Ruinous Return

He heard the door open and stood up, facing the woman he once loved more than anything. The woman who was his first love, who kept him just far enough away to drive him mad with lust. The person he had betrayed. "Hi," he grunted.

Cecily was riveting as always. Her hair cascaded down her back and around her shoulders, and her piercing eyes held a malice and hatred he had seen before. "You attack my territories and then come to my palace?" She shook her head and pointed to the chair. "Sit." Her words were amplified by her mana, and Kory sat without question or hesitation. She sat in the chair opposite him, and stared in to the crackling flames. Kory wanted to say something, but he couldn\'t. Her power was keeping him silent. "I forgive you. You didn\'t harm the peasants, and in total I only lost four hundred soldiers." She smiled gently, "I heard that you inflicted far worse casualties in James\' lands." She glanced at him sideways, and he felt like he could speak once more. "Did you know he took the throne?"

Kory shook his head, "No. What happened to King Kristoph?"

"The fool tried to kill James in council." She frowned and picked up the poker, stoking the fire until it roared with a blaze that cast a dark, menacing shadow behind her. To Kory\'s eyes, it looked demonic, flickering with a subtle malice. "Instead of using overwhelming numbers in an open field, or even tricking him into the mana-suppressing prison." She shook her head once more as she took her seat, idly turning the poker in her hand. "Damn Elenthians only making a single mana-suppressing dungeon in all of Ghomar. I\'d kill for one of those."

Kory swallowed the lump in his throat. "I am here to serve you."

"Oh? How? In bed? On the front lines? As a footstool?"

"I\'ll do anything," Kory replied. "I need your protection."

Cecily chuckled, "What did you do this time?"

Kory pulled the letter out, as well as the badge, and gave them to Cecily. She scanned the letter and then tossed both it and the badge into the flames. "It\'s not really Lyn. It\'s impossible." She pushed both items deeper into the fire. "I believe the Demonic Dragon did, indeed, return. But it\'s not Lyn. It\'s just using her name."

"That\'s what I\'m afraid of," Kory muttered. "I know…you\'ve been harvesting mana cores."

"Oh? What makes you say that?" Cecily asked.

"Rumors. People in the city whispering things."

Her eyes narrowed and she gripped the armrest of the chair with enough force to cause the wood to splinter – strength that Kory had never seen her exert before. So…she really is harvesting mana cores. When they had arrived in Ghomar, they were told about mana cores. Every person has one, and most people have a weak one. The hero cores were powerful, more than those found in dungeons of the Elenthians. But they were also told that taking the mana cores of the fallen was considered taboo, as it was torturous for the individual.

Cecily leaned back and sighed, "Well, it can\'t be helped I suppose. When you take thousands of unwanted people and they disappear into work camps…" she looked to Kory and he saw the icy stare, knowing there was no trace of humanity left. Just a cold, calculating mind that desired power and control. "I will protect you from whoever you want. In exchange, you will help me bring my duchies to heel. Biskon, Skrell, Logor, Komorra, Rist." She waved for him to leave, "Go to the servant quarters, and rest. You\'ve been on the road some time. We\'ll begin soon enough."

Kory stood up and was about to leave when her commanding voice echoed through his mind. "One more thing," she said. "Come over here."

Kory felt the influence of her Ruler core. He knew what it felt like. As if someone was gripping his mind in an iron vice and forcing his vision, his hearing, his every iota of willpower on her words. He could shake it off with an internal spell that the Berserker had access to…but he had to submit. It\'s the only way I can be safe. He returned to her and was compelled to kneel. He did not try to resist.

"Good pet. Shirt off." He did so, and she dipped the poker into the flames, pulling it up to her hand and using a short transmutation spell to warp the red-hot tip into an ornate letter \'C\'. She handed him a dagger, "Bite down, and not a single noise."

Kory took the dagger and put the blade between his teeth, biting down hard. Cecily pressed the brand into his right pectoral muscle, and he forced air in and out of his lungs in ragged breaths.

"Good boy."

Lynhold was bustling just as she had left it. Night had begun to fall, and Lyn chose to sit outside of the citadel, staring up at the just-starting-to-emerge stars. I hope you get a good new life, she thought, thinking of Zack. She closed her eyes and focused on her mana core, feeling the bubbling magma of the Destroyer core – her primary core. But she pushed deeper and could feel the Scout and Rogue cores. I know what the Scout one does.

It gave her the ability to learn languages extremely quickly, find the best path to travel even to unknown locations to reach a destination, and gave her perfect memory of any location she had been. But I need to know what the Rogue one does. She focused her will on the core and tried to coax the information out, and what she heard surprised her.

