Openings

by Thomas Davidsmeier

  “Right, Lightning Skill it is then. I’m putting my 50% from my slow regular skill advancement into Weapons. Man, I wish my class got medium advancement like yours.”

  Chris looked back at his follower seriously. “I think we’ll get plenty of weapons practice over the next couple days. Maybe you’ll get some organic bumps like I did.”

  ***

  Because the valley took a dogleg to the south, it was actually faster for Olivia, Cato, and the Constable to walk up over the edge of the valley, across the stretch of wooded uplands where Olivia had run into the Shadow Elves, and then back down into the valley further on. They were over an hour into the hike when they came to a clearing beside a stream where a Shadow Elf was camped. Olivia was relieved that it was not the Mohawk one that had escaped the night before.

  This Shadow Elf had long, stringy, almost white hair. His skin was pale gray, and his eyes were dark. Across his back, he had slung a crossbow. At his hip, he had a long, curved blade, shorter than a sword and longer than a knife.

  Constable Kerjad was clearly restraining himself as they entered the clearing. He glared at Olivia with lowered eyebrows. Cato was reserved as always. But, Olivia noticed his hand slide down to the hilt of his sword.

  Does it always have to be violence? Olivia asked herself. She stepped forward toward the wary Shadow Elf.

  “Greetings, traveler. I am Olivia Jordan. These are my companions, Cato and Kerjad.” She left off the title Constable. No reason to worry the Shadow Elf with legal issues. “By what are you called?”

  “Mostly by names that are none to polite to tell a lady.” Laughing, the elf sat back on his heels, leaving the stick he had been tending the fire with in it. “But, if you must, call me Durrel.”

  The angst of the Constable was palpable on the back of Olivia’s neck. His displeasure was radiating off of him like heat from a glowing red poker. Olivia doubted herself for a moment. But, she was certain violence did not always have to be the answer. Sure, the Constable was a rough man and was used to rough means, but that did not mean that she had to use them.

  “Well met, Durrel. We are going to rid the valley of the giant spiders that poach the silk weavers worms.”

  Smiling a very toothy smile, Durrel answered, “Well, poachers are a vile lot, to be sure. I certainly wish you good fortune on your task.”

  “Thank you kindly for your well wishes. I notice that you are an armed man yourself. Would you care to hire your crossbow to our cause?”

  Olivia was sure that the heat of the Constable’s indignation jumped a hundred degrees behind her. She even felt Cato, who had slid a quarter of the way around the edge of the clearing, become tense.

  An appraising look came into Durrel’s eye. “Well, I am always on the hunt for a chance to do good and be rewarded for it. Let’s say ten gold pieces before and ten gold pieces after we succeed in getting rid of these noxious poaching beasties...”

  “That sounds reasonable to me, Durrel. I hope we find success that benefits us both.” Olivia reached into her inventory pouch and pulled out ten gold coins.

  As she moved forward to hand them to the Shadow Elf, the Constable moved with her, sliding around to the side opposite Cato. Both men watched Durrel like hawks watching a rabbit in a meadow.

  Yet, it seemed that Olivia was vindicated as Durrel accepted the coins peacefully and stowed them in a pouch at his belt. “Let me break my camp here and douse my fire, Mistress.”

  Kerjad subtly nudged Olivia’s elbow and glanced to the edge of the clearing. She followed him, ready to defend her decision as vociferously as she needed to.

  He said simply, “I will watch him as best I can.”

  Stunned by the Constable’s acceptance of a decision she was sure he did not agree with, Olivia could only manage to say, “Thank you, I’ll appreciate that.”

  Kerjad headed back to the middle of the clearing to ostensibly help Durrel break down his camp. Cato moved over to Olivia once the Constable was away. He leaned close in next to her, and she could feel his almost silent words breathed onto her ear. “I fear your lessons come dearly.”

  Olivia turned away as she felt her cheeks burn crimson. What kind of teacher was Cato supposed to be anyway? He should be supporting and encouraging his student, not casting doubt on her decisions. She started off down the path without saying another word.

