Chapter Thirteen: Daruvasht

The portcullis and gate slammed shut behind me with a deep, echoing rumble, sealing us inside Daruvasht.

I blinked, caught off guard by what lay before me.

It wasn't really what I'd expected.

The cavern was vast. An entire hidden valley stretching beneath the earth.

Towers of silver-white stone rose from the rocky ground like frozen moonlight, ancient and elegant, worn by time but unbowed. They stood with an ageless grace.

And it was bright.

A golden glow bathed the entire space, warm and radiant. Daylight somehow, underground. I couldn’t see any sun or flames, but it felt exactly like noon on a clear day.

Varashan looked to me and then to the eyes of the younger gate guard who was... not leering at me, but perhaps trying a bit too hard not to.

The older Caliban held his hand out to the younger, expectantly. "You're thinking of offering your cloak to the lady, correct, Kaevan? I do not have one, or I would have already given it."

"Uh... yes, captain. That's what I was thinking. Wouldn't want her walking through the streets like--" I glared at him and he hastily undid the brooch of his cloak. "Yes, of course, here--"

He handed it to Captain Varashan, who then unfurled it and gestured it towards me. I let the aging knight drape it around my shoulders, before I pulled it tight to conceal my very exposed body.

"Thank you," I said to the knight--and then to the younger guard.

"Shall we?" Varashan asked me.

I nodded.

Even covered by the cloak, I was forced to try to avoid the curious--and I realized: somewhat enthralled--looks of the various Caliban on the streets as we walked.

I mostly made do by observing the gorgeous architecture everywhere around me.

“How did you build all of this?” I whispered, awestruck.

“We didn’t,” Varashan said. There was quiet humility in his voice, but also reverence. “These ruins were ancient long before the System came. When Cowagen overtook the WorldHeart and shattered our world, Anahara led the survivors here. Daruvasht has been our home ever since.”

“But how is it still standing like this?” I asked. “If it’s that old?”

“Legends say there’s magic woven into these stones,” Sorayelle murmured. “Older than the System. Magic from the gods themselves.”

I stared up at the vaulted stonework. “There was magic before the System?”

Varashan nodded solemnly. “Yes. But it was rare. Difficult. A priest might spend weeks preparing a single ritual with a circle of acolytes. When the System arrived… mana surged. Suddenly, anyone with the right Class could cast spells in days instead of decades.”

“You were alive back then?” I asked gently. “When the world fell?”

His expression darkened. “I was born in the early days. When we thought the System was a gift. But dungeons multiplied. Gates began to open near cities. In time, monsters spilled out in endless, ever stronger, waves."

It sounded like an apocalypse. "That must have been horrible."

"I watched heroes die. Many for nothing. Others for what seemed like very little."

A lump rose in my throat. “How many System users are even left?”

“Fewer than twenty-five in this city,” he answered. “Most of them support builds. The warriors are nearly all gone. Among those who fight purely with the body and skills, I alone remain above level fifteen. Though I heard talk before the fall that the East was faring better than we did."

"The east? Do more Caliban live there?"

"No. It is, or was, the domain of a different race. Heathens and beast-men, but fearsome and admittedly rather advanced technologically. If they still stand, then they offer us no aid beyond perhaps distracting Cowagen."

I tried to ignore the aged disdain in his voice--perhaps even racism?

My chest tightened. “How strong is Cowagen?”

Varashan hesitated. “Two centuries ago, he was level sixty. And beyond even the classification of an elite monster. A Boss level being."

Level sixty.

I had gained twenty-five levels in a single desperate day. But only because of buffs, luck, and System rewards. And with my leveling slowing recently? That number felt like a mountain.

“Is there even a way for you all to fight back?” I asked quietly. "Or did the System just abandon you?"

He looked away. “Every day I dream of opening the gates and slaying every monster I can before I fall. But my wife is here. My children. And a diminished life for them… even beneath a tyrant’s shadow… is better than death. Or worse, becoming one of Cowagen’s twisted creatures.”

