by Jake Bible
Five minutes, ten minutes, twenty minutes passed before Coz finally stopped and held up a fist. I knew the universal sign for hold and froze in place along with the others.
Coz opened a small pouch on his belt and dug around inside it with his fingers until he found what he was looking for. He tossed out a sprinkle of dust and a bright gold circle was illuminated in the center of the path. Then the dust dissipated and the circle faded back into nothing.
He didn’t approach the spot where the circle had been. Instead, he knelt in the dirt and starting digging with his hands until he had a decent-sized hole. Then he wet a finger, dipped it in the pile of dirt he’d made, and tasted it. He grimaced, which wasn’t surprising, and stood back up to face us.
“Alright,” Coz said. “This is how we’re going to handle this.”
He rubbed his hands together over and over, his head bobbing up and down.
“Coz?” Trish asked. “You okay?”
“Nope,” Coz said. “Not okay. None of us are.”
“That sucks,” I said.
“Yeah,” Kip agreed.
“You were about to tell us how we are going to handle this?” Sandra said.
“I was,” Coz said. “Here’s the thing, and I apologize for not noticing it before, but we’ve already sprung the trap. We’ve been in it since we stepped foot in the forest. Really, the whole place is a trap.”
“What was that circle?” I asked. “That wasn’t the trap?”
“That? No way,” Coz said. “That is the middle of the trap. We’re standing almost dead center.”
“How will we handle this?” Ming asked. “Coz? Please continue your assessment of our predicament.”
“You bet,” Coz said. “Here’s the thing: I’ve been in a trap like this before. It’s no big deal. Bubby was right and all we have to do is complete our task and we’ll be free to continue on our true quest.”
“What’s the task?” Trish asked. “Coz? What’s the goddamn task?”
Several branches snapped and a low, ominous growl seemed to come from everywhere.
“That,” Coz said. “The Beast.”
“The Beast? No problem,” I said. “We’ve got at least one beauty here to chill him out.”
I laughed. No one else did.
“You are a fool, adventurer,” a deep voice said from all around us. “You walk into my forest and dare to mock my power? You will die a fool’s death.”
“My mom said the same thing about me when I was fifteen,” I said. “What a coincidence, right?”
“Steve, please stop,” Sandra whispered.
“Listen to your better,” the Beast said. “For she has given you wise advice.”
“Uh, hey there, Beast,” Coz said. He slowly withdrew a knife for each hand and held them down close to his thighs. “Remember me? It’s Coz.”
“The name is not familiar, but your smell is,” the Beast said.
There was still no sign of the creature. All I could hear was his voice and the occasional snapping of a branch.
“Dude, my bad,” Coz said. “I went by the name Mal before.”
“Mal?” the Beast asked. “Yes… The Thief that stole my fire.”
“Stole his fire?” I asked.
“Long story, different quest,” Coz said. He cleared his throat. “I kind of needed that fire. Here’s the thing, Beast, I actually have it on me. Give me a second.”
He pointed at a pouch on his belt with one of his knives. Trish sighed and went over to him then dug in the pouch.
“Ow!” she cried as she yanked her hand out, all of her fingers engulfed in flames.
She started to wave her free hand over the flames, but Coz hissed at her. She glared and he glared back then jabbed a knife left. Trish shook her head and pouted, but kept the flames going on her fingers.
“See,” Coz said. “Your fire is right here. I was thinking we could make a trade.”
“I do not barter,” the Beast said. “I take what I want, when I want. You are in my forest, Mal.”
“Coz,” Coz said.
“I care not for your name, mortal creature of small stature,” the Beast said. “You are in my forest. You will give me back my fire or I will kill you and your friends.”
“Small stature?” Coz mumbled. “What’s that about? I’m skinny, but not short.”
“What happens when we give you the fire?” I asked. “Do we get to leave?”
“No, you get to die,” the Beast said.
“Shut up, Steve,” Coz said.
“So, we die no matter what happens, right?” I asked.
