A Song of Shadow Read online

  “There are several ways, but right now only one is available. You have to find the right song to approach the border with Barliona, and then I’ll help you get back to where you started your journey.”

  Doesn’t sound too difficult on the whole. As far as I understand, the song should evoke Barliona or a similar place in my mind. It doesn’t even have to include keywords like Hidden Forest or Kartoss. A few minutes of contemplation and I can be on my way. But...I did not want to leave the Intermundis. When will I get another chance to be a god of creation? To make fantasy a reality, albeit virtually?

  “Tell me, Eid, will I ever be able to return to the Intermundis?”

  “I do not know, Lorelei. There are such places where the boundaries of the worlds become blurred and some beings and objects like me can cross them.”

  “Like you?” I seized upon this idea. “And can you send me to the Intermundis at any time?”

  “No. It takes a lot of energy to cross the boundary. I can absorb it from the world, collecting it, but it takes a long time to accumulate enough of it.”

  “We won’t rush it then. I want to enjoy the Intermundis while I have the chance.”

  “The Intermundis is full of frightening creatures, Lorelei. Remember your first trip. Are you willing to imperil the souls who have placed their trust in you for the sake of entertainment? And they do not have much time left. In the Gray Lands they were nurtured by the memories of the living. In Barliona, they will draw from your vitality. Here, however, they have no source of energy and you do not yet know how to share yours voluntarily. Soon the souls will begin to weaken. Eventually they will disappear altogether.”

  Dumbfounded by this news, I looked at the properties of the Salamander King. Indeed, the soul carried the ‘Waning Vitality’ debuff with a timer that indicated he had an hour and a half left. Anica barely had forty minutes, even if her ecstatic face betrayed no sign of weakness.

  I guess our excursion in the Intermundis will have to be canceled.

  “Anica, say farewell to the ox. It is time to go.”

  “Let’s take him with us!” the girl looked at me with that same look that turns a nice profit in toy stores the world over.

  “That’s not possible,” I said, not entirely sure that this was the case. I wonder if it’s possible to get something out of the Intermundis into Barliona? Then I could, for instance, conjure up some Trusty Vorpal Blade of a Thousand Snicker-Snacks—and sell it for mega bucks at auction...

  “Have you chosen a song, Lorelei?” Eid prodded me along. “Remember, if you interrupt your performance, we will stray from the path. The souls following behind you can get lost among the worlds.”

  A song...Under the eagle’s gaze, I sat down on the grass and strummed the strings with perplexity. Various tunes popped into my head, but some of them suggested a fairly thorny journey, while others dealt with modernity and probably wouldn’t suit the gameworld’s fantastic nature. The minutes counting off Anica’s life were ticking away one after another and I began to grow nervous. I mean, I know hundreds of stupid songs, so how am I having so much trouble finding the right one? I’ll have to risk it and play ‘Goldentown’ again. I wouldn’t want to pass through suffering and pain, risking the souls following in my wake, but I have no choice. Yet as soon as I made that decision, my anxiety left me, my mind cleared, I glanced at the eagle watching me and another song immediately popped into my mind. I did not have the sheet music at hand, but the chord progression was simple enough and it took me five minutes to recall the parts. Maybe it’s different from the original, but this isn’t a cover contest.

  I got to my feet, adjusted the eid in my hands and checked the debuff’s timer. Anica had nine minutes left in the Intermundis.

  “Get ready, we’re heading out.”

  “Should we be ready for something in particular?” asked Salamander and took Anica, who had gone quiet suddenly, by the hand.

  “If I only knew,” I sighed and began to sing. Am to E7: “On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair...”

  The subtle story of a wandering soul returning to a home it no longer recognized transformed the fabric of the Intermundis, embodying the images of the ballad.

  G to D: “Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air,” and F to C: “Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light...”

