Eden's Gate_The Sands_A LitRPG Adventure

by Edward Brody

  Fire Curtain was an AOE [area of effect] spell, so it didn’t have to pass through the prism for me to cast it outside, and given the tight room of the prism we were confined to, Sora would probably appear outside of the prism if I summoned her—at least I hoped she would.

  But I quickly eliminated the possibility of summoning Sora as it was way too dangerous. Noriega was clearly too powerful for me to risk him killing her, and there was also the possibility that the dragon might decide to make her his next meal if she got too close.

  That left Fire Curtain. My mana was almost empty and replenishing slowly, but I would have enough for a single Fire Curtain in a few more seconds, I was sure. But even if I could cast the spell, where would I cast it anyway? It seemed unlikely that Noriega wouldn’t have a counter for a simple, low-level AOE spell, and the only other things that were really in the room were the dragon and the table filled with alchemy paraphernalia.

  If the alchemy stuff was flammable, there was a chance that I could light the table up with a Fire Curtain. Maybe, just maybe, the chaos from the fire would distract Noriega enough for him to release the spell, and we’d manage to get free. But then again… probably not.

  The only other option was to attack the dragon with a Fire Curtain, which I quickly dismissed as that lamest idea of the lot as I couldn’t see how that would accomplish anything.

  But then I glanced behind me to check on Maleena, and suddenly I was hit with a crazy idea.

  I leaned in close to Maleena. “The alchemy stuff over there? The flasks and potions and all that.”

  Maleena looked up to me and then over to the table.

  “Are those items too heavy for you to move with your telekinesis?”

  “I don’t think so,” she replied. “I don’t know.”

  “Well then maybe I have an idea…”

  The idea was for Maleena to use her telekinesis to throw as many potions, flasks and basically anything from the table at the dragon as she could. Hopefully, some of the liquids would be flammable, and if I followed up with a Fire Curtain, the intense, liquid fire would damage the dragon’s bandages and change Noriega’s focus from detaining us to saving Dryden’s precious dragon from getting injured.

  It wasn’t a great idea, but it was the best I had. I whispered Rina and Maleena the plan.

  Rina didn’t seem impressed, but Maleena just nodded. “I’ll try,” she said. She straightened herself and held out a hand while focusing her attention on the items resting on the alchemy table.

  Her first item was a vial of green, glowing liquid. It took her a few seconds, but the vial slowly lifted off the table and floated across the room silently without Noriega seeing. Once above the head of Ragul, she dropped the fragile vial and it shattered across the dragon’s hard scales, causing the liquid to spill all across its head and neck.

  Ragul stirred when the vial was dropped on him, snorted, blinked his eyes open once, but generally seemed unaffected.

  “What was that?” Noriega snapped turning towards to broken glass.

  Maleena immediately had another vial in her mental grasp, a tall one with a blueish substance inside. This time, she moved it a little faster across the room, and it smashed across the dragon’s nose as Noriega was inspecting what was going on.

  “What?!” Noriega spat. “What are you doing?”

  The dragon blinked again, snorted, and then rose up and shook its head like an irritated dog that had just been splashed with water.

  Maleena grabbed a strange, curved piece of glass with two globes on each end, red liquid on one end and orange on the other.

  “Stop that!” Noriega said as he realized what was going on. He held his hand up in protest and watched as the glass flew across the room, smashing into the side of the dragon’s neck.

  There was a sizzling sound, and small streams of smoke rose from the point of impact. The dragon shook its head again and moaned loudly, showing its massive teeth. It jerked back hard, pulling its chain to its maximum length with such a force that the room shook.

  Maleena already had another flask, this one with a purplish grey liquid inside, and as she moved it across the room, Noriega looked back and forth between us, the dragon, and the vial.

  “No! Stop it!” he yelled. He ran towards us and then to the flying vial, and then in a desperate attempt to stop it from striking Ragul, he reached his hand out and shot the vial with a bolt of energy, right before it was dropped on the dragon’s head.

