The witch stood up and moved closer. As she closed the gap, the pain in his gut lessened and he felt his anxiety lessen. It was strange.
“You see Al Shaytan tricked you. These items are much more than simple magical weapons. They are soul bound to the owner. Should you lose this dagger or it was taken away from you for any length of time, you would feel such anxiety that it would drive you crazy. You would be like a junkie always looking for a fix and nothing, I repeat nothing, can curb the urge.” Callistra shifted her gaze to Kastle and some untold message passed between them. Looking back at Tariq she added, “Trust me. I know.”
The assassin took a moment to really study the vampyress. Yes, she was gorgeous but now that he was looking, he thought he could see a slight madness in her eyes. Then he actually noticed how crudely fashioned her wand was compared to everything else about her. Her outfit and jewelry was expertly crafted and of superb design, then why the crude wand? Tariq’s eyes flicked over to the cleric. He was well muscled and his armor was exquisitely crafted. He was just silently watching him with his hand resting on his warhammer. That’s when everything clicked.
“You’re both from the other side, the real world?”
Callistra waved her fingers and the scorpion flicked its tail. “Don’t think that this place isn’t real. If you die here, you die back home…simple as that. But yes, we’re from America. Kastle is from Dallas and I’m from Louisville. How about you?”
Tariq tried to remember but it seemed so hazy. “B…Boston.”
Kastle leaned forward. “What’s your real name?”
Tariq cocked his head to the side as he tried to remember. It should be easy but the harder he thought the more jumbled his memory became. Looking up, his eyes were wide with fear. “I don’t know. I can’t remember.”
Kastle just nodded. “As a minion of Chaos, it is your curse on this side of the portal. The longer you stay, the harder it will be to resist its pull. Eventually the darkness will overwhelm you and you will become your avatar in every way.” His eyes flicked over to the witch. “You may even be tempted to try something rash to stop it but in the end, the Chaos will win.” Looking back at the assassin he added, “However I may be able to help.” Reaching into a pouch, Kastle pulled out a small silver amulet of a hammer and placed it over the assassin’s head.
Immediately, Tariq felt calm. Like a cool breeze blowing through his mind clearing away the haze. “Brandon. My name is Brandon.”
Kastle grinned. “Good. Now tell me about the people you crossed over with. It’s important. Try not to leave out any detail.”
Tariq nodded and launched into his tale. He began it on the night of the raid when his guild, the Society of Night had joined forces with the Keepers of the Flame to complete the Tomb of Immortality. Only vaguely did he notice that Callistra tensed up as his story unfolded. The assassin continued his tale all the way through the battle with the goblins, including his decision to backstab the paladin. He didn’t leave anything out or try to embellish his actions. He just stuck to the facts. The only detail he really didn’t go into were the names of his companions.
Kastle didn’t say anything or pass any type of judgment on his actions. He just listened patiently; which actually helped Tariq tell his tale. Once he was done, the assassin sat back and waited.
When Callistra spoke, her voice seemed softer than usual. “This samurai in red and black armor…what was his name?”
“Tao…Taote Ching.”
“Oh my God!” yelled Callistra as she collapsed onto the floor.
“Calli!” Kastle rushed to her side only to find her unconscious. Lifting her gently, he carried her into the next room.
Tariq immediately realized that this was the perfect time to slip away. That was until the black scorpion shifted its position once more to remind the assassin that it was still there and just waiting for a reason to sting him.
Chapter 10
The companions were only several hundred yards outside of the gates of Saebroc when Gamble stumbled and nearly fell. Even though the dwarf was amazingly strong considering his short stature carrying the limp form of Moira was quickly sapping his strength and he had to set the injured druid down.
Tao glanced back at the gates of the village and didn’t see any sign of pursuit at the moment. Looking east, he could just barely make out the fleeing wyverns. It wouldn’t be long before they were out of sight. He knew what needed to be done but hated to divide his group.
