Queen of Blood and Shadows: A

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 Queen of Blood and Shadows
The Godkiller Chronicles, Book Two
By C.J. Carella

Copyright @ 2021 Fey Dreams Productions, LLC. All rights reserved. This material
may not be reproduced, displayed, modified or distributed without the express prior written
permission of the copyright holder. For permission, contact cjcarella@cjcarella.com

Cover by: SelfPubBookCovers.com/ van_maniac

This is a work of fiction. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any
resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
 To learn more about LitRPG, talk to authors including myself, and
just have an awesome time, please join the LitRPG Group.
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 Books by C.J. Carella

The Godkiller Chronicles

Goodkiller Mode
Queen of Blood and Shadows
Roguelike Goddess (Forthcoming)

The Eternal Journey

Twilight Templar
Lord of the Dead
Labyrinth to Tartarus
Guilds at War
Court of Thorns
Siege (Forthcoming)

Warp Marine Corps

Decisively Engaged
No Price Too High
Advance to Contact
In Dread Silence
Havoc of War
Warp Marine Corps (The Complete Series)

The Bicentennial War

To the Strongest
They Shall Not Pass
Victory or Death
The Bicentennial War (The Complete Series)

New Olympus Saga:

Armageddon Girl
Doomsday Duet
Apocalypse Dance
The Ragnarok Alternative
New Olympus Tales:
The Armageddon Girl Companion

A Crucible of Worlds
Outlands Justice

Short Story Collections

Land of Gods and Monsters
Heroes and Rogues

Beyonder Wars:
Bad Vibes (Short Story)
Shadowfall: Las Vegas
Dante’s Demons
 One: This Ain’t Kansas, and it Ain’t Oz,
Either

Caitlin Strange looked down upon the sprawling city of the dead
and felt a shudder run down her back.
It all had come down to this. Just a few weeks ago, Caitlin Sera
had been a freshman in college, bummed out after a breakup and
trying to relax on a weekend by playing a MMORPG. One mouse
click later, she’d appeared in a universe where magic worked, gods
could intervene in the lives of mortals, and people went up in levels
and accumulated gear to become super-powerful. The universe of
the game she’d been playing, as a matter of fact.
That wasn’t the end of her troubles, either. Instead of a tutorial,
she’d ended up trapped in an energy bubble along with dozens if not
hundreds of other players, waiting in line to be devoured by an
insane Blood Goddess. If some uber-powerful entities known as
Arbiters hadn’t decided to help her out, she’d have died on arrival.
Instead, she’d killed the goddess and stolen her Core, the very
essence of the deity’s power, or something like that. Caitlin was still
figuring out her new abilities, which no mere mortal was supposed to
have.
After making it to the Common Realm with the God Core stuck
inside her head, Caitlin and a number of new friends and allies had
several ‘adventures’ in their brave new home (or rather, had survived
a bunch of dangerous and traumatic events). One of them had
involved running into a magical Stone Sphinx, a statue about twice
the size of the one on Earth, except this one was hollow and could
teleport along ley lines, mystical energy conduits that crisscrossed
the planet she’d been on. She’d accepted becoming the Sphinx’s
new Rider.
Problem was, the governing intelligence in the Sphinx – its
Overseer – only needed a Rider to jump to another Realm and
planned to turn Caitlin into a lobotomized zombie in the process.
Caitlin had managed to escape that fate, but not in time to prevent
the Sphinx – loaded with all her friends – to travel to its intended
destination, the Realm of Cities known as Megalopolis. The Eternal
Dynasty’s Capital, to be precise.
To make matters worse, from what Caitlin could see through the
giant eyes of the Sphinx, the Capital had undergone some radical
changes. As in the whole city being in ruins and seemingly infested
with the living dead. A Necropolis. Not anybody sane’s idea of a
tourist destination.
“I don’t like the looks of this,” said Inglix, Goblin Priest of Gufti. “I
don’t like it one bit.”
“I’m sorry,” Caitlin replied. “So sorry.”
The dour Goblin gave her a look clearly meant to convey ‘I told
you so’ but before he said anything, his friend Dan-El spoke:
“You didn’t bring us here, Caitlin. The Overseer did, and for that
she has paid the ultimate price. Assigning blame serves no
purpose,” he added, looking at Inglix until the Goblin shrugged. “We
must put our minds and hearts to the purpose of leaving this
accursed land.”
“Can we even get out of this thing?” Crunch (level 14 Orc Shifter)
asked.
Like Caitlin and Tilly, he was an Eternal, a player from Earth who
had been brought to Realms. Eternals could respawn after death,
but each time they did they lost Identity points, which if depleted
would eventually cause severe amnesia and, upon reaching zero,
perma-death. Crunch had been an eighteen-year-old high school
senior by the name of Joey Hughes before getting isekai’d to the
Common Realm. He looked as confused and scared as Caitlin felt.
Except I can’t let them see that or we’ll have panic.
The other Earthlings in the crew – Sir Lootzalot, Spongebob, and
Tranaxx – were all freaking out a bit. They’d been promised a ride in
a wonderful teleporting Sphinx, not being abducted and dragged to a
high-level zone. The non-Eternals – Allastan the Elf, Dan-El, Eshai,
and Inglix – seemed slightly calmer, but that could just be them trying
to present a brave face in the midst of a disaster. Which Caitlin had
to do as well.
“We’ll figure it out,” she said confidently. “The Overseer is gone,
and I’m still the official Rider of this oversized lawn ornament,” she
added, pointing at her floating nameplate, which had her Rider title
prominently displayed. “All I have to do is get on the driver’s seat…”
Caitlin drifted off when she remembered that the ‘driver’s seat’ had
been a g-darned sarcophagus that she had escaped by bursting out
of it while in the shape of a cloud of variable-density shadow, one of
the many tricks she had picked along the way. The Rider’s coffin was
in pieces, none larger than a fist. So was the bizarre modern-art-
looking device that had housed the Overseer and probably ran most
of the Sphinx’s systems. And a lot of the other devices had sustained
some damage from the exploding coffin.
“Um, let’s see,” she said, trying hard not to show how out of her
depth she was. From the wide-eyed looks she was getting, she
needed to try harder. She decided to cheat by using some of her
God Core abilities.
“System Check,” she said in her godly voice, spending 1
Quintessence – the super-Mana that empowered her godlike powers
– and aiming the command at the scale model of the Sphinx in the
center of the control room.
She had no idea what to expect; the floating screen that appeared
in front of her was startling enough to make her stumble and nearly
fall on her butt.

Sphinx of Bakenrenef
Current Crew: 1/24 (Rider)
Structural Capacity: 8,211/25,000
Mana Capacity: 321/25,000
Mana Generation: 200/day (1,000/day when solar collectors
are deployed).
Mana Expenditures: 30/day (3 Demon and Undead Wards).
Systems:
Cross-Realm Teleporter: Destroyed.
 Demon and Undead Wards: Control Room (Active), Living
Quarters (Active), Mess Hall (Active). All Others (Inactive or
Destroyed).
Side Exit: Operational (Closed).
External Sensors: Inactive.
Full Reanimation System: Disabled.
Internal Sensors: Control Room (Active). All Others (Inactive
or Destroyed)
Ley Line Teleporter: Operational. Currently Off-Line.
Mana Node Secondary Generator: Online (Node Level 2: 200
Mana/day).
Mouth Access Staircase: Operational (Closed).
Overseer Soul Cradle: Destroyed.
Rider’s Station: Destroyed.
Cargo Hold Elevator: Disabled.
Solar Collectors: Operational. Currently Off-Line.
Weapon Systems: Destroyed.

“Are you guys seeing this?”

“If you mean the big blank screen, yes,” Tilly told Caitlin.
I guess only crew can see the writing on the screen.
She half-expected the Overseer to respond to her thought, and
was obscurely disappointed when nothing happened. Her life had
become so weird that she was getting used to having voices in her
head.
“Do you see something on the magical tablet?” Dan-El asked her.
“Yes. The status of the Sphinx. She’s um, a bit of a fixer upper.”
“We’re screwed, aren’t we?” Sir Lootzalot said.
“Well, I just need to go over everything. It may take a little work.”
“What if we got some spare parts from those other Sphinxes?”
Spongebob asked. The portly spellcaster was still looking out of one
the eye-shaped windows on the face of the Sphinx.
“What other Sphinxes?”
“Over there, on the left,” he said, pointing.
There was a small stampede toward the windows as everyone
went to take a look. Sure enough, several Stone Sphinxes were
arranged in two rows about three hundred yards to the left of their
teleporting statue. There were enough spaces for twenty giant
statues, but only eight were occupied. Two of the Sphinxes were
missing their heads and a third was broken into several pieces, but
the others appeared to be relatively intact, although a couple had
pronounced leans to one side or the other. It was the magical statue
equivalent of an aircraft parking lot. Or maybe graveyard.
“Perfect!” Caitlin said, grasping at the sight like a drowning man
grabbing a piece of flotsam. “This Sphinx remained operational even
after centuries of neglect. I bet those others are in better shape.”
“They don’t look well-cared for,” Lootz commented.
“We won’t know until we take a better look,” she insisted. “Maybe
we can just commandeer one of them. If not, we’ll replace the
damaged components on this one, like Spongebob said.”
Inglix looked dubious, as usual, but everyone else seemed, if not
excited, at least more hopeful than they’d been a moment before.
“Very well,” Dan-El said. “We will examine those Sphinxes, but will
proceed as if venturing into a dungeon.”
With his Leadership currently at level two, he could bring up to ten
people into a party, giving everyone instant access to the members’
position and status, very important bits of information when moving
through a dark and dangerous area. Which appeared to describe the
entire ruined city around them.
“Sir Lootzalot, Crunch and Tilly will form a triangular perimeter
toward the front, Caitlin right behind the point of the triangle, the
casters behind her, and I will bring up the rear. Let us apply our
blessings and other defensive magicks and then we’ll leave.”
Less than a minute later, Caitlin sent a mental command and the
mouth of the Sphinx opened, unfurling a long staircase leading the
ground. The party descended and swiftly assumed their positions in
the marching order.
Time to visit the Necropolis.
 Two: A Challenging Walk

