All the Dust that Falls

Chapter 82: On the Spot + Epilogue (End of Book 1)

Bee woke up. This time she was all alone. The noises in the castle were quiet, but she could still hear something happening outside. With a groan, she sat up and shielded her eyes from the bright light. Being knocked out like this twice in a row could not be healthy. If she hadn't already had the healing potion in her system from Tony… TONY!

Bee stood up as quickly as her wobbly legs would allow and looked around. She was on top of a pile of rubble. Stepping down, she started to dig around for her fellow disciple. He didn't have the healing potion already working on him, and he was at a much lower level than her. If she didn't find him soon….

She was shifting large rocks around frantically, trying to see if he was buried in the pile. Eventually, she looked off to the right and found his limp body off to the side. Hobbling over to him, she went down on one knee and checked over him. Leaving her fingers in front of his mouth, she slumped in relief as she felt a very light breath.

Looking around, she couldn't find his bag. Going back to the pile of rocks, she found the contents of her own satchel had become a mess of shattered glass and oozing liquid. Quickly she inventoried everything from her preparations. She knew she had made extra potions; she just wasn't sure where she had stored them.

Debating the risk of moving him, Bee decided it was best to just leave him here and quickly retrieve the potion. She limped down the path that Tony was in charge of baiting. The traps and supplies she had along her path were very much destroyed as the Lieutenant chased her. As she ducked around and stepped over all the tripwires and traps she had set, she couldn't help but be disappointed.

Many of them had activated, but almost all seemed ineffectual. In the end, Void had to do almost all the work. She had spent so much time preparing, and all she had managed to do was slightly annoy it. Maybe the bucket at the end that she had splashed on it had helped. But when it came down to it, the only way to fight had been with power. The kind of power that only her master had.

Bee supposed that was the lesson that it was trying to teach her. She needed to get stronger. She had been too proud and believed a little girl could defeat one of humanity's ancient nightmares. Only through the benevolence of her master did the humans here still live.

As Bee found the crate of backup supplies she had made for Tony's route, she thought about what it meant for Lieutenant Nazareth'gak to be here. If it was here, that meant that perhaps more of those so-called fairy tales were real. More real than most people knew. Still, the mages had to have been aware of the demon. But she had been in the castle for two months and had no idea. She doubted any of the apprentices knew either.

If that was the case, how many more of the ancient monsters were still around? Were they properly hidden and captured, or did they depend on a group of mages who, if they were to run away, could loose death on the world? These thoughts sent chills down her spine. If other demons might awaken, her position of Priest of Spot was much more important than she realized.

Sure, she had learned her lesson. She needed to be stronger, but that wasn't the only thing she had learned. No, it wasn't just her that needed to be stronger. It was everyone. The human world couldn't afford to stay weak. Being content about getting to level 20 in their prime. Maybe 30 if they pushed themselves. No, they would need to take risks. The world needed to listen to the wisdom that Void had given her.

But would just being strong be enough? Maybe, maybe not. Even if it was, it would take time. Leveling was slow, even when taking great risks. Until humans could take care of themselves, they were at the mercy of her master.

Changing the world might be a bit much for her. However, her master needed to stay pleased. More than her life now depended on it. Obviously, she would follow her master's plans, but she made a note that when she next got the chance to talk to a person, she would tell them of what she had learned.

What else would humans need to do to make sure they stayed in Void's good graces? Well, obviously, tidiness would be essential, and stairs would have to go…

When Bee got back to Tony, she found that his condition still hadn't changed. She administered the potion and waited. After some initial progress, she moved him to lie in a more comfortable position. Then she continued to treat her friend.

After Tony was stabilized, Bee walked to the front of the castle. She wanted to see if her master had finished off the Lieutenant yet, or if he was still toying with it.

