Umbra Online- Halgor's Horde

by K D Brand

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

  “My son, Colin,” she began, “he was playing in the road with some friends when he stumbled and fell into that open sewer grate. The children ran to tell me, but by the time I arrived, Colin was gone, the water having washed him away, I believe.”

  She pointed to a rusted grate not more than ten feet away. Several of the bars were snapped, leaving a sizable hole between them; plenty of room for someone to fall inside, or crawl if they were really determined to go sewerlunking. Scraps of cloth hung from the sharpened end of one of the jagged bars. Ty picked at the cloth, holding it up. There was a hint of brownish blood staining the material.

  “That’s a piece of his tunic. I recognize it. I hope he’s not hurt,” she cried. “Please, can you help find him and bring him back to me safely?”

  You have been offered the quest, Reek and Find, by Nettie. You must venture into the sewers of Altunn and rescue her child from the dangers below. Do you accept? Yes or no?

  Ty sighed and went over and examined the grate. The bitter stench of stagnant water and other less than pleasant smells assailed him. He took a step back, covering his wrinkled nose, undecided.

  Charice came over and grasped his shoulder with a strong hand. “Her boy is in grave peril. There are strange creatures that roam the sewers under Altunn. “You have to help her,” she demanded. “No one else can, only you.”

  Ty glared at Charice’s guilt trip, still catching whiffs of the funk rising up out of the sewer. “Of course, this is the quest I end up with. I should have gone for the dang wolves.” He snarled and turned to look at Nettie. “Yes…I guess I’ll save your child.”

  You have accepted a quest! There is a kindness in you…but don’t worry, we won’t tell anyone.

  Nettie muffled a squeal and threw herself at Ty, hugging him tight. “I knew you were a good person the moment I laid eyes on you. Thank you. Thank you!”

  When Ty finally pried the woman loose, he turned to face the NPCs. “Well, looks like we have a quest. We’d better get going before it’s too late.”

  Ty started toward the grate again, but none of the NPCs followed. Their absence was conspicuous. He paused and glanced back at them.

  “You all coming?”

  They shook their heads in unison.

  “Seriously? Why not?”

  Amon shook his head. “The sewers are a dangerous place,” he muttered. “No one who enters ever returns alive.”

  “But Charice there was all about me chasing after this kid a second ago!” Ty argued, glaring at the woman.

  She shrugged. “Someone must save the child,” she said. “I just feel that someone should be you.”

  “Besides, we have shops we must maintain,” Deven stated. “We cannot leave our businesses unattended and traipse about under the town.”

  “You mean like you have since you summoned me?” Ty shot back.

  Deven swallowed hard and glanced at the others as if he’d just realized they had already abandoned their stores. Amon and Charice stood there, rigid, clearly trying to process what should have been obvious to them already. The three of them shuffled in place.

  Ty growled, but it was clear the NPCs were programmed to avoid the sewers, and they would do whatever it took to keep from accompanying Ty.

  “Fine, I’ll go alone then,” he complained. “At least give me a sword.”

  “We don’t have—” Charice started, then cut herself off, remembering she did have a sword. “Sorry,” she muttered, unsheathing the weapon before passing it over.

  Ty took it and stuffed it under the rope to hold it in place. “Anyone got a lantern or a torch? I’m not exactly prepared for a romp in the dark.”

  “I’ve got some at my shop,” Charice said. “They sell ten for a copper.”

  “You’re seriously going to charge me after demanding I go save this kid and making me do it on my own?” Ty asked, hands raised in a WTF gesture.

  Charice stiffened, eyes widening. She gnawed at her bottom lip. “Uh…yeah, maybe that isn’t the most considerate way to go about it.” She started off, calling back over her shoulder before leaving, “I’ll return shortly.”

  Ty sucked in a deep breath and held it for several moments, finally letting it out in a slow whistle. Getting these guys to see reason is going to be a lot harder than I expected.

  He went over and examined the entry to the sewer while Charice was gone. It didn’t smell any better than it had a moment ago.

