Gamers

by Cambry Varner

  “Tell her she’s about to get more patients in critical condition.” Darcy spotted a nearby cottage and pointed at it. “Have her set up a hospital in that house and give her whatever she needs. Hot water, blankets, medicine; if she asks for it, give it to her.”

  “Yes, Mistress!” The man took off at a full sprint, nearly knocking an observer out of his way.

  Darcy looked at the other observers. “All of you be ready to take the wounded to the house and stay out of the way.”

  The people gave their affirmation in earnest nods and hands raised in prayers. The Cleric looked between the quaking Barbarian and to the determined Monk. “Alright, let’s do this.”

  Mina resigned herself to the task and wrapped her thick arms around the pillar. Her cheek where Darcy had patted her still tingled, but from it, she felt a sense of strength running through her bones. Was this the Blessing cantrip?

  Bracing her feet on the ground, Mina drew a deep breath and, with her eyes squeezed shut, put all her strength into lifting. The wood groaned and creaked, dust rose, and chips fell, but slowly the rubble rose, levered up by the pillar. As soon as a large enough space formed, Naomi darted inside without a word or hesitation. Darcy looked between the hole and Mina, who held the pillar with quivering arms. A minute passed and then another. Sweat beaded on the Cleric’s dark brow as her eyes kept switching between the post and the hole.

  “Naomi?” Darcy called, kneeling by the hole. “What’s going on?”

  Naomi emerged so fast that her head nearly knocked Darcy on the chin. She pressed a sobbing child into Darcy’s chest and disappeared into the hole. Darcy transferred the child into a waiting villager’s arms, and a cheer went up from the villagers. A woman, likely the child’s mother, followed them to the house, weeping and praising Shantra all the way.

  Soon Naomi emerged with another child, a little boy bleeding from the arm, and this one was transferred to a waiting villager and then another. Each time a child was brought out, Darcy recast the cantrip on Mina again, giving her the Strength bonus she needed to keep the pillar up.

  Mina tried to focus, but her mind kept asking how much longer? How many kids had Naomi hauled out? How many were left? Her palms began to ache, and sweat rolled into her eyes and her back was hurting, and her arms were going numb…she needed a break.

  “How are you holding up there, Mina?” Darcy said.

  “Don’t. Talk. To. Me,” Mina groused.

  Darcy touched her arm, granting her another bonus to her Strength. “Just stay in there. You’re doing great.”

  To the narrow, dusty opening Naomi brought an unconscious little girl with a streamer of blood running down the side of her face and across an ear. The blood shone brightly in the afternoon sun that it cast an after image in Mina’s eyes. How much longer? How many more?

  To her horror, the pillar nearly slipped from her hands. Villagers cried out in fear, but she managed to grab it in time. The rubble cracked, and terrified screams erupted from within. Mina almost broke her back, trying to get part of her body beneath the wood and lift up. Darcy patted her arm, casting another cantrip, and the pillar was easier to lift again.

  Darcy knelt by the hole again and yelled, “Naomi! You got to hurry! Mina almost failed a Strength check!”

  Naomi emerged, her face and hair covered with dust and dirt. Her eyes were red and streaming from the grit in them. “There’s three more, but I have to dig them out or break boards to free them. I’m going as fast as I can.”

  “You’re gonna have to go faster! Any second, Mina can fail her Strength check and if that happens…”

  “Can she lift it higher? If she can lift it higher, it’ll give me enough room to get them out faster!”

  Mina wasn’t sure if she had heard correctly. There was no way Naomi had suggested she lift this damn pillar higher! It was all she could do to keep from dropping it on her head!

  Much to Mina’s horror, Darcy nodded. “Be ready.”

  Naomi disappeared like a rabbit into a burrow, and Darcy stood and turned to her with a determined look. Maybe she had another spell that could help her along with the cantrip.

  “Mina, you have to Rage.”

  Oh no. “I’m. Not. Fighting.” Mina groused out.

