by Edward Brody
Take this time to reflect on your choices.
Chapter Thirty
1/24/0001
Surrounded by black and encompassed by nothingness, I cursed myself. All that work… All that the fucking work! All of it was for nothing!
I had cut off heads, cut out hearts, helped capture and kill Reborns—all for Satorin—all so I could just get back home to my guild. And before all that, I was stuck in a slave camp eating something foul and performing slave labor. Now, I was going to respawn in that tiny-ass sand prison with nothing but my unburdening bag. I was going to have to start all over and find an alternate way to get back to Edgewood. There was no way I’d ever be able to get back into the Bloodletter Keep, and if any of them saw me again, it would give away I was a Reborn, and I’d be hunted down and killed over and over.
Damnit!
I wanted to scream, but all I could do was persist in that dark silent place.
“Gunnar!” someone yelled. “Get up, Gunnar!”
Huh?
The black surrounding quickly faded away, and the stone of the hidden passage inside the Bloodletter’s Keep began to materialize in front of me. I looked at my hands, and I could feel them again. I looked to my stat bars, and I saw that I was sitting at 40% health, mana, and stamina, but all the buff icons were gone. I still felt injured at various places on my body, but somehow, I was alive.
You are bleeding and require medical attention. Bleeding is a damage-over-time effect.
Was I caught in a glitch? I wondered.
Behind me, Maleena was screaming as one of the guards held her down tightly by the shoulders, and Rina was ducking and dodging the corporals flail, smacking him with quick, ineffective swings of her staff.
I had no idea what was going on or how I was alive, but there wasn’t much time for me to think about it or both Rina and Maleena was going to get killed or captured.
My sword was lying next to me, so I quickly grabbed it and focused on Boiling Blood. Heat swelled in my body allowing me to ignore much of the pain, and I rushed ahead as fast as I could, diving my sword in the back of the guard who was holding Maleena against the wall.
The man jerked, and let go of Maleena as I pulled the blade out, and when he spun around, I slashed my sword across his throat.
Rina smacked the corporal with her stick and ducked, only to get a rising knee from him to her chest. She flew back a bit at the blow, coughed and stumbled, but managed to stay on her feet.
I zoomed by the corporal as he moved forward to attack Rina, slashing the side of his chest. He tried to turn in the direction of the attack, but by then, I was already behind him, swiping my sword against his back. I flanked to his side again and shot a Fireblast, causing him to stagger sideways, and finally I took a step back and swung my sword hard, releasing an Arcane Slash towards his chest.
The wave of magic sped towards the corporal and blasted into his chestpiece, knocking him back and causing him to slide onto the ground. I rushed forward, not giving Boiling Blood the opportunity to expire, and saw that his breastplate had finally been split at the front, and a large gaping wound was bleeding through his chest.
The corporal’s body twitched and his mouth was bubbling with saliva, but all movement stopped when I dove my sword down into his heart.
You are bleeding and require medical attention. Bleeding is a damage-over-time effect.
I sheathed my sword and lurched to the side of the wall, exhausted, and feeling my pain heighten as Boiling Blood started to end.
Behind me, I could hear Maleena crying, and when I turned, she was crouched on the floor with her knees to her chest.
Rina secured her staff to her back and limped over to me as I fell down to down to one knee, breathing heavily. “Stay still,” she said. She placed her hand on the side of my face and stomach and a strange tingly feeling started to sooth my pain.
“You’re bleeding,” I said, noticing a deep cut on her shoulder.
“Mine isn’t bad, and I’m almost out of mana. Let me tend to you first,” she said softly.
“What happened?” I asked. “I thought I died.”
“You did,” she explained. “You’re lucky I had enough mana to resurrect you.”
“You can rez?”
“Well, I am a healer, Gunnar.” She raised a shoulder. “Or at least I was before I wound up here.”
I let out a heavy sigh. “Thank you.”
