by Dawn Chapman
“See here, this is a good root vegetable. It has the ability to sustain you, although you’ll want to cook it if you can. It’s bland, but will give you energy.” It looked a lot like a potato, and from his description of it, I’d have guessed that was exactly the sort of thing it was meant to be.
There were lots of other things to think about while foraging, and Tomlinson explained all of it. I noticed something nice and bright ahead. Fruit? Looked like hundreds of fruit berries in a bush.
Jarvin went to pick the brightly coloured berry; Tomlinson’s hand shot out, grabbed a stick and launched it towards him. I’d no idea the older man could powerhouse something like that, but it knocked Jarvin out of the way. Then followed a scream.
What happened next was, in an instant, the fruity bush-looking thing suddenly grew in height and width, a creature so large I almost fell backwards trying to get away from it.
“Up a tree if you can!” Tomlinson yelled.
Jarvin pushed himself up and rushed for a tree, just as I did. I had never been much of a climber, but that creature looked nasty.
From there, I saw Tomlinson come into his own. The man before me seemed old, seemed a lot of things. But in the light of the sun, I noticed a few things changing.
Something popped into my view.
Ping! “You have discovered Magical Sight.”
What? But I looked closer at Tomlinson. He wasn’t an old man at all. He was older than me, that was for sure, but as he whirled around the creature, I saw Tomlinson had two blades, one in each hand. I realized he was more than just a man.
I wondered if Jarvin could see this.
Tomlinson fought the creature for what seemed like an age, but the more I watched, the more I noticed the shadows around him, and the movement of magical energies.
I wanted to try and help him, I wanted to do something, not just sit up in a tree.
The creature lunged forwards and landed a blow on Tomlinson’s side. He grunted, and I noticed a splotch appear over his head. I could actually see his stats! The number 24 was inside it. Oh, crap! I’d no clue how high the number could get, and I didn’t want to find out.
I — no, we — had to do something.
I tried my best to get Jarvin’s attention, flapping my arms around and shouting, but he couldn’t hear me above the bellows from below. Finally, when he did, he shouted out, “What?”
“We have to help him!” I called back. But Jarvin didn’t seem to want to do anything. He looked terrified. I mean, I was scared, but I also wasn’t going to do nothing.
“Please, please,” I said. “Let me do something, anything.”
I was trying my best to think. I slapped the side of my head. Then I saw the little bird we’d helped the other day. There was no longer a bandage on its wing, but a tiny bit of the cloth stuck around its neck, almost like a bandanna.
“No,” I said. “You do something.”
The bird stared at me, its eyes focused.
“Go on,” I shouted at it. “He helped me help you, now go and help him!”
The bird squawked at me, which was when I noticed that the trees were full of birds, and they all squawked.
I smiled. “Go!” I shouted, and watched as they dive-bombed in droves. Tomlinson looked up, distracted for but a second, and then he jumped backwards as the creature lunged again. This time it was a pitiful hit, but Tomlinson managed to get in close enough to slice through a lanky appendage. Blood spurted from the creature, and it bellowed pure venom. The birds reached it, and the air filled with screams, bellows and cries. Tomlinson backed away, then turned and ran towards my tree. Once below me, he called up. “Come on, we can get away while it’s distracted.”
I waved to Jarvin, but he’d already left his tree and was running our way.
Getting down was not easy. I had struggled to get up the damned thing, and instead of shimmying gracefully down the tree, I more like fell, landing awkwardly on my ankle.
A red splotch appeared in my vision again, this time with a 10 inside it. Damn. When I put weight on the ankle, it hurt like hell.
Tomlinson and Jarvin didn’t wait around, though. They ran as quickly as they could away from the creature, towards the stream. I followed, hopping and running as best I could, the splotch growing and the number increasing.
Once by the river, I had to stop. There was no way I was going anywhere without aid. Healing, a splint, something! I perched on the nearest big rock, panting.
Jarvin noticed and shouted for Tomlinson to stop. He did so, looking towards Jarvin and myself with concern. Within a moment, the two of them were before me. Tomlinson looked like an old man once more. But when I stared at him, I saw no old man; he was young again.
“You’re more than you’re letting on, young lady.”
Jarvin glanced from me to Tomlinson, but I wasn’t going to say anything. Tomlinson spilled the goods instead. “Seems Dahlia’s a natural Summoner.”
Jarvin’s eyes lit up. “Wow, I’ve never met one before.”
I laughed, tried to move and winced. “Either of you know any healing spells?”
Jarvin kneeled before me, carefully taking my shoe off. “That’s going to be painful for a while. But I do know the basics.”
Tomlinson sat beside me. “Could do with a healer myself,” he said. The gash on his arm was red raw and dripping blood through his clothes.
“I don’t have enough energy to do both.” Jarvin looked forlorn.
I placed a hand on his shoulder, pulling my foot from him and dipping it into the cool water. The splotch in my view went down from 16 to 10. “Don’t worry about me. Mine’s a sprain, if that. Help Tomlinson.”
“The name’s Taegen actually.” As he said it, the magical energy surrounding him shifted. “Taegen Vrex.”
