The Dead Zone Sovereign

Chapter 4: The Language of the Enemy

The purple mist moved quietly over the grey skin of the sleeping warrior. It came out of a break Valen had made in the poisonous cloud. It was a sight, a human teenager keeping a demon soldier alive by giving him the very poison that should have hurt him badly.

Valen did not blink. He sat on a stone box, his hands on his knees thinking about what to do. If the demon attacked when he woke up Valen would quickly take away the friction between the demons boots and the stone floor. This would make it hard for the demon to move forward.. Valen would take away the oxygen from the air around the demons face. This would make it hard for the demon to breathe. Being prepared was more important than being hopeful.

Three hours passed before the silver marks on the demons chest started to glow. The deep cut in his side stopped leaking purple liquid. The skin started to heal because of the poisonous cloud.

The demon made a growling sound. His eyes opened. They were completely red without any color around the pupil. They glowed like coals in the dim light.

The warrior moved quickly. Despite his body and injuries he rolled off the stone slab with ease. His unhurt hand went down to grab the handle of his sword. He lifted the sword in a position. His back hit the stone pillar behind him.

His red eyes looked around the room. They quickly found Valen. He took a sharp breath. He smelled that there was no cloud in the room but there was a small stream of it on the slab where he was lying.

A human the demon said. His voice was deep and rough like the sound of the earth moving. He spoke the language but his accent was heavy and harsh. A Solarian mage. Where is the rest of your group?

I am alone Valen said. His voice was calm and not scared.. I am not a mage.

The demon looked at Valen closely. He looked at Valens hands. He raised his hand. The silver marks on his skin glowed brightly. Valen felt a invisible force testing his body.. It did not find anything to hold onto.

You have no magic the demon said. His stance changed a little. His big sword was still pointed at Valens throat. A human without magic cannot survive in the atmosphere of the Great Wall. They also cannot stay in the Dead Zone without protection. What trick are you using? Who killed my team?

The environment killed your team Valen said. He pointed to the doors of the keep. If I had not brought you inside and given you some of the cloud you would be dead now. Your body was shutting down because of the air.

The demon looked at the crystal on the floor. Then he looked at Valen. He realized something slowly. The sword he held went down a little. You took a cloud. A raw and unrefined environmental poison. Without a device from the High Church.

I do not belong to the High Church Valen said. They threw me over the wall because my type was thought to be faulty. I built this place to stay alive. You stumbled into it.

The demon looked at Valen for a time. The red glow in his eyes went down a little. He looked at his side. He touched the healed skin on his ribs. Then he looked at the wall of iron and black stone blocking the gate.

Faulty the demon repeated. The Solarians call a being who can change the environment faulty. Their pride will be their downfall.

He put his sword down. It rested on the stone floor.. He did not let go of the handle. I am Zarek. I am a scout of the legion under the Demon Lord Malakor.

Valen said, I am Valen.

Why did you save me Valen? Zarek asked. He leaned against the stone pillar. To our people humans are zealots who kill our young. To your people we are fiends born to destroy civilization. There is no history of kindness between our kinds.

I do not care about history Valen said. He leaned back against the wall. I care about being efficient. The empire wants me dead. The empire wants you dead. That makes us allies.. Right now I need information. I know what the priests say about the demon realm.. I want the truth.

Zareks face got darker. The silver marks on his skin went down to a shine. The truth is that your empire is killing the world.

He slid down the pillar. He sat on the floor with his legs crossed. His big sword rested on his knees. He touched one of the curved horns on his head. A time ago the magic in this world was balanced. It came naturally from the earths core. It fed the forests, the oceans and the deep plains where my people live. Then the Solarian Empire found a way to make Holy Artifacts.

The pillars, Valen said. He remembered the golden structures he had seen from the cathedral windows.

Yes Zarek said. His voice was full of anger. They call them blessings. We call them siphons. Each holy city in the empire has a pillar. It drills into the earths veins. It pulls the magic to the surface. This fuels their floating gardens, their crops and their immortal barriers.. Magic is limited. By pulling all the life force to the plains they are draining the rest of the world.

The Dead Zone Valen realized. He looked up at the sky through the broken ceiling.

The Dead Zone is the area Zarek explained. When the magic is pulled out of an environment quickly the balance collapses. The air stops moving. The water turns to acid. The wildlife changes into beasts. They are driven mad by the emptiness in their souls. The demon realm, our home is behind this wasteland. It is turning into a desert of black ash. Our crops are failing. Our children are born weak.

So Malakor is not launching an invasion to conquer humans Valen said. He is launching a war of survival.