It was Zack\'s voice. Alrighty Lyn, fuck this is weird. I\'m gone-gone. This is like a voicemail of sorts. And you can replay it if you focus hard enough. Right, first off, the Rogue core will let you spot and disable any trap – magic or mundane. Pretty neat, eh? Just need the tools appropriate to the task. Also, you\'ll be tricky to spot when you\'re trying to go unnoticed – whether it\'s in a crowd or in the woods. Unless you\'re wearing something that makes you stand out. You also got two spell types: storage and poison elementalism. Alright, that\'s about it. Good luck, go get the other heroes out of their trapped existence…and promise me you\'ll try to get those twins to do a threesome, eh?

She chuckled as the voice faded. Yeah, I don\'t think they\'ll be into that, she thought. But knowing that she could pull up Zack\'s voice any time and hear it…was comforting. He had moved on to a better place, she was sure of it. She opened her eyes and saw a group of Duskari and Newen that had quietly approached. At her notice, they bowed, and held up various foodstuffs. One of the Duskari at the front spoke softly, "Offerings for you, Lady Rivers."

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Lyn stood up and nodded, "I thank you, loyal subjects." She took the offered haunch of meat and ripped a large chunk off with her teeth, savoring the juicy sweetness of it. After swallowing she raised her voice, "Your offerings are accepted. Now partake of them yourself!" The assembled group looked at each other questioningly, and Lyn rolled her eyes. "I may lead you, and I may be the Destroyer, but I do not want you to give up the best you have just to please me. Your service pleases me enough. So partake of the food you have prepared."

This explanation seemed to satisfy them, and further thanks and even some prayers were spoken in her direction. She stood up and gave them a small wave before heading inside Lynhold, continuing to eat the hunk of meat. This is really fucking good. They had used some spice rub that was delicious, and she knew the meat was extremely rare. It was from a specific type of goat that only made its home among the highest peaks in the deep snowdrifts.

Brad ran up to her, "Lyn! Er, Lady Rivers!" he said in English.

Lyn swallowed down the bite she had taken, "Hero Brad, what can I do for you?" she replied in the same language.

"Do you mind if we talk somewhere private?"

"Sure, come to my chambers." She led the way, and Vael met her partway down the tunnel. She switched to Arinol, "Give me an hour, and then come in and be ready to please me." Vael gave her a small grin and nodded before following in step behind the two. Lyn led Brad into her room and then gestured for Vael to shut the door. Switching back to English, she said, "Alright, what did you want to talk about?"

Brad pulled out several small vials, "I have a few…products, ready to go. I can work on mass production thanks to that building you threw up earlier, but I wanted to clear them by you first."

Lyn nodded, "How thoughtful," she said gesturing to the table. Brad produced several vials – four in total – and set them down. He also pulled out a small cloth patch that was a deep purple color.

He took a seat and held up the first vial, "This is a combat stimulant, which I\'m just calling Stim. It makes the person who takes it feel a bit \'on edge\', but they will be alert and able to identify and react to threats."

Lyn held up a hand, "Do all of these have negative side effects?"

"Not the patches. The rest…well, alchemy always has some side effect. I promise, none of these are addictive in any way." Lyn gestured for him to continue, and he picked up the second vial, "These are Bitterbile tablets. They change the stomach acid into something far more deadly and line the user\'s throat and mouth with a powerful base to counteract the acid. If your soldiers vomit after taking a dose, they can puke acid on their foes."

Lyn squirmed a bit in her seat. Vomiting was something that grossed her out, but it was an interesting combat tool. "What\'s the side effect of that one?"

"If they don\'t vomit within an hour, the acid will go through their digestive system. Really bad runs." He held the third vial, "Glimmerbits. These will let people see mana cores just like you could with a divination spell. The downside is that the rest of the world is dull or muted. Maybe one archer per squad takes one, so they can focus on mages? Not good for a frontline combatant." He held up the fourth vial, "Lastly for the pills: Ragebane. It eliminates all emotion in the person, effectively turning them into a psychopath for a short time. The downside is…well, they are a psychopath. They won\'t feel any emotions at all. Great tool if you have an anxious squad of new recruits, or you\'re facing overwhelming odds."

Lyn grabbed the patch and held it. It felt slightly sticky, but the stickiness didn\'t stay on her hands. It was almost like a sticky putty. "This is a bandage of some type?"

Brad nodded, "A simple name for even the dumbest person to remember; Purple Patches. I can make them in a variety of sizes for all types of wounds. They will not only seal wounds, but they have antiseptic properties. The downside is that they can only stay applied for up to four hours before the antiseptic begins to go bad and attack the organism itself. So it\'s a great temporary fix, but not so good for a long-term injury."

Lyn nodded and leaned back as she set the patch down on the table. "These are all excellent. You have permission. Let my council know if you need any resources."

