Chapter Eleven

Interlude Three

Theo

Jasper Beauregard watched the young Jamaican man exit the plane and looked down at a sheet of paper with information on it. Theo Youngblood: Jamaican, six foot five, lean build, dread locks, ebony skin. Jasper nodded. He had found Thane Youngblood’s son. Thane had been the main tank of their group on Al’Qarim, and the primary reason they had found the only way to escape that world, outside of killing The Khazam. Of course, he couldn’t say that accursed name out loud here or his influence would spread, and they could potentially be snatched back into that world. Though, he mused to himself, they could just escape again, since they knew how to, quite handily. He grimaced at the thought, because of what it had cost Thane, and his final days. Jasper sighed silently, flexing his hands, still missing the feel of his bow in his hands, with lightning running along the string and wood.

Although they had escaped roughly eighteen years ago, because of the time dilation, they had spent the equivalent of one hundred and fifty years in Al’Qarim. They’d been gone twelve years and virtually had to build new identities for themselves.

Jasper shook his head, clearing it and looked at Theo again. He moved towards the younger man, calling out his name as he walked.

“Theo!”

The young Jamaican man whirled around at the sound of his name being called, and pulled something out of his pocket. A photo and a note. He looked at them, then looked up at Jasper.

“Jasper?”

“Yes, it’s good to see you, finally. How’s Sarah?”

“Mom’s fine, always talks about you, dad and the others. Not happy that none of you really got to visit, though.”

Theo looked almost exactly as his father Thane had, bringing up a feeling of nostalgia in Jasper, but he dismissed it quickly.

“What was your mother able to tell you before you left?”

Information that could be divulged about Al’Qarim outside of that world safely, was painfully limited.

“Not a lot. Just that you needed to talk about something before some…thing happens”?

Jasper nodded.

“Yes, unfortunately we’re painfully limited on what we can say, but you’ll understand soon enough.”

He noticed that Theo had pulled out a deck of tarot cards and had been shuffling them. A nervous habit he had been informed about. He also noticed a pendant that Theo wore, a trifecta.

They arrived at Jasper’s car without anything else being said between them, and Jasper did not answer any questions on the drive to his dojo that he ran, because there were no answers he could give by himself.

Jasper had been sure to make certain that this meeting happened on a night that he knew his son, Zach, would be away for at least a few hours. He thought about his D&D miniatures in a secret compartment and snorted slightly. He opened the next door, a meeting room, and saw who he had been expecting.

Javier Maxwell, Kate’s father and their mage. Along with Michael Truesdale, John’s father and their paladin. Theo slowly put away his cards and stood to the side. Jasper reached down and opened a sliding panel in the floor, entered a combination on the safe, and retrieved a parcel from inside.

“We only have so long. I’m sorry, but questions will have to be kept to a minimum, and after this only some written communication will be safe about this topic that we’re about to broach.”

Jasper gave Theo a severe look. He hoped he was ready. He was respecting Thane’s last wishes. He took out a few items from the parcel. One was a tape recorder, another a crystal of some sort that had glowing inscriptions on it. He activated the crystal with a phrase and grabbed the recorder.

“Theo. The item that was just activated is known as an {Absolute Transcendent Privacy Crystal}. It will last only an hour or two on Earth before the remaining charge is gone. Listen very closely.”

Theo’s eyes widened as he recognized his father’s voice coming from the recorder. He kept in mind what Jasper had said, and his nerves kept him from asking what had happened.

“There is another world called Al’Qarim. Time flows differently there, approximately twelve and a half times the flow of time here on Earth. A very specific being from our world’s mythology fled here to find a world where he could take over and bide his time until Ragnarök, the twilight of the gods, passed and he could come back and assume full control as the only remaining god. However, something went wrong. This being, has the ability to turn into anything and has a silver tongue like no other. He did not account for the being that was the most powerful on Al’Qarim to take him by surprised after a meeting, assimilating him. However, Loki, for that was his name, somehow became the dominant consciousness.”

“It also set back his plans by a great deal. Because the beast was not a divine or godly entity like himself, he had become heavily diluted. And so, he worked to change Al’Qarim so that the flow of time differed greatly, and with the beast’s power, it was no great task. If he was to re-attain the godhood that he had been born with, he would need the power of specific bloodlines from the world he had just vacated. Earth.”

