Orphan At The Edge Of The World

t"You again, mortal? Has time and insanity brought you to desire the taste of my blade?" the abyssal lord said.

tBy coincidence or design, it was the same abyssal denizen that Orison had summoned to face the elf cultist with.

tOrison smiled benignly, "It seems that fate has given me a second chance to a** f*** your free will, elite mob trash."

tThe dark ent.i.ty fought against the mystical bindings enforced with Orison"s will as it said, "I had two reasons to kill you swiftly, now I have three to kill you slowly."

tProjecting saintly compa.s.sion as he pushed more spiritual pressure through the eye sore of an artifact, Orison said, "Why don"t you tell me your first two reasons while we wait for your inevitable submission."

tTaken by surprise, the abyssal lord now fought on spiritual and mental fronts. Unwilling to split it"s resistance two ways, it conceded the mental. "We felt the will of the one we serve depart, releasing us from our oaths. Those of us with greater ability vied for dominion when you summoned me. I needed to return to the fight as quickly as possible. Your interruption cost me my chance. You also reek of the one we once served."

t"We can revisit this a later time but look around you, sp.a.w.n. Tell me what you see and the opportunity it possesses and let me know if you still feel like killing me or bargaining instead," the young mage offered.

tAfter a few seconds of surveying the sub-dimensional realm, the abyss lord said, "A weakened plane I"d have to help you kill the owner of, connected to a low dimensional world would barely make us even. I could accept it as a peace offering."

tOrison laughed and said, "Let"s jog and talk. We"ve got some place to be and a seriously unfortunate kidnapper to murder painfully."

tAs the two men and a demon made their way to the citadel, the young mage and abyssal lord bargained furiously. Amid myriad stipulations and methods of closing or attempting to open loopholes, the abyss lord unwittingly revealed many pieces of information and even a few secrets of the Greater Abyss and it"s adjacent semi-material planes.

tGan watched on in horror, fascination and occasionally in humor as Orison ran mental circles around the soldier demon who"d never had much interaction or experience negotiating with wily mortals. Despite that, the instinctual cunning and hatred of restrictions or rules welling from the very core of this creature born from chaos, insured that the young mage could only accomplish so much with time and the life of a friend on the line.

tBy the time that they had reached the citadel or aviary, if the abyssal lord"s words were true, Orison and Rozcherek had reached a mutually unsatisfactory agreement reinforced by fiendish pact "magic". Once their safety in cooperation was a.s.sured, Orison agreed that after the plane was captured, Rozcherek would be it ruler. In return, Orison and one other of his choosing would receive an equal share of a ten percent t.i.thing for any essence gains greater than at the time of the realm"s claiming. This profit would be reset at each t.i.thing to reflect the new total. With a great deal of wording involved, that essence would be delivered in a way that only bolstered and nourished the recipients without any form of corruption or binding to the plane involved.

tThe debate over worship and the ensnaring of mortal souls took up two miles and the majority of their bargaining time. It was also the source of most dissatisfaction for both. It was a necessity for Rozcherek to recruit cultists and obtain spiritual residents for the realm to grow and the best Orison could do is tone the method of gains down from torture to dissolution through pursuits of pleasure and revelry. As a compromise to ensure a softer touch with souls thus obtained, those who lived a life in pursuit of pleasure and gain through methods which spread suffering and misery such as s.a.d.i.s.ts who plied their skills on the unwilling, slavers or dealing in life destroying recreational drugs, those souls could receive the traditional treatment. When Gan, possibly feeling left out, raised the issue of m.a.s.o.c.h.i.s.ts, both demon and Highlander were dumbfounded for a moment before agreeing that those kind should get what they want to the limit that they could bear.

tAll conversation ceased when Gan spotted two flying scouts. Roz, nicknamed by Gan to the abyssal lord"s ire, noted in hushed tones that they were a lesser subspecies of succubus incapable of changing gender at will due to mixing with harpies. Individually, he bragged, they could be harvested like grain but in groups they were a problem because even though they weren"t bright they did coordinate well. He also expressed a desire to spare as many of them as possible. When he claimed the plane, they would make for a good set of easily grown subordinates since they weren"t that picky about mate/victims, unlike their ancestors.

tNot overly in agreement on sparing the creatures but wanting to avoid as much confrontation snow piling more suppression from the plane on himself and Gan, he pulled out an invisibility scroll with some reluctance. With a "gather round, children" gesture, Orison popped the scroll. Since world repression wouldn"t allow him to learn it, as he"d tried once already, it wasn"t a great loss but it still irritated him. Still, he tried to see how this plane allowed the model to form and tried to take in some of the details as they skulked their way in to the main aviary dome.

