The next morning, I awoke feeling a weight on my stomach. My backpack had been placed upon me as I slept, sealed shut and covered in purple flesh from the Beholders. A ruby and sapphire were on either side, connected to the inner workings, which I could only assume mimicked a Beholder's insides. The tentacles appeared, looking like skeletal wings, and somehow holding the workings in place. I quickly slid my clothes on, picking up the modified backpack. Niko left no instructions on how to use it, and I dared not test it out while indoors. It was late morning, most of the Wizards called to their posts. Those that stood watch in the night must be sleeping now, leaving me no need to speak. I walked out and chose the area in front of the castle to test my new method of transport. I looked into the Throne Room, noticing a familiar figure on the throne. I neared him, seeing his armor was as red as I remembered. However, it looked more like leather. The closer I got, the more I realized what had happened. "Bramwell? Why do you sit where he sat?"
He tipped his newly-crowned head in sadness. "The late King elected me as his heir. Redhelm is under my control now." Those words sent a chill through me. I found it suspicious, though at this point, questioning his statement would leave me beheaded.
"Elric of Redhelm has left me his weapons, one of which I now entrust to you. Kneel, Vienna." I approached his throne, getting down on one knee and bowing my head. A guard ran to the next room, coming back and setting down before me a blade that looked like it was made of silver. I grasped its handle, seeing it looked halfway between a longsword and a rapier. I slowly rose while Bramwell described the blade. "This is Draketail. A blade of no magical power, only of superior make."
"Thank you, My Liege." I sheathed it and turned away as quickly as possible. Referring to a commoner such as him as "My Liege," left a subtle burning taste in my mouth. When I was safely outside, I put on the purple backpack. Knowing where the floating eyes were searching, I figured it better to test this outside of Redhelm. I found a nearby area free from any trees, and where floating eyes didn't seem to be looking. Feelings of contempt for the new King filled me, and I felt myself shoot up into the air. Thinking as if I was casting another ice bolt, I felt new magic gather within me. My fall slowed, decreased in speed, turning into a slow ascent. I again intensified my thoughts, chest muscles tensing up. My upward speed rose, and I looked upwards to see flat floating rocks above me. I tilted to the side, trajectory changing according to my movement. I spun, turning myself around and flying up and away from the Kingdom, approaching a rock large enough to land on. I snapped myself into a vertical position, silencing my thoughts.
I fell down upon the rock, pain filling me from the bottom first, like I was a glass. Frost covered the ground, like burn marks from a dragon passing over and frying up the ground. Not even knowing what part of me was damaged, a quick "Sano" removed the pain, restoring the state of anything that would have gone wrong. The first thing I did upon landing was look around. The sky looked darker than it should be, more starry, despite what I assumed to be the time of mid-morning. I saw more of these flat floating rocks, anywhere from five to fifty feet in distance between them, all of which were a bleached, off-white colour. Many of them were larger than mine, though in the distance I thought I saw an island that looked different from the others. I leaped to a nearby rock, activating my newly acquired flying pack as I took off, landing only to see a short tree growth on it. I was about to leap again, when suddenly I saw the tree move. A branch swept out, hitting my side as if released by an annoying travelling partner who walked ahead of me. I jumped back, careful so as to not fall off the floating stone, and charging with my newly acquired Draketail. It stuck in the bark, making a pinpoint hole, but was so hard to remove that I had to release it.
I saw a small amount of blood fall from the hole in the wood, staining the stone below. A mouth in a jagged grin opened on its side, as the tree creature stepped forward. It swung the branch on its other side like a haymaker strike, and I closed in and grabbed the branch with my open hand, sliding Draketail out with the other, and kicked the tree, sending myself stepping away from it. Pointing my open hand, I focused on the tree's blood, using the same thoughts as I did against the Beholder. The tree looked like it was moving slower, falling over entirely as it raised a tree root leg. A branch fell off, and I bent down to investigate it. It was mostly straight, more smooth than I expected, and about two feet in length. I slid it into the side of my backpack, opposite my dagger and it's sheath, right under the scabbard for Draketail.
