Empyrean 21: A Moment of Peace (Patreon)

Amelia, here! :) here is a new chapter of Empyrean's Flight 

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I found myself on an isolated battlefield. Looking around, the haunted figures of Devils I had killed before were fighting each other. They had a haze of purple around them, and they paid no attention to me.

I looked down to find a sword in my hand. Strange, considering I didn’t have one, and I couldn’t use one—according to the Game, at least. I searched my mind for any alerts but found none. How did I get here?

I scanned the pasture I stood in. Beside the fighting Devils, I spotted the assassin, but no one whom I could trust. Not even Adalinda. I started walking toward the half-orc, who was standing still in the middle of the field and staring me down. His hands were behind his back, keeping his morningstar from sight, I thought.

I started jogging, realizing that my energy had returned in full force. It took me little time to reach the assassin, and as I neared, I saw what he was holding behind him.

A dead, bloodied fire lizard.

A smile creeped across his face as he saw me realize what had happened. “Isn’t this what you want?” he asked, taunting me with her body. Swinging the limp celestial from side to side, he started laughing. “You won’t change destiny!”

I tried running faster toward him, sword ready to attack. When I got near, he disappeared. “Over here, little girl,” I heard a sinister call behind me. I turned around to see Cantos, this time, holding the lizard’s body.

I ran toward the Devil leader, hoping to catch him. But the same thing happened. Every time I got too close, he would teleport to another part of the battlefield. I never ran out of breath, chasing him around, when I decided I needed a new plan.

I stood silent, watching the Devil leader swing my companion’s lifeless body to and fro. “What, you don’t want to save her?” he shouted across the field, his voice ringing loudly in my ears.

I stood strong and silent, staring him down.

“You should drink this,” he said.

I furrowed my brow. “What?”

“Drink this, girl, it will heal you,” he said. This time, though, his voice was significantly higher—even a little squeaky.

I whipped around, looking for another person who could be talking. But all I saw was Cantos.

“Come on,” the voice said.

Suddenly, I was sitting up in a bed. I spun my head around frantically, looking for Cantos or the half-orc. Instead, though, I found myself in a small room. I looked down to see a small, brownish hand holding onto my arm. I looked to my left to see a gnome.

“Everything is okay,” he reassured me. “I just need you to drink this.”

My breaths calming to a pant, I studied the gnome’s face. If he was the one Odenna was talking about, he looked surprisingly young. He had a giant mop of purple hair covered by a small green hat. His eyes were kind, and I saw him trying to hand me a potion.

I took the drink from him and gulped it down.

You have taken a full healing potion. Your health has been restored to 100%.

Adalinda’s mana, psi, and stamina have been fully restored.

Wiping my mouth, I was thankful for the Game alerts—for once. I had been healed, and I was sure that Adalinda was alive, wherever she was.

“Thank you,” I said breathlessly. “What am I doing here?”

“I found you lying at the door to my shop last night,” the gnome said. He took the empty vial from my hand and walked to a small table on the other side of the room. “I couldn’t just leave you there. You were bleeding all over my doorstep.”

I frowned at the gnome’s concern about the doorstep. It almost seemed like he was covering his real reason for bringing me inside. “Well, whatever the reason was, thank you. You saved my life.”

“You should be thanking that one,” he said, pointing to the corner of the room. “She was scratching my door to bits trying to get my attention.”

I peeked over the edge of my bed to see a curled-up Adalinda sleeping soundlessly. Her scales lacked some of her fiery coloring, and she had bloodstains on her snout.

“Can you heal her?”

“I can,” the gnome said. He walked back to my side, this time holding a cup. “But I am waiting for her to wake. She needs rest, and she wasn’t in as bad shape as you were.”

He held a small hand to my wrist and looked at a watch on his arm. I watched him mouth some words, and then he turned to look at me. “You’ve healed well,” he said with a smile. “Drink this, and you will be as good as new.”

Handing me the cup, I saw he had a small smile on his face. I looked inside and saw a strange, green liquid swirling inside. I gave it a sniff, and—if I concentrated hard enough—I detected some hints of mint.

“What is this?” I asked.

“It’s my own herbal remedy,” he said. “It doesn’t do anything special, but it helps you recover quicker. Health potions heal you, but they don’t help with the muggy feeling you get from being on the edge of death.”

I sipped the brew, immediately feeling the effects of it. “You know a lot about the Game,” I said. “How is that?”

“I am older than I look,” he said simply. “And I have needed to learn some tricks to help the players that come through here.”

“Fair enough,” I replied, finishing the remedy. It was refreshing, and I was thankful for the gnome’s help. “What is your name?”

“Tommin,” he said. “It’s a family name. Never really liked it.”

“Well, Tommin, if I can repay you somehow, please let me know,” I said.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said. “I know how difficult it is to find help in this city. I am happy to provide it from time to time.”

I felt my eyes grow slightly wet. I wasn’t sure if I could trust the gnome, but he had saved me. He saved Adalinda. Moments of peace were difficult to find lately, and I couldn’t hold onto my emotions anymore.

I almost hugged him, recoiling instead to wrap my arms around myself.

The gnome took my cup away, setting it on the table, and left a full vial next to it. “When she wakes up, give her this,” he said, pointing to Adalinda. “It will heal her fully. I have some things I need to take care of in the shop. I will be back soon.”

The gnome walked out of the door and left me alone with the celestial.

“Ada,” I said softly. “Are you awake?”

The lizard stirred slightly, lifting her head to look at me. “Oh, Elana, I am so glad you’re okay,” she said. “How do you feel?”

