Shadowborn

Chapter Twenty-Five: Mission Prep

Chapter Twenty-Five: Mission Prep

Cynthia had lost track of how long she’d been sitting at the table in the main hall of the Guild. Nothing felt real. She vaguely remembered Camden staggering back, bruised and injured. She remembered him telling her that Elisa was dead. That he’d left her behind to die alone and afraid. Torn apart by hordes of spiders in the dark. She remembered screaming. Crying. Her fingernails digging into the flesh of his face and her head exploding in pain when he’d struck her.

Someone had dragged her away, and she’d ended up at this table. She knew she was in shock. She’d seen so many adventurers in the same state after they came home with fewer party members than when they’d left. That knowledge did nothing to stop her mind from going to dark places. From thinking of how scared Elisa must have been. That she’d never hear her closest friend’s voice again. She’d never get to see Elisa gushing over her genius creations in that way only she could. Never get to hold her again. Never get to explore wherever their relationship had been headed.

She’d never get to tell Elisa just how long she’d had a crush on the adorably nerdy girl. How much it had meant to Cynthia when Elisa had so bashfully asked if she’d ever consider leaving Anford and going to the capital where Elisa’s gifts might find a place. They’d made so many plans. Plans that were now pointless. Elise was gone, and after attacking an adventurer on Guild grounds so was her job, most likely. In a single morning, she’d lost everything. Everything that mattered, at least.

Cynthia was vaguely aware of people offering condolences. Coworkers and adventurers who recognized her. Their words never quite made it through the fog in her head. What was she going to do now? Everything had made so much sense yesterday, but now the world felt shattered. Wrong. Yet everyone else was going about their day as if the most important part of the world hadn’t been ripped away.

At some point, after minutes or hours or days, she looked around the room. Something had shifted the mood, and it took her a moment to figure out what. There was a man standing by the bulletin board combing over the available jobs. So many of the others stared at him while trying to pretend they weren’t. Some in curiosity, others disdain, more than a few with lust. He was alone. Did that mean he was looking for a party? For members? He was a new face, and that could mean opportunity for some, competition for others.

Tall, broad shoulders, dark hair, sharp blue eyes, and an air that made the adventurers near him skittish. He wasn’t scary, exactly, but there was an intensity about him. He read over each and every job closely. He didn’t just look at the pay, but at every detail available on the sheet before moving on to the next. His gaze lingered on the spider-hunting job, the open ended one that had taken Elisa from her.

Cynthia knew him, she realized. He’d been recently promoted to E-rank after bringing in those creatures. She’d been present and had seen just how terrifying the monster was. This man may have been low ranked, but she didn’t think it was for lack of power. She’d worked as a receptionist at the guild for three years, and to her eye he didn’t carry himself like a low ranker. There was a danger about him. A calm confidence. A sort of resigned strength.

Then, as if he could feel her gaze, he turned his head and his gaze fell upon her. She could only imagine how she looked. Eyes red from crying, her makeup smeared, her lip split and her face splotchy and swollen from where Camden had struck her. She was a mess, to be sure. She glared back at him, bracing herself to be dismissed. For the pity to twist his features. For him to feel sorry for her.

But there was something else that flashed behind his eyes. Not pity, but sympathy. Understanding. He inclined his head to her, a gesture of respect and condolences. One that settled the pain in her gut more than anything else had so far. Somehow he knew what she was going through just at a glance, and he knew there was nothing he could say to take her pain away.

But there was something he could do.

He turned his attention back to the board, and she forced herself to stand and run out of the guild. She sprinted home as fast as she could, relishing in the burning of her lungs and the pain in her legs when she arrived. She darted to where she’d been stashing her money—her savings for a future that no longer existed—and collected every coin she had. Then, hoping he’d still be there, she raced back.

When she returned, he’d barely moved. He held in his hand a job relating to a band of gnolls spotted in the south. A dangerous job, but not one that paid well. She collected herself as best she could, sure that she still looked more than a little disheveled, and approached.

“I want to hire you.” Her voice came out steadier than she’d expected considering they were the first real words she’d spoken since she’d learned of Elisa’s fate.

