Chapter 64: Sixty two

Crouched beside a sleeping Markion’s head, I dipped a brush into a jar of luminous pink liquid before applying it liberally to my brother's horns. I’d modified the mixture for better application by adding the luminous mushroom powder into a sticky sap I’d been using as an adhesive, as opposed to the ethanol I mixed it with when creating the luminous orbs. 

Over the past several minutes, I’d dipped the ends of Kip's mustache into the pink liquid, and painted the nails on each hand, before moving onto my brother. They brought it upon themselves, really. Were it not for the monstrous sounds coming from both their throats, I’d be fast asleep right now, instead of working out ways to get revenge for my now sleep deprived state. 

How can Pia just sleep through all this racket? I grumbled silently to myself as I continued painting my brother's horns a bright glowing pink. 

The Faun was curled up in the corner, her arms wrapped around her spear as though it were a teddy bear as she slept, completely oblivious to the deafening noise that filled the tent thanks to Markion and Kip’s snoring. Rainy had excused herself from the tent the moment the two men fell asleep, with the excuse of going to grow more vegetation for the guild's mounts. Victoria was off somewhere doing captain stuff, according to what Pia said when we returned to the tent after the meeting. 

It had been agreed that we would wait until dark before I began construction of the encampment. I’d intended to get some much-needed sleep until then, but clearly that wasn’t going to happen. Finished with Markion’s horns, I stared into the jar that was still half full of luminescent pink liquid. 

I’m tempted to use some of this on Corvus, but he’ll probably be awake or would wake the moment I entered his tent. He’s always been hard to sneak up on. I thought as I scanned the room for something else to paint, and saw Markion’s axe laying innocently on the ground by his feet. 

Perfect. 

Starting with my brother’s feet, I painted each hoof with the sticky pink liquid, which quickly dried and hardened. Then I moved onto his axe, which got several hearts painted onto each side of the blade, along with the words ‘Eternia’s Prize Winning Heifer’ on one side. Gently setting the axe down, I crept over to where Pia laid, and ran the brush over her hooves, using the last remnants of luminous pink on the Faun. 

Now to flee the scene of the crime, I thought as I hid the empty jar and brush. 

As I exited the tent, I plucked up a dozing Leo from his basket next to the tent flap, and held him tightly in my arms as I walked through the encampment. I found Darius and Corvus walking around with a few unfamiliar guild members, as they placed wooden stakes in the ground to mark the location of the future wall. They’d decided to set the wall ten meters away from the property line, as Corvus wanted to keep our encampment from being encroached on by someone building directly on our property line. 

According to the lion, the other dungeon towns that had popped up in the eight months since Kaledon went live were now bustling settlements.With the Whispers deciding to make this location their home base, the newly named settlement of Sēkrit would no doubt see a similarly explosive growth. 

 Due to its harsh environment, the Sarin desert was one of the last regions of Salvia to be explored, and it was only now seeing a greater influx of people seeking to discover hidden treasures or unknown dungeons. I understood the guild officers' reasons for wanting to take advantage of claiming land in a newly forming settlement, but I just wished it was somewhere other than the desert. 

“Thought you were going to take a nap?” Darius asked as I approached where he and Corvus stood, reviewing their plans for the encampment. 

“I was,” I responded grumpily, putting a squirming Leo down on the sand. “Unfortunately, my brother also decided now is the perfect time for nap, and is snoring loud enough that he could wake the dead without the aid of a necromancer.” 

“Ah, now there’s something I don’t miss.” Corvus said, exchanging an amused look with Darius. “I still reckon it was Markion’s snoring which attracted that pack of goblins who attacked us that first week here.” 

“And here I thought it was the smell of that burnt monstrosity you tried to pass off as food.” The guild leader quipped. 

“I’m not a bloody cook, if you wanted edible food then you should have brought Bron or Yuki with us.” 

“What are you now, anyway?” I asked, eyeing the commander up and down, wondering if he’d changed his profession or not. 

“I’ve been busy getting the guild settled, but I have done a bit of bow crafting.” Corvus admitted.

“So you’re staying a Bowyer, then?” 

“I might pick something else later if I’ve got the time.” He said with a shrug, and I nodded in understanding. 

