Cryo Knight

by Tim Johnson

  Darkstar Blade: Strength +10

  Now he was finally level 9 he could also equip the Goblin Lord’s armor. It gave him a healthy armor boost of +149.

  He equipped it and looked at himself in the mirror.

  The armor was a dark bronze and where there had been small glowing green gems encrusted in it, they now shone blue. It matched his Darkstar Blade well.

  Like they can sense my ice affinity.

  He would have been happier if the circumstances were different.

  He paced the room as he thought.

  Now Sark had Arnook on his side, will he let us out of these cells? Or is this it? Solitary confinement until Sark has found a way to trap my uncle or force open the gate to our world.

  Then what?

  Christian weighed out his options.

  If I were to die now, I would re-emerge in the spawning dungeons. From there perhaps I can try to get back here, free Alexia and together we could make a run for it.

  He looked out of his window. Dawn was poking out from the horizon, bathing his room in a pinkish glow.

  He equipped the Darkstar Blade and turned it in his hands.

  A hard stab to the heart and it would be over. That’s how it worked here, right?

  It didn’t seem like the soldier’s way. But he was trapped, and this could be a way to freedom. This way the tables would turn, and it would put him back in control. No longer boxed up.

  He unequipped his new armor and held the sword and turned the blade round to face his heart, the tip pressing against the skin of his chest.

  I can’t believe I’m about to do this.

  He swallowed. “Three, two, one.”

  He tried to shove the blade into his heart.

  And couldn’t.

  He tried again. Nothing. He could get a pressure against the skin, but his muscles went slack as he tried to push the blade in.

  You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.

  Incensed, he tried to slash his wrists, but the skin wouldn’t break. The sharp edge of the sword seemed dulled against them.

  Jesus Christ. It’s the game mechanics. I can’t kill myself. There must be another way.

  He unequipped the blade and looked from the window to the glowing hearth. The window was barred and too small to throw himself out of. His chamber pot led to a gutter which was also too small to fit down. But the hearth might work. He could try and smash up furniture to make more wood, then stoke up the fire enough and put his head in—

  He winced at the idea. He had a horrible feeling it would be all the pain and none of the result. Just then there was a bang on the door and the key clunked in the lock.

  What the hell? I heard no footsteps.

  He watched as Kit pulled back the cell door. The smiling samurai helm covered his face, he pulled it off and let his white hair tumble loose.

  Christian watched him silently.

  Kit took a long look at Christian’s topless form. He nodded with a smile, spinning the door keys on one finger. “Very nice,” he said.

  Christian could smell the drink on him from where he was standing.

  Why is Kit coming to my room, wasted out of his mind?

  “What do you want?” Christian said.

  “It took me quite the bribe to get these keys from Kari you know. I have to have them back before the clock strikes six or she’ll send half the garrison down on us,” Kit said softly. “I thought you might want a little company after what happened today.”

  The small smile on Kit’s lips told Christian what was happening. Wow.

  “Absolutely not,” Christian said.

  Kit pursed his lips, annoyed. “Come on. You think you fooled anyone with that little ruse by Arnook’s cavern with the witch? Word is out that the Astral Diamond went missing after the raid. I know it wasn’t any of Sark’s mages. Which leaves you or the witch, or you and the witch? I’ll promise not to tell, if you keep our meeting in here between us too.

  Kit came closer and laid his palm against Christian’s shoulder. “I get it, you want to be recompensated for these trials and an Astral Diamond will set you up nicely in Valeria, once your world’s gone down in flames. I won’t tell, Christian, but this has to stay between us too.”

  Oh god.

  “I’m sure you can get all the action you want in this kingdom. Go bother another prisoner.”

  “You’re saying you don’t want company, after being alone in this room, for all this time?”

  “I’ve always been a lone wolf.”

  “Oh, me too,” Kit said. “But even lone wolves need to pack up sometimes.”

