“Do something!” he roared.
There wasn’t much I could do, but I did summon my wolf. “Bite the old lady!”
Wanderer, whose hood had been swept off in the swirl of battle, threw himself at the witch, flattening her against the wall and sticking her in the side with a dagger he held in his left hand. Its black blade, I noticed, gleamed with engraved runes. Each jab sank the witch’s head a little lower, and her body sprayed a black liquid that didn’t look anything like normal blood.
“Move over!” yelled Gorrdy, and Wanderer jumped to his right.
The hired sword aimed his crossbow at Gedran and sent a bolt deep into her chest. And, it wasn’t just a simple bolt, judging by the sizzle I heard. Steel and flesh had apparently combined to trigger a chemical reaction.
The witch howled.
“What happened?” I heard Gunther say, his voice weak.
“Fomor took a swing at you,” I answered, my eyes darting back and forth between the witch, who was starting to give off some kind of steam as Wanderer plunged his dagger into her over and over again, and the chaos that ruled where Fomor stood.
“Where is the bastard?” muttered Gunther as he tried to pull himself up.
“Over there waving that mace around.” I couldn’t pull my gaze away from everything that was happening. All I could do was watch anyway; there was no way I could help kill Fomor, and I had no desire to go anywhere near the Witch. It would have been just my luck for her to somehow break free and wind up staring me down. Anyway, Wanderer had said he wanted to kill her, and that was fine with me. You want to be the hero? Be my guest.
Fomor was starting to fade. Well-studded with arrows, he was trying to fight off the combined forces of the North, absent his earlier aplomb, and it wasn’t going well. Skeggy dodged a swing of his mace before smashing his sword against Fomor’s left leg. Shards of ice flew in all directions, and Fomor pitched toward that side with a creak.
“Move!” Gorrdy had reloaded, and his next bolt pierced the witch’s throat.
“That’s just about it!” wheezed Wanderer. I turned to see him pull a small vial full of some kind of liquid out of his bag and splash it over Gedran’s face. Her shrieks faded in favor of regular convulsions.
“Finish him!” Harald yelled, and I heard a sound similar to workers knocking ice off the tops of buildings and dropping it onto the street.
“Damn you all,” Fomor mumbled.
“A-a-ah!” Gedran and Fomor cried simultaneously. I didn’t know where to look. I saw the witch’s rags flutter to the floor bereft of her body. A whirlwind whipped up by the ceiling, spinning its way into one of the ice slabs and leaving a black mark.
“Phew,” Grim Gram exhaled. “I thought that damn creature was going to tear my arm off.”
“I got it, this is my battle and my country!” the könig boomed, and I heard a hollow blow being struck.
The hall shook, everyone left alive in it yelling and screaming in unison.
The Great Fomor was dead.
I, of course, was thrilled by how things had turned out, but it was absolutely critical that I got my hands on the crown.
“A-a-ah!” I joined the chorus and dashed toward the scene of the crime.
All that was left of Fomor were some chunks of ice lying on the ground. The head, which the könig’s ax had severed from the body, had flown off toward the foot of the throne. König Harald picked it up and was about to take the crown off—my crown!
“König, what are you doing?” I yelled.
“What are you talking about?” he answered with a sniff. “I’m removing his crown. I killed him, so it’s mine.”
“You’re going to take Fomor’s crown? Take it back to your palace? Do you have a death wish?” I pasted a look of holy terror on my face. “You really are crazy!”
The warriors murmured to each other, Ragnar just smiled, and the könig froze.
“Aidus, where’s that old beard of yours?” he barked.
“They got him right at the beginning,” a warrior responded as he bandaged his hand. “Three of them jumped him and took him out. We tried to help, but there was nothing we could do…”
“Look at you,” grumbled the könig, “leaving a mage defenseless. Ah, what the jotunns do I need the crown for—no reason to go asking for problems. My lands can do without that trash.”
He gave Fomor’s head a toss, leaving it to roll until it stopped right at my feet.
“König, you don’t mind if I take it, do you? The curse doesn’t work on me, and we already killed the old hag,” I asked offhandedly. “Maybe I’ll sell it to someone.”
“Just not to anyone in my burgs,” the könig replied quickly. “And I get ten…no, twenty percent of the proceeds.”
“Of course.” I nodded and picked up the head. The crown slipped easily into my palm.
You completed a hidden quest: Crown of the North.
Return the ice crown belonging to Hilda the North that was stolen in ancient times by the servants of the Great Fomor.
Note: When the occasion arises, don’t forget to bring Harald his portion of the reward you get from Hilda the North. If you don’t do that, he may be offended. On the other hand, he may not, especially if he needs something from you.
That’s perfect. I didn’t have to worry about the könig’s percentage either since it would be taken out automatically. You can’t fool the game.
I finally had time to see how Gunther was doing. And, wait a second, where’s Flosy?
They turned out to be sitting together by the wall. Flosy hadn’t gotten through the fight unscathed either, as the collar of his already less-than-sterile shirt was covered in red blotches. He looked shaken up in general, as well. Gunther had completely lost consciousness.