Everyone tensed as they knew what was coming next. The name that could give that being the ability to influence the area where it’s mentioned, outside of Al’Qarim.

“The Khazam was his new name. every eight years, twenty-sided dice will appear randomly throughout the world. Due to influences, it will be mostly here in the western hemisphere. You, Theo, must obtain one of these and enter Al’Qarim. Alone, not with a group. There will be three others, and you must seek them out. This procedure always follows a pattern. Javier’s daughter, Michael’s son, and Jasper’s son will undoubtedly be pulled into Al’Qarim as a group. Your job will be to work behind the scenes to find a way to separate Loki from the being he has become and imprison him. Jasper has an item that should have been with this recorder and the crystal. Failing that, it will be in an extremely secure stash area in the fourth layer of Al’Qarim. Given how draining and taxing this procedure is on The Khazam, you only have a window of ten years to complete this mission, or else you will have to wait until the next group arrives and strike then. It is imperative that you reach the fourth layer of Al’Qarim as quickly as possible. Normally this takes much longer than ten years. We couldn’t finish the job because we were betrayed by a native we had thought an ally. The only way to escape Al’Qarim is by sacrifice of a teammate’s life source and the shattering of a {Transcendent} item. It was mine that was sacrificed, no one knows if Alex and Alice are still alive there or not. If they are, try to bring them back home. But your primary goal is Loki. If you fail, Earth will be ruled by a madman of a creature that consumes and assimilates all he can see.”

“Earthborn have to fight him largely alone. But what most don’t know, what we discovered that made us flee, was that the natives don’t have nearly the control over themselves as they think. Most of them are extensions of him at this point. Only Earthborn, those of us from earth, are true allies there. But beware, for there’s a horrible secret that the others will have to tell you. Good luck, my time is up and sentiment will only drag you down on this mission.”

Theo opened his mouth to ask a question, after all he was brimming with them at this point, but the look from Michael, Javier and Jasper almost made him wet his pants. This was seriousness that he wasn’t ready for. Jasper looked carefully at the inscribed crystal.

“We have maybe ten minutes before the charge has run out completely.”

Javier stepped forward.

“Make sure to die as little as possible. I know that sounds weird, but Al’Qarim will bring you back over and over. Whereas here on Earth, once is all you get. You’ll be one of four special earthborn with unique class options. You’ll only be able to choose one of them from a list, and usually only one unique option will show for you.”

Michael nodded towards Theo.

“I know it’s a lot to take in kid, but you were going to end up going one way or another. It’s how these things go. We’re just trying to make sure you’re more prepared than everyone else in your batch will be.”

“But…why?”

Theo was thoroughly confused as to why they would want him of all people, to be more prepared than everyone else if they were all going to be stuck in the same situation.

“Because we owe it to Thane, and this was part of his last wishes before he passed. I know those cards you shuffle all the time were a gift from him, along with that pendant you’re wearing. Just make sure to brief your three allies once you find them. For now, until those dice appear in the next few weeks, we need to get you ready with as much knowledge as safely possible to divulge here.”

Jasper replied adamantly, looking the young Jamaican man square in the eyes, with a hard stare.

“We can no longer say that name once the crystal runs out of charge. For some reason, ‘Loki’ is safe to say, for now.”

Theo was confused and could only ask one thing.

“Why me?”

“Because of bloodlines. No one is chosen randomly with this, though it seems that way. Loki wants, even needs, certain bloodlines. He may get a very small portion of your blood or essence when you die on Al’Qarim, but not nearly as much as he needs to eventually return to his former godhood. When someone is permanently devoured by him on the other hand…then it’s enough.”

Michael explained. He then held up two fingers.

“There are two ways this can happen. Either die to ‘Loki’ several times in his antechamber in the core of Al’Qarim…”

He paused, sharing a sorrowful look with Javier and Jasper.

“Or be betrayed by a native ‘wanting to strike the final blow’, triggering his Final Stand ability.” Javier snarled out, harshly.

“We still don’t know if we were betrayed or if he had been controlled, but there is a way to find out, with the items we left in caches throughout the layers on Al’Qarim.”

Jasper took out a very thick folder, and passed it to Theo.