“I’m sorry,” I murmured, guilt creeping into my voice for even asking what I had.

We approached a wide temple of silvered stone. Its white-silver doors shimmered beneath the cavern light like moonlight on ice.

“Anahara is inside,” Varashan said.

“Can I just… go in?”

“I’ll accompany you.”

"Me too," Sorayelle said.

He pushed open the doors. And I stopped short.

Inside was a garden.

Streams glittered through soft grasses. Blossoms bloomed in crimson, gold, and blue. Marble pillars circled the glade, holding up the surrounding roof and framing the lush, living heart within.

At the center of the alien-hued flora sat an elderly Caliban woman, feeding scraps of what might be mushrooms to strange, soft-plumed birds that paddled through the clear water. Her presence seemed to me to be gentle but unwavering.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

The sight made me both very thirsty and very hungry.

“Lady Anahara,” Varashan called, his voice respectful. “We have a visitor. She claims System usage. And that she's earned world's first achievements by being connected to another WorldHeart.”

Anahara looked up. Her eyes went to Sorayelle first, a faint frown curving her lips downwards.

“You were out sneaking again, weren’t you?"

Sorayelle shrank slightly. “Yes, Grandmother. But Clarissa’s strong. She killed Skulkers. And the Western Ruler.”

Anahara’s eyes turned to me and sharpened. “Come, child. Sit with me.”

I approached cautiously, pulling my borrowed cloak tighter around my shoulders. The Caliban elder had an air of something almost holy about her.

Gwynn plodded along beside me. Anahara's eyes focused intently on the panther.

"Why do you clutch your cloak so tightly? I won't harm you."

"My clothes are pretty ruined," I admitted.

She softened.

“Varashan, would you kindly fetch her something proper to wear? And Sorayelle, child, return home. We will talk later."

Varashan nodded and strode off, though not before appraising me again carefully--maybe trying to see if I was a threat to his leader? "Of course."

Sorayelle tried to argue before slinking off, but Anahara silenced her with a sharp--grandmotherly--glare.

“I appreciate that,” I murmured, speaking of her sending the captain for clothes.

I swallowed my discomfort at now being alone with someone important I didn't know.

She studied me gently as I sat down. “When I sensed you at the gates, I never imagined a tale like the one I just briefly heard.”

“How did you sense us?” I asked.

“This place is a Stronghold,” she said simply. “As its Holder, and thanks to my Class, the System alerts me to any who enter through the main entry tunnel.”

“That’s… useful.”

My gaze flicked up to her nameplate.

[Anahara, Level 30]

She noticed. “Are you perhaps wondering why I don’t fight even though I am a higher level than you, my dear?”

“No. I mean… I get it. You’re protecting everyone here.”

“And I’m old?” she teased.

“I didn’t say that.”

Her laugh was soft. “You'd be right if you had, of course. I was always a support caster. Even in my prime, I wouldn’t have stood a chance against even a Ruler. And now, I’m the highest-level System user left among this group. Besides our craftsman.”

I hesitated. “How did things get this bad? If there was a world full of System users? Varashan told me that you were overwhelmed, but... how?"

“At first,” she said, “the System was a blessing. Warriors, hunters, adventurers--they all thrived. But few commonfolk trained for combat. The monsters eventually began to grow in numbers faster than we did. For some reason, we believe they desired Caliban more strongly than other worlds. And by the time we realized what was coming… it was too late.”

I thought of Earth. Of how it might fall into the same pitfalls. A part of me hoped my home planet wasn't desirable to the Archons, or whoever Caliban served.

“I’m supposed to kill Cowagen,” I said quietly. “The System gave me a Quest to do it. I don’t know if I can. Not alone.”

She looked at me with sadness. “Few here can truly help you--or perhaps even would if it meant risking their lives here. Varashan is among our strongest warriors and he only picked up his spear in the last days before the System was locked. A kind and wise man with foresight, he did it to protect his family. But most within the city now are young and lack the System entirely.”

"And without the System... they can't fight," I said.

