by Dawn Chapman
“I’d need a serious party to back me up, trained fighters, mages.” Ferris turned back to Abel. This was a serious situation—one where people’s lives were at stake. Ferris went quiet while he weighed up the situation.
I put my own thinking cap on, and I recalled the worldview of Puatera. “Ferris,” I said, nervous and excited all at the same time, “I’ll help, we can do this.”
Ferris smiled at me. “Akillia, you’re new. You’ve no training. I don’t think this is the kind of job you’re looking for.” Abel looked at me with his face furrowed, but I could sense hope there. “Actually, Akillia would be easier to train than some of my already capable warriors.”
I didn’t like the way he eyed me up, but I wanted in on this quest. I wasn’t going to be left behind. “Tell me what you need from me, and I’ll learn, I’ll train day in, day out if need be.”
Abel still stared at me. “Ferris, that’s your call if you want her with us.” I saw a hundred flashes of red and blue across my vision, but I had no time to read them all—the gist of the largest one was still the main quest blip.
QUEST —TRAVEL TO MAICREOL WITH FERRIS AND RETURN TO SHIROTH WITH A FULL CARGO OF HISMAW WASTE OF THE TROMOAL
There was an accept Y/N, and without thinking, I clicked, yes.
Ferris had seemed indifferent until I’d clicked the yes. Now he smiled at me. “Be good to have you on board. Seems you’re a natural learner.”
“Where do we start?” I asked.
Ferris then moved quickly, rushing back into the wagon. “Table, chairs, we need a place to organise, and some other helpers would be nice.”
Abel grinned at Ferris. “The building behind you. We hoped you’d see sense.” Then he turned to look at me. “Akillia, I don’t know you, but thank you for persuading him.”
“Don’t thank me yet. We haven’t been there and back yet. Thank me when we are.”
Chapter 9
I walked over to the building with Abel, leaving Ferris and the commander to bring anything they wanted. “I caught the gist of how you two met,” Abel said. “Seems you came to our town at just the right time.”
“It seems like it,” I said. “Tell me, why would the prince forget something so vitally important?”
Abel shrugged. “I think he’s going senile. There’s been speculation for months on who’s gone for the Hismaw, but we never thought he hadn’t sent someone. It was only when one of the curators got inside his study that they realised how big the problem was.”
“So no one else was helping him watch the estate? The lands?”
“Appears not.”
I was saddened for this. A prince who couldn’t watch over his kingdom wasn’t much of a monarch anymore. The people obviously would lose faith in him, and his reign would be over.
“Will someone be taking over?”
“There’s a lot of debate going on, politics I’m not sure I understand.”
I was in a completely new world, so understanding something the person telling me didn’t understand would be a bad thing.
I turned to him as he moved to open the door. “Abel, will you come with us? You and the commander?”
“I’d be permitted to come,” he grinned at me. “But the commander, no, he’ll have to stay and organise all the troops from the main house. We’re not as well equipped as the Royal Palace in the city holdings.”
“I see. Well, I’d be glad to have you on board,” I said. “I know Ferris understands and goes every year, but I’ve never been to sea before.”
He frowned. “Neither have I, miss. Only been on a couple of boats to cross the larger rivers.”
“Then we’ll help each other,” I said and moved to enter the building.
I was very shocked to see that this wasn’t just a building, but a hall of some kind. From the sheer size of the hand-painted eaves to the craftsmanship of the carved wooden pews, there were a lot of worried faces in here, and they all turned to look at us. Then there were their wild whispers and frowns.
Abel moved towards the centre of the room where there was a small stage. “I’m not comfortable being up there,” I said.
He reached out and tugged my arm so I was close enough to hear him whisper, “They just need some hope, Akillia. No matter what happens, let’s give them that.”
I followed him through the crowd and onto the stage. I’d never done anything like this before, and my heart raced. Had I set myself up to fail already? I thought about it with each step and then remembered why I was here.
Andy.
No, I wouldn’t fail.
When Abel turned to face them, I noted their worry, their confusion, and I met them with my own, but inside, I really wanted to do this, no matter how tough. My skills I would develop as I needed and wanted them. I was sure of it. This was a huge quest, and I’d give it my all despite not knowing what the hell I was going to do.
“Quiet,” Abel shouted. Everyone stopped what they were doing, and all conversation ceased. You could hear a pin drop. Everyone was looking at us both. “I’d like you all to meet Akillia.”
There were some mumbled hellos, and some of the younger children waved my way, so I waved back while Abel carried on.
“Akillia saved Ferris’s life yesterday after an accident on the road that caused his wagon to break.” The smiles and mumbles carried on. There was a huge amount of frustration here. “Akillia kept the monsters at bay, saved the horses, and they arrived here in town this morning.”
“We were worried last night, and we had good reason to be. The creatures are straying closer to town, and the wards are failing. Ferris has agreed to travel to Maicreol and bring back the load we need, but the journey is late starting and will be much harder for him. Going alongside him will be the best of our trained warriors and mages, but also, there’s Akillia.” When he mentioned me by name, I froze. “Akillia is a Visitor, someone who can train and learn faster than any of our best. I believe with her, the trip will turn the odds in our favour.”
