Maelstrom

by Ajdin K. Denic

  Flood, Level 1: Flood a small area, five metres in diameter and cause 470 damage direct damage. Over 5 seconds add 300 suffocation damage. Use: 3 times.

  Laney chuckled as Kaden finally returned from his mental absence in dealing with the skill tree and character window.

  "I have chosen [Lifebringer]. Soon that branch will allow me to learn a spell used for healing, which will make life easier for us. Oh, and we have three buffs available!" She sounded thrilled for the first time since they had gotten to this world. Kaden sighed and got up as she read out loud the message that popped up before her.

  You have learned a new skill: Lifebringer. Skill description: Casts a buff that doubles the target’s reaction speed and increases health. The bonus effect rises with each level.

  "Right, and I have gotten [Flood]. Luckily, he set it up so we didn’t have to stick to only one branch. At least something in our favour," Kaden murmured. "Now, how about we search for the village that needs saving and lay waste to the occupying enemy while trying out our new skills?" Laney nodded with a broad smile as they dropped down the tree. A moment later, they found themselves following the indicator which showed the way to Stone Beak village.

  Chapter 9

  The air was cold and fresh, which was an upgrade after the last dungeon. It was dark, but the faraway torches lit up the small village well enough to see that it was heavily infested. Dozens of Stone Beaks walked around, hitting each other with their beaks or snapping at the stone beneath their feet. Beside them, there was a band of what looked like Orcs, big and green humanoid-looking creatures. These Orcs looked similar to the one they already fought, but slightly larger and bulkier.

  The outer stockade was heavily damaged with the gate torn off. A handful of rooftops could be seen above the wall. Smoke rose from one corner of the village, probably from a fire pit. In the middle of the town square sat an enormous cage with all of the villagers locked inside.

  Kaden and Laney watched the village from a small hill, but they had no idea what was really in store for them, or how to do this without killing the villagers. They had a vague outline of what waited for them, but in all honesty, what could they do against such numbers? They barely managed to kill three of the birds earlier.

  His best idea was to cast a [Flood] if he could manage to hit groups of attacks as they came out of the town. If they tried to lure the mobs one by one, it could take hours or days. What was worse, if the Orcs attacked along with the Stone Beaks, there was no way to handle them all at the same time, or they might as well kill the villagers. They would have to play this one carefully.

  "How are we going to tackle this?" Laney asked, turning around and lying on her back. She was nervous, Kaden could feel it as clear as day. With a shaky hand, she kept pushing a lock of hair behind her ear, but there was no way that she would just admit it if he asked. He needed her strong and steady to take on the enemy, not shaken to her core. Not that Kaden was any better off, his heart was pounding in his chest.

  "I have no idea. We are both unarmed, and even worse, I'm at," Kaden said, checking his remaining uses of the three skills, ‘eleven uses on Ice Orb, two on Frozen Land, and three on Flood. We need weapons and armours if we want to be able to fight this group.’

  "Then what do you propose?" she said, turning towards him. Their eyes met, lingering for a moment longer than was comfortable.

  He felt uneasy by the look she gave him, but didn’t let it show. He coughed once and rubbed his eyes, feeling too tired to even think straight. Coming up with a plan on how to take on what might as well have been an army was out of his league.

  "I propose we get some rest first," he said, rubbing his eyes. "We need some high ground to be able to rest without too much danger. Then when morning comes, we can see how to proceed."

  Laney shied away and closed her eyes, she let out a deep sigh and looked at him again. "I agree. Some of your skills might even restore themselves, and we will be in a much better state than we are now," she replied.

  Kaden nodded with a half-hearted smile and climbed up. With the buffs, the climbing wasn't much of an issue as he hopped and pulled himself up multiple times until he reached the top. He looked around, his breath taken away by the sheer beauty of this world.

  Birds of all shapes and colors, large butterfly insects and trees of all kinds and colors graced his view. Kaden wanted to call out to Laney, to tell her to climb up and look at the splendor, but he just couldn’t.

