by Baron Sord
I gripped my spear tightly in both fists, pressing the point against his long and bent birdlike neck. I pressed the point a bit harder, watching the leathery skin depress.
Fuck.
I couldn’t do it.
I pulled my spear away.
He stirred, and a squawky moan slipped out of his beaklike mouth. Was he going to wake up?
I needed to make a decision if he was.
I took a step back.
Behind me, a rustling sound startled me and I jumped, spinning around in midair with my spear at the ready.
At the edge of the giant yellow fungus was a dense cluster of very large mushrooms growing out of the ground. Each one was 1 or 2 feet tall and had speckled dark red mushroom hats and pale stumpy stalks. There were maybe 30 or 40 of them. I hadn’t noticed them before. No surprise, I was busy fighting for my life.
I shook my head, dismissing my fear. I was still amped with adrenalin from the fight, which explained my jumpiness. I made a quick check on the harpy. He was still out.
When I turned back to the mushrooms, they were moving toward me. By moving, I meant walking. They had stumpy arms and their thick stalks split into stumpy legs. No heads, just the speckled red mushroom hats. I examined the one in front.
Mushmeem
Level: 1
Health | Stamina: 50 | 50
Mana | Mind: 175 | 0
Size: Small
Armor: 2
===============
Good | Evil: 100 | -
Law | Chaos: - | -
===============
The Mushmeems climbed clumsily onto the yellow fungus. Because of their stumpy little arms and legs, they moved like drunken babies going half speed. The entire group wobbled past me on top of the yellow fungus and circled around the harpy.
All I could do was watch.
Shimmery green energy swirled out from the Mushmeems’ red hats as they emitted a soothing but high-pitched humming sound.
“Meeeeeee-muuuuuuuuum. Meeeeeeee-muuum.”
The green energy cloud rotated slowly in a big ring above the entire group, glowing brighter as it intensified. As the humming grew louder, the cloud drifted down onto the harpy’s body, streaks of green energy weaving and spiraling around its limbs and torso. The harpy glowed brighter and brighter until I had to squint my eyes from the light. The buzzing of the energy intensified. Seconds later, the harpy dissolved into a vortex of dancing green energy that resembled peaceful green fireflies. The cloud of energy then spiraled back into the Mushmeems’ red mushroom hats.
The buzzing faded to silence.
The harpy was gone.
The Mushmeems turned and waddled toward me, circling around me.
I was instantly tense. Were they going to dissolve me into green energy and absorb me too? I examined them again and saw they still had 100 Good points and 0 Evil. That didn’t sound bad to me. But that didn’t mean they weren’t hungry for my molecules.
The Mushmeems started to hum again, but it was a calmer sound then before.
“Moooooohhhhm. Moooooohhhhm.”
A golden glow of energy, much like what I’d seen Moggor the Koboglin use on me before, seeped out of their hats and spiraled around me slowly. The gold flickering motes and sparkles sank into my skin. It felt refreshing. My Health bar climbed quickly into green and pegged at 100%. Same with my Stamina.
Logan, the Layna voice said in my head, the Mushmeems are thanking you for showing mercy.
You earned 1,000 XP for defeating the harpy.
You earned 1,000 XP for giving him back to the rain forest.
You earned +10 Good points for showing mercy.
You earned +2 Law points for allowing Nature to complete the circle.
My overwhelming thoughts about all the killing and death I’d experienced in the past 5 minutes pushed the Layna voice and status updates out of my mind, but my concern for Ty and Qoorie quickly rushed in. I had no idea whether or not they were fighting harpies or if they’d escaped to safety.
I hoped they were okay.
If they weren’t, they probably needed my help.
Time to go find them.
—: o o o :—
“Ty!” Qoorie growled. “Watch out!”
She and Ty were in the thick of battle when I found them. Four harpies were attacking them, one running around on the ground with a broken wing drooping from its back. Two more lay dead nearby, their blue and gold feathers tainted red.
