by E K Baxter
“Let me help you up,” Sam said.
He put an arm around his father and helped him into a chair. Jasper passed a shaky hand over his face and then looked around, his eyes settling on Max and Terra.
“You have my thanks,” he said. “You are good friends to my son. Without you I fear he may have been lost.”
Terra frowned, putting her hands on her hips. “Would anyone mind telling me what’s going on? Two minutes ago this guy was trying to kill us! What changed?”
“I was under an enchantment,” Jasper said. “One placed on me by Lord Mespar. The things I have done in his name...” He shivered, his eyes widening as though looking on something unpleasant. “Lord Mespar wanted control of our Hopwood holdings, in particular our mining and smelting operations. When I refused to hand over control to him, he put that medallion around my neck and the next thing I knew all will had left me. But I’m free now, thanks to the three of you. If there is anything I can do to help you need only ask.”
Congratulations! You have formed an alliance with the Hopwood family. 250 XP into Charisma. This is now level 4.
Max knelt in front of Jasper. “Why did Lord Mespar want your mining works?”
“I’ve no idea,” Jasper replied. “He only said it had something to do with his research.”
“And Arlena?” Terra demanded. “What part did you play in her abduction? We found your seal at the place she was taken.”
“Arlena was arrested, not abducted. She came sniffing too close to Lord Mespar and paid the price.”
“People who are arrested get taken to jail, not held somewhere secret where nobody can get in to see them!” Terra snapped. “So I ask again: what part did you play in it?”
Jasper sighed. “Lord Mespar used one of my carriages to take her away.”
“And where is she being held now?”
“In the palace, where else?”
“The palace?” Terra asked. “We have agents in the palace and they reported no sign of her.”
Jasper smiled ruefully. “You think Lord Mespar doesn’t have ways of hiding those he doesn’t want found? Trust me, she is in the palace dungeons. If she’s still alive that is.”
He stood slowly and then shuffled over to the mantelpiece where a small wooden box sat. He opened it and took out an object. “Take this, in thanks for your help.”
He held it out to Max. It was a gemstone, pulsing a deep purple like the medallion Jasper had had around his neck. Max reached out and took it.
Item: Gemstone of Infinity. Alignment: neutral. Ability: This jewel will allow the caster to temporarily increase the attribute of their choice by two levels. Duration: 1 minute.
Congratulations! You have found the clues you need to locate the rebel leader!
x2 Level Up! Level: 11
You have earned two stat points to be distributed as you choose.
You may allocate your stat points at any time. Any unallocated stat points will be lost in the event of death.
Keep on leveling!
Max dumped his points into Wisdom, bringing it to level 10.
“Thank you,” Max said to Jasper, tucking the gemstone into his pocket. He had no idea how it would come in useful but in his experience these kinds of things normally came in handy when you least expected them to.
He looked around at his friends. “Ready to go?
Terra hefted her weapons. “Finally! I thought you’d never ask!”
Sam crossed to his father. “Will you be all right?”
“Don’t you worry about me,” Jasper said. “Go with your friends. Aid the True Worlder. He is our best hope for freedom.”
Sam gave his father a quick hug and then the three of them left the study, creeping carefully through the house so as not to alert any of Lord Mespar’s mercenaries to their escape. Once outside they gathered behind a large bush.
“So what now?” Terra asked.
“We go to the palace and rescue Arlena, of course!” Sam cried.
“I know that,” Terra snapped. “But we’re hardly going to march up to the front door, knock politely and say, ‘would you mind awfully if we just came in and rescued the rebel leader you have in custody’ are we? We need a plan.”
“Duh. Of course we do,” Sam said, rolling his eyes.
“And I suppose you’re the one to come up with it?”
“Well, I was the one who figured out we needed to come here.”
“That was hardly an achievement! This is your bloody family home!”
Sam opened his mouth for a retort but before he could say anything Max hissed, “Enough, you two!”
