Unbound

Chapter Seven Hundred And Ninety Nine – 799

They trudged through the jungle, the Wyrmkin with their spiral necklaces leading the way. Beef still couldn't see the wards that supposedly hid their presence, but the occasional flash of Mana vapor caught his eye. Even if he hadn’t, Beef had decided the Kobolds were cool. Mostly, it just felt good to have someone from Earth to talk to. Archie was great, if grumpy most of the time, and Felix was awesome, but the Kobold brothers were more like Beef. He hadn't felt out of his depth once while chatting. It was nice.

"So how did you find us?" Kevin asked. “We mazed the jungles around here with really powerful spells. Like, I Tempered my Spirit with it at Master Tier. They should’ve kept you busy for hours."

Harn grunted, "You think we let our people wander around without guards in place?"

Archie frowned. "No way, I didn't see a single tail."

"No tail," Hallow agreed. "But I know Beef's location at all times, and many of my Bodies were with Harn at his camp."

"Huh, that is unnerving." Shadow peered at Beef's armor, and one of Hallow's eyes winked at him. "Living armor! It's cool, but—whoa.”

“Yeah, I know,” Beef said with pride. "She is cool.”

Harn sighed. "When you left the town and hared off into the woods, I assumed you got captured, so we headed down here." He shrugged. “I’m happy to be wrong, in this case.”

"I guess that's fine," Kevin said with a frown before muttering, "Even though we worked really hard on that spell."

"Your little army is useful, though," Shadow added. "Can they truly keep up with the Knights Adamant?"

Beef laughed. "What a silly question.”

“They'll be fine. Haven't seen these snake knights in action myself, but the scouts say they're strong, Adept Tier at least." Harn picked at his teeth. "Could be trouble for the rank and file."

"Oh." Beef scratched his head before catching sight of his own armored forearm, reunited with Hallow and the Risen. He was more than ready for a fight. "Well, I'll take care of him, then."

"Just you?" Shadow asked, and Beef didn't need Affinity to hear the skepticism.

Beef pushed out his chest. "I'm all we need."

"I like the confidence." Kevin slapped Beef on the knee, which was just as high as he could reach. "I'm ready to take them all down, plus the Overlord."

Harn grunted. "You sure you kids don't want to come with us now? Leave this Overlord to play in the mud alone?"

"No," Shadow said. "We told you before, and our answer hasn't changed. We're not leaving this jungle until the Overlord is dead."

Harn’s silence was telling, even to Beef. Archie shrugged. "I told him it was a stupid plan.”

“Did you explain what the threat is? The real threat?"

Beef scratched his neck. "We were getting around to it."

The Kobolds looked between them, curiously. "Real threat?"

"Long story short, kids, is that the gods want you for their very own special puppets. They're intent on hollowing you out and filling you with their Divine power.” Harn watched the Kobolds through the narrow slit in his helmet. “It ain’t a pretty process. We've faced someone like that before. There was barely anything left of her.”

Shadow stared incredulously between the three of them. “No way. That's—that's crazy. Too crazy to believe. Why would a bunch of gods want anything to do with us?”

“Because you're Unbound. You think a bunch of soldiers for the Twins showed up at your doorstep for fun?” Harn pointed at Shadow and then Kevin. “They're here for the two of you. Twins for twins. Makes sense to me. So we're going.”

“We're not!”

“And we’re not tussling with the gods or their lackeys. That's Felix's business. Not for us.”

“We don’t plan to let them use us."

“Good. Then we agree.”

Kevin shook his head. “We can't leave our friends to these raging assholes. We need to stop them now.”

“Being closer to their servants is a terrible idea."

Shadow snapped his fingers. "You said your boss was grabbing seats and seals, right? We know where the one for Jaast is."

"You didn't tell us that before," Archie accused.

"You didn't ask.”

“They’re like water lilies.” Shadow gestured as if describing something the size of his torso. “This big at the smallest. The prisoners are forced to harvest dozens per day, or else they’re beaten ruthlessly. Even if they avoid the beatings and meet their quotas, however, the Poison Fields kill them, anyway. Few survive a week on the fields. No one has survived more than a month.”

Archie grimaced. "Cheery.”

