Lyn chained several arrow-shot teleports until she arrived at the coast. Ghomar was a supercontinent, with oceans in all directions and no other known lands. The globe had been circumnavigated, and the only regions left to explore were the arctic regions. Some of the coasts were smooth, placid beaches. But not this coast. Trisk was notorious for having rocky coastlines that were difficult to navigate.
She raised her wrist and channeled mana into the bracer. The three-dimensional map appeared. It's inside a cave on the cliffside. Shooting a few more arrows, she arrived at the top of where the cave would be. Looking over, she saw the two-hundred-foot drop to the ocean that surged up and crashed against the rocks. She looked at the map again. Alright, so I jump and then angle inward. She raised her arm to the sky, and incanted the lightning spell once more to signal to any hero cores that were roaming around of her location. The beam arced into the sky before exploding against the atmosphere, creating a stunning aurora-like display of arcing blue energy.
Taking a deep breath, she stepped off the cliff edge and felt the exhilaration of falling – for a moment. The Cloak of Safe Falling incorporated into her armor billowed out, and she gripped the hem of it, guiding her glide.
She had to go so low that the spray hit her legs, but she angled in towards the cliff and landed on a sodden, rocky platform. Water sprayed up behind her, and she began following the shallow crevasse. After a few moments, she came across the doorway. This one was created out of bronze. This door marks the dungeon of Fenoscion, High Priest of Aelor. Threats within – Aelor's Challenge. Reward – artifact, mana core.
That gave Lyn pause. She had never before encountered this type of dungeon challenge. For the first time since she had come back and embraced the mantle of Destroyer whole-heartedly, she felt the twinge of fear flutter in her heart for a brief moment. The fear of the unknown. Right. Well, backup plan, then. She pulled out an arrow and wedged it inside a crevice. She had no clue if teleportation would work between a dungeon and the outside – but she wasn't going to risk it. Switching Cataclysm to its spear form, she grabbed one more arrow with her other hand and walked through the purple film.
As soon as she entered, she saw the usual – square room with a square pedestal. She set the arrow down next to the doorway and walked over to the square object. Alright Lyn. Time to rise to a god's challenge. She placed her hand on the object.
"You should've seen it! An enormous blast of lightning! It went all the way to the roof of the world!" Gael hollered out as he took another long chug of his ale.
Bolvon smiled, "We have an amazing goddess, truly." He said as he also picked up his tankard.
"No, it's more than that!" Gael replied as he wiped his mouth with his sleeve. "Lyn – erm, Lady Rivers. She's fucking...just amazing."
"In bed?"
"That too, but I meant power. Have you looked at the mountains? Fuck, the whole Valley is a fortress. And no one has had to do shit-scooping duty in the latrines."
Vael nodded, "And even better," she said as she tilted her wine glass, adoring the way the red stuck to the sides before slowly dripping away. "People are getting along."
"Pfff," Gael waved his hand. "Who wouldn't? Life's never been better around here."
Bolvon leaned back in the booth seat and let out a deep sigh of contentment. "Yeah, life's good. Our goddess has truly blessed us."
Vael punched him lightly on the shoulder and gave him a small smile, "We've done our part, also."
Gael nodded as he reached over and drained Bolvon's mug. "Ain't that the truth." He stood up, "I'm grabbing another round!" He staggered over to the busy bar.
Bolvon looked at Vael, "I'm planning on going through with it."
She looked back at him with an appraising eye, "I have no objection. Just make sure that Lady Rivers allows for it."
"I'm going to ask her to officiate it."
Vael chuckled, "Brave of you."
Bolvon smiled and pulled out the punch-dagger with the invisible blade, "She has blessed me with a gift. And you two. We are her chosen."
"Chosen what now?" Gael asked as he came back, slid Bolvon his mug, and put an arm around the Shadowstalker.
"Chosen by the goddess," Bolvon replied as he sipped the frothy beverage. "She has gifted us items of extraordinary power."
Vael and Gael shared a chuckle. Vael sipped her wine, "Well, if you wish to serve your goddess wholly-"
"I..." Bolvon sighed and took a deep swig of his ale. "I'm not into women-"
"That's obvious," Gael said.
"If she asked me to serve in her bed chamber, I would do it. Our goddess deserves all our admiration and affection."
The woman put the glaive haft down, "Please, who else would it be? Did you even read the letter from Volio?"
