Ascenders are not beholden to mortals. They made the choice to stay mortal; they can hardly blame us if they find it hard to survive. And if a few ascenders use their power to lord over the mortals, there's nothing wrong with that. It is the right of an ascended being to rule over lesser beings. - Supreme Emperor Valorian IV to His Crown Prince.

The only true rule of the Realms is 'Might makes Right.' - Supreme Emperor Valorian V upon ascension to His Throne after His successful coup.

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Marc anxiously watched the surrounding dark miasma pulse and wobble chaotically. The spectres seemed to be gone but the sudden strange movements of the truedark after their disappearance did nothing to help calm his nerves. When no dangers seemed immediately imminent, he resolved to calm down.

The villagers around him were rejoicing, clearly also puzzled about the change in the truedark but too happy at their triumph to care. He winced inwardly as the fat guy stepped into his personal space and hugged him muttering mostly unintelligible thanks but he bore it with no outward dissatisfaction. Best not to alienate anyone unreasonably.

That wasn't the end of it, though. The old man who'd seemed to him to be the nominal leader of the group approached him, flanked by other villagers, old and young.

"Thank you, stranger," he said, coming to a stop in front of Marc and bowing his head slightly, the villagers around them following suit. "Thank you for helping us get rid of the spectres."

Wait, what?

"I didn't actually do anything, though. I just got lucky discovering the stones repelled them," Marc rebuffed, briefly waving the stone still in his hand for emphasis. "Even after that, repelling the spectres was a joint effort."

The old man shook his head. "Without your presence, we might have never discovered it in time. Know that the our village will remember this favor, diminished as we might be."

Marc was saved from having to say anything in reply as the crowd stirred around them. He turned back to see Rezak, the tall green guy and the other villagers walking over.

The campbound villagers around moved forward, welcoming their fellows with relief and checking them for wounds. Marc stood where he was, watching them.

Rezak and the tall green guy stopped walking and looked around at the villagers as they gathered up.

"Everyone, listen," He stated with authority, causing the villagers to quieten. His voice was magically amplified the same way it had been before. "The spectres seem to be gone for now. I have no idea why but that . All the attacking monsters were eradicated with no casualties." At those words, a low cheer passed through the crowd. Rezak waited for it to pass before continuing, "For now, we rest but as soon as we are able, we continue to move. The current phenomenon is one we have no precedent for. We have no idea what is happening so it would be better to leave before it affects us negatively. Rest as much as you can. We leave as soon as possible."

The villagers dispersed at his words, sitting and lying on the desert sand. They sat in groups, some of them gathering around the fighters and the possessed and fussing over them. The old man - Marc really had to learn his name to stop mentally calling him old man - approached Rezak and the green guy and they started to speak imperceptibly.

Marc just sank onto the floor in a limp sprawl, mentally exhausted and just a bit physically. The sand was nothing like his comfy bed but, honestly, he wouldn't have minded sleeping on it at that moment. He settled for just closing his eyes and trying unsuccessfully to clear his mind.

The sound of muffled footsteps near him made him open his eyes. He climbed to his feet upon seeing Rezak and the green ascender standing over him.

"Hey," he said, wondering why they'd come to him.

"How did you discover that the runestones could repel the spectres?" Rezak asked.

"Runestones, huh? Well, it was just luck. One of the spectres disappeared near where I was carrying the runestone," Marc replied with a shrug.

"Just luck," Rezak said.

"Yeah, just luck," Marc repeated.

"Where are you from?" The tall green guy said, his voice low and deep. "You said you're not from this region. Where are you from?"

Marc's heart jumped. He'd expected this line of questioning already and hoped he didn't fumble it. "I... I have no idea," he answered.

"How is that possible?" Rezak frowned and Marc had the unpleasant thought that this guy could kill him before he could blink. Some of his thoughts must have showed because Rezak spoke to dispell his fears. "Sorry if it seems we're overly suspicious. It's just... Something like this," he waved a hand around at the surrounding truedark, " hasn't happened before as far as we know. It's making us paranoid."

Yeah, and I'm the only one you can't account for here. Which makes me suspicious.

"You told me you have no memories of appearing in the Velqav. I can understand that but how is it you have no memories from before your appearance in the desert?" Rezak asked him.

"I don't know," Marc tried to add uncertainty and fear to his tone, made easier by the fact that he really felt like that about appearing in this stupid world. "I have vague memories of faces but I... I can't attach names to them. I don't remember any places at all."

"Are you sure about that?" The green ascender spoke.

Marc responded with a 'yes' before he had time to realize that the ascender had spoken in an entirely different language and he'd answered in the same language.

Shit, he thought.

Responding in whatever language that was had to have made him even more suspicious. He would have to reveal his Omnilingualism Perk and hope it wasn't something rare.

The green ascender was about to speak again when both he and Rezak suddenly turned sideways. Marc turned his head also and saw the demon guy running towards them, coming to an abrupt stop in front of the other two ascenders.

"We need to get going now," he said. "Danger incoming."

"What type of danger?" Rezak asked.

"A horde."

"That - That's impossible," Rezak said. "The last horde in the region was centuries ago."

"This one seems to be controlled by the spectres," the demon guy stated.