  A rusted ladder was affixed to the wall just beyond the grate, and it led down into the darkness. The quiet burble of water echoed within, and Ty heard the occasional splash. Cold chills ran down his spine every time he did.

  “Any idea what kind of creatures I’ll run into down there?” he asked. Having never done this particular quest, he could assume there would be rats, it being a sewer and all, but he figured it best to ask what else he might come across.

  “Hell if I know, boy,” Deven answered. “Guess you missed that part where no one comes out alive, huh? We don’t exactly get updates from the piss tunnels, you know.”

  Amon just shrugged when Ty glanced at him.

  “Don’t give up your day jobs,” Ty grumbled. “Neither of you has a future as a motivational speaker, I can tell you that.”

  Frustrated, he looked about to distract himself while he waited for Charice to return with a light source.

  The mother, Nettie, had stepped away and returned to her pacing in the road after Ty accepted her quest. It was as if she’d completely forgotten him already, despite what he was about to do for her and her child.

  It’s just a game, remember? he told himself. I can’t expect these NPCs to act like normal people. As real as they believe themselves to be, as real as they seem to be, they’re only what they’re programmed to be, even if they are flesh and blood.

  That realization didn’t make the woman’s sobs any less emotional. Ty wondered if his mother was doing the exact same thing right then, or if she had even noticed he was gone yet. If she had, there wouldn’t be anyone there to climb into a hole to go after him.

  He sighed, even more committed to rescuing Colin now…even if the little kid just up and gets himself lost again tomorrow when another player happens by.

  “Here!” Charice called out, trotting up to them, holding up a torch. Its oiled end was already lit, flames dancing as it caught air.

  Ty let out a relieved sigh at her return, glad at being distracted before he could slip into the rabbit hole of his emotions.

  Feelings bad…

  “Much better to slip into that rabbit hole over there,” he said to himself.

  “You know, I sometimes wonder if our summoning has damaged you in some fundamental way,” Amon told him. “I find you often make little sense. This is a sewer, not a hole where rabbits dwell.”

  Ty laughed at the irony. “I was just thinking the same thing, buddy.”

  He took the torch from Charice, careful not to light his hair on fire, drew in a calming breath, then slipped between the grate, settling on the ladder before risking climbing down.

  “I guess I’ll see you guys on the other side,” he said.

  “The other side of what?” Deven asked. “Is there another entrance? Should we wait for you there?”

  “You know what, never mind. I’ll be back as soon as I get the kid.”

  Committed to the quest, and knowing the NPCs weren’t going to be any more help than they’d already been—which was a whole lot of not at all—Ty clambered down the ladder.

  “Wish me luck,” he said.

  “That’s a strange thing to wish for,” Amon muttered.

  “Right!” Charice agreed. “Why not just wish for the kid back? Wouldn’t that be easier?”

  Ty sighed and slithered into the sewers. Right about then, he was kinda glad the NPCs had decided not to join him.

  And I thought J was annoying.

  Nine

  Rat-a-Pooey

  THE STENCH ONLY got worse the deepe
r Ty went.

  “I should have asked for something to cover my nose,” he mumbled, trying to breathe through his mouth to avoid the worst of the stink. “Or a towel. Never go anywhere without a towel.”

  He splashed down into the water and was immediately grateful for the boots he’d purchased from Oswald. They kept the nasty sewer water out, while he’d have been swimming in pools had he still been wearing his Converse.

  That, however, was little consolation. They did nothing to keep him from feeling the gooey ooze that squished beneath his feet. Every step was like wading through mud.

  And by mud, I mean poop.

  Ty took slow, steady steps to avoid splashing as he made his way down the sewer tunnel. The last thing he wanted to do was end up wearing the fetid, brackish crap water…oh, or alert anything to his presence.

  He remembered hearing the splashes while he waited on Charice, but he hadn’t yet seen any evidence of anything down there with him yet. He knew there would be, though.

  A quest guaranteed there would be monsters.