“Cozad, you’re in charge until I get back. Do your best to keep everyone safe.”
The Dreadknight just nodded but Arieal looked up and asked, “Where are you going?”
“After Bjǿrn. If Mathias catches up to them, he will be vastly outnumbered.”
Arieal chewed on a stray strand of hair for a second before saying, “Be careful.”
Tao fished through his pouches until he found the crystal vial that he wanted. In the game, it had many names but it was most commonly referred to as a potion of speed. For a brief span of time, everything about him would be sped up, his heart rate, his reactions and more importantly, his foot speed. He knew that too many uses of the tonic would age him or have other dismal side-effects. This was a type of potion he typically saved for dire situations and this seemed like the time.
Popping the cork, Tao downed the red liquid and absentmindedly noted that it had a slight peppermint flavor to it. Seconds later, the world surrounding him seemed to slow down. Gone was the whistling of the wind or the buzzing of the nearby bees. Actually, the bees seemed just to hang in mid-air. It was very strange.
Knowing that the potion wouldn’t last long, Tao began running.
Even though he had used this particular potion on numerous occasions in the game, it was completely different this time. When he was sitting behind his computer screen, his avatar would gain several benefits in combat but most common advantage was that he could cover great distances in a short amount of time. So he ran and gained on the fleeing wyvern-riders with each passing minute.
* * * * *
Mathias’ first instinct when the wyvern-riders had swooped in was to hide. But when he saw the mob charging his friends, concern banished his fear. Stepping out from behind cover and began firing. That was until the wyvern-riders captured his friend. Concerned that he would strike Bjǿrn with a badly timed shot, Mathias concentrated his first few shots on the trailing rider. He saw the rider jerk once and slump over in the saddle before the wyvern banked over the walls.
Glancing down at the town square, he saw a guard charging Tao. The normally hyper-alert samurai seemed distracted so Mathias fired off a quick shot and hit his mark center-mass.
He couldn’t help but grin when Tao looked up. When his friend signaled for him to follow the wyverns, the half-elf couldn’t think of any reason not to, so off he went. Leaping from rooftop to rooftop, then to the ramparts and onto the rocky ground had been child’s play. Keeping up with the wyverns was another matter. As a half-elven archer, he was granted certain abilities in tracking, especially over grasslands and through woodlands. Since his prey was flying while he was running, it was only a matter of time before they outdistanced him. Realizing what needed to be done, Mathias angled slightly to his right toward a large group of rocks. Pausing at the peak, Mathias used one of his innate magical abilities to enhance his aim, sighted down the shaft, led his target, timed his release between breaths and let fly his arrow.
Without waiting to see if it struck, Mathias leapt off the rocks and continued pursuit for about seventy feet when he was rewarded with the results of his shot.
One of the two wyverns carrying Bjǿrn jerked to the side and released its grip on the massive were-bear. The other wyvern was suddenly left ‘holding the bag’ and couldn’t carry the weight solo. It dove under the load for a second before releasing its grip also. Bjǿrn fell the last fifty feet and landed with a loud thump. The half-elf hoped the Norseman wasn’t too injured because he was going to need some help, since it looked li
ke he had angered the proverbial hornet’s nest as the five wyverns circled back toward him.
Dropping to one knee, Mathias began firing and muttered to himself, “How in the world do I get myself into these messes?”
* * * * *
When the potion wore off, Tao was close enough to see Mathias’ amazing shot. With the five wyvern-riders circling back to attack, he decided it was time to keep the pressure on the raiders. After all, the best defense is a strong offense. With the riders concentrating on Mathias, Tao had a few seconds to study the situation. He was also close enough to get a good look at the riders.
They looked human and seemed to be dressed in leather armor. Their faces were covered with red scarves which instinctively reminded Tao of the bandanas worn by the outlaws in old western movies. Out of the five wyvern-riders, one looked completely incapacitated. He was slumped over in his saddle completely limp while his steed just followed the rest of the herd and another rider seemed to be injured by the way he was holding his leg. The other three seemed fine and completely irritated with Mathias.