“How are you?” I asked the toilet worker. “Alive?”
“Not completely,” he answered fully. “One of them got me pretty good, and I was just lucky it was a glancing blow. But what about our knight? I thought he was a goner when he smashed into the wall like that.”
“He took a hard knock, but he’ll make it,” I replied confidently.
“He has to—plenty of very good people asked higher powers to help him,” Flosy said, taking me aback. What good people? And what higher powers?
“Well, Jarl,” Ragnar butted in as he walked over. “We have to go—our time is up.”
“Thank you,” I responded with a bow. “We wouldn’t have been able to do it without you.”
“Eh, you underestimate the strength humans have inside them,” he said.
“Did all of you make it through in one piece?” I thought the Wild Hunt was a man short—it didn’t seem like there were as many of them as there were at the beginning.
“Rangvald left this world.” Ragnar shrugged. “It was a glorious battle, he died a glorious death. What more can you ask for? See you.”
I sighed. I may not have known Rangvald, but I still felt bad for him.
“Thanks!” I barely had time to call after the warriors as their mounds melted into the floor.
Bending over Gunther, I saw that he was pale and breathing raggedly.
“Looks like they got his liver,” Flosy said knowingly as he wiped Gunther’s face with his sleeve.
That turned out to be an incredibly healing gesture, as Gunther breathed in deeply, thrashed like a fish out of water, scraped his legs along the ice slabs, and opened his eyes wide.
“Flosy,” I said in awe, “your sleeve works better than ammonia!”
“You got that right,” he replied proudly. “But what’s ammonia?”
Gunther rolled from side to side, his eyes popping out and his hands clutching his throat.
Wanderer came over. “We’re leaving. There isn’t much time—the old woman won’t be coming near the North anytime soon, but we have to hurry and beat her back to the Iron Forest. Only the gods are strong enough to deal with her there.”
“See you later.” I nodded. He still hadn’t put his hood back up, and I got a good lo
ok at his simple, unremarkable face. It could have belonged to any other of the thousands of players who looked just like him. He had short hair, light stubble, a thick nose, and small, deep-set eyes. The kind of person you don’t think twice about.
“That we will—you and I are like needle and thread now. Don’t take too long in here, by the way. It’s all going to collapse soon. Believe me—I know a thing or two about stuff like that.” Wanderer winked and opened a portal.
It was unusual. Instead of the usual bluish tones, it was crimson. Interesting.
Gorrdy and Grim Gram waved before walking in after Wanderer.
I looked up to see that he was right. Small cracks were beginning to meander across the ceiling. Damn it, damn it, damn it…
“König, we have to get out of here!” I ran over to Harald. “This whole place is about to come down!”
“Go where?” the könig yelled back. “His gold is here somewhere—didn’t you hear him?”
“What gold? Look up there!”
The könig glanced upward and started.
I tried opening a portal but to no avail. It didn’t work at our location. Where do you get the kind of portal scrolls Wanderer had?
“Flosy, grab Gunther and let’s get out of here!”
We picked up the knight and dragged him across the hall, following close behind the könig as he disappeared through the doors.
Gunther spent the whole trip moaning about how we should leave him there, how he was wrong to put us in danger, and other nonsense like that.
He only calmed down when we finally made it through the gate leading to the Great Fomor’s palace. A few minutes later the whole structure collapsed in a blizzard-like cloud of ice.
Right then, I realized that the whole thing was over.
We stood there by the entrance in a small cluster, all the players and NPCs in the courtyard staring at us.
“Victory!” roared the könig, brandishing his ax high in the air. “We killed that ice animal!”
“Y-e-eah!” the crowd shouted back.
The whole thing was great, of course, except for the fact that I could feel lots of different looks being sent my way. There were plenty of people there to notice that a player had left with the NPCs. I’d better get out of here—this is the kind of popularity I can do without. My job meant I had to fly under the radar.
“Flosy,” I said to my squire quietly, “take Gunther with you to the könig’s palace. I doubt highly he’ll walk the whole way; more likely, he’ll jump into a portal, since he’s probably in a hurry to start drinking. I’ll find you there.”
“Where are you going, Jarl?” Flosy asked worriedly. “Do you need help?”
“The only help I need is for you to get Gunther there. Oh, and give me some cover here.”
Flosy got the picture and did his best to stay in front of me as he carried Gunther away. I opened a portal and whisked myself into it.
***
Everything was just as quiet in the little bay as before the holmgang. The sand was light, the waves washed gently ashore, and the trees waved softly in the wind. Thank the gods. I froze on the edge of the water, looking around to see if anyone was leaving footprints in the sand. I’d had my fill of curious, nimble scouts, and I didn’t know when I’d be meeting my next one.
There was nobody around that time. At least, the water sprayed the way I expected it to, with nobody getting in the way of the flying drops, and there were no tracks in the sand. I calmed down and opened a second portal to go find the dryad. I can’t buy these things fast enough.
The dryad must have sensed something because she came rushing out from under her tree when I appeared in her copse. “Well? What happened? Did you get it? Is it okay? Did you get it?” She ran over, just about knocking me off my feet.
