Eden's Gate: The Sparrow: A LitRPG Adventure

by Edward Brody

  Adeelee smiled. “The Fellblade isn’t the only ancient weapon with that kind of power. And even if he tried, opposing factions would bind together to stop him.”

  “Are you sure of that?” I asked. “That people would come together?”

  Adeelee pursed her lips. “I’d hope so. If the orcs were to ever take over this part of Eden’s Gate, it would be a catastrophe. Let’s hope they retreat back to the Wastelands, so we don’t have to find out.”

  Adeelee and I made our way back to the road and continued towards Knuckle Bay.

  The rest of the trip, I couldn’t quit thinking about the two commanders duking it out, and the way the other soldiers stood back admiring the fight that was so far above their level. I had been used to playing games that allowed you to get powerful and do more damage, but summoning giants and manipulating earth (or Eden’s Gate’s soil rather) and nature and the sheer variety of spells was totally new for me.

  I wanted that. I wanted to be just as powerful. My flaming sword was nice, but at the end of the day it was just fire dancing around a blade. Someone at the level of the commanders could just as well put my fire out.

  I gazed up to Highcastle as we passed by. Up close, the castle looked huge sitting atop the cliff, and Adeelee explained to me that the castle and the area around the castle and the walls was ‘Central Highcastle’, reserved for the noble, rich, and powerful. There was a wide circle of large and small buildings below the cliff surrounded by a lower wall, and Adeelee explained that was generally considered ‘Outer Highcastle.’ It was still under the rule of the King and taxed—unlike the Freelands—but generally only the middle and lower classes lived there.

  Guard presence was strong around Highcastle. Knights and other men with lion’s insignia were posted around the walls and many of them rode up and down the road on horseback patrolling the area. Wagons, caravans and even people on foot seemed to be streaming in and out of the gates.

  In comparison to the tiny towns of Thorpes and Linden, Highcastle was huge. It was near the top of my list of places to visit.

  As we continued on, there was a sign on the road with a large skull and crossbones and the words “unregulated territory ahead” at the bottom, warning the wise not to continue down the path. We ignored it of course, set on our mission.

  The sun was starting to go down when Knuckle Bay came into view. For the most part, it looked much like a large, coastal fishing town with boats anchored at the port and most of the buildings plain and wooden. The scent of fishy seawater hung in the air, and between the buildings, I could see people moving about as if it were anywhere else. If I didn’t know any better, I wouldn’t think that Knuckle Bay was too much different than other cities in Eden’s Gate.

  “We should dismount,” Adeelee said as we got closer, hopping off Tsarra. She patted Tsarra on the head and released her back to the Otherworld. “Our pets will draw too much attention here.”

  I jumped off Sora and rubbed her behind the ears several times. “Thanks for everything, Sora. I’ll try not to call you back too soon. You can go now.”

  Sora purred and let out a low growl before turning around and running into the distance. As she started to leave, I could’ve sworn I heard another unintelligible whisper talking to me in the back of my head again. Jax had mentioned that he could talk to Fenris, so I was beginning to wonder if those voices were coming from Sora, given their timing.

  “Let’s find some shrouds,” Adeelee said. “You look like you’re too low level to be here, and I look like…”

  “An elven princess?” I asked.

  “Yeah…” Adeelee cleared her throat. “If we’re here too long dressed like this, people will ask questions. A shady shroud is pretty standard attire here though.”

  As we entered the city of Knuckle Bay, the dirt of the road merged into dark brown cobblestones. Despite the area being “ungoverned,” someone had done a splendid job building the town. The buildings for the most part were well-constructed, but I did notice that the grass that grew around the area was slightly overgrown, and things were a bit more unkempt in general. Buckets of old fish were sitting unattended here and there, and various barrels, crates, ropes and other items had just been placed wherever anyone felt like dropping them. But I guess that’s common for a fishing town.

  Several people stood around outside, none of them looking like they had a goal. Most of them leaned against buildings, looking extremely shady, and when we passed they’d raise their eyes to us. We got our fair share of devilish looks from people, but no one tried anything, thankfully.