Gods, he was tall up close. She had to fight not to cringe when he turned to her. He was intimidating in a way that was so natural he likely didn’t even realize what he was doing. He was also painfully handsome in a terrifying way, and a traitorous part of her wish she’d met him when she hadn’t just had an integral part of her ripped out and stomped on.

He looked at her with an appraising eye, then gestured to a nearby empty table. She nodded, and they sat. “Not sure why you’d want me,” he said. “I’m just an E rank.” His tone made it clear how little he cared about rank. There wasn’t any disdain or bitterness in his voice, just curiosity about why he was sitting across from her.

She set her sack of coin on the table. It wasn’t much, but it was all she had. “I’ve met a lot of adventurers, and you’re definitely not just anything. You brought in those monsters that the scholars have been drooling over the last two days.”

He inclined his head. “I did.”

“You’re strong.”

“I can handle myself if the situation demands it.”

She suddenly felt so uncertain. The money she had to offer was nothing compared to the other jobs that would be much easier. “I want to hire you.”

“You mentioned that. What’s the job?”

A lump formed in her throat. “Corpse retrieval.” Bile rose in her throat and she had to fight the urge to clamp a hand over her mouth. She wouldn’t vomit in front of the man she was trying to hire, and she wouldn’t let him see the pain those two words caused her. She’d practiced keeping her emotions in check for years with adventurers of both sexes shamelessly hitting on her, and she used every bit of that practice now.

His gaze softened. “I see. Where from?”

“The sewers. Under them, at least.”

The man’s eyes flicked towards the board. “The Valax spiders?”

She gripped the edge of the table so hard her knuckles turned white. “That’s right.”

He regarded her for a while, leaning back in his chair. Eyes a blue so deep she felt like she was going to fall into them regarded her with an intensity that made it hard to hold his appraising stare, but she did. “I’m Ren. Your name?”

“Cynthia.”

“A pleasure, Cynthia.” His fingers drummed on the table. “Why don’t you tell me what happened. I’d like as much information as possible before I decide whether I’ll take the job.”

She gave him a curt nod. That was a reasonable request. She donned her receptionist mask. She could maintain it for at least long enough to get through this conversation. “As the job on the bulletin states, the Valax spiders are an invasive species. One that’s been expanding into new areas of the sewers over the last few months. There’s currently an open contract for burning the nests to drive the infestation back, but it’s little more than an inconvenience to the city as a whole.”

“So I read,” he said. “No civilian deaths so far, just a few adventurers and some pets. Your friend was one of those adventurers, then?”

Another pang of pain. “Yes and no. The group she was with were adventurers that have been on a number of spider hunts, but she is—” the words died in her throat, “—was a non-combat class. She paid them to take her for experience farming. It’s not uncommon, especially with the spider hunts.”

Ren’s finger started slowly tapping the surface of the table. “What went wrong?”

Cynthia forced herself to remember Camden’s words. “There was an ambush. The spiders set some kind of trap, apparently. They incapacitated their mage, then injured the fighters. After, a spider caught Finnegan unawares and killed him. They fled, but Camden was the only one to make it out.”

“How big was the largest of the spiders?”

“Camden said it was a few feet tall, I think.”

His finger tapped a few more times. “You know where they went down?”

She nodded and pulled out a map of the city. She pointed to where they’d descended. “I don’t know past that, unfortunately.”

He nodded thoughtfully, but Cynthia knew what an adventurer on the fence looked like. He looked up at her. “And you want me to find her body? It’s possible it might not be pretty.”

Oh gods. Oh gods. Cynthia clenched her fists to fight back another wave of bile. Of tears. She could do this. She could hold on long enough to finish this, then she could break down. “If—if it’s bad, then anything of hers would be enough. She was an inventor. She went down with all of her creations, so if you could bring back anything—” she choked, “—anything of hers that I could remember her by. And offer her a decent burial, if you can.” She slid the meager pouch of coin across the table. “I know it isn’t much, but I’m afraid this is all I can offer you.”

