Bonded Summoner

Vesuvius and his people marched through the winding caverns under the mountains. His scouts blazed ahead, making sure the path remained safe. They had already cleared two smaller rifts on the way, ones that just spew out monsters at set intervals.

One of them he wished he could keep around, as it had a sort of giant beetles that dug and burrowed into the ground, spawning out of it. Delicious.

The world itself was connected to his heart, allowing him to feel the pulse of the world. He felt urgency. That it was important for his people to meet up with another underground tribe. His people’s hearts matched his: their songs expectant, but wary.

They had already met up with a few smaller clans, adding to his people. The underground did not have excessive resources to sustain people, but there were some pockets of areas where creatures lived, and plants grew. The life energy of their world was abundant, allowing for things to live well without sunlight, and many of the caverns they traveled through were teeming with plants, even fruits and vegetables.

There were plenty of insects to consume, underground rivers for fish, and more. His people spread across the underground from generation to generation, continuing the tradition of hiding themselves from those above.

Only the larger tribes would go above ground, choosing their locations far enough away from where the above-ground beastkin dwelled.

They had been traveling toward a known tribe filled with lizard parentage beastkin. He knew their Chief, Roxo. It had been nearly a decade since they last met in person, but they often sent scouts with messages and requests for aid.

They had been traveling for a few days, and they were nearly there. This place was not overly far from Life’s Haven, all things considered. Chief Jake had already laid out a path or course for them, once they met with Roxo’s tribe. A man named Rookard was scheduled to meet him soon, to aid his people in arriving to the assault. His people would be on time for the assault, or Jake would wait for them.

A few of his people had already gone to Kenwodi, to rejoin their beastkin brethren. A small percentage, including Davonius. He was always an inquisitive one, wanting to learn more about the world. Vesuvius was happy for him, able to serve his goddess in a more direct capacity. Experimenting with auril supplements and serums, and doing her busywork.

Vesuvius knew that Davonius had little time for anything else. He was working day and night, creating pills and other concoctions. He earned some credits on the side as he improved his skills, the Framework providing him with skills to excel at his craft.

Vesuvius was envious, because he couldn’t think of what he would do for his trade, Hearthtribe requiring it. He could become large using Auril, so perhaps he’d be good at building? He always had to breathe out excess heat as flames, so maybe he could become a blacksmith? Thoughts for later.

He heard the telltale clicking of tongues and thumping of tails, and he froze in step, listening. It appeared that the scouts had reached the other tribes’ own.

Some clicking and thumping back and forth, and Vesuvius could feel in his heart that they needed to hurry. It appeared there was trouble.

His voice rumbled out in a shout, “Let us hurry. Awakened warriors, let’s rush ahead.”

He turned to his daughter. “Vexana, you and your mate Jarrix come with me. Bring the node.”

He nodded at Darris, his turtle parentage auril hero. A good friend, he could expect him to bring up the rear, and keep his weaker people safe if necessary.

His people filled themselves with auril, and rushed ahead. A good percentage of his people were awakened, but there were many warriors that were still working on it. These people were taking their goddess’ supplements, but they really needed to close rifts to gain what the Framework granted.

Vesuvius himself was taking the supplements, but he wasn’t sure about their efficacy. It definitely felt close to a meal of auril beast meat, but it was not enough to push him forward overly much.

The goddess assured him that she would make something eventually, but for now, everything was geared toward awakening his brethren and bringing them to the auril hero level. Once enough had reached this stage, they could then focus on the next step. They would need materials from their deepest, oldest jungles to achieve this.

When Vesuvius arrived at the tribe’s main cavern, he was surprised. Roxo’s people were mostly waiting, ready for battle. He could feel their songs, it appeared there was a threat.

He walked past his people, finding Roxo near the front of a crowd. Roxo was of raptor parentage, holding two bone swords. His scales were red, and he had the muzzle of a raptor or lizard, like himself. Vesuvius could see he had a smile on his reptilian face, filled with relief that the Tribe of the Sleeping God was here.

“Roxo! Greetings. I have come with important news.”

Roxo’s red eyes met his. “I am so glad to see you and your tribe, Vesuvius! We’ve been having trouble, dealing with a small rift had opened underground. Then, another rift had opened above ground a few days ago, and our people have been having trouble dealing with the spawns of both.”

His voice was somewhat jovial, but still worried, Vesuvius could tell.

“What is it? What emerged from the portal?”

“Lava Ants are giving us trouble underground, the creatures making it a challenge to even assault them. Above, some creatures of the unliving.”

Vesuvius was surprised. His people had witnessed a rift spawn below, but had dealt with it easily. The ones that spawned above were much larger and more challenging they noticed.

“What makes the ants a challenge?”

Roxo sighed. “They are using the lava nearby to flood caverns when we try to assault them. There are not many, so they are hardly much of a problem on their own to keep at bay. We have backed off and are working on digging alternate routes to ensure our assault goes favorably without deaths. But we appear to be running out of time. It seems they are digging up, to meet with the undead above ground.”

Vesuvius smiled. “Well, fear no more, my friend. For we have met with a goddess! That is why we are here.”