They didn’t have time for an argument. Every moment lost was another moment Mespar had to prepare a nasty welcome. It was time for Max to employ some of that charisma he’d been earning.
He looked at his friends in turn. “Bickering will get us nowhere. We have to work together.”
Terra crossed her arms. Sam glowered. But at least they’d stopped shouting at each other.
“Look, I know we’re feeling the pressure,” Max continued, laying a hand on each of their shoulders. “But think of everything we’ve achieved so far. I don’t know about you guys but I think we make one hell of a team, so how about we go and rescue the rebel leader?”
Terra frowned but nodded.
Sam tried to scowl but his infectious grin returned. “You bet! What do you suggest, oh wise leader?”
“We can’t just walk up to the gates of the palace. Sure, we could take down some of the guards and probably fight our way inside but that would alert Lord Mespar to our presence and blow the whole operation. We’re supposed to be on a stealth mission so that only leaves one option: we need to sneak in.”
“Makes sense,” Terra said, nodding. “But if all the entrances are guarded—which they will be—how are we going to sneak in?”
“There’s always one way into a building that isn’t guarded.”
Terra and Sam shared a look.
“Which is?” Terra prompted.
“The sewers!” Max said triumphantly.
Sam groaned. “Oh, great. Now I’m starting to wish I’d killed you after all.”
Chapter 9
The culvert they’d found after carefully scouting the palace’s eastern wall was little more than a drain. A round hole in the base of the wall, covered with an iron grille, it spewed dirty water and god-knows what else into the moat that surrounded the palace.
As they peered down at it Sam wrinkled his nose. “Gods, it smells worse than the fish-market. You really expect us to go crawling in there?”
“You have a better idea?” Max asked.
They’d crossed the Tapestry Quarter quickly and Max had felt a creeping sense of dread fill him the closer they got to the palace. He was sure that in there lay the answers as to why he’d been brought to the Rogue Lands and how he could get home.
Sam shrugged. “Well, when you put it like that...”
He led the way down a shallow embankment that led to the culvert and the three of them crouched in front of the grille. There was a small gate in the grille to admit workmen into the sewers. Right now it was secured with a heavy padlock.
Max opened his inventory and scrolled through. The brooch he’d looted from the orc appeared in his hand. He unclasped the pin on the back, stuck it into the lock and began wiggling it around. He hadn’t been an assassin mage for nothing. Picking locks had been one of his specialties.
The lock suddenly sprang open and Terra grinned. “Ah, so you’re not just a pretty face after all?”
Terra yanked open the gate, pulled out one of her swords, and carefully edged inside.
Did she just say I’ve got a pretty face? Max thought.
Sam shot him a mischievous grin as he passed and Max thought about giving him a rude gesture in return. He settled on scowling at his friend and then followed him through the gate, pulling it shut behind him.
The tunnel wasn’t big enough for them to stand up so they hunched over, doin
g their best to avoid stepping into the stream of water and waste that flowed down the middle of the tunnel. The smell was enough to turn Max’s stomach: rotting vegetables mixed with human waste so strong that he was sure it would burn the hairs on the inside of his nostrils.
Trying to breathe only through his mouth, he nodded to the others. “Let’s go.”
They set off, Max in the lead and Sam bringing up the rear. The tunnel soon widened so that they could walk upright and light filtered from somewhere above meaning they had enough light to see by—and see the chunks that floated in the water by their feet.
“If I fall in this stuff, I swear I’ll kill myself,” Sam muttered.
His voice echoed off the arched ceiling, throwing it back at them a hundred fold. They froze, waiting tensely until the echoes died away.
“I suggest we only talk when we need to,” Max whispered. “We were lucky that didn’t bring any enemies down on us—”
He cut off as an almighty screech echoed down the tunnel. They spun towards the sound, equipping weapons. In the gloom a shadow moved. It was big, really big. Max gripped his spear in both hands and planted his feet, Sam and Terra by his side. The shape sped closer, revealing itself as a sewer rat.
