Grand Game 251: A Mixed Dose of Truth and Lies (Patreon)

Author's note: Hi all, the next chapter is finally ready. This one took me a few days to write. For many reasons, it was a difficult chapter to finish, and I rewrote it more than once. Hopefully, it all makes sense the way it is!

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“We’ve nothing to talk about,” I said grimly.

Loken sat back. “Come now, Michael. You know that’s not true.” He scanned the room in a pointed fashion. “Are there any other hidden spies?” You don’t have to tell me, but I assure you, you don’t want anyone hearing what I say next.”

My lips thinned, realizing what subject Loken was about to broach. “There’s no one about.”

“I rather think you’re speaking the truth,” Loken said lightly. “This time.”

“Tell me, then,” I said, ignoring his jibe.

Loken met my gaze. “I know about your bloodline.”

Despite my pounding heart, I kept my face impassive and waited for him to go on.

But Loken said nothing more.

Is that it? I wondered, my thoughts churning. Does he not know the rest? I examined the Power carefully, trying to penetrate his mask of affability, but Loken remained as inscrutable as ever. He was studying me just as intently as I was him, I noticed. Trying to gauge my reaction, I thought.

“I don’t know what you mean,” I said finally.

“Nonsense,” Loken scoffed. “The knowledge is written all over your face. You are a Wolf, and what’s more, you know it, too!” The Power’s gaze bore into mine. “How did you learn about your bloodline? Who told you about your heritage?”

For a second, I sat still in stunned silence as I came to terms with the Power’s words. He doesn’t know, I marveled. Not the entire truth, anyway.

Loken doesn’t know I’m an anointed scion!

Relief warred with disbelief and elation, but I kept my face studiedly neutral. Don’t get too excited, Michael, I cautioned myself. What Loken knows is dangerous enough.

And somehow, I had to keep him from guessing the rest.

“The Game did,” I said, making no further pretense at ignorance.

“The Adjudicator?” Frowning, Loken sat back. “Explain,” he demanded.

“What you said earlier was true,” I said carefully. “I did find the goblins’ prisoners in Erebus’ dungeon, and I freed them too.” I glanced at the Power to see what he made of this.

His face screwed up in exaggerated concentration, Loken motioned for me to go on; he must have figured this much already.

“Freeing the dire wolves triggered the completion of a hidden quest,” I said. “That’s how I got my initial Shadow and Light Marks. But they weren’t the only Marks I received. The Adjudicator awarded me another Mark, too—a hidden one.”

“The Wolf Mark,” Loken said.

I nodded. “Correct.”

“And that is when the Adjudicator gave you the beast tongue trait?”

My brows rose. “You know about that?”

“You’d be surprised what a high-tier analyze can tell about a player,” Loken said cryptically. He threw me a hard stare. “Now quit stalling and answer the question.”

My face tightened at the Power’s tone, but I didn’t let anger color my response. “The trait had nothing to do with the hidden quest. At least, I don’t think it did. It was a reward for soloing the sector boss.”

“I see,” Loken said, studying his fingernails. “Continue, then.”

I shrugged. “There is not much more to tell. The Mark is what allowed my Class to evolve. Ever since then, the Game has been giving me quests to deepen the Mark, and in the process, I’ve been learning about Wolf too.”

Loken shot me a doubtful glance but didn’t question my assertion. “Tell me about these tasks,” he ordered instead.

I hesitated. I couldn’t refuse to answer; that would only heighten Loken’s suspicions. Nor could I lie outright. The Power was too perceptive for that. “The Game tasked me to help a dire wolf pack,” I said eventually.

Unexpectedly, Loken smiled. “Which is why you engineered the destruction of the Long Fangs goblin tribe.” He eyed me shrewdly. “And it’s because of the wolves that you are desperate to return to sector 12,560, isn’t it?”

“So, you know about them,” I said, making no attempt to disguise my unhappiness at the extent of his knowledge.

Loken’s grin widened. “Don’t mistake me for a fool, dear boy. I’ve uncovered all your secrets.”

Not all. Just the small ones. “Now you know everything,” I said in pretended disappointment. “What now?”

Loken ignored my question. “No one recruited you?”

“Recruit me?” I asked, truly puzzled. “Who would—”

“Never mind,” Loken said, waving aside the question. “Just an arbitrary thought.” He pursed his lips. “So. With only the Game’s messages to direct you, you decided to pursue the path of the Wolf?” he asked, his voice thick with sarcasm. “Is that right?”

