remains to fight your fate. There are other Arrivals out there—find them, garner strength in union and one day break out of this cycle of ruin.”
Zeld rose to his feet to the sound of slow-clapping resounding across the clearing. “Bravo! Well said!” shouted Vizon with a mocking smile while Reign stood silently at his side, face blank. “Ready to die now, old friend?”
“Not here, or we’ll destroy this island and both of our inheritors along with it. We will fight on the surface below,” Zeld responded coolly, his face now calm.
“I suppose you’ve earned the right to make such a declaration,” Vizon said after a moment’s consideration. “Very well, after you.” He gestured to the opening in the ceiling above.
Leo reached out and grabbed Zeld’s white robes just as the old man turned around. “I don’t want you to go…” Leo trailed off. The old man had been brutal and exacting ever since Leo had met him. The training was harsh, his lessons were strict, and his jokes were oftentimes more painful than they were funny, but after weeks of living alongside the old man, and fighting for food at the dinner table with Pride and Sparky, the small cottage had for a time made him feel like he was among family.
Zeldorth smiled, knowing his student’s sentiments. He wiggled from around his finger the plain gold band with the imprint of a Roc clutching a staff, before gently unlatching Leo’s grip and dropping the ring into his palm. “Keep this safe for me, will you?” He turned back and took a few steps forward, meeting Vizon’s amused eyes. “Don’t mourn, boy. Didn’t I already tell you, there are fates far worse than a quick death.”
There was a loud crack that shook the cavern as both Vizon and Zeld disappeared, leaving only craters behind. He continued to stare at the spot long after they departed, trying to burn his mentor’s smile and last words permanently into his mind.
23
Leo fiddled with the small golden ring in his palm, staring rigidly at the memento Zeld had left him. Once more his world had been turned on its head. Feelings of solitude and helplessness churned within him. He hadn’t been able to do anything in this situation, other than to watch as his friend went to die. A piece of him wanted to believe the old man would return, that if he waited here long enough, he would hear his barking laughter echo through the garden, indicating an end to some elaborate prank.
His grip tightened on the ring in his hand, the piece of solid evidence that ground away his fantastical thoughts. Zeld never would have let this ring leave his finger if he believed he would survive this duel.
Name: Ring of Twin Souls
Effect: ???
Item Rarity: Mystified
Crafting Quality: Epic
Item Durability: 1600/1600
Weight: 5.2 g
Type: Apparel
Description: Crafted by the finest soul smith in Erreth, this matrimonial band symbolizes the eternal love between Zeldorth the Sword Saint and Venera the Herbalist.
The sad reality of the situation tamped out any embers of curiosity he might have had toward the item’s unknown effects. He gingerly tugged the ring onto his left index finger, the band automatically adjusting its size to fit snugly against his skin. The wedding band’s flawless condition was a testament to how much Zeld had treasured the item—if Leo let so much as a scratch befall it, he would be dishonoring his teacher’s memory.
A long sigh escaped his lips, the invisible weight of burden and grief bearing down on him. The old man had been a lighthouse in the ocean of chaos that made up this world; with him gone, he didn’t know which direction to trend. The nation of Erreth had lost its final cornerstone.
The will of a nation remains as long as there are those who live by its principles, called Amira, her voice gentle yet saddened. Her giant body was nestled on the ground, gaze transfixed on the dancing ruby lights of the Radiant Hearts. Or have you already forgotten the foremost principle Zeldorth tried to beat into you?
“Strength in union,” Leo murmured in answer, as Pride and Sparky slowly padded up alongside him. Their features were smeared with a mixture of dirt and soot, and he could sense a reflection of his sorrow emanating from their bond. Still, their presence felt like two anchors keeping him from being swept away.
Work together, not apart, support, do not subvert. A flock does not fly alone and if you hunt, I’m sure you’ll find other hatchlings of a similar feather, searching for a place to nest. It was the same advice Zeld had given him—find other Arrivals like him and work together to defy their fate.
A moment of silence descended on the clearing before Amira spoke once more. Speak. I can feel the questions that trouble you.
