by M. Coulray
I took a deep breath and placed my hands on Tole’s shoulders, then tried to calmly assess the situation. Much of the arrow’s length remained outside her, so her frontal scales, softer as they were, had done some work in slowing the projectile. However, the bubbling blood she was spitting up told me her lung was damaged. Something tickled the back of my mind, and then I remembered.
“Votess. You said at the wise ones that I saved you from having to regrow a limb. Can Tole heal from this?”
“Yes. But anything left in the wound will cyst and infect, and she will need treatment later.”
The lizard folk healed fast, and this was survivable. I made a decision. “Sorry, Tole. I’ll make this quick.” I grabbed the shaft of the arrow with both hands and then carefully pulled it steadily back. I felt every inch of it tearing its way out of Tole, and my heart broke for her pain, but she bore it stoically. When the arrow finally pulled free, I saw it had wicked barbs that were designed to make extraction difficult.
The moment the arrow was out, Tole tried to rise, but I put my hand on her shoulder. It was a testament to her trust in me that she remained low, because I couldn’t have stopped her by force. “Don’t. They can see us, and they shot you once already.”
“Wise words, Scaleless. You should become a guard, like me.” Tole spat blood and coughed. Was it my imagination, or did she sound better already?
From over the wall, a deep male voice called out in challenge. “Come on out, you assholes! We’ll fuck you up!” I glanced at the ten or so lizard folk that crouched on the palisade walkway and realized the stranger had spoken in human language.
“They speak the Scaleless tongue,” said Votess. “Can you translate?”
I nodded. “They are asking us to come out and fight. I think they are… something like me.”
Votess nodded. “From the other world, then. So they are here to attack us? Why?”
Shame filled me, and I didn’t respond immediately. “They will treat this like a game. To them you are nothing but monsters. You’re here to become rust on their blades and training for their skills.”
“You mean we are,” said Tole, and the other lizard folk nodded. Votess stared at me, and I realized what they were saying. I was one of them.
“Yes. We are their targets. I don’t think they’ll attack the gate right away. In fact, I think they’ll look for another way in.”
Tole and Votess glanced at each other, then Tole spoke. “This is a warrior’s situation. Votess, I defer to you.”
“I defer to Scaleless,” said Votess.
Great. No pressure.
13
“What would you do, if you were with these invaders?”
All eyes turned to me when Tole spoke. I felt their gazes, but no hostility. Actually, I felt more like part of the team. I cursed my lack of gaming experience. All I had to rely on were my instincts and logic. Well, I also read a fair bit of fantasy novels as a kid, so maybe that could help us out.
“Okay. These people think and orient themselves in specific ways. They are going to have at least one heavy warrior type to get our attention and keep us from their weaker members. We know they have an archer. Tole, you said you saw a blue flash before one of the guards went down, right? That tells me they have some kind of magic wielder, maybe a wizard or something. They will almost certainly have someone who heals them. That one should be our main target, if possible.”
The lizard folk nodded. My words were being received and my opinions respected. It felt good, but I also wondered if what I was doing was somehow a betrayal. After all, they were players like me. The more I thought about it, the less I identified with them. These people I was huddled with had treated me well and were fully real to me. The ones who had put down Ket and her brother Lin were just murderers. After a moment, Votess touched my shoulder with her fingertip and tilted her head at me.
“Sorry. I was thinking. The heavy warrior, let’s call him the tank. The magic wielder and the archer will likely have some kind of close fighter to protect them in melee. The healer will be in the back line. I propose we—”
“I said get the hell out here, you animals!”
It was the same voice. He was insistent, and something about it bothered me. Votess came to a realization. “They are keeping our attention here. Why?” She looked at me.
There was one more role I hadn’t mentioned. “They may have a stealthy companion. I wonder if that one is scouting around while our attention is here.”
The moment I finished speaking, Votess flashed several rapid hand signals. Two of the other guards leaped down from the walkway and ran off.
“We should go looking for the rogue.” I felt an urgent need to do something, anything to help.
Votess shook her head. “No. You and I are here, and we know there is an enemy outside. Trust the guards to search the village.” She picked up her spear from where she’d laid it on the walkway. “We will fight.”
“We need information. Give me a second.” I cast Physical Barrier on Votess, dumping the max mana I could into the spell. I hoped it was enough. The guards looked at me with tilted heads, but I didn’t have time to explain. “I’ve shielded you. Pop your head up and try to take a look at what’s out there.”
She rose quickly and her head scanned side to side. An arrow flashed out of the swamp and struck her in the forehead, but my barrier and her scales protected her. The barbed head ricocheted off and she ducked down.
“There is one wearing bright metal and one with long garb. He holds something small in his hand. The one that fired the arrow, I did not see.”
I thought for a moment. “The one with the metal is the tank. If his armour isn’t enchanted, then it’s going to rust fast, but I’m betting it’s magicked up. The other one might be the healer, but I bet it’s the magic wielder. The healer wouldn’t need to be visible to do his work. I predict there will be six of them, total.” My statement was based on the maximum Aelterna party size of six individuals.