He eyed the pouch for what felt like an eternity, then he let out a long breath. “I’m sorry, but I just can’t justify taking this job.” He slid the coins back towards her. “I hope you understand.”

She felt like she’d been hit in the gut. The weight of today slammed into her, threatening to break her. “I get it. I can’t say I’m surprised.”

He inclined his head, then he stood. She remained sitting. She wasn’t sure she could get her legs to work anyways. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry for your loss. The pain never goes away, but it does get easier to carry. Eventually.”

She blinked back the tears already beginning to to form. She didn’t trust herself to answer, so she just nodded. He left, and a sob slipped past her lips. It was over, then. She’d failed. Elisa was gone, and she’d never have anything to remember her friend by. The girl she’d spent the last two years falling in love with. Even Ren wasn’t willing to help her.

Although, before the tears fully blurred her vision, she couldn’t help but notice him grab the spider hunt information off the bulletin board on his way out.

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Spiders. Why did it have to be spiders? Why couldn’t it be literally anything else? And Valax spiders, no less. The magical, invasive species variety, too. Also known as the biggest pain-in-the-ass species known to Kasidiel. But Cynthia had sought me out, and if I was right then there was no way I could deny her request. That didn’t mean I had to take her money, though.

But fucking spiders? Anything with more than four limbs that got any bigger than a coin needed to be cleansed with fire. Especially those that scuttled. I needed to prepare, though. Spiders meant venom, and venom demanded antidotes. I stopped by the general store where I’d gotten Noelle’s wellness potions and bought any that I might need. General antidotes, specific remedies that I probably wouldn’t need but wasn’t willing to risk going without, some extra belt-hung lanterns, and some paring knives meant specifically for cutting into carapace.

After I left the store, my thoughts drifted to Noelle. To what had happened this morning. What I’d done, and what I’d learned. Vorl’s nephew. If I didn’t know before that Karn’s experiments were somehow related to Noelle, I sure did now. Even thirty-five years later, he was haunting me. I hadn’t been thorough enough when I’d dismantled his operation, and now others were paying the price. It was one more thing on the list of shit I had to take care of after I got to the capital.

I was still more than a little raw that I’d let him get so close. That he’d struck Rhallani and grabbed Noelle before I’d arrived. I’d already been moving when the twins sprinted up the stairs to get me, but even then I’d almost been too late. I should have guessed he’d be so close behind us. That he probably had contacts in the city that would lead him to us. My only solace was that he was dead now, and that Noelle knew that he couldn’t hurt her any longer.

Serena was turning a shade of green. “How big are we talking exactly?”

“Dog sized if we’re lucky.”

“If we’re not?”

The biggest Valax I’d ever seen had been nearly thirty feet tall, but I wasn’t going to tell her that. “According to Cynthia, maybe as tall as you.”

She clutched her spear tightly. “Would now be a good time to tell you that I’m afraid of spiders?”

I paused. “You don’t have to force yourself to come along. If you want to sit out, I won’t hold it against you.”

Serena just sighed. “No, no, it’s fine. I’m sure I’ll be facing worse by the time all is said and done if I’m staying with you.”

I wished I could argue. I gave her arm a squeeze and she smiled. “Don’t worry, Valax aren’t too scary when you know how to deal with them. And with my Resilience, I’m even more suited to kill them. But, just to be safe, here.” I pulled the pouches out of my inventory and gave one to each of them. It would hang from their belts. “Antidotes, healing potions, and a mana potion. Just in case.”

They all nodded and strapped them on. I had to help Noelle a little, and I realized that some of her buckles on her armor weren’t strapped down correctly. “Hang on, let me fix these for you.” She froze, letting me adjust her straps as needed. “You’ve never worn armor before, have you?”

She shook her head. “I have a skill that only activates if I’m not wearing armor, so they never let me.”

“You don’t have to wear armor if you don’t want to,” I told her.

She shifted from foot to foot. “It reduces the damage I take, but it increases the pain.”

Rhallani sucked in her breath, and Serena wrapped her arms around Noelle. I finished adjusting her straps.

“In that case, I’m glad you’re in armor. If we have you fight in it enough, then hopefully your skill will evolve into something else.”