Jarvin’s eyes went wide and his mouth hung open. The name meant nothing to me, but it obviously did to him. He looked to me, then to the much younger man before us. “The Taegen Vrex?”
He nodded at Jarvin but didn’t explain anything further.
Jarvin approached with caution. He removed the cloth from around the wound. Taegen didn’t wince at all. I knew I would have — it looked awful.
“Poison,” Jarvin said. “I have no idea what kind, though.”
“It’s from the Rebellous itself. When you disturbed its nest, it thought you were prey. They are usually so fast you don’t get chance to get away.”
Jarvin lowered his head. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault. I should have been more careful. Instructing you on forest dangers should have been my first priority,”
While my foot ache dissipated some more, Jarvin cleaned Taegen’s wound with fresh river water, then pulled out a small pack. “If I stitch it up the regular way, I can stem the poison till we get you home. Your family will know how to deal with poison.”
Taegen looked away. “I hadn’t planned on returning home so soon.”
“Where is home?” I asked before my brain could engage.
Jarvin stared at me. “You don’t know where he lives?”
Taegen chuckled. “Jarvin, Dahlia’s a Visitor. There’s probably a whole lot of things she doesn’t know about Maicreol.”
So that’s where I was. Maicreol. I’d seen the name on Mum’s maps. I even recalled some of the landscape…. My heart beat so fast. She’d told me about long-distance messages, through city computers. I could do something, I had hope. I also had to get out of here, find one of those cities. “Are we near any of Maicreol’s cities?” the question tumbled from my mouth.
“We’re in the Kodur Forest, west of the plains. I wouldn’t say we’re near to any of the main cities,” he answered, and my sudden hope sank. “My family own Port Elixton. If we head there, it will take too long. We should go to Hanson’s Estate instead; we can meet Hanson’s healers there. It will be better for both of us. I believe that to be our best bet.”
I let out a sigh. That sucked. If I had any chance of finding my sisters, it was t
hrough one of message boards there, somehow.
Chapter 5
I had wanted to ask Tomlinson/Taegen if we could go to the nearest town, do something more than roam this forest, but his expression changed before I had a chance. I could only presume we all received this notification.
EVENT STARTED – CONTROL FOR MAICREOL
“What’s this?” I asked.
Taegen was the first to answer. “Looks like a general call. There’s a war coming.”
War? This worried me even more. If I couldn’t log out, what happened if I died in the game? I froze, and Jarvin frowned.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
I looked his way as he wrapped Taegen’s arm.
The two of them stared at me as I started to cry. “I’ve lost my sisters and I can’t log out.”
“Log out?” Jarvin was confused. They both were. “What does ‘log out’ mean?”
I didn’t know if I could explain it, which upset me even more. Jarvin lifted my ankle out of the water and helped bandage me up. I cried softly to myself. Taegen touched my shoulder. “We don’t understand you or your ways, but we’ll help if we can. What can we do?”
“You’ve just got called to war. Why would you help me?”
“Because we’re here. Because we want to,” Taegen said.
With my foot bandaged up, I gently pushed off the rock and tested it. It felt better already.
“Can we go to the nearest Hanson’s Estate?” I asked him. “If he has a message or communication station, I might be able to get word to them, or maybe… even locate my sisters.”
Taegen nodded. “The Estate it is, then. But for tonight I think we need to rest up. Jarvin could do with some food. I’ll scout around, find us something to eat if you think you two can put a shelter together.”
I smiled and looked at Jarvin. Sleeping with him by my side wasn’t so scary now. “We can do that.”
Jarvin started to move off and I followed him, limping a bit, but at least I felt like I could help. Together we found enough materials to make the burrow. I was surprised when Taegen returned to start a fire and roast not only a small animal but lots of roots and veg.
“The more you do things, the easier it becomes,” he said. “Here.” He passed me the knife.
I handled the knife well enough, and following his instructions it was easier to prepare things. Jarvin questioned everything and every root; their properties were important. After today’s fiasco, I think we both needed to hear some of the home truths Taegen had for us. I found myself learning more from him as we prepared things. He even showed us how to skin the small animal and prepare it for the pot. I hadn’t liked the idea, but I also didn’t like starving. I had to help out as much as Jarvin did.
With the stew simmering in the pot, we settled around the fire. “The animals seem restless,” I said.
Taegen looked around. “Yes, they are tonight. I can’t figure out why.”
I looked behind him and focussed, hoping that it had been my imagination, but it wasn’t. “What’s that?” I pointed behind him, and he turned. There was a faint white glow through the trees.
“I have no idea. Maybe a farm mage is casting a spell to protect his lands.”
That seemed plausible. I turned my attention back to the fire, its warmth, and my throbbing ankle. The rest was doing it some good, and I untied my shoes, if I could call them that, to let my feet breathe. The foot and the back of my leg were going black. “Is that normal?” I asked Jarvin, who seemed to be the healer amongst us.
“For a bad sprain, I guess. I’ve never seen one manifest like that, though. Usually, any injury heals up in no time.”
“If it’s still bad when we get to the town I’ll seek out a healer for you,” Taegen said.
I looked at Jarvin. “Can’t you help in the morning?”
