James gasped for air as he pulled himself out of the rubble he had found himself in. He was in a dark tunnel with no end and no beginning, nothing but curved bricks as far as the eye could see. A shaft of light shone downwards where he’d fallen, and he could see the ruined floatstone hovering above, some shared having drifted through into the tunnel. SoulArmoury was sitting nearby, his cloak wrapped over his nose to protect himself from the dust.
“Where are we?” James asked, before coughing loudly.
“A geometrical impossibility, hidden below the throne room,” SoulArmoury explained as James was busy choking. “That’s why it took so long for me to find it, you see. Why look in a place that physically couldn’t exist? Then I remembered who I was dealing with. That was on top of it being in an instanced dungeon that could only be opened by players once, the number of times I could try to get in was naturally finite, and I would have to time my entrance extremely specifically. It was remarkably smart of them. I outwitted them, though, as I always do. They never expected me to hitch a lift with some friendly faces.”
James wiped his mouth, got up and started walking down the tunnel. “I understood around a quarter of that.”
“That bodes extremely poorly for this mission,” SoulAmoury said cheerily, as he got up to walk with James, “but it’s the reason we’re on it to begin with. Once we get to the end of the tunnel, I’ll tell you everything you want to know. Can’t guarantee you’ll understand, but I will tell you.”
“Why don’t you tell me now?”
The old man smiled. “Because then you might want to turn around, and I can’t let that happen. Also, I only have a vague idea what we’ll find at the end of this, it may change what I need to tell you.”
“That makes me feel so much better.”
“I’m sorry. I’m not the type for white lies. I’d rather you’d know the whole truth.”
James looked at him incredulously. “But only once I can’t back out?”
“Do you genuinely think you were ever able to back out?”
James stopped talking, and the two walked on. The tunnel seemed to go on forever, getting darker and darker as it went on. Soon the light provided by the entrance faded away, and SoulArmoury pulled a metal lamp out of his cloak, lighting the way forward. It wasn’t very long before James got bored of the silence.
“How did you get into the palace anyway?” James asked. If SoulAmoury wasn’t going to tell him everything right away, he might as well ask him the questions he could answer now.
“I walked in,” the man replied.
“How?”
“Well, I moved my left foot and then my right foot and th-“
James was starting to regret asking the question, and was getting more and more frustrated. “You know that’s not what I meant!”
“I did think it was odd for you to asked,” SoulArmoury teased. “I entered through the Raven’s Gate, waved to the guards who according to rumours haven’t changed in 100 years, went through Kavalar Street, or what used to b-”
“That really doesn’t help.”
SoulArmoury shrugged. “That’s what happened. I’m just answering your question truthfully.”
James glared at him. “Are you enjoying this?”
SoulAmoury laughed. “I’m sorry for teasing you. I haven’t enjoyed anything in about three years, at least give me this.”
“Why the hell did I ever trust you?” James sighed. “Alright. If there’s one question you can answer me honestly-“
“Alright, but no guarantees you’ll like it.”
“Why me? Why not Amelia, or Oblivia, or anyone else who plays this game? Hell, surely you’d want someone who’s high level, not someone who just started playing, right? Why am I the guy you chose to go down into this weird place?”
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SoulArmoury shrugged. “You fit the criteria of the Hero of Sable best.”
“Surely everyone who plays this game is that? That’s the whole point of this game’s story. We’re all the heroes of Sable, the game would suck if it was just one of us with all the power. And you can’t tell me why you chose me based on something that happened in the game? It’s gotta be a real thing I did?”
SoulArmoury looked exasperated for a second before regaining his energy. “See, the game says everyone is a Hero of Sable, but they’re not really.”
“Yeah, classic MMO chosen one stuff.”
“It really isn’t. Any of them fit the term of Hero of Sable if the right conditions were met, as could your friends. There’s something you can do that they can’t.”
SoulAmoury paused, his face serious. James asked him again. “Well?”
He sighed. “You se-get down!”
SoulArmoury pinned James to the wall as a spear-like tail shot past him. The lamp clattered onto the ground, letting James see a silhouette of the monster watching him.
