I shrugged uncertainly as if I didn’t know the answer to her question.
“Hard to say how I saw you. Maybe the crushed grass gave you away. Maybe it was your scent,” I breathed deeply. “Yeah, I can smell those insect repellent herbs. Maybe you made some noise too. Or maybe I just thought you might be lonely and bored tonight and wanting to talk. Whatever the reason, I decided you were probably here.”
“I never get lonely or bored!” Avelia objected, but still sat down by the fire.
The girl looked at the yawning holes in her catsuit. Hard to say in the dark, but I think she blushed and was even considering turning invisible again. It seemed the Swordmaiden had forgotten the state of her clothes after their wearer died to the night beasts.
“Cook those mushrooms you got on the fire if you’re hungry,” I suggested, to distract the girl. “You told me about your customs, so I won’t offer you any food. Although there’s meat over there on those sticks, and some jelly made of red berries in that flask. I don’t know what they’re called. I can turn away if you prefer. Your traditions don’t stop you from enjoying loot carefully stolen while I’m not looking, right?”
My words seemed to amuse Amelia. Her face cracked into a grin and she laughed. She had a nice laugh.
“You’re funny, Sergeant! No, our customs don’t stop us eating food stolen from other races. Thank you for the… unusual offer. But no, I’m not hungry. Maybe another time.”
That was definitely a win. I tried to build on it:
“By the way, we found your crossbow on the river island. It’s somewhere in Shelly’s bags now. We’ll leave it behind before we go, so you can take it back.”
“You didn’t happen to find anything else, did you?” the girl asked quickly. “I lost a belt bag with a few trinkets in it.”
“Not that I heard. But if you need a needle and thread, I can lend you one. Or, if that contradicts those customs of yours, take it yourself. It’s in the side pocket in my backpack,” I pointed at the backpack lying by the fire. “If I can help with anything else, let me know. I might have what you need.”
The Swordmaiden unclasped the pocket on the rucksack, dug around and found my sewing kit with a needle and black thread. She looked thoughtful for a moment.
“I need the firelight. Turn around! And don’t look!”
I turned away. But the kitten sitting on my shoulder continued to stare at the girl as she stripped naked, judging by the sounds of zippers opening. Lucky bastard! I bet it was quite a sight.
Avelia spent twenty minutes sewing up her clothes. I spent the whole time looking the other way, across the river. Katy was catching fish again for her blinded mate. Tick-Tock greedily ate everything she brought him.
“Here, Sergeant,” the sherkh girl handed me the needle and thread and I put it away. “You really helped me out. Now turn around again. I’m going to accept your offer and eat. I warn you, do not look! Or else I’ll have to kill you!”
* * *
Avelia ended up taking back her crossbow herself. Shelly found me in the morning by the fire where I’d been sleeping under my pets’ guardianship. She shook me awake and said someone had dug through her things in the night up in the tree and stolen the stylish pistol crossbow. At first she blamed Jerry — the kid had been caught stealing cutlery from the kitchen and a few other things, but he insisted he hadn’t taken anything this time, and even let Shelly search him. I calmed down my girlfriend, told her that the crossbow had returned to its rightful owner who had been wandering the river meadow last night.
Then I sent her off to wake up all the groups — we had a long hike ahead of us, and we needed to get it done before nightfall. I went off to check on my pets. I got a nice surprise at the river bank: Tick-Tock the creeping crocodile had leveled up to eighty! He’d healed all his wounds and his blindness was gone. The twenty-foot river giant was resting his snout on the back of his happy mate. The content couple basked in the sand, yawning lazily. As well as I could, I tried to explain to my creeping crocodiles that their job was to rest, eat their fill of fish and stay put for a couple of days. The order seemed to match the creeping crocodiles’ own plans perfectly. I even got a level-up:
Taming skill increased to level fifty-seven!
We were ready surprisingly quickly, and we set off on our journey with the first rays of the sun. The people were emboldened — the calm night gave them hope and showed them that the new world could be beautiful.
Julie led Atlas, who had been easy enough to wake up and convince to uncurl himself. I was still atop the Marsh Mistress, with Shelly keeping me company on the seven-legged monster’s back. The veich Rider was in a fun and playful mood today, making me blush with a few suggestive comments and hinting at a desire to spend the next night together. She admonished me for staying by the fire all night, too, instead of climbing up into the branches; Julie and Jerry slept soundly, and she and I could have had a fun night.
Our group climbed up to a big waterfall, crossed the river and headed east. The region was hilly and bare of trees. Maybe our long-tailed guide had mixed something up, or our group was moving faster than we expected when we planned the hike. After four hours, we saw the forcefield on the horizon, flowing with all colors of the rainbow. The settlers livened up, decided they didn’t need a break after all; they were all eager to go out into the big wide world full of mystery and opportunity.
We saw the ruins of an old tower in the distance, which would normally have invited interest in explorers of a new world, but not now. Forward, only forward! The humans hurried, walking faster faster. And within a couple of hours, there we were, standing at the top of a steep slope, with the forcefield gleaming and humming at its foot ahead of us. A meadow of colorful wildflowers stretched out beyond the translucent barrier. Far ahead, I could see an emerald-green forest, then hills behind it. Gigantic white birds wheeled above it all. A huge world full of endless possibility, secrets and mysteries stretched out before us. I had to admit, I envied the settlers headed there. I’d have gladly gone through the barrier with them, but much to my disappointment, my level was too low.
