Compared to Jahannan, the water of the Targanic was like a warm bath. I wasn’t panicked as I swam to shore, and was greeted by a soft bank of red-brown sand. Two green geckos flicked their tails and scurried out of the way as I fell forward onto my hands and knees and pulled myself to solid ground.
I fell on my back and stared up at the sky. The Dark World’s clouds were still there, but now, tiny shafts of golden sunlight slashed through the storm like tiny spotlights illuminating the jungle forest that surrounded me.
We’d landed in a lagoon, tightly carved from the rock of the stone cliffs that led back up to the swamps of the Stilt Hamlet. The waterfalls we’d ridden down looked to be hundreds of feet tall. The fall had seemed incredibly short for such a distance. The trees were lush and green with flecks of yellow, with spatterings of blue and purple ivy and moss. Vines hung like fallen rope from branch to branch and the leaves of the trees were the size of a person. It was like we’d fallen into Pandora or a fantastical version of the Amazon.
“Jane!” I heard Baltos’ voice ring out and propped myself up on my elbows and looked out across the lagoon. He was standing on the other side waving excitedly. I smiled and waved back as I got to my feet. “We made it!”
“We sure did,” I laughed, motioning to him with a hand. “Come over here!”
“Uh, I think you should come over here,” he replied, a knowing smile on his face.
“Why?”
“Just come over,” he repeated. “You’ll see.”
“Okay, Mr. Glorious,” I joked. The lagoon flowed into a small stream that led into the trees. I found a thing point and quickly crossed over to Baltos’ side where he was waiting. He was practically jumping out of his pants with excitement.
“This way, this way!” he said as he jogged into the woods.
“What is it, Baltos?” I said, following closely behind. But he didn’t even have to say anything. I understood immediately. The trees opened up in front of us and I found myself staring at what must have been the most incredible view in all of Carrethen.
The whole of the Targanic stretched out in front of us. Crystal clear rivers and streams cut lines across its lush green grass. Jagged floating islands hung over the landscape like pieces of the ground that had been torn from the earth and suspended on invisible wires. More waterfalls crashed down from their edges, forming lakes and ponds in the basins below.
In the sky, groups of dragon-like birds swooped and dived. Near us, a large one with flecks of orange on its monstrous wings streaked into a pond and emerged with a fish thrashing in its beak.
“Quite a view, huh?” Baltos asked.
“Yes,” I replied, wishing Jack was there to share it with me. “Quite a view.”
61
Progress
After standing and gawking for a while, Baltos and I pressed forward into the Targanic, leaving the thick trees of the lagoon behind us and entering the broad planes. It was the most open area I’d seen in all of Carrethen, with only a few small trees here and there that were more low and horizontal than anything I’d seen before. They were a deep chestnut red with thick curtains of ivy creeping up their trunks to the thick circular clusters of leaves at their tops. We came down a small hill, following the stream that flowed from the lagoon, when I spied a group of Horngrin clustered around a small pond.
Horngrin Savage—Level 115.
“Look at that,” I said with a chuckle. I turned to Baltos and flashed him a smile. “You know, I’ve been 127 for a long time. Want to do some leveling, big guy?”
Throwing a few practice punches in the air, Baltos replied, “Hell yes.”
“Say, what was that huge ground slam thing you did back there?”
“Oh, yeah! One of my new skills, Ground Pound, it’s this AoE and stun attack. Plus, it looks super cool.”
“All right. I’ll Scatter Shot these idiots and start bringing down the first one to aggro,” I told him. “Let’s focus them down one at a time and use AoE whenever they’re off cooldown. Sound like a plan?”
“Sounds like a plan, Stan.” He grinned. I shook my head and nocked an arrow and took aim. My Scatter Shot went off at the feet of the group of three Horngrin, slashing away at all of their health. Compared to the damage the ability had done to the lower level monsters in Jahannan, it wasn’t much, but together, we’d definitely be able to handle them.
