The Devil In White: An AA Online Novel

Amelia had contacted Aidan through the party system and had him add Hunter and Elisha to their party. There were still two open slots in their party, so it was no trouble to invite them. It would increase communication between the six of them, something vital if they were going to open up the Tombs below the Kingdom of Brack and the Underground Dwarven Kingdom as soon as possible. Aidan and Amelia had left immediately, right on the heels of King Elairdrin who was riding a royal mount with increased speed. They were already going down into the castle depths, toward a place that King Elairdrin knew of that was below called the Royal Apothecary. It seemed a strange place, but Elairdrin explained that in the past physicians had used cadavers to increase their skills with anatomy.

"Elisha. I am uncomfortable with riding this." Amelia heard Forsythe say. They were communicating through private party messages, probably because of the storm, they were about to head through in the desert. He and Elisha were going ahead to the Dwarven Kingdom to explain to Prince Orekin that his army of 100 Dwarves, the Dwarven Immortals, should come back to the royal halls to await entry.

"Hey, it'll be okay. There are two handles on the back if you get anxious. Just hold onto them. My riding skill is Beginner 5, I just got the ability to have passengers on the really fast horse." Elisha said soothingly.

"I don't really do heights," Forsythe said, and it was the first time Amelia had heard hesitancy in his voice.

"But you climb?" Amelia wondered aloud.

"It's not the same. There is an objective." Forsythe muttered.

"Aw. Hey big guy. Just hold onto the handles and close your eyes. At top speed, we'll cross the Silf forest and through the desert in an hour, and then maybe another hour at top speed along the desert edge to the coast." Elisha said, a note of impatience entering her voice. "Get on."

"How far after that?" Forsythe asked suspiciously.

"No time at all." She continued soothingly. "Now get up here!"

"Don't be a sissy Fours." Raven chimed in, obviously thrilled by Forsythe's discomfort.

"Think of all the food you can look at when you get there," Hunter encouraged.

"Hmm. We'll be off then." Forsythe sounded grim.

"Just hold onto the handles, it'll reduce your anxiety." Elisha insisted.

"Raven? What are you doing?" Amelia asked, wondering what Raven WAS doing.

"I took a boat down the forest river and went to the coast. My guys picked me up." Raven reported.

"The pirates?" Amelia said doubtfully. "You kinda just ran off. What's your plan?"

"Oh, I was thinking that I could be a Pirate Fleet Queen." Raven informed her.

"Uh huh?" Aidan asked interjected dubiously.

"Yeah, there are two sh.i.p.s now! We just finished renaming the Scarlet Raven, and I just took over… err… assumed command of… commandeered…" She kept rambling, trying to find a word.

"Stole," Forsythe spoke shakily.

"Took command!" Raven laughed for a moment and paused as a male voice started to get louder in the background. "...shut up already! You can come down when you learned your lesson Former Captain Brudy!"

Amelia shuddered, imagining a repeat performance of how she had 'acquired' her first crew.

"What're you and Aidan doing?" Raven asked.

"We're going to be out of contact for a while. Amelia and I are with King Elairdrin and we found the room we believe leads into the Tomb." Aidan replied.

"Okay!" Raven didn't seem like she minded or cared for that matter.

Amelia and Aidan were standing in a room with stone tables laid out along the hallway. Empty sockets in the wall suggested that they had once contained bodies, and they were emptied out onto the tables. Thankfully the ruin spoke of long ago, and no remains were left. Occasional metal flasks and small areas that were used for fire pits littered the area, long unused.

More interesting was the way the long hallway folded into a larger oval room, and at the edge of the oval, there was the 2 meter long and 3 meter tall horse statue.

"Examine." Amelia requested.

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ATTENTION - LOCAL

Ixtas, Son of Ixiol.

"To my friend Ixtas, may you watch over this place as you watched over me. Trample evil where it is found, and may you run in pastures and sire many sons and daughters."

-King Marden

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"Hunter? Is Fildmenia still… alive?" Amelia asked.

"Yes. Unfortunately. The Queen is riding her around, laughing through the castle. The court and the nobility seem horrified." Hunter reported grimly.

"Ah. I wondered if it would revert, but I guess it didn't. So if I wake this one up…" Amelia wondered, and then turned to King Elairdrin. "My King, if you would stand near me when I awaken Ixtas. I think he will respond to you."

The King eyed the statue doubtfully but moved up beside her.

"[Transform Stone]." Amelia activated her ability for the second time that day.

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Tomb of Behind the Royal Apothecary - Human Tomb of the Hero Marden Available.

Area Level: 115-200 (250)

Special: For the first three weeks experience gains will be raised by 25%. Creatures, Monsters, and Treasure drop chance will be increased in rarity by 15%.

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Ixtas woke in much the same fashion that Fildmenia had, and all three of them jerked as the horse pranced with great hooves and shook itself free of the detritus of stone. His eyes blazed with blue fire, burning and making small whooshing noises as he slowly oriented himself.

King Elairdrin murmured, remarking on how many hands high the horse was and what a magnificent representation of his species he must be.

Ixtas turned to King Elaidrin immediately and took a ground-shaking stride toward the king, stopping short mere inches before him with incredible alacrity. He bent his long neck and peered down at the King, staring him in the eyes. It was frightening, the size discrepancy. The King was being cautious and had one hand resting on the ceremonial sword at his waist. It was unnecessary, as after a long moment the great horse Ixtas leaned down and started sniffing the clothes King Elairdrin wore with great interest.

"Ah. He is looking for treats." King Elairdrin declared in astonishment. He reached up and slowly stroked the muzzle of Ixtas, but the horse pushed his hand away gently and resumed his search of the King's person in a sort of 'stop that human, I'm doing things' way.

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[Transform Stone] has increased to Beginner Level 4.

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"We're done here," Aidan spoke over the party communication feature. "How's it going, Elisha? Did you lose Forsythe yet?"

"No, he is really quiet though. I tried to talk to him but he is just staring straight ahead. I don't know if I should go faster or slow down." Elisha paused. "Should I stop?"

"Yes," Forsythe answered immediately, sounding strained.

"Don't stop Elisha. You'll never get him back on that thing." Aidan said, grinning across at Amelia.

"Okay…" Elisha said doubtfully.

"Alright. When you get there drop Forsythe off and logout for the night Elisha. It's getting late." Hunter said, obviously not wanting to get in the middle of it.

"Mom, I want to meet the Dwarf Prince," Elisha complained.

"Fine. Tomorrow is Saturday, just don't make me unplug you." Hunter said. Amelia and Aidan both began snickering.

"Shut up you guys!" Elisha said furiously. It was easy to imagine her looking embarrassed.

"It's okay. We're done here and we're going to...log out too." Amelia said, glancing at Aidan. Aidan would not be logging out so to speak but he flashed her a thumbs up anyway.

"See you tomorrow then." Aidan tossed a wave over his shoulder, disconnecting the party chat. Amelia would have thought with her current feeling he would look smaller as he walked away. Instead, his shoulders seemed impossibly broad, capable of carrying anything.

"Yeah," Amelia said, watching him go. "I'll be there."