He swallowed the words as he caught the sound of soft soles scuffing the stone floor. When he gazed up, Lildrith was running their way, slid to a stop, then dropped to one knee and bowed.

  “They are here, my master,” she announced, kneeling while clutching the scythe.

  “Who’s here?” he groaned, already suspecting the answer.

  “The Naga.”

  16

  “What level?” he asked, jogging along as quickly as the pain surging up his bicep would permit.

  “They encountered the undead down the tunnel,” Lildrith replied, looking back, then slowing her pace when she got too far ahead. “I used the distraction to assume their numbers.”

  “Sounds like a war party, but that doesn’t mean they’re here for you, DeVante,” Kisha pointed out.

  “Please inquire their intention before firing upon them.”

  He could only groan at the thought. The element of surprise could be the difference between living and dying, and the Siren was insistent that he cast his upper hand aside in favor of diplomacy.

  When they descended to the tunnel, voices echoed off the walls, though not the shouts of combat.

  “Seems the fight is over,” he groaned. “Wonder how many they lost?”

  “Hopefully none,” Kisha cried out. “These are my people, remember?”

  “How could I forget,” he sighed, pulled out his scrolls, and quickly checked his numbers. The mana had climbed back to 1,400 again, with his health nearing 229, thanks to the increase in Stamina. If he’d been given more time, his good arm might be more useful. At the moment, he was forced to leave it dangling at his side.

  “A word, my master?”

  DeVante was ushered away from Kisha, who scowled at the Harvester as they returned to the landing. Lildrith turned her gaze toward the Siren, who quickly averted her own.

  “I may know a way so that you may both get what you desire,” she whispered, the strange smell of roses upon her breath.

  “I’m listening,” he replied, pondering how one obtained rose-like breath.

  “Permit the Siren to approach her people first. She can claim separation, or that you fell to injury.”

  “They’ll only lie to her,” he sighed. “That’ll accomplish nothing besides placing her in the crossfire.”

  “Did I not see the Blink ability in your list?” she offered. “Could you not teleport in, fire upon them, then return her to safety?”

  “Yes, but again, what will that prove?”

  “I’ll ask their intentions of you,” Kisha offered, notably from the second step. “Sorry, her voice carries, even when she whispers. I’ll do it. I’ll determine if they seek to detain, or kill you.”

  “We’ll need a signal,” he added. “We may not be able to hear you, and you might pick up on something silent, like a look, or that one of them isn’t speaking in their normal tones.”

  “Well, if you hear great praises coming from them, then you know they’ve all lost their minds,” she sighed. “I need to go now though, before they reach this stairwell.”

  “Okay, but aren’t you forgetting something?”

  “What. . .oh, right,” she chuckled, lifted her arm, and permitted Perry to crawl over to him. “You’ll see, DeVante. You’ll see that my people didn’t betray you.”

  With a weak smile, she offered a nod, then hurried out toward the tunnel with her elemental following close behind. DeVante started to follow, but Lildrith placed her hand on his shoulder before gently pulling him back.

  “We should remain up here, to avoid being seen,” she pointed out, her voice far softer than before.

  His guess was that Kisha’s mentioning of how her voice carried was taken to heart.

  “Fine.”

  DeVante crouched behind the rail on the landing, with Lildrith hunkered to his other side. Despite the stairs being in her way, her faceless helmet remained focused in the direction of the tunnel, leaving him to wonder if she could see through the stairs, much like he assumed she saw through the metal covering her eyes. He made a note to ask about that.

  “Lahwanta!” Kisha called out, waving her hand just beyond the doorway to the stairwell. From his angle, he couldn’t see the top of her head, but at least he could see the rest of her body.

  “What the gods is that. . .thing?” Lahwanta growled, lowering her spear toward the water minion.

  “Oh, my familiar, I suppose,” she replied, turning to look the minion over. “I’ve learned to summon him.”

  “And how is it you managed to obtain this spell?” Lahwanta asked, only her in his view. “As I recall, it took you decades to learn the way of water forging, Siren. How is it you suddenly learned such a superior spell?”

  “Oh, well, been working on it in my free time,” she lied. He was almost proud of his little Siren for lying on his behalf, but then thought it through. They were on the side right now, and she did work on the spell. She was telling truths.

  The pause from the Naga was longer than he cared for, leaving him to picture Lahwanta sharing a knowing look with another Naga. If they’d tortured his friends, they could have learned how Kisha truly acquired the ability.

  “We haven’t time for idle chit-chat,” Lahwanta finally replied. “The land walker? Where is he?”

  “I’m uncertain. He could be far from here for all I know. We’ve endured many attacks since arriving.”

  Again, all truths, mostly.

  “We’ll find him,” Lahwanta announced. “Then we’ll obtain the orb.”