  The vial exploded, and its contents rained down all across Ragul and the floor beside him, each droplet of the liquid sizzling loudly and bubbling up anywhere it landed. That obviously wasn’t what Noriega had intended to happen.

  The dragon roared and slammed into the wall, then lurched back, yanking at its chain.

  Fire Curtain! I thought, focusing the spell across as much of the liquid and Ragul as I could.

  The curtain appeared, and instantly, the liquid covering the dragon erupted into flames. It quickly spread to the bandages covering the dragon’s wings, and threw the dragon into a panic.

  Ragul roared at the top of his lungs.

  “No, no…” Noriega cried. His eyes were wide and it seemed like he had no idea what to do. He turned to Rina, Maleena, and me with anger etched on his face. “You!”

  The dragon jerked again on its chain, and small piece of stone from the ceiling began to fall. It slammed into the wall again and jerked back, and its chain was stretched to its threshold. I felt like any second it was about to break.

  “You!” Noriega said again as he took a step toward us.

  Once again, the dragon roared, this time at the top of its lungs, and as it roared, it rose to its hind legs. Noriega glanced back towards the dragon just as it began coming back down, its feet pounding into the ground when it dropped. Ragul pushed his neck forward, opened his jaws wide, and from deep within the dragon’s throat, thick, red flames erupted and arched everywhere in front of him.

  Maleena, Rina, and I all instinctively dropped to our knees and covered our faces as the blinding flames engulfed the prism surrounding us. We were protected from the fire, but even inside the prism, the heat was so intense that sweat immediately formed on the top of my skin.

  I glanced up and could vaguely see Noriega lying sideways on the ground with one arm propping himself up and the other arm pulled across his face. The shield that had absorbed my magic attacks had appeared in front of him but didn’t seem large enough or capable to protect him from all of the dragon’s flames.

  For a few seconds more, the dragon continued to spray fire, and then finally, it closed its mouth and stopped. It chomped its mouth and jerked on the chain again.

  We rose from our kneeling positions and could see that everything around us was torched. The alchemy table was still burning and puddles of fire were scattered across the room. Half of the giant wooden door had been burned away.

  On the ground, Noriega lay. Half of his robe was missing, and the other half was smoldered to his skin. Boils covered much of his face, and he buzzed senseless words as he twitched on the floor. If his shield hadn’t protected him, he would’ve probably been turned to ash instantly, but even his shield couldn’t protect him from the devastation that the dragon had unleashed.

  The prism around us suddenly vanished.

  We all stood there stunned with awe and fear for a moment, but on the opposite side of the room, the door burst open and several Bloodletters rushed on.

  “There they are!” one of them said, but as soon as they noticed us, they paused and looked at looked around at the destruction and then to the Dragon who was shaking its head and pulling on its chain, small chemical fires still rising from its wings.

  “Run, now!” I said grabbing both Rina and Maleena by the wrist and turning to jump through the smoldering door.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  1/24/0001

  We ran as fast as we could through the desert sand. Thankfully, there had been no guards stationed behind the larger door
and no archers on that side of the rooftop. Only a few of the guards who had discovered us in the burning room gave chase, but with their heavy armor, we were able to manage a safe enough distance for me to pause and cast my summons.

  Sora! I said as I dropped to my knees and pounded on the ground.

  As the energy pulsed away from my hand, I stood back up and continued running with the two women, praying that Sora wasn’t in the middle of ‘relieving’ herself.

  Within seconds, Sora appeared at our flank and Maleena screamed bloody murder.

  “It’s okay,” I said as Rina was reaching for her staff. “She’s mine.”

  Three. I projected to Sora, knowing I didn’t need to offer her a deeper explanation.

  Three? she asked. That’s fine, but I may be slower than normal.

  Okay, I said. I looked back. But we need to get away as fast as we can.

  Sora lowered herself and I immediately jumped on.