“This has all the info you will need on Al’Qarim, including class and elemental information, where the caches are and what to use to access them, and the list of Al’Qarim natives to investigate, interrogate, or spy on. The decision is yours but be wary of them all.”

Theo quirked an eyebrow.

“You said ‘Loki’ could devour people permanently…what about other creatures?”

He asked, a knot of dread forming in the pit of his stomach.

“That…well, it takes much longer, but it will start with them adopting a trait of someone they eat. Not a guaranteed thing, but a small chance. The trait will be like, an eye or their nose. But then they become obsessed with hunting that person. If they can do it enough times, they essentially become that person and that person becomes the beast, then they die a final death. The new ‘person’ is then ejected out of Al’Qarim to Earth and is free to do as they please. It’s only happened a few times, but in small numbers and easily stopped. For now. It’s been happening more often, which could mean something worse is coming.”

Theo wanted to run. He wanted to get away from this as fast as possible. But his nerves kept him rooted to the spot, he pulled out his tarot cards and began to shuffle.

“Three weeks is when the dice will start appearing. You need to study that folder and memorize as much as possible before then.”

Jasper said, then he looked at the crystal just as the charge finally died.

“Ah, out of time. We have a room for you here if you want. I know your mother booked a hotel stay for you, though.”

Jasper looked at Theo with a quirked eyebrow and slight grin that said he knew that Theo wasn’t going to turn down the offer. And he was correct.

Theo’s days were filled with various information about this clan on the first layer of Al’Qarim and their relationship with that clan on the third layer, about how to disable the traps surrounding a mountainous cache on the first and third floors, and how to re-arm them so that they could only be disabled by him, which natives to be most wary of and which he was most likely to be able to trust. However, that warning to be wary of all natives of Al’Qarim rang loudly in his ears. Throughout it all, he kept rubbing his pendant and shuffling his tarot cards.

“Are you sure this will work?” Javier asked one evening, looking at Michael and Jasper.

“No, but we trust Thane’s judgement, like we always have. All we can do is have faith.” Michael said simply, Jasper nodding in agreement, signaling that was all that could be safely said at that moment.

Three weeks passed without any interaction between Jasper, Michael, Javier and Theo. He needed as little distraction as possible, as he wouldn’t be able to take much of the documents with him, lest they be found.

On the twenty-second day since Theo arrived, Jasper’s phone rang.

“We found one, sending coordinates now.” A crackling, indistinct voice said.

Click

Jasper nodded. His information team had found one of the dice, and right on schedule as their data had suggested. He knocked on Theo’s door.

“It’s time.”

Theo nodded, having finished his second pass through the documentation just earlier that morning. He had a splitting migraine, but it was starting to decline.

“Let me see the folder, while we’re on the way.” Jasper said, holding his hand out for the mentioned folder.

Theo handed it to him, and followed Jasper down to a waiting car. It was unmarked, with no logos or insignias of any type. A black car, Theo wasn’t familiar with makes and models of vehicles.

The destination wasn’t far, and the ride seemed to go very quickly. Jasper had taken out a quarter of the documents and passed them back to Theo.

“These should be safe to keep on you, over there. You’ll need all the luck and help you can get, Theo. Be safe.”

Theo saw what looked like a small shack. He walked inside, looking around. He was alone. He heard the car leave, and sighed. On the small table in front of him, was a twenty-sided die and what seemed to be a piece of paper under it. He picked up the die and looked it over.

The die didn’t actually have a one or twenty on it, like most of its kind, although it did have twenty sides. Where the one should have been, there was a swirl with two lines through it, and a skull overlaid on top. Where the twenty should have been, was a swirl with crossed axes and a heart.

Next, he picked up the piece of paper and read what was on it.

‘Do not speak these words out loud unless you are sure you wish to leave your current life behind, forever. This is your only warning. If you wish to, speak these words and everything around you within 10 feet will disappear along with you. This world is like nothing you believe could have existed before. There are many dangers and horrors awaiting, but also vast riches, and vast power, should you prove yourself WORTHY.’

‘I wish to leave my mundane life behind for adventure, honor and glory. I knowingly risk my life, sanity, mind and very soul in exchange for this. I willingly enter this new world of Magick and Steel, Miracles and Horrors, and acknowledge I will be given a guide to this new world and it’s rules and laws, and that I shall enter the world in a safe town until I can comprehend what this new world is about. Safety is a luxury, not guaranteed.’