Leo clenched his fists at her words, anger breaching the surface of his sorrow. “Why aren’t you helping him? Why is he alone out there fighting, and if he knew this was coming, why didn’t he prepare for it!” His voice rose in volume until he yelled out the last part, feeling frustrated at his own helplessness in the situation. “He told me ‘Most fights are over before they even begin,’ after all…”
“You question why she and her kind didn’t die a pointless death?” snorted Reign as he paced his way over to them from across the clearing. The air around Pride’s horn began shifting with power as electricity arced across Sparky’s feathers at his approach. “Do you think the Order of Lazarus is so weak that it would be threatened by anything that old man could rally forth? Vizon singlehandedly wiped this nation off the map when it was at the peak of its power, and there are four others with a strength incomparable to him. Your thoughtless remarks only serve to shame those-”
Reign was interrupted by a massive surge of lightning that shot across the garden mere feet in front of him, sundering the ground around it into molten dirt from its intense heat. He paused mid-stride, his face paled for a moment before he schooled his features and set his foot down behind the line that had been carved in the earth. He glanced at Amira and crossed his arms. “Your threats are hollow. We both know that if you kill me, my master would be honor-bound to seek revenge.” He spoke with cool certainty but Leo noticed his feet stayed firmly planted behind the line that had been drawn.
Amira huffed and shot out a smaller bolt of electricity that made the boy jump in agitation as it splashed harmlessly at his feet. As much as I hate to admit it, his viewpoint is sound. We simply do not have the strength to fight against Lazarus, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t prepare in a different way. She turned her attention back to the Creeping Horror, the massive behemoth that had still shown no reaction to today’s events.
The Radiant Hearts! Leo realized, hope blossoming in his chest with the realization. If they couldn’t beat Vizon in a fight, then they could reverse the damage he caused after he left. Did that mean they could bring back Lila and the others too? Just how many flowers had they been able to harvest?
One, Amira reluctantly answered his unintentional question, causing his train of thought to falter. And it nearly cost us our lives to do so.
Her answer blew away most of the excitement from this turn of events, but it was still incredible news! All they had to do was wait for Vizon to leave, retrieve Zeld’s body and…something wasn’t right. Amira’s mood was far too somber for what she had said. Then it hit him, everything finally clicking together in his mind. He dropped to his knees from the guilt at what he had done, feeling crushed by his part to play in Zeld’s death.
I’m sorry, little one, Amira tried to soothe his quaking nerves. He made the sacrifice willingly, always remember that.
Leo’s body trembled with the knowledge that he was the one who brought about his friend’s demise. The flower that had saved his life when he first entered the garden had cost his mentor his own! How could he have been so foolish in thinking he had a chance of harvesting the ingredient when he first saw it? “Abyss take me,” he hissed between clenched teeth, slamming a fist against the mud. He wanted nothing more than to knock a shred of caution into his past self.
His companions, sensing his anger and guilt, tried to send him their mental support, but he ignored their feelings. It couldn’t end like this, not when he was the one at fault. There had to be something he could do, anything to help reverse the situation he had helped create. He looked over to the Creeping Horror and its plethora of red flowers that shone like a wall of rubies. If he couldn’t retrieve one by force, maybe he could through negotiation. He owed it to Zeld to at least try.
There was a thundering crack and a billow of exploding earth as the cavern was struck with the force of a meteor. The dust settled to reveal Vizon’s black form. His black cape was in tatters, his left sleeve torn off, and his neatly groomed hair a disheveled mess. He held a large object in his hands, but before Leo could get a good look at it, he vanished.
He reappeared towering over Leo, lips arced in a cruel smile. He held out his left hand, revealing the battered and bleeding form of Zeld’s corpse. The old man’s eyes that were always filled with mirth now lay sightless and empty. His pristine white robes were stained crimson from the blood that seeped out of several deep gruesome wounds. Vizon uncurled his fingers around the corpse’s throat, leaving the body to crumple unceremoniously to the ground.
Leo felt a wave of nausea and dizziness engulf him as his eyes refused to turn away from the ghastly image of his friend, the rest of the world quickly fading into the background. He heard a muffled laugh and meaningless words about breaking someone before a hard smack on his cheek brought him back to reality and sent him tumbling down in the dirt. He lay there for a moment, reorienting his spinning sight before his brain started up again and he managed to clamber to his feet.
Pride and Sparky stood protectively in front of him as Vizon gave him a smirk and planted the heel of his boot on Zeld’s pale face. Seeing the way in which his mentor’s body was mistreated erupted the anger boiling within him. He clenched his fists hard enough for his fingernails to draw blood against his palm, knowing he was too weak to do anything.
“Now this seems to have been enough to ignite the rage within your heart. I want you to take that anger you feel and use it as fuel to grow stronger, cling to the futile hope that you will one day be able to surpass me and get your revenge.” The reaper’s charcoal eyes glowered in anticipation, as if he could already imagine their final fight. “We expect great things from your kind, do not disappoint us.” With that he gave the body a kick, sending the corpse barreling into Leo and his beasts and knocking them to the ground with the corpse draping over them.
“Reign, we’re leaving.”
Leo gently pushed Zeld’s body aside as his nausea finally burst out of him in a painful torrent from their proximity. He finished vomiting just in time to see the bright pillar of red that symbolized the Order’s departure.
