Dem Mikhaylov
The Lost Continent
Part Three!
Chapter Eighteen
Land ho!… In the name of the clan? Hell no! Personal interests are above the all.
“We should arrive beautifully! With deliberate ease!” The sonorous order of the Baroness made the team nervous.
To arrive beautifully, we did for sure. I could not disagree with that. The flagship was the first to approach the promised paradise. Who else was honored with such a privilege? We approached the island of stone slowly and steadily, our ships donning hundreds of sails and dozens of flags. All this, documented by numerous journalists. Well then … the Baroness certainly gave them the opportunity to see the flagship of the Sleepless Fleet in all its formidable beauty.
And besides the heavyweight beauty of the flagship, the whole world witnessed that the Sleepless did not rush to land like rats suffering from seasickness. Oh no. The Sleepless arrived with leisure, they did not hurry. The huge fleet was in perfect order — the sailors, healthy and cheerful in spirit.That was the main message sent to friends and enemies. The Sleepless could continue further without resting — and sail full speed into the unknown. The Sleepless are strong and determined. Their ships are in perfect order. And there is no shortage in stocks.
Strategy and tactics, cunning and politics – the Black Baroness was in her repertoire. I peered at the approaching horizon.
A range of rocks. But the attention to detail was staggering.
It was not a hastily built “shack” for resting thousands of mariners exhausted from their trials. Instead, you could clearly see diligence and conscientiousness in execution. From the elevation of the command bridge of the flagship the Black Queen, and thanks to the huge magical screens showing the surrounding area, I was among the first to see the new location. The Ring of the World aroused respect and admiration.
It was a rock. An old, reliable stone of light gray color with multi-colored patches – it was pleasing to see after the endless ocean. There were small cliffs rising a dozen meters up, and there were smaller elevations. Some wide, transparent streams, whose channels traced intricately blue lines over the gray “sheet”. Here and there were giant trees, under which were abundant shadows. You wanted to leave the ship at once, to lie down under the softly rustling crown of one of the tree giants and indulge in a long rest. Yes, oh yes … Just lie on one’s back and stare up, lazily watching the play of light.
There were also flower fields- what would there be without them? Dozens of colorful flower fields were scattered here and there on the stone. You could see benches scattered around the perimeter. Stones arranged in small groups, as if for fire pits. Ah… if only to light a fire, uncork some wine, sit on those natural armchairs, pick up the guitar, and start humming a simple old song…
In short, the Ring of the World was enticing. It fully corresponded with the illustration on the flyer. A giant, round stone platform surrounded by an even larger,wider ring. The Black Queen was now entering one of the outer rings, breaking the waves. Above the deck there were twittering birds with bright tropical plumage. They were dropping down flowers as they circled above us.
Hundreds of people waved at us from the land. Lush wreaths and flower bouquets flew into the air. A crowd of dark-skinned and rather short … natives? Savages? They looked quite civilized, they were smiling. There were no weapons. They were “locals”. It seemed to me that they would accompany us for the next two days or so, and also that the clans would conduct all trading and other business with them. Therefore, it was better not to trust the smiles – they were the predatory grins of the capitalists, who saw a cheap and rare labor force. So the farmer smiles at the sight of a horse he has just bought – saying, now I will make you work to full capacity…
Dozens of ships began to enter the ring, following the flagship. The same thing happened underneath the water – you could see through it, and so we saw giant dinosaurs gliding into the rings among the bright algal forests, Achilots sitting on their harnesses.
“Today we enjoy ourselves!” Said the BB, and her words flew over each ship of the armada, whether it was overboard or underwater, moving alongside or a couple of miles behind. “Everyone will rest, but some I will ask to stay. Carpenters, gunsmiths, animal trainers, alchemists, blacksmiths … all from the orange list. I think, you understand - there is a lot of unfinished business with the ships. There are holes, many military machines have been broken, animals have been wounded. Therefore— two hours to rest. And then two hours of work. The Sleepless are always distinguished in such qualities as perseverance and diligence. We must show these qualities now!”
