Advent of Eternity - Chapter 138 (Patreon)

“You called, Lord Veil?” Emma knelt on one knee before Veil. He looked down at her from his throne, resting his chin on a hand behind the obscurement of the ribbons dangling from his tricorn."

“Yes. I did not find what I sought, but time will not wait for us any longer. We must adjust our angle toward Knell.” Veil let out a low chuckle. “Perhaps I should have expected that he refuse my initial offer. No man that sought the blood of the Gods and actually had any chance of succeeding would permit himself to be pushed by another’s whims.”

Emma said nothing. She kept her gaze firmly on the ground between them, refusing to even raise her head and look up at Veil. Veil shifted his weight and rested both hands on the armrests of his throne.

“Would you like me to deal with him?” Emma asked.

“No. I should think not,” Veil replied. “I find him too interesting to end his existence yet. And – as much as I appreciate your talents, Emma – you are no longer capable of defeating him.”

Emma blinked in surprise. “Lord Veil, please reconsider. I was caught off guard by an artifact in his possession that revealed me from the shadows, but now that I know it is present, I could still carry out your interests should you desire them.”

“Relax, Emma. I do not seek to replace you, but you are mistaken. You could not defeat Knell. I have been paying him more attention, and more of his strength has revealed itself to me. Even now, he rapidly grows in strength alongside his crew.”

The Veil traced a hand through the air. Shimmering green mist formed a trail behind it, shifting and twisting in on itself to form a hazy image. The Withered Rose floated alongside the shore near a tall dungeon tower, rocking gently with the waves. A skeleton stood at the helm, drumming its fingers on its chin in apparent boredom.

“Even now, the Ferryman blocks my sight of him,” the Veil said. “But they are on a collision course with some of Holen’s pawns. He will kill them, and grow even stronger still. And beyond Knell, his crew… one amongst them has old power.”

Emma lowered her head again. If the Veil did not seek Knell’s head, then she would not press the subject. His admonishment of her abilities stung, but Emma hadn’t been following the Veil this long to doubt his judgement.

If he believed that she could not defeat Knell, then she couldn’t – and she couldn’t help but admit that it stung. He was dozens of levels of power below her. The first time they’d fought, she could have run him through like a fish.

Now, just after a few measly weeks, he had outgrown her? Emma’s lips pressed thin in irritation. She had been lax on her practice. As soon as this debacle was dealt with, she resolved to double her efforts to grow in strength.

“What do you wish me to do?” Emma asked.

“Treat with him again.” Veil leaned forward and his shadow passed over Emma. “I know what he seeks, and we share the same goal. It is past time for the false gods to fall. Tell Knell that I seek the head of every Fragment, and I will aid him in his quest against Mordrigal. She will be the first of the gods to fall, should he will it.”

Emma’s eyes widened in shock despite herself. “You will take action yourself?”

“There is only so much I can do,” the Veil said with a dry laugh. “Unless Mordrigal is foolish enough to come to my domain, she is safe from me. But I believe I have some considerable offerings that would catch his eye. Seek him out. Tell him my request and bring him back with you so that I may speak with him in person.”

“And if he refuses?”

The shadows around Veil rippled and he rose from his throne. Emma couldn’t see his face, but she felt the temperature in the room drop sharply as a wave of cold fury slipped free of him before he could contain it. “He will not.”

“As you will, Lord Veil.”

Emma pressed her head to the ground, then slipped into the shadows. Veil lowered back down into his throne and the darkness receded, peeling away and sitting at the edges of the room like a dog told to heel.

***

Maya pulled her sword free of the red-skinned kobold, allowing the draconian monster to slide onto the ground, its jagged jaws still open in a snarl. Corpses littered the room of the dungeon around them.

They’d found the dungeon shortly after locating shore that morning. Knell had wasted no time in ushering them in, and they’d been working their way deeper into it ever since. The dungeon’s theme had become quite apparent after the first few rooms, all of which were filled with lizard-like monsters of one kind or another.

There were more than a few literal lizards, ranging from what looked to be an a normal house lizard to a huge salamander the size of a horse, all surrounded by rabid kobolds that threw themselves into the fight with reckless abandon, giving no care to their own lives.

All fell before Knell’s crew. Maya’s bade was a deadly wall, carving everything that grew near it apart. The enemies that were wise enough to stay far back and attempt to use ranged attacks fell to Stix’s bolts. Every time her bow fired, an opponent fell.

Knell watched over the fight, intervening with Slow whenever it was needed – which wasn’t often. He found himself using his magic to aid in the fight just to ensure he’d actually get experience for participating rather than to actually protect his men.

Cyll mostly stood beside Knell, chewing on a reed he’d found at the shore. Lassie wasn’t too happy about that, but of everyone in the crew, Cyll was the only one that wouldn’t gain any true benefit from killing enemies. He could always train with Maya on the ship at a later time, and none of their current opponents were anywhere near strong enough to waste precious experience on a man who couldn’t use it.

“Ths is boring,” Cyll proclaimed as the last kobold in the room slammed into the back wall, pinned into the stone by the bolt protruding from its eye. “I want to hit something.”

“You’ll get your chance soon enough. The boss fight will probably be some form of wyvern or dragon,” Knell said, letting his eyes sweep over the battle scene to ensure that no enemies had survived the fight. “Well done, Stix, Maya.”