  “You don’t have to be in combat to Rage,” Darcy said. “It’ll give you a plus two bonus to your Strength, and coupled with a plus one from Blessing, it’ll bring your total to plus six. It should be more than enough.”

  “I. Can’t.”

  Darcy’s face turned stormy. “Not can’t. You won’t because you’re too damn afraid of Raging, but you need to be afraid for those kids and Naomi. You and I both know she won’t come out without them.”

  This was so unfair! How could they expect her to get angry when she was so scared! Why did this have to happen? How the hell did she get into a situation like this?

  Over Darcy’s shoulder and through the crowd, she spotted the carpenter. He was the reason this was happening to her! She warned him this could happen, and he insulted her.

  Fire filled her vision, and the adrenaline surged.

  He called her a tribeswoman! Well, tribe people probably knew how to build better houses with their mud and sticks than he did with his wood and tools. A two-year-old with Playschool Lego could make a sturdier construction than that jackass.

  “Mina! You’re doing it! Keep going!”

  Screw him and this world too! She was in medical school for God’s sake! She was supposed to be in class, attending a lecture or in her dorm studying. Not in some magical fantasy world where bandits kidnap you, and wolves try to bite you in the ass.

  The pillar was above her head with both hands propping it up. Then she was walking forward, her boots treading on wood and dirt, hefting the post up higher and higher. The rubble seemed to roll back from her in a wave of wood, throwing up clouds of dust and dirt. Shifting her shoulder against it, she pushed with all her might and fury until the pillar was nearly upright. Behind her, huddled together, was Naomi with three children with tear-streaked faces.

  After bunching her shoulders and drawing her Strength for one last endeavor, Mina pushed the pillar with all her might. It stood erect for a moment, swaying to and fro, before falling away and crashed through the roof of a house. Shattered glass sprayed from the windows, and splintered wood rained on the heads of fleeing villagers. A cry of dismay went up from the crowd as the carpenter shoved himself to the front.

  “That’s my house!” he shouted, pulling at his hair with both hands.

  Villagers surged into what remained of the wreckage, gathering the children who were whisked away to the makeshift hospital. Naomi was thanked and kissed as she was practically carried from the rubble. Darcy was at Mina’s side in time to catch her before she could fall, despite Mina nearly bowling her down as her body slumped.

  “You did good,” Darcy said, patting Mina on the shoulder. “You were awesome.”

  Her lungs felt like they were going to pop out from her chest. Mina heaved in deep breaths while Darcy led her to a clear spot on the grass and lowered her to sit down. When she was able to, she wheezed, “Who’s that yelling?”

  “The carpenter. The pillar landed on his house.”

  “Good,” she muttered and was surprised at herself. Her father would be shocked by the pleasure she felt at another’s misfortune. Maybe she should feel wrong about his house being smashed, but it felt good to see karma at work. “Did we save them all?”

  “Yes, by some miracle they all survived a building landing on their heads, but I don’t know how they’ll do afterward.” Darcy looked almost as tired as she felt. “I hope to God that healer knows how to disinfect wounds.”

  Mina grimaced at the thought of how, after their efforts into saving the kids, they might die of blood poisoning or infection due to the medieval version of medical care. Back then, people died of infection or lost limbs to gangrene because wounds weren’t correctly cleaned or dressed, or the healer didn’t bother to wash thei
r hands or tools before tending to the injured.

  “We need to go help her,” Mina said. “You have healing spells, and I have some medical training. Maybe between the healer and us, we can still keep some kids alive.”

  “It’s gonna delay our wolf hunt, but we have some time to spare on this. I’ll send Naomi to get Tom and Sally.” Then Darcy furrowed her brows and searched the crowd. “You’d think they’d have heard about what was happening by now.”

  Mina scanned the area but didn’t see the tall Tom nor Sally’s hooded head. When the building fell, it was loud enough to rattle her teeth so there was no way they could have failed to have heard it and not come to investigate.

  As if on cue, a little dark-haired girl wearing a homespun dress shyly approached them. “Are you talking about your friends? The tall, dark haired man and the lady in the hood?”

