The castle was still in tatters as we passed through the streets. Blood puppets cleaned the streets easily. Their bodies had liquified and acted like living mop heads soaking up the blood and gore. Broken pieces of the houses and shops were slowly cleaned up leaving only the newly cleaned ruins of the Kingdom of Weremar. Not a soul to inhabit it. Not a single jewel left in the treasury. All spent on mercenaries and killing. I looked down at Sam as we walked. "What did the king want with you Sam?" I asked amid my contemplation.
She shook her head and held up her left hand which was bandaged for some reason. She unwrapped the bandage revealing a long cut across her palm. "He wanted my blood to draw something from the void to here. He kept muttering something about the mother of the kingdom would make him a better king. Even though he killed every subject he could ever rule over. And we'll never know why!" She said angrily as she started massaging the area around the cut.
I gently lifted her injured hand in front of my face and smiled a little before a massive sticky glob was suddenly stuck to Sam's hand. Her face showed she was horrified as she squealed and waved her hand around trying to get it off to no avail.
I patted her shoulder lightly. "I needed to make sure that it wouldn't get infected somehow." I laughed at her hysterics.
She stopped and slapped the back of my head which actually stung a bit. "You're lucky I don't have my hammer!" She said pointing her index finger at me. I continued to smile. "I plan to have enough time for that. A long time for that." I said as my smile widened and a true laugh echoed out of me into the air. I felt overjoyed, relieved, even weightless at moments as we traversed the ruined city.
We made it to the cities gates to find the battlefield I had left behind. Instead of finding the bodies of mercs I found a bunch of black crumbling bodies. After I inspected them further I found them to be the blood soldiers from earlier in the day. The sun had apparently not been too kind to them as they waited for me outside the city gates.
I touched one on the face and it crumbled to dust in the grass. I heard a little whispers pass my ears as all the statues crumbled in the same fashion. A breeze coming by at random and scooping the dust up and carrying it in a long dark line into the horizon.
"Thank Yoooou." The sighing voices said as they drifted off into the breeze. I felt warm flood pass through me as I saw hundreds if not thousands of shadowy ghosts ascend into the sky finally finding the peace they needed. I waved and the shadows waved back before shining brightly and disappearing in flashes of brilliant light. I grinned a bit at the thought of more souls finding their peace. I suddenly felt a cold presence behind me and turned to see Sam and her family kneeling face down before the goddess of ice herself.
"It would seem you all owe me an explanation." I said as I found a large boulder to sit on. Seeing as my Atlas summon had exploded there were stones everywhere.
As I sat Vara raised an eyebrow. "You aren't afraid of me at all are you." She stated. I shook my head. "I've tasted death once icy one. It holds no fear for me." I rumbled out.
It was then that a wave of heat was exuded from my side. I looked out of the corner of my eye at Aed. "You all have been watching this place get turned into a blood bathed and char broiled continent for months. Yet you did nothing despite natural laws being broken?" My gaze was turning harsher as my words grew colder and more targeted.
Aed raised his hands. "We could do nothing unless a guardian was involved. You were the closest one without issues to deal with." Aed said calmly. I raised an eyebrow and once again focused on Vara. "You all knew the crapshoot I was walking into and didn't even warn me. How do you think that feels?" I said as I pulled dragons cry from my back and began to inspect and clean it.
Vara rolled her eyes at me. "Are you expecting to kill me with that pea shooter?" She said with a cold smirk. I looked at the weapon seemingly ignoring her. "No. I just needed to make sure she wasn't damaged from the acid used during my fight with spider ass back there." I said as I rubbed and blew down the metal pipe to check for dust. Aed cracked a grin.
"We aren't allowed to tell mortals about the important stuff. Just that things are happening." Aed said with a shrug. "Not much else to it boyo." He rumbled out. "Though it's not over. Not by a long shot." He said as Vara suddenly hissed at him. "Aed! You know the rules!" she said coldly. He looked at her. "Oh! Go freeze a mountain cold flash queen." She was shocked into silence at his insult.
I finished inspecting my weapon before putting it back in its holster. "So it has to do with a god does it?" I said which made Aed and Vara freeze. "An elder god by the feel of that monster back there. Who is it? I'll blow him to kingdom come." I said as I stood.