“Do you really think that could happen?” I smiled at the hope in her voice. She was working less and less to hide it.

I patted her head. “I think there’s no harm in trying. Even if it takes a while.”

Noelle made an uncertain hum, then she reached up and grabbed the hand on her head. I froze, but to my surprise she simply moved it lower until it was pressed against the side of her face. She closed her eyes when I gently ran my thumb along her cheek. “I would like to try, then.”

I hadn’t seen her be this forward yet, so I left my hand there. “Then try we shall. And after we finish, we can experiment to see what exactly your skill counts as armor. If we can find something light and comfortable, like bracers or something, you can wear it during our off times as well to counter it.”

By the time she let my hand go, her cheeks had darkened slightly. “Thank you.”

I left it there for a moment longer to show her that I was caressing her because I wanted to, not just because she wanted it. “Don’t thank me until we’ve managed to get you a class and skills you actually like.”

Her lips twitched downward, and she nodded. Rhallani was practically glowing after our little interaction, and Serena was trying and failing to hide a warm smile. Noelle remained close to me for the short time before we arrived at the sewer entrance. I was reminded of her heightened smell when she wrinkled her nose, but she brooked no complaint when I led the way down. Once we were out of the city proper, while I lit some waist-hung lamps and handed them out, Serena started to strip.

“Um, Serena?” I asked when she decided her bra was also unnecessary. I was enjoying the show to be sure, but it was a little hard to get into the mood when you were in a literal sewer. “Not that I don’t appreciate the eye candy, but maybe now isn’t the best of times.”

She smiled shyly. “Well, when you gave Noelle your armor, it appeared under her clothes anyways. Besides, it had more than enough support the last time I wore it. My panties got bunched up and I couldn’t reach them, so I figured this would be better.”

Well if that’s how she felt, I wasn’t going to argue. Sewers or not, I still pulled her against my chest and gave her a deep kiss while I cast [Armor of Shadows] on her. When I did, she gasped. “It’s so warm! It feels like—”

“Like Ren is embracing you all over?” Noelle offered.

She blushed, then nodded. I took a moment to appreciate how good she looked while I ran my hand along the exposed skin around her midriff. “Skills always have a bit more to them than their description, and mine are no exception. We’ll have to experiment with this one when we have the time.” That and I hoped multiple castings might help it evolve eventually. If I could summon more than one at a time, that would be amazing.

She took a fluttering breath. “I thought it would feel different. Rougher, like leather, but it’s soft.” Her fingers became a blur while she twisted her hair into a single braid. “I’ve had underwear less comfortable than this. I’m not sure I’ll be able to wear normal armor ever again.”

Rhallani traced her finger along the top of Serena’s cleavage. “One of these days I want to see what it looks like on me, too. It covered a lot more skin when he cast it on Noelle.”

Indeed it had. On Noelle, it had created a full set of armor for her. The only areas left uncovered were her head and the gap on her back where her wings would emerge. Whether it was Noelle’s doing or mine, her outfit had been much less revealing than Serena’s. On Rhallani, though... Well, if it had anything to do with the wearer’s level of perversion, it was hard to imagine anything more conservative than an armored bikini, really.

Rhallani’s hand found my cheek and she pulled me down for a kiss of her own. Then, when I felt a reticent tug on the back of my shirt, I leaned down and kissed Noelle on the cheek as well. It was only a slight brush, but her hum reached a high pitch and she blushed slightly. She let me go, though, so it seemed that was what she wanted for now.

I banished Serena’s clothes and we started down the tunnel in the direction Cynthia indicated. Once we had a heading, Rhallani asked, “Zaren, why don’t you wear armor? I’ve always wondered.”

It was a fair question, I supposed, but one that I hadn’t really put a lot of thought into. “I’ve worn it in the past, but for most of my life my fighting was done for survival and almost always at a moment’s notice. I never had the luxury of armor when I was growing up, so I simply learned to fight without it. Even now, because so much of my fighting style revolves around speed and chaos, I can’t wear anything that’s too heavy or makes too much noise. Otherwise it would do more harm than good. And we simply haven’t had the time for me to have something strong enough to matter but light enough to move in to be made.”