  The world around us shook and rippled. Eid was changing again, his plumage growing gold and his body growing. He spread his wings and grew several-fold in size. The shaky reality around him was thinning, melting and we were once again in the middle of the white abyss of the Intermundis. The eagle shrieked, flapped his wings and ducked under us, turning into a mount for our entire party. Salamander stood firmly on the back of the giant bird, pressing Anica to himself. The girl had hardly moved, watching the metamorphosis that was happening with a mixture of fear and delight. And she wasn’t alone. My heart was on the verge of bursting from my chest. How I love this Intermundis place!

  And I sang: “Such a lovely place (such a lovely place), such a lovely face...”

  The chorus melted the surrounding fog, giving birth to the world under the bird’s wings. The horizon blossomed with a desert sunrise flaring far away, but the eagle flew confidently into the other direction from the sun, into the cold radiance of the starry night. The spectacle was so magical that I could hardly concentrate on playing.

  “How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat. Some dance to remember, some dance to forget.”

  A ridge of clouds appeared ahead of us like a mighty wall. Dense but soft even in appearance, their impeccable whiteness was interrupted by the warm radiance of a majestic, Spanish structure. Its white, adobe walls evoked the halls of a desert queen. Its courtyards were festooned with flowers. Light gathered around the alabaster dome into a soft radiant, glow.

  In a few sweeps of his mighty wings, Eid brought us to the hotel in the clouds and landed in front of the wide-open gate. The eagle’s wing extended in the manner of a ladder, and he himself began to shrink so quickly that we barely managed to disembark our magical aircraft. Without a single doubt about what we had to do, we stepped under the dome. To my surprise, it was neither hot nor cold here. On the contrary, a tender warmth filled my body and even Anica started. Her eyes glowed with delight and an exclaimed sigh escaped her lips.

  The eagle suddenly waved his wings, soared to the domed ceiling of glass and shrieked loudly. Gold dust began to shower from his plumage, reflecting a million times and rising into an impenetrable, blinding whirlwind. And when the dust settled, we were back in Barliona...

  Chapter Seven

  Astilba’s laboratory seemed particularly dark and gloomy after such a vivid and rapid trip. Dumbfounded by the insane journey, Salamander and Anica looked around in bewilderment. Eid was nowhere to be seen, but I did not attach importance to this fact. All the impressions had jumbled into a fine mess in my head. I even had to reread the system notifications several times to understand their meaning.

  Quest updated: Creating a Cicerone. Read Cypro’s notes.

  You have summoned souls from the Gray Lands at the cost of half of your vitality.

  Attention! Summoned souls cannot exist in Barliona without an external supply of vitality. Every 10 minutes, you will lose 20% of your maximum HP for each summoned creature. Current summon upkeep: –40% HP every 10 minutes. The upkeep for summoned creatures ignores all skills and spells of damage absorption or reduction.

  In the event of your death, a summoned creature will return to its original plane of existence, unless it finds another source of vitality.

  A debuff called ‘Leeching Souls’ appeared and began counting down until the next time I would have to donate my HP to Anica and Salamander.

  Attention! A new trait has become available to your character: Summoner. As your Summoner trait levels up, your summoning skills improve. The effectiveness of spellcasting increases, the power and skill of summoned creatures increases.

  Do you ac
cept? Attention, you will not be able to remove an accepted trait!

  My thoughts stirred sluggishly to process this seemingly straightforward question. Do I want to play as a summoner? Why not? Each soul is a story that can become a song.

  You have unlocked a new trait: Summoner I.

  Attention! Your new trait has modified some of your spells:

  ‘Bonds of Memory.’

  Cost of performance: (50 – Summoner)% of max health.

  Maximum level of the summoned soul: (Bard Level + Writing + Summoner).

  Maximum number of skills and spells available to summoned soul: (Soul Level ÷ 10 + Composition).

  Maximum number of souls summoned at once: (1 + Composition + Summoner).

  Duration of summoned soul’s stay in Barliona: (Intellect ÷ 10 + Composition) hours until the soul exhausts its vitality.

  Cooldown: (72 – Summoner) hours.

  Vitality upkeep for summoned souls: (20 – Summoner)% HP per (10 + Writing + Summoner) minutes for each summoned soul.

  New achievement earned: ‘Summoner I’

  +1% damage done by summoned creatures. 19 summons remaining until next rank.

