by Aleron Kong
“I believe you, Elora. And to answer your question, look up.”
A confused expression on her face, the pixie looked up as requested. She looked around for a second, searching. Then she faced him, her eyes round and wide with comprehension. “But I can’t, my Lord! This is a celestial tree! I could not be so bold as to bind myself to such a wonderful and vast spirit! I am not worthy of this!”
Richter held up a finger, “Now we just shook on the agreement, so I don’t want to hear ‘my Lord’ coming from you again!” Elora’s distress was so cute he was struggling not to laugh. “Now more importantly, you are unique in The Land, just the way this tree is. If even half of what I hear from the wood sprites is true, your return is a great boon to all of us. Not only are you worthy, but I believe this tree has grown for the purpose of being your home.”
Hisako had walked closer while he was talking. “Elora, I understand your hesitance. I am in awe of seeing a Quickening in The Land as well, but it is not our place to question the will of the forest. You belong here. Will you stay?”
The pixie looked back and forth between the two Masters. She settled on Richter, “Are you sure?” He could see the excitement on her face.
“Of course,” he said. “Welcome home.”
“Thank youuu!” Elora leaned in and placed a kiss on his nose, and then disappeared.
You have gifted with the Kiss of the Royal Pixie Queen. +3 Charisma.
You have completed the Quest: Resurgence of Light II. Binding to a celestial tree will accelerate the pixie life cycle. Because of the choice of tree, you have gone far beyond the requirements of the quest. You will be rewarded proportionally. Reward: Elora has increased regard for you. Bonus Reward: A new Companion. Reward: 1,250 (base 1,000) experience. Bonus Reward: 5,000 (base 4,000) experience.
Your relationship with Elora, the Royal Pixie Queen, has improved from friendly to loyal.
Elora, the Royal Pixie, has become you Companion. Companions will stay with you only as long your goals align.
You have completed the Quest: Tree of Power II. You have found the perfect caretakers of your Quickening. Pixies are the bound to the fabric of The Land. All trees thrive under a pixie’s care. Reward: 5,000 (base 4,000) experience.
TRING!
You have reached level 14! Through hard work you have moved forward along your path. As a Chaos Seed, you gain 6 points to distribute to characteristics instead of the usual 4. You also get 25% advancement to the skill of your choice! Crush your enemies, honor your allies, LIVE!
You have either characteristic points or skill percentage points to allocate from the previous level. Now that you have progressed again, you must allocate your points within the next week or they will randomly be assigned for you.
You have unlocked the Quest: Resurgence of Light III. It will take one month for her first children to be born. Will you protect the Royal Pixie Queen until new pixies are brought into the world? Reward: Unknown. Yes or No?
You have unlocked the Quest: Tree of Power III. Grow the Quickening to Level 3. The Quickening is a force of good in this world. Help it to thrive and protect it as it grows. Reward: Unknown. Yes or No?
Accepting both quests, Richter smiled broadly. He almost broke his arm patting himself on the back. His thoughts ran something like, ‘I love it when a plans come together! Now where’s my cigar! I’m the man! I piss excellence BEFORE I wake up!’
Narcissism aside, he now saw exactly why Potions of Clarity were so prized. If you could coincide it with a boss fight or quest completion, you could shave years off of the time it would take to level.
After he finished stroking his ego, he tried to figure out where his newest Companion had gotten off to. Richter looked at Hisako, “She can turn invisible?”
The Hearth Mother just laughed, “Not that I know of, but there is one common theme to all of the stories about pixies. They are FAST!” Then she did something unexpected. She embraced him. “Thank you for this. You found the evil weapon that imprisoned the chrysalis. You provided the magic to finally release her. Now you have given her a home, and risked the most powerful object in your realm to do it.”
Richter tensed, feeling a bit of shame that she had deduced his thought process and hesitance to allow the pixie to bind to the Quickening. She released him from the hug, but didn’t fully let go, keeping her hands on his forearms and holding him at arm’s length.
