The Call of the Coven: A LitRPG novel (Shadow Kingdoms Book 2)

by J. F. Danskin

“This way, then,” I say, moving towards the north side of town.

  “I heard tell that you were here,” my friend says to me as we begin to make our way towards the town wall. “After Mati – Maleki, that is – got the message that your ship was proceeding to Nimroth, she sent me off. I rode through the night.”

  “And they are at Sefindarg City?”

  “They were, but they are also moving on. I’ll explain later.”

  “All right.”

  “What of Coruff – is she with you?”

  “Not far,” I reply. “She should be waiting… I hope so anyway.” I look around the street, feeling more suspicious than ever. “I’ll tell you, but for now just follow along. Lugg has gone to send a message to her.”

  “Lugg’s here?” he exclaims with a smile.

  I nod, pleased to get the sense that Garner, like me, is keen to reunite with our half-orc companion. He was, at first, deeply suspicious of him.

  We hurry on towards the wall, and I can now see the tower, an unspectacular blocky mass punctuating the plainer sections of wall. It looks like it might house half a dozen town guards, and perhaps some barrels of arrows. As we go, I lean close and tell him about my sighting of the red knight the previous day. It was Garner that first told me about the Knights of Dawn, and am sure he knows more about them than I do.

  He looks around, fear written across his face. “It’s true, then.”

  “So you heard?”

  He nods.

  I pause for a moment as some local people walk past us, then step closer and whisper to him, “Do you know if it was one of the same five knights who came to Dubasa? And are there any more in their order, or just those that we saw before?”

  “There are only five, or rather four now,” he says in a low voice. “Skizol, the lieutenant, we killed in the Badlands. Two others have been sighted in this province in recent weeks by our informants. I suspect it is one of them that you saw.”

  I nod. “I think they are called Valizor and Barzolk.”

  We are close now, but are forced to pause again; ahead a group of warriors in chainmail are marching up a narrow street that runs perpendicular to this one, and we pull back into a doorway.

  “Garner, did Josa and the others from the coven all make it safely to the mainland?”

  He nods. “At least those coven members who left Vel in safety, yes. Without Coruff, there are six coven members in total now gathered together, all aiming to reach the great city of Dathmir. Some other trusted companions, too. The old warrior Mac-Shinter arrived too. All of the group have connections here that go way back, and nearly all the people that you met on the Islands have gathered here.”

  The chainmail warriors have moved on, and we begin walking again.

  “Apart from P’oytox, of course,” Garner adds. “I’m afraid we still haven’t located him. He made it back to his swamp, I suppose. But uh…”

  “What?”

  He frowns. “There have been some disturbing reports of lizard folk. Many seem to be leaving the swamp of late. And some, when they arrive in town, die soon after. Something is harming them – a curse, a disease – I don’t know what.”

  I narrow my eyes, nodding. “I did see a dead lizard man… back in Vel. His skin had turned red around the throat.”

  “It could be related,” he says. “But then again, people die for many reasons.”

  * * *

  I lean back against the ancient-looking oak tree where Garner and I have chosen to wait, as it provides some cover. We are still in town, the sprawling wooden houses of Nimroth behind us. Ahead, about twenty yards of muddy scrubland separate us from the town wall. It is an area that appears to be used by the locals to dump their trash. Directly opposite, at the foot of the wall, is a military tavern, with sprawling wooden stables alongside.

  There is still no sign of Lugg and the others, and we have been waiting for twenty minutes now. Every time I hear hooves I am terrified that it will be one of the Knights of Dawn or their Kapa-Vane lackeys, but so far there has been no sign of them, either.

  Garner is impatient, I know, but I tell him to stay calm. I trust Lugg, and I believed Zakira’s promise of help, too.

  I glance towards the edge of town again, with its tall wooden town walls. There is an armed guard stationed every twenty yards or so. Nimroth is a small provincial town, so there are none of the grand fortifications that I saw on the Dubasan capital of Vel. However, at the same time, there is a dangerous wilderness outside, and the state of the defenses reflects that.

