Woad Children (Challenger's Call Book 3) Read online

  “Good lesson,” Eadric suddenly spoke up next to me.

  “Huh?” I asked the dwarf, not following what he was talking about.

  “What you told the young one about fear. That was a good observation.”

  “Thank you,” I said, surprised at the rare compliment from my stocky companion. Usually the three of them just teased me. I had gotten okay with it because I figured out it was just how they got along, but somehow that made it more real when they actually did say something nice. “It’s something I gotta learn fast if I don’t want to die. Again,” I finished bitterly as my eyes kept scanning the tunnel we walked. “And I’d rather she not go through half of what I did. It’s bad enough I couldn’t stop what’s already happened.”

  “Spoken like an elder brother.” The dwarf nodded, then pointed to the room ahead. “Gonna have to see how she handles that, though.”

  As he said that, we entered the circular chamber that had led to the Rites.

  It had been cleaned up after the massive battle, so we didn’t have to deal with the stink of a hundred decomposing corpses down here. That was yet another reason to write a thank-you card to Guineve for her fix-everything mist magic. But the oldest bones we had decided to leave here, partly because we weren’t sure we could move them and partly because it seemed like their removal would violate the sanctity of this place somehow.

  And since no one but us had gone down here, Val was about to have the same encounter with her ancestors that I had.

  Her eyes widened as she took in the room.

  “Um, Wes?” she asked. “Why are there still bodies in here?”

  “They’re kinda still guarding this place,” I answered awkwardly. I couldn’t put my finger on why it felt wrong to move them. Even taking their strange armor and weapons felt wrong. I guess it was because I could still hear them talk, and because it just wasn’t their time yet.

  So I stepped over the ancient form by the door and brought my little sister into a room full of corpses. Through my mindlink, I could feel her having the same experience I did the first time I came in.

  They talked to her. They sensed the kinship they had with a fellow Earthborn. So they told the same story again, once more speaking the various different languages on Earth despite the fact that the bodies all predated the respective languages by thousands, if not millions, of years.

  Hold the line, they whispered in tongues from every continent. Let the last of them escape. Guard the little ones as they run.

  “Wes?” Val asked, shivering as the impossible words washed over her. “How… I thought this place was old?”

  “It is,” I answered quietly. “It’s been sealed longer than any recorded history on Earth. These bodies predate the oldest known civilization on Earth by aeons. I don’t know exactly how long but it’s possible they predate the Stone Age or even the dinosaurs.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense.” Val shivered again. Her eyes widened further. “I mean… how? Why? What even…” She stopped sputtering, unable to articulate the giant question we had been both given that contradicted everything we had grown to know.

  “I don’t know,” I replied. “I still don’t have an answer, and neither does Breena or anyone else who’s lived here. But I think a giant lie wrapped around our world at one point, and it snatched away massive parts of our story.”

  We continued walking around the different bodies, to let Val process a little longer. I was probably the only one who knew what she was going through. Just as I was the only one who knew how badly she needed to have this discovery.

  Because everyone from my world needed to know this story. The story of how we were something other than some weak, frail primates that were constantly on the verge of destroying ourselves, and that we had been that way for thousands of years.

  But these dead men and women said we were far greater than that. And maybe we could be greater still, once again.

  Val finally stopped trembling, and then she clenched her fists and looked up. Her eyes locked onto a shape I couldn’t see, and then she spoke, first in Vietnamese, then in English.

  “Honored ancestors,” she said, making a low bow while keeping her eyes on whatever she had seen. “Thank you for your story. I will also help.”

  I couldn’t tell what she was keeping her eyes on, and I couldn’t tell what she was experiencing even through the mindlink. But a moment later, I saw her close her eyes and push.

  Her power shuddered its way through the mindlink. I felt a surge as well, though it wasn’t enough to make me Rise in answer. A glance behind me told me Breena and others felt it as well.

