Jessica's Challenge (Puatera Online Book 5)

by Dawn Chapman

  “Thank you,” I said, stunned and not sure what to do now. I’d expected to need to argue my case, but here I was, being told I was already wanted for the job. Perhaps they also thought I wouldn’t come back, my mind suggested. I fought to suppress a grin at the idea. There was a small chance they were right, of course.

  Over the last few weeks, I’d had plenty of time to think about why the game had given me the quest. It was one of only two I’d ever been offered that hadn’t been player-or NPC-initiated, like the game itself had created it. Whatever the quest was, it was important, and for a lot more than the guild. I just didn’t know how yet.

  Practically bouncing, I hurried off to let my friends know we had another adventure to go on. I knew they’d all be as excited as I was. Our adventures were always action-packed and full of loot. Already we were a well-equipped, wealthy team, and the envy of some of the other guild members. On top of that, I’d been training non-stop with either Aimer or Desiree, learning to fight, hunt, and heal, as well as hone my magic more and more.

  The other members of the party were as excited as I was, having been interested ever since I first mentioned my predecessor’s mysterious disappearance. We’d all been working hard to prepare for the dangers we might find as we tried to follow, and finally, the time had come.

  With everyone wanting time to pack and gather their equipment, I went to say farewell to Desiree. I knew I wasn’t likely to come back. If I found my predecessor alive, then I would rescue him and send him back to the guild, and if he was dead, I’d defeat whatever had killed him and send any of the team who wanted to return back. It was time I found my sisters.

  Desiree was in her kitchen, bottling up a set of potions she’d made.

  “It’s time, then?” she said before I could even open my mouth to greet her.

  “How did you know?” I asked.

  “Your mood. It’s obvious you’ve been preparing for something big, and your determined look this morning made it clear it was going to be today or never. That’s why I finished these.” She held out the bottles to me.

  “Strongest healing potion I can brew,” she explained.

  “Thank you,” I said, tears in my eyes. This woman may just be an NPC, but she’d taken me in and cared for me like I was her daughter. I was going to miss her.

  “Don’t start that sort of thing, dear. I know you need to go find your family. Just make sure you take your plants and seeds with you. You never know if you’ll need them, and we both know you’re not coming back any time soon.”

  I hugged her then, thanking her once more, not quite able to stop the tears tracking down my cheeks.

  “I promise I’ll come visit at some point.”

  “That’s enough, then. I’ve got to go tend to Agatha down the road, so I’ll let you pack.” Desiree had evidently had enough of saying goodbye. She turned from me and grabbed her usual healing bag, trying to wipe her own eyes without me noticing. Letting her go and to save her from more embarrassment, I hurried through to my room.

  I was mostly packed already, but I added the healing potions she’d just handed me to my stash, one for each of the party, and the last of my saplings I clipped into a case that was designed to house them and keep them safe. It was a bulky item, but I could grow any one of the plants inside at a moment’s notice, no matter where I was. With a waterskin, some spare seeds, the two daggers Kaylin had taught me to use and a set of darts and dart tube Seraphin had given me, I had only one thing left to collect.

  I met Aimer on the way back to the guild. He had his pack on his back, with his bow and quiver slung over one shoulder, but in his arms was a large box. The last thing I needed.

  “You’ll want to open this in your office,” he said. I nodded and took it, surprised by how light it was, considering its size. I was desperate to peek inside and see what ingenious method he’d used to piece all the many gems and artefacts I’d acquired into one item, but I restrained myself until we were alone in my office, the door shut.

  I ripped off the lid and gasped. There, in the box, was the most incredible outfit I’d ever clapped eyes on. The material was a wonderful green colour, with what looked like gold thread woven through it. At regular intervals, the gems had been wrought into the gold, and all three of the beautiful artefacts were used to adorn the dress even further.

  “This is amazing, but it must have cost you a fortune,” I said when the shock had worn off.

  “I don’t suppose you’ve noticed, but we’ve amassed quite the fortune. And I’ve been using it sensibly. I even sponsored a few other quests in the guild and made some more money that way. Having this dress made barely touched what I have.”

  I lifted the dress out of the box, grinning at how it shimmered, but it felt far too light with the material and amount of jewellery on it. That’s when I noticed the dress had a stat box of its own. He’d had it charmed to make it weigh less. It would also improve my agility, making me lighter on my feet while wearing it, and was protected from damage itself, although it would only protect me from very minor bumps and bruises. What looked like a cumbersome outfit for fighting was the perfect defensive clothing.

  Aimer encouraged me to put it on, leaving the room to give me privacy. His thoughtfulness made me blush a moment, but then I was too busy changing, eager to wear my new outfit.

  The second the dress was on, landing neatly in place and somehow perfectly fitting, the skirts longer at the back, giving me room to move my feet without tripping, I felt significantly more powerful. Movement was easier, I could sense more of the nature around me, and I felt like I was coursing with energy, an almost visible crackle of it running across me the second I tried to concentrate.

  “Woah,” Aimer said as he came back in. “Not only do you look amazing, you look... amazing.”

