City of Fallen Souls: A LitRPG Adventure (UnderVerse Book 3) by Jez Cajiao (fb2 epub reader .txt) 📕

It took nearly an hour, but thanks to the increased mana regeneration, I was finally back to a respectable amount of mana when Bane came to me.

“We’ve got a problem,” he said and my eyes shot open, staring up at him as I unfolded my legs and came to my feet with a fluid grace that I’d never been capable of in my old life.

“What’s happened?” I asked.

“The Legionnaires say that the arena is maybe half an hour away, usually. With the city as busy as it is, an hour at most. If we’re lucky, the three of them made it, but the imp just talked. They were on the lookout for the three of them; Venta confirmed it as well.”

“Venta?” I asked. He let loose a subsonic ‘thrummm’ of amusement.

“The Alkyon; she said her name is Venta, and it’s hilarious watching her and Amaat around each other. Turns out, they establish hierarchy and find mates by fighting it out. As far as she’s concerned, she’s his mate now, since he smashed her from the sky, and he’s not sure if he’s loving the situation or terrified by it.”

“She’s talking?” I glanced in her direction in surprise, and he nodded.

“Amaat ordered her to tell us what we wanted to know, and she did. Anything we ask, she’s happy to disclose.”

“Well, that’s something, I guess,” I said, leading the way through back into the center room, with Oracle remaining perched on my shoulder. When I entered the occupied area of the room, I noticed Miren and Stephanos on watch at either end of the windows, and Barrett by the doors, with the rest spread out around the room. Venta was crouched next to Amaat, who jumped to his feet when I entered. The solitary surviving imp was laid next to the far wall… a bloody mess.

As I started walking forward, I saw Amaat heading to me, with Venta following along behind.

“Lord Jax!” Amaat said, ducking his head and clapping his fist to chest in salute. I nodded to him, returning the salute, and he straightened up, locking eyes with me. “I ask permission to accept Venta T’Ashar Clear-Sky as a mate, and that you accept her into your followers.”

I looked from him to Venta, who stood behind him, and when my gaze met hers, she crouched down, dropping to one knee and flaring her wings out behind her. I studied her, surprised that she looked more like a hawk than an eagle, like Amaat, but beyond that…

“Can she swear the Oath?” I asked him, and he nodded once, jerkily.

“Then she can swear the Oath of the Tower, and I’ll accept her, as long as you vouch for her. Understand that I’ll be watching you, Venta,” I said, directing the last bit at her. “You attacked us, and I don’t trust you, not yet.”

“I know, my lord,” she said, her voice harsher on the ears that Amaat’s.

“Oracle,” I prompted, and my companion lifted a strand of mana from my chest somehow, making it visible as she touched it to Venta.

“Read the words you see there, Venta, and join us in a better life,” Barrett called from the door, nodding to her. She looked at him, then nodded in return, straightening and standing as tall and proud as she could. I blinked as I realized the size difference between her and Amaat. It had not been clear when she’d been stooping before, but she was considerably shorter than he was, maybe only four feet tall, and scrawny to boot. A pair of daggers were her only weapons, and they were held in Amaat’s hands.

She took a deep breath and began to recite the words of the Oath that had become the standard for my people.

“I swear to obey Lord Jax and those he places over me; I will serve to the best of my ability, speak no lie to him when commanded otherwise, and treat all other citizens as family.

I will work for the greater good, being a shield to those that need it, a sword to those that deserve it, and a warden to the night.”

“I will stand with my family, helping one another to reach the light, until the hour of my death or my Lord releases me from my oath.”

“Lastly, I will not be a dick!”

I always grinned at the last part, unable to help myself. I stepped forward, Amaat stepping aside, and I put my hand on Venta’s shoulder, giving her a momentary squeeze before stepping back.

“Welcome to the family, Venta,” I said, nodding when Amaat lifted her daggers questioningly. He passed them back to her, and I picked my way over to the corpse of the imp. I crouched down and looked at it, examining the tiny face frozen in death, the pointed teeth and horns that made it a creature of legend, and I sighed deeply, reaching out to close its staring eyes.

I suddenly felt that I was guilty of the one thing I’d always hated the most back in my old life.

I’d decided this creature should die because of its looks, and even now, I didn’t regret it.

Back home, it had been the color of someone’s skin; a fucking stupid denominator, in my opinion, when compared with the opportunities there were. Entire sections of the population were marginalized by governments and others in positions of power, who then told us all not to do it.

Newspapers claimed that all of ‘x’ crimes were committed by ‘y’ group, and the (idiots out there)‘gammons’ believed it. I’d met people I fucking hated who had the same skin as me, and great friends who were totally different. I didn’t give a shit what color a person was, I just hated everyone until they proved they weren’t assholes.

I wondered now if I’d held an unfounded prejudice against this creature. In the past, we’d apparently all decided that if they looked like this, they were evil, yet here I was, recruiting and