Erlking

The Erlking was moving up his time table. Before the damned Arbiter had dropped that bomb shell on him, he had been prepared to sacrifice as many worlds as it took to buy time. Time to train his champions with. Now though that was no longer an option, pulling up a map of his territory the Erlking sighed at what he saw.

To the casual observer it just looked like a three-dimensional cluster of dots. Thousands of them all jumbled together in a mass. The vast majority of them were blue, but a few around the edges were yellow, orange and red.

The Erlking wasn’t a casual observer, what he was looking at were the worlds that comprised his empire. His slice of the universe, won by eons of war, rendered down to colored dots on this map. The majority, the blue ones, were worlds he still had full control over. The yellow worlds were being evacuated and abandoned.

It was the red and orange dots that drew his eyes and held them. They were a small minority, perhaps one percent of his empire. They represented the worlds consumed by corruption, in red, and the worlds Illyria and the court of seven had taken, in orange. Only one percent, it didn’t seem like much. Until he factored in that the universe had been cut from the multiverse and outer realm.

The Creator had truly abandoned them. locked them in, with the dregs of another world and a failed protector and sent them adrift. Their universe was old, it had slowly spread out over the long ages. The corruption was sneaking in where the fabric of reality had grown thin.

The further the corruption spread the faster it would grow. He couldn’t afford to lose any more of his territory now. If it was just the corruption, he might have been able to keep his training schedule by throwing his creations at it to buy time. Unfortunately, thanks to Illyria and her damned court of seven, he was now fighting a two-pronged war. He didn’t have the resources to fight them both, he needed the souls in the field. Now.

With that in mind, he closed the map and turned to his screens. There were four of them floating in the void, their occupants more developed than the other souls. Two screens held Morrigan’s Bishop and Blake. The Erlking had taken over their training when he sent the Morrigan off to oversee the front lines. Due to the Arbiter’s warning, he didn’t explain why she needed to go. Just told her they needed to impede the court of sevens invasion. She hadn’t argued, they had worked together for too long for her not to trust his judgment now.

The last two screens were taken up by Benz and Vryce. Benz was facing off against endless waves of rats in the tower sewers. Thanks to bonding with the two massive ogres and her goblin killing spree her soul had expanded and she had plenty of essence. What she lacked wasn’t power it was tactical thinking.

Originally, he hadn’t worried about that. Having intended to use her as a blunt instrument, throw her at the enemy tell she died then send in better units. With recent developments he had to rethink his plans. He hoped fighting the rat waves would force her to think and grow. She had already died twice, and each time she worked on her ‘puzzle’ before being sent back to fight again. He didn’t allow her to stay in her void space long enough to grow bored, he wanted her constantly stimulated. The Erlking also had to admit he was impressed with her force shield. he was a thousand years old before he had learned to manifest essence. Granted, he hadn’t had anyone pushing him from behind the scenes but still, impressive.

Vryce on the other hand actually had the opposite problem. His tactical thinking was adequate, what he lacked was power and support. He had killed a few large creatures but instead of absorbing their essence he used it to shape their patterns slightly. The Erlking thought it was a waste of essence but it was a good learning experience for the soul.

To that end, the Erlking had set him up in the bathhouse, where he was funneling essence directly into the water. Vryce had taken full advantage, absorbing another goblin pattern and growing his core strength slightly. Again, he allowed the goblin the chance to think and grow freely. Not a bad idea in itself, but free-thinking creations tended to make poor war units.

All four of his most promising champions were on display here, they were all training in his tower. The structure was so massive it was unlikely they would ever meet unless he arranged it. That needed to happen soon; he just didn’t think it was quite time yet. Soon though, he would watch how things played out closely and put them together when the right opportunity presented itself.

Looking to Vryce he cut the flow of essence and heat to the baths. He had gathered all he could at this stage without more time investment then he was willing to allow the soul. It was time for him to get back out into that tower and fight. Switching his view over to Benz, he watched her get swarmed by rats and killed again. She had just popped back into her void space and was cussing up a storm. He would leave her there for now, she was close to removing her seal. Having just died for the third time, he thought she might be motivated enough to finally solve the puzzle.

The Erlking wasn’t worried about Bishop and Blake, the pair had been working together from the start. He didn’t think they would cause any problems going forward. Both of the souls Morrigan had been training would make excellent soldiers, they just didn’t have the spark of creativity that he was looking for in a leader. His charges taken care of for the time being, Erlking closed the screens and reopened his map. Once his champions were prepared, he would need a good place ready to send them. he didn’t think the Arbiter would allow him to bloody his troops on queen Illyria’s forces. So, it would have to be a fresh incursion of corruption.

