Grand Game 381: Draven (Patreon)

“Damn,” I muttered, eyes widening in shock. I’d not expected a class evolution, and certainly not so quickly after obtaining the power Mark.

“What’s wrong?” Adriel asked, sensing something amiss.

“It’s my Class,” I whispered. “It’s ready to evolve.”

The spirit’s eyes narrowed. “Ready to evolve? Or already evolved?” she asked intently.

“It hasn’t changed yet, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Then you haven’t responded to the Adjudicators request yet?” she persisted.

“I haven’t,” I agreed.

“Good. Don’t. I suggest we have a long talk before you do.” Adriel’s eyes darted upward. “But later. It seems we finally have Draven’s attention.”

Glancing up myself, I saw it was true. Draven was staring straight at Adriel and me. Banishing thought of my impending evolution, I gave the guardian my full attention.

“What do we have here?” he asked. The guardian’s voice was deep and hollow as if it originated from a stone chamber, which of course it did. Leaning down, he placed his glistening marble face inches from Adriel’s.

Unlike Kolath, Draven did not creak when he moved. Instead, his stone form seemed as supple as flesh. “You, you smell of Death,” he told Adriel. “And not Death.” He turned my way. “And you, you are a Wolf.”

Adriel bowed from the waist. “You are correct, Draven. Your powers of observation are as astute as reputed.” She bowed again. “As is your might. You have rid the sector of the foul nether for which you also have our eternal gratitude.”

I hid a smile. Adriel was laying it on a bit thick, but I said nothing. We had agreed beforehand she would do the talking, at least initially.

Draven grunted. “Pretty words will not aid you, lich,” he spat. “I know what you are: Oath breaker. Forsworn. SCUM!”

Beside me, I felt Adriel stiffen but she didn’t otherwise react to the guardian’s insults. My own smile faded. Draven was proving more obnoxious than I expected of a guardian, and I dearly wanted to retort, but following Adriel’s lead, I stayed quiet.

“You severed your ties with your House,” Draven continued, his words dropping like stones into the silence. “Why would I bother troubling myself with one such as you?”

“I had my reasons,” Adriel said neutrally.

“REASONS!” Draven’s roared, rearing up to his full height. “What possible reasons could excuse your treachery?”

Once more, Adriel stayed calm. “It’s a long story, and one we don’t have time for now.” She gestured to the almost forgotten Emblem on which Draven’s right hoof still rested. “The tithe will not last long.”

“The tithe,” Draven said, his lips curling up disdainfully. “Forget the tithe. I have time enough.”

Adriel’s gaze sharpened. “You do?” Her eyes roved over the guardian’s form. “Your energy reserves are full,” she guessed.

“They are,” Draven said smugly.

My brows drew down, and studying the guardian anew, I spotted the signs the lich must have picked up on. Draven practically thrummed with life. As I’d noticed earlier, his movements were smooth and sure. Then I’d thought that only marked him as different from Kolath. Now, I realized there was more to it.

Where Nexus’ guardian had been on his last legs and fighting to conserve every iota of energy, Draven appeared to enjoy a happy surplus. Nor was he seemingly averse to spending it with abandon.  Even now, the guardian could not remain still. His hind legs shifted restlessly, and his tail swished lazily.

“How is that possible?” Adriel asked. “You’ve been asleep for centuries. And in all that time you received no tithes. Your energy wells should be depleted.”

What Adriel did not ask but I knew she had to be wondering as much as I did was, if the guardian was as replete with energy as he claimed, why hadn’t he responded to the nether’s invasion before this? Draven, though, seemed in no mood to answer and his only response was a leering grin that irritated me no end.

I had had enough. “Answer her!” I snapped.

Turning away from Adriel, the guardian looked down his nose at me. “You do not command me, Wolf. You are no Prime yet.”

“Perhaps not,” I growled. “But it is we who awoke you. It is we who defeated the harbinger and caused the void tree to flee.” I took a step forward, bristling with anger. “If not for me and Adriel, this sector would have fallen to the nether, and you would be a pile of rubble. A little gratitude would not go amiss!”

“Careful,” Adriel cautioned on a whisper-thin thread. She did not urge me to stop, though. “Don’t push him too far.”

I nodded minutely in response but did not tear my gaze away from Draven. “Tell us, o great guardian,” I said sarcastically, “why have you failed in your duty? Why did you allow the stygians to run amok in the dungeon?” I took another step forward. “Or is it you who is truly forsworn?”

“How dare you!” Draven bellowed. Rearing up, he brought his forelegs crashing down less than a yard from me.

I did not retreat. Folding my arms across my chest, I glared unflinchingly at the guardian.