  There was a building with a sign that had a needle and thread etched on it, and Adeelee pointed a finger. “Here,” she said. Outside the entrance to the tailor were two large human thugs. Both had hulking muscles and looked like wrestlers, but they had daggers draped at each side.

  Obviously, things were different in Knuckle Bay if the tailor needed security.

  When we walked up to the entrance, one of the thugs stepped in our way. “High Elf?” he asked.

  “It’s not uncommon for elves to come to Knuckle Bay,” Adeelee said.

  “Wood elves, blood elves, dark elves. Rare to see a High Elf dressed as you,” the thug countered.

  “I’m here to spend gold,” Adeelee said. “Would your boss be happy that you cost him sales?”

  The thug raised his eyelids a little and twisted his lips before stepping aside. As Adeelee and I passed the two thugs, they both looked at me as if I had committed a crime—or maybe like they wanted to commit a crime on me.

  The door to the tailor creaked loudly as Adeelee pushed it open, and when we walked inside, I was surprised to see a humanoid NPC with the features of a feline. The eyes, nose and mouth were that of a cat, and it was completely covered with short, white and orange fur. There were whiskers, and cat eyes as well, but the creature held up a palm that revealed a human-like hand with claws, and it was the same size of an average human. Half-human, half-cat maybe?

  “How can I help you?” The cat-person said cold and quickly in perfect English.

  “Do you have shrouds?” Adeelee asked.

  The cat-person rolled its eyes. “Of course I do. It’s one of my best-selling items.”

  “How much?” Adeelee asked.

  The cat-person walked from behind the counter and to the far side of the room. All through the shop clothing hung on the walls, and there were counters and shelves where various folded wares were resting neatly.

  There was a large crate in the corner where the shopkeeper pulled out two dark brown, linen shrouds. “50 gold each,” the shopkeeper said, holding them up.

  “Those shrouds are worth 5 gold at best,” Adeelee said.

  “Well then go somewhere else,” the cat-person said. “There’s lots of tailors around here.”

  Adeelee furrowed her brow. “There’s only one tailor in Knuckle Bay.”

  “Then take it or leave it,” the shopkeeper said with a devilish smile.

  You have failed to inspect your target!

  You have failed to inspect your target!

  “Stop trying to inspect me, asshole,” the cat-person snapped, turning to me. “You’re too low level for it to work anyway.”

  I jerked my head back in surprise. How the hell did she know? “Ehh… sorry.”

  Adeelee let out a loud sigh and reached into her bag. “100 gold for two, then.”

  “150,” the shopkeeper countered, now smiling widely, revealing thin, sharp cat fangs.

  “What?” Adeelee asked. “You just said 50 gold for each.”

  “And the price just went up. You better pay quick before the sale ends.”

  “Hey that’s—“

  Adeelee held up a hand, cutting me off, and the catlady turned at me with a sly smirk. Adeelee reached into her purse and pulled out the requested 150 gold.

  “There we go,” the shopkeeper said, picking the gold out of Adeelee’s hands and handing her both of the shrouds.

  Adeelee tossed one o
f the shrouds to me, and she slid the other on her head. I followed suit and put the shroud on, and we both pulled the hoods forward as far as we could, hiding most of our features.

  “Thanks,” Adeelee said and pushed open the door, waving for me to follow.

  “See you next time,” the shopkeeper yelled.

  “What the hell was that?” I barked as soon as we were outside and past the thugs.

  “What exactly?” Adeelee asked.

  “The cat person?”

  “That was a Krazir. They’re a humanoid feline race but not so common on this side of the Serpent Sea.”

  “A Krazir?”

  “Smart and agile, strong in battle, but even stronger when it comes to anything that requires wit.”

  I shook my head. “Okay, and why did you pay 150 gold for the shrouds? She was price-gouging.”

  “Knuckle Bay isn’t known for honest hosts. I’m sure you’ll see.” Her eyes lowered, and she looked at me. “Would you consider her what you call a ‘beeyach’?”