  I laughed at his funny way of putting it, but as I looked at him, wanting to thank him again, I truly studied his face. He’d grown as well, his character learning as fast as mine had, and it was evident in the mature elf that stood in front of me. Our eyes locked for half a second, enough to run a thrill up my spine.

  “You know,” he said as we went to join the others, our packs on our backs, “I had no idea I’d make a friend in here. Especially not with someone who wasn’t meant to be here at all.”

  I blushed, wondering just how much he knew about me. Did he know how old I was? Because I knew the minimum age for a genuine player right now was eighteen. He was older than me. Only by a couple of years, but he was older. It didn’t stop my heart fluttering when he looked at me once more. I’d developed a crush.

  At some point in the last few weeks, my heart had found its first love, and I realised I knew almost nothing about him. I sighed, trying to push the feelings away. I had to find my sisters. They needed me, and I couldn’t let my emotions get in the way. There would be time for romantic notions when I was older, when I knew my family was safe.

  “Stay friends, outside, once we’re done in here?” he asked. I nodded instantly, hoping he wasn’t too old, and hoping my mum approved, but I knew she would be able to see this conversation and she’d know he’d been nothing but a gentleman since we’d met. He’d helped me survive, relayed messages between us, and spent hours helping me work out a way to find my sisters. We couldn’t not be friends when all this was over. I owed him so much.

  Neither of us got the opportunity to say any more as Terris soon noticed us, heading to the main hall as well, his pack slung on his back and his sword at his waist. Just like Aimer and me, he’d upgraded his equipment significantly, his shield now larger, lighter and charmed. The sword was still the one the raedwulf had given him, although he’d made additions, having the local blacksmith work several enchanted gems into the hilt.

  We found Kaylin next, or rather she found us, swishing back her cloak to reveal herself, the thin layer of material, waterproof and hard to focus on, making a person have to concentrate to see her and keep seeing her. If you took your eyes off her and she moved, it was
difficult to find her again. The perfect cloak for a rogue, rendering her almost invisible.

  Seraphin and Jentin were waiting in the main hall. I watched Jentin give Seraphin a small pouch of some kind of powder.

  “This should give those bullets a boost,” he said, giving her a rare smile as he handed it over. “Just keep it dry.”

  “That’s not a problem,” she replied, stuffing it into a special section of her pack. It was charmed, as well, and waterproof. Of all of us, she travelled the lightest, which was probably fitting considering her size. Jentin was carrying many different types of powders, vials and small packets, some of them strange, but all of them useful—at least that was his story.

  I noticed he struggled to lift his pack, however, despite its charm to make it lighter, and despite the strength his physical body was capable of. He was by far our most physically strong team member. Given his maturity and experience, he was a good person to have along, but over the weeks, Aimer and I had caught up, and these days he tended to defer to our leadership more than not, something that seemed to suit him more.

  “Right, everyone ready?” I asked, looking at them one by one in turn as they nodded or voiced their consent and added themselves to the party system. I didn’t have to tell them I wasn’t coming back, and that this quest was the important one, either. They knew, and it was evident in their stern looks and the way they set their jaws—determined, confident, willing to see it through.

  With the formalities all out of the way, we set off. It was finally time.

  Chapter 11

  We’d been walking through the forest to the east of the village for the best part of a day, occasionally seeing glimpses of our friends, the raedwulf pack. It seemed they’d decided to come with us for at least part of this quest, despite us not having invited them. It was possible they sensed the importance of our quest.

  Remarkably, no one was complaining of hurting feet or tired limbs. Although the walk had been fairly easy, we’d barely stopped for lunch, and had left fairly early in the day. All of us had improved our fitness and were used to walking together, silence reigning more often than not.

  “Do you think we’ll find him alive?” Terris asked suddenly.

  “I hope so,” I replied. “But something has prevented his return, if so.”

  “The world has been changing lots lately,” Jentin piped up. “Strange things happening. Rumours. It points to him being alive but involved in something. He was powerful, wasn’t he?”

  “Very, from what I’ve been told.”

  “Then I doubt he’s dead.” Jentin’s words seemed to settle the matter, but I didn’t find them as comforting as he intended. If Cale was as powerful as the guild had led me to believe, then something incredibly dangerous must have prevented him from returning for so long. And that meant we were walking into a world of trouble.

  We arrived at the first of our destinations in the next hour, and with what was left of daylight, Jentin and I sat down with the map and the strange device I’d borrowed from the guild to work out where we needed to go next. A set of lines had been carved into a standing stone. When the device was placed in the middle and the levers positioned correctly, it gave coordinates for a new location.

  I had three sets of positions to try, one for each of the three locations we needed to find. I just didn’t know which was which, so I set all three, letting Jentin mark the coordinates on our map for all of them.

  Thankfully, it was clear which ones we were meant to be following. One just didn’t work, trying to lead us somewhere off the known maps of Puatera, the other was simply too far away, on another continent, leaving the third option I’d tried. We had our next destination, just outside a small village two days’ travel northwards.

