The Wyrms of &alon

I skittered up alongside them.

There, on a podium not far from the wall with the mural sat an object that had no earthly business being where it was. It was a small, slender cylindrical rod, golden and featureless, and wreathed in something like flame. The fire whirled around the cylinder in ever-moving ribbons that had no effect on their surroundings. The flames had been real, they would have melted everything around them.

I pointed at it. "I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that that's probably the Key we've been looking for."

"What if it's a trap?" Dzrtk asked.

Lark crossed her arms. "No, it's definitely a trap."

"But why go to the trouble of hiding it like this?" Nina asked.

"I think it's worth the risk," I said.

Cautiously, I walked up to the podium and, with a slightly trembling hand, reached out and grabbed the Key. My hand and my arm passed through the flames without feeling anything one way or the other and grabbed the rod. I held it up for a moment, humming softly, to generate some more light.

Despite seemingly being made of metal, the rod was almost impossibly easy to lift. Eventually, I passed it down one of my lower hands and gripped it tightly.

Suddenly, a spray of light sung behind us. Turning, we saw Tk'tk'tk cowering before rays of light streaming out from one of the thirteen storystones.

"What did you do?" Suisei asked.

The light spiraled faster and brighter, building up into a definite shape.

"We can't just leave this place!" Tk'tk'tk said. "How can we abandon all this information? Think of all the forgotten history that could be revealed?"

That's when I realized the light coming from the storystone was taking the form of a D'zd flower.

The next thing I knew, the luminous flower collapsed and shot out in a beam of light that struck the nearest target: Tk'tk'tk.

Tk'tk'tk flopped forward onto the floor, dropping the bag of storystones. Spasms rocked the D'zd's body for several seconds, but then stopped just as suddenly as they'd begun.

As Tk'tk'tk struggled to rise to zyr feet, I noticed the storystone that had blasted zym had activated had turned dim.

"Who wakes me?" Tk'tk'tk asked—though it was immediately clear that whoever or whatever was speaking through Tk'tk'tk body was not Tk'tk'tk.

The voice couldn't have been more different from the nervous, high-strung T'dzd'ch defector. It was effete and calculating, and overflowed with icy resentment.

"Tk'tk'tk…?" Dzrtk asked.

"Have the Southlander scum and their Vvz'zsh sympathizers been wiped from the earth?" not-Tk'tk'tk asked. Ze tilted zyr flower in dark curiosity. "Or is it finally my turn to play the hunter?"

Dzrtk stepped forward. "What's going on?" Ze challenged the thief in Tk'tk'tk body. "What have you done to our friend?"

Nina skittered back in fear. "Guys," she said, "whoever that is, it's not Tk'tk'tk!" Nina said.

"Oh good," not-Tk'tk'tk said, mockingly, "a sign of intelligence."

Nina's light lowered to a faint mutter. "…it's like what happened to Dk'brr…"

"What do you mean?" I asked,

She turned to me. "The… the pataphysics. It looks similar. Not exactly the same, but…—"

Not-Tk'tk'tk pressed zyr hands together in contemplation as ze scrutinized the vault around us with zyr flower, seemingly indifferent to our presence.

"Yes, I think I understand now," ze said. "You are not of us, nor do you seem to be servants." The D'zd fixed zyr gaze on the now-dark storystone and then placed a hand on zyr torso. "I see, you woke me from my slumber, didn't you? Yes, yes," ze flicked zyr stinger, "it was this body, I can see it now." The D'zd walked in a circle.

My every instinct told me that we needed to get the heck out of here, stat, but I was too afraid to move.

In my mind's eye, the presence in Tk'tk'tk's body sparked with pataphysical might.

"You are thieves, yes?" ze asked, tilting zyr flower. "Interlopers?"

The D'zd stinger tail rose as ze noticed the Key in my hand. "Oh dear oh dear." Ze tapped zyr upper hands together. "You have the Key." Ze tapped a leg on the floor. "That… I cannot abide."

The being in Tk'tk'tk body raised an arm, and the next thing I knew, all of us had been sent flying backward. We slammed into a wall, and an invisible force pinned us there.

I could hardly move.

"This skill, Angel's breath!" Suisei screamed. "Ze's going to kill us!"

"Oh, no," the D'zd replied, almost singsong, "not at all. That would spoil all the fun. No, I will keep death at bay. It will not be able to rescue you." Ze pressed zyr arms together. "Hmm…" ze mused, "I suppose I should call the others. It's only fair." Not-Tk'tk'tk raised zyr flower. "Siblings, there are intruders in our midst!"