No...It can't be. James felt his heart sink. This Duskari with draconic features, and a pair of horns that graced her with a regal appearance... "Lyn?" Her voice sounded different, but the sarcasm was unmistakable.
"Damn right. What are you doing here?"
"I don't know," James muttered as he sheathed the sword. "Where are...we?"
"I went into a dungeon on the coast. A guy named Fenoscion, the High Priest of Aelor. I was going to be fighting an angel, but then he stopped mid-charge, and it's you. But it wasn't you before the helmet was put on."
James looked down at the hilt of the sword and felt it vibrating. "I...I don't know how I got here." He closed his eyes and focused on the mana core in his chest. He couldn't hear the voice of Aelor. "The sword..." he pulled the blade once more and held it up to his chest. "I think it brought me here."
Lyn strode towards him, "You fucker."
"Wha-"
"You took the credit!" She got closer.
James began backing away, "Hold on, I can exp-"
Lyn closed in fast and blasted him back with a rapid jab to the chest. James was launched a few feet, and the wings fluttered on their own to keep him upright. He gasped at the pain, as Lyn shouted. "You took my glory!" She had tears streaming down her face. "I fucking sacrificed my life to kill the Demonic Dragon. And you fuckers didn't even give me the credit. You could have...Fucking...At least remembered me!" She dropped the spear and put her clawed hands to her face, and he could hear her sobbing. "Everyone forgot about me...No one remembers...All my hard work...j
James felt his heart sink. Taking credit for the kill was Cecily's idea, but it made perfect sense to him at the time. And a few of the other heroes agreed – giving credit to someone already dead was not advantageous. Splitting the credit, and saying James got the killing blow, well, that just sounded better to everyone. Instead of admitting cowardice. "I'm sorry," James whispered. He dropped the sword. "We...It was fucked up." He shook his head, feeling guilt encompassing his whole being. "And the spell was going too far."
Lyn looked up at him, eyes still streaming. "What spell?"
James turned away, "Fuck." He slammed his foot into the ground, "Fuck!" Why me? Why do I have to explain it?
"What. Spell." Lyn said as her tears stopped.
"We...fucking did a mind spell to all Ghomar, okay? It was Cecily's idea. And we all went along with it."
"What did it do?" she asked as she picked up her weapon.
James felt panic. Fear closing in on all sides. Just like how the upper classmen used to circle up around him in front of the lockers and brow-beat him with insults and even physical assaults. All because he liked fantasy and reading books. No. I have power now. He held his hand up and the blade raised itself off the ground and into his hand. "It is an irreversible spell," he stated. "All memories of you are a blur. People know there was a Scout hero, but nothing specific about you remains. Only the heroes' memories were unaffected."
Lyn's voice changed, and James felt a deep fear course through him as the Demonic Dragon's voice spoke instead of this Duskari woman's tone. "Why?"
"Because we wanted the credit, okay!" James yelled. "I just wanted to be the hero that saved the day. You were dead, we thought you'd be back on Earth with the rest of the people that died! No one thought you would come back!" He felt righteous justification rise and replace the fear. The sword thrummed in his grip. "How could we expect that to happen? That you'd come back with the power of the Demonic Dragon? It didn't harm anyone!"
"What about my pride?" Lyn growled. "What about my valor? My legacy? You...you're a fucking coward."
No, I'm not.
"You all are fucking cowards!" She shouted as a helmet emerged from the armor and encompassed her head. "You betrayed my memory! Betrayed me!"
"No I'm not! I-"
"You ran away! I fucking stayed and fought, while you all ran. You fucking shacked up with some lady and ignored what we were sent here to do." She slammed the weapon she held into the ground to her right, and James felt a shiver of pure fear through his spine as a rift ten feet wide and fifty feet long opened from the force of her blow. "I trained. I cleared dungeons. I got strong." She pointed the blade at him, and the icy grip clutched his heart. "I'm going to rule this world and make it a better place. I will leave my name on this world."
James was about to respond when his vision flared white, and he was once more back in his own body. He heard the giggling and laughing of his boys and looked over to see them playing with small toy-soldiers along with Zebed's kids. He felt the cold sheen of sweat covering his body, and the thrumming of the sword faded. The voice of Aelor tried to whisper something to him, but he couldn't hear it. His own fears and anxiety drowning it out.
She's back...what in the fuck do I do?