  Holding his breath as much as he could, Ty pushed on, wishing he had a better source of light than the torch. It barely illuminated the tunnels ten feet ahead of him, and all the flicking shadows had him on edge.

  It was amazing how different the game was from his perspective now. Ty had never known fear while playing UO before, but now, he was a part of the game, a living, breathing character inside its programmed walls. He had no idea what could happen to him.

  While he felt confident that he wouldn’t die in town, having unexpectedly tested that theory, did that same protection apply here in the sewers beneath Altunn?

  And if it didn’t? What would happen to him?

  His stomach knotted at the thought, and Ty shook the morbid uncertainty away and raised his torch for a better look at where he was going.

  That saved his life.

  There, not more than a few feet ahead of him, gleamed the sickly yellow eyes of a rat.

  Ty gasped and fumbled for his sword, the pommel caught up on the rope. The rat, if it could be called that, seeing how it was the size of a corgi, flung itself at him, jagged teeth barred.

  Fear lit the spark of instinct.

  Ty abandoned his efforts at pulling the sword free and grabbed the torch with both hands, as though he were holding a baseball bat. And then he swung.

  The rat darted in and caught a face full of fire for its efforts.

  +10 flame damage.

  It shrieked and stumbled back, whiskers going up in a flash, its pinkish nose charred black. Its ears shrunk back, pinned to its head as it shook off the effects of the blow. Ty could see it hunkering down, readying to come at him again.

  He reached for his sword again, this time managing to pull it free without any hassle. He’d barely raised the tip when the rat attacked again, warbled squeaks echoing through the tunnel as it hurled toward him.

  Ty, remembering his lesson from the goblin, turned head-on toward the rat and planted the pommel of his sword into his hip. The rat leaped…

  And impaled itself.

  +17 stabbing damage.

  You have killed a rat!

  You have earned +25 XP!

  Ty stumbled back as the rat’s weight hit him, its momentum driving the blade right into its mouth and through its body, the tip bursting free of the rat’s behind.

  The bitter funk of rat guts hit him, and he nearly lost his sword as gravity tugged the blade downward. The rat’s corpse slid off and splashed into the murky water below. It floated there a moment before drifting off on the slow current and vanishing.

  “That was nasty,” Ty muttered under his breath, the back of his sword hand covering his mouth. The blade dripped with rat bits, and he quickly moved it away, giving it a quick flick to shake the goo and guts off. It splattered into the muck at his feet, kicking up ripples.

  Ty took a moment to catch his breath, glad that none of the starter quests were on a timer and he could advance at his own pace. No matter how much he played the game, there was nothing natural about killing something, even if it was only a giant rat.

  Once he got his never back under control, he started off again. The quicker I find this kid, the quicker I can get out of this funky place.

  He splashed on, following the tunnel as it sloped to the right and seemed to stretch on forever. Unwilling to be caught off guard by another rat, he kept his torch high and his ears on high alert, pausing at every little drip of water to make sure nothing was coming at him.

  For all the good it did.

  A feral squeak erupted behind him, and Ty spun about, too late. A rat twice the size of the last one barreled into him. Sharp teeth flashed, scoring the leather of his jerkin, and driving him backward.

  Ty slipped, feet going out from under him. He screamed and fell into the muck with a splash, going under, the rat gnawing at him.

  The world went dark, and Ty vaguely heard the hiss of the torch as it hit the water, going out. The rat flailed on top of him, angrily slashing at Ty’s armor, trying to break past its meager defense.

  Ty struggled to breathe, trapped beneath the surface of the water. He thrashed and fought to reach the surface, breaking free and flinging the rat aside, only one thought on his mind.

  “Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!” he screamed. “It’s in my mouth!”

  He spit and nearly vomited, the taste of the sewer muck thick on his tongue, his overactive imagination reminding him—quite vividly—of exactly what it was that he had swallowed.

  “Oh, you are so dead you filthy, back-biting rodent!” he shouted at the rat as it scrambled to its feet and launched itself at Ty again.

