Grand Game 445: The Mystery Guest (Patreon)

The plants could not eat me, of course. 

Not unless they had more to work with than devouring pollen. Lowering my head, I turned my face away from the sea of descending seeds and waited for my void armor to do its work.

You have sustained life damage. 

You have sustained life damage. 

…

…

Void armor charge remaining: 95%.

It didn’t seem to matter where the pollen settled. Indirect contact, whether through my armor or cloak, was sufficient for the damnable things to suck away my life.

Void armor charge remaining: 90%.

I tensed at each contact, but there was hardly any pain, only a tiny pinprick hardly worthy of notice. But truly, the pollen was terrifying—or would have been, if not for my void armor. The tiny monstrosities were everywhere, leaving nowhere within the forest of bamboo was safe. Once Leafbright’s spell ran aground, every living creature inside would be dead. 

Except me. 

Void armor charge remaining: 70%.

Void thief triggered! 

You have acquired the channeled spell, nature unchained (stolen), from Leafbright and will retain memory of it for the next 12 hours. 

Nature unchained (stolen) is a tier 5 spell that causes all vegetation within 100 yards of the caster to awaken and turn carnivorous. The awakened vegetation will grow to gigantic proportions and release a swarm of symbiotic pollen seeds that will devour any nearby living creatures, further enlarging the host plant. The vegetation will remain awake for as long as the caster channels the spell. 

Void siphon and negate activated!

A blight pollen has failed to harm you. You are immune to this spell.

I would have laughed if I didn’t think the Devil Riders would hear. Not only had I survived, I’d gained a powerful spell too. Now, all I had to do was wait for the casting to end. 

Might as well put the time to use.

Closing my eyes, I considered my new attributes. I’d gained two from the last encounter and had carried over two more from Draven’s Reach. I didn’t have to deliberate too long about how to invest them either.

Your Dexterity has increased to rank 88. Other modifiers: +24 from items.

With not much else to do, I turned my attention back to the command group. The bamboo stalks still obscured my line of sight. My mindsight, though, was unimpaired. But to my surprise, none of the Riders nor their hellbats’ mindglows were visible anymore. 

Hmm. I turned my gaze skyward, but just as I suspected it was empty. Whatever else the Devils were, they were noisy—well, except for the ranger; she looked capable enough—and I doubted they’d managed to sneak away.

Which could only mean they had shield their minds.

I bit my lip. That’ll complicate things if it comes to a fight.  I shook my head. It would do more than that, especially with three elites on their side. Battling the command group was out of the question—for now, at least. 

Closing my eyes, I set about channeling mana. I would only remain immune to the druid’s spell for as long as my void armor remained active, after all. 

✵ ✵ ✵

Your null life has reached rank 4.

The spell, nature unchained, has dissipated.

Leafbright kept her spell going for a full two minutes, far longer than I could have managed. Eventually, though, the bamboo shrunk back to ordinary stalks of grass, returning the command group to my line of sight.

“Is it done?” Malikor demanded.

Leafbright nodded. “Nothing is out there, nothing living anyway,” she said, her melodious tone at odds with the destruction she’d just wreaked. “The area has been scoured.”

Nodding sharply, the paladin removed his helmet, revealing a bearded face, square jaw, blond hair, and cold blue eyes. “Good. Now, can someone tell me what the hell happened here?”

Malikor had thrown the question to the group at large, but it was to the ranger to whom he looked.

 The elven woman rose to her feet. “One man did all this,” she said, gesturing to the corpses.

“I know that,” Malikor replied impatiently. “How?”

“With his blades,” Canara replied succinctly.

The paladin stared at her. “That’s all you got for me? Our interloper killed everyone with his swords, and then got away scot-free?”

“But he didn’t get away scot-free,” the ranger corrected mildly. “Our foe was injured. Badly, too, I’d say.”

The orc, Zultan, snorted. “That can’t be right. The intruder bore a Power Mark. What challenge could three riders and their companions pose for him?” He spat contemptuously. “Nothing, that’s what. Corrigan was an idiot to chase after the Power on his own like that.”

Leafbright threw him a reproachful look. “The lieutenant didn’t know what the intruder was. The three left before Aguir could report what he saw.” 

Zultan grunted. “It was still reckless. The fool is an officer. He is paid to think for himself.”

Canara shrugged. “Be all that as it may,” she said, gesturing to a blood-spattered spot. “Cor’s people fared better against the intruder than they had any right to expect.  This here is the Power’s blood.”

Leaning over, Malikor studied the grass. “You’re sure?”

The elf looked at him in affront. “Of course, I am.”

The blonde-haired man’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “That’s… interesting.”

“Why?” Zultan demanded.

Ignoring the question, the paladin glanced at the druid, who had moved on to inspect the skirmish’s sole survivor—Amantein’s mount. 

“What does Ormeen have to say?” Malikor asked. 

Leafbright had placed her hands on either side of the hellbat’s head. Without looking up from the distraught creature, she shook her head. “I can’t get much from him. His thoughts are too scattered. And you know, Ormeen, he was never the brightest to begin with.”

“But you must have got something,” the paladin pressed.

“A smattering of images,” the druid admitted. “They’re disjointed, but from what I can tell, Ormeen thinks Amatein fell.”

Zultan barked a laugh. “Fell! That’s ridiculous.”

Canara gestured to the mangled and nearly unrecognizable corpse beside the hellbat. “Amatein did hit the ground hard.”

“Hard enough for the impact to have killed him?” Zultan asked.

