Ch. 62 – Astragos III (Patreon)

Why are they this hostile? I just used my title-

I queried the System. The last Archon – the closest word that translates from Versewalker – is the title of a powerful mage-warrior. The last Archon in the System’s record is the guy who murdered Emperor Quarilon’s son instead of the emperor himself.

Shit. Felix shook his head, “Look, I’m not that guy. I’m a new Versewalker. I just got here!” He leaned back as the soldier’s sword swung towards him – and missed by a few inches. “Hey!”

Tinuriel rode up and battered the man’s sword away with ease before turning the flat of her blade to smack the horse’s rump – sending it off in a full tilt. She turned to the rest of the soldiers’ leveled spears. “Felix is not the Versewalker responsible. If you desire a fight…Icy Shell."

The frost aura spread from around her – not harming Felix or their horses – but causing the guard’s steeds to back away and turn from the biting frost. “…I will be more than happy to slay you all.”

Let’s follow this up with a new Necromancy Magic/Power Effect. Something that instills fear.

Coming up. You’ll need to do Affinity Amplification at the same time though.

Done.

Spectral, smokey-gray skulls that only him and Tinuriel could see flooded out from Felix’s palm and impacted each of the soldiers. The Magic/Power effect, combined with Tinuriel’s intimidation tactic sent the whole group fleeing down the road – heading South.

Tinuriel looked over to Felix and frowned, “I was hoping for a fight.”

Felix turned his steed North, “Let’s wait until we figure out which side we want to fight for.”

The soldier who had been sent running by Tinuriel’s sword blow rode off to their side – heading South towards his fleeing allies. One glance at the still frost imbued Tinuriel was enough to keep him from trying anything.

Felix spurred his horse faster and the two sped off along the established road.

They passed a road sign that named the town they were entering the boundaries of – Farshire. Rolling farmlands passed by the two as they sped past various farmers heading out of the town, night close to falling. Ghostwalk.

They got into the city itself with ease. Unlike Fielden, there were no walls. Instead, there was a large garrison and several guard towers placed around the perimeter of the stone buildings that marked the center of the town. Felix kept his hood and mask up, and Tinuriel threw on a large cloak that masked her features. They didn’t need to stop, but Felix was hoping to gather more information about the events leading up to the war.

Thankfully, being just after sundown, the tavern was packed and the two could converse with several of the townsfolk. A few drinks here, a few Verse Coins there, and hours later they reconvened near the stables to share what they had learned.

Emperor Quarilon and Empress Xadana were distant, distant cousins – both descended from the creator deities and line of demigod-kings and queens. They had been scheming against each other since they took their respective thrones and have attempted usurpation by attempting to vassalize the various kings, queens, and other nobles that composed many of the kingdoms under each empire’s purview.

That was the cause of the civil wars within both empires that Tinuriel and Felix were too late to intervene in. Since that inner strife was solved, the two empires were able to determine the guilty parties. It escalated to full blown war when an assassin – presumably sent by the Coralith Empire – tried to kill Emperor Quarilon. But they failed in the attempt and killed his son instead.

Felix shook his head, “One thing I don’t understand is why they were even trying to usurp each other in the first place. Most countries went to war in these medieval eras because of either land disputes, religious conflicts, or resources. It didn’t sound like any of those apply here.”

Tinuriel finished brushing down her first horse before moving to the second one, “They are both descendants of deities. They have a desire to own what the other has – that much is obvious from the incited civil turmoil – but they could be riling up their citizenry by invoking their status as the closest things to gods that exist here.”

Felix finished saddling his horse and nodded, “That makes sense. Demonizing the enemy is something that is easy enough to do.”

Tinuriel stopped caring for the horse and turned to the doors to the stables, pulling out Valiant Edge, “Armored people. Outside.”

Felix turned around. He hadn’t heard anything but knew to trust Tinuriel’s hearing. Ghostwalk. Undetectable Step.

He hid inside of a stall and readied his mounted crossbow – the arms snapping out from the bracer as the trigger expanded into his palm. There was an enormous crash and boom as a blast of some type of magic/power effect blew apart the door. Wind Wall!

Felix gestured with his free hand as the light-green and gold-flecked wind sprang up, blocking shrapnel from the shattered wood.

“Versewalker! You’re wanted for the murder of Thaskel, son of the emperor and the assault of several soldiers. Submit yourself to arrest, and we will transport you to Foundation to face judgement.”

Felix walked out of the stall, through the wind wall, past the arrayed soldiers outside, and walked up next to the man who was shouting. He was dressed in fine leather armor with a deep, burgundy cloak. His skin was quite unique – it appeared to be covered with or at least partly stone, and his eyes glittered like ruby gemstones. Thanks to Felix’s Skills, he was completely unnoticed. This is a broken combo and I love it. Vital Strike - Death Strike.

He pulled out the Wyrmtooth Knife and stabbed the man who was speaking in the base of the skull. Silently, he started to collapse before the wound healed over; his death prevented by (P) Killing Intent. Felix grabbed him before he fell all the way and dragged him away from his friends. Glancing back, he saw Tinuriel – using the wind wall as cover – sneak the horses out the back of the stables. They had discussed not getting into fights in the towns they went through if possible.

And now, to make a distraction so we can get away.

On it. Netherlight Wall should do the trick.

The wall sprang up far across from the stables, and it immediately drew the attention of the soldiers. They ran over to the wall and went through it – smacking face-first into the side of a building.

Felix lifted the unconscious man in a fireman carry and met Tinuriel outside of the town. “Look what I got,” he stated as he threw the unconscious man over Tinuriel’s saddle.