  I look back at the road. Some merchants pass by leading donkeys laden with carved wooden wares. As a frontier town in the mountains, crafts are common here – this is not a farming community. These artisan goods will be traded in more agrarian parts of the Empire.

  “You mentioned that the rest of the coven are traveling to Dathmir,” I say quietly. “It’s not a city I know well. What is there for them?”

  He sighs. “Not much in the way of safety, in truth. But Sefindarg City is very loyal to the Empire, and I don’t know if you heard, but users of magic are no longer welcome.”

  I nod. “Yes. In fact, I heard worse – that they are outlawed, and even magical supplies have been banned.”

  He frowns. I feel for the big ranger; for all the time I have known him, his mother Maleki and her fellow witches have been under direct mortal threat. All they want is to live their lives in peace.

  “It’s just that… a person that I was speaking to suggested that Katresburg could be the place to go.”

  “Oh. And why?”

  “She said there is a kind of rebellion starting. Against the Empire.”

  “That sounds like something we should stay out of. Besides, Katresburg is a minor city, even though it’s an old one. Dathmir is an ancient city state, a capital. It will be easier for the coven to hide there.”

  “If you say so.”

  I look around again and see that Zakira has arrived. She is standing on the other side, her hood up, by the side of the stables. She is holding a flaming torch in one hand and looking up the street towards the east; I don’t think she has spotted us yet.

  “That’s Zakira,” I say to Garner, catching his attention by whacking him across the chest. “The one I mentioned. She has promised that the area near the Northern Tower leads to a secret way out of town – a way that isn’t watched by the knights’ agents.”

  “You trust her?” he says.

  I hesitate. Yes, I am trusting her, but mainly because the risks inherent in not doing so appear to be worse. Also, she is a human player, and that somehow leads me to feel that we have a connection that’s hard to explain to Garner.

  “I do, yes,” I say at last, and lead the way across, still glancing from side to side for signs of attack. Zakira sees me immediately; she smiles, looking relaxed, and then holds her hand out to greet Garner. “Friend from Dubasa, is it?”

  “Garner,” he says, shaking her hand.

  “We should go inside before we attract attention,” says Zakira, pointing towards the stable.

  “No – we wait,” says Garner, and I shrug.

  Before long, I see a familiar figure with a cloak and a staff walking our way and staying close to the wall. It’s Coruff – but there is no sign of Lugg or van Turk, yet.

  “We should get moving,” says Coruff as she comes up to us and she glances around our small gathering from one face to the other. “The crafter is here, and the orc will not be long.” She then peers around at Zakira. “This is a face I have seen before,” she adds.

  “Coruff, meet my new acquaintance Zakira,” I say. “It was she who called for us to meet here. It’s a safer way out of town, we have been promised.”

  Zakira smiles at Coruff, then turns without a word and leads us into the stable of the inn. There is nobody else inside, no horses even, and this section comprises only half of the space. A small flight of stairs leads down. I stand by the door, still looking out for the others.

  “Van Turk w
on’t be coming,” says Coruff as she steps inside.

  “What? Why?” I say, dismayed that one of our group has left us.

  “He departed a short while ago, hoping to catch up with the others at Sefindarg City,” she says. “He wishes to be with Josa again as soon as he can.”

  “That makes sense,” said Garner, frowning, “but he will need to be quick. The others from the coven are moving on.”

  At this, Coruff glances towards Zakira, perhaps concerned by loose talk of the coven.

  But the elf looks directly at her. “Madam, it’s no secret that some among us here are spellcasters, as are some of my own companions. This leads to a hidden way past the walls. It is important to my employer that Daria here avoids attention from Imperial guards, and I am sure that some of the rest of you may be starting to feel the same way.”

  “And you wish payment for this?” Coruff is rather frosty in her response to Zakira’s offer of help.

