Advent of Eternity - Chapter 123 (Patreon)

“Got her!” Cyll’s voice echoed up from the darkness. “Next!”

Stix hopped into the hole and, after Cyll caught her as well, the other two followed after her. As soon as everyone had landed at the bottom of the hole, Knell rooted around in his bag before pulling out a small matchstick.

The ground and walls around them was made up of old, blue-tinged stones. Dull streamers of cyan energy slithered through the cracks in the walls, pulsing every few seconds as they headed down the long hall before them. The only light in the dungeon came from their passage, and they were periodically plunged into darkness when the streams faded.

“What is this?” Stix asked, peering at the wall. She raised a hand to touch it, but paused and pulled her fingers back. “Do you think it’s safe to touch?”

“It was last time,” Nyra replied curtly. “And next time, I’d appreciate some warning before you shove me into a hole.”

“Your request has been considered,” Knell said. “Avoid touching anything we don’t need to, Stix. I’d rather not find things out the hard way.”

“That was hardly an answer, Knell.” Nyra’s eyes narrowed and she crossed her hands in front of her chest.

“It’s the best you’ll be getting. Your desires are irrelevant to me,” Knell said. “You said you needed time to rest. How long?”

“A few hours at least. Otherwise, I’ll be dead weight. I had a giant hole in my stomach, if you remember. Don’t be so impatient.”

Knell pursed his lips. “Two hours. I am not convinced that your full strength is mandatory to our success, and I will not waste more time than that.”

Nyra sat down and leaned against one of the walls. She closed her eyes and her breaths grew deeper, her chest rising and falling more slowly. Cyll cocked his head to the side.

“She’s ripping your style, Cap.”

“I am not the only one that practices meditation. Perhaps she is just wiser than you.”

Cyll flexed his arms and struck a pose. “What use do I have for that when I can just crush everything between my biceps? I mean, look at these. Huge.”

“I’m pretty sure mine are bigger,” Maya said, flexing her arm. Despite himself, Knell glanced. Maya was right. Hers was bigger. A small grin flickered across his face.

“Well, at least I have two of them,” Cyll said.

Maya rolled her eyes. “I can always count on you to fall back to childish insults.”

“I’m a very reliable man. How’s that sword of yours treating you? Mine’s great, by the way. Thanks for asking.”

Knell tuned his crew out. If they had to spend time sitting around here, there was still something he could take care of, and now was as good a time as ever. He reached into his jacket and lifted the amulet that Joseph had given him from around his neck.

“I’d like to talk,” Knell said.

Stix, who had somehow avoided getting dragged into Cyll and Maya’s growing argument, tilted her head to the side.

“I thought that was just a way to keep the gods from listening in on us.”

“As if someone would give this to us without having an ulterior motive,” Knell replied. He shook the amulet. “That was not a request, Joseph. I’d bet my eyes that you can hear me, and I don’t take bets that I can lose.”

Several seconds passed. Stix’s eyes trailed from the amulet to Knell, but there was no doubt in her eyes – just anticipation. Knell jiggled the amulet again.

“Right. I’m not starved for Boons anymore,” Knell said. “Either answer me, or I toss this out and make a new amulet that actually blocks everyone out when I get back to Apton. Your choice.”

“I could shoot it,” Stix offered. “We can just avoid talking about anything we need to keep from the gods until you get another one made.”

The darkness shifted. With the dim light coming from the pulsing energy running through the walls, it was difficult to notice, but the shadows lengthened. A distant bell tolled as Joseph stepped out from within a wall, his hat pulled low over his eyes.

“Very clever, Knell. I hope you don’t get into the habit of this, or I am going to be displeased. What do you want?”

“I need a fairly simple task done, and I cannot do it myself.”

“Oh?” Joseph asked. “Something that you don’t think you can do? And you think I would waste my time on it? You yourself said that we were business partners at best.”

“And this is a business deal.” Knell dangled the amulet. “If you don’t want me to destroy this right now, you do me a favor.”

“Those are hardly equal.”

“I’ll include forgiving you for attempting to lie to me,” Knell said.

Joseph’s lips pulled back in a thin smirk, revealing his razor sharp teeth. “What favor do you seek?”

“I’ll tell you after you agree. It shouldn’t be much effort all for you.”

Joseph studied him for a few moments, then nodded once. “Very well, so long as your words are true. In return, you will keep my gift.”

“The medallion will not leave my side unless I am rendered incapable of keeping it,” Knell promised. “A fair deal, I think.”

He told Joseph what he wanted.

Joseph tilted his head to the side, then nodded once. He turned back and stepped into the shadows, fading from view by the time the next pulse of dull blue light washed over the room.

***

“This is the worst idea I’ve ever had in my life,” Lillicent muttered as she ruffled through the pockets of the man she’d just killed, getting blood all over her boots in the process. She straightened, only earning a small pouch of gold for her troubles.

She walked over to another body and rifled through its pockets. This man hadn’t even had a single coin on him – just the daggers that he’d been wielding when she’d run him through. “Why am I doing this? There are so many other jobs I could have gone for. Instead, I heel like a dog.”

“Because you can feel the winds of fate.”

