“Hurry,” Erinocalypse hisses at me from the other side of the wall.
I look up toward the trees and realize the red glowing is stronger.
I focus again on getting to the dirt of the boy’s grave. Once I’ve sufficiently pierced through the grass and roots, the dirt below is soft and rich. I take a deep breath, surprised at how good it smells.
I put the dagger away and equip the Small Pouch that I was given when Professor Dove set the quest. One handful. Two handfuls. Three. Four handfuls and a little bit more and the pouch is full. I seal it up, save it again in my inventory and look up again, ready to jump over the stone wall.
Alithia Potion ingredients: 5 of 8 acquired
But the others are no longer trying to hide. They are in battle formation, eyes on the trees. Balderdash13 and SteelFeather have their melee weapons in hand and Callidus has gone into Stealth.
I equip my Bow of Elements again and move to stand.
“There’s no time, SirAsh3r,” Erinocalypse yells at me. “They’re too close for you to shoot. Stay down!”
The hell with that. I’m not just going to hide behind graves while they all fight.
But I’ll have to do it at a distance. I look back over my shoulder, toward the forest, toward where the enemy is coming from. Before I can even nock an arrow, a wolf the size of a buffalo comes barreling through, knocking into two trees as it tries to squeeze between them, and leaps over the far stone wall. Right into the churchyard where I am crouched.
I activate Stealth.
Name: Varg
Level: 36
Description: The size of a small car, this enormous wolf travels in packs, so look out for more. A varg is dangerous from all sides, teeth, claws, and muscles all over.
My disappearance right in front of the creature’s eyes only throws it off for a second, as there are four other obvious targets right in front of it. One more leap and the monster is over the stone wall closest to me. I try to roll out of the way, but its back foot scratches me on its way down. Thick, heavy claws the size of box cutters shred my left shoulder.
[-6200 HP!]
I let out a scream of pain. That’s more than a third of my health and until it heals I can’t lift my bow.
But I’m on my own.
Chapter 26
My party is surrounded by a pack of vargs. Seven of the giant wolves surround the four players still visible.
My Stealth only has another twenty seconds of effectiveness. I need to get some distance before I am visible again, so that my ranged attacks will actually be effective. Groaning in pain as I get to my feet, I run to the far side of the chapel and take cover. Now, between the building and the forest, I worry that I’m at risk for attack. My Power Perception has lessened the red glow in the forest to merely a faint red, so I’m hopeful that the whole pack of vargs are here and we don’t need to expect any more.
My health slowly regenerates, but I still have a hard time lifting my bow. I peek around the corner of the empty chapel and watch my friends trying to fend off these monstrous carnivores. The look of terror on TexBadass’s face scares me. I don’t know if he has ever been in so much danger. Even when we were surrounded before in the dungeon, it was by rats. Not nearly as petrifying as enormous, monstrous wolves that look like they could swallow one of his limbs in one bite.
He’s already died once. I can’t let him die again.
I see the biggest varg approach the group of players, slowly, baring its teeth. I can hear the low growl from here.
SteelFeather bangs his sword on his shield, yelling, “Get back!”
The varg doesn’t budge, and while his attention is on the largest one, two of the others behind him are creeping on TexBadass. The healer doesn’t have any ranged damage spells. He has no way to protect himself.
My shoulder is healed and I raise my bow, taking aim from behind my cover. I have a few options to choose from, but I think the most effective will be a Fire arrow. Carefully nocking my arrow, imbuing the flame, I aim for the varg on the far right of the circle, one of the ones with its eye on TexBadass. I loose the arrow.
Achievement: You have Unlocked Archery Level 9
Description: Increased chance of accuracy +5%
Reward: +270 XP
The arrow hits the creature’s neck, igniting a circle of fur about six inches in diameter. The varg yelps in pain but is only distracted for a short moment. That flaming arrow only shaves off about five percent of the varg’s health. I quickly fire off a second and third at other vargs. Even though I’m not doing a ton of damage, I can at least distract the creatures.