Ty couldn’t heed Qoorie’s warning because he was busy wrestling two harpies at once. As fast as he was, his four clawed paws were no match for eight sets of taloned hands and feet coming at him from the front and rear and above. Too many attack angles.
Qoorie let out a battle roar as she leapt on the harpy attacking Ty from behind, raking all four of her paws into the harpy’s back. Panicked and overwhelmed, the harpy squawked and collapsed beneath her. Qoorie clamped her jaws on its bent bird neck and twisted it with a crunching snap.
The harpy with the broken wing went after Qoorie and started clawing away. Qoorie spun and spiraled with catlike speed, trying to evade it, but the harpy was persistent.
Without thinking, I charged into the middle of things, leading with my spear.
Another harpy came out of nowhere and hammered into me, knocking me down. I rolled in the soft dirt and landed on my feet in a low crouch, already stabbing forward with my spear, but the harpy whipped its wings and shot backward, avoiding my attack.
This harpy was bigger than all the rest. At least 9 feet tall with a 50 foot wingspan. She eyed me angrily.
Jungle Harpy Witch
Level: 7
Health | Stamina: 445 | 305
Mana | Mind: 175 | 60
Size: Large
Armor: 60
===============
Good | Evil: - | 199
Law | Chaos: - | 112
===============
We were in trouble.
Ty and Qoorie were spinning balls of orange and white fur, tearing away at the three other harpies.
Guess it was just me against the witch.
I sunk into a fighting stance with my spear and side-stepped forward, pistoning with my spear as fast as I could, activating Snake Strike. Although my spear point flashed faster than I could track, the harpy witch whipped her wings repeatedly, knocking my spear aside more times than not. I barely scraped her.
Her evil black eyes suddenly glowed with an eerie black light.
I got ready to dodge. If she was going to shoot lasers at me, I wouldn’t be standing here when she did. I lunged to the side.
The air rippled black between me and her. A 25 foot wide wall of energy washed over me. There was no way I could dodge a spread that big.
Health took a 30% hit.
Stamina did too.
That bitch of a witch just cursed you, Logan!
Curse of the Harpy’s Heart. Strength: -2. Endurance: -2. You will turn increasingly evil and chaotic with every passing sunset until your heart is blacker than the blackest harpy’s heart. +45 Evil and +60 Chaos points per day. -1 point of Beauty per day as you take on the facial characteristics of a male harpy.
Great.
We should’ve just run for it.
Oh wait, we did. But these harpies had no mercy. Now I was cursed. But was I? No. No game was going to make me evil. That was ridiculous.
The harpy witch flew at me, claws out.
I rolled out of the way. At least my Speed wasn’t reduced. On my feet, I ran behind the nearest tree trunk to give myself a moment to strategize.
Who the hell played these games? Was this fun? Being assaulted constantly by vicious monsters? I couldn’t wait to never do this again.
Bark flew off the tree in strips as the witch tore away with her big talons, trying to circle around to get me. I kept moving, stabbing at her from behind with my spear. It wasn’t working, but she was carving the tree down to nothing. I was vaguely aware of Ty and Qoorie roaring while the other harpies
squawked at them. Hadn’t they finished them off yet?
I needed help.
This was a disaster.
I didn’t have time to worry about it because the harpy witch spun 180 degrees around the tree and came right at me.
Somehow I knew her guts were wide open for a Deadly Disembowel power attack. I jammed my spear at her unprotected stomach, ready to yank sideways and cut her open.
Failed! Your Power Attack had no effect! The Harpy Witch’s armor rating is too high!
Before I could complain, her talons tore away at my stomach. 40% of my Health evaporated in a flash. Down to 30% total. I needed to get me some damn armor.
Unless I died first.
The witch raked again, cutting me down to 20% Health.
I stabbed forward and barely nicked her before jumping out of her reach. Blood was running down my stomach and my Health flickered with the drip, drip, drip of the blood drop icon once again.
