Daniel laughed. “They’re not so bad once you get used to them.”
“Oh? Really? So you’ve gotten used to them, have you?” Eric asked sarcastically.
Daniel laughed harder. “No – not really.”
They made their way to the building and climbed up to the rooftop –
Where Daniel stopped in horror.
Eric pulled himself up beside him. “What’s the pr– oh…”
A dozen maimed corpses lay on the roof, slowly spoiling in the midday sun. Flies buzzed over their gouge-like wounds. Curdled blood pooled underneath them, and a smell of spoiled meat hung in the air.
“What the hell is this?!” Daniel demanded as he tried to keep from gagging.
“This… was the showdown with the mages,” Eric said, then added flippantly, “Wow, they keep things realistic in the game, huh? No disappearing bodies here.”
“What the hell was everybody doing up on the roof?!”
“Merridack and his guys followed me – ”
“These are Merridack’s men?!” Daniel asked in astonishment, then stepped onto the roof and started to look at the corpses more carefully. The first three he couldn’t identify, because they were missing most of their faces. The fourth still had enough left on his head to be recognizable.
“Yeah, it was… it was intense,” Eric said.
Daniel looked around the field of bodies. “Where’s Merridack?”
“You don’t want to know.”
Daniel stared back at him. “Yeah, I do.”
“What do you care?”
“I want to know what happened!”
“He died over on the wall,” Eric said impatiently, pointing at the giant stone barrier that circled the entire city. “It’s done. Over with. Let’s get the sword and go.”
Daniel stared down at the bodies. “This doesn’t look like anything a mage would do… this looks like wild animals ate them!”
Eric closed his eyes and tilted his head back in frustration. “Dude, please, just let it go. Let’s get the sword and – ”
“NO – tell me what happened here!”
“It was dark mages, alright? Is that what you want to hear?” Eric yelled. “The mages at the temple wouldn’t help me because they have a stick up their ass, and they say I’m not good enough, so I had to pay a bunch of dark mages to help me and they summoned a bunch of manticores and shit – is that what you wanted to hear? That I couldn’t cut it as a regular mage, so I had to buy some help! Now are you happy?”
Daniel stood there in shock – not just because of the revelation about the dark mages, but at how upset Eric was.
And how guilty he himself felt about pushing Eric for the truth.
“Why didn’t you just tell me?” Daniel asked quietly.
“Oh, I don’t know – maybe because even though you broke into the same frigging house I did, and I killed somebody to save your life, and I lied to Merridack for you so you could go play swords with some dwarf who is the BIGGEST pain in the ass I have ever MET – in spite of all that, you’re always judging me! Maybe that’s why I didn’t tell you!”
Daniel stood there in silence. Then he finally said, “You forgot the part about where you came back with me to get the sword I stole.”
Eric sighed heavily, then stared at the ground. “Forget what I said, man – I’m tired, I’m out of it – ”
“And you’re right,” Daniel said.
Eric looked up in surprise. “What?”
“You’re right,” Daniel said somberly. “I’ve got no right to judge you. Everything you said or did, I did, too.”
Eric paused for a long moment before he finally answered. “…well… I don’t know about everything…”
Daniel walked over to the crack in the roof and pulled out the burlap bag. He unwrapped the dirty cloth and looked at the gleaming scabbard and sword handle. “I should just go back and throw this on the lawn of that place we robbed…”
“What, and wind up like them?” Eric said, jerking his thumb at the corpses rotting in the sun. “Not a good idea.”
“But I stole it.”
“So? If you found it in some tomb somewhere, you’d be stealing it out of there. Six of one, half a dozen of the other.”
“I stole it off a dead guy.”
“If you stole it out of a tomb, you’d be stealing it off a dead guy, too.”
Daniel gave him a Give me a break look.
“And, technically, he wasn’t dead when you took it… and technically, it wasn’t your fault he died, either,” Eric said jokingly.
“Cut it out.”
“I’m trying to make you feel better,” Eric pointed out.
“I know,” Daniel said with a faint smile. “But this is some hero’s sword. I don’t deserve it.”
“So go out and do something to deserve it. Go out and do heroic things with it.”
Daniel looked back at Eric, wanting to believe what he said.
“Besides,” Eric continued, “if your dumb ass gets killed trying to take it back to a bunch of people who want you dead, that’s on you, man. I’m not stupid enough to go with you on that mission.”
Daniel grinned. “I don’t know… Simik said the mines were a suicide mission.”
“Oh, he did, did he?” Eric asked, exasperated. “Where the hell did you find that guy, anyway? It’s amazing how a pain in the ass that big can fit in a package that small.”
Daniel laughed and looked down at the sword.
“Take it,” Eric said.
I want to… so much…
Eric tried again. “It’s just a ga– ”
“Don’t,” Daniel interrupted. “Don’t say that.”
Eric looked at him silently.
Daniel finally sighed, then wrapped up the sword in the bag and put it under his arm. “Let’s go. The others’ll be waiting.”
45
As Eric and Daniel approached the city gates, Daniel became more and more unnerved by the increasing number of blue-caped guards.
“Why are you acting so weird?” Eric asked.