“How big are those things?” Tilly wondered, gesturing toward the
skeletal fliers in the distance.
“Hard to tell,” Caitlin said.
Thanks to the Dark Vision she had stolen from an Elf not too long
ago, she didn’t need to wait for a sporadic bolt of red lightning to
show her one of the winged creatures, but guesstimating their actual
size wasn’t much easier for her. It depended on how far they were.
At the very least, they were too far for their stat bars and nameplates
to be visible, which for her meant no less than two hundred feet and
change. The city seemed to go on for miles, though, and some of the
critters were clearly a mile or more away, which meant they were
pretty big. Like dragon big.
Maybe they won’t see us.
Their Sphinx had popped up in the middle of a cleared circle with a
floor made of fitted stone slabs, just wide enough to fit the enchanted
statue’s three hundred and fifty foot length. Maybe it was the
teleporting version of a landing pad. As they headed toward the
parked Sphinxes, she noticed a second circular pad lay between
them. Walking through a clear area with flying creatures around
made her nervous.
Apparently, Dan-El was concerned as well. “We’ll move alongside
those buildings,” he said, pointing to a handful of boxy structures
lined up along one end of the circular pads. They’d once been
warehouses or barracks, maybe. The group moved to the closest
building and stopped near a closed door on its side.
“Maybe there is some loot there,” Crunch said. “Should we take a
peek?”
“Maybe it’s full of undead soldiers,” Tilly replied. “We really need to
grab what we need and get the hell out of here. We’re not ready for a
level 20-40 zone.”
 “What’s the big deal? I mean, if we get killed we’ll just respawn in
Tirazis,” the Orc said.
Tilly looked like she wanted to use her mace to knock some sense
into him. “Not everyone, remember?”
“Oh. Sorry. I forget, sometimes.”
Caitlin wondered how long that kind of attitude would persist
among Eternals. The ability to come back from the dead made it
easy to treat the whole situation as a game – and view the
inhabitants of the Realms as NPCs, there to be used as the
‘immortals’ saw fit. She worried a lot of them would never grow out of
it. Feeling superior to others was a common human trait,
unfortunately.
Setting the gloomy thoughts aside, she concentrated on the
current situation. The party moved past the buildings, ignoring the
closed doors, peering briefly into open ones to make sure nothing
dangerous lurked there.
The overcast skies provided very little light, only a reddish haze
that Allastan claimed to be a reflection from some great fire
somewhere in the distance. The group didn’t dare using one of their
light spells or enchanted runes; in the surrounding darkness, they
would act as a beacon for anyone around. Instead, Dan-El used a
new spell-song he had acquired, Cat’s Eyes, that gave everyone
improved night vision. It wouldn’t help Allastan, the Goblins, or
Caitlin, but everyone else benefitted.
They were two-thirds of the way there when they reached another
building, one consisting of two blocky structures joined in the middle
by a smaller square entrance, flanked by a pair of obelisks. Faded
paintings on the walls featured several animal-headed creatures that
Caitlin thought were Egyptian (or, as they were locally known,
Kemetite) gods. That must be a temple.
There was no door blocking the entryway. The group paused while
Caitlin and Tilly looked in. She saw a long hallway leading into the
darkness – and moving forms emerging from the gloom. Bare
chested figures with tattered long skirts staggered forward, their
movements jerky and uncoordinated. Zombies!
 “Undead,” Inglix called out from the rear at the same time Caitlin
saw them. The zombies must have entered the area of effect of one
of his detection spells.
“Fighters, make a stand at the doorway,” Dan-El said. “Allastan,
guard our back.”
The orders were given in a low voice; no sense making too much
noise when more enemies might be around. Luckily, the shambling
zombies were utterly quiet except for the sound of their bare feet
dragging on the stone floor.

Desecrated Acolytes (Undead)

Level 20 Risen
Health 720 Mana 800 Endurance n/a

The creatures paused at fifty feet and proceeded to spit gobs of

green goo at the front ranks of the party. Tilly had created an energy
shield that protected them; the green go hit the transparent yellow
barrier and sizzled against it, draining its Durability. If the noxious
stuff hit flesh, it would probably melt it right off.
The party retaliated with spells: a pair of Fireballs and a Mass
Blast Undead. The effects left a lot to be desired, however: the
flames inflicted less than a hundred damage each, and Inglix’s spell,
which should have burned off a third of the creatures’ Health,
inflicted less than a fifth of it. Higher-level creatures gained a bonus
to all their resistance values, weakening the party’s spells. None of
the creatures fell.
On the other hand, levels didn’t affect divine attacks. Caitlin spent
100 Health and Endurance to create a cone of blood that ‘healed’ the
closest five zombies for over 700 points of damage. Against the
Undead, her blood acted like acid. That was more than enough to
melt away the already damaged creatures. Another half dozen
zombies continued moving forward, spitting corrosive mucus at
them. Tilly’s energy shield fell apart and Crunch howled when he got
splashed by the green stuff, which burned him for over 100 damage.
The Orc transformed into a bear a moment later and pounced on the
closest monster – only to find that his claw attacks were only
inflicting minor wounds on them, barely a dozen points of damage
apiece. A punch from the zombie sent the massive bear reeling.
Luckily, Caitlin’s second blood splash destroyed the monster and
damaged the rest while also healing her fellow Eternal. The mages’
follow-up spells finished the job. Inglix and Eshai healed the
wounded – besides Crunch, Tilly and Lootz had gotten splashed in
the brief but brutal engagement – and also restored some of her lost
Health. She fixed the rest of her self-inflicted bloodletting by
spending Mana. She hadn’t spent a single Q-point in the fight for a
change.
“A flier is coming!” Allastan warned them before loosing an arrow
at something behind them.
“Casters and ranged, into the temple!” Dan-El ordered; his lyre
played on while he led the rear line into the cleared building.
Caitlin saw the winged creature as it swooped down toward them.
It was the animated skeleton of some kind of bird of prey, except it
had a wingspan of at least thirty feet. Its bony wings beat ferociously,
somehow slowing its descent, and twin bolts of purple light exploded
from its empty eye-sockets. The double blast went through Eshai’s
defensive shield like it wasn’t there and hit the ground around the
party, sending a pulse of energy that covered enough volume to
damage everyone.
Cold pain washed over her; everywhere her bare skin had been
touched by the purple light was bruised and she felt sickly and short
of breath. Her Health went from 1,260 to 912. Her Endurance was
reduced by a similar amount. Her companions suffered far worse; on
the Party Interface, she saw several Health bars go straight to red,
reduced to near death status from the monster’s opening attack.
The creature was now close enough to identify:

Minor Doom Hawk (Undead)

Level 25 Elite Skeleton
Health 2,500 Mana 2,950/3,000 Endurance n/a

The cooldown for Mass Blast Undead was finished, so Inglix

returned fire with the spell, joined by the other ranged members of
the party. Once, none of the spells or arrows inflicted more than 100
damage each; the creature’s resistance to their low-level magic was
much higher than the zombies’. Caitlin took the time to use 3-Qs to
imbue her Blood Healing, increasing its damage by 200% and its
range by 100%, enabling her to toss a 100-Health tendril of blood far
enough to reach it. The splash of blood melted the creature’s beaked
skull and most of its body, turning it into a gross slurry that rained
down on the party, to the disgust of everyone.
“One-shotted a level 25 monster,” Spongebob said, looking at her
in awe.
“I just wish it didn’t have to involve so much blood,” Tilly said. “But
it’s pretty impressive.”
“I cost me almost a tenth of my Health,” Caitlin said. “Not the best
way to fight.”
A quick glimpse at her combat log showed her that the monster
had resisted over seventy-five percent of her Life and Celestial
attack. She’d thought 100 Health would have been overkill, but
against the higher-level creature it had been barely enough. Her
blood had ended up inflicting a bit under 2,400 damage, which
combined with the spell attacks from the party had done the job.
Without her divine abilities, that bird would have wiped out the
party. The zombies would have as well, overwhelming the group with
their corrosive spit before they could accumulate enough spell
damage to destroy the Undead.
We are out of our league, she thought as the group paused and
did some healing.
Their first random encounter had nearly killed them all.
 Three: The Fate of the Pharaohs

Despite their fears, it soon became apparent that none of the other
skeletal fliers were joining in the fun. Either they hadn’t noticed the
colorful and bright display of magic, or they didn’t care. Felling a little
better, Caitlin checked her notifications:

For slaying your foes, you have earned 2,223 Experience (22
diverted toward Dan-El’s Leadership).
Current XP/Next Level: 21,951/30,000. Current Tier XP/Next
Level: 21,951/250,000
Current Quintessence: 12/100. Quintessence Progress:
14/100.
You have found: 12 gold, 5 Major Healing Potions, 3 Major
Mana Potions.
You have found: Drake Hide Breast Plate (Level 24 Enchanted
Quality Item. Damage Absorption 20 (Physical), 20 (Elemental),
15 (Forces). Resistance Values: 25% (Physical), 45% (Elemental
Fire), 25% (Other Elements), 15% (Forces). Bonuses: +3 to
Strength, +3 to Constitution, +3 to Dexterity. Special Abilities:
+3 to Breath Weapon Skill, +3 to Flying Skill.)