He turned to me and motioned to the crowd. I took that to mean he wanted me to speak. “I know I’m new here. No one knows me, but I have some ideas that will help. Please allow us some space to work on them and follow Commander Mossman with his plans to ready the town.”
A pop-up told me I had discovered the Action Public Speaking, and I quickly flicked it out of the way with a thought.
I really hoped, in the midst of battle, I’d be able to disable these. They were frustrating at times. In fact, most of the time now. I promised myself I’d find a way to block them.
I motioned Abel to follow me to the back of the room. “What are they thinking, trying to mob together in here. They’re not going to do the town any favours by acting up.”
“They’re just scared,” he said. “They’ve never been in this position before.”
Abel took me towards a back room. Once inside, I noticed there was a large table and a map already laid out. “Been busy?” I asked.
“We’d been expecting Ferris back. When he didn’t show, we started some plans for the trip ourselves.”
“You were going to go?”
I heard the door open once more and turned to see Ferris and Commander Mossman with a few other guys and one woman with them.
“I’d like to introduce to you Rhurdah.” The man, who looked my way, was a full elf. Tall, lithe, and his skin had a nice darkened tan to it. He’d seen many trips out in the sun I was sure.
“This is Myleen,” he said as a human looking woman stepped forward.
“Pleased to meet you, Akillia,” she said to me and added, “My brother, Alec.” He then nodded my way, and Ferris introduced the last man.
“Paiton,” he said and stepped forward to hold a hand out for me. I took it and let him shake my hand gently.
“We have a route planned and equipment sorted to take. One more wagon and another pair of horses are also ready to go.”
Ferris moved to the map, looking over everything. I followed and stared at
their planned route. I knew the map was in my head, but looking at the five hundred miles to the coastal town of Okarim Wharf, there was no easy path across the sea to the next island.
The ship lanes were clearly marked as well, along with times printed neatly for the crossing—four days, six days, and eight days. I wondered about the reasons why but then decided not to ask. There were going to be things in this world I didn’t know or understand and meant some certain things like trusting the NPCs around me didn’t want to die. I really hoped they didn’t.
I carefully watched as Ferris scanned the plans. He then looked at me. “You’re sure you want to come along? This could be a dangerous journey for all of us.”
I put my hand down on the table and smiled. “In it to learn and help as much as I can.”
“Another body would never go amiss,” Myleen said. “Besides, you can learn the basics from my brother and me. We’re both trained in combat, and my brother is a deft alchemist, but where you go from there will be your decision. We both know it works differently for Visitors. Those decisions have to come from you.”
Decisions here were going to be tough, but I was willing. I think they all saw my grin. “Then can we leave as soon as physically possible.”
“Get the goods we ordered and more for the wagon, and I’m good to go,” Ferris spoke as he moved to stand by me. “I believe as the Visitor here, you can ask us into your party. That way we’ll all see more of each other’s capabilities.”
I wasn’t a hundred percent sure on having NPCs in my group/party, but they seemed intent that I could. So, with a quick thought and flash of my thought processes, I managed to get up ‘group party invite.’ Then I zoomed in on who was close by, accepting their names and sending the invites. There was one who stuck out—Abel.
He was actually a player. When he glanced at me, we had this crossed moment of recognition. I hadn’t expected to see any other beta testers so soon.
I was sure there would be some time where we could talk about this, or maybe there really wouldn’t be. How did he get into the local village and guard? I was very confused.
But there was something about him that gave me a little hope.
The group invites were all accepted, and I got a quick look at the others. Although they probably didn’t know they had enough skills and things for me to boggle at, I was sure they weren’t aware this was an actual thing. Self-aware NPCs would be weird, no?
The more I thought, the more questions I had, and I didn’t think now was a good time for questions—at least not on that level.
Abel wandered closer to me, and he smiled. “May we have a little talk?”
I instantly worried if he was going to do something to jeopardise the game for me. Would he be one of these PK’ers I’d heard Andy talk about so often?
I moved to the back of the room with him, and he touched my arm. “It’s nice to really meet you, Akillia. I am sure you have a lot of things you’d like to ask of me, but I assure you, I’d want the best for the village.”
“You’re not going to suddenly turn on me and kill me?”
He frowned. “Of course not. Whatever gave you that idea!”
“Oh, just things my ex used to talk about. Considering he’s got a high-end bet now riding on my ass dying, it wouldn’t be too far out there to think that somehow he’s going to put a price on my head in the game to die.”
I watched the reaction on Abel’s face. I was shocked his brows furrowed.
“You’re not kidding, are you?”
I wanted to shake my head, but I found tears brimming instead. Taking a breath in, I swallowed and forced them back. There was no way I was going to let him win no matter how much of a newbie I was in the game. I was going to show him.
Abel moved in closer. “Akillia, we have time to get to know each other. I will tell you my story. For now, just listen. I’m an alpha tester, someone who the company trusted to let in for a few months to iron out all the real kinks.”