The largest varg jumps, as though surprised, and I notice the back of its rear legs striped with blood. There’s no sign of any of our group getting near him, so that must have been Callidus, sneaking up from behind and swiping. That’s smart. Taking out the monsters’ legs will severely limit their mobility and ability to attack.
I aim again, this time selecting Earth arrow and aiming for the same bleeding back leg of the varg just hit by Callidus. As soon as I fire the arrow, the monster yelps again, the Earth arrow hitting it like a sledgehammer. This knocks its health down by almost ten percent and the lead varg has a noticeable limp.
Erinocalypse is immobilizing the vargs, one by one with Petrify. But with the cool down period and the number of animals, there are always at least two, sometimes three, vargs attacking. I wonder how long we have until she depletes her mana.
SteelFeather and Balderdash13 rotate around the circle, always defending from the monsters that are not frozen by spell. As far as I can tell from here, they are strictly in defensive mode and haven’t been able to initiate more than one or two attacks. With Erinocalypse also in defense, casting Petrify, that leaves just Callidus and me to reliably and consistently take down the vargs. We need something to turn the tide.
I ready another Earth arrow and aim again for the largest varg’s back leg. It’s frozen at the moment, and I’m able to get off two shots before it moves again. Those two Earth arrows, combined with Callidus’s slashing, break the varg’s leg and knock its health down by twenty percent.
Progress.
Shot after shot, just focusing on the one, lead creature, it takes me a bit, but I disable a second and then a third leg. All the other vargs are still at full health and still deadly. TexBadass has had one of the sleeves of his cloak slashed through and ripped off. But this largest varg is almost done for. With its legs broken it remains immobile even without the Petrify spell. When Erinocalypse turns the circle again to cast at this one, she hesitates.
“Kill it!” I yell from my corner.
She glances at be briefly, nods and refocuses her attention on the varg. The intensity of her Fire Bolt spell, combined with my final Fire arrow drains the last of that varg’s health. It collapses in a furry, charred heap on the ground.
[+280 XP!]
Both Erinocalypse and I waste no time turning to focus our attack on the next varg in the ring. Callidus reappears briefly when his Stealth needs a cool down, but his method of slashing at the back of the monsters when their attention is elsewhere is extremely effective.
With one fewer varg to defend against, SteelFeather and Balderdash13 add in more and more attacking moves, rather than just staying on the defensive. Callidus and I zero in on one more of the vargs, taking it down in another flurry of shots, slashes and a few assisting spells from Erinocalypse.
[+250 XP!]
[+220 XP!]
[+230 XP!]
Our party repeats this again and again until there are only two vargs left, both snarling and growling, aggressive in their attacks. Now they are on the defensive and their rage seems more dangerous.
Balderdash13 doesn’t leave TexBadass’s side, constantly moving to shield him from attacks.
We are all distracted by shouting and crashing in the woods behind me and in that half-second the varg makes its move, lunging forward with its deadly jaw.
Chapter 27
Balderd
ash13 recovers her attention just in time to see the varg lunging at our healer.
“No!” she yells, arm outstretched as she throws herself in front of him.
The varg’s deadly fangs sink down into her arm, pouring out blood and releasing a cry of anguish from her lips. She half-heartedly kicks at the varg, but her energy and health points are draining quickly. TexBadass casts as fast as he can, but he can only just barely help her hang on. The varg sinks its teeth in even deeper, shaking its head as a dog would worry a bone.
In a flash, I realize what it’s doing.
Balderdash13 is sobbing now, not able to fight back as the enormous wolf-like creature tries to shake her arm free of the rest of her body. I shoot Fire arrow after Fire arrow at the varg’s face, but it still won’t give up its prize. SteelFeather can’t leave Erinocalypse’s side to help, or we will lose our sorceress too.
