“You be good now,” he says again. “We’ll have fun and play games and maybe I won’t have to kill you.”
Her wrists are freed and I realize I am holding my breath, waiting to see what happens. Erinocalypse is seated on a fallen log, ankles tied together, and leans over to grab the apples she is meant to be juggling.
Before I even realize she is doing it, Erin has swiftly cast Burning Smite, aiming better than I have ever seen her and hitting Brew squarely in the neck.
He screams in pain. “No!”
The goblin lunges at Erinocalypse with his knife held high but the injury and pain from her attack leaves him off balance. I watch helplessly from across the clearing, but the second her cool down is complete, Erin shoots another blast of Burning Smite towards me.
I lean out of the way, as far as I can go in the direction she had indicated, while still staying tied to the tree. Her blast is again well-aimed and singes the tree’s trunk. It’s not nearly enough to cut all the way through, but it weakens the wood enough for me to start working at it myself.
I hear another scream behind me and realize she has hit the goblin again. He’ll recover any second and we need to be as far away as possible when that happens.
“SirAsh3r!” Erinocalypse shouts at me. “Move!”
I lean to the side again, getting as far out of her way as I can. The second attack of Burning Smite ends it. I pull and pull just a bit more, and the trunk splits in two. My leash is tied around the top half and all my pulling means that the tree begins its slow fall toward the clearing.
Toward Erinocalypse.
“Erin!” I point up as the branches come crashing down, hoping she sees my warning in time to get out of the way.
Once the tree settles, I don’t see her, but I do see Brew crouched on the ground, recovering from his attacks. The knife lies a few feet away from him, but that doesn’t mean he’s helpless. Besides, my hands are still tied. Brew comes out of his pain distraction and sees me running toward him. He grasps for the hilt, fingers almost able to touch the dagger before I kick it away.
Not far, but just enough to buy me the time to lean down and pick it up in my still-bound hands. I square off against the goblin, who is now on his feet and attempting to circle me.
“Erin!” I call. I still haven’t seen any sign of her and hope the tree didn’t land on her.
“Think you’re so clever, do you?” Brew taunts. “But you’re still tied and you’re still here with me. I won’t make the same mistake again.”
He leers at me. I’m not sure if I should run and figure out how to untie myself later, or if I should try to find Erinocalypse. We’ve been a team. She rescued me when she didn’t have to. We need to be a team to complete this quest.
But if she’s dead I’m just wasting my time.
It occurs to me there’s a way I can check. Keeping one eye on Brew and one eye on my game message won’t be easy but it’s worth the risk.
SirAsh3r: Erinocalypse? Where are you? Did the tree hit you?
Silence.
SirAsh3r: Erin, answer me. If you’re respawning elsewhere tell me so I’m not waiting.
Silence.
Damn it. Maybe she’s stunned or unconscious—can that happen in this game? I should check the Leaderboard.
I close the text window and realize that while my attention was divided, Erinocalypse was focused. She has untied her feet and I glance at her climbing quietly over the fallen tree trunk, sneaking up behind Brew. I look away immediately. I don’t want to draw his attention to her. Whatever she has planned, I need to help keep the goblin’s attention on me.
“What if I trap you, huh?” I taunt. “What if I tie you up and make you entertain me?”
“That’d be lucky for you.” Brew laughs. “Too bad it’ll never happen.”
Behind him Erinocalypse is balanced on the fallen trunk, sword equipped in her hand. I move slightly to my right, to push Brew to move slightly closer to her. I see her body tense in that brief moment before she jumps down on top of him. She swings her sword once, almost straight down against his neck and shoulder. The bellow of pain he lets out surprises me, coming from a creature of that size.
Goblins must have their own form of magic, though, because Erinocalypse is thrown back before she can hit him again. Even when injured, Brew’s defensive magic is enough to hold her back. Not enough to attack, but she can’t land another hit.
“Just go!” I shout. “Leave him.”
She shakes her head. Stubborn.
I’m helpless, watching. My wrists are still bound and she won’t get close enough to me to untie me. I can’t equip any of my weapons and it seems like the best I can do is to run up to Brew and kick him. But if Erin can’t land a sword thrust, there’s no way I’ll be able to kick through that defense.
Brew is recovering his health from the first attack. We need to incapacitate him.
I realize I have another tool at my disposal I had forgotten about. I subtly get Erin’s attention over Brew’s head and try to mime to her that she should keep the goblin busy. She looks at me as though I am crazy. I guess that could be, because of course that is what she is doing, or could be because I’m not making any sense with my hands tied like this.
Either way, I am sure I deserve that look.
I sneak around the far perimeter of Brew’s clearing, all the way to his tiny shack. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Erin alternating between swinging her sword at Brew and attempting Burning Smite. I’m not sure if she is getting in any hits, but as long as she keeps his attention it doesn’t really matter.
I duck into the goblin’s house. It’s so small I need to stay almost bent over at the waist. The ceiling is not high enough for me to stand up straight. I don’t have to look very hard. There is only one room and there are only so many places it could be. Once I’ve grabbed what I came for, awkwardly grasping with just my fingers since my wrists are tied together, I return outside.