  ***

  Giant spiders seemed to be a relative term. The first cluster of spiders they found was of the dog-sized variety. Not quite Shelob from Lord of the Rings to be sure. Over the previous hour of the hike, Olivia had asked the others if they had ever fought them before. No one had, but Cato knew they were weak against fire, and Durrel had killed one of about this size before with a single charged crossbow shot. Olivia had asked what he meant by charged shot.

  Durrel explained. “I am a Battlemage by training. At Level 2 as I am, I can use my mana to add magical damage to my weapons. So, it was both the damage of the bolt and the spell that did in the spider I killed.”

  Kerjad nodded, “Right. So, perhaps two strikes from a regular weapon.”

  Durrel added, “Best to stay close and not let them swarm anyone if they outnumber us.”

  “Bows will be difficult to use if we are too close,” observed Cato.

  “We’ve all got something to mash with, don’t we?” asked the Shadow Elf. “Especially Kerjad here. That war club looks like a mean splinter of wood if you ask me. Probably not a ‘regular’ weapon at all, I’d reckon.”

  Kerjad lifted his chin a little in acknowledgement of the Shadow Elf’s assessment, though he resisted the urge to brag about his favored weapon.

  Olivia was forced to admit, “Wizards don’t typically... mash...where I’m from. But, I’ll stick in right behind everyone and hit whatever targets open up to me.”

  So, they moved in on the cluster of spiders that were inhabiting one large pine tree. Olivia decided to use Ice damage in her Evocations because Lightning or Fire might start the forest burning. That would do in more silk worms than the spiders ever could.

  The Constable looked around the group and asked, “Anyone care to pray with me before we begin?”

  Cato answered by just moving next to Kerjad. Olivia nodded eagerly. Maybe God would miraculously cure her arachnophobia before the fight?

  Durrel demurred. “I’m not much for organized religion.”

  Olivia wondered how organized an impromptu prayer kneeling in the pine straw really was, but she told herself, “To each his own,” and bowed her head.

  As they finished their prayer, Olivia felt a flood of warmth and well-being fill her. She thanked God for it and took her place.

  The frontline fighters took out their melee weapons and propped them up or jabbed them into the ground. Then, Kerjad and Cato nocked arrows, and Durrel tugged back his crossbow and dropped a bolt into the slot. The Shadow Elf got down on one knee to steady the crossbow, and waited.

  Hiding her nerves as best as she could, Olivia pushed a stray wisp of hair back over her ear and asked the others, “Ready?”

  Slight nods were all the response she got.

  So, she pointed at the cobweb wrapped mass in the tree. A little too loudly, she shouted, “Snow Cone of Death!”

  The end of her finger pulsed blue and jagged orbs of ice launched through the air, leaving magical, glowing streaks behind them. The orbs shattered on the cobwebs, and the battle was on. Huge spiders began pouring out of the bottom of the ten-foot-wide web blob. About half of them were glowing blue and going slowly. Olivia’s ice had done its job.

  Once she saw the spiders, Olivia’s vision began to contract. The outside edges of what she could see went gray. Her chest felt incredibly heavy, and she thought she might be at the bottom of a well or something. She could not hear anything, and she certainly was not paying any attention to the text updates from the Game on the bottom third of her vision.

  Oblivious to the sounds of the arrows singing off the bow strings, Olivia just tried to pick targ
ets that were still moving and hit them with ice orbs. There were a million spiders. They were coming at her in a wave, a giant tsunami of arachnodeath. The three figures of the men in front of her seemed to shrink away and disappear as the onslaught of eight-legged doom rolled toward her.

  Only one sound managed to penetrate the haze that was enveloping Olivia. It was the piercing screeches the spiders were constantly making. If she had realized that it was their death cry, it might have reassured her. Instead, she thought it was the sound of them summoning their friends to come and suck the juices out of her eyes and her brain out of her skull.

  Suddenly, the screeching stopped. Olivia was gasping for breath, fighting to keep her feet stuck in the cement they felt like they were in. A few more moments and she would have broken and ran, she was sure of it.

  Cato and Kerjad both moved forward smashing and slashing bodies to confirm their extermination. Durrel bent over and picked up his crossbow from where he had dropped it to change weapons.

