Before doing anything else, Laryn needed to do something about Keldin’s body. Adi was right. He shouldn’t have left his brother lying out in the sun for so long. It had been disrespectful of him. He’d been tired, certainly, but if that was his excuse, why had he spent all morning scooping water into a barrel? He’d been too distracted by Adi.

  What was he going to do with Keldin’s body? He didn’t know. He didn’t want to worry about that right now. For now, he’d simply cover it up.

  Using a flat piece of wood from the wagon, he scraped a shallow hole into the dry sand. As he worked, he considered his options. He could dig a permanent grave for his brother. He could try starting a fire, and burning the body.

  Or he could [Sift] it. But that seemed too cold, too crass. Like… using Keldin for spare parts?

  Laryn needed to go back to Townshold and find a coresmith. He wouldn’t be able to bring Keldin’s body with him.

  And he’d have to leave The Conqueror’s Core. It couldn’t be moved until a coresmith deactivated it. He’d have to go at least as far as Townshold empty handed, and come back with help. Maybe he could find a priest who could give Keldin a proper burial.

  He could certainly find horses and a cart in Townshold. But he doubted he’d be able to find a qualified coresmith there. He might have to travel to the southern kingdoms for that.

  The trek back to Townshold would take him several days at least, across unfamiliar terrain without a road. He’d load supplies up into one of their daypacks and make the journey on foot. He could negotiate with the merchants there for loans, and hire a few men.

  Then he could continue south, until he could find a coresmith that would work on credit, and come into the wildlands to help him.

  The more he considered it, the more farfetched the plan sounded, but what else could he do? He couldn’t stay here, could he?

  The shallow trench was deep enough now, so Laryn pushed Keldin’s corpse into the hole and began covering it with sand.

  Going to find a coresmith could take several weeks. He cringed at the idea of leaving the Conqueror’s Core behind on this beach for so long, unsupervised. If someone found it, they could kill him by destroying the core. But that was a foolish fear; who would find such a relic and not want it for themselves? He was at greater risk of having it stolen by someone with more convenient access to a coresmith.

  As he scraped soil over his brother’s temporary grave, he noticed the way that the river split around the beach he was on. He must be on an island.

  He pounded the plank into the dirt, marking the spot. The cool dry sand would help preserve the body until he could come back for it.

  Rising from his work, Laryn brushed sand from his hands. Working on core-influenced hextiles once again was nice. His father always maintained a reasonable influence level in Eltar, but it was easy to get used to it if you never traveled abroad.

  He also appreciated the strength buff he had received. It made him feel more capable and confident, despite his injuries. He’d be sad to lose it… but no, that was the wrong way of thinking. Getting used to it was a bad idea, since he would have to leave.

  Laryn found himself wondering how long it would take to grow the kingdom large enough. He knew a lot about running a kingdom. Who’s to say he wouldn’t do a great job? Even if it never grew large enough to go back and rescue Keldin. But you can’t build a kingdom without subjects, and Laryn stood no chance of building a population here. He had to find a way to move the core.

  There were too many questions. Too many unknowns for him. He needed to be alone with his thoughts for a while, to work out the best course of action.

  He rose from the ground beside the grave, filled with resolve. Perhaps if he got off of the claimed tiles of the core, Adi wouldn’t be able to bother him with her chattering. At some point he needed to figure out how to get back to civilization. How about now?

  Laryn crossed the sand, heading to the line of shrubs from which the voidling had emerged. Since no other voidlings had appeared, Laryn figured that somehow this one had crossed the river. He would need to find a good place to cross the water, to start his journey back.

  He left the claimed hextiles, and noticed the slight increase in effort needed to walk across the sand. It no longer supported his feet as well when he walked, each step sinking deeper. At least his increased strength stayed with him.

  Glancing up at the sun, Laryn decided that he’d start the journey tomorrow. It was too late for him to start today, but there was no point in waiting around longer.

  “Where are you going?” Adi asked, her voice popping unwelcome into his mind.

  He wondered if she could hear his thoughts.

  She didn’t reply. That didn’t prove anything though.

  “How do you do that?” he asked aloud. “I thought you couldn’t manifest where the core held no influence. Is it part of the soul binding or something? Are you going to follow me everywhere?”

  “It’s a special ability of Lepidoptera,” she said. “I can link with your mind. You thought my antennae were just decorative?”

  “But you can’t hear my thoughts?” Laryn asked.

  “Not unless you let me link up with you that way. Which, come to think of it, we should do that, it would be easier. That ability is one of the main reasons why Galwyn worked with Lepidoptera. It’s really convenient.”

  “That… might be useful,” Laryn admited. “As I’m going to be leaving, soon. Maybe tomorrow.”

  Adi let out a disappointed squawk. “Leaving?” she said.

  “I’m going to Townshold. I’ll find a coresmith and come back for the core, don’t worry,” Laryn said. “I won’t leave you behind.”

  “No, you can’t go!” Adi protested. “Are you just feeling sad about what happened to your brother?”

  “I said I’d be coming back,” Laryn said.

  “But it’s risky to leave a core alone in the wilderness!” Adi protested.

  Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

  “Would you mind leaving me alone for a little while?” he asked.

  She didn’t reply.

  He continued along the southern shore of the island, pushing through increasingly dense undergrowth as he looked for a place to ford the river. He tried to stay near the sandy shore, but the shore narrowed and sometimes large rocks blocked his way.