* * *

Benjamin Vryce

When the essence cut off and the water started too cool, Benjamin was confused. Then he remembered the sign that read: Rest and reflection, are an important part of advancement. Come in, rest and reflect. You will know when it is time to leave.

He assumed this was the signal to leave. He got out of the tub and dried off quickly, before putting his clothes and armor back on. Now that he had gathered all the essence he could he wanted to surprise Grace when he summoned Stomper in front of her.

He rushed so that he could be the first one to enter the common room. He wanted to lighten the goblin girl’s mood; she had been so helpful to him since they had met. Benjamin couldn’t say that was the only reason for the summons though, he also wanted another able-bodied fighter. Grace was a great shot and Silver, who now rode his shoulder, was good at sneak attacks and patching up wounds after combat. However, Benjamin was the only member of his team with real melee abilities.

Stomper was a bruiser; he could tell that from his arms and armor. Not to mention his name, Stomper. Goblin names were very on the nose, he just knew that he was going to be a terror on the battlefield. Still standing in front of her door, he wondered what was taking the girl so long. He knocked on her door, lightly but enough to let her know he was waiting.

Eventually Grace came out, still looking half asleep. She must have been napping when he knocked. Her hair was sleep tousled and matted. She was only wearing her soft hides and squirrel hood. The latter was pulled up but it sat crooked and she was rubbing her watery eyes as she opened the door. She looked at him grumpily. It reminded him of how an anime heroin looked after waking up but before tying her hair back and putting on her glasses. he thought it was really cute.

“What, are you ready to go now Benjamin? Grace has been waiting for three days. She knocked on your door but you didn’t answer her.” She said, clearly not pleased with him.

Benjamin just blinked at her for a moment, nonplused by her words. Had he really been in the tub for three days? He found it a little hard to believe. He knew it had been a while but when he got out of the water his skin hadn’t even been red or pruned.

“Grace…I, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it had been so long. I was working on something I really wanted to show you and I guess I lost track of time.” He said, stammering over his words. His enthusiasm had died a little.

“Oh, ok. Show Grace, she is awake now.” she replied

Benjamin had to admit her lack of enthusiasm stung. she looked a lot less cute now too, with clear annoyance on her face. He hadn’t meant to ignore her. He spent much of his time when not fighting trying to unseal his core. She must have gotten lonely. Her pattern might be literally etched into his soul, but he needed to remember not to take her for granted.

Suddenly, his excitement had died. He was mad at himself. He had hoped to cheer her up but he had only hurt her feelings. Without another word he reached inside himself, finding Stomper’s line he flooded it with power and pulled. The liquid essence in his core flowed out and manifested the goblin fighter. Leaving his freshly filled essence core drastically depleted.

His spirits lifted slightly when Stomper materialized next to him and he saw Grace’s reaction. The tired and annoyed expression was replaced by a look of pure joy. It was like when the clouds parted after a long storm and the sun comes out for the first time in days. She simply radiated happiness.

Stomper in stark contrast just stood there blinking dumbly while he looked around. The fighter looked down at his new bulkier body. It bulged out under his now, too tight soft hides. When he looked up and spotted Grace staring at him, his face also broke into a look of surprised joy.

They rushed each other, each wrapping their arms around the other in a tight embrace that warmed Benjamin’s heart. They looked like siblings that hadn’t seen each other in months. He was feeling really good about what he had done, right up until Grace planted a kiss on the still surprised looking Stomper’s mouth. That came out of left field and took him completely off guard.

Once their lips parted Stomper opened his mouth as if to speak but Grace put her finger too his lips, her face burning with heat. Shaking her head, she took his hand and dragged him back into her room. Before the door closed behind them, she stuck her head back out with a quick “thank you” and then the door was shut firmly.

Benjamin stood there, staring at the door for a solid five minutes. Head tilted slightly in surprise; he really hadn’t realized that the two had been a couple, she always referred to him as her clan brother. He attempted to sort out his feelings on that particular revelation. When he heard their hushed voices on the other side of the door, followed by the sound of furniture thumping . he decided he didn’t think anything at all. He left them to it, returning to redecorate his room on the far side of the bathhouse.