by Adam Drake
“Anyone else have bows?” I asked, hopeful for a little backup.
“I do,” Bozar said, producing a beautiful longbow.
“Me, too,” said Witt, a short bow made of dark cedar appearing in his hands.
Suddenly, the guild ship surge forward, creating a large cresting wave before it.
“How are they doing that?” Grumm said, aghast. “Are they hacking?”
The ship had drawn close enough that the crew and players on it could be seen in better detail.
Struck with a thought, I grabbed the captain's telescope, who protested.
“I just need this for a second, captain!” I said as I pointed it at the bow of the other ship and looked.
Their deck was filled with at least forty players, many of whom I recognized from Xorrox's encounter. Aside from looking very pleased with themselves, I could tell their bloodlust was up. They were on the verge of getting revenge and retrieving the statue. Both statues, actually, if they killed Shwenn, too, which they would.
Standing right at the point of the ship's bow, and leaning over the rail, was the dark knight leader. In his hands was a large figurine which he held before him. It was producing a misty energy that spread outward to enshroud the ship.
“Oh, snap!” I said.
“What? What is it?” said Shwenn.
“They're using a relic to speed up the ship. I can see it.” The figurine kind of looked like a miniature Xorrox. No doubt, one of the loot items it dropped.
“Okay, so it's a legal hack,” Grumm said, looking anxious. “What are we going to do? They'll board us soon.”
The other ship was surging over the waves, but instead of seeing this as our fates being sealed, I saw it as the perfect opportunity.
“Here,” I said to Shwenn, handing her the telescope and pulling out my bow. “Hold this.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Something desperate,” I said, without exaggeration. My special arrow stock was limit thanks to my inability to load up before all this. But none of them could be used, anyway, for what I was about to attempt.
I placed my feet shoulder width apart and locked them to the deck with my Sure Foot ability. This prevented the pitch and sway of the deck from messing with my aim.
Then I nocked a regular arrow in my bow.
“Are you going to try and play William Tell?” Witt asked.
“Gonna send a gift to an old friend,” I said. I pulled the arrow back and aimed it high. Then I waited until just the right moment.
Encouraged by my showmanship, Witt and Bozar fired their bows, but their arrows fell short. But judging how fast the other ship was coming, it wouldn't be an issue for long.
I centered my focus on the figure of the dark knight. Then, finally satisfied with the range I shot the bow while combining two of my abilities at once; Sure Shot and Multi-shot.
Instead of one arrow launching from my bow, there were four, thanks to my level three Multi-shot. In a cluster, the arrows arced through the air toward their target.
I watched in anticipation as the arrows descended.
The other group didn't seem to notice the little volley coming their way, or just didn't care. What could we do to them, now?
But just before the arrows landed, a warrior suddenly lunged toward the leader, his shield arm reaching out.
At the moment of impact, the warrior's shield had crossed in front of the leader's face. Three arrows hit down the shield in a line. But the leader hadn't been my Sure Shot target.
The fourth arrow struck the Xorrox figurine, and it shattered. A small concussive wave blasted from the impact and everyone on the ship was sent sprawling to the deck, with one toppling overboard.
The result of the figurine being destroyed was immediate. Their ship suddenly slowed as if hitting a sand bar and came to a stop.
As I watched the ship pitch about under the sudden halt of its momentum, everyone on mine cheered.
“Wow! That was aces, Vivian,” Witt said, patting me on the back.
“Thanks, but it was mostly luck.” And a lot of high level abilities.
If any of the group were still uncertain about me before, they definitely weren't now. Even Holpa looked a little impressed.
Our ship tore away from the now dawdling Try And Catch Us vessel.
All eyes turned to the horizon at the bow. The outcropping was close enough to see it was a huge carved image of a snake, leaping from the sea. Its eyes twinkled like rubies under the ocean sun.
We rushed to the bow of the ship to look as we got closer to it.
“I don't see the gate,” Grumm said. “Shouldn't there be one?”
“Not yet,” Shwenn said. From the folds of her robes she brought out both snake statues, one red, the other light brown. She held them in front of her and waited.
“What happens next?” Bozar asked.
As if in answer, the ruby eyes of the huge statue in the ocean glowed, growing brighter and brighter.
Just as the ship passed in front of its arched head, a bright beam of red light shot out of its eyes.
The light struck both statues in Shwenn's hand, causing them to glow in turn. Then from their eyes shot out a beam of light over the bow and across the sea in front of the ship.
A massive travel gate suddenly appeared in the water before us, most of it submerged. It had to be the biggest one I'd ever seen in the game.
Through its massive portal could be seen another ocean. But unlike the calm waters around us, this one seethed and thrashed under violent stormy skies.
