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

by C. Wintertide

  It was night.

  “Oh, man, it’s dark and cold!” Cassie remarked as she drew her arms tight around her slender form. “And I’m going to miss my date with that cute NPC!”

  “It is best if you did not molest the beings in this game,” her brother said curtly.

  “Molest?” Cassie put a hand to her chest, affronted. “I am performing a scientific experiment! Besides, if he wasn’t into me, he would have said so. But he didn’t! Now he’s going to believe that I blew him off!”

  “He might have forgotten by the time we get back,” Mack said.

  Cassie sent him a death stare.

  “What? What did I say wrong?” Mack asked Luke.

  “Never tell Cassie that someone has forgotten about her,” Luke reminded his friend.

  “Oh, right, I guess I see your point,” Mack said thoughtfully.

  “Neverfall’s day and night cycle are shorter than normal ones,” Alicia grumbled. “I believe we are on an eight-hour cycle. Eight hours of daylight and eight hours of darkness.”

  “Welp, it’s probably so that the players get to have a chance to experience both day and night more easily if they can’t be on often enough,” Mack said as he put his hands on his hips and surveyed the night-shrouded forest.

  “I have heard that there are different monsters that come out at night. They are stronger,” Alicia warned.

  “Of course there are,” Luke murmured. His tattoos throbbed, eager to absorb more energy.

  There is no moral component to this game. Cassie is right. This Dark Path thing is just new. That’s all.

  He really wished he could believe that.

  “I don’t really relish the thought of walking through the forest all the way back to town,” Cassie said shivering slightly. “It took us hours to get here. It’ll take us even longer to get back with you guys needing Christopher to cast Night Sight every five minutes so you can see a hand in front of your face.”

  “Unlike you who can see in the dark? Lucky wood elf,” Luke remarked.

  She teasingly bumped her shoulder against his. “Hey, not all of us can drain the energy of our enemies. Some of us get to see in the dark instead.”

  He snorted and smiled down at her. She flashed a smile back. Her being so practical about the Dark Path idea was making him feel a little better about it.

  “I don’t think we should head back to Lethbridge,” Luke suggested, “I vote we make a camp somewhere, eat some jerky and get some sleep before continuing on in the morning. What do you guys think about that?”

  “I’m with you, Luke. While I would rather have Ibelyn’s stew than jerky, it doesn’t make much sense to go all the way back to town only to retrace our steps tomorrow,” Mack said. “I vote we camp.”

  “Camping is sensible. Though we will need a fire,” Alicia pointed out, noticing Cassie shivering. “It is too cold for all of you, though I am fine.”

  “I think I see a light!” Cassie cried. She was on her tiptoes, and looking to the right.

  Luke turned and strained to find what she was seeing. He soon found it. There was a flickering golden red light between the trees. It was a campfire.

  “It will be easier to use a camp already set up instead of creating one ourselves,” Alicia said. “But where there is fire, there are likely people.”

  Cassie drew out her twin daggers and spun them. “Maybe they’re bandits! Let me scout ahead again. I promise to come back and tell you what I see.”

  Alicia caught her arm just as she was about to disappear into the darkness again. She turned towards the orc.

  “We go together,” Alicia stated firmly.

  “You’re on Alicia’s naughty list,” Mack teased her. “No more solo missions for you until you prove you won’t get in trouble.

  She stuck out her tongue. But she kept pace with all of them instead of zooming ahead. They picked their way down the mountainside, and headed towards the small flickering flames. They were moving carefully, but Luke was sure they were making as much noise as elephants. Alicia’s armor was clanging.

  When they were within twenty feet of the campfire, they let Cassie approach on her own. She melted into the darkness. Luke didn’t catch sight of her again until he saw her hiding behind a tree right by the edge of the firelight’s reach. Luke could see other figures moving around the fire, and could smell something cooking. His stomach rumbled. Mack chuckled low in his throat, having heard it. He elbowed his friend.

  “What is she doing?” Christopher hissed.

  “I really will shake her if she breaks her promise again,” Alicia growled.

