by Dawn Chapman
I raised an eyebrow at him, and he pulled me to him. “That was some awesome fight from Zurath.” I looked to my Familiar who was preening blood from his feathers. “I had no idea he could be that hostile.”
“I think he saw the lord as a pure threat to you, he was doing what he had to protect you.”
I felt a frown forming, but Abel reached out and pushed my smile back in place. “Don’t be sad.This is what he wants, as do we all. Without the two of you, we’re much weaker. So we protect, and we take the hits.”
“And I stand and do nothing! Great.”
Myleen touched my shoulder. “No, you do much more than nothing. If Zurath hadn’t helped us see the attackers, we’d have been blind to it. Possibly come in when they had the better advantage. That would not have ended well for some if not all of us.”
It was the teenage boy who approached me first. His dark skin and features looked young, but when he drew closer, I realised he might have actually been close to my age. “To who do we owe our rescue?” he questioned cautiously.
I held out a hand, but he didn’t take it. He lowered his head instead. “My name’s Akillia,” I said. “These are my friends, Myleen, Borroth, and Abel.”
“I am Chinso, and my two sisters are Ami and Spahir,” he turned to the older elves, “and these are my guardians. The others killed were also guardians.”
“Why are you in the forest so late?” Myleen couldn’t help herself.
“We were on our way through to my grandparents. Our home was attacked a few weeks ago, and we lost almost everyone. The guardians were to keep us safe. To… to…”
I could see the sorrow in his eyes. “I’m sorry,” and I knew what was coming even before the pop-up displayed.
QUEST UPDATE — ESCORT CHINSO AND HIS SISTERS TO THEIR GRANDPARENTS
REWARD — INCREASED REPUTATION WITH THE DARK ELVES OF RINEMOLA FORESTS
“Please, come back to the others with us. We’ll get you cleaned up, and if it’s not far, we’ll accompany you to your grandparents.”
Myleen gave me a side smile and motioned to the two younger female elves. They weren’t injured, but they were helping their older guardians. Slowly but surely, the four of us started to make our way back to the main pathway together. I let Zurath take to the skies once more and asked him to meet us back at the wagon.
I, however, noticed the body of the goblin lord. There next to him twinkling in the moonlight was something. I moved away from the others and went to investigate. I kept forgetting that in the game, when you accomplished something big, you collected loot or might receive Karma. This looked like a loot drop. So, edging over I took a better look.
There was a bag and some glinting armour. There was also a large hammer. I picked it up and felt its weight. The pop-up that scrolled past me got a giggle.
ETERNAL BAN HAMMER
Any creature outright killed by a sneak attack is banished from this Realm forever.
I picked up the bag and threw it over my shoulder. I’d look inside that later. Then I fingered over the armour. I didn’t think it would fit me, but it might be able to be melted down or used for someone else. I picked it up also.
Walking quickly to catch up with the others, I smiled. I didn’t think I was doing too badly in the game. Maybe I could have done better, but I was alive. I was beating the odds against Andy’s bet and that thought alone made me grin from ear to ear.
Macie waited with Alec. She immediately took the injured elves into the wagon to treat, and we decided to set up our camp here. Abel and the other men prepared to settle, and I helped Borroth with a fire. Zurath was the one to start them all. His glinting wings, as soon as we were ready, ached to let loose his magic. I understood the reasons why and allowed him this pleasure. For every time he used them, he gained more strength. The fact now was his strength far outweighed mine. I was learning with him, though, and each increase helped us both.
Borroth looked back to Chinso. “He’s a strong young man. I do not know of their family origins, but I think they are all of royal lineage.”
“You’re kidding? We helped rescue some royal elves.”
“Akillia, you know nothing of your own ancestry, do you?”
No, he was correct, I didn’t. I thought about the choices I made as I picked out the elven scout, and then I’d seen the ‘surprise me’ category.
“Are you telling me something here?” I had to ask.