The XP seemed a little low, especially considering the level

difference. She was beginning to suspect that using Q-points against
non-Tiered beings incurred a hefty experience penalty. If that was
the case, she was probably dragging down everyone’s
advancement. On the other hand, the group would have been
slaughtered without her, so she figured it all evened out in the end.
She tried to replace her spider-themed chest armor with the Drake
Hide version. The bonuses weren’t much better and the skills it
improved were useless to her, since she didn’t breathe fire or fly, but
the extra defenses were an improvement, especially against fire.
 You cannot equip this item. Minimum level to equip: 19.

Oops.
Tilly had explained that to her during one of their many
conversations about the ‘game’ rules governing the Realms.
Enchanted and better items had levels, just like Adventurers, and
you couldn’t equip an item that was more than five levels higher than
yours. Shaking her head, Caitlin left the armor piece in her inventory
and kept going.
The next building was topped by a tower and had several open
doors, but nothing emerged to attack them. By then, they were close
enough to the Sphinxes to get a good look at them. Caitlin’s heart
skipped a beat. Things were worse than they’d seemed from a
distance.
Besides obvious damage like missing heads or being in pieces,
she could see that a couple of the statues had entire sections of their
torsos missing, exposing their insides to the elements. There was
extensive weathering on the surfaces of all the statues as well, a lot
worse than what they’d seen on their Sphinx when they first
encountered it. How long had they been lying there, uncared for?
Only one way to find out. Caitlin pointed toward one of the
sphinxes in the second row, which seemed mostly intact, other than
having lost most of its face, weirdly reminding her of the Great
Sphinx from Earth. “Let’s try that one first.”
The group advanced warily into the sphinx graveyard. Caitlin kept
looking for any kind of big building nearby. Something that could
serve as a sphinx hangar. If being outside damaged the statues,
then it would make sense that they’d put them somewhere under
cover while they weren’t in use.
There were a couple of possible candidates on the far end of the
rows of sphinxes, two tall and long structures that could easily house
three or four of them apiece. They had curved roofs like hangars
from her world, although there were no big gates. Then again,
sphinxes didn’t need to be wheeled out; they teleported. If they
couldn’t find their spares among the crumbling sphinxes, they
definitely needed to check out those buildings. Caitlin glanced at the
flying creatures in the distance and hoped that they would get the
chance without another fight.
After walking past the dismembered sphinx, they reached the
faceless one. Caitlin walked up to its flank and touched the eroded
surface. As a Rider, she should be able to access its system.
Nothing happened. She even spent a Q-point from her still low pool
to use her awesome voice. Not a peep or a reaction. That sphinx
was dead.
She tried the ones next to it, even though they seemed far more
damaged, and got no results, either. Then she spotted a severed
head lying behind an unsurprisingly headless sphinx. The head
appeared to be in one piece, more or less, and it contained the
control room. Caitlin walked around it until she could see the back of
its neck.
The cut that had severed the head from the main body had
removed the door and a section of floor. And it had been a cut made
with something impossibly sharp, too: the edges of the neck were all
smooth, as if a giant light saber had slashed through it. The head
was lying at an angle, so it was going to be difficult walking inside.
Caitlin peered into the control room. The layout appeared to be
identical, down to the sarcophagus that held the Rider, the handful of
bizarre metal and stone structures filling the room, and the model
sphinx in the center. Everything looked intact, if not active.
“Think it’s any good?” Tilly asked her.
“Looks like it. I’m going to see if I can turn on the lights.”
She reached out and touched the head – and felt a slight tingling.
Nothing responded to her mental commands, however. Using a
Quintessence point, she tried again, and was rewarded by a brief
burst of light from one of the metallic contraptions, along with a two-
word message:

“Insufficient Power.”

Caitlin thought about it. Sphinxes ran on Mana. She had plenty of
it, so that was one problem she could solve. Still touching the wall,
she tried to send a trickle of energy into it. Nothing. Maybe she
needed to touch one of the devices, and the one that had briefly lit
up was the obvious candidate.
It was also the one that had exploded when she’d ordered the
Overseer to die. Caitlin sighed. She’d known it would probably come
to that.
“Okay, fam. I’m going in and trying to activate the Overseer.”
Inglix didn’t like the idea, of course. “The entity that betrayed you
and dragged us all into this benighted place? Have you lost your
mind?”
“I killed the other one, remember? If it tries something, I’ll take
care of it. And this time I’m not alone. If I drop or start acting
strangely, destroy the metal thingy I’ll be touching. Easy peasy.”
“I’m going in with you,” Tilly said. “If it does anything funny, I’ll
mace it in the face.”
Crunch giggled, a funny sound coming from an Orc. “Heh. Mace in
the face.”
Going in was a pain, since the floor was tilted at a forty-five degree
angle, give or take a few degrees. They had to balance on the lower
wall to steady themselves, then Caitlin leaned over the floor and
touched the Overseer’s housing unit. Her fingers began to tingle
immediately. She kept her hand in contact with the device, and
began pouring Mana into it. First one point, then ten, and then
started adding more in ten-point increments. When she’d spent
eighty-one Mana, the Overseer came to life, and the compartment lit
up.
“You have been identified as a Rider,” the unsettlingly familiar
robo-voice echoed in her head. “You have been authorized to
communicate with this unit.”
“Good. I am trying to repair my, uh, unit.”
“Which systems need repair?”
“Well, the Overseer Soul Cradle was destroyed, along with the
Rider’s Station. Without them, I can’t fix the rest of the stuff that’s
damaged.”
“And you mean to remove this unit’s Rider’s Station and
Overseer Soul Cradle?”
 “If possible. Unless you’d rather stay in a disembodied head
forever.”
“This unit has been inactive for seventeen days. Currently
awaiting repairs. Request denied.”
“Seventeen days? The place is a ruin! It’s full of undead! How did
it get so bad so quickly? In any case, nobody is coming to repair
you.”
“Unable to confirm your assessment. Will need additional
power to bring active sensors and external communicators
online.”
“How much?”
“One hundred and fifty Mana will suffice.”
“No problem,” Caitlin said, pouring more power into the device.
The Overseer went quiet for several minutes.
“How is it going?” Tilly asked. She was still leaning on the wall, but
had positioned herself where she could smash the Overseer’s cradle
if she had to.
“We’re talking. It said that the city was just fine seventeen days
ago.”
“The place looks like it went to Hell years ago. Centuries, even.
Some of the walls we passed by were actually crumbling from age.”
“I know,” Caitlin replied just before the Overseer spoke again.
“I have restored communications and sensors. The Eternal
Dynasty is no more. Seventeen days ago, the capital was
attacked by an Undeath and Chaos Horde. The God Osiris
Himself and His son Horus manifested to do battle by the side
of the True Pharaoh. Despite their efforts, they were brought
low by the Knights of Leviathan. Chaos Archons, tainted with
Undeath.
“The initial attack destroyed this unit. I have reached a
relatively undamaged Administrative Crystal in the city. I have
learned that the final battle occurred five days ago. Entropic
forces released during the battle have accelerated decay,
causing the devastation you see.
“Most remaining structures will fall apart in no more than a
week. Any living beings in the area will begin aging rapidly after
twelve hours of exposure.”
“Holy crap.”
“The invaders then moved to attack the neighboring city of
Anyang, leaving only some weak forces to hold their first
conquest.”
“Those are their weakest forces?”
“Indeed. But that is of little import. I have some urgent
information you must hear. The rest of Megalopolis and her
patron gods have joined forces against the invaders. They are
pushing them back here. The Administrative Crystal is not a
military unit, but it believes that they will achieve their objective
in ten to twelve hours.”
“Oh, no.”
Being at ground zero for a battle between godlike entities would go
pretty hard on Caitlin and her friends. Not to mention the bit about
decaying to death in twelve hours. If their spate of bad luck
continued, they would start melting away just as the warring deities
rolled over them.
And the bad news kept on coming: “When that happens, this
city and all within it will be Purified.”
“What do you mean, purified?”
“The Capital will be cleansed by fire. By the time the gods and
heroes are finished, nothing will remain of this place but dust.”
 Four: My Kingdom for a Wand!

“Okay, we’ve got to get the eff out of here,” Caitlin said.
“I concur. This unit has no further orders. As the highest-
ranking Rider present, I will follow your commands.”
“Good.” Caitlin gave a thumbs-up sign to Tilly, perhaps a little
prematurely. “Can we remove you from this head and put it in the
head of my sphinx?”
“First you must detach the needed components from their
housings. Then they can be carried inside a container of
holding, although each device will occupy three slots.”
“We’ve got plenty of free slots,” Caitlin told it, remembering the
golden chest in her inventory, still mostly empty. “Can I just, ah, send
you to my Bonded Vault?”
“Not without detaching the Soul Cradle. Stone Sphinxes
protect their components from being removed into dimensional
spaces. To do otherwise would destroy them when traversing
across realms.”
“Okay. How do we detach the components?”
“You need a Creation Wand. Some Sphinxes carry them, but
they are most likely to be found in one of the repair sheds.”
“The two buildings over there?” Caitlin asked, pointing at the
suspected hangars.
“Yes.”
“I’ll be right back.”
Caitlin stepped out and turned to her friends. “Okay. We need
something called a Wand of Creation to remove the components we
need. Then we can put them in our Sphinx and we’re good to go.
Literally.”
“Good,” Tilly said.
“And we have to do it soon. In a few hours, this place is going to
turn into a battlefield. With gods and stuff fighting it out. Then it’s
going to get blown up. And if none of that happens, in twelve hours
the Chaos energies in this place will make us decay.”
“Less good.”
“Chaos,” Inglix muttered. “That might explain while this place is
falling apart in such a short time. News of the fall of a great city
would have reached the Common Realm in a few months, a year or
two at the most. Chaos goes beyond mere disorder. It heralds the
end of all things.”
“We have to search those buildings. That’s where we’ll find one of
those wands for sure.”
“Then we have a goal and a destination,” Dan-El said. “Let us
make haste.”