You’ve been injured!
-0.25 Health per minute until the wound is sealed or healed!
I wasn’t worried about that because my Stamina was dropping way too quick. At this rate, chances were I’d pass out in the next 3 minutes. Or less. Then the Harpy Witch could kill me at her leisure.
“Stupid bitch,” I muttered bitterly. “You wasted a curse on me.”
She flapped her wings victoriously and shook her head back, squawking loudly. “Kree-AAAACK!”
It was the most grating sound I’d ever heard, mainly because I was about to get my ass handed to me. I stabbed with my spear anyway.
She flapped her wings and kicked forward, her taloned feet thunking into the big tree trunk on either side of me, blocking my escape. The harpy grabbed my arms with her taloned hands and her sharp black beak dove at my neck. I lurched sideways, narrowly avoiding a punctured throat. Her beak reared back again, ready to launch the killing blow, but something caught her attention and her head spun to the side. She started to squawk and—
Th-THUNK!
Two arrows punched through her two black eyes at the same time, knocking her head back on her bent bird neck. Her hands relaxed, releasing my arms, but her taloned feet were still stuck in the trunk. Her limp body fell to the dirt. I stood between her legs, looking down at her. A pair of giant, naked, perfectly round boobs had never been more intensely irrelevant. Golden smoke wafted up from the shafts of the two arrows in her eyes.
I stepped over one of the Harpy Witch’s legs and turned.
“Are you okay?” Layna asked, holding a bow knocked with two arrows, the bowstring drawn halfway. The arrowheads both glowed gold. Speaking of boobs, Layna’s were covered by a fringed leather vest. Fringed leather calf-length pants covered her legs and she wore fringed leather boots. Fingerless leather gloves were stretched over both hands. The leather was a jumble of irregular shaped and colored pieces stitched together. As covered as she was, she was no less sexy than before.
Qoorie roared, on her back, clawing upward with all four paws as a harpy flapped above her. Ty was busy lunging at the two other harpies, but they kept jumping out of the way. He was obviously tired and running out of steam.
“We need to help them,” I muttered.
Layna nodded and turned, bringing her bow up while drawing the two glowing arrows back with practiced ease. She was rock steady as she aimed. The bowstring twanged a second later, releasing gold streaks that hammered into the harpy over Qoorie. It suddenly flapped furiously as it tumbled to the ground and thrashed away in the dirt.
I jogged up and jammed my spear repeatedly into its ribs before Qoorie had a chance to figure out what had happened. The harpy shuddered and died.
You earned 300 XP!
+1 Chaos point for killing the unsuspecting harpy!
Two more arrows sunk into one of the harpies fighting Ty. I ran up behind it and went crazy with my spear. It turned to fight, but I kept stabbing. Turned out I had just enough Stamina to activate Snake Strike, so I was able to pepper the harpy with hits while avoiding numerous talon swipes. It went down in no time.
Woot! Your Dodge skill is now level 4!
You earned 500 XP!
+1 Chaos point for killing the unsuspecting harpy!
Qoorie charged the final harpy and I joined her. Although Ty was exhausted, he clawed away too. We were too much for it and brought it down quickly.
You earned 200 XP!
+1 Chaos point for killing the unsuspecting harpy!
Layna stood a few yards away, two more arrows at the ready. When it was clear the battle was over, she relaxed her bowstring and the glow on the arrowheads faded out.
I was breathing hard and drenched in sweat. “You okay, Ty?”
He could barely speak. “Yeah. Gimme a minute.” Down on all fours, he sucked in air, panting hard. Qoorie was beside him, licking his face. They both collapsed onto their bellies, mouths wide, tongues lolling out, tails swishing weakly, the two of them looking exactly like two tired tigers after a kill.
I knelt down near them, not quite as tired as yesterday after the Koboglin fight, but close. Probably my extra Endurance made the difference.
You are now level 4, Logan!
