Stronger Together chapter 212 (Patreon)

The castle of the Lord of Dis was imposing as hell, no pun intended.  The massive dark stone building  with it's pulsing runes didn't just  loom, with the constant appearance of shifting and heaving it seemed  like the thing was hunched over me panting to get a taste. Walking  across the draw bridge made it obvious that these walls were sturdy as  hell, because even with my extreme weight the thing didn't so much as  groan. I was pretty sure I could break this wall down if we got trapped  inside, but it would not be a quick process.

Malachi did  not come with us over the bridge, and I was pretty pissed because I was  almost positive it meant he didn't want to be close to the blast zone  and expected there to be a fight, but the little rat fink hadn't been my  favorite person ten minutes ago either so pretty much all this changed  was that if we ended up somehow declaring war on this whole city I was  going to make sure to kill that smarmy bastard first. A few days ago I  may have considered that thought extreme, but that was before we spent a  week listening to his "racism for dummies" speech. It may have been the  only thing to listen to, but that didn't mean I didn't want to punch  him, and possibly leaving us to die moved him way up my list.

Of  course, I was pretty sure we wouldn't die. I was a cheap bastard in a  fight and Yang's soulfire was extremely painful to this people even  without the godsteel I had on me. Come to think of it I wondered if I  should craft Yang a set of godsteel gauntlets. If I articulated them  right it would be doable without wasting too much power, especially  considering how strong my soul had been growing through the process of  my evolution. In order to do that though I would need to find a forge.  In reality I should look for some amazing hell metals for the gauntlets,  since as my teacher taught me even the best metal isn't the right tool  for every job, but godsteel is the only material I have faith on working  at a high enough level.

Once we entered the castle the  scenery changed. Past the walls was...well I'd call it a courtyard if it  wasn't the size of a city, but a very lightly wooded area with peaceful  glades and babbling brooks. Granted the brooks appeared to be liquid  moonlight and the trees and grass had black leaves and silver bark in  the case of the former, but still a beautiful space. It was the first  genuinely pretty thing I'd seen since I got her that didn't have an air  of menace and death and I distrusted it immediately. This was here to  put people at ease, and the very fact of it's existence for that purpose  did literally the opposite for me.

I cranked my aspect a  bit, not noticeably but enough to boost my already much higher than  human reaction speed. Between my increasingly less mortal body and my  metal infused brain I was quick as a fucking snake at this point even  without the lightning aspect pushing me. Still, better safe than sorry  and with the power at my fingertips so to speak it would be much easier  to react to an attack from whatever I was sure was lurking in this weird  black and white glade with the idyllic design.

Yang in  the meantime seemingly had the same concerns because she drifted a bit  closer to me. It occurred to me how much the black and white theme must  have reminded her of the Grimm and I put and arm around her shoulder,  making sure it was my metal limb so I could interpose it between her and  anyone who decided to attack. So far only my cat had been able damage  the thing, and not even that after I had condensed it a few times. I  felt a pang go through my heart as I thought of poor Max. We'd left  him over at Charity's when we went out of town because he loved the kids  and how they fawned over him, but if I never cam back how would he  feel? He still had Raven but the little guy and I had bonded.

As  we walked further into the courtyard several new buildings began to  spring up around us and in the distance. The fortress was so big it had  an actual city and a park inside of it, or something similar. I could  see a tower off beyond the tree line, and I suspected that was there the  Lord lived and where we were going. But as we walked I started to hear  strange noises, small shuffles and shifts in the trees as something  disturbed the black leaves in a rapid passing. Something fast and low  enough to the ground that it made me think of a person.

The  noises popped up on the other side and I resisted the urge to spin and  look, simply cranking my aspect just a little higher so I could perceive  the world at a higher speed. That seemed to be more than enough because  as I heard them move by again I was able to actually see the shapes of  tiny clawed beasts. The second time I saw more, then the third more than  that, and as they danced along the edges of my vision I caught enough  glances of the small nimble creatures to get a basic idea what they  looked like.

The things running around us were weird. They  were tiny about three feet with vaguely triangular heads. Pointed chins  and a mostly flat skull. Their eyes were red and gleaming with no pupil  or sclera, like glowing pools of fresh blood and their hide was black  and slimy. Their arms and legs were long and spindly and topped with  razor sharp claws attached to overly large thin appendages, hands as  wide as dinner plates made up of butchers knife claws. They moved fast  and low to the ground, seeming to throw their weight forward for speed,  and running with arms to occasionally catch and correct them.

