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An Incubus Life - 159 - World Gate
🕑 Added 2023-11-28 20:40:36 +0000 UTCChapter 159 World Gate
Faust was a shaman, and it was not lost on me that his robes had a similar pattern to the old female shaman who had tried to restrain me during my fight with Vakgar. Her robes had been a different color but belonged to the Fiery Snow Clan. Maybe the robe colors signified different ranks.
As we walked, Faust commented, “The blood of the ancestors runs extremely strong in you, Champion.”
“You consider me a Champion now?” I asked with a mocking tone of surprise.
“I do. You defeated the strongest warrior in the city in Vakgar. The Haunted Waters Clan will be upset and will send another to challenge you from the south to regain honor, but know the Fiery Snow acknowledges you.” Maybe my translation amulet was not quite working, but I still sensed some condescension in his voice.
We had reached the Pyramid entrance again, two ancient ice orc males with white hair and leathery skin met us. “Faust, news travels and brings tidings of a new Champion to our city.”
Faust bowed, “Celebrated Elders, it is true. He calls himself Apollyon and has defeated Vakgar in Honor combat. He wishes to tour the Pyramid.”
“Come, Champion,” the most ancient of the two motioned, “I can show you around. We are preparing for a Sending tomorrow. I am Ergoth, oldest of the Fiery Snow, Champion.” He gave a slight bow of his head. His core was upper tier one in my abyssal sight and looked fragile. I guessed he was close to the end.
Vida leaned in, “They are sending young orcs to Earth to die.”
The old orc turned to Vida, arching an eyebrow, “Young one, you advise the Champion?” He must have had extremely sharp ears or some magic listening device. Even with my enhanced demon hearing, I had barely heard Vida’s whisper.
“She is familiar with the practice. I am not,” I said, covering for Vida.
The old man nodded, “We are sending young orcs to test themselves on a planet called Everhome. They failed to live up to the expectations of their parents and the clans. There, they fight elves, humans, and dwarves in order to prove they are worthy and on the Path,” he explained.
“How many of the return?” I asked, guessing the Path was some form of combat right of passage.
“Every year or so, a pair or three will find their way home from the crucible. They return to us warriors, and their station is raised,” he smiled as he answered as we turned into a corridor lined with off-white stone.
“Out of how many?” Bedelia asked while running her hand along the wall of smooth stone.
“From this Pyramid, we send a thousand a year to Everhome in groups of one hundred and another five hundred to the planet your consort mentioned, Earth. None have returned from Earth,” the orc paused at an elaborate metal door. “Do you wish to see them?”
I hesitated for a moment before nodding at Vida’s probing elbow, and the old priest opened the door, and we stepped out onto a balcony. The balcony looked down on a large room with dozens of orcs, mostly gray-skinned or olive. A few white orcs mixed in and stood out. Observing, there were a few fistfights, mostly the white-skinned ice orcs getting beaten heavily since they were heavily outnumbered.
A guard on an opposite balcony snapped a whip, and three gray-skinned orc females backed away from the bleeding white ice orc. It was a female white orc; she was small, a head shorter than everyone else below.
Aurora stepped to the edge next to me and inspected the group below. It looked like a prison yard. She asked, “Are all children tested, and I thought they were sent naked?”
The old orc answered her questions patiently, “About half the children are tested. Some do not require testing, while others are important to production. And yes, they will be sent without clothing for two reasons. The first is less mass, which means less aether to send them across the stars. It takes nearly a month for us to collect enough aether in the limestone of the Pyramid to open a gate and charge the keystone. No clothing or weapons means we can send more of them through. The other reason is these individuals have broken the law or failed to meet their clan’s requirements to stay on Mercaniuous. They need to earn everything on their own,” he lectured us.
Bedelia looked pitifully at the young orcs below. It looked like another fight had broken out, “Do other planets send their people to Mercanious through the gates.”
The confused look on his face at Bedelia’s misstep had me step in. I used what Gundella had surmised to alleviate his confusion at our lack of knowledge, “We are from the transit and unfamiliar with the situation on Mercanious.”
The old orc nodded slowly as a few puzzles had just been solved in his head, “No. There was a war that ended more than three millennia ago. The New Kingdom of Earth used to send beastkin and men to fight us here, but that abruptly ended when the angelics gained the upper hand from the demons on the planet. Everhome has only ever sent spies and individuals.”
We left the balcony as more fights were breaking out below. It was good we were leaving, as I could see Vida getting angry. Gundella was still trailing our group. I assumed she wanted to ensure the Fiery Snow clan did not persuade me to join them.
As we walked the narrow stone corridors, I could feel the weight of the Pyramid pressing on us above. I could feel this structure had a purpose. “Where is your gate?” I asked our elder tour guide.
Ergoth smiled, “The main attraction of any Pyramid. Come, and you can see the preparation the Fiery Snow shamans are doing.”