“So, this hundred-person run was the next stage?”
“This is the stage to attract the other mainstream players. One hundred special tickets in, so they get to watch for the first two months, then there’d be five hundred tickets, the month after a thousand, and so on and so forth.”
“The company must be raking it in.”
“Yeah, maybe they will, but there’s an awful lot of time and effort and upkeep that goes into keeping players healthy and alive for their time in this world.”
“I know six months of your life wasn’t something you could just give up so easily. To house and look after a hundred players must be immense—hence the need for this whole island.”
“But could they really look after a thousand players here?”
This question just made more and more questions.
“Look, Akillia, you’re one of the first in here. I won’t jeopardise anything you do. I’ll back you up in any way I can.”
“Thank you,” I said. But I suddenly felt like I was being spied on. Or worse, that he knew a lot more about me than I wanted him too. Could Andy corrupt him somehow, so that I’d fail? I stepped back from him. “I have a lot to prove, and I admit I could do with someone guiding me a little more. But I also want to figure things out for me. You understand?”
He lowered his head. “Of course, just ask me though if you’re unsure. I will be around.”
I liked that statement. I really was doing okay in here. The first big quest the game threw about, and I had managed to get in on it. I was already taking it by the horns. Even if the next few weeks of travel and tasks were going to be difficult, I wanted that challenge. I needed it.
“I think there’s a lot of stuff I need to do,” I said. “I want to explore, learn, and help. I’m worried me going with the group could only get us all killed.”
Abel laughed. “No way. You’re not going to get us killed. We’re all strong, capable people, and we’ll defend you, the horses, and our way of life, in the best way that we can. We’ll fight for it, and we’ll not go down. I think we can do this—in fact, I know we can. It will just be tough at points, and I don’t think we can stop that.
“The monsters are getting in closer and closer to the village. They’ll have to shorten the defences and fight, but I totally believe we will have to do the same out there on the road as well. So, first things first. I’m going to have to start with some archery lessons and some hand-to-hand fighting.”
I grinned. “I would like that a lot. I really need to learn all kinds of defence and attack. And more about what I think I want to do to aid the group.”
Abel’s face contorted slightly. I watched him as he seemed to pluck something from his chest. “Here,” he held out his hand and on it was a gold star.
“That’s a Karma point, right?”
He nodded. “I’d like you to take it, use it to help level yourself up in an area you’d really like.”
I loved the gesture, but then thought about how ‘bought’ I suddenly felt. “Thank you, but no. I really have to do this all by myself. No matter how tough it is.”
Abel smiled. “Now that’s showing inner strength. I’m going to insist, though. Use it when you really need, too.” And he pushed the star into my hand.
I felt that same woozy feeling and heard the music. It was comical, but I smiled at him. “Thanks, I won’t waste it.”
He said I was strong, but I didn’t feel strong. Thoughts of Andy’s betrayal hit hard. I forced a smile, but he saw right through it.
“Don’t worry, Akillia. We’re all trying our best to roleplay here. You’re doing a good job.”
“We’ll get the wagons rolling, and then we’ll start. The village is allowing us to take several more horses. The two Ferris has are good enough for general pulling, but the wagons will be laden down and travelling over a thousand miles before we get to where we need to be. That’s a lot of miles. The horses will need the extra pulling power and resting time. So, we’ll rotate the horses, and we can sort ou
t the way things go on the road then. It will work out, you’ll see.”
Chapter 10
The next morning, after I’d actually slept in a regular bed at the local inn, the entire area around the wagon and horses came to life. I’d never seen so much stuff—boxes and boxes of it. I presumed full of food and munitions, but unless I looked in each crate, I’d never really know. Where the heck were we going to fit it all?
Abel and the Commander seemed to be conversing over a makeshift table. The table now had Ferris’s maps lying across it, and Abel’s face wasn’t giving anything away. Indifferent, worried?
I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, wishing with all the hope I had in my veins someone in town could make coffee... but not a sniff of it. Two ladies were cooking over a fire pit, and I smelled freshly baked bread and other things, but no coffee.
How am I going to survive?
I walked to the commander and Abel’s table, coughing to let them know I was there.
“How long have you guys been at it?” I motioned all around me.
“Well, most of the village has been awake through worry. Most of them are farmers and start early. However, I think they were up by three a.m. bringing in supplies.”
I felt the blush come to my cheeks and couldn’t meet his casual gaze anymore. Here I was rolling over at nine-thirty. I rubbed my tired eyes, feeling the exhaustion from the day before. A red splotch with a two stared at me. Perhaps food would fix that.
Abel laughed at me. “There’s going to be plenty of time to catch up. We’ve been sorting through the supplies we think we need, what we can leave behind, and where we can put everything.”
The ground rumbled beneath my feet, and I looked around to see several horses pulling another wagon, and behind them were tethered a good few more.
“Ahh. Would you go and greet Borroth please, Akillia, ask him to park the wagon over to the west of the field. I think Ferris has a few upgrades he needs to do, so he said, he’d be leading that one, I believe you and I will take his.”