“Oh, boy,” I said, watching sheets of wind and rain buffet the other side of the portal. “This should be fun.”
“Looks dangerous!” the captain shouted from the aft deck. “Dare I take her in?”
The group chuckled. This was all part of playing the game. We'd just gained access to some of its most exclusive content. A little storm wouldn't stop us now.
“Take her in captain!” Shwenn said, still holding the statues up. Their light appeared to keep the gate activated.
Without any more delay the ship sailed forward.
I watched in awe as we past the terminus of the gate, its upper arc easily higher than our mast. In moments, we went from a relatively peaceful setting, to a realm lashed by mother nature.
As the ship heaved over waves, the travel gate's portal changed from showing us calm seas and blue skies, to a silver plane. We were all the way through.
The statues in Shwenn's hands ceased glowing and then cracked, crumbling to dust. As she tried to brush it off her hands the ship pitched and she grabbed onto the rails. “We did it!” She shouted over the howling wind.
I tried to give a thumbs up, but even with my Sure Foot ability active, I had to hang onto the rails, too. “Now comes the easy part,” I said with a smile.
She tried to laugh but ended up with a mouthful of rain and coughed.
Everyone was hanging on for dear life as the sails flapped above. Some rigging came loose and crashed to the deck.
The entire horizon was consisted of huge slate colored waves, all jostling each other for a chance to swamp the little ship.
“Where's the island?” I shouted to Shwenn.
“No idea!” She said and turned to the captain. “Captain! Do you have a navigation point now for the island?”
As the captain was about to answer a small mast suddenly cracked overhead and fell on him, bringing down one of the sails.
Bozar and Witt managed to rush over and tried to move the heavy beam off of him. The wheel spun freely, and the ship pitched to the side.
Dodging rigging which swung about wildly, I grabbed the wheel. But when I looked ahead all I could see were the peaks of waves and dark clouds.
Shwenn stumbled over and grabbed onto my shoulder. “He was our only means of navigation. Can you sail?”
“No!” I shouted over the screaming wind. Its power made the rain feel like bullets. Holding the wheel steady, I kept looking for something,
anything that might indicate land.
Someone shouted from above and I looked up. The sailor in the crow's nest was pointing about twenty degrees to the right of the bow. “Land! Land ho!” A horrific gale of wind suddenly ripped the sailor from his tenuous perch and zipped him from view to vanish overboard into the roiling chaos.
Mortified, I looked to where he'd pointed. As the ship pitched and heaved, I caught a glimpse of something between the waves. A mountain peak.
Then it was gone. Desperately, I spun the wheel hoping it was still functioning. The massive sail above me was stretched taught. Suddenly, a terrific ripping sound joined the cacophony. The main sail tore right down the middle, its remnants flapping in the wind.
I looked at the wheel in my grip and realized I wasn't steering anything. We were at the mercy of the storm.
Looking around to check on the rest of the group, I could see all of them were hanging on to whatever they could, to keep from being thrown into the sea.
My gaze landed on Holpa. The minotaur had wrapped his large arms around the inner banister that lined the inside of the aft deck. As rain drenched his face, I saw him snorting out water from his huge nostrils. His bovine eyes were staring at me with unabashed hatred.
That guy's got issues, I thought as I looked away. If I was going to die here, it wouldn't be while having a staring contest with such an admirer.
Cringing against the rain, I looked to the bow. The mountain peak appeared, again, but this time closer. Were we actually approaching land?
Suddenly, a huge wave crashed into the left side of the ship, heaving it upward. Riding its massive swell, I could see the mountain dip lower and I realized how high we must be.
Then the wave sent the ship downward. Anything not bolted to the deck slid to the side and more sailors were sent screaming into the sea.
A work message popped up in the corner of my screen.
“Not now!” I shouted into the raging storm. But instead of another warning requiring me to log off, it was a message from Abe. The station was now secure, and a new transit path was being calculated.
Wonderful, I thought, as I blinked the message away. That, at least, was something to be happy about.
Another large wave slammed into the side of the hull, sending the entire ship pitching over. But it turned out to be a blessing.
In moments, the ship instantly emerged from the terrible storm into calm seas again, as if passing through a curtain.
Bewildered, I looked about.
The ship had been dumped into a tranquil lagoon. Behind us was a wall of wind and clouds that still raged. Looking up I could see this angry wall extending hundreds of meters into the sky.
Instead of the screaming of the wind, a pleasant breeze carried the calls of seagulls and other sea birds through the air.
Carefully, I stood up on the deck. I noticed the wheel in my hand had shattered at some point and all I held was a broken piece.
