by R. A. Mejia
The soldiers to either side of the wagon gasp at the sight of the fifteen foot tall mountain giant. They watch in horror as he launches the tree into the air towards us. The world slows down and everyone’s eyes are glued to the large projectile arcing through the air. Its parabolic path passes over the two wagons ahead of us. Dirt falls from the roots of the tree as it comes down, passing mere feet above my head and landing behind our wagon with an earth moving crash. The world returns to its normal speed and the sounds of screaming reach my ears.
I turn and see that the thrown tree has crushed four of the horses and their riders outright and knocked another three down. Leaving three mounted soldiers still on their horses. Gorbash maneuvers through the wagons ahead of us and pulls a small tree from the ground and wields it like a club. He smashes one of the fallen soldiers and roars at the remaining ones. The three mounted soldiers look at the young mountain giant in fear and turn their horses around and gallop away.
I climb down off the roof of the wagon. Gorbash and I finish off the two fallen soldiers and I earn an additional 15 XP.
Chapter 2.2
Kitsune and Mary come out of our vehicle. They join the growing crowd that have left their wagons to see what just happened.
I walk over to Kitsune and ask her to pull out the crossbow bolt from my shoulder so I can heal the wound. She agrees to do so, I turn my back to her. I feel the soft touch of her fingers as they probe the place the bolt has pierced my skin.
I hear a murmur from her. “The bolt is barbed, so I can’t just pull it out. I’ll have to cut around the wound, so the barbed head won’t tear more tissue on the way out.”
I hadn’t considered that part of taking care of an injury. I guess that even in a world where healing magic exists medical skills are still critical. “Sure doc. You do whatever you need to do,” I tell her.
“Doc?” She asks, not recognizing the term.
“Sorry, where I’m from we call our healers doctors. Doc is just short for doctor. When you examined the bolt wound, it just reminded me of what I used to see doctors do on TV…err…in healing facilities.”
Kitsune must have gotten a knife from somewhere because I can feel her cut away the cloth around the wound. I can feel her steady hands moving quickly along my back and am reassured by the calm tone of her voice, “So, this is going to hurt a little as I cut. I’m going to dull the pain with a little magic, but it’s still going to hurt. Why don’t you tell me more about these ‘doctors’? Are they magical healers like me?”
Mary flies in front of me, a look of sympathy on her face and she kisses my forehead. I hear her whisper, “Be careful what you tell her about your world. Inter-dimensional travelers aren’t exactly common.”
I feel a chill numbing sensation along my shoulder blade and tell Kitsune, “Uh, no. None of the doctors I know use healing magic. At least not the kind you use. I’ve heard of cases where people have been brought back from the verge of death after some accident or fight. Our doctors use their vast knowledge of the human body to repair those wounds.”
I feel the knife cut into my flesh as Kitsune makes her first incision and I grit my teeth against the pain.
Damage received: 1
Ow, ow, ow, ow.
As if she’s only cutting vegetables, Kitsune comments calmly, “That’s interesting. Most healers just rely on magic, but I’ve tried to make a study of the body to better understand the causes of disease and figure out the best way to heal. I’d be very interested to speak to one of your doctors.”
The remaining cuts are sure and quick, if painful.
Damage received: 1
Damage received: 1
Damage received: 1
I feel a tug on my flesh and hear a wet plop as the bolt is removed.
Damage received: 3 (bleeding)
I feel Kitsune’s hands touch the wound. Then I feel a coolness enter my body and the pain disappears. “There we go. All better,” she tells me and pats the place the wound once was.
I turn around and roll my shoulder to test the range of motion and don’t detect any pain or tension. It feels like my shoulder’s good as new. I check my [Status Screen] and see that not only is the bleeding effect from the wound gone but my health points are back up to 54/54.
Happy that I’m back up to full health and that I don’t have a crossbow bolt sticking out of me anymore, I give Kitsune a quick hug and tell her, “Thanks, that was good work. I’m not sure I would have been able to heal it up that well myself.”
It seems the hug was unexpected because Kitsune looks at me with a ‘deer caught in the headlights’ look and I notice a slight blush in her cheeks.
She turns away from me and coughs into her hand to cover her embarrassment. “That’s fine. I’m glad that I could help you recover after your fight with those guards.” Before I can say anything else to her, she quickly walks back to the wagon.
I wonder if I broke some social custom when I hugged her. I was just happy I wasn’t hurting anymore.
Putting those thoughts aside, I look around the scene of the battle and see Vrax already collecting loot drops from the disappeared bodies of the dead soldiers. Harold is helping him collect the armor and weapons left behind too. Those two seem to work well together. Probably because they both favor a stealthy approach to life.
Allison pulls away from the crowd of people that have gathered, “What in the world happened? I thought we had more time before the soldiers were going to catch up?”
I shrug, “From what I can tell, those riders practically ran their horses to death to catch up with us. Why did you stop the wagons?”
Allison mimics my shrug and points to Gorbash, “We had to stop. He was killing soldiers that had blocked the road with fallen trees. Hell, he threw one of the fallen trees back at those horsemen.”
