The Shadow Labyrinth: A LitRPG Adventure Read online

  "I can deal with him tomorrow. Hopefully no one does anything stupid before then," said Terran.

  He climbed through the ladders until he came to his chieftain's hut, high above the other trees. Night had fallen, so the landscape was lit with soft magelights below, while the stars twinkled through the gaps in the canopy.

  To his surprise, he found Della wrapped in a blanket, sitting on the hammock, rocking her feet. By the exposed flesh of her thigh, she was naked beneath the covers.

  "I hope I haven't presumed too much," said Della with her tongue resting playfully on her teeth. She watched him approach with hungry eyes. Terran had thought himself tired, but the closer he got to the hammock the more his energy returned.

  "No," he said, inhaling her sweet scent as she wrapped her legs around him, pulling him in close. "I'm glad you're here."

  She searched his face as her hands gently and methodically tugged off his whisperweave tunic. With her fingernails caressing his bare chest, she smirked, shooting a glance at the hammock.

  "I've been waiting all day to try this thing," she said, pulling him close with her lips parted.

  For a brief moment, he thought about Chanterelle and the many times they'd slept together in the hammock, but as soon as Della's lips were against his, all thoughts of his ex-girlfriend were annihilated by delirious pleasure.

  Chapter Four

  Terran woke early and refreshed, leaving Della in the hammock covered in blankets, her bare foot sticking out the bottom. He resisted the urge to run his fingers along the curve of her ankle or find himself back in the hammock. As much as he wanted to succumb to pleasure, he had much to do.

  After a breakfast of figs and tree nuts, Terran visited the Crystalline Conservatory, finding Zoras wearing magnifying glasses as he knocked chips off a tiny azure crystal set in brass fittings. Terran waited patiently until Zoras was finished.

  "Good morning, Zoras."

  The head of the Conservatory slipped the glasses onto his forehead and made a noise in the back of his throat.

  "I'm surprised you're not with your arborist. Forgotten your roots already. You'd think we hadn't taught you everything you know," said Zoras as he tidied up the small crystalline chips that had fallen around the holder, never once making eye contact.

  The repudiation surprised Terran. "Zoras. I just got back to the Glen. What are you talking about?"

  Zoras held a hand to his chest as if wounded. "You've poured the settlement resources into that arborist while leaving us starving. When is the last time you've even cut a crystal? I've been forced to play with scraps, and let's not even mention that you haven't bothered to train a single bard after you."

  "I'm sorry, Zoras. You were at the council meeting, you know that loam production is our bottleneck. Nothing against the Conservatory, but Ash is helping us with output, which I can use to upgrade this place later. As for crystal cutting, I'm not sure I understand. You were working on some chips right as I came in."

  His nostrils flared while his eyes rounded. "It seems the larger, newly grown crystals are beyond my ability. I've been able to modify chips only. There's so much the Conservatory could do in defense of the settlement. If we had a cadre of Crystal Bards, no army of bird-faced horsemen could stop us."

  "I like what you're thinking, and I agree, but how do we even find others with the skills to become a bard? I got the impression from you that it was rare," said Terran.

  "Not everyone can be sensitive to all crystals like yourself, but even if a bard was only an expert in one crystal, they could be quite formidable," said Zoras.

  "Great, then let's recruit some trainees. I'm sure that would give Jondar something to do rather than spend his time picking flowers," said Terran.

  The head of the Conservatory wrinkled his nose. "Jondar has been helping out in the settlement, not picking flowers."

  As if summoned, the jovial bard entered the room, eyes widening as he caught the end of the conversation. "May-be I should be going."

  "No," said Terran, smirking. "Perfect timing. We were discussing how to keep you busy so you can stay out of mischief."

  Jondar put a hand to his chest. "You wound me, Lord Terran. I am merely helping with the morale of the settlement."

  The conversation had Zoras glancing between them, a frown on his lips. "I don't know what you two are on about, but we lack trainees at the Conservatory. If we're to be a bardic college we must have more students, since our first pupil has so gloriously graduated," said Zoras, inclining his head.

