Kory itched his new leg where the flesh merged with the prosthetic. It was a strange feeling, as he could still feel sensations below that point, but it was dull and muted. He had left Trisha's hospital for a single reason: he was scared. For the first time in his life, he was truly terrified. The Demonic Dragon was back, and he didn't want anything to do with it.
He had stopped by Fort Watch and received the package from this fucker claiming to be Lyn, but there was no way it was really her. She was dead. Misty had said so. Nothing could have survived that much lava. And she couldn't have come back from Earth – Earth didn't have magic. It didn't have mana cores. It has to be a lie, he thought. A trick to get the heroes to go there for easy killing. He shivered despite sitting next to a roaring fire in a sumptuous bedroom. Cecily's bedroom.
He heard the door open and stood up, facing the woman he once loved more than anything. The woman who was his first love, who kept him just far enough away to drive him mad with lust. The person he had betrayed. "Hi," he grunted.
Cecily was riveting as always. Her hair cascaded down her back and around her shoulders, and her piercing eyes held a malice and hatred he had seen before. "You attack my territories and then come to my palace?" She shook her head and pointed to the chair. "Sit." Her words were amplified by her mana, and Kory sat without question or hesitation. She sat in the chair opposite him, and stared in to the crackling flames. Kory wanted to say something, but he couldn't. Her power was keeping him silent. "I forgive you. You didn't harm the peasants, and in total I only lost four hundred soldiers." She smiled gently, "I heard that you inflicted far worse casualties in James' lands." She glanced at him sideways, and he felt like he could speak once more. "Did you know he took the throne?"
Kory shook his head, "No. What happened to King Kristoph?"
"The fool tried to kill James in council." She frowned and picked up the poker, stoking the fire until it roared with a blaze that cast a dark, menacing shadow behind her. To Kory's eyes, it looked demonic, flickering with a subtle malice. "Instead of using overwhelming numbers in an open field, or even tricking him into the mana-suppressing prison." She shook her head once more as she took her seat, idly turning the poker in her hand. "Damn Elenthians only making a single mana-suppressing dungeon in all of Ghomar. I'd kill for one of those."
Kory swallowed the lump in his throat. "I am here to serve you."
"Oh? How? In bed? On the front lines? As a footstool?"
"I'll do anything," Kory replied. "I need your protection."
Cecily chuckled, "What did you do this time?"
Kory pulled the letter out, as well as the badge, and gave them to Cecily. She scanned the letter and then tossed both it and the badge into the flames. "It's not really Lyn. It's impossible." She pushed both items deeper into the fire. "I believe the Demonic Dragon did, indeed, return. But it's not Lyn. It's just using her name."
"That's what I'm afraid of," Kory muttered. "I know...you've been harvesting mana cores."
"Oh? What makes you say that?" Cecily asked.
"Rumors. People in the city whispering things."
Her eyes narrowed and she gripped the armrest of the chair with enough force to cause the wood to splinter – strength that Kory had never seen her exert before. So...she really is harvesting mana cores. When they had arrived in Ghomar, they were told about mana cores. Every person has one, and most people have a weak one. The hero cores were powerful, more than those found in dungeons of the Elenthians. But they were also told that taking the mana cores of the fallen was considered taboo, as it was torturous for the individual.
Cecily leaned back and sighed, "Well, it can't be helped I suppose. When you take thousands of unwanted people and they disappear into work camps..." she looked to Kory and he saw the icy stare, knowing there was no trace of humanity left. Just a cold, calculating mind that desired power and control. "I will protect you from whoever you want. In exchange, you will help me bring my duchies to heel. Biskon, Skrell, Logor, Komorra, Rist." She waved for him to leave, "Go to the servant quarters, and rest. You've been on the road some time. We'll begin soon enough."
Kory stood up and was about to leave when her commanding voice echoed through his mind. "One more thing," she said. "Come over here."
Kory felt the influence of her Ruler core. He knew what it felt like. As if someone was gripping his mind in an iron vice and forcing his vision, his hearing, his every iota of willpower on her words. He could shake it off with an internal spell that the Berserker had access to...but he had to submit. It's the only way I can be safe. He returned to her and was compelled to kneel. He did not try to resist.
"Good pet. Shirt off." He did so, and she dipped the poker into the flames, pulling it up to her hand and using a short transmutation spell to warp the red-hot tip into an ornate letter 'C'. She handed him a dagger, "Bite down, and not a single noise."
Kory took the dagger and put the blade between his teeth, biting down hard. Cecily pressed the brand into his right pectoral muscle, and he forced air in and out of his lungs in ragged breaths.
