PawnStorm: Isekai Fantasy Adventure (Pawns Rebellion Book 4), page 1
Pawn Storm
ISEKAI FANTASY ADVENTURE
PAWNS REBELLION
BOOK FOUR
PAT UNDERWOOD
Edited by
MAISIE GOEN
Copyright © 2024 by Patrick Underwood. All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except in the cases permitted by copyright law.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. All characters are eighteen years or older.
Warning: This book contains some graphic violence, adult themes, and unconventional MFF+ relationships.
Contents
Blurb
Prologue
1. Battles End
2. Interlude - Seir
3. Repercussions
4. Rest and
5. Interlude - Empires Fall
6. Reunions
7. Date with a Girl
8. Interlude - Seir
9. It's Obviously a Trap
10. Surprise!
11. New Abilities
12. Rescue Mission
13. Battle of Blackrun Keep
14. The Battle That Wasn't Quite Over Yet
15. We Almost Got Away
Epilogue
Afterword
About the Author
Also by Pat Underwood
Harem Links
Blurb
The end is nigh, and the rules have changed. Even the gods tremble at what happens next.
Fresh off his latest victory, Derk is near his breaking point.
He and the women he loves wake to a battle that still rages, forced to deal with its aftermath and a trusted friend that has disappeared.
Unknown to him, and far from his newly gained fortress, things are about to get much worse for our hero. The so-called gods have reached their own version of Ragnarök, and as their empire collapses, their only hope is traveling to Timeria to pass through a portal that promises ultimate power to those who are worthy enough for it.
A portal that forms right above Derk’s new home.
But before that storm breaks, he must first risk everything just to save a friend, traveling deep into enemy territory to get her back.
Because that is just who he is.
Will Derk survive the oncoming storm?
Find out in this latest installment of the Pawns Rebellion Series!
Prologue
The Controller opened his eyes, the brief flicker of guilt he felt at what he had done forced away as he focused on the individual speaking in front of him.
“He!” the Overlord said, pointing his muscular green arm in the Controller’s direction. “And he alone is responsible for the deaths of our people. His pawn. His agent. Specifically tasked with murdering those who go to habitat four-five-two. Not as incidental combat in the games, it was intentional targeting. Those whose only crime is a desire to live without the restrictions of the Divinity Phage. Those who no longer wish to wait until we can find a cure.”
A loud chorus of senators on one side of the aisle began to yell and scream. Slamming their fists down on the railings in front of their seats in anger and vitriol.
“Quiet!” the Emperor called, his voice carrying with it a hint of his power, which could be felt throughout the chamber.
The imperial guards that were stationed throughout the building each grabbed the powered lances at their sides and readied them, only a moment from igniting the blades and answering the Emperor’s call.
The silence was immediate.
“Enough bickering,” the Emperor continued after a long gaze around the room. “These are serious accusations. We all saw the transmissions, we saw the brutality inflicted upon one of our own. This session was called to hear the findings of the exploratory committee. However, we will maintain decorum until this has finished. Another outburst and I will have the offenders removed.”
He stood from his throne in the middle of the chamber, taking one step towards the end of his dais before glancing from the Overlord to the Controller.
“How do you answer this, Controller?” he asked after a moment of thought.
The Controller smiled, standing from his seat near the center of power of the Roxannez empire. He walked up to the Overlord and gave him a half-bow in mockery.
“My colleague said many things. I will respond to each one in kind if I may, Emperor?” he asked, turning to the most powerful being in the known universe for an answer.
“You may,” he said, stepping backward and sitting down on his throne. “But do not waste my time further.”
“First,” the Controller said, turning to the senators in the crowd. “I do have an agent on Timeria, and yes, the one that you saw was he.”
A collective gasp came from the crowd in front of the Controller as he smiled. He had basically just admitted to his pawn murdering one of their kind in front of the entire empire.
“What is the meaning of this Controller?” the Emperor demanded. “Explain yourself.”
“Simple, my Emperor,” he said in reply, bowing his head back towards the being in the throne as he made sure the broadcast was going out to the empire as a whole. It was now locked from anyone else's ability to tamper. “We as a people have lost our way. We have forgotten how to achieve. How to endeavor to improve ourselves. We have become lazy, and only think about our individual needs, no longer striving for what made us what we once were.”
The entire senate erupted as one in an angry outcry, the volume of the offended yelling unbearable.
“Emperor!” the Overlord shouted above the others. “He has admitted his guilt, he should be tried for treason!”
“Stop the broadcast and we will go to a closed session,” the Emperor said.
“Error,” the Senate’s artificial construct said. “Unable to comply.”