Another ice-powered jump, and my thoughts analyzed this terrain. Gravity felt normal here, though I remember my physics teacher speaking of the earth's hold growing less powerful the farther away things were. I figured that the higher up you were to go, the more the rocks could just float there without as much magic.
I landed on the next floating rock island, seeing a black moving mass. Like intelligent sand, it lazily wandered around, as if blindly looking for food as if it had lost its sense of direction. I poked it with the stick I carried, trying to figure out what it was. The black mass scattered in clusters, spreading out in a larger circle. I saw a single eye in the center, staring right at me as if I was looking at the single eye of an amorphous creature. The clustered ones, looking like nothing but shells of bugs from where I was standing, crept towards my legs. At first it was nothing but a terrible crawling feeling, as at least ten insects scrambled up either leg, and then the biting started. I rapidly hopped from leg to leg, as if running in place over tall obstacles, my vision focusing on the eye. It was gradually running away, and my legs weren't working. I slowly began to fall forward. I thrust my rapier, and Draketail flew through the air, impaling the eye as I fell on my stomach. The biting stopped, replaced with "only" a burning sensation, and quickly I slid off my pants. On my lower legs the bugs, were still stuck on, each centered in a red circle as wide as my finger. The entire area around each bite burned. I bent over, barely able to keep my legs balanced in the same place, and stabbed one from the side with my dagger. I felt its teeth dig into my leg, not moving at all as the blade poked its shell. I adjusted my angle, carefully running the tip of my dagger along its shell. Given its name, Magicbane, and how much power of wizardry it had, a single scrape should be deadly. I worked away at the shell of one, finding an indent and pressing the tip of Magicbane in. I felt the blade stab through softer flesh as opposed to the hard shell that protected the bug from this blade. I tilted, slowly pulling back. The bug's teeth, on the underside of it, ripped out a chunk of my skin, causing me to make a low groan of pain.
"Sano" I growled. The green ribbon of light began swirling around, repairing the holes made by the bug's teeth. As I still had some power left, I saw it reach onwards, and erase a circular bite. The burning sensation there stopped; the red circle became narrower and narrower until it erased itself. Motivated by the knowledge that this magic worked, I summoned a more powerful spell to heal me. "Cusano." The three green strands of light continued working to fix the bites. I watched them jump between either leg, working as a team to use the healing power I created. Over the next hour, I simply sat there, dagger and spell working to clean my legs of the bugs and bites. One final cast of healing allowed me to re-armor myself in cloth and regain focus on my task at hand.
Now, strengthened and healed, I rose and took a jump that led me close enough to grab a nearby empty rock, pulling myself up to overlook a much larger floating island. I saw a house on it, built mostly from red-stained wood, though how or why anyone would build a house up here on the sea of rocks remained a question. I watched silently as a door opened and a purple creature exited, looking very much like a goblin that I heard about in stories. Walking out from the back of the house, it carried a sword by its side. A small winged red creature flew upwards from beyond the house, landing on the goblin's shoulder. The goblin patted its head as if it were a cat, and while I couldn't be sure, I think I heard it purr.
"Greetings!" I shouted from my rock, looking down at the small fortress on the island. The goblin pointed its sword up, sending the small creature flying. Now I could see its features, realizing it was a small dragon. I jumped into the air, pushing off from the rock underneath me with little need for propulsion. I landed on one foot, one knee, and one hand, an icy trail behind me from the flying pack. "I come not to fight you." I turned my head, raising it upwards. The goblin sheathed his sword, making a call to the small dragon. It flew back, landing again on the goblin's shoulder and rubbing the side of the goblin's face with its own.
"We haven't seen another human here in a long time. We thought you served the Knight of Void." said the Goblin.
"The Knight?" I tilted my head down towards him. I had heard this name before. "Is this The Void?"
"Oh, so you do know something!" The goblin sounded excited. "We're just below it. His castle is up there." The goblin pointed, up towards a large, distant rock. I stood up, and with my newfound height and the diminished distance, I could see a bit more, though it was looking more like a grey speck than a castle from here. "We're hiding close to the earth. He never looks here. And when he does come to this level, it's always on the way down the planet!"