tWhen they finally reached the heart without much difficulty, Gan and Orison attempting to hold back their bile over the smell of offal and rotting flesh to the extremities of the place, the sight that greeted them defied rationality. Out of all the horror scenarios that the two had expected to see, a nightmare harem marathon had not been one of them. The large domed area with perpetual early twilight sun streaming through it"s open pillared top half, illuminated a h.e.l.lish scene of medieval religious sentiment against fornication. Were it not for the look of senseless misery on Morrel"s face and obvious proof of being bound here against his will, Orison would have raged at the risks and resources it had taken to reach them as quickly as they had.

tWhispers of a demon said, "Feeling some jealousy or admiration for that man? It"s apparent that this aviary has suffered some form of ma.s.s population reduction recently. They are going to use him to replenish some of their numbers and then they are going to eat him...See the larger one to the back? That"s their queen. She"s keeping him ensorceled and coaxing more vitality out of him. He must have had quite the unusual amount of hardiness for an elf, to last this long."

tThe plan for Morrel"s rescue had never included the abyssal lord who would only agree to capture and wrest control of the plane from it"s leader, even if they had asked. Orison"s only recourse would be to allow the demon to draw the queen away and aid the abyssal lord in her destruction while trying to kite the rest until the demon succeeded in claiming the realm. Realm reclamation was almost an instinct to Roz"s kind and there was no chance of Orison coming close to scratching the surface of doing such a thing himself. That was one of the things that weakened his bargaining abilities with Roz and it was what took their best chances at open combat away as well since the demon wouldn"t lift a finger voluntarily for anything else until this realm was his.

tAs Rozcherek slunk his way towards the inner sanctum, Gan said, "I wondered why there were so few creatures patrolling. Between what Nub did to flood the outside and the rest in here fighting over Morrel, we could have nearly stomped our way in with chain mail on and not been discovered."

tOrison quietly hissed, "Focus, Gan. When the big girl over there goes for Roz, you need to pin her to a pillar with that arrow. I have a feeling she"s going to move fast when she does and you only have one shot before it turns into a fight for our lives."

tDark lines formed on Gan"s face as he said, "No pressure or anything, right?"

tSensing that his golem was about to collapse outside, Orison improvised a little by having it slam into an outer pillar. Seeing all the leather winged harpies raise their heads and swivel them in the direction of the collapsed golem in perfect sync was unnerving. The ease and quickness it took between a screech from the queen and half the number milling about to split off in a speedy "v" formation to fly through the pillars for reconnaissance also made Orison"s heart drop to his stomach. He finally understood Roz"s unintended praise of their abilities but considered "coordinate well" to be a ma.s.sive understatement.

tAn unintended side-effect of his impromptu attempt to cut some of the numbers in the room down was a heightened sense of alertness causing the remaining ones to begin hunting around the immediate vicinity and looking at Morrel with antic.i.p.atory hunger that no longer looked s.e.xual in any way. As Gan gave Orison a "see what you did" look, The queen let out a rage filled shriek and recalled all the minions in the area to precede her through the inner chamber which Orison a.s.sumed the Queen used as her nest, likely to cover the heart of the plane that lied underneath it.

tThe other half dozen disappeared into the central chamber before the queen took one last glaring look around and headed that way herself. For a half second, Orison considered double-crossing the abyss lord. The way was cleared and the spreading six flying "sisters" outside might be avoidable. For good or ill, Gan removed their chance to back out.

tWith an uncanny twist, the queen almost completely avoided the arrow that gave her a ripping nipple piercing but the reality bending essence within the arrow activated it"s effect, expressing itself as eviscerating lesions that spread out like a fractal picture made from cut wounds. Her death was so sudden and complete that her minions didn"t even notice until the smell of warm blood and viscera filled the air. In spite of his better judgment, Orison opened a paralyze scroll on the returning "suck-you-peas".

tGan and Orison both rushed over to Morrel. While Orison pulled out a silver dagger and started sawing at the rope ties around Morrel"s wrists, Gan pulled out the dagger"s twin and got to work at the ankles. No sooner had they accomplished that then a collection of anxious chirps and angry shrieks echoed from above. Orison tossed one each of the next to best healing, stamina recovering and magic restoring potions he had at Gan before summoning a golem for cover, enduring the backlash of returning repression from the plane.

tOrison bellowed, "Roz, you"ve got a ten count before I start murdering your freaky flying hookers!... Sh*t, make that three!" ending in a squeak as a talon reached past the golem.

tThe attack that came from a dive bomber who sacrificed a wing with a loud crunching sound to reach him, was only three inches away from ending his life or barring that, his lineage. Upping the discomfort of the repression to barely endurable, Orison opened a kinetic shield for three count before opening a "h.e.l.l ball" scroll consisting of a swirling storm of fire, ice and electricity magic.

tOrison shouted in rage, "Stop f.u.c.king around or I"m going to summon another abyss lord and shunt your delaying a** back to where you came from you loophole lawyering c*ck sucker!"