“I did not fail my duty!” he roared, pricked into responding by my adamant stare.

“Oh? Then what would you call it?” I asked contemptuously.

“I did not know!” Draven said, shying away from my gaze. His tone softened. “I did not know the stygians had breached the barrier.”

“Did not know?” Adriel asked, floating to my side. “How could you not—” She broke off.

“You put yourself in stasis,” she said, with dawning realization. “Didn’t you?”

Hanging his head, Draven did not answer for a drawn-out moment. “I did,” he finally whispered.

I stared at the giant statue, looking for all the world like a contrite little boy caught doing something naughty. Was this the same Draven who had been bellowing in anger only a minute ago? “What’s stasis?” I asked Adriel in an aside.

“It’s the deepest form of slumber that guardians can assume,” she replied. “It severs all connections between them and the world. When in such a state, the guardians consume almost no energy. Their minds are asleep, the barrier defenses are not actively maintained, and they have no awareness of… well, anything, really. They cannot even awaken themselves if they wanted to. As you can imagine, the stasis state is fraught with peril and was only meant as a measure of last resort—for when a guardian’s mind was too far gone or her energy nearly depleted.” She turned back to Draven. “What could possibly have possessed you to do that?”

“What choice was there?” the centaur answered, still not looking at us.

Adriel frowned. “What does that mean?”

Draven shrugged. “The Houses had fallen. The Primes were dead. The dungeons were abandoned. Something had to be done.”

My brows rose. “You know about the fall of the ancients?” I asked, thinking about Kolath’s ignorance.

“Of course,” Draven said. “Most of us did. That was when we made the decision to go into hiding. It was that or resign ourselves to a slow decline into oblivion.”

“Couldn’t you have helped the Primes?” I asked. “Why didn’t you fight with them against the new Powers?”

Draven raised his head then. “Oh, we wished to. But the ancients’ own directives kept us confined to the dungeons. And the new Powers were smart. They knew better than to fight both us and the Primes simultaneously, which is why during the war and immediately after they and their Sworn abandoned the dungeons.”

“You said we,” Adriel interjected. “Does that mean the other guardians have also put themselves in stasis?”

Draven met her gaze, his face expressionless and absent of his earlier mockery. “Yes. Every guardian that was awake agreed to the plan. Together we relocated ourselves to the remotest dungeons, severed the guardian network, and placed ourselves in deep slumber.”

“All of you?” Adriel breathed, looking shocked by the notion. “That would have left every dungeon vulnerable. By now, hundreds of sectors have probably fallen to the nether!”

“Probably,” Draven agreed bleakly. “But it was that or let the network itself be compromised.”

Adriel squeezed her eyes shut, trying to come to terms with the consequence of the guardians’ decision. Meanwhile, another Game message scrolled through my mind.

You have completed the task: Silent Brethren! You have uncovered the reason behind the silence of Kolath’s brother and sisters. Draven and the others were unresponsive to the Nexus guardians’ hails because they had placed themselves in stasis. Wolf is pleased by your effort on the guardian’s behalf, causing your Mark to deepen.

Draven’s head jerked in my direction. “Kolath? You’ve met Kolath?”

I blinked, startled in turn. “You could see the task message?”

“Of course,” Draven said, waving aside my question as he leaned forward intently. “Tell me about Nexus' guardian. How is my brother?”

I hesitated, then gave him the truth. “Not... good. He has been alone too long I think.”

“Ah,” Draven exhaled, his eyes turning sorrowful.

“I’m guessing Kolath was one of the unlucky few who was not awake at the time you and the others made the decision to hide?” I asked, trying to fit together the pieces of both guardians’ disparate stories.

Draven nodded. “Alas, given his proximity to Nexus, Kolath was more vulnerable than the rest of us. The new Powers struck at him and put him forcibly to sleep before the war kicked off in earnest.”

“I see,” I murmured.

Adriel opened her eyes, calm and composed once more. “You still haven’t told us why.”

“Why what?” Draven asked, with furrowed brows.

“To what end did you and the others go into hiding?” she clarified.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Draven asked. “To await the ancients’ return.” His gaze fell on me again. “Tell me, wolf. Where is your Prime? I must meet him. We have much to discuss.” Despite his attempt at keeping his face bland, the guardian could not conceal the glint of hope in his gaze as he awaited my answer.

“There is no Wolf Prime,” I said softly. “House Wolf is still dead.” I paused. “But I mean to restore it before I’m done.”

The guardian looked crestfallen at the news. His gaze flitted between me and Adriel. “I sense I may have been too... harsh in my earlier judgments and there is much I remain ignorant of. If you two will indulge me, I think it is time I heard your tales in full.”

I nodded. “I think so, too. My own story began with...”