Grand Game 379: Anticipation (Patreon)

Day Twenty-Seven in Draven’s Reach

Awakening guardian…

Rising to my feet, I backed away from the statue. The Emblem had been inserted, the tithe made, and now all that was left was to witness the outcome.

“It is done,” Adriel whispered. “After all these long years, it is finally done.”

I glanced to my right where the spirit hovered. The exile—former exile, I corrected—was watching the centaur guardian avidly. Unlike me, she could see him in his entirety. Although the central bank of nether was dissipating, the mists still hung heavy in the air, obscuring my sight.

“Is he awake yet?” I asked.

“He isn’t,” Adriel replied. “Be patient.”

I rolled my eyes. I was not the impatient party here. “It didn’t take this long with Kolath.”

“Kolath? You mean the guardian in Nexus?” Tearing her gaze away from the statue, she glared at me. “I doubt Kolath was ever forced to fight off—” She broke off, noticing my grin. “You’re teasing me,” she accused.

“Only a little,” I admitted.

“Hmpf. Why don’t you make yourself useful?” Swinging back around, she resumed her study of the guardian. “Go and kill a stygian or something.”

Chuckling, I swung around to study the mists. There was little reason for me to chase after the nether creatures—which Adriel very well knew. With the void tree’s retreat and the harbinger’s death, the stygian nest had fractured. Still, she had a point.

A few minutes had already passed since I’d inserted the Emblem of the Reach, and as yet the guardian showed little sign of awakening. I didn’t doubt that something was happening—the Game message was evidence enough of that.

But that’s no reason to sit around doing nothing.

Unfurling my mindsight, I let my awareness expand outwards as I walked a slow circuit around the guardian statue. A spattering of mindglows appeared—stygians, all of them. But the closest was more than sixty yards away. They’re no threat, I decided.

Stopping at a random patch of ground, I dropped down into a cross-legged stance and turned my focus inwards. The events of the last hour had been chaotic, and I hadn’t had a chance yet to consider my player profile.

You have reached level 199 and rank 19. You have 4 attribute points and 0 Class points available.

I rubbed my chin thoughtfully. I had new attribute points to invest but my Mind did not need further advancement, and of my remaining attributes, Perception, Magic, and Dexterity could all do with improvement.

What to invest in next?

Before I could decide, I pulled up my skill and ability statuses for review. It had been a long time since I’d considered them.

Skill Progression (total skills: 18)

Tier 5 skills: 4, meditation, telepathy, insight, nether absorption.

Tier 4 skills: 9, light armor, dodging, sneaking, shortswords, two weapon fighting, chi, telekinesis, deception, channeling.

Tier 3 skills: 1, thieving.

Tier 2 skills: 1, elemental absorption.

Tier 1 skills: 3, null force, null life, null death.

Ability Progression (total abilities: 25)

Elite abilities: 0, none.

Master abilities: 2, greater fade, slaysight.

Expert abilities: 12, load controller, backstab, set trap, mass charm, windborne, heightened reflexes, shadow blink, quick mend, fortified mind, analyze, facial disguise, void thief.

Advanced abilities: 8, piercing strike, trap disarm, lockpicking, whirlwind, astral blades, trap detect, ventro, imitate.

Basic abilities: 3, crippling blow, stunning slap, conceal weapon.

I sighed. The status of my abilities made for less pretty reading than my skills. Both obviously required improvement, but it was my abilities that required greater work. Enhancing them, though, was easier said than done.

The biggest limiter was, of course, my unused ability slots. I had far too few available, especially considering each tier five ability required a whole thirty slots.

It’s time I reinvest in Dexterity.

While my sneaking was not yet at tier five, it was close, and as it stood, I lacked the necessary ability slots to advance greater fade again. Decided, I willed my choice to the Adjudicator.

Your Dexterity has increased to rank 64. Other modifiers: +24 from items.

Once I was free of the dungeon, I would have to purchase new ability tomes. That would entail a visit to Nexus, or possibly the wolves’ valley.

