Chương 49: 48. Kingdom of Ghouls

The light Tavian had been following was a stark, white orb, which cast harsh shadows over everything in the room. It sat in the midst of a shattered obelisk, a destroyed kingdom core, which had clearly been reconstructed into a magical-mechanical device that could only be the miasma infuser. Between them, the light illuminated an oily black mass, which oozed and pulsated in the center of the room.

"Tavian, welcome," said a feminine voice, coming from the black mass.

"I'm so glad to see you. Now let me just deal with that ugly girl on your arm, and we can begin."

"Tavian," Calli whispered, "That infuser looks like it's made of pieces from a deconstructed kingdom core." Tavian drew his sword, shifting under the weight of the heavy Aegis. He watched the miasmic monstrosity closely. It prickled and flinched.

"Get down!" he shouted, pushing Calli as he ducked. Black spikes whistled through the air where they'd been standing, impaling themselves in the black stone wall behind.

"I don't usually play with my food," the voice said, "But if you insist…" Tavian rolled the Aegis off his back, and set its point on the ground, protecting him and Calli. It might be ornamental, but it was also solid. The wound in his side pulsated with anticipation. He could feel the miasma spreading, quickly now. Calli fiddled with the condenser.

"There is so much miasma here," she said.

"It's soaking into everything. I feel it in my skin… I wonder…" She twisted the condenser, rearranging its array of spikes, and reached in, wrapping her fingers around the glass sphere inside of it. More black spikes thumped against the shield.

"Tavian," the Voice said menacingly.

"You can't keep her. I told you to come alone. I'm sad that you didn't listen to me." Light flared and flashed on the other side of the shield. Tavian peered around, and saw that the black mass was bubbling and twisting into the shape of a human.

"Yes!" Calli gasped, and Tavian's attention snapped back to his sister. Her eyes had turned jet black. Every hair on her head stood on end, straight out like a dandelion puff.

"It's working!" she said. Swirling black streams of miasma twisted into every finger, into the tips of her hair, into every edge of her body.

"Calli!" Tavian exclaimed, afraid.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm using myself as an additional attractor," Calli said; "It's letting me condense even more miasma, faster. We just need to get to that infuser, and…" A black tendril whipped out around the shield, slashing at Calli. It exploded into swirling mist as it got close and was sucked into the vortex around her, drawn in and condensed by the relic.

"What? You can't… No, stop!" the voice wailed. Tavian grinned as the power of Calli's miasma condenser protected her from more attacks. The furious lashes stopped, and Tavian peered around the shield again. The oily black mass formed into a woman, a tall, elegant woman wearing sweeping robes, revealing a statuesque figure. The harsh light from the miasma infuser threw deep shadows across her body. Her eyes were totally black, and when she spoke, her mouth was like a pit.

"Tavian," she said.

"Come closer. I think I have something you want." Tavian felt his mind bend. His connection to Lea fuzzed, and another voice spoke in the back of his mind." Tavian, is that you?" Cormath said." Cormath? Where are you?"" Tavian, I'm coming! The infuser, it's with the dungeon mother. You'll have to find her, but you might be able to—"" I know!

"Tavian said." We're going to get you out of here!" Tavian felt something wet slide along his connection to Cormath. He looked at the woman standing in front of him, and realized the trap. She was using Tavian to find Cormath." I don't know if I can leave,"Cormath said." She's looking—" With a force of will, Tavian severed the connection. The woman scowled, then nodded appreciatively.

"You're not easily taken in," she said.

"I enjoy that about you. It took such a long time to convince you to come down here. Father was certain you'd come quickly to find Cormath. But no, you're colder. More calculating. The perfect match, for me." A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"What do you want with me?" Tavian asked, glancing at Calli. She was still channeling miasma, ripples of darkness rolling over her skin. As he watched, she was edging toward the wall, aiming for the miasma infuser. He hoped she knew what she was doing.

"A deal, Tavian," the dungeon mother said.

"I need a vessel to share my power with."

"Go on," Tavian prompted. The longer he stalled, the more miasma Calli drained from the dungeon. He had no idea how long it would take her to make a meaningful dent.

"Let me join you," she said.

"Miasma is more powerful than the other essences. It can power your core. It can give you great strength which you can use to crush your enemies."

"Miasma will ruin my core," Tavian said.

"It will kill anything living within the kingdom."

"A lie. Or, a shortsighted way of seeing things. You know that miasma has the power of reanimation," the dungeon mother said. A clatter at the doorway behind Tavian drew his attention, and he watched as all six of the soldiers who'd descended into the dungeon with him appeared, each of them bloodied and beaten. They were all dead. Toral stared at Tavian through cold, unseeing eyes. Tavian recoiled with dread at the desecration of the bodies of men who had served him so well. His heart broke for them.

They deserved to rest in peace. Calli yelped at the sight, and shuffled away from the undead, hurrying toward the infuser. Toral moved toward her, reaching for the condenser. When he got too close, all the miasma was sucked from him and he crumpled to the floor, returned to the peace of death.