  New achievement earned: ‘Journey to the Gray Lands I.’

  You have made a voluntary journey to the Gray Lands and returned earlier than the standard deadline. –1% to duration of stay in the Gray Lands upon death. Return 19 more times before the standard deadline to earn the next rank.

  My overstimulated consciousness needed a break and I was about to exit the game when I noticed Astilba. She walked slowly around her lab, examining our motley company.

  “You did it!” The pure green glow of her eyes, devoid of irises and pupils, prevented me from following her gaze, but I felt that they had stopped on me. I guess my break will have to be postponed indefinitely. “Not only did you manage to tame the eid, but you’ve returned with these souls.”

  Astilba’s hand touched the Salamander King’s shoulder. Barely noticeable ripples radiated from the place of contact between the biota and the ghost. The flesh, it seems, had met resistance. The spirit was not bodiless. Salamander himself looked so dumbfounded by his return to the world of the living that he did not even react to such a familiar gesture. He stared at the Sixth intently.

  “A magically stabilized corporeality,” said the necromancer, paying no attention to the dumbfounded king of antiquity. She went to the table, grabbed the candlestick and hurled it at the ghost. He reflexively caught the flying object and stared at it in shock. I could understand the guy—it’d been centuries since he held so much as a candlestick in his hand.

  “He can interact with the physical world,” Astilba summarized.

  “That lady is scary!” said Anica, pointing at the Sixth with childish innocence and hiding behind Salamander.

  “It’s all right, Anica,” I tried to make my voice sound soothing. “You’re back in Barliona. I’ll explain everything to you in a little bit.”

  “Outward signs that the spirit has retained its individual personality and lifetime emotions,” Astilba reacted to the girl’s remark in her own detached way. “A parasitic link to the summoner’s vitus. The vitality channel is still weak and unreliable, but this is a question of practice. The strength of the summoned soul is limited by the power of the summoner...It looks like you really managed to bring souls from the Gray Lands, Lorelei!” She concluded solemnly and smiled a little eerily.

  I shuddered involuntarily. There was something very unsettling about the Sixth at the moment. It was as if some ancient force that had waited in long anticipation was finally gathering itself, ready to break out at last. The primordial fear, turning somewhere deep inside of me, scattered my drowsiness in a flash.

  Quest complete: Summons from the Gray Lands.

  +1,000 Reputation with the Renegades of the Hidden Forest.

  Current status: Friendship.

  Experience earned: +15,000 XP.

  You have gained a level!

  You have gained a level!

  Current Level: 22.

  Unallocated stat points: 110.

  Training points remaining: 7.

  “You are a bad lady!” Anica told the Sixth but was not allowed to elaborate further. With an imperious flourish of the necromancer’s hand, spectral spheres appeared around the summoned souls. Two identical debuffs appeared over the portraits of my ghosts in the game interface: ‘Soul Fetters.’ Judging from the description, the fetters are a kind of magical trap for disembodied entities like ghosts and spirits. I wonder if all mages have access to this spell or only necromancers...

  “Do not worry, Lorelei, they shall be all right,” Astilba explained condescendingly. “I do not have much time to spare for empty conversations with useless outisders. I will free them when we finish. Dispose of these souls on your own.”

  I did not object. The less the souls hear now, the less I will have to explain to them later. Easier for me that way.

  “You managed to come to terms with Cypro’s eid, Lorelei,” Astilba continued. “This is a major achievement for such a young and inexperienced bard. Now I believe that everything will work out. Eid will help you summon the soul of Portulac during the ritual. Until then,” the Sixth raised her hand sternly, “the instrument shall return to the vault.”

  At these words, my heart filled with bitterness and my fingers couldn’t help but clench the eid’s body. The last thing I wanted was to part with this miraculous instrument. But what could I say? Eid had been given me only within the limits of the quest. I still couldn’t even access his attributes. The instrument belonged to someone else and I reluctantly extended it to Astilba. She took it gingerly and put it in its already familiar green cocoon. It seemed to me that a look of approval flashed across her odd eyes. But I couldn’t be certain—it’s hard to make out emotions amid such a solid green glow.

