Talia Read online

  “Yes,” Jericho answered. “But right now, we’re discussing an information exchange. Sapphire is willing to trade information on Talia for information on where to find light and dark familiars.”

  “That’s not fair trade,” Sable laughed and turned to Sapphire. “Jericho would be providing something far more valuable.”

  “What do you mean by that?” Sapphire asked. “I’d be leading him to a time magic user that was able to kill an entire group in an instant. And it’s obvious you’re excited about her.”

  “My excitement has nothing to do with the usefulness of the information,” Sable insisted. “I’m excited because Talia is a bit of a celebrity. Or at least she used to be. I had no idea she was still alive. Unfortunately, she’s also completely delusional. She thinks she’s a goddess and refuses to serve anybody but herself. She used to save people and then if they don’t build statues and temples to her she became irate and reintroduced whatever she saved them from. She’s useless to my master.”

  “Oh!” Theia said excitedly. “Is this Temperamental Talia? I read about her! She saved a Seraphim outpost from destruction and wiped it out three months later and nobody knew why. If she wanted a statue why didn’t she ask? We would have built her plenty.”

  “Because she shouldn’t have to ask,” Sable rolled her eyes. “Honestly, she’s really just crazy.”

  “Did you hear that Jericho?” Sapphire smiled impishly. “She’s crazy. Could you imagine how amazing she is in bed?”

  Jericho smiled as his desire to acquired time magic merged with the thought of a batshit crazy lover who believed herself to be a goddess. He imagined how eager she’d be to prove herself in bed. There was no way a goddess could allow herself to be beaten by a mere mortal like him.

  “Oh dear,” Theia said looking at Jericho. “She’s hooked him.”

  “Now all she has to do is reel him in,” Mirage added while watching attentively.

  “Yay!” Ariel clapped. “Another friend!”

  “I’m already hunting for information on Seraphim,” Sapphire continued while petting a dragon’s head like a villain plotting to overthrow the world. “It’s only a matter of time before I find that. You’d only be saving me a week or two. And Owl recently acquired a dark magic user so it won’t be long before I learn how.”

  “Owl acquired a dark magic user?” Jericho asked. “Why haven’t I heard about that?”

  “We don’t have spies,” Mirage answered. “Large guilds have spies. Ambrosia has even sent four different spies to join our guild. Three were rejected and one was sent to the Greenridge office.”

  “What makes you say that?” Sapphire glared at Mirage.

  “Intuition,” Mirage smiled impishly.

  “Wait a minute,” Jericho said remembering a straight-laced recruit Mirage insisted go to Greenridge. Cash and Redwing ran the Greenridge office and the place was pretty much just a brothel so they normally tried to avoid sending prudish recruits there. “If he’s a spy why did we accept him and send him to Greenridge?”

  “Think about it darling,” Mirage said mischievously. “Do you remember how he couldn’t look directly at me? So shy, so reserved, and so full of lustful thoughts he couldn’t even look at me. Who do you think he’ll be loyal to? The frigid elf sorceress who forces him to be a eunuch or the perverted fraternity that is the Greenridge office?”

  “Frigid?” Sapphire scowled and swatted a baby dragon away as it tried to eat her hair. “Stop that.”

  “Right,” Jericho nodded while reminding himself Mirage was definitely the most dangerous of his familiars. Her ability to anticipate and even manipulate behaviors was almost frightening.

  “I feel we’ve drifted off topic,” Sapphire tapped her foot irritably. “The deal.”

  “The deal,” Jericho said jumping back to the blue-haired elf. “I think I can work with that. You tell me everything you know and in exchange, I’ll tell you where to find Seraphim.”

  “And dark magic users,” Sapphire corrected.

  “I don’t really know where to find dark magic users,” Jericho said.

  “You can always tell her where to find the Fallen,” Mirage offered knowing full well that acquiring a Seraphim would prevent her from acquiring a Fallen. “I imagine Theia knows where to find them.”

  “But,” Theia started to object. Mirage silenced her with a glance. “Fine.”

  “Perfect! Do we have a deal then?” Sapphire asked holding out her hand. “The location of the Seraphim and the Fallen in exchange for what I know about Talia Memoria.”