  “Only to take down our enemies,” Christian said, then more quietly, “We are both wanderer’s Kit. We share an enemy right here right now. We could partner–against him. I could really use your help.”

  Kit’s eyes turned hard. “You won’t ever beat Sark, Christian. You don’t understand what he can do.”

  “I understand what he’s trying to do, he’s trying to destroy our world, just like he destroyed yours.”

  “My world was already destroyed; it was destroyed by cruelty, greed and spite even before Sark stepped foot in it. I told you – I was a slave in my world,” Kit’s silver eyes flashed. “A slave. The things they made me do. If you had seen what I had seen and if people had done to you what they did to me, you wouldn’t be so fast judge.

  “And the wanderers were doing worse to the Valerians, for when they were here the meanest people were meaner. The cruelest crueler. I had a chance to stop the cycle. Sark created me and raised me up. I was nothing until I was in Valeria – he made me strong.”

  “You are strong,” Christian said. “You’re strong and you did what you thought was right, I get that. I understand why you would want revenge, but my world isn’t yours. It’s not all bad. It’s worth saving.”

  “You might think so. I’ve heard the stories of the Artificer, the travelling warrior who has helped all he has crossed. Sure. Until more of your people invade Valeria and they come back again and again. I’ve seen it happen firsthand. I was killed for pleasure. Now, I serve Lord Sark. His will is my will.”

  “How is that different from being a slave?”

  Within a flash Kit was on him, his hand around Christian’s throat. Despite his slightness, Kit was a level 28 and so much stronger than Christian. He crushed Christian’s throat with ease.

  “How dare you,” Kit said through gritted teeth.

  Christian had both hands to Kit’s, pulling them apart with all his strength. Kit let him go and Christian dropped to the ground, choking in air.

  He looked up to see Kit’s eyes filled with tears. “You should have seen their faces,” he said. “The Emperor thought it was only him, that he was so bloody special to have the sacred key to the threshold. What he didn’t know was that I had shone in battle, developed under Sark’s tutelage and, as a level fifteen, was strong enough to open the threshold myself. Sark showed me how. A slave with the key to the greatest palace of all; his home world.

  “With Sark we tore open the threshold and marched through, with an army of Demons at our backs. Yes, I destroyed my world. But I had to, because I saved this one. I regret nothing Christian. Nothing.”

  God damn.

  “Then why don’t you open ours?” Christian croaked. “You’re a higher level than fifteen now.”

  Kit looked at him like he was an idiot. “Because I can’t. It’s not my world. That is what you are to do Christian. Are you stupid? Why do you think you are here?”

  Christian rubbed his throat, realizing the enormity of what Kit had just revealed. “I’ll never do that,” he said. “With your help it wouldn’t come to that.”

  “It shall and you will, Christian, you just don’t realize it yet.”

  Kit cursed and left, closing Christian’s cell door behind him.

  So, a level 15 wanderer can open the portal plinth themselves.

  The final piece of the puzzle slammed together.

  Sark needs us at a
high enough level to activate the portal plinth home. Then he doesn’t need the key.

  Christian’s next thought was to tell Alexia. He waited a few hours until he was sure the coast was clear and carefully removed the block. He told Alexia everything that Kit had just said.

  “We’ve got to find a way to escape,” was her response.

  “But not yet,” Christian said. “Kit was a level fifteen, that gives us time. Sark needs to get us stronger. We need to play this game and earn his trust to get enough freedom to escape.”

  “How can we earn his trust if we are locked up day and night?”

  “He’ll come for us.”

  Christian knew Sark would. He could wait.

  22

  It was another three days before the door to his room was finally opened. Christian was doing his morning workout, cranking out push-ups.

  He had to squint against the light from the corridor to see the silhouette of Sulfur and his men. All of them had their swords drawn.

  Christian stood up, shirtless and sweating, muscles pumped. “What do you want?”