Votess popped her head up again and ducked immediately. A split second later, an actinic flash of light burned a line into my retinas. I blinked away the afterimage and looked at her. “The one with the long garment raised his hand, so I felt it prudent to lower my head.”
“Good idea.” If only I’d learned Mana Barrier instead of levelling Diplomacy! But then, I might not have made it this far. No sense worrying about the past. “My barrier doesn’t yet protect against magic. Sorry.”
Tole waved a hand towards the other side of the fence. “That magic brought down Ket easily. We must be cautious.”
“We must kill that one first.” Votess sounded sure of herself. I was reminded that while the others were guards and had earned their names there, it was Votess who was a warrior. “There are eight of us. We all rise as one and throw. The magic wielder and the archer will shoot at two of us. Six of us will get a clear throw.” Votess indicated the relative position of the magic wielder with hand gestures and the other seven lizard folk nodded.
“What about me?” I didn’t have anything to throw, and no way of attacking at range.
“You will stay low. You are the most knowledgable about these Scaleless. If we all die, then you must tell the others what you know. Also, if I fall, shield another.”
It made sense, in a brutal and pragmatic way. I nodded my agreement and withheld my objections.
Votess nodded out a count, and as one, the eight lizard folk rose with their spear arms cocked back. As they threw, that same bright light flashed again, striking one of the guards closest to me. However, it didn’t stop there. The lightning jumped from that guard to the one beside him, and then hit me.
Every muscle in my body spasmed at once. I bit my tongue trying to scream in agony and fell on my back. The logs of the palisade walkway smashed into the back of my head. My vision went white with pain and then I faded out.
When I came to, Votess was dribbling a thick liquid into my mouth. It tasted of mud and grass and something else,
something sharp and almost metallic. The guard who had taken the initial blast of chain lightning was down, and the one who had been beside me was burned but still up. I checked my status.
[Vitality: 103/140]
That one spell had kicked the shit out of me. I shuddered at how hard it must have hit the first guard. I hoped he was alive.
“You live. Good.” There was actual happiness in Votess’ voice.
“Hurts. What the hell was that you fed me?”
“It will heal you. I hope.”
I hoped so too. Sure enough, my Vitality had increased by three points to 107. It wasn’t great, but it was at least heading in the right direction. I gestured to the downed guard.
“Dead. His name was Golin. He was unlucky, not unskilled. The Scaleless with the garment threw the magic. Four spears went through him. If he lives—”
I pushed her away. “Get another spear! Quick!” Votess still had my barrier spell on her. “The healer might come out and try to heal him!”
A spear was pressed into Votess’ hand. She rose quickly and ducked again, an arrow flying over her head. “There is another wearing a long garment kneeling beside the magic wielder. The healer?”
I nodded. “You still have my shield on you.”
I didn’t need to say any more. She rose and a second arrow hit her full on in the chest, but again it failed to penetrate. Between her scales and my barrier, she was tough. She narrowed her eyes and then threw. The solid thunk of a weapon hitting flesh came to my ears.
An angry shout rolled over the palisade. “You fuckers! You think you’re smart? Fuck you!” It was the same person that had challenged the village earlier. I assumed it was the tank.
Votess knelt down and bared her teeth. “My spear went through his throat. The other one is dead, I believe.”
That left us the tank, the archer, and the possible rogue and melee fighter. I liked our odds a lot more now, but the incomplete information we had still made me nervous. Then I heard a shout from the inner village.
“They found one inside our walls,” said Tole.
“Bring it here,” said Votess. The three of us descended the wall. I sat down and let the mixture that Votess had fed me do its work. When it was finished, I was back up to almost full Vitality, but it left me feeling slightly nauseous and a little dopey, like the aftereffect of opiate painkiller, which was something I was very familiar with. I’d have to see what I could do to refine that into something a little more pleasant to use.
The two guards that had dashed off earlier returned, dragging a small, female form between them. Both of her legs were obviously broken and blood dripped from a wound on her head. When they yanked her hair back, I saw the pointed ears of an elf.
“She carried these,” said one of the guards, throwing two daggers on the ground. I pulled them both from their sheaths and whistled.
[Steel Dagger, “Excruciator”]
ATK: 5 (base 2, +2 from enchantment, +1 from skill Knife Fighting)
DEF: 0 (base 0)
Durability: 50/50
Quality: Normal Enchanted
Special: Targets with full Vitality receive double damage from this weapon.
[Darksteel Dagger]
ATK: 4 (base 3, +1 from skill Knife Fighting)
DEF: 0 (base 0)
Durability: 20/35
Quality: Normal
The darksteel weapon was already showing signs of decay from the swamp, but not much. If I was right, they had been here only for a few hours. That told me they had appeared here, much like I had. The other dagger was more interesting to me. Hitting an uninjured target for double damage was a hell of a good deal, and it seemed immune to the swamp’s decaying mists.
“Can I keep this one?” I held up the enchanted dagger. Votess nodded and I tucked it into my belt. Then I turned my attention to the elven rogue, using Assess Target.
