Unbound

Chapter Four Hundred - 400

The temporary estate of Representative Veil, delegate from the Territory of Nagast was silent as the grave. The gates, so wrapped in wards that they shimmered in the midday sun, were a bulwark against all any violence that might crash against it. The walls were tall, crenelated and defensively constructed, with battlements for warriors to walk.

Yet they were empty.

"What is happening here?" Captain Jorald Malphas demanded. "Where are the gate guards?"

He had marched his Fist of Knights at double-time across the entire Ward at the Matron of Incandescence's command. Elite they may be, but a direct order from a Matron? Not even Malphas could deny those that were Chosen of the Flame, and all they were to do was escort a company of traitors to the Temple. Simple and an insult to the Captain's abilities. Yet when he arrived, what did he find? Guards so lazy they cannot keep men at the gate!

The wardings aren't even responding to my Will! This is unacceptable! Malphas stomped his golden boot, cracking the roadway for six entire strides.

"Sir, my Lord Captain, sir."

Malphas snapped his attention toward a bowing scout. He had no idea what his name was, but it didn't matter. Scouts had a tragically short lifespan, even on controlled hunts. It wasn't even worth it to Analyze him, even if Malphas had the Skill. Which he didn't. "What."

"Sir, there is no response from the estate sir."

"I know that, why do you think we are still standing here?"

The scout blanched, but kept talking. "Nno, that iswhat I mean is! Sir, there is no response from anything. No Skill can make contact."

Malphas felt the cold worm of fear squirm in his belly. He drew his side-sword. "Men, with me. We're breaking down this gate, now!"

"Aye, sir!" his knights all cried in unison.

The Captain spun around and lifted his gilt blade into the air. "Let Flame Beget Flame! Molten Strike!"

A geyser of orange Mana vapor shot upward from his sword, igniting into a baleful bonfire twice the sword's length. Malphas strode to the gate and brought it down with all of the Strength he could muster. The wards burnt away while the wooden gates ashed to nothing.

Malphas pulled his still-blazing sword back up and grinned. "Men! Forwar!"

A boot caught him in the face, crumbling his helmet and sending the Captain tumbling, ass over teakettle into his Fist. Water followed, but nothing natural; instead he found himself floundering in an endless bubble of the stuff, unable to breathe or orient himself properly. Outside, crackling lightning and flashing steel burst from the sundered gates. Men and women, armored and armed to the teeth, flooded outward with death in their eyes.

Malphas screamed, releasing a stream of bubbles before realizing he was wasting his breath. He saw his Knights cut down, one by one and then in great swaths by the traitorous force. Rage kindled in the Captain, enough to fuel his heat Skill that began boiling the water Mana all around him. He poured everything he had into the Skill, earning himself two entire Skill levels yet coming no closer to freeing himself. By the time his Mana ran out, his lungs were burning in utter agony, and his eyes were flashing with blooms of random, blinding color.

He witnessed a giant of a man step forward, carrying a massive blade bigger than himself. He lifted it and Malphas twitched...that was all he could manage to save his life. With an immense swing, the water finally burst and Malphas was rolling wildly across the cobblestone street. He fetched up against the stone lip of a fountain, but barely noticed. The sight of his own body took up his fading attention, splayed out on the ground, headless.

How?

"Is everyone quite finished?" Zara asked. "Darius?"

Reed straightened and flicked his oversized blade, casting a bright line of red to splatter on the ground."Yeah. I'm done here. Harn?"

"Hrm. Claw. Stealth Formation Number Two." The fully armored warrior watched as the members of the Fiend's Claw moved relatively smoothly into the proper positions. There were a few slower learners among them, but overall Harn was impressed. All of them were dedicated to improving. "Ready to move."

"What, erm, what is to be done with the bodies?"

That question came from the Faun, a girl Harn had been very confused to see at Zara's side. Harn grunted. "Fourth Talon, put the bodies in side the courtyard. Quickly now." He glanced at the Faun and noticed she was still quite pale, watching the bleeding corpses of her former allies. "You could always stay here," he said.

