The Greystone Chronicles Book Two: The Dire Lands Read online

  Brick looked thoughtful. While he was considering, Alexander stepped forward. “I can bear the pain.” He bowed his head to Kai.

  The dragon placed his hand on Alexander’s head, and the pain began. It may have been Alexander’s imagination, but it seemed the dark school was more painful than the light. The knowledge wormed its way through his brain, burning as it went. He thought it almost whispered to him, a sinister voice implying everlasting damage to the burning bits of his mind. Gritting his teeth, he fought the weakness in his legs. He would succumb. When the knowledge settled in place, it was as if a roaring flame etched its image onto his soul.

  The dragon removed his hand, and Alexander faltered. Strong hands gripped his shoulder and held him upright for the several moments it took him to regain his equilibrium.

  “That sucked,” he said, moving to sit atop one of the smaller cages. “Can’t say I recommend it.” He looked at Kai. “I know you said dark magic is not evil. But it almost seemed as if it wanted to hurt me.”

  Kai shook his head. “No, Alexander. The magic is neutral. It was your predisposition to think of dark magic as bad or evil. The magic is what you make of it. Any of the rest of you who wish this knowledge, you must avoid this prejudice. Keep your minds open and neutral. I doubt any of you could accept the kind of pain I just felt from Alexander.”

  Surprisingly, Lainey was the next to step forward. “Can’t hurt more than the light magic did…” she offered.

  Again, Kai laid his hand on her head and closed his eyes. Lainey’s jaw clenched, her teeth audibly grinding. Her fists once again squeezed tight and trembling. When Kai removed his hand, she simply dropped to the floor. “Damn! Wasn’t any worse, but wasn’t any better, either!” she gasped.

  Max stepped forward next, gripping an arrow between his teeth as he lowered his head to Kai. As the magic took effect, the arrow snapped, Max growling out the pain. He was silent, and a bit wobbly, as he stepped away.

  Sasha was next. She looked at Kai and said, “I believe what you say is true. Dark magic is no different than my nature magic when I use it to kill. A tool. Nothing more.”

  She bowed her head and accepted the magic from the dragon. Though she tensed, and gritted her teeth like the others, she seems to experience considerably less pain.

  Brick had been kneeling in prayer since Alexander first stepped forward. He rose, and stepped to Kai. “Durin be a god o’ light, but also a god o’ vengeance. I felt no resistance when I asked fer guidance.”

  Placing his hand on the dwarf’s head, Kai transmitted the knowledge of dark magic once more. Brick, believing he had the blessing of his chosen god, seemed to feel little pain at all. Though, when it was over, he did whisper, “Durin’s balls, that hurt!”

  “Did that count as a prayer?” Max grinned at him.

  “Bwahahaha!” Brick laughed heartily, and the others joined him.

  Lainey had finished her skinning, but the whole group, including Kai, felt the need to rest a bit. Giving and receiving magic took a toll. They broke out some travel rations, and sat mostly in silence for ten minutes.

  Rested and recharged, they moved to the room across the corridor. Upon opening the door, they found what looked like a surgery theatre. The room was about thirty feet squared, with two doors exiting the wall opposite them. Corpses with missing limbs, and limbs missing bodies, were hung on hooks and stacked on benches. Standing at the table, needle and thread in hand, was what looked like your average surgeon. Only the surgeon was undead, and was sewing parts of different corpses onto a very large orc’s body.

  The Surgeon

  Level 55 Lich

  Health 5,000/5,000

  Without hesitation, Brick dashed forward, bashing the lich from behind, knocking him into the table. The orc corpse was knocked off to the floor on the other side. Brick hit the lich with a holy smite spell, causing it to roar in pain. As it turned to face him, he slammed down his shield and braced himself.

  “YOU SHALL ALL DIE HERE!” it screamed at them. “THEN I WILL BRING YOU BACK TO SERVE MY MASTER!”

  It reached out to a tray of what looked more like torture implements than medical instruments. Grabbing a cleaver in one hand, it pounded at the tank’s shield. It began to chant under its breath, while waving its free hand.

  “Casting!” Brick yelled.

  Max hit the lich with a silence arrow, effectively interrupting its cast. Lainey put an arrow into its skull, the shaft running all the way through like an old Three Stooges prop. Alexander hit it with a minimal Ray of Light burst that would have caused it to scream if it weren’t still silenced. The spell caused Alexander to draw aggro, the lich dashing around Brick to bury the cleaver in the mage’s shoulder. Just as the cleaver struck, there was a loud as Kai’s staff crushed the lich’s spine. Abandoning the cleaver in Alexander’s shoulder, the lich retreated back behind the surgical table, seemingly unimpaired by the broken spine. It said two words, made a motion with its hands, then ran for the back of the room as the corpse of the 8-foot-tall orc began to rise from the floor. It had two legs, four arms, and a third eye in its forehead. Lainey shot it in the face as it rose.

