THE WHEEL AND THE GREAT TOMB OF NAZARICK
A FAN FICTION BY BUF_BUODA
CHAPTER 7
AN: Hello everyone! Sorry for the late upload - work has been hectic. For my readers in quarantine, stay safe. For those like me whose jobs involve medical work, stay safe too, and God bless.
I'm not going to lie, I've had a bad case of... let's call it plot uncertainty. I know-ish where the plot should go, but have been having some difficulty writing it - when I have the time or energy to.
For the commenter who was bothered about the appearance of somewhat supernatural beings in the story, we ARE in a story that has the Dark One, the Creator, the god of justice, etc. Getting bothered about others is kinda... strange.
Thanks to everyone who played a role in betaing or proofing in one form or another, and thanks to all the readers who have any interest in the story so far. You guys rock!
For the readers who might be interested in betaing this fic, or generating ideas, please PM me. I'm over at atheistbasementdragon's discord.
Carne Village, Aftermath...
The fields that surrounded Carne had become a killing ground. The goblins carted the bodies away into mass graves for disposal in the forest, yet the stink of death was pervasive. Rand's stomach hurt. He'd emptied it time and time again as he watched the maid in glasses 'work'. She had introduced herself later as Yuri Alpha, a combat maid of 'the Great Tomb of Nazarick.
'How fitting that they call their organization a great tomb,' thought Rand as he stood listlessly, watching Yuri converse with Moiraine. Once, he might have derived some pleasure from watching Moiraine not perfectly balanced, but not this time.
"Once we are ready, you and your party will accompany me, Moiraine-san," said the maid loud enough this time for Rand to hear where he was slouched.
"You mean we will accompany you to this Nazarick?" said Moiraine, with some of her usual ice composure.
The maid adjusted her glasses, somehow giving the impression of being mildly irritated.
"Of course not," she replied. "We will not allow mere humans to enter the Great Tomb without the express invitation of the Supreme Being." Glancing at Loial, she seemed to think for a moment before adding, "But if your companion, Loial-san wishes, he could petition to swear fealty to the Supreme One, and become a member of the Great Tomb of Nazarick. There is precedence for it, though I imagine others will not take it too well. Or they might, who knows?"
She suddenly frowned to herself.
"I am unusually chatty," she said squinting at Moiraine. "I do not know what you are doing, but now I feel it, it will not work again."
'What Moiraine is doing?' thought Rand.
His thoughts were interrupted by the moan coming from the figure still tied to the flagpole above the gate.
"Lupu," Yuri began, "bring her down."
"Yuri nee-san, if we leave her there, we won't have to worry about her wandering off," replied the other maid, Lupusregina Beta.
Rand was uneasy around Yuri, but he was downright terrified of the redhead maid. She had torn into the now dead men with a glee that had seemed almost sexual. He soon discovered that it actually was. Her rampage was frightening beyond belief, yet he could not take his eyes off of it. She was a blur as she killed – ripping off arms and beating the owners to death with it, tearing off heads and throwing them through other poor unfortunates. The only times she was visible was when she stopped, back arched and lips parted in a smile, blood dripping from her perfectly manicured fingers, yet somehow not staining her spotless maid uniform, and clearly experiencing an orgasm. It happened twice, and that was the most terrifying of all.
She was a whirlwind that reeked of death and pain.
He reflexively gripped the hilt of his sword so hard that his knuckles turned white as she began walking towards them. She'd been teasing Enri. His estimation of the blonde as a peaceful girl had gone out of the window. There was absolutely no way she could be friends with that thing otherwise.
Thinking about that brought to mind one other thing he did not want to think about – the reaction of his friend Perrin to the redheaded maid from Nazarick.
The thoughts that had bubbled up in Perrin as he watched the redhead maid were the most frightening thing he had ever experienced since he started hearing the wolves in his head. He was drawn inexplicably to her in ways he did not understand.
He had tried to calm himself down. Because of his size, he'd learned how to rely more on his head that his fists, and by extension, his impulses. Yet all the control he had built up was failing him.
He kept one ear on the conversation between the Aes Sedai and the maid that had introduced herself as Yuri Alpha. Initially, the maid had shocked him. She smelled alive in a way that was hard to describe. He could have wagered anything that if he tried to touch her, he would actually touch a tangible aura of energy that suffused and surrounded her.
Now that he could identify it, he noticed he could smell the same thing from Lupusregina – but he quickly took his mind off her. He had enough problems with his impulses around her without complicating things by thinking about her smell.