Fiammetta started. "No! No I am dedicated to...to stopping all of this. That doesn't mean I cannot wish that my...that people weren't going to die."

"It is either them or us at this point," Zara said. The Fourth Talon hustled back out of the burnt gateway, bodies disposed of, and she clucked her tongue. "They have given us little choice."

Harn watched that blue-green Mana manifest into a shimmering, illusive door. It glowed with inner light before growing dull and seemingly solid. He even spotted bits of glowing sigils on it, like it still had wards. It was damn impressive.

And if she were there with Evie, maybe we'd be outta this situation already. Harn clenched his jaw hard enough that his teeth ached. He knew blaming Zara for this was unfair, but his gut was boiling with hate enough to spare. Evie better be fine, or I'm gonna kill every Master on that Council. Don't care how strong they are.

"II am most impressed that all of your people were ready and waiting for our assault," Fiammetta said to him. "To be quite honest, I had expected far more difficulty in extracting all of you from this estate."

Harn bared his teeth. "I never trust a cage. The Fiend's Claw stands ready, always."

A soft, rhythmic stopping extended outward from Harn's position as each Talon took up the chant in low voices. The Disciple look around, eyebrows drawn low in...it wasn't annoyance, but what was that word? It was a big one. Consternation, that's it.She's consternated.

"The Autarch would never leave us behind. We knew someone would come," Loquis said from beside them. He and his Talon, now three times the size, stood at attention. "Commander. We march when you're ready."

Harn slapped him on the back. "Good man. We move, now."

"Autarch?" Fiammetta asked.

"Perhaps later, dear," Zara said, approaching. "We must reach the Council Rotunda. Darius? We are aimed at rescuing our people, and whomever else is held within. None are to be sacrificed, you understand?"

"I will demolish their dungeon brick by brick if I have to," the Hand said, his breath heavy and scowl furious. "They have laid hands on the duke's daughter, and they'll pay for it."

"Aye. We'll see to that," Harn agreed, and he led them all down the sun-bright thoroughfares. His core rang with blow after blow on his visualized anvil, each strike propelling him onward. Faster. Faster. "We'll tear 'em apart, Reed."

"Wait. Explain this again," Felix said. "There's a monster nearby?"

"Oh yeah. Huge one, according to legends, and dead too. Sposed to be a tomb or something where it was left. Been looking for it so I can get Hallow a new upgrade."

They were walking down the hidden staircase carved into the cliff face while Pit and Hallow flew and crawled down to the chasm floor, respectively. Felix reflected that they could have ridden their Companions, but Beef had taken off toward the stairs before he could suggest it.

"The Multipede is great, don't get me wrong. But it can't fight off everyone, and Hallow gets tired after a certain number of Bodies get lost. So even if I made an army of weak creatures, if they can get wiped off the map fast enough Hallow is too exhausted to fight with me." Beef made a grumbling noise in his bull-like throat. "I'm strong, but magic is so much stronger. Found that out too late."

"Oh?" Felix asked as he followed behind. "How's that?"

"Well, after I made the change to this," he said, gesturing to his impressive physique. "I uh, I got a little wild. There's these mobs called Sandwolves out there and they're nasty. Almost killed me before my Race changed, but after that I could handle 'em. Killed a bunch, earning a whole slew of new Skills and stuff. That was a rush. But...Sandwolves travel in packs, and I nearly died a bunch of times. So I specc'd toward Vitality and Strength, leaning into my leveling bonuses. I can't exactly be mad about that, since doing that let me survive the worst of it."

"That is all very familiar, dude. I didn't arrive in a desert, but it wasn't a picnic, that's for sure," Felix said. He clapped Beef on the backthe Minotaur was a full two feet taller than him, so he managed only to hit his shoulder blade. "Survival comes first. The rest'll come later."

Beef smiled at him, looking relieved. His Spirit wobbled and calmed...though it was a little hard to make out, even for Felix. Odd. Wonder why?