"Like all those Beholders that have besieged my Kingdom?" I pointed in the direction where I thought I had come from, the goblin nodding vigorously. "Ooh, the Knight must be mad! What did you people do? Or did you just have resources he wanted? He'll step over Kingdoms for those. I should know, our King worked for him."
"You have a King? I thought you hated being ruled." I guessed. The goblin walked towards the wooden house.
"He's not really our King, but we all listen to him and call him that anyway. You should come in, human. We're about to have dinner!" I followed the friendly goblin, who jumped to a door handle sized for a normal human. He pulled it open, hand over his head, revealing a large but simple wooden house. It opened immediately into a long room, wooden planks held up by stones acting as a table. About ten other goblins sat at it, and as I looked further and further along the table, I saw the goblins get progressively tougher looking, more watchful, and well-armed. At the head was one of the taller goblin-creatures that I had seen in the camp outside Redhelm.
"What is this?" He asked, in a voice as rough as the stone under us. "You brought a human in?"
"He says he's friendly, King! Doesn't serve the Knight of Void!" The goblin who led me in jumped up and down excitedly.
"Very well. But make sure he doesn't do anything suspicious." The goblin being referred to as a "King" pointed an iron blade, etched in gold at me, then sharply moved it towards the end of the table, at a chair that was nothing more than a large rock.
I sat, just as a large, smooth, stone disc was brought in. It looked like a plate, carrying one of the creatures I fought earlier, though with no eye, fur or spider legs. It seemed to be cooked, though I had no idea who or what had cooked it. The King ripped a piece off using an equally royal-looking dagger, holding the flesh in his bare hand to eat. He passed it down the table, the other goblins ripping off more and more flesh as it passed them. Suddenly the arrangements made sense. This measure of rank was no mere formality. The higher your rank, the better your choice of food was. I picked the bones clean with the tip of my rapier, finishing early due to the quantity I could eat. My dagger being anywhere near my mouth could spell bad news.
Finishing what I had, I tried to make conversation with the goblin King. "Who cooked this? Fire does not look abundant here."
The goblin King looked up. "Ash the human." He took another bite, throwing a bone to the table for any of his people to clean up. "A fire Mage who supplies us with meat and flame in exchange for protection. Another skilled rebel from the Knight of Void."
I slid my plate back, the goblins picking up the discarded bones and moving them to the plate. A tough goblin, sitting beside the goblin King right at the head of the table, picked up the bone plate and brought it to a door on the side of the wall, presumably taking it to some place to make something from the bones. These goblins did not look like practical creatures, so it could have been a tool, a weapon, or a mere decoration. The other goblins began to talk, each having something to say in their high, fast, chaotic voices. I could hardly pay attention to any individual goblin, as their words seemed to flow in and out of each other. A few minutes of this and the door slammed open.
"Ash? I didn't think you'd return this quickly." said the goblin King. Iris said nothing, dropping an aggressively cooked beholder onto the table. It looked like the creature that was made into my backpack, only much less well-preserved, if the gash wound in its eye was any indication. I saw an axe on Ash's belt, its head made from earthly metal and stained in voidspawn blood.
"I found another monster. It looked like it was on the way to the Kingdom down there." She sat at the table, in the free spot beside the goblins' King, hacking a chunk of meat off with her axe. Many of the goblins were too full or too disgusted to eat any more, leaving me with more than enough freshly cooked meat. "Who is this newcomer?" she quietly asked the goblin King.
"A human from the surface," he stated. "Claims to be against the Knight, but that's merely what my people have told me. I have yet to see his power." The goblins dispersed to go and do whatever it was that goblins had to do. The room was empty, save for the King, Ash, and me. "Come here, human," the goblin King commanded me. I moved up in ranking at the table, until I was across from Ash. Her eyes were focused on me intently, though her feelings remained silent. "I'll need you to prove yourself, human. There is a Cauldron, spotted near the Knight of Void's castle. Recover it. This will be both a test of your raw fighting power and your loyalty."
I laughed, a bad move in front of royalty. "A Cauldron? You'd honestly value a large metal bowl that much? I could return to the surf--" The goblin King raised his daggered fist, striking the table. His dagger ran it through, leaving a few wood splinters below.