“Do not feel shame,” she said. “You are a Master of a Place of Power, and the Lord of a village. Your decisions carry great weight, and deserve to be considered from all angles. I might like an innocent saint, but I would not trust him with the wellbeing of the only pixie in existence. A man who has the ability to think selfish thoughts, however, but then chooses a finer path... That is a man who I would fight side by side with. That is a man I would trust.
Your relationship with Hisako has improved to Ally.
The relationship of the Wood Sprites of Nadria to the Mist Village has improved to Ally.
Richter looked at her with surprise. She simply nodded and said, “May our two peoples rise together, and if necessary, fall together.” Richter had no words and so simply embraced her again.
When they broke apart, Richter saw all of the villagers and the sprites staring at the two of them. Raising his voice, he said, “The people of the Mist Village and the wood sprites of the Forest of Nadria are allies! May we rise together!”
First one person took up the shout, then another, then everyone present was repeating the same phrase with passion.
Under the canopy of a heavenly tree, in the wake of the rebirth of an ancient race, two groups celebrated their friendship and hope for the future, “May we rise together! May we rise together!”
CHAPTER 7
The good times kept rolling. Even Yoshi loosened up. Some of the dwarves brought a cask of ale up from the village stores, and they all enjoyed each other’s company for hours. The rain eased at about midnight, and people meandered down to the longhouse as they got tired. Many decided to just rest under the limbs of the Quickening, however. Shiovana had cast a spell to drive the water in the ground away from the surface, leaving a perfect campground.
It was a wonderful chance for the sprites and the villagers to mix. Even Richter’s familiar also got in on the fun. She swooped around blowing gusts of air into people’s hair. There was also a spirited game of “catch the dragonling,” played by all of the village children. Their shrieks of delight allayed the parent’s fears, and soon the dragonling was apparently accepted by everyone present. After hours of play, all of the children were put to bed, and Richter and his familiar sat against the base of the tree. Some people still laughed and sang, but most had settled down to rest. Sion sat next to him.
“You have made a wonderful home here,” Sion said, still laughing over some of the antics he had seen through the night.
“Yes,” Richter said, smiling back.
“You know you’ve said almost nothing about your old home. Do you have family or friends that you miss?”
“Yes,” Richter said, a bit of the joy fading from his face. “I do.”
“Then why don’t you ever talk about them,” Sion asked.
“I was raised to focus on what’s in front of me, and to accept the reality of a situation. The reality is that I’m in The Land now, and I probably will be forever. Thinking of the people I left behind doesn’t help, so it doesn’t matter. I choose to focus my energy on what does matter,” Richter said, still looking at the die-hard partiers, who were drinking and sharing stories.
“Come on,” Sion wheedled, “just tell me something.”
“I don’t really want to talk about it! It doesn’t matter who I was! All that matters is that I’m Richter!” He was shouting at the end. He didn’t look at Sion. He just kept gazing at his people.
Sion looked at him with a shocked face. Anger also made its way across the sprite’s features briefly, but it fled when he realized his questions much
have scratched at a buried hurt. So he just sat back against the trunk of the Quickening, and shared his troubled friend’s company in silence.
They both watched the laughing villagers. Richter let his anger extinguish in the soothing tones of his people’s joy. Then he started talking softly. “My mother is a strong woman. My father is kind. My brother has the biggest heart of anyone I know. My sisters devote themselves to helping those in need. I have nieces and nephews, who are the most brilliant and beautiful creatures in any world. I was training as a healer. What my people called a doctor.” He stopped talking. They sat in silence again.
“How can you be okay leaving all of that behind,” Sion asked when Richter didn’t start talking again.
“I would have them here with me if I could,” Richter said, “but they would all encourage me to listen to my heart. And as much as I loved looking up at a Georgia sky, I have always wanted an existence of magic and wonder. I had an amazing life there, and yes, there are people I left behind that I miss dearly. The Land is my home now, though,” he said firmly. “My mother always said, ‘Indecision causes confusion, confusion causes accidents, and accidents cause death.’ I won’t be indecisive.”