Lillicent spun, raising her sword and jumping back. A tall man stood behind her, his torn black clothes rippling in the night wind. He adjusted the square hat on his head, and a flicker of dull green light danced through his eyes before vanishing, leaving only pitch black in its place.

“Another Scion come to die?” Lillicent asked, speaking with more bravado than she felt. “Have you not heard what happened to the last few? You’ll be no different.”

“It is a dark time indeed for the gods,” the man mused. A curved staff materialized in his hands, a bell dangling from its end. “That their greatest implements are now the target of ire from even those such as you, with no true power to your name.”

“Try me,” Lillicent growled. “You’re thinner than a twig. I’m pretty sure a light breeze would snap you in two.”

The man chuckled. “So feisty. So much anger, but no strength to put it to use.”

“Let’s skip the small talk and get to the point where you run or I kill you,” Lillicent said, shifting her weight. She moved her free hand to her side, discretely hooking a finger around a throwing knife she kept tucked into her belt.

“Do you feel comfort from your sharp words? Do they help you cope with your lack of power?”

Lillicent flicked the dagger. It was one of her better throws – the blade flashed through the air, barely visible in the dull moonlight, and caught the man straight in the throat. A cold grin stretched across her face, but it didn’t get to finish its path.

The man reached up slowly, pulling the dagger free. He dropped it and the blade fell to the ground with a quiet thump. The shadows behind the man stretched. They grew longer and more jagged, like broken glass strewn across the ground.

Lillicent took a step back. Then she spun and sprinted as fast as her feet would carry her. She’d fought quite a few people on the trip to Apton. Half a dozen sailors. A Scion that she’d barely gotten the best of. The captain of her chartered ship, when he’d tried to rob her in her sleep.

None of them had taken a dagger to the throat and lived, much less been completely unbothered by it. Part of survival was knowing when you were completely outmatched.

Lillicent slammed straight into a wall of darkness. She fell back and a dark tendril whipped out from the ground, batting her sword from her hands. Cursing, she looked up to find the thin man standing directly before her.

“Children playing with sharp toys should be more careful where they run,” the man said, baring his jagged teeth in a mockery of a smile. Lillicent rolled to the side, scrambling to her feet and running in the opposite direction.

She slammed into him a second time. Pain shot through her nose as something cracked. A shadowy growth whipped around her legs, yanking them out from under her. Lillicent slammed to the ground. The air rushed from her lungs in a pained grunt.

Before she could stand, a pointed boot pressed down into her chest and the butt of the man’s staff jabbed into the ground beside her head.

“I have some questions for you,” the man said, leaning closer with unnerving flexibility.

“Tell whatever god you serve to shove their questions so far up their ass that they come out their mouth.”

“I serve no god.”

“Then tell it to whoever you serve, you lanky bastard. I’ve already died. I’m just living on borrowed time. No threat you make scares me.”

“Oh? And here I was so willing to offer you a deal. I simply wished a single question answered in exchange for your life. If you’d just given me a moment to speak before you attacked me, I’d have been able to tell you that.”

“In exchange for my life,” Lillicent repeated. “Sure. Don’t pretend like you were ever going to be cordial.”

“A fair point,” the man admitted. “I was not. The question, then. What is the location of the man known as Knell?”

Lillicent blinked. “You’re wrapped up with him?”

“Answer the question.”

“Find an anthill and sit on it.”

Joseph’s boot pressed into her chest and Lillicent gritted her teeth in pain.

“Answer the question,” he repeated. “I know you are aware of where he resides. Simply tell me. Knell will be no concern of yours once I find him. He cannot kill me.”

“Maybe not now, but I figure you’ll find his blade in your back soon enough if you’re hunting for him,” Lillicent spat. “I hope he makes it hurt.”

Lillicent twisted her right leg. A thin blade sprung out from behind one of her shin plates and she snatched it out of the air, plunging it toward her own throat. The man’s staff flashed, striking her in the wrist and sending her dagger spinning.

To Lillicent’s surprise, he took his foot off her chest and stepped back.

“Attempting to kill yourself to keep me from torturing you?” the man asked. “Dedicated indeed. More than I would have expected. Why?”

“Because I’ll do anything to kill the gods,” Lillicent replied. “And he’s got the best chance of doing it from everyone I’ve met. I’m not telling you anything.”

“I see. I suppose this should be acceptable, then.”

“What?”

“My apologies for the mild injuries,” the man said. He moved faster than Lillicent could watch, grabbing her nose between two slender fingers and snapping it back into position. She yelped in pain, but he’d already released her. “I did not expect you would charge into me nose-first.”

“What is your problem? Who are you?” Lillicent hissed.

“Continue on your path,” the man said, ignoring her. He hooked her sword with the end of his staff and flicked it over to Lillicent. She grabbed it, staring at him in confusion.

“What are you on about?”

“We will meet again, I think,” the man said. The shadows beneath him shifted and rose up around him like the jaws of some misshapen beast. They closed and sank back into the earth, leaving no trace of his arrival.

Lillicent touched her nose gingerly with a finger, then winced. Muttering under her breath, she scooped up her lost daggers and returned them to their places.

“This definitely isn’t worth it,” Lillicent grumbled, trudging back toward Apton. “I wish that gods cursed captain waited until we were a little closer to Apton to try to pull his shit. What a waste of time.”