Seventh Talon_Dragonrider's Fury

by James Patton

  “You embody freewill?”

  Dustin smiled at her.

  “I like that. Yes, I give people free will to choose good or evil. I can give them a choice, and then I judge them for their actions.”

  “And are you judging me for my actions?”

  “Not yet, this is still the beginning. You were given a choice to come here, but your role is far from done. I came to see you and decide if I will impart some knowledge.”

  “Is that not interfering?”

  “If you read a book, does that change the world?”

  “No, I suppose not.”

  “Knowledge changes your perception of the world, nothing more. It is the application of knowledge that will change the world.”

  “You clever bastard. You found a loophole,” she said with a grin spreading from ear to ear. “What is this knowledge?”

  Dustin stood up and walked over to her and squatted down, so he was at eye level with her. He started speaking, but she could understand none of it. It was an endless parade of strange words and impressions until he stopped and she swayed dizzily.

  You have gained knowledge.

  “What the hell was that?” She nearly punched the big bald bastard.

  “Relax, that was raw knowledge. Your Historian skill will help you when you need to know it.”

  “That is a cheap way out of sharing information.”

  The half-giant let out a booming laugh and ruffled her hair. “It is. So let me give you your fortune cookie advice. Do not fight your nature. You are a warrior, show the world why they should not piss you off. I will see you again, at the end.”

  The half-giant’s shoulders slumped, and his back bent. The spark of intelligence in his eyes disappeared, and he scratched his smooth scalp confused.

  “Ja take my chicken?” The big man asked.

  “He is hunting. Dusty, it was nice to meet you, tell Johnny thanks for looking over me.”

  Vacant eyes just stared at her as if she was not there. So she sidled past and got up onto the road. She had no idea what the two of them were but was confident they would be fine on their own.

  The road was still clear of drakes, and she did not see any fresh tracks that concerned her. It was quiet, almost peaceful, but she knew that would not last.

  Several turns through the forest and even her natural sense of direction was confused. She did realize she was navigating around several impassable hills or mountains and the road followed along a river. The further in she went, the more she started hearing the sounds of wildlife, and hoped that was a good sign.

  The road was in better shape than she had thought, but then again not everyone would bond with a dragon. Commerce still happened, and some races could not even bond with dragons. She found herself readjusting her way of thinking about this world several times over.

  After a few hours, she started noticing some berry bushes back in the trees and took a slight detour. She crushed the first few berries as she tried to pull them free.

  Congratulations you have gained the class Herbalist.

  Herbalist [Class Details]

  At Novice rank you gain the following:

  - You have learned the skill Botany.

  One Time Bonuses:

  - Cognitive +1, Cognitive is now 10.

  - Luck +1, Luck is now 5.

  - Affinity to Nature +2%, Nature Affinity is now 79%.

  Botany is the understanding of plants. Mastering the skill requires you to understand how plants grow, how to harvest them, and how to identify them.

  You have harvested Red Currant.

  Red Currant – This is a type of berry with a tart flavor. They are edible and provide a small amount of nourishment. As you learn more about the plant, it will appear in your skills book under Botany. This includes things like best time of year to grow, growth cycles, harvest yields and more.

  She checked the messages and even looked at her skills book. Under the Botany tab, she saw Red Currant, but most of the fields were empty or vague. If Dragonriding did not pan out, she could always take up gardening.

  Harvesting the rest of the berries, she put them in her messenger bag and hoped the bag protected her items. At times she was not sure what parts of this world would act like a game, and what mimicked the real word.

  The rest of the day went by without issue, but she did grab a few more plants. She found Aloe, Chicory, and Skullcap. She was not an expert but could pull anything that looked like a weed. The system would tell her which plants were useful.

  Every time she stopped to rest, she would get paranoid and run for about an hour afterward. The forest seemed pleasant, but with an army of drakes chasing her down she could not enjoy it. The longer she traveled without hearing or seeing them, she felt the tension in her body ease fractionally.

  Several times the road bridged a fast moving river, and at each point, she stopped to drink. It was when she stopped to get water that she realized how ill-prepared she was for such a journey. She did not even have a waterskin and tried to save the water pods for as long as she could.

  Hours passed in silence, and there were a few times she reached for her gun. Loud growls, followed by a rustling in the bushes, only for a fox or other small animal to dart out across her path.

  The forest canopy shielded a lot of the sun, but it was getting noticeably darker. It was going to be a long night sleeping out here alone, and she could not decide what kind of camp she wanted.

  The deciding factor was fire. She had none and did not know how to start one manually. So she decided to spend the night in a tree, and she saw a giant oak ahead.

  A dying pine tree was under its canopy, but it provided an almost ladder-like approach to one of the branches about twenty feet above her. The branch forked and looked plenty wide enough to lay on, but she had nothing to secure herself. The risk was better than sleeping on the ground.

  The pine held her weight, and even the dead branches still had enough elasticity to bend and not snap.

