by Seth Ring
Back and forth they fought, exchanging attack after attack in rapid succession. It didn’t take Thorn long to realize that the Avatar of Skoll was a much better fighter than he was, and if it was not for his greater strength and speed he would have been defeated quickly. As it was, he focused on maximizing his strength advantage by staying close. The memory of the arrow at the beginning of the fight was burned into his head and he knew that allowing Duratan to create space was a death sentence.
“You fight well for a big guy,” Duratan commented as he and Thorn traded attacks. Using his blade to defuse the force of Thorn’s swing, he grinned widely. “Most people your size are clumsy and slow.”
“You have fought other people my size?”
“Haha, of course! I am Duratan, the Sun Wolf! I have fought almost everything in Angoril! In the far north lies a kingdom of Elemental Giants who are even taller than you!”
“Well, remind me to ask you more about that after I beat your head in!” Thorn growled, sending his tetsubo toward Duratan’s knee.
The Avatar of Skoll laughed as he blocked, causing the blow to glance off of his blade and bury itself in the ground. Just as he was about to unleash a vertical cut, Thorn’s attack pattern shifted, catching him off guard. Squatting slightly, Thorn threw his palm out at the Orc’s chest, trying to knock him off of balance.
With a thought, Duratan converted his greatsword back into a shield, blocking the palm strike. The force of the attack drilled into him, but just as it hit he jumped backward to lessen the force of the blow. As he flew backward through the air, his golden shield morphed into a massive bow, a glittering golden arrow appearing in his hand. Drawing it back, Duratan was about to release it when he saw that while he was shifting his weapon a gigantic siege crossbow had appeared in Thorn’s hand.
A rapid calculation ran through his head as he tried to figure out his chances of survival if he was hit with a bolt the size of a short spear, and Duratan quickly decided he didn’t like his chances. The golden glow in his hands flickered and streamed down to his feet where it pooled, two glittering wings forming off of his boots. Planting one foot in mid-air, he pushed off, sending himself shooting to the side as the bolt from Thorn’s arbalest ripped through the air where he had been half a second before.
The fluttering wings on his ankles allowed Duratan to step on the air as he shot back toward Thorn. Opening his mouth to issue another battle cry, the shadow of a giant eye appeared, a burning sun in its golden pupil. The eye fixed itself on Thorn, causing a sense of crisis to wash over him.
[Moon’s Reflection]
Not a moment too soon, Thorn’s body turned incorporeal as a beam of pure flame shot out of the center of the eye, leaving a mangled trail of burnt earth as it swept over Thorn. The flame burned the earth hungrily around Thorn, forcing him to keep [Moon’s Reflection] activated for a full four seconds before he could get out of it.
As his body began to come back into focus, he saw that Duratan already had another arrow locked onto his chest. Groaning, Thorn activated [Shadow Charge], trying to close the distance toward the Orc while hoping that he could avoid the arrow. Calmly breathing out, Duratan released the arrow, sending it hurtling toward Thorn. Almost too bright to look at, the tip of the arrow carried a wisp of the fire from the small sun that Duratan had summoned earlier. The light from the arrow washed over Thorn, forcing his body out of its half shadow state and canceling his charge.
Gritting his teeth, Thorn summoned his tetsubo and slammed it into the side of the arrow, barely managing to change its course from his chest to his shoulder. The arrow bit into his armor, stabbing through the metal and chain, piercing the padding and plunging into his flesh. A howl of pain burst from Thorn’s lips, carrying with it a bizarre vibration that forcibly increased his healing ability while shaking Duratan into a stupor.
Though the stupor did not last long, it was still enough time for Thorn to get close to Duratan, his palm slamming down on the Orc. Once again, Duratan managed to get his gauntlet transformed into a shield in time to block Thorn’s blow, but this time Thorn’s palm strike morphed into a grab, fixing the shield in place as he drove a knee into Duratan’s other side.
