Gamers

by Cambry Varner

  “But we came in from upstairs,” Mina said, almost panicking.

  “There are too many Cut Throats up top. Going down, there is a secret entrance behind a waterfall that leads outside. However, there’s a thick door blocking the way, and we don’t have the key.”

  “Can’t we pick the lock?” Mina shuffled her feet, her hands fidgeting.

  “We’re not Rogues, and we don’t have thieves’ tools,” Darcy explained, shaking her head. “I’m hoping we can force the door open or wait until someone opens the door and knock them out and go through. We just have to be careful not to run into Wolfe, who’s down in the lower levels.”

  “And who is Wolfe? Another Cut Throat?”

  “Yes and no. He’s a level five werewolf.”

  ***

  “I’m sorry, I can’t get it opened,” Sally muttered in defeat when the pick nearly snapped when she tried to force the tumblers. She slipped them away into her pocket and looked at the lock in distress.

  True to his word, Tom led them to the way upstairs, but they still had to avoid the guards along the way. They had dodged one by dashing into an empty room and waiting until he passed. Sally had been leaning against the wall with her ear pressed to the door to hear the footfalls fade away. She didn’t realize that Tom was close behind her, listening at the door too with his body close enough for the front of his shirt to brush her back.

  Had Tom intentionally invaded her personal space? She couldn’t tell if he was purposely walking so close beside her in the halls that his shoulders touched hers when they took a turn together, or lightly touching her elbow whenever they hid inside a room and crouched down. It was nothing that she could rightfully protest at or take offense to.

  Was he trying to flirt with her? Or was he being a pervert? She didn’t have any experience with flirting other than what she saw on TV, and why would he want to flirt while they were in so much danger? Naomi was more friendly with him, so why wasn’t he interested in her?

  That’s because Naomi looks like a frumpy ragamuffin, and I look like a runway model. If he knew what I really looked like, he wouldn’t give me a second thought.

  It certainly didn’t help that she was stuck with him on one side of a locked door. Sally gave it another push, and it steadfastly wouldn’t budge. “Shit.”

  Tom pursed his lips in a displeased line. “They must have already had it open when they brought me down. I would have heard such a large door open and close so there must be a key.”

  “But where?” she said. “Naomi hasn’t found one on any of the guards.”

  The Monk had dutifully looted the guards and found only a handful of copper coins among all of them. Tom had taken the boots from one of the men so he wouldn’t have to continue barefoot and had advised Naomi to help herself to a pair, but the Monk had declined stating that she ran faster barefoot.

  “A guard around here must have the key,” Tom said, I suggest we stop sneaking around and smash some heads together until we find it.”

  Naomi practically hopped and clapped her hands. “Yes! That sounds like a good idea!”

  “There’s a lot of them, so we’ll have to take them out a few at a time,” Sally cautioned. “We’ll get overwhelmed if we’re not careful. I’ll scout ahead to look for guards since my Sneak skill is high and I have good hearing.”

  It wasn’t much of a plan, but it was the best she could think up. Plus, it would give her space from Tom without coming across as rude. Naomi could handle herself if he tried to betray them and with her keen elf hearing, Sally would be able to hear anything happening behind and in front of her.

  With no idea of the layout of the dungeon nor where a key might be, as was typical for a dungeon crawl, they would have to explore each room and take out any enemy they came across. If Tom wasn’t exaggerating his fighting prowess, then they had a decent chance to survive and gain the key.

  The person in her thoughts gave Sally a sardonic grin. “I’m being given orders by a half-elf woman?”

  Remembering the prejudice from the tavern, her eyes narrowed as she said in a searing tone, “If you have a problem with that, you can leave. I’ll even point you in the direction of the exit.”

  Tom held up both hands, showing he meant no harm. “Forgive me. I didn’t mean to come across as an elf hater. I am unaccustomed to be given orders so casually, but I am willing to—no, honored to aid you in rescuing your friends.”

  He spoke with such sincerity that Sally was taken aback and experienced some guilt over her outburst. She shook off the feeling, like a jacket that had become too warm. The fact that Tom was hiding something from them should not be ignored, but she couldn’t do anything about it—not until after she found Darcy. Her sister would know what to do about Tom.