I watched as he seemed to check his interface. “I’ll see what I can do, but I’m not very strong. Helping Taegen nearly wiped me out.”
“I think we can spend some time helping you gain strength,” Taegen said. “If you’d like to stick with me and learn more.”
Jarvin’s eyes lit up. But Taegen asked, “Why do you want to be a druid or ranger when you’re a natural healer?”
Jarvin looked away. “It’s better to be involved with nature than people.”
Taegen laughed as he stirred the pot some; the smell was amazing and my stomach rumbled. “We can help each other,” I said. “You can teach me some basics, and I’ll do the same for you.”
“You think I can learn to summon, too?”
“Why not?”
Two of us practicing together was going to be a lot easier than doing it on my own. And I liked the idea of learning to heal. Coupled with the knowledge of the forest and summoning, I thought it would make the perfect traits for the ranger class or whatever system was working in the background here.
Sleep came a lot, lot easier that night, due to sheer exhaustion from several days in the game and the fact that my body was trying its best to heal itself. Although not actually able to.
What I really wanted, of course, was my bed at home, with my twin sister across from me. I’d always hated her loud breathing, but now, if I could hear it, I’d be the happiest gal alive.
Taegen never woke me through the night, and I slept through till the next morning with no regrets. Even waking to the smell of something on the fire just felt right.
I edged out of the dugout and smiled at the two of them. “Thanks,” I said. “I really needed that.”
“How are you feeling?” Taegen asked.
I tested my ankle. It was sore, but I thought I’d be okay walking on it, at least some of the way.
After we’d eaten and cleaned up there was no room for ‘hope’. The pain after walking on it for even an hour was the worst thing in my life. So much so that I was slowing the guys down, putting Taegen’s life at risk.
“Guys,” I said, “you’re going to have to leave me.”
Taegen stared at me, and then at my ankle. “That bad?”
I nodded, feeling tears sting my eyes.
Jarvin approached me. “He needs a real healer, Dahlia, and I need to be with him in case we don’t make it there in time.”
I sucked in a breath. This was it. I was going to be left alone in the forest, again. I placed a hand on him, and he smiled, squeezing it.
“I know you’ve got to go on. I’ll be all right on my own, I promise.”
Jarvin looked at Taegen. “We can be there and back in two days tops, right?”
Taegen glanced back to the forest and towards where I now knew Hanson’s estate lay. “Yes. If I pick up a horse or ebolos, we could be back in a day.”
I didn’t know what an ebolos was, but it sounded cool.
So, this was it, then. They were going to leave me. I swallowed and waited while they discussed their decision.
QUEST – SURVIVE TWO DAYS ON YOUR OWN.
Y/N
I didn’t want to take it but clicking the Y almost immediately pushed the guys into action. I could only guess this was a result of my decision, and that I really was going to complete this. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to. I was scared, but I wasn’t going to let Taegen die.
I settled in a nook in a large tree. Taegen gave me what food supplies and water he could, and then I watched them leave.
Settling down felt good. Maybe I would fall asleep and wake up when they were back. I could only hope this would be the case, though falling asleep without anyone watching my back terrified me. There were monsters out here, the kind that even Taegen was scared of. I shook myself. No. I had to stay awake.
A chirp in the trees alerted me to the little blackbird we’d helped. Why he was following me, I’d no idea, but I smiled. And shouted up, “Hey, little guy, fancy some food?”
I wasn’t sure what the bird might eat out of Taegen’s bag, but I dug through his wares and held up some berries so that the bird could see them.
W
ithin a second he flew down and perched before me.
“Seems I have a friend,” I said. “What’s your name, little guy?”
I knew he wasn’t going to answer, so when the bird said, “Clax, my name is Clax,” I let out a squeal. A talking bird!
“Actually, not just a bird.” The feathers surrounding him puffed up and out, moulding into something else, a kind of non-furry Guinea pig. No. It changed again and grew fur, teeth, a flipping heck of a lot of teeth.
By the time he stopped growing he was the size of a Labrador, but definitely not a dog. There was no feathered tail, but a furry one. More cat-come-bird. Behind his shoulders spread out two beautiful wings. The feathers were not as drab as the blackbird’s but silky looking and in the most wonderful shades of brown.
“What are you? I asked.
“I do not know a term you would use to call me.”
It edged closer and eyed the food. I pushed the pile away from me and let it come closer.
It rummaged around and picked out a piece of dried meat before nudging it towards me. “You also need to eat.”
I wasn’t feeling particularly hungry, but I picked up the offered morsel and watched as Clax selected a root vegetable and sat down to snack on it.
“So, you’re following me because I helped you?”
“Actually, I was following Taegen. I was hired by his family to keep an eye on him.”
“Oh, his family is that big, then?”
Clax’s face seemed to change. “Taegen is no prince or saviour.”
I didn’t understand. The way Jarvin responded to his name made me think he was something else. I shook my head. “Now I’m confused.”
“He’s a prisoner. I am to watch him continue his punishment.”
Things suddenly got a lot darker. I shivered. “What did he do?”
The creature seemed to laugh. Its face contorted and then a purring came from deep within. “What didn’t he do?”