But as she came closer, he discovered the second, more terrifying thing about her – she smelled dead. It was like a corpse that was well taken care off was walking around. He did not know what to make of the dichotomy of the excess energy, and the corpse smell.
To say that the things the maids did troubled him would be an understatement of epic proportions. They had massacred an entire army right outside Carne, and they did it in less time than he could imagine – than should even be physically possible.
'Such speed,' thought Perrin. 'There was absolutely no way those men would have survived. Yet just 2 of them did that...'
He realized that his thoughts were wandering again, trying to escape the conundrum that was the redhead maid.
In summary, he could not get away from the feeling that she was a wolf of some sort. Not a man and wolf like Elyas, but a wolf and something else.
'Maybe it would be more accurate to call her a different kind of wolf?' thought Perrin, consciously keeping his eyes from going back to her.
He had to fight the irresistible urge to see her as his matriarch.
Nynaeve had been angry when the initial plans the Aes Sedai had for the defense of the village excluded her – although her anger contended with her relief at the boys not being exposed to danger. After all, they would be killing men this time – not trollocs.
Lan fought well. The first men to rush the gates died. He was beautiful to her, even when taking lives. The goblins had rallied around him, killing off men that he incapacitated, and pilling their bodies as obstacles for the other men coming at them. The enemy caught on quickly though, and soon pulled back the foot soldiers to make way for a cavalry charge at the gate.
Moiraine stepped up and brought up the wall of flames like she did when they were fleeing Baerlon. Horses balked at the flames, throwing their riders into it. In short order, the charge was in shambles. She brought down the wall immediately, no doubt conserving her stamina for the long fight ahead.
Honestly, Nynaeve did not see any way they could win.
Her feelings were confirmed when flying monsters appeared and suddenly rushed the gate. Fear coiled around her heart for Lan – she could not let him go, no matter what nonsense he said about duty and the like. A few frantic moments of fighting, and he was still alive, but all the goblins that held the gate with him died. After the first wave of the creatures were destroyed, she realized that one goblin survived – the one called Jugem.
She felt relief, but it was short lived. In short order, more of the flying monsters appeared, rushing at the gate.
'Where are they coming from?' she thought, despair filling her heart. If the first wave had wiped out the goblins, this second one would be solely focused on the Aes Sedai and her Lan.
She could not look at Lan – to her shame. Turning her head away, her eyes fell on the Aes Sedai just behind and to the side of Lan. She gripped her angrael with one hand, and lifted the other, concentration etched on her face. A hair-thin bar of liquid light flashed from her fingers, impacting the flying creatures. She swept it up and to the side, lancing them all with it. The creatures disappeared, vanishing into motes of light that left an after image in Nynaeve's vision.
'What was that?!' thought Nynaeve, shocked to her core. The Aes Sedai slumped, and seemed to be leaning heavily on her staff, totally out of breath. Nynaeve rushed to her to tend her and got her first good look at the army arrayed in front of them.
"We can't win," a treacherous whisper escaped her lips. Moiraine did not contradict her. She simply leaned on her and her staff, struggling to catch her breath
"The Wheel weaves as the Wheel wills," whispered the Aes Sedai after a pause, more to herself than in response to Nynaeve.
Then came the sound of a horn blown, deep and long. Almost immediately, the sound of marching feet followed the horn. Hope flared in Nynaeve's heart.
'The soldiers of this Ainz Wool Gown,' she thought happily.
Fear came bubbling to the surface again. Glancing at the woman, she blurted out the question that accompanied the fear.
"What if they are reinforcements for this army?" she asked.
Moiraine smiled. She also seemed to have come to the conclusion that the marching soldiers were reinforcements of Ainz Wool Gown.
"Look at the army before us," she replied, straightening and glancing at Nynaeve with a look of appreciation. "They are also confused. If the horns were their reinforcements, they would not look so," concluded Moiraine.
Nynaeve looked at the soldiers in front of them. Standing beside Moiraine, she had a better view of the battlefield that the field in front of the village gate had become. She saw the soldiers turn to face the new threat, and saw some strangely dressed soldiers ride towards the sound, flying monsters appearing over their heads as they lifted their hands as though praying.
The two armies clashed outside Nynaeve's field of vision, but what happened next was well within it.
A redhead woman dressed in a scandalous maid outfit hopped down from the top of the wall, winked at the group of 4, before disappearing completely.
Moiraine looked absolutely stupefied, so much that Lan had to physically touch her to get her attention. He and Jugem had stepped back a little to be within talking distance. Jugem put his sword away and sat down.
"Are there soldiers not still out there?" asked Nynaeve. "Are you hoping to surrender?" she spat. Lan glanced at her. Just a glance, but she could feel his extreme displeasure like a physical slap. She blushed and looked away.
