Chapter Sixty – Lich – Part Two

There is a fable that seems to have a common thread between some of the off-worlder's history. Spanning worlds that shouldn't know each other. A fable about a dragon that fell in love with a rider and through magic they bore a child. The offspring of such a union are known as the Dragonborn. There is no evidence of their existence beyond the tales that are passed down through their oral history. However, it is intriguing that more than one world had an eerily similar story. If it has truth, what would such a descendant look like? What powers could they wield? Furthermore, the tales spoke of the ability to pass on Dragon's blood to others, through some kind of ceremony.

- WSA Researcher of History Gumble -

Time feels slow as her finger draws across my cheek gently, the smile I see from her exposed face tells me that she won't be gentle for much longer.

"Did you think I would not find you?" she asks, tilting her head, she looks me up and down slowly, "Darling, where is my bow?"

"I… I have it."

She smiles, pulling closer, sniffing at the air around me, "Where is that little fox you took?"

"Not here," I admit, trying to take a step backward, but she grasps my face firmly.

"Where?"

My nerves are starting to calm, thoughts begin turning slowly at first. She hasn't killed me yet, she wants the bow and the fox. I'm never giving her the fox, but the bow, I can summon it from Abyss. Giving it back permanently though, is probably not possible. In all of my experiments over the last weeks with Abyss, the longest that I could get an object to stay outside of Abyss without directly touching me was around fourteen seconds, and that's after working on it for weeks. Those objects were knives that I was practicing throwing, much smaller than her bow. I might be able to fake her out for seven seconds. That won't be enough time to…

"Darling," she says, tapping my forehead with her sharp black painted nails, "You with me still?"

"I'll give you back the bow, but I need guarantees."

Her smile tilts to a one-sided grin, "Oh?"

"Do you know where the temple of Jaledi is?"

I can't see her eyes past the strange Lich bone mask, the red flames are blocking the eyeholes. I hear her breathe out strangely, sending a shiver down my spine. The insanity in her tone practically drips as she speaks next.

"Why?"

One of the nights after building the raft, Fisban told me that most worlds don't have a lot of different gods. She said that if we run into any locals it would be ill-advised to tell them we want to desecrate their Goddess's temple. Instead… we should bullshit.

"I wish to kneel before her altar and become a disciple."

The grin quivers on her face. She pulls the mask off slowly, revealing her shifting eye color.

"Damn," Tran breathes out.

I hear Barlow and Gilroy nudge him.

"Why?" she asks, releasing my chin finally, tossing the skull in her hand, up and down.

The flaming eyes on the mask shift, looking around the room… what the fuck?

"Why?" I counter, though to be honest it's because I hadn't intended for her to ask more. I hadn't actually intended to see Mira at all, ever again. Nor did I intend to find out what those crazy eyes will do to get back what I can't give.

She tilts her head at me fully, "Darling, who cursed you?"

"What?"

Fisban shifts, "Mira, perhaps we can make some kind of…"

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Mira swipes her hand through the air, and blood sprays as Fisban grasps her throat. How did… she didn't even touch her… a skill? My eyes blink as I start to turn my body to help, Mira grabs my face and points it toward hers, the force of her grasp causes me to groan, fuck she's strong.

Verantha is screaming. I feel the air break as Tran uses quickstep, my arm pulls him down to the ground just as her hand swipes where he was. Barlow and Gilroy step forward next.

"Stop!" I yell, holding my hand behind me, Tran struggles against my arm, "Just fucking relax, I got this."

Mira's grin widens, "Do you? Do you really have me, darling?"

"You want your bow or not?"

She snaps her fingers, and the gurgling from Fisban subsides, I hazard a glance, the wound… it's gone, leaving Fisban pawing at her throat still in confusion.

"Where is it?"

"I stashed it."

Her eyes narrow, "Where?"

"At the Temple."

She laughs, leaning against me, her horn almost taking out my eye as she looks down for a second.

"How stupid do you think I am?" she asks, slowly raising her eyes to be level with mine. If she wasn't crazy, she'd be a ten, every line on her face is perfect. She even smells… focus.

Tran backs away as I release him, I hear him lining up with Barlow and Gilroy right behind me.

"Look, I don't want to die, and I definitely don't want my friends to die. If you take me to the Temple, I promise I will put your bow directly in your hand."