The light that radiated from the D'zd's flower was orders of magnitude stronger, brighter, and louder than nearly anything any other D'zd had made. Only Srrt'zt'krr's magic outshined it. The whispering runes on the vault's walls flickered in recognition as the light passed through them.

"What have you done!?" Dzrtk demanded.

Not-Tk'tk'tk took several steps toward the wall we were currently pinned against.

"I notified the other Krr't."

I stammered. "The—the Krr't!?"

"Yes, yes," the D'zd replied. "They'll be here shortly." Then, almost as an afterthought, ze turned to Dzrtk. "Oh, as for your companion—this body's owner," ze said, gesturing at zymself, "ze's dead. This body is mine now."

"The K'rrt?" Lark asked. "Aren't they the good guys?"

"No," Dzrtk said, trembling, struggling to move zyr limbs, "that's impossible! Why would my people's heroes work with the Dominion?" Dzrtk asked.

Not-Tk'tk'tk took a single step toward Dzrtk, suddenly rapt with the Vvz'zsh's very presence. "How fortuitous. You are Vvz'zsh?" ze said. "Excellent." Ze flicked zyr stinger. "It's been far too long since I last tasted the blood the damned."

"W-What?" Dzrtk couldn't believe what ze was hearing.

For that matter, neither could I.

Not-Tk'tk'tk bobbed zyr abdomen excitedly. "I will sup on your lifelight until the mountains crumble." Ze stepped back. "Know this, Vvz'zsh: your forbears let that fool EUe persuade them to make peace with the Southlanders." The D'zd shined the word 'peace' with revulsion, tightening zyr flower into a tube and extruding zyr stamen. "Peace? What a ludicrous proposition. The Southlanders do not deserve peace. We will not forgive. We will not forget." Ze extended a single arm toward Dzrtk. "And traitors who would make peace with our people's murderers deserve a fate even worse than the Southlanders and their precious Winged Savior."

Suddenly, a stern voice cut through the treasury's tense silence:

"What is the meaning of this?"

The lightwaves of D'zd speech formed spreading interference cones as they passed through the hole in the vault's door.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

While we flailed against the walls, immobilized, the Krr't in Tk'tk'tk's body floated off the ground and across to the far side of the room immediately outside the vault.

Dzrtk looked out through the opening and shouted in terror: "Th-the Hierarchs!"

Wincing, I tightened my flower.

Three figures stood at the mouth of the hallway opposite the vault. Their clothing was diabetic in its excess; voluminous robes piled up, sheets and sheets of fabric stacked on top of another like layers of a kerchief-covered shell. Their robes gave them an almost hunchbacked profile. The frayed, frilled, rat-eaten trains trailed behind them like bloody shadows. Even the garments' colors ran the gamut, from ruddy wine to symphonic ultraviolet, with gleaming particles of gamma emissions and a low, nauseating rumble in dead radios' murky hues. Their limbs were hidden underneath the pus-colored silks beneath the robes and their bloated sleeves. Their silvery flowers were the only parts of their bodies that were clearly visible. They sprouted from their collars, unhooded, tilted down like monks or bluebells.

The Heirarchs' flowers surveyed the room, turning first to the melted vault door and the sight of our group pinned against the inner walls, and then to Tk'tk'tk's stolen body.

"Zh'kr'zz (Zhu-kerzazz)," one said, "you have awoken?"

There was more than a hint of surprise in those words.

"Yes, my Siblings," Tk'tk'tk replied, eagerly. "I wear the body of a fool who thought to wake me from my storystone. Tell me, how much time has passed since I last walked the earth? Has my turn to rule finally come?"

Instead of saying anything, one of the Hierarchs simply waved an arm.

Tk'tk'tk's body exploded, head and armless upper torso smacking wetly onto the ammonia-drenched floor. Zh'kr'zz writhed within zyr host's broken body as zyr lifelight seeped out.

Zyr murderer spoke. "I'm afraid this will not do, Zh'kr'zz. We didn't trust you to lead responsibly. Above all else, the Southlanders and their traitorous enablers must suffer. Everything we do is to ensure perfect misery. This task is too important to be left to one as… capricious as yourself."

Zh'kr'zz sputtered in agony.

