"Is this the place?"
I said aloud as I reached the building number that matched the key. Rather than a shabby small hut with a worn-down exterior, I was met with a surprisingly decent-looking motel building. While time had treated the brick structure unfairly, it felt a tad bit out of place in this slum village where everything else was worn down.
The keys that I had were etched with "203." Assuming that it was on the second floor, I took the nearest set of stairs. Each step creaked under my weight. I approached the top and noticed my room. A large sign with the room number hung beneath a light next to the door. A bright light shone through a small window that was covered with bars. Before entering, I gave the door a few knocks.
*Knock…Knock…Knock…*
"Huh!" *CRASH* "Oww…."
Before I could knock a fourth time, I heard a loud noise followed by the groaning of a young girl. I hesitated to open the door. But as I rested my hand on the door handle,
"W-wait—owww."
I slowly opened the door to find a young girl dressed in a maid's outfit face-first on the floor. It appears that she tripped over the hem of her long skirt, trying to head to the door. She looked up at me with teary eyes.
"Master…you sent him over too quick." She puffed her cheeks and looked away.
This girl was an elf. She was fifty years old, working for Korne as the motel manager. She had long blonde hair and green eyes. Her ears and neck had very faint black markings. The woman introduced herself as Poppy.
"So Korne told you that he was gonna have a guest staying in this very room tonight?" I asked. We sat across from one another with a long glass table separating us. Poppy had made us some tea and prepared a change of clothes for me. Strangely, they were a perfect fit, though I would prefer to dress in something with less leather. The undershirt and pants were made from soft cotton, while a tough leather vest covered nearly all of my upper body. "How did he know?" I mutter the last part mostly to myself, but in the presence of an elf, that was pointless.
"Master did not really specify his reasoning. All he told me was that he would house an important guest that could change our lives for either better or worse." Poppy said in a calm voice.
[This Korne guy is some character. First, he stops a noble with one hand, talks him down, and prepares a room for you before you even set foot in the village. Talk about suspicious.] Velantra held back a yawn.
And you and I aren't. I thought, learning my lesson from talking to her in front of an elf. I noticed Poppy's ears twitch slightly, but she never pressed the issue.
"Will that be all for you tonight?" Poppy said while standing up.
"Umm, yes."
"Understood." She flashed me a smile. "I shall be on call for you 24/7. Should you need assistance with anything, please do not hesitate." She gave an elegant bow and then proceeded to trip on her first step. "Oww…." I could hear the tears swelling up without even looking at her face. Without looking back at me, she said, "Please forget you saw that!" Then she dashed out of the room, hiding her face.
Well, that was a thing. Watching her leave the room in such a hurry left more questions than answers, but seeing as the stars are shining above the village, now was not the time to rack my brain over it. For now, I will sleep, then tomorrow I need to figure out how to sneak my armor into the village. Being on the second floor had its limits, but I will manage it, one way or another.
[Now that you are safe, I shall leave you for the time being.] Velantra said. [I will be…somewhat busy, so I will not be able to monitor you, but I will be able to pick up should you call.] Velantra spoke in a serious tone, different from her usual. [I would say, don't die, but that would make it sound like I care about you. But keep your head on a swivel and trust no one, not even the barkeep.]
"Huh? What is that supposed to mean?" I said, but got no response.
Her warning left me with more to think about, as Korne had seemed like a nice guy. The old me would have taken her advice without question, but that's how things turned out the way they are now. If I want to figure out the truth, I need to grasp it myself with no need to obey orders.
I collapsed onto my bed. It was softer than it looked, with a fresh smell lingering from the blanket. For the first time in days, I was able to get a fresh night's sleep. Too bad I woke the next day after the sun had reached its peak.
"So you wanna know how the war started?" Korne said while cleaning up his shop.
After sleeping in longer than I had planned, a cute elf tripping over the couch and ramming her head into my side woke me. Poopy apologized profusely and then made me lunch. After eating a proper meal, I felt strangely energized and made my way towards the bar, where I started helping Korne clean.
"A demon like you doesn't have a clue? Geez, just how isolated from the rest of the world were they?" I gave an awkward laugh, unsure how to answer. "It began with messages. The creatures sent several signals to our world that were picked up by the advanced dwarven tech. Unfortunately, not even the nobles, with their blessed tongue magic, could understand their language. So whatever they were trying to say, we never responded. A few months passed, and something large appeared next to the heavens. The next day, cities were set ablaze by strange vessels that took to the skies. Our forces were ill-equipped to handle them for the next year until the dwarves invented a surface-to-air missile that launched power stones into them, shutting them down, forcing them to crash."
