Shard Warrior

by Rick Scott

  “Yeah,” I say. “I still don’t understand that part. Why were you trying to stop us? Don’t you want to save your sister?”

  She snorts out a laugh. “Of course I do. But Val was going to kill herself trying, the big idiot. If I barely survived as a Dodge Tank, there was no way she was doing it as some dumb Paladin. Especially with a bunch of noobs from the Shards backing her up.”

  I see Aiko’s motivations in an entirely different light now. She wasn’t trying to stop Val Helena out of some twisted sense of animosity or competition. She was trying to protect her. “Wow, you guys should really talk. Val has a totally different impression of what you were doing and why.”

  “Yeah, you ever try telling Val that she’s wrong?” Aiko lets out another cackle laugh. “Good luck.”

  I guess she might have a point there.

  “That’s why I just competed against her. Blocking her was easier than me trying to talk sense into her. Which brings me back to you,” she says. “Honestly, before I met you, I knew I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t fight the Shadow King again. I pretty much gave up on being able to save my sister. It was too painful to even think about. So I tried to forget her. But when I saw you fighting Vulnar, I guess I saw in you the same thing Val does.”

  I bunch my brows together. “What’s that?”

  “Hope,” she said. “I saw the same thing just now when you were tanking the Witch Spider. You have a fearlessness to you, Reece. You took that thing on with complete confidence, even knowing you could die. Heck, you even did die. And yet still you pulled it off. You did it while I went to pieces.”

  I’d never really thought of it like that.

  “I didn’t want to believe it at first,” she says. “Like when I saw you in that jungle soloing Sheeba. I didn’t want to believe that someone else could do what I couldn’t. Could do what I should be doing.”

  She pauses and a tear streams down her cheek. I rest my hand on the small of her back, until finally she speaks again.

  “Anyway,” she continues. “I figured that if you were actually coming, that between the two of us, with you backing me up, that maybe I could do it. That maybe I could tank the Shadow King again. But now I think I was wrong.”

  “Huh?”

  “I think you should be the one tanking it, Reece.”

  “What?”

  “I may have more experience and better gear, but you’re the better tank. You’ve got the nerve, focus and reflexes I don’t. That’s why you should have this and not me. With you wearing it, it will make the fight more than possible.”

  I look at the item again.

  A Witch Spider’s Ring

  +30 INT 50% reduction to spellcasting and recast times

  Cursed: Strong poison effect

  A small ring containing the soul of a Witch Spider. While imbuing the wearer with its powers it also ails them with its venom.

  “It looks like mage gear.”

  “Normally something like this would be. Limited to mage classes only. But there’s no class restrictions on it. That’s what makes the ring so special. You can use it as a ninja. The poison effect will drain your HP pretty fast, but with the INT buff, plus the 50% reductions, you should be able to recast Shadow Copy in about 7 seconds rather than 15 and your cast time would be a half second too. Stack that with Shadow Haste and you’ll be able to recast every 4 seconds near instantaneously.”

  Holy crap! “That’d be amazing!”

  “You will be,” she said. “And you’ll need to be, trust me. The Shadow King is no joke. A World Boss doesn’t even compare. But there’s no one else I think better suited for the job.”

  She confirms the trade and I finalize it.

  You receive the Witch Spider’s ring.

  “Wow… Aiko… thank you. For believing in me like this. I really don’t know what to say.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” she says. “Hey, there’s one more thing I need to give you.”

  “Sure, what’s tha—”

  Before I can finish my sentence she presses her lips against mine.

  My heart triple beats with both shock and excitement as Aiko’s mouth explores mine in a sultry kiss. Before I know it, it’s over and she pulls away with a sly grin. “Told you I’d give you a kiss for that level.”

  My mouth hangs open.

  She lets out a cackle laugh and ruffles my hair. “Goodnight, pretty boy. You’re lucky you’re not a few years older or that Gilly of yours would have some real competition on her hands.”

  I laugh nervously not knowing what to do or say.

  Aiko enters her room and leaves me standing in the hallway stupefied. I’m not sure if I’m okay with what just happened, but my body is saying something totally different. I enter my own room still perplexed, my imagination running wild.

  I think I need an adult.

  Chapter 33: Wakeup call

  I awake to a pigeon pecking and cooing outside my window. It takes a second for me to register what’s going on and exactly where I am. The bed is so soft and warm that I don’t want to move. Then it dawns on me what the pigeon is and why it’s here.

  Gilly!

  I jump out of the bed and unlatch the window. The sunlight outside is bright and warm and cascades over the elven village, illuminating it like something out of an Ad for one of the vacation shards. We’ve probably well overslept and should be on the road already. I have half a mind to go check on Aiko to get us moving, but I have to know what Gilly has written first.

  As I cradle the pigeon and remove the parchment carrier from its leg, I can’t help but feel a little guilty about that kiss with Aiko last night. Even though I had nothing to do with it, I still feel bad about how I reacted and the thoughts it conjured up. I shake them from my head. That was just Aiko being her crazy self, I guess. But I have a real girl who cares about me; enough to write me a letter and one that I can’t wait to read.

