The Deceiver's Path - Chapter 111 - Epilogue (Patreon)

Basil stomped down the street and kicked a rock. The projectile bounced off a nearby house before landing in a muddy puddle with a splash. He still stung from Piper's insults. How could she blame him for the death of their friends?

Aspirants died; it’s just what they did. The Undying Emperor himself couldn’t have saved Althea and Selene from the rot mage. No responsibility lay on his shoulders for what had happened.

Scowling, he altered his path toward a tavern he’d frequented in the past. The last few days had been a blur of terror as he awaited his public burning. Now that his execution had been stayed, he badly needed a drink.

With the money in his pouch, he planned to drink until he forgot all his troubles. The amount that Lord Mayor Constantine had given him amounted to a small fortune. At least with the money, he wouldn’t have to worry about paying for lodgings or meals for the next half year or so.

Lost in thought, he passed a narrow alley reeking of refuse. From within, he heard his name whispered. Frowning, he slowed and peered down the shadowy lane cluttered with broken barrels and crates. Yet as he squinted, he couldn’t make anyone out. Had he simply imagined hearing his name?

With a shake of his head, he proceeded onward until he heard his name again. This time, there was no mistaking it. He wasn’t hearing things. Someone was calling out for him.

“Who’s there?”

“Who do you think?” Althea stepped out of the shadows with a big grin on her face. She wore a floppy green hat popular with the ladies in the city. “I’ve been looking for you.”

“Me too,” Selene added as she stepped into the light. Like Althea, she also wore a stylish hat. “I thought we’d never find you again.”

“Althea,” he cried out, stepping forward. He coughed with embarrassment and turned his gaze to Selene. “I’m happy to see you as well.”

Taking Althea’s hands, his face split into a silly grin. “I thought both of you were dead. They told me your bodies had been stolen.”

Selene drew a dagger from her belt and balanced it in her palm. “We almost died, but a high-level healer showed up at the last minute and saved our lives. I guess since we left our rooms, they assumed we were dead.”

“But I stayed with Althea until the end….” he trailed off. Maybe he’d been wrong, and a spark of life had remained. To his untrained eye, she might have only appeared dead. Many aspirants in comas had been mistakenly declared deceased before a keen healer discovered they weren’t.

Whatever the reason, he was overjoyed to see his friends again. A sudden thought made him freeze. He needed to tell Piper. If she found out their friends were still alive, she would almost certainly rejoin the group.

Unless, of course, the others wanted to replace him as their leader. He hadn’t even bothered asking them yet. They may not share his joy at being reunited.

“I’m… sorry for what happened,” he said haltingly. “Should you agree to group up again, I promise not to be so reckless in the future.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Althea said. “You needed the money to marry your girlfriend. I understand completely.”

“You do?”

She reached out to trail a finger down his chest. “Unless you’ve realized someone else was right in front of you this entire time? I can change everything for you.”

Selene glared at the healer. “Stop it,” she snapped. “We need him to lead our group.”

Basil gently pushed Althea’s hand away. “What are you doing? You know my heart belongs to Sybil.”

The woman pouted and stepped back. “Don’t tell me you never thought of me that way.”

“I… would be lying in the thought never crossed my mind.”

“Althea,” Selene warned. “This isn’t the time.”

“But I’m hungry,” she protested.

Basil brightened at her words. “If you’re hungry, then I just came into a large sum of money. Why don’t I treat you to dinner while we figure out our future? Afterward, we can donate to a temple to thank the emperor for granting a miracle and returning you to me.”

“That sounds amazing,” Althea said. “You know, I knew someone who experienced a miracle once. He had a really bad foot fungus that wouldn’t heal…” She trailed off as Selene rolled her eyes.

The jester fell in beside Basil as they left the gloomy alleyway. As they emerged onto the street, he noted that the women were wearing more makeup than usual. In fact, both of them were caked with the stuff. Had the rot mage's spell left scars on them? He certainly hoped they didn't carry any reminders of that terrible day.

“What should we eat?” he asked, almost giddy at being reunited with his friends. “I think this deserves a celebration.”

“First things first,” Selene said, her expression turning serious. “Where’s Piper?”

“I’m not sure,” he admitted. “I saw her a short while ago at the Dancing Gnome Inn, but she’s almost certainly gone now.”

Selene stopped and peered directly into Basil’s eyes. “It’s very important that I find her. Do you know where she went?”

“I’m truly sorry, but I don’t.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Althea said. “We’ll find her before long. Until then, we can just enjoy each other’s company.”

Selene tossed her dagger up into air the before catching it. With a flourish, she made the weapon disappear. “That wasn’t the plan. We were supposed to find Piper.”

“No one said anything about not having any fun,” Althea replied. “And I want a good meal.”

His smile didn’t fade as Althea slipped her hand into his as they walked down the street. She kept shooting furtive glances in his direction. After a few steps, he reached over to rub the back of her hand. She must have caught the flu; her skin felt unusually warm to the touch.

Basil continued along happily. His group was back together, and before long Piper would rejoin them as well. In his mind, everything was right with the world.

****

Leila opened her eyes to stare up at a stone ceiling. Almost immediately visions assaulted her mind of a massive black dragon staring at her with burning red eyes. She remembered his booming voice reverberating in her head as he ordered her to conquer this realm.

“Infernus,” she whispered to herself. “I’ll do what you commanded.” As the compulsion faded slightly, she chuckled to herself awkwardly. There was no way that what she’d just seen was real.

Sitting up slowly, a sense of panic washed over her as she remembered being shot. She groped around on her chest, but there was no sign of a bullet wound. And the agonising pain had vanished as if it had never existed.

As she examined herself, she noted someone had changed her into a simple black slip. And somehow, her skin had been dyed a dark crimson.