  Zakira shakes her head. “I am acting on the orders of the Black Knight, Macron of Dathmir. Perhaps you have heard the name. He is keen to help Daria against our common enemies. More specifically, he is a friend to all who oppose the Emperor.”

  There is a pause, Coruff thinking about this and licking her lips, and she then gives a slight nod. I am meanwhile making a mental note of Connor’s in-game name, which I hadn’t previously heard.

  “Very well.” The felaxian witch looks behind her at the door. “We are still waiting for our orc, however. When he arrives, we can be on our way. I suppose that the other side of this secret passage of yours connects to the road south to Sefindarg City, somehow?”

  Zakira nods. “Certainly, it is possible to go to the road.” She looks at me, her big brown eyes suggesting a question.

  I then glance at Garner, and back at the inscrutable witch. “This secret way,” I say to her, “takes us out of the city, yes, and we could of course go towards Sefindarg City from there.”

  Coruff nods, scrutinising me.

  “I have heard that the coastal road is not entirely safe, however…”

  “It’s a hard ride,” says Garner, “I just did the route in the other direction. But traveling alone on horseback by night, it was easier to move on without trouble. Daria’s right that we could face problems.”

  “We can handle ourselves,” says Coruff.

  “The thing is, I have been advised to turn east and go through the mountains to Katresburg.”

  “Indeed?” she says.

  “It’s just…” I begin, ready to tell her about the rumors of rebellion.

  “What Daria says makes sense,” says Garner, stepping forward. “I know the mountain pass, although it is some years since I have traveled this way. I don’t think it would take any longer to get to Dathmir that way than to go via the roads, for it is more direct, if a little slower.”

  “It has another advantage,” I say.

  “And what is that?” asks Coruff.

  “It would be hard – or perhaps impossible – for the Knights of Dawn to ride that way.”

  Zakira is still standing at the top of the stairs looking from one of us to another, and I appreciate the way she is not interfering. Lugg still has not arrived.

  “It’s also close to the Great Swamp,” I add, “and P’oytox might be…” I trail off, sensing that Coruff is getting annoyed.

  “Katresburg is the closest city to the Great Swamp, it’s true,” she says. “But we would be vulnerable there. If the Knights of Dawn can follow us here to Nimroth, then they can follow us there, too, even if they have to take a less direct route. What’s more, it’s closer to the Imperial capital, making it easier for them to gain support when they need it.”

  “Dathmir is even closer, Coruff,” says Garner gently.

  At this point Lugg arrives, sweating and breathing fast. “Let’s move,” he says shortly, whether because he doesn’t want to get into the discussion or because he’s too out of breath to talk, I’m not sure.

  “Very well,” says Coruff, gesturing towards the stair with her staff. “And as to which road we take when we get behind the town walls, we can decide that on the way. It is not safe to stand here talking any longer.”

  Zakira turns, holding the flaming torch high and pulling out one of her knives, and we all likewise draw weapons and begin to head towards the stairway which we have been told will lead us out of town.

  Chapter 24: On the Road

  At the foot of the stairs is a square room which looks like it was once used as a store. There are the remnants of a couple of barrels, badly rotted away, and the ground is covered with straw that has mulched away to almost nothing above the bare earth beneath. I remind myself that the era in Shadow Kingdoms skipped forward by almost three decades, resulting in many previous features of the game world being abandoned, or free-wheeling onwards in their own direction.

  Zakira moves to the darkest area of the room, and pulls something to one side – a very large sheet of wood that I had not previously noticed, as it was leaning vertically against the wall of the room and was hard to make out in the gloom. Behind it is an open stone archway. She then gestures, and we enter after her and begin to move along the long, straight, dank passageway.

  It’s very narrow, and so we proceed slowly and in single file, Zakira still leading the way, then Coruff. I am in the middle, with Garner and Lugg behind. There is more mushy straw at our feet, and I can imagine that rats will not be far away.