  “Damn,” Eadric grunted in surprise. “Can all of you Earthborn do that?”

  From what I could tell, the increase wasn’t as great as it was the first time we all went down here. Just a handful of points to our Dexterity, in fact. I got a vague, shadowy impression of an Ideal I hadn’t comprehended, but not enough to grant any new benefits. Everyone else seemed the same, although Breena seemed excited for some reason.

  “That’s your new Ideal?” she chattered. “Val, that’s awesome! You are going to have so much fun!”

  “Really?” she said in surprise, blinking and apparently still processing her own changes. “Is it a good one?”

  “It’s a great one! I can’t wait to see how you’ll use it!”

  “Um, use what?” I asked, confused.

  “Check your mindlink, Wes. You can figure it out better that way,” Breena lectured. I shrugged and did what she said, and was impressed. Shadow magic? No wonder she called herself a rogue.

  It was at that moment that a shape materialized in front of us.

  He was ghostly, just like he had been in the last vision. A man tall enough to tower over me, wearing winged plate-armor and Native American features.

  “Son of Earth, and Lord of Avalon,” his deep voice washed out. “Thank you for taking our call. Thank you for not abandoning the least of Avalon.”

  I didn’t know he could tell that I was in charge here now. I had thought him to be a projection and not an actual ghost.

  “The once-dead shout your name when they are delivered. Once again you have upheld the old ways: All is not Lost. Failure is Non-permanent. The great blade on your side, Breaker, hums its agreement. Thank you. And thank you, daughter-Earthborn.” The projection’s head turned, facing my adopted sister and his voice grew gentle. “Thank you for answering the call as well. I grieve to see the wounds written on your soul. I grieve to see the guilt you feel over your brother-Earthborn’s wounds, as if they could be your fault. You have been wronged, you have lost, and like him you have been told that you are less because of what you have suffered. But such lies are blasphemy. Know this: because of your courage, the dead will live again. Let no lie hide the fact that your actions in this place set back both the grave and the oppressor. Hold fast. You are needed. You are mighty. And you will take back treasure of both quantity and caliber far greater than what past fools dared to take from you. Seek the lost in this place, and I swear by Invictus you will reap a hundred times the harvest you dare to expect. For behold: victory is your birthright.”

  The ghostly visage raised his gauntlet, and Val shivered again, her eyes wide once more. I braced myself for another rush of power, but this time I just felt her mind expand, as if she was seeing a whole world of events happen before her eyes.

  “That…” she whispered. “Can I really…”

  “No, daughter-Earthborn,” the visage said gently. “You can do far greater things. Those meager images were just to ignite your hope.”

  “Thank you,” she whispered, her eyes watering as she looked up. “I’ll believe you. I’ll believe I can do it.”

  “This thralled world needs you both,” the visage said. “But go forth. Victory is your birthright.”

  He shimmered again, and disappeared in front of me. Val turned to look at me.

  “Did you hear… was that really…” She trailed off.

  “Yeah,
sis,” I said, nodding. “He really talked to you. And he was specifically talking to you. I could tell because his talk with me before was completely different.”

  “So I can…” Her courage was still struggling with the rest of her. But that was okay.

  “Yeah,” I told my sister. “He wasn’t lying. You can do everything he said and more.” I pointed to the other doors. “You’ll see, when we step through those doors and start helping people everyone says we can’t.”

  She shuddered again, then she suddenly hugged me tightly.

  “Thank you,” she sniffled. “For letting me be a part of this.”

  “You’re welcome,” I said, cautiously embracing my prodigal sis. “Now let’s get this party started.”

  #

  I walked to the middle of the room, like I had done the first time.

  “Avalon,” I said loudly. “I come to this place as your Nascent Lord. I seek to gain my remaining lost citizens as well as the rest of my authority so that I may fully conduct my duties. I come here also as an Earthborn warrior answering Avalon’s call to aid.”