“We have lied to our people long enough,” the Controller said, his voice now amplified above all the rest as he ignored everyone around him. “There is no cure to the Phage… save the single one that I have discovered.”
Silence.
“You have discovered a cure?” the Emperor asked, his hand frozen halfway as it was calling for his guards.
“Yes, Emperor,” the Controller responded calmly. “In my study of the archives of the Old Ones, there is one way to reverse the effects of the Phage. However, it requires some… sacrifices.”
“Explain yourself! Explain this cure!” the Overlord slammed his hand on the table in front of him. “Or is this another one of your lies?”
“It is quite simple, my old friend,” the Controller said, meeting the eyes of his now nemesis. “To end the Phage, you must first temporarily give up your immortality. Each one of us must descend to the world of Timeria. From there, I have created a portal based on the Old One’s instructions that will allow you to return back to the Prime plane. When you do, you will be completely free of the Phage and your immortality returned to you… free of the chains the Phage places on all our people.”
“How does this work?” the Emperor asked. “It couldn’t be so simple.”
“You are correct, Emperor,” the Controller responded, never turning from his nemesis. “It is not, for the Old Ones that created this trap did so with intent. First, one of us must open a portal to Timeria, which will mean the sacrifice of that being. Then, whoever wishes the cure, must travel their way to the machine I built in the Great Fortress constructed for it and travel back to the Prime plane after earning the power to do so. I should warn you all however, that the power comes with a price.”
“And what is this price?” the Emperor asked as he reached to his wrist and touched his jeweled vambrace with a single finger.
“It will take the power of at least one hundred Shakti to pass back through the portal and return,” the Controller stated calmly. “Power that must be taken from others of our kind who also descend. You must take it in combat to the death.”
Another collective gasp sounded through the chambers.
“What you say would mean…” the Emperor started.
“Yes,” the Controller continued when his old friend trailed off. “That you must kill your own kind and take their power. When you have achieved enough, you can use that to power up the gateway on Timeria and return to the Prime. Provided you survive against my champion who will guard the portal for me.”
Shocked silence reigned throughout the chamber as the collective body of power of the Roxannez empire digested that statement.
“Why would you do this?” Takus said, the Senator speaking for the first time. “To your own people?”
“I am not doing this,” the Controller said. “Or at least, not all of it. This, my fellow Roxannez, is the trap that the Old Ones have laid for us. I am merely springing it and giving our people a choice. Once I activate this, the Phage will become increasingly restrictive and painful until every one of us has passed through the portal. All of us, even those of us in power who thought themselves immune from what we forced our people to endure.”
“Emperor,” the Overlord said, the first to recover. “I propose we set up a new exploratory committee to evaluate the veracity of the Controller’s words. I also ask that he be placed in the tower while we investigate his crimes.”
The Emperor looked from the Overlord back to his old friend. A great crease lined his brow as he decided.
“That will not be necessary, Kai. For I have other plans,” the Controller whispered to the Emperor before turning to the crowd and the viewers across the empire who had tuned in. “Now I speak to every Roxannez in the empire. I will be the one to give up my existence to create the opening, if you wish to have a chance at true eternal life, free of the bonds placed on you by the Old Ones and our own shortsighted politicians, come to this place and transport yourself to Timeria. Fight your way to the portal. If you succeed, only then will you become true gods and join the Old Ones in their place in the universe.”
The controller lifted up his arms and became consumed by a reddish-hued light that consumed his body, reaching out his arms as though he intended to grab those nearest to him in an embrace.
“Emperor!” the nearest imperial guard yelled as he jumped on his primary and transported both himself and the Emperor away from the threat instantly.
The red light increased.
The Controller screamed from the pain that consumed him. Then he aimed his open palms at Senators Rilro and Takus as they tried to bolt from their places.
They could not move fast enough, the energy reached them before they could get out of their seats and consumed them whole.
Their own screams faded quickly as their power was pulled into him.
The Controller swept his gaze for his last target, meeting the eyes of the Overlord and giving him a smile even through the pain.
“No!” the Overlord yelled and turned and ran in a blur.
The light that came out of the Controller’s palms missed his primary target and hit one of the Emperor’s guards who was rushing forward with his powered lance.
It will have to be enough, the Controller thought, for he no longer had the ability to do anything other than scream from the pain.
He consumed the power he had gathered from his targets, their strength flowing into his own core as he concentrated on making the portal.
As the entire empire watched, the feeds showed as the Controller exploded into a giant red portal just before the images cut out.
The Roxannez empire had started its fall.
Chapter 1
Battles End
Ifound myself in between worlds.
In one moment, the sounds of battle and carnage consumed me.