  Luke’s gaze snapped back to Cassie. She was stepping out from behind the tree and into the firelight. He saw her raise her hand. His hand dropped to the hilt of Dragon’s Claw. But then she was laughing and turning around, gesturing for them to come near.

  “It’s okay, guys!” Cassie called to them. “We can join them!”

  17

  TALES AROUND THE CAMPFIRE

  “Who wants to bet that Cassie just convinced a group of bandits that we’re just their sort of people?” Mack chuckled, as they all rose up from their crouched positions and started walking towards the firelight.

  “You should not joke about that! It’s something she would do!” Christopher sounded alarmed.

  Mack erupted into yet more laughter. “That’s why it’s funny!”

  But they need not have worried. For as soon as they crossed into the firelight, it was clear that this wasn’t a group of bandits. There were a dozen adults and half as many children. Luke noted that there were three generations represented with people of every age group, from a baby in swaddling clothes to an ancient crone with no teeth who gummed some food. Two covered wagons were positioned behind the group on the other side of the fire. Luke caught sight of several horses tied to some of the trees, chomping sweet grass and neighing softly. None of them elicited the Matrix-like effect. They were NPCs, not Beta players. He let out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding.

  Cassie was standing beside a middle-aged woman who was smoking a long stemmed pipe. This woman had dark hair streaked with frost and intelligent blue eyes. Cassie was speaking to her, and the older woman was nodding. Cassie appeared to be filling the woman in on their needs.

  Cassie gestured for Luke to join them. While Luke moved towards her, Alicia settled her bulk onto one of the fallen tree trunks that the people had been using as a seat. Everyone scattered from the trunk except for Christopher, who perched lightly beside her. Mack, who was always a sucker for children, opened his arms, and called for them. Just like in real life, Mack was the Pied Piper of children and four youngsters raced towards him. Soon the dwarf was sprawled on the ground with the children crawling over him like he was a jungle gym, and everybody was laughing.

  Luke reached Cassie and the woman. He gave what he hoped was a warm smile. The woman’s eyes rose and gazed at him speculatively. A faded pink shawl was drawn around her shoulders, though it was hardly necessary as the fire was hot and fine. Well-worn boots stuck out from the bottom of her plain cotton skirt.

  “This is Luke,” Cassie introduced him to this woman. “He is our leader.” Luke blinked. He supposed that he was their leader, but it was never overtly stated until now. Cassie continued, “Luke, this is Sorayan. She is the matriarch of this clan since her mother,” Cassie nodded to the woman with no teeth, “stepped down from the role.”

  “Nice to meet you,” he said.

  Luke extended a hand towards the woman to shake. At the last moment, he worried that she would sense something about him, know that he was on the Dark Path and the Dark Lord’s son, but she took his hand and shook it lightly without any reaction whatsoever.

  Her voice was low and pleasant with an accent that sounded a little Romanian or Russian to him. “Nice to meet fellow travelers on the road. And if what this young woman tells me be true--that you defeated that terrible wyrm in the cavern--then you are more than welcome at our fireside.”


  Luke scrubbed the back of his neck even as he felt his tattoos burn. “Yeah, we took care of the dragon. Do you… do you know of any more of them in the area?”

  Knowing now that his father could operate through dragons, it would be best to have an idea of how many more there were. Sorayan tapped her chin speculatively with the unlit end of her pipe, but finally shook her head.

  “Not living. It is said that there is a dragon’s skeleton over by the lord and lady’s keep that was slain long ago, but bones normally cannot hurt anyone,” she answered.

  Normally? I wonder what she means by that?

  Luke gave her thanks for the information.

  “Do you all live in Lethbridge or are you going there?” he asked.

  Sorayan shook her head. “No, the open road is our home.” She gestured up to the sky, which could be seen as the trees were thinner here. “There is no greater home than this.”

  Luke had forgotten the glory of a Neverfall night. There was no light pollution to spoil his view of the stars. And there were so many stars. They were like diamonds tossed out in profusion onto a midnight piece of velvet. The moon was huge and had a blue-white cast to it. Some thin clouds scudded across the sky.

