Dragon's Archon - Ch. 22 - The Remains of Liberty Bay - Alpha (Patreon)

“Master, what’s wrong?” Malice shouted.

“It’s Cartha and Ophelia,” I said as I ran through the field. “They’re in trouble.”

“Master, wait, you have your mission!”

“But I felt some of my minions die. I need to check on them?”

“All of them?”

“What?”

“Are all of your minions dead?”

I slowed down to a jog, realizing the reason for the question. “No… there’s still one alive.”

“Then they’ve likely just entered combat. If there is still one alive, then I would think it’s safe to assume so are Cartha and Ophelia. You instructed the dead to defend them with their lives, didn't you?”

“Yeah.”

“Then they’re likely fighting with Lady Florence’s guards. It’s only a matter of time before they transport everyone out of there.”

“Assumptions could get people killed. They could be hurt or worse.”

“True. But they have their missions and you have yours. While I do not care for Ophelia, there’s no doubt she is a powerful sorceress. And I’ve seen Cartha kill. She knows what she’s doing.”

I glanced into the darkness of the jungle before looking back to where I saw the masked shadow. The decision split me in half. I wanted to trust them, but the fear of one of them getting hurt or injured was hard to shake.

“Dammit!” I shouted, turning around. “Nyla’s guards better still be alive.” I pointed to my band of living dead. “You all follow me.”

I jogged toward where I’d thought I’d seen Venom. The slope down the terrain made it easy to traverse, but I descended it slowly so as not to tumble. When I got close to the ocean, I used the sound of the cascading waves to guide me to the beach.

The white sands were as fine and as soft as powder. When I glanced down both directions, I didn’t see any landmarks to help direct me to my eventual destination. There were no caves or coves in either direction. My only hope was a few dark rocks that protruded in the sea further inland.

As I trod down the beach, I pointed down at the ground and said, “Malice, keep a lookout for any footprints.”

“Yes, Master!” she replied sternly.

The order to my elemental companion gave me another idea. I spun to the army that stumbled down the hill behind me. “Do any of you know where Venom Vedatori’s hidden base is?” I shouted.

The husks all glanced at each other. Many scratched and shook their heads. But two archers shuffled forward. One was missing his jaw, the other missing an arm.

“Yes, Master,” the armless one groaned.

“Take me there immediately,” I commanded.

The two marched as fast as they could with their decaying bodies. We continued along the beach for what felt like another mile. In that time, Malice called out a set of footsteps in the sand that appeared to head the same direction we were going. I wasn’t skilled enough to know if those were Venom’s, but it didn’t matter.

After rounding a bend, the sand gave way to dark, porous rock. It scaled over a hill leaving an opening for a cave. In front of it sat a small wooden dock only large enough for a ship’s dingy. A lone door attached to a makeshift wall that led inside.

As I marched toward the door, I heard a bell ring out from sea. I spun on my heel and squinted. A heavy fog lingered on the waves. Among it, sailed a large ship. It was much too far out to catch up to. But as I focused more, zooming into the stern, Venom Vedatori stood staring at me. He tipped his hat at me just before the ship disappeared into the mist.

“Fuck,” I growled.

“What’s the matter, Master?” Malice asked.

“There’s a ship out to sea. I’m confident I saw Venom. It seems in my haste to save the others, I may have allowed him to escape.”

“Are you certain you saw him in the forest? Perhaps you just assumed it was him? I doubt he was able to run from there to the ship and sail in the time we reached here. He isn’t magically inclined, is he?”

“I don’t think so. But I have a feeling Venom is the one who gave the Butcher that vial. Maybe he’s not just a simple drug dealer that I thought he was. He could be a more capable alchemist than we initially believed.”

“What do you want to do now?”

I turned back to the cave’s front door. “We’re already here. We should at least look around and see if Nyla’s men are still alive, but I highly doubt they are.” I turned to my minions. “Wait here for me.” They groaned in acknowledgement as I walked to the entrance.

Upon approaching the door, I pulled it open, ripping it off its hinges. I tossed it to the side and ventured in. The walls were smoother than I expected. There was no sign of tools that had chipped away at the rock. It looked like someone had carved the place out with a large ice cream scoop, making a smooth cavern oval with no signs of seams.

