Published at 16th of February 2024 2:20 pm

Chapter 9. A Father's Sacrifice

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“Nox, don’t wander,” Pallav yelled, racing after his son. Half a decade cooped up in the Golden Isles had added girth to his waistline. A queen’s husband ate well, and Pallav had a sweet tooth. He struggled to resist the palace’s pastry chefs. A brisk jog was enough to leave him panting. Pallav regretted not dedicating a part of his day to exercise. “The floor might not be stable. Stay close.”

“Why do they call this place the Sundar Ruins, Baba?” Nox asked, dragging his little friend behind him. The girl was the same age as him but stood a head taller. Her wide eyes darted between every nook and cranny. She appeared terrified. Pallav regretted not leaving Lillin on the schooner with her parents.

“Our ancestors ruled this part of the continent before the Imperium drove them south. They named this city. I might be wrong, but I believe sundar meant beautiful in the old tongue. I imagine Sundarshahar was gorgeous in its prime.”

“Sundarshahar is still pretty, isn’t it, Lillin?” Nox pulled his friend along while his father continued to breathe heavily, pursuing them.

“I want to go home,” Lillin whined.

“Perhaps we should turn back,” Pallav commented, studying the sky above. “I don’t like the look of those clouds. If it gets too choppy, the schooner won’t be able to take us home.”

“Your mummy won’t be happy if you stay out late, Nox,” Lillin said. “Let’s go home.” She squeezed his hand. “Please.”

“Okay.” Nox sighed. “I was hoping we’d find some treasure.”

“You’re the Merchant Queen’s heir.” Pallav scooped up Nox and seated him atop his shoulders. “We’ve got all the treasure you’ll ever want.”

“It’s not the same. I wanted to find treasure like in the bedtime stories.”

Lillin took Pallav’s hand as they marched back towards the vessel. They exited the grand hall that Nox had labelled the fifth treasure room and continued down the primary hall. Pallav kept track of the sky through the holes in the ceiling. The sky continued to darken, and the clouds appeared ready to burst.

Suddenly, Lillin froze. Pallav tugged on her arm, and the little girl stumbled. She dragged her feet, resisting his guidance. “Keep up, Lillin,” he said, struggling to keep the desperation out of his voice. “We’ll have to spend the night here if the storm beats us to the schooner.”

“I saw something there,” Lillin said, digging her heels into the ground. She pointed at the corner ahead. “It’s a ghost.”

“There’s no such thing as ghosts, silly,” Nox said. “It’s probably a monster—”

The ground trembled before Pallav could silence his son. Cracks spiderwebbed across the floor, and a pit formed in his stomach. The dense black clouds swelled, and purple patches dotted it. Pallav recognized the occurrence. He had read about it plenty but refused to talk about it and scare the little ones.

“What’s wrong—”

“Shhh.” Pallav hushed his son. The floor wobbled as he dragged Lillin forwards. He saw moving shadows ahead too, but preferred dealing with them over a collapsed floor. Unfortunately, they made it only a couple of steps before the ground gave away. Pallav scooped up Lillin and held her close to his chest as they fell. The frightened child screamed in his ear, but he didn’t let go as they landed awkwardly on his left hip, and debris rained around them. Nox’s legs tightened around his neck, making breathing hard, but Pallav persevered.

Several agonizingly long moments passed before the trembling ceased and the debris rain halted. It took a handful of minutes before Pallav’s head stopped spinning, and his vision settled. A dull ache dominated the left side of his head, and warm blood trickled around his ears.

“Are you okay, Lord Ratra?” Lillin’s little voice whispered in his ear.

“I’m fine,” Pallav groaned, releasing the child. She crawled out from under him before tugging on his arm. Lillin lacked the strength to pull him upright, but Pallav played along. “Are you hurt at all?”

Lillin shook her head. She opened her mouth as if to speak but then paused. Her brows furrowed, and her eyes darted around their surroundings. Dust clouds obscured their vision. “Where’s Nox?”

The question snapped the man out of his daze. He bolted to his feet and scanned his surroundings. Pallav’s vision sharpened following an ocular mana infusion, and the shadows grew less oppressive.

“Your eyes are glowing,” Lillin commented, but he ignored her. Pallav was glad that the little girl was safe, but securing his son took priority. “Is that magic?”

“Yes, love,” Pallav answered.

Pallav’s heart calmed for a moment when he spotted Nox. The six-year-old stood on the other side of a mound of rocks. He didn’t recall the boy climbing free and scaling the unstable debris, leading Pallav to wonder whether the head injury had knocked him out for a while. He didn’t call out to his son, worried raised voices would attract whatever creatures came with the godfall. Instead, Pallav took Lillin’s hand and pulled her towards the boy.

