The Once King Read online

Page 9


  “First, it’s an ‘arid grassland,’” Tina replied, wagging her finger at him. “And second, Windy Lake is just half a mile that way.”

  She pointed at the water glittering in the distance, and Cinco’s face turned as red as his armor. “Fucking fuck you!” he yelled, leaving the Roughnecks to laugh at him as he stomped back to his raid, which was now lying in the road at Gregory’s feet.

  “Asshat,” Neko said when he was gone. “You’d think Mr. World-Class-PvP would be better at losing.”

  “You’d think,” Tina agreed, cupping her stone hands around her mouth to yell at Red Sands. “You guys can have one more round with Gregory. We’re the primary raid for the Once King fight, so we need him back after that, but don’t worry!” She pointed across the road at the eternally brooding Captain Hightower, who’d been watching them the entire afternoon. “You guys can go practice with Captain Training Wheels over there. He needs something to do.”

  CincoDeMurder answered her with a pair of middle fingers. Still laughing, Tina returned the gesture and then lowered her hand to receive NekoBaby’s enthusiastic high-five.

  At least the Red Sands’ misery did wonders for the Roughnecks’ morale. By the time Cinco’s guild dragged themselves, humiliated, off the field, Tina’s raiders were ready to go again. They were huddled up, discussing new strategies, while Gregory took a break when a wagon came bumping down the road they’d been using as a practice field.

  Leaving the others to figure it out, Tina stepped over to the wagon just in time to see a white-robed acolyte scramble around to help the old elf who’d been sitting in the back. He’d removed his glittering robes for the trip, but Tina had no trouble recognizing High Priest Raffestain as he shuffled across the road to Tina, using his gold-tipped magical Sun Staff as a cane.

  “Um, welcome,” Tina said, unsure of how to address this man outside of formal affairs like war meetings. “Thanks for coming out.”

  “I came mostly out of concern for His Majesty,” Raffestain said, glancing over at Gregory, who was gulping down water as fast as his guards could hand it to him and grinning like a kid on Christmas morning. “But I see my fears are misplaced.”

  “Oh yeah,” Tina said, tilting her head at the groaning pile of Red Sands raiders. “His Majesty is doing fine. I’m more worried about us.”

  That earned her a smile from the old elf. “It seems I owe you my gratitude today, then.”

  Tina’s copper eyebrows shot up. “Huh?”

  Raffestain leaned on his gleaming staff. “I’ve known Gregory since he was a boy. He was always happy and carefree, as befits a third prince no one actually expected to inherit, but ever since his father and brothers died in the Forgiven Wars, he has been a prisoner of his own fear. Though peace was secured, he inherited a broken and troubled kingdom. That would be a challenge for any man, but then the Nightmare arrived and made everything worse. Receiving the power of a raid boss made Gregory a great asset for Bastion, but it was a curse for him. He could not stop thinking of his potential to hurt others, too afraid of what he could do if he was not always careful. That fear kept him paralyzed when we needed him most. I feared for a while that it had defeated him entirely. Now, though, seeing him like this.” The priest looked at the laughing king with a sincere smile. “This is a Gregory I haven’t seen in a long, long time. Even under such dire circumstances, it is a blessing.”

  “Glad we accomplished something,” Tina said, trying not to sound too sour about it.

  “Something indeed,” the old elf said wistfully. Then he pulled himself straight. “Anyway, I have come as I promised. Present to me this player Cleric of yours so that we may judge him.”

  Tina didn’t like the way the high priest said that, but this had been her idea, so she turned back to her raid. “Anders!”

  The ichthyian must have been watching the High Priest since his arrival, because he was there before Tina finished bellowing his name. He stared at the old elf with fish eyes wide, spines flexing with anxiety. Raffestain appeared just as agitated, drumming his fingers on his golden staff as he squinted at Anders for several long, tense seconds.

  “Have you truly talked to the Sun?” the high priest asked at last.

  Anders nodded. “Sort of, yes. At least I think I did.”

  The old elf gave him a salty look. “And what did the Center of All Heavens have to say to you?”