  “This is the sort of sky that begs you to go on adventures,” he murmured.

  If he had worried that he would sound romantic or silly, he needn’t have been. Both Cassie and Mack seem to agree. They were gazing upwards with similar amazed expressions on their faces.

  Sorayan lowered her head first and met Luke’s gaze. “The young woman says that you need a place to lay your weary heads, and perhaps some food.”

  Luke hesitated before answering her. She seemed like a good person. He felt no deception in her. But maybe these people were thieves, and would rob them in their sleep. Should they trust them?

  One of us will have to keep watch. That’s the best way to go. Trust but verify.

  “We could use both at that, if you can spare it,” Luke said with a smile and nod.

  “We really don’t have any money though,” Cassie told her, and Luke had a feeling that she’d said this quite a few times.

  Sorayan looked at Luke’s armor and sword speculatively, but then she smiled and shook her head. “We offer our fire and food freely to all who offer friendship to us in return.”

  “Friendship is about all we have to offer you, but we give it eagerly,” Luke told her.

  Nothing came up on his HUD to show that she had been persuaded not to harm them, so Luke was still a little leery, but he forced himself to let it go. They had to take risks. They had trusted Ibelyn and that had worked out. Hopefully, these people were just as welcoming and kind as they appeared to be.

  “Well, get yourself a seat by the fire and a bowl of soup. There’s bound to be some singing and storytelling yet tonight so that our younglings will sleep and dream of wondrous things,” Sorayan told them.

  Luke and Cassie nodded their thanks once more, and went over to their friends. Alicia and Christopher both had bowls of soup and some hearty-looking bread. But no one from Sorayan’s people had lingered after delivering the food.

  When a young man came over with two wooden bowls of soup and bread for him and Cassie, he did not stay to speak with them either, so it wasn’t just Alicia that was scaring them away. Mack, though, seemed immune to the standoffishness. He was still wrestling with the children, and could hardly be seen underneath the wiggling bodies. Christopher sipped his soup delicately, looking elegant and imposing in his elven robes. People gazed at him curiously, but would glance away whenever he happened to notice.

  “I do not believe that these people have seen a high elf before,” Christopher murmured to Luke. “They seem more comfortable with Cassie, but not with me.”

  “We do not want them to be comfortable with us,” Alicia said after drinking down half a bowl of soup. “We want them to be uneasy and uncertain about what we will do so that they will not try to rob and kill us in the night.”

  “Yeah, we should take turns keeping watch,” Luke said, as he sat next to Christopher and dipped his bread into the soup. It was a rich and salty stock. Carrots, other root vegetables, and doughy dumplings bobbed in the broth. He eagerly sucked it down and devoured the nutty-flavored bread. It wasn’t as good as Ibelyn’s food, but it was immensely satisfying after killing dragons.

  “These people aren’t thieves.” Cassie stood nearest the fire as she sipped her soup. “Believe me, I can spot a thief a mile away. These people are what they seem. Friendly travelers.”

  “You expect me to trust your judgment when you thought you could sneak past that dragon?” One of Alicia’s thick eyebrows rose up.

  Cassie stamped her foot. “Am I ever going to live that down?”

  “Considering you also got caught by the guards, and were imprisoned in Lethbridge, I’m going to say… no.” Luke grinned at her.

  She swatted his arm playfully. “You will rue the day you said that! I will become the greatest thief in Neverfall’s history. I will be able to steal the food from the Dark Lord’s fork before he even notices!”

  At the mention of the Dark Lord’s name, the laughter around the fire suddenly died as if it were water and the tap had been twisted off. Luke slowly turned to look at the faces of the people around them. Most showed fear. Others were looking down studiously.

  Sorayan then spoke, “It is bad luck to mention his name. Some say that if you do, he may hear it, and his attention will turn towards you.”

  Thinking on how his father could possess the dragon, Luke remarked, “I don’t think you’ll have that problem anymore. The dragon was his servant, and reported on what was said around it to him. But now we have killed it.”