Chapter 35
Brew holds his defense against the blade and the magic attack. Erinocalypse is a bit worn down and I wonder if the goblin has an attack spell of his own. Quietly, I creep as close as I dare, unfurl his net made of Rope of Guarding and toss it over the creature. Immediately his magical defense is dropped and Erin lands both the sword and the spell in quick succession. In his frantic attempt to free himself, Brew becomes more entangled in the net and Erinocalypse has time to land her attacks.
Hit after hit; in only a few moments the defeated goblin collapses under the net.
“Whoa.”
“What?” she asks, as she loots the corpse.
“Nothing …I just …I don’t know why but I didn’t expect to kill him.”
“You didn’t kill it. I did.” She dares me to argue with her expression.
“Yeah. You’re right. Good job.” I walk closer. “Any good loot?”
“Maybe. A recipe for a potion and some coins. I’ll have to ask Mayor Barnaby about the recipe.”
“Can you …?” I indicate my hands helplessly.
“Oh, yeah. Sorry.” She steps over the body to me. The knot is tight but she’s able to free me without much effort. “Good thinking on the net, by the way. I was beginning to wonder how I’d get through the defenses.”
“Yeah. Thanks.” I coil up the goblin’s magical rope that had bound me and save it in my inventory. I’m sure it will come in handy sometime.
“We should go before it respawns,” Erinocalypse says.
I nod, following her across the clearing, back in the general direction of where we came from. I inspect the goblin’s knife before stowing it.
Name: Goblin Knife
Level: 15
Description: Goblin-made dagger dispensing 3.5 damage per second
Not bad. Better than the dagger I got for entering the game. I think I still prefer my bow and arrow though. Attacking from a distance gives me more time to think.
Erinocalypse pauses a few yards outside the clearing, out of sight of the
goblin in the event that he respawns quickly.
“Do you know where we’re going?” I ask.
She shakes her head and pulls out her map. I do the same and am relieved to find that Brew didn’t take us too far off our path. We’re still in the middle of the grove, just slightly farther west than we want to be.
“Weapons out,” I say. “This time I’ll watch the forest. You watch our feet.”
She nods, grinning. “Yeah, let’s not find ourselves a plaything for a little green monster again.”
Our remaining path through the trees is mostly uneventful. Erinocalypse steers us clear of one potential trap, and I successfully defend us from a small wolf that tries to stalk us.
The XP from the kill trickles in and I can’t help but check the standings.
Erinocalypse is still on my heels, but what I notice most is that RShackleford has dropped to the bottom. He must have been killed and respawned. I feel mostly sympathetic for him. But not completely, because now I am one slot closer to overtaking Jargonaut in this challenge. I keep this information to myself. I don’t know how often Erin is checking or if she’s adjusting her strategy accordingly.
But the time we reach the edge of Bedivere Forest, the sun is almost completely overhead. We’ve spent the whole morning getting here. I worry we missed our chance to protect Helena from Lord Crimson.
Erinocalypse pauses at the edge of the trees. “Seems quiet.”
I wait too, and listen. A low cottage sits between us and low green rolling hills. Black and white sheep in equal number are scattered across the pasture, dozing in the sun or nibbling on the grass. Three sheep have even ventured as far as the cottage’s front yard. There’s no smoke coming out of the chimney and no real indication anyone is home.
I hope I’m wrong.
“Wait here a minute.” I activate Stealth and creep up to the wall of the building, peeking around the edge, hoping I can remain unseen. I pause at the corner of the building and peek around to the front door. A sheep stands, munching a daffodil, not far from where I am. I briefly wonder how much XP I could get for killing sheep but put it out of my mind. I’m beyond grinding low-level creatures to level up.
My Stealth ends and as I appear back into view, I wave Erinocalypse up to join me with weapons ready. It’s still possible Helena is here, hiding, or that she has left some kind of trap for would-be attackers. That’s probably the best case scenario right now. I hate to think of the alternative.
“I think the front door is open,” I whisper to Erin. “We’ve got to get inside.”
She nods.
As much as I wish I was working on this quest alone, I have to admit the mayor was probably right. Even assuming I could have figured out how to free myself from the goblin without her, the thought of entering that door without Erinocalypse watching my back gives me pause. With as much is at stake if I were to die in the game, I can cooperate with my competition in order to give myself a better chance.
I pause on the threshold, but there is utter silence within. I slowly push the door further open and the creak of the hinges startles me. Waiting a moment in case the sound disturbs someone inside, I slowly, carefully enter the cottage.
It is clear immediately that we are too late.
This cottage is the scene of a battle, a struggle. Likely a kidnapping. Tables and chairs are overturned, dishes broken, even the large cauldron has been hoisted out of the fireplace, and rolled a few feet away, spilling a thick blue gel-like substance on the stone floor.
“We’re too late,” Erinocalypse whispers.
Quest Completed: Bodyguards I
Description: You have arrived at Helena’s cottage to find her missing.
Reward +120 XP
Quest Discovered: Bodyguards II
Description: Look for clues in Helena’s cottage for who took her and where she might be
Reward +140 XP
I accept the quest and then ask Erinocalypse, “Do you see any clues?”