“As good as new,” I said. “But you’re still in no good shape. Here...” I trailed my words, standing from the bed and walking toward the vial Tommin left on the table. I picked it up and sat next to Adalinda, pouring the potion in her mouth.

“Oh, my, I really needed that,” she said. “Thank you.”

“Thank the gnome. Or, Tommin. He left it here for you.”

The lizard’s scales rippled in delight as they visibly got their color back. I gave Adalinda a stroke along her back and sighed in relief.

“He left to attend to something, I think now is the perfect time to level up before we get some potions from him and get going.”

“Good idea,” the celestial said. “I have actually given some thought to what I want to do with my points.”

“Oh?”

“I think you should dump whatever we have into Perception.”

I cocked my head to the side and lifted my brow slightly. “Why?”

“We were taken completely by surprise by those people,” Adalinda said. “If one of us has a higher Perception, we could stop things like that from happening. And I think I may be the best option for that so you can focus on your Magic.”

I folded my hands underneath my chin and leaned my head against them. What the celestial said was true, but I wasn’t sure if she was the best between us for a Perception increase. She wasn’t always manifested, and I wasn’t sure if she would be able to see things if she was resting in my chest.

“And then I could also learn the analyze ability that lizardwoman had,” she continued, interrupting my thoughts. “As far as I understand, that is something you need a Perception skill for.”

“But you don’t have that skill,” I argued.

“It’s something we could easily buy at a market,” she said. “It’s not an uncommon skill.”

That was something that did catch my attention. I did not want to waste my skill slots on anything that didn’t help along my magic. And, if I thought about it, Adalinda was already on a path to make up for my weaknesses, and I hers.

“Okay, let’s do it.”

I willed my choices to the Game, already knowing how I wanted to use my own points.

Your Constitution has increased to 3.

Your Magic has increased to 10, reaching rank 1.

Adalinda’s Perception has increased to 4.

“Thank you,” Ada said gently. “Now, let’s get going. We have wasted enough time in this city. And we have found what we came for.”

“Agreed,” I said. “Let’s go find Tommin.”

I stood up and looked around the room one last time. At the foot of the bed was my backpack, but other than the empty vials and cup on the small table, there was nothing else of note. I picked my pack up and opened the door.

We walked through to a small shop. It was extremely neat, and the shelves went high and were filled with vials, bottles, and books. The morning sun shone through the small windows next to the main door. The dark wooden floor was covered in different color carpets, and there were multitudes of different herbs hanging from the ceiling.

Toward the back of the shop, I saw a little green hat moving back and forth behind the counter.

I walked up to it. “Tommin?”

The gnome’s head shot up at my words. “Goodness, you gave me a fright,” he said, clutching his chest. “Are you okay?”

“We are much better, thanks,” I said. “But we need to get going. Could you help me with a few health potions?”

The gnome moved a small stool toward the counter and stood on it. “Sure, but I’m going to need something in return this time,” he said. “I do still have a business to run.”

“Of course,” I said.

“Have a look around. There are lots of things you can get here. The prices are on each of the items.”

I nodded with a smile and walked around the shop. I needed health potions, and if I was going to see in the sewers, I would need more darkvision potions. Thankfully, his prices were reasonable. I grabbed what I could and headed back to the counter.

“Will this be all?” the gnome asked. “I have some skillbooks and ability tomes too.”

“I don’t have enough for those,” I said. “Unless you would swap an ability tome for another?”

Tommin lifted his brows and let out a soft hum. “Deal,” he said, reaching out to shake on it. “But it has to be of the same value.”

I took his hand. “Deal.”

I walked back around the emporium to inspect the books the gnome had. Not many had anything that would add to my arsenal in a way I wanted. Not any of the skillbooks, anyway. Many of them were Dexterity and Strength-based skills, and nothing I thought would be useful for Adalinda either.

But when I went through the ability tomes, I found something that piqued my interest.

The target is a basic ability tome: witch armor. This is a Faith-based ability that casts light armor on the user. It increased damage reduction by 10% for two hits. Note: Sneaking is impossible while Witch Armor is active while this is cast, as it emits a bright light. It can be used on anyone the player is able to touch.

“I found one,” I called to the gnome. Returning to the counter, I set down the witch armor tome down.

“This is a good one,” he said. “What do you have to give me for it?”

I scratched in my pack to find the two-weapon fighting skillbook I had found in the Devil’s lair. I considered giving him the analyze ability tome I had found on the dwarf, but thought Adalinda could use it at some point instead. Either way, it was sensible to hold onto that book for now. I set it down on the counter, waiting for Tommin to read it.

“This is perfect,” he said.

A grin sprawled across my face. “So, we have a deal?”

“Give me fifteen gold for the potions, and we’re all set,” he replied.

I reached into my pockets and pulled out my money, dropping the coins on the counter.

“Can I just ask, why didn’t you inquire about my injuries?” I asked.

“Over the years I have been in this city, I have come to realize that the less I know, the better,” he said. “If I get involved outside of healing people up, I could get into trouble. I don’t have time for trouble.”

He wrapped my items up in a brown bag and handed it to me. “There you go,” he said, his voice laced with satisfaction. “And, no offense intended, but I hope not to find you like I did again.”

I chuckled a little. “I will try my best. Thank you for saving us.”

Tommin said nothing, merely giving me a warm smile before gesturing to the door out of his shop. I grabbed the bag and walked out, feeling ready to take on whatever came my way again.