  Anders flinched, and Tina braced for disappointment. From what she remembered of their conversation back in Bastion, Anders had claimed that the Sun didn’t use words. Maybe real priests could actually converse with it?

  “I asked a lot of questions,” Anders said, his voice warbling. “But the Sun never talked to me in words. Only meanings and feelings. It’s impossible to describe.”

  Raffestain’s scowl deepened. “It is as I feared,” he said with a long sigh. “That is the correct answer.”

  “Feared?” Tina snapped, since Anders was too shocked to speak. “Why feared?”

  The priest shot her a very normal look of pure annoyance, breaking his wiser-than-thou routine. “Because it means the Sun has accepted the feelings of a player.” He spat the word out like a piece of rotten meat. “This is upsetting to say the least. From what I have seen, you are all unworthy of the Sun’s light, much less its attention. But my god has spoken, and I have no choice but to accept the decision.” He bowed his old head humbly. “The Sun is far wiser than I.”

  Tina had had it up to here with the nonstop player-hate, but she kept her mouth shut for Anders’s sake. The Sun had already won this battle for them, anyway. The stuffy old priest would just have to eat it and like it.

  “What do you know of the priesthood, young man?” Raffestain asked Anders.

  “Only what I’ve read in the wiki,” Anders replied in a nervous rush. “Priests serve for life, and there are three hundred rules they must live by, though I can only name the famous ones like avoiding exalted sleeping places, abstaining from dark magics, and not eating after high noon. There’s also no lying, stealing, murder, sex, or alcohol.”

  The high priest looked impressed. “You are already more aware than some junior acolytes, then,” he said, sounding amused despite himself. “But knowing that, are you willing to dedicate your life to the service of the Sun and the people it shines upon? Will you join the church after the Once King has been vanquished?”

  That sounded like a pretty heavy question, but to Tina’s surprise, Anders answered at once.

  “Yes,” he said, bowing his scaled fish head reverently. “I had already decided to stay, and I believe that a life of service to others is the only way forward for me. I would be honored if you would accept me into your order.”

  “That is a good answer,” Raffestain said with a sigh of resignation. “Player or not, you sound no more wayward than the average young man who seeks the golden cloth.” He looked around a moment, and then the elf pointed at a large rock sitting in the middle of the grassland to their west. “Sit there, face the Sun, and confirm your commitment. I will be with you shortly to teach you the spell that General Roxxy has requested.”

  “Yes sir,” Anders said happily, bounding off through the grass toward the car-sized rock. But while he looked happy as a fish in water, Tina didn’t like the way the old priest had sent him off.

  “That’s a stalling tactic if ever I’ve seen one,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. “Why aren’t you teaching him the spell right now?”

  Again, she got an annoyed glare. She gave him her best salty stare right back, and eventually the high priest sighed.

  “I will tell you, because you are the one who will fight the Once King,” he said, looking sadly at Anders, who was already scrambling onto the rock. “But you must swear by the Sun not to tell him, for his own sake.”

  “Why can’t I tell him?”

  The high priest kept his mouth firmly shut. When it was clear that was going to be that, Tina gave in. “Fine,” she growled. “I swear by the Sun not to tel
l Anders whatever you’re about to tell me.”

  She said it flippantly, but the moment the words were out of her mouth, Tina felt a strange presence behind her. When she turned to see what it was, the glare of the setting sun hit her like a blow. It wasn’t just the light in her eyes, either. There was a weight to it, an enormous, distant power that made her feel singled out and incredibly small at the same time.

  “Whoa,” she said, taking a step back.

  “I hope now you see how serious this is,” Raffestain said, his old face pleased. “I said I would teach your Cleric the Resplendent Aegis spell if he could truly speak to the Sun, and I will keep my word, but I fear that this Anders will not be able to use it.”

  “Why not?” Tina demanded. “Because he’s a player?”

  The high priest shook his head. “For once, that has nothing to do with it. Wherever his soul came from, the Sun has found it worthy, which is all that matters. No. I’m afraid this problem is…personal in nature.” He leaned closer, lowering his voice to a whisper. “He has a dark weight upon his soul. My guess is that he committed a sin of a great and serious nature. The Sun has already forgiven him, for its mercy is infinite, but he must be at peace with himself as well to invoke a power as pure as the Resplendent Aegis. He will have to atone and receive forgiveness from those he has wronged before his soul is light enough to do what you need him to do.”