  Jondar rested his hands on his ample belly. "Recruits would be good. A few Crystal Bards would do wonders for defenses. Maybe even help our thoroughly stretched warriors. One bard could defend an entire loaming site without breaking a sweat."

  "How do we go about finding them?" asked Terran.

  "We need to have an audition. They must have perfect pitch and be able to find resonance in a crystal. After that, it's all training," said Jondar.

  "Wait, that's it? Then what did you have me going on about before?" asked Terran, turning on Zoras, who blushed three shades of crimson.

  "That was, ahem, before we had access to, ahem, crystals, which can do wonders for testing," said Zoras.

  "I see," said Terran, raising an eyebrow. "When shall we hold this audition?"

  Jondar tapped on his chin. "The Singing Tree would make a perfect venue. We would want to give our future recruits a chance to decide. Maybe hold them tomorrow night, with your permission, of course."

  "Wonderful," said Terran. "I'll let you organize the details."

  You have been offered a quest: Find new recruits for the Crystalline Conservatory.

  Earplugs not included

  "One more thing," said Terran. "About our new blacksmith."

  Zoras stiffened. "You pushed things too far when you invited that beast into our settlement."

  "You felt the same way about me when I first showed up," said Terran.

  "Not true. You never tried to kill me," said Zoras, chin raised.

  "Neither has Granite, and I know, he's made weapons that might have, but he held no ill will about me being the leader of the Glen, and made Zara a spectacular shadow axe, without which, we would have failed in Dagrath," said Terran.

  "But this beast, this Crag Troll, lives in the old caves, the place where they kept the seed hidden," said Zoras, exasperated.

  Jondar sighed. "I know you're trying to do your best, Terran, but I'm afraid this is a step too far for most in the Glen. I'm more open-minded than most, but his presence worries me. What if it's just a trick to attack the settlement again?"

  "What can I do to repair the rift?" asked Terran.

  Zoras stared at the table, leaving Jondar to continue. "I don't know. How can you fix something that's never been there?"

  "You've given me much to think about," said Terran as he stepped towards the exit. Zoras cleared his throat. "Yes?"

  "Crystals?"

  Terran nodded while internally groaning. His task list was filling up quickly.

  "I'll find time to cut some crystals when the opportunity presents itself. Is that acceptable?"

  "Of course," said Zoras as he slipped his goggles over his face.

  At the base of the Conservatory tree, Terran slapped his fist into his open palm, remembering that he'd visited to speak to Newt, but his friend hadn't been present. His visit to Dagrath and the place of power had illuminated the first stanza of the Prophecy, but now that it was complete, he worried about the second stanza, especially after his conversation with Heavenly Death.

  The forces that remain must forge a path through darkness

  There old enemies and lost friends will converge

  To defeat the beast that eats the world

  If the champion can find truth in lies

  He went in search of Newt, and after asking around, found him at the base of the Mother Tree, curled against a massive pale root with a tome in his hands.

  "Problems at the Conservatory?" asked Terran.<
br />
  Newt finished reading the page before slipping an elaborately painted bookmark into the spot and closing the tome. "No."

  "I mean, you're not there reading, but out here," said Terran gesturing randomly.

  "It is difficult to concentrate when Zoras is cutting crystals. He is terrible at it, and curses more than Zara in battle," said Newt.

  "I doubt that." His friend glanced longingly at his book. "I need your help. More research, if that helps."

  "You already know that I like reading, so get on with it," said Newt.

  "Right." Terran spent the next few minutes explaining what Heavenly Death had told him about The Great Eater, the program that was meant to erase the world before each cohort, but had been thwarted by the early Offworlders.

  "This is unsurprising," said Newt, resting his hands on his tome as he stared into the distance. "Death makes a powerful motivation."

  "Camina said as much...Heavenly Death. Camina was her real name, before," said Terran.

  "Why do you need to understand? What do you plan to do?" asked Newt.