By the time dawn's first rays split the sky, they had reached their destination. The jungle parted before them, and Harn softly called for a halt. As their column of soldiers came to a rustling stop at the edges of a cliff, he made a handsign to either side of himself. Scouts, dressed in mottled leathers, spread out like shadows, slipping through the twilight without a sound.

Beef stepped up beside Harn and stared out over the infamous Poison Fields. They were everything the brothers had promised: a fetid expanse of stunted trees, knee-deep waters, and steaming fumes visible to the naked eye. Mana swirled in the depths, like a sheen of oil that refused to stay still, adding a sparkle to the water that, instead of making them seem magical, made them almost too foul to look at.

Flatboats were spread out among the stunted trees, filled with too many people dressed in rags and wearing inscribed breathing masks over their noses and mouths. Beef could see the closest of them, and they looked pale and sickly, their arms shaking as tears poured from their eyes and across their masks. A pilot at the back used a long pole to push them along while everyone else busied themselves pulling glowing fronds from the water with their bare hands.

“This is awful,” he said, voice barely above a whisper.

Shadow leaned close. "We gotta be careful. The water is filled with sinkholes and uncertain footing, not to mention how nasty it is."

Harn grunted. "Poison and acid, you said?"

"Yeah. It'll burn any exposed skin, and the fumes are foul. It'll deal pure damage to your Health, plus an affliction called Swamp Lung that lasts for a long time, unless you can get it treated. Even Adept Tiers are susceptible to it unless you've got a strong Body.”

“Of course, the Adamants are protected. They got those blue shields on them, and their snakes seem made for the poison. I've spotted them rolling around in it sometimes when they're not all armored up like pigs in mud.” Kevin scowled. “I think they're immune to it."

Beef could see some of the Adamants now, slithering across the top of the water with ease. They moved slowly, pausing every once in a while to watch the flatboats and the prisoners within.

At the center of the Poison Fields, visible from their little ridge, was a distant collection of stone walls that rose up on a little island.

"That's the fortress you mentioned?"

"Yeah, the Overlord's Manor, they call it."

"Looks more like a burnt-out apartment building," Archie noted. "Is there no gate on those walls? And no roof?"

"They don't need either. Who's stupid enough to charge across the Poison Fields and attack them?" Kevin said with a grin. "Except us, of course."

Beef grinned right back.

Kevin was a bit wrong, though, because Beef clocked an addition at the center of the manor. "What's the point of that tower there?"

"That’s where Zennic lives."

A massive, fortified tower rose from the ruin's center. It was made of roughly quarried stone and held together with mortar that looked like mud. Windows dotted it, each of them layered with glass, though the bottom didn't seem to have any. It also didn't seem to have an entrance. Beef couldn't be sure, though. His view was blocked by the outer walls.

What he did see, however, were cages. Rows upon rows of the black iron prisons were bolted to the stone so that they formed a nest of gruesome trophies. They were all occupied, but none of the occupants were moving.

Shadow scowled when Beef pointed it out. "Anything that dies in the fields gets put on display. Prisoners, wandering beasts, snooping thieves. It’s a show of strength to the monsters and anyone who wanders through these jungles.”

“Gross.”

“Yeah.” Shadow pointed at the tower again. “The Overlord is definitely inside that thing, and the Seal is there, too. Probably why they built that thing in the first place."

"You think they claimed it already?" Beef asked.

"No. We'd be dead if they had any idea about what they're sittin’ on." Harn sat back, resting against a knotted tree trunk. "Take a few minutes, everyone. Rest up. We'll put together a plan when the scouts return."

Beef licked his lips, and Hallow buzzed against his chest. Are you all right?

I'm scared. He looked around himself, passing his eyes over the Wyrmkin and their own soldiers. A few Legionnaires saluted him when they noticed his attention. This is going to be really dangerous.

Fafnir perked up, as if sensing Beef's thoughts, and crawled out of the scooped-out nest Hallow had laid in his shoulder armor. Her wedge-like head tilted curiously as her bright green eyes took in the Poison Fields.

"Maybe you should stay behind, little one," he muttered.

Fafnir spun her head toward him so fast Beef could almost hear her indignation. She made a small squawk and dug her claws into his crystalline armor.

She doesn't like that idea.

"Yeah, I see that," Beef sighed. "You're all with me, then?"

Always, Beef. We are one.