  “A major beeyach!” I replied.

  “Hmm… I’m beginning to understand.” Adeelee paused and scanned the area around us.

  Again, I noticed how normal Knuckle Bay seemed on the surface—a simple fishing town. But there was a heaviness that hung in the air. Most of the people moving about looked rough and didn’t look like local townsfolk, and every so often, you’d see a shrouded figure dip behind a building.

  “Where do we start?” I asked.

  “The same place I suppose anyone looking for information should start—the town inn.” Adeelee started marching forward, and I fell in step. We both kept our heads low as we walked between buildings, passing the occasional beggar that held their hands out for gold.

  At one point, I got the eerie sensation that someone was watching us, and when I turned around, I thought I saw a shadow jump behind a building and out of view. As we rounded a couple more buildings, I thought I saw a familiar person kneeling over a bucket of fish but oddly not making any moves.

  “Are we being followed?” I asked.

  “Probably,” Adeelee said. “There’s thieves everywhere here. If they think we’re good enough targets, they won’t hesitate to make their move.”

  We were about to exit a thin alleyway, when a door to one of the buildings flung open and heavyset man burst outside. A strong hand from inside the building grabbed onto the back of the man’s collar, pulling him back so that he couldn’t flee, then another hand lashed out, stabbing the man deep in his lower spine.

  Adeelee and I paused in our tracks.

  A tall, broad-shouldered man took a few steps out of the building, still holding the man up and spoke into his ear as blood seeped out of his mouth. “In your next life, learn to keep your lips sealed,” the man hissed.

  The heavyset man gurgled something through the blood, but a second later his eyes rolled into the back of his head, and his killer let go of his collar, allowing him to drop to the ground.

  The murderer looked towards us and smiled, still holding his bloodied dagger in his hand, completely unconcerned that we just saw him kill someone.

  “Come on,” Adeelee said. “It’s none of our business.” She grabbed the side of my shroud and we exited the alley.

  “Shit,” I cursed once we were far from the killing site.

  “The inn,” Adeelee pointed ahead, totally unperturbed by the murder. “It’s over there.”

  I took a deep breath and tried to shake what I just witnessed from my thoughts. I had been warned after all.

  The inn in front of us was only one story, but very wide, unlike the inns that I had seen in Thorpes and Linden. There was no bulletin board beside the door, and two large lamps near the entrance were shining bright, despite there being a little bit of light still left in the sky.

  Adeelee went in first, and as soon as the door opened, a pleasant, upbeat music caught my ears. Like the inns that I had been in before, there was an innkeeper immediately ahead of us behind a counter, and to the right was a large room with several tables and chairs. The atmosphere of the room didn’t match the pleasantry of the music. There were only a few tables occupied. Two men were playing a quiet card game at one, another table was rolling dice, and in the far corner, two men were drinking beer without saying a word. To the left of the innkeeper was a long hallway and several doors along the way—presumably the rooms for rent. There was no live music, but some sort of boxy musical device with a brass speaker rising out of the top.

  An inn for the brave, I guessed. I wouldn’t have wanted to sleep there.

  Adeelee sauntered up to the innkeeper.

  “What can I get you?” the innkeeper asked. His hair was cut into a bowl, and he had a thick mustache and goatee.

  “Two of your best ales,” Adeelee said, keeping her head slightly lowered.

  The innkeeper leaned his head to the side as if he were trying to get a better look inside Adeelee’s hood, but Adeelee simply lowered her chin even more. The innkeeper pulled out two glasses from under his counter and quickly filled them with beer from the tap. “10 gold,” the innkeeper said.

  Adeelee placed two 10 gold piece coins on the table and shoved them towards the innkeeper.

  The innkeeper looked at the coins and then back towards Adeelee. “I said 10 gold.”

  “A little extra for some information?” Adeelee suggested.

  The innkeeper smirked. “For 10 gold, I can tell you the best place to take a piss when you’re done.”

  “Alex...” Adeelee turned to me as if she had forgotten something, and I assumed she forgot the name of the bounty from my quest.