  It was only as we were packing the kit back into our bags that I noticed a symbol on the base of the standing stone. It matched the one on the totem around the raedwulf leader’s neck, and on the building we’d sheltered in the first adventure we’d been on. I grinned, feeling lighter for seeing it. No wonder the raedwulf had followed us all day. We were still in their territory.

  While Jentin and I had been working away, the others had been making a fire and hunting, and they soon returned, two of them carrying a deer-like creature between them and grinning from ear to ear.

  I grabbed a couple of small root vegetables I had stowed in my pack and quickly planted them, watering them with some water that Jentin had fetched from a nearby stream. By the time I’d used my magic to grow the veg, the deer was gutted and beginning to cook.

  As I’d expected, the raedwulf appeared not long after—only four of them, three members of the pack and their leader. Few enough we could share the remainder of the deer with them.

  Everyone ate their fill and agreed on a watch. Despite the raedwulf, we would keep a lookout for danger. We’d been ambushed too many times to forget to be careful.

  I could almost sense the disappointment when nothing happened all night, all the following day and all the night after. We merely walked, plodding along and making our way to the next destination.

  Once more, we found a standing stone, this one more difficult to spot, a bramble thicket having grown up around it. A few swift chops of Terris’ sword soon helped clear them out of the way, and then I was placing the device on a pedestal once more. This time I only had two patterns to try, and I was infinitely more practised.

  Within a minute we had two more coordinates, but neither of these were so obvious. Both were close enough, within a day or two’s journey, and both were in sensible directions. One going west, and the other farther east, past the village nearby.

  “Which one should we try first?” I asked, unable to choose.

  “Let’s go to the village,” Aimer suggested. They might have seen the one to the east, and we could sleep in real beds tonight.

  It was sound logic, and everyone else liked the idea. I didn’t have the heart to disagree, although it meant leaving our raedwulf companions behind, at least until we were on the other side of the village.

  I bit my lip as we trudged towards the small sign of civilization, several stone-built houses sitting in a clearing, wondering if we were doing the right thing, but once more, the same strange symbol came to my eyes, adorned into the roof stone of the inn. It seemed whoever had built the standing stones had also built this village. Hope rushed back into my heart.

  I led us into the inn. The chatter inside died out the minute we were spotted. Every head turned to stare, some mouths agape, before they all started talking again at once. We were feeling more than a little conspicuous dressed the way we were in what was evidently a peaceful farming town. Plenty of men and women were dressed in sensible, hard-wearing clothes, rubber boots on their feet, and dogs sitting beside them.

  The bartender greeted us happily enough, but his every word was an unspoken question. They wanted to know who we were and if we were here to cause any trouble.

  “We’re just passing through,” I said after ordering and paying for drink and food for everyone, making no mention of wanting beds yet. I’d see how friendly they were first. “We’re searching for a friend of ours, and we know he came through here a few months ago.”

  “Oh, aye, there was a fellow who might be the one. Guy called Cale,” the portly chap replied. “We don’t get many visitors, you see, and well, he looked like one of your type, no offence meant.”

  “None taken. Cale is who we’re looking for. He never returned. We’re hoping to find him and get him home.”

  “Then talk to Jefferson and his wife over there. They gave him directions to some old monument just off their land.”

  “That’s perfect, thank you,” I said, letting him direct us to the right people. While the others waited for their food at one of the only free tables, I wandered over to the people the bartender had pointed out.

  “Sorry to bother you, but I’m looking for a friend called Cale, and I understand you gave him some directions.”

  “Oh, ye
ah, gangly fellow with a strange way of talking. Was looking for one of those large stone things. There’s a few around here, but he seemed most interested in one to the east,” the guy replied.

  “One to the east?” I asked. The woman nodded.

  “Yup, although it’s not easy to find now. The river changed paths not long before he came looking. No idea why, messed up our irrigation something proper at the same time, but it’s now almost entirely submerged.”

  “That’s okay, I think we can handle that.” I smiled at them and turned to walk away.

  “You know, that’s exactly what he said.” The man gave me a strange look but said no more. I considered asking for more information but someone else spoke to him, dragging his attention away from me, and a waitress brought six plates of steaming hot food out. I returned to my friends, deciding we’d find out first thing in the morning.

  Although no one said much of consequence to us and we gave as few details about ourselves away as they did, the villagers seemed friendly enough. We felt safe enough to stay the night, booking three rooms between us. I shared with Kaylin, surprised Seraphin and Jentin were happy to share and wondering if something was blossoming between them. I couldn’t blame them if it was.

  The next morning we set out early, eating breakfast before many other people were up, and setting off before the sun was fully up. The birds chirped and sounded friendly enough, making me wonder what we’d find.

  As the farmers had said, the river must have changed course recently, a dry river bed becoming obvious on the other side of the village. A river mill stood useless against it, showing what the change had done for the village’s life. About half a mile farther east, we found the new river path, through more of the forest.

  Walking north along it, towards the coordinates we had for it, we could see the destruction this new path had caused. Many trees were slowly rotting in the middle of it, even some areas that had evidently been farmland had needed to be shored up and have the banks raised to stop them flooding. I frowned, wondering what must have done this and considering putting it right.