***

“Wow.”
That was all Caitlin could think of saying. It didn’t do justice to the
inside of a ‘repair’ shed that was big enough to hold the Goodyear
Blimp.
The space was dominated by two Stone Sphinxes in a semi-
dismantled state. Just as impressive were the enormous metal
cranes standing around the sphinxes and the array of sophisticated
tools on neatly arranged work tables set up along the walls.
Unfortunately, what really made her gasp was nothing good. Half the
place was in shambles, the contrast with the intact sections only
serving to show how much destruction the Chaotic Undead had
brought down on the Eternal Dynasty.
One of the sphinxes had been partially melted into sludge, along
with two cranes, leaving behind a twisted mess. Dried pools of blood
were everywhere, and she spotted three ashy silhouettes on one of
the walls, reminding her of pictures from Hiroshima showing people
who had been vaporized by the first nuclear bomb. She didn’t know
how much energy it must have taken to turn people into smudges on
a wall, and had no desire to find out.
Priceless tools had been crushed or melted by the dozens. If no
Wands of Creation remained, then what?
 “All right. We need several people to look for the wand, and the
rest to stand watch.”
“Allastan, Crunch and Sir Lootzalot will watch over the entrance.
The rest of us will search after I use the Song of the Searcher to
sharpen our senses.”
As the designated sentries waited by a door that had been blasted
off its hinges, the rest of the party spread out and began rummaging
through the work tables and tool containers. Caitlin noticed that
everyone paused every once on a while and stuff something into
their inventories or, in Inglix’s and Eshai’s cases, their bags of
holding. She couldn’t blame them; the place was full of expensive
gear and items, and she was also picking up stuff as she went
through it.
Unlike many games Caitlin had played before, identifying stuff was
ridiculously easy in the Realms. With a few exceptions, you only had
to focus on an item and you could read its name and stats. At least if
you were an Adventurer, that was. While examining anything that
looked like a wand, she found a Metal-Cutting Rod that could cut into
any metal or alloy below Adamant hardness with a four-inch beam of
energy. Unfortunately, it would do no damage to anything living or
animated, so it was useless as a weapon. The level 20 item was
unusable for her at the moment, but she threw it in her inventory
anyway.
She also found scattered coins, mostly gold, over thirty of them. In
they went as well. There were ingots of several metals, including
some she had never heard of, like the aforementioned adamant.
Since everything there would soon be annihilated, she took as much
of it as she could without slowing down her search.
A lot of the stuff was already decaying. Several tools and items
were already marked as destroyed or unusable. Even some of the
ingots were showing stains or had acquired a porous or flaky
exterior. Caitlin left those well enough alone. She didn’t know if
Chaos decay was contagious and figured it’d be better not to take
chances. She’d already looted something like twenty ingots of
Adamant, Mithril and Elysian Steel. A little something to sell or
maybe gift to any friends who took up crafting with metal.
 Finally, she spotted an ornate gold-plated stick with a stylized
falcon’s head on one end and engraved hieroglyphics carved along
its length. As soon as she spotted it, an information box appeared
over it:

Wand of Creation (Level 25 Epic Quality Item)

Durability: 109/350.
Special Abilities:
Bind/Unbind Item: Will affix an item to a surface with
unbreakable bonds that are resistant to dimensional removal.
The Durability of the item becomes integrated into the structure
it is affixed to; destroying one will destroy the other. Binding or
Unbinding an item has a Mana cost equal to its Durability x 2.
Structural Creation: Converts 5 Mana into 1 point of
Structural Mana, which can be used to create or repair
Settlement, Fortification or Proving Ground buildings.

It was just what she was looking for. Except for one little problem.
The item was level 25, eleven levels above hers or anybody else in
the party.
She couldn’t use it.
 Five: A Few Minor Complications

“No. No. No!”

Tilly rushed to her side. “What’s wrong?”
“Useless,” Caitlin said, looking at the wand and barely resisting the
impulse to smash it to pieces on the ground. “Level twenty-five.
Unless I can somehow grind to level twenty over the next five
minutes, we can’t use it.”
“Oh.”
“Found one!” Spongebob said. “It’s level 26, though.”
“All crap,” Caitlin muttered. She should have known. This was a
high-level area. All the equipment would be at least level twenty, and
something with a name like Wand of Creation sure as heck wasn’t
going to be a noob item.
I’ve killed us all.
The thought almost brought her to tears, but instead it made her
angry. Tilly touched her arm, but she shrugged her off.
“Work,” she whispered at the wand.
“What?” Tilly said.
“Work. Work for everyone,” she said before spending a
Quintessence point. “Work for everyone!”
The wand vibrated at the command. Did it work? Caitlin aimed the
wand at some random rubbish and tried to bind it to the floor. The tip
of the wand glowed for a couple of seconds but then the notification
that she’d been dreading popped up.

You cannot use this item. Minimum level to use: 20.

Something had happened when she used Awe, but it wasn’t

enough. Maybe she could only nudge the item for a second or two
instead of the normal ten. Caitlin decided to go all in and gathered 3
Qs to divinely imbue Awe. She went further and permanently
sacrificed all 4 Q-points into the command:
 “Work for everyone.”
Caitlin felt a migraine-level headache as the Quintessence flowed
from her voice into the device. The wand began vibrating like a back
massager and also grew hot in her hand. She held on to it, pushing
at it with her mind, feeling her divine power somehow wrestling with
the device’s design. She didn’t know how any of it worked, but she
felt something inside the wand give under the pressure. The heat
went beyond painful to enough to burn her for 2 points of damage
despite all her armor and natural resistance, but she held on. Finally,
the vibration and heat stopped, She examined the item again.

Wand of Creation (Level 25 Epic Quality Item)

Durability: 43/350.
Special Abilities:
Bind/Unbind Item: Will affix an item to a surface with
unbreakable bonds that are resistant to dimensional removal.
The Durability of the item becomes integrated to the structure it
is affixed to; destroying one will destroy the other. Binding or
Unbinding an item has a Mana cost equal to its Durability x 2.
Structural Creation: Converts 5 Mana into 1 point of
Structural Mana, which can be used to create or repair
Settlement, Fortification or Proving Ground buildings.
Level Requirements Removed: This wand can be used by any
sentient being with a Mana pool.

“Holy crap,” she muttered.

She had almost destroyed the wand but she had done it. She had
forced it to change its level requirement, permanently. That was the
moment when she began to understand that gods weren’t simply
defined by their abilities, unlike normal Adventurers or Eternals.
Gods could bend or break the rules of the Realms.
She guessed that was because their powers didn’t really come
from the game rules. The gods had been brought to the Realms by
the Arbiters or their bosses, the Makers. Whether they were a
manifestation of humanity’s collective subconscious or some kind of
spirit entities, they had wielded great power on their own. Their
attributes had been bent and twisted to fit the system that governed
the artificial reality the Makers had made, but they could push back
against it.
That was also the moment where hubris began to grow inside her.
If I can break the rules, can I force the system to bring me back
home? What can’t I do?
“Okay, I think I fixed it,” she said. “Let’s get…”
Something struck the roof above them with enough power to make
the whole structure shake.
Cailin looked up and saw a red sword – a big red sword – slash a
rent through the ceiling. She couldn’t see exactly what was doing it,
but a quick glimpse at the newcomer – a metallic plate armor that
glowed purple with swirling dots in black and white – was enough to
provide her with its status bars and nameplate.

Lesser Knight of Leviathan (Divine Minion, Undead)

Level 35 Servitor, Tier 1 Entity
Health 10,500 Mana 10,500 Endurance n/a Quintessence
490/500

“All I see in his stat box are question marks!” Crunch cried out.
“That’s bad, isn’t it?”
Normal Adventurers, including Eternals, couldn’t see much
information from creatures more than fifteen levels above theirs.
Caitlin, thanks to her Tier 0 status, wasn’t affected by level, which let
her know just how screwed everyone was. That thing had a Q-pool
five times bigger than hers!
“It’s bad,” she said as a strange calm fell on her. She knew what
she had to do and the decision gave her a sense of detachment.
“Listen,” she told Dan-El. “Take the wand, go to the head, remove
all the components you see, and have one or more of the Eternals
carry them in their Bonded Vault. Go to our Sphinx and see if the
Overseer will accept one of you as a Rider. Just in case.”
“What are you saying?”
“I’m going to take on that thing on the roof. Even if I win, the
collateral damage will wipe out all of you. No sense in you guys
hanging around just to get killed. I’ll rejoin you as soon as I can, but if
you see that thing come out of the hangar, don’t wait for me.”
At first, Dan-El hesitated, then he gave her a tentative grin. “Of
course. Even if the monster defeats you, you are an Eternal. You will
simply reincarnate in Tirazis. We will meet you there.”
“Exactly,” she lied, returning his smile. “Now, go.”
Tilly was the only one Caitlin had told the truth. She had stolen the
goddess Amashilama’s Core, but the goddess wasn’t gone. It was
still attached to the Core, waiting for Caitlin to die so she could
reclaim it. Respawning wasn’t an option. Caitlin gave her a slight
head shake before the Goblin could say anything. If they knew she
wasn’t coming back, they would do something stupid, like dying by
her side.
“I’ll be fine,” she told Tilly. “Not planning on making a glorious last
stand.”
She didn’t think she could win this one, but she was going to give
it her best shot. This would be her first time fighting a Tier 1 Entity,
and she knew that Tiers outweighed levels in every respect.
Unfortunately, whatever was carving itself a sunroof up there
outclassed her in both categories.
But I am a Soul Slayer. A God-Killer. Maybe that will be enough.
They left. Tilly gave her one last look before heading out, lifting her
helmet and rubbing her eyes as she did.
While she waited for the creature to finish making a hole, she got
ready for battle. First, she used 160 Quintessence Shards in her
inventory to replenish her Q-pool by 80. That should be enough.
Next she imbued her weapons and armor, increasing her defense
and offense. Finally, she summoned her Fiend in a box:

Usum-Gallu (Elite Infernal)

Level 14 Fiend
Health 2,800 Mana 4,200 Endurance 2,520

Usum-Gallu took one look at the thing hacking at the roof and his
usual sardonic grin vanished. “Are you freaking kidding me?”
 “When did you start talking like someone from Earth?” Caitlin
asked, preparing to attack. She would try a full-power Blood Heal
first, then repeat as needed. The thing was Undead, so she couldn’t
just suck its blood.
“Our bond has given me an understanding of your culture. But
never mind that. you want me to fight a Knight of Leviathan? That’s a
big nope, dawg.”
“It’s a Lesser Knight of Leviathan. And if it’s that tough, why is it
taking it forever to cut a hole on a basic roof?”
“First, it’s not a ‘basic roof.’ Kemetite construction sites uses
enchanted stonework that is nearly indestructible. Second, we’re
less than half its level and it is a Tier 1 entity. I’ll be barely able to
scratch it unless I land a critical, and it can take me out in two shots.
Maybe three. If I die, you’ll lose my services permanently and I may
not be able to Reincarnate.”
“I’ll make you a deal. Do not fight it directly unless you think you
have a shot at doing some damage, okay? Just tell me what you can
about it. Who’s Leviathan, anyway?”
“Leviathan is a Primal God of Chaos. Has a small, fanatical cult in
the Realms. Very powerful. Seeks to destroy all of creation. Knights
are the souls of mortals bound to a Chaos construct. Except in this
case it is the soul of a Greater Undead being – a lich or a vampire –
grafted into the construct. Extremely hard to damage. Adamant-
Celestite armor. Its attacks…”
An armored face peeked through the ragged tear in the ceiling,
doing a great ‘Here’s Johnny!’ impression. A moment later, a beam
of black, purple and silver energy tore out of a glowing gem on the
helmet and shot straight at Caitlin.
 Six: Touched by a Chaos Angel

Caitlin managed to erect a Divine Shield before the beam struck,

for all the good it did her. The blast tore through the shield, her
armor, and her Tier 0 natural toughness as if they weren’t there.

Tri-Beam strikes you for 1,750 Chaos, 1,750 Death, and 1,750
Undeath damage!
You have suffered 3,338 damage!
Soul Shield Activated.
All damage removed.
Your Quintessence Pool has been reduced by 14 points.
Current Quintessence: 62/82. Quintessence Progress: 14/100.
You have lost 1 Intelligence point.
You have lost 1 Identity point.

For a brief moment, everything went black. Then the lights came
back on just in time for Caitlin to see the Knight get hit by its own
blast, which had rebounded right back at its head. Unfortunately, the
monster only took 1,100 damage from the Tri-Beam. It roared in pain
anyway, as if surprised to be hurt. It finally burst through the ceiling
and Caitlin saw it in its full glory. It was humanoid, but gigantic, at
least nine feet tall, maybe ten. Behind its armored torso sprouted a
pair of gigantic metal wings, with the same gleaming colors as its
plate mail. Its red-bladed sword was almost as long as the creature
was tall.
The sight would have been awe-inspiring if Caitlin wasn’t too busy
fighting for her life.
She ducked to one side and Usum-Gallu teleported away as
another beam tore through the spot where she’d been. There was no
resisting that, and every time her Soul Shield saved her life she lost
Q-points. And Identity! Nobody had told her there would be an
Identity loss!
 “Leave me alone!” she shouted, using Awe and lacing the
command with 3 more Qs.
The Knight paused for a second – and laughed, a harsh, buzzing
sound that hurt her ears. Its voice had the same grating, static-like
quality, setting her teeth on edge:
“Thou wouldst issue commands, little one? Thou art the first
to amuse me in a thousand years. I propose a parley for the
chance to be entertained again.”

You have been offered Parley.

If accepted, neither side may attack the other until either party
calls for the Parley to end, and for three seconds afterward.

“I accept! I’ll give you my best stand-up routine and stuff!” she
called out. Every second she bought was a second for her friends to
remove the components and head for the Sphinx.
“Good.”
The Knight of Leviathan glided down and landed maybe fifty feet
away from here. Caitlin at five foot three looked like a child next to
the looming winged entity. The positioning of the monster wasn’t an
accident, either. They faced each other like a pair of old west
gunslinger, and she knew that as soon as the parley was over, the
Undead creature would strike, either with another Tri-Beam or a
sword slash. She might survive those attacks until her Quintessence
ran out, but not a second longer.
“Thou art an Eternal, born a mortal, and yet I see a God Core
within thee.”
“Yeah, it’s a long story. Would you like me to tell it to you?” Buy
time, buy time.
“I can only tarry for so long. Answer me this instead: why art
thou here? A stripling such as thee has no place on this
battlefield.”
“Accident. I didn’t mean to come here, and I’m just trying to leave.
Maybe we can part ways and call it a day?”
The Knight chuckled again, sounding like a thousand hornets
trying to sing through an untuned microphone. “Little godling, thou
hold precious cargo that is far above thy station. Thy God Core
will serve me well, raising my Tier. Thou sealed thy doom upon
entering this Realm.”
Caitlin took a deep breath. “I guess this parley is over, then.”
As the three-second countdown began, she started prepping.
First, she used 1,400 Mana to increase her Constitution by an insane
700 points, which raised her Health to 11,060 for thirty seconds. The
sudden influx of power made her feel like she’d grown several inches
and increased her body density to something like steel or granite.
She then spent the maximum 3-Qs to enhance a 1,000-hit point
Blood Heal. Finally, she used another 1,000 Health to create a suit of
jagged crimson armor around her that made her look like something
out of an edgy anime production.
The counter went to zero, and they struck at almost the same
time.
Her tendril of blood lashed out – and was met by another Tri-Beam
that vaporized the blood before it reach her target. Her attack fizzled
– and sizzled – but the Knight’s landed. The beam continued one
and hit her before she could even think of dodging:

Tri-Beam strikes you for 1,750 Chaos, 1,750 Death, and 1,750
Undeath damage!
Reduced by ½ by Blood Armor.
You have suffered 2,215 damage!

It was bad, but thanks to her extra Health and bloody defenses,
Caitlin endured the blow without triggering Soul Armor. The Knight
wasn’t fazed by her survival, though. It rushed into melee range,
moving at impossible speeds. The gargantuan sword moved so fast
it created a supersonic crack on its way toward her head. Caitlin
ducked under the first swing, but got hit when the monster somehow
canceled the massive inertia of the sword and struck again without
missing a beat.
The blow sent her flying. Next thing she knew, she was crumpled
against a wall, her right arm hanging limply by her side. She didn’t
look at it because she was scared it was only dangling from strips of
skin. Her Health was down to 1,767; almost all the extra Health she’d
gained from the stat boost was gone.
“Well done, godling. But thy battle was lost the moment it
began.”
There was only one thing to do, and she didn’t want to do it.
Before the Knight was done gloating, she unleashed her Soul
Weapon. When selecting the shape of her Class ability, she picked
the deadliest weapon she could conceive.
She snapped her fingers, Thanos style. Poof.
Except there was no poof. The Knight fell to one knee but didn’t
fall.

You have inflicted 92,736 damage on Knight of Leviathan.

Knight of Leviathan has activated Quintessence Aura,
absorbing 250 damage per Quintessence point in its Pool.
Damage reduced to 6,986.
You have lost 14 Quintessence.
Current Quintessence: 42/68. Quintessence Progress: 14/100.
You have lost 1 point of Willpower, Intelligence, and
Perception.
You have lost 3 Identity points.