A crunch sounded as Duratan did his best to block the knee strike, his face twisting in pain, but Thorn was by no means through. His other hand darted forward, nailing Duratan in the solar plexus. Another fast jab kept the Orc off balance as his leg swept around. Jerking the Orc off of his feet, Thorn tossed him over his shoulder, slamming his body into the ground with an earth shaking thump.
Dropping down to the ground after him, Thorn used his weight to pin Duratan to the ground as he rained fists and elbows down on the unfortunate Avatar. After a few minutes of struggling to get free, Duratan finally threw his hands up.
“I give, I give!” Groaning, he rolled over as Thorn let him up. “Oof, you win.”
*ding*
Mindful of the soldiers watching them, Thorn helped Duratan to his feet, gentle healing light landing on both of them as the Iron Wolf support players restored their health. Getting his first good look at the Avatar of Skoll, Thorn realized that he carried a humorous look in his eyes and radiated a considerable amount of casual charisma.
“I only won because of my weight. Plus, why do I have the feeling that you went easy on me?” Thorn said quietly as the two of them walked back toward the army side by side.
“Heh, well, unlike you, I have no appearances to keep up.” Duratan winked at Thorn. “Plus, I need a favor from you and I can’t go asking for it after I beat you up, can I?”
“Ah, so you did lose on purpose.” Thorn sighed in defeat. “How would you have solved my grapple at the end there?”
“Haha, I have to keep some secrets. But it would have been close either way. For someone who has only been playing the game for a little while, your fluidity is off of the charts. Most people don’t get that comfortable using and swapping skills until they’ve been playing the game for years. Anyway, I want to come to Rasyn with you. There is an Orc there I need to find. Since I let you beat me up, what do you say you let me hitch a ride?”
By this time, Thorn and Duratan had reached the Iron Wolf Army who all cheered for Thorn’s win. Only Corvo, Mina, Athena, and a few of the other top players were quiet, their eyes fixed on Duratan. Even Thorn could feel it standing next to him. It was as if, for all the Orc’s charisma and easy openness, he was an incredibly dangerous flower.
“Hello, Corvo! How have you been, buddy?”
Duratan stepped forward and tried to slap the Avatar of Huginn on the shoulder, only to miss when Corvo jumped back, turning into a crow that flew over to perch on Mina’s hat.
“Don’t touch me, you oaf. The last time you hit me you nearly broke my shoulder.” Corvo muttered under his breath as if he was afraid to let the large Orc hear him.
“Hello, everyone. I am Duratan, the Sun Wolf! I’m glad to make your acquaintances.” Looking around, he spotted Athena and grinned widely, stepping forward and slamming a thick fist into his chest. “Hello, fair lady! You must be Athena, the War Goddess. You are even more beautiful than the rumors say.”
“Hello, Duratan.”
Athena gave him a small, sweet smile, causing him to stare blankly at her for a moment until a gentle cough from beside him jerked him back to his senses. Entirely unembarrassed, he looked around again and then turned his attention back to Thorn.
“So, what do you say? Can you give me a ride?”
“I don’t see why…”
“No, absolutely not.” Corvo spoke up from where he was perched on Mina’s hat, his voice firm. “This is a military exercise. We can’t bring unrelated or civilian personnel along. The logistics of taking you along are just too much. There is no way we can do it.”
“Don’t beat around the bushes, Corvo.” Duratan faced the bird squarely, obviously used to negotiating with the Avatar of Huginn. “What do you want? But don’t try my patience.”
Hopping off of Mina’s hat,
Corvo turned back into his regular Elven form in a flurry of dark purple feathers. Looking up at the Orc, he suddenly grinned and pointed his finger over Duratan’s shoulder.
“I’m not the one you should be negotiating with. He is.”
Spinning around, Duratan found himself staring at Thorn’s chest and his eyes slowly tracked up to rest on Thorn’s face. It was not often that the Orc found himself dwarfed, but Thorn had a way of making others feel like they were tiny. Coughing, Duratan softened his tone a little bit.
“So, what does it take for me to catch a ride with you?”
“Honestly, it's not a huge deal, you just need to be part of my forces. I’m an earl, and as long as you are attached to my army, I can bring you along.”