  Mist slowly began to rise from the floor.

  “Avalon acknowledges the presence of Nascent Challenger-Lord Wes Malcolm.”

  The planet warbled, and I winced. Here, in this place, we had encountered a piece of the planet’s consciousness that had fractured off from the main body. Its data was corrupted, and we actually needed the device the Malus Men had implanted in my brain to let the rest of Avalon merge with it and repair it. A good portion of it was still damaged, but enough of it remained to give us information about a time period Stell had never known about, the period when there actually was a civilization on Avalon. Down here was where the last of the Avalonians fled, protected by their own wizards and by Earthborn allies, and where the invading horde followed them in. There, a small remnant somehow escaped to Earth while the rest ensured that their conquerors would be sealed with them in this place.

  Somehow, thanks to interference from myself and the rest of Avalon’s consciousness, the seal to this place was broken. Avalon’s Shelter. The place where they both hid from their enemies and chose their kings.

  “Acknowledging that the Challenger-Lord has completed the first Rite, the Rite of Transport. Further acknowledging that the Challenger-Lord has sufficiently grown in power to be eligible for more duties. The Challenger-Lord may embark upon the first Rite of Territory. Completion will grant the Challenger-Lord access to Avalon’s closest daughter-world, the Land of Woad. The Lord and his retinue will be further enhanced upon completion of the Rite.”

  “Further enhanced?” I asked, confused. “Didn’t I have to be strong enough to attempt it in the first place? Meaning I needed to have power, to get power?”

  “Affirmative,” Avalon’s disjointed voice continued. “The power granted via overcoming a Challenge is inherent in nature, and the Rites themselves are Challenges. There is no reason to attempt to circumvent the Lord-Challenger growing stronger upon success. But the primary purpose of the Rite is to grant further authority and ability to perform a Lord’s duties.”

  That made sense. I decided to shut up and let the planet continue. Especially since Breena was giving me a dirty look.

  “The first Rite of Territory requires the Lord to tend to the land itself. The Lord must enter the marked location.” One of the remaining stone doors, the one with a shining sword surrounded by giant trees, slowly began to open. “Upon entering, the Lord will be confronted with both natural and unnatural flora and fauna. The Lord is to use his inherent connection to his territory and determine which creatures belong in his domain and which do not. Avalon will now assign power to creation rituals, enabling the production of phantom creatures and fauna to test the Lord—ERROR—” the planet’s voice changed and warbled for a moment—“hostile being detected in the location of the Rite. ERROR: native inhabitants detected in the location of the Rite. ERROR: In Case of Trouble Protocol is currently enacted. Updating parameters for the Rite…”

  That was fine. I was expecting something like that. Already had one round of it, in fact.

  “The parameters for the Rite have been updated. The Lord is hereby Challenged to drive out the invaders, recover the remaining citizens, and tend to the damaged land. Success will result in completion of the Rite.”

  So pretty much do what I’ve already been doing.

  “Understood.” I nodded, then turned and looked back at my team. “Everyone ready?” I asked behind me.

  Everyone nodded, and began to mutter enhancement spells. As I cast my own I felt my brain, bone, and muscles surge, gaining greater power than they should have. I realized afterwards that it must be due to crossing the skill threshold into the rank of Journeyman. It helped me understand why people were already considered powerful and skilled even though the names of the ranks weren’t impressive. I shouldn’t have needed it. Come to think of it I had already burned, shocked, and sliced over a hundred Hordebeasts back when my magic was only at the Initiate level.

  My muscles and bones finished cracking. To my surprise I even seemed to grow a little taller, without being unbalanced by it.

  Everyone finished casting their enhancement spells on each other, giving us shields made of script magic or extra speed from Breena’s inherent fairy powers. Eadric took point, with Weylin at the back and the rest of us in the middle. The inky blackness of the open door loomed ahead of us. I listened to see if I could hear anything on the other side. Nothing.

  No. Wait.