Jugem didn't seem to mind.
"Oh no, Nynaeve-san. It's just that Lupu-sama has decided to get involved. They are all going to die."
"Lupu-sama? Who's..."
"How did she disappear?" asked Moiraine, interrupting Nynaeve.
Until Moiraine asked that question, Nynaeve had assumed that the redhead used the power.
'But if Moiraine is asking...' shock kept Nynaeve silent.
Jugem didn't seem surprised by the question at all.
"We don't know, Moiraine-san. She just disappears and appears at will. She uses it to prank Enri nee-sama a lot."
Turning to Nynaeve, he continued,
"Lupu-sama is a 'combat Pleiades maid' of Ainz-sama. According to her, they are one of the lower ranked combat enupeeshees of Ainz-sama."
"Lower ranked? So how are 'they' all going to die?" That was the first thing Lan had said so far.
Jugem laughed.
"She's low ranked only to other servants of Ainz-sama. To us, she might as well be a demigod!"
At such a bold declaration, Nynaeve could only stare with her jaw on her chest.
The woman just disappeared.
Of all the things Moiraine had seen her do, this one was the most disconcerting, mostly because she felt a whisper of something, like the memory of Saidar being used.
'Is this it how it felt to her when I held the power?' wondered Moiraine.
'Yet how did she catch such a fleeting feeling? If I had not seen her disappear, I would not have known to feel for anything at all,' thought Moiraine.
She listened to Jugem's confident declaration of the maid's strength, and it just confirmed her own conclusions. When the goblin had declared that Lupusregina would massacre the army in front of them, she initially thought it was an exaggeration. The goblin was dead serious though.
Giving Lan a look, he nodded imperceptibly and asked the question on her mind.
"Lower ranked? So how are 'they' all going to die?"
The answer Jugem gave chilled her to her core.
'A demigod' thought Moiraine.
She did not know exactly what that meant, but if her intuition was correct, it was really bad news.
Sure enough, shortly after that, Lupusregina reappeared, a lightly armoured woman slumped over her shoulder. She dumped her unceremoniously at their feet.
"Jugem, I need some rope," she said, as she bent and ripped the armour off the woman. The goblin ran towards the house of Enri, no doubt headed towards the shed there. In short order, the woman was naked.
The maid slapped her across the face.
The slap jolted the woman awake, and Moiraine imagined how it would look from her perspective to see the maid filling her vision. Sure enough, she reacted the way any reasonable person would – 'or at least anyone who'd contended with her even once,' thought Moiraine bitterly, remembering her own humiliation at the hands of the maid. The hands of the captive went to her side, grasping for where her weapon would be. She seemed to realize that she was naked though. She flinched initially, and Moiraine saw the effort she made not to contract on herself to cover whatever modesty she had.
The maid smiled even wider.
"Heya!" she said in a voice that was too cheerful for the circumstance.
The captive flinched from her eyes this time, unable to arrest the motion on time.
"You are lucky," the maid continued. "When you and your rude friends decided to attack a village that Ainz-sama himself had chosen to protect, you should have all been captured and given to Demiurge-dono. Fortunately, you caught my interest, and your other rude friends were shown Nazarick's mercy."
"Mercy?" spat the captive. "You destroyed my men without any mercy, you monster!"
The maid just smiled wider.
"Oh dear, you seem to have a misunderstanding. In Nazarick, a quick death is a mercy."
To Moiraine, that smiling face was terrifying, as though the maid was truly enjoying all she did.
"You however," drawled the maid, caressing the ear of the captive and running a hand down the side of her face and on to her neck. "You'll be my tribute to Ainz-sama. After all, Ainz-sama did say we should make our own decisions and try and grow. Be proud – I chose to keep you because I hope you could be of some small use to Nazarick, properly trained."
As Jugem jogged back towards them, coils of rope in his hands, she stood with a nod to Lan, and turned as though to head back out. The captive woman exploded into motion as soon as the maid's back was turned, rushing at her so fast that Moiraine could barely process the speed. As fast as she was, Moiraine knew that the maid was faster.
She was right.
In a blur of motion, the maid had the woman in a hold with her arms behind her. The motion pushed her breasts out in a display that might have been erotic in another setting. There was no feeling of bloodlust from the maid – just amusement as she held the woman till Jugem arrived. She hit the woman in the back of the head, and her eyes rolled up in her head as she collapsed.
"Be glad I'm not in a nasty mood. I will not kill you – worry not. I would not want to damage my contribution to Nazarick after all." said the maid almost fondly.