“Yes,” the Beast said. “But if you give me back my fire, I will make your deaths quick and painless.”
“I don’t think so,” I said and drew the Dark Blade.
Everyone started shouting at me.
“That blade will be mine!” the Beast roared as he crashed through the trees towards us. “I have sought that blade for eternity!”
Several trees in front of me cracked and snapped in half and suddenly there he was. The Beast. He was goddamn huge.
What, maybe fifteen feet tall and almost as wide? Yeah, close to that. He was all wiry black fur with razor-sharp claws and huge pointy teeth and fire-red eyes and ugly, so much ugly, and he stank like a skunk crapped itself and oh shit I screwed up!
I hate this game so much.
The Beast leapt at me, his massive clawed hands reaching for the Dark Blade. I dove and rolled under him, coming up slashing blindly like I was a maniac trying to kill a mosquito that was buzzing around me at supersonic speeds. I must have looked like a complete freak.
The Beast cried out and hit the ground with a hard thud.
“Dude, did you get him?” Coz asked from behind a tree.
I don’t blame him for hiding; he was a Master Thief and hiding was his thing when combat got crazy nuts. The others weren’t hiding. They were casting spells, hands glowing various colors according to said spells. Except for Sandra who stood there with her dagger out and ready.
Hit. Enemy’s health depleted by 3%.
Oh no…
Oh no, oh no, oh no.
The hit didn’t do jack which meant the Beast was a quest boss. Kind of like a level boss, but more RPGy instead of actiony. It makes sense in my head.
Enemy preparing for another—
A quick check of my Preferences and I shut that shit off.
There was no way I was going through EverRealm with a running recap of everything I did or was done to me. I had an aunt like that. All she did was narrate her movements. “Going to the kitchen,” “Taking the OJ out of the fridge,” “Found a glass.” I’m not kidding. She’d tell you she was turning a page when she read a magazine. Drove me batshit nuts. I disliked EverRealm enough as it was.
“You,” the Beast growled, shaking the ground just with its voice. “You!”
He was up and swinging at me before I could even track movement. Then I was flying through the air. Then, after the flying was done, I was slamming into a tree. After that came the pain and the hurting. With falling. I was falling, too.
See? I could narrate my own demise; I didn’t need the game to do it.
“Shit,” I groaned as I prayed that all of my limbs still worked and my back wasn’t broken.
“I will have that blade!” the Beast roared as he stomped over to me.
He was reaching for me when a yellow streak of light hit him in the side of his ever-so-ugly face. He cried out and spun around, his mouth open and all those nasty teeth dripping with slimy saliva.
“Who dares attack me?” the Beast snarled.
“We do,” Ming announced. He stood his ground, hands glowing yellow, with Kip and Trish standing behind him. “We do not want to fight, mighty Beast. All we ask is that we are allowed to leave the forest unharmed. We meant no offense.”
“Your presence is an offense,” the Beast said and laughed. “Your very birth upon this plane of existence is an offense! You should be wiped from the records of
history and—!”
He grunted and fell to a knee. A low groan of pain escaped his disgusting lips and he reached over his shoulder to pull something from his back.
By the light that Ming, Kip, and Trish were giving off from the spells on their hands, I could see a dagger. Sandra’s dagger.
“You…stabbed me,” the Beast said, shocked. “This blade pierced my…hide. How…?”
He fell forward and only managed not to collapse onto his face by putting out a hand. He was struggling to breathe and shook his head over and over.
“What magic…is this?” the Beast asked.
“Love,” Sandra said as she cautiously approached the struggling Beast. “My dagger will always find its target if the attack is righteous and clean. Your desire to kill my friends was your undoing.”
The Beast snarled then coughed up a thick black liquid. It splattered across the ground and splashed up onto Ming, Kip, and Trish.
“Dammit,” Trish complained. “Beast puke is so hard to get out.”
“You mock my demise, mortal bitch?” the Beast growled.