  “Crap,” Tina muttered, scrubbing her hands through her copper hair. She was pretty sure she knew what sin was weighing Anders’s soul down, but obtaining absolution on that one was going to be hard. NekoBaby wasn’t exactly the forgive-and-forget type. “Is there any other way to clean him up? An absolution spell or something?”

  Raffestain shook his head. “This is not a matter that can be resolved with magic. As I said before, the Sun has already forgiven him. It loves us unconditionally no matter what we’ve done. Sins are the doings of men and must be resolved as such. The Sun knows this, and it is not above withholding its power in order to guide its children to the right path.”

  “Good for it,” Tina grumbled, glancing down the road at NekoBaby, who was miming kicking Gregory in the balls. “But it’s not like we’ve got the luxury of time, and I need that anti-undead ward.” She sighed. “Is there any way to speed things up?”

  The priest shook his head again, and Tina gritted her teeth. “Guess I’d better get Neko and Anders together for an emergency counseling sess—”

  “No,” Raffestain said, glaring at her. “You promised to say nothing, remember?”

  “But it’s for his own good!” Tina cried. “And all of our survival! Why can’t I help?”

  “He has to seek redemption for its own merits,” Raffestain lectured. “Not because you need him to know a spell. If you interfere with this, you risk tainting his chance at salvation forever. That’s why I made you swear.”

  “Oh, come on!” Tina cried, but the priest was already shuffling off. When he reached the edge of the grassy field that held Anders’s rock, though, he turned back to her.

  “Before I go, there is another matter I must warn you about.”

  It couldn’t be worse than learning the only person capable of casting the spell they needed most couldn’t actually cast it until he obtained forgiveness from the person who’d only grant it when hell froze over, so Tina motioned for him to go ahead.

  “If you exchange words with the Once King, remember that he is the enemy of the Sun,” the priest said in a low, angry voice. “He has rejected not only its great teachings but also its boundless love. He has turned his back on the light and sworn eternal hatred on his own creator. It is that hate, not the Great Pyre or the armies of undead, that makes the Once King the enemy of all life.”

  “Okaaaay,” Tina said, arching an eyebrow. “I’ll keep that in mind, but we’re going there to beat him, not talk to him. Theological debate isn’t happening.”

  Raffestain smiled at that. “For once, I am glad that you players are from another world,” he said, his voice relieved. “Go forth with the Sun’s blessings upon your inevitable victory.”

  “Back at’cha,” Tina said, wanting this conversation to be over.

  The High Priest made a sign of blessing and walked away, stepping high through the tall grass toward Anders. The ichthyian looked up excitedly when he approached. Penitently, too, which was good, because she needed him to learn that damn spell. The Resplendent Aegis imposed an eighty-percent damage debuff on any undead it touched. Even if Anders could only manage it for a few seconds, those might be the winning seconds against the Once King.

  Unfortunately for everyone on the planet, there was nothing more she could do. Tina didn’t know if the damage between Anders and NekoBaby was reconcilable, but if she was sworn not to interfere—and from the weight of the sun’s light on her back, Tina suspected she was hella sworn—then the problem was officially out of her hands. It wasn’t as if she didn’t have enough problems of her own to deal with. All the Resplendent Aegises in the world wouldn’t mean squat if she couldn’t learn to tank a raid boss. Gregory was already back up and ready for another go, so she turned to tell her raid to get back in position…

  And found Zen standing right behind her.

  “Whoa!” she cried, jumping a foot in the air. “Don’t do that!”

  The green-haired Ranger shrugged at Tina’s shock and stepped a little closer. “We need to talk.”

  Tina winced. People in Camp Comeback jokingly called Zen “Raid Mom” behind her back. Tina didn’t know if Zen had kids in the real world or if it came from her IRL job as a nurse, but the elf had the stern parent routine down to a science, and as with any parent, nothing good ever followed “We need to talk.”