The Knight began to rise, its Health still at over 2,000 – and Usum-
Gallu seemed to materialize behind it, a sword made out of orange
flames in his hands. The Fiend’s thrust struck the Knight at the base
of its neck, a critical hit that tore through the armor and delivered
over 1,000 damage. The Chaos monster roared in agony, making
the air around it shake, and spun around with incredible speed.
Usum-Gallu leaped away but was still struck. The impact sent him
flying into one of the incomplete sphinxes, cracking its surface.
While the Chaos monster’s back was to her, Caitlin splashed it
with a 3-Q, 100-Health Imbued Blood Heal. The blood spattered the
Knight’s armor and seeped through the smallest cracks in its joints,
flowing relentlessly until reaching its Undead flesh. This time the
scream was higher-pitched and more urgent, but it lasted only a
couple of seconds before it suddenly stopped and the armored
creature came crashing to the ground.
“Fatality!” Usum-Gallu shouted before doing a little happy dance.
Caitlin didn’t think she liked the new Fiend. Then again, she hadn’t
cared for the old Fiend, either.
“Thanks for the assist,” she said as she drank one of her new
Major Healing Potions, which restored 20% of her base Health
immediately and another 30% over 20 seconds. The shattered bone
in her arm pulled itself together, a disturbing sensation even though
she felt no pain.
“No need to thank your valued servant, mistress,” the Fiend said.
“Helping you strike down a Knight of Leviathan was a pleasure.
There is no love lost between the Infernal Dukedoms and the Lords
of Chaos. Besides, dude was a total d-bag.”
“Yeah.”
Caitlin struggled to her feet. The boost to her Constitution was
gone, and her regular Health was back to normal, but she still felt off.
The Tri-Beam had generated a lot of debuffs, everything from organ
failures to bad luck, but Purify Blood had removed them, so that
wasn’t it. She went through her notifications and found the cause:

Mana Overload: By increasing an Attribute with Mana by more

than 500% of its base value, you have overloaded your energy
channels. For the next 96 hours, using any ability powered with
Mana will backlash on you, inflicting 1-10 points of damage for
every point of Mana used in the spell or ability.

You son of a… She’d crippled herself for four days! She should
have guessed that increasing her Constitution by 700 points would
carry some consequences, otherwise every Tiered entity would be
doing it all the time, but that was a hefty penalty. On the other hand,
if she hadn’t used that trick, she would be a little too dead to worry
about the consequences.
“We have to go,” she told the Fiend.
Before going, she looted every item the dead Knight had left
behind, including its armor and weapons. She checked her other
notifications as she walked out of the repair shed.

For slaying your foe, you have earned 1,485 Experience (15
diverted toward Dan-El’s Leadership).
For slaying a Tier 1 foe, you have earned 75,000 Experience
toward your Tier Advancement.
Current XP/Next Level: 23,436/30,000. Current Tier XP/Next
Level: 98,436/250,000
For destroying a Tier 1, level 35 entity, your Quintessence
Pool has increased by 14.
Current Quintessence: 42/82. Quintessence Progress: 14/100.
You have found: 2 Soul Shards, 2 platinum, 35 gold, 3 Master
Healing Potions, 2 Master Mana Potions, 1 Master Rejuvenation
Potions.
You have found: Unholy Plate Armor of the Undead Paladin
(Level 40 Epic Quality Set: 5/6 pieces found). Chaos Greatsword
(Level 40 Epic Quality Item). Gloves of Destruction (Level 35
Epic Quality Item). 1 Greater Bag of Holding (24 slots, 10
empty).

Her Q-pool had taken a big hit, and it looked like most of her loot
wasn’t usable by someone her level. But she was walking away from
a fight she’d thought she would lose, and that was the biggest prize
of all. And she’d made some serious progress on her Tier
advancement. She wanted to examine some of the stuff – she had
no idea what a Soul Shard was, for example, and was extremely
curious about the contents of the Bag of Holding – but she had to
hurry.
Caitlin had plans to catch the last Sphinx out of town.
 Seven: Armageddon Outta Here!

She was still part of Dan-El’s party, and through the interface she
could see that everyone was all right and that they were headed for
the Sphinx. A moment later, so was she, still followed by her pet
Fiend.
“Are you going to introduce me to your friends?” he asked her as
they jogged, trying to keep near buildings to avoid standing out.
“They know about the box, but I’ll dismiss you when I get to the
Sphinx, unless something attacks us and we need some help. I’m
already going to get a lot of questions from them.”
“Why? Because you destroyed an entity you had no business
looking at, let alone fighting? Happens all the time! Although when it
does it’s the noob who gets killed.”
“The Knight was arrogant. If it hadn’t wasted time gloating, it would
have shredded me before I could react.”
“You also resisted a number of terror debuffs from it. You should
have been too panicked to fight, and it knew it. As to the arrogance,
Chaos entities often act erratically. It’s part of their schtick.”
“I was lucky. Picked up an anti-debuff ability along the way.”
“You are extremely lucky. Unbelievably so.”
“I’ve had some help along the way,” she said.
The Arbiter who had given her the strength to steal Amashilama’s
Core, for one. Maybe she was still helping Caitlin? Something to
think about.
She set everything aside as her friends came into view, leaving the
shelter of the buildings to make a final sprint toward the Sphinx. After
sending Usum-Gallu away, she all but ran toward them.
There was some hugging and maybe a bit of crying, too, although
she noticed that Inglix and Tranaxx were hanging back a little. She
didn’t care. They might not be as thrilled to see them as she was, but
she was happy enough for all ten of them. She’d been sure she
wasn’t going to see any of them again.
 “I thought…” Tilly started to say before shaking her head.
“Yeah, me too. But I got lucky.”
“Nobody is that lucky,” Inglix said, echoing the Fiend.
“This is not the time,” Dan-El told his friend.
“Perhaps not, Dan-El, but you cannot protect her much longer. We
must talk about this.”
Caitlin nodded. “We will. Meanwhile, did you get the components?”
“It’s in my inventory,” Tilly said. “None of us got a word out of the
Overseer, though.”
“That sucks. I’d hoped I wouldn’t be the only one it would talk to.”
“Would have sucked worse if you’d died and we’d ended up
stranded at Ground Zero. Now we can all go home.” Tilly paused to
glare at Inglix. “Even if some people don’t appreciate you.”
“It’s okay. Let’s go.”
“Maybe move a little faster?” Crunch said. “Something is
happening.”
A quick look in the direction he was pointing at showed that the
distant fires had moved closer. Big pillars of flame rose over the
city’s skyline, taller than the buildings around them. A pyramid
suddenly exploded a moment later.
“To the Sphinx, now!”
The final battle had arrived sooner than expected.

***

Sphinx of Bakenrenef
Current Crew: 1/24 (Rider)
Structural Capacity: 8,211/25,000
Mana Capacity: 571/25,000
Mana Generation: 200/day (1,000/day when solar collectors
are deployed).
Mana Expenditures: 30/day (3 Demon and Undead Wards).
Systems:
Cross-Realm Teleporter: Operational (Requires 2,500 Mana to
activate).
 Demon and Undead Wards: Control Room (Active), Living
Quarters (Active), Mess Hall (Active). All Others (Inactive or
Destroyed).
Side Exit: Operational (Closed).
External Sensors: Inactive.
Full Reanimation System: Disabled.
Internal Sensors: Control Room (Active). All Others (Inactive
or Destroyed)
Ley Line Teleporter: Operational. Currently Off-Line.
Mana Node Secondary Generator: Online (Node Level 2: 200
Mana/day).
Mouth Access Staircase: Operational (Closed).
Overseer Soul Cradle: Operational (Active).
Rider’s Station: Operational (Rider Slot Empty).
Cargo Hold Elevator: Disabled.
Solar Collectors: Operational. Currently Off-Line.
Weapon Systems: Destroyed.

“This vessel’s status leaves a lot to be desired,” Overseer 2.0

said as soon as they’d plugged in the Soul-Cradle.
“You should have seen it when we found it,” Caitlin told it. It? “Uh,
what are your pronouns?”
“I was born a human woman.”
“She/her, then. I think? Meaning no offense.”
“I hardly see how that is important. My sensors are detecting
several Tier 10 entities moving closer, along with hundreds of
lesser Tiered beings. Leaving is the only path to our survival.”
“Gotcha. Okay, what do we need to do?”
“First, you must assume your station as Rider of this vessel.”
“Oh, that.”
Caitlin looked at the sarcophagus. She definitely didn’t want to go
back into one of those things. Between the bubbles, her time
hanging from her wrists at the Hand’s hideout, and her recent stint
inside a stone coffin identical to that one, she’d developed an acute
case of claustrophobia and hatred of being restrained in any way.
She glanced at the window. Something taller than the buildings was
moving in the distance, and she soon discovered that her phobia of
kaiju was stronger than the others.
She approached the sarcophagus, which opened for her, and got
inside. The door swung closed, trapping her in darkness, and her
heart skipped a beat. Maybe three.
Something metallic tightened against the back of her neck, and
she almost shrieked. She must have been unconscious during this
part, last time. A few moments later, she felt a tingling coming from
the metal headrest or whatever – and a number of screens appeared
in front of her eyes. That wasn’t particularly shocking, not after
having all kinds of system notifications flashing at her on a daily
basis, but it would take some getting used to.
One screen showed her the status of the Sphinx. Another revealed
the view outside.
“I have activated the external sensors,” the Overseer
announced.
“I can see that,” Caitlin responded, almost wishing she couldn’t.
The Sphinx’s senses were sharper and better than her own,
despite her Dark Vision and superhuman Perception. That meant
that the visuals of the approaching monsters came through in better-
than-4K resolution.
An armored humanoid that towered over the pyramids was
backpedaling slowly. It had two legs but four arms, and each arm
held things that could be weapons, ornate lightning rods, or abstract
junkyard sculptures. From the crackling arcs of energy coming from
most of them, they were weapons. And the energy had the same
speckled colors the Knight of Leviathan had used. Bad guy, then.
Maybe a Chaos Lord, or something like that.
Winged figures, tiny by comparison, hovered around the giant like
bugs around a tasty treat, and Caitlin realized with a shudder that
those bugs were nine-foot-tall Knights of Leviathan. Following in the
giant’s wake was an armadillo-shaped creature, maybe half as tall.
Or maybe it was a vehicle. A ridge of spines down its middle was
spitting out energy blasts at something out of sight. Both titanic
figures trampled over any buildings in their way as if they were made
of papier mache.
 Yeah, I’m not fighting them. Maybe when she reached level sixty.
Or Tier Ten. Preferably both.
“All right,” she said turning away from the visual display. “Let’s
head to Bagdatha, in the Common Realm. Do you have the
coordinates or whatever?”
“Yes. But the system lacks the necessary Mana to launch.”
Oh, crap. She’d glanced over the status page and missed the fact
that teleporting across Realms cost 2,500 Mana. And the Sphinx
currently had 570 or so.
“I have about 1,200 Mana,” she said, before she realized she
couldn’t use it, not unless she wanted to take 1,200 to 12,000 points
of damage. Well, that would hurt, but maybe she could handle it. The
only thing was, she didn’t know if it would work at all.
“Can you use my Mana?”
“I can siphon it, yes, with your permission.”
“Okay, let’s start with 100 Mana and see what happens.”
A prompt appeared, asking her if she consented to have 100
Mana sucked out of her body (y/n). She ‘clicked’ on yet. At first, all
she felt was a coolness spreading through her body as she watched
her Mana bar dip by 100 points. A moment later, burning agony ran
through every vein in her body.

