Deserts Of Naroosh

by Bradford Bates

  Damaging his already wounded party wasn’t exactly standard healing protocol. Anyone watching his stream right now probably thought he was in trouble. At best, Tim held his team’s health at about even, but in reality their health was slightly ticking down. Now seemed like the perfect time to put his mana pool to the test. How much healing could he pump out when he really needed it?

  Looking at the heavens, Tim screamed the final words of Healing Storm. Fat droplets of rain fell onto his party, slowly healing all of them at once. It took everything he had to keep the spell channeled and their health moving up, but he only had to maintain it until his curse took hold, and everything would be right as the rain falling around them.

  Seven seconds left.

  One of the harpy’s talons closed on Cassie’s shoulder. The monster pulled its wings in tight, spinning fast in the air, then stopped at the same instant it let Cassie go. The tank flew across the farmyard like a doll tossed out of a car doing seventy on the freeway. She hit the ground with a heavy thud, bounced a few times, and crashed into the overturned wagon.

  Cassie wasn’t moving, but his status window also confirmed she wasn’t dead.

  It felt like the fight was spinning out of control. Maybe he had been too cocky walking into this battle without doing any research. Constantly winning had a way of making people take things for granted. Tim wasn't ready for another check-in with Barbara just yet, and he wouldn’t have to see her if he could keep his mind focused on the little details.

  He kept channeling Healing Storm, counting off the seconds until Behold My Power hit the harpy like a car thrown by King Kong. It was Tim’s most powerful spell, and it was no joke. The bird-woman might not think anything was happening yet, but it would hit her soon enough.

  When Cassie went down, JaKobi launched himself into the battle. A little healing rain wouldn’t stop the power of his pyrotechnics. The flames didn’t seem to be doing much damage to the harpy, but they kept her distracted enough for ShadowLily to rejoin the fight. Her blades ripped into the creature’s lower legs as if they were tissue paper.

  With a screech of pain, the harpy flew straight up until Tim almost couldn’t see her anymore. They hadn’t run into a boss-type monster that had made a run for it yet, so he got the feeling something bad was about to happen. If the developers didn’t want monsters running off every time they got close to death, then the bird-woman wasn’t fleeing. This was an attack.

  Oh shit.

  He could see the harpy now as it descended back toward the earth like a comet. There was some kind of magical energy wrapped around her like a shield. Tim might as well have been one of the dinosaurs watching the comet coming to wipe them all out. He stared at the falling harpy, a look of horror growing on his face at the inevitability of it all.

  See you soon, Barbara.

  He could see the harpy smiling as she plunged toward them. It wouldn’t be long now since she was only forty feet above them.

  Thirty.

  Twenty.

  The harpy's face twitched.

  The world exploded in a cloud of dust, and Tim found himself sitting on his ass ten feet from where he’d been moments ago. Being a healer meant you didn’t have the luxury of being injured until your entire party was good to go.

  Nothing derailed a fight faster than losing a tank or a healer.

  Continuing to inhale the dust was making him choke, and he still couldn’t see shit. The cloud was getting on his nerves. He wasn’t sure if he should cast Healing Storm again to try and knock the dirt from the air or if he should make sure Cassie was topped off. Their tank had been low on health before the harpy took a swan dive. She must be even worse off now. Tim pulled up his status bar to make sure she was alive and stared at it in shock.

  Everyone’s health was almost full.

  “How in the fuck did that happen?” Tim mumbled to himself as he looked back at where he assumed the harpy’s body was lying.

  Behold My Power must have kicked in right before the creature hit the ground. That little twitch on her face must have been the spell taking hold. His team would have received a massive blast of healing right before she died. Still, why did she die? Tim thought about it for a moment and wondered if his spell broke her concentration. So instead of obliterating them all and flying away with Maria, the harpy hit the ground like a hotdog tossed off a skyscraper.