  “We have a quest and thought the fresh mountain air would do you and Alexia some good.”

  Because you need us to level up.

  “After locking us up for a week?”

  Sulfur shrugged. “We locked you up as we’ve been busy with a certain Fire Demon. A century of news is an awful lot to update someone on. You can stay here though, I’m sure we will have another quest in a month or so. I really don’t care.” He spun his finger and one of his men went to close the door.

  “Wait,” Christian growled.

  He stepped forward. Equipping his new armor as he did and sheathing Darkstar in its scabbard at his side. “I’ll come.”

  Sulfur gave him a smile. “Well look who has a new look. There’s a good boy.”

  They made it down to the courtyard. Alexia was being handed a full quiver of arrows. She gave him a small smile as she affixed her bow.

  We are still in this together and that’s something.

  Their horses were prepped and ready to go. This time Kit was with them; he avoided Christian’s gaze. Kari and the Viking were also all mounted and ready to go. They were all dressed warmly, wearing cloaks, and he could see thick padding under their armor.

  An old shaggy mule was led to Christian by the stable hand.

  He looked up at Sulfur seated on his stallion. “A mule?”

  Sulfur looked down at him, his big face creasing into a smile. “Well, you proved you couldn’t be trusted with even an old mare, Christian, what do you expect me to do?”

  “Where is my sabretooth?” Christian said.

  “Your sabretooth? Oh goodness. No, no, no. Lord Sark’s Sabretooth is being re-trained for use by Lord Sark’s army,” Sulfur said. “Though, if you ask me, they’d be better off using it to make a nice rug than risking their lives with that creature.”

  Christian climbed on his mule as the courtyard gate cranked up and they trotted out. He pressed the mule ahead up to where Sulfur was riding. “Where are we going?”

  Sulfur flicked his eyes to Christian. Christian half expected him to blow him off with a snide remark, but instead he lifted his gloved finger to the South where frost-capped mountains jutted up in the distance.

  “Up there. The Frontier Mountains mark the edge of Sark’s lands, though we will soon hold all that lie beyond. Our scouts have been going missing. Perhaps there are bandits hiding up in those snowy cliffs, perhaps a Snow Lion or an Ice Drake. Anyway, our job is to investigate and kill whoever or whatever is interfering with Lord Sark’s work.”

  Quest: Investigate the Frontier Mountains.

  Lord Sark’s men have been going missing, killed or suffered a worse fate. Discover the cause of the disappearances post haste.

  Christian nodded, this was a line of work he knew well.

  They trekked all day. The going was mostly flat and open prairie, easy for horse and rider alike, though Christian could see a fringe of dark trees underneath the mountains. By the time they had reached the edge of the forest, night had drawn in.

  “We’ll make camp here,” Sulfur said. He sent Kari and Alexia to hunt. The rest of the team chopped wood.

  Before long they were sitting round a roaring fire with several rabbits on spits and wild onions roasting in their skins. Their faces reflected the orange tint from the flames. Their cloaks were drawn up against the cold, close around their necks.

  Kit was one side of him, in a deep squat, turning the rabbits carefully and Kari on the other, slowly sharpening her dagger with a long shhhtck sound. Sulfur was across from him, the shadows enlarging his harsh features. Alexia was in-between Sulfur and the Viking, who was laying out his bedroll.

  It was a clear night; the sky was filled with the sparkle of unfamiliar stars. Christian had been with his men on nights like this.

  They had camped in the Altai Mountains, getting the town’s engineer to an ancient old-world hydro power station powered by a river. Got it working too. The electricity it had provided the town gave it some independence from the republics. They had been overjoyed and treated them to an impromptu street party of vodka and hard Altai sweet cakes under the flickering electric lights.

  A howl from the forest brought him back to the present and the horses whinnied uneasily.

  He felt like someone was watching him, and realized Alexia was staring at him through the fire. Christian held her gaze. She didn’t look away, but the corner of her mouth lifted slightly.