"Good boy."
Lynhold was bustling just as she had left it. Night had begun to fall, and Lyn chose to sit outside of the citadel, staring up at the just-starting-to-emerge stars. I hope you get a good new life, she thought, thinking of Zack. She closed her eyes and focused on her mana core, feeling the bubbling magma of the Destroyer core – her primary core. But she pushed deeper and could feel the Scout and Rogue cores. I know what the Scout one does.
It gave her the ability to learn languages extremely quickly, find the best path to travel even to unknown locations to reach a destination, and gave her perfect memory of any location she had been. But I need to know what the Rogue one does. She focused her will on the core and tried to coax the information out, and what she heard surprised her.
Lyn felt actual shock and held her hand up as she gasped. "Oh...Brad...I'm so sorry." She truly felt sorrow for him. "That must...damn. If you think she can help you, then by all means."
Brad nodded and stood up, "Well, I'll let someone know before I leave." He chuckled and held up the badge from his shirt, "This lets me come and go, right?"
Lyn nodded and stood up, "Yeah. And, for full transparency's sake." She pulled out the mirror array from the storage choker and unfolded it, channeling mana. Kory and Cecily's were filled with the magic static. Brad's was showing her, since he was facing her. Volio was in some little house, and sitting across from him were Ben and Trisha. So he got up there.
James' was also active, and it showed him looking down on the throne room. From the throne? People were coming up and bowing to him and she shook her head. He took out King Kristoph? Wow. She had not expected that level of cold-blooded nature from him. All that's left is Misty and Thomas to get theirs.
She turned the panel around to Brad and he scanned through them, "Ah, I should've figured that the inscription was also a spell."
Lyn nodded, "I used Ashley's communication network as a basis. Hopefully, one day, maybe if I get the Artificer core, I can upgrade them with a new inscription that enables talking."
Brad's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean get the Artificer core?"
Lyn put the mirror panel away, "I went and beat a dungeon earlier today. And when I grabbed the dungeon core it transformed. It turned into the Rogue core." She took a deep breath. He's not going to betray me. I can trust him. "It had Zack's soul or consciousness, or something trapped in it. He told me that Thomas shattered the statue that was holding the hero cores, and they all went off. He said consuming it would let him either go back to Earth or be reborn on Ghomar. He chose the latter option."
Brad sad down and stared off into space, "That's...wow...that's a lot."
Lyn sat opposite him and nodded, "Hold on a second, let me try something." She focused her will once more on delving past her Destroyer core and brought the Rogue core to the surface. Okay...I want the message Zack left to be heard aloud. "Leithio i thalion / en-i gadol min / ritha trî nin / a i eneth lín / no phango dú."
The recording of Zack's voice played aloud, and Brad sat straight-backed with an awestruck look on his face. When the recording ended, Lyn pushed the core back down, and her Destroyer core bubbled angrily for a moment, as if it was upset that she had focused on a different core instead of it.
Brad wiped his face free of the sheen of sweat. "So, all of them are trapped." He looked at Lyn with determination. "You have to go dungeon delving. Find them, consume them, free them."
Lyn poured mana into the bracer and pulled up the map, "I know where dungeons are. There's one more in the Valley I need to tackle." She let the mana fade. "I promise, I'm going to free them."
Brad nodded, "I'll...Can I get one of your Duskari to escort me to Trisha and Ben's place?"
Lyn leaned back, "They'd have to be disguised. But I don't see a reason why not. I can give you a whole squad if it makes you feel better. They can shadow you from a distance on the road."
Brad stood up, "Thanks." He was about to turn and leave, but he turned back to her. "This is going to sound odd...can I have a hug?"
Lyn nodded and embraced him, and she felt his tears against her shoulder. "What's wrong?"
He sniffled a few times before regaining his composure, "I...I haven't been hugged in seven years."
Again, Lyn felt a pang of sorrow through her. He's lived a tortured life as Cecily's prisoner. "You'll always be welcome at Lynhold. I'm lucky you chose to join me here." She pulled away and made sure he was looking into her eyes. "We are going to make this world a better place."
Brad nodded and smiled, "Promise me you won't try to make friends with that bitch. Just fucking end her. She wants to..." he trailed off.
"What does she want?"
His eyes refocused on her, "She wants to rule everything. All Ghomar. And she wants to...fuck, she's worse than a dictator. She wants to kill all non-Humans. It's fucked up."
Lyn frowned and nodded, "I'm not Human. Not anymore. And this is my world to take over...I'll fucking ruin her."