Borroth leaned forward. “I do not know for sure, but I do know that the Fire Eagle would not have bonded with you if there were no royalty there.”
I wondered if Abel knew or saw any of this when he looked or analysed my character.
I pulled the loot bag towards us, and with a glint in his eye, Borroth waited for me to open it. I reached in and pulled out a grey journal or diary, which I put to one side, then pulled out a set of gems. These sparkled with the colours of a rainbow. Every single one. As I stared at the amazing array, Borroth knocked them out of my hands, quickly scooping them up and into a cloth. “I know that was a find you’ve come across, but not one that you need to be looking at. These are Soul Stealing Gems. Much like something you encountered in Kamaal’s citadel. They’re given to unsuspecting powerful people, and the owner they’re bonded to syphons off energy for possibly many years without the wearer knowing.”
“That’s very interesting, thank you.”
He tucked them into the cloth and tied a leather string around them. “Keep them covered, and you’ll be fine.”
I took them from him and placed them near the journal. Then I reached in once more. There was a pouch with several gold coins and a diamond. Then there were two vials. I had no idea what kind of potions a goblin lord would need, but I wasn’t trying them. I’d pass these to Macie or Anlea.
“A good mixed bag,” Borroth said as I picked up the journal.
I opened it but knew I’d never have a chance to read it. “Do you know anyone who reads goblin?”
I showed Borroth the first few pages. He frowned. “That’s not a goblin. It looks like something else I’ve seen before, but I’m not sure. I think Myleen might know more. You should see her later about it.”
I nodded as I packed the bag and then went to help with dinner. I’d look at the journal with Myleen later if she had some time.
For now, sudden fatigue started to pull at me. Borroth was the one who said, “Why don’t you close your eyes over by the tree, the warmth of the fire.”
The more I looked into the depths of the flames, the more I wanted to get some sleep. Nothing else should go wrong for us tonight. We were close enough to the dark citadel still to warrant watching our backside, though. I felt far enough away that I could close my eyes. I had to get some rest. There couldn’t be none stop action, or I’d just collapse.
Chapter 30
Abel woke me later. I could swear the sun was poking its head through the trees. He handed me a bowl of porridge, and I took it, rubbing the sleep from my eyes and trying to stretch without cramping my back.
A blanket slipped from my shoulders, and I realised they’d all let me sleep. I really must have needed it.
“What did I miss?”
“Alec and Myleen went scouting first thing. We’ve found the first port of call for the elves home. We were just making sure everyone was rested well enough.”
I spooned the sweet nectar into my mouth and swallowed. How could something so simple taste so nice? “Thank you, I really needed the rest.”
“We all did, and there are no signs of anyone else following us. I think Kamaal actually does want your trust.”
“Did you speak with Dresel?”
Abel nodded and leaned in closer to me. “The glitches are getting worse. He said there have been problems with some of the beta testers too.”
“Borroth said something about my avatar maybe having royal blood? When you can, will you find out for me?”
His eyes flickered, but he nodded. “Of course.”
I ate as much
as I could before pushing the rest of the blanket off. The fire was dying down, but the heat generating inside me now was making me very warm. “Then we’re going to meet some dark elves today?”
When he stood with me and took the bowl out my hands, he smiled. “Yes, I think it will be very interesting. No one I know has been this far out, and certainly not met anyone of royalty.”
“This has all been an adventure,” I said with a wink. “And we’re coming up to the date I’m supposed to be dead by. If I can outlive this, then I don’t care about what this world has in store for me or if I die afterwards. I want that asshole to see I’m not a feeble woman who he can screw over—he or my sister!”
I felt sobs starting deep within and all of a sudden, I was crying. I tried to turn away from Abel, to try to get myself under control, but his large arms were around me, and he pulled me back to him. “It’s okay, Emma.”
When he used my real name, I cried even more. “It’s not okay. What did I do?”