"Well, when a particularly huge amount of Sandwolves almost killed me, I escaped by running into one of those sandstorms. The Cursewinds, they call 'em." Beef laughed, but it was tinged with chagrin. "Nearly died in there. But when I saw that storm, close up? I saw swirling winds and sand and dark flashing of lightning and...and it was power. Real power. I saw it summon corpses out of the sky to kill the Sandwolves. Even fought them myself." Beef shook his head and licked his lips. "They were strong, even the weakest ones. I barely survived. But I got out.

"That night, when everything was calm, I couldn't get that magic outta my head. I felt inspired, you know? Like how teachers talk about it in history class. I was that light bulb guy, right? I saw the thing and realized it could be so powerful and stuff. Magic. Magic was the way forward. Naos...er, Isla? Was that her name? Anyway he uh, she told me I 'kindled my Mote' or whatever at that point. She called it a 'spirit of possession' or like, what was it?" Beef snapped his thick fingers. "A wisp of undeath. But uh, nicer."

"Hallow," Felix said, putting the pieces together. "He's part of you."

"Yup. Something like that. I don't really get the whole," Beef cut himself off and waggled his fingers mysteriously. "The more complicated bits are weird. Naos tried teaching me, but I guess I'm just better at hitting things. My magic hasn't gotten much better. Each level I've gotten has just made my Body stronger. My Spirit and Mind are lagging behind, according to Naos. Isla. Fuck."

They chatted more, Beef getting more and more invested in telling Felix all of the enemies he'd fought around the desert. He'd waged a genocidal war against the Sandwolves, nearly wiping them out as they kept coming at him again and again. Some of his first faux-undead were Sandwolves, which Beef clearly relished. The guy was surprisingly bloodthirsty, but Felix couldn't exactly throw stones on that account. Anyone that chased power on the Continent were bound to get a taste for it...or else they wouldn't be around for very long at all.

The more Beef talked, the more Felix got a handle on his strange Hallow abilities. The creature that inhabited his Risen, as the System called them, seemed tied to Beef's Spirit Aspect in some way. How it split itself apart was anyone's guess, but clearly raising his Intelligence, Willpower, and Perception were key to increasing their capabilities. Not to mention Harmonic Stats, which dealt more directly with the Spirit. When he asked Beef about those, the guy hadn't a clue. Apparently Isla was keeping the cards close to her chest for some reason.

He had met Isla, then Naos, in one of the mining layers of Ahkestria. After some Yttin told him of a city, he'd set out to find it and eventually did after a lot of searching. He'd had to muscle through the stormwall around the city to get in, but even then Beef managed it. Nearly died, but he did it. Except once he was inside, he couldn't get much higher than the lowest layers. Apparently people need a badge of citizenship to climb the upper layers, and Beef had been refused entry on account of him not having anything except the bloody Sandwolf pelts on his frame.

"Naos showed up and helped me, giving me some healing for all the cuts I'd taken coming through the storm," Beef said. He blew air through his snout. "Taught me all sorts of things I hadn't learned out fighting in the desert."

For months they had a mentor/student relationship. Naos would provide him with healing and Beefhammer would fight and level and grow, each time pushing back out through the stormwall. Naos helped him temper too, which was a revelation. Beef didn't like the direction Naos insisted on guiding him, but was told it was necessary to solidify his "foundation."

"Naos wanted me to focus on Strength and Vitality, just like I'd originally planned. But I refused. I had magic, finally, and I was gonna use it. You know?"

Beef grew stronger and more capable, and slowly his magic came into its own. He even learned a few tricks from Naos, who had a weird insect theme going on, like the Chitin Construction Skill he'd used earlier. Hallow was getting stronger, a bit, securing enough Risen for him to fight against the desert's monstrosities, and things were getting better.

"Then I heard about the Tomb, and I knew I had to get to it. A big monster just sitting around? How strong could I get with something like that?" Beef grinned and rubbed his big hands together. "It has OP written all over it."