“Why is that so hard to believe?” I retorted. “You know I didn’t want to tie myself to any Power. When the Game offered me an alternate path, I jumped at the opportunity!”

For a drawn-out moment, Loken didn’t say while he studied me from beneath a hooded gaze. “What do you know about Wolf?” he asked eventually.

“Maddeningly little,” I ground out. Which was true enough. “Information on him is hard to come by. I’ve learned that the path of the Wolf is frowned upon, and the Powers usurped him and his kind long ago. I know, too, that to uncover more of my bloodline, I need to deepen my Wolf Mark and remain unsworn.”

What I’d just told Loken was, of course, not the extent of my knowledge, but I was hoping it would be enough to satisfy him that I was being truthful.

“Is that why you’ve stopped strengthening your Force Marks?” Loken asked.

It was an astute observation, making me doubly grateful for my secret bloodline trait. If not for it, I did not doubt Loken would’ve unearthed the entirety of my involvement with House Wolf. “Yes,” I said reluctantly.

“And that is everything?” Loken pressed. “You don’t know anything else about Wolf?”

I stared at him in feigned innocence. “What else is there to know?”

Loken didn’t answer. Bowing his head, he turned his focus inwards while he considered my words.

Hiding my anxiety, I waited.

“So… Adjudicator… … …. started again,” Loken mused to himself. “I wonder… … … this time?”

The Power’s muttering was nearly inaudible, and even with my wolf-enhanced senses, I caught less than half of what he said. But it was not like Loken to speak to himself.

Did he mean for me to overhear? I wasn’t sure, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to learn more. “Did you say something?”  I asked loudly.

Loken focused on me again, his eyes weighing me. Then, seeming to come to a decision, he said, “You are not the first player the Game has tried to lead astray.”

Huh?

My brows drew down. “What does that mean?”

“Only that the Adjudicator has tried to revive the bloodlines before,” Loken said disdainfully.

I opened my mouth to ask a question, but Loken spoke over me. “What do you know about the Houses?”

“I’ve heard the term,” I admitted evasively. “The Adjudicator used the phrase ‘House Wolf’ once.”

“Hmm,” Loken said. “You should be thankful you don’t know more. Otherwise, I would be forced to kill you.”

I blinked. “Isn’t that what you’ve been trying to do all along?”

“Oh, I don’t want you dead.”

“But earlier, you said—”

“I lied.”

I stared at Loken. “You lied earlier, but now, you’re telling the truth?” I asked in a tone dripping with skepticism.

Loken grinned, openly mocking me. “That’s right. I only said what I said before to encourage you.”

“You’re not making sense,” I growled.

Loken rolled his eyes. “I thought you would’ve figured it out by now. The mantises were… motivation.”

“For what?” I snapped irritably.

“To convince you to seek my help, of course.”

I stared at him. “You’re telling me you set a death squad to hunt me, all just to—”

“Not just to hunt you,” Loken interjected. “To kill you too.” He grinned again. “I didn’t want you dead dead, but a little dead would have been more than alright.”

I took a moment to parse that. “So, you wanted to teach me a lesson?”

Loken smacked his hands together. “Exactly!”

“For refusing to become your sworn?”

“For that too. But mostly because you refused my task.”

I stared at him blankly.

Loken sighed theatrically. “The chalice, remember? Don’t tell me you forgot?”

I frowned. We were back to this again? I’d thought the Paya heist was just another ploy of Loken’s to get me killed. But now… I shook my head. Now, I wasn’t sure of anything. When had Loken been telling the truth? Then or now? Although… it was equally conceivable he’d lied both times.

Gah!

Trying to sift Loken’s words for truth was an exercise in futility. Setting the matter aside, I took a deep breath. “Alright,” I said, fixing my attention on the Power again. “Where does that leave us? Am I free to go?”

Loken laughed with what sounded like genuine amusement. “Far from it, my boy. Now that we’ve got all that out of the way, we can get down to the real business—what I need you to do for me.”

✵ ✵ ✵

“Why would I risk entangling myself with you further?” I asked after a beat.

Loken’s face grew unwontedly serious. “You said earlier that the Powers usurped Wolf and his kind. Do you know why?”

“What does that to have to do with—”

“Hear me out,” Loken interjected.

Sighing, I closed my mouth.

“Good,” Loken said approvingly. “Now, do you know the reason behind our vendetta with Wolf?”

Because the new Powers hate the old, I thought but bit back the words. That was the obvious answer and couldn’t be what Loken was driving at. Why the new Powers wanted the old dead, why they had revolted against the old guard, that was still a mystery to me, so I remained silent.