The first room I entered was a warehouse. Wood shelving lined the walls with stacks of crates organized by letter. A piece of parchment was nailed onto each box, indicating what was inside.

On the opposite side of the room sat rows of large cages. Piles of straw covered the floor of each. Bloodstained shackles rested on top of it. A heavy smell of iron and feces lingered inside.

“This must be where he kept them,” I said. “But no ones here.”

“Perhaps they’re deeper inside?” Malice suggested.

“Maybe.”

I walked near the wooden containers and cracked a few open. The phosphorus crate hit me with a whiff of garlic. When I cracked open the salt one, it was full of thick white crystals. As I looked at the dozens of boxes in the room, I assumed they were all full.

“It looks like he left in a hurry,” I said. “Each one of these is full.”

“Anything of value?”

“Maybe to the right buyer, but it’s all various chemical compounds. Most likely for his alchemy. Half of this shit, I don’t even know what it is. Cockatrice tongue? Harpy eggs? Those can’t be literal, can they?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if they are. All the other crates seem literal, yes?”

“I guess.”

“You can check.”

“No, I’m good. There’s nothing here for us. Let’s keep searching.”

I walked further inside. The subtle drip of water echoed through the tight corridor. My chest tightened as I felt an overwhelming sense of claustrophobia as I squeezed through the halls. I hunched down and shuffled slowly, pressing ever deeper into the darkness.

The hall opened up into a large room which reminded me of a medieval drug lab. Long wooden tables lined the length of the room. Cut buds from the xyrol plant sat in mortar and pestles.

Further down the line, glass jars filled with the red powder sat in rows with wooden spoons sticking out of the top. Next to them, helpings of the same red powder sat on scales. At the end of the table, hundreds of small parchment pouches with PF labeled on them were stacked in wooden chests.

“This must be where they prepared the drug,” I said.

“A filthy habit for lowlifes,” Malice growled.

“You shouldn’t rush to judge. Heluna preaches the pursuit of happiness. I’d imagine this would be covered from one person’s point of view.”

“A high is temporary, leaving them immediately unsatisfied afterward. They spiral in their own addiction. That’s not true happiness.”

“You’re probably not wrong,” I said. I didn’t want to get into the philosophical arguments of the tenets I barely knew. As I continued further in the room, I realized there was nowhere else to go.

“This can’t be it,” I said, glancing around. I activated my Ground Sense. Along the furthest wall was a hidden door. A long hall extended beyond it.

“There’s a door here,” I said before raising my weapon. I smashed through it, clearing the fragments of rubble out of the doorway. This path was longer than the last. When I got close to the end, a green light emanated from the opening. As I stepped inside, the walls opened up to reveal a laboratory.

Stacked shelves of vials sat organized neatly along the wall. Various body parts floated in sealed glass. Bubbly flasks of mysterious liquids filled the room with a heavy, acrid stench. Corked tubes were filled with mysterious powders. Endless tomes and scrolls littered the tables with scribbled notes and complex formulas.

A rusted operating table sat in the center of the room. Its leather straps were stained with the blood of their previous hosts. An array of saws, scalpels, and needles rested on a nearby tray.

“What the hell is this?” I asked. “This is some Dr. Frankenstein shit.”

“Doctor who?” Malice asked.

“Nevermind. This must be his hidden lab. Still no bodies, though.”

I flipped through the books and scrolls, looking for information. Most of it was ineligible, containing the scribbles of a madman. The others that made sense were mostly shipment orders, but had no originating information. It was worthless.

I understand leaving in a hurry, but why leave all of this? I wondered. This looks like a lot of equipment and drugs. It can’t be cheap to leave all of this. Is he also that confident I won’t find anything?

After concluding my search, I didn't see any other exits from here. I approached the operating table and noticed the pooled stains underneath it. I followed their trail to the furthest wall. The drips disappeared underneath it.

I activated my Ground Sense once again. Beyond the wall, I could see there was another hall. I pulled back my hammer and smashed through it just like before. Rock shrapnel littered the floor.

I followed the trail of blood down the hall. I grimaced as a strong smell of death filled my nose. The walkway opened into a massive chamber. Humanoid-sized containers full of bubbling green liquid contained twisted bodies of horrific creatures.