They reached the bottom of the stairs, and Beef led them up the first, sloping dune. Felix followed behind, more than happy to listen as this strangely exuberant Minotaur rattled off his life story. Felix did notice, however, that Beef never really talked about who he was before he came to the Continent. They reached the top of the dune, and Beef pointed into the distance, where the darkened maws of a hundred wide caverns punctured the walls.

"Gotta go through those and get outside the city and stormwall, then we can find the Tomb," he said.

"Wait, outside the city?" Felix frowned, and reflexively looked up. He obviously couldn't see through the miles of stone and darkness, but the connections to his friends and allies were there, bundled in his chest. They each gave off a faint, humming vibration. "I thought you said this monster body was close? I figured it was down here somewhere."

"Oh no. It's outside the city a ways. I was searching for the Tomb for like, weeks. That's how I got my armor," Beef said, slapping a hand against his breastplate. As Felix had noted before in his visions, it was the bloodred plate of a Paladin.

"The Paladins? In those dreams I mentioned, I saw you fighting against them a couple times," Felix said. "Why are they after this Tomb?"

Beef shrugged. "No clue. The old legends talk about it like its some king's final resting place, though Ahkestria's never had any kings according to the High Justiciar."

"Wait. You spoke to Haim?" Felix stopped walking, the slimy face of that jerk popping perfectly to mind. "How? When?"

"It was coincidence really. I was looking for the Tomb and found an encampment of dudes in full on armor. And those swords? Damn they are nice. Aside from the insect armor I can make, I'd never seen so much quality gear. I uh, well I got excited. Introduced myself right away. They were nice too, inviting me in for food and drink, all that." Beef scratched the back of his neck. "Haim was even nice. Gave me this armor."

"Really," Felix said through his curled lip.

"Hey! I didn't know they were assholes at first! Paladins are good guys! We talked, Haim and I, for a while. All night, it felt like." Beef sighed. "I may have told them more than I should've. Like how to get into the city, so long as you can stomach the storm, about monsters around the area.

"About the Tomb."

Felix bared his teeth, immediately spreading his Perception all around them. Could the Paladins be down here now? But no, they wouldn't survive the stormwall. Beef could, and Felix had done it, but it likely took a considerable amount of protection to manage it. If they could have done it easily, the Paladins would have taken over the city already.

"I take it they were interested in the city," Felix said.

"A little. Well, more than a little, but they seemed more into the Tomb. Haim was really interested, said he'd heard of it himself. And I may or may not have told him uh, everything about it. All the stories I'd heard, where I thought it would be." Beef recoiled from the look Felix gave him. "Hey! He was a Paladin! That's so cool! How was I to know he was a dick?"

Beef sighed. "After a while though, the questions stopped and Haim stopped being so friendly. Said I was a 'Lost Race' whatever that meant, and after talking so long about myself I may have let slip that I just...appeared in the desert one day."

"He knew you were Unbound," Felix said. "That's why they've been chasing you and knew who and what you were. You basically told them."

"Uh, yeah. It was the first time I'd heard the term. Naos didn't even use it til I came back. The Justiciar guy went from nice to evil in a second, having the guards come hold me down. Said I'd be coming back to his boss or whatever, and the way he said it...I just knew it wasn't good."

"How'd you get out?" Felix asked. Pit had landed nearby and was listening as well. Hallow was nowhere to be seen, though.

"Well, I never told him about my magic. Figured I'd save that to really impress him." Beef laughed, bitterly. "Good thing I did too. None of them expected Hallow to come blasting outta the ground in Multipede form. I got out, and with my Strength put some distance between us. None of them were stronger than me alone, and that paid off. A few were really fast though and I...I had to kill them."

Felix only nodded. "And the Tomb? The Paladins have found it?"

"Yeah. They've been guarding it a while now, trying to get into the doors of it...I figure, together, maybe we could get past them and check it out?"

"You want to go fight an unknown amount of Paladins, thwarting whatever plans they have for this Tomb, all on the off-chance it let's your friend grow stronger?" Felix asked, listing the points off on his fingers.

Beef grimaced. "Uh, yeah."

"Which tunnel are we taking?"

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