  I remove the scroll inside and see Gilly has written me over two pages worth of stuff! I dive right in.

  Reece!!!!!!

  OMG I was soooo relieved to get this message from you! D: We all made it out safely as well. We waited for a while just outside the city. We were still there the next morning when the army came out and started rounding people up from the tent village outside the gates. When we didn’t see you, we were about to mount a rescue mission, but thankfully the pigeon came to let us know you were okay. Good timing! Can you imagine if we went in there to look for you and you were already gone? That would have totally sucked!! ><’’’

  I laugh at her cute emojis despite the serious subject matter.

  We left right after that and made good time. I actually think we’ve reached the border to the Wild already. It’s the end of the second day as I write this and I’m still worried about you a ton. I hope that Aiko isn’t up to tricks. >:( You be careful around her, okay?

  I chuckle. Too late for that one, I guess. But I’m actually looking forward to reintroducing everyone to Aiko. The Aiko I now know; the one who saved my life by carrying me on her back for who knows how many miles. Not sure if I’ll tell Gilly about that kiss though. That’d be way too hard to explain.

  Today was actually a pretty productive day for me. Despite being on the road and almost running the whole time, I managed to gain a couple of levels. Yay me (: When you pass through you’ll see a whole bunch of these birds that look like giant blue flamingoes. Rembrandt and I kept taking them down along the way. I think I’m like skill level 70 something on bow now already! Then when we finally got here—oh ‘here’ is an abandoned farmhouse we found. That’s what you should look for when you come to find us. We’ve decided to wait for you here. I drew a map for you! :D

  I indeed see a small map that when I touch illuminates a waypoint on my HUD.

  So anyway, after we got here I found this lake that has these huge catfish! And they’re like magic! Magic catfish! Can you imagine that? So awesome! >^_^<

  I laugh at what I think is suppose
d to be a cat face emoji.

  So I decided to try and take on one of these fish (Under Rem’s supervision, of course :P ) and blasted it with my Holy Fire spell. Then I ran like heck to get out of range when it started to cast on me. (They couldn’t chase me because they’re fish and stuck in the lake! xD). I was only doing 5% damage, but I worked it down bit by bit. It took forever running away each time. I think the first one took me like half an hour almost. But I did it! I soloed it and got like 35k XP! (: Rem was so proud of me! xD Anyway, I did it again and again and now I’m like level 74! How cool is that? I plan on doing it all day tomorrow. Hopefully I’ll be even higher level by the time you show up.

  It reminds me a lot of the dockworkers I speed leveled on back in Swifttide using the hit and run tactics that Aiko showed me. Man, that seems a long time ago now. Cool to think that Gilly found some version of that to speed up her leveling. With what Aiko has warned about the Shadow King, we’ll need her to be as high a level as possible.

  That’s about all I have to say for now. I can’t wait till you get here. Please write back ASAP and let me know what’s going on! Miss you!

  XOXOXO <3 <3

  Love

  Gilly

  I start writing her back right away. I tell her that we’re okay and that we fought a Witch Spider, but leave out the part about me dying. That will have to wait until I can talk to her face to face. I tell her to stay put and that we’ll be soon on our way.

  I’m nearly finished when a knock comes from the door.

  “Just a sec,” I call out.

  I’ll be there soon, Gilly. We’ll run all day to reach you. Miss you tons!

  Love,

  Reece

  XOXO

  I send the pigeon on its way then throw on my ninja garb. I open the door to see Aiko standing there, fully dressed, but she doesn’t look exactly ready to go. She still looks tried with huge bag under her eyes.

  “I think I drank way too much last night,” she mumbles and leans against the doorway. “You good?”

  “Yeah,” I say, somewhat wary she might try to kiss me again. But she seems like a different person right now; far less sexually charged. Maybe she only did it because she was drunk last night. Heck maybe she doesn’t even remember. “I got a letter from Gilly. Everyone else made it out of Stormwall okay. They’re waiting for us at a farmhouse at the edge of the Wild.”

  “So you guys really planning to get to the Vale that way?”

  “Only way we got.” I shrug and then share Gilly’s map with her. “How long do you think it’ll take for us to reach them?”

  Her violet eyes light up with her HUD as she studies it. “If we really push it. We could maybe get there by late tonight.”

  My heart leaps with excitement at the thought of that. “Really?”

  “Yeah, but it will mean running the whole way.”

  “I’m game if you are,” I say, and can’t help but feel like things are finally getting back on track. I give her a smile. “Come on, Aiko, let’s go save your sister.”

  * * *

  After a quick breakfast, Aiko and I hit the road moving at top speed. We alternate between jogging and sprinting, with the goal of reaching this farmhouse just after sundown. It’s a daunting task but with a clear path in mind thanks to Gilly’s map, I feel more than confident we can make it.

  We head west, keeping well clear of Stormwall by passing far to its south. I think about what Gilly mentioned in her letter, about the army rounding up the locals and looking for us. I wonder if that was the order Braxus had given to that general guy I saw speaking to Ziegfried. I try not to think about it though and focus instead on keeping pace with Aiko. She tears up the ground ahead of me, her long legs pumping like she running the 100-meter dash.