The one closest to us cried out and raced forward, a spiked club in its hand. I took aim and fired, striking him three times and getting him down to half health before he got within melee range. Swapping to my daggers, Baltos leapt into action.
He opened with a stun punch then followed up with an uppercut that sent the Horngrin flying into the air. He drove his fist into a second attacker as it leapt at him, then used Ground Pound as the one in the air came tumbling back down.
I leapt in, activating Rush and sliding behind one to use Ambush and cleave off a huge chunk of its HP. I stabbed out at the weakest one, scoring a critical hit and finishing him off. I used Blade Flurry to deal some nice AoE damage, and stepped through the Savage’s death cloud to Mutilate the next weakest one.
Baltos and I handled them with ease, working together like lifelong partners, and finished them off within seconds. When the fight was over, we were both around 75% health.
“Well, that was easy,” Baltos quipped, flashing me a grin. “Any good loot?”
“Some Pareals,” I said, sifting through the drops. “This spiked mace that sucks and neither of us can use, and some cloth clothing scraps. So, nope!”
“Well, the experience was good, are you almost 128?” he asked.
“I am,” I said with excitement.
“Then let’s keep going.”
“Let’s.”
And we did. Baltos and I worked our way from camp to camp, bringing down packs of Horngrin like it was our job description. After the fifth camp I heard the satisfying ding as I leveled up for only the second time since arriving in the Dark World, and did a little victory spin as the game’s rush of rainbow sprites swept over my body.
“Wow, you really are a girl,” Baltos joked.
“Shut up,” I laughed as I checked my character sheet. I had a decent amount of unassigned experience, and at a lower level it would have meant a massive upgrade to my attributes and skills, but I really only had enough to raise my Coordination another three points, bringing it to 318 and my Bow to 416.
“How close are you to 126?” I asked.
“Still more than half way to go,” he replied. “But this is fun. Wanna keep going?”
“We shouldn’t waste too much time, I told him. “But we do need some levels. How about we both get one more and then we keep moving?”
“Works for me.”
So we kept going, circling around the plateau of the Targanic, for once enjoying the view, cutting down Horngrin with ease. Baltos was closing in on 126 and I was making good progress through 128, but just as I took aim and fired a Scatter Shot into the next group, something pierced my back and froze me in place.
“Gah! Baltos!” I cried out, but it was too late—he was already leaping into action as the group raced towards us.
More slashes cut deep into my back as I stood there, locked in place by whatever had ambushed me. All I could do was watch as my health dropped, rapidly approaching the halfway point. Finally, the stun wore off and I spun around, daggers at the ready, and found myself facing a Horngrin wrapped in dark red cloth with a cowl covering its face, everything but the eyes. It swung out and I dodged back and inspected it.
Horngrin Assassin—Level 120.
“Baltos!” I cried out, dodging a quick attack from the Assassin’s double axes. I rolled and leapt forward, putting some distance between us, and used my Health Kit to get my HP back up. Baltos was having his own problems, as without my help, the pack of Horngrin weren’t easy for him to handle.
Ignoring the Assassin for a moment, I swapped to my bow and fired another Scatter Shot into the group, follow
ing up with a shot to the lowest one before I had to leap out of the way and dodge another of the Assassin’s attacks.
I swapped to my blades but one of his axes found its mark and struck me in the arm. Some kind of bleeding damage debuff was applied and my health began to drop slowly. I quickly activated Rush and attacked, but the Assassin was fast and dodged my attacks with incredible ease.
I slid forward and activated Mutilate, spinning and driving both of my daggers into the Horngrin. The damage was good and he cried out, leapt back and threw one of the axes at me. The blunt end hit me in the neck, staggering me back. I stumbled but managed to maintain my footing. I reached out for his axe, but he jumped on my arm and elbowed me in the jaw, knocking me away from his weapon.
I had a moment to use my Health Kit as he grabbed his fallen blade, then rolled out of the way to avoid a leaping downward attack. Baltos was struggling behind me, and if we were going to have any hope of finishing off the Assassin, I had to help him.