Roxo narrowed his eyes in suspicion, but Vesuvius could see it was but a mere shadow of doubt. Auril heroes were connected to the world and to their speech and songs more than their younger, newly-awakened brethren.

Roxo could hear from Vesuvius’ song how sure and confident he was, and that there was no deception. Roxo’s heart already knew what Vesuvius said was true; he only needed a moment for his mind to catch up to this.

Vesuvius continued, “I have brought the power of the goddess! She met our people, and showed the dragon’s flame as her proof. Another of her cadre, even removed the taint from Jarrix here, and reduced that within my own daughter. Our gods have returned, as foretold!”

Shouts of exclamation echoed out, the many people of Roxo’s tribe filled with glee. Vesuvius’ people chanted and shouted as well, proclaiming that what he said was true, that they witnessed the goddess themselves.

Vesuvius could tell. As Roxo heard his people’s songs, he started to believe.

Roxo said, “What power of the goddess did you bring?”

Vesuvius motioned Jarrix ahead, him placing the Alliance Node down. Vesuvius activated it, the mysterious symbols lighting up, and the forming the strange lines on the ground where people could access their [Menu].

He was surprised when he saw he had a few messages, one from the goddess herself! Davonius too.

Roxo asked, “What is this? What does it do?”

Vesuvius smiled. “It makes us immortal. It allows us to serve the goddess, forevermore.”

“Immortal? Impossible! You’re telling me your people never die?”

“They can die, but they will respawn. We cannot live forever exactly, not without a price. One must always advance themselves to truly be immortal, but it’s possible.”

He went into more detail with Roxo, and it wasn’t long before he convinced him to allow his people to join, if they so choose. Those that join, may join the assault against the rifts, and later to reclaim a city for themselves in the world above.

Roxo became further excited about the idea of fighting alongside the beastkin. Living up above once more where he can hunt and fight against auril beasts once more had been something he dreamed about.

His mates had dreams where they too fought above, though against the beastkin. It had kept him up at night, thinking he would repeat the sins of his ancestors. This was cause for pause, as it matched the foreseers premonitions. It was clear Roxo’s mates had seer-like powers, by way of dreams.

Roxo’s people lined up, excited to join and once again serve a goddess. Vesuvius took the time to read the message in his menu from Fhesiah and Davonius.

It appeared Jake had allocated some Credits within the Guild to sponsor people like Roxo. Vesuvius certainly hadn’t earned tens of thousands of T1 credits over the past few days. After all, they ate half of the ‘loot’ at the last one. He returned the messages with ones of his own, providing an update to the situation.

Davonius had a message about the blight, and indicated he should purchase some censors. It also appeared that there were many resources available for purchase that his people should consider. Having bone javelins to carry auril worked, but they were not the best implements. Auril woods when ‘enchanted’ were slightly more effective, though their bone javelins could potentially be even better with the same treatment.

He now knew what many of his people would save up for. Vesuvius made sure his people bought some of these censors, to ensure they had a way to combat the blight for the undead above.

Roxo was still weaker than himself, but the cost was still nearly 10,000 T1 Credits. With the people integrated, they now joined with the plan to dig. Roxo’s people were definitely more lizard parentage than other reptiles, unlike his people which were more snake parentage. Both had a wide variety of parentage, but those two were the most numerous.

Darris and his people eventually arrived, and Vesuvius thought he would add an excellent deterrent or aspect to the plan. They would dig another hole to an underground stream, which he should be able to aid in its control.

His people worked together with Roxo’s, and defeated the lava ants without deaths. The rift was just small, but it gave his people a hard time due to the creature being able to take advantage of its home turf, there being lava flows deep in the mountain.

Darris was able to aid by flooding the lava cavern with water, which countered the creature’s ability to control the lava.

The tribes rained down auril-filled javelins onto the enemy, taking them out mostly with ease. Being a turtle auril hero, Darris had exceptional control of the water near him. His auril manifestation was armor made of water filled with vitality in addition to his sturdy body, making him prodigious at taking the blows of larger enemies safely.

The rift’s challenge was only a few dozen large ants at once, a simple contest that was no problem for Vesuvius and his allies. The real concern now that they stopped the ants from meeting up with the undead, was defeating the undead. Still, he was confident.

Their people moved topside, finding a group of skeletal creatures spreading the blight not far from the entrance.

A dozen strange creatures made of bone and crawling on all fours, spewing green smoke out of their mouths. His heart sang the song of battle, him starting to grow. He drew the auril from the area, the life energy of the jungle beneath the mountain abundant.

His heat increased, as he charged the dozen creatures. His people gathered behind him, launching their bone javelins at them. The creatures howled and charged back at him, and he cleaved one in two with ease. Others leaped toward his people, but Roxo filled with his red auril, swung one of his bone blades.

A red crescent wave was released from his blade like a massive red talon, and cut into the bone creatures. It arrested their momentum, and knocked them to the ground. They were then easy pickings for his snake parentage people’s javelins, Roxo and Darris defending them.