  "What is taking you so long? Did you fall asleep? Are you dead now?" she yelled out at him. After a few more moments of silence, he finally answered, his voice a pitch higher.

  "N-no! But it's just so pretty!" he yelled back, laughing.

  "Alright I guess. Have you found anything?" Laney asked from beneath the tree, but then quickly caught her mouth. She didn’t want to draw attention from any creature at this point, as it would most likely result in their quick and painful demise.

  "Yeah. Some hundred meters in the opposite direction of the village is a truly massive tree," Kaden replied as his head popped down the foliage. Laney, startled by his sudden appearance, threw a small rock and hit him square on the forehead. He yelped and dropped to the ground.

  You have sustained 39 damage from Rock.

  You have sustained 17 damage from Self Inflicted.

  "Laney!" Kaden yelled as he lay on the ground. His body ached all over as he tried to get up, but failed. The pain was almost intolerable. "Fuck you!" he cursed at her.

  She just stood there, mouth wide open, and looked at him. "You dare curse at me?" she demanded, standing over him with her hands on her hips. Realizing how she stood above him, legs wide open, she went red and tucked the skirt between her legs. "Enjoy the view?" she asked, her voice full of poison as she kicked him in the ribs.

  You have sustained 39 damage from Laney.

  Kaden, quite dumbstruck by what just happened, curled in a ball and rolled away. Laney buffed them up immediately.

  A glow surrounded their bodies, lessening the pain. Getting up without her help, he climbed the tree without a word. Moments later, she climbed after him without speaking.

  A smile appeared on his face at the thought of peeking up her skirt. Truth be told, he hadn’t seen anything, but some excitement was never off. He was human after all. Love and lust were a part of it.

  The two arrived at the tree Kaden scouted after some ten minutes of climbing and jumping from tree to tree. Here they would be able to finally rest, maybe restore their skills and health before moving on.

  The tree's branches were as thick as most of the trees surrounding them, making for quite a comfortable resting place, if quite round and not straight. In many places, branches intertwined making for natural resting spots where one could just lie down and sleep without worry of falling off the tree, though something told him that he better try and sleep while sitting.

  Laney observed the village, checking out the birds and Orcs as she had nothing better to do, while Kaden looked out towards the forest. The night got darker as they sat there with the air growing colder. The buffs Laney possessed couldn’t do anything about that, what was more, they only lasted for a few minutes. She would have to stay up all night and buff them.

  He didn't mind it too much, as he fell asleep after a while. The pain was ever-present somewhere in the back of his mind. Laney sighed and pressed herself into Kaden at some point during the night, trying to forget what had happened. To her surprise, his hand went around her as their bodies pressed against each other. Looking down at her violet eyes, all he could see was pain, and so much deeper than just bruises.

  A loud screeching noise woke the two up sometimes next morning. After waking up, they noticed the sun and temperature were already quite high. Mildly disoriented, they had to look around and steady themselves. Then, out of the blue, an enormous black bird appeared in front of them, floating mid-air.

  On instinct, Kaden put up his hand and released an [Ice Orb], which slammed right into the bird’s
beak, shattering part of it. Laney got up hurriedly, and pressed herself into the large tree trunk as panic grabbed ahold of her. She cast her buffs and just stood there, ready to die. She had nothing to offer in the battle that was to follow.

  "Hide on the other side!" Kaden snapped at her standing there, motionless. "Laney! Move it!" As if her mind cleared from a fog, she snapped out of it and with the grace of a cat, jumped from branch to branch and disappeared to the other side of the tree. Kaden, now left alone, looked at the bird, which was still hovering in mid-air. Its beak grew back as a red health bar appeared above its head, slightly dented from right to left. A strange icon hovered next to it, greyed out.

  Kaden cursed as the one spell he had did minimal damage to the creature. Ice isn’t what it used to be, he thought.