  "That's a good question," said Terran, pacing away while scratching the back of his neck. "I guess it's not really the second stanza, but the third that has me thinking.

  With the continent on the verge of war, a new empire beckons

  But to forge itself anew, a terrible power must be revived

  That which makes continents tremble and seas vanish

  Only when the solution is struck will the future converge with the past.

  "That middle part about a terrible power that can make continents tremble and seas vanish. I know what that is. Or think I do. It's a black crystal. The continents were split many centuries ago when a black crystal was used. What if I'm intended to find one to protect Gneiss Glen?"

  Newt furrowed his forehead, responding almost immediately. "Or what if you're meant to think you should? I believe our schooling in the Reliant had much to say about the impossibility of a deterministic universe. We can expect no less inside the game, and in fact, we should question the motives behind this prophecy."

  Terran slumped into a crouch. "Camina said as much. That I shouldn't trust it."

  "Though I have never met her, I would agree with this assessment," said Newt.

  "You're saying I should ignore it?" asked Terran.

  "I do not believe that I have said that. I am suggesting that it is information, but you should question where the information came from and what it truly means," said Newt.

  "I guess that means I need to go talk to Darkness Sighs again. I really planned on dealing with problems around here, but I feel like this can't wait. It'll be good to catch up with Lady Aeresteel and see the progress in the Wunderlust Keep since we were there last," said Terran.

  He expected a response, but when he looked down he found Newt with his nose back in the tome. Terran took a few steps away and used his pathway traveler skill to teleport to a location on the road that led to Wunderlust Keep.

  The well-worn trail had been expanded by the natural passage of the centaurs. Terran traveled over the uneven road until he could see the stone walls of the keep appear through the trees. Even from a distance, the place had a vitality that had been missing before; of course, it wasn't overrun with skeletons anymore either. He came down the hill, whistling when the spot between his shoulder blades itched as if he were being watched. Terran dismissed it at first, but then he had the sense he was being stalked, and reached for his crystalline staff the moment he heard a leaf crinkle.

  Chapter Five

  Terran's mind conjured all sorts of foes as he whirled around—Shadows, Crag Trolls, a fully armored Barghest—none of which prepared him for the furry gray paws flying through the air, hitting him directly in the chest and knocking him on his back.

  "Oof."

  The staff had gone flying into the grass, not that it mattered as Luna stared down at him from a position on his chest, frowning in a way that only the lynx could do.

  "You shouldn't sneak around like that," she said.

  "I wasn't sneaking around. I was walking down the road in broad daylight." He coughed. "Could you climb down? You're getting quite heavy."

  Luna showed him a set of extended claws before climbing off his chest. "Never talk about a lady's weight if you know what's good for you."

  "Ladies don't eat preacher bugs and have an aversion to baths, last I checked," said Terran, sitting up and stretching his neck, which hurt from when he'd hit the rut in the road. "What was that about? I know you saw my staff."

  "I thought you were an imposter, or an illusion of some kind," said Luna, wiggling her whiskers. "You stink like shadow."

  "Yeah, that's true. Chanterelle stuck me with some debuff when she clawed me in Dagrath," said Terran.

  "She's a proper cat then," said Luna, sitting on her haunches and cleaning her face with her licked paw. "You also look different. You normally walk like a pile of boulders rumbling down a mountainside, but you were actually quiet. And you have a weird glow."

  "Yeah, about that," said Terran, giving her a quick recap of what had happened with the Mother Tree and Andelain, including his current status of demigod, adding at the end, "At least you're not calling me Lord Terran and bowing and scraping. That's been getting a little old."

  "Lynxes' don't recognize royalty or the artificial constructs of class, so you're safe there," said Luna as they continued to the Keep.

  "What have you been doing while I was gone?" he asked.

  "Not getting almost killed," said Luna. "Which has been nice. Mostly I've been hanging out with Flynn and Darkness Sighs on patrol, or with Lady Aeresteel."

  "I thought you didn't recognize royalty. Lady Aeresteel." Terran laughed.

  "I make exceptions for those that provide ample comforts," said Luna.