---

I couldn't believe that this demon was still standing. I had the benefit of a fresh infusion of energy from its blood, but the Lieutenant? I watched as a seemingly endless stream of blood poured down the demon's torso. Standing seemed to be its limit. We stared each other down as my repairs finished. This was going to be the deciding factor. If I wasn't able to heal so fast, I would have already been scrapped. It seemed the demon was healing slightly, too, though much more slowly than I. At least its blood flow was slowing.

Once I could move again, I circled around the demon, forcing it to move opposite me. This was a challenge, as it had to pivot on its good leg pushing with the damaged one. Slowly I rolled around the demon, looking for a weakness that I could use to take my foe down. I was still wary as I knew how dangerous a wounded foe could be. I had seen enough nature documentaries not to let down my guard. Now that I was able to understand, I could liken my situation to that of a wolf circling its injured prey.

As I continued my movement, I wasn't able to keep my path perfectly round as I had to keep going around debris. Honestly, it was quite bumpy. After a couple of circles, I could see the demon was starting to tire. I also found the smoothest path to use to strike. When the time was right, I moved. Darting forward, I lanced the sword right at its rooted good leg. It wasn't able to dodge.

Not that it didn't try, but it had to suddenly shift onto its injured leg to dodge. Unable to support itself, it stumbled. As it fell, I drove the point of the sword right through the demon's kneecap. It collapsed to the ground, howling in pain, and now completely unable to stand. Still, it could use its arms as it tried to crawl away and vainly swat behind it.

No longer a danger to me, I started trying to figure out how to finish off the demon for good. Judging based on my memories of the time in the catacombs, the ancient humans hadn't been able to kill it, so I assumed that it would heal from anything given enough time. So there was only one place for it. I started trying to consume it with my vacuum.

But it didn't work. Either it was still much more powerful than me, or it was simply too large. Unlike the earth demons, it wasn't made of a bunch of smaller particles that I could easily consume. So I might have to resize it a bit.

***

A few minutes of grueling work later, I had the demon all packed away in my dustbin. I examined it closely, and I could see it start to reassemble itself. This would not be acceptable. It was a high enough level that once it was repaired, it might be able to break out. Also, for the moment, it was still weakened from waking up early. If it had time to adjust, I didn't know if I could beat it again.

Bracing myself, I transmuted the demon to energy. A wave blasted outward from me. One more powerful than I had ever seen before. It lifted me high in the air, many times higher than I had ever been. It was… Uncomfortable, to be honest, but also an incredible view. I was able to see the castle far below. Out in the distance, mountains surrounded us on three sides. The only path into our massive valley led to a walled city. I watched as, along the path, a wave of Skeletons ran after a group of fleeing humans. Even as I watched, the humans started to pull away, and the skeletons stopped their pursuit. Huh, that was odd. Starting to fall, I activated my new mutation. Hopefully, my boosters would give me a soft landing. Otherwise, this would be bad.

On my way down, I received a new notification.

LEVEL 50 REACHED. YOUR DOMAIN IS NOW ACTIVE

Huh, I wonder what that means…

---

Harold had to order the retreat himself. It was unfortunate, but no one else in command was left to do so. These undead were smart. They are much too smart for the mindless skeletons they are supposed to be. They had charged the command tent first. Taken unawares, the officers weren't even able to put up a token resistance.

Luckily the soldiers were well-trained, and even without the command structure, they formed battle lines. Still, without a clear chain of command, large-scale tactical decisions were beyond them. Harold had stepped up and started handling things, but he was a mage, not a battlefield commander. Seeing his first command meet with confused looks from the junior officers, he gave up on winning and did his best to disengage.

To make matters worse, the undead army radiated a powerful enough aura of undeath that the slain officers began to rise within a matter of minutes. When Harold saw that, he knew they had no chance. He gave up on winning and did his best to disengage.

Retreating back to Greg was their only option. There they would at least have walls and reinforcements. Still, Greg was a long way away, and Harold wasn't sure they could make it in time. It would be a hard couple of days of riding.

