Neverfall: The Dark Path (Book 2): A Gamelit Lit RPG Series

by C. Wintertide

  He ignited one hand with Firestream and drew out Dragon’s Claw with the other. The sword rang as it exited the sheath. That sound blocked out the howls for a moment. It vibrated in his head. The symbiosis between himself and the sword thrummed to life. His tattoos burned.

  Something is happening to this sword. Something is happening to me.

  “Where are they?” Mack hissed as he crouched low beside Luke. He had Cutter out, and was spinning it restlessly as he, too, scanned the thick undergrowth beneath the trees.

  Alicia lumbered over to them, her cudgel swinging at her side, her black eyes blazing with the need for battle. “I smell something. There! Downwind!”

  She pointed back the way they had come. Luke spun around and froze.

  “It’s as big as a freaking horse!” Mack gasped as he took in the gray form that stood on the path they had made through the trees.

  He was only exaggerating a little bit. Though the distance made it hard to tell, Luke was certain that the Wolf’s head would have been even with his chest. It was heavily muscled and covered with thick gray and white fur. It stared at them with cool calculation, almost as if it was in the midst of a plan and they were falling for it.

  “Stats?” Luke asked.

  “Level 7. Two hundred and fifty hit points. Weak to fire. That’s one good thing!” Mack hit Luke’s shoulder.

  Luke rolled the fingers of his left hand and the flames went higher.

  “There are three more!” Cassie had gotten the Bow of the Huntress out, and had an arrow nocked.

  “Where?” Alicia sniffed the air deeply.

  “Don’t you see? There’s one.” Her hand went to the left of their path. “And there.” She pointed to the other side of the path in the woods. “And there. Four in all.”

  “I don’t see…” Luke began, but stopped as now he did see. Gray forms slunk through the dark-green brilliance of the forest. Their eyes glowed with an amber light. The hair on the back of his neck rose. “They’ve surrounded us.”

  A brilliant golden glow swirled around them as Christopher cast Shield. But then their cleric was stepping towards the nearest Wolf, not retreating to the center of their party. He had a piece of jerky in one hand, and was murmuring something. He sketched a symbol in the air with the tip of his staff. Luke watched as a symbol appeared, written in light, only to turn into glittering particles which flowed towards that Wolf.

  “Christopher, don’t!” Luke cried.

  “What is he doing?” Alicia growled.

  “Something insane if I know my brother,” Cassie said.

  “He’s trying a new spell. Beast Pact. It’s like Animal Friendship,” Luke explained.

  “Oh, hell no! Those spells at low levels never work!” She darted towards her brother, grabbed the back of his robes, and tried to pull him away from danger. But he shook her off.

  “This is going to work,” he told her. “Just give it a chance. Let me do this.”

  “Christopher, this is so not a good idea!” But Cassie did let him go, though her wrenched expression showed her misgivings doing it.

  “The other wolves are flanking us,” Alicia warned.

  Even though Luke felt nauseous watching Christopher walk towards a Wolf, he said, “Just hold off as long as you can. If we attack the other wolves it will destroy his chance of the spell working.”

  “Move faster, Christopher, I don’t think the other wolves are going to wait,” Cassie called.

  Luke saw the three other wolves padding slowly towards them.

  “Patience,” Christopher advised as he sauntered towards the massive Wolf with seemingly no fear. The glittering light particles from the spell had reached the Wolf and encircled it. The Wolf was not baring its teeth or growling as the other ones were doing. Its ears were perked up and alert. Yet it appeared completely unconcerned.

  Luke’s hand tightened on his sword as he imagined all the bad stuff that could happen to Christopher. What if the Wolf leapt on the cleric? What if it tore out his throat and started to feast on him? Would Christopher still come back if they somehow defeated all the wolves or would he be gone without Asharoth’s power?

  “If this spell actually works, Christopher will finally have an attack spell,” Mack muttered. “Though does he realize that he’ll be killing his beloved creatures through the Wolf?”

  “Don’t mention that,” Alicia muttered.

