The Shadow Labyrinth: A LitRPG Adventure Read online

  "May I see the ring?"

  Reluctant at first, Lady Aeresteel handed it over to the bone witch. Darkness Sighs turned it over in the palm of her hand, closed her eyes, and even gently sniffed the metal ring.

  "The ghost of Lord Ostric is still in the ring. Barely. There is little left connecting him to this realm. He might fade away at any time, but there is still a chance to anchor him to this world. If that is your desire," said Darkness Sighs, inclining her head with respect.

  "I...I don't know. What would it take?" asked Lady Aeresteel, accepting the return of the ring.

  "A bit of life force," said Darkness Sighs. "Not a lot, but any amount can be painful."

  The memory of Grimchar's vat returned to Terran, leaving him shivering.

  "What if he wants to stay away? Would it be fair for me to keep him in this world? I worry that my desire is selfish," said Lady Aeresteel, cradling the ring to her chest.

  "We could ask him, and then send him back if he does not wish to stay. His existence would be thinner than before," said the bone witch.

  "How do you know this?" Terran asked Darkness Sighs.

  "The craft of making constructs requires using the leftover impressions of souls in the bones to give the creatures a sense of being. Otherwise, the Grinder would require my constant attention to direct. He is, in his own way, alive."

  "I would like to give Lord Ostric the chance, and since it is my request, I offer my life force," said Lady Aeresteel.

  An eerie smile formed on Darkness Sighs' lips, like a serial killer who'd found their next victim. She was both grotesque and beautiful.

  "As generous as your offer is, it would take the soul of an Offworlder to provide enough energy for his return," she said, her gaze glancing between them both, but lingering longest on Terran.

  "Sorry, buddy," said Flynn, patting Terran on the shoulder. "You seem to have the most juice stored up. Logically, you should be the one."

  "That is true, my love," said Darkness Sighs, the corner of her generous dark lips twitching at the corner with what Terran could only interpret as mirth. "But he is the leader of the Glen and must maintain the health of the Mother Tree. Taking from him would be like taking from the whole tribe."

  Flynn lifted one shoulder. "Sacrifices have to be made. Am I right?"

  "I will if I must," said Terran, playing along.

  Darkness Sighs stared at Flynn with half-lidded eyes. There was a playfulness to her expression, but Terran could see the barb as well, even if he didn't understand.

  "The ritual to extract enough soul will require an intimate gesture. If you are comfortable with this exchange, I will proceed with the next steps," said Darkness Sighs.

  Flynn's eyes widened with alarm. "What kind of gesture?"

  Darkness Sighs stepped towards Terran, placed her warm hand on the back of his neck, and leaned forward with her mouth parting for a deep kiss. The pang of desire hit Terran, even though it was his friend's partner.

  "Wait! I'll do it," said Flynn, holding his arms out.

  As Darkness Sighs unhooked her hand from Terran's neck, she slipped him a wink.

  Flynn adjusted his tunic and glanced askew. "This isn't dangerous, is it?"

  The early playfulness faded. "Piercing the barrier between worlds always courts danger. This ritual will be trickier than most."

  Terran frowned. "When I travel to distant places, is that the same?"

  "The Between," said Darkness Sighs. "You pass through it on your journey, but since you are neither leaving or taking anything from it, your risk is small. Lord Ostric lingers partially in the Between. Bringing him back may invite other intruders."

  "Away from the crystal," said Lady Aeresteel, gesturing towards the woven rug that covered the open area. "Vievel probably ripped me off last time, I don't want a second round with him."

  After taking the ring back from Lady Aeresteel, Darkness Sighs led Flynn backwards by the hands until they were on the center of the rug. Lady Aeresteel and Luna formed opposite corners of a triangle from Terran, who gave the bone witch a nod when it came time to start. Darkness Sighs cupped her hand around Flynn's neck, pulling him to her slowly with her mouth parted ever so slightly. Terran felt a little awkward watching the exchange, especially when their lips smashed together and a little exclamation slipped from Flynn. Darkness Sighs was kissing him deeply when she pulled him in hard, and for a moment, Flynn fought to get away until she slapped him lightly and he relaxed, but even Terran could tell that the kiss was no longer pleasurable.