“You don’t know, do you?” Loken said softly. He fell silent for a moment. “I was there, you know.”

“There?”

Loken’s gaze flicked back to me. “There when the uprising began. I was young then, an unblooded scion,” he said softly. “In those days, Wolf and his fellows—Lion, Pestilence, Serpent, Dragon, and so many others—ruled the Forever Kingdom. They named themselves Primes and reigned supreme over their own little fiefdoms—Houses, they called them. Each spent their lives concerned with one thing only: strengthening their bloodlines and their House’s power.” He cast me a bland look. “Do you know what the net result of all that was?”

I shook my head.

“War,” Loken said softly. “War on a scale you cannot imagine. An everlasting war that slowly but surely began destroying the world.”

I blinked in confusion. “How?”

“Have you ever wondered why the Forever Kingdom is the way it is, Michael?” Loken asked, answering me obliquely. “Sectors, like islands, floating in the void of the aether and nether?”

I had, but the answer, if there was one, seemed to have been lost to time. “It does seem strange,” I admitted.

“It was the Primes’ doing,” Loken said harshly. “Their ceaseless wars spanned continents. They wielded magic the likes of which are unknown today, and in their pursuit of power, they broke the world.” His face fell. “Now, the Forever Kingdom is a sad remnant of what it once was.”

I said nothing for a moment. The Loken before me was very different from the one I knew—sad, contemplative, angry. Was this the true Loken or just another façade?

“Is that why the Powers destroyed the Houses?” I asked finally. I had no way to verify Loken’s assertions, so I chose not to contest his words and accept them at face value.

“Yes,” he responded. “It is why I rose up and took arms against my own Prime.” He held my gaze. “And it is why you cannot be allowed to tread further down the path of Wolf.”

“But I’m not them,” I pointed out. “I am only one lowly player.”

Loken laughed bitterly. “Do not sell yourself short, Michael. You are not one player. You are a spark. A spark that may ignite the flames of war and bring about the return of the Houses.”

“You fear them that much?”

Loken cast me a bleak look. “Us new Powers call ourselves gods, but the sad truth is we fall short of the Primes’ power. It was only through the strength of numbers that we defeated the Houses the first time around.”

“So why not tell your fellow Powers about me? Why keep my existence secret?”

Loken sighed. “Balance. Those words that I spoke to you long ago in Erebus’ dungeon were not lies. My duty has been, and always will be, to maintain balance in the Game.”

He gazed solemnly at me. “I am not the only Power who remembers the Primes; I am not the only one who was there. Tartar remembers. Arinna too. If either learns a player is treading the path of the Primes, they will start a cleansing the likes of which this world has not seen in millennia. Sectors would be scorched, armies will be marshaled, and a crusade will be launched against every sentient beast—of any kind.

Loken held my gaze. “To purge the Primes’ taint, we will lay waste to the world. We did it once and will do it again if needs be.”

I stared back at him mutely, knowing on some bone-deep level that this at least was no bluff: Loken meant every word of the threat he’d just uttered.

Abruptly, the Power smiled, and the jester of old returned. “But like you said, you’re only one player. I’m not yet ready to unleash such a blight on the world in the face of such a singular threat.”

“Then why tell me all this?” I asked quietly.

“So that you understand the consequence of journeying further down Wolf’s path,” Loken replied just as softly. “Stop now while you still can. It is too late for you to assume a Force-aligned Class, but you can still become a sworn. Pledge yourself to a Power—any Power—and you will never have to worry about me again.”

That I would never do, and the answer was clearly written on my face for Loken to see.

Loken’s lips twitched upwards. “I thought so. Well, in that case, know that as long as you live, I will deem you a threat. Consequentially, I will be watching—always.”

I expected no less. “Why not just kill me and be done with it?” I asked bluntly.

Loken chuckled. “I just might.”

“But?” I pressed, sensing there had to be one.

“But,” Loken allowed, “there are things you can do in your present capacity that other players can’t.”

Folding my arms, I sat back. “So, you need me.”

“I wouldn’t go that far.”

Saying nothing, I waited. We’d finally come to the heart of the matter—what Loken wanted from me.

“I will agree to leave you alone for a time if you do me a favor.” Loken grinned. “I may even remove the tracking spell.”

I cast the Power a dubious look. “What favor?”

“Complete my task and steal the chalice from Paya,” Loken said.

✵ ✵ ✵

I frowned to conceal my surprise.

We’d come full circle, I realized. All of Loken’s lengthy explanations and threats boiled down to one thing: him wanting me to rob Paya. Just how important was this chalice?