  “That wasn’t too bad at all. How many of these do we need to take out?” He asked as he looked up at Olivia.

  She could not answer right away. But, she thought that was no excuse for the way he started looking at her. Why were his eyes getting wide. What was he doing with his crossbow now?

  Olivia could not even comprehend that ducking would be a good idea when Durrel raised his crossbow and shot at her. Kerjad gave a shout and leapt at the Shadow Elf. The bolt whistled out, a halo of magical fire engulfing it.

  Olivia flinched.

  The bolt flew over her shoulder.

  She heard a whoosh of flames and one last screech behind her.

  Durrel had dropped his crossbow again and had his hands up. Kerjad had his cudgel under the battlemage’s chin, tipping his head up.

  Indignant, the black clad elf spat out his defense, “I could have let that spider munch on our fearless leader, but I thought you might rather I didn’t.”

  Kerjad looked over to where he expected to see Olivia’s flaming corpse and was relieved to find the wizard standing there in one piece. She was looking over her shoulder at something on the ground.

  Cato bounded over gracefully, and stabbed the spider that was there with his sword. The taciturn elf warrior was practically effusive. “Thank you, Durrel. Good shooting.”

  Everyone relaxed as they finished making certain none of the spiders survived.

  Fighting down the a sudden wave of nausea that came crashing at her after her adrenaline wore off, Olivia tried to compose herself. Living a video game was completely different from what she had expected when Haliel had described all this back in the cafeteria. Still, she was eager to know if she had contributed anything besides increased drama. Olivia asked, “Did the ice actually help?”

  “Yes,” replied Cato as he wrapped a bite in his forearm with a bandage. “The slow ones were much easier to hit.”

  The others agreed, and it was decided that they would continue with the same process on the next cluster they found. Durrel even apologized for using fire on the one he shot behind Olivia. “‘Twas a reaction only. That is my best element for damage.”

  They spread out and chose their direction of travel based on how many webs they saw. Always heading toward the most webs lead them across three more clusters over the next four hours. Each went similarly to the first, though Olivia reacted better and better each time.

  About six miles from the first cluster on the edge of the valley the ground became rocky and the forest began breaking up. Here, they found the largest mass of webs yet. In a steep side valley that cut into a tall ridge, a mass of webs stuck to the stone and trees on the valley walls.

  “That thing is bigger than my house,” gasped Olivia. “I mean, we are crammed into a three bedroom ranch. My dad doesn’t make as much in Christian pub... I just mean, that’s a lot of spider webs. Do you think it means there’s more spiders, or that they’re bigger?”

  Durrel grinned. “There’s only one way to find out, right? I think that spot up on the other ridge facing it is as good a place as any. We’ll be able to shoot down on them a little easier. High ground is alway better in my opinion.”

  No one could find anything to object to in the suggestion. So, they climbed up the steep, rocky side of the ridge that faced across a valley up into the little side valley full of webs. About halfway up the forty-foot-tall ridge, there was a little ledge of sorts. There they started clearing the ground of stones and anything that could cause them problems.

  Concerned, Olivia asked, “Where should I stand? There’s not really space for me to be behind you?”

  “Not so, Lady.” Durrel was piling some stones up just off the front edge of the ledge. He stepped on his new chunk of ledge and made sure it was steady. “This end has space for two now, though it will be a little tight. I use a smaller weapon than these other noble fellows. I’ll stand in front and you can peek out and launch your spells as you see fit.”

  “Sounds like a plan. Let me know when everyone is ready, and I’ll launch some ice orbs.”

  Kerjad looked at Cato and Olivia and asked, “Would you pray with me again?”

  Scrunching together and kneeling, the three elves prayed while Durrel jumped down onto the hillside and wedged some more rocks into his impromptu addition to their ledge. Olivia welcomed the familiar sense of goodness and well-being. She wished Durrel would at least try praying with them. Making a mental note of it, she told herself to talk to him about it after the battle.