I remember the close call I had with that thrown log and run my hand through my hair. For once in my life, I am glad I was never tall enough to play in the NBA.
“Oh, well, then I have to wonder how those soldiers knew we were coming. Or do you think it was just a coincidence they tried to blockade the road this late at night?”
Allison considers the question, but it’s Mary that answers, “Did you already forget the message tablets? They allow for near instantaneous communication. Sure they’re expensive, but if the Imperare army gives them to one or two soldiers in a unit, they can coordinate their actions amazingly well.”
I think of the soldiers in those World War II films. There was always one with a huge backpack and communications equipment that relayed orders from a central base. Guess the Empire is at least as smart as those countries.
“Yip. We found one with the loot dropped near the first wagon.” Vrax confirms and hands me an object about five inches long and four inches wide. It’s a dark grey color on one side and on the other is covered in silver arcane symbols. I try to turn it on like I do with my own message tablet but the thing doesn’t seem to work.
“Did you break it?” I ask Vrax.
Mary shakes her head and tells me, “No, he didn’t break it. Message tablets come with a security option that won’t let it work for anyone but the owner. I can reset the device so that it’ll accept a new user but unless you’re able to overcome the magical security you can’t access the messages currently on it.”
“Wait, does that mean my message tablet has that security feature? Why didn’t you ever tell me about it?”
Mary crosses her arm and scoffs, “Uh, how was I supposed to snoop through your messages if the security was turned on? Oh, by the way, you should really message Sonya. Lilliandra is probably worried about you too.”
I can only sigh and shake my head at the boldness of some women.
Returning my attention to Allison, “So, now we know how they got that trap setup ahead of us. That means that the soldiers in Restrian will also be on the lookout for us. So you’ll have to get as far as you can tonight with the wagons. We’ll be turning east here and heading into Monstr
um to hide out and look through the ledgers Mr. Gerald had.”
Allison nods and corrals all her people back into their wagons.
Turning to Gorbash, I find him smiling at me. It’s a rather disturbing smile, but I guess he can’t help that.
“Thanks for coming to save us Gorbash. I know you didn’t have to.”
Gorbash shakes his head, looks me directly in my eyes, and says in a slow, deliberate manner, “D..e..b..t P..a..i..d.” Those were the first and last words I’d ever heard him utter. After saying his piece, he turns northeast and walks into the dark forest towards the mountains. Even with my [Darkvision], I quickly lose sight of him as he crashes through the woods.
Hmm. Guess the giant felt like he owed us some kind of debt for saving him from those slavers. Too bad he didn’t think of it as a life debt. I could of used my own mountain giant Wookie.
Chapter 2.3
Back on the road again, the magical lights Mary conjure cut through the night, illuminating the way ahead. Kitsune turns right at the crossroads, turning us east towards Monstrum. According to Kitsune, we should reach their borders in a week if we spend most of our time on the road. Though that does assume we’re able to find grass or hay for the horses to eat.
While we travel, Mary sits in the back of the wagon, resting and regaining her spent mana. Vrax sits beside her counting out our share of the coin and loot from all the soldiers we killed. He and Harold had divided all the spoils up. Two-thirds of it going to the rescued slaves since they’ll have to start their lives all over in a completely new city. Still, Vrax doesn’t seem unhappy as he counts in reptilian. When he finishes his inventory of the items collected, he tells me what we’ve got. We have a set of chain mail, four sets of leather armor, a set of studded leather armor, two shortswords, a double bladed axe, a cutlass, a hand crossbow, fourteen crossbow bolts, two novice health potions, a novice stamina potion, five silver, and thirty two copper.
Thinking of all the stuff we have, I’m particularly interested in learning how to use the hand crossbow. I have to admit though, that the best bit of treasure we’ve gotten recently is the wagon we’re riding in. We don’t have to walk everywhere anymore and we can carry a heck of alot more loot now!
My body feels pretty tired after the strenuous day we’ve had, and the steady sound of the wheels on the road begin to put me to sleep. I’m jolted awake by the sensation of the wagon coming to a stop. I look over to Kitsune and see her yawn and stretch, her fox ears pointing forward as she does so. As she yawns, I note that she has rather sharp looking canines.
“Why are we stopping?” I ask.
“Because I’m tired. You got to nap for a while, but I’ve been driving all night. Did you know you snore? I think you scared the horses a little.”
I look behind me into the wagon and see that Mary and Vrax are both rubbing sleep from their eyes. In front of me, the sun is just rising above the trees, and the sky near the horizon is a beautiful mixture of pink, yellow, and blue. Looking around, I see that we’ve pulled off the road through an open field behind the cover of some trees. I can barely make out the main road from here and if you were passing by you’d only be able to see us if you knew precisely where to look. That fox woman knows how to choose a good rest spot, I’ll give her that. I turn to compliment Kitsune on her choice of rest spots but she is already out of the wagon unhitching the horses.