[Keltie]
Race: Elf (Player)
Level: 13
Vitality: 34/243
Mana: 230/230
“What are you doing here, Keltie?”
“What are you doing here? You’re human and they’re acting like you’re one of them.”
“I’m here on a quest,” I said.
The other player shook her head. “Yeah, but you’re an NPC.”
That threw me for a loop. I wasn’t an NPC, but I also wasn’t a regular player. I filed it away for later. “How did you get here? You’ve only been in the swamp for what, four hours? How many of you are here?”
“I’m done talking to you. Just kill me and send me back to my homepoint.” She spat out a mouthful of blood. “This barely even hurts. I’m not a full immersion player, so you can torture me all you want.”
I had a different idea.
Two minutes later, I had gagged the elf with a strip of her own clothing. Tole fetched the hide of something like a crocodile. I draped it over the elf’s head, then looked in her eyes. “You’re going back to spawn, all right, but not at our hands.”
Something about the group outside had me a little nervous. We’d seen the tank and the healer and the mage, and we knew about the archer and this elf rogue, but that left a single spot open. It was possible they were a party of five, but unlikely. No group would intentionally cripple themselves. Something was off, and there was a chance I could figure out what it was right now.
At my signal, Tole hoisted the struggling elf over the line of the parapet, just enough that her head would be visible to our enemies. An arrow immediately shot right through the hide covering her face and sprouted from the back of her head. Her body went limp in Tole’s hands.
The moment she died, I heard an angry shout from outside the wall. My plan had worked. The archer had killed a player without announcing a duel, which tagged them as a player killer, or PKer. Player killing wasn’t against the rules, per se, but there were consequences, and one of them was the instant dismissal of any beneficial buffs or skill effects, retroactive to the attack if applicable. In their case, it would affect the entire party.
I directed Tole to throw the body over the palisade, and once again I heard yelling from at least two voices.
“There’s almost certainly one more of them somewhere. Votess, can you look over the wall and see if anyone new appeared?”
She did as I asked. No arrow attacked her. “There is the armoured one, and one carrying a bent spear that stands beside.”
The “bent spear” was probably a bow, so that would be the archer. “There’s got to be one more. If there wasn’t, they would have fled.”
Votess looked up again. Once again there was no incoming fire. “Why do they not attack me?” asked Votess.
The realization hit me immediately. “Because there’s another one of them in our walls and they’re wary of shooting him too! We’ve got to find him!”
Immediately, Tole and two other guards dashed off. Votess hissed. “We found the one and thought the job finished. I am a fool!”
“No, this is new to you. Next time you’ll know.”
The ghost lights flared again, and that droning hum started up, at a higher frequency this time. Votess turned her head to face towards the far side of the village. “They are at the temple!”
14
I hadn’t heard much about this temple, but the village was called Goddess Watch. I jumped down and followed Votess as she ran through the village. I couldn’t keep up and soon she was out of sight in the branching paths of the walkways.
Tole and the other two guards found me wandering less than a minute later. I asked them where the temple was, and Tole looked troubled.
“I cannot take you there, Scaleless. It is the a sacred place, and only Named may enter.”
“I’m supposed to be staying beside Votess, and she was too fast for me,” I said.
Tole looked at the other two guards, who nodded. “I will take you there, but only because you are without escort in Goddess Watch. If you try to enter the temple without permission, the temple guards
will kill you. Please do not attempt it.”
I followed Tole through the village. The farther in we went, the less water appeared, until we were finally walking over solid ground. I took note of some plants that my AR HUD flagged as being of interest and made a mental note to ask Votess about harvesting them for alchemy.
There was no question of when Tole and I had arrived. The temple was in fact a ruined stone building, tilted at an angle that suggested it had sunk into the ground at some point. Actually, the more I looked at it, the more it looked like it had been dumped on its side. No entrance was visible from this angle. In front of the building stood Votess and two other lizard folk that I didn’t recognize. Between them lay the corpse of a small humanoid, either a gnome or a halfling. It had been run through with one of the spears that the lizard folk favoured.
As Tole and I approached, the two unknown lizard folk rose and pointed their weapons at me. They began to advance, but Votess stopped them. “He is the Scaleless, and he is mine.”
“He is transgressing. He must die.”
Tole spoke up. “Until he enters the temple unbidden, he is not transgressing.’
Votess looked relieved. Apparently Tole, as a guard, knew the letter of the law regarding trespassing, and I was glad she did. Those boneforged spears looked sharp. One glance at the dead humanoid told me they were effective.
“I don’t intend to enter anything.” I couldn’t even see an entrance from where I was standing. “Can you tell me what happened?”
The guard who had threatened me spoke. “We guard the temple entrance. This,” he said, kicking the dead humanoid, “appeared before me, and I immediately killed it.”
“It was a Scaleless, so there was no problem,” added the other guard.
“But the wise ones granted this Scaleless permission to live in Goddess Watch,” said Votess with an undercurrent of anger. “What if you had killed him?”