All the commotion had brought Loial and the rest of the Emond fielders. The boys gaped at the naked woman – Perrin actually blushing bright red before turning away uncomfortably.
The maid paid them no mind, and jumped to the top of the gate with the woman and the coils of rope Jugem brought under her arm. She tied the woman to the flag pole – wrists above and behind her, feet together and to the pole.
"Won't you cover her up?!" spluttered Nynaeve, scandalized beyond her fear at seeing a woman treated so roughly.
"Hmm? Why would I do that?" asked the maid, genuine curiosity on her face.
Moiraine touched Nynaeve's arm to be silent. Gathering her thoughts, she answered the maid.
"For women, being seen by so many men might reduce their value. Isn't she a 'gift' for Ainz-sama?"
The maid smiled in delight.
"You're learning..." she crooned. "I'm happy you were thinking about how to please Ainz-sama." She reached out and took the flag that once flew on the flagpole, wrapping it around the woman casually.
Turning to the battlefield, and still balanced impossibly on the gate, she raised her hands and clapped.
It felt like her ears would explode.
The clap from the redhead maid was deafening. It actually forced air away from her in a shockwave with the maid as the centre.
"Everyone stop!" she said, her voice carrying without strain.
Egwene heard the sounds of battle that surrounded them fall away as a silence that was almost otherworldly fell on the battlefield.
Space warped beside the redhead maid as an oval tear in reality began to open, and then widen.
She heard Moiraine gasp out a word that meant nothing to her – "Travelling". Instead, the person that stepped out of the hole occupied all her attention.
She was also dressed like a maid, but in contrast to the redhead, she gave off the air of a serious, responsible elder sister. She made Egwene feel like an ugly cow. She adjusted spectacles that looked like clear, thin, and exquisitely cut crystal set in wire frames that was balanced on her beautiful nose. She didn't spare them a glance, instead looking at the redhead and speaking to her in a low voice that did not carry to those at the foot of the wall. From the pout on the face of the redhead, the newcomer was scolding her. A few more words, and the redhead jumped down from the wall and onto the battlefield.
Then the screams started.
The raw terror in the voices of the soldiers threatened to infect Egwene as well. The new maid also stepped off, but in a more leisurely manner.
For a moment, there was no sound besides the screams, and then Lan rushed outside the gates to see what was going on. Curiosity overcame Egwene, and she rushed after him. Apparently, the rest of the Emond fielders had the same idea. They stopped at the scene from the pits of the Dark One's mind.
The redhead was laying into the soldiers with great gusto, moving so fast she could not be seen. The results of her work were very visible though. Broken bodies littered the ground. Men with limbs, and heads ripped right off. Once, she stopped with her back arched, and mouth slightly open in an extremely lewd look. It took Egwene a moment to realize that the redhead had experienced an orgasm.
Horror roiled her stomach, and she hastily averted her eyes. Beside her, she heard Nynaeve emptying her stomach, sobs wrenched out of her between heaves.
She saw the newcomer maid in the wake of the redhead calmly dispatching those who hadn't been killed outright by the red whirlwind of death.
The poor soldiers broke, running into the blades of the strange army surrounding them, preferring that death to falling to the 2 avatars of utter destruction.
Some horsemen rallied and charged the gate in desperation, hoping no doubt to take them captive. The newcomer moved – one moment she was in one place and in front of the gate the next. A wave of blood lust poured off her so intensely Egwene was sure she could touch it if she stretched out her hand. She actually saw a few horses collapse as though their strings were cut, snapping the legs of their riders who were paralyzed with fear.
"Do you fools think I would allow you touch this village that the Supreme One has taken interest in to protect?"
The charge faltered, but picked up again, the terror fueled screams around spurring them on.
The maid punched the ground.
A shock wave threw them all to the ground – even Lan. Scrambling to her feet, she saw a horrible scene, as though the men had run into a meat grinder. The first 2 or 3 ranks of horses and men had exploded, chunks of meat flying everywhere, and a fine reddish mist filling the air. The horses behind those were maimed, legs simply torn off.
This time, Egwene could not keep her stomach where it was supposed to be.
Loial was terrified of the 2 women – maids, they called themselves. He honestly did not care who knew. He mocked himself for his originally hasty happiness at this new world because of the trees.
'What a fool I was!' thought the ogier. 'Elder Haman was right – I am fatally hasty. I should never have left the Stedding,' mourned the ogier internally.