  Both Mina and Darcy looked at her, becoming apprehensive. Darcy said, “Yes, do you know where they are?”

  “Yes ma’am, they went into the forest to find my little brother. They told me to wait until you came and tell you where they were going, but then the building fell and…”

  Darcy’s eyes went wide, and she got to her feet in a rush. “How long ago?”

  “I don’t know…” the girl said regretfully. “Before the building fell.”

  “Shit!” Darcy hissed. “They went in thinking we’d be right behind them, and we’ve been here the whole time! We gotta go!”

  Mina’s legs ached, but she stood up all the same and checked her battleax. “You have to go heal those kids. Naomi and I will go after Tom and Sally.”

  For the first time, Mina didn’t feel nervous or agitated. She was calm and held her battleax, not as if it was some distasteful object, but something that belonged to her and only she could use.

  “Are you sure you can handle this?” asked Darcy.

  “No, but I know this is how it has to be.” Mina tucked the ax behind her back. “Those kids need you. We’ll help Tom and Sally and bring them back safely.”

  As much as Darcy didn’t want to shatter this newfound confidence of Mina’s, she couldn’t let her go without warning. “I won’t be there to heal you, and if I spend all my spells healing the kids, it’s going to take an eight-hour rest before I can cast more spells.”

  What Darcy meant was that they were going into a dangerous situation without a healer backing them, and they shouldn’t expect any healing spells if they returned injured. Mina drew a deep breath, not liking the situation, but knew what had to be done. “We’ll be fine.”

  Then the world darkened and for several terrifying moments, Mina believed she was passing out, until a familiar sight glowed before her eyes.

  YOU HAVE LEVELED UP!

  A smile so big, it hurt her cheeks, spread across Mina’s face. And for the first time since she logged onto Shadow’s Deep, she knew the satisfaction of being a gamer.

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

  There was some hesitation, but Mina selected “yes.” As Darcy had told her, it wasn’t possible for her to multiclass and somehow, that didn’t bother her anymore.

  You have gained the Reckless Attack ability. You may add +1 to your Strength for attacks, but must take a -2 penalty to your Armor Class until your next turn.

  Well, that didn’t seem like a fun ability to have. She’d rather have it the other way around: -1 to her Strength in exchange for +2 to her Armor Class.

  Then she got her allotment of four skill points. Where should she put them this time? Well, Darcy wanted her to add some in Climb and Swim and that would take half of her points. So where should she put the other two?

  Healing wasn’t a class skill so putting that to a +2 would take up the last two points. She could use Healing to help Darcy with the kids, but then on second thoughts, she and Naomi were about to go into a forest infested with wolves to find three missing people. No, the last two points should go into Perception to give her a better chance of finding them. Thus her Perception skill went up from +1 to +2.

  When the skill faded away, she could see Darcy still standing before her and giving her a concerned look. Then she gave Mina an encouraging smile and said, “Alright, good luck.”

  Wait, did leveling up only take a second? Or did time stop? Was that possible? How could she question time manipulation when she was transported into a game world with magic and werewolves? Anything was possible now.

  She would need to tell Darcy that she had leveled up, but that could wait until they returned with the others.

  Chapter 17

  Encounter

  Sweat rolled down her neck and back and tickled her spine. Sally had no idea how long they had been trekking through the woods. In her previous body, one minute of physical exertion was too long, but now with this one being more fit, she could go on like this for hours.

  “He couldn’t have gone far,” Tom said from ahead. He was standing atop of tall protruding roots of a tree and scanning the foliage. “A child wouldn’t have laid traps too far from the village.”

  She looked around and saw only trees and, try as she might, she couldn’t see the signs that Tom could perceive with a passing glance. He pointed out minuscule broken twigs and imperceptible marks in the earth. It was likely because her Survival skill was just a +2. She could only trust that he knew which way they were going and while he tracked the boy she kept an eye out for wolves.