I kicked out at my Horngrin attacker, striking him in the chest and driving him back, then raced towards Baltos, who was busy with two of them. I used Blade Flurry and followed up with an Eye Gouge as one of the Horngrin swung out with his mace towards Baltos.
The stun went off and I unloaded on him, carving off the rest of his health. I stepped quickly through his death flames and Baltos and I teamed up on the remaining Horngrin Savage. We were just about to finish it off when the Assassin attacked.
His blades slashed into Baltos, who cried out and dodged away. I activate Eviscerate and took out the Savage, then turned to the Assassin who had his back to me. He brought both axes down on Baltos as I used Ambush, dealing enormous damage. He was approaching half, but so was Baltos.
“Use your stun!” I cried out as the Assassin attacked. Baltos lurched forward with his ability and drove his fist into the Horngrin’s gut. The damage was good, but the stun didn’t go off. I slashed away at the creature’s back, chipping away more of its health, when it spun around and brought its axe down against my arm.
Pain flared and the blow scored a critical hit, dropping me down past 75%. The Horngrin’s axes flashed with some kind of power up. He swung out at Baltos, and I quickly used Disarm, thrusting forward with my daggers. The sound of metal on metal rang out as the Assassin’s weapons were torn from his grip and up into the air.
He spun around to me in a rage and cried out, but I was ready for him. I drove my blades into his chest, activated Rush again and tore him apart. Baltos pummeled him from behind and a second later, he screamed in rage as we finished him off.
“Got ‘em!” Baltos cried out, throwing a fist into the air to celebrate our victory. “He drop anything good?”
“Got his axes.” I shrugged, looting them from the ground, along with a small stack of Pareals. “Might sell for a bit. That’s about it.”
“Ah, well. Good experience.”
“Yup,” I agreed. “If we stuck around here a little while longer, I could reach 129…”
My voice trailed off as I spotted someone moving in the distance. It was a player, wearing a snow-white robe and a purple plate helm. In his hands, he was clutching a longbow. But the way he was moving was all wrong. He was meandering about with his head down, swaying with each step. He was Sunken, but I recognized him instantly.
Chaucey.
62
Jack’s Decision
“What is it?” Baltos asked from beside me. He followed my gaze across the plain where Chaucey was pacing slowly at the edge of a small pond. My stomach turned as countless memories of Carrethen came flooding back to me. “Who—who is that?”
He’d asked the question, but he knew the answer. I glanced over at him before starting off in Chaucey’s direction.
He looked exactly as I remembered him. It was only his behavior that had changed. Like Gehman back in Stoneburg, Chaucey’s humanity seemed to have been drained completely. There was no telling how far gone he was, but he was definitely no longer in full control of himself.
Baltos was clearly uncomfortable and whispered to me as we approached. “Is he—”
“Sunken?” I asked, finishing his sentence. “Yes, he is.”
I inspected him.
Chaucey—Level 50.
Not only was Chaucey Sunken, he was also low level, especially here in the Dark World. There was a camp of Horngrin nearby, but Chaucey wasn’t far enough to draw aggro. There was no telling how he’d managed to reach the Targanic, but clearly this part of the world had not been kind to him. There was no telling how many times he’d died here. More than likely he was bound somewhere close by and just kept wandering back to his corpse, just to be killed again by a Horngrin three times his level.
Despite everything he’d done, despite how angry I’d been at Jack for not killing him when he had the chance, I couldn’t help but feel bad for him as I watched him staggering around like a zombie. Being Sunken seemed to me like a worse fate than death.
“Ch-Chaucey,” I said quietly as we got close to him. He didn’t hear me the first time, so I raised my voice. “Chaucey!”
That got his attention. He tried turning to me, but his head lolled to the side like a newborn baby. Once he finally managed to look at me, and I was able to see his eyes through the slit in his helm, I shuddered.
Their vacancy terrified me. It was like staring at the hollowed out shell of Chaucey. His bow had once rained down terror throughout all of Carrethen, but now it hung limp at his side, its tip dragging through the dirt. I felt like I was staring at the crumbling statue of an ancient hero—or villain.