"This is no mere metal bowl! Cauldrons are creations of The Knight, intended for holding molten rock, and can break items down without guidance. With it we could revolutionize creation of potions, as the Cauldron makes its own heat. It can even digest enemies. Now, can a mere metal bowl do all that?" The intensity with which he drew his dagger out rivaled that of it entering the table in the first place.
"Fair point. I will leave immediately." The lighter gravity in this place allowed my long coat to move much more freely. I swept out of the room, closing the door behind me, looking towards the distant castle. I couldn't see the sun in the sky, only many small stars, my sense of direction shot. I took a running start and jumped, using only a second of boost from my flying pack to take me entirely across a floating rock and onto the next, landing easily. I remembered my final action at Vylath's tower. I sat there, conjuring icy wings again, only this time freezing over the Beholder pack as opposed to my own arms. Looking behind me, I saw ice crystallizing on the arms of the pack, gems given a wide space. I ran, jumped into the air mostly forward, and let my icy wings catch the thin air. Inspired by the sight, my backpack's propulsion shot to life, taking me forward faster and slightly higher. I let myself glide, tilting backwards to see the castle in more detail. It was hardly close yet, but close enough that I could identify it as a building of power. On one of the floating rock islands, I saw a creature much like the drawing Beatrice had made, with its top-mounted mouth and tentacles for it to walk on.
I landed, Beholder pack letting me skid to a stop on the white ground. What I saw right away was a Cauldron, without question. My ability for success was the real question, as it was guarded by an Elite like the noble that the goblins called their King. I pointed Draketail, a noble's sign of challenge, at the Elite as he drew his own sword. I opened with an overhead slash, blocked, barely having time to parry a stab to his face. I thrust lower, aiming for the stomach, when my weapon was barely caught by a gold-lined dagger. I drew my own, the grey blade caught by the Elite's sword. In the same second we each charged at the other, main weapons swinging and striking that of the other. We pushed against each other, each looking the other in the eyes. I rapidly sheathed Magicbane, put both hands on Draketail, and felt a frustrated determination within me.
A wave of force shot up from the ground, blowing away some loose rocks. The Elite fell backwards onto the rock, and I stabbed through his chest with my sword. I put my foot on his heart, now barely beating, giving myself the leverage to draw out my blade. I sheathed it and carefully approached the Cauldron. "It's ok. You're coming with me now." The Cauldron didn't move and seemed to gasp and search the air with its mouth, which was mounted on an arm-shaped handle. I slowly approached it, carefully wrapping both my arms around this precious creature like I was gently picking up a barrel. I shifted my weight, nearly falling forward at the mass of the creature. It felt like I was trying to lift a barrel full of water that stuck to the ground with a hold like an octopus. Slowly, I moved the creature around, releasing its hold on the rock it sat upon, and with no doubt, confusing It. I jumped off the rock, having some idea about where I had come from, and letting myself glide back. My arms were tight around my find, hopefully not constricting it. I tilted up, gave a determined thought to reactivate my pack, and after a second, I felt a jarring shock.
I was out of magic. My heart sped up with the realization that I had no way to return up to the wooden house, no knowledge of the durability of the creature I was carrying, and had no easy way to land and wait to recharge my pack. I looked around in midair, spotting a fairly large, flat rock to land on. Swooping down to approach it, I tilted sharply back, the wind shattering the wings of ice as they hit the wide edge of the rock. I fell, using my legs to barely stop myself from rolling, all the while my body curled around the Cauldron I was carrying. I hit the ground, rolling at least twice before flattening out, my backpack now much less able to fly.
The wooden house was in sight, and had I been able to jump triple my height, I could have easily made it there without the need of my icy wings. I got up, scraped from the fall and the roll across the stone ground. I was about to point my hand, use "Sano" to recover, only thinking about the loss of magical power. I set the Cauldron creature down on the floating rock, making sure it was upright, then rose up myself. Standing stung. I moved my hand down to my legs, "Sano" almost on my lips, remembering the absence of mana I had. "Nothing to do but wait until I recover," I thought, scanning the skies.