Sion nodded in appreciation. He too had a strong mother who had both wisdom and an inability to not share it.
“Of course,” Richter continued, “she also said that every time I masturbated, god killed a kitten… So her advice was all over the map.” Richter’s voice lowered conspiratorially, “Just so you know, that was the day I started actively making a world without cats.” Sion chuckled and Richter smiled. “Like you said, I am making something wonderful here. I feel truly blessed to have you as a part of it, my friend.”
The sprite looked at him, and they shared a quiet moment of friendship. That was short-lived, however. It ended when Daniella shouted, “Sion. Quit loafing around and come over here!”
Seeing the sprite wince, Richter chuckled, “You better get over there before her voice hits a higher octave.”
He waved his friend away, and then looked at the psi dragonling that was lying across his lap. Richter was convinced she just viewed him as a walking pillow. His hand rested on her warms scales, slowly stroking her. She purred at the attention. “What do I call you,” he said. She gave no response except to continue enjoying the attention. He had learned that if he stopped stroking her, he would earn a hiss in response.
“Well if you don’t care, then I will name you myself.” He ran through dozens of names until he found a special resonance with one. “Alma. What do you think of that?” She raised her head, and then sniffed before settling back down. He chuckled, “I’ll take that as agreement.”
Richter spent more time just looking out over his people and the sprites. This was a perfect moment. He was smiling as he drifted off to sleep.
*Danger!*
*Wake!*
*DANGER!*
That was the first thing he heard even though it was only in his own mind. The next thing he heard were distant screams.
When he opened his eyes, the only light was a faint radiance from the silver trunk of the Quickening. Not enough to make out details when he was facing away, but it gave him an orientation. He ran away from the trunk. The shouts and bellows getting louder as he sprinted toward the edge of the meadow. When he was able to see over the escarpment, his heart sank. The longhouse was on fire! He cast Night Vision on himself. What had been a black canvas with one spot of light was now a world of green and black. He almost wished he couldn’t see it.
His village was being attacked! Large humanoids had made their way across the trench. He couldn’t tell what they were, but he could tell they were big! There were bodies on the ground! The invaders seemed to be trying to break into the longhouse. What had happened to the guards? He could see that there were dozens inside the village, but Richter could see an even larger second wave of attackers approaching! How had they gotten in? One attacker was hanging by the gate… Yes, there! The bastards had made a crude bridge with several trees lashed together. An advance team must have hacked down the gate. The rest were going to get in!
Hisako and the other sprites came close. The villagers that had passed the night under the Quickening were right behind them. Cries of panic arose from the group. He felt the panic himself. They were being attacked! He froze in disbelief at what was happening. Then he heard Sion.
“Richter, look at me.” He turned his head to look at his Companion. The sprite just said, “We’re here with you. We will save them.”
The solidity of his friend broke him out of his immobility. “Right! You, you, you and you,” he said pointing at four sprites. “Hold this line. You are to protect the children and nonfighters. Don’t let anyone past you!”
“Yoshi!” Richter cast Night Vision on the sword adept. “Can you see the second wave of attackers? We can’t let them get into the village. Go to the bridge that they made. I need you and the other sprites to destroy it!” He nodded once and then started giving orders to the sprite warriors.
Richter looked out at the villagers, “We are being attacked. Those of you who do not know how to fight need to stay here. But anyone that can wield a sword or swing an axe, I need you to come with me. I need you to do it now! Our people have barricaded themselves in the long house, but these attackers have set it on fire. They don’t have long until they will be forced to open the doors. We need to kill whoever this is before that happens! Now who will fight?!”
He had been afraid that his speech would not rouse anyone, but he was wrong. Thirty men and woman stepped forward. One dwarf woman held onto her man begging him not to go, but he gently disengaged and stepped forward. Richter was ashamed that he didn’t remember his name. “We are with you, my Lord. But we have no weapons. What can we do?”