We followed him deeper into the structure. The limestone walls started to feel confining, and I could feel the aether density increasing. It was like when I excited my partner’s lust, and the aether was being drawn in. We reached a large central chamber lit by golden lights. As he had said, a huge black obsidian block stood in the center of the chamber, the main attraction. A dozen shamans were naked and pressing their bodies into the black cube. They remained frozen, and it looked like a grotesque piece of artwork.
We followed Ergoth to the floor to look closer at the block and orcs working. “Our clan shamans take a thousand hours to charge the keystone. But the stone is just the key to opening the passage for the Sending. The Pyramid’s limestone must also be nearly saturated to power the conduit.”
“Impressive. I have heard of the World Gates before but never seen them in action.” I was looking around the chamber for the transit thread. I quickly became confused. Where was it? If we were in the center of the Pyramid and the thread came straight down the center it should be right here?
Ergoth motioned, “Tomorrow evening will be the Sending. I would be honored if you would be my guest, Champion. We have a number of guests coming from the southern continent.”
Gundella stepped forward for the first time, talking, “The Champion has obligations to Whispering Rock, Elder Ergoth.” I gave the old woman a glance of annoyance. Obligations was too strong a word.
“He can attend with his entourage. Even if it includes members of Whispering Rock,” he added amicably. “Come now, Gundella, you are as old as me. You can not take gold or grievances to the afterlife.”
Gundella snapped at Ergoth, “I will take whatever I wish to my next life, Ergoth!” It appeared there was some familiarity between the two with an unpleasant past attached.
I interrupted the exchange before it got out of hand, “Can we go to the top of the Pyramid?”
A staring session between Ergoth and Gundella cooled after a few tense moments. Ergoth shook his head no at me, “Not only can my legs not take me up to the top easily, but the dissipator wreaks havoc on aether cores. You do not want to get too close to it.”
I nodded, and my companions looked confused. I should have opened the portal for us by now to bring us into the transit. They sensed something was wrong. “I think I have had enough for today, and we will return for the Sending.” I was polite and bowed to the elder, “Thank you for your time.”
I looked at the black stone and walked around the naked shamans siphoning their aether into the stone as we exited the central chamber. It appeared the more body contact they had, the easier the task was to drain their aether into it. They chose different poses, and once again, I was reminded of an odd piece of artwork. All their bodies had a sheen of sweat from the effort they were putting into charging—no, feeding the black stone in my abyssal sight. All the orc shamans were pale ice orcs with upper tier one cores except a gray-skinned male with a lower tier two core. I paused and studied the sweating young male orc.
His back was lined with scars like he had been whipped. He sensed me staring and turned his head to me. His eyes were sunken, and his gray pupils told me his spirit was broken. Clearly, he was being used more harshly as the other orcs pressed to the black cube looked mostly healthy. We exited out of the Pyramid and went to Gundella’s steam-powered carriage. We all shuffled in but could not talk with Gundella here.
We reached the black castle that was the home to the Whispering Rock Clan. The fat male servant announced our arrival, “We will be serving the late afternoon meal in one hour.”
“Gundella, I will be resting with my companions,” I announced.
“I will send Tevega to attend to your needs,” she stated, and I halted her with a motion of my hand.
“I just plan to rest after the fight. My consorts can handle my needs. No other servants are required.” I left with my four orc women in tow.
When we were finally alone in the room, the tension bled away. We waited for Bedelia to tell us the room was secure and we were not being spied. “There is a hollow space behind that painting. No one is standing there, but just throw a blanket over it.” Bedelia sat heavily on the bed, and I could tell she had used a lot of aether today. Aurora followed Bedelia’s suggestion, taking a blanket and covering the picture.
Iris finally burst and asked, “What happened? I thought we were leaving from the temple?”
“There was no transit thread. Well, there was above the Pyramid but nothing inside,” I stated. “I have never seen matter stop a transit thread before.”
Lying on the bed, Bedelia spoke softly, “The dissipator must be really strong then. It makes sense if they are opening a gate for these Sendings every month.”
Vida was reaching into my pocket to pull the braid of hair with the beads. I allowed her intrusion, and she indicated the beads, “You need to be wearing these next time you go out.”
“Not important right now, Vida,” Iris chastised her. She looked at me, “We need to find a way into the transit. We have been on the planet for three days and are no closer to finding my parents or Andromeda.”
I cautioned her, “We are still finding our way. We have learned a number of things. Do you think the dissipator is causing the transit threads to break, Bedelia?”
“No. They are not uncommon. They shunt aether from a transit into a collector to charge artifacts. The scale here is just massive. The pyramids in Egypt must have done the same thing a long time ago,” Bedelia said, not moving. She was keeping her magical senses passive in case Gundella started spying.