“Hey there! Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Coz shouted and came out from behind his tree. “No need for that, dude! No need for that at all!”
He marched towards the Beast, his knives at the ready, but Sandra held out a hand and he stopped.
“I have this, Coz, thank you,” Sandra said and moved closer to the Beast.
The huge creature snarled at her, but didn’t have the strength to attack. The dagger fell from its grip and Sandra picked it up, moving back only a couple of steps before sitting cross-legged on the ground.
“I can heal you,” Sandra said.
“Ha!” the Beast said with a snort. “Why would you do that when your aim was to kill me?”
“My aim was to stop you,” Sandra said. “I am not a killer. Not unless I am forced to be.”
The Beast turned its massive head and regarded her with its fire-red eyes for a second then nodded.
“I see truth in you,” the Beast said. He sighed deeply. “Why are you here, Priestess? Why have you broken the tranquility of my beautiful forest?”
I glanced around. Not sure what tranquility and beauty he was talking about. More like spooky as hell and more than a little creepy.
“The Oracle instructed us to,” Sandra said. She dug around in a pouch and held out her hand. The Beast shook his head. “Take it. Please.”
“I will not ease your conscience, Priestess,” the Beast said. “My death will be on your soul for all eternity.”
“That is your choice,” Sandra said. “Before you die, though, we need to know our true quest. What are we here to learn from you?”
The Beast laughed. It was weak for him, but still shook the ground.
“I have no reason to help you,” the Beast said.
“Then you will die with dishonor and your soul will be eternally trapped in limbo,” Sandra said. “Is that the fate you want, noble Beast?”
“Your flattery skills are impressive,” the Beast said. “But futile.”
Sandra dug in a different pouch and came out with a handful of glittery powder. She blew it in the Beast’s face, and he howled with pain and rage then collapsed onto his glittered face.
“You…bitch,” the Beast said then sighed out his last breath.
“Damn,” I said and finally risked moving. I got to my feet and sheathed the Dark Blade. “You killed—”
Sandra held up a hand and I shut up.
“Beast,” she said in almost a whisper. “Can you hear me?”
“Yesssss,” the Beast hissed.
“Fuck me,” Trish said then shut up as Kip slapped her shoulder.
“Beast, we must know what our true quest is,” Sandra said. “The Oracle has sent us on this path and we must complete our journey.”
“The Oracle liessssssss,” the Beast hissed.
“That is true,” Sandra replied.
“I would disagree with that statement,” Ming said. “The Oracle is above telling lies.”
Kip punched him in the arm. He shut up.
“Our quest, Beast. What is it?” Sandra continued.
“Are you sssssssssssssssure knowledge is your wishhhhhhhh?” the Beast asked.
“Please,” Sandra said.
“The Great Jewel of Rissssssssssing is your true quesssssssssst,” the Beast hissed. “Find the Jewel and you will control all that have passssssssssed.”
“Does that mean we will control the dead?”
“Yessssss.”
“Including the Lich King?”
“Yessss. And ssssssso many more.”
“Where can we find the Great Jewel of Rising?”
“It will find you when you find it,” the Beast said and then melted into the ground.
He melted. Like the Wicked Witch of the West. A nasty, stinking, puddle of yuck right there on the forest floor.
Sandra stood up and looked at all of us.
“Was that helpful?” Coz asked her.
“I believe it was,” Sandra said.
“Then, uh, what’s the plan?” Trish asked. “Because he didn’t exactly give us a direction.”
“He was not here to give us a direction, but show us our true quest,” Ming said. “We continue on to Jackal Mountain as before and let the Great Jewel of Rising find us as we find it.”
“What is it?” I asked. “This jewel? I haven’t heard of it before.” I waved a hand at them. “I know, I know, not surprising. Steve doesn’t know about the Jewel of Rising. Ha ha ha.”
None of them laughed.
“Wait,” I said. “You guys don’t know what it is either, do you?”
“It is new to me,” Ming admitted.
“Never heard of it, dude,” Coz said.