  She must have a good amount of VIT to keep up that pace, and I’m thankful she has it. If not I probably wouldn’t be here right now and instead would be suffering some eternal agony on planet hell. That’s what I’m calling if for now, Planet Hell, but I wonder what that place could actually be.

  It was like another game world for sure, like my consciousness was transferred there, but it wasn’t like any shard I’ve ever heard of or experienced. And my HUD, while it still existed, was corrupted and garbled. Did that mean it was a game world not supported by the same kind of architecture as the Shards? That seems a bit hard to believe, but I have no clue how any of it really works. Maybe my brother might know.

  Once I finally told him.

  I would soon. Right after we save Becky.

  Around midday we find the blue flamingoes Gilly mentioned in her letter; although they look more like ostriches to me. But they are indeed blue. And a deep blue too, like something you’d see on a car. They’re level 80 and when we take a short break, I give one of them a try. The first one goes down fairly easily, even with my single Kunai and I get about 27k XP. I spend some time farming them while Aiko catches a quick snooze in a tree. After a half hour I get a system message.

  Congratulations! You have gained a level!

  You are now level 84!

  You have gained 1 attribute points.

  “Wow,” I say. “I wasn’t expecting that so soon. I forgot I got a whole bunch of XP from that Witch spider before.”

  Aiko smiles at me from the tree branch she’s sprawled across. “Gratz. One more to go.”

  “I have three points to spend. I’ve been putting them into VIT. What do you think?”

  “What’s it at?”

  I check my character.

  Name: Reece

  Class: Ninja

  Level: 84

  Strength: 6+25

  Dexterity: 80+5

  Agility: 80+5

  Intelligence: 4

  Mind: 6

  Vitality: 26 +20

  HP: 1232/1232

  Stamina: 297/297

  TP: 176/176

  “46 with gear,” I say.

  “What’s your agility?”

  “85.”

  She ponders a second. “Yeah, go with VIT. Gilly will need some buffer to keep you alive when the crap hits the fan. There will be some hits you’ll just have to take. Even with the Witch’s ring. And the ring will drain your life too.”

  I nod and spend the points, bringing my health to 1292/1292.

  “Let’s get going,” she says dropping down from the tree. “We’re only halfway there.”

  The next few hours go by with brief conversation in between sprints. Aiko tells me more about herself, and her time growing up with her sister Becky and Val in the orphanage, down in the hub. It was a hard life and one I can’t even imagine: sparse meals, deplorable conditions, literally fighting each day for survival.

  “If it wasn’t for us having each other, I don’t think any of us would have made it,” Aiko says as we transition from forest to rolling grasslands and hills. “Between the neglect and the abuse, I don’t think any little girl could.”

  My stomach tightens at the thought. “Abuse?”

  Aiko doesn’t say anything for a while as she runs next to me. “Val and Becky had it easier though.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Aiko frowns. “They weren’t as pretty as me.”

  My heart aches as my stomach sours. Poor Aiko. I leave the subject be, but it gives me a whole new level of respect for her. How strong she must be inside to have endured that. Maybe it explains a little bit about her personality too. I think back to Braxus and what he might have done to her and a jolt of anger surges through my gut.

  I need to ensure that that never happens to her or anyone, ever again.

  It gives me new appreciation for my mother and what she did to provide for us too. It couldn’t have been easy for her. I was only two years old when my father died. And with the risks my mom was taking on her job, I suppose my brother and I could have easily ended up in some orphanage as well.

  She did so much for us. And I need to get back there to her—to save her.

  I need to put things right on so man
y fronts: My mom, Becky, Citadel, Braxus.

  The thought makes me put my head down and run even faster.

  I have so much to do.

  And while it doesn’t feel like it…time is not on my side.

  Chapter 34: Reunion

  The stars are out in full force by the time I spot the farmhouse in the distance. It must have been abandoned a long time ago because all that seems to be left of it are three walls and a collapsed roof. Just in front of it is a campfire and I can already see Val Helena’s huge silhouette against the backdrop of the dancing flames, dwarfing my other companions around her.

  Elation and excitement fill my chest as I double my speed towards them. “Come on, Aiko! We made it!”

  “Yeah, yeah,” the elf says rather lackluster.

  She doesn’t match my speed and I leave her lagging behind me. She’s perhaps apprehensive about meeting up with Val Helena again and I can totally understand that, but I can’t contain myself.

  I need to see Gilly.

  The land is mostly rolling hills with isolated copses of trees. I’m thankful because it makes things much easier to see in the dark and it sped up our pace quite considerably for the last few hours. As I run down the small slope toward the farmhouse I yell out toward the campfire.

  “Guys, we’re here!”

  Figures stand against the flames and then one of them runs towards me.

  “Reece!”

  Gilly’s tiny figure crashes into me and I crush her in an embrace.

  “Boy, does it feels great to hug you!” I say and kiss on her forehead.

  “Ditto,” she says, squeezing me tight. She looks up at me with her big green eyes and plants a sweet kiss on my lips. But then she withdraws from me quickly, wringing her hands in mock disgust. “Ew, you’re all sweaty, though!”