  Christopher got down on his haunches and extended the jerky towards the Wolf. It sniffed the piece of dried meat, and Luke held his breath. The Wolf suddenly flattened its ears before its lips writhed back from its very white, sharp teeth. Cassie drew in a sharp breath as its growl sliced through the air. Christopher murmured something in response, but the Wolf snapped at him, and the magical light that encircled its body was suddenly extinguished. Christopher reared back. The piece of jerky dropped to the ground.

  “Oh, boy, that did not go well. Best save our cleric before he’s lunch for our furry friend!” Mack laughed.

  “I’ll take care of Christopher! You guys, take out the other wolves!” Luke cried as he leaped towards their fallen cleric.

  He heard the howls of the other wolves charging his friends behind him. Some part of him wanted to turn back, but he had to get to Christopher. He couldn’t be in two places at once. He had to trust the others to hold off the other three wolves.

  Christopher had fallen onto the ground, and was holding out one hand towards the Wolf as he tried to scramble back. The Wolf was huge, hulking, with teeth like daggers. Saliva dripped from its maw as its lips writhed back. The low rumble of its growl vibrated through the air. Luke could see from the flex of its muscles in its legs that it was about to leap directly onto his friend’s chest, and likely rip his throat out.

  Luke stretched out his left hand. He sent a wave of fire at the Wolf. There was a high-pitched squeal of surprise from the Wolf as the fire engulfed it. For a moment, the acrid smell of burning fur filled Luke’s nostrils. A health bar appeared over the Wolf’s head just as three red 10s floated upwards with the flames; over 40 mana points were eaten away. The Wolf leaped back. Its fur was still on fire. A trickle of red fours trailed up from its singed fur as it was burning still. Luke reached Christopher’s side and hoisted the smaller man up to his feet. He thrust Christopher behind him, stepping between the cleric and the very angry Wolf.

  “Don’t hurt it! I can still reach it!” Christopher cried.

  “Are you insane? You are insane!” Luke let out a hysterical laugh as the Wolf, fur still smoking, whirled around on them.

  Christopher reached down and grabbed the piece of jerky. “This is the leader of the pack. If I can turn him to our side, the battle will be over. Just give me cover, Luke, until I can perform the spell again. If this works, imagine the applications!”

  Luke grimaced. He glanced over at the others. The three wolves had surrounded them. Cassie tried to feather one with an arrow, but the Wolf’s dexterity must have been too high for her, and it jumped easily out of the way. The arrow stuck out of the earth like a strange flower. Alicia swung her cudgel in a wide arc, sending the second Wolf skidding backwards into the trees. Cutter was doing her work at keeping the third Wolf at bay with Mack grinning like a loon as he chopped at the vicious animals. They were all okay. Nobody was bleeding.

  “All right, all right. You get one more shot at this, Christopher, and if it doesn’t work, I’m frying that Wolf!” Luke told him out of gritted teeth.

  “It’ll work this time. I know it,” Christopher said, and then he was murmuring again.

  Luke didn’t need to speak for his spells. Let alone mumble in a different language. But Christopher did. Luke could feel the magic swelling in him. He turned his attention back towards the Wolf. It was still snarling. Its fur had finally stopped smoking, but it was still angry. It took a step towards them. Luke tightened his hand on his sword and rolled the finger of his burning hand. He felt an almost overwhelming urge for a moment to leap towards the Wolf and stab Dragon
’s Claw through its powerful body. He could almost imagine its strength being drawn up the sword and then through the sword into his tattoos. Cold sweat washed over his body.

  “Christopher, how’s that spell coming?” Luke asked. He suddenly very much wanted the spell to work for a very different reason than before.

  Christopher didn’t answer him as he was still murmuring his spell. The Wolf stepped closer. Christopher came around Luke’s right side. Once more, Christopher wrote a symbol in the air that broke apart into a million little points of light and streamed towards the Wolf. They surrounded the beast. Dragon’s Claw seemed to pulse in his hand. It wanted to feed. But Luke ignored it.

  No, we won’t kill it if Christopher’s spell works.