Rina smiled. “Your bleeding has stopped.” She stood up, raised a hand, and healing magic surrounded me. When she was done casting the spell, her head slunk down and she looked drained. “My mana is spent.”
I stood up to my feet and hurried towards Maleena. “Are you okay?”
She nodded and sniffled. “That was awful. I thought they killed you, and everyone was fighting, and everyone’s blood, and everyone—“
“Hey,” I interrupted, kneeling and placing my hand on her shoulder. “One more room and we’re out of here, okay? Once we’re out of the keep you won’t have to see anything like this again.”
She sniffled again and swallowed before giving a slight nod. I stood back up and offered my hand which she accepted, and I pulled her back to her feet.
“I ran out of stones,” she said.
I smiled. “I think that’s okay. The dragon in the next room is chained, and the old man might not even be there.”
“We should meditate first,” Rina said. “My mana is out and you’re low. It’s too dangerous to move on like this.”
“Do we have time?” I asked. “I sort of lost track.”
“They’ve probably started looking for us by now,” Maleena said.
“Then let’s go!” I urged.
“Thirty seconds, Gunnar,” Rina countered. “No mana, no heals… I’ll be as worthless as—” Her eyes glanced at Maleena, but then strayed to the corner as she caught her words. “I’ll be worthless.”
“Okay,” I said. “Let’s meditate then, fast.”
Rina and I both got in a sitting position, and Rina seemed to fall into a trancelike state immediately. I closed my eyes and focused on meditating, focused on blankness, emptiness… I focused and focused and focused and focused. I focused on reaching a state of—
“Okay, done!” Rina suddenly said.
“Uh, what?” I asked, opening one of my eyes.
“Hey, you didn’t meditate?” she asked. “It’s been thirty seconds.”
I looked to my mana bar and it had barely moved. “Damnit, my meditation skill is too low. It’ll take me a while to get it.”
“We don’t have time,” Maleena said.
Rina shook her head. “Yeah, thirty seconds was pushing it. I think you’ll have to work with what you’ve got.”
I nodded. I had about 30% of my mana left which was enough for me to cast some Arcane Missiles, a few Fireblasts, or a single Arcane Slash. If I had to use any more magic, I’d have to do so sparingly.
“The bodies first,” I said, motioning towards the dead guards.
I checked the corporal while the Maleena and Rina checked the other two.
You’ve received: 790 Gold Pieces
Dampening Necklace. Requires 15 Intelligence. Durability: 6/10. Quality: Exceptional. Rarity: Uncommon. Weight: 0.2 kg. +10% Resistance to Arcane Magic
Flamboyant Chained Belt. +12 Armor. Durability: 8/10. Quality: Average. Rarity: Common. Weight: 0.2kg +5% critical chance. +1 Charisma
Sadist’s Ring. Requires 25 Strength. Durability: 7/10. Quality: Average. Rarity: Epic. Weight: 0.1 kg. +10 Willpower. +5 Vitality
Schematic: Giant’s Potion. [Magic Potion. Grants 500 Health for 1 Hour.] Requires 28 Intelligence. Requires Alchemy Lvl 20. Requires: 1 Bloodmoss, 2 Harpy’s Tails, 1 Ogre’s Toenail. Durability: 7/10. Quality: Average. Rarity: Epic. Weight: 0.1 kg
The items that I looted from the corporal were great, but I immediately started to panic when I didn’t see a door key.
“Door key?” I asked. “Did the other guys have a door key?”
“Not this one,” Maleena said.
Rina shook her head. “No key, but this one has a lockpick.”
“A lockpick?” I groaned.
“Yeah, but I do have a magic unlock spell. I can try to open the door with it if it’s not too strong of a lock.”
“Yeah, of course,” I said, motioning to the door.
There was the patter of footsteps somewhere in the distance, and we all looked back at the door behind us.
“Hurry!” Maleena said.
Rina approached the door and held her hand out to the lock, and an aura of light began to glow out of the opening. There was a slight click, and then another click, giving me hope that the lock had unlocked, but a few seconds later, Rina dropped her arms and shook her head. “The lock is above my skill.”
