Redemption Arc

Rather than run at a breakneck pace, the monastics were taking things slowly and deliberately. They needed to. There was a lot of foliage that needed to be avoided or pushed aside unless they wanted to knocked off while riding. Lucian in particular was constantly fighting off thorny branches because Aurelia was giant in comparison to the others.

“Maybe you could be our tour guide, Miriam,” Heath said as they started to cross the threshold between the lands of the New Riverrans and the elves. The jungle grew ever denser. “Most of us have never ventured deep inside the elven territories like you.”

“I’m not sure that’s the best idea,” Miriam said.

“What? Why not?” Heath persisted.

“I think you’re supposed to keep morale up on these kinds of treks,” Miriam said dryly.

“You’re the only one of us that actually grew up here. Most of us have only visited the settlements closest to the capital,” Heath insisted. “Besides, you’re good with words. Right, Azalea?”

“Umm… yes, Miriam is very intelligent,” Azalea agreed. “But if she doesn’t want to, that’s fine.”

A few of the others chimed in with words encouraging her to speak about her experiences. Lucian didn’t.

“Very well,” Miriam eventually said begrudgingly. “What you’ve seen—the largely half-human, half-elven settlements on the fringes, working on the plantations and the farms… it’s not at all like the deep elven lands.”

“What’s it like?” Heath asked.

“There are endless abandoned cities, ghost towns, overgrown fields, and toppled monuments,” Miriam said. “I’m told that when the Black Bloom fell upon our people, we had countless cities as bustling and thriving as Valmere. Their ruins dot the landscape, now. The jungle appears to be on humanity’s side, because it grows relentlessly, covering our history. Or maybe it’s not on your side. Maybe it’s the hundreds of thousands of unburied bodies providing sustenance to the greenery. Could be.”

Everyone quickly grasped the reason she’d been so hesitant.

“There are very few women among the elven clans,” Miriam continued. “Know why?”

“Why?” Rowan asked in somber tones.

“Because a lot of them moved to the territories closest to Valmere. Not for economic reasons, like the president says. No one wants to work in those plantations, I imagine. I suppose I’ve never asked. Maybe they toil the fields with smiles on their weather-beaten faces,” Miriam said thoughtfully. “You see, the Black Bloom can’t be cured. It can be halted, but not cured. And it can’t be halted for a child in the womb.

“Our women move to human lands because the only way to ensure their children have immunity from the Black Bloom is to have a half-elven child. Pure elven children have incredibly high stillbirth rates, and those few that do survive end up like me.” She chuckled. “I lost a leg and most of the feeling in my fingers, and everyone calls me ‘the lucky one.’ That’s a rather nice window into our society, I should think.”

“…my mother was a paramour to a rich merchant in Valmere,” Arthur added quietly. “And most of the kids I knew were much the same. The people from the city call where I grew up the Kennels.”

“Right. So, because women are leaving, the clans are mostly men these days,” Miriam continued. “And they’re bitter, too. Why wouldn’t they be? First they lose a war, now the humans take their women? I’d be bitter myself. And bitterness is a woman repellant, so it’s a vicious cycle. Still, some clans persisted. Some cities did, too. But countless clans degenerated into roaming warlords and petty bandits. So… that’s the picture.”

It was an incredibly grim tale, and it was no wonder that Miriam hadn’t been eager to delve into it. A heavy atmosphere set over party as they moved onward. In a world where there were literal demons, it seemed humanity was responsible for one of its darkest acts.

“I’m, umm… I’m sorry, Miriam,” Azalea said.

“Why? Did you have something to do with it?” Miriam asked sarcastically. She looked back seriously. “Keep your pity. It was war—a war fought by our ancestors, not us. I don’t think for a second that we wouldn’t have done the same to you if the roles were reversed. Honestly, we might’ve gone further… but keep that between us.” Miriam sighed and shook her head. “Either way, thinking about the past is pointless. We have to live in the present, and focus how to make things better for the future.”

People gave their agreement. Generally, the people of New Riverra today accepted that the elves had been hard done by. The difference in opinion rested in what should be done to remedy that. The Mistfelds were the most elf-friendly candidate. Well… except Enoch. He was an elf supremacist, though.

Rowan changed the subject, asking, “Do you think we’ll run into any of those warlords?”

“It’s not impossible, but I’d say it’s unlikely. We’re venturing into territory that’s thicker with monsters than with people,” Miriam noted. “And the routes that we’re taking leads us through the major cities, which are well-patrolled. After we stop at the ruins of Krynziantil, the largest of the cities is coming up: N’narathazni.”

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“W-what was that?” Bethany asked.

“N’narathazni,” Miriam repeated. She looked over and said reassuringly, “Don’t worry. Most of the people there are bilingual by now. Deeper in the jungles, you have people that only know elven… but that’s a long way off.”

“Do you speak elvish? You don’t have an accent,” Arthur noted.

“I do speak elvish,” Miriam confirmed. “My mother endeavored very hard to make sure that I developed no accent. She thought it would help me perform well in the city. She was right, clearly. I blend right in with all the other half-elves with my cripple walk and angular, sharp features.”