You have been drained of 100 Mana.

You have suffered Mana Backlash for 583 damage!

“Good news, it works. Bad news, I get backlash even though I’m
not using the Mana myself.”
“Should I continue?”
“Can you take Mana from the others?”
“The only siphon device available is inside the Rider’s
Station.”
The ground was shaking. Caitlin glanced at the sensor window
and saw more giants had joined the fray. A new figure about the
same size as the Chaos Lord was stepping forward. It wore no
armor; its skin was golden and it wielded a lightning bolt in each
hand. Like a real, live bolt. It threw one at the other giant, who deftly
blocked it with one of its bizarre weapons. A flight of Pegasi riders
engaged the Knights of Leviathan.
“Do another 100.”
The second backlash hurt even worse and drained her by 340
damage, well over half her total. Caitlin gritted her teeth and downed
one Master Healing Potion, which healed her for half her maximum
Health immediately and regenerated another half over 30 seconds.
“Again.”
That would have to do. Caitlin had the Overseer keep draining her
until she had to take a Master Mana Potion, by which time her Health
was almost to zero even with the extra healing. At that point she
used Quintessence to heal herself. 10 Qs got her back to full without
triggering the Mana backlash.
Finally some good news, she thought, although she was in so
much pain she couldn’t feel enthused about it, since it meant she
could keep zapping herself.
It took about a minute before she donated enough Mana for the
jump. She was sweating profusely and had bitten her lips until they
bled. The shocks hadn’t improved with repetition. Quite the contrary,
and even after stopping it felt like she had shot battery acid into her
veins.
“Activating Cross-Realm Jump,” she forced herself to say. And,
even though she spent no Mana to send the mental command, she
got shocked one more time, this time for 900 Health, which nearly
killed her.
The war of the gods had heated up during that minute. Another
giant Chaos creature had been driven back toward the city by a
humanoid that was maybe a third of its size but made up for it by
flying and hitting really hard with a one-handed hammer. And the
dude had bright red hair, a beard, and a Viking-style helmet, one
without horns, since only morons among the Vikings put them on
their helmets.
“Are you freaking kidding me?” Crunch said. “Is that Thor?”
I’m watching Thor fighting a kaiju. The sight was impressive
enough to distract her from the ongoing agony.
 The remnants of the city had already burned down once, but the
energy discharges from the battling monsters were enough to trigger
a new conflagration. Was there anything left to burn, or were their
flames so hot that they could ignite stone and metal? The works of
the ancient civilization were consumed before her eyes. Statues and
obelisks, many already broken, collapsed completely. Nothing beside
remains.
Then a dragon, twice as long as the Sphinx, came swooping down
and filled the area with white fire. The battling titans stood their
ground but several flying creatures were engulfed and fell, weaving
spiraling trails of smoke on their way down. A pyramid, already on
fire, took the full brunt of the breath attack and melted like a candle
under a welder’s torch. The Kemetites’ structures were supposed to
be nearly-indestructible. Not against dragon fire, apparently.
The dragon’s flight path took it over the sphinx graveyard. Another
fiery torrent, and nothing recognizable was left of them.
We truly are in the last one, Caitlin thought as the dragon spotted
their vessel and ponderously turned in mid-flight. It clearly wanted to
wipe them all out. Maybe a sphinx had bitten its tail as a child.
Please hurry.
“The Realm-Crossing process requires a fixed amount of
time. It cannot be rushed.”
Caitlin watched the dragon grow closer – and then vanish as well
as the rest of the hellish scene, replaced by a kaleidoscope of colors.
They were out.
 Eight: Her Ears Should Be Burning

“Thanks for meeting with me, Trig.”

“No biggie. It’s only a short walk to your office, Drag-3,” Arbiter
Triginta-Septem joked.
Neither Arbiter Quadraginta-Duo nor her had offices, or any
manner of physical presence, not unless they decided to spend
Quintessence to create one. They were both extremely busy and
anything that poached on their attention was an imposition. On the
other hand, Drag was overseeing a number of important events in
the Higher Realms. If he wanted to speak to her, it was probably
worth her time.
“This is about one of the subjects you are following,” Drag-3 said,
getting down to business. “One from the new batch of Eternals.”
“Color me shocked. Sixty thousand 21st-century gamers. Biggest
Eternal influx in history. Which one are we talking about? I have a
hundred and twenty subjects under surveillance.”
“Come on, Trig. Only one of them is breaking all the rules.”
“Oh. That one.”
News of the God Core holder hadn’t been widely disseminated.
Need to know was a factor but, more importantly, Arbiter Primus
didn’t want to give any ideas to the other Arbiters. Some of them
might give in to the temptation to unleash a pack of godlets under
their control. The rules against non-intervention had loopholes, and
they could be more easily exploited if you had a pet deity as an
agent.
Over the sixty centuries since the Realms had been created, a
handful of Eternals had gained God Cores, but usually after reaching
the highest levels on the Path to Power. Cultivation offered one path,
for those lucky and dedicated enough to develop a Celestial Body.
Killing a god in single combat had a small chance of leaving a Core
behind as loot. And there were a few Quests – nearly impossible,
multi-part Quests – that offered a Core as a reward. But never before
had an Arbiter arranged things to allow a first-level noob to gain
divine power right out of the gate. Once that secret came out, the
temptation to make more god-mortal hybrids might cause some
Arbiters to go astray.
“Yes, that one,” Drag-3 went on. “I received a basic brief from
Primus before being instructed to speak with you.”
“Last I checked, the wayward girl had destroyed a Tier 0 servant of
some minor Aramaic deity and was about to go on a trip aboard a
Stone Sphinx. All within the First Realm. I’d planned to check on her
in seventeen hours, First Realm time.”
“Well, the Sphinx transported her to Megalopolis.”
“And she survived? I’d think any of the cities there has the
resources to deal with her.”
“She happened to arrive at the site of a major Leviathan
incursion.”
“Oh.”
Within days of the Eternals’ appearance, the forces of Chaos –
and not just simple Chaos but the entropic version that sought to
destroy reality on behalf of its Beyonder masters – had ramped up
their activities. Leviathan’s Legion, the Court of Thorns, the Stygian
Troggs and a few other factions were acting out. As if the Eternals
had spurred them on. Was it because the new arrivals were meant to
hinder the Chaos cult – or to help them? Trig didn’t know.
“How bad was the incursion?”
“The Egyptian Metropolis is gone. Blasted down to the bedrock by
all the gods with holdings in Megalopolis. Including the Pantheon of
Ra. After their city fell, they had no choice but to sterilize the area.”
“And the girl survived that?”
“She escaped in the nick of time, after destroying a Tier 1, Level
35 Undead Knight of Leviathan.”
“I guess I should be surprised, but I’m not.”
“Why aren’t you?”
“Didn’t Primus tell you?”
“No, but it seems to me that the System is helping her out. Is that
it?”
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
The Project Gutenberg eBook of Robert Merry's
Museum, Volumes I and II (1841)
 This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United
States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away
or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License
included with this ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you
are not located in the United States, you will have to check the
laws of the country where you are located before using this
eBook.

Title: Robert Merry's Museum, Volumes I and II (1841)

Author: Various

Editor: Samuel G. Goodrich

Release date: October 11, 2023 [eBook #71854]

Language: English

Original publication: Boston: Bradbury & Soden, 1842

Credits: Carol Brown, Linda Cantoni, Jude Eyelander, Katherine

Ward, Anne Celnick, and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book
was produced from scanned images of public domain
material from the Google Books project.)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROBERT

MERRY'S MUSEUM, VOLUMES I AND II (1841) ***
 ROBERT MERRY’S

MUSEUM:
VOLUMES I. II.

Boston:
PUBLISHED BY BRADBURY & SODEN,
10, SCHOOL STREET.
1842.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1841, by S. G.

Goodrich, in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of Massachusetts.
 INDEX
TO THE

FIRST VOLUME.

FROM FEBRUARY TO JULY 1841, INCLUSIVE.