Thinking of escaping Draven’s Reach naturally led to thoughts of my allies. All these long weeks, I'd actively suppressed dwelling on the fate of those I’d left stranded on the tundra. I couldn't have afforded the distraction—that was how I'd rationalized it to myself, anyway—but now with freedom almost within grasp, I found myself more and more anxious about them.

The arctic and dire wolves would’ve adapted to their new environment, I was sure. My player allies—Safyre, Terence, Teressa, Saya, and Anriq—I was less certain about.

Saya, in particular, worried me. I had not meant to leave her unguarded this long. The tavern keeper was alone in the wolves’ valley, which was not the safest place to be, especially with Loken’s envoy lurking about.

Shael will see her safe, I thought. I still didn't know how far I could trust the bard, though. But Kesh’s new agent would also be in the valley, I reminded myself. The old Nexus merchant liked the little gnome, and I was sure she would do her utmost to protect Saya. I wonder who Kesh chose to replace Safyre. Could I—

“Safyre?” a sleepy voice asked. “Is she here?”

Breaking off from my maudlin musings, I turned my attention to the brightening mindglow residing in my cloak. Ghost was awake. “Good morning.”

“Is it morning?” she asked grumpily. “I can’t tell.”

My lips curved upwards in a smile. “I don’t honestly know. It might be.”

Ghost yawned. “How long was I out for?”

“Not long,” I said. “A few hours, perhaps.”

I felt her interest sharpen. “Then is it done? Is the harbinger dead and the guardian restored?”

“Yes to the first. No to the second. We’re waiting for him to awaken,” I said and went on to explain the outcome of the battle.

“The tree escaped?” Ghost asked when I was done. “Does that mean we will have to cleanse the sector anew when it returns?”

“No. Once Draven is awake and Adriel takes his place, they will see to it that the stygians cannot return.”

“You’re sure?” she asked with trepidation.

“I am.”

The spirit wolf—although I didn’t think it was accurate to call her that anymore—chewed over my words for a moment. “Then... is it safe?”

Having an inkling of where she was going, I temporized, “Relatively safe. That, though, doesn’t mean there isn’t any danger.”

“But it is safe,” she said, latching onto the first part of my statement. “I can manifest!”

I hesitated. I was as keen to see my companion’s new form as she was to assume it, but I’d not forgotten Adriel’s warning. Ghost was still only a level one creature, and I had no idea how the nether would affect her new form. “Better not,” I said firmly. “With or without the stygians, Draven’s Reach remains a tier five dungeon and there are still plenty of the nether creatures about.”

“But—” she began.

“We’ve come this far, Ghost,” I interjected gently. “Let’s not be hasty now. Can you be patient for a little while longer? Please?”

I felt her excitement dim. “Alright, Prime,” she agreed reluctantly.

“Thank you,” I said gravely.

She was silent for a moment. “I heard you mention Safyre earlier,” a more subdued Ghost went on. “Are we going to rejoin the pack after this?”

I didn’t question the abrupt change in topic. “We will. As soon as we wrap up matters here in the dungeon.”

Ghost brightened. She had never been one to mope for long. “I wonder what Sulan will make of my new form. Do you think she’ll like it?”

I winced at that thought. Knowing the sharp-tongued elder, she would likely have choice words for me. Whatever Ghost was now, she was no longer a dire wolf and while I did not doubt the Pack would eventually accept her, I was not at all certain what our initial reception would be. “I’m sure she will,” I said, not letting any hint of my doubts show. “Adriel said you were unique.”

“She did?” Ghost asked, sounding pleased by the idea.

I smiled. “She did,” I assured her. “Imagine how—”

duduDuDUDuDudu… duduDuDUDuDudu…

I broke off. A low hum filled the air. It was almost too faint to hear but after listening carefully, I realized it was coming from below. Placing the palms of my hands flat against the floor, I felt the ground. It was trembling.

Something large was on the move—or stirring.

“Prime?” Ghost asked. “Is everything all right?”

