by Dawn Chapman
Before I could get back to the healer’s small house, the woman herself appeared, coming out of the front door down the road. She saw me and waved.
“Come in, my dear, and tell me about your adventures today. I already heard the guild accepted you. I knew they would.” Desiree smiled as she spoke and led me into her house.
Over dinner we talked of everything that had happened, although I left out all the information about me being a player. I told her someone had agreed to help me find my sisters, and then I stopped, not sure how to ask her to explain her words earlier. She’d made it sound like she might know something, but she’d not said what.
“I asked around about your sisters today. Asked if anyone had heard of any other young powerful mages. They said there were rumours of one down by Limolan town but no one else had heard of anything. Some of them will get back to me, but I think the guild will be the most help, especially if your new friend works in the members’ records office.”
I nodded, trying to hide my disappointment at how little she’d uncovered. I was facing the possibility that I was going to have to find my sisters the hard way, travelling around this whole game until I heard of them or met someone who had. And if I was to do that, I needed to learn as much as I could.
Hopefully my mum could fix the glitches, and I could really start skilling up my avatar. I was going to need it. With that in mind, I focused back on Desiree.
“My team lacked a healer today, and could have done with one. Will you teach me what you know while I’m here? I get a small wage from the guild. I can pay you for teaching me,” I said, hoping she’d agree.
“Oh, of course, my dear, and you don’t need to pay me for that. A good apprentice more than pays for themselves. I’ve had to help a lot of people lately. There’s been a lot of activity in these parts. Trouble with some of the large ranch farms and with the Tromoal down south. More people to help than I can manage. If you’re not too tired, you can help me now. I need to make some more brew.”
Desiree got up from the table, taking our empty bowls with her, and beckoned me back to her plant room. The neat rows looked taller and greener than they had been last time I was in there.
“Ah, yes, see? I told you your magic would do them some good. You’ve definitely got an affinity for natural magic, my dear. And since you helped them grow, I’ll teach you about them and let you grow a few of your own from seedlings. You can have any potions and brews you make yourself from your own plants.”
Once again, I thanked her, surprised at how charitable she was being. I’d fallen into her life in a spectacular way, and here she was, doing everything she could to teach me what I needed to know. It gave me back some of the confidence I’d lost throughout the day. I just needed to keep going, and I’d soon find my sisters.
For the next hour Desiree ran through the names, properties and ways to prepare each plant, some of them needing to be combined and others forming potions of their own. Each had a role to play, and it was evident as she listed where each came from that she’d taken a long time to put together such an extensive garden.
The hour after that was spent in the kitchen, mushing leaves and mixing liquids to make three different solutions. One acted as a sort of antidote to most common poisons, slowing them down and allowing the body time to purge itself, and curing a couple of the mildest ones completely. The second would help wounds heal quickly and fade, and the third acted as a sort of ward against evil, keeping the person who’d consumed it safe from harm.
It was fascinating, but I was exhausted by the time we were done and unable to keep from yawning.
“Bed. No doubt you’ll have a big day tomorrow, as well. Life at the guild is never dull. Here’s one of each potion. I’m sure you’ll find a good use for them while up to guild business.”
I nodded, thanking Desiree for a third time that evening. Who knew what the next day would bring, but for now, rest. The slowly pulsing black smudge in the bottom of my vision wouldn’t allow for anything else.
“No one’s heard anything but there’s still a few more people to ask,” Aimer said as soon as I saw him the next morning. I frowned. I’d hoped for better news. “I did find something else you might be interested in, though.”
Aimer grinned and pulled a piece of parchment out of a pocket.
“It’s a gemstone.” He pointed at the picture on the paper, his grin going even wider. “A while back, a powerful nature mage imbued it with some of his power. Nothing much, just some bonuses. It would boost your powers.”
“Cool,” I replied, taking the information. It detailed a lake that the mage had stored it in, along with some other items, and gave more information about the mage. In different handwriting, there were notes on where the mage lived, a scrawled map, and some notes on possible threats along the way.
“Want to go get it?” he asked, grinning.
“What, now?” I raised my eyebrows. He nodded.
“Yeah. Terris already said he’d be happy to come, and he went to ask the others. After all, we made a good team, and this isn’t very far away. One of the other guild members said we could get there in less than a day, grab it and come back the day after.”
I only hesitated for a second before nodding. Since we had no word of my sisters, the next best thing would be to grow more powerful. If I could test myself travelling with a group on a quest the guild thought we could handle, then it would bode well for me to set out alone when the time came.
I heard a ping as a party invite came up from Aimer. I accepted it, and within an hour we all stood in the main entranceway, packs of equipment, bed rolls and supplies stacked between us, a map spread out, all of us gathered to look.
With the potions Desiree had given me and some better equipment for the others from the guild stores, we looked a lot more like an adventuring party than we had the day before, and it made my heart feel light for the first time since arriving. I had made some friends, and together we were going to take on the world.
Terris and Jentin, our monk, both walked calmly in front, as before, while Aimer and Seraphin, our halfling, nipped back and forth, scouting together, sometimes where we could see them and sometimes farther ahead. I walked along behind with our rogue, Kaylin, chatting about our new roles in the guild.