  “I promised to reward you by teaching you one of the spells I know. Unfortunately, you are absolutely not familiar with the schools of warlocks, demonologists and necromancers and therefore unable to learn something truly complex. I can teach you a short-term summons of a minor demon or how to harvest the vitus of mortals after you kill them so that you can later raise a zombie or an undead skeleton. Given that you have become a summoner, this knowledge will be useful to you. Also I may teach you the subtleties of how to direct the flow of vitality. This knowledge will allow you to see the currents of vitality and control them. You will learn how to draw from the enemy’s vitus, redirecting the flow to yourself or to your allies. Make your choice now, Lorelei.”

  I took some time to think it over. Raising the dead did not appeal to me very much. I’m not a fan of zombie apocalypses. As for demons...It’s interesting of course, but I can learn to summon them from any old warlock. However, I do not remember ever coming across the manipulation of vitality in guides and FAQs. The warlocks had a vampirism spell, but it only allowed life to be drained from the enemy directly. There had been no mention of transferring vitality to allies. It seems that my channeling it to the summoned souls had unlocked access to a non-standard skill.

  “I would like to learn the subtleties of working with vitality.”

  “You have made your decision.”

  A flashing glow that resembled the effect that came with a new level engulfed my avatar.

  Astilba has taught you a new spell: ‘Detect Currents of Vitality I.’

  Warning! You do not specialize in necromancer spells and therefore incur the following penalty when using this spell: – (Composition – 30)% to base spell efficacy.

  Spent 1 training point. 6 training points remaining.

  “You could delve deeper into the spells of this school, Lorelei,” Astilba continued. “But to do so you must study the dark magics and avoid being distracted by the skills of other classes.”

  Attention! You can choose the way of the Singer of Death, forever linking your life with black magic (+100% to all necromancer spells). However, you will lose the ability to learn the s
pells of other schools. All previously learned spells for other classes will be forgotten.

  Do you wish to become a Singer of Death?

  No. Absolutely not. I do not want to associate my class with a single school. And we already have a Singer of Death in our party.

  “Thank you for your generous offer, Sixth, but I prefer to wander around the world in search of new stories and knowledge. I do not wish to limit my studies to a single school.”

  My health had ebbed to 36% by now, so without worrying about decorum, I produced my lute and played a Song of Healing. The Sixth watched me quietly and then suddenly remarked:

  “You remind me of Cypro. He, too, dreamed of wandering, exploits unsung and ancient wisdoms. I assume you will cross the Arras and leave your native forest as soon as we foil the fatal alliance with Kartoss?”

  “Prevent the alliance? Is that possible?” I jumped at the chance to avoid answering the question right then and there. I sensed some ulterior motive in it. And it wouldn’t hurt to find out the point of the Schism and the alliance with Geranika. It was already evident that the renegades were plotting something. But I still did not know what exactly they were going to do.

  For a while, Astilba was silent, regarding me with her eerie eyes.

  “Everything in this world is possible,” she said, when I had already decided that an answer wouldn’t be forthcoming. “What do you think would happen if the Dark Lord of Kartoss hears that his embassy had been destroyed in our forest? Would he still be eager for an alliance?”

  “I doubt it. But he can start a war.”

  “Now? As Geranika threatens both Empires? No. It would take the combined power of both Emperors as well as all the magisters of Kartoss to breach the Arras. Depleted, they would then be defenseless for more than a week. Neither the biota nor the pirqs ever invaded Kartoss, so the Dark Lord has no reason to embroil himself in this conflict. And if he does decide to do so, Geranika will use the opportunity to strike unexpectedly. An alliance with this shaman is mutually beneficial to us. Geranika gives us the strength to carry out our plans, and we prevent the strengthening of Kartoss at the expense of our people. If they are trying to draw us into the war, then we prefer to fight for our independence instead of against Geranika. And yet I truly expect to solve this matter with as little blood spilt as possible. The blood of the ambassadors. The Hidden Forest must remain neutral.”