On their first low pass, all three fired their crossbows at the half-elf, who just rolled out of the way and loosed a couple shafts of his own. However, his aim was off and the arrows just bounced off the thick hide of the wyverns. Knowing he didn’t have the skill of the half-elf with his bow, Tao decided for a more direct approach.
One of the signature kicks in TaeKwonDo was a flying side-kick and it is an extremely powerful technique. As the legends tell it, this particular kick was developed by the Koreans during the Japanese occupation. Supposedly, the peasants used this kick to knock armored samurais off their horses. Tao didn’t know if that was true or not but it always sounded good and was possibly practical in this situation.
Shifting several feet to his right, Tao waited about twenty feet behind the same rocks Mathias had used to make his incredible long distance shot from. Keeping low until the wyvern-riders made another pass, the samurai began his run as they came around. Timing was going to be everything on this attack and Tao knew he only had one shot at it. Leaping from the peak of the rocks, Tao knew he had timed it right when the lead wyvern failed to veer away. Both beast and raider were too busy concentrating on the half-elf to defend against Tao’s unorthodox attack. His right foot connected with the rider’s left ribcage. Even over the noise of the screeching wyverns and hoarse laughter of the riders, Tao heard the bandit’s bones crack as the rider was catapulted off his flying steed. Tao reached out and managed to barely snag the wyvern’s saddle.
The lead serpent didn’t know what was going on with the exception that his master was giving him conflicting signals. By the way he was leaning in the saddle, his rider wanted him to turn hard right. By the way he was pulling on his bit, his rider wanted him to land. Confused, the poor beast of burden did both.
Dropping his right wing, the wyvern executed a diving corkscrew landing. It wasn’t pretty…but within seconds, it was on the ground. The other four wyverns were completely confused. Their alpha had just landed and so they followed suit. The one with the dead rider landed first. The other three riders were suddenly too busy trying to convince their flying steeds to stay in the air to defend against Mathias’ arrows. Two seconds and two shots later, two more wyverns landed. Only the injured rider remained aloft and although he was still flying, it was obvious that he was fighting his steed to keep it there.
Tao shouted, “Two choices, land or die!”
Mathias nodded and sighted down his shaft once more but held the arrow in the drawn position. Seeing no alternative, the rider signaled to his steed to land. Mathias released the tension on his great yew bow but kept the arrow notched and pointed at the rider.
“Nice timing Tao. I have to admit that I was slightly worried there for a second.”
“Glad I could make it in time.” With a nod to the injured rider Tao said, “Get him down from there, I want a word with him.”
Keeping his hands on the grey wyvern’s hide, Tao slowly moved forward toward the head of the great beast rubbing as he went. Not really sure of the flying serpent’s mannerisms, he just pretended that it was a really large horse and treated it accordingly. Being from Kentucky, he had grown up with horses. One trick he knew when handling a new horse was to imprint your touch and smell on the beast. It works best on foals but he also knew it to be an old ‘horse traders’ trick.
After a few minutes, Tao turned his attention to the lone surviving rider. He was definitely human and young, Tao guessed him to be in his late teens or early twenties. Judging from the downward angle of the arrow protruding from his left hip, this must’ve been the rider Mathias had hit with his long distance shot.
“Incredible shot by the way. I had no idea you could shoot that far. Much less hit anything, I am truly impressed.”
Mathias blushed slightly. “Thanks. I guess Lady Luck was smiling on me.”
Tao nodded and turned back to the young man who was obviously in great pain. “We could help you if you want. If you don’t get that arrow out, you’re going to die.”
The young man grimaced with pain. “I don’t want any help from you Atlantean. I would rather die.”
“That is the second time today that I have been accused of being an Atlantean. I guess that isn’t a good thing around here. You can believe me or not but I am not an Atlantean, I’m a Kentuckian.”