  Getting rid of the dust quickly became his priority. He kind of felt like he was back at his house in the real world when the neighbor fired up his leaf blower and coated their entire back yard in dust. He’d always imagined being in his backyard during one of his neighbors' jaunts was like being trapped in a desert sandstorm.

  Was there anything worse than dust?

  Tim stretched his hands back toward the heavens and started to cast Healing Storm. He kept the spell channeled as he watched his mana drop in his combat log. It paid to know how long he could keep this up, even starting from a depleted mana pool. While he waited for the dust to clear, he also checked to see if the harpy was actually dead.

  “Probably should have done that first,” Tim groused.

  Reviewing his log confirmed the harpy died from fall damage. Tim looked at where the bird-woman had smashed into the ground, and his jaw dropped when he saw more of the devastation. There was a giant crater in the dirt. It looked like a bomb had gone off, or maybe someone pulled a satellite from the sky and slammed into the earth for shits and giggles.

  He didn’t want to think about what the blast would have been like if the harpy hadn’t lost concentration before hitting the ground. It almost felt like a kamikaze move. The kind of thing someone would do to try and shift the tide when the battle was all but lost. Not the sort of thing you’d expect from someone fighting alone.

  The real question was quickly becoming, who was the harpy trying to protect?

  The rest of his group stood and made their way over to the crater. Tim cast a quick Healing Orb on Cassie to top her off. She might not be a tank in the traditional sense, but no one would be able to tell by looking at her health pool. The tank gave him a quick nod as she moved past the crater toward the woodpile.

  Maria!

  After all this, how had he forgotten about the girl? Tim rushed to catch up with Cassie. Maria wasn’t in their group, so he wasn’t sure if the healing rain would have affected her or not. By the time he reached her, Cassie was already showing the girl how to hold a bō staff properly. Maria had few scratches here and there, but outside of remembering the attack, the little one would be fine.

  One blast of Healing Orb fixed her right up but also earned him a look.

  Cassie grinned. “I hate getting splashed with that stuff too, but you get used to it.” She turned to Tim. “Why don’t you go see what’s left of that monster, and I’ll keep training our newest warrior.”

  Maria giggled and swooshed the staff through the air.

  Seeing the girl made Tim miss his sister a little more than he would have thought. A smile spread across his lips as he imagined how he could use saving his sister from a mythical beast against her. Maybe that could be their new bedtime tale, don’t steal from your big brother's room, or he’ll let the harpy eat you.

  JaKobi looked at Tim and pointed into the depression. “You going in?”

  “Might as well check to see if there’s any loot.” Tim hopped over the edge and made his way to the center.

  At the crater’s center was a very familiar-looking golden chest. Tim reached out and laid his hand on it. He didn’t get a prompt to select an item so he pulled up his log to see what he received—a small amount of gold, a cracked ruby, and a note.

  Well, this ought to be interesting.

  Those damn farmers are getting too close to our operation. Make sure they stop digging into our business. Vitaria will have our heads if we lose the only foothold we have left in her sister’s realm. Why the gods must continually shit on those of us dumb enough to work with them, I’ll never know. Get the job done and hurry back.
>
  Dr. Z

  It looked like their problems in The Etheric Coast weren’t over. Before they could go to Naroosh, they had to deal with this. Leaving an enemy at your flank was a big no-no. Tim might not have been a warrior, but he’d been destroyed by flankers enough times in PvP matches to know that when executed correctly, that style of play was extremely deadly.

  Quest Received: Harpy’s Got the Blues

  The harpy in question might be dead, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t something to investigate. Find out what Dr. Z and Vitaria are up to and stop it.

  Reward: The world doesn’t end, oh, and a little extra gold for your trouble.

  Tim accepted the quest and shared it with his group. A little extra pocket change never hurt anyone, and if the quest itself didn’t have a large reward, that generally meant whatever bosses they had to kill would. He kind of preferred the rewards to come after killing a difficult foe. It gave the encounter a greater sense of accomplishment than being handed a weapon for going somewhere and collecting ten of something.