“Can you lockpick?” I asked.
Rina shook her head.
I looked to Maleena just in case, but she confirmed my suspicion that she had no skill at all.
“Give me the pick,” I said. “I guess I’ll have to try.”
Rina passed me the lockpick, and I took a deep breath as I approached the lock. I was only level 2 in lockpicking, and I hadn’t tried to pick anything since my failure to pick the lock in The Vale. In fact, I had destroyed a whole bundle of lockpicks during that little adventure, so I had no idea how I was going to pick the door with a single pick.
I knelt down a gave the lockpick one quick, hopeful look before sticking it in the keyhole. I immediate felt the pressure of the pins lifting as I pushed it deeper inside. 1, 2, 3, 4 pins, I counted.
I closed my eyes, focusing the tip of the lockpick on the furthest pin and began to apply a downward pressure to the end of my pick to cause the other end to rise. I pressed slowly until the there was a slight clicking noise and immediately moved to the next pin. I moved faster, knowing that if I took too long, the first pin would drop and the lockpick would break, and as I pushed the pin up, I would’ve sworn the amount of pressure that I had to apply to the pick to get it up was going to make it break anyway.
But then there was a click.
“Two more,” I whispered.
“Come on, Gunnar,” Maleena said and placed her hand on my shoulder.
“Ehhh, probably not a good idea to touch me right now,” I said.
Maleena jerked away and sulked. “Sorry…”
There was another patter of footsteps coming from somewhere and my heart began to pound.
The third pin clicked.
“One more…”
I quickly moved the lockpick to the last pin, and this time I just started lifting the pin as hurriedly as I could, putting all my attention on releasing the pressure at the exact moment it snapped in without pressing too far. I had made it too far, and the stakes were too high for me lose everything by moving a single stupid pin a millisecond too slow or pressing it in a millimeter too far.
Click!
You have reached level 3 in Lockpicking!
I realized I had been holding my breath when I heard the door unlock, and I started to pant for air, elated and shocked that I finally managed to pick a lock… with a single lockpick even. “I did it…” I muttered. “I can’t believe I did it.”
“Good job,” Rina said and quickly grabbed my shoulder. “Now get up, hero. We’ve got to move fast.”
I smiled, and it felt like it was first time that I had legitimately smiled in a long time. I kissed the lockpick and stuck it in my pocket… I made a vow that if we managed to get out of that keep alive, I’d either keep the pick in my pocket as a good luck charm or I’d frame it and hang it on the wall in Edgewood Village.
Chapter Thirty-One
1/24/0001
I purposely didn’t cast a round of Divine Sight on our group, not only because I was running out of mana, but because I thought the sight of Ragul—the dragon—might be too much for Maleena to handle after her breakdown in the other room. I was hoping that the dragon was hiding in its quiet corner, and we might be able to sneak past it without either of the ladies getting startled.
When we entered the room, it was as I remembered, and though given that it was nighttime, rather than a faint light coming from the tiny windows in the room, there were several candles lit all around the table filled with alchemy pieces. The left side was still blacked out, so no dragon could be seen, and I saw no sign of Noriega.
I smiled and whispered, “Looks like it’s clear.” I entered sneak mode and motioned for my two companions to follow me towards the massive door that was on the other side.
Several seconds later, we were all at the door, and it looked like we were home free without any additional trouble. The lock for the door was on the inside, so it immediately unlatched when I pulled on its handle. I tugged with all my power, but the door budged less than an inch. Maleena and Rina grabbed with me, and we all started to pull at the same time, barely moving it a centimeter more with each pull.
“That door is a pain in the ass, isn’t it?” a hoarse voice said from behind us. We all turned at once, and walking towards us was Noriega, dressed in the same grey robe as before.
We all yanked at the door handle one more time, but realizing that Noriega would close in on us before we could get the door open, I let go and reached for my sword.
Rina pulled the staff off her back, and Maleena ducked behind us.