  The shoreline curved slightly, so that every now and then when he glanced back, he could still see the kingdom core jutting out of the water at the edge of the beach.

  When he’d traveled about a gross meters from the kingdom core, the foliage around him changed. Tree trunks blackened, covered with a dark, black oozing tar. Leaves paled, their colors wan and desaturated.

  His heart sank. Could it be a blighted tile, here, on this island?

  He pushed forward, trying to skirt around the edge of the hextile, sticking to the sandier areas. Even the soil seemed sick, though. Laryn cursed himself. He should have known that where there was one voidling, there would be more. The blighted tiles meant that there could be a voidbloom nearby. If it hadn’t already done so, it was likely to spawn more voidlings.

  It didn’t matter. Laryn wasn’t going to be here long enough. In fact, he should probably make his departure tonight. It wouldn’t be safe for him to sleep so close to blighted tiles. For the second time today, he marveled at how far south the void had spread.

  He twisted the ring on his life finger, the one Elena had given him. The promise ring. It had meant something, once, given him strength and reassurance. But it had lost its power. Anxiety swelled inside of him, a sensation of being boxed in, trapped in a space too small. He breathed quickly; fast, short breaths that provided him with little air. Cold sweat trickled down his spine.

  This was a big problem. A nearby voidbloom would make leaving much more challenging.

  It might not be a voidbloom, though, Laryn realized. Sometimes voidspawn spread blight to tiles, without the need for a nearby bloom. He should check, be sure, before he overreacted.

  He pulled up the map interface, showing his claimed tiles around his kingdom core. He’d moved too far away from the core, the land where he stood not displayed on the map. He knew there was a way to check the ownership of a hextile, but he didn’t know where it was.

  After fumbling around in the interface for a few minutes, he humbled himself and admitted defeat.

  “Um, hey, Adi? Are you still there?” he asked.

  “No, I’m leaving you alone,” she said, petulantly.

  “I’m sorry,” Laryn said. “I need your help. How do I check the ownership of a tile?”

  “You’re on a voidclaimed hextile,” she said, coldly. “In the future, you can check it yourself. You just—”

  “Can you tell if there’s a voidbloom nearby?” Laryn asked. “Or if it was just claimed by voidspawn of some type?”

  Adi sighed. “I don’t know,” she said.

  “Are you being purposely unhelpful because I told you to leave me alone?” Laryn accused her.

  “No, I am not,” she said. “I’m helping you even though I’m mad at you, because it’s my job. You should be grateful. I have no idea what voidclaimed means. I’ve never seen it before.”

  “I said I was sorry,” Laryn said.

  “Only because you needed my help.”

  “Void is bad news,” Laryn said. “It’s where the voidling came from. And it means that there are probably more of them around.”

  “Like I care,” Adi grumped.

  “Adi, come on, I’m sorry. I’ve had a really difficult day, and—”

  “You think my day has been easier? I finally get let out of that cramped box, after grosses of years, and all I have to talk to is a petulant boy who doesn’t even want to take my tutorial!”

  Laryn pursed his lips, biting back a retort.

  He continued in silence, walking through the undergrowth along the edge of the island.

  The water rushed past, clear and fresh. No sand settled here in the swift flow of the water. Tree roots and branches created a tangled embankment.

  Something sparkled in the water; a jewel encrusted hilt shining in the sunlight.

  Laryn reached down and pulled his sword from the river, untangling the belt from the gnarled roots. He buckled it back on around his waist, feeling more secure, relieved to have it back.

  He continued onward, scanning the shore for anything else that might be useful.

  A few minutes later, Adi broke the silence. “Laryn?”

  He did not reply.

  “Um, if I might offer an opinion,” Adi said, “I think it’s a bad idea for you to leave. Not just because I’m bored and lonely,” she quickly added. “That creature—the voidling—it was very aggressive. Is it an animal? Beasts like that can damage kingdom cores, you know, and if the core is destroyed, then its ruler dies.”

  “Wind and stones, you’re right,” Laryn cursed as he started heading back to the kingdom core.

  “And, uh,” Adi said. “Speak of Horel and he shall appear, you know...” A tinge of nervousness had entered her voice.

  “What?”

  “Two of those voidlings have entered your kingdom,” Adi said. “They’re coming toward me.”

  Laryn looked out over the river. It showed no signs that there might be a good place to cross it.

  “Wait, no, one of them is going across the beach,” Adi said. “He’s heading to your brother’s grave.

  Laryn turned and ran, sprinting back the way he had come. He made it a half dozen meters. A stabbing pain seared his soul. He cried out, stumbling over a stone and landing on his hands and knees in the dirt.

  “What was that?”

  Adi cursed. “It’s attacking the core! I spent a long time organizing that—Hey!”

  Another jolt of pain shook Laryn. “Can’t you do something?” he cried out. “Stop them!”

  “I can’t do anything. I need you… hurry! I think they’re attracted to the elemental essence of the core!”

  Laryn scrambled back through the underbrush. A stabbing pain wracked his body.

  “The core is expending essence to defend itself,” Adi said. “That was one, so there’s only six left. Average influence has dropped below one.”

  Laryn grit his teeth and ran out onto the beach. Two voidlings came into view, just as Adi had said. One of the creatures stabbed the core, while the other dug up Keldin’s grave.

  Overcome by anger and emotion, Laryn shouted.

  “Get away from there!”

  Patreon to read 20 chapters ahead!