Then the peaceful bliss of silence the next.
Screams of pain as people burned and died.
Only to disappear once again as I faded back into whatever dreamscape I was in.
I had no desire to wake up. My body felt drained, my will shattered. The last thing I remember is an explosion that almost took the life of myself and the one I loved.
The first one that I loved since coming here, for there were others now too.
The image of the dark-haired beauty centered me.
Tyla.
Her smile… her laugh… the way she caressed my hair when we sat together in our…
Where was that?
A memory surfaced of sitting in a horse-drawn carriage that felt like home... the rounded structure swaying and clacking as it made its way over a magically cobbled road.
That memory became a vision, and soon I found myself there.
Others were present, and my memories of them soon painted their pictures for me in vivid color. Another goddess of a woman sat on my other side, her fiery red hair matching her personality.
Tas.
Though that was not all.
Sitting on the floorboards in front of me, a pink-haired elf leaned against my legs, her cheek resting comfortably on my thigh and her eyes looking up towards me in adoration.
My heart skipped a beat at the sight.
Diane.
Even then, that was not all.
Another across from us on the other bench. She was short and wider, built of solid muscle and mass, and no less sexy than the others present. Her arms crossed in front of her, emphasizing her large breasts as she gave me a smile.
Joey.
Two others were there, but the forms were gray. One of them I could almost make out, the woman’s visage coming into and out of focus. Her shapely outline standing next to Joey, hints of blonde hair glowed and faded that highlighted her shapely figure.
Jessica.
The name acted like a magic word, bringing her image forth into my mind.
Her form solidified and the buxom blonde girl smiled back at me. Dressed in her solid black suit that reminded me of what a surfer would wear back on Earth in cold water, assuming that surfer wanted the zipper down just enough that her breasts were nearly popping out of the far too-tight suit.
She was kind of my ex-fiance from another world and another time, brought back in the form of a virtual assistant of sorts to help me maneuver the many unknowns of this world.
The warmth in my soul from the love I felt from these women won the battle against the icy feelings of despair that threatened to send me to oblivion.
I tried to focus on the last shape, the one still completely gray and somewhat formless.
However, no matter how hard I tried, her true image wouldn’t come to me. She stood just on the other side of the cabin door like she was on the outside looking in as she hung from the doorway.
I could feel longing and sadness coming from it.
A desire to be invited in.
I understood who it was supposed to be, but that would have to wait until the right time. So I gave up attempting to build her in my mind and just accepted what this was.
A dream then.
Possibly a perfect moment, one that I could stay in forever.
However, I knew there was something I needed to be doing.
A cacophony of screams, battlecries, and weapons breaking on shields made their way to us as the sounds of fighting broke through the open window from outside.
“What was that?” I asked. “Is something going on out there?”
“That is the world you must return to,” Tyla said as she twisted her dark hair. Her red lips were set in a seductive smile.
I knew it wasn't the real her, but I didn’t care at the moment.
“I’m not sure I want to,” I said after a moment’s reflection. “I’m… tired. I failed you, and I don’t know if your mother survived.”
“You didn’t fail,” Tas said. “You can never fail as long as you keep fighting.”
“We will support you, always,” Diane said next.
“We’ve got your back, stud,” Jessica chimed in with a wink.
“You will never be alone with us by your side,” Joey added.
The warmth inside me redoubled, casting the last of the doubts away. The pain remained, of course, but pain was something I was familiar with.
Like an old friend that pushed you to do better.
“Thank you,” I told them, even looking at the gray figure standing just outside the door. “All of you. I know what I must do now.”
“Yes, Master,” Tyla said seductively. “You must face the real world. Bring peace to it, or at least rid it of its blight. Soon a bigger storm approaches.”
“Yes, it will get worse before it gets better,” Tas said. “Things are about to change.”
“What is?” I asked.
“Soon,” Jessica said. “You will find out soon. Now go and finish this battle, we need you.”
“Wake up,” Joey said. “It’s time to wake up.”
The sounds of the battle increased as the vision faded. I looked at each of them and sighed as I prepared for its arrival.
“Wake up Derk!” Joey’s powerful voice yelled into my ear once more. Only this time it sounded more like a Drill Instructor’s command and I was back in Camp Pendleton all those years ago. “You need to get up!”
My eyes shot open and I jerked myself up. It was still the night of the battle, but the darkness was pushed back by glowing orbs cast by the light Chosen from both sides of the battle so the soldiers could see.
I found myself on the ground, laying over Tyla’s mother who looked like hell. Next to me, Tyla was just starting to rouse as well, her hands on both of us as we woke from our shared experience.