“Liar. Only an Atlantean could’ve flown up and killed Adok. He was a great hunter.”
“Adok?” Tao glanced at the body of the man he knocked from the wyvern. “Oh him? Trust me, it wasn’t magic just a skillful kick.”
“Trust you? Does a farmer trust the fox that kills his chickens? No.”
Tao looked at Mathias. “This isn’t going well.”
“Maybe if we healed him?” Mathias suggested.
“Possibly.” Tao squatted down so that he was eye level with the young man. “We’re going to help you. We’ll get that arrow out and heal your wound. Then you can go free.”
“Liar!” the young man screamed. Pulling out a hidden dagger, he plunged the blade into his own chest, right under the solar plexus and into his heart.
Tao just shook his head. “Be at peace young one.”
Mathias just stared at the dead kid. “Why? Why would he do that?”
“Maybe it is part of his culture or perhaps his religion doesn’t allow being taken prisoner. I can only guess but for whatever reason, it was his choice.”
Mathias turned his attention to his friend with a blank look. “How…how can you be so cold?”
“Don’t forget I was in Desert Storm. This wasn’t the first young man I’ve watched take his own life in the pursuit of his beliefs. It was obvious that he thought us helping him was a fate worse than death. He made his choice. We gave him options.”
Mathias nodded but looked back at the young man. “But he’s just a kid.”
“True. But it was his choice, not ours. We cannot change it.” Tao placed his hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Do me a favor and go check on Bjǿrn. Hopefully, he just needs help getting out of the net.”
Mathias nodded and stumbled away from the dead rider.
Tao went to work searching the bodies for anything useful, all the while being watched by the five wyverns.
Chapter 11
It was late afternoon by the time Callistra finally woke up. From the look on Kastle’s face, she knew that she had been out for a while. Gracing him with a weak smile she asked, “How long?”
“About two hours. Are you alright? You gave me quite a scare.”
“Yes. I’m sure it was just a combination of feeding overload and a lack of sleep. I went a long time between meals this past month.”
Kastle cocked his head to the side. He knew she was lying but realized he couldn’t push her to tell him the truth so he changed the subject.
“While you were out, I had a little talk with Tariq. He wants to help and says if we will protect him from the Keepers of the Flame, he’ll
travel with us.” Kastle noticed how she flinched slightly at the guild name but kept silent. “Unfortunately, your scorpion is still holding him hostage and it won’t let me get close.”
Sitting up, Callistra snapped her fingers and they both heard Tariq yelp in surprise from the other room.
Seconds later Tariq peeked in. “The scorpion, it just disappeared.”
Callistra flashed him a crooked grin. “It was never there. It was naught but an illusion.”
“But…but I felt it on my skin. I heard the snapping of its pincers.”
“Your mind convinced you that it was real but it was naught but a phantasm. However, if you had let it sting you, your mind would’ve convinced your body that it was poisoned and acted in such a manner.”
Tariq wiped the sweat off his brow. “How have you guys survived in this place?”
Kastle looked slightly downcast. “Not all of us have. We lost a party member mere hours after crossing over. And over the next few months, we had to watch as we lost more of our friends to this land, one by one.”
Tariq lowered his head. “I think I understand. I will regret my actions to my last breath.”
Kastle placed a hand on the assassin’s shoulder. “Let’s hope that is true. The moment you stop regretting taking a life, then you will know that the Chaos Spirit is taking over your soul once more.” Kastle moved back into the main room, pulled out his map and pointed at a small dot on the northern coast. “Calli, from what you said earlier and judging from what Tariq has told us, Saebroc would’ve been the closest town to where they crossed over.”
Tariq and Callistra moved into the other room and studied the map. The assassin pointed at another village further down the coast line. “Unless they went the other direction along the coast.”
Kastle nodded. “True.”
“No,” Callistra added. “They would’ve gone along the coastline toward the mountains and reached Saebroc.”
Lost Lands: The Game - Atlantis Page 8