  “Deal,” Jericho smiled while grabbing Sapphire’s hand. “You first.”

  “I’ve already given you plenty of free information today,” Sapphire grinned. “You first.”

  “I’ll give you the Seraphim location before and the Fallen location after,” Jericho countered.

  “Fine,” Sapphire pulled out a map. “Where are the Seraphim.”

  “Theia,” Jericho called over his silver-haired Seraph. “Can you mark where Whitespire is on this map?”

  “Yes master,” Theia said pointing to the center of one of the largest mountain ranges in the world. The location would take at least a week to reach. “Whitespire is there.”

  “You’re joking,” Sapphire groaned while staring at the location. Not only was it out of the way but the region was full of powerful monsters. “There’s no way that’s where you acquired her!”

  “My master summoned me,” Theia said politely.

  “It was really amazing!” Ariel said while giving Nibbles a rock chew on to keep him away from her plants. “She just appeared out of thin air!”

  “Summoned?” Sapphire said irritably. “Then tell me how to summon a one.”

  “That wasn’t the deal,” Jericho said. “You said the location of the Seraphim and the Fallen. Now make with your end of the deal.”

  “You greedy bastard. Fine,” Sapphire said reluctantly. “According to the servants she left alive, Talia Memoria was talking about releasing somebody named Dalmeth. She needed several barrels of king’s blood to break whatever seal was holding him.”

  “Barrels?” Jericho asked. “Does that mean she’s going to go after more kings?”

  “No,” Sapphire stifled a laugh. “Apparently after draining the king of Dawn, she performed a coronation ceremony and then bled the new king or queen out as well. Needless to say, she went through a lot of kings. I guess it’s a loophole of some sorts. After that, she left the city heading south. Now tell me where the Fallen are.”

  “Well that’s not much,” Jericho felt like he’d been fleeced a bit. “I guess it’s a place to start. Theia, mark where the Fallen are.”

  “Hm,” Theia nervously marked several different areas of the map in the mountains as well as a few in the southern deserts. Each was located in extremely dangerous regions but they were all much closer than Whitespire. “That’s all of the Fallen outposts I’m aware of.”

  “Oh,” Sapphire stared at one that was only a few days travel from a portal. “I guess I know where I’m going.”

  “Jericho,” Theia said anxiously. “Can we tell her?”

  “Tell me what?” Sapphire growled as her eyes darted around the rooftop. “How did you fuck me over this time?”

  “Please,” Theia pleaded to Jericho. She was completely distraught at the idea that the Fallen might gain a powerful ally. “She’s going to ally herself with the Fallen unless we tell her.”

  “Jericho,” Sapphire growled. “What aren’t you telling me?”

  “First off,” Jericho said defensively. “I want to make it clear that I did not fuck you over. Mirage fucked you over. Same as last time.”

  “Hi again,” Mirage waived playfully.

  “As for how,” Jericho continued, “The Fallen and Seraphim are factions. If you align with one, the other will want you dead. That’s why I had to find a different type of dark magic familiar.”

  “You are such a bastard,” Sapphire said as flames surge
d from her shoulders. The dragons screeched fearfully and sprinted away from Sapphire.

  “No fire!” Ariel yelled while quickly dumping a bucket of water on Sapphire. “This is a no fire zone! Are you trying to cause an explosion?”

  “Goddammit!” Sapphire roared as the water turned to ice. “You know what! Just for that, I’m going to align myself with the Fallen!”

  “No!” Theia pleaded while pulling on Jericho’s arm. “You can’t let her! Master! Do something!”

  “Sapphire,” Jericho stared at the furious elven sorceress. “You’ll only be hurting Theia and she’s nice to everybody. And Fallen are ugly. You don’t want one of them. Look at how beautiful Theia is. You want somebody nice like her.”

  “Yeah! Theia’s nice!” Ariel said getting in Sapphire’s face. “You shouldn’t bully her. All she wants to do is help people!”

  “Tell her where you found me,” Sable offered. “Although that may not be that helpful it’s better than nothing.”

  “I don’t want unhelpful information,” Sapphire said while growing ice spikes. Nibbles started happily chomping on the ice growing in Sapphire’s vicinity. “I want a dragon!”