  Although Tim was kind of getting used to picking his rewards when it suited him. Not having to decide right away if the item was an upgrade or not was nice. It gave him a chance to plan and look over his stats before committing to a new piece of gear.

  One should never be too hasty.

  Playing in The Etheric Coast was an amazing experience so far. It took what game developers had been doing with scaled difficulty and made it seamless. Every challenge felt like they had a chance to win and that a few missteps could easily send them all back to chat with their caseworkers. He didn’t know if the game would always be balanced this way, but right now Tim felt pretty good about things.

  Maria was riding on top of Cassie’s shoulders now, and their tank was charging at random things the young one called so she could spear them with Cassie’s bō staff. Tim laughed as he watched their antics. Things on the farm might not be perfect after the attack, but seeing Maria let him know that coming here had been the right thing to do.

  The last thing he wanted to do was ruin the girl’s happiness by telling her there were more monsters they had to deal with. If anyone in the group hadn’t seen the letter, they could talk about it once they delivered their rambunctious package back into her mother’s arms.

  Tim shouted at Cassie, “Onward brave steed, we must return the princess to her castle!”

  Cassie let out a bray and sprinted down the path back to the farmhouse.

  ShadowLily nudged Tim. “You know, you’re kinda good at that.”

  “Don’t worry. My experience comes from having a little sister.” Tim grinned. He knew full well she wasn’t implying he had a child of his own.

  The assassin winked at him. “Just saying, good with kids isn’t exactly a turn-off.” ShadowLily turned away and ran to catch up with Cassie.

  “You stepped in it now.” JaKobi smirked. “This is why I let Cassie think I’m not good at anything.”

  Lorelei smacked the fire mage on the back of the head. “That’s why she’s too good for you.” She smiled at Tim as she dragged JaKobi away. “My advice is to keep doing what you're doing, and don’t listen to this guy.”

  Tim stood there for a moment thinking about how odd growing up could be. One day you were thinking about the future, and the next day you were living it.

  Chapter Twelve

  The farmhouse was a hive of activity when they returned.

  Maria’s mother was the first to see them and sprinted across the open field toward her daughter. Cassie set the girl down, and all of them watched as she ran to her mom. A smile spread across Tim’s face as he watched them embrace. This was the part of being a hero that was awesome.

  Quest Complete: Saving The Future

  You destroyed the harpy, but it was a close call. Imagine what would’ve happened if you failed. Being cursed by a grieving mother might have meant more than ill will. Rejoice in the fact you’ll never have to find out.

  Reward: Bonus experience has been delivered based on your participation in this quest.

  System Message: You have gained a level.

  “Nice!” Tim exclaimed as he looked over the text.

  ShadowLily nodded next to him. “I wasn’t expecting that.”

  “Do you think that means Maria’s mother is a witch?” JaKobi whispered. “Maybe she can teach me something.”

  Cassie nudged the fire mage in the ribs. “Make sure you offer something for her time. We’ve already been paid for our quest.”

  “I would never use a lady's gratitude to earn free magic…oof...okay, I might have thought about it, but I can see how that would be wrong.” JaKobi slowly moved away from Cassie while cradling his side.

  Brother Colton, Maria’s mother, and the girl herself met their party together.

  Their rotund friend grinned. “I see you’ve met Priestess Shara and her daughter Maria.”

  Shara beamed at the group. “Thank you for bringing my little girl back.”

  Tim was going to say something, but Cassie spoke first. “It was our pleasure. She’s one heck of a fighter. Another few minutes, and Maria would have handled the harpy on her own.”

  The tank lowered her gaze and winked at the girl.

  “See, Mom? I told you I’m tough,” Maria said with gumption reserved for a much older child.

  Pride was etched all over Shara’s face. Of course, she knew her daughter hadn’t done those things, but for the first time since the attack, she was sure her daughter would recover. “Of course you are.” She knelt to look into her eyes. “I need you to go over and protect all the other kids. Some of them aren’t as brave as you are and need your help.”