  Orc Monstrosity

  Level 50

  Health 2800/3000

  The cleaver had severed an artery and broken Alexander’s collarbone. But the pressure of the blade in his flesh was, for the moment, keeping him from bleeding out. His health bar was down 40%, and he was beginning to feel dizzy from the lack of blood flow. He stepped back to lean against a wall, pushing a dangling arm out of the way. Kai had leapt forward and was pounding on the undead orc with his staff. Max and Lainey were peppering it with arrows as it used its two original massive arms to grab Brick’s shield and try to tug it out of his hand. The dwarf used his hammer to pound its left hand against the sharp edge of his shield, severing the fingers and doing holy damage. The orc’s secondary right hand lifted a hobbling hammer from the table and began to pound at Brick.

  Meanwhile, Alexander observed the lich in the background, casting another spell. As it finished, several of the partial corpses began to rise and move toward Alexander’s friends. Sasha hadn’t noticed, as she was frantically casting heals on Alexander and Brick.

  “Focus on the lich!” he tried to yell, but it only came out as a gasp. It was getting difficult to breathe.

  Sasha looked up long enough to take in the situation, and agreed with him. “Focus on the lich!” she screamed. “It’s raising adds!”

  Brick stayed on the orc, holding its attention while Kai and the archers both switched targets to the lich. Kai began to cast a spell as arrow after arrow pounded into the mob’s head.

  Brick used his hammer to activate his Serpent’s Screech ability, drawing all the adds in the room to him. Once they’d gathered, Sasha cast her aoe thorn trap underneath them. Alexander cast wizard’s fire on the orc and three of the adds.

  Looking at Sasha, he said, “You have to… pull it out. Blocking… blood supply”. He was very near to losing consciousness. His health bar was back up at 70%, due to Sasha’s heals, but the metal cleaver was still lodged in him.

  His best friend gritted her teeth, grabbed the handle, and yanked the cleaver. She hadn’t enough strength to pull it completely free, and Alexander screamed in pain. Blood began to spurt into the air, splattering Sasha and causing her to have to wipe her eyes. Alexander was bleeding out quickly, his health bar at 40% and dropping. She yanked the cleaver the rest of the way out, and cast her largest heal on him. The bleeding stopped, and his health bar went back up to 50%. Most importantly, the blood flow was restored. The dizziness began to wear off as another big heal hit him.

  Sasha paused to check on Brick. Though the fire damage to the mobs was healing him, he was still down to 60%. Sasha hit him with another large heal, as well as a HoT. Then she focused back on Alexander.

  While she made sure he wasn’t dying, Alexander focused his attention again on the lich. It was dancing around the back of the room, avoiding several arr
ows in the process. That thing had to die!

  Focusing on his Ray of Light spell, Alexander pumped 200 mana into it, then released it at the lich. The light burst from his hand, blasting a hole through the lich’s chest. The creature dropped dead instantly, wailing as it died. The moment it hit the ground, all the adds that weren’t already destroyed by the fire, dropped lifelessly to the floor.

  Level up! You are now level 34!

  Your wisdom has increased by +1. Your intelligence has increased by +1

  You have 21 free attribute points available

  The level up brought them all back to full health and mana. Alexander simply sat where he was, too tired to move. Max and Lainey began to loot the lich and the adds. This came as a surprise to Alexander. He’d expected Lainey to rush over to check on him, then call him an idiot.

  Kai walked over to kneel in front of Alexander. “My apologies. I was unable to move quickly enough to keep him from harming you.” The dragon lowered his eyes in shame.

  “It wasn’t your fault, Kai. That thing moved like lightning. Brick didn’t have time to block it, I didn’t have time to raise a shield, or even block with my staff. I’m alive. Don’t worry about it.”

  Nodding his head, Kai changed the subject. “The lich will resurrect itself if we do not find its phylactery.” He rose and began to search the room.

  Chapter Three Dragons Are a Guild’s Best Friend

  “What’s a phyl… phyl… what’s he talking about?” Lainey asked as she approached to stand next to Alexander. She kicked him in the leg and mumbled, “Idiot!” He couldn’t help but smile.

  “A phylactery is an artifact that a lich uses to store its soul. When its body is destroyed, its soul flows back into the artifact, and it begins the process of possessing another body. Depending on the power of the lich, and the availability of a new body, this can take anywhere from a few minutes, to years. I’m guessing with all these bodies around, we don’t have a lot of time,” he explained.

  “What does it look like?” Lainey was already scanning the room.

  “Don’t know. Usually it would be a gem or a crystal. But it could be pretty much any inanimate object. You’ll know it when you see it,” Alexander said.

  Kai had been standing near the center of the room, eyes closed. He turned, mumbling to himself, then faced the right hand door. “It’s in there,” he said with finality. Stepping to the door, he punched it with a seemingly casual blow. The heavy wooden door disintegrated into tiny splinters that peppered everything in the room beyond.

  Stepping through the door, Kai disappeared. Sasha helped Alexander to his feet, and the group rushed to follow the dragon.

  The small room, maybe 6x6, was more of a cell than a room. But it was filled with boxes and piles of loot! There was gold, silver, art work, sculptures, platters and tea services, any and every type of treasure one could imagine. Just a quick glance from Alexander was enough to notice dozens of gems scattered about.