  He whipped his sword around, having clung to it a with a death grip when he’d been knocked over, and swung it at the rat with all his might.

  Like the other one, its fearlessness more a liability than a blessing, it did nothing to avoid the weapon. And then its head was cut in half vertically, Ty’s blade sinking deep into its torso until getting stuck in the maze of the creature’s ribs.

  +25 slashing damage.

  You have killed a rat!

  You have earned +25 XP!

  Ty ignored the notifications and mouthed his sleeve, rubbing his tongue over the rough surface until it went numb and he could no longer taste the poop water.

  “This is the kind of thing that gives a guy PTSD,” he groaned. “I need hazard XP for this damn quest.”

  He glanced around to get his bearings and realized, to his surprise, he could still see, a shimmering light glowing in the distance down the tunnel. Unconsciously, he started toward it.

  With no way to re-light the torch, he left it where it floated in the muck and clutched to his sword with both hands. There was no way he was getting snuck up on again if it meant he had to drink sewer water.

  As he drew closer to the light, he heard a quiet whimpering drifting down the tunnel. He knew instinctively it was Colin.

  I’m coming, little man. Hold tight.

  Ty slowed, carefully watching every footstep to keep from alerting anyone, or anything, to his presence. He’d no clue as to what had taken the boy, but he was certain it would be something more dangerous than the rats, and they’d been bad enough.

  Finally, he came to a fork in the sewer, tunnels splitting in every direction. The light shined from the left, and the boy’s muffled weeping did, too.

  Not looking to be ambushed again, Ty took a moment to survey the other tunnels, making sure nothing was lying there in wait, before he started down the tunnel toward the boy. A short distance ahead, a small alcove sat off to the side of the tunnel, and Ty caught the flicker of movement from within, distorted by the dancing light of a small fire. He eased forward, angling to remain out of sight.

  Another sound joined that of the child—someone speaking—and Ty pressed his back against the wall and froze, struggling to listen over the sound of his beating heart.

  “Be quiet, boy,” a harsh, serpentine voice said. “You’ll draw the rats with
your whining…or something worse.”

  Yeah, let’s not do that, Ty thought.

  He inched closer, taking the tiniest, quietest steps he could possibly take to avoid splashing and making noise. He had no idea what he was facing, but he couldn’t imagine it would be easy given his complete lack of skills, muscles, good armor, a decent weapon, or pretty much everything else that made a PC a successful hero.

  A shape flashed before him, and Ty bit back a hiss, only realizing at the last second that it wasn’t something coming at him but the shadow of the man holding Colin hostage, the light casting it his way.

  Ty let out a silent sigh and clutched to his sword, his knuckles aching, tight on the pommel. Still unsure of what he would be facing down once he entered the alcove, he did his best to move silently and avoid drawing the man’s attention.

  Your efforts at stealth have failed!

  “Did you think I wouldn’t notice you?” the same serpentine voice from earlier asked.

  Ty groaned as a large, dark shape stepped out of the alcove and faced him down.

  “You know, I kinda was, yeah,” Ty replied. “Can we try again. You go back in your hole and wait for me to stab you in the back?”

  The man laughed and took a step forward, his features coming into the light.

  That’s when Ty realized that man was a generous description.

  Tall and thin, the naked thing was covered in a sheen of ratty fur, a patchwork of gray and black stripes. Jagged claws protruded from large, gnarled feet, and more claws jutted from the massive hands at the end of overly-long arms.

  Ty examined the creature, gaze drifting upward until settling on the jackal-like features that made up its face. Bright red eyes gleamed, and its large ears flickered, one turning almost sideways as though directing its hearing in the opposite direction. It bared yellow, ragged teeth his way.

  Ty’s pulse fluttered in the back of his throat. “Okay, I wasn’t expecting this.” He recognized the creature as a gnoll, a feral, dog-like race of beasts known for their ferocity.

  The creature grinned. “Come to try and steal my meal back?” it asked, chuckling, the sound like stones scraping together.