Vida had freed the beads from the braid and pooled them together. “The top bead was his first, it looks like green turquoise.” She handed it to me. Her mind was not at all focused on our problems. It was like she was off in her our little world. “I think we should free the young orcs before they are sent to Everhome.”
“Not an option. They could have chosen to go to the transit and live in the city within the transit,” I replied.
“And be enslaved!” Vida protested. “They would rather have a chance at freedom than be enslaved.”
Iris backed me, “It is disgusting Vida, but if we interfered, then an entire city would come for us. I think we are already too visible, thanks to your advice in Caleb’s orc form.” Vida grunted and sat in a padded chair, looking dejected. She was supposed to be our expert on Mercanious, but she grew up in the lowest class and was young when she was sent to Earth.”
A knock at the door made us turn to Bedelia, who said, “It is the scarred older woman, Sharn.”
I went to the door, swearing under my breath. I had planned to be exit into the transit during the Pyramid visit. Now, I had to decide what to do about Sharn’s daughter, Glasha. Sharn was there in her guard uniform. It was pressed and immaculate. “Yes?” I asked dumbly.
Sharn cautiously said, “You said you would consider teaching my daughter, Champion Maestro, when you returned from the Pyramid.”
“I do recall saying that. She is not with you, though?” I said, stating the obvious.
“The Matriarch sent her to guard the worg hunting stables, Champion. She can not leave her post,” Sharn admitted.
“She is being a little spiteful,” I commented of Gundella. Sharn did not react to my words. I asked a question, “What did your clan do to be indentured to her for so long?”
Sharn hardened her eyes some. “My grandfather was escorting Gundella’s husband in the southern cities. He failed to protect him. My grandfather lived, Tourac, her husband did not.”
I nodded as the long debt of service made some sense now. “So what do you want me to do?” I inquired of Sharn.
“Go and take Glasha among the worg. I told her to expect you,” Sharn said flatly.
“No. I am a Champion and do not take orders from you or run off the stick my cock in a female in the stables,” I said hotly. “When she can be ready for me on a bed or cushion, I will honor my promise. Also, I remind you, it was you who won my favor, not your daughter. I could deny your request.” I just wanted to push the orc woman away, and talking down to her seemed the best way.
Her jaw clenched, “I understand, Champion. Sorry to disturb you and your consorts.” She turned on her heel and left.
After closing the door, Aurora laughed softly, “She is not going to give up. She wants to raise her daughter out of her miserable life.”
I considered, “Her daughter will still be bound to Whispering Rock, just stronger and a better tool,” I pointed out.
“It is still better than many grays and greens have,” Vida replied testily.
Bedalia was on the bed and tried to move the conversation on, “What is our next move?”
I chewed on my lower lip. The tusks were really annoying. “All the transits have pyramids, so this one is as good as the next. We will still go through and enter here. I wish Carrie had given me a little more direction rather than saying this was something I needed to do. Andromeda is in trouble, but all we know is that she is on a higher layer. Most likely your parents as well.”
“So are we staying until the Sending tomorrow?” Iris asked.
“Yes, for now, that is the plan. Hopefully, we can get close enough to the thread to open a portal.” A knock came at the door.
Bedelia informed us, “The fat gray orc that serves as Gundella’s errand boy. I am assuming the lunch is ready.”
At this afternoon meal, no line of orc women was on display. Maybe Gundella thought they were competition for Tevega, who was seated at the table. We all ate in silence for the next forty minutes. Gundella asked directly, “Will you stay in Tevega’s room this evening?”
“No.” I chastised her. “I did not appreciate your manipulations this morning, Gundella. Even if the combat was fun, I did not appreciate you arranging it,” I stated coldly.
She answered angrily, “There was no other way unless you wanted to prostrate yourself on the ground and beg to take you inside the Pyramid. You should be thanking me for pushing for the fastest and most accommodating resolution!”
“You used me to handle old grudges and raise your clan’s status, Gundella. I have received no benefit that matches your gains!” I stood abruptly, “Tevega will not see my seed until I feel the scales have been balanced.”
Tevega was at the table and quiet for her part. Gundella’s rage simmered, but she remained angry. It was clear she was not used to losing control of situations. Looking up at me, she clenched her jaw, “And what do you want from me to balance the scales?”
I rubbed my chin like I was in thought, “Just access to your library with my consorts for now.”
I left the dining room. Iris and Bedelia followed immediately. Aurora took time to load up a plate with food before following. Vida remained sitting and seethed before pushing violently away from the table and following. Bringing her had been a mistake. Now, she was angry and carried the child of an efeert. I could sense she was slowly becoming wild and unpredictable.
In the library, we shut the door, and Bedela took a seat to keep watch. Iris stood next to me, “What are we doing in here?”
I looked around the small library. I had assimilated maybe a quarter of the collection into my mind space so far. “Knowledge. The more we have, the less blind we are when dealing with the clans.”
Iris nodded and started to help me look through the titles.