The morning was sunny, and it was pleasant to stroll through fields and then into some woods, the path clearly defined for us, but as the afternoon wore on, after we’d taken a bite from our rations and taken a moment to rest, the weather turned, and the sky darkened. We grew quieter, all six of us sticking together, the forest becoming oppressive.
Rain started to fall, light at first, the trees mostly keeping it off us, but it soon grew heavier, and the adventure we’d all been so eager to have suddenly seemed like a much less fun idea. We trudged along, going slower but making progress, until we saw the ruins of a building up ahead.
Our cloaks dripping and our packs soaked through, we rushed for the structure, Aimer pointing out the still partially intact roof that would give us shelter from the weather. Not one of us hesitated as we hurried through the doorway, the wooden door long gone, and moved towards the back of the building where the roof had kept the rain off the dirt underneath.
Towards the back, nature hadn’t quite taken over yet, revealing stone flags and paving worn smooth by time and feet, and the remains of a fireplace and chimney. Immediately, Jentin set to work, placing some of the long-burning fuel he’d brought with us in the heart of the stone structure.
Aimer and Seraphin went to gather some wood, intent on searching beneath larger trees that might shelter it from the rain, while Kaylin and I set to preparing some kind of meal. It wouldn’t be much, but with some heat to cook it through, it would fill our stomachs and keep us going. Terris went to check out another small stone structure nearby, promising he’d clear out any critters who might have made it a home at the same time.
“Shame you aren’t powerful enough to just blow these rain clouds away, Jess,” Kay
said with a laugh. I grinned, hoping to be able to do so one day, but I agreed with her estimation —I was a long way off.
Soon everyone was back, and we sat around the fire, eating hot food while Jentin told stories of the adventures he’d been on before. Of everyone in the group, he was the most experienced, and it was evident as he spoke that he had plenty to teach us. No matter how we asked him, he never mentioned why he’d come to the town and auditioned for the guild, instead skirting around the question and merely saying that everyone grew bored and looked for something new now and then.
By the time he’d finished telling us how he and a friend had fought a kapernick back from its dinner so they could eat it instead on a quest gone wrong, everyone was yawning and looking like they longed to sleep.
“I’ll take first watch,” he said. “I’ll wake someone in just over an hour.”
No one argued, all of us reaching for our bed rolls, grabbing our now dry cloaks from the makeshift stand by the fire and hunkering down for some sleep. I’d come to the end of my second day in Puatera Online and I still had no idea where my sisters were, but I was making progress, and after such a busy day my worries couldn’t keep my mind from shutting down. This body needed sleep.
Chapter 7
I felt something shaking me and blinked my eyes to see Seraphin leaning over.
“Your turn for watch,” she whispered. I groaned quietly, but sat up, letting her retreat back to her own bed, but before she could hunker down she stopped, her ears pricking up as she stared towards the doorway, her hand going to her pistol still slung on her belt. I slowly stood, looking where she did, my eyes adjusting to the dark.
Something large with four legs ran across the doorway, making almost no sound. I bit my lip down on the scream I wanted to utter. Something was out there and I had no idea what. Freezing to the spot, I tried to think about an appropriate response. By the time I’d thought to wake the others, Aimer stepped into view beside me, his eyes staring ahead, his feet almost gliding as he crept forward.
I glanced behind and saw Seraphin moving from person to person, waking them all up. She’d beaten me to it, but before she could wake them all, another creature, or the same one, darted across again, and then a noise sounded from one of the windows to our left. There were more than one of them.
I took a step back and gulped, hearing the others awake, but not daring to move. I wasn’t graceful at the best of times, and I didn’t want to make any noise. Both Aimer and Seraphin were moving silently, keeping on their toes and away from the windows.
When Jentin appeared silently beside me I grew calmer; whatever was out there, he would know how to handle it. More scraping came from the group as it formed up, each of us moving into position. Everyone but me was clutching some kind of weapon. I made the mental note to learn how to use something basic, even if it was just a staff. My magic wouldn’t always be able to save me.
“What are they?” Kay asked, barely above a whisper, when another slunk across the doorway, closer this time, a dark shaggy fur coat just distinguishable. I shrugged. I had no idea, but they seemed to be behaving like wolves, except where I came from, in the real world, wolves didn’t actually attack anyone. Common misconception that they did.
“They’re Raedwulfs,” Jentin whispered.
Suddenly, as if of one mind, one jumped through each window and several came rushing in through the door. Aimer pulled his arrow taught on his bow, but the wolf-like creatures didn’t come any closer, snarling but hanging back.
“Do we attack or don’t we?” Terris asked, his sword raised.
“I think we attack.” Seraphin raised her pistol, getting ready to shoot. “Before they do.”
“Wait!”
I saw something else moving outside, something larger, padding slowly between the other creatures. As it came forward, the firelight showed it to be a silver-haired, larger version of the other creatures, an almost pony-sized wolf. The rest all stopped their snarling as one, and bowed their heads. Everyone paused, looking between me and it. The animal seemed to have some intelligence.