Time was something I’d also found to be in short supply recently. 

“I can’t even remember the last time I forged something.” Darius interjected, glancing down at his hands. “I did some jewel-smithing when we first arrived to see how different it was, but haven’t really had much of a chance to work on my craft.” 

“Tut tut, what good are commanders of a crafting guild who don’t even craft?” I scolded lightly, crossing my arms over my chest. “What an example you both set.” 

“You offering to take over my administrative tasks so I can increase my crafting proficiency, Kads?” Darius asked, lips twitching at the look of horror I sent his way in response. 

“I guess ‘Guild Leader’ could be considered its own craft.” I conceded, much to both men's amusement. 

“Go get some sleep, we need you well rested for tonight. You can use my tent,” Darius said, and I considered his offer for a moment before agreeing. 

Calling Leo back from where he was cautiously sniffing at Corvus’s ankles, I left the guild commanders to their task and headed to where Darius had pitched his tent. After a cursory check of the tent to make sure it was empty, I settled down on the same bed I’d resurrected on after my death in the dungeon. Only Darius, Markion and myself were bound to the guild leaders’ token, so I wasn’t worried about someone reviving on the bed whilst I was sleeping, as I didn’t think either of the two would be dying anytime soon. 

Sleep came easily, but didn’t last long, as I was woken only a few hours later by the enraged roar of an angry Minotaur bellowing my name. 

“KADIA!” 

With a jaw cracking yawn, I stretched out on the bed, ears twitching as I listened to my brothers yells as he shouted demands for someone to reveal my location. Clearly, he wasn’t getting the answers he wanted, as all I could hear in response to his shouts was laughter. I stood as Markion’s shouting drew closer, giving the Leosaur curled up at the foot of the bed a quick glance before deciding to leave him be for the time being. Hopefully, he’d not get up to any mischief whilst I was away. 

“You bellowed?” I called out as I exited the tent and saw my brother marching past it towards the command tent. 

Spinning around on a pink hoof, Markion let out a vicious snarl as he saw me standing at the entrance to Darius’s tent. 

“You,” my brother began, but stopped speaking abruptly as his eyes flicked to the tent I’d just left. 

“What the fuck were you doing in there?” He hissed suddenly, eyes going wide. 

“Sleeping?” I replied questioningly, surprised he was asking about that and not throwing a fit over his pretty pink horns. 

“With who?” Markion demanded, striding towards me.

“What do you mean with who? I couldn’t sleep because of you snoring up a storm, so Darius said I could use his tent.” 

“And where the fuck is Darius?” 

“How would I know? Last time I saw him he was with Corvus staking out the position for the new wall.” I snapped in annoyance as Markion loomed over me, peering into the tent. 

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“You were sleeping alone?” 

“No, I was with-,” I started, but was cut off when Markion let out a shout and went storming into the tent. 

“Leo.” I finished lamely, as my brother tore at the canvas wall separating the sleeping area from the main room of Darius’s tent. 

My brother's an overprotective idiot. I thought with a sigh as the moronic bull continued searching through the guild leaders tent for my sleeping companion, who’d fled the bed and was now cowering beside my foot. 

“Where is he? It was that fucking lion wasn’t it?” Markion raged, turning back to me with a scowl. 

“I guess he is kind of a lion,” I mused, glancing down at Leonidas. 

Though not the one my brother is thinking of. Markion didn’t wait for me to clarify which lion I was talking about, and I watched in amusement as he went barreling out of the tent. 

Picking up a trembling Leosaur, I held him tightly, rubbing a hand over his smooth scaled head as I jogged after my brother. 

Markion found Corvus in the command tent, and in a move reminiscent of my own actions only a day before, my brother flung his axe across the room, aimed straight for the lion. Corvus barely managed to roll out of his chair and avoid being cleaved in two by the massive double bladed battle axe. With a bellow, Markion charged across the room, head lowered in such a way that it was clear he intended to impale the lion on his horns. In a move that showed him to be as agile as the feline his true form was, Corvus leapt away from the charging Minotaur, who ran straight through the wall of the tent, unable to stop his rage fueled charge. 

“Want to tell me what the fuck is going on?” Darius demanded, as Corvus darted after my brother and leapt on his back, an arm going around the bulls thick neck. 