"What? You have no love for your friends?" she asked.

"Release them, witch," Tavian snarled.

"Who do you love, Tavian?" the dungeon mother asked.

"I can make them live forever." Tavian thought about his father. His sister, his brother. What he would have done to save his mother.

"I don't want to rule a kingdom of ghouls," Tavian said.

"I'm not Lord Anarvia." The dungeon mother scoffed.

"Lord Farl Anarvia. The fool. He thought he could steal from me, and not receive my wrath."

"He stole from you?"

"He took my Witherstone! Do you know how long my father and I slaved over that stone? I labored for ages, infusing it with power from my dungeon. And he simply took it."

"You worked with Lord Anarvia?" Tavian asked.

"You created the Witherstone?"

"We could create so much more," she said.

"The condenser device you brought me can unlock the full potential of my infuser." As she spoke, Tavian's side pounded. His heart beat in his head, and a crackle of static buzzed in his ears. He wondered if he was receiving the offer of a lifetime.

"We could destroy Anarvia," the dungeon mother said.

"More than that. We could make him your puppet." It would be nice to have the man dancing on the end of a string. Tavian could make him repair all the damage that he'd done to the city. He could make him rebuild the temple brick by brick, rewrite every scroll lost in the burning of the library. The burning flame of Tavian's anger for Lord Anarvia burned in his breast.

"Propose a deal," Tavian said, turning to keep the corpses of his men from getting behind him.

"You're a subject in your own kingdom," she said.

"The Kingdom Core restrains you. It controls you. Take in the raw essence of miasma, and you can break those chains. Remake your kingdom core. Be free from the restriction of the world hexgrid. None will be able to stand against you; not Anarvia, not the Karath Amon, not death himself."" Tavian," Lea's voice came to him, distantly." She's wrong. Miasma will destroy you. It will destroy your core. There is no bargaining with the dark."

"And if I'm not interested in becoming a lich?" Tavian asked. He felt a pressure in his head. Colors swirled in his peripheral vision. Scenes flickered in front of him; a kingdom that spanned the Corinath Isles, projecting power across Endara. A dominion that extended for generations. He was awash with the giddy sensation of expanding his kingdom, the rush of success, of wealth. Of peace. Wasn't it the death of a king that always plunged a kingdom into turmoil? How could he decline such an offer?

If he did not die, he could secure the wealth and prosperity of his kingdom for generations.

"I can give you more," she said." Tavian!

"Lea shouted. He barely heard her." I'm losing you, Tavian!" And Tavian's mind flooded with images of his mother. At his wedding. Holding his children. Lea's voice echoed in his mind, so faint and distant that it was more like an old memory." Calli needs you!" Miasma wrapped around him, slipping in and out of his skin and clothes. The miasma in his body quivered; longing for a connection to the power without. All he had to do was let it in. He didn't even need to make a deal.

He could simply take up all the power for himself. He flicked his eyes to his sister. She had reached the infuser, and was bent over it, hooking the condenser into it. Jarden stepped out of the shadows behind the device. A sinister smile split his face, and his robes fluttered, blending into the black mists. A blade shone in his hand. If Tavian approached his sister, the condenser would drain all this power out of him. He could keep it, instead. He could change the course of the world, with it.

Jarden thrust with the blade. Tavian leaned on the power of miasma, and moved. With the strength of a dozen men, he heaved the Aegis, throwing it across the room. The heavy shield struck Jarden, knocking him back into the wall. Tavian was moving in right behind it. He slid into proximity of the condenser, preparing to defend his sister. The miasma in his wound screamed, hauling him back toward the dungeon mother.

But like a bandage being torn off, the miasma strengthening him was ripped away, sucked into Calli's conduit.

"No! Father!" the dungeon mother screamed, her beautiful avatar melting back into a black mass as she reached out toward Jarden, black tentacles flailing. Waves of miasma sloshed over Tavian, sweeping him off his feet, filling his mouth and nose. His sword clattered away. Calli screamed. Her body was splayed in the air as it conducted miasma into the condenser-infuser. She began to levitate, lifted by the buffeting of the miasma, arms and legs stretched out to their limits as she lost control of the flow.

The mists and darkness boiled and rolled for what felt like an eon. Tavian's skin burned. His veins were filled with shards of broken glass. His ears rang like his head was inside a bell. He realized that Calli was shouting for the shield.

"We're overloading it!" she screamed, choking on black streams of miasma pouring into her mouth.

"We have to infuse it, now!" The ground lurched, and stones shifted around him. Tavian couldn't tell if the dungeon was falling apart, or if he was just losing his mind. He grabbed the shield from where it had fallen, and thrust it into the infuser. He hauled on a large lever, and a spike dropped down into the shield. Calli screamed. He clenched his eyes, hanging onto the lever with all his might. It vibrated, threatening to shake his arms from his body. The miasmic wound in his side roiled with agony.

The white light of the infuser expanded, enveloping everything in a blinding void. Calli's scream cut off abruptly.