  “Well, shit,” said Brick.

  Kai just laughed. “Fear not. I am a dragon. This simple ruse will not deter me. No creature on Io knows treasure better than a dragon!”

  Alexander cast mage sight on himself as Kai looked around the room. He could see from the overlapping glowing areas that many of the items were enchanted. But he didn’t see anything that screamed ‘phylactery’ to him. A quick glance at Kai showed the dragon was thinking the same.

  “Brick, buddy. Feel like a bit of pally action?” He looked to the dwarf. Getting a questioning look in return, he winked. “A lot of this loot is enchanted. Considering where we are, some of it could be dangerous. How ‘bout a quick request to Durin to bless this room?”

  The dwarf chuckled. “Aye, that be possible.”

  Dropping to one knee, the dwarf held his hammer to his chest and lowered his head in prayer. After maybe ten seconds, the hammer began to glow more brightly than usual. Then the dwarf himself began to glow. The aura of holy light spread out from him in an expanding ring, until it covered the entire room. Alexander had noted that several of the enchantments had winked out when exposed to the blessing.

  As the wave of light hit the back wall of the room, there was a high-pitched keening. It appeared to come from behind the stone. Running his hand across the stone, Kai reported, “There’s a hidden alcove here.” Without another word, the dragon cracked his staff against the stone, causing it to crack and fall away. It revealed a small alcove, maybe a foot wide and three feet deep. Inside it was a jeweled chest.

  Kai withdrew the chest and set it down atop a much larger chest that sat against a side wall. Opening the box, he revealed an interior lined with purple velvet. The entire box was filled with diamonds!

  Grabbing a silver teapot from the pile, Kai dumped the diamonds inside, and handed the teapot to Max. He then ripped out the velvet lining, searching underneath. Finding nothing, he turned to Lainey.

  “Please take the teapot from Max, and cast your Mend spell into it.”

  Lainey did as requested, taking the pot in both hands. After a moment of concentration, both hands glowed briefly. Nothing happened.

  Kai nodded. “It is as I thought. Come with me.” Taking the jeweled chest in hand, he stepped out of the room and back into the surgery. He set the small chest down atop the table where the surgeon had been working on the orc.

  “Separating a lich from its phylactery is no small feat. I wish all of you to cast your Soul Trap spell upon this chest. Now.” Following his own instructions, he cast the spell himself. The others complied and cast the spell onto the box. There was no reaction that any of them could see.

  “Again,” Kai said. Another round of spells were cast. This time a faint shadow formed around the chest.

  Looking at Brick, Kai said, “It is done. Now the box must be completely destroyed.”

  Grinning, Brick mumbled a few words of prayer, then raised his hammer high above his head. With both hands, and all the considerable strength the dwarf could bring to bear, he slammed the hammer down upon the jeweled chest.

  There was an explosion of light and dark magic as the hammer blow shattered the box.

  “Gather the pieces. Every single one!” Kai growled at them. They began to pick up splinters of wood and loose gem fragments from the floor around the table. When they were done, Kai dropped to his hands and knees and searched again to make sure not the tiniest piece was missed.

  Standing, he dropped a few small fragments onto the table with the others. “Alexander? Wizard’s Fire if you please?” Alexander and Kai both cast Wizard’s Fire onto the pile of fragments. Brick cast Holy Smite upon the pile as well. Lainey put her hands upon the table and cast her Mend spell repeatedly.

  When the fire died down, all that remained was a smoky grey crystal the size of a golf ball.

  Greater Soul Crystal: Lich Adept

  Item Level: Rare

  Charge: 400/400

  Kai nodded his head. “It is finished.”

  Alexander lifted the crystal, examining it. “It says it has 400 charges?”

  “Yes,” Kai said, “that was a powerful lich. That crystal can now be used to charge enchanted items. Or the power within it could be added to a magical construct, like the dragon forge. The crystal itself could be placed within a weapon or armor to provide an enchantment. The crystals have many uses.”

  Grinning, Max said, “These would be hugely valuable at auction. As far as I know, nobody else has the knowledge to MAKE these. They sometimes drop after a boss or mini-boss fight. We could corner the market!”

  Alexander had read a few books from early in the century that featured players with ‘inner greedy’ hamsters or pigs. He grinned back at Max, picturing him as a giant hamster.

  “We still have a room to clear,” Lainey spoke up. As one, the group turned to the unopened left hand door in the back wall of the surgery.

  “Right! Good lookin’ out, lass!” Brick stomped toward the door. The others took up their standard positions behind him.
/>   Opening the door as quietly as possible, Brick leaned in to look around. “Huh,” was all he said. Stepping back, he cleared the way for the others to see inside.

  It was a large room, maybe 50x60, with a closed door on the left hand wall. There were no furnishings of any kind, just bare stone walls and floors. But wandering around were maybe fifteen zombies.

  “They’re… clones?” Sasha asked. Indeed, the zombies all appeared to be copies of each other. In life they would have been a very attractive female elf. Alexander was instantly suspicious. There was no such thing as cloning in Io.