"We already broke quite a few rules coming down here. Aed dont you dare tell him!" Vara fumed at him. Ice formed in a layer across the grass making it crackle under foot. I heard a sudden cackle from above me. It certainly wasn't human. And it definitely wasn't good.
I looked up to see a pitch black eye in the sky. It was as large as the city we had just left and had terrible features. There were actually thousands of eyes together. Each looking hundreds of thousands of ways at once in a great chaotic fashion. "What in the darkest pit of hell is that!?" I exclaimed looking at Aed and Vara for an answer.
What I saw shocked me. Aeds body had burst into flames as he was girded in red and gold armor with a battle axe the size of his body.
Vara was the very picture of ice. Her armor was like a fencer. Elegant robes covered her body like a freshly fallen snow. She had a silver breastplate bearing the face of a roaring sea dragon. Her rapier was a large icicle that radiated cold I had never before imagined. It chilled the moisture in the air to Crystal's within seconds.
It was then that I realized that they were afraid.
"What are you doing here Beholder!? Your master is dead and you dare strut about the universe's like you own them!" Aed shouted. The eyes turned to see him. "Nay old friend. Merely stopped by because I felt an inkling of the Etherverse had leaked through. Turns out that it was a charlatan playing god and it backfired horribly. Consider my interest sated and me on my way." The eye said.
It's voice was like thunder echoing through the heavens and making the ground shake. The eye slowly closed and the clouds took their normal places again. Aed and Vara heaved huge sighs of relief. "What was that!?" I shouted at them. Aed waved me off. "A worse danger than you can handle boy. And a difficult one for us in our current state. But either way it is none of your business. In truth we just wanted to stop by and wish you congratulations." He said as he turned into a fireball and shot into the sky followed closely by a tall shard of ice that Vara had condensed into.
"Damn it! Gods are tricky and frustrating!" I said as I stomped my foot. The ground shook a little as I kept staring into the sky.
(What was it they called that thing? Beholder? I wonder if there are any books about it. Guess I'll ask Marissa when I see her.) I grunted at the thought as a hand lightly took my forearm. I looked down to see Sam with a scared expression. "You... have met gods before?" She said with a shaky voice.
I nodded a little. "You know I met Aed. That's why I bear his mark." I said tapping the tattoo on the red arm. She shook her head. "Not just anybody meets the gods. Not even their champions. And not only have you met one! You met opposing gods. And they didn't try to kill you for saying their names! Do you know what happened to the last person who called The storm god by his name without honorifics? He was struck by lightning! Lightning!" She shouted.
I raised an eyebrow. "Aed is my friend. I doubt he would kill me for such a ridiculous reason as that." I said calmly. Sam's face went blank in shock as her family finally rose to their feet.
"Well... I never once thought that I would see a god and live." Lord Carnac said as he dusted the dirt off his pants. I looked at him and for some reason something just felt off. His entire demeanor was much more relaxed than previous experiences said he should be. He was always extremely protective of his family. Him being relaxed like this felt... wrong. I put my left hand on Sam's shoulder as she turned around to face her father. She looked at me with a questioning face only to see what I wanted to say written on my face. I was alert. My eyes were slits and my teeth were slightly bared. "Who are you?" I growled.
His face didn't change at all. "What do you mean Ignis? I am who I have always been." He said with a lopsided smile. That put me further on edge. Lord Carnac never smiled. Never. I pulled out dragons cry and his face changed to disinterest and a raised eyebrow. He sighed.
"What gave me away." He said as his voice changed to an echoing masculine voice. Nothing like the spider. It held a warmth to it. Like a charcoal bricket that had yet to die out. It eminated warmth but was like it was dying. I pointed the gun at him. "Who are you? I will not ask again." I grunted. Lord Carnac let out an even bigger sigh and rubbed his eyes a bit. When he looked up his eyes had gone from a blue color to that of a deep fiery red. It was like looking at red hot metal.
"You can call me Jin. A djinn from the oldest parts of this world. An offspring of Aed truth be told. Though the old buzzard never liked us anyway." The thing said as it's voice echoed from Lord Carnacs mouth. He rolled up his sleeves revealing that Lord Carnacs burns were rapidly healing at a pace visible to the naked eye. The blisters shrinking and flaking off to grow skin the color of a babies skin.