I  didn't know what the hell these things were but between the red eyes,  the claws, and their mouths which appeared to just be a round hole full  of a vortex of serrated teeth, I absolutely did not like them stalking  us in the gloomy forest. Despite the creep factor though they never got  closer than the first time I heard them. They were watching us for  weaknesses but unless we got hurt or dropped out guard we would be fine.  These things were scavengers, it was easy to tell, and they would leave  us alone while we were strong enough to be a threat.

It  was worth noting at least that the fallen who were guiding us (more of  whom seemed to be appearing as we walked) tended to stay out of the  creatures line of sight to us, making it likely they were some kind of  spy or assassin for the the city lord. As we passed the buildings in the  distance, I saw fearful people stick their heads out to watch us pass.  Despite being able to see them fine I couldn't understand the look on  their faces, some mixture of hunger and hope that I found predatory and  not a little disturbing.

Finally  we came to the tower I had seen. It was a surprisingly thin building,  kinked at an angle in places but generally pointed up, and with a  pointed conical roof, giving the building the appearance of a kind of  misshapen spear or a rose with no petals. The base of the black tower  had a silver door with slats of black metal set into it big enough to  allow ten people inside standing shoulder to shoulder. Instead of  opening to the side like doors usually do this one lowered down like the  stone draw bridge on the outer gate, and it was down as we approached.

I  pulled Yang closer to me, I got a bad feeling about this place. It  seemed threatening and oddly false. As we approached the door the path  beneath us changed unexpectedly. The gravel of the well tended path had  shifted from those silver white rocks to literal small pieces of gold,  turning into a yellow brick road of sorts. None of the fallen even  seemed to notice the change or even look at it, but not because gold  didn't matter here, I saw them trying incredibly hard not to notice the  path, and assumed the Lord of Dis was jealous of people looking at his  path.

I was  getting a pretty good understanding of the city lord as we walked, with  beautiful intricate treasures appearing as we walked that every guard  was afraid to even glance at. As we made it through the door and onto  the luxurious carpet of the tower proper I confirmed my guess. A single  strip of red carpet winding through literal mountains of gold and  treasure. At the end of the room sat a bald, hungry looking man with  huge black feathered wings, lounging in a literal pile of gold and  jewels and almost preening from excitement at being in contact with so  much treasure.

The  man's eyes were pools of solid molten gold in his head and when he  smiled his teeth seemed to be jagged shards of precious stones of  different colors. His voice was surprisingly soft and melodic as he  spoke. "Ah! Our new guests! Welcome to my city." He spread his arms in  greeting, seeming to take in the entirety of the world around us with  his enthusiastic greeting, but I couldn't help but notice his gold  tipped claws curling slightly at the ends of his arms, like rather than  offering us the world he was grabbing as much of it as he could to keep  it away from us.

I  almost immediately didn't like him, especially when I saw how his eyes  fixated on Yang, so I dropped my arm and stepped in front of her,  pasting on a fake smile. "Gratitude for your princely greeting oh Lord  of Dis." Politeness was free after all, and if he was going to make us  kill him anyway then it didn't matter if I was nice a big first.  Courtesy is key. "We come in poor spirits I fear, for we destroyed your  wonderful gate, purely by accident. A mistake that will shadow my heart  for many years to come, as rarely have I seen such a princely defense on  a realm."

This  part was less ass kicking and more veiled threat. I was basically  telling him that he better shut up and play nice because his giant scary  gate was so flimsy I'd shattered it on accident with a punch and I  could do the same to his face. Judging by the tightness around his eyes  he knew it too, and his attention was dragged away from Yang to fix on  me. His voice oozed out again, this time more serpentine than melodic.  "Of course, as a warrior I understand your power and skill simply  unmatched by my gate. But as the city lord I fear I must ask  remuneration for the grave blow done to the safety of my citizens."

I  grimaced and nodded, I had been expecting him to hustle us for money or  whatever it was he wanted. The Lord of Dis grinned at the  acknowledgement. "My request is simple, friends. While Dis is a great  city, it is not the only great city. Thirteen are our number, and while  in ages past we have sat opposed to each other and plotted and schemed,  our benevolent sovereign who fell from on high calls the banners. A war  comes to the abyss, and Dis will field an army the likes of which has  never been seen. However to decide which city will have command a  tournament will be held, with each City posting a champion to earn them  glory. You will stand for Dis, and earn us our place in battle." Well,  damn. I had a feeling this one was going to get complicated.