  Though many nodded at his words, others still looked skeptical. Luke didn’t blame them.

  “We didn’t just kill his dragon,” Mack bragged. The children allowed him to rise up as he had agreed they had conquered him.“We also killed Reeve Manon. You might have heard of that.”

  “I heard that it was Tethic Bonecall who took the Reeve’s soul,” one of the men around the fireside muttered.

  “Yeah, well, we were the ones to take him down.” Mack grimaced. “That Bonecall guy just stole our victory. But we were the ones who fought and defeated him.”

  “I thought that the Dark Lord had turned against him,” said a middle-aged woman with ruddy cheeks. “Some say they saw Asharoth in the skies.”

  Mack was clearly about to say something about that, likely about how Luke had summoned Asharoth, but his lips closed when Luke subtly shook his head.

  “What do you know about Bonecall?” Luke asked the group.

  “Like all dark things, he has wormed his way to the surface since the Dark Lord came,” the man who had spoken about Bonecall taking Marty’s soul said.

  But Sorayan waved her pipe through the air. The sweet-smelling smoke left a trail in the night air. “He was here before the Dark Lord. Do not attribute all that ails us to the Dark Lord, for it is just as dangerous to overstate an enemy’s influence as it is to ignore it.”

  The man grunted in agreement.

  Sorayan continued, “Tethic Bonecall is a necromancer. If you’ve been by Lethbridge then I’m sure you’ve heard the tales of the dead rising.” When they nodded, she said, “This land has seen war for millennia so there are many corpses for him to raise to serve him.”

  “They say he’s performing experiments for the Lich King,” a young woman, not much older than Luke, whispered. “Trying to raise an army so that the Lich King can go up against the Dark Lord.”

  “The Dark Lord and the Lich King are enemies?” Luke’s brow furrowed. Could he use that to his advantage, if true? But somehow he couldn’t imagine a Lich King being an ally he would want.

  “The Dark Lord defeated him, and now makes him kneel.” Sorayan gave a wise nod of her head, and sucked on the end of her pipe. She let out a gush of smoke that formed smoke rings that drifted over the fire.

  Bonecall and the Li
ch King’s enmity towards his father meant, at least, that they wouldn’t be working with the Dark Lord to bring Luke to his side, even if his father decided against his hands-off approach. Then again, if the two of them knew who he was--Bonecall had told Luke to give his regards to his father--they would likely want to kill him to get back at the Dark Lord.

  Unless they realize I’m not his ally.

  “So Bonecall seeks to access the catacombs and ruins beneath Lethbridge?” Cassie asked.

  “Yes, he covets the knowledge of the ancient high elves,” Sorayan answered.

  “High elves would have no magic that would assist in the enslaving of the dead!” Christopher cried as all eyes turned upon him.

  Sorayan gave him a pitying look. “You must not know much of your kin, if you believe that. The high elves conquered death. That is why they are immortal, unlike the rest of us.”

  “Aren’t… aren’t wood elves immortal, too?” Cassie asked, looking rather crestfallen.

  “You are long-lived, dear, but no, only the high elves have that ability, and they keep it to themselves.” Sorayan gave Christopher a narrow-eyed look. “Unless they left something behind in the city beneath Lethbridge. Bonecall believes they did. Not the key to immortality, but perhaps the key to death itself.”

  Luke thought of the tome that Amalia supposedly wanted. Was that connected to the city of the high elves? This knowledge of life and death?

  Christopher drew his robes tighter around himself. “I suppose with great magical ability comes the potential of abuse. I can assure you that I have no desire to play with death magic!”

  It was strange, but, for a moment, Christopher looked guilty. But what could he feel guilty about? Surely not the history of the high elves. They weren’t his actual people. Luke frowned though, as he recalled the strange things he’d heard about clerics. Was there something about that class that was different in Neverfall than the other games they had played? Something that had to do with death magic?

  Even if it does, he’ll never use those spells, so what does it matter? Other than if Mack finds out, he will truly give Christopher hell about it.