  When it finished regenerating it shrieked anew, flapping its massive wings at him. They were pitch-black with sharp, blood red tipped feathers. Its beady eyes observed him as the beak opened slowly as if it was about to speak. With a flap of its wings, the bird flew off straight into the sky, disappearing moments later.

  Kaden sank to the branch he stood on, almost breaking out in tears. That bird could have ripped him apart with ease and he knew it. The look it gave him was something totally different, however. It wasn’t hostile or friendly. It looked more as if it had been studying him.

  "Where the fuck have you taken us, Bardos? Birds as big as trucks?" Kaden cursed. Laney appeared just around the tree and dropped next to him. For a while both were silent, with Laney opening her mouth several times to try and speak, but deciding not to.

  "Did you see that?" he asked after calming down. "That thing was equally scary and majestic."

  "Yes, I did." Laney nodded, not quite sharing his feelings.

  "How the hell are we supposed to fight these things? Didn't he want us to wage some kind of war here, or something? Or is his goal to see how long we can last before we die?" Kaden asked. Laney shrugged, not able to give him an answer.

  "It seems that the game is called survival of the fittest. How about we try to take care of that village first, and afterwards we could think about the bigger game here in this place?"

  "Sure thing, but the problem of no armour or weapons remains. One hit from the birds’ beaks and it could incapacitate us, or the Orcs would cleave us in two. I would rather find some protection first."

  "I know that much as well, but where the hell do you think we are to find the sort?" As if on cue, a loud sound echoed out in the vicinity, bringing them back to the moment. They looked at each other, not quite sure what was going on.

  "Was that a… war horn?" Kaden asked, not quite liking the sound of it. Laney just shook her head as if not believing what she just heard.

  "Do you think that we should check it out?" His fingers moved for no real reason. It was a trait he hated about himself.

  The sound seemed to be coming towards them, blaring for the second time. This time however, it was accompanied by a distinct sound of metal grating on stone. Panic set in as they seemed to understand the implications.

  "Go have a peek," Laney said as she prodded Kaden forwards, poking his back with her hands. He made a step, stumbled and almost fell down the tree. At the last moment, he caught himself and turned around, giving Laney a nasty look.

  "Would you like to go in my stead?" he asked with an icy tone. Some things just weren’t funny, and this was one of them, he thought. She looked down, embarrassed and cast all the buffs she had, [Massive], [Empower] and [Lifebringer].

  A battle procession of sorts seemed to be coming their way from what Kaden could see in the distance. By the sound of it, this group was pretty large, and heavily armored from all the clatter they were making.

  "He made us quite dependent on one another, huh?" Kaden whispered.

  "Well, if we want to procreate, it’s just us two. If you meant something totally different, then I have no idea what you meant," she whispered into his ear. He flinched at her breath caressing his cheek. "Yeah, I know. Do you want to do it now? Or after we conquer the village?" she asked.

  One of Kaden’s eyebrows shot up in confusion, then in embarrassment, his mouth agape. "What the hell are you-"

  Laney giggled like a little girl at his discomfort before crouching next to him. "You sure are too easy to tease, you know. Anyway, even if I wanted to do it, there is nothing underneath here that you haven’t seen or touched before, so what is it with the shy act?"

  "You don’t have to put it so bluntly," he replied with a frown, his cheeks turning a shade of red. "Alright, I'm off anyway. See you soon." He was gone in an instant, dropping down from branch to branch like a monkey.

  "Please come back safe," she whispered when he was out of earshot. "I might act the way I do, but that's only so I don’t cry out in pain. I need you to be there for me."

  A tear rolled down her cheek. She wiped it away quickly so no one would see. Then she remembered she was all alone, and her heart constricted in fear and sorrow.

  The lower Kaden dropped, the bigger the urge he felt to go back. Something told him that he needed to stay put and not poke his nose where it didn’t belong. Though if danger was approaching, they needed to know.

  He stopped abruptly as another horn blast rang out, this time it was so close that his ears hurt slightly. There was only one layer of brush left before he could see what was beneath him. Stomping feet, and the sound of scraping metal and stone rang out ever louder. He breathed in and out once more before sticking his head through the brush. Kaden’s eyes went wide at the sight.