  “You can come with us,” Sally said, using a tone to indicate that if he did anything that slowed them down or endangered them, it wouldn’t go well for him.

  He actually gave her a quick bow with a joyful smile in response. “I am your servant.”

  She went ahead down the hall and paused at a crossway to listen. No sounds of Cut Throats patrolling reached her ears. Listening, she checked each door as she went. For a floor with so many doors, one would think there would be more Cut Throats down here. Not that she was complaining as it made things easier, but if something was too good to be true…

  It was slow going, and she checked behind several times to make sure Naomi and Tom were following at a safe distance. When she did so, Naomi gave her an OK signal, and Tom winked at her. This gesture annoyed her so much that Sally almost missed the voices of men talking ahead. Bending low, she sidled towards a large door at the end of a long hall. The closer she drew, the clearer she could hear them.

  “Bloody “ell! Everyone? All dead?”

  “Dead where they stood. Freeriders, merchants, women, children, everyone. It happened again this morning, before sunrise. Took out the poor saps on watch and went from tent to tent, killing folk in their sleep, as happy as you please.”

  “Blimey. Nothing taken?”

  Sally heard a note of fear in the questioner’s voice.

  “The merchants all dead with their gold rings still on their fat fingers. How many blokes do ye think took part in it?”

  Sally counted three voices and thought that it would be three on three, but if they got a surprise round they could easily manage. She was about to return to brief the others when she heard a thick snarling voice mutter, “One.”

  “Only one, sir?”

  “One and one alone killed that many people. Bloodlust was in the air and it’s the first time I’ve smelled such, other than my own.”

  What were they talking about? No, that wasn’t important right here. She could faintly hear the splash of liquid and the thud of cups on a wooden surface. It should be simple enough to wait until they were drunk and then surprise them.

  As she was moving away, there was a deep grunt followed by a spine-tingling hiss. “Someone’s at the door.”

  Sally held her breath, heart pounding in her chest as her pulse throbbed in her neck.

  Through the door, she heard a low snort and then a bass growl mutter, “It’s a stranger. Female. Elven, but human too…It’s her! The half-elf wench that eluded Sikes last night!”

  “Shit!” Sally took off at a full sprint down the hall just as she heard several boots hitting the floor.

  The door banged open as she turned a corner, already calling for Naomi and Tom. Not daring to risk looking behind her, Sally could nevertheless sense the men gaining at her heels. Long fingers prodded at her shoulder, not quite able to snag her shirt, but within seconds her pursuer would catch her.

  Then Sally did something completely crazy and risky: she dropped into a roll. Taken entirely by surprise, her pursuer tripped over her and went skidding across the stone floor. She came up, drawing her both the rapier and the dagger in a single motion. In mid-rise, she shoved the blade between the ribs of a second man and spun at the hip. The rapier cut the
air in a long arc. If she had been faster, she would have cut the throat of the third man, but he tilted backward at the last second. The rapier’s tip flashed through the place where his throat had been.

  In response, he swung a morning star that barely missed her head. A few strands of hair were caught on the sphere’s teeth and pulled free from her scalp. From behind him, Sally saw Naomi dash from out of the room she and Tom had hidden, waiting for the right moment. With the speed and ferocity of a train, Naomi charged towards Sally’s opponent and Tom ran behind her, his amiable smile gone and in its place was a warrior’s determination.

  The injured Cut Throat clutched his wound with one hand and thrust his sword at Sally, trying to catch her stomach. She barely parried it with the rapier before shoving him against the wall aggravating his injury further. Before she could finish him with the dagger, a ragged growl blew hot breath across her neck.

  The injured man’s hard-lined face gave her a foul smirk. “Say hello to Lieutenant Wolfe, elf girl.”

  Sally turned to face an eight-foot werewolf, which was looming over her. Dark fur bristled as layers of muscles shifted and bones cracked beneath it. From large spread hands, darker talons sprouted, breaking through the fingertips. It was the man who she had tripped earlier, now transformed: the remains of his tattered clothing clung to him. Saliva dripped from the needle-sharp incisors while a red tongue lolled over them.