It was then I heard a noise coming from not too far away. Turning my head, I saw a blue slime bounce across the rock, as if it was on a mission of its own. I slowly walked towards the slime, its blue form changing direction to hop towards me. It landed, slid across the ground, jumping up again and hitting my open hand, which then felt like it was slowly burning. I slashed at it with Draketail, cutting the slime cleanly in half and causing it to fall to the ground. The two halves now seemed focused on me, jumping again. I leaped over them, tucking my legs in, making a sweeping slash in midair at both. I cut them again into rough halves, more like quarters now, switching my strikes to rapid stabs to each slime segment.
They fell in a tight span of time. A familiar, acrid scent floated through the air. It, and the colour blue, reminded me of another time I had used the wings of ice. Sticking a piece of slime on my rapier, I lifted it over my drinking vessel and shook it. Parts of the slime slowly fell in, mixing with what little water was left. The acrid smell was stronger now, and without a doubt, it had become a potion of mana. Drinking the potion, I moved the slime out of the way with the tip of my sword.
Suddenly, the world seemed brighter. I felt more energized, and cast more ice in such a thin mist it turned to water near-instantly. With not much trouble at all, I forced the rest of the slime into the bottle. As it mixed with the water, a blue gas was escaping, and I quickly closed the bottle. Picking up the Cauldron creature I was sent to recover, I bent my knees, focused my thoughts upwards, quickly straightened them...
And flew, triple my height, stopping right over the rock with the goblins' house on it. I tilted forward, giving myself a last jolt of momentum. I landed on my hands and knees outside the house that was now in walking distance, and I was finally able to heal. "Sano." I pointed down, my walk getting more decisive as the healing took effect. Carrying the Cauldron didn't even seem all that hard, only a minute's walk until I could get to the door. Expecting the goblins' King and his official commanding voice, I saw Iris open the door. Her expression was in the same state of disapproval as it was upon her first sight of me. She looked down, visibly eyeing the creature I carried in. For someone who looked as strong as she did, I did not expect her voice to be so high.
"The human brought it back," Iris called into the room, moving aside to let me pass. The room was large, but not exactly large enough to play sports in. I felt her brush against me, but paid that no mind.
I set the Cauldron down on the table, trying not to think about what it must be thinking. The royal goblin ran its hand along the Cauldron's side, poking a stick above the top. The Cauldron's mounted mouth snapped out, grabbing the stick like a snake and smoothly dragged it inside. All three of us curiously peered in, seeing many small teeth on the inside grind up the stick within its grasp. Gradually, the Cauldron filled with liquid, suspending the wooden bits.
The goblin King gestured to this creature. "Do you see the power of a live Cauldron? By adding select ingredients, I can create potions for many."
"Like blue slime?" I asked, the goblins' King knowing exactly what I was referencing.
"Exactly!" The King pointed his sword in the air in a gesture of success. "You've already figured out the idea. You are welcome here, Hu--"
I knew where he was going, finishing his words. "It's Vienna."
The goblins' King looked offended at my interruption. "Well then, Vienna, you are welcome here." He said my name with a tone of discontent. "The sleeping rooms are below the house. We have no empty rooms, though you're welcome to find a space in one."
"I'll share mine," Ash, normally quiet, offered. "It's a pain trying to fall asleep hearing those goblin creatures talk until dawn. No human should have to go through that."
Surprised, I looked at Ash. She seemed to disapprove of my very being, but offered out of her own kindness? I certainly found it an unexpected gesture. "Come downstairs, I'll show you which room is ours." Iris led me through a side door, down some carved stone stairs, and into a dug-out basement. Four wooden doors lined the otherwise unremarkable sides of the room. She opened one, this room being much simpler than I expected. A wooden bed sat in the corner, some metal hooks dug into the wall for clothing. Above those, a greataxe sat mounted on the wall, a red gem embedded in its handle of its single blade, giving the entire weapon a crimson tint. "I don't have much you can sleep on, but you're safer here than outside."
I sat down on one corner of the bed, near the wall-mounted hooks. "I've been getting used to it. You going to sleep now?" I took off my pack, lay down on the bed, and rolled to one side. I heard clothes rustle behind me, respect and apathy stopping me from watching her in an unclothed state. She made almost no noise, obviously practised for stealth, allowing me to fall asleep easily.