  Thus far, nothing lunged from the bushes for their throats. The rays of sunlight piercing the forest canopy provided plenty of light. If it wasn’t for the circumstances of wolves and being trapped in a fantasy world, Sally could imagine this to be what a forest like would be like in the real world. Years of playing narrative video games, watching movies and TV shows, however, had taught her to see the signs of a false sense of security.

  Any second, something is going to happen. Maybe Tom will get yanked into the bushes by something big and mean, and then I’ll end up as the Last Girl, running through the forest screaming.

  She was so tense that she nearly jumped when Tom called her name. “Sally, this way. We’re getting close.”

  “Good. Let’s find him so we can get back,” Sally said.

  She looked over her shoulder in a forlorn hope that Darcy and the others would appear right behind them. With it being just the two of them—a Rogue and an NPC Fighter—the situation was dangerous and she’d feel safer if they had Darcy with them, not only for her healing spells but for the leadership and mettle she provided. And she would know the most reliable and efficient way to accomplish this task. Not to mention that having Mina and Naomi around to help fight and act as extra pairs of eyes would be most welcome. Maybe her friends would catch up before anything happened?

  Tom stepped over a large rock and froze. “Damn.”

  “What is it?” She paused behind him, her heart skipping a beat as she didn’t like the sound of his voice.

  “Look here.”

  She looked but still couldn’t see what he was pointing at. “You’re going to have to explain what I’m looking at because all I see is grass and dirt.”

  “The lad was chased by a wolf.” Tom pointed at the mark on the ground as he explained. “The heel is heavier so he was running and along his tracks are paw prints and these aren’t old at all. They just came through here.”

  Tom took off in the direction of the tracks, and Sally followed, her heart pounding, though it had nothing to do with exertion. They went only a few yards before she heard a noise and grabbed Tom’s arm, shushing him before he could speak.

  “Listen!”

  It was a keening wail that carried on the wind. Drawing back her hood to remove any barrier between her ears and the sound, she listened carefully. The sound of crying was coming from ahead, and something else was there: growling, from multiple throats.

  “He’s ahead, and there’s more than one wolf.”

  “Damn,” Tom said again. “How many?”

  She took
a moment to concentrate, even cupping her hands behind her ears to catch the sounds. “I want to say three, but I can’t be sure.”

  “There’s no superior hearing than that of elven ears,” Tom said with an admiring smile for her. Then he knelt and grabbed a long stick.

  “Wouldn’t your sword be a better weapon?” Sally said, watching him tear off his shirt sleeve. “What are you doing?”

  “Wolves fear fire,” he said, wrapping the cloth around one end of the stick.

  “That didn’t stop them from attacking us when we were around a campfire last night,” she pointed out. Now that she thought about it, it did seem strange for wild wolves to attack people so close to a fire.

  “True, but I don’t think they’ll enjoy having it smacked over their heads.” He took a tinderbox from his pocket and looked at her. “You wouldn’t happen to have some oil?”

  “I actually do!” Thank God for Rogues having hidden pockets that could contain small items like thieves’ tools and little pouches of oil.

  With oil drizzled over the cloth, it only took two strikes with the tinderbox to ignite it. Tom lifted the torch in his offhand and drew his sword. “This won’t last long, so let’s hurry.”

  She would have asked Tom to make one for herself, but she already had the rapier and dagger. They were more familiar to her hands than any torch. Without a signal, they both charged through the brush, Tom keeping the makeshift torch raised high to avoid setting the foliage on fire.

  As before, Sally continued to be amazed by the dexterity of this body. If she had tried running in the forest in the real world, she would have tripped over every root and fallen into every hole. Sally trotted over uneven terrain, her feet finding the right place to step off to propel her forward. It was exhilarating to be able to go so fast, and she even had to slow down for Tom to keep up.

  They broke into a clearing where three wolves gathered at the foot of a large tree. A weeping child was clinging to the trunk, one hand holding onto a low branch while the other grasped the edge of a knothole. A wolf took a running leap, and its teeth just barely missed the boy’s ankle. It landed on the ground whipping around as if it would make another try and the terrified screams from the boy were deafening.