Warsinger by James Baldwin (most inspirational books TXT) 📗

Vash said is true, Cutthroat should lead us to her.” I moved around Karalti with the stiff, efficient motions I'd learned in the army, tightening straps and preparing Cutthroat’s new travel harness for its cargo. Said cargo was waiting about fifty feet from us, digging furiously at the moss growing between the flagstones and snapping at the beetles fleeing the destruction of their home. The huge, grizzled black hookwing was muzzled in preparation for her first airlift, and the steel clanged and sparked off the wet slate.

Karalti moaned in exasperation. “You know that’s like the thirteenth time you’ve explained that, right?”

“I’m sorry. I’m just wound up.” I let out a tense breath. “It’s just… we don’t know where she is. I can’t get private messages through, I can’t invite her to my clan or assign her a role at the castle, and it’s just…”

“If we don't know where she is, maybe we should gather more information about Al-Asad before we leave?” Karalti's telepathic voice hummed with nervous energy. She fought to stay still while I suited her up, her wings flexing stiffly by her sides. By moonlight, the opalescent flash of her scales were subdued, glinting now and then as I moved around her. The parts of her in shadow were invisible. “How far is the Bashar Desert, anyway?”

I sighed. “According to the maps in what’s left of our War Room, about a thousand miles due south, give or take. At your current level and flight speed, it should take a couple days.”

“Over the mountains? The air's really cold and thin up there. You need to pack special clothing. Like fur clothing.”

“I'm a big boy. I'll deal.”

Karalti inflated her throat and then let the air slowly hiss out through her nostrils. Her flexible crown of back back-swept horns flattened against her skull. “Hector, if there's a storm - and you KNOW there's gonna be a storm - I have to fly over it. It'll be in the deep minus degrees, plus the wind and shear. And you're wearing metal.”

“I can cope with temperatures down to minus twenty. I’ll be fine.” I scowled and jumped off her shoulder to the ground. Just before I hit the stone, I called one of my workhorse Dark Lancer abilities, Shadow Dance, and passed into smoke before reappearing to drop lightly on my feet. “We don't have time to find cold-weather gear. Suri's been stuck in that hellhole for a week. She’s suffering every single day we aren’t there.”

“Yeah, but you're not gonna be able to help her if you freeze to death and forget who she is.” The dragon snorted a cloud of hot, acidic steam into my face as I gathered the harness straps at the front. “Do you remember what happened the last time you died?”

“It’s fine. If I die and respawn on top of you, I'll get my memories back.”

Just as I was about to connect the buckles, she lowered her head and nudged me away with her snout. My little Tidbit's head was now roughly the size of a hatchback car, and the love tap almost sent me flying.

“Go find some Cold Weather clothing.” Sherumbled aloud, lowering her neck to glare at me with piercing violet eyes. “Or else I'll-”

Whatever she'd been about to threaten me with was interrupted by a purring chirp from my Head's Up Display. A flashing red holographic exclamation point pulsed in the corner of my vision. Before I could dismiss it, my HUD screen jumped open.

[You have one High-Priority Message: <Blank><Admin>]

[You have a New Quest!]

“Wait, woah. Hang that thought, Tidbit.” I swiped through to the Message Center. Yup. The sender was indeed listed as <ADMIN>. There was no message title. I got a creepy, prickly feeling up along my spine, and was suddenly aware that we were the only ones standing out here in the courtyard of this cold, darkened castle.

“Ororgael was an Admin,” I muttered. “What are the chances this is a Valentine’s Day letter from Baldr?”

“Uhh…” Karalti paused, confused. “I dunno?”

“On second thoughts, let’s open that after checking out the quest.” I uncomfortably brushed the message screen to one side with a thought, and opened the Quests display instead:

New Main Quest: The Second Drachan War

As requested, this is a revision of The Caul of Souls quest I attempted to issue you at the Gate of Endless Night.

The fallen Architect known as Ororgael has possessed the body and mind of a Starborn player, the self-proclaimed Emperor of Artana, Baldr Hyland. With Ororgael's ambitions and his knowledge of our world meshed with Baldr's strategic intellect, he is a formidable foe. Worse, he is the Harbinger of the Void: the Drachan, Archemi's ancient demonic enemies, whisper in Baldr's ears with some unknown temptation. Whatever they are offering him, he must release the Drachan from their icy prison in the Northern Wastes to obtain it. In doing so, he acts as their servant.

To free the Drachan, Baldr must destroy the Caul of Souls, the magical barrier which seals these horrors of the void and keeps them torpid. One option we have is to try and repair the Caul to keep the Drachan sealed. However, as you pointed out, the Caul is already dissolving and the cost of keeping it integral may be greater than the alternative. I have confirmed that its magic has not prevented the Drachan from contacting their Harbinger. The Caul has also not prevented the release of lesser Void Horrors, such as those called by Andrik Corvinus, and the leaks are escalating.

The other option - the one which you argued for so passionately - is to defeat the Drachan and either exterminate them or drive them from Archemi once and for all. This is a global undertaking, one which will require you to unite the nations of Archemi against this single enemy. You must do this while fending off Baldr and his gathering armies, and also while maintaining the Caul for as long as possible to avoid unleashing the Drachan on an unwary world.