  “Roxxy.”

  “I’m listening!” Tina said frantically. “What is it?”

  She was really hoping she’d read this wrong and the Ranger had actually come over because she’d had a brilliant new idea for fighting King Gregory. No dice.

  “SilentBlayde isn’t here,” Zen announced, glaring at her. “That’s a problem.”

  Tina looked over the Ranger’s head at the raid standing in a clump in the center of the road. “Is it, though? I mean, we’ve got tons of melee.”

  “That’s not the point,” the elf said angrily. “SilentBlayde is your second-in-command. He needs to be here learning this stuff more than any of us, but he’s not, and you’re letting it happen!”

  Tina gritted her teeth. This was the last topic she wanted to deal with, but Zen didn’t retreat an inch.

  “I know exactly why SB’s absent,” the Ranger went on. “That’s why I gave you both a pass at the start, but this is going to create a major liability if you let it continue. He hasn’t been here for any of our learning fights, and we’ve learned a lot. If you get knocked out in battle, he won’t know how to lead us.”

  “I know…” Tina said. “But—”

  “But nothing,” Zen snapped, crossing her arms over her chest. “When we signed the Roughnecks’ new charter, you gave this guild a creed. We all pledged that we could fight each other as much as the enemy so long as we came together when it counted. Everyone here has stuck to that rule. Even Neko and Anders have worked as a team. I know you and SB are going through some shit, but this is get-in-line time. As a Roughneck, SB needs to be here. You can’t let him be the exception.”

  “I know,” Tina said again, rubbing her arms. “But I just can’t, okay? It hasn’t even been a full twenty-four hours since we…since I yelled at him. The wound is too fresh for me. Him being here is going to undermine everything.”

  “Him not being here is undermining things right now,” Zen argued. “Do you not understand that his absence might get himself or someone else killed? You know how important this practice is—you’re the one making us do it!”

  Tina looked at the ground, and the Ranger sighed. “Look,” she said, folding her willowy arms over her chest. “If you two can’t do this, then maybe SB shouldn’t stay in the Roughnecks.”<
br />
  Zen’s words hit Tina like a truck. The idea of SB leaving hadn’t even occurred to her. His was the second name on the charter after hers. She was the leader, but the Roughnecks had always been their guild, together. How could she kick him out?

  But even as her heart balked, her brain recognized that Zen had a point. If she was serious about what she’d said yesterday, then it was over. Really over. Even though it wasn’t technically a break-up since they’d never actually been together, being in a guild with your ex was never a good idea. Every time she looked at him, there would always be that hook, that pain. Tina didn’t see that ever getting better, so maybe Zen was right. Maybe the healthy thing would be to kick him out so they could both move on.

  Not right now, though. Even with bitterness set to maximum, Tina couldn’t abandon SilentBlayde in this world with no group of players to fall back on. Maybe she could find him a new guild? Blayde had PvPed with Cinco’s group several times; maybe she could get Red Sands to take him in. She owed them for poaching Richard anyway…

  It was a logical solution that would solve a lot of problems, but as hurt as she was, Tina couldn’t even think about actually going and doing it. If SB left the Roughnecks, that would be the end. Of course, it would have ended no matter what when she went home and he stayed here, but that was somewhere in the future. This was now, and right now…

  “I can’t,” Tina said, her voice defeated. “I can’t kick him out. Not yet. But I do need a new second.” She looked hopefully at Zen. “What about you? You’re practically doing the job already.”

  Zen’s face pinched in anger, so much so that Tina took a step back.

  “I refuse.”

  Tina didn’t understand. “Why not?”

  “I will not be used as a prop so you can avoid dealing with your emotional baggage!” Zen yelled. “Find someone else!”

  “But you’re the best,” Tina argued. “Please, Zen, we need you.”

  Those must have been the magic words, because the Ranger sighed. “Fine,” she said through clenched teeth. “I’ll do it for the good of the guild, but only if you go find SilentBlayde and tell him in person that he’s being demoted. You have to deal with this before it bites us all in the butt, and don’t think promoting me will let you avoid him! My first task as your second is going to be dragging SB to practice.”