  “Put down the sword, girly, and Lieutenant Wolfe won’t bite your head off…” the Cut Throat’s threat ended when Naomi’s fist connected with his jaw.

  “Got him!” Naomi whooped and then froze when she saw the werewolf. “Oh, wow!”

  Throwing herself at Naomi, Sally carried them both out of the way as Wolfe lunged. The two of them hit the floor as one and both scrambled away from snapping teeth. Naomi crawled between the legs of Tom and the last bandit, which whom he was still engaged. That battle was in the Cut Throat’s favor as he fought with a steel sword and Tom had only a club, which was getting notched as he blocked each blow.

  Sally tried to follow Naomi between the fighting men, but a hand of gnarled fingers gripped tight around her ankle and pulled her backwards across the stone. Her hands pawed at the surface, trying to gain purchase, but the only thing she could grab was the lower leg of one of the fighting men. She couldn’t tell if it was Tom or the other man she was holding onto as they were both wearing the same type of boots. The werewolf bodily lifted her off the floor, she anchored herself to the owner of the boot who almost lost his balance but maintained the battle with his foe.

  Perhaps it was the Cut Throat’s foot, as the werewolf, who could have easily drawn both her and the man towards him, stopped pulling. The monster maintained its painful grip on her, and she felt her ankle bruising under its thick hand.

  Behind Tom and the Cut Throat, Naomi had pulled the boots off the fallen man to pelt them at the werewolf. The first one missed, but to Sally’s delight the second smacked it between the eyes. Uttering an ugly growl, amber eyes flashed in deadly rage at the small girl, but it was clear that Naomi wouldn’t stop. She had reached inside her gi, producing rocks she had collected from the cavern, which she began to throw.

  One flickered between the fighting men to nail Wolfe’s black nose, causing a small spray of blood. The monstrosity hissed, eyes narrowing, gaze leaving Sally and zeroing in on Naomi. Wriggling free, Sally felt relief as her leg slipped from his grasp, followed by anxiety for her friend as the werewolf lunged forward, bowling over both the fighting men. Shockingly, Naomi had been snapped up in his vast maw.

  Sally could only watch as razor sharp teeth plunged through the gi, and blood soaked the white cloth. Naomi didn’t make any noise, but her wide eyes revealed the terror and pain she was in. Then the werewolf shook her like a dog would a child’s toy, back hunched from the effort of it. And like a doll, Naomi’s arms and legs flopped as though boneless and blood splattered across the floor and walls.

  A wordless scream tore from Sally’s throat as she launched herself from the floor. Evidently dazed, Tom was sat against wall against which he’d been thrown, while his opponent lay in a limp heap on the floor, rendered unconscious from crashing against the opposite wall. At the hip of the Cut Throat was the pommel of a dagger, which Sally grabbed without slowing her stride. Drawing her other dagger, she leaped with both daggers raised. She landed across the werewolf’s hairy back and both daggers bit into the hide right between the shoulder blades.

  The creature roared, opening its mouth wide, and the girl spilled from the bloody jaws. Naomi landed in an unmoving heap on the floor, the white material of her gi now crimson. Sally alternated between daggers, pulling one free and thrusting it back into flesh and then the other. Clenching with her knees, she rode the werewolf as he spun in place, trying to dislodge her.

  “Die! Die! Die! Just die!” Her screams were lost in the furious and agonizing howls of the monster.

  There was little blood on the werewolf’s back as the injuries healed almost as quickly as she made them. The wounds closed and sealed themselves before her eyes. Wolfe threw himself against the wall, catching her leg between his flank and the stone. The leather protected her skin from being scraped, but the weight fractured the bones. Sally had never experienced such pain before. It stoked her fear, but fury as well.

  She had to kill the werewolf before he twisted around and caught her. His throat: she should have been stabbing him in the throat. It was beyond her reach now, and climbing was impossible with her leg trapped. She resumed stabbing the flank with one dagger in the hope of getting him to move from the wall, but he only growled at her, knowing he had her pinned. A large hand roamed behind him, seeking her other leg. Once he had a good grip on her, he would break that leg, and that would be the end of it.