Still, it was their only option. Shortly after the men engaged the massive skeletons, Harold signaled the retreat. The remaining junior officers tried their best to coordinate and cover their men as they fled. Since most of the men were mounted and horses were faster than skeletons in short distances, they began to pull away. Surprisingly, the undead quickly realized they wouldn't catch them and stopped pursuing them. These were truly unlike any undead that Harold had ever read about. Sure, demons were his field of study, but he had many friends that were accomplished, undead researchers. His panicked brain registered the fact that they would have killed to be in his position here.

Right as the skeletons fell back, Harold felt the Lieutenant fall. A bright light shot up into the sky, and Harold could make out a small black disc that seemed to eclipse the sun for a brief instant. From this range, it was hard to be sure, but he had a sinking suspicion of what he had just seen.

In the end, it was almost worse than they had feared. The demon he had summoned had freed the Lieutenant. But not to serve it or to make an alliance. No, to kill it and steal its power. What kind of monster saw one of the thirteen as a source of power? As prey?

Something that would need more than the measly amount of soldiers that were sent this time. They would need the whole army. It might even be time to set aside their differences with Barleona and work together to save the human race. Harold doubted their neighbor would see the attempt as anything but a trick, but he had to try.

////

Epilogue

The Warden was on his way to meet with Harold again. As he worked his way through the different levels of security, his mind worked through the problem at hand. This meeting was important, and Harold had been proven right after all; otherwise, he wouldn't be here. They had not sent nearly enough troops, and because of that, the kingdom had lost several experienced officers they really couldn't afford to lose. The weakening of the kingdom was not part of his plans yet, and this would force him to adjust.

The Warden didn't like having to change plans, but you didn't get to his position without being flexible. He had backup plans, but none of them were nearly as elegant. And things were changing still.

Sure the demonic threat was worse than they feared, but that wasn't the only concerning news coming in. Some of this new news was just as concerning, if not more so. There were reports of a new undead plague springing up in the same area. Also, of a new feeling of power, people were reporting blanketing their minds. He doubted those were coincidences. In other areas, things were not going well. Most of the countryside had been stripped of its soldiers, maintaining order to prepare for the war.

This lack of a policing force meant bandits were on the rise, as they always did. It also made it very difficult for the adventurers to keep up with suppressing all the zones that had weakened membranes to other realms, allowing monsters to come through. Adventurers weren't good at that sort of stuff without support. Point them at a big target, and they might solve your problem, but thoroughness just wasn't in their nature.

Not only were there all of this kingdom's internal issues, but some of his operatives in the neighboring countries also reported secret projects of their own demon summoning. Each country seemed to be looking for its own secret weapon. His operatives were doing their best to sabotage their efforts. Normally this wasn't something that his organization would take part in, but after this last disaster, he couldn't risk another.

He had only allowed the demon that Harold was assigned to slip through because Harold was his man. It would have been easy to stop, of course, but he had hoped that Harold would succeed, and that might put his operative in an even better position.

As he sat down at the table facing the fire, he looked over to study Harold. This man was once one of his most promising trainees. He had hopes that Harold might one day replace him. Now, those hopes were dimming like dying embers.

"What news do you have for me?" The Warden asked.

Harold met the Warden's eyes. They seemed tired now, more haunted than he remembered. "It appears that the undead and demon threat are linked in some way,"

"We already knew that. It can hardly be considered news." The Warden pointed out, annoyed.

"Yes, but rumors have come around of a certain young girl and an unknown entity 'saving' people," Harold explained. "I think they are using the undead to force people to them."

"If that is true, then they are far more organized than we have thought." The Warned mused. "If that is the case, then we still underestimate this thing you summoned. I have never even heard of the undead working with demons before. Are you sure?"

"Well, it is a rumor. But I think we best not underestimate this threat." The younger mage shuddered. "We have done so too many times already."