“Harder,” the ranger replied.

Malikor sighed. “So, what are we saying? Our mysterious interloper somehow jumped onto the roof of the fort, assassinated Reinhart—and why him?—froze nine others, fled, killed five more, then disappeared? None of that makes any sense to me. Does it to anyone else?”

“Maybe,” Canara said, frowning.

The paladin whirled to face her. “Tell me.”

“You’ve got the sequence wrong,” the ranger replied. “I don’t think our ‘guest’ was trying to enter the fort when he was interrupted by Reinhart’s patrol. I think he was leaving. Reinhart probably sensed him, which is why he was killed.” She shrugged. “Corrigan and the others must’ve gotten in the way too somehow.”

The other three stared at her. “You think he was in the fort?”

“He must’ve been. Why else would he have been on the roof?” Canara countered.

Leafbright bit her lip. “To get into the fort, the interloper would’ve had to bypass our wards and avoid detection, making him a highly skilled thief.”

“And we know who has plenty of those,” Zultan said with a scowl. “The damned Blades.”

“Is that what you think he was?” Malikor asked. “A Blade?”

The ranger nodded. “I do.” Walking to another seemingly nondescript spot, she gestured the others over. “See this?”

“See what?” Zultan grumbled.

“The blood,” Carna clarified.

“We see it,” Malikor confirmed. He looked up at the ranger. “Is there supposed to be something significant about it?”

The elf rolled her eyes. “Yes. It just ends. One moment our interloper was leaking blood, the next his trail goes cold.” She stomped on the ground with her booted heel. “This here is where he didn’t want to be tracked further.”

Comprehension dawned in Malikor’s eyes. “Then, he is good enough to defeat even your skills,” he murmured.

“He is,” Canara admitted. 

“Further evidence that he is a bloody sneak!” Zultan exclaimed.

The ranger nodded solemnly. “I think we got lucky detecting him. If not for Reinhart’s patrol, he would have gotten away cleanly. As it is, I suspect he’s already crossed the river and back in Blade territory.”

“But what did he want in the fort?” Zultan asked, his face wrinkled in confusion. “It’s little more than an outpost. Little of value is stored within.”

Malikor’s eyes narrowed. “That’s the question, isn’t it?” 

“Perhaps he was hunting,” Canara suggested.

“Hunting what?” Malikor asked.

“You, of course,” the ranger replied. “Have you forgotten? You are Mammon’s envoy. You are the most valuable thing in the fort. If our mystery guest killed you, the Blades would have a much easier time reclaiming the sector.” She gestured to the other two elites. “Then there is Leaf and Zul. As Sworn, they, too, were likely also on his list of targets to be eliminated.” 

“So, why didn’t he?” Leafbright asked. “Eliminate us, I mean?”

Canara sighed. “I don’t know. Perhaps, the wards on your chambers defeated him, or perhaps, he got unlucky.”

“So, not a thief, then. An assassin,” Malikor muttered. “Not your typical Blade.”

“Could he be a new recruit?” Leafbright wondered.

“He must be,” the paladin agreed. “Such a high-level assassin would not escape the notice of Mammon’s spies for long. They would’ve got word to us before this.”

“Which brings us to another important point,” Leafbright interjected. “What do we tell Mammon?”

All eyes turned to the paladin—or the envoy, rather.

“Nothing yet,” Malikor said after a moment of prolonged silence.

“Nothing?” Zultan asked, stomping closer to the paladin. “We’re his Sworn, it’s our responsibility to inform our lord about the rogue Power running around in his territory. He’ll surely want to know!”

“We tell Mammon nothing,” the paladin reiterated firmly, “Not until we’ve confirmed Aguir’s report.” He stared hard at the orc, who backed away hastily.

Leafbright’s eyebrows rose. “Not that I disagree with your stance, Mal… but do you think Aguir was mistaken?”

“That or he was deceived,” Malikor replied. He gestured to the corpses. “Does this look like the work of a Power to any of you? How many Powers do you know who would need to flee from ten players? Ten! Or get injured while fighting six?”

No one had an answer for him.

“Still,” Zultan finally volunteered, a trifle sullenly I thought, “forging a spirit signature is damn near impossible. There can’t be many who can pretend to be a Power.”

“It’s possible nonetheless,” Malikor retorted. 

“You believe he is a deception player then?” Leafbright asked.

The envoy nodded curtly. “I do.” He met each of his subordinates’ gazes in turn. “And until we hear differently, that’s the official line—our mystery guest was a player, a high-leveled one to be sure, but a player, nonetheless. I’ve no intention of going crying to our lord about a potential Power sighting. He would be most displeased if our report turned out to be false.”

“If not to report to Mamoon, what’s our response?” Canara asked.

“We take every precaution conceivable,” Malikor replied. “If this was the work of a Blade, it can only be a precursor to an attack.”

“They would have to already be in position to launch their assault,” Leafbright mused. “Even if the assassin succeeded, their window of opportunity would’ve only been sixteen hours—at best.”

“Exactly,” Malikor agreed. “Which is why I want our people out in force, patrolling the river. No Blade is to sneak by, clear?”

“Clear,” the other three echoed.

“What percentage of our people do you want to deploy,” Zultan asked, all business now.

The paladin rubbed his chin. “At least half. You will command the eastern river patrols and Leaf, the western ones. I’ll guard the fort. I meant what I said. We may not be able to stop the Blades from crossing, but we’ll damn well know when they do.”