  We haven’t gone far before I feel Garner’s big hands on my shoulders, gently guiding me to stop, and I look around. “There,” he says, pointing up.

  I look above me; there is a crack in the ceiling with a gleaming green color showing through. As I watch on, an oozing mass starts to come through, dropping down to the ground where Garner and I would have been passing if he hadn’t stopped me. As it lands, I see that it is a blob of green ooze around the size of a football. We both take a step back.

  Coruff has turned; there is a disturbance beyond her, too, and I hear Zakira call out, “Coming through!” She squeezes past Coruff and comes up, staring at the thing.

  Zakira then presses her torch downwards, and as the flames press against the green ooze, it begins to squirm and hiss. In mere seconds it has begun to liquify, and soon disappears into the cracks in the ground itself.

  “Better watch out for those,” she says, looking down at the remnants of the ooze. “Powerful acid, very dangerous. They hunt and dissolve their prey.”

  I nod at her and look around. “Thanks Garner.”

  And so we continue, stepping carefully over the area where the creature fell to the ground.

  After moving on in silence for about two minutes more, the passsage widens out again into an area not dissimilar to the one at the foot of the stairs, but larger. I see Coruff looking back; again there is an archway behind us leading back to the passage, but this time it is placed in an ornate wall that glitters slightly with its own luminescence.

  “What could that be made of?” she mutters.

  But now it’s Zakira’s turn to hurry us on, though she does so in a lower tone that Coruff before her. “We’re almost there,” she says, “there are more stairs off to this side ahead. Is everyone still with us?”

  I check around as we start to move; peering into the gloom, but I hear Lugg say “Aye”; the half-orc has excellent vision, even in low light.

  And so we press on, with me now falling to the back of the group. Soon we are at a set of stone stairs which are much narrower than the ones before, winding upwards. Zakira places the torch down near the foot of these stairs, and turns.

  “Here I leave you,” she says, clasping her hands together. “These steps will take you to an area just to the north of town. Obviously that is the wrong side for the road to Sefindarg City, should you still intend to go that way, so I hope you are able to skirt the town in safety. My recommendation, though, is still to head for the mountains instead.”

  She nods to the rest of the group and the
n turns towards me. “L… Daria. It has been an honor. Please, don’t think too harshly of us. Connor means well. And if you need a safe place, well…do consider Viperstar. Please.”

  “Logging in from the offices?” I say softly.

  She nods, then reaches out to give me an awkward embrace, then picking up the torch again she hurries away back through the tunnel towards town, the way that we came from. I hurry up the steps after my companions, and we emerge into a small and partially ruined wooden hut, similar in construction but much smaller than the stable building from which we set at the other end of the tunnel, and Lugg cautiously peers from the door without opening it fully.

  “What was that about?” asks Garner, as I come to his shoulder.

  I glance around at him. “Zakira and I were not on very good terms when we first met. I think she worries that I will hold a grudge.”

  “Will you?”

  I sigh. “I think we might need all the allies we can get.”

  Lugg has apparently decided that the going is safe; the door is pushed back, and soon our whole group is outside, marching through a sparsely wooded area with mature birch trees and shrubs. The wooden town walls are visible off to our right, the mountains to our left, and I figure out that we must be heading southwards.

  “It’s her boss’s fault mainly,” I add, still close to Garner as we march. “But I think Zakira is a good person at heart.”

  “She seemed all right, I suppose. If nothing else, she hasn’t handed us over to the Kapa-Vanes directly. If she intended to betray us, she would have done it by now.”

  “Right.”

  Coruff is taking the lead as we walk. Everything here is very different from the Islands of Dubasa, and I am reminded a little of my family holidays in Scotland. Misshapen mountains crowd the horizon, while the ground is damp and littered with brown leaves. We come to a stony path with grassy verges on either side, and begin to curve south and east, following the line of the town wall but still quite distant from it.

  As we walk, I find myself taking the lead alongside Coruff, and I take a moment to fill her in on the advice I received from Zakira.