"Your soul was meant to slumber till the end of time," the Hierarch continued. "It was never our intention for your life to end this way, and I sincerely apologize for it." The Hierarch bowed deeply.

A final set of light waves shook out from Zh'kr'zz's flower before the body and its Krr't host died forever. The magic holding us against the walls vanished with the death of its caster.

We hit the floor with a thud.

Screaming, Dzrtk pushed up off the ground and ran out of the vault. I followed after zym, with Lark and the others close behind.

Dzrtk drew zyr weapons, both zyr own, and zyr newly acquired vacuum blade.

The Vvz'zsh warrior didn't even bother asking questions. Ze scraped zyr weapons along the floor and leapt over the hole in the middle of the room with zyr blades raised back, ready to strike.

One of the Hierarchs raised zyr head. It was barely any motion at all, yet it sent a wave of force rocketing at Dzrtk, hurtling zym backward and slamming zym into the wall with a sickening crack that ripped the blades from zyr hands.

Before Dzrtk had even hit the ground, the third Hierarch waved zyr hand and launched a brutal cold front toward zym, ammonia crystals condensing out of the air. It took everything I had to whip up a paddle of force to use as a counterspell and smack the oncoming cold front from below, but I did it, successfully redirecting the magic toward the ceiling without anyone getting hurt.

Dzrtk flopped onto the ground. Ze reached for zyr swords with trembling arms.

"Dzrtk," I yelled, "get back!"

"These Hierarchs," Lark said, quivering with fear, "how can you even fight them?"

"I did just deflect their ice magic, you know," I said.

Still, it was surprising—and not in a good way—that the Dominion's leaders seemed to be able to use pataphysics the way we could.

It looked like the T'dzd'ch were ruled by a bunch of tyrant wizard-kings.

The second Hierarch said, looking at me askance. "Interesting.

"You must be one of the Vyx Messengers reported at T'kznd," said the third.

Dzrtk struggled to rise to zyr feet. "What T'dzd'ch madness is this?" ze said, bracing zymself with zyr swords, using them like crutches. Ze glanced back at the vault. "Why are my people's relics in your palace? Why did Zh'kr'zz call you K'rrt?"

Nettled, the third Hierarch flicked zyr flower at us. "This is why Zh'kr'zz's spirit should have stayed asleep," ze said. "Ze could never keep a secret."

"Yes, it is quite vexing," the second said.

The first Hierarch glanced at Dzrtk. "As for the relics, Vvz'zsh scum, they are ours, as they have been since the days of the Old World. The rest of the Vvz'zsh may have strayed from our people's path, but the Krr't will not. We follow the old ways. We will never forget."

Dzrtk's defiance wilted before our eyes. Ze dropped one of zyr swords to the ground in shock. "W-What…?"

"The K'rrt?" Lark said. "Aren't those the imprisoned folks we're trying to rescue?"

The Hierarchs—the K'rrt?—turned to one another. "I was told the interlopers wereVyx Messengers?" said the first.

"As was I," said the second.

"But then why would they have fallen for the lies?" the first asked.

"Perhaps the terms of the agreement have changed?" suggested the third.

The first flicked zyr tail. "Impossible. We made a pledge."

The second stiffened zyr neck, zyr flower facing straight ahead. "Could the Vyx have been overthrown?"

Grabbing the vacuum blade's handle with both of zyr lower arms and screaming, Dzrtk cut a broad, horizontal slash through the air, launching a sickle of force directly at the Hierarchs.

One of the Hierarchs raised a single arm in the direction of the attack, not even bothering to look at it. I saw their hands inside the exaggerated sleeves. All at once, a wall of soft light flashed across the room, protecting the Hierarchs from harm.

"Oh fuck," Suisei muttered.

Dzrtk's attack dissipated harmlessly.

Another Hierarch flicked their hand at Dzrtk, who then screamed— swords clattering to the ground—as zyr limbs got plucked off zyr body like unwanted hairs. The Vvz'zsh warrior fell to the floor, bleeding Charge-rich fluid onto the stone. His spastic motions flicked the fluids across the polished stone.

"Holy shit!" Lark screamed, pedaling backward. "Holy—"

—The third Hierarch flicked zyr hand dismissively. Suddenly, a sphere of total darkness stood where Lark had been. Nothing came out of it.

I lunged toward it, only for a wave of force to pulse out from the sphere, flinging Suisei and I backward.

We skidded to a stop on the floor.