If we do not destroy the pillars my race will die in three generations Zarek said. We fight because giving up is a more painful death. My team was sent to scout the Great Walls supply routes. We were ambushed by an imperial hunting party. They were led by a knight in armor. He used magic that bypassed our armor. My teammates died protecting me. I ran into the fog. I hoped the poisonous cloud would stop them.

The knight in armor Valen thought. Kael. The Holy Avenger class was already being used to clean up the borders. The empire was moving fast. They were taking power while maintaining the lie of righteousness.

Zarek looked around the courtyard again. His red eyes found the boundary where the clean air met the purple fog. What you have built here Valen... It should not exist. You have removed the toxicity without restoring the magic. You have created a void. If my Lord Malakor knew a human had the power to change the environment...

He would not believe it Valen finished.. Right now I am not ready to meet your lord. I am level four. A single imperial scout or a strong beast could break my defenses if they attacked in numbers. I need to make this territory stronger. I need to expand the boundary. I need to find a food source. I need to create weapons.

Zarek looked at his leather armor. Then he looked at Valen. My team is dead. My station is destroyed. If I return to the demon realm without information or success I will be sent to the frontline trenches. I will die as a foot soldier.

He stood up. His big body towered over Valen again. He picked up his sword. He reversed his grip. He offered the handle to Valen.

I owe you my life, Valen of the Dead Zone. Until I pay my debt my sword is yours. I know the layout of this wasteland. I know where the ancient outposts are buried. I know where the high-grade materials rest. I know how the imperial scouts navigate the fog. Let me be your vanguard.

Valen looked at the handle of the sword. He did not believe in honor or promises.. He believed in working together. A level twenty-four elite scout was the ally to help him progress.

He did not take the sword. Instead he reached out. He tapped the flat of the blade with his finger.

Welcome to the sanctuary Zarek Valen said. Lets get to work.

Over the three days the alliance worked well. With Zarek as a guide and a strong fighter Valen started expeditions, into the immediate perimeter of the fortress.

The battle plan was simple but deadly. Zarek would find groups of mutated beasts fight them with his sword and military skills. The moment a beast attacked Valen would use his skill from behind—taking away the friction under the beasts feet to make it slip into Zareks sword or taking away the contrast in its eyes blinding it.

With every kill Valens level went up his stats getting better.

Host: Valen

Class: Utility (Not Working

Level: 12

Health: 240/240

Stamina: 180/180

The levels were not as important as the materials. Valen used his skill on every beast taking away properties like strong bones, resistance to poison and stretchy muscles. He didn't just collect them; he used his technique to upgrade Zareks gear.

In the command room Valen held Zareks iron sword. He put three iron plates and a vial of the Miasma Hounds corrosive spit on the edge of the sword.

Extract Valen said, his stamina dropping a lot as he targeted the space between the elements.

A dark grey flash lit up the room. The sword changed. The rough iron edges became smooth and black like obsidian. Seemed to soak up the light. The edge of the blade glowed with a green light keeping the corrosive property of the hounds spit without hurting the metal.

Item Created: Corrosive Greatsword (Grade: Rare).

Zarek took the sword swinging it through the air with a whistle. He hit a stone pillar in the room. The blade cut through the rock like a knife through butter the edges of the cut instantly burning and dissolving from the leftover acid.

Incredible Zarek said, staring at his hands. Our best smiths need a forge and weeks of magic engraving to make something like this. You did it in seconds using stuff and junk.

We're just getting started Valen said, looking out at the courtyard.

The sanctuary was changing. Using the properties he took from the wasteland Valen fixed the keeps roof sealing it from the fog. He made the clean air zone bigger by taking the toxicity every week pushing the invisible dome past the fortress walls.

The clean air began to affect the soil in the courtyard. Without the acidic fog the blackened earth turned grey. It was ready for planting. They had no seeds that could grow without special magic.

We need people Valen said, standing on the wall beside Zarek. Two people can't defend a fortress like this forever. We need workers, craftsmen and people to watch the borders.

They will come Zarek said, staring at the horizon. The imperial patrols regularly catch beastmen tribes that live outside the wall. They take them to extract their magic. If a transport convoy passes by we take it. We give them a choice: die in the camps or serve the Sovereign of the Dead Zone.

The Sovereign Valen repeated, the title, sounding strange. He liked it. It was better than being a defect.

A sudden flare of light on the western horizon stopped their conversation.

Zarek slammed his hand against the stone wall, his red eyes widening. Imperial signals. Magic flares are used by the guard.

Valen focused his vision, tracking the distance. The flares were coming from the Great Wall, three miles out. They weren't hunting beasts. They were, in a formation sweeping a grid.

They found something Valen said, getting ready. Get your sword, Zarek. It's time to see how our new gear handles the empire's best.