  "I was about to be insulted and then I remembered where we've been the last year," said Terran, looking up as they came out of the trees near the Keep. The drawbridge, made of thick timbers, lay across the wide moat, which contained clear water.

  "Quite a bit different than the first time we came here," said Terran, noting the repaired stones in the barbican and thick steel in the windows. "Looks like they could actually repel an invasion."

  Inside the courtyard, centaurs hauled stones from a pile, while Darkness Sigh's enormous bone construct lifted them into place with ease. It looked like they were constructing a new smithy since the last one had been in complete disrepair. He found the bone witch and his friend, Flynn, lounging in the shade of a cloth umbrella, sipping from mugs. They looked like pictures Terran had seen of vacationers on Earth beaches.

  "Enjoying yourselves?" asked Terran.

  "Hey, buddy," said Flynn, lifting his mug. "Grab a seat and have a drink. We're just getting some work done for the horsey gang."

  Darkness Sighs stared at him, pale lips flat. "You have changed."

  "I can explain later," said Terran. "I'd prefer to only do it once when we talk with Lady Aeresteel and Lord Ostric."

  Flynn and Darkness Sighs shared a curious look, but didn't press him for more details.

  "Nice umbrella," said Terran, tugging on the edge of the fabric.

  "Careful, Terran. Umbrella technology is new to this world. I had to explain it to the craftshorse a few times before she got it right," said Flynn.

  "Craftshorse?" Terran shook his head. "Never mind. But why the umbrella?"

  Flynn gestured towards his girlfriend. "Shades get sunburned real easy. I thought it an elegant solution to a simple problem."

  "You are very thoughtful, my love," said Darkness Sighs as she reached out to squeeze Flynn's hand. The routine affection nearly choked Terran even though he wasn't even drinking. Darkness Sighs looked like she'd be more comfortable cutting a throat for a blood sacrifice than using an affectionate nickname.

  Terran stared at his friend for a good thirty seconds before Flynn got up from his chair. "Right. You'd like to talk to Lady Aeresteel now."

  "Preferabl
y. I haven't exactly had free time lately," said Terran as they headed to the opening in the main building, leaving the Grinder to work with the centaur builders.

  Inside the great hall, they found Lady Aeresteel speaking to a centaur in a messenger's tunic. The last time Terran had visited, it was still in repair, but the room looked fit for a queen. Paintings of centaurs in battle adorned the walls, while the grand table was covered in crystal goblets. As soon as the head of the Wunderlust Keep saw Terran, she dismissed the centaur.

  "Lord Terran. What a pleasant surprise. I assume this isn't a leisure visit," she said.

  "Unfortunately, no," he said, pausing as he took in the surroundings. "You've been quite busy. Quite the upgrade from when I first came here."

  Lady Aeresteel sighed at the exquisitely set table. "It cost a bit in trade, but I wanted the place to remind everyone why they gave up the mercenary life, so we could have a home again. It's quite lovely on the nights the fireplace is roaring."

  "I'll have to come back when it's cold, but I wanted to speak with you about what's happened since clearing the quarry of shadows. I thought it might be best to consult with you, Darkness Sighs, and Lord Ostric," said Terran.

  At mention of the old ghost's name, Lady Aeresteel stiffened. She glanced at the ring on her finger with distress.

  "I have not been able to summon him for a few days," she said. "Lord Ostric made a cryptic comment before then about the pasture in the sky approaching, but I thought it was being melancholy about not having great-grandchildren."

  "I see," said Terran, frowning. He launched into an explanation of his journey to Dagrath. While he'd explained it many times thus far, it was the most difficult, as he couldn't help but see the realization on Lady Aeresteel's face that Lord Ostric would never return.

  "He was tied to Andelain. The thread that kept him alive was cut when she sacrificed herself. I'm so sorry, Lady Aeresteel. I know his council was a comfort," said Terran.

  The centaur paced away, slowly turning the ring on her finger. To Terran's surprise, Darkness Sighs approached the lady.