“Why does Maya get to fight?” Cyll asked. “She can’t get experience either. We should be funneling all the experience into you and Stix.”

Maya flipped Cyll a rude gesture. She returned her sword to its sheath and shook her hand off. She caught Knell watching her and gave him a sheepish smile.

“It’s still difficult to hold for a long period of time. I’m getting used to it.”

“You’re getting there. Considering you haven’t even been able to fight before a few days ago, I’d say this is a very satisfying amount of progress. More than on schedule.”

“On schedule?”

“Everything is on a schedule,” Knell said. “The only question is if it’s yours or someone else’s.”

“That did a remarkable job of not answering my question at all.”

Knell gave Maya a small smile. “You already know my ultimate goal. Every step forward we take is only moving us toward it. Time is not on our side, after all. The gods do not believe we have any chance of threatening them yet. Mordrigal only let me walk free because she believes I will target other gods before her. Once the first Fragment falls, we will know little peace.”

“Well, that’s not going to be very soon.” Maya laughed and nodded at one of the dead kobolds. “Unless the gods are just as easy to kill as these are.”

Knell followed her gaze, but he didn’t respond. He let out a noncommittal hum and shrugged.

The longer we wait to strike, the more likely it is someone will interfere. We’ve already gotten a fair bit of attention, which means at least one of the gods’ Fragments will get antsy and truly put all their strength into killing us at some point. But, without the support of others, we won’t be able to truly defeat the Fragments and will inevitably fail. An interesting conundrum. Staying away from the world’s gaze will result in failure, but drawing too much attention will do the same. We need to strike the first blow at the perfect time. The world must see that the Fragments are false gods.

Knell’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a rock bouncing down the hall behind them. Stix and Cyll both spun toward the way they’d came, raising their weapons.

“I have returned without the usage of shadows, just as you instructed.” Emma’s voice echoed through the dungeon halls.

Knell’s eyebrows rose. He hadn’t expected her to return that quickly, if at all.

“You can come out,” Knell said. “We won’t attack unless provoked.”

Stix glanced at Knell. He inclined his head, gesturing for her to lower her weapon. Stix let the crossbow fall and they all watched as Emma emerged from the hallway and into the room. Her eyes were stormy and cold as she approached Knell, stopping several paces away.

“I delivered your message to Lord Veil, and he has a response for you,” Emma said. She sent a pointed glance at the rest of Knell’s crew. “Do you wish me to share it here, or will you speak privately?”

“Here is perfectly fine. Your lord has no secrets that I need to keep from my crew.”

Emma tilted her head to the side. “That is an interesting way to phrase it. Isn’t it typical to say that you have no secrets to keep from your crew?”

Knell gave her a flat stare. “That would be a lie.”

Everyone else all nodded.

“It’s Knell,” Stix said, as if that explained everything. “Your lord doesn’t know too much about him if you think he’s telling us everything. I’ve learned to just not worry about it. It’s much easier to just focus on shooting the people he points at. More fun, too.”

“Would be weird if he didn’t,” Cyll added. “If I knew where he kept the good food, I’d eat it all before anyone else could. Like that loose board next to Maya’s hammock with all the fruit stuffed into it.”

Maya opened her mouth, then whipped around to glare at Cyll. “You were the one that did that? You blamed Coal!”

Coal squawked indignantly from Knell’s shoulder, hopping once and clacking his beak in fury.

“I told you there was no way Coal could have gotten the board out of the way on his own,” Stix said. “And this is like the fourth time that Cyll has done that. How are you surprised?”

“He said the third would be the last.”

“No, that’ll be the fifth,” Cyll said.

Emma cleared her throat. They all turned to look back at her and Knell gestured impatiently.

“If you’ve got something to share, please say it. My crew and I are busy clearing a dungeon at the moment.”

“Very well. The Lord Veil seeks the head of the Fragment of the goddess of death known as Mordrigal, and he wishes to join forces with you in claiming it. He believes that you both have much to discuss that could be mutually beneficial, and re-extends his offer of a meeting. Your safety and return will be assured.”

Knell took her words in silently, making sure not to let any emotion show on his face.

“Who is this Lord Veil?” Knell asked. “Is he associated with anyone I know? I have not heard of him.”

“Lord Veil values his privacy. Few know of his presence, but I believe you are familiar with the creature known as the Ferryman.”

Knell’s eyes narrowed. “What of him?”

“He is associated with the Lord Veil and they have allied at points in time.”

Is Veil an Advent? Perhaps one that isn’t working under Joseph?

“What is your answer?” Emma pressed.

“I will accept, provided that you swear on your lord’s name to return me to this exact location after exactly one hour has passed, and in the same health that I leave this dungeon in.”

“Those were already the terms set by the Lord Veil. I swear it,” Emma said.

“How many of us can go?” Cyll walked up to stand beside Knell. “I’m bored out of my mind here.”

“The offer was only extended to Knell.”

“Figures,” Cyll muttered.

“I need you here anyway,” Knell said. “Make sure the dungeon goes smoothly. There is no reason for you to delay while I meet Veil, but I’d rather you be here to ensure nothing goes wrong.”

Cyll grunted and gave him a mock salute. “Will do, Cap.”

Emma extended a hand. “I will take you through the shadows. Hold your breath.”

Knell nodded to his crew, then drew in a deep breath and took Emma’s hand. The world shifted to greyscale and they both sank into the ground, vanishing into the darkness and leaving no trace of their passing behind.