You have failed to inspect your target!
You have failed to inspect your target!
“Is that Satorin’s ex-woman I see? Maleena? What on Earth are you doing down here?”
Maleena answered with silence.
Noriega sighed. “No matter, I suppose. But it’s nice to see you again. I guess it’s been since, what? Since Lord Dryden took you under his wing and Satorin tucked his tail and disappeared?” Noriega snapped his tongue against the roof of us mouth. “I’m pretty sure that Dryden’s going to be very, very upset when he finds you down here.”
“Just let us go,” I said sternly. “We don’t want to fight you. We just want to leave.”
“Ohhh,” Noriega whined. “You know I can’t do that, don’t you?” He shook his head in disappointment. “And I find it rather sad that Dryden gave a new recruit so many special privileges, but this is how you repay him?” He waved a finger in the air at me. “I told him not to be so trusting!”
“Why do you care?” Rina asked.
Noriega looked stunned at the question. “I could care less about any of you, actually. I just serve Lord Dryden.”
“Continue to serve him then,” I said finally. “We’re leaving!” I held my hand out and shot a Fireblast in his direction.
Noriega seemed totally unsurprised and uninterested in the Fireblast I had just cast towards him, and when the blast was just about to strike his body, a blue-hued translucent shield appeared in front of him to absorb the blow then instantly disappeared.
Again, I held out my hand, this time casting Arcane Missile, but again, when the blast was just about to strike, a magical shield appeared to absorb the blow and quickly faded away.
Rina held out her staff, and a beam of light shot down from above, but it simply ricocheted away when the translucent shield materialized right above him.
There was a rustling of chains, a couple patters of heavy feet, and suddenly the dragon emerged from the darkness, poking its head into the lit area. It moved its eyes from left to right, inspecting us all, and then it laid its head flat on the ground, blinking sleepily.
“Oh, look what you’ve done now,” Noriega scolded. “You’ve woken Ragul.”
Maleena gripped the back of my chest piece and Rina looked on with wide eyes and a slack jaw. “You weren’t lying… the dragon’s real.”
There was the sound of more shuffling coming from somewhere outside the room and the low muffle of people’s voices.
“That must be Dryden’s men searching for you ladies now. I imagine this is the last place they’ll check, considering it’s accessed through a secret wall, but they’ll be here soon. I doubt
that Dryden will allow you to return to the harem now that you know of this place. The consequences will be—”
I gripped my sword tightly and started running towards Noriega as fast as I could.
Noriega smiled, held his palm towards me, and a strange bolt of grey, twisted energy erupted from his fingertips, striking me in the chest. All the air was knocked out of my lungs, and for a moment, I felt like my heart had stopped. My health was knocked down to 50% with a single blow.
The impact threw me back the several feet I had ran, and I was right at the feet of Maleena and Rina again.
Rina raised her staff, but before she could attempt an attack, Noriega held up another hand and a completely transparent prism of energy appeared all around us.
Rina slammed the prism with her staff, and it bounced right off. She hit it with her hand and nothing happened.
I picked myself up off the ground, swung my sword at the prism, but just like Rina’s staff, my sword just bounced off. I reached my hand out and cast an Arcane Missile at the prism, and it just bounced back and disappeared.
“Don’t waste your energy,” Noriega said. “That prismic cell is immune to any and all physical and magical attacks. You’re trapped there, I’m afraid, until Dryden’s men arrive.”
We all looked at each other, our hopelessness beginning to rise.
“What do we do?” Rina asked.
“I don’t know…” I muttered.
“I don’t want to die,” Maleena cried. “And it’ll be even worse if Dryden keeps me alive.”
I clenched my teeth together and knelt to one knee while I watched Noriega casually stroll across the room, a satisfied grin on his face. I looked down the hard stone floor and wracked my brain for a solution to the situation. With no way to cast a direct attack on Noriega and no one to get through the prism, that left me with only two options—Fire Curtain or Sora.