The sigh of disappointment and doom somewhat spoiled the festive atmosphere.
The Baroness paused, smiled calmly. When Klest signaled that the magical broadcast was complete, she turned sharply to me.
“Ros!”
“What?!” I was amazed by her sudden attack.
“Why the hell are you standing around?”
“What do you mean?! What did I do?! Nothing ...”
“Cannot argue there. But as soon as I said I am asking some of you to stay, you immediately turned your face away!”
“So what?”
“The broadcast is on! The others are taking your example!”
“Oh, come on! Who is taking example from me?!”
“Should I list them by name? Of course, they are taking your example! You are the Great Navigator. They speak more about you than they do of the Red Baron and Malice, and those two are real legends! … of the past. Ugh. In other words… I am asking you— please behave. You are on the spot. Stand calmly, and be ready to smile! Please!”
“Ok,” I nodded, somewhat shocked. “More stories about me than about the Red Baron? Hmm …”
“Do not get too excited,” the Baroness snorted. “The Baron has had some bad luck…” The BB gave a sign to Klest and the broadcast resumed. “Let us go, you devils, get ready to go ashore! Behave decently! Do not bully the girls, do not forcibly embrace the boys! This I say to the females! Good luck!”
There was a belligerent roar from the crowd. But they quickly came to their senses, and their white-toothed smiles began to shine again. The scattered floral bouquets flew up into the sky. A couple of natives grabbed for heavy sticks and began to beat huge drums with rage. Not a bad rhythm. Tonight, we would party…
It was very early sunny morning. The calmness overwhelmed me.
“Good ...” I exhaled, laying on the cornflower hill.
“Good ...” Doc agreed. He was lying next to me with his palms folded on his belly.
“Just excellent,” Cray muttered, sitting a bit lower down the hill.
“Bo-o-o-oring,” Orbit said, outraged. He had gotten himself buried in the ground to the chest.
“Why are you laying down?” the broad-shouldered half-orc shouted in rage, running towards us. “I have organized tasks for us! Each promises plenty of profit! Raise your asses and follow me!”
“Here we go,” I grunted, getting up.
“Come on, Chief,” Doctor Vaibolit chuckled. “Let us shake our bones, like the good old days.”
“We are going as a smaller team,” said Cray sadly. Tyrant was sitting next to him, and whined with solidarity.
I understood him - Kaylen was staying, in the center, where everything took place— there were tournaments, auctions, fishing, and sport competitions. Kaylen was a journalist of the Valdira News and now she had almost no time for personal participation in reckless and dubious adventures.
By the way, my girlfriend and daughter had left - they both firmly declared that they would not miss a single fishing competition. And they intended to win!
And so we remained
alone:
Orbit. Cray. Bom. Doc. Our pets. And myself.
The group we had was very good, from the point of the class affiliation of the players.
There were two powerful melee fighters, easily able to play the role of tanks.
There was our doctor.
There was the mad demoniac genius with his ghosts and his knife.
There was also me - the battle mage.
Among the absences there were the paladin tank, and the potential goddess. Cray was suffering … apparently he was used to being one with Kaylen, and now he could not find his place.
“With our ridiculous levels, there are only two places we can do business,” the professional “ass” got straight to the point. “I found two places. The tasks are timed— if we are late by even a minute, then the whole thing will fail, and the quest will be given to others.”
“Cannot we just rest? Play card games?” Said the sad gnome Cray.
Bom growled savagely, like his fellow “wild” orcs, who had gone to the warpath and tried to crush Barad-Gadur.
“You want to play cards?”
“Uh, yes, cards. We can even play for money!”
“Put money in the cards?” The half-orc said. “Get up, soldier! Or I will write to Kaylen that you are staring at the curvy elf over there!”
“What?!”
“You heard me! Stand in line! Ros, listen, you will command, ok? You could command him, right?”
“Why?”