  Despite being with Sulfur and his men, it feels good to be out of their cells. Getting stronger together and with the Astral Diamond in our possession.

  Sulfur flicked a stick into the flames. “When I was a boy, I used to live by the forest,” he said, absentmindedly staring into the fire. “Smelt just like this. My father used to take my sister and I camping. But…” He seemed to drift off, his eyes flinching at some old memory. When they lifted and met Christian’s they were cold and hard.

  Sark’s story crashed into Christian’s mind. The boy whose father and sister were killed by the wanderer. Is that Sulfur?

  He thought again of Sark’s story. Can I use this? Christian thought. Do I have the key to the weakness of this man?

  23

  The next morning, they packed up, passed through the forest and begun to trek up the mountain. The air was thick and cold.

  Snow.

  Christian watched it melt through his gloves as he rubbed his fingers together. It wasn’t sticking at this altitude, but he could see just a little further up, the mountain was thick with it. He could see the chill bite at the others as they wrapped their cloaks tighter, but it didn’t bother him at all.

  If anything, the coldness felt fresh and seemed to invigorate him.

  A notification bell rung, and golden script traced across his vision.

  Passive Effect: Cold Stoic.

  A cold heart for cold deeds.

  +5% health regeneration while in cold environments.

  +5% damage dealt while in cold environments.

  -5% damage received while in cold environments.

  The cold makes me tougher, stronger and harder to kill. He squeezed the snow into his fist. He could feel the effect of Cold Stoic flow through his veins. It felt good.

  They had to dismount up ahead, the path that traced around the mountain edge was too worn and too narrow for the horses. Christian pulled his mule along, tracing the steps of Kit ahead of him. They tracked their way around, when finally, the path widened up. Kit halted, dropped to his haunches and raised his hand up into a fist, gesturing for them to stop. Christian followed suit. Ahead, he saw it.

  The mountain flattened before falling away into a gully, beyond it he could see a well-worn deep path that zig-zagged up the side of the mountain. At the top was a rag tag collection of huts with a worn-out fire pit in the center along with some crates.

  Sulfur came up next to them, staying as low as the big man could. He surveyed the scene. Chris
tian had already analyzed it, seeing the best way would be to cut above, going north of the gully and coming down upon the town. He sketched out the plan to Sulfur.

  “No,” he replied. “We go in from the south.”

  Idiot.

  In the end it didn’t make much difference. The bandit hide-out was deserted. Sulfur’s men skulked through the camp and poked around the empty huts. Christian pushed an old hanging fur hide aside that served as a door.

  Inside there was simple furniture: an old wooden cot, roughly made chests. The silence made it eerie. Too quiet. He heard a sound behind him and quickly spun around.

  Alexia was framed in the doorway.

  “Hey,” she said.

  She approached him, and to Christian’s surprise, reached in for a hug. Christian embraced her back. Her head came up to his chest.

  He wished he wasn’t in armor so he could actually feel the warmth of her body against his. He let his hand cup the back of her head as she rested her head on the chest-plate of his armor.

  “Hey,” he said back.

  She withdrew back from him and looked up. “I just wanted to say thanks for the chat. I had felt like we had already lost.”

  Outside, Sulfur shouted for his men to return, his voice fell across them like an ax.

  Alexia twisted back to the entrance. “We should go back.”

  Christian grabbed her hand and pulled her in close once more. She fell into him and he could feel her hands reach behind his waist, pulling him closer.

  “Sark would have got the Demon onto his side, with or without us,” he whispered into her hair. “It was better that we were there to get the measure of him. We almost have everything we need to free the witch and escape. We just need enough gold to buy an ingot now.”

  Sulfur called out again and then he heard a subtle cough by the entrance. Kit was peeking through the furs to the entrance of the hut.

  They separated quickly.

  “It’s best not to keep Sulfur waiting,” Kit said.