“Huh, sounds simple. But you’ve got featherface over here advising you, so there has to be a catch somewhere.” Duratan jerked a thumb over his shoulder at Corvo.
“No catch, but you will have to sign an employment contract with me. All the positions in my army are professional, after all,” Thorn said with a grin.
“The contract is a standard professional player contract, with a term of two years.”
“Two years?”
Falling silent, Duratan stared down at his hand, counting something on his fingers. Coming to a decision, he looked up and nodded.
“I can do two years, but I have some special terms. I need to be free to pursue Avatar-related quests, and I need you to help me find an Orc while we’re on Rasyn. And once we find him, you need to help him. Other than that, I’ll take whatever Corvo’s terms are.”
“You’re looking for an Orc on Rasyn? One of our enemies? I’m not sure it’s a good idea to be helping our enemies,” Corvo interjected from behind Duratan.
“Quiet beaky, I’m negotiating with your boss, not you.”
Slowly stepping around Duratan, Corvo looked up at the Orc, his eyes unsmiling as tension filled the air. Resting his hand on his rapier, Corvo spoke in a chilly voice.
“If you’re looking for a few more holes keep it up buddy. We haven’t tangled in a while so maybe you need a reminder.”
As the tension mounted, Thorn sighed and stepped forward, forcing both avatars to take a step backward.
“Alright, gentleman, calm down.” Thorn looked between them as he spoke. “Duratan, if you are signing on, you need to respect Corvo, and his position in the guild. Corvo, do you have an issue with Duratan being offered a contract?”
It took Corvo a little while, but finally he took another step back and shook his head with a sigh.
“I’d really like to, but no, he would be a great addition to the team.”
“Thank you. Duratan, if you want passage to the island without signing a contract you are welcome to ask any of the generals, or Duke Carlton. I’d be happy to introduce you. The only way you can come with us is if you sign on. You can take as much time as it takes for us to board our ship to think about it.”
“Haha, what is there to think about? It's only two years, right? That’s what, three months in real time? Easy.” Noticing the strange looks he was getting, Duratan stopped. “Wait, you don’t mean two years in real time? Fourteen years in-game? Are you crazy?!”
Shrugging, Thorn turned away and waved to the battalion commanders.
“Let’s get everyone loaded up.”
As Duratan stood there and chewed on his finger nervously, the Iron Wolf Army walked past him and began to get on the ship. At first, Thorn was concerned that the whole force would not fit on the ship, but each ship turned out to be much bigger than they looked on the outside. With a full six decks below the water line and five above, the ships were absolutely massive and the whole army under Earl Blaige only took up two ships. The size of the ships combined with the fact that most of the players could simply log into Fantasia while the ship traveled promised quite a comfortable ride.
Once everyone was loaded, the orders were given to cast off and the ships began to ready themselves for the trip. Standing on the deck with Earl Blaige and the rest of his officers, Thorn could see Duratan back on the shore, trying to come to a decision. Finally unable to stand it any longer, a golden glow lit up around Duratan’s feet and he ran down the wharf and jumped on the ship at the last moment.
“Fine, you win. Give me the stupid contract and I’ll sign my life away. How bad could it be?”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
“Ugh, this is so bad!”
Groaning, Duratan dropped his head into his hands. He was sitting in the hold of the ship that Thorn and the four Iron Wolf battalions had boarded, staring at the contract that Corvo had given him.
“Why on earth did I agree to this?”
“You don’t have to, you know. You have not signed anything, so feel totally free to reject the contract,” Corvo said, shrugging. “If you’ve got any hesitation it is probably better to just not sign. After all, if you do, you’ll be stuck for quite a while in game. The terms are generous, but the penalties are just as heavy.”
“Hah, you’d love it if I didn’t join. Besides, I’m in the middle of the ocean with a giant, multiple avatars and four thousand players who would beat my head in. I might be incredibly buff and handsome, but I’m not an idiot.”
“False on all counts, actually.”
Chuckling, Thorn rapped on the table to draw the two avatars’ attention.