"How large is it?" The green guy asked.

"I couldn't count the monsters in it but it's too many," the demon replied. "Even if it's nowhere near a real horde, we can't face it. We have to leave."

"But... We can't... The villagers won't be able to move fast enough if it's a horde," Rezak said. "They won't be able to survive without us."

"We did our best for them," the demon replied. "It's just bad luck. Did you find out what chased away the spectres?"

Marc stood there as they discussed, wondering if a horde meant what he thought it meant.

"We inform the Council of our findings. They need to know what happened here," Rezak was saying when Marc butted into the conversation.

"What is a horde?" He inquired.

The demon guy was the one who answered. "It's basically a multitude of monsters attacking a place at once, a horde of monsters. There's one coming at us so if you want to have any chance of survival, you need to start running."

Marc took in the words with a sense of disbelief. Their discussion passed over his head, only the occasional snippet registering in his mind. He was going to have to find a way to survive this - with the ascenders unable to help. He stood there for a few seconds, thoughts racing through his head.

"Do you hear that?" The demon asked the other ascenders. "They're near now."

Marc didn't hear whatever it was at first but after a minute of listening, he did. A low intense buzz permeated the truedark, increasing in volume by the second. He couldn't hear any distinct sounds but occasionally, a roar or a hiss, could be identified, slightly distinct from the din.

"Everyone, listen." Rezak shouted. Once more, he had amplified his voice but this time, it was accompanied by the low hum of the approaching horde. "A horde approaches us," - a susurration of fear and doubt arose from the villagers -, "and... we won't be able to defend you." At this, the villagers started to shout and yell. Rezak's amplified voice increased in volume as he continued. "We're sorry but we have to report what happened here to the Council and the Guild. We'll try to delay the horde for a few minutes but that's all we can do. Run and do your best to survive."

After ending his speech, Rezak took one last glance across the villagers, grimaced and shook his head. Then, he nodded at the other two ascenders and they started running in the direction of the approaching horde.

Marc didn't waste any more time. He raced for the bonfire, grabbing an abandoned spear as he went and breaking it in two. He quickly tore off strips of his loose tunic off and tied them around the head of the shortened spear before dipping the makeshift torch into the bonfire.

It ignited instantly and Marc pulled it out. He took a deep breath and looked around at the villagers, who like him, were preparing to run.

Best to leave before they all do. At least they can serve as - as distractions.

Marc grimaced at the uncharitable thoughts he was having. He felt like a heel but knew he couldn't consider the fact that these people were probably going to die. He couldn't allow himself to act on any sympathy for them. He couldn't do anything for them. He was too weak to do anything. Trying to help would only cost him.

This wasn't Earth. Here, he would die if he was too kind.

The sound of the approaching monsters got louder and clearer, the sound of hundreds of creatures running and sliding, hissing and roaring. Marc shook his head. No time for thinking. He gripped his torch, knife in his other hand, and started running as he saw a dark shape burst from the truedark into the lit camp, intercepted by a villager with a spear.

He headed out into the truedark, leaving the bonfire-lit camp with no hesitation and paying no mind to the havoc behind him.

Stepping out into the truedark with only a torch was different. At least in the camp, there had been light, if filtered and warped by the truedark. He could see up to the point where the bonfire light had stopped sharply.

Going into the dark miasma with only a torch for light made the truedark feel more oppressive, more present despite the fact it was trembling intensely. Walking further out, sounds were more garbled and distorted. He could barely see four feet past himself and had to stretch the torch out even for that.

He would barely have any warning if any monster came for him. He comforted himself with the fact that the spectre horde must have attracted most of the monsters. That thought and the sudden realization that that could actually be true, that he might not encounter any monsters except for the ones behind sent a thrill of relief thought him.

As he ran, he considered what could have caused the spectres to create a horde. The obvious answer was that their use of the runestones to repel them was the cause, except that didn't make any sense because the goblins had to have done the same before. After all, they were the previous owners of the runestones. Unless the goblins had somehow been regularly defeating hordes in the desert and no one had discovered it, which was improbable.

He tripped over something and couldn't stop himself from falling, only barely avoiding burning or cutting himself as he landed face-down on the sand. The torch slipped out of his hand, rolling slightly away from him but thankfully it was still burning. He quickly got back to his feet and grabbed the torch, continuing to run without checking whatever had caused him to trip.

He forged a path into the darkness, the surrounding miasma making him feel like he was alone in an empty void. He didn't encounter any monsters or obstacles; he just kept on moving, his body working better than it ever had before.

He didn't notice the pit in front of him until he had already placed his foot into it and he fell once more, tumbling and rolling down a steep, slimy incline. The torch went out, doused by falling sand, and his knife was jerked out of his grip when he tried using it to arrest his fall. His body felt like a pinball or like a steak in a tenderizer.

His uncontrolled fall slowed a bit when the hole in the ground leveled a bit and he stopped tumbling but he barely had time to feel relieved about it when he hit something at high speed.

It felt like his ribs shattered at that moment, a sickening crack echoing out as intense pain blanked out his mind.

He briefly noticed the absence of truedark through tear-clouded eyes before he sank into unconsciousness, unaware of the world around him.