by Paul Bellow
I raised my sword and stuck it deep into the tree trolls leg, causing it to shriek and sit up.
Sylvar shot an arrow into its head, and it fell back to the ground.
"Where's the glass bottles?" I asked as the troll's sappy blood spilled on the ground.
"I've got it," Sarah said, pulling one out of the leather bag at her side.
The tree troll popped up again. I pierced its throat with my sword, sending it back to the ground.
"Hurry," I said.
"I'm going as fast as I can. This stuff is sticky."
"Be careful," Sylvar said. "It's dangerous stuff."
"Will you guys leave me alone and let me work?" Sarah asked.
I shut my mouth, occasionally hitting the tree troll with my sword to knock it back out.
"There," she said a minute later. "That should be enough, I hope."
"Light him afire," Sylvar said. "But be careful. We don't want to set the forest on fire."
Combat is over!
You get 1600 xp divided by three party members.
You get +533 xp.
You have 15,011 xp
You need 989 xp for Level Five Rogue
Be ready to specialize.
I'd decided on the bounty hunter path. With our mini-quest to find the counterfeit cartographer, it made sense.
"We can stay and watch a few minutes, but we've got a long hike back."
"You're staying another night, aren't you?"
"No, I don't think so," I said.
"We're staying." Sarah stood up and put the glass bottle filled with tree troll blood in her bag. "I want to rest one more night before hitting the road."
"I vote for staying another night," Bernard said.
"Fine, but we leave early in the morning."
"Perfect," Sylvar said. "We'll have a grand evening. You might be persuaded to take me on your quest with you."
He grinned.
"That would be great," Sarah said.
"A ranger in party never hurts."
"You can't join our party, but you can ride with us. We'll pay you for your services."
I studied his face for a reaction to the news.
"That's wonderful," he said, still smiling.
Did he have brownie blood in him?
Fortunately, all three of our current party members had to agree to allow someone new into the group.
"We'll talk more about it later," Sarah said. "For now, I want more of that elven wine and some fresh food."
"Now you're talking," Bernard said.
After the fire died down, we returned to Sylvar's magnificent elven tree house. My whole body ached from tromping through the forest all day, so I retired early, falling asleep right away.
()xxxx[:::: Chapter 28 ::::>
Two Wizards Walk into a Bar
SARAH
I woke the next morning refreshed and ready to take on the game. We would find a way out. Eric was the smartest gamer I knew, and I wasn't a slouch either.
With Bernard in our party, we would succeed. I wondered about him as I got up and took care of my business with Sylvar's ingenious bathroom set-up.
In the main room, I found Eric and Bernard already sitting at the table with Sylvar. They were laughing and talking as I entered. I'm glad they're getting along better.
"Morning," Eric said.
I took a seat next to him at the round table large enough for half-a-dozen guests.
"Good morning, everyone."
I glanced over at Sylvar and smiled.
"Hurry and eat. I want to get on the road soon," Eric said.
"Excuse me?"
I squinted my eyes while looking at him.
"You're always in a hurry," Bernard said.
"The realm has been too kind to us lately. I'm expecting something bad, so I want to get this quest finished."
"We have plenty of time, but we can leave now," Sylvar said, agreeing with Eric.
That's strange.
"Watch him, Kali."
I grabbed what passed for an apple in the game and a chunk of fresh elven bread. After eating, we climbed down the rope ladder one after another.
Our horses were fine, which put my mind at ease. Eric was being paranoid again.
"We'll head through Talbot then west toward High Keep. It’ll take a day or three even with horses," Sylvar said.
"Do you have a horse?" I asked, looking around.
"She's in town. Follow me."
I watched as Sylvar strode ahead. We followed behind, leading our horses. The three bottles of tree troll blood and all our other equipment were all safely stored away.
We left the woods and walked down the trail leading toward Talbot. As we neared the edge of the forest, four people stepped out of the trees, two tank, a wizard and a cleric.
"Be careful, Kali."
You know it.
"Who are you?" Eric called out.
"You don't want to know," a warrior said then laughed.
"We're here for the tree troll blood and your recipe," a man in red robes said.
I glanced over at Eric, wondering if he had a plan or not.
"That’ll not happen," he said. "And you can tell Magi Inyontoo we're coming for him."
The warrior laughed again.
"We're going for him too, and I bet we get there first."
Are they player characters? I checked the game interface. They were another band of PCs.
"Drex..."
"I know," he said, pulling his sword then called out with his familiar, "Positions."
Sylvar looked on as Bernard took out his mace and stepped forward.
Now's the time to prove your worth to the party, my elven friend.
The two warriors unsheathed their swords and stepped forward.
"He's casting," I said as I noticed the mage in red moving around.
Sylvar unslung his bow and let loose with an arrow, striking the mage in his arm.
"Hey, that hurt," he called out.
Were they new to the game? I hated not knowing what was going on.
I cast Snares of Dust followed by Cloud of Marvelous Sound. The eighteen mana took me down to sixty-eight. More than enough to do damage.