  “Get on behind me, quickly,” I said to the girls. “Grab on to each other or onto her, but don’t pull too hard on her fur.”

  After exchanging glances, the girls climbed onto the rear.

  “They’ll still chase after us,” Rina warned. “As soon as the others gather their horses.”

  Sora started running in the direction that we had been headed and then quietly asked. Where are we going? And what happened with you and that scorpion?

  I reached into my bag and grabbed my compass, checking that we were heading in the right direction. North, I thought, urging her slightly to the right. As for the scorpion… long story. I’ll have to tell you later.

  Of course, Gunnar.

  No ‘father’?

  I told you I’d mix it up.

  I smiled… Damn, I missed her.

  After fifteen minutes of running through the desert sand, Rina’s warning came true. Far behind us in the dark of night, I could see several torches burning, and they were obviously heading our way. Sora was running as quickly as she could, and she was still fast, but with three people mounted on her back, she only had about half her normal top speed.

  What’s that? Sora asked.

  I looked back in the direction we were heading, and Sora started to slow as we approached a large hill of sand. Standing at the crest of the hill were two men dressed in slaver’s gear, each holding torches.

  I urged Sora to the left, but as she started to veer, another slaver rose to the top of dune in that direction, and then when Sora stopped and turned heel, there was another slaver.

  “Oh shit,” I muttered.

  “Slavers,” Rina said.

  I glanced behind me as I considered an attempt to circle around them, but before I could even calculate the chances of that working, another slaver appeared fifty or so meters from our rear.

  We were surrounded.

  Five slavers versus me, a healer, and a girl who had light telekinesis was a stretch even with Sora there to help out. We might have been able to survive, but even if we did, the battle would slow us down and probably lead us to being captured by the Bloodletters that were giving chase behind us.

  I had no idea what to do.

  The slavers charged, drew their weapons, and Maleena screamed.

  What should I do, Gunnar? Sora asked.

  I was panicking and sweat was pouring down my brow. I turned Sora in every direction looking for any way to get away, but there was nothing.

  I did the only thing that came to mind and cast a Fire Curtain in a circle all around us.

  The flames rose as the slavers closed in and stopped their horses before running into the fire. They stood there waiting, knowing just as well as me that the spell that was keeping them at bay wouldn’t last for long. Just a little longer, and we would be captured.

  “They’re going to kill us,” Maleena said.

  “More likely capture us and make us work or sell us off,” Rina countered.

  The more I thought about it, the more the idea didn’t sound that bad. If the slavers didn’t kill us, there was still a chance we’d be able to escape their slave camp. It wasn’t ideal, but just about anything was better than getting captured by Dryden and his men.

  “Wait, wait, wait!” I heard a voice yell beyond the flames. “Put away your weapons! I know this guy!”

  The Fire Curtain was starting to die out, and I was about to cast another, but then one of the slavers rode closer to the dancing flames and pulled down the thick red scarf that was covering his face.

  “Gunnar! It’s me, Dent!”

  “Dent…?” I muttered.

  “You know these slavers?” Rina asked.

  I let the Fire Curtain expire, and Dent rode all the way up to us. “Dude, what’s with that guild crest you’re wearing? You joined the fucking Bloodletters?”

  I glanced back behind me, seeing the light of the torches following us getting closer. I shook my head. “No, I’m not a Bloodletter.” I pulled the insignia off from over my armor and tossed on the ground. I then immediately tried to will myself out of the guild.

  Are you sure you wish to disband from the registered guild, The Bloodletters? This will remove all perks and menu details associated with the guild.

  Yes/No

  I willed the answer ‘Yes’.

  You have disbanded from the registered guild, The Bloodletters! You may now freely join any other registered guild.

  “And why are you with a group of slavers?” I asked.

  Dent laughed. “These aren’t slavers, man. They’re my guild.”

  One of the men rode up beside Dent, removed his scarf, and I immediately recognized him as Loco. “What’s up, dude?!”