Hisako stepped forward with a fierce expression on her face, “We take them from their dead hands! You four, guard this hill, like Lord Richter ordered.” She pointed at Daniella and Sion, “You two come with me. The rest go with Yoshi and hold the line of the village to make sure no more get in. Mages, you have one minute to cast whatever buffs you can. It’s time for battle!”
“I have some extra weapons,” Richter said handing out the short sword and two daggers he had in his inventory. Then Richter gave a bloodthirsty grin, “These stupid bastards have made the mistake of invading our home! They will NOT live to regret it! We are life takers and heart breakers! Let’s go!”
You have made a Call to Action: Kill the majority of your attackers to be awarded the skill: War Leader. Failure to so give you the trait, Fool in War: -50 Fighting Spirit to those near you.
Richter just nodded to himself. It’s not like failure was an option anyway. It did remind him about the boost in Morale providing a boost in Fighting Spirit as well. He quickly checked his village status page, and saw that the entire village should get a 10% increase to their ability to deal damage. He prayed it would be enough.
He cast Barkskin on himself, unfortunately, the range was only ‘self’ so he couldn’t buff anyone else. He then cast Haste on himself and the sprites that would be in his group. The spell was prohibitively expensive at twenty-five mana per cast. Each cast only affected one target, so he could not extend the buff to all of the villagers and sprites. Sion cast Haste on Yoshi and several of the other sprites.
As they had been preparing, Alma had been circling above them.
*Fight,* she thought to him.
*Stay here,* he thought back. He didn’t not want his little familiar to be harmed. He had no idea if she could be reborn like he could.
*Fight,* she thought again with determination. Then he felt something surprising. Alma cast Haste. The dragonling zipped through the air. She was so fast that he couldn’t follow her grey body in against the night sky despite having cast Night Vision.
The last thing Richter did was to hand out Potions of Clarity from his Bag of Holding. Those attackers were going to die tonight. There was no poi
nt in wasting the experience. He himself drank two precious mana potions from his limited stores. If his village survived this fight, potion making needed to be a priority!
They all streamed down the hill, with the armed fighters in front. At the bottom, Yoshi’s group broke off and moved quickly toward the bridge. Richter, Hisako, Sion and Daniella ran towards the long house. It wasn’t long before they could see enemies in front of them. Just before they were upon them, Hisako warned them to look away, then gave a shout and thrust her hand up. A ball of golden light ten times as large as what she summoned earlier that night flew from her hand, and up into the sky. Even though he was looking in another direction it seemed like he was staring into the sun! He quickly dismissed Night Vision and opened his eyes, everything was bleached white, and he noticed a blinking icon of an eye that was clouded over. A number beside it counted down from three, and when it reached zero the icon disappeared and his vision was again normal. He was immediately thankful for Hisako’s warning. With his increased light perception, he might have been blinded for the whole fight!
Luckily, his momentary disorientation hadn’t cost him. The light caught the attackers, on the other hand, completely by surprise. They cried out in pain, vainly trying to cover their eyes. The ball of golden light didn’t just make it easier to see, it also immediately made Richter feel stronger!
You are in the aura of Blessed Light. All creatures of neutral or positive alignment gain +10% to physical attack and defense. All creatures of negative alignment suffer -10% to physical attack and defense.
Hisako followed her first spell with another shouted incantation. One of her hands contorted through a series of gestures in quick succession, while words in a tongue that not even Richter could decipher poured from her lips. She formed her other hand into a claw with her palm face up, and swiftly lifted it. Five different rock spikes, each six inches wide, shot up from the earth and impaled one of the attackers! Two spikes pierced one arm and one leg. The other three spikes tore through the invader’s torso, and left the dead body suspended in the air. That opening salvo brought the attention of three nearby enemy fighters. Richter was given his first up-close look at the creatures that had ruined the peace of his home. He used Analyze.