The Aes Sedai and her Warder were arguing a little way off after the 'conversation' the maid Yuri had with the Aes Sedai. It was not gracious to think it, but that was exactly what they were doing – arguing. He could see the tremendous unhappiness on the face of the Warder as his Aes Sedai no doubt pulled rank on him, effectively forcing his hand. The hard man eventually bowed – the perfect image of propriety as he acquiesced to the diminutive woman. The woman sighed, and curtseyed in response, shocking the man. She smiled a little smile at his discomfort.
Loial wanted to take comfort at the teasing between the 2 most powerful people in their group, but he had no illusions that their power meant anything – at least to the 2 monsters from this 'great tomb of Nazarick'. The part of the conversation that had been about him troubled him immensely.
The maid had essentially extended an invitation to him to join them. He did not know whether to be terrified, or grateful that they didn't see him like the others, as uncomfortable as that made him feel.
"Loial," called the Aes Sedai.
His ears picked up as he turned to her.
"Yes, Moiraine Sedai," he replied.
"Come," said the Aes Sedai, suiting her words and walking to where the Emond fielders were slumped despondently.
Loial followed her, taking great care not to look at the woman who was still bound above the gate.
As they arrived, the Aes Sedai raised her hands to forestall any questions. She had seen – as had he – the chest of Nynaeve heave as she took a deep breath in preparation for whatever questions she had in mind.
"We will be going to see this Ainz person," she said.
She sighed and her face became like ice.
"We do not have any options," she said. "He has asked for us directly. Even If he had not, I would have petitioned him. Now listen, I do not want any fooling around. You must be absolutely silent where we are going, unless you are asked to speak. You need..."
"Why are you treating us like particularly stupid children?" interrupted Nynaeve, her temper flaring. "Every time 'Be silent,' 'Don't speak'. We are not children for you to order around."
The Aes Sedai took a breath to answer, but it was Lan that replied instead.
"That is because you are particularly stupid children, Wisdom," he said, anger lacing his voice and mangling it to almost a growl.
He spun and pointed at the redhead maid, Lupusregina.
"You see her," he said. The maid seemed to sense their attention – she turned and blew a kiss at him. "She can kill everyone in your village 2 times over without soiling her clothes."
Turning back to the Wisdom, his face got even harder.
"You were heaving your guts on the ground, so you did not see what she did. She tore off men's limbs and beat them to death with it. Do you want to piss that off?"
Gesturing to the other maid, Yuri, he continued.
"She called us mere humans. Whatever she is, she isn't human. I don't expect that Lupusregina is either. The way they spoke, they gave us absolutely no choice about going to see Ainz Ooal Gown. They absolutely revere him."
Moiraine put a hand on his arm, stopping the flow of words from the man.
"Wisdom," she said, facing Nynaeve. "Do you know why the two of them were the ones sent to fetch us to meet Ainz Ooal Gown?"
The Wisdom spluttered, unable to answer.
"I'll tell you," said the Aes Sedai. "They are the combat maids with the best attitude towards humans."
Watching the party and gauging their reaction to her words, she continued.
"In that tomb, there are creatures that hate us. From what Yuri said, there are creatures that would feed on humans if not for Ainz Ooal Gown."
Loial took a moment to process what he just heard.
'They're monsters. That tomb is a place of monsters,' he thought.
"If that tomb is really like that," said Perrin, stumbling over the word 'tomb', "why should we go there? Why would we trust Him?"
"Because if we got here, and can get back to where we came from..."
"Then the dark one can too," finished Rand, fear openly on his face.
The Aes Sedai nodded and continued,
"Can you imagine beings as strong as Lupusregina and Yuri on the side of the dark one? The Dark One would win in weeks."
Loial tried to imagine it. His mind was not large enough to hold the horror.
Intermission – Location: Underground.
In a closed cavern, the play of light disguised the warping of a wall as reality seemed to twist and scream. Colours ran, and a damp, musty smell wafted from the wall, spreading outwards from the wall. An ominous droning filled the cavern, warped even further by the acoustics.
From the wall, dozens of small, balloon-like creatures skittered out, gathering, biding their time.
In a short while, they were already over a hundred, filling the cavern. The wall shimmered one last time, and the flow of the disgusting things stopped. A deep chuckle reverberated throughout the cavern as the earth stirred, shifting in response to an earthquake thousands of miles away.
To anyone, the shaking was imperceptible, but that was all the excuse the source of the laughter needed. A little nudge here, a little push there, and something fell over somewhere, the noise deafening in the silence. The bulbous abominations writhed in agitation, spreading out and exploring the cavern – no longer gathered in the dark corner.
They were barely sentient. Separated as they were from their collective, they had no drives except the insatiable hunger that drove them onward in search of the food they had been denied for millennia.