"They can," Anahara replied. "And they do. With armor and weapons, numbers and hard training bereft of System proficiencies, it is not impossible to slay a higher level monster. But many always die."

“Could you at least help me get armor? Or tell me where the other Rulers are? I mean, if I complete the quest it would help everyone, right?"

Anahara tilted her head. “Where are you from, Clarissa?”

“A planet called Earth,” I admitted. “We don't have Caliban there. I died. And the System brought me here."

"Do you know why?"

I shook my head. "It's all foggy. But it didn't really tell me. Just that it wanted my soul."

She waited for me to finish talking, allowing me to continue: "It gave me this body. This Quest. And made it pretty clear the only way I was getting home was if I somehow saved the world.”

Not a huge ask or anything.

Her expression softened further. “Poor child. That is much to have on your shoulders. I could not expect that of you. You could stay here. You could find, if perhaps not peace, then at least everything we could provide. But I do fear that those who protect this place are quickly aging beyond being able to do so..."

"You'd let me live here?"

"I'd take you into my own House if you so wanted, if you promised to defend Daruvasht with your strength. We’d welcome you as kin. The Azu’rei would demand it."

Did I sense a small bit of desperation in her voice under the kindness? She was scared she'd soon be leaving her people completely unprotected, wasn't she?

“The Azu’rei?”

“The spirits of the stars. Our gods.”

“You still believe in them, even after everything?”

She nodded. “Yes. Because we are still alive. And there is still hope.”

I looked down to my lap, and interlocked my hands. Stroked my thumbs against one another.

"I saw someone who'd passed away when I died. My grandmother--actually. Before the System took me back. Maybe it was a hallucination or something. But, it makes me think there has to be some kind of something else out there."

Anahara placed a hand on my shoulder. "My people have long taught that we will be reunited in the outer reaches of the heavens with those we loved in life. It is a belief that carries many through the years in these trying times."

I looked to Gwyn. There was no judgment in her eyes for what I might or might not choose to say--for what decisions I might make. Only a quiet, patient support.

“I have family that's still alive back home as far as I know. I think I have to fight so I can get to them and make sure they stay that way.”

Anahara studied me, then smiled. “I cannot fault you for wanting to endure for those you love.”

I looked back down, embarrassed.

“I always liked fighting,” I admitted. “Even though I liked makeup and fashion and parties—and school--too. But in the ring? Or with a foil in my hand? That’s where I felt… most like myself."

Then I added: "Sorry, you probably don't even know most of what I'm talking about..."

She smiled with, if not with understanding, then acceptance. “If you wish to fight for us, we will help you to fight for yourself. As best we can. Though our resources are limited.”

Her smile faltered a bit as another thought came to her. "Even if you did stay, I could not promise Cowagen would not come for us eventually. I do not know why he hasn't already if I am honest. Perhaps it was the Western Ruler lying to him about our presence--though I doubt it. Or maybe we are too insignificant for him to care."

That gave me an idea.

I summoned my Monsterhide Armor pattern and held it out. “Could your craftsman use this? I also have the Western Ruler’s pelt. And chitin from Cavern Crawlers.”

She took the pattern, eyes widening slightly. “Tavaryon has no pattern of this class. Only those of the second class. And with those materials… he could craft armor for you that I suspect hasn't been seen on a Caliban since our world truly fell."

“Then tell me where to find more monsters down here,” I said firmly. “I’ll bring back materials. I think I need to get stronger before I fight the other Rulers anyway. And maybe your people can live a little safer, with armor like that too?"

She blinked. “You’d risk yourself beyond the bounds of your Quest for us?”

“And for me. I’ve already died once. I don't plan to do it again by rushing to fight before I'm ready,” I said. “If taking a chance means strength, and that we can all have a little hope, then it sounds like it'd be worth it.”

Anahara’s gaze sharpened.

“If this is truly what you wish, I will stand by my promise to support you,” she said solemnly. “But first, you need rest. Food and--"

Varashan returned, carrying clean robes.

Anahara smiled gently. “And proper clothes. A lady must protect her dignity--especially a beautiful one such as yourself."