The laughing warrior coughed uncontrollably as the other grabbed his ears and screamed.
"Banzai," their cleric yelled, rushing forward.
For some unknown reason, he clocked Eric's horse in the side of the head with his morning-star instead of coming after one of us.
"Now you asked for it," Eric said and slashed at the cleric.
"Hey, that hurts," he said. "Where's the stupid quit button? I'm done."
Eric slashed at him again as I turned my attention to the red-robed mage as he finished dancing a spell. Six familiar golden bolts came whizzing toward me.
They hit, causing ten points of damage, leaving me with sixteen health. A shield of green energy popped up in front of my body.
I glanced over at Sylvar.
"A little late, but thanks," I called out.
He smiled then turned to face the other mage.
Their cleric turned and fled back to the others.
Unfortunately, their warriors were no longer preoccupied.
"Get them," the wizard yelled, pointing at us.
As the two warriors in shiny chain mail ran forward, Eric and Bernard rushed to meet them.
"Watch this," Sylvar muttered.
He called out to his animal friends. Once again, several squirrels and a racoon appeared. This time, two brown bears also showed up.
They ran, growling, toward the two warriors.
Eric and Bernard held their ground as the bears reached them.
Both the other warriors freaked out at the appearance of the creatures.
Sylvar laughed as they clawed at the men in chain mail.
"Run away, run away," the red-robed wizard screamed. "They're too powerful."
I thought about sending a volley of Lava Discs their direction, but I held off, wanting to save my mana in case an emerg
ency popped up.
Eric and Bernard backed up as the warriors did their best to run from the bears.
"Should I have the bears chase them?" Sylvar asked.
"No, give them a chance. We taught them a lesson."
Eric walked over with Bernard be his side.
"A cleric worse than me, I can't believe it," Bernard said.
I laughed. Eric cracked a smile, but I saw he'd taken a hit to the arm.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"Yeah," he answered. "We should go."
"Okay..."
When we turned to gather our horses, I noticed a gnomish woman in leather step out of the woods.
"More company," I said, nodding my head toward her.
The others turned to face the gnome. She appeared noble with short-cropped black hair and sharp green eyes. Dressed in leather armor, she had a short sword and dagger sheathed at her waist
"Your friends left already," I said.
"No, no," Sylvar said, walking over to her. "She's a friend of mine."
Oh? I followed him along with the other two.
"They attacked Monde earlier," the gnome said in a squeaky voice, referring to herself in the third person. "Are you okay?" I asked, noticing a cut on her hand.
"Monde is fine."
They've certainly got some colorful NPCs in this game.
"Good, good," I said. "Would you like to come to High Keep with us?"
"What are you doing?" Eric asked.
"Asking for more help. No offense, Benji, but we need a healer."
"None taken," Bernard said.
"Monde would love to join you."
"We can't let you join our party, but we'll pay you well," Eric said.
"Monde no mind."
Was he testing to see if she might have been a PC?
Monde smiled, a gap between two of her top front teeth.
Eric used the mention of parties to question Sylvar again.
"You're not concerned about joining our party?" he asked him point-blank.
"It's fine either way," he said, a sly smile on his elven face.
Was he bluffing to keep us from knowing whether he was an ex-PC or not?
"Monde comes too," the gnomish warrior said in her high-pitched voice. "Monde know how to take care of herself, and she wants to go home."
"You live in High Keep?" I asked.
"No, silly elf-ears. Monde no live here."
"We should get going," Eric said. "There's no telling if that group will come back or not."
"They might have gone to get reinforcements," Bernard said, backing him up.
Typical good old boys club.
"Can we stay one more day?" I asked. "We need to heal and rest. That was a big battle."
Eric took a deep breath.
"Okay, but can we not get crazy drunk again? You weren't at your best today."
I pursed my lips and bit my tongue, but he couldn't escape my angry glare.
"We'll have a few drinks," Bernard said to defuse the tension.
"Monde love drinks."
"I'm walking around to think," Eric said.
Fine. Be that way.
"Good. We'll catch up with you later," I said as he walked away.
After so much craziness in the game, we could afford to take a break for one more day. I put my arm around Sylvar's and said, "Lead the way, kind sir."
We walked into town and headed for The Cowardly Sword.
"Sylvar," the patrons all called out in unison as he entered.
The morning turned to afternoon in a flash as we laughed, ate, drank, and told stories real and imagined. Eric never came back, but I didn't care at that point.
▧▨▧▧▨▧▧▨▨▧▨▧▨▧▧▨▧▧▨▨▧▨
Bernard had left an hour or so earlier, but I was having too much fun.
"Another round?" Sylvar asked.
I loved his sexy elf smile.
"Yeah," I said. "That would be wonderful."
"I don't understand why Drex is in such a hurry."
"Right? Me either."
I accepted the wooden glass of wine he handed me.
The bitter liquid went down fast, adding to my buzz.
"You're the best," I said, putting a hand on Sylvar's arm.
"Better than that Drex guy?"
I smiled.
"An elven lady never tells her secret thoughts."