The monster adjusts its grip on Balderdash13’s arm, sinking its teeth into the forearm, below her elbow. Tex keeps casting, pouring health into her, to keep her alive. We have to keep her alive. Her body goes limp, her legs collapsing and the whole weight of her, armor and all, falling to the ground. As soon as she is no longer able to fight back, the varg takes its chance. In spite of the arrows I continue to shoot at it, the wolf gives Balderdash13’s arm a final good shake and rips it off from the elbow down, hand and all.
Oh my god. I close my eyes for a second shutting the image from my mind, before I start shooting at that varg even faster than before. With our tank’s arm in its mouth, the varg backs away from the ring of attack. But I am not going to let it get away.
TexBadass is completely focused, using all his power to dump health back into Balderdash13. SteelFeather is consumed by defending Erinocalypse from the other remaining varg, so it’s up to Callidus and me to finish off the one still holding the arm. But now it’s on the far side of the circle from me. I can’t get a clear shot at it around my teammates.
I run along the stone wall, behind the gravestones, parallel with the edge of the forest, hoping the enemy doesn’t see me. It continues to back away, as though trying to make off with its prize. I don’t see Callidus anywhere, but the varg suddenly yelps and jerks to the side away from whatever invisible enemy just slashed at it with a dagger. I stop in my pursuit to shoot off two quick Earth arrows at the same leg. I must incapacitate it.
I must punish it.
SteelFeather and Erinocalypse are able to defeat their varg quickly and turn their attention to the last one remaining.
After two more arrows and a Fire Bolt from Erin, the varg drops the arm to growl menacingly at us. But it’s too late. We’re already closing in, taking turns on those last few hits until we defeat it completely.
[+290 XP!]
Congratulations! You have reached level 26!
You have one attribute point to distribute.
Name: SirAsh3r
Level: 26
Strength: 29
Intelligence: 29
Dexterity: 29
Stamina: 29
Magic: 30
Skills: Woodcraft 3, Slash 2, Club 3, Paddle 1, Climbing 1, Stealth 3, Archery 9, Power Perception 3, Backstab 1
Abilities: Initiative 2, Focus 1
Professions: Cooking 2
Affinities: 12% Earth; 16% Water; 10% Fire
Fame: 350
Achievements: First Explorer of Lake Galavant, First Explorer of Foyle Forest, Friend of Water
Wow. We did it.
I look through my character sheet quickly to decide where to drop my new attribute point. Everything is pretty even, so I add the point to Strength. I want to hit harder.
I keep my bow equipped just in case but walk over to where Balderdash13 is recovering. She’s still unconscious, but whatever spells TexBadass uses are slowly growing back her arm. It is the strangest thing to see—the skin has healed and is no longer bleeding all over the ground, but the length of the arm, wrist, and hand are still missing.
I look away. I don’t want to remember her like this.
I move to loot the bodies of the vargs and gather enough blood to fill my last Small Bottle. Since we had to find this ingredient anyway, I suppose it’s lucky that they found us instead of having to hunt any down and finding even a bigger pack.
Alithia Potion ingredients: 6 of 8 acquired
I collect spaulders from the corpse of the varg and equip them immediately. There seems to be a basic curling design burned onto the surface, and they feel like the perfect balance between flexible and sturdy.
Name: Leather Spaulders
Level: 32
Description: Perfect for protecting your shoulders from many attacks.
Erinocalypse and TexBadass have time to grab their own vials of blood and pouches of Grave Dirt while Balderdash13 heals and rests. As we finish the looting, we hear a thrashing in the forest, like another large animal.
“What do you see with your Night Vision?” I ask Callidus.
He squints toward the trees. “Nothing yet. I don’t know. I can’t make it out.”
The crashing through the forest gets louder briefly and then ceases as a small group of four players appear. I am immediately suspicious. Who are they and how did they get so far into the game. Their player names hover in blue above their heads: MadMachine, PrincssMiami, ElJugador, SpicySnail. They don’t appear to have leveled very far or progressed enough to upgrade their armor that much. What are they doing this deep into Camlan?