  “No!” Ariel objected. “They’re a family! You can’t take the dragons away from their mother! What kind of monster are you?”

  “Goddammit! I want something!” Sapphire stomped as the ice continued to spread. Several dragons happily joined in biting new icicles as if it was a game. “I’m sick and tired of getting fucked!”

  “Really?” Mirage smiled impishly. “Because based on your temperament you seem like you could really use…”

  “Mirage,” Jericho cautioned his mischievous shifter. “Sapphire. If you go to Whitespire, I imagine you can find information on Nyxians. That’s what Sable is. The problem is they reside in hidden prisons you can only access with light magic. You can join the Fallen and search for a light magic user without any information or join the Seraphim and search their library for information on Nyxians. Your choice.”

  “I hate you so much,” Sapphire glared at him. “I have no idea what Raven sees in you.”

  “He’s great in bed,” Mirage offered. “You should try him sometime. Lord knows you…”

  “Mirage,” Jericho chided. “Enough of that.”

  “You’re no fun today,” Mirage sighed returning to her book. “All you’ve done is train, train, train. I should have gone hunting with Terra, Jinx, and the wolves. They’re probably having fun.”

  “Okay,” Jericho tried to read Sapphire’s expression. “Are we good?”

  “Good enough I suppose,” Sapphire answered. “I prefer angels anyway. Guh, this is going to take at least a week. I have so much preparation to do so my guild doesn’t fall apart while I’m gone,” Sapphire said as she turned to leave. She turned back and grinned playfully, “Have fun with your psycho.”

  “Thanks,” Jericho smiled politely as Sapphire left. He turned back to his familiars. “So, any idea on what we do with this information?”

  “Dalmeth is a demon name,” Sable answered. “And she was heading south from Dawn. The area she’s going to will likely be a wasteland suffering from a horrendous curse if a demon is sealed there.”

  “Hm,” Jericho pulled out his map and began looking through the various cursed lands. They weren’t entirely uncommon so picking the right one required some thought. Then he found his target, “Sentinel’s Basin.”

  “What makes you say that?” Sable said looking at the map. The area was one of three large cursed areas in the south, but unlike the other three, it had a landmark. Jericho pointed to the obelisk marked in the center of the area. “The King’s Dagger. She has barrels of king’s blood. That’s probably not a coincidence.”

  “Want me to go check quick?” Luna asked smugly. “It’ll only take a second.”

  “Actually,” Jericho smiled. “Why don’t you stay here. If she’s a violent psychopath I don’t want you getting hurt. I’ll be right back.”

  Chapter 2

  The Demigoddess of Time

  Jericho managed to avoid throwing up as he arrived at the outskirts of the Sentinel’s Basin. A quick look around confirmed everything was indeed cursed. Not a single plant was alive and wraiths wandered around looking for smaller spirits to feed on. It was a dried up wasteland.

  A wraith paused and tilted her head at him. He found himself wondering what a wraith familiar would be like as it slowly backed away from him. He wasn’t surprised, she was obviously a lower level wraith and his spiritual aura was nearing that of a soul eater.

  He looked around and saw the obelisk a short distance away and began walking toward it. If Talia was there, he didn’t want to risk startling her by teleporting in. As he neared the obelisk a massive stone platform came into view, it was already drenched in blood at its center was a woman.

  She seemed to be talking to herself while dragging a large golden staff through the blood, drawing some elaborate pattern on the large stone platform. She looked so cheerful as she stood in the middle of a wasteland painting in blood that Jericho couldn’t help but smile.

  “Ahem,” Jericho cleared his throat as he approached the blood-drenched platform.

  “What? Oh! You!” the beautiful blonde yelled excitedly as soon as she saw Jericho. “You’re here! I wondered if you were going to come! Tell me, how did you find me? And what crazy tricks do you have up your sleeve to stop me? Are you planning to teleport behind me and slit my throat? Create a sphere completely void of air and suffocate me? Burn me into a pile of ash? Tell me what your big plan is so we can have some fun!”

  Jericho climbed onto the blood-covered stone platform while keeping his eyes trained on the scantily clad woman. He could hardly believe she was the same decrepit old crone that he’d released from the magus puzzle. That woman was half dead and ready to fall apart, the one he was staring at was youthful and full of life.