  “Hey, I know this guy too!” one of the other men said, riding to Dent’s flank. “He’s definitely with the Bloodletters though.”

  The other two rode in close, and everyone removed their scarves. I recognized the other three—two men and a woman—as the Reborns from the oasis.

  “You’re all in a guild together?” I asked.

  Dent smiled. “After you broke out of the prison and freed us from the shackles, all the slaves went crazy on the slavers— we wiped out half the camp before getting away and eventually ran into these guys. They were looking to form a guild and we were too, so we linked up. Since then, we’ve been running the dunes, ambushing any slavers we see.” Dent slapped his hand on his chest. “That’s why we’re wearing all their gear.” He pursed his lips together. “How’d you get us out of the shackles anyway?”

  “We’ve got to go,” Rina whispered.

  I turned around and the torches were growing brighter.

  “I’d love to chat, but we really got to get out of here, Dent,” I pointed in the direction of the torches. “The Bloodletters are about to kill us.”

  Dent looked in the direction I pointed and then back down to me. “Well, where are you headed?”

  “Quintelle?” I said, knowing only the name and direction that Satorin had provided.

  Dent nodded. “You’ve got another 10 or 15-minute ride North.” He twisted his nose, scanned Rina, Maleena and Sora. “That’s a sick pet, but you know they’re going to follow your paw prints straight into town, right? They can’t see you from afar, but there aren’t any other panthers running around out here.”

  “Damn…” I muttered. I hadn’t even considered how easily they could track us in the sand.

  Dent hummed. “Tell, you what… You helped us out before, so we can try to help you by riding around and covering your tracks.”

  “Fuck that!” the woman from the oasis said. “He was working with the Bloodletters and let them kill us! Fuck him!”

  Dent raised an eyebrow to me. “Really?”

  I shook my head slowly. “I’m sorry… There was nothing I could do. If I had tried to save you, they would’ve killed me too.”

  “Psst,” the woman spat.

  “Remember, he spared my life?” the brown-haired man I had chased and captured in the oasis said. “He actually took a big risk by letting me li
ve, and I wouldn’t have been able to recover all of our equipment for us if he hadn’t. I don’t know why he was with the Bloodletters, but he’s not the same as that Dryden bastard.” He looked at me and tilted his chin. “Thanks, by the way.”

  I nodded.

  “He was with some high levels who didn’t know he was a Reborn,” the other man from the oasis said. “I guess I can understand… sorta.”

  Dent looked back toward where the torches were coming and raised his hands. “Well, that settles it, and I’m the guildleader anyway, right? I make the decisions here!” He beamed a wide grin and reared his horse on its hind legs. “Loco.”

  “Yep?” Loco answered.

  “You’re good at maneuvering. Ride back in the direction they came and cover as many of the panthers tracks as you can with your horse. Try to swerve around and get creative, but don’t get close enough that they can catch you.”

  Loco nodded and started riding back towards our pursuers.

  Dent looked down at us. “I’ll ride behind you to Quintelle and try to cover as cover as many prints as I can with my horse tracks.” He looked up to his other three guild members. “The rest of you split off from here in different directions and make as many tracks as you can. We want to at least make it difficult for them to figure out which way these guys are heading. We’ll meet back at base later tonight.”

  The two men nodded and started riding away in different directions, and the woman reared her horse and stuck her tongue out at me before starting off on another course.

  Dent waved his hand, indicating for me to move first. “Let’s not waste time, my friend. There’s still real slavers out here too.”

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  1/24/0001

  As we approached the town of Quintelle, the sand dunes faded away and turned into a more traditional barren desert, with small rocks littering hard, dried out dirt and small patches of grass and weeds growing out of the ground.

  A tall hill rose out of the ground, and all up and down the hill were tiny, square houses, with flat roofs, and generally a single door and window. They were painted white, gray, brown, and several variations of neutral colors, and the light coming from inside of them lit up the side of the hill.