As I walked through the room, the stench got stronger. The first container had a sludge of muscle and bone that floated like a balloon. A more humanoid body with bones sticking out in all the wrong places, like every bone grew spines, drifted in the next one. The third held a mass of mouths and teeth along thin strands of muscle that exploded out of a torso like a jack-in-the-box full of snakes.

I reached out with my Death Magic and concentrated on the amalgamations. They were all dead, with gaping holes inside their bodies where their souls used to be.

At least they found peace, I thought.

With my Ground Sense, I walked through the dwelling. There were dozens of containers. Each monstrosity contained inside was more twisted than the last. In the middle of the room was another table full of books and scrolls. I flipped through them. My frustration built as I found nothing of value inside of them.

“None of this makes any sense,” I said. “What’s he trying to do? Make the perfect monster? For what purpose?”

“To create his masterpiece?” Malice asked.

“Yeah… but I feel like there is a larger intent here…”

“What do you mean?”

“Look at all of this equipment. The organization. The hidden walls. This was setup to be a permanent spot for Venom from the beginning. Maybe I’m wrong, but has his drugs sold well enough to fund all of this plus the city? I know drugs are big business, but he’s leaving everything behind. Nyla said there he provided eighty percent of the business. But what if that eighty percent wasn't just from the drug sales?”

“A master pulls the strings…”

“Exactly. This guy seems too well funded. But there will be plenty of time for theories later. Let’s see how deep this place really goes.”

As the idea rattled around my brain, I continued deeper into the room, passing the seemingly endless number of liquid chambers. With my Ground Sense activated, it wasn’t until I reached the end that I found a wooden door mounted recessed into the wall. When I opened the door, I found a perfectly tight bed, an armoire, a nightstand with a candle on top, and a small shrine with two dragon statues standing side by side.

“What is that?” I asked, pointing to the shrine.

“Hmmm…” Malice said. “It looks like Anstartus and Rendira?”

“Wait.” I said, tilting my head. “Aren't those the gods of order and chaos?”

“Precisely, Master.”

“Chaos I get… but order? Why?”

“Perhaps he worships both.”

“Wouldn’t that be… I don’t know… sacrilegious?”

“I’m unsure of the anathemas of their religions. Perhaps you can ask Yda.”

“Yeah… remind me to do that when we get back.”

“Certainly, Master.”

When I took a step inside the room, I felt something tug at my leg. I heard a snap. When I looked down, a metal wire stretched across my ankle.

I spun when I heard the first explosion. Rock and dust rained from the ceiling. The pounding thuds grew closer, like an impending freight train. There was nowhere to go.

I saw the fireball before I felt the blast. The force knocked me off my feet and into the far wall. Crumbling rock rained on top of me. The crushing weight packed on more and more. All I could do was hold on until it was over.

By the time the hail of stone stopped, I strained to breathe. I couldn’t move my arms or my legs. The weight pinned my head backward.

“Master, are you okay?” Malice frantically shouted

“Y—yeah,” I groaned. “But I can’t move and can barely breathe.”

Malice groaned as my armor pushed outward. It gave me an extra inch. “Is that better?”

I let out a short laugh. “It is. Thanks, Malice.”

“What are we going to do?”

“Just give me a moment to think.”

My mind rattled through my options. I knew I didn’t have that long. Even with all my spells and perks, I still needed to breathe.

I couldn’t call my minions to dig me out. Based on the spell, I needed to be in visual range. My strength was limited in such a confined space. But then I remembered my Magma Spray and Magma Manipulation.

The spell should melt the rock, I thought. Maybe I can tunnel my way out.

“Malice?” I said.

“Yes, master?”

“Can you inflate my suit as much as you can and then seal it?”

“Seal it? What do you mean?”

“I’m going to try to tunnel out using the Magma Spray. But I don’t want it spilling into the armor. Make sure there are no gaps where it could spill in.”

“I can certainly do that.” Malice grunted as she expanded the metal from my skin, pressing against the hardened rock. I felt the armor become more rigid around my elbows and knees, but still had a little flexibility. When my eye slits on the helmet closed completely, I activated my Ground Sense.

“I’m all done,” Malice said in a rather excited tone.