  Christopher was once more five feet from the Wolf. He gracefully lowered to his haunches, and held out the jerky treat. Luke expected things to go wrong as they had before, but the Wolf stopped snarling. It made a slight whine in the back of its throat and lowered its head. Christopher made a cooing noise and stretched out his arm farther with the jerky. The Wolf took a step towards him, but this time it wasn’t aggressive. Its head remained lowered, and it let out that whine again.

  “It’s all right. I am not going to hurt you. See? I want to give you a treat,” Christopher wooed.

  The snarls and growls from the other three Wolves had quieted too. But Luke didn’t dare glance back to see what was going on. He barely let himself breathe as the Wolf nuzzled Christopher’s hand and then, almost delicately, took the jerky from Christopher’s fingers. It was just the tiniest morsel for the huge Wolf, but it seemed to enjoy it. It sat down and chewed the jerky easily. It even licked Christopher’s fingers looking for more.

  “Holy cow, it worked!” Mack’s laughter rang out.

  “The others have stopped attacking!” Cassie cried.

  “Don’t shout!” Alicia shouted. “That might attract them!”

  Luke took the chance of glancing back. The three other Wolves were sitting as well. They looked as tame as dogs. There was no aggressiveness in them at all. Luke could almost feel Dragon’s Claw’s disappointment. There would be no blood spilled. No exchange of power. He let the flames on his left hand die, and sheathed his sword as Christopher petted the gigantic Wolf’s head between the ears.

  “Oh, they’re so soft!” Cassie cried as she too tentatively petted one of the Wolves.

  “Sure you want to get that close to them, Cassie? Your brother’s spell is like Level 1 or something,” Mack said, scratching at his beard.

  “My spell is Level 5, and we are quite safe,” Christopher said with a sniff. “Are they not magnificent animals? Is this not better than killing them?”

  Luke’s HUD informed him that he had earned 500 experience points, which meant they had gotten the full points for befriending the wolves as they would have if they had killed them. He mentioned that.

  “So your father isn’t all about killing, Luke,” Christopher pointed out.

  Seeing the beauty of the animals twisted something in Luke. The damage he’d done to the Wolf had disappeared. It was pristine again, and he was suddenly very glad.

  “Or one of the developers wasn’t,” Luke pointed out. “They want to give the players an opportunity to play as they want. Though I highly doubt that you could get through Neverfall picking flowers to gain levels.”

  “I do not know. There is that player in World of Warcraft who did just that,” Christopher pointed out as he rubbed the Wolf’s ruff. The Wolf’s eyes had actually closed in what looked like happiness.

  “We didn’t get any loot,” Mack pointed out, though he was patting one of the Wolves on the head. “That is a detriment.”

  “Not much of one. We probably would have gotten like five silver pieces the way Neverfall is distributing loot,” Cassie said, but she was smiling as she continued to pet the Wolf.

  The third Wolf and Alicia apparently were having a stare down. No petting was going to go on there.

  “How long does this spell last?” Alicia asked. “Are they going to turn wild on us again?”

  “Since we were awarded experience, I don’t think so,” Luke guessed.

  The Wolves suddenly left out soft howls before they all turned and headed together up a rise. At the top, the Wolf that Christopher had used the spell on looked back for one moment, before it turned again and disappeared.

  “That was beautiful, Christopher,” Cassie said as she put an arm around her brother’s shoulders. “I’m so glad you tried the spell again.”

  “As am I,” Christopher said smiling.

  “When I get my animal companion, I’m totally choosing a Wolf.” Cassie grinned.

  “You need to be worthy of one of these magnificent creatures.” Christopher was frowning.

  Cassie narrowed her eyes at him. “Are you trying to say that I wouldn’t be worthy?”

  “A true companion must be cared for. I am sure there will be a need to feed and care for them,” he told her.

  She looked affronted. No longer was her arm companionably around his shoulders but both arms were crossed over her chest. “What do you think I would do? Let them starve?”

  “You let the tamagotchi die.” Christopher crossed his arms over his chest.