+10 Health!
+10 Stamina!
You have 6 points to distribute to your ability scores and skills!
I looked at Layna, but as before, her mouth wasn’t moving. This voice in my head sounded almost exactly like her.
I said, “What are you doing here, Layna?”
“I was…” Her eyes darted between me, Ty, and Qoorie. “Are these your friends?”
“Yeah.” I introduced everybody. Ty and Qoorie barely had the energy to speak, but they said hello between pants. Layna sat down in the dirt near me and crossed her legs.
After a few minutes, Ty asked me, “What happened to you, dawg? You all yellow.”
“Fell in a fungus.”
Qoorie said, “Is it poisonous?”
“I don’t think so. But first stream we find, I’m taking a bath.”
“Good call,” Ty said.
I said to Layna, “Where’d you learn to shoot a bow like that, girl? I’ve never seen anyone shoot two arrows at a time. I thought it was a movie thing.”
She smiled bashfully, “I don’t know. Practice?”
“Yeah, practice. Anyway, what’re you doing here? Did you follow me, Layna?” I said it with a hint of flirtation. I knew why she was here. Couldn’t have been more obvious.
“I—no! I wasn’t following you. I was just… I had to go to the village.”
I smirked, “Yeah? What do you need in the village?”
“It’s… I… I’m looking for something… important.” She was lying.
“Yeah, I’m looking at something important too.” I smiled right at her. She looked away. “I’m glad you’re here, Layna. You totally saved my ass.”
She smiled back, her eyes searching mine. Her brows knit together. “I see you did a good deed since we first met. Several, in fact.”
“I guess.”
“But… you’re cursed.”
“Huh? Oh. That? Don’t worry about that.” I really didn’t think a computer game could make me act like a bad guy.
“It’s very serious, Logan. If the curse isn’t lifted soon, you won’t be able to break it.”
“So? I don’t—” I stopped myself short. I was going to say I didn’t plan on playing this game any longer than it took to find Emily. But I sensed that might hurt Layna’s feelings. She hadn’t come chasing after me because she had an errand in the village. I was surprised a babe like her was interested in me, but sometimes women made no sense. I wasn’t complaining. I hid a laugh. Sadly, she was fake. I had no idea who she was in real life and I didn’t really care. It’s not like she saved my ass in the real world. None of this really mattered.
Layna said, “I think we can find someone in the village who can remove your curse.”
“Sure,” I said absently.
Qoorie said, “You’re cursed?”
&nbs
p; “Yeah, why?”
Ty said, “What kind a curse?”
I shrugged. “Something about me getting more evil every night.” I chuckled, “Like I’ll turn into a werewolf when there’s a full moon or whatever.”
“That what the alert say?” Ty sounded serious. “You turn into a werewolf?”
I smirked, “Sadly, no. Nothing that cool. It said I’d become evil like a harpy. Whatever that means.”
He nodded. “That ain’t good.”
“Why not?”
“You go crazy, dawg. You want that?”
Layna nodded for emphasis.
I rolled my eyes, “Guys, I’m not worried about it. But I do need to find that stupid village. How far is that place, anyway? Layna, do you know?”
“Another day’s journey.”
“Geez. This is taking forever. Can we get a move on?” I stood up and dusted the dirt off my knees and as much of the fungus as I could from my legs.
“We should look for loot for we go,” Ty said, standing up.
“Loot?” I asked.
“Gold, silver,” Qoorie added. “Maybe magic items. You never know what you’ll find.”
“Will it take long?” I sighed. I didn’t know why people were so excited about fake money.
“We make it quick,” Ty said. “Then we get that curse a yours lifted.”
I rolled my eyes.
A few minutes later, we found the harpy’s nest up in a huge tree.
Ty climbed up the trunk with fluid ease. “Damn! Y’all gotta come see this,” he chuckled. “You ain’t never gonna believe it. Woo-wee!”
Qoorie darted up the tree with equal ease.