The settlers passed through the forcefield one by one, passing Viking and Yarik as they counted off each group member. They were good, judicious and hardworking people. I’d only known them a day, but I had a good impression of them already. I believed they could make it.
“Bye, Sergeant! We’ll wait for you to level up and come through to us!” Nonna Avetician waved me good-bye.
“See you soon, Uncle Beast Catcher! Bye, Shelly! Come see us with your kitty!” freckled ginger Jerry said as he went, the last of the settlers to walk through the forcefield.
And then, when the only ones left on our side were those with no intention of leaving, something unexpected happened. Yarik and Viking suddenly rushed at my furry companion, grabbed her and… shoved her through the barrier! My girlfriend’s frightened cry cut off sharply as soon as she flew through the forcefield. It all happened in a second. I had no time to react, and now I was standing with my mouth open, not knowing what to do.
“Nothing personal, Sergeant! I just want to sleep soundly at Rumbler’s Refuge,” Viking said with a mean chuckle.
“That was the condition from the leaders of the river village: if we want to stay, we have to take the excess people to the barrier and get rid of the furry bitch too. She shouldn’t be living with humans. Let her catch up to her own! Hey, Sergeant, don’t be an idiot! Put away the axe!”
But I didn’t hear him. A red haze filled my vision. I was ready to kill those bastards! But the two strong players, each at least twice my level, were expecting me to attack and had planned what to do. Viking grabbed my sister by the arm, dragged Julie close and put a knife to her throat:
“Just try calling your spider and your sister dies! Throw down the axe!”
Damn… I threw away my weapon and froze, fearing to move a muscle. The ginger cat on my shoulder howled his disapproval. Something happened. Viking twitched, looked i
n confusion first at me, then at the cat. I took hold of myself, made my decision and spoke to thin air:
“Avelia, help!”
An instant later, Viking’s arm flew off, still clenching the knife and spraying droplets of blood in flight. Another second and Yarik howled in pain, a crossbow bolt sticking out of his left shin. Now free, Julie jumped away, but suddenly turned and stabbed Viking twice in the leg with her short harpoon.
“That’s for Shelly! And this is for me!”
This was the first time Julie had used her little harpoon since I made it for her. While both the traitors writhed in pain, I threw them through the forcefield one after another.
“You promised to go through with those people and help them build a new house. Keep your word!”
Shelly stood on the other side of the translucent boundary, beating her fists against the impenetrable barrier and shouting something. At least, her mouth was open, her lips moved, but I couldn’t understand a thing; I’d never been able to read lips.
“She says: ‘Find me in this world, Sergeant,’ Avelia translated for me, staying hidden.
“I’ll find you!” I promised, placing my palm on Shelly’s on my side of the barrier.
She understood me, smiled. Then turned and ran past the humans as they crowded around the wounded fighters. I turned away too. Someone was going to pay dearly for separating us!
End of Book One
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Testeur de contenu (Le Sombre Herboriste Volume 1) Série LitRPG
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Aces High (Reality Benders Book #6) LitRPG Series
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A Cat and His Human (League of Losers Book #1) LitRPG Series
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by Vasily Mahanenko
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Video Game Plotline Tester (The Dark Herbalist Book #1)
Stay on the Wing (The Dark Herbalist Book #2)
A Trap for the Potentate (The Dark Herbalist Book #3)
Finding a Body (The Dark Herbalist Book #4)
Reality Benders LitRPG Series:
Countdown (Reality Benders Book #1)
External Threat (Reality Benders Book #2)
Game Changer (Reality Benders Book #3)
Web of Worlds (Reality Benders Book #4)
A Jump into the Unknown (Reality Benders Book #5)
Aces High (Reality Benders Book #6)
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Captive of the Shadows (The Fairy Code Book #1)
by Kaitlyn Weiss
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About the Author
MICHAEL ATAMANOV was born in 1975 in Grozny, Chechnia. He excelled at school, winning numerous national science and writing competitions. Having graduated with honors, he entered Moscow University to study material engineering. Soon, however, he had no home to return to: their house was destroyed during the first Chechen campaign. Michael’s family fled the war, taking shelter with some relatives in Stavropol Territory in the South of Russia.
Having graduated from the University, Michael was forced to accept whatever work was available. He moonlighted in chemical labs, loaded trucks, translated technical articles, worked as a software installer and scene shifter for local artists and events. At the same time he never stopped writing, even when squatting in some seedy Moscow hostels. Writing became an urgent need for Michael. He submitted articles to science publications, penned news fillers for a variety of web sites and completed a plethora of technical and copywriting gigs.
Then one day unexpectedly for himself he started writing fairy tales and science fiction novels. For several years, his audience consisted of only one person: Michael’s elder son. Then, at the end of 2014 he decided to upload one of his manuscripts to a free online writers resource. Readers liked it and demanded a sequel. Michael uploaded another book, and yet another, his audience growing as did his list. It was his readers who helped Michael hone his writing style. He finally had the breakthrough he deserved when the Moscow-based EKSMO - the biggest publishing house in Europe - offered him a contract for his first and consequent books.
Michael is now the author of three bestselling LitRPG series: Perimeter Defense , The Dark Herbalist and Reality Benders which are already considered the classics of LitRPG.
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A Cat and His Human (League of Losers Book #1): LitRPG Series Page 33