"Be careful, Kali. I don't trust Sylvar."
Not now, Charlotte. I'm having fun.
"But, Kali, I'm worried about you."
You sound like Eric. Leave me be, okay?
Charlotte stopped talking in my mind as Sylvar continued staring into my eyes.
"You've got the most interesting familiar I've ever seen in the realms. She's so unique."
"Where's Drex?" I asked to change the subject.
The inside of the tavern spun as I looked around and saw only strangers.
"We're better off without him. He doesn't like to party or have any fun."
"Maybe," I said. "We should go find him."
"I know exactly where to look," Sylvar said. "Let me show you."
He smiled, mesmerizing me with his clear, blue eyes.
"That's a good idea. I'm glad I thought of it."
After another fit of giggles, I scooted my chair back and stood.
The room spun even more. Are there two Sylvar's now?
"Kali, I told you not to drink so much."
"Enough," I snapped, forgetting to keep it a thought.
Sylvar glanced at me but said nothing.
He gets me, I thought. Us wizards have a bond.
"Not all wizards are the same, Kali."
I sighed then smiled at Sylvar.
"You ready to go?"
He waved his hands.
"Lead the way, m'lady."
I walked out of The Cowardly Sword. The cool evening air felt better than the stuffy tavern.
"Right this way," Sylvar said.
Where's he going?
"I don't trust him, Kali."
Not now, Charlotte.
Sylvar took my hand and led me out of town.
Are we going the right way? Is he taking me somewhere else?
"We're having a good time, aren't we?" he asked.
"You taking me somewhere special?" I asked.
"I'm taking you somewhere special."
After a few more steps, I heard Eric's voice behind us.
"Your treehouse is the other way, buddy."
Sylvar and I turned. He smiled, not skipping a beat.
"You're right," he said. "I've had too much wine this evening, and I've lost my bearing."
I giggled, almost falling over.
Eric rushed over and put his arm around me.
"My hero," I said.
"Come on, let's go. We need to get her in bed," Eric said.
"You're telling me," Sylvar said with a gleam in his eyes.
"Excuse me?" Eric asked him.
"He's kidding," I said. "Right Sylvar?"
Eric and I turned to look at the ranger.
"Yes, yes, I'm only kidding."
"I'm tired," I said. "We should go. And Monde too."
"To my tree house," Sylvar said. "As your burly friend so bluntly put it."
I giggled again, unable to control myself.
We made it back to his home with no incidents.
Safe in the tree, I fell asleep. My dreams haunted me.
()xxxx[:::: Chapter 29 ::::>
There’s No Place Like Gnome
ERIC
Our growing group of five reached high Keep three days later. We saw no signs of the PC party who had attacked us or any others either.
During the trip, we racked up two-thousand three-hundred and fifty experience points each with random encounters.
I'd read the manual from Gord the master rogue on the journey, reaching level five and choosing Bounty Hunter as my specialization.
Bernard and I rode in front with Sylvar and Sarah behi
nd. Monde brought up our rear, talking to herself as she had done for most of the journey. No one in our party had gone OOC the entire trip.
I still didn't trust Sylvar, but his ranger skills had come in handy on more than one occasion. After I'd agreed to let him join the party, however, he refused. Was he a computer-controlled NPC?
"That's a beautiful castle," Sarah said as we got closer to the main gates.
"It's technically a keep," Bernard said. "I know what you mean, though."
"Hopefully we'll be able to get our original formula Gnome Oil, stay the night, and continue on."
"The lava golem is nearby too," Sylvar said. "Your map fascinates me."
I twisted around and glared at Sarah again for having let him see the map Sam the cartographer had made for us. Sylvar knew where to get everything for making Dawn Acid.
She ignored me, chatting with Sylvar in elvish.
Does she know she's driving me crazy?
"I concentrated on the road ahead."
"Do you have any contacts here, Benji?" I asked, hoping he didn't go OOC in front of the others.
"No, but I know the Gnomish General Achbark is in charge."
"Achbark," Monde called out from the rear. "Achbark."
"Should we split the party in two before we ask to see him?" I asked in a quieter voice.
"Probably," Bernard said.
"Achbark," Monde yelled again.
She repeated it all the way to the gates of the keep.
Two gnomes dressed in full plate mail stood next to the entrance.
"We're here to see General Achbark," I said.
"Yeah? Who are you?" the gnome on the left said.
"Drex. Maybe you've heard of me? I killed Snargao the Impatient."
"That was you?" he asked.
I nodded with a grin.
"We've heard tales, but why are you here? Are goblins on the move?"
"No," Sarah said. "We're here on a quest to destroy the Cursed Pendant of Visions."
The gnome soldier stared at Sarah a moment then turned back.
"Open the gate," he called out.
I heard a loud click before the gate slid into the stone walls, giving us passage.
"They'll see to your horses inside," the soldier said.
"Let's go," I said, spurring my horse forward.
The others followed me inside the gate. Even Castle Casteel couldn't compare with the quality of construction by the master masons who build High Keep.