But not just any sewer rat. It was enormous, easily the size of a large dog.
What is it about rats in this game? Max thought. Don’t they realize I hate rats?
He braced himself as the rat sprang at them. There was no room in the tunnel for ranged attacks. It was melee or die.
Sam dashed forward and the beast crunched into his shield, staggering him back a pace. Terra darted in on Sam’s left, slashing at the rat with her swords. There was a screech of pain and one of the rat’s paws, splashed into the murky water, severed clean off. The rat raked its claws at Terra and she only just danced out of the way in time, razor sharp talons shearing through the space her head had just occupied.
Max took the opportunity to zip in from Sam’s other side and stab his spear deep into the creature’s body. It howled and spun towards him, teeth flying at his throat. Max stumbled back and Sam intercepted the creature, smashing it in the face with his shield. Max jumped forward, drove his spear through its body hard enough to slam into the stone beneath, impaling it there. Whilst it struggled to rise, tail whipping back and forth like a scythe, Sam equipped his sword and took its head off.
They searched around for loot. Whilst Sam found himself a huge war hammer and Terra tucked two daggers into the top of her boots, Max found a pair of boots.
Item: Light leather boots. +20 armor. These boots were made for stompin!
Max pulled on the boots. They were as supple and light as calf-skin and yet felt as hard as boiled leather. He nodded, pleased. He’d be able to run and pivot easily enough but they’d hopefully keep his stamina from running out so easily.
I could have done with these when Sam’s dad attacked us with that stamina-draining spell, he thought. Then maybe I wouldn’t have been paralyzed for so long.
They carried on walking, smaller tunnels branching off this main one, but they ignored them and kept on a straight line. Twice more they encountered the giant rats and twice more they finished them off without taking too much damage to their health. One of them managed to catch Terra a swipe with its claws but she dodged its second attempt and only suffered minor damage. All the while they kept their eyes peeled for a way into the palace above.
“There!” Max said as something bright on the far side of the tunnel caught his eye.
It was a chink of sunlight coming down from a chute in the tunnel wall. Peering up the chute they saw that it climbed steeply for several feet before ending in a circle of light. The chute was big enough for someone to crawl up.
“Perfect,” Max said. “That’s our way in.”
“Where do you suppose it leads?” Sam asked, standing on tiptoes and sticking his head up the chute.
“A bathroom is my guess,” Max said. Then seeing their blank looks he added, “Bathroom. Toilet. Um...privy?”
Sam gave out a strangled cry and darted out from under the chute. “You could have warned me before I stuck my head in!”
Terra laughed at Sam’s expression. “Anyone would think you have an aversion to getting covered in the unspeakables!”
“I do! I’m not some troll you know!”
“One of us is going to have to climb up there and check out where it leads,” Max said.
“One of us?” Sam spluttered. “Which one of us?”
“I think it’s only fair that we play for it,” Max replied. “Do you know Stone, Scissors, Paper?”
They shook their heads so Max quickly gave them a run through. They played. Sam lost.
“I wasn’t ready!” he said. “Can we make it best of three?”
Terra laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. “There’s no wriggling out of this, my friend. Up you go.”
Sam gingerly looked up the chute. “But what if someone comes to use it whilst I’m halfway up?”
“Then they’ll get a mighty surprise when your head pops up, won’t they?”
Sam closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath before opening them again. “The things I go through for my country.”
“Remember, this is only a scouting mission,” Max said. “Get up there and see where it leads. Don’t get into a fight if you can help it. Got it?”
“Got it,” Sam replied. He approached the chute and looked up, muttering under his breath.
Max and Terra gave Sam a leg up and he braced his feet to either side of the chute and began to shuffle upwards, grunting with effort. Max and Terra watched from below whilst simultaneously checking the tunnel around them for any sign of enemies. This would be the perfect time for an attack.