“What about your [Armor of Shadows] skill?” Serena asked.

“I’m sure it would make me quite dangerous on the battlefield, but I don’t want to use it on myself. Not yet, at least.”

Rhallani apparently sniffed a mystery. “Why not?”

“For one, I’d much rather you three be safe than me. I’m used to fighting at a disadvantage, and knowing my skill protects you makes it easier to focus on offense.” Serena’s back straightened, and Rhallani flashed me another smile. “And,” I continued, “if I’m being honest, I want to see what I can get the skill to grow into.”

Rhallani’s eyes flashed. “How so?”

“Well, in the past, my class has been exceptionally selfish. This time around, I’ve got a whopping three skills that I can use on others, which is two more than I had before. Something’s different, and if I can get the skill to evolve into something better for protecting my allies, I think that’d be for the best.” I could see questions burning at her, which made me laugh. “Go on, ask.”

“What kind of class is your class? You’ve said it was always a selfish one, and it clearly makes you stronger when fighting at a disadvantage even at your relatively low level. No offense, but it also doesn’t ever look much like a ‘good guy’ class when you use it.”

I inclined my head. “Because it’s not. According to Allura, I’m the first wielder of my class to ever fight for the light.”

Serena sucked in her breath. “How is that possible?”

I had theories, but they were a little difficult to get into without revealing just how I’d obtained my class in the first place. That was still a conversation I wasn’t ready to get into, though descending into a dark underground filled with hostile creatures was already digging up old memories.

“I’m a special case. To get my class normally, you’d have to live a pretty abysmal life. Sometimes, when the ‘good guys’ win, the world doesn’t always benefit. Given enough time, the selfish and greedy will find a way to abuse any system. When things get bad enough and the lowborn’s lives get hard enough, eventually someone like me is born that gets a class capable of changing things.”

“Go through enough, and you end up wanting to tear down the world instead of building it back up better. Best I can figure, the Shadowborn class is a balance shifter. A way for the dark to fight back against unrelenting light when a utopia goes too far and crushes those at the bottom of the food chain.”

I knew she had more questions, especially about my class, but I also knew that after last night she’d be hesitant to ask them. I felt guilty for it, but I was also glad I wouldn’t have to answer those particular inquiries. She was simply too darn smart sometimes, and I knew if she wanted to she could cut right to the questions that would be hardest to answer.

There was a warmth at my back that I knew to be Serena’s hand. “You’ve been very concerned with us, but are you alright to go down here?”

I couldn’t help but smile. She was getting better and better at reading me, and for once I didn’t think that was a bad thing. “I’m no fan of the underground or spiders, but I’ve never been someone who had the luxury of choosing their trials. This is nothing compared to some of the shit I’ve been through, and I didn’t have all of you with me then.”

She bit the inside of her cheek, but nodded, though she didn’t remove her hand until we arrived at a chalk marking over a thick layer of webs. Rhallani gasped. “Here! My skill pinged!”

The chalk was fresh. An arrow pointing down at the webbing. When I tried to cut it with a knife, the webs nearly broke the blade. “These are Valax webs, alright.” I summoned a tendril and used it to carve through the webs. This time, they parted easily. That the Valax had thought to seal up the entrance was something I took special note of. I already knew they were somewhat intelligent considering their use of ambush tactics, but I was beginning to wonder just how intelligent this colony had grown.

“Last chance to back out,” I told them. I angled my lantern down the hole. It didn’t go far before it widened out into a larger tunnel.

Rhallani snorted. “Yeah, not a chance. If you think I’m letting you go into the scary spider hole without me, then you’re insane. Where you go, I go.”

Serena’s hands trembled a bit as she clenched her spear, but she nodded as well. “I’m more than capable of backing you up even if I’m a little afraid. I’m coming too.”

I looked at Noelle, who was shifting her feet side to side while fingering the head of her axe. “My family is going down there. So am I.”

Serena wrapped her up in a tight hug, lifting her feet off the ground. I just nodded. “In that case, let’s go kill some spiders.”