Taking Nox and his best friend out for expeditions was always a pleasure. Lillin's parents were his favorite airship pilots, so he never had to convince them to leave their daughter in his care. Unfortunately, the boy’s love of wandering always added to the stress of sneaking away from the Golden Isles. Since Nox was in sight, he didn’t worry too much about him heading deeper down the corridor. Then Pallav saw the objective of his attention, and his stomach sank.

“Get away from the chest, Baba!” Pallav yelled, abandoning all thought of keeping silent. He scooped up Lillin and scrambled over the rock mound. Stones shifted and rolled under his feet, forcing Pallav to his knees, but he didn’t slow.

“I found treasure!” Nox exclaimed, weaving around the debris and toward the ancient metal container. It had a cuboid body and a large domed lid.

“That’s not treasure, Baba!” Pallav gave up on catching his son. Instead, he dropped Lillin and grabbed the metal rod hanging from his belt. The runes and spell shapes hummed to life when Pallav held it in his gloved left hand. Solid blue limbs extended from the rod, forming an elegant but stringless composite bow. A solid ice arrow crackling with lightning manifested when he fed it mana and ran his right hand over the grip. Pallav inhaled, took aim, and then fired while exhaling slowly.

When he released his arrow, it flew true. The projectile zipped over Nox’s left shoulder and struck the chest’s main body just below the lip. It sprang open, screeching. Teeth lined the container’s rim, and a disgusting tongue lashed towards Nox.

Much to Pallav’s relief, his son reacted appropriately. He dropped to his knees and rolled sideways, moving away from the mimic. Tiny legs sprung out of the rectangular base, and the monster pursued Nox.

Stolen novel; please report.

A second projectile followed. It slipped in between the gnashing pointed teeth and struck the soft flesh within. The mimic screeched and staggered backward. It stumbled on the tiny, asymmetrical legs, struggling to right itself. The limbs appeared ill-suited for rapid movement but didn’t make any noise.

Fortunately, little Nox moved faster than the mimic. He sprinted back towards his father, eyes wide with fear. He leaped and hugged his father’s leg as more ice arrows shot from the bow. A couple disappeared inside the beast’s maw, then the third planted itself in the hyper-flexible tongue. Pallav pumped his fist as frostfire consumed the monster, and it writhed, spitting out human remains, armor, weapons, tools, and much more.

“Hold on to these,” Pallav said, grabbing two daggers from the pile. He gave one to each of the children. “If anything grabs you—person or beast—stab it and run.”

“Run where?” Nox asked. His voice warbled, but the boy steeled himself and tightly held his now sobbing friend’s hand.

“Look for corners or alcoves. You remember our secret knock?”

Nox tapped the wall with his dagger’s hilt in the tune his father and he loved.

“Good. Hide the best you can, and don’t come out until I reply with my part. Okay, Baba?”

Nox nodded. He remained tight-lipped, refusing to speak.

Pallav squeezed Lillin’s hand. “Make sure he doesn’t do anything silly. Alright?”

Before the girl could answer, the wall behind the mimic’s remains parted. The floor under the trio tilted, and they slid through the new opening into a cavernous room with tall ceilings and a curving wall. A line of pillars stood ten feet from the wall, separating the domed space into two sections. Chests, crates, and cabinets sat along the wall, populating the outer ring with possible threats. Meanwhile, a giant slumbering man lay snoring in the central section. He was ten times as large as any man, and his humungous belly loomed over them like a dark-brown, hairy hillock.

“Kumbhakarna,” Pallav commented, identifying the bearded face, signature bushy eyebrows, heavy golden jewelry, and the gada—a mace typically used by his ancestors. The mythical figure starred in their epics. If he was correct, they had a chance of surviving. The monster of a man was known for his uninterruptible sleep. The full-grown-adult-sized platters and bowls littering the space around his head suggested Kumbhakarna hadn’t long feasted.

“Lord Ratra!” Lillin whispered, tugging on his arm frantically. “There’s a girl there.”

The figure appeared immobile at first. Nothing but a dirty and ripped length of cloth covered the girl. Her golden hair was a frazzled mess, and blood stained her face. Pallav’s enhanced eyes detected shallow breathing.

“Stay here,” he told the children. Pallav removed his shoes before approaching the girl. Even though Kumbhakarna was known for his near uninterruptible slumber, he refused to take any risks with his son in tow. At the same time, Pallav would never forgive himself if he didn’t help a needy young person. She was probably left alive as the giant’s plaything. He doubted she’d survive Kumbhakarna’s carnal interests.

Pallav kneeled next to the girl and shook her gently. “Hey!” He whispered. “Wake up. I’m going to get you out of here.”