"Power Stone?" I said, holding my mop in place and staring at him intently. We were told that the first year of the invasion was fought using every last air defense system we had. Once we ran out of fighter jets and bombers, the battle turned defensive.
"Power stones are stones created by the dwarves that produce electricity without the need to heat water to power a generator. They are compact stones charged with the essence of the planet that can be recharged over and over without the need for replacement. The only drawback? They cannot be used in tandem with other power sources, including themselves; otherwise, they release a shockwave that cancels out all electricity. So to prevent this, the world opted to just use power stones supplied by the dwarves."
An infinitely recharging power source would be a massive game-changer for humans if they managed to get their hands on it. But seeing as how advanced the beings on this world are, there had to be more to the limitations than what Korne was adding on.
Something that powerful would have to have more trade-offs than just incompatibility. Maybe the stones were incredibly heavy? Maybe they were large? If they were one of those, then it would make certain technologies, such as flight, outright impossible for them. They had cars, sure, but they did not seem to move fast.
"After their flying weapons of destruction were no more," Korne continued, "they landed their large vessel on the planet. That was the start of a long and brutal campaign to rid our world of these barbaric invaders. We were winning the battle…until about 10 years ago when a certain yellow-striped knight took arms and led their armies." Korne had a strange smile plastered on his face while looking at me. "They were quite the person. Using magic that belonged to another race and rendering our defenses to nothing with nothing more than a double-bladed weapon and his close allies."
There was a chill in the air as I felt his gaze. His eyes narrowed, and his ears perked up. A dark smile lined his lips, and he took a step. He was gone. Out of sight. Out of view. The only sound was the clatter of the mop as it hit the floor. Then I felt something heavy slam into the back of my neck. My legs gave out, and I felt my consciousness fading.
"I heard a rumor," his voice echoed faintly as my head struck the floor, "that he deserted his race. Walking a path of loneliness after throwing it all away."
A pause.
"Will he solve the mystery, or die a meaningless death?"
Those were the last words I heard before blacking out.
"DON'T BULLSHIT ME!"
It was pitch black. My head was throbbing, and I felt a pain in the back of my neck. My stomach felt uneasy, as if I had eaten something I should not have. I could not feel my limbs.
"I KNOW HE IS HERE, YOU OLD FREAK!"
There was a voice roaring in the darkness, followed by a deafening crash. Something had slammed into another with brute force.
"My liege, calm yourself and think rationally." The voice of Korne said with a less-than-pleased voice.
"Calm, oh, I will be calm once I have the head of that man who was here yesterday." The other voice, ripe with anger, sounded like Adrian.
"The man you speak of left the main gates last night just before the moon shone its brightest. You can have your guards confirm my story."
"What direction was he heading?"
There was a momentary pause before Korne spoke again. "He mentioned something about needing to talk to an angel near the blast that killed the noble beastmen."
"Angel?" There was clear doubt in Adrian's voice. "Why would that monster be working with the angels?"
"The angels have been quiet for some time now. Forgive me for my crude thoughts on political matters, but I believe that suspicion of the angels is necessary."
"The angels are the closest race to the deities. They would be fools to lend aid to the invaders. However, I shall keep that in mind as you are not the first to bring up such a fact." Adrian cleared his throat. "Once again, I apologize for my rash behavior."
"There is no need for a man of your status to kneel before a humble peasant such as myself. I'm sure that you must be receiving a lot of heat for the leader of the invaders to give you the slip right from under your nose."
"That I am. But I shall claim his head as my own. Once the leader falls, there shall be hope once again that this war will come to an end with our victory." There was a momentary pause that was interrupted by the opening of a door.
"May you have success on your journey."
"That I shall."
"GRRRRAAAAAAAA!"
A loud roar echoed as the sound of flapping wings filled my ears. Once the sound faded into the distance, I heard the door close and Korne let out a massive sigh.
"Looks like we have got a lot of work planned out before us. Well, that really decides on who dies now, doesn't it, Lucan Draeven, leader of the invaders? Oops, I mean Judas Vaelshade, worshipers of a lost deity."
I felt my heart skip a beat. Just who is Korne, and how does he know my real name?