He made quick work of the rest, and they climbed the mountain easily. Arriving at the rift on a small plateau an hour later, Roxo was filled with excitement.

“It feels amazing to be above ground, during the day, my friend. This blight the portal is spewing is not enough to get me down. I can’t wait to meet this goddess, and sink my teeth into our enemies.”

Vesuvius laughed. “You may not want to sink your teeth into these, my friend. But that your bone swords will sever theirs, is justice. Let us fight together against the unliving.”

He gave his orders, his hundreds of awakened warriors ready for battle. He focused on the rift ahead of him.

[Ghoul’s Rift - Goal: Defeat all enemies that spawn]

So, it looked like the enemies they were facing were called ghouls. Nasty creatures, capable of climbing their mountains with ease, and spreading their blight.

He stoked the flames in his chest further, drawing auril in from the area. His heart sung the song of battle, as he grew to his full size, along with his ancestor’s glaive. Now over four meters tall, he was a force to be reckoned with.

Darris and Jarrix stood next to him, the turtle and lizard parentage auril heroes. Their hearts joined him in his song, their auril building as well. Darris would not grow much, but Jarrix was not dissimilar from himself, and was now over three meters tall as well.

Roxo’s heart built with fervor as his heart joined their song. Now that all his allies grew, he looked like a waif in comparison. But in his streamlined body was built for agility and power, his talons the sharpest and fastest among them.

As four auril hero’s songs built, his hundreds of warriors joined the chorus.

Vesuvius shouted as he raised his glaive, “For the goddess! For taking back our home!”

His people roared with fervor as they all charged into the dome for the rift. Hundreds of the ghouls spawned, to match his large number of allies. Many of them were the size of the average beastkin, or perhaps Jake, the human. There were some that were larger, about the size of a horse. Still, much smaller than him.

Bone javelins rained down on the enemy, his hundreds of snake, and lizard beastkin people favoring the weapons. Where the creatures were struck, an auril powered poison was transferred, breaking the creature down with a manifestation of his people’s will. Vesuvius doubted poison would normally work on such creatures, but his people’s attacks were different.

He swiped left and right with his glaive cleaving the creatures nearly the size of a deer, and a particularly large ghoul nearly crashed into him, but Darris blasted it with a ball of water, knocking it away.

Jarrix was on the other side of him, also taking wide swings with his polearm, cleaving ghouls left and right. Vesuvius noticed that many of the creatures struck with javelins were not being taken down, but they were moving slower.

Roxo swung and spun with his blades with fervor, sending red waves of auril out. The spiritual blades cut into the creatures, detaching limbs and cutting them down, several with every swing and every spin. He dashed around the battlefield, cutting creatures down, and protecting Jarrix and Vesuvius’ flanks.

His people fought with their glaives and spears, working together to cut down the strange creatures. Their hearts beat the song of the auril heroes, their cooperation exceptional as they worked alongside their brethren. Where a ghoul thought an unprotected back was available, they were met with a spear from a nearby ally.

The four auril heroes together drew auril in from the area, empowering the awakened warriors together and making them stronger. The effect was small, but across hundreds of allies, it made his people powerful.

Darris cut through enemies with his axe, and blocked the creatures with both his shield and his spiritual shield made of water. No matter where enemies attacked him, Darris was a fortress unto himself. His shell on his back was nigh impervious, and his axe blurred as it was propelled by jets of water. His body was ponderous, but he could attack unexpectedly fast.

Vesuvius breathed a large gout of flame covering five meters in a cone in front of him, burning a dozen ghouls as they screamed in agony. His allies worked to clear through them, his warriors pushing forward as they hacked through the enemy.

Before he knew it, their enemies were all slain, and the rift closed.

[Rift Closed. CP Reduced due to large numbers of the Alliance. Solo Contributor - 125 CP Earned]

That rift earned him over double what he had earned previously, the other rifts smaller, the enemies weaker. His people cheered, excited for what the future might bring. His people were excited, as only a few people had died, only the weakest among them.

Knowing that their brethren would be raised to live and fight once more in the name of their goddess and for a new home, filled them with righteous vindication.

Vesuvius knew he should be sharing in their glory. But he was not happy. The feeling of urgency only increased, once the rift had closed. What was happening? Roxo, Jarrix, and Darris could all feel this as well, and his people stopped cheering, also feeling in their hearts that their auril heroes were not celebrating.

It was because of this, they heard a rumbling, like that of a stampede. Dozens of auril beasts moving through the valley, with reptile beastkin riding them. That in itself was a cause for concern, but the real problem…

Roxo said, “They’re tainted.”

Vesuvius frowned, as he looked over to his daughter, Vexana. As her anger, the curse, was removed, her taint decreased over time. She was now seeing how happy the tribe was, and her happiness was starting to match, becoming content with what she had. There was still some taint left, but even that small amount felt different, somehow.

These beastkin riding their auril beasts felt more than just tainted. The world was recoiling at their very presence, and he knew in his heart that this was why the world felt urgency. That the world needed his people’s help.

His people had previously ignored the call of the world, in favor of their gods, before.

This time, the world was in tune with their new goddess. They would face this challenge.