“Because if they search us, they’re going to find this sword and execute me on the spot,” Daniel whispered.
“They’re not going to search you. Not unless you keep acting guilty.”
“Why are you so calm?”
“Eh,” Eric said with a mysterious smile. “I think we could take ‘em.”
“I don’t know what you learned from the dark mages, but clearly it’s made you delusional.”
“Yeah, yeah. Just quit acting weird and it’ll be alright.”
So Daniel spent the next few minutes acting as normal as he possibly could, and wondering if he was doing as bad of a job of it as he thought. Since none of the guards came over to hassle him, he assumed his fakery was passable.
Mira and the others were already waiting when they arrived at the meeting point. Several minutes later, Simik and half a dozen stable boys walked up leading the horses behind them – seven saddled, and three more laden with heavy packs.
The dwarf tipped each of the stable boys a silver coin, then handed the still-full purse back to Daniel – in full view of the blue-caped guards.
“Could you not be so conspicuous?” Daniel whispered.
“There’s no need to be nervous in an honest transaction,” the dwarf said haughtily.
Eric just rolled his eyes – though he still didn’t seem nervous about the guards’ presence. Almost like he didn’t care.
Then Daniel turned around and looked at his horse. “Oh crap…”
“What?” Mira asked.
“Do you know how to ride a horse?”
“Oh,” Eric said, suddenly looking at his horse and realizing the issue.
“I’ve never ridden a horse in real life, only in video games,” Daniel continued. “And only in regular video games where you push the ‘A’ button to climb on.”
“You didn’t know how to sword fight yesterday, either,” Mira pointed out. “You’ll learn.”
�
��What’s the problem?” the dwarf asked as he waddled over.
“We’re not real familiar with horses,” Daniel said.
“ ‘Real familiar,’ or ‘familiar at all’?”
“…at all,” Daniel admitted.
“Ye gods,” the dwarf groaned, and gave them a short lecture on how to climb into the saddle and handle the horse. “Now try it.”
“I, uh, need to stow this first,” Daniel said, holding out the burlap package.
The dwarf took it from him roughly and stuck it in a loop in the saddle. “There, now it’s stowed. Up you go.”
With a little urging, Daniel put his foot in the stirrup and climbed right up.
New Skill: Horseback Riding
This skill will provide you faster transportation. It increases with practice.
Points Awarded: +1
At least he’d pulled it off without looking like a fool.
The same couldn’t be said for Vlisil the goblin or Lotan the droth. They both fell off a couple of times, or got their foot tangled in the stirrup. Finally Drogar the barbarian had to bodily lift them up and put them into the saddles like children.
The blue-caped guards over by the gate laughed uproariously at the whole display.
“…humiliating… gouge out your eyes…” the goblin mumbled sourly to himself.
“I could do this if I were in a body of water,” Lotan whined.
Eric strolled over to Daniel’s horse. “Not bad,” he whispered out of the corner of his mouth.
“What?”
“The guards are laughing at us.”
“So?”
“So when the cops think you’re a total joke, they don’t go searching for stolen swords.”
“Oh,” Daniel said, feeling the first glimmer of hope.
Eric got into his saddle without any help, as did Mira and the barbarian. And despite his small stature, Simik was able to climb onto his mount – although not very gracefully.
Finally they were ready to go. Simik led the way, followed single-file by Mira, the barbarian, the goblin, Lotan, and finally Daniel and Eric. Their horses started up, and the caravan slowly clop clop clopped over the cobblestones and past the guards.
Daniel tensed, ready for some disaster –
But none came.
Instead the blue capes were gossiping amongst themselves.
“D’you hear about the Dark Market last night?”
“They said it was a slaughterhouse. Bodies everywhere.”
One of the guards laughed. “Body parts everywhere.”
“Serves ‘em right, evil bastards.”
Daniel frowned.
Body parts everywhere…
Slaughterhouse…
It reminded him of the thieves’ corpses rotting in the noonday sun.
Once they were safely over the drawbridge and out on the main road, out of the earshot of the guards, Daniel pulled his reins and slowed his horse until he was even with Eric.
“Well, you made it without getting executed,” Eric joked. “Congratulations.”
“Thanks. Did you hear the guards as we rode out of the castle?”
“No,” Eric said, his face neutral. “What’d they say?”
“They said there was some kind of slaughter at the Dark Market last night.”
“Oh yeah?” Eric said, his expression still blank.
“Do you know what the Dark Market is?”
Eric shrugged. “Beats me.”
“It made me think of… up there on the roof. What the dark mages did.”
Eric considered. “Maybe after they left me, they went to the Dark Market. Maybe.”
“Are these… good people for you to be hanging around with?” Daniel asked worriedly.
“Well, they never threatened me like Merridack did. I’m still alive. And now I’m a mage. So I’m gonna go with ‘yes.’”
“Just… be careful, okay?”
Eric gave him a smile like he found Daniel’s concern funny. “Trust me – anybody who messes with us are the ones who need to be careful.”
“You sure are confident.”
“Hey – it’s a beautiful day, we’ve got all weekend to play the game, and we’re out on a quest. Enjoy it, man.”