“I don’t know. I’m only getting to know you. I do think it was he and not you though. You have the strongest heart and personality I’ve come across.”
He might have thought so, but I was sure I was falling apart now—now, when I was getting accumulated to this quest, to uncover the things that were going on.
I decided to ask something more important, and as he had used my real name, I used his. “Mark, what facility are you stationed at?”
He turned me to face him and kissed the tears from my cheeks. “I’m in the Philippines. Why?”
“Is Dresel there, too?”
“He’s on another island now, but yes, he’s not that far, why?”
“Because I want to see you for real. I want to hold a real person. And because I think, if we have to solve the glitches and what’s going on with the Night Guild, I think we have to be fighting on both sides. Here and in our real world.”
The thoughts flittered through my mind, but I didn’t voice them to him. Not yet. I didn’t think he was ready for it to have gone so badly wrong.
You do understand.
I heard the tick and the message as it ran across my interface.
I do. Tell me, what am I to this world?
There wasn’t a click or anything this time. Abel stared at me, knowing that I was doing something inside my systems.
To me, you have the highest probability for success. To Puatera you are their saviour.
And what about my world?
You will be something only a few will ever know the truth about, yet there will be millions who follow you throughout both universes.
Universes?
The flesh and the digital.
And then the click was gone. The stranger was gone. I looked into Abel’s face seeing his concerns, but not feeling like now was the right time for anything. “Let’s get the royal elves to their sanctuary. Then we’ll discuss the next stage. Getting to Hell’s Pass is seemingly an impossible journey at the moment. Everything is moving against us, and not just time.”
Abel eased away from me, realising I’d decided the next stage, and it was now.
Everyone gathered, and we were moving deeper into the forest with the guidance of the young elf and Alec.
The journey through was filled with too much debris, too many trees, and multiple objects that the wagon had to get around, under or over. Getting it over large objects was too hard. The trees were easy to cut and move, but boulders and more were not. We had to alter course.
By the time we drew near to the dark elves home, it was well after lunch, and although hungry, I just wanted to get them safely and then keep going.
Chinso moved to the front line with me. His graceful stepping through the forest had been something I’d wanted to learn. Naturally, elves did have the affinity to be light on their feet and to see and manoeuvre around everything with ease. I was a bit clumsier. Developing these skills was a time over matter issue, and I didn’t have the time to spend learning it all. I remembered back to the Learning Curve the Tutorial God kept going on about.
“It has been a long time since a Visitor came here. I am unsure how my grandparents will take it, but you do have the advantage of us being with you.”
“I hope that is enough. Tell me, Chinso, do you know what attacked your home?”
I knew the others had asked this question and spoken at lengths with them over it. He’d had no answers, and I knew there was none now. This other side, this other realm, or universe or whatever it was, had to be the same thing attacking the Night Guild and Kamaal’s people.
Thinking on this now, I had some idea as to where it might be leading me.
I called for Alec and watched as he traversed over towards us. “I need you to do something for me. I don’t want you to tell anyone especially your sister.”
Alec frowned. “All right, if it’s in the best interests of us all.”
“It is.” I reached down into my pocket for the stone Kamaal had only just given me. I had no idea I would need it so soon, but I would sooner ask him now than be too late. I accessed my map, remembering something I’d seen when Kamaal showed me the battlefield ahead of us. That was it—a fork in the rivers. It looked like a perfect defence spot. “Take this back to Kamaal’s citadel. When you get in to see him, tell him I would like him and one of his armies to wait for us where the rivers Valron and Brolvth meet.”
He looked very confused. “Is it far? How long does he have to get there?”
“I think we’ll be there by tomorrow night. Do this and come straight back. I need to know his answer.”
Alec lowered his head, and then with one quick glance to his sister, he left.
Myleen raised an eyebrow at me when she saw him gallop back the way we came, but she didn’t come over to ask me any questions.