“Why me?” I demanded.

“I told you—” Loken began.

“You fed me some vague nonsense that was more evasion than answer,” I retorted. “Tell me the real reason. Why do you wish me to do this?”

Loken fell silent for a moment. “The explanation I gave you before was true, if not the whole truth. Paya recently came into possession of an artifact of immense value. I suspect the Awakened Dead found it in the same stretch of dungeon sectors you first emerged from.”

Starting in surprise, I opened my mouth, but Loken raised his hand for patience.

“What I did not tell you is that the chalice is a Force artifact. It is a thing of the Dark and is powerful enough that no Lightsworn or Shadowsworn can withstand its presence for long, much less hold it.” He met my gaze. “But you, unbound to any Force, will be unaffected.”

Loken’s knowledge of the item seemed awfully specific. “How do you know so much about it?”

“I tried stealing it,” Loken said.

“And?” I prompted when he didn’t go on.

“And I failed,” he admitted reluctantly. “Bypassing Paya’s protections was child’s play. But when I reached the chalice, I couldn’t pick it up. The artifact told me only one steeped in the Dark may sip from it.”

“It told you?” I asked, sure that I’d misheard.

Loken’s eyes twinkled. “Oh, did I forget to mention that? The chalice is sentient.”

“A sentient item?” I asked, certain he was joking.

“There aren’t many such items in the Game,” Loken admitted, “but those that exist are invariably powerful.”

I rubbed my lips. “What makes this one so potent?”

Loken didn’t answer.

“Loken?” I prompted.

“I don’t know,” he said.

My brows drew down. “What? Surely you inspected it?”

“I couldn’t analyze it,” he admitted. “And it refused to tell me its properties.”

I stared at him, at a loss for words.

“But any artifact able to injure me is surely powerful,” Loken finished.

My eyes widened. The chalice was strong enough to resist Loken’s analyze and hurt him? What was this thing? “But if it is as powerful as you say, why hasn’t Paya used it?”

“She’s tried, believe me, and so have others from the Awakened Dead,” Loken said. “But so far, the artifact has killed whoever has attempted to sip from it.” Loken smiled. “It seems that being Darksworn is not the only requirement.”

“And now, you want me to drink from it?” I asked skeptically.

“Of course not!” Loken said primly. “I only want you to steal it. Such a powerful artifact cannot be left in the Awakened Dead’s hands. Eventually, they will figure out how to use the chalice.” He leaned forward in his chair. “Once you have the artifact, you may discard it in the nether for all I care. Only get it away from Paya.” He looked at me from beneath hooded eyes. “Will you do it?”

My brows creased again. Would I do it? I asked myself. In exchange for Loken removing his tracking spell? It was what I’d been trying to do all along, after all. But… I’d had my fill of Loken’s games. “No,” I said.

Loken’s brows rose at my blunt refusal. “Why not?”

“I don’t trust you anymore,” I replied. “Not to keep your word nor to twist any bargain we make to your own ends. Do what you must. Tell your fellows about my heritage if you wish. Track me. Hunt me. Whatever. But I will make no more Pacts with you.”

I rose to my feet.

“Stop, Michael,” Loken said.

I glanced at him, another refusal on the tip of my tongue, but Loken spoke first. “What if I remove the tracking spell on you?” he asked. “Now, and without any strings attached. Will you do what I ask then?”

Was this another trick? “Can I trust you not to put another one on me?”

Loken laughed. “If only it were that easy,” he said. “I only managed to lay the tracking spell on you the first time around because of your unwitting consent. And even then, I was skirting the edges of what the Game considered permissible.” He shook his head ruefully. “The Adjudicator will not allow me to reapply the spell, not when you are now so clearly opposed to being tracked.”

I pursed my lips, still not convinced.

Loken watched me unblinkingly while he waited for my answer.

“I will not swear to a Pact,” I said.

“And I won’t ask you to,” Loken said encouragingly. He studied me again, his eyes bright. “So, you will steal the chalice?”

“I will consider it,” I allowed.

“Good enough,” the Shadow Power said, smiling once more. A moment later, a Game message dropped into my mind.

Debuff removed. The tracking spell laid upon you by the Power, Loken, has been dispelled.

Your task: Heist in the Dark! has been updated. Loken has informed you that the chalice in Paya’s possession is a Dark artifact inimical to Lightsworn and Shadowsworn players. Objective revised: Steal the chalice before any Dark player can use it.

“Thank you,” I said, and turning about, left the room.