When she didn’t respond, Pallav unhooked the flask hanging from his waist and took a sip. The brew eased his throbbing hip, and the dull ache dominating the left side of his head eased up too. Then he slid an arm under the girl, lifted her shoulders and head, and tipped the vessel’s contents into her mouth. She coughed at first but then stirred, grabbed the flask with both hands, and drank the contents hungrily.

“Easy there,” he told her. “You don’t want to burn your throat and stomach. If you need water, we’ve got plenty on our vessel.”

The girl’s eyelids fluttered open, revealing blue irises flecked with gold. “Thank you,” she told him through another fit of coughs.

“Can you walk? We need to get moving.”

Pallav only got a smile in response. Before he could press her for an answer, a high-pitched yelp made him jump to attention. It was Lillin. He spotted a giant tongue dragging her toward the outer ring when he spun around.

“No!” He hissed, releasing the girl and jumping to his feet. Her surprisingly strong hands grabbed his arm before he could race to her rescue.

“Don’t leave me,” she said weakly. Despite her appearance, she didn’t carry an imperial accent. Then her eyes left his face and drifted beyond him. She frowned. “No!”

Nox had rushed to his friend’s rescue. He had one foot on the writhing tongue, and both arms raised high above his head. He held the dagger in his hands.

The girl blurred. She released Pallav and shot across the room. Her hands grabbed Nox’s forearms just past the elbow. He screamed as smoke rose from where their bodies touched. “Don’t you dare hurt my child!”

Pallav’s breath caught in his chest as realization struck. Kumbhakarna wasn’t a god but just a mythical figure. He likely served as the blossoming dungeon’s guard but didn’t serve as its lord. The girl did. He summoned his bow without a second thought and conjured an arrow. The head spun at blinding speeds, and an aura of frost surrounded the projectile. When he released it, the arrow shot forth at near-blinding speeds and struck the goddess’s shoulder.

She screamed, and the world shook. “You dare strike me in my own domain!” Her voice thundered. Kumbhakarna stirred, the walls cracked, and all the furniture along the walls came alive, gnashing ugly teeth and extending even uglier fleshy tongues.

Fortune favored the three humans. Godfalls, birthing dungeons, and their first residents left deities weak. Even though he was only an adept-ranked mage, his arrow had done enough damage to injure the goddess momentarily. He sprinted towards her weak, stunned form and cast a minor barrier spell. An ice wall burst from the ground between her and Nox. It raked the skinny upper arms, forcing the girl to release his son. The mimic tongue had released Lillin, so he scooped the children and sprinted into the outer ring. More fleshy appendages lashed at him, but he slipped past them and through a crack in the wall.

Then they fell. The trio landed in a heap on a rocky island sitting in the middle of a purple lake. A narrow pathway connected it to an archway in the far wall. Nox coughed as the thick miasma rising from the water washed over him. The stench was enough for Pallav to recognize the toxin.

Lillin was uninjured and would likely survive its effects. Her head hadn’t dipped in the thick fog hanging over the floor. Meanwhile, Nox wasn’t in good shape. Pallav didn’t know enough to diagnose his son, but dark burns banded his upper arms like thick, uneven bracelets. Angry, angular lines spread from them, suggesting damage to the mana circuits underneath. The goddess had assaulted him with a manaburn attack. It would've killed him instantly if she weren’t weakened from the godfall.

“He’s too weak to survive this,” Pallav whispered. He checked his belt and bandolier. Most of his vials had shattered from the multiple falls. He doubted he had an antidote for the toxin anyway. A pit formed in Pallav’s stomach as he realized what he needed to do. “Keep your head above the fog,” he told Lillin, releasing the girl’s hand.

She only nodded.

Pallav conjured a shard of ice and unbuttoned his shirt. He sliced his skin across the Sigil of Immunity tattoo on his sternum and let the blood flow. Then he ripped open Nox’s tunic and accurately drew the pattern in blood. Finally, Pallav forced open the boy’s mouth and pressed a bloody finger on his mouth. “I give you my resistance to all toxins, natural and manmade.” Magic boiled in Pallav’s star as he spoke. “Take my lifeforce and immunity, and live.”

Pallav’s knees wobbled as the sigil left him. He collapsed, and breathing grew difficult. Meanwhile, a dark tattoo formed on Nox’s chest. Of the three sections on the kite shield, only one had any art. It was faint but enough. Nox would live, but Pallav knew what it meant for him. He picked up his son, and slung him over his shoulder.

“Let’s go,” he told Lillin while heavy footsteps thundered overhead. Kumbhakarna was awake. “We need to get back to the schooner before the poison takes us.”

The little girl nodded and took his hand. Then the duo ran across the stone bridge. They didn’t know where it would take them and could only hope no greater threats awaited them. Pallav hoped Lillin’s parents were still alive. It was likely he wouldn’t see the day’s end and needed them to get Nox back to the Golden Isles.

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