“Whoa, hey,” MadMachine says. “Did you guys just kill those vargs?” He peers over my shoulder at the carcasses still surrounding us. “Awesome. Do you think there’s any more around here? Mind if we hang around until they respawn?”
I can’t help the expression of disbelief that flits across my face. “They’re level thirty-six creatures. You think you can handle that? We have two more people than you and they almost took us out.”
“Yeah, totally. We can handle it,” PrincssMiami says, nodding defiantly. “We need to level. Faster.”
I shrug. “Cool. Then. Uh, good luck I guess. We’re out of here as soon as our tank heals.”
ElJugador now looks closer. “Oh, damn. The vargs do that?”
“Yeah.”
They nod, trying to look closer.
“So,” I begin, trying to be nonchalant and block Balderdash13 from their view. “You guys in the middle of a quest or something? Any reason you need to level faster?”
MadMachine and ElJugador look at each other. “Something like that,” he says. “You?”
I smile charmingly. “Of course. Aren’t we always in the middle of a quest?”
“It have something to do with that castle over there?” ElJugador asks, nodding his head at the structure behind me.
I don’t know how to answer. Is there a reason he’s asking? Does he need to know the truth? What harm could it do to tell him the truth? It’s not like he’s going to go all the way through White Rock Ravine and do the same quests right now.
“Yeah, a bit. I think we’re close to done.”
MadMachine raises his eyebrows, impressed. “Close to done, huh? Oh! Hey, that’s why your name looks familiar. You played in the Camlan Challenge, didn’t you? All of you?” he asks, gesturing to my party.
Damn it.
“Yeah, we did. So, you know. Perks of being one of the twelve, I guess. We get to be in Camlan before the rest of you all.”
“Cool.” MadMachine says coldly. His whole demeanor has changed now that he knows who we are. “So, can you give us any tips?”
“Tips? No, man.” I try to pull of an unconcerned smile. “Just play the game. There’s no secret.”
“Really? You sure Toterra isn’t feeding you clues or something?”
“What was your name again?”
“Why? So you can tell your buddies up in development to target me with impossible quests or a pack of vargs or something?”
“Wow. Okay. I’m just going to get back to my game. You all have a good day.”
“Can’t say you’ll have the same.”
Chapter 28
“Who’s this?” Erinocalypse asks as she approaches our group. “Can we help you?”
“Oh, hey. Erinocalypse. Yeah, I recognize your name too,” MadMachine says eying her up and down.
“Oh good,” she replies. I hear the sarcasm, but I wonder if the other players do. “Can we help you?”
“No. Thanks.” MadMachine backs up a little, into the safety of his group. “It’s cool. We were just asking about these vargs. Hoping to grab some more XP and level up.”
“What was that about?” she asks me once they’re gone.
“Posturing or … threats. I’m not really sure. I definitely got a weird vibe from them, but I don’t know what they’re about.”
We watch the group disappear into the woods, but they don’t make any other effort to engage us as we return to where Balderdash13 is still lying on the ground.
“The vine that Ida needs us to destroy should be around here somewhere,” Callidus says, his nose in his map. “Around the corner, I think. I don’t totally get the distances but …”
As we round the corner of Castle Nennius, the object of our quest becomes immediately clear. Covering a forty-foot-wide stretch of the castle wall is a thick, undulating green growth. It glows faintly golden, to indicate its use in the quest, but even without that it would be clear that this plant is the choking, overwhelming vine that is attacking the vegetable garden on the other side of the wall. It seems to be growing, climbing and reaching before our very eyes. As we get closer, the branches closest to us almost seem to sense us coming and stretch toward us.
Name: Noose Vine
Description: A deadly plant that grows quickly and moves even more quickly.
“Yeah, this seems right,” I say.
“Yes!” SteelFeather’s grin is almost manic. “I have been waiting for a chance to just hack at something.”
Before anyone else can respond he is flat out running toward the Noose Vine, shield saved away but sword held high above his head, as though he wants to bring it down on the plant from as high as possible.
Guardians of Camlan Page 11