Looking around at the group I found them trying to stand up, equally dazed.
Before us was a huge island with a mountain sitting squat on the far side. High ridges of rock extended outwards from either side of the mountain to encircle the island like arms, both ending at the edges of the lagoon. Within this embrace was a vast, dense jungle of the deepest green I'd ever seen.
The Emerald Caldera.
CHAPTER SEVEN
For several moments I took in the spectacle of the wall of storms which extended beyond view to either end of the horizon. Within, the violent hurricane-like weather could plainly be seen. But on this side of the wall it was like a holiday paradise.
Writt walked over to me, shoving rigging out the way. “I love this game!” He said with a smile. “Where else can you get a thrill ride like that?”
“I'd of been happy if we didn't go through that at all, thank you very much,” I said, wringing out my Cloak. Being a Legendary item didn't make it storm resistant.
We looked over at a crescent-shaped beach that lined the lagoon.
“I think we're drifting,” Shwenn said.
“Better than sinking,” Grumm said, shaking the water out of his beard.
“No, I mean were drifting into those rocks!” she said pointing. The furthest edges of the lagoon were lined with breakers, and the ship was headed toward them.
Cursing under my breath I ran down the length of the ship, jumping over dead bodies and fallen rigging. At the aft deck I found the anchor perched on the deck's edge. A huge chain extended from it to vanish into a hole into the hold below. I looked around for what to do.
“Hurry!” Shwenn shouted.
What did she think I was doing? Lazing around?
I noticed a wooden lever in the deck next to the hole and grabbed it.
Drop anchor? Yes or No?
I selected Yes, and the lever yanked forward in my grip.
The anchor suddenly dropped from view and the thick chain moved. I stepped back and watched the chain clatter by with alarming speed. I heard the anchor splash and within a few moments the chain stopped.
Another message appeared.
Set anchor at this location? Yes or No?
Seemed like a great spot to me. I selected Yes.
Anchor set. Pull lever again to retract anchor when ready. Crewmen required 10.
I looked across the ruins of the ship's deck. Only three crewmen remained alive. That will be a problem for later, I thought.
The group assembled at the center deck, checking themselves over. Grumm moved to each one, giving heals as needed.
As he approached me, he touched my arm and smiled. “You're not too bad, but I'll top you up, all the same.”
“Thanks,” I said. Apparently, I'd taken some damage other than when I'd jumped for the ship, earlier. I gave Grumm's mini-profile on my group list a glance.
Grumm Darkstone, Dwarf Cleric, Level 50
Hit Points: 1,050/1050, Mana: 620/1,120
“Nice mana pool,” I said, then nodded at the rings on his fingers. “Boosted, right?”
“To the moon,” Grumm said, taking a mana potion from a side satchel and drinking it. Finished, he placed the empty vial back. “Saved people from many a reroll, including mine.” He wiggled his fingers, their rings twinkling. “Wisdom and Intelligence is my addiction of choice. Can't save lives without the mana to do it.”
“Do you have a weapon?”
“Do I?” he said with a grin. A large staff appeared in his hands. It was made of gnarled wood, varnished to a high sheen. The head piece was literally that, a head. It looked to be of a Satyr, its emaciated goat-like features made all the more menacing by the tipped points at the end of its curled horns.
“Here, check it out,” Grumm said, and passed it to me.
You have taken an item: Staff of the Holy Goat
Required Intelligence: 35
Required Wisdom: 32
Damage: 120-185
15% Chance of Level 2 Knock Back on hit (Kick of the Goat)
+120 Mana
+25% Casting Efficiency
+15% to Healing Spells
+22% to Offensive Holy spells
Value: Unknown
Bound to Grumm Darkstone. Cannot be traded.
I let out a long whistle of appreciation. “Now that there is a staff. Where'd you get it?” I asked, handing it back. The desiccated eye sockets of the head seemed to be looking right through me.
“The Bredon Complex. It's a multi-stage dungeon in the Savage Wastes. Most of my group wiped there, but I managed to survive thanks to finding this staff when we were half way through it.”
I wanted to know more, but Shween stood in the middle of the group and clapped her hands.
“Okay, everyone, attention please. Let's form a game plan before making landfall. As you know, the Emerald Caldera is a medium sized random instance. It's never the same twice, so all the information on it is mostly useless. But there is one constant every group has encountered before us.”
“Snakes,” Holpa said.
“FILTERing hate 'em.” It was the first words he'd spoken since his little tirade.
Shwenn nodded. “Right, snakes. The last boss will probably be a snake or reptile of some kind.”
“What about the quests? They different, too?” asked Witt, fixing the talismans in his beard.