“You listen to the BB all the time! Maybe it rubbed off on you…”
“Ugh,” I sighed. “Guys, Let us go. Let us think about it– as a men’s team, we will proudly walk through the untouched grounds, hunt unknown monsters, drink wine, while sitting on some snow-covered peak, where no player has ever reached before. Sound good? And you do not have to be gentlemen, because there are no girls. Only men on the path of victory! Yeah?”
“That sounds good!” Doc cheered, sticking out his chest.
“We can bring special gifts for the girls,” I added quickly, and Cray slowly began to get up, coming to life in front of my eyes.
“Hm ...” Said the skinny bald elf. I could see he was not particularly impressed by my inspirational speech, which was glorifying the male brotherhood.
“Some mysterious horrible problem awaits us! It won’t be easy! The problem will be so special that we will have to strain every gray matter cell of the brain, and there are no guarantees that we will even be able to cope with this challenge!”
“O-o-o-oh ...” The elf twitched his ugly ears in complete ecstasy and slowly unscrewed himself from the earth.
“You have actually advanced in your oratory skills,” Bom nodded.
“Not my job to motivate you!” I grumbled. “You started this! But I am glad, anyway… to go on an adventure unsupervised.”
“Alright! Like the good old days! Let us go!”
“Let us go!” I took the first step. “So! Our agenda is to admire nature, destroy monsters, solve the most incredible situations in the most interesting and unusual way! We are men - strong as a firestone! Let us move!”
“Ye-e-eah!”
“Tyrant! Are you alive?”
“R-ru-ruf!” The black and white wolf responded. He was standing on an extremely narrow rock ledge, pressing sideways against the wall, afraid to move the ear.
“I knew we should not have taken a mammoth with us!” The crushed half-orc rumbled.
“My Kalen is somewhere down there...” Cray was on the very edge of the high-mountain path, and seemed prepared to jump down.
“Hold the suicidal gnome!” I screamed desperately.
“Jump-jump-jump,” the bald elf whispered softly, without the slightest defect of speech.
“Fall back!” I snarled, causing an echo. “Bom, move over! If the mammoth moves back, it will crush Doc!”
“Oh god,” I heard from behind Kolyvan. “I feel sorry for all the medicine…”
“It is our fault!” I shook my head. “We got lazy, and turned ourselves into sheep!”
“What are you talking about, boss?” Asked the half-orc.
A gust of wind immediately caused the “ass” to lean into the mountain.
“We have lost the ability to act on our own,” I grumbled. “First, Kira commanded us, a tactical leader from God… we were just soldiers carrying out orders. And then we were constantly traveling with the Sleepless, and they took the lead…”
“Ugh...” Bom said hoarsely. “True. We are used to being guided.”
“We will unlearn it,” I declared with determination. “It is ridiculous! We cannot do anything without women’s instructions! I am certainly not a sexist … but, is there such a word?”
“Sounds indecent … are you bragging about something, boss?”
“No! I mean something else! I have nothing against women, but it does not make any sense - we are about to die without the women’s advice! And Cray will soon be thrown off the mountain … hey! You either jump, or crawl off the edge, Cray! Enough of this!”
“Oh, I am falling apart…”
“So chew on some oak bark! It will hold you together! Orbit, drive Kolyvan forward. Doc, do not let go of the mammoth tail. Hold on tightly, as if the fate of the whole mammoth family depends on your grasp! And we will follow you. Only a little way to the top. Walk forward! And let us kill every living creature! Oh! One is flying towards us! Take cover!”
I threw my hands up and brought my palms together so that a triangle appeared between my thumb and index fingers. In this frame I caught a fast-approaching and unimaginable creature, mostly resembling a hairy stone. Yes, it sounds stupid — but it looked like this: a round or oval boulder overgrown with long and thick brown hair. Its wings were not there, and the creature was not a free bird, but it was a live shell thrown at us by an unknown slinger, which sat somewhere very far down, in a narrow valley overgrown with young emerald ferns.