  “We’re looking for Alexander Campbell,” I said.

  The innkeeper smiled. “Add another 10 gold, and I’ll tell you what I know.”

  Adeelee pulled another 10 gold coin from her purse and sat it on top of the other two.

  The innkeeper lifted the coins off of the table and shoved them in his pocket. “I have no idea where he is,” he said.

  “What!?” I snapped. “You said you would tell us what you know.”

  “And I did,” the innkeeper said. “I don’t know where he is or what he’s doing.”

  I pressed my lips together and clenched my fists. I was trying to hold myself back, but I really wanted to whip my sword out at the guy.

  “Come on,” Adeelee said, her demeanor much calmer than mine. She grabbed my shroud and started to tug me away.

  “But—” the innkeeper added suddenly, causing us to stop and turn around. He tilted his head towards one of the tables in the inn. “The two fellows over there might have some answers for ya.”

  Adeelee nodded at the man, grabbed our drinks, and changed her focus to the two men that he had indicated. “Follow my lead,” Adeelee said, handing a glass of ale to me.

  The two men were sitting at a small, four-sided table with four chairs, one on each side. Both were wearing leather armor and had long hair with scattered, brown beards. A tricorne rested on the head of one of the men. In front of each man was a half-finished glass of ale, and near the center of the table was a pile of around 100 gold coins. One of the men was shaking a pair of dice in his hands.

  Adeelee rounded the table and pulled out a chair, scooting herself up without saying a word. The men eyed Adeelee, but otherwise acted as if they weren’t put off by their new guest. I followed Adeelee’s instructions and pulled out the seat on the opposite side and slid myself up to the table as well.

  “That’s 24,” the man with tricorne said as the die settled on a 3. He gave the other man a smile and started scooping the gold off the table.

  “Nice play,” the other man said in a voice that sounded like he had been smoking cigarettes for years. He tilted his head far to the side until his neck let out a loud cracking noise, and then leaned back in the chair, still staring at the man he had been gambling with, pretending that Adeelee and I weren’t even there. “So what’s a high-elf doing in Knuckle Bay?” the man asked suddenly.

&
nbsp; “How did you know?” Adeelee asked low.

  The man lifted his ale to his lips and took a big swig before snapping his lips together. He turned to Adeelee, acknowledging her for the first time. “I saw your boots peeking out of that robe of yours when you were walking this way.” The man took a deep breath through his nose. “And frankly, I can smell that elven pussy of yours all the way from here.”

  “Hey!” I shouted. I knew it was stupid to challenge the men, but I just couldn’t take the way they were talking to the princess.

  Both of the men turned to me and started laughing hysterically.

  “You can’t just—” I started again.

  “We just thought we’d join you in this game of yours,” Adeelee interrupted me. She looked at me dead in the eyes with an incredibly serious expression. I knew she wanted me to shut up.

  The laughing died down, and the man without the tricorn said, “Play a game of Pig with us, eh? Two hundred for one round, then.”

  “Two hundred gold for one round?” I asked. “Looks like you were playing for 50 each when we came to your table.”

  The man grinned and waved his hand across the table. “That’s because we’re buddies, just playing for fun. If you play with us, then we play for real gold.”

  I took a deep breath. I had no idea how much money Adeelee had brought with her, but my purse was completely empty. Gambling had not been on my agenda.

  “Two hundred is a little weak, don’t you think?” Adeelee cooed. “How about we play for five hundred gold, one round. Winner takes all.”

  “Five hundred?” the man asked, sounding a little surprised. He looked across the table to his friend who looked worried at the suggestion. “What do you think?”

  The tricorned man looked at Adeelee for several seconds and then back to me. “Five hundred?” He clicked his nails together. “If you guys want to play serious, we’ll play serious.” He looked up at his friend. “Let’s go fifty-fifty on this. I’ll roll.”

  The other man gulped and then gave a quick nod. Both men reached into their pockets until they had piled five hundred gold on the table. Adeelee pulled out five hundred gold as well and sat it in the pile.