“Wow, get a grip,” I swore mildly as I pulled the crown out of my bag. “I believe you were looking for this?”
“A-a-ah,” the dryad exhaled, taking the crown with both hands and setting it on her shaggy head.
The whole spinning and dancing routine had gotten old by the third time, and my feelings were nothing like the shock I’d felt at first.
When Hilda came back down to earth next to me, I looked at her inquiringly.
You completed a hidden quest: Crown of the North.
Reward:
12000 experience
+50 respect among the peoples of the North
+10 respect in each of the Northern burgs
Set item matching your class: random
Elite quest-starter item: random
+10% life energy or mana: random
+20% chance that the Fayroll animal world will come to your assistance in your time of trouble
Your life energy has received a permanent 10% boost.
You’re out of luck, könig. I didn’t get any money, so there’s nothing to share with you.
“You’ve done a great deed, hero.” Hilda’s new look was more than attractive; she was the dream of any pimply teenager—blonde, strong, and wearing armor that more accented than hid her body’s incredible curves.
“Something like that,” I replied, not eager to disagree.
“So, you’ll help my sister, the dryad of the South?”
Her intonation left me no room to decline her request.
“What choice do I have?” I said, giving in to the inevitable. “Of course.”
You unlocked Find Idrissa the South.
This is the fifth in the Children of the Goddess series of hidden quests.
Task: Find the keeper of the southern reaches.
Reward:
8500 experience
Your choice of elite items
Single-use spell scroll: random
Accept?
So there’s a selection, with items waiting for me. Obviously, I accepted.
“Hurry, hero. My heart tells me that my sister is in grave danger,” Hilda said, her face stern.
“None of you have exactly had a walk in the park,” I noted fairly.
She frowned, but didn’t say anything.
“Okay, I’m off.” There wasn’t anything more for me to do there. “Chin up, see you around.”
***
I walked out of my portal next to the könig’s palace and decided to see what I’d gotten.
Luck was finally on my side. For the first time, the little green creatures had given me something I could really use.
Wilfred’s Helmet
Belonged to a famous knight known for his honesty and integrity. Even though he knew his king had been betrayed by his allies and would lose a decisive battle, he still sallied out into the field of battle to fall defending his suzerain to the last.
From the Knightly Collection set
Set includes:
Wilfred’s Helmet
Sir Nigel’s Pauldrons
Sir Adrian’s Gauntlets
Molton’s Cuirass
Black Rose Belt
Mihal’s Greaves
+38 to strength
+29 to agility
+14 to stamina
+26% chance of doing bleeding damage
+9% to weapon durability
+15% chance of seeing through lies
+4% chance of getting rare items from opponents
Durability: 2500/2500
Minimum level for use: 92
Class limitation: warrior
Cannot be stolen, lost, broken, or gifted.
Does not disappear from the holder’s inventory after dying when coupled with at least two other items from the set.
The following bonuses are unlocked by using the complete set:
Three random active class abilities
Two random passive class abilities
+3 to one random attribute
+15% to your chances of getting items from dead enemies
+13% life energy
Now that is really cool. Since I already had the cuirass and the gauntlets, the helmet gave me three items from the set. All I h
ad left to do was get to Level 92. Still, I would have been willing to bet that not many clans had as many as three items from a six-item set.
There was one more thing I got from the dryad, and it was a quest-starter.
Princess Anna’s Signet Ring
A family heirloom lost and long looked for by one of the most well-known families in the West.
Quest item
If you don’t have the quest this item is for, you can accept it right now.
Would you like to accept it?
I decided to hold off for the time being, seeing as how I had no plans to visit the West in the near future and didn’t have much else pulling me in that direction. The ring could wait a little while longer. Whatever the quest was about, I couldn’t imagine it being more important than my main mission, and I had no desire to pull myself in too many directions at once.
There was a party raging in the palace. The throne room was occupied by two dozen Northerners, a pale and gloomy Gunther, and the könig, who was sharing his throne with his enormous mug and bellowing out some kind of melody.
“Oh, Jarl Hagen! Come on in,” he said, interrupting his song and waving to me.
I waved back and sat down next to Gunther.
“What’s wrong with you? Head hurting?” I asked him.
“That, and one more thing…der Bottom is dead. They made mincemeat of him. Our brigade dispersed, and he took two knights with him to take on fifteen dog-heads. All they found was his medallion buried in a pile of his dead enemies.”
I thought back to the fat, arrogant character I’d met and had a hard time reconciling the person I knew with the story Gunther told me. A rat in life, he’d died well.
“That’s a shame. But the whole thing is done, at least.”
You completed a quest: A Free North
Reward:
2000 experience
+20 respect among the peoples of the North
Reward from the order: random elite item
Reward from the könig: random ability
But there was something else.
Reward for completing the entire series:
7000 experience
5000 gold
An elite item from the order storehouse matching your class
A random ability matching your class
Title: Knight of the North
+20 respect among the peoples of the North
Winds of Fate Page 36