  When the bone witch pulled away, a thread of glistening light connected their mouths, a bead hanging between them. She reached out and used her fingernails to slice through the thread on Flynn's side, but the pale light remained connected. Darkness Sighs tried a second time, before severing it, but the light remained hanging in midair. She lifted the ring, grasped the thread, and tied it around the band while the other end still extended from her open mouth, then as she attempted to slice through her half of the thread, she choked, shoulders hunching, making an awful retching sound.

  Terran reached for his crystalline staff even before he saw the first finger stick out of her mouth. Darkness Sighs convulsed, her whole body wracking with pain as a creature nearly her size impossibly crawled from her lips. He was so transfixed by its emergence, and worried that any attack might harm her, he didn't move until the creature hit the rug.

  Carykarak - Level 24

  The strangest baby ever caused by making out.

  Chapter Six

  Its limbs were long and lanky, and it had fingers like thorns with too many joints. The head was a triangle that flexed with a grotesque, toothy mouth. Before anyone could react, it spread its bloody lips wide and screeched.

  The Carykarak has inflicted you with Terrors of the Between!

  The effect was immediate, as his stats were affected by this debuff, but he wasn't about to be intimidated by the creature. Terran lifted his staff to his lips, preparing a Vocal Slam, when Lady Aeresteel shouted.

  "Not the crystal!"

  Terran pulled his shout, but the Carykarak sensed the opening and punched him in the face with a lanky limb, sending him tumbling backwards to slam against the stone wall. He struggled to his feet as Lady Aeresteel defended herself with a longsword, slapping away the blows that just kept coming, while Flynn attended Darkness Sighs, who was still heaving on the floor.

  He ran into combat, humming a note to wake his staff as he slammed the end into the back of the Carykarak, barely budging its health. He swung two more times before realizing that the damage wasn't getting through. The debuff had neutered his attacks and the centaur was being backed into the fireplace.

  "I can't stop it," she said between grunts. "Nor damage it."

  "Help us, Flynn," said Terran as he ran after the creature.

  "Go. Help," said Darkness Sighs, pushing away her boyfriend as her hair hung in her face.

  The Carykarak nearly had Lady Aeresteel trapped in the fireplace. Terran lifted his crystalline staff, and mumbling an apology for the incoming destruction, he hit it with a Vocal Slam. The crystal shattered into a million pieces of glass. Candlesticks tumbled off the table. Even the massive iron chandeliers rocked from the force, but the bardic assault barely damaged the Carykarak.

  Terran stared at his staff as if it'd betrayed him, while Flynn conjured a seething ball of chaos, launching it at the back of the lanky, muscular creature. The spell hit the Carykarak, momentarily distracting it as it punched the wall, giving Lady Aeresteel a chance to shove her sword into its ribs and shoulder charge out of the way.

  "Thanks," she said, momentarily frowning at the destruction on the table.

  "Sorry."

  "Back away from it," said Darkness Sighs, wobbling unstably on two feet as she pulled her hair away from her face. "You cannot kill it without first removing the Terrors of the Between."

  The Carykarak leapt at Lady Aeresteel, swinging its long arms at her, which she deflected, grunting with ea
ch impact.

  "How do we do that?" asked Terran.

  "I don't know," said Darkness Sighs. "I've never fought one before, only seen them at the edges of my worst nightmares."

  The Carykarak came at them like a thrasher, arms wheeling constantly, occasionally hitting and chipping away their health, while their counterattacks made them feel like children. The only thing keeping them alive was that there were four of them to share the defense, but they had no doubt as to the end of the fight, and for two of them, it would be final. The literal terror in Flynn's eyes at the realization had Terran doubling his attacks, but with no more effect.

  "I can't get anything through," said Terran. "Maybe I should teleport us out of here. Save you, Lady Aeresteel."

  "No! I will not let this creature destroy my people. Either we kill it or we all die," she said, blood smeared on her cheek from the creature's claws, fighting with every inch of her muscular body.

