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

A few more seconds of discussion followed, before the group all spoke their Oaths, binding them to the Tower, and to me.

“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!”

It didn’t take long, and once it was done, I gestured to the Djinn and the Alkyon that they were free to move around, and I turned my attention back to the Imps last of all.

“Now, what do we do with you?” I asked, half to myself, rubbing my chin.

“Jax!” came Bane’s voice, as he appeared in the trapdoor. I looked up at him and nodded, and he went on. “There’s a group headed this way through the streets; a couple dozen of them, no uniforms.”

“Watch them and be ready to move if I shout.” I called up. Dismissing him, I looked to Amaat and Ven. “Looks like you two are up, so get out there and check it out. Find out if they’re gang reinforcements, or if Lydia and the others are returning.”

They nodded and took off, flying out of the door and disappearing upwards sharply out of sight, while I turned back to the trio of forlorn-looking Imps.

“We’s can’t swear… we’s don’t want to die…we go? You lets us go free?” the one who’d spoken before asked hopefully, gazing up at me. Its jet-black eyes remained locked on my own.

“I can’t do that,” I said slowly, shaking my head. “If I do, you’ll tell the Skyking what happened, and then it’ll know who I am, and what’s happened here… so far, all it’ll know is that its gang got their asses handed to them.”

“We’s gonna die, then…” the Imp said sadly. It tried to struggle with the ropes, but gave it up after a few seconds, slumping down, its friends doing much the same.

“You were constrained by an Oath, but the others weren’t. Can you tell me why?” I asked the Imp, and it shrugged.

“We’s serve the Skyking direct, serves the Promos too, and the dogs. We’s be seeing too much.”

“You know where the Clan Mother is?” I asked it quickly, and it shrugged again, slowly, as if unsure.

“We’s think so. Me no see her though. Only Promos go in there.”

“Promos?” I asked and then I caught myself. “Promos… the Prometheans?”

“Yup. Promos are assholes. Always shits on poor Imps. Hateses us.”

“Are the ‘Promos’ always with the Skyking?” I asked, and it nodded. “Okay, and have you ever seen the Promos anywhere else?”

“Lotsa times. They leads us sometimes, makes us do things.”

“Okay… have you ever seen the Promos somewhere when you’ve not been led by them? Do they all stay with the Skyking unless there’s a need for them to go elsewhere?”

“Not know. Sometimes see them with Skyking, then alone, then with Skyking. Not know.”

“He doesn’t mean ‘no’… I think, anyway. He just doesn’t understand…” Barrett interjected hastily.

“Okay, do you think the Promos all live with the Skyking?” I asked the Imp, and it frowned, then went pale, screeching as pain ripped through it. “Dammit!” I cursed, hunting around. “Quick, give me a healing potion!” Barrett pulled one out and grabbed the Imp’s arms, pinning him down as I bit the cork off the top and poured it into its mouth.

We ended up giving it a second potion a few minutes later, once the first had elapsed. Thankfully, it was worth it, as the Imp laid there, panting and terrified, but alive.

“It’s okay,” I reassured it. “I’m sorry your Oath hurt you, but I’m not going to ask you any more questions for now. You just rest and recover, and we’ll try and come up with a solution that doesn’t involve killing you, okay?”

The little creature nodded frantically, and as we released it, it scuttled back to huddle with its friends.

I straightened and looked solemnly at Barrett, just as Amaat and Venta dropped in.

“Lord Jax, the group coming…our people are with them, all of them. I showed myself to Yen, and she signaled it was okay, but to use caution. She’s signaled she’s not under active threat, but she does not trust the men with her.”

“And there’s an overwatch flying high above us, too high for just the two of us to reach before they can flee,” Venta added, and I growled to myself as I considered it.

“Okay, then, looks like we’ve got Mal’s attention with the group. Ignore the overwatch for now; nothing we can do about it until we know what’s happening with the smugglers. How far out are they?” I asked, and Amaat answered.

“Maybe ten minutes. There are a lot of them. A few scouts are running ahead, so they’ll be with us sooner, maybe three or four minutes. No other fliers.”

“Listen up everyone!” I said, standing straight and addressing the entire room. “In a few minutes, we’re either going to be leaving here to make a deal, or fighting again. Either way, we’ve made enough noise that we can’t stay here long before the Guard comes to investigate. Gather up anything you don’t want to leave behind. Oracle…” I said quietly, turning my head to look at her where she sat on my shoulder. “I want you to go as small as you can and hide in my gear. Stay close and stay hidden!”

“I could fit in your pocket…” she said, glancing down at the openings at the sides of my pant legs, and I snorted.

“Fine, but no playing with anything! There’ll be time for that later.”

“Promises, promises!” she whispered, shrinking even further