"I made a deal with the founder of the Carnac family. That was 300 some years ago." He unbuttoned the top of his shirt to reveal a hairy chest that still had a lot of muscle despite his age. And it appeared to be growing by the minute. His shirt began to bulge slightly and his pants did as well.
"What deal would my ancestor make with a demon?" Sam hissed even as my hand was on her shoulder I could feel her trying to pull away.
"I would grant the family magic and in exchange I would be granted a vessel to inhabit every 60 years." The voice said with a curled lip of satisfaction. It was then that a thought struck me. Salamanders in legend were always fire based beings. And incredibly powerful to boot. If what this guy is saying is true then...
"You taught them how to Tame. You're the silver salamander that is the emblem of their family." I said in shock as the emblem made more sense with my knowledge of myths coming into play. The thing turned to me with a chilling grin across its face. "Indeed. My father never gave us bodies to inhabit so we generally inhabited some monster from time to time. The Salamander was my first. Not a very suitable vessel but I made it powerful nonetheless." He strode a little closer as I lowered my gun a bit.
"Now... I can't seem to recall having a sibling like you... so how did you obtain that vessel?" It dramatically gestured to my body.
"I was born this way. I did not choose this form. So don't lower me to your thieving standards!" I growled at him.
He laughed like a Leprechaun. It was a light and airy laugh with little to no sense of false happiness to it. I felt confused at this thing in front of me. "You have yet to tell me why Lord Carnac of all people. Why not possess him at birth when you had the chance?" I asked in slight confusion.
He looked at me and seemed to become slightly peeved. "I tried that see. And that didn't work as well as I thought. I got stuck in his bloodline of all things! Of all things a bloodline!" He waved his hands about hysterically. "Do you know what it's like being stuck in multiple bodies at once? It's horrible! Like having a real sense of divisional thought. One part over here and another part over there and we are all yammering at each other trying to find where we actually need to gather. I was a bonafide physical Schizophrenic for the past 30 years! That sucked up until today." He pointed at Sam and then at Gerald.
"I was finally released from my sentence when she got cut and he got hit by a piece of rubble. That's the only reason I was freed. Now! If you'll excuse me I am going to enjoy my disembodied freedom again." He said with a huff and puffed his shirt before the color left Carnacs eyes and he collapsed. One of my wings swung out and managed to catch him before he hit the ground.
"Never a dull moment around here." I said with a slight laugh. Sam nodded as she quickly checked her father's condition. He was a bit hot but he was breathing and sweating just fine. I took him over to a river close by the castle that wasn't tainted by blood and ash and splashed some on him to cool him off. Steam had started to come off him.
I ended up making a bed out of sand and leaves for him to lay on. Of course it was covered by a cloak so he wouldn't feel too uncomfortable.
"Now we wait." I said as I sat back. The sun set and the heat of the day went with it. The Moon began to rise and I heard a howl in the distance. Fairly close actually. I turned my head to see a large bipedal wolf creature. It was barrel chested and it looked like it had been put through hell. Patches of fur missing and covered in scratches. I waved to our fire and a stump.
"Fires free to sit at if you wish.Either that or we can continue our match from the other day." I said nonchalantly. I heard a huff and a grunt as the werewolf drew closer and finally sat at the fire to warm itself.
"I saw the castle... Did you do that to the king?" He asked glancing at me. I looked at him. "No... He did that to himself. Summoned a creature of some sort. It didn't agree with him." I grunted as I reached into the fire grabbing a burning log bear handed and shifted it.
He nodded with a sad look on his face. "You don't know what to do... do you?" I said as I noticed his expression. He shook his head. "Not a damn thing. Merc life was all I knew. Now the entire company is gone I have no idea what I can do. No money, and no backer who will help." He said as he tapped the stump beneath him. I sighed as I thought for a bit about it. "I could always use another companion as long as you don't hump my leg." I said with a slight grin.
He glowered at me. "Why would I trust you?" He said. His voice a growl as I saw his muscles tense up.
"I could have killed you back in the dwarven kingdom. But I didn't. You know why?" I asked as I threw another log into the flames. His expression remained guarded. "Why?" He finally asked after an awkward minute.
"I saw Loyalty, Strength, Skill, and a sentiment toward hard work. You didn't do something good at the time. But nobody died at your hands." I said as I sat back a bit. "So... How about it." I said as I looked at him.