  You have learned the Innate skill Climbing

  Climbing is the ability to scale vertical surfaces like cliffs or trees.

  - Bonus: Mercury Elves are known travelers, you start out as an Adept in Climbing.

  It was a good thing those messages stayed out of her direct line of sight. As it was, her foot almost slipped. After the skill, she found climbing the tree was much easier. The branch she needed intersected the tree she was climbing, and she hopped off onto her perch for the night.

  At the fork in the branch, was a big flat area. It still made her nervous, but she could do nothing about it. Her sleeping area sloped upward, and she positioned herself between some offshoots. Maybe they would help keep her in place.

  It has been a long time since she had camped out in the wild, but this was much different. She had no idea what dangers lurked in this world, and worse, she had no idea if a tree was safe. Rather than think about it and freak herself out, she closed her eyes.

  Boh

  Chapter 38

  The Nightwalk

  The forest at night is a mystical place. I wonder if people fear dark forests because they are afraid of the unknown?

  -from Boh, Audio Roll 0504

  Her eyes snapped open, and she looked around reaching for her weapon. None of her weapons were on her, but she was wearing her riding leathers and boots. Confused, she tried to access her inventory, but that too was unavailable.

  Where in the hell was she? The trees around her were vibrant with life, and behind them, she could see mountains all around her. It was night but felt like daytime because of the amount of light all around her. This place was incredibly serene and calming.

  It dawned her that she could still feel her body, and the thick tree branch she rested on. Even hear the sounds around her, but she was here and there. It made her dizzy trying to reconcile it.

  “Who are you?” A male voice rudely demanded, ending the serenity of this place.

  She turned and saw an older male wood elf, but
he was not the one that spoke. It was the taller man next to him. The man did not look like any race she knew.

  “Bite me, are you genetically predisposed to be an ass? What are you anyway?” She thought he might be a hybrid since he looked human. He had broad shoulders, tall, and stocky, but his face and ears were more in line with an elf.

  “I’m a Wood Elf, just changed my appearance. Answer me, who are you?”

  “First off, you will address me with manners, or you can piss off.” The older elf started laughing, and she could see a twinkle of mischief in his eye. The older man had not said anything, but she liked him already.

  “Pardon my rude friend. I am Silas Marwood, and my abrupt companion is Grimshaw.”

  “I’m Boh. What is this place?”

  “What are you?” Grimshaw asked in his same dour manner.

  “A Mercury Elf. Ask the old man, he knows. And this place…?”

  “A new Champion then. This place is called the Nightwalk, and there are a handful of races that can access it. It happens naturally if you are resting in a dangerous area. You can access it anytime you sleep if you think about it before you close your eyes.” Grimshaw told her, but she could see him accessing information and not paying attention to her.

  “Oh. Well, that’s neat.”

  “Wow, you managed to screw your character up more than I did. Only one strength? That has to hurt.”

  “Doubt it. I got magic and a lot of it. Managed to block a direct shot from a long rifle with my shield.”

  “Shields are not that strong.”

  “Mine is.”

  “If you say so. So you must be in the north somewhere, near Haase is my guess. Be careful of Brocard; they are raiding heavily lately.”

  The older elf was watching their exchange with interest.

  “Boh, are you someplace safe?”

  “No. I was chased out of Minot and am hiding in a tree in the forest. Fleeing towards Haase as fast as I can.”

  “Where is your mentor?” Grimshaw narrowed his eyes at her as if confused by her admission.

  “He is dead.” She found herself frowning at the admission, and it was the first time she accepted that he was not coming.

  Grimshaw and Silas both looked at each other.

  “What happened?” The older elf asked.

  “Drakes happened. Minot is gone, dead.” She swallowed hard trying not to cry. “Every man, woman, and— and child was massacred. Any dragon that assisted them is dead too. My mentor died fighting them off. He bought me time to escape while he fought an Alpha and his pack.”

  The elderly elf looked at her in shock, but Grimshaw started laughing.

  “Now I know you are lying. You almost had me, but drakes are hotheaded, not foolish. They would never have attacked a dragon.”

  “You are a dick. My mentor died fighting those damn things, and I’m not talking about a handful of drakes. I’m talking about thousands and thousands. Listen to the words I’m about to tell you carefully. Minot is gone! Everyone is dead.”

  “You have a bigger issue girl.” The older elf said. “Drakes can easily climb trees, and the jacks are about to awaken. You need to run or find a cave or hollow log to rest because you are way too exposed.”

  “He is right,” Grimshaw confirmed. “You will also need to cut your scent, walk upstream or something. It’ll be cold as hell, but they won’t be able to track you by scent anymore.”

  “Thanks for the advice. Anything else that might be good to know?”

  “Nothing, except change your Primary class as soon as you can.” His smooth elven face scrunched up as if he was about to eat something he disliked. “You lack the strength to get a dragon, and only picking up other classes will help you gain strength. Even my girlfriend, who joined with me, tried for months. She blamed me for it and took off, but maybe I can save you from the bitterness of trying.”