That gave me focus on looking back to where we were actually heading. There seemed to be a slightly denser feel to the woods here, and it bottlenecked to a point. That point I presumed was the entranceway to the Forest Elves home. And, true enough, an arrow came whizzing past my head. It missed Zurath by mere inches, but he didn’t flinch, and neither did I. However, it did ignite his fire. “Easy boy. There are too many flammables around here for us to get that upset.”
Zurath pecked the side of my face lightly, his beak sharper than my sword, but as gentle as a feather.
Chinso stepped before me, holding his arms high, but not in surrender. He harnessed a wonderful green magical energy and formed a kind of signal before him. The intricate crisscrossing design was that beautiful, I couldn’t help but stare for ages.
I only just saw a massive doorway open up, and there, standing before us, were four very regal looking male elves.
Chinso bowed before them and then moved to take my hand and help me off Bracer. A little difficult with a twenty-pound bird on your arm, but I was getting used to it. I think I actually looked as graceful as they just had moving out to greet us.
With a nod to the gentleman on the right, Chinso said with a smile, “Akillia, this is my uncle, Ruadhar Sovilos.” The dark-skinned man stepped towards me, and noting Zurath first, bowed to him. “It is a pleasure to meet you and your handler.”
I was a little shocked because he didn’t address me first, but I sensed Zurath was doing the negotiating here as well, so I backed off with my need to slap him in the face. Ignorance was something I had never liked.
Chinso even looked a bit perturbed by his uncle’s behaviour. He bounced from one foot to the other obviously distressed.
Ruadhar then finally met my eyes. “Apologies, Akillia. But I think you do not fully understand the creature that you carry on your arm, nor our customs when we meet one of our gods.”
I almost choked out…. “Gods…” I looked to Zurath, and I understood. Gods, indeed, to the outsider or maybe gods of the animal world. I wasn’t sure, but I’d find out.
“Of course. Please, come inside. Let us get him settled and into a safer environment so that we may talk.”
&n
bsp; When they all moved to go inside, I wondered why the others hadn’t been introduced, but they seemed to just follow Ruadhar. I looked shyly at Abel, who just motioned for me to go in.
Once certain everyone else was in motion, and they weren’t to be left at the gate, I settled more, but no sooner had we moved through the gates had I seen smoke and heard massive gunfire.
“You’re being attacked, as well?”
Ruadhar moved in closer to me and whispered, “Yes, they’re at our north wall.”
He motioned us all further inside and in towards a large tree. “Please, would you leave Zurath here? He’ll get enough food to satisfy his hunger, and he’ll be settled while we talk.”
I saw the perch, ideal size really for the growing bird. I lowered my arm for him, and he stepped onto it turning deftly around to look out at the smoke-filled clouds.
“I am worried, Akillia,” Zurath said to me.
I leaned forward and put my nose to his beak. I heard Ruadhar behind me let out a gasp, but I held myself there, breathing in his soft scent. “Do not worry. We will not be here long. I promise.”
“The battle calls us.”
When Zurath looked out to the open skies, I nodded. “That it does. We will be there as soon as we can be.”
Chinso and Abel saw the smoke, and I think all of us with heavy hearts joined the main battle room. The other three gentlemen took their places.
Ruadhar motioned for us to take seats also, so we did. He didn’t have as much regarding sophisticated equipment like Kamaal, but I got the gist of what I could see from the table.
I was right to think this is where we needed to be most. Not just to go forth and meet Maddie to be able to help her and her troubles. It seemed I was a keeper of all things at the moment.
“That is down to your lineage,” Ruadhar said.
I looked at him and said, “Did you just read my mind?”
“Almost. I get a sense of what a person is feeling. It’s stronger with royal blood.”
Everyone kept saying this, but I was not royal. To them, I was just a Visitor…. but before the words had even settled in my mind, I pushed them away. I knew I was much more to them, and I felt like I was. Inside me, this raging battle of ‘real or not real’ was strong. I had fallen in love with this life and Puatera.