  “With the babies. Ughh.” Maria threw her hands up with the outrage that only younger children can muster when asked to take care of kids younger than themselves.

  Shara waited for her daughter's tantrum to subside and held her gaze. “Wherever you’re needed, that is the path we follow.”

  Still pouting but face full of resolve, Maria looked up into her mom’s eyes. “Yes, Mother.”

  “Now go.” Shara hugged Maria and pointed to where the others waited for her.

  The little girl ran away, then stopped and sprinted back. Her small arms wrapped around Cassie’s waist, and the tank hugged her back with as much ferocity. “Thank you for saving me.”

  Cassie bent so they were on the same level. “Anytime, kid.” She grinned. “What do warriors do?”

  Maria’s face lit up. “Strike first, no mercy!” She lifted a fist and shook it.

  Realizing that might not exactly be the path Shara wanted Maria to take, Cassie tried to make it better. “But not unless you check with your mother first.”

  Maria pushed Cassie over, blew the most vicious of raspberries, and ran away.

  Laughing, Shara pulled Cassie back to her feet. “Don’t worry, I’ve known for a long time Maria would walk a different path than mine. As long as she finds happiness and lives a life blessed by Eternia, who am I to judge?”

  Brother Colton nodded before motioning them to follow him back to the farmhouse. “Is it safe for them to go back to work?”

  “That seems a little harsh.” Lorelei looked over the priest with an appraising eye.

  The priest stopped and faced the ranger. “I only asked if it was safe for them to get back to normal. A lot of people count on the food we produce here.”

  Tim didn’t want to hear an argument about people's safety versus profit. As far as he could tell, the temple gave the food away for free, and Brother Colton was concerned about the workers’ safety. It seemed like the two sides had more in common than they did apart. It was funny how that worked sometimes.

  Tim moved over to the priest and gently turned him away from Lorelei. “It looks like there might be a larger threat to the farm. I hoped to speak with you about it before we left to deal with it.”

  “A larger threat?” Brother Colton stammered.

  Quickly regaining self-control, the prie
st moved to speak with his foreman Jim. “We need to keep everyone on lockdown. Can you handle it?”

  Jim looked shocked that the priest was putting so much faith in him. “I’ll round everyone up and get them into the stables. We can lock it down for a few days but not much longer. If we wait too long, some of the crops will go bad.”

  “Get everyone situated and join us inside the farmhouse. Once I have a better idea of what they discovered, we’ll formulate a plan for how to proceed.”

  Jim gave Brother Colton a firm nod and moved into the crowd to get things organized.

  The priest looked tired as he returned his gaze to Tim. “I’m not sure I should put so much faith in him after what happened today, but Eternia is a sucker for second chances.” Brother Colton moved toward the house. “She doesn’t like to give third ones though, so maybe a little time in the field for Jim will remind him what it’s like to get dirty for a living.”

  “What do you know about getting dirty?” ShadowLily pulled the priest into a side hug and guided him into the dining room, which was now body-free.

  A very roguelike smile appeared on Brother Colton’s lips. “Oh, I’ve plowed a few fields and piped a few wells in my day.”

  “You naughty little thing!” ShadowLily exclaimed, enjoying the bright crimson patches on the priest’s cheeks.

  He held up a hand to stall any further inquiries. “In my youth. Now this humble man is simply a vessel for the goddess.”

  “That’s what I used to call this guy.” JaKobi held up his right hand. “Vessel for the godstick.”

  Cassie grunted. “Godstick might be going a little too far, don’t you think?”

  Tim wished Gaston and his crew of motley assassins was here. This was when they all would have gone awwww, savage burn. They’d been picking up slang from the other travelers and incorporating it into how they talked. The results were hilarious sometimes and often kept things from getting tense.

  Tim’s crew seemed to be doing well right now, despite their near-death run-in with the harpy. If there was time to fit in a masturbation joke, things were either going great or about to spiral out of control. Since he didn’t see a tornado on the horizon, Tim decided to feel pretty good about the day’s accomplishments.