The only sound was that of dripping water and Sam’s heavy breathing as he huffed and puffed his way upwards. He paused as he neared the circle of light at the top, listening for anyone who might be nearby. He looked down at his companions and gave a thumbs-up. Then he climbed the rest of the way, blocking out the light momentarily as he clambered out and disappeared from view.
Max’s grip tightened on his spear. His heart thudded against his ribs. Beside him, Terra looked tense, as taut as a bowstring. If the alarm went up now, they’d have one hell of a fight on their hands.
After a few moments that felt like hours Sam’s head appeared at the top of the chute.
“Good news!” he whispered. “This is the dungeon. This privy must be for the guards. Come on, before somebody decides that lunch hasn’t agreed with them!”
Max breathed out. At last, some luck. He cupped his hands, boosting Terra into the chute then stood guard as she shimmied upwards. When she’d reached the top and Sam had helped her climb out, it was Max’s turn. He found a couple of decent hand holds and then shuffled his way up, legs splayed and feet wedged against the sides of the chute. The walls were slimy with years of accumulated filth and the smell grew as he dislodged old bits of grime. He did his best not to breathe. At last he emerged into the room and stood with the others.
Terra wrinkled her nose. “Ugh. We smell like a troll’s armpit. What I wouldn’t give for a bath right now!”
“Troll’s armpit maybe, but at least we made it into the palace,” Max replied. “And without any of us getting killed. Now all we have to do if find Arlena.”
Terra and Sam’s eyes lit up at that. They crossed to the door of the privy and pressed their ears against it, listening. There was the muffled sound of conversation from somewhere beyond.
Max led the way out, all of them with weapons in hand. They found themselves in a narrow stone corridor. They edged their way down it until they reached a room. Candles gave the only light, spilling oily smoke into the air where it coiled in great clouds across the ceiling. A large wooden table filled most of the space around which sat a bunch of guards [Mercenaries level: 12]. They were lounging with their feet up on the table whilst they played some kind of game with a board and colored stones. Plates o
f half-eaten food and a big jug of ale sat on the table.
One of them looked up as Max and his companions entered the room.
“Oi!” he cried. “Who the hell are you?”
The guards burst into motion, grabbing weapons and advancing on Max and the others. Max did a quick count. There were seven guards, including a man wearing an insignia on his shoulder that marked him out as a [Guard Captain: level 13]. Max and his friends fell into their usual formation, Sam taking the front with his shield, Terra and Max to either side and slightly behind. Like the tunnels below, the room was too small to allow for ranged attacks so Max kept his bow safely stowed and equipped his spear instead.
As the first guard rushed at Sam, howling a battle cry and brandishing a huge sword, Max hurled the spear and it took the man through the neck, sending him hurtling back into his companions.
They took advantage of the confusion and leapt after him, Sam smashing into them with his shield, Terra slicing one across the face with her swords, Max equipping his ax and taking the legs out from another.
Three down. Four left.
The others were cautious now and Max saw one of them pull something from a scabbard and throw it. It whirled through the air, a flash of silver, and buried itself in Max’s shoulder. There was an explosion of pain and his vision went red around the edges. His HP dropped by 20%.
“Max!” Sam shouted. “You okay?”
Max grabbed the hilt sticking out of his shoulder and yanked it. A diamond-shaped throwing knife came away in his hand. Numbness spread down his left arm and he held it tight to his body whilst hefting his ax with the other.
“Watch out!” he cried. “That one’s got throwing knives! We need to take him out. Sam, cover us whilst we get close.”
They crowded behind Sam’s shield as they took several steps forward. There was a thunk as another throwing knife slammed into Sam’s shield and then another as one caught the metal rim and went spinning away. When they were only paces away Max darted out from behind the shield and swung at the knife-thrower with his ax. The man side-stepped, avoiding the blow, and his hand snapped out. Another throwing knife came flying at Max and he threw himself to the left, rolling out of the way and taking cover behind one of the chairs. A moment later a knife thunked into the chair-leg by his face.