  “Orb first,” a male voice called out, leaving him to guess that Komorda returned with the group.

  “Then we’ll deal with the land walker.”

  “Deal with him?”

  “Get ready,” he whispered to Lildrith. “This could turn quickly.”

  “Don’t play the fool, Siren,” Lahwanta groaned. “Though it’s your nature, it becomes tiresome to endure. Now, out of our way.”

  “Wait, wait,” Kisha called out, her hands shooting up from his view. “DeVante told me something earlier. Something disturbing. He said you left him to drown before we reached the temple. Of course I insisted upon your innocence, that he merely mistook your actions, or the current swept him away from your grip, but he insisted it was intentional. It wasn’t, right?”

  There was a long pause, far longer than he deemed necessary if she were to lie in her defense.

  Slowly he stood up, determining just the right spot to teleport to.

  “Your kind are quite naïve,” Lahwanta sighed. “You’ve come to care for this land walker, haven’t you? The same who freed the Mana Demon, Ethryn. He is Sha’Kurian, which is worse than being a Blood Drow. . .”

  “All of this is known, but you’re stalling,” Kisha interrupted.

  “To sway you to the correct conclusion,” Lahwanta snapped, the familiar ping of a spear handle slamming into the ground. “Know your place, Siren. The Mana Demon is in search of him. We know this to be true. We cannot aid him, lest we face swift punishment. Even returning Nasaphene to her true form could spell our doom.”

  “The High Priestess tasked us with this,” Kisha cried out. “She is our lady, she represents our demigod.”

  “And she is a fool,” a man snapped, clearly Komorda this time. “Which is why we’ve removed her from power.”

  “What?!”

  A new quest has been offered from an unknown source!

  Stop the coup!

  Free High Priestess Theanna!

  Reward:

  1 white coffer

  6 coffer coins

  750 ranking

  50 skill points

  Bonus quest:

  1 skill point for each usurper vanquished, whether through death, or capture.

  “Remind me to tell her I told her so,” he sighed, picked his spot, and teleported.

  Blink +1!

  49/100!

  “Theanna says hello,” he announced, lifting the pistol toward Lahwanta’s face while wrapping his injured hand around Kisha’s wrist.

  The boast cost him, affording Lahwanta enough time to dodge as the shot expelled from the now narrowed barrel of the pistol. The Naga behind her, however, wasn’t as fortunate, and the crackling blast tore a hole through his face before he could figure out what was happening.

  You shoot Naga Male for +94 damage!

  Blink +2!

  51/100!

  “Move,” he hissed after returning Kisha to the landing.

  “DeVante, I’m. . .”

  His response came by shoving her aside with his shoulder, knowing it wouldn’t take long for the Naga to determine where they’d gone. With another shot channeled, he aimed at the door, then pulled the trigger the second someone appeared within the door frame.

  You shoot Naga Female for +72 damage!

  Pistols +1

  The shot was errant because the Naga female was smart enough not to step directly through the doorway. Instead, he managed to tear a fist-sized hole through the unsuspecting Naga’s shoulder, just before he took aim and fired another round into the steps themselves. The stone rained down as the shot exploded, but he didn’t bother hanging around to see if he’d prevented them from following.

  “Up, now!” he shouted, nudging Kisha along with his empty pistol.

  “DeVante, I’m. . .”

  “Sorry? Yeah, I know,” he growled, climbing behind the two women as shouts sounded from behind.

  “Now move!”

  “I don’t understand, my master,” Lildrith called out from behind. “We’ve the power, and they wield but spears. Why do we not simply stand our ground?”

  “A number of reasons, I think,” he guessed, slowing his pace while he weighed which way to go.

  “True, I saw only a dozen, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t more about.”

  “With your firepower, and my abilities, they still hold little chance,” Lildrith reminded him.

  “I need one of them alive,” he groaned, standing in the main room, deciding between the stairs he knew, and the shadows he didn’t. “Can’t risk killing them all.”

  “DeVante, my familiar,” Kisha called out, walking backward with her hands clutched against her chest, staring over his shoulder.

  “I’m sure he’s putting up a good fight,” he sighed. “I’m sorry, but I didn’t have enough arms to take you both and hold the pistol.”

  “I know, I’m not upset with you, just. . .”

  “Upset, I get it,” he groaned. “Lildrith. I’m not schooled in war and espionage. What should we do here?”

  “I sense dozens of undead in that direction,” she responded, tipping her scythe toward the shadows.

  “The original plan could still work.”

  “Yeah, but that plan required her minion,” he sighed. “I doubt she’s the mana to summon another so soon.”

  “And we lost the armor,” she reminded him.

  “Fair point,” he muttered, looking from the shadows to the stairs. If he chose the stairs, he would be entering familiar ground. An ambush could be placed at this stairwell, as well as the one leading up to where they’d faced the statues. The problem with that is they’d likely catch on to his antics.