Brad nodded and scooped the items into a pouch. "I did want to talk about one other thing, if you have time."

Lyn nodded, "I\'m all ears."

"I…" he sighed, "I wanted to see if you\'d be okay with me traveling up North to visit Trisha. I can find a few apprentices here – the Newen actually seem rather intrigued by some of the alchemy – and they can begin production."

"Wanting to bring her into the fold?"

"Kind of," Brad muttered. "I…Cecily…" he looked around the room. "Do you have any alcohol? I need to be drunk for this." Lyn shook her head and he heaved a sigh again. "Fuck…Cecily cut my \'bits\' off, if you catch my drift."

Lyn felt actual shock and held her hand up as she gasped. "Oh…Brad…I\'m so sorry." She truly felt sorrow for him. "That must…damn. If you think she can help you, then by all means."

Brad nodded and stood up, "Well, I\'ll let someone know before I leave." He chuckled and held up the badge from his shirt, "This lets me come and go, right?"

Lyn nodded and stood up, "Yeah. And, for full transparency\'s sake." She pulled out the mirror array from the storage choker and unfolded it, channeling mana. Kory and Cecily\'s were filled with the magic static. Brad\'s was showing her, since he was facing her. Volio was in some little house, and sitting across from him were Ben and Trisha. So he got up there.

James\' was also active, and it showed him looking down on the throne room. From the throne? People were coming up and bowing to him and she shook her head. He took out King Kristoph? Wow. She had not expected that level of cold-blooded nature from him. All that\'s left is Misty and Thomas to get theirs.

She turned the panel around to Brad and he scanned through them, "Ah, I should\'ve figured that the inscription was also a spell."

Lyn nodded, "I used Ashley\'s communication network as a basis. Hopefully, one day, maybe if I get the Artificer core, I can upgrade them with a new inscription that enables talking."

Brad\'s eyes narrowed. "What do you mean get the Artificer core?"

Lyn put the mirror panel away, "I went and beat a dungeon earlier today. And when I grabbed the dungeon core it transformed. It turned into the Rogue core." She took a deep breath. He\'s not going to betray me. I can trust him. "It had Zack\'s soul or consciousness, or something trapped in it. He told me that Thomas shattered the statue that was holding the hero cores, and they all went off. He said consuming it would let him either go back to Earth or be reborn on Ghomar. He chose the latter option."

Brad sad down and stared off into space, "That\'s…wow…that\'s a lot."

Lyn sat opposite him and nodded, "Hold on a second, let me try something." She focused her will once more on delving past her Destroyer core and brought the Rogue core to the surface. Okay…I want the message Zack left to be heard aloud. "Leithio i thalion / en-i gadol min / ritha trî nin / a i eneth lín / no phango dú."

The recording of Zack\'s voice played aloud, and Brad sat straight-backed with an awestruck look on his face. When the recording ended, Lyn pushed the core back down, and her Destroyer core bubbled angrily for a moment, as if it was upset that she had focused on a different core instead of it.

Brad wiped his face free of the sheen of sweat. "So, all of them are trapped." He looked at Lyn with determination. "You have to go dungeon delving. Find them, consume them, free them."

Lyn poured mana into the bracer and pulled up the map, "I know where dungeons are. There\'s one more in the Valley I need to tackle." She let the mana fade. "I promise, I\'m going to free them."

Brad nodded, "I\'ll…Can I get one of your Duskari to escort me to Trisha and Ben\'s place?"

Lyn leaned back, "They\'d have to be disguised. But I don\'t see a reason why not. I can give you a whole squad if it makes you feel better. They can shadow you from a distance on the road."

Brad stood up, "Thanks." He was about to turn and leave, but he turned back to her. "This is going to sound odd…can I have a hug?"

Lyn nodded and embraced him, and she felt his tears against her shoulder. "What\'s wrong?"

He sniffled a few times before regaining his composure, "I…I haven\'t been hugged in seven years."

Again, Lyn felt a pang of sorrow through her. He\'s lived a tortured life as Cecily\'s prisoner. "You\'ll always be welcome at Lynhold. I\'m lucky you chose to join me here." She pulled away and made sure he was looking into her eyes. "We are going to make this world a better place."

Brad nodded and smiled, "Promise me you won\'t try to make friends with that bitch. Just fucking end her. She wants to…" he trailed off.

"What does she want?"

His eyes refocused on her, "She wants to rule everything. All Ghomar. And she wants to…fuck, she\'s worse than a dictator. She wants to kill all non-Humans. It\'s fucked up."

Lyn frowned and nodded, "I\'m not Human. Not anymore. And this is my world to take over…I\'ll fucking ruin her."