HOW MUCH DO I NEED TO DO TO MAKE YOU TURN BACK?
“Take the lantern and run,” SoulArmoury growled. “I’ll hold him off.”
“No way, you can’t fi-”
“Shut up and run!”
Draconautis leapt forward, eating SoulArmoury’s arm and ripping it clean off. James took his chance to grab the lamp and continued onward, leaving them in darkness. Draconautis tried to send its tail forward to stab James, but SoulArmoury drew a katana out of his cloak and sliced the end of the tail clean off. Neither of them reacted to losing a limb, or the absolute darkness currently enveloping them. Black liquid dripped from the tail as it coiled back, while liquid metal dripped out of SoulArmoury’s cloak, quickly reforming his arm.
HOW MUCH OF YOU IS HUMAN ANYMORE, NATHAN ELCOT?
“Staying human is not a concern of mine anymore,” SoulArmoury admitted. “There was no way a frail old man like me could do what needed to be done.”
SO YOU SOLD YOUR SOUL TO METAL. LOOK WHERE IT HAS GOTTEN YOU.
“Hey, near invulnerability is worth the sacrifice. Besides, I’m keeping up with you, aren’t I?”
BARELY. IT WILL NOT BE ENOUGH AGAINST MY KIN. OR AGAINST HIM.
“Hopefully it won’t have to be.”
Draconautis slashed at SoulArmoury, but he parried the monster’s sharp claws with his sword. He slashed at Draconautis’ neck, but the claw on the tail regrew and grabbed it, yanking it out of SoulArmoury’s hand and hurling it away. He simply drew another sword out of his cloak and sliced at Draconautis’ neck, the wound gushing ichor.
“At least that will shut you up.”
WHY THE BOY, NATHAN? WHY JAMES MARLOW?
“Oh, great you can still talk,” SoulArmoury muttered, before speaking normally. “I think you know why. Probably better than I do in fact.”
YOU’VE DONE YOUR RESEARCH. BUT THOSE REASONS MAKE HIM A TERRIBLE CHOICE FOR THE HERO OF SABLE.
SoulArmoury looked confused. “So you clearly know something I don’t.”
MANY, MANY THINGS.
“Would you like to share with the class?”
Draconautis just gave SoulArmour a wicked smile. The man sighed. “Oh, I’m sure they’re not a big deal. No matter who this kid is really, he’ll be ok. He’s got a good head on his shoulders, and he’s got good friends. Nothing I can tell him would change that.”
DID YOU NOT TELL HIM THE TRU-
SoulArmoury went to stab Draconautis in the eye, but the monster bit down on the blade, shattering it. Draconautis went to bite down on SoulArmoury’s head, but he leapt back out of range.
“I was going to before you rudely interrupted me, like I just did to you! Now you know how it feels. Asshole.”
YOU CANNOT PROTECT THE BOY FOREVER, AND HE CANNOT SAVE HIMSELF FROM HIS FATE. YOU HAVE SENT A CHILD TO HIS DEATHBED.
“You underestimate both his resolve and the strength of those around him. But enough talk. Let’s do this properly.”
SoulArmoury threw back the cloak. As he did so, liquid metal poured out of the leather armour that covered his body, forming into five swords that floated in the air above his head. They flew towards Draconautis, who’s tail sideswiped all of them and the claw pinned them against the wall. The swords turned back into liquid metal and stabbed through the claw, and Draconautis quickly threw away the spiked ball that had formed under him..
HOW LONG CAN YOU STALL FOR?
The ball melted and swords reformed behind SoulArmoury, each of them dripping with Draconautis’ blood. He made an orb of metal appear floating above his palm.
“Until James finds the truth, or until you die. Whichever comes first.”
Draconautis howled with laughter, its monstrous jaws twisting into a cruel smile.
THEN WE WILL BE HERE FOR A VERY LONG TIME. I WILL ENJOY IT, NATHAN ELCOT.
SoulArmoury molded the ball of metal into a spear and pointed it towards Draconautis. “Oh, I think I will too.”
The two rushed towards each other, entering a duel to decide the face of the world.