‘This must be said willingly and cannot be forced’

Theo pondered over it for a moment. Could…coercion be the same as saying it willingly, in this context? Based on what he had read in the documents given to him by Jasper, yes, it absolutely could. He thought about the ‘guide’. The guides were the innkeepers, normally. But limited guidance was actually allowed, due to the very nature of how the Final Stand ability that The Khazam used. Theo surmised that it’s an elaborate trap, designed to make it so that the Earthborn have too much influence from Al’Qarim and end up causing their own final death. He looked down at his pendant, and at the case holding his tarot cards. He was told to be very careful not to say the name before reading the paper, or he would be influenced very heavily. The smaller piece of paper under the die held only the name. The Khazam. Theo snorted and read aloud the longer piece of paper. He felt a jerking sensation in his core, and something glimmering seemed to appear right behind him. As Theo was pulled through the portal, he thought he heard his father’s voice again, along with the die falling to the ground where he had been standing.

The Khazam studied the young man who had just arrived very shortly after his preparations for this century’s batch completed. He knew this one would be different among this batch, because he didn’t seem native to the area in where he had found the device, the ‘die’ as they called it. Also, The Khazam noticed the pendant around his neck and the case on his hip that seemed to be used to hold cards.

He knew there would be four such people to come through by themselves, but never had any of the four come first. He was always taken aback and confused by their appearances.

As Theo stood up and stretched to relieve the soreness from his joints, he had a notification appear in his vision, showing him the classes he could choose from.

Warrior: Use melee weapons to deal grievous damage and wounds. Swords and Plate or Leather armor or primary equipment. Strength, Agility, and Dexterity are primary stats. The Warrior is a classic damage dealing class that can take moderate damage.

Mage: use long range spells to decimate your enemies before they know what hit them. Staff and robes are primary equipment, Intellect, Mana, and Mana Regeneration are main stats.

Cleric: Use holy power to heal your allies and smite your enemies. Staff and Robes primary equipment. Intellect, Mana, and Mana Regeneration are main stats. The Cleric is a healing class that can mete out heavy punishment when not healing.

Paladin: Use holy power to heal your allies while tanking enemies. Plate armor, Sword and Shield are primary equipment. Intellect, Strength, Stamina, Mana Regeneration are primary stats. The Paladin is a unique class that can tank with the best and heal allies while holding back the enemies.

Rogue: Use stealth and cunning to gain an advantage in combat and outside of combat. Daggers and Leather Armor are primary equipment. Agility, Dexterity, Stamina Regeneration and Intellect are primary stats. The rogue is a cunning class that can often uncover secrets that others may ignore, and deal in information when not busy killing enemies.

Berserker: harness the anger boiling in you and hack your enemies to pieces. Battle-Axes and Leather Armor are primary equipment. Agility, Strength and Stamina Regeneration are primary stats. The Berserker is a rage-filled class that will go to any lengths to utterly destroy their enemies.

Archer: fight from afar with bow and arrow. Bow and arrow, Leather Armor are primary equipment. Agility, Dexterity and Stamina Regeneration are primary stats. The archer is one of very few non-magical ranged classes, but can use magic to strongly augment their abilities.

Monk: Use speed and raw striking power to deal increased physical damage and dodge attacks. Leather Armor, Leather Gauntlets are primary equipment. Dexterity, Agility, and Stamina Regeneration are main stats. The Monk is considered a damaging and dodging tank class.

Shield-Bearer: Use speed and unyielding resolve to protect your allies and hold aggro on your enemies. Leather or Plate armor, and Spiked Shields are primary equipment. Health, Stamina Regeneration, Agility and Stamina are primary stats. The Shield-Bearer is considered a tanking class focused on dealing damage and withstanding staggering blows.

Card-slinger: Use cards imbued with your own power, and the power of spells and inscriptions. The Card-Slinger may not use any regular weapons. They may, however, use any attributes, abilities and spells in the world without penalty or restriction. You will automatically start with the Inscribing skill and general knowledge of how it works, along with your cards being inscribed with the basest of spells. The Card-Slinger receives a bonus to all endeavors, abilities, skills, and spells of fifteen percent.