  "Terran, please. I can't lose her," said Flynn.

  Standing back from the fray, a song rose to Terran's lips as he searched for the Killing Harmonics of the Carykarak. When he hit a middle D, the creature shook its head, the edges of its body fuzzing from the intruding frequency.

  Sensing the importance of the change, his companions struck with their weapons. Their blows were hard and true. Lady Aeresteel managed to bring the razor-sharp edge of her sword against the neck of the Carykarak in a two-handed blow.

  But when the brief assault was over, there was no perceptible change to the creature's health. The despair in their faces hit Terran right in the gut. They had no way to damage it and couldn't remove the debuff that was keeping them neutered.

  "Terrors of the Between," muttered Terran after he let the harmonic note fall. There has to be a way.

  "Between," he said with the force of realization. Terran brought up his pathway traveler ability and stepped through the portal until he came out on the other side of the room, boots crushing shattered glass.

  The Terrors of the Between debuff was gone. "I can get rid of it!"

  The others looked at him like he was crazy, but he ran across the room, grabbing Darkness Sighs by the arm and teleporting her before she could complain. Moving short distances no longer required him to enter the map, only to picture the spot in his mind, so he appeared with the bone witch behind Flynn.

  Darkness Sighs knocked her jet-black hair out of her face, sneered menacingly, and raised her hands, bringing necrotic energies into existence.

  Terran performed the same trick on Luna, Flynn, and Lady Aeresteel in turn, and once they were back to full damage, they took chunks of health from the Carykarak until it was backed into the corner, trying to escape their blows.

  You have slain a Carykarak!

  Terran leaned on his staff, heaving with breath from the fight while the other two-leggers in the room did the same. Lady Aeresteel crossed her arms and stared at the destruction.

  "Sorry," said Terran.

  "Nothing to be sorry about. You kept my people safe from that thing," said Lady Aeresteel.

  Terran crouched by the body of the horrible creature.

  You have found a Void Crystal!

  Power comes in many forms

  He held up the grayish chunk of mineral. It lacked the symmetric beauty of his crystals and the stark edges of a shadow shard, but even within its heart, he could feel the thrum of power.

  "You are lucky," said Darkness Sighs. "Such treasures from those beasts are rare."

  "I would have preferred that we brought Lord Ostric back," said Terran.

  The bone witch held the ring on her flat palm. "The ritual, despite the unfortunate interlude, was successful. You may speak with him now, Lady Aeresteel."

  The centaur reverently accepted the ring, cradling it against her chest before slipping it onto a finger. The faint outlines of the former lord of Wunderlust Keep appeared in the center of the room, his ghostly outline as thin as morning mist. His bushy mustache drooped.

  "Great-granddaughter," said Lord Ostric, gaze heavy and worn. "I did not think I'd see you again."

  Lady Aeresteel didn't know where to rest her eyes. "I thought you were lost. My friends brought you back, but I worry that I have done you wrong. Your council has been a great comfort to me, but you've earned your rest."

  An easy smile broke across the old centaur's face. "Aye, my time is at an end, but if there are questions you have, now is your last chance."

  Lady Aeresteel gestured to Terran, who launched into an abbreviated description of what had transpired, including the Great Eater and his thoughts on the Prophecy. The whole time he was speaking, he feared the old ghost would disappear, but Lord Ostric listened intently.

  "It sounds like your troubles are only just beginning," said Lord Ostric after it was finished.

  Terran paced around, hand to his jaw. "I know what the prophecy suggests is the solution to our problems. A black crystal. With one, I could defeat the Howling Wind, but with Andelain no longer in the Mother Tree, progress is slow. The ability to grow them might not come for years, but there must be ones left over from before. Grimchar had a sliver of one in this Keep. I thought maybe because you'd been connected to it, you might have felt something that would suggest where the rest of the black crystal was located."

  Lord Ostric's mouth shifted around, which made his bushy mustache wiggle like a caterpillar. "I'm afraid in that moment, I only knew pain as Grimchar attempted to extract the essence out of my decaying body." His forehead hunched. "But are you sure you want to dabble in such powers? Fermanta, the Lady Bard of Belavar, destroyed a whole city in its misuse."