Now I just need to figure out which way to go, I thought.

The Ground Sense showed me a wireframe of the destruction further in. Massive volcanic boulders crushed anything inside. Loose dirt and shale rock filled the gaps between. I could still hear rocks tumbling in the distance.

The air gaps in between, while potentially helpful, filled me with concern. If I was going to crawl my way out of here, I’d have the instability to deal with, potentially crushing me further or worse. Whereas the ground behind me was packed firm, providing me with a more stable base to carve my way out. Thankfully, I could see the ground was just shy of a hundred feet above the cavern, allowing me to make sure I was climbing up instead of tunneling down.

Without a moment to lose, I started spraying magma from my hands. It spilled all around me, filling any gap. I felt the rock around me softening and the ground above loosening.

When it got down near my feet, I manipulated it to seal myself into a makeshift box. I kept filling it to put pressure on the earth and rock above me to give me the mobility to move. As it rose, I increased the volume of the box in an effort to give me more room to move. When the liquid pushed high enough, I twisted my body around and brought my arms above my head.

The extreme heat and pressure did the work for me. It found the best gap to start from. Foot by foot, I crawled upward and solidified my surroundings to create a metal tube. My goal was to allow the magma from my hands to weaken the rock above me while still building pressure from below me

Once I found my groove, I swam and crawled my way out. Once the pressure built to its peak, I didn’t even need to move. I exploded from the surface, shooting out like a geyser. With a heavy thud, I hit the ground.

“Malice, unseal the suit,” I said.

“Yes, Master.”

When the armor opened, a wave of cool air twisted itself through the gaps. With a deep breath, I took a moment to rest. I’d come too close to death within minutes of each other. If it wasn’t for my perks, I knew I would have died. But I couldn’t dwell on that now. I still had a city to destroy.

I shuffled my way to the sound of the ocean, stopping just above the cove. As I peered over the entrance, I glanced down upon my army that I’d left. They shuffled mindlessly, awaiting their orders.

The high elevation let me see even farther out to sea, but the heavy fog limited my view. There was no sign of Venom’s ship. I tightened my fist. The thought of him getting one over me pissed me off. It was a hard but important lesson to learn that I needed to not act so careless.

My powers can’t be a crutch, I thought. I need to be smarter, wiser, and better prepared. I need to fill my gaps with others who are better at all the things I lack.

With another objective added to my list, I descended the slope and gathered my minions. I marched with them onto Liberty Bay. With an army of dead at my back, I was ready to end everything and everyone still left in this shithole.

Once we got into visual range, I stopped and pointed to the city. “Kill everyone. Burn all the buildings and docked ships to the ground. Once you’re finished, bring any coin or valuables to the tower.”

My minions raced through the sands until they entered the city's streets. Shrills and monstrous shouts echoed from the first shacks as the living dead claimed their first victims. I conjured and forged another hammer in my hand as I sauntered my way into the city.

It was chaos.

I watched one of my minions chomp at a man’s neck as they ran out of a burning shack, completely covered in flame. In the middle of the road, a pair of undead pulled the arms off a man before beating his face in with them. A sailor sprinted down the docks and jumped into a rowboat, only to be tackled by four of the dead into the water. The only thing left of him were bloody bubbles that rose to the surface seconds later.

It felt fitting for the townsfolk to be killed by the men that once protected them. Most of the people left in the city were too drunk or too high to defend themselves. The few who could didn’t last long against the horde. I lost only a few of my minions before the screams finally died down. As I headed for my destination, my gauntlet absorbed the endless number of souls that drifted toward me like small tornadoes. My follower and souls counter ascended like a slot machine.

I only had one place I wanted to go, the brothel. By the time I reached it, I found the dead guards littered out front. No doubt from Cartha and Ophelia’s arrival. Their bodies were punctured full of arrows.

When I entered the main floor, the entire building was empty. Plush pillows and mats littered the floor. Still lit hookahs smoked on top of tables. Empty wine bottles and empty cups sat on dividing ledges. I had no need for any of it. My quarry was upstairs.

The bedrooms were upstairs. A heavy musk of sex lingered in the air. Stained sheets and bedding were strewn on the floor. Glass sex toys, collars, and chains were displayed next to wooden sex platforms built into the rooms. It all made me sick to my stomach.