She nodded, “Let’s go. We’ll get some distance before we interrogate this one.”

Felix threw his leg over his horse and the two set off into the night.

[Experience Awarded = 15]

A few hours and many miles later, Felix opened the VBV, and they dragged their victim inside. Lucifer exited Felix and went to get some rope, and within a few minutes they had tied the man to a chair. Felix poured some water on his head, and he roused, letting out a groan as his head lolled on his shoulders for a moment. "Heal."

Felix touched the man’s shoulder and a burst of pink and purple flower petals flourished from his palm. The man’s eyes cleared, and he sat upright, scowling. Felix backed away and stood in front of him, “Hi there. I’m Felix, a Versewalker. Mind telling me your name?”

The man looked around, bewildered for several moments as the VBV Function filled him with knowledge of the Multiverse and how the VBV operated. He chuckled and hung his head low, “My apologies. I just received a flood of information. You aren’t the one that assassinated Thaskel. I see that now.” His voice was gravely but optimistic and filled with some vibrance. It reminded Felix of Melanie – upbeat and perky.

Tinuriel nodded, “Name?”

“I’m Reth. I serve the Monolith Empire as a member of The Vigilant Gaze, the empire’s intelligence network. We had received reports of Coralith Empire agents in The Far Shores, and that combined with the report of a hostile agent in the area…well, you can understand our mix up.”

Felix nodded and untied the man, “Now that we’ve cleared that up, would you be willing to travel with us to Foundation? You know, help prevent any of these misunderstandings along the way.”

Reth’s eyes went wide, “But…your type stick together, right?”

“Right, this is confusing sometimes with the whole translation thing.” Lucifer pulled a pen and notepad from a small pouch on his hip and drew two comically simplistic stick figures. He pointed to the one on the left, “This is a Versewalker. They travel the Multiverse solving Crises in various ‘Verses.” He pointed at the other one, “This is an Archon. In your ‘Verse, they are extremely powerful Magic/Power users, and are normally very experienced in combat.” He put the stick-figure drawing down.

“That…makes sense,” Reth stated. “So, there is only one Versewalker involved in Astragos’ affairs.”

“Correct,” Felix said as Lucifer nodded. “And the Crisis that I have to solve is ending this Unification War. But I can only do that by resolving the conflict in favor of one empire.”

Reth nodded sagely and stood up, “Then I must convince you to help our cause. How long until we can return and travel? I can ensure safe passage to Foundation.”

Felix looked at Tinuriel. She gave him a look that he had come to learn meant, ‘I want us time.’ “Give us a few hours to rest.”

Reth bowed at the waist slightly before standing, “I will avail myself of your guest quarters.”

Tinuriel walked behind Felix and pushed him inside his house once he opened the door. She pushed him against the wall and growled in his ear, “I haven’t fought anything in days. Don’t hold back. Be aggressive.”

After a few restless hours of amorous activity, the duo geared up and met Lucifer and Reth outside. Lucifer re-merged with Felix, which earned a mutter of astonishment from the imperial agent. They led the horses back through the portal and lent one of the spares to Reth. He led them North along the road, and they rode for Foundation.

Several times along the way they were stopped by patrols of soldiers, but a quick flash of some emblem from Reth let them pass without event. Days blurred together as the tight-lipped agent did not engage in much of any conversation, leaving an air of mystery around him.

Tinuriel kept practicing her small harp as they continued their way, and she was progressing rapidly. It astonished Felix, quite frankly, having never been instrumentally inclined himself. He didn’t know if it was because she was just a natural savant, or if elves had some other unique features that he was not aware of yet.

Felix’s mind had the chance to wander as the rolling green and brown grasslands sped by and began to blur together. He felt as if he had no choice in this ‘Verse. No chance to explore either empire and determine which was the more…morally right side to fight for. If I don’t feel comfortable with it, I could just leave.

I doubt the System Admin would be happy with that. You’re not supposed to leave Crises unsolved.

It’s a war. Eventually it will end.

Possibly. Or perhaps it will be eternal and endless conflict until another Versewalker fixes it.

We’re being guided by an agent of their intelligence network, to their capital. It feels like I’m going to be expected if not outright forced to work in their interests.

You could always just say some hollow promises and then travel to this Coralith Empire to learn about them.

That’s a logical way to go about it.

Reth pulled his horse to a stop, prompting Felix and Tinuriel to follow. “Something is not right,” he muttered as he stood up in the saddle, looking at a squadron of soldiers that were walking ahead of them. “Those aren’t our men. They aren’t in formation.”

Detect Hostiles. Ghostwalk.

The golden pulse went out for three-hundred feet in all directions, and Felix saw the golden aura surround the group of soldiers up ahead, as well as several more off to the sides of the road.

 That’s not good.

Tinuriel dismounted, “Felix, off the horse.” He complied, and she loosely tied the two horses to a tree. Reth followed suit, and they did the same with their spare mount. The golden auras slowly continued onward. Tinuriel turned to the two, “I’ll get in the middle of them. Felix, deal with the ones shadowing on the sides of the road.”

Reth reached into sleeve and pulled out a slim, metal rod. Sparks ignited from the tip, “Once you have their attention, I’ll blast them.”

Tinuriel nodded and activated her Ring of Temporary Invisibility, running down the road – heard but unseen.

Undetectable Step.

Felix vanished and shadowed Tinuriel – whom he could barely make out from the small puffs of dirt on the ground. Glancing back, he saw Reth walking calmly down the center of the path. The agent raised his small rod.

An explosion rocked the sky above.

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