  "I must find it and learn how to use it before such decisions," said Terran. "What about the Beast That Eats of the World? Have you heard of such a thing?"

  Lady Aeresteel spoke in a hard voice. "The Thousand Hooves. It is a legend of our people, a great beast that trampled the land, destroying everything in its path. Every people has such stories. I heard many versions in the mercenary camps. The Barghest call it the Eternity Axe, while the Crag Trolls, the Mouth that Eats."

  "The Empty," said Darkness Sighs. "Or the Living Void. That Carykarak is a creature of its realm. But the Living Void was tricked into a hole long ago, and has never resurfaced."

  "That's what I gather from the prophecy," said Terran.

  "Prophecies are fool's gold," said Lord Ostric. "To believe in one is to court ruin."

  "Yet once they've been heard, there is no escaping them," said Darkness Sighs. "Even still, Lord Ostric's advice is sage."

  "Then why did you bring it to me?" asked Terran.

  Darkness Sighs looked away. "We felt it was not our place to decide. This world balances on the lives of the Offworlders. To deny you the Prophecy would be to ensure ruin, rather than merely court it. But I promise you my aid should you desire it."

  She bent at the waist in an elegant bow that simultaneously made her seem like a marionette.

  "Thank you, Darkness Sighs," said Terran. "I have no more questions, unless someone can point me in the direction of my doom." He sensed the emotion welling in Lady Aeresteel.' "We should take our leave, let the Lady and Lord of the Keep have their last goodbyes."

  The bushy-mustached ghost bent one knee towards Terran. "It was an honor to know you, Lord Terran. May your endeavors in this land be successful."

  "May your rest be long and peaceful," said Terran, returning the bow.

  He took his friends to the courtyard while Lady Aeresteel said her goodbyes. After a time, she came outside, her eyes red with grief.

  "I have other questions, but it can wait until another time if you'd like," said Terran.

  "No," said Lady Aeresteel, glancing at the ring on her finger. "The distraction would be nice."

  "Do you have warriors to spare from the rebuilding of your keep? I need to expand our loaming operations, but we're stretched thin. With your support, I could open up a fifth loaming site."

  "Of course," said Lady Aeresteel. "I can supply as
many as you'd like."

  "Enough that won't compromise your defenses or rebuilding," said Terran. "And one Centaur is worth many Rock Leaf Elves."

  "I am aware," she said, a twitch of a grin at the corner of her lips. "I will send six warriors to the Glen tomorrow. Will that do?"

  "Thank you," said Terran, eyeing the light filtering through the trees surrounding the Keep. "It's getting late."

  "Which means we should have a feast in your honor. It would be a good time to drink to Lord Ostric's final passing," said Lady Aeresteel.

  "I'm afraid the duties of the chieftain never end. I have an audition for potential Crystal Bards to attend at the Singing Tree tonight. But you're welcome to join me. I can easily teleport this small group."

  Darkness Sighs gestured towards the Grinder, which was still setting stones on the half-built smithy. "With less centaurs my work will be even more important."

  Flynn looked like he was going to bite through his lower lip. Terran took pity on him. "It's okay, buddy. You can stay. But promise me you'll do more than sip drinks under an umbrella."

  "A Jinx isn't really good at much besides chaos," said Flynn.

  "Fine. Chaos is an excellent tool in battle. Eventually we're going to be fighting the Howling Wind, and who knows them better than you? If you can make an umbrella, I'm sure you can devise some war machines or other surprises for when the time comes," said Terran.

  Flynn swallowed, but said nothing.

  "I must stay as well," said Lady Aeresteel, placing a hand on Terran's shoulder. "But you are welcome any time."

  Luna made the rounds before they left, nuzzling her face against them each, while they scratched her ears.

  "Come on, human, time to go," she said after she was finished.

  "I thought that was my line," said Terran, chuckling.

  "My apologies," said Luna, inclining her head. "Sometimes I forget that I'm supposed to let you think you're in charge."

  Terran placed his hand on the back of her neck, digging his fingers into her thick gray fur.