“He—Hel…” His voice was filled with distortion, like the game engine was malfunctioning.
“What’s he saying?” Baltos asked. “Help?”
“Hello maybe,” I shrugged. “Or Hell?”
Baltos looked at me uncomfortably. I shared his sentiment completely. Back in Carrethen I’d despised Chaucey and when Jack hadn’t killed him when he had the chance, it had almost destroyed our friendship. But now, I actually felt bad for him. He was essentially in Purgatory, out of control of his own body, his own thoughts and memories.
“I—I can’t believe it,” Baltos said as we stared at the husk of one of the most feared PKs in all of Carrethen. “It’s kind of sad.”
“Yeah,” I muttered as Chaucey’s foot caught a small divot in the ground, almost causing him to fall over. “I hate to say it, but you’re right.”
“What should we do?” he asked.
I couldn’t help but feel as though I’d been suddenly transported back in time to Carrethen when Jack was standing over Chaucey, trying to decide whether or not to kill him. I’d been urging him to end him, and if this was Carrethen I would have felt the same. But we weren’t in Carrethen anymore, we were in the Dark World, and things had changed.
Killing Chaucey would change nothing. He’d just continue wandering the world as one of the Sunken, trapped in his own body while his mind continued to decay. Did anyone really deserve that kind of punishment? But if I restored him, who was to say he wouldn’t just immediately go back to his old ways and start killing people again? Sure, the consequences weren’t as bad as before, but we didn’t need any more Sunken on our hands.
The old D would have simply walked away and left him, but now as Jane, I was questioning myself.
“I don’t know, Baltos,” I admitted as Chaucey’s dead eyes stared at me. He drew an arrow and fumbled around with it, trying to nock it in his bowstring but failing over and over. Like Gehman, his combat instincts were still there, but little else. There was no way he’d recognize me as Jane, but did he recognize Baltos? From the way he was acting it didn’t seem so.
“We should just leave him,” Baltos hissed. “How many people did he kill back in Carrethen? How many times did we have to fight him and Bonecrusher? He deserves this!”
“Does he?” I asked. Hearing Baltos’ vitriol had begun to solidify my opinion. Chaucey managed to get his arrow nocked and tried to raise it for a
shot, but he lost control as he raised his bow and the arrow embedded itself the ground by my feet. The Great Chaucey, once the great PK whose fire arrows struck terror into the hearts of all the players around him, now could barely raise his bow to shoot.
“Of course he does!” Baltos cried out. “R—right?”
“Gahhh…” Chaucey groaned. “Hh—helllllpppp….”
“I can’t take it anymore,” I said, finding the restore button in my character sheet and selecting it. My hand began to glow.
“What are you doing?” Baltos asked.
“Nobody deserves this, Baltos,” I told him, as I stretched my hand out to the once great warrior.
The glow from my hand expanded onto Chaucey’s body. Slivers of gold began to appear beneath his skin like veins. A wind swept up around his feet and he cried out, powerful light spewing out of his mouth, and he collapsed onto the ground.
“Uh oh,” Baltos whispered.
“Relax, dude. He’s level 50. He’s not a threat.”
Chaucey lay there motionless, his bow a few feet from him. Just in case he wanted to start anything, I reached out and took it. After a second, his eyes blinked and he rolled over onto his back and looked up at us.
“What…what happened?” he asked, obviously confused. I said nothing and watched as his eyes flicked from me and then to Baltos and back again. “Who are you?”
“Oh, you don’t recognize me?” Baltos asked indignantly.
“Should I?” Chaucey asked. It wasn’t a quip, he legitimately didn’t know and was looking to us for guidance. It was beyond strange.
“Yes,” Baltos hissed. “I’m Baltos! You attacked us several times, and this is—”
“Jane,” I said quickly, interrupting him. I felt Baltos glance over at me but kept my eyes on Chaucey. “Baltos’ friend.”
Lord of the Flame: A LitRPG novel (Call of Carrethen Book 2) Page 29