She pulls three brushes from under the wagon seat and leads one of the horses by its bridle to a grassy field where she brushes the creature's’ body. She notices me watching her and asks if I want to learn how to take care of the animals. I eagerly agree and walk up to her. She puts one of the brushes into my hand and tells me to brush the horse’s coat. I start brushing the horse like I’m brushing someone's hair and Kitsune stops me. She demonstrates how to use the brush with the direction of the hair in rapid, short strokes, ending each one in a flicking motion to get the dirt off of the horse’s coat. She hand back the brush and tells me to continue brushing the horse's coat. She takes a comb and runs it through the horse's mane and tail.
Making sure the horse’s coat is clean is a surprisingly relaxing experience. Kitsune also shows me how to check the animal’s hooves for damage or lodged stones. Once this horse is taken care of Kitsune leads it to a field of grass, and it starts to eat. She comes back and hands me the grooming materials and directs me to take care of the other horse. I go to the brown mare and mimic Kitsune as best as I can and brush the horse’s coat and comb her tail. I finish grooming the mare and lead it near the other horse so they can eat together.
Due to instruction and deliberate care of a creature you've learned the skill [Animal Care].
Animal Care
Your concern for the well being of animals and desire to learn about how to care for them has gained you a fundamental understanding of their needs. You gain a bonus when dealing with animals.
Novice 1
Bonus: Animals are 1 % more likely to like you.
Woot! I learned a new skill. No matter how many times I get this kind of notification, it’s always cool.
I can’t help but smile as I pet the side of the horses and watch Kitsune. She pulls something that looks like a long bucket from under the wagon seat and puts it on the ground under the shade of a tree. She motions me to come over and points to the bucket. “We have to fill this up with water for the horses. We passed a stream a little ways back. We can cut through the woods and fill up the trough there.”
I feel a pang of sympathy as she tries to unsuccessfully stifle a yawn. She looks so tired from driving all night. I motion for her to stop and tell her, “I can fill up the trough here actually.”
I stoop down and use spell writing to draw the arcane symbol for ‘water’ over the bottom of the trough. I visualize the mana from my body filling the symbol, and it activates with a blue glow. Small droplets of water gather around the symbol and slowly fill up the trough. I check my mana and see that it’s at 27/67.
Not a bad cost to gather that much water. I wonder briefly if I can enchant the trough to gather water using anyone’s mana. Oh, maybe I can create self filling water bottles. It would be a great item to have in the desert. Something to work on.
Kitsune has her hands on her hips and looks a little impressed. Mary flies over from the wagon and says in a sarcastic tone, “Good job Armon. You’re a human water collector. You’ll always have work on a Tatooine water farm.”
I give Mary a lopsided smile. “At least I’m being useful. Why don’t you and Vrax go forage for something to eat, I’m getting hungry.”
The gurgling noise from Mary’s stomach confirms that she’s hungry too. Her hands cover her belly, and she harrumphs, “Fine, but not because you told me too. I need to work on my herbalism skill.”
As she flies off to get Vrax, I call out to her, “Try to gather enough food for a couple days, please. We have that wagon so we can carry a lot more now.”
Mary casually waves without turning around, acknowledging that she heard me, and flies off.
I return my attention to Kitsune but find that she’s already fallen fast asleep underneath the tree. I can’t help but think how cute she looks. Curled up in a ball, her fox tails wrapped around her body, twitching slightly as she sleeps peacefully. She’s had a tiring day and night. Escaping Valse, the fight with the soldiers, and then all night driving. I’m surprised she didn’t pass out from exhaustion the moment she stopped the wagon.
While Vrax and Mary are off hunting and gathering, I gather enough wood from the forest floor for a couple of fires. I still wish we hadn’t had to abandon all the equipment we’d collected near Restrian. A good pan or pot would really help us in the cooking department. Oh, well. Something to pick up in the next town.
Having gathered enough firewood, I sit down under a tree near the sleeping Kitsune and take one of Mr. Gerald’s ledgers out of my [Inventory]. In the book is a series of characters that go up and down in a column instead of left to right. I page through
the entire book but don’t recognize a single character of text. I only know three languages currently: Xian, reptilian, and a bit of the arcane language I use to spellwrite. I check the other books in my [Inventory], but they are all written in the same style and format. Either this is written in a different language or it’s in some secret code.
I sigh, frustrated that I have the answers to where the kidnapped kobolds are in my hands but can’t understand them. I take a deep breath and try to relax the tightened muscles in my shoulders by rolling my neck. Ok, priorities. Survival comes first. We need to get to a town to resupply and purchase the things we’ll need for the trip through Monstrum. We’ll also need to find someone that can read the text in these books and help us determine where or to whom the kobolds were sold. The first part is manageable but the second is going to be more challenging. A thought occurs to me, and I pull up my [Inventory] and retrieve my message tablet. I think about who to ask for assistance, and only Lilliandra comes to mind. Even though she only looks to be in her mid-twenties, she’s actually over a hundred years old. One of the benefits of an elven heritage.