She moves closer, her eye color shifting to a more purplish hue as she measures my eyes.

"You're not lying, interesting."

"And… and he will absolutely give you a fox… a hundred foxes… sorry, goddess," Verantha squeals.

Mira doesn't look at her, she measures my eyes.

"Darling, before we set out, I want to tell you a story."

"Okay, you have my attention."

She holds up the skull with flaming eyes between us.

"There once was a Lich, he was very rude to me, constantly."

My eyes flit over to the skull. She grins as she sees me eying it.

"Our leader told us that their God knew exactly where I could find my bow, and subsequently find you," she pets my face, "I couldn't pass up the chance, not to see my…" her eyes flash red, "Darling."

Their god… what's the chance they're related to Red? That fucking piece of shit, this is beyond sending me on a shit quest. This is shooting a fish in a barrel after draining the water. If I ever find a way to get Red's throat in my hand I'm going to pop their fucking eyes out.

"That little Lich didn't take my warning to stop, he just kept making fun of me for losing my bow."

She pulls something from her waist, it takes me a moment to realize what it is… a mandible… it's the Lich's jaw bone. She presses it back into the joint, and the runes that are etched in the bone light up for a brief moment.

The skull immediately begins speaking, I recognize the voice, it's the same Lich from the fox world quest.

"Mira, this is a mistake, return me to my body, less you will incur the wrath of the undying..."

Mira pets the top of the skull, "Shhh, now, now, behave for our guest," she giggles, "Tell them what happens to those who are rude."

Undying… Undying flame? Like… my eyes blink. Like the Lich Aderaic, the one that killed everyone before I Respec'd the first time. Is this Lich related to him somehow? Same god maybe? Thinking about it, that first quest change all those months ago… the text box was red letters. That happened before we even found Ulana's temple. Did Red cause that event? Can Red tamper with normal gates?

The Lich's flaming eyes quiver, "She feeds them to her dragon… in pieces."

"How many times did I feed you to Sylfie?"

"Seven times."

"Good boy," she says, patting the skull and popping the jaw off again, her gaze finds mine, the shade of red deeper in her eyes, "Do you understand, darling?"

I nod. Still deep in thought, barely listening to her crazy shit. Tran might have been right, Red wanted me to end this quest to benefit them. Is it because Mira went off script and turned Red's follower into dragon shit? Wait… hopefully she washed it before she put it on… focus.

Mira's nostrils flare as the hue of her eyes grows deeper, her tone is menacing, "Say it."

"I understand."

She squints at me intently, her eyes shifting to purple for a moment before moving back to a darker shade. She nods, giving me a strangely satisfied smile.

"Shall we?" she asks in a playful tone.

I swallow hard, "Lets."

She moves her hand, motioning for me to leave the cave first.

"What about my friends?"

"They stay."

I nod, this is what I was hoping for. Fisban told me that party members return when Respec quests finish. Not having to worry about her cutting their throats will be good.

"Darling, do you not like your friends?" she asks, squinting at me again, "You didn't seem very upset."

"I like them, it would be cumbersome to bring them all though, wouldn't it?"

She moves swiftly closing the gap on me again, leaning past my face right up to my ear, her horn scratches the side of my head as she sniffs deeply, "You smell like a liar, darling."

She grips my face pulling it close to hers again, our faces less than a hair apart, she closes her eyes, sniffing again, her face changing into a… weird expression.

"You smell like trauma and profound sadness too, it clings to you like a sweet, sweet perfume."

"Thank you…"

"Do I smell nice to you, darling?" she asks, her eyes flashing colors as she peers deeper.

She's certifiable. Fuck my life. I nod though, and she grins, pushing me back toward the exit. I gulp before I round the corner, giving one last look at every one. They all look worried.

As I exit the cave, I see it, her massive silver dragon, staring down at me like I'm a light snack.

"Darling, are you afraid of heights?"

"We're flying on it?" I ask.

She laughs loudly, clutching her side after a few moments. The dragon snorts as well.

"You're funny, darling, I think I'll keep you after all. I've been looking for a new…" her eyes flash pink for a second, "Pet."

She moves past me, running up the extended leg of the Dragon and landing on its back, I move to do the same, but the dragon immediately growls, opening its massive taloned hand in front of me. Economy seat… got it.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.