  “T-that was not--I was twelve! And that’s not a real pet! It’s an electronic thing!” she sputtered.

  “Some would say that the animals in Neverfall are merely electronic things.” Her brother regarded her archly.

  She stamped her foot. “I will take good care of my familiar! You’ll see, Christopher! I’ll prove you wrong!”

  She then spun on her heel and started heading in the direction of the marker towards the cave. She stormed past Alicia, who shrugged, and headed after her.

  “Smooth move, Christopher. You know she’s going to be in a mood for ages over this, don’t you?” Mack shook his head.

  “She should be. It will make her consider how she treats her familiar,” Christopher said, clearly unrepentant.

  Luke pinched the top of his nose. “Let’s… let’s get a move on, or Alicia and Cassie will be at the cave before we are.”

  The three of them headed after their companions into the sunlight-laced forest.

  12

  MUSHROOM PICKING

  Alicia drew in a sharp breath before shaking her head as if to clear it. She then stopped walking, and swung around to look at the rest of them with a grimmer expression than usual on her orcish face. “I smell blood and dung.”

  “Well, isn’t that cheery!” Mack chortled.

  “And what a charming combination.” Cassie wrinkled her nose before covering it with one hand to block out the pungent smell that was wafting through the trees.

  “We’re almost at the cave where the mushrooms are.” Christopher had the Map out and the quest icon was only about fifty paces away from them to the west.

  “And, I’m betting the smell is coming from exactly where our quest is,” Luke murmured.

  His tattoos were burning again. The sensation had been growing the closer they had gotten to the cave. Luke rubbed at them through the sleeves of his armor. He’d caught Christopher looking at him a few times when he’d done it. Christopher had actually asked if he needed healing at one point. Luke had thrown him a grin he didn’t feel, and told him his armor itched. That was all. Except, of course, it wasn’t.

  “We should go forward very carefully,” Alicia urged.

  “It’s better if I go check it out. Stealthily,” Cassie said, drew her blades and dashed ahead of all of them.

  They followed more slowly after her. The forest had become vastly more hilly as they had headed closer to their quest destination. They had been walking practically at a 90-degree angle for the past twenty minutes. With this last push, Luke started to feel his stamina flagging with the continuous upward incline. But then he saw the raw rock of the mountain between the trees up ahead. They slowed down right at the edge of the trees.

  There was an open area just outsid
e of a cave. Cassie dashed across the open area before pressing her back to the stone at the right side of the cave entrance. The entrance soared over thirty feet above her head and was twice as wide. But it was not the size of the cave entrance that held Luke’s attention, or Cassie leaning to the side to look inside. It was the ground outside of the cave.

  It was littered with the remains of dead animals. There was a wolf with its stomach ripped open and rib cage exposed. There was a deer whose sightless eyes were glazed over with the cataracts of death. There were even a few Death’s Head Spider corpses with their long, joined legs curled in towards their split-open bodies. Luke swallowed shallowly as his stomach knotted.

  Cassie darted back to them, her face pale and sweaty, as she jumped over the corpses, and the dark trails of old blood. She was breathing hard when she crouched down there by Luke’s side.

  “Did you see what’s inside?” Luke asked.

  She shook her head. “I think I smelled it though.”

  “Over the blood and dung?” Mack’s bushy eyebrows rose.

  She grinned then grimaced. “Yeah. I smelled sulfur and… something that reminded me of our cousin Oliver’s snake.”

  “Do snakes smell?” Mack frowned.

  “Evidently,” Luke answered.

  “Snakes do not have claws,” Alicia pointed out. “They swallow their prey. Those animals have been bitten and clawed. So whatever is in that cave is not a snake.”

  “I don’t know if that makes me feel relieved or even more afraid,” Mack admitted.

  Luke pulled up their Quest tab and double-checked the Quest’s description. Neverfall did not give an optimal level for tackling any quest. Only the one with the mage had been level gated off, which might mean it was ten or even twenty levels above their own. So this one was likely doable, but it was a far cry from killing rats.