  But he had forgotten about Tom.

  Having collected the sword from the fallen Cut Throat, Tom ran it through Wolfe’s exposed flank. It sank into his flesh so fast that the monster didn’t even seem to have noticed the blow until, with a stream of blood, Tom pulled the blade out. Wolfe’s scream then rang in Sally’s ears, and he wrenched to and fro, his black talons carving slashes into the walls. With her leg free, she now had her chance. Pulling herself up by a pelt that was long enough for her to grasp, Sally hung on as Wolfe whipped about in an effort to snare Tom in his talons. Tom backed away, warding off these wild attacks with the sword.

  Sally hauled herself up the spine, ignoring the agony screaming in her leg and knee. Her torso was along his heaving shoulders when she drew back her dagger and shoved it into the beast’s neck with all her might. It cut off Wolfe’s snarls, turning them into wet hisses as his windpipe was punctured.

  He flung himself backward against the wall, and Sally found the grip of her one hand in his fur was not enough. Suddenly, she was falling. The wind was knocked out of her when she hit the floor, preventing a scream that she mouthed when she landed on her injured leg. Wolfe fled down the hall, loping on hands and feet like a natural wolf. Immediately, Tom dropped his sword and bent over Naomi’s body, where Sally could see her blood on his pants and boots.

  Sally struggled to stand, but white-hot pain seared through her leg. Oh, this wasn’t going to heal anytime soon. This required a week in the hospital, a cast, weeks of hobbling around on a crutch, and physical therapy to regain full mobility. And in this world, there was no hospital with any modern healthcare. She’d be lucky if they knew how to splint it so as to ensure the leg would heal correctly, without giving her a limp for the rest of her life. And that was only if they managed to get her out of here alive.

  Then the pain was gone. As if someone had switched off the pain receptors in her brain. At first, she thought she was going into shock, then she realized could easily move her leg which now felt fine, healthy, whole as if it had never been injured in the first place. Even more so, she felt rejuvenated, like new energy was coursing through her veins. Her limbs had been sore from holding onto Wolfe, but now she felt as if she could run
for miles without breaking a sweat.

  Her vision suddenly went dark, the wall and floor fading to black. Bright golden letters flared to life and gleamed before her eyes with a solid shimmer.

  YOU HAVE LEVELED UP!

  She blinked at it several times, nearly blinded by the light. “What?”

  More words appeared beneath the Level Up announcement, which was scrolling upwards.

  Would you like to continue leveling up in the Rogue Class? Yes/No?

  What? What was this? She didn’t have time, Naomi was hurt and needed her.

  Without giving it any thought, she muttered, “Yes…?”

  The word Yes highlighted blue, and the rest faded away to give way to more gold lettering.

  You have attained the 2nd Level in Rogue. You have gained the Rogue’s Evasion ability. You can easily dodge magical, non-magical traps, and area effects while suffering little to no damage. Wearing medium to heavy armor will negate this ability.

  Just like in the game, we level up and get new abilities and skills.

  And sure enough, the words faded and gave way to a list of skills gleaming at her. Bold letters formed before it, closer to her face as if it were a 3D image.

  Award your skill points. One for one for Class Skills. Two for one in non-Class skills. The number of new points cannot exceed your new current level. Choose thoughtfully and carefully as this cannot be undone and no more points will be awarded until your next level.

  The words faded and she was left with the skill list. Below it was a pool of ten points that glowed a bright, highlighted blue.

  “Please, I don’t have time for this,” Sally begged. “Naomi is dying…”

  Whatever operated this…System—she now dubbed it—either couldn’t hear her or didn’t care. The skill list gleamed persistently at her, giving her no choice.

  Her class skills each had small star beside them: Climb, Acrobatics, Evaluate, Charm, Deceit, Sneak, Legerdemain, Perception, and Intimidate. If she had read the instructions correctly, then it would take one skill point to boost each of these by one. Any others would take two of her skill points to go up by one. It made sense to award all her points to her class skills and be done with it.