Digging my limbs into the stone tile, I pushed myself up. Without a second thought, I raised my hand, threw caution to the wind and cast my heat spell on the three Hierarchs. I gave it my all. The air around the Hierarchs quivered with the power I'd sunken into it.

These three were monsters. They made Verune look like a Lucent by comparison.

A Hierarch zoomed toward me, floating along the ground, carried by a jet stream of force that flung me back and pinned me to the wall before my magic had blossomed with molten justice. The Key and my lower right hand got stuck between the back of my torso and the wall.

Everything quivered. I screamed.

The pressure was ludicrous. It was like the weight of the world was crushing me into the wall.

The Hierarch hovered in front of me, zyr flower opening and closing in jellyfish gestures.

"I assume you are the one responsible for ruining the treasury's door?" ze asked.

Nina lay prone on the floor, all eight limbs splayed out, the cup of her flower pressed down like an abandoned mug. A couple of yards behind her, Dzrtk screamed, rolling on the floor in agony. The D'zd bumped into the sphere that had eaten Lark; it kicked zym away like an unwanted bowling pin.

I wanted to look away, but the force bearing down on me kept my flower fixed in place. "What… are… you?" I asked.

"I am Zht'zht'k (Zhutzhut-ka)." The Hierarch turned to zyr companions. "One of you, bring Bzhr'zh'k'k's (Bzhurzhu-kikka's) phylactery." Ze glanced at me once more. "This one's body will make for an interesting vessel, and I would like to save zyr mind for… further study."

One of the other two hierarchs floated over to the treasury, went in and pulled out one of thirteen storystones. I noticed it was one of the four that had dimmed.

Phylactery, I thought.

That was not a common word to hear. In fact, there was only one context I'd ever heard it being used: role-playing games. It got thrown around a lot in Vaults of Moránn II.

A phylactery was the object where a lich stored its soul. As long as a lich's phylactery remained intact, it didn't matter how thoroughly you destroyed the lich's body; the undead mage would rise again. To kill a lich, you had to destroy their phylactery, to return their soul to their body. Only then would destroying their body kill them for good.

Whether that even applied here, I had no idea. Though, Tk'tk'tk had said ze'd seen a Hierarch Passage into another D'zd's body. If the Hierarchs really were the K'rrt, as they claimed to be, that would make sense—

—Oh fudge.

The Hierarch was walking toward us. "The Key is missing," ze said.

More fudge.

I really missed having all my secondary consciousnesses. There was too much going on for just one mind to handle.

The Hierarch in front of me—still pining me to the wall with zyr magic—turned to face the one with the phylactery.

Hecking heck, I needed more time! My track record against fighting liches wasn't exactly the best, and that was only in games!

I tried to move. I managed to pull my pinned arm free, but at the cost of the Key painfully gouging into my hand as it joined the rest of my body in being immobilized against the wall.

Darn it! Swimming through a block of solid rock would have been easier than getting out of this!

The Hierarch cocked zyr at an odd angle and ze stared at the Key in my hand. Zyr robes fluttered as ze reached for the Key.

"No!" I screamed. "We've come so far! I won't let this be for nothing! I won't!"

"Child," the Hierarch said, "compared to us, you are nothing. Say your prayers; you will need them."

Ze reached for the Key.

Well, this was bad.

I had to make a choice. Which would I rather deal with: the T'dzd'ch Hierarchs, or the AVUs?

It was no contest.

Being afraid of alerting the Vyx anti-virus units was a luxury I could no longer afford.

So, I opened up my can of wyrm powers. There were no visual distortions, no Wyrmware pop-ups or start-up noises, just the familiar feeling of control seeping into every inch of my being.

The other Hierarch offered the phylactery sphere to my captor, who reached back and grasped it with one of zyr lower arms.

I picked the first thing that came to mind.

"<Power negation!>" I shouted. "<Nullify abilities!>"

But nothing happened.

The other Hierarch looked at me funny. "Don't they normally go mad after soul transfer, not before?" ze said.

Fudge.

Why wasn't it working!?

I knew I had my powers. I could feel them, bright as day. But… something was working against them. With my wyrm senses operating in full swing, I noticed how… noisy the D'zd's Archive felt. It wasn't like the network labyrinth. There, it was mostly emptiness. But here, I was surrounded by other minds.

Maybe that was preventing me from doing anything drastic? Or maybe, the Hierarchs were just so powerful that I couldn't affect them directly.

Well, there was only one way to find out.