“That’s new,” she whispered with wide eyes.

Lifting her arm, she was shocked to see it bulging with muscles. She looked like some of the girls she’d seen during her last stretch in prison; the ones who did nothing but work out all day.

She pulled her slip up to reveal equally large legs. Apparently, she’d been shot, had a visit with a demonic dragon, and then somehow got buff. This had to be some sort of bad trip.

Leila rose to her feet and looked around. The room she’d found herself in looked like something a caveman would build. The walls were decorated with paintings of a black dragon, and red gems glowed in sockets.

At the sight of the precious stones, her heart skipped a beat, and she hurried over to the closest one. She almost stumbled with her first step; her body felt far more ponderous than before. Even lifting her leg took a serious amount of effort. But after a few paces, she managed to find her balance.

Reaching the gem, she ripped it out of the wall and examined it. If this thing were real, it must be worth a fortune. But then again, she’d never heard of a glowing ruby. Which meant it had to be fake.

She was about to stuff it in her pocket when she realized she didn’t have one on her slip. For now, she’d have to hang onto it. She quickly collected the other stones as she moved around the room.

If this were a drug trip, then it was a shockingly realistic one. But how else could she explain everything that had happened to her?

After a few minutes, she came to a terrifying realization: there was no way out of the room. She was trapped here, most likely deep underground.

As if in response to her thoughts, a door slid open with the sound of stone grating on stone. She breathed a sigh of relief and walked over to examine the hallway. It disappeared into darkness in both directions.

Leila tapped her foot against the ground as she tried to decide which way to go. Finally, she the left passageway. Stepping forward, she cried out as she smashed her forehead into the head jamb.

Cursing, she stumbled back, clutching her head. Had someone made this place for dolls? Why the fuck was it so small? Stupid fucking builders.

She shook her head and ducked under the opening. Emerging into the hallway, she held up the glowing stone for light. With another look back at the room, she hurried down the corridor. She needed to get out of here to figure out what had happened to her.

The hallway seemed to go on forever, and she passed several other rooms with open doors. Each was the same as hers, except these had stone slabs in the middle. Why would someone put so many of the same rooms down here?

Leila mentally shrugged and continued onward. Why did she care about what rich people did with their money? No one working an honest job would own a place like this. Heck, even if she successfully robbed a bank someday, she wouldn’t waste the money on building something this stupid.

With every step she took, she felt thirst and hunger gnawing at her body. Just when she was considering turning back, she reached a cave in. High above, she caught the faint glint of light. Was this a way out?

Clambering up the rock pile, she reached a narrow tunnel. But it would be far too narrow for her body. Then she glanced down at her new muscles.

With a wicked grin, she began to tear chunks of stone away from the opening. With each handful, she tossed them behind her. The impact sent echoes ringing down the hallway. But it wasn’t as if there was anyone here to hear the sound. This place had been abandoned long ago.

When she’d enlarged the hole enough to squeeze through, she pulled herself up. She watched with shock as her muscles bulged; in the past, her skinny ass never would have been able to do a pull-up.

A moment later, she dragged herself into a clearing. Immediately, she knew something was off. The area was littered with weathered stone ruins, barely more than foundations.

But that wasn’t what made her blood run cold; only a few hours ago she’d been driving through the desert with her boyfriend. They’d stopped at an out of the way gas station with the intention to rob it.

However, things hadn’t quite gone to plan. Leave it to her stupid boyfriend to forget to watch out for the cops. Either the store owner had tripped the silent alarm, or they’d been supremely unlucky. During the robbery attempt, a cop had barged in and shot her in the chest.

She didn’t remember much after getting hit by the bullet. But there was no way her boyfriend had driven her a thousand miles and dumped her in a forest. What the hell was going on?

“Where the fuck am I? Am I dead?”

The longer she was awake, the less likely she thought this was a dream or a drug trip. Everything felt far too real. Which meant she needed to find food and water immediately.

Leila walked to the edge of the hill and peered down the forested slope. In the distance, she could barely make out smoke curling up from what looked like a farmhouse. Down there she’d find some answers.

Loping down the hill, she was amazed at how fast her muscular legs could move. This new body was really starting to grow on her. No asshole boyfriend would dare push her around again when she had biceps the size of cantaloupes.

Before she knew it, she arrived at a simple rutted road cutting through the dense forest. Frowning, she recalled the farm being to the right. She continued to jog onward until she reached a simple hut.

The damn thing looked like it had been built by homeless people. Who the fuck lived in a house with mud walls? The thing reminded her of a longhouse she’d seen once on a school trip. Of course, she’d carved her name into the building’s wall and gotten into serious shit.

Now that she thought back to the trip, she was pretty sure her bitch of a teacher had suspended her for that. But she couldn’t be sure. She’d gotten suspended so much back then that all the incidents tended to blend together.

In front of the house, two horses with exquisite red leather saddles were tied to a post. The beasts were massive, and for some strange reason, they were clad in what looked like metallic red armor. What was even stranger was that both mounts had swords strapped to the saddles.

Don’t tell me I’ve stumbled onto live-action role-players, she thought to herself. I hate those dweebs.

Regardless of who was inside, she was going to get some answers. Switching her gaze to her new body, she grinned as she flexed her forearm. And if they knew what was good for them, they would give her some new clothing and all their money.

Not that complying with her demands would likely save whoever lived in this hut. Sometimes, she just liked to hurt people. Which had pissed off her boyfriend to no end when she would randomly shoot a mini-mart clerk or gas station attendant.

Smiling, she prepared to kick down the door. Once she’d dealt with the people inside, maybe she’d look into conquering this place. After all, a big black dragon had commanded her to do so. And who was she to say no to a dragon?