“Yeah,” Kip said.
Trish and Sandra shook their heads.
“Oh, snap,” I said. “Now you all know how I feel half the time!”
I was going to say more, but that’s when the Ghost of the Beast came roaring up out of the puddle of yuck. My words may have turned into a startled scream.
Nineteen
Battle spells were being fired left and right as we ran. And, man, did we run.
Turned out that the Ghost of the Beast was not only a lot stinkier than the living version of the damned creature, but it was also close to impervious to our attacks. It being a ghost and all.
“That should have turned it into stone!” Trish yelled as she threw a bright green streak of lightning at the ghost. “What the fuck, Ming?”
“Why are you yelling at me?” Ming asked as he sprinted around a clump of bushes that had thorns almost as long as my arm on them. His robes snagged, but he didn’t slow down, and they ripped up one side. “How is yelling at me going to help our situation?”
“This is your goddamn Domain!” Trish shouted. “You can access the back end and find out why our spells aren’t working on it!”
“Yeah!” Kip yelled as he ducked under a low branch, spun about on his heels, and threw a handful of flashing orbs at the ghost.
The ghost swallowed the orbs and belched then gave a thunderous laugh, not slowing one bit.
“I would, but I cannot access the back end of this Domain while being pursued by a non-corporeal threat!” Ming yelled. “I need calm and focus!”
“How about everyone shuts up and we just run our asses off?” I shouted. “We’ll figure it out later! Right now, we need to get out of this forest!”
“Steve is right!” Sandra yelled. “The ghost will be tied to the forest! If we can get out, then it cannot pursue us!”
“This way!” Coz shouted as he turned left and sprinted down a barely visible path. “I think I see light up ahead!”
I tried to make the turn, but my feet gave out from under me and fell right on my ass, sliding across the dead leaves and needles into the trunk of a not very soft tree.
The rest of the group was already about ten yards gone before I felt a sharp and freezing cold pain stab throu
gh my chest. I gasped and looked over my shoulder to see the Ghost of the Beast standing over me, one of its ethereal claws jammed into my back. It yanked it out and a golden mist came with it.
Character Health depleted by 23%.
Goddammit. I turned that off! Oh, and goddammit, that hurt like hell!
It struck again, but I rolled out of the way and the claw pierced the tree’s bark. I watched in horror as the tree shriveled, swayed, then began to topple towards me. I scrambled up onto my feet, which I could barely keep under me as my vision swam. I was able to stumble a few feet back as the tree fell, creating enough of a barrier, and distraction, for me to pull the Dark Blade.
The Ghost of the Beast hissed at me and froze where it stood. Or floated. Whatever.
That’s when I noticed that the blade was glowing a bright blue. Like that blue in the brightest part of a flame just before it becomes white hot. The Ghost of the Beast stared at the blade, its eyes locked on the glowing light.
“Yesssss,” it said. “Yesssss. The Dark Blade will be mine.”
Well, shit.
I swiped at it as it moved through the fallen tree and straight for the blade. The ghost howled when the blade struck its ethereal form. Spectral blood splattered the trees and began to eat through them like acid. The part of the Dark Blade that had come in contact with the Ghost of the Beast dimmed to a deep indigo. That wasn’t good.
So, I ran again as the Ghost of the Beast leapt at me. He half-collided, half-melted through another tree, but I didn’t wait around to see what happened to that poor oak or maple or whatever kind it was. I did hear it cracking and falling behind me as I ran my Ranger ass off.
I prayed I was headed in the right direction. Tree after tree behind me was being destroyed at a rate that said the Ghost of the Beast wasn’t even trying to go around them. He was barreling through, right on my butt. Then I saw a light up ahead and dug deep, putting all of my energy into my legs. Rangers can run, so I had that going for me.
But, my Health wasn’t exactly topped off, and just as I reached the edge of the forest, the Ghost of the Beast maybe a few feet behind me, my legs started to give out. I could feel them failing and I wasn’t sure I was going to make it.