  Chittering.

  And then it was gone.

  “Light,” I commanded, summoning my round shield and writing the equivalent word in Spanish onto it. It was enough to create a small beam in front of me. “Just enough to see, not enough to blind us.”

  “That will let anything inside know we’re coming,” Karim pointed out, but following my commands and writing the word out anyway.

  “They already know we’re coming,” I replied, summoning my enhanced spear from Breaker’s hilt. “Stay together. And remember to look up.”

  CHAPTER NINE: MEN AND MONSTERS

  I heard the chittering one more time as we entered, and right after the door behind us rumbled shut. Then I heard silence.

  Which meant the thing had made itself heard. On purpose.

  The previous Rite had just been a journey through the tunnels. It felt like a typical campaign where people in front of us had to deal with dim lighting, listen for ambushes, and constantly check for traps in the stonework. Now, though, we were dealing with trees.

  Giant trees.

  Sequoia-sized monsters that I couldn’t even wrap my arms around. Reaching up higher than any redwood I’d ever seen. I held my head at the impossibility of it all.

  “We,” I sighed. “Are under. The freaking. Ground.”

  “Yup,” Eadric grunted blandly. “Looks like someone forgot to tell the giant Icons-damned trees though.”

  I turned to look at the dwarf.

  “Is this actually a thing? Does this happen on other worlds, and is that why you’re so unimpressed?”

  “Nope.” He shook his head. “Never seen anything like the sight. Just like all the other sights I’ve seen this month with you.”

  “You’re an ass,” I growled. “I’ve told you that, right? That you’re an ass?”

  “Haven’t bothered to notice if you did,” the bearded jerk said with another shrug. “But if you ever get tired of making us go to places like this, let the rest of us know.”

  Burrrnnn, FNG commented backstage.

  Not in the mood, I snapped. Now shut the hell up and help me watch for the stalking chitter-death beasts.

  “I can’t believe it,” Weylin said, stepping to my side, looking all around. “I thought these had gone extinct.”

  “We’re still talking about giant trees, right?” I asked.

  “Yeah, we are,” Breena said sadly. She cautiously fluttered forward, looking all around for danger, and then put her hand on a blackene
d piece of bark. “They didn’t use to look like this, though.”

  They were all gray-black, as if they had been covered in rock. Even the leaves themselves were giant black-gray slates high over my head. I had heard that the bark on giant trees could petrify, but this was on a whole other level.

  So were the strange symbols dotting parts of the trunk. Instead of being carved, they looked to have been formed naturally into the bark, the wood warping and whirling to create glyph-like shapes. They glowed slightly, but it was a black, sputtering light, the radiance of a thing slowly choking to death after hundreds of thousands of years.

  I winced at the sight. It was pompous of me, but somehow I could still identify with dying like that.

  “These are Woadfathers,” Breena continued sadly. “They gave their world its name.”

  “Really?” Val said, walking up to one and craning her neck upward. “How? And I thought woad didn’t come from trees? It’s a type of paint, right?”

  She shouldn’t have even known that much about woad. But we were a family of nerds, and she probably had learned even stranger facts from us.

  “On your world, it doesn’t come from trees.” Breena nodded. “Woadfathers leak an almost identical version of your woad paint in sap form. So in English the sap and the names of the plants and trees translate into the same name. But Woadfathers actually birth a great host of plants.” Breena circled the tree cautiously. “Somehow, every piece of them, the roots, the branches, even the bark, can birth another plant. We don’t understand how it happens, but when those pieces flake or fall off the tree, a new plant grows in the location. We think parts of the tree somehow serve as seeds for other plants. Stell and I checked, back when they were more common all those many years ago. Every other plant in the Woadlands has traits that suggest it descended somehow from a piece of Woadfather bark, root, or leaf. Nothing like it exists on any of the other worlds.”

  “Except here,” I finished for her. “We somehow have these giant trees here.”