“At the count of three to the left, Ros!”
“Got it,” I responded, shooting ice into the buzzing, woolly boulder. I had an excellent spell for “fireballs,” but I had already made a similar mistake last time I encountered one of these and did not intend to repeat it. The wool of the monster was flammable. It immediately flared up and turned into a living clot of flame. Doc did not die only by a miracle. This was our sixth battle with this kind of shaggy boulder - by the way, the monster’s hair was a predatory moss that braided around the victim and sucked them into its mouth.
“Two… three!”
I rushed to the left, and the monster crashed into the vacant spot, giving a loud, angry roar. It resembled the sound of a noisy rattle. Cray and Bom shielded me, and a black shadow flashed over us. Then Kolyvan held a long stone with his trunk and smashed it into the monster’s head. The monster was weakened by the terrible strike, and Cray and Bom immediately rushed to the monster to beat it heavily with their weapons. The boulder whirled, and Cray was injured. Doc rushed to him. Bom stepped back and the ugly creature jerked after him, blocking the path to the forest, completely covering a big section of the path. The mammoth attacked one more time, and I chopped the forest with ice shards.
The black and white wolf snarled loudly and menacingly behind us. It was signal of alert…
Kolyvan was finishing off the shaggy boulder by the name of Tinny Womb, and we regrouped and began to wait. It was the same as last time – the creature emerged from the corner, about two meters in height, thin, reminiscent of jelly that learned how to walk. It was quite a nasty freak. Tyrant jerked forward, and closed his jaws on one of the legs. The wolf’s fangs easily punched through the liquid flesh, without causing much harm. The monster roared in triumph, but then halted in surprise. Two tiny holes were visible above the deep wound left by Tyrant. It was Doc’s snake. The snake had been sitting on Tyrant’s head the whole time. And once Tyrant bit — so did the snake. It was a double punch. One was deep and tearing, and the other was poisonous.
“Striking,” I said calm
ly, and covered the monster with five fireballs. He screamed in pain, twirled on the spot, and a plume of smoke rushed to the sky. Once the monster managed to put out the fire, I again attacked with blackthorn. We watched and waited gloomily as the soft creature slowly scraped through poisonous branches of the magic thorns, tearing its flesh apart.
We had finally managed to come up with the strategy. This was not our first fight. We had almost died during the first one. The confusion was terrible and shameful. We somehow managed, and then ruthlessly pointed out everyone’s miscalculations. Then during the second fight … we did better. By the way, the name of these creatures was surprising - Octoplasmus. Try to figure it out…
“Let us keep walking,” I commanded, and the team lined up in a coordinated marching order.
We continued walking along the narrow mountain path, after which we would descend and climb to the next slope. Our goal was there. Why? We were on a mission! Our goal was humane - to kill all life around the old stone building. Then, to install a magical artifact. Then a naked, dark-skinned native engineer would come to the building through the artifact. He would fix something, and then disappear, and then we would either go with him, or would return home as usual – walking.
“The clan cannot find what the hell is throwing those?” Bom asked angrily. “It is a kind of giant! And they cannot find it?”
“Who knows,” Sighed-Doc. “Are you watching your back?”
“Of course!”
“Tyrant, we all rely on your scent! Look for these ugly creatures!”
“R-ruff!”
Most of all, I was afraid of living traps. The wolf sensed them and immediately warned us by pointing to a section of the path. Bom would hit it and the stone would crash and reveal a deep hole with something hiding beneath it.
Bom swore at the players walking in valley below us. The mysterious monster threw huge rocks into that area. But it could not be found — Bom swore this task had been taken up by the Architects clan, who had been the Sleepless by a couple of seconds. Two seconds ahead and already two hours prowling among the ferns, but they still did not find anything. And the fern grew fast … I hoped, nevertheless, that they would find the wicked creature. Otherwise, there was a high chance that we would be crushed.
The Way of the Clan 9 Page 1