tThe young mage realized that Rozcherek might have seized the will of the plane but he wasn"t technically the ruler until he declared himself. Until then, he could sit back and watch while these creatures murdered Orison and his companions and be free of the t.i.thing agreement if nothing else. To get the fence sitter to move Orison pulled the staff back out and began focusing his will through it.

tIn a panic, Roz, who had been leaning on the alcove frame to the inner sanctuary while watching the show from behind the paralyzed half-dozen, immediately started speeding through declaring himself. Finally relaxing a bit, Orison started slumping to the floor when one of the winged hybrids who"d been burned, frozen and shocked beyond ability to reason but not dead like the five others, lunged and buried her claws into Orison"s ankle, nearly severing his foot as it dragged itself towards him.

tIn a howl of rage and pain, Orison stabbed her in the face. As Gan came to kick the mostly dead creature away, it swiped in it"s death throw, knocking off Orison"s mask and slicing through skin before splitting his left eye.

His world became white hot pain but through it, Orison knew that the demon had stopped reciting and was "generously" removing the paralysis of the other six creatures still not technically under the abyss lord"s control.

tUnder Orison"s current situation, the only reason why any kind of thought was possible at all had more to do with his spiritual sub-mind than anything else. Another spell was now completely out of the question and with their exposure, Gan their only whole and functioning member, they were going to die. On a desperate flash of insight, Orison pulled out a soul crystal and smashed it into the ground.

tUnconcerned about the shards piercing his hand, he croaked through the pain and blood loss. "I call for my first t.i.the, Rozcherek. Hear me and heed our pact."

tRozcherek may not be responsible for creatures on this plane that weren"t aware, only by technicality in this case, he was the ruler of this plane but their agreement for t.i.the was based on him controlling the plane, not ruling it. Once the demon payed t.i.the, however, the technicality that allowed him to watch pa.s.sively as the leathery winged women murdered them would become too thin and the abyss lord would suffer dire consequences for disregarding the pact.

tAs one creature reeled backward with an arrow in the eye, another lunged towards Gan causing the abyss lord to roar his displeasure which sent the winged women skittering for the shadows of the pillars. Rozcherek stalked forward menacingly, causing Gan to draw the silver sword at his side. Orison placed a weak restraining hand on Gan"s leg, pointing at his own.

t"Put a tourniquet on my leg for a second before I bleed out. If you shoot him then I"ll have to buy your freedom," Orison said hoa.r.s.ely with a dry mouth.

tRozcherek said, "Well played but he isn"t the only one here you are concerned with. As the ruler of this plane, that elf behind you is my property."

tOrison said, "He"s a member of my party in good standing, Roz. I asked for safety and protection for me and companion. Well guess what, Gan is my companion and Morrel here is also my companion. And before you try to bring out a tired singular and plural argument, I now have a banish scroll in my hand which will not harm you in any way but will keep you gone enough for us to leave. But if you make me use it, I"m going to collapse the entrance to this realm on my way out, reducing it"s usefulness to you by an extraordinary degree. Once again, without hurting you or the plane in any way."

tRozcherek grumbled. "At least I"ve had the pleasure of witnessing you become a half blind cripple."

tThrowing his voice down into a low, emotionless boom, Orison allowed the full force of his spirit to blaze through his good and ruined eye as he said, "What does a fragile clay vessel matter to me. Of all who once heeded me, I chose you but you disappoint... Await my return and displeasure, disgraced servant." Reeling it all back in, Orison turned to Gan and said, "Did the big guy borrow me again? What did he have me say this time?"

tGan spit and spluttered, unsure of what to say.

tOrison patted Gan"s shoulder and said, "It doesn"t matter. I"ll live, what, a hundred or so years if I"m really lucky. I"ll long be dust before he comes back so I could care less what he does in two or three hundred."

tRozcherek said balefully over a hint of hysteria, "Oh, I"ll make sure you live long enough to face him with me. Find out what I can do to earn graces or you"ll beg to die and not be able, mortal."

tOrison sneered as he tossed out close to twenty black soul crystals that didn"t even match snuff with the dust of his s.p.a.ce"s inner orbiting ring. Orison noted offhandedly that there was a larger second ring of lesser quality crystal and dust forming since he started taking in new souls again. Low dimensional souls were of next to no value to him any longer. But any kind of soul material had value in an Abyss tied realm as the parameter worked off of a different system of measurement that Orison wasn"t even going to begin an attempt to understand.

t"You can start by making this into something useful so I and the "other one" can start earning some useful t.i.thes," Orison said, gloating internally while trying to ignore the excruciating pain and anemia.

tRozcherek looked at the crystals with a mixture of pleasant surprise and worry. Not even Orison understood the significance of producing "larva seeds" but Roz"s att.i.tude did a 180 flip as he apologized for the deceptions and ill treatment, going so far as to order the remaining "suck-you-peas" to clean out a place for Orison and his group to recuperate before departing. Not believing the demon"s act for a second, he just took what was offered and attempted to stay strong til he could finally work on repairing the damage.