  When everyone had moved into position and nodded their readiness, Olivia opened the battle. Her ice spell slammed into the front wall of the web blob, and large spiders came out. These were bigger than any they had fought before. Bodies almost three feet long, and legs that spanned six feet as they scuttled down the opposite ridge and across the bottom of the valley.

  All of the men launched their projectiles. They reloaded and fired again. Olivia sent another set of Ice orbs flying. Finally, they heard screeches among the herd of arachnids streaming out of their web home.

  Cato and Kerjad turned to put their bows down and pick up their melee weapons. Durrel took one more shot with his crossbow, and then turned awkwardly beside Olivia in the tight space. He reached back and set his crossbow down.

  But then, as she thought he was reaching for his blade, he actually wrapped his arm around her slender waist, and in one swift motion, heaved her over the front of the ledge.

  Olivia screamed as the hillside rushed up toward her face. She reacted by shouting, “Tin Can of Olives!” Her Mage Armor spell fired off and wrapped her in a cocoon of magical forces. How she managed to think to do it, she would never quite understand.

  Bouncing down the side of the ridge, she saw a combination of rocks, trees, sky, and text updates indicating the amount of damage her Mage Armor had left before it winked out of existence.

  Coming to rest in the middle of the valley, Olivia picked up her rattling head and looked straight into the Eight Eyes of Death as she had always imagined them. She screamed and pushed herself up and back. Only as she took her first step back, she kicked into something hard and hairy. Spinning, she jumped and twisted to try to get away from yet another massive arachnid.

  They had noticed her. Turning toward her, a half dozen or more inhuman gazes focused on the two-eyed stranger in their midst. Olivia saw a myriad of her reflections from all directions in beady little spider eyes. Some rather logical and disjoint part of her mind informed her that the real number of reflections had to be a multiple of eight. This fact really did not help her.

  Up on the ledge, Kerjad had only seen Olivia go tumbling out of the corner of his eye. Durrel had immediately reached after her and swiped his arms back and forth like he was trying to catch her. “Fool! You didn’t need to lean out for an extra shot!”

  The Constable shouted, “I’ll go after her!”

  Durrel replied, “No, you won’t.”

  Pointing a finger at the other two elves, Durrel cast a Lightning Bolt
through both of them. “You’re going to be stunned too long.” He turned to pick his crossbow back up so that he could finish off Olivia. He never got the chance.

  Kerjad pounced like a lion on the Shadow Elf’s back. Grabbing him by the collar and belt, the Constable heaved Durrel and himself off the front of the ledge. Wrestling the surprised elf in air was easy. Landing on top of him was fairly soft for the Constable as well. It did not go so well for the Shadow Elf.

  Pulling, twisting, and yanking, Kerjad managed to get another solid tumble and smash landing in on Durrel before they came to rest in the middle of the oncoming arachnids. Olivia was standing with her back to them, her Mage Armor barely in place, three spiders clawing and biting at her screaming form.

  The Shadow Elf’s light hair and skin was discolored with blood and dirt, but his eyes were still bright. He hissed, “This should be enough to get the both of you.”

  Sticking his hand up right in Kerjad’s face, Durrel cast a fireball. The detonation clapped like miniature thunder, and the flames whooshed into a raging, spherical inferno.

  The sounded echoed off the rock walls of the valley. The flames rushed outward and then up, curling under themselves as their thermal updrafts sucked them along. As the smoke cleared, there was a ring of charred spider corpses around the three elves. Durrel gasped as he looked up at a barely scorched Kerjad. Twisting his gaze over, hoping for at least one out of two, he was sorely disappointed by a panting, but uninjured Olivia. Her Mage Armor was long gone though.

  Kerjad was the first to speak. “How did you survive?”

  “Fireproof armor. Took it off an elf ranger at Level 1 during a raid. That’s why I took the Light Armor skill. How about you? And why weren’t you stunned?”

  “Figured as much. Knew you were a wizard and not a battle mage. That’s why I’ve been casting Resistance during our pre-battle prayers each time. Been waiting for you to try something.”

  “Resistance? How does a Man-at-Arms have Resi... Oh.”

  “That is correct. I’m a Priest. Nothing says a Constable has to be a warrior class.”