Erinocalypse looks around, but stays in place. “Could be anywhere. We can probably assume it was Lord Crimson or his guys, but we’ll have to figure out where they took her.”
I think usually with quests like this in other RPGs, if you just wander around enough in the designated area, the game will give you credit for ‘finding’ the clues, and then just tell you where to go next.
Somehow, I doubt Camlan will be so generous.
Nevertheless, we begin our careful search of the cottage. There’s one great room downstairs and a set of steps leading to a second floor. I volunteer to look around up there; if any enemies are lurking, I want the XP for killing them.
My search proves fruitless. The two small bedrooms upstairs look virtually untouched. Whatever battle Helena waged here, it was all downstairs.
When I return, Erinocalypse stands in the far corner of the room, near the front door, squatting down looking at something on the floor. It’s difficult to tell what stood in that corner before it was all tossed around, but as I get closer I notice a small selection of books and scrolls scattered.
“What did you find?”
She points. A bottle of red ink has been broken, and someone had used what was probably their finger to point a large crimson F on the stone floor.
Chapter 36
“Were any other bottles of ink broken? It’s possible she just used red because it was available.”
Erin nods. “Yeah, I found both blue and black in small puddles in this corner. It must have been her library or study. Lots of ripped paper, ink, books.” She gestures to the mess around her feet as she stands. “But the red ‘F’ stands out.”
Quest Completed: Bodyguards II
Description: You have discovered the clue Helena left. You deduce that her disappearance has something to do with Lord Crimson and the letter F.
Reward +140 XP
Quest Discovered: Bodyguards III
Description: Figure out what the F means and go to that location to confirm Helena is there.
Reward: +150 XP
“The letter F? Any ideas?” I pull out my map of Camlan, zooming in to the area around where we are now, Allynton and Lord Crimson’s estate. “I don’t see anything nearby that starts with that letter.”
Erinocalypse shakes her head. “I’ll check other areas.”
We stand in silence for several minutes, each poring over maps, trying to identify a likely target that begins with the letter F.
“Okay. I have a couple possibilities, but none of them are nearby. Foyle Forest, Filtorm, Farraden. Maybe somewhere on the Foyle River. But a couple of those are a good, like, a five or six hour walk from here. Crimson probably has horses and can travel faster than us, but I think that’s out of his territory and might even be a higher level section of the game.”
I shake my head, frowning. Thinking. There’s got to be more to this. Either a clue we’ve not yet seen or a pun or hidden meaning of the letter F.
I pace back to the foot of the stairs and then return to the inked F in the front of the room. Movement helps me think and a couple of paces back and forth have got my brain going. Erinocalypse remains where she is, but stares out the window, lost in thought.
Attention: You have unlocked Passive Ability: Focus Level 2
Reward: +70 XP
As I make my fourth pass, glancing around the room, I realize that the details from the enter struggle seem off balance. In the other front corner of the space, opposite where Erin stands, there is a conspicuously empty space. I pick through the overturned furniture to that corner to look more carefully. The gap feels unnatural. As though something is missing. As though whichever coder was in charge of dressing this set got distracted and wandered off before he was done.
I circle the empty corner, trying to examine the two foot gap from other directions. Erinocalypse has noticed what I’m doing and comes to join me.
“That’s weird.”
“Feels like a glitch.” I can’t wrap my brain around what feels off about th
is lack of … stuff. It just seems unnatural. Off balance.
“That better not be where a clue is supposed to be.”
“Maybe the gap is the clue?” But that doesn’t feel right either.
“Could someone on the backend be messing with us?”
I consider this possibility. “Maybe. But that’s risky—to go in and alter the game when everyone is watching and when you’ve got players in full immersion for the first time. It wouldn’t be Toterra officially doing it.”
“And who would care enough to do that?”
“I have no idea.”
“Well, shit,” she says. “What do we do now?”
In any other game, if I encountered a glitch like this, I’d just turn it off and turn it back on and hope for the best. Since that’s not an option here, I’ve got to find another workaround. This game, whether designed to or not, is definitely keeping me on my toes. Every quest is a challenge and I haven’t been given much in the way of mindless grinding or messenger quests.
Camlan is making me work for it.
I pull out my map again, hoping futilely that if I just stare at it long enough the answer will come to me.
I zoom in again to Allynton and pay special attention to the land and structures around it. I’m not sure I had realized before exactly how much of this part of the game is tagged as being owned by Lord Crimson. He’s got five territories we could investigate. There’s no way we can check them all, and none of the locations’ names start with the letter F. Maybe if we could divide and conquer, or if the quest gave us a clue on the map.
If I were Lord Crimson, where would I be …? If he came to steal the Goblet of Vigor himself, he’s going to want to interrogate the potion maker himself too.
I gasp audibly.
“What?” Erinocalypse asks. “Did you find another clue?”
I ignore her. She’s the brawn, I’m the brains in this partnership. She can wait until I’m good and ready to explain it to her. I pull open my game chat box and send a private message to Balderdash13.
Quest for Camlan: A LitRPG Adventure (Camlan Realm Book 1) Page 17