Azalea looked at her. “I think you’re very exceptional, Miriam. You might be the most exceptional of all of us.”

Miriam shook her head. “I’d be nothing without the good fortune to meet the right people. Chief among those people is Enoch. Without him, I might well be giving birth to another Arthur right now in the Kennels, like so many other young elven women…”

“Another Arthur? A horrible nightmare,” Ruth said dryly.

Miriam was the only one to laugh.

***

As they progressed deeper into the jungle, Lucian started to see some of what Miriam had been talking about. In the game, this had merely been an environment to him like any other. But as he went through the jungle alongside the others, it truly felt as though he was walking through the graveyard of a mighty civilization.

There were paved roads… but the jungle had crept through the stones, erupting between the cracks of the bricks. There were fortresses on critical junctures, entirely empty and losing themselves to the rainforest. Sometimes it was incredibly easy to miss entire settlements that had been overgrown. They could step atop a house without realizing it, thinking it was nothing more than another hill on the path.

Nature was a terrifying force here, more so than any other place Lucian had seen. They could feel that nature acutely. It was incredibly hot and humid. They had prepared some items to help them cope with the environment, and Lucian had even gone so far as to prepare some specialized ice spells. Regardless, the heat and humidity were a pervasive thing difficult to escape.

Just when the sun seemed liable to set, the jungle cleared slightly and they came to something of a cliff overlooking their destination. It was a sight to behold.

The abandoned city of Krynziantil was made of a faint beige stone, standing out like a pearl in the desert of green. The jungle had eaten away at the outside, but the core of it remained untouched. It was divided by straight canals and stone roads, many of which remained functional despite nearly a century of disuse. Stone temples and stepped pyramids rose from a central ceremonial precinct, their stairways steep and symmetrical, surrounded by courtyards, shrines, and administrative buildings. Dense neighborhoods of slope-roofed houses spread outward in ordered blocks, separated by waterways and crossed by narrow bridges.

“Heavens…” Heath remarked, shocked. “Who… why was this city abandoned?”

“The others were better,” Miriam said dryly, pride on her face. “It’s not hard to see. A city of this size needs a lot of work to maintain. It needs a large agricultural base, a lot of laborers to work the fields, and a lot of people to fight back against the constantly-creeping jungles. Communal labor is essential to prospering in this harsh place. With much fewer people in the community, we had to recongregate… or degenerate.”

Aurelia tapped Lucian’s shoulder with one of her tails. He looked down, only for her to gesture. Lucian looked out across the city to see what she was referencing, and quickly found it.

“There,” Lucian said, pointing for everyone else. “You see that? Aurelia spotted something.”

Everyone started to look where Aurelia had pointed out, where there was a serpentine creature slithering through the city.

“A basilisk… or maybe a gorgon,” Ruth said. “That’s no slight vermin.”

“Gorgons. Definitely,” Lucian said.

This city was location of the first blessing that Lucian intended to obtain.

“Sun’s falling,” Rowan said. “I don’t want us to rush this trying to finish before night falls—plus, we need to be mindful of the monastics. They must be fatigued. Let’s set up camp very carefully, and then tackle this first thing tomorrow.”

“How the hell am I supposed to sleep well knowing we’re going to be fighting tomorrow?” Bethany said anxiously.

Ruth looked over. “You don’t seem to sleep well, period.”

Bethany conceded that with a grimace.

***

Their party had to take a great many measures to make sure that their camp was both secure and inconspicuous. By the time they’d finished setting it up, everyone was exhausted, and the sun had fallen well behind the horizon. Lucian found sleep easily, almost enjoying the ambience of the jungle.

And now, in the early morning, Lucian had gone to a gatehouse on the outskirts of the city.

Lucian took a deep breath as he stared at a lever. Once he pulled this, a lock on the canals would shift. The damaged canals would overflow, and water would enter into the drain pipes in large quantities. This would flood the sewers—the place where the majority of the gorgons had made their nest. They’d spill out into the city. It wasn’t going to be an easy fight, but it was much easier than trying to invade the narrow sewers that they’d made their homes.

Lucian pulled the lever. Then, he walked outside of the gatehouse where Aurelia waited. He clambered on her back, and she moved quickly to rejoin the others as they watched the city from on high. Water overflowed into the streets, flowing into the drain pipes. One by one, gorgons started to burst free from countless locations.

“Let’s go,” Rowan said. “By the time we get there, the water will have subsided.”

At that, all of them started to descend into the city of Krynziantil. Lucian held his Inquisitor’s Spetum at hand. They fell upon the city quickly, following their prepared path. The moment that Aurelia set foot upon the stone of the ruins, a horn sounded out. All of the monastics grouped up and froze, alarmed.

Moments later, figures began to appear around the city. Judging by their armor, they were definitely elven. They were much too well-armed to be bandits, but if they weren’t bandits… who the hell were they? Even Miriam knew this land was presently ungoverned.

“We’re already committed to the attack. Let’s go!” Rowan shouted.