“Enough squabbling. Duratan, are you going to sign it or are you going to swim back? We are not that far from shore, but if you hesitate any longer it is going to be an extra-long swim.”
“Ugh, fine.” With an annoyed sigh, the Orc pressed his finger down, his name appearing on the last page of the contract.
“Wonderful, welcome to the team. I’ll leave you to Corvo who will tell you everything you need to know about Nova Luna. I’m going to see what the plan is for when we arrive in Rasyn.”
Smiling at the two avatars, Thorn stood up and left to find Earl Blaige. Duratan’s eyes did not leave Thorn’s back until he was out of sight, and even then they dropped to the thick table top where a dent could be seen in the hardwood. Following his gaze, Corvo let out a sigh of his own.
“I don’t know what you are planning, Duratan, but, as one avatar to another, make sure you don’t get on his bad side.”
Stretching out his hand, Duratan’s fingers slid over the table top, feeling the depression.
“Was that a threat or an unconscious action?”
“Maybe a bit of both? Who knows.” Corvo shrugged. “Just watch yourself and you’ll be fine. His face is even more deceiving than yours.”
“Hah, and he’s been playing for how long?”
“A bit more than a year? Something like that. Believe me, you’ve only just scratched the surface, but you’ll get used to it.” Corvo’s lips curled up slightly as he chuckled. “Thorn is something else entirely. And he is growing at an unbelievable rate. When I met him he wouldn’t have been able to take even three hits from you, and not even a year later you have to pretend to lose to avoid getting your face stomped on.”
“Looks like the next few years will be exciting!”
Grinning widely, Duratan tried to slap Corvo on the shoulder, only to miss when Corvo dodged backward. Undismayed, the Orc picked up his copy of the contract he had signed and put it away in his inventory.
“How many of us have gathered?”
“Including Thorn? Me, you, Josephine, and Peregrine. Josephine and Peregrine are not with Nova Luna officially, but I don’t expect that will last very long. Chances are, the game won’t let them.”
“What do you mean?”
“Something is happening, and Thorn is at the very center of it. He is like a giant star, anyone who gets close gets sucked into his orbit.”
“Have you been able to discover what is happening?” Duratan frowned.
“No, the only thing I see is war.” The humor drained from Corvo’s face and his finger tapped nervously against the table. “A war on a scale that you can’t imagine.”
&
nbsp; Emerging from the lower decks, Thorn walked carefully up the steps to the quarterdeck where Earl Blaige was standing with the ship’s captain. The fat earl held a spyglass and was looking around with great interest. Hearing the stairs creak alarmingly, he swung himself around to see what was happening, the spyglass still held up to his eye.
“Ahhhhh!”
With a sharp shriek, Bothy dropped the spyglass and stumbled backward, badly startling the ship’s captain. Holding his hand to his chest, Bothy gave an embarrassed cough and shot a glance at Thorn after he had recovered.
“Ehem. Yes, Thorn, yes. Thank you for coming. I was just learning all sorts of fascinating things from the captain. It seems the ship uses some interesting magical runes that allow it to shorten the distance between ports. If you look into the distance you can see some of the distortion that the magic causes. I was just looking at it until I saw the most frightening nose.” By the end of his sentence, Bothy was practically muttering under his breath, but Thorn still caught the words with his sharp hearing. “But don’t worry about that. Come, follow me to my room. We have an attack plan to discuss.”
Waddling over to the stairs, the fat earl began to carefully make his way down them, holding tightly to the rail to avoid rolling down. Waiting patiently for him to finish descending, Thorn looked out at the horizon where Bothy had been looking with his spyglass. Though Thorn could not see as far, he could still see a faint haze on the horizon where the water and sky seemed to blend together. Noticing his gaze, the captain smiled and handed him the spyglass that Bothy had dropped.
“I don’t quite understand it myself, but the enchanters tell me that the runes bend the distance around the ship, allowing it to go extra fast even when it seems like we’re going at normal speed.”
“Interesting. Is that why we don’t feel a lot of wind?”