Snickering I watched the lion get flung over Markion’s head, where he landed in the sand with a hard thump, while filling Darius in on my brother’s hastily drawn conclusions. 

“And you didn’t correct him?” 

“I didn’t have a chance,” eyes wide with feigned innocence, I gazed up at the Ōkami imploringly. “I did say it was Leo, but he wasn’t listening! I think it might be heat rage.”  

“Is that the story you’re sticking to?” Darius asked, arms crossed over his chest as he watched the two guild commanders brawling in the sand. 

“Yup.” 

“It seems Corvus has been slacking off in his training lately, he’s normally quicker on his feet.” The guild leader mused as we watched Markion fling the lion into a nearby tent. 

Letting out a roar, Corvus extracted himself from the tent and rushed at Markion, shedding his human form in favor of a large golden furred lion. The lion was twice as large as the ones I’d seen pictured in books and on nature documentaries, with a thick mane that would put any of the few remaining lions on Earth to shame. 

My brother let out his own roar in response to the lion's, though it didn’t have quite the same regal quality as the lion's did. As two rushed at each other, I could hear cheers from the various guild members who’d been drawn to the scene by all the noise. 

“Place yer bets,” a familiar accented voice called out behind me. I glanced over to see Bastian watching the fight with glee as he walked through the crowd holding a notebook and pouch.

“Three gold on Markion.” I called out to the dwarf, who looked surprised before he nodded with a broad grin. 

“A fair bet, lass, though I’d wager you’d be better putting yer money on Commander Corvus.” 

“My brother can take down that lazy lion any day of the week.” I scoffed, dropping three gold into the dwarfs palm. 

“We’ll see,” Bastian said noncommittally as he moved away to collect more bets. 

Turning back to the fight, I was horrified to find Markion on his back, struggling with the lion that was pinning him to the ground. 

“Markion, get up. Don’t let that stupid lion win.” I shouted as Markion strained to keep the lion's jaws away from his throat. 

Letting out a bellow, my brother released the lion's head, and I watched in shock as it went to bite down on his neck, only for Markion to deliver a hard punch to the lion's rib cage. Whooping with glee, I bounced up and down on my toes as Markion was able to push the lion off his body. 

As my brother staggered to his feet, his chest covered in blood from the deep furrows left by Corvus’s claws, I felt a strange feeling of wrongness sweep over me. Why was I enjoying seeing this? They were literally beating each other bloody, and probably to death. Yet everyone, myself included, were acting as though this was nothing to be concerned about. 

Shouldn’t I be worried that Markion is getting hurt? 

Why? It’s just a game, isn’t it? None of this is real.

Isn’t it? 

“It isn’t,” I mumbled, staring at my brother who now had the golden lion in a headlock. “It’s not a game.” 

“No it isn’t.” Darius said from beside me, placing a hand on my shoulder. “For us, this is life. Something that players never fully understand, not until they live it for themselves.” 

“You’ll need to apologize properly to Corvus for the power he will lose with this death. At his level it will take him at least three trips through the dungeon to recover what will be lost.” The guild leader said as Markion viciously jerked the lion's head around. 

The snapping of bones had my skin prickling, and my ears pressing back against my head as I watched the lion's body fall limp. Releasing Corvus’s body, my brother let out a loud shout, raising his hands over his head triumphantly in response to the cheering crowd. 

The crowd departed the scene, my brother going with them as he bathed in their cheers and praise.

Once they were gone, I moved to the body of the lion, dropping to my knees beside him. Running my hand over the blood matted fur, I murmured a soft apology to the dead Corvus. I sat like that for the next hour, stroking my hand over the bloodied golden fur, absorbing the power that filled the air. I wasn’t the only one taking advantage of the commander’s death, almost a dozen other guild members sat nearby, each sitting with their eyes closed as they attempted to absorb as much of the power released from the lion's core as possible. Though none dared come as close to the lion as I had, and the few who’d tried were met by fire. 

As punishment for my part in the fight, Darius had tasked me with the job of guarding Corvus’s body until it faded, refusing to allow me to move him into a more shaded area. I didn’t complain, and sat silently in the sweltering heat of the late afternoon sun, not moving until Corvus’s body faded from sight. 

 

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