  “I don’t really have a plan,” Jericho answered while admiring her outfit. Or more accurately the way her outfit accented her hips and her breasts. It was a complete flip from the dark robes she wore in the magus tower. “Just for my own peace of mind, you are the same woman I met at the magus tower, right?”

  “Oh! That’s right!” She laughed while posing confidently. She tilted her hips to the side and pushed her chest out to give him the best possible view. “I was in such a hurry to leave the magus tower I never properly introduced myself. I am Talia Memoria, demigoddess of time. This is my true form. Do you like it?”

  “Yeah,” Jericho laughed while taking a step forward. “Demigoddess? I heard you were a time witch.”

  “I am a demigoddess!” Talia slammed the base of her staff down. “Who told you I was a time witch? I will show them how wrong they are! Do you believe I’m a time witch? Do I look like a time witch? I am a demigoddess! Do I need to prove it to you?”

  “No,” Jericho said taking another step forward. “I believe you. I was misinformed. It’s nice to officially meet, I’m Jericho Voidcaller, the most powerful mage in the world.”

  “Well Jericho,” Talia wagged her finger at him threateningly. “Even if you are the most powerful mage in the world, I’ll need you to step back. I can’t have you interrupting the ceremony. Also, you’re ruining your boots.”

  “Right,” Jericho said backing up to the edge of the platform. He wondered why Talia was insistent he keep his distance since he could attack at range if he desired. He looked around and saw a pile of empty barrels near a wagon. “You certainly gathered a lot of king’s blood. Sapphire wasn’t kidding when she said you bled everybody.”

  “So Sapphire did tell you about me!” Talia said cheerfully. “I really like her. She doesn’t seem to like you much though. Next time you see her be sure to let her know there are no hard feelings about her trying to kill me. I view it no differently than an insect buzzing around my ear.”

  “I’m not going to be telling her that,” Jericho chuckled. “Besides, you can tell her yourself when you become my
familiar.”

  “Except I won’t,” Talia smiled politely.

  “Why not?” Jericho asked slightly shocked by the abruptness of her reply. He wondered if he was misreading her. “I saw the way your face lit up when you saw me. You clearly like me.”

  “Such vanity! I don’t necessarily like you, I find you interesting,” Talia laughed. “But I’m a demigoddess. A daughter of time itself. I am meant to be worshipped like the goddess I am, not serve a mage.”

  “I’m pretty good at worshipping a woman like a goddess,” Jericho smirked lecherously. “You could always give me a chance. If it helps, I have references.”

  “I’m sure you do. But as I said, a demigoddess can’t serve a lowly mage. Anyway, can we move this along to the part where you try to stop me? Lot’s to do.” Talia gestured at the bloody platform.

  “About that,” Jericho said looking around at the ornate patterns she was drawing. “You’re releasing some powerful demon?”

  “Archdemon,” Talia corrected as she continued to draw. “And his three generals. I locked them away ages ago to save the people of this continent from certain death.”

  “Won’t they be pretty angry with you for locking them away?” Jericho asked while wondering how powerful the three generals were.

  “Dalmeth will be furious,” Talia laughed. “But what’s he going to do? He’s an archdemon. I’m a demigoddess.”

  “And why exactly are you releasing him?”

  “Why?” Talia asked angrily. “I’ll give you a million reasons! Dalmeth was merciless in his quest to eradicate all life. Despite this, he only killed a few hundred thousand because I stepped in and saved everybody by sealing him away. I expected that to usher in an era of peace and prosperity, but nope. Instead, everybody started killing each other! There have been over a million casualties since I locked him away! Compared to the kings and queens of this world, Dalmeth is a good guy!”

  “Well…”

  “And!” Talia stomped furiously. “They built statues to the little princes and noblemen who fought in their little wars! Every city has them! Statues dedicated to cowards who sat on the backlines ordering their soldiers to kill! Do you know how many statues they built to me? None! Not a single statue! Not a single temple! And when I introduced myself to the king of Dawn, he didn’t even know who I was! I stopped the entire continent from being annihilated! Apparently saving their lives doesn’t deserve so much as a statue but if you kill people, you’ll get a dozen!”