When I entered Lady Florence’s office, I’d expected to see a body. All I found were little droplets of blood and some overturned furniture. Since I didn’t find any bodies so far, I felt better about the earlier decision I made. Ophelia’s and Cartha’s mission seemed to be successful, allowing me to relax a little.

I proceeded to the hidden wall. After hitting the recessed button, the lit fireplace dissipated and the back wall opened up. Securing my weapon to my back, I descended the stairs. My pauldrons scraped along the tight stone walls.

If it wasn’t for my desire for the coin at the bottom, it would have been too soon to be in such a tight space after what had just happened. When I reached the bottom, I built up into a slight jog toward the locked door. With a firm kick, I blasted through the metal, snapping it off the hinges.

I picked up the twisted door and threw it behind me. Four shin-high chests sat against the wall with the familiar ledger I’d seen in Ophelia’s crystal ball. None of them were locked. After flipping up the latches, I opened each one. They were all filled to the brim with a mixture of copper, silver, gold, and platinum.

I couldn’t contain my laughter as I looked at all the money. “Fuck yes… Now this is what I call loot.”

“I’ll never understand the populace’s infatuation with coin.”

“Money makes the world go round,” I said. “This will help build us the kingdom we need.”

I threw the ledger in a chest before closing it and heading upstairs. As I ascended the stairs, smoke itched my nose. Once I reached Lady Ophelia’s office, I saw half of the building was already on fire.

“Dammit!” I shouted. “I should have told them not to burn the brothel.”

Over the next few minutes, I sprinted in and out of the building, carrying each of the remaining chests out. With all of them out, I directed a group of minions to collect the other three and follow me up to the tower. By the time I reached the top, there was a small pile of jewels and coins in the dirt waiting for me. I tossed them into my chest before opening the front door of the tower.

Over a dozen women, with disheveled hair and wearing matching robes, all screamed when they saw me. They scrambled to the back wall. Their elongated jaws and eyes made me double check that I didn’t have my aura activated.

Yda climbed on top of a chair and held up her hands as she shouted, “Ladies, please! This is the master of the tower. His Holiness of Rebirth, Master Blackthorn. Your savior. You have nothing to fear.”

I directed Malice to shift my ensemble to my explorers clothes. Each of the women glanced at each other before settling down. Seeing my face seemed to calm them.

As I stepped inside, I heard a loud buzzing from behind me. When I glanced over my shoulder, shards of lightning shot out from the doorway, creating an electrical net. The dead minions that attempt to follow shook until disintegrating in a puff of black ash. The chests dropped on the floor with heavy thuds.

“Huh,” I mused. “I guess Ophelia wasn’t lying about saying no one could enter the tower.”

I dropped the first chest and brought in the remaining three before returning to the entrance. A black torrent of smoke rose into the sky as the city burned. The ships in the harbor cracked and sank as the fire flickered in the reflection of the waves. The last few minions gathered in front of the tower, their mission completed.

With the tower's defenses active, there was no way I could bring them with me. I wasn’t sure if there was a way for Ophelia to turn it off, but I didn’t want to spend any moment longer trying to finagle with it. I was ready to return to Nubia and claim my prize.

I knew, if needed, I could always come back to reclaim them for service. However, I wasn’t concerned with finding more dead on Talis. In the days I’d been on the planet, I’d seen more death with my two eyes than I’d ever seen in my previous life.

I extended my hand and released my hold over them. As each corpse dropped into a pile of decayed flesh and bone, the strands of darkness twisted into the air and returned to my body. My Death Magic pool freed completely.

With my ultimate act on the island completed, I stood over the burning remains of Liberty Bay and felt a sense of pride. I’d claimed over a thousand souls that night, accomplished my mission for Queen Sekhet, and looted enough coin to kickstart the founding of my empire. While Venom’s escape was regrettable, the positives outweighed the negatives. And something deep down in my gut told me this would not be the last time I’d see the masked man.

After entering the tower and closing the doors, I found Ophelia, Nyla, Cartha, and Yda waiting for me in the main living area.

“Our work here is done,” I said with a smile. “Let’s go see the queen.”