The Khazam’s eyes widened to near comical levels. There had only been two Card-Slingers, in the history of Al’Qarim. They were very unique and cunning. And dangerous.

Theo was expecting him to speak up, and didn’t have to wait long at all, after selecting the Card-Slinger class. According to the info from Jasper’s documents, it was one of the unique classes. Also very versatile and powerful.

“Well, now you must choose your elements. Card-Slingers actually begin with three base elements and may have an advanced element as early as level three.”

His voice was horrible, as though it were hundreds or even thousands being forced and meshed together into one. It was pure chaos and Theo wasn’t sure how he was able to understand anything that the creature said. But he was. The Khazam assumed Theo didn’t hear him and elaborated a bit.

“Normally, you cannot use spells, skills or abilities directly tied to an element opposite of the one you choose. But Card-Slingers can ignore that fundamental rule entirely. The basic elements are: Life, Death, Fire, Water, Air, Earth, Light and Dark. Card-Slingers may start with three of these, unlike other classes.”

Theo nodded silently, thinking. With fire and air, he could have access to Lightning very quickly. With water and air, ice.

“…How soon would I be able to choose a second advanced element, with this class?”

“Level five, actually.” The Khazam was mildly impressed and taken aback.Theo nodded and locked in his choices. The Khazam quirked an eyebrow. Fast learner. Interesting.

The Khazam picked up one of many bags off to the side of the antechamber, inspected it, and tossed it towards Theo.

Card-Slinger was inscribed onto the bag.

{ALERT} you have achieved the base requirements for advanced elements: Lightning, Ice. You do not have the appropriate levels: 3, 5.

Theo nodded, having expected that notification to pop up.

The Khazam looked at him expectantly, and pointed to a staircase.

“As you don’t seem to need prodding, I won’t summon a creature to chase you up to the surface. Yet. Enjoy your new life. Theo Youngblood.”

The blood in Theo’s veins seemed to freeze solid at his name being said in that creature’s horrible voice. He needed no prodding and bolted off up the staircase, having not noticed that his tarot card case seemed to have multiplied. He now had three of them, and his cards were all inscribed with the basic spells of Al’Qarim.

Theo kept encountering creatures on his trek up to the surface, and thus had ample opportunity to practice his new spells and equip the armor that had been in the bag of holding.

{Minor Leather Armor}, {Minor Leather Boots of Speed}, and {Minor Leather Greaves} were what he had decided upon, both for how lightweight it was, and because the black color blended with the surroundings well. He found that if he channeled his mana into his {Minor Fireball Card} before throwing it onto the ground and willing it to only activate if something other than him stepped near it, he had an effective land mine.

Theo, was still confused however. Apparently the information that he had been given hadn’t come from someone that had acquired a unique class. Most others would have been teleported to the surface with their group, but he had been down here for almost two weeks now, without reaching the surface yet. There was still plenty of food and drink stored within his {Minor Bag of Holding}, but it was still disconcerting. He had already reached level five and was nearly to six. His Skill in Inscribing had already reached level ten, which was the threshold for Beginner ranks. He could now retrieve his cards after use, and there was a chance that it would be repairable, or not damaged much at all.

“{Lightning Strike}”

You used {Lightning Strike} on {Young Cave Lizard}, critically hitting for 138 damage. {Young Cave Lizard} has been slain, and your imbued card has been destroyed.

Theo threw a card at a {Young Cave Lizard}, roasting it nearly instantly, a week later. He hadn’t realized that the bonus of fifteen percent had also applied to his experience gain. Unfortunately, while {Lightning Strike} was very powerful for his level, it also disintegrated the card. He was running low on supplies to make more cards, though he had plenty of spell scrolls to use and learn from still.

Theo looked up and squinted at the light that seemed to have appeared after his recent nap. Then he realized what had been going on. He had been trapped down here until he had reached some criteria, or a certain amount of time had passed.

Theo Youngblood climbed out of the cave, several miles from a training camp for other Earthborn. He was near an inn but was unnoticed due to the black of his armor and the darkness of his skin. He started towards the inn, after consulting the map. Kun’Glai, the nearest town had the innkeepers, Slyk and Mordred, two of the natives under the ‘Trustworthy’ category of the information he had been given.