  “Let’s be clear, I am not your girlfriend, and I do not fail. I am sorry about what happened, that is a stupid thing to break it off over.”

  “Well, I tried to talk her out of it, because it got hard watching her fail again and again. She told me I was not supportive enough. Dragons are dragons, and the only thing they do respect is strength, so I had no way to help her and did not know what else to do.”

  “Word of advice, let us fail. Men do not own the rights to stubbornness, or I’d have died long ago.”

  Grimshaw started laughing. “You keep saying the craziest stuff. Did you know that males of almost every race start out with one or two more strength than the females, including the Mercury Elf? Even that does not guarantee that a dragon will take them.”

  “I think I know why your girlfriend left. You are a dick.” She told him, and the older elf chuckled.

  “To be young again.” He lamented.

  “Calm down. I apologize, I just don’t see a lot of Champions here. It seems to be invitation only, and—“ he paused and looked uncomfortably at Silas “I’m sure you’ve heard the stories by now. The system treats logging out the same as dying, so it's not even an option unless you are ok with glitching.”

  Grimshaw was not comfortable talking about it, and she wondered if it had to do with his girlfriend. There was more to the story he was not telling, but it would explain his bitterness.

  “Trust me, after the shit I have seen, I do not plan on dying ever, and this is my new home, so I am not leaving. Is there someplace to hole up when I reach Haase?”

  He started blushing again.

  “A lot of Champions stay at the Lover’s Lament, ironic I know, but look me up there. I am curious about your shield if you do not mind letting me test it.”

  “Sure, but you have bigger problems. Both of you better be prepared, Midnight said war was coming.”

  “Your mentor was Midnight? And he died?” Silas asked. “That is not good. Will you tell me everything you saw?”

  She gasped as she felt a sting on her leg.

  “Next time. Gotta go,” She told them through grit teeth, but not before she saw them both exchanging worried looks.

  Boh

  Chapter 39

  Pixie

  In high school there were plenty of jerks, but it was Jeff that most of the school feared. He was small, and I was taller and had broader shoulders than him. It was his big mouth that people feared. At one point I was suspended for punching him in that loud mouth. He cried like the bitch he was.

  Years later, I ran into him in Neuroma and his avatar was over six foot tall with broad muscles. I started laughing so hard that it caught his attention. I suppose we all see ourselves differently on the inside than out.

  -from Boh, Audio File 0120

  Her eyes snapped open as she saw a small looking flying reptile with a sharp pointed nose stabbing at her leg. Pain shot through her entire body on each jab.

  You have taken 5% damage from an unknown creature.

  She grabbed the knife from the leg sheath and slashed at it. The creature was quick and flew away before her blade came close.

  “Shreeeee!” It screeched at her and flew up above her. Her eyes tracked it, while she scooted backward and nearly fell off the branch. Empty air greeted her hand as she tried to brace herself. Her legs locked down around the branch as she straddled it and managed to recover her balance.

  “Shreeee!”

  “Shreeee!”

  More and more joined in the chorus. The little creatures had her surrounded, and their beady eyes were glowing as they watched their prey. There was no way she could fight them, not from up here.

  A huge sigh escaped her as she leaped on to the pine. The branches were too brittle to support her downward force and snapped. She jumped again managing to move across the breaking branches before she tumbled off into the darkness.

  Laughter erupted from her as she started running down the branches, hoping her Agility or Speed, whatever it was, kept her from falling.

  The dragon-bird things were following her, and one speared into the tree next to
her. Splinters showered her face, and she felt the small cuts leaking blood. It was getting harder to ignore the creatures. She tried hard not to flinch or lose her focus.

  “Stupid bird-like creatures, and if I find out who gave them a dive ability, I will hurt them,” she muttered, and several more of them dove at her out of spite. These things were evil, worse than the ospreys ever were.

  She heard the whistling of another one incoming and tried to move out of the way. Luck had finally given out and she fell. The branches still snapped under her as she bounced and ‘oofed’ her way to the ground. Each breath was a struggle as she laid there dazed. Moving slowly she tried to make herself as small as possible against the trunk of the tree so she could recover.

  You have taken 15% damage due to falling.

  The creatures were above her circling, and once she saw one duck its wings and start spinning towards her, she knew it was time to go. It was proceeded by a soft whistling sound before it struck the ground. They did not appear to be able to change their trajectory, because it struck where she had been and did not deviate.

  In dive mode, those things were insanely fast, and they reminded her of a spear. Her fingers were still in the finger holes for her knife, and she struck the dazed creature. Kept striking until she was sure it was not getting up.

  Then she took off in a run up the road and waited for the sound of an incoming attack before she zigged or zagged. Never giving them a pattern they could predict. Those little bastards struck the ground all around her and showered her with dirt and stone. Her speed and agility were high enough that she managed to run the gauntlet just fine, but her energy reserves were dwindling.