I rose to my feet. “It is. But we will have to cut our chat short. It appears Draven is finally awakening.”

✵ ✵ ✵

Adriel was exactly how I had left her—staring at Draven’s stone form. Only now her face was suffused with excitement. “It's happening,” she said, without looking away from the subject of her interest.

Saying nothing, I drew to a stop beside her, my own gaze fixed on the giant centaur figure. The statue had begun to shake, causing slivers of marble to break off. Won’t be long now, I thought.

Awakening guardian…

“Remember what I told you,” Adriel said. “Let me do the talking. We don't know what state Draven’s mind is in. He has been asleep so long, he might not be ‘all there.’”

I nodded. We had been over this already and I had my instructions—more detailed and explicit instructions of what to say and how to behave than I would have accepted from anyone else. But this was Adriel, and after what she’d done for me and Ghost, I was not above humoring her.

Now that the moment the lich had been working towards for centuries was finally approaching, it seemed her nerves were getting the better of her. “It will all work out,” I assured her.

“I hope so,” she muttered. “If it doesn’t, I—”

Revival complete. Draven has awoken.

The guardian’s trembling stopped, and his eyes snapped open, but no new awareness appeared in my mindsight. Draven’s mind was shuttered. I couldn’t see the statue’s face either—it was still obscured by the nether—but like Kolath’s, Draven’s eyes shone with an inner fire so bright they were visible even through the thick mists. Stiffening to attention, I waited for the guardian’s eyes to pass over me.

A hoof stomped the earth. Then another.

Marble creaked and the trickle of falling rocks transformed into a shower. Shielding my head with my hand, I took a step back. Immaterial spirit, Adriel stayed where she was.

The guardian’s forelegs disappeared from sight.

He is standing on his hindlegs, I thought, watching the harbinger’s corpse slide unheeded off the statue’s back.

My brows furrowed and I glanced at Adriel to see what she made of this, but the lich had eyes only for the guardian. I’d not expected Draven to be this active, nor had my ally’s instructions covered this eventuality. “Adriel,” I sent to her on a whisper thin thread, “should we—”

“NETHERSPAWN!” Draven thundered.

The guardian’s roar was an auditory assault, far louder than even a being of Draven’s size had any right to voice. It was a magical projection, it had to be. Clamping my hands around my ears, I crouched down small in an attempt to shield myself from it.

If anything, Draven’s next words were even louder and this time they hurt as much as I feared.

A guardian has injured you, inflicting sonic damage!

“How dare the void come here!” the guardian spat in the resounding silence. “This dungeon is mine. MINE!”

A guardian has injured you, inflicting sonic damage!

A guardian has injured you, inflicting sonic damage!

Hells, I groaned. I won’t be surprised if they can hear him all the way in New Haven.

“Draven,” Adriel greeted, finally speaking. “Heed me!” Her words rang across my mind, loud and undeniable.

But the guardian did not hear.

“You will rue the day you chose to come here!” Draven growled, oblivious to all but the void’s presence. “I will slaughter your children and uproot your chosen. Mark me, your time in this sector is done!”

“Draven!” Adriel called sharply again.

I rose to my feet. “Guardian,” I shouted, adding my voice to hers. We were well and truly off script now. “Hear us!”

But once more, the guardian didn’t respond. Or chose not to.

Draven’s forelegs crashed down, setting the ground shaking, and I lost my balance. Picking myself up, I took a deliberate step forward, intent on taking more direct action to draw the living statue’s attention.

But before I took a second step, the colossal guardian whirled about. “I’M COMING!” Draven yelled at his absent foes.

“They’re gone, you big lug!” Adriel shouted. “The harbinger is dead, and the void tree fled.”

Paying her no heed—or the oversized corpse at his feet, for that matter—Draven spun about, and in a rumble of hooves, vanished into the mist.

Shaking my head in bemusement I watched him for a moment, then turned to Adriel. She was staring off into the nether, her mouth dropped open in shock.

“Well, that was unexpected,” I said lightly. “Now, what?”