Slowly it came forward, and I did the same, going around Jentin. It was only as I got closer that I noticed it had something around its neck, a cord with a metal totem on the end. I blinked in surprise and glanced back at the fireplace where the embers of our fire still gave off some heat. The picture was carved into the cresting stone in the arch over the fire.
“I think we’re in their home, or some place they used to be welcome,” I said, pointing out the necklace and the matching picture built into the house.
“Oh, so are we, like, trespassing?” Terris asked.
“We might be,” I replied. “Perhaps we should go.”
Jentin was quick to nod, already slowly turning back to get his pack. The others copied him, and, under the watchful gaze of over a dozen raedwulf, we gathered up our gear, repacking our bags. The animals waited, almost as still as statues, and then moved to the side as our group, lead by Jentin, edged forward.
It was only as I was passing the leader that it stepped forward, sniffing towards my pack. I raised my eyebrows and stopped. This only made the animal bolder. Closing the distance, it stuck its nose right up against my gear and snuffled, looking like it was trying to get in.
“Hold up, guys, I think they might be hungry.”
At this, the raedwulf let out a deep rumble a bit like a purr or growl, and sat its hind legs down, looking at me expectantly. Chuckling, I pulled out my rations pack, noticing I hadn’t packed it very well and it had split open. No wonder the animal had smelt it.
I didn’t have a lot of food, but as soon as I revealed it the animal’s ears pricked up and it let out a sort of whine. Slowly, I thrust my hand forward, a fistful of a sort of trail mix in it.
The leader kept its own movements slow, but its eagerness was evident in the three quick mouthfuls it gobbled from my hand, using its tongue to lick up the last of the crumbs. The fuzz on his slobbery pink tongue tickled, making me chuckle. It then looked at the bag again, evidently wanting more.
“Jentin, you mentioned you could hunt for food if needed. Will it matter if we feed these guys everything we’ve got?”
“Nah, probably not. It’s not like we’ll starve between now and this evening, either.”
With that, I reached into my bag again and pulled out another handful. When the pack’s leader had scoffed that, I noticed the other animals getting jittery, no longer hanging back, each heading towards another of our party. It seemed they all wanted to be fed.
One by one, my team mates relented, opening their packs and sharing their food with the hungry animals. I couldn’t decide if Seraphin looked the most comical, holding out food to a creature that was almost as tall as her, its jaws so large and powerful they looked like they could fit around her whole head, or Terris, who kept his whole body back and bent awkwardly, his hand outstretched while two ate from the pile of food in his hand in turn.
All too soon, our food was gone, but this seemed to satisfy the animals. The leader backed away, yipping at the rest of his pack. One by one they followed him back out of the doorway, with no other noise and no more signs of threat.
Within a minute, we were alone. Blinking in surprise, I went to the doorway. The grey leader was sitting at the treeline on the other side of the path. He gave me a half-bow and a half-nod with his head before turning and slinking into the shadows of the forest. Less than a second later, I heard another ping.
Pulling up the window, I noticed I’d been awarded another karma point. It seemed I’d made a friend. I had no idea if I’d ever benefit from it, but it meant no creature had died unnecessarily, something I was grateful for.
“Let’s get some more sleep,” Terris said, reaching into his pack to pull his bedroll back out.
“No point,” Jentin replied, joining me by the entrance. “Sun’s coming up. It’s getting brighter. Might as well carry on while the weather’s good.”
Only Terris pulled a face, but
Seraphin and Aimer walked out with us, making it obvious Kaylin and Terris would be left behind if they didn’t follow. Until the sun touched the horizon and showed its face in the sky, Jentin lit the way with his fire stick again, the effect brighter outside the cave.
There were a few yawns as we trudged, none of us talking yet. I considered mentioning the strangeness of our awakening, but since no one else seemed inclined to talk, I left it. Perhaps it wasn’t that strange for this world. This, after all, was a game where adventures were common and people went on missions and quests all the time.
After a couple of hours of walking we left the forest, coming out at the foot of a small hill.
“What we’re looking for is in the valley on the other side,” Aimer said, pulling out the document that detailed what little we knew. I heard Kaylin sigh and shuffle her pack and empathised with her. My feet hurt, and we still had a way to go.
Despite the tiredness, as we chatted and continued to get to know each other, the grass passed under our feet, the metres slowly going by until we were at the top and the lake we were aiming for could be seen, glinting blue in the sunlight, amidst another wooded area.
Although the lake we could see looked inviting, the wood around it did not. It was close, dark, and the tree branches were gnarled twists and turns of dark wood. A small pathway could be seen running in, but it, too, was dark and gloomy.
Jentin only grinned and carried on, giving the rest of us no choice but to follow. It seemed our monk came alive when things appeared to be difficult.
The downhill was easier on our legs, but despite the ease of the walk and the morning’s beauty, the woodland ahead only grew larger and more oppressive. The sounds of birds slowly faded away, and by the time we reached it, there was only silence and the sounds of our breathing, our footfalls and the occasional squeak or clatter as something in our packs shifted.