  Not even fifty meters ahead, a large group of Goblins and Orcs marched in the general direction of the village, which meant their direction. If they arrived at their destination uncontested, who knew what the end result would be once they attacked the village with these reinforcements defending it as well?

  Purely on instinct, his hand shot out and a faint red glow appeared where his palm faced. Just beneath the hill, where the small war-band would march through, Kaden observed a [Flood] area of effect. It wouldn’t cover the full width, but he guessed it would be enough. There was nothing else he could come up with. He released the spell, which flooded the small patch of soil and softened it enough to create mud. The water disappeared a moment later, just in time for the first troops to come cross the highest point of the hillock.

  With every new head that appeared above the rise, Kaden’s heart sank lower until he counted thirty Goblins and fifteen Orcs, all clad for war.

  "Company, halt!" one of the Orcs yelled. The band stopped at once. He was a head taller than the rest of his kin, slightly blackish instead of pure green, and massive every way you looked at him. As he stood there on top of the hill, he looked around and observed for a good minute. He held a large sword in his right hand and a round metal shield in his left.

  What bad luck, Kaden thought. He must be a boss of sort, and probably a bitch to kill.

  "Why did we stop?" another Orc asked after a long moment of silence. Kaden was close enough to hear anything they said, so he tuned in, while the Orcs talked much too loudly not to be heard anyway. The large Orc squinted his eyes to Kaden’s south, towards the village.

  "We have found ourselves a nice little present!" he exclaimed, howling like mad.

  Wicked laughter and screaming jarred Kaden’s brain as he tried to focus on something else besides the noise. It was like someone put stones through a grinder, and then some.

  "What are they… looking at?" he asked himself, turning towards the town. Breath caught in his lungs as the little grey mass he had left tried to understand what he was seeing.

  A human-looking creature was trying to hide itself amongst the tall grass, but failed miserably due to its large bunny-like ears that poked above it all.

  "Run!" he wanted to scream, but his self-preservation kicked in. He wanted to do something about this, but didn’t. There was no way Kaden could live with himself after letting someone die if he sat it out however. He cursed under his breath
as he clenched the branch below him with both hands, teeth bared at the group that threatened to kill the creature.

  "No, not yet," a voice whispered into his ear. Startled, he almost fell as a hand caught and steadied him. "Idiot, do you want to fall to your death?" Laney asked, crouching next to him.

  "What the hell are you doing here? You should have stayed up there where it’s safe!" he snapped.

  "As if staying up there with a bird larger than me could be considered safe. That thing almost killed us."

  Neither were right, but that was the beauty of it. They complimented each other perfectly.

  "Now wait until they start moving. When the first row is half past inside of the mud pit, you launch that cold spell of yours that freezes everything from down beneath, that land thing."

  "Alright, then what? Hide up here?" After saying it out loud, it didn’t seem as stupid as he thought it would. Up there, they were almost invisible. Besides, the band would have no idea where the spell had come from, or what hit them.

  No one knew if it would work, but it was the best they had. Kaden grinned wickedly, cracking his fingers. "Go hide. If I'm discovered, it would be better not to be near me," he said, voice calm.

  Before committing to the attack, he checked himself over, both his character status screen and uses of skills available. It wouldn’t do him any good if he attacked the group without any skills available.

  Every skill was seemingly filled up, except for one [Ice Orb], which he didn't care for much in all honesty. What was important however, was that his health bar was full.

  Maybe they would find an unlikely ally in the process while taking care of an enemy that would basically ruin all the chance they had of conquering the village. As he was lost in thought, the band leader let out a feral scream that chilled the blood in his veins.

  Chapter 10

  The war-band stormed down the hill and almost came to an immediate halt as the first row toppled over in the mud, with the second and third rows slamming into each other. Before long, about all of the Goblins got caught in the mud and toppled over each other.