Address to the Reader, page 1

About Labor and Property, 3
Anecdote, 102
Absence of Mind, 126
Antiquities of Egypt, 149
A Drunkard’s Home, 152
Architecture of Birds, 158
A Philosophical Tea-pot 171
Astonishing Powers of the Horse 172
A Good Reply, 187
Chinese Spectacles, 18
Contentment, 50
Curious way of Keeping Accounts, 189
Death of the President, 127
Fanny Gossip and Susan Lazy; a Dialogue, 145
Hogg’s Father, 102
Hunting Wild Animals in Africa, 111
Hymn, 159
Importance of Attention; a Dialogue 174
Instinct, 190
John Steady and Peter Sly, a Dialogue 38
My First Whistle, 4
My own Life and Adventures; by Robert
Merry, 9, 33, 65, 129, 161
Music—Jack Frost, a Song, 32
Madagascar, 168
Napoleon’s last Obsequies 51
Night, 101
Owls and Eagles, 5
Origin of ‘The House that Jack Built,’ 7
Origin of Words and Phrases, 35
Our Ancestry, 53
Plain Dealing, 26
Peach Seeds, 37
Professions and Trades, 94
Peter Pilgrim’s account of his Schoolmates,
No. 1, 107
Pet Oysters, 187
Poetry and Music, 192
Queen Elizabeth of England, 103
Swallows, 15
Story of Philip Brusque 19, 47, 73, 97
Spring is Coming; a Song, 64
Sketches of the Manners, Customs, and
History of the Indians of America, 116, 140, 141, 181
Something Wonderful, 141
The Sociable Weavers, 2
The Human Frame likened to a House 18
The Sailor’s Family, 21
The Groom and the Horse, 23
The Druids, 24
The Re-entombment of Napoleon 27
The Pelican, 36
The Three Friends, 41
The Fox and the Tortoise, 43
The Travels, Adventures and Experiences
of Thomas Trotter, 44, 81, 120, 138
The Month of March, 60
The Child and the Violets, 62
The Great Northern Diver, or Loon 71
The Spectre of the Brocken 79
Trifles, 80
The New Custom House, Boston, 86
The New Patent Office, Washington 89
The River; a Song, 96
The Sun, 101
The Kingfisher and the Nightingale 125
The April Shower,—a Song, 128
The Artist’s Cruise, 133
The Boastful Ass, 157
Travelling Beehives, 158
The Secret, 158
The Logue Family, 159
The Humming Birds, 167
The Moon, 173
The Horse and the Bells, 178
The Crane Family, 179
The Shetland Pony, 188
Varieties, 30, 62, 127, 190
What is Truth? 28
What sort of Heart have you got? 90
What is Poetry? 95
ROBERT MERRY’S MUSEUM.
 Address to the Reader.

Kind and gentle people who make up what is called the Public—
permit a stranger to tell you a brief story. I am about trying my hand
at a Magazine; and this is my first number. I present it to you with all
due humility—asking, however, one favor. Take this little pamphlet to
your home, and when nothing better claims your attention, pray look
over its pages. If you like it, allow me the privilege of coming to you
once a month, with a basket of such fruits and flowers as an old
fellow may gather while limping up and down the highways and by-
ways of life.
I will not claim a place for my numbers upon the marble table of
the parlor, by the side of songs and souvenirs, gaudy with steel
engravings and gilt edges. These bring to you the rich and rare
fruitage of the hot-house, while my pages will serve out only the
simple, but I trust wholesome productions of the meadow, field, and
common of Nature and Truth. The fact is, I am more particular about
my company than my accommodations. I like the society of the
young—the girls and the boys; and whether in the parlor, the library,
or the school-room, I care not, if so be they will favor me with their
society. I do not, indeed, eschew the favor of those who are of
mature age—I shall always have a few pages for them, if they will
deign to look at my book. It is my plan to insert something in every
number that will bear perusal through spectacles.
But it is useless to multiply words: therefore, without further
parley, I offer this as a specimen of my work, promising to improve
as I gain practice. I have a variety of matters and things on hand,
anecdotes, adventures, tales, travels, rhymes, riddles, songs, &c.—
some glad and some sad, some to make you laugh and some to
make you weep. My only trouble is to select among such variety. But
grant me your favor, kind Public! and these shall be arranged and
served out in due season. May I specially call upon two classes of
persons to give me their countenance and support—I mean all those
young people who have black eyes, and all those who have not
black eyes! If these, with their parents, will aid me, they shall have
the thanks and best services of
ROBERT MERRY.
A Tree with Nests of Sociable Weavers upon it.
 The Sociable Weavers.

Men find it convenient to devote themselves to different trades.

One spends his time in one trade, and another in another. So we find
the various kinds of birds brought up and occupied in different
trades. The woodpecker is a carpenter, the hawk a sportsman, the
heron a fisherman, &c. But in these cases we remark, that the birds
do not have to serve an apprenticeship. It takes a boy seven years to
learn to be a carpenter; but a young woodpecker, as soon as he can
fly, goes to his work without a single lesson, and yet understanding it
perfectly.
This is very wonderful; but God teaches the birds their lessons,
and his teaching is perfect. Perhaps the most curious mechanics
among the birds, are the Sociable Weavers, found in the southern
part of Africa. Hundreds of these birds, in one community, join to
form a structure of interwoven grass, (the sort chosen being what is
called Boshman’s grass,) containing various apartments, all covered
by a sloping roof, impenetrable to the heaviest rain, and increased
year by year, as the increase in numbers of the community may
require.
“I observed,” says a traveller in South Africa, “a tree with an
enormous nest of these birds, to which I have given the appellation
of Republicans; and, as soon as I arrived at my camp, I despatched
a few men with a wagon to bring it to me, that I might open the hive
and examine the structure in its minutest parts. When it arrived, I cut
it to pieces with a hatchet, and saw that the chief portion of the
structure consisted of a mass of Boshman’s grass, without any
mixture, but so compact and firmly basketed together as to be
impenetrable to the rain. This is the commencement of the structure;
and each bird builds its particular nest under this canopy, the upper
surface remaining void, without, however, being useless; for, as it
has a projecting rim and is a little inclined, it serves to let the water
run off, and preserves each little dwelling from the rain.
“The largest nest that I examined was one of the most
considerable I had anywhere seen in the course of my journey, and
contained three hundred and twenty inhabited cells, which,
supposing a male and female to each, would form a society of six
hundred and forty individuals. Such a calculation, however, would
not be exact. It appears, that in every flock the females are more
numerous by far than the males; many cells, therefore, would
contain only a single bird. Still, the aggregate would be considerable;
and, when undisturbed, they might go on to increase, the structure
increasing in a like ratio, till a storm, sweeping through the wood, laid
the tree, and the edifice it sustained, in one common ruin.”
 About Labor and Property.

All the things we see around us belong to somebody; and these

things have been got by labor or working. It has been by labor, that
every article has been procured. If nobody had ever done any labor,
there would have been no houses, no cultivated fields, no bread to
eat, no clothes to wear, no books to read, and the whole world would
have been in a poor and wild state, not fit for human beings to live
happily in.
Men possess all things in consequence of some person having
wrought for these things. Some men are rich, and have many things,
although they never wrought much for them; but the ancestors, or
fathers and grandfathers, of these men, wrought hard for the things,
and have left them to their children. But all young persons must not
think that they will get things given to them in this way; all, except a
few, must work diligently when they grow up, to get things for
themselves.
After any one has wrought to make a thing, or after he has a thing
given to him, that thing is his own, and no person must take it from
him. If a boy get a piece of clay, and make the clay into a small ball
or marble to play with, then he has labored or wrought for it, and no
other boy has any right to take it from him. The marble is the
property of the boy who made it. Some boys are fond of keeping
rabbits. If a boy have a pair of these animals, they are his property;
and if he gather food for them, and take care of them till they have
young ones, then the young rabbits are his property also. He would
not like to find, that some bad boy wished to take his rabbits from
him! He would say to the bad boy, “I claim these rabbits as my
property; they are mine. You never wrought for them; they are not
yours.” And if the bad boy still would take the rabbits, then the owner
would go to a magistrate, and tell him of the bad boy’s conduct, and
the bad boy would be punished. All things are the property of some
persons, and these persons claim their property in the same way
that the boy claims the marble that he has made, or the rabbits that
he has reared. It is very just and proper that every person should be
allowed to keep his own property; because, when a poor man knows
that he can get property by working for it, and that no one dares to
take it from him, then he will work to have things for his own use. If
he knew that things would be taken from him, then he would not
work much, and perhaps not at all. He would spend many of his days
in idleness, and live very poorly.
When one person wishes to have a thing which belongs to
another, he must ask permission to take it, or he must offer to buy it;
he must never, on any account, take the thing secretly, or by
violence, or by fraud; for that would be stealing, and he would be a
thief. God has said, “Thou shalt not steal;” and every one should
keep his hands from picking and stealing. Some boys think, that,
because they find things that are lost, they may keep these things to
themselves. But the thing that is found is the property of the loser,
and should be immediately restored to him without reward; it is just
as bad as stealing to keep it, if you can find the owner.
 My First Whistle.

Of all the toys I e’er have known,

I loved that whistle best;
It was my first, it was my own,
And I was doubly blest.

’Twas Saturday, and afternoon,

That school-boys’ jubilee,
When the young heart is all in tune,
From book and ferule free.

I then was in my seventh year;

The birds were all a singing;
Above a brook, that rippled clear,
A willow tree was swinging.

My brother Ben was very ’cute,

He climbed that willow tree,
He cut a branch, and I was mute,
The while, with ecstasy.

With penknife he did cut it round,

And gave the bark a wring;
He shaped the mouth and tried the sound,—
It was a glorious thing!

I blew that whistle, full of joy—

It echoed o’er the ground;
And never, since that simple toy,
Such music have I found.

I’ve seen blue eyes and tasted wines—

 With manly toys been blest,
But backward memory still inclines
To love that whistle best.