  The shadows seemed better, somehow, but risking a two-sided battle in unknown territory was a gamble he wasn’t willing to take lightly. His friends were in danger, and the thought of losing his two newest caused his throat to tighten.

  “DeVante,” Kisha called out in a soft voice. “You know she’s right.”

  “What?”

  “I am surprised as well, my master.”

  “While Lildrith doesn’t know the layout, she can sense the undead. That and her experience in battle far outweigh our own. If she suggests the shadows, then we should simply agree.”

  “And if we end up fighting two sides?” he asked, already seeing how things could sour quickly.

  “Then I will forge the two of you a path through the undead, and force the Naga to deal with them as well, my master,” Lildrith replied in a formal tone, standing straight as though she were saluting.

  Voices echoed off the walls, announcing the Naga had found their way up the damaged stairs.

  Realizing they’d but seconds, DeVante confirmed his choice, then nodded toward the shadowy area of the room.

  “Go on, both of you,” he sighed, flexing his fingers over the handle of the pistol. A test was performed on his injured arm. More movement, less pain, but it still felt weak, and far too sensitive to sudden movements. He couldn’t yet risk placing the pistol in his good hand, no matter how much he desired it.

  “And what of you, my master?”

  “I’ll catch up,” he replied, lifting the pistol and training the sights toward the doorway. “I’ll get a shot off, then be right on your tail. So be ready. Actually, I may fire off a couple, since they don’t seem to have any ranged weapons.”

  “I’d advise against more than one shot,” Kisha announced, slowly back-pedaling toward the shadows. “They’ve the same water powers I do, but well-practiced. With that pool over there. . .”

  “Noted, now go,” he ordered, seeing the shadows move in the distance. “Lildrith, take the lead.

  Keep her safe.”

  “Yes, my master.”

  DeVante watched them go over his shoulder, but knew he couldn’t allow his gaze to linger. A smile did curl on his lips though as he realized Kisha was right. Lildrith’s reinforced skirt did permit some of that tight, muscular ass to show.

  Feeling exposed wasn’t something he enjoyed, especially over the last few weeks. There was nowhere to take cover, lest he opted to take the stairs leading to the pool. He shook off the feeling.

  Having Blink up his sleeve tended to remedy that problem, and he’d more than enough experience with the spell to get himself out of harm’s way. So, while he coaxed his confidence toward the surface, he took aim at the doorway and slowly walked forward, just in case the distance proved too much for the pistol’s shot.

  The first Naga poked their head inside the doorway, and he nearly fired off the shot. Knowing he’d likely been seen, he took a few steps sideways so that he could look into the doorway at an angle. The sights remained trained, but nothing happened as he counted out the seconds.

  “What are you waiting for?” he groaned beneath his breath, feeling the weight of the pistol in his extended hand. “Come on, come on. Show those ugly faces of yours.”

  The shaking of his gun hand grew so intense that the sights no longer remained trained upon the top step. With a grunt of pain, he lifted his injured arm in support, then dropped to one knee so he could rest the elbow upon the raised leg. More seconds ticked by, yet the Naga refused to expose themselves.

  From what he’d learned of their kind, he doubted they waited in fear. There was a reason for their hesitation, some sort of plan they were carrying out. He needed to figure it out, lest he wind up falling into a. . .

  It struck him just a second before their plan could play out. Without turning back, he Blinked far to his right, just as the tendril of water slammed down on the floor where he previously crouched. With another point in Blink, he looked over to see the magical attack had cracked the surface of the floor, and likely would have split his skull had he remained stationary another second.

  A head poked up over the top step, and he squeezed off the shot. The small bolt crackled as it zipped toward the doorway, smashed into the top step, and erupted in a cloud of crackling mana and broken stone. Two skill points just flashed over his eyes, and he nearly smiled before he caught the words, rather than the numbers.

  “Shit,” he mumbled and took a step back. He hadn’t hit the Naga, as he’d thought, but rather the others had engaged the undead. He couldn’t linger here any longer, not when. . .

  The cloud of debris had thinned, just as a spear launched itself in his direction. His yellow eyes widened before he Blinked, transporting himself to the far left of the doorway, just as the spear slammed into the wall where he’d stood. Another shot was channeled, he aimed and unleashed his fury without waiting for a clear target. Another blast of debris and. .

  A loud crack sounded in his right ear, and his already injured arm screamed as the shoulder slumped. The blow knocked him to his knee, and he’d barely time to glance over his injured shoulder to find the source.

  Water clubs you for +72 damage!

  Health 158/275!

  He hadn’t fully recovered from the backdraft of the bow, and now he was nearly down to half his health thanks to forgetting the potential foe behind him. The long tendril of water flicked around like a whip, raised high into the air, and swung down at him once more.

 

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