Chapter 29 #3
Kársek’s eyes narrowed as he stared at Vic.
Who threw his hands up in protest. “Just theorizing here, that’s all! Forget I asked.”
“We’ve all gained substantially in power,” said Nessa. “But you most of all, Harald. I caught a glimpse of your Servitors. Who are they, and what can they do?”
So Harald explained the powers and Abilities of the giant spiders, the surviving Rootwarden, and the Gauntlet Golem. He tried to make it as matter-of-fact as he could, but even so his companions were soon gaping at him.
“Wait.” Vic rose to his feet and glared at Harald. “You’re telling me that you were defeating Zenith Tide golems as a 5th Level Abyssal Whatever?”
Harald nodded reluctantly.
“I knew it!” Vic clutched his head. “I was given a subpar Demon Seed! A total rip-off! And to think I had the Crown with me the whole time! I could have absorbed it, begun my journey from the start—”
“Vic,” chided Nessa. “Sit down and be quiet.”
Vic dropped back to the ground and pouted.
“My powers have indeed come back… stronger. The understanding I gained through consolidation and fueled by what are effectively five Thrones have resulted in a huge jump in lethality. I’m Level 6 now, but I imagine I’ll keep leveling at the accelerated rate I’ve been enjoying as we go down farther.
I’m…” He looked guiltily at Sam. “I’m looking forward to seeing how all my powers look once I can consolidate them again. ”
His friends stared at him in a combination of awe, respect, and—much as he hated to admit it—something between nervousness and fear.
“Well!” Vic slapped his knee. “I feel just terrible for the monsters on the 37th. They’re down there right now, prowling around and feeling all tough, but with no idea that Harry’s about to descend and utterly ruin their little tea party. It’s so sad.”
“The 37th is the Twilight Court,” said Sam softly. “It was one of my favorites, as a child.”
Nessa smiled sadly. “You must have loved the Tale of Tatterdemalion then, growing up?”
“Loved it,” said Sam, smiling back. “Though I doubt things are as noble as the story said.”
Kársek arched a brow. “Tale of what now?”
“The Tale of Tatterdemalion,” said Sam softly.
“A human princess who falls down a rabbit hole and enters the 37th by accident. She has a series of adventures there, and ultimately joins the Lumin Court as a Moth Squire, where she’s gifted a Tattered Cloak and a Wasp Lance of her own, and serves Mathropos the Dusk General in the Battle of the Gloaming against her own household that’s come down to rescue her. ”
“Why would she do that?” asked Kársek.
“Because she’d fallen under the spell of the Lumin Court,” said Sam softly. “And for the first time in her life found herself happy.”
Harald pursed his lips as an old pain came to him, a cutting guilt. Long had Sam served his family as an indentured servant, Oath Bound and against her will. Well could he imagine how the Lumin Court would appeal to her during the few hours each night she had to herself.
Nessa picked up the tale. “It’s said that the Lumin Court is run by Dusk Generals who coordinate the Swarm Knights.
They fly over their opponents in massive formations, turning the battlefield below into tornadoes of fire or crushing fields of enhanced gravity.
Lumin Moths are everywhere—easily discounted for being weak and numerous, they’re the secret behind all the other attacks, as their presence generates the illusions and confusions upon which the other attacks depend. ”
“So, we slaughter the Lumin Moths,” said Vic, “then disrupt the Swarm Knights, decapitate the Dusk Generals, and drink down their beautiful Aurora Veil scales from the cups we’ll fashion from their little insectoid heads?”
Everyone stared at him.
“Hmm. I can see I’m still trying to appeal to the Handmaidens’ sense of humor.” Vic held up a finger. “No worries, I’ll calibrate quickly.”
“The problem will be fighting foes flying high above us,” said Nessa. “We’re all close-combat specialists.”
“My Light of Censure has range,” said Sam. “And my Starfire Bastion can provide us with shielding.”
“My spiders can jump quite a distance,” added Harald. “And my Gauntlet Golem can throw arcs of white fire. Like my own Demonic Edge.”
“The danger, from what I recall,” continued Nessa, “is being trapped into staying in one place for long. The whole Lumin Court across the entire level will grow aware of us and converge. The more Dusk Generals appear, the deadlier the entire force gets. I say we cut through all resistance, find a well, and descend as quickly as possible.”
“Sounds like a plan,” said Sam.
“Agreed.” Harald rose to his feet. “We ready to go?”
“Ready,” said Kársek, rising to his feet.
“I suppose,” grumbled Vic.
Nessa also rose smoothly and hitched her pack. When she looked about their group, it was with a dangerous smile. “Looks like the Throne Hunters are back together again. Let’s go find out just how much damage we can do.”
“Poor Lumin Court,” muttered Vic as he started kicking their fire apart. “The poor little moth bastards.”