“Yeah… you’re right,” Daniel said, and forced himself to forget what the guards had said – and what he had seen on the roof.
46
As they rode for hours, the group naturally separated into smaller factions. Mira, Eric, and Daniel all gravitated towards each other, while the barbarian, goblin, and fish-man settled into their own little annoying clique. All they talked about was gaming, message boards, and girls.
Well, the barbarian talked about girls, bragging about how many he was ‘bonging’ back in Romania in Real Life. Lotan and Vlisil stuck mostly to gaming and nerd jokes from message boards.
Simik stayed apart from all the others, silently leading the three pack horses with his own steed.
At one point Daniel rode up to the head of the group to talk to the dwarf.
“How’s it going?” Daniel asked.
The dwarf glared at him. “Fine.”
“So… where are we headed?”
The dwarf pointed to mountains looming in the distance. “There.”
“Is that the mines?”
“They are there, yes.”
“You’re talkative today,” Daniel teased him.
The dwarf just shot him a warning look.
“When are we going to practice sword fighting?” Daniel asked.
“When we stop for the night.”
“And when are we going to stop for the night?”
“When I say so,” the dwarf snapped.
“O-kaaaaay,” Daniel said, eyebrows raised, and dropped back to the rear of the caravan again.
“I am bored!” the barbarian announced loudly. “Vhen are vee go-ink to haf an adventure?”
“Soon enough,” the dwarf answered.
“I am bored!” the barbarian repeated.
“I heard you the first time,” the dwarf said.
The adventure arrived soon enough.
They were following the main road when they came to a small lake along the way.
“Look – a body of water!” Lotan the fish-man said excitedly, pointing one scaly finger at the pond. It was the first time he’d sounded anything but whiny since Daniel had met him.
Simik steered his mount off into the grass and led the pack horses down towards the water’s edge.
“What are you doing?” Daniel called.
“Watering the horses,” the dwarf said. “And granting the droth’s fondest wish.”
“Yaaay!” the fish-man called out, clapping his webbed hands.
The entire group got off their mounts and led them down to the lake. Daniel looked at the water suspiciously and sniffed the air. It smelled alright, but –
“We’re, uh… upstream of the city, right? Not downstream?” Daniel asked.
“The water’s fine,” the dwarf said. “For the horses, anyway. I’d suggest the rest of us wait until we reach a stream.”
The horses lowered their heads and began to gulp down great mouthfuls from the grassy bank of the pond.
“Body of water, body of water,” Lotan chanted excitedly as he dove into the lake, fully clothed, his wavy-bladed sword flapping at his side.
Within an instant he was zipping across the pond at top speed.
He would burst three feet into the air like a dolphin, then submerge and breach ten feet away just seconds later.
“Holy crahp, he IS goot in vahter,” the barbarian said, astounded.
They all watched Lotan frolic, and pointed and laughed in delight at his antics. Well, everyone but Simik, who just stood there grumpily with his arms crossed.
Then Lotan apparently dove deep in the middle of the pond, because he didn’t resurface immediately.
“Can he breathe in water?” Mira asked, concerned, when he didn’t reappear for ten seconds.
&nbs
p; The dwarf looked at her in disgust. “Of course – he’s a droth.”
Daniel turned towards Simik. “So, how much longer until we camp for the night, do you thi– ”
The horses began to snort and whine. They all pulled back from the water, although one or two of the pack horses were slower than the others.
Suddenly Lotan shot up from the surface of the lake twenty feet from shore.
“GUYS – GET BACK, GET – ”
Too late.
The water by the shore exploded.
A massive, slimy green shape, four times as big as the horses, erupted from the surface.
Tentacles flailed in all directions, slapped against the closest pack horse, and pulled it screaming and floundering into the water.
An extendible mandible full of teeth erupted from the center of the tentacles and chomped the horse’s head clean off. Blood sprayed everywhere across the water.
The other animals squealed and bolted from the pond – although one lone horse’s hind leg got snagged by a writhing tentacle.
Daniel’s horse.
Every member of the group cried out in horror and stumbled backwards from the water’s edge – except for Simik, who roared, “It’s a svathrak! Save the other horse!”
The dwarf hauled out his hammer and swung it overhead, slamming it into the tentacle wrapped around the horse’s leg.
The limb was so rubbery and boneless, though, that it merely deformed under the hammer’s blow. As soon as Simik lifted his weapon, the tentacle snapped back to its muscular shape and continued to drag the horse into the water.
The barbarian roared and ripped his battle ax off his back, waded into the water, and started hacking at the tentacles whipping through the air.
Lotan dove underwater – breached five feet away from the monster, his sword in his hands – and plunged it into the creature’s back.
Mira pulled out her bow, nocked arrow after arrow, and sent them sailing into the middle of the creature’s writhing tentacles.
After a second of shock, even the goblin got into the mix. He whipped out his scythe and sliced at any tentacle that slithered close to him on the lake bank.
Daniel had no weapon. The sword was still in the burlap bag, which was lashed to his saddle –
Which was on the horse being dragged slowly into the water.
Shattered Lands: A LitRPG Series Page 21