by Jamie Davis
After she moseyed along the streets for several hours, checking out the fine, handcrafted wares in some of the market stalls along the way, a chime and notification rewarded her exploration.
Quest completed: Explore the Crystal City.
100 experience points awarded.
Level Up!
Cari pulled up her stats and saw she had two new attribute points to spend and a new skill point. She still wasn’t sure exactly how upping her stats worked, but she figured it wouldn’t hurt to have more speed. So, she dropped the two attribute points into her speed, bumping it up to sixteen. She noticed that, after putting two new points into her speed, her bonus only increased by one. It appeared each attribute required two new points before it was really upgraded. Good to know.
Once she’d taken care of that, Cari glanced below the stats menu and reviewed the new notification: a list of duelist skills.
Duelist skills — Acrobatic dodge, Acrobatic lunge, Ambidexterity, Bladesmith, Defensive stance, Disarm, Feint, Multi-foe tactics, Prescience, Taunt, Two-weapon combat.
She scanned through them all, looking over their descriptions. Several tempted her. Each of the choices offered definite benefits to supplement her fighting style. She hovered over two final choices before she selected two-weapon combat to add to her skill set. It fit her usual fighting style when she sparred, utilizing both her sword and dagger in combat.
Cari closed the stats menu and noticed it was starting to get dark. She’d found the grand bazaar an hour ago and knew the dueling grounds were located behind it, so she retraced her steps back to the huge building that housed the indoor marketplace.
Walking through the building, she looked over the wares in the stalls. There were many wonderful items for sale, along with several food choices. Her stomach growled, and Cari wished she had some coins in the local currency. She’d tried to purchase some food earlier with her credit chip, and the vendor had laughed at her and sent her on her way with an empty stomach.
First things first, though, Cari thought. She had to teach another rude man a lesson. She’d make sure to eat something after her bout with the Duke’s guard.
As she rounded the corner to the rear of the grand bazaar, Cari heard shouting and the clash of steel on steel. She smiled. They must be sparring without her.
Her smile faded away when she spotted the first bloodied body lying on the grass. The boy’s sightless eyes stared up at the darkening sky. He couldn’t be older than fourteen years old. His arms were covered in cuts and slashes, but judging by the huge stain of blood on his collar and shirt, Cari figured the killing blow had been a thrust to the throat.
Four other bodies, all dead, lay nearby as well. All killed by sword or dagger wounds.
“What the hell?”
“Ah, the impetuous young girl from the Empress’s Rest is finally here,” the guard from her earlier encounter said. “I thought we were going to have to hunt her down.”
Eight of the Duke’s guards were present: six men and two women. They all laughed at their comrade’s words.
Cari gestured around at the bodies as she stopped moving forward. This wasn’t what she’d signed up for.
“You killed them? Why?” Cari asked. She still didn’t understand.
“Because they supported the old hag on the throne, just like you. And now it’s my turn to send you to join them.”
The burly guardsman drew his sword and tested the blade by flexing it a few times before taking a few practice slashes in the air.
“Come on, little lady. I want to finish you off quick so I can go and get something to eat.”
Cari started to back away, but the other guards moved behind her, preventing retreat. A horrifying realization overcame her: if this world was real, the combat must be real as well. This wasn’t a duel for points or status as she’d expected. This was actual combat. It was something she’d always trained for, even dreamed about. In the end, though, it was not something she’d ever expected to do for real. Her hands betrayed her, trembling as she fumbled to draw her sword and dagger.
One of the female guards laughed at her from behind. “Look, Raden, she’s shaking with fear at the mere thought of facing you. Toy with her a bit before you finish her and see if you can make the little girl cry.”
“With pleasure,” Raden sneered.
Before Cari knew what was happening, the guard charged at her, unleashing a rapid series of attacks. He tested her defenses with several different combinations. From the way he handled his sword, Cari instantly knew he was one of the best she’d ever faced.
She gasped in pain as one of his attack combos snaked past a late parry and slashed a line of fiery pain across Cari’s right shoulder. She couldn’t spare the attention to examine the wound, but she felt the slow trickle of blood start to flow towards her elbow.
Health damage: Health -6
“First blood!” Raden shouted. “Gareth, you owe me a silver piece.”
“I’ll win it back. You’ll never finish her in under a minute,” the other guard retorted.
These animals were wagering over her, betting on her life as if it meant nothing to them. They considered her insignificant, a mere object for their sport.
Burning anger welled up from inside Cari. Her eyes narrowed as her focus returned.
She wouldn’t let this pig kill her. She’d show him what happened when you groped a random woman in passing.
Cari used her dagger to parry Raden’s next blow and pressed forward to lock her dagger’s hilt against his sword’s crosspiece.
This freed her sword up to whip out and down into the guardsman’s leading thigh.
His cry at the sudden pain turned into the hiss of a drawn breath as Cari pressed her advantage, forcing him to backpedal despite his injured leg.
It slowed him just a bit, allowing her to score a second hit on his off-hand forearm. This time, she noticed something she hadn’t before. To the left side of her visual field, a green glow began filling a thin, transparent bar, a little more color appearing with each hit she made.
It was half-full now after just two attacks.
“Come on, Raden,” another guardsman called out, a hint of concern tinting his voice. “Stop toying with her. You’ve let her think she can win; now finish her off.”
Raden only managed a grunt in reply. Cari’s sword snapped past his face, narrowly missing a death blow but close enough to score a thin blood-red line across his cheek.
The guard snarled and began another series of attacks, pushing Cari backward across the grass.
The status bar in her display was three-quarters full now. She figured one more hit would fill it, and she’d discover what it meant. Of course, she had to live long enough to reach that point.
She’d let her guard down a little while she focused on the heads-up display. Now, she paid the price with a second hit as the tip of Raden’s blade pierced her right forearm. The pain almost made her lose her grip on the dagger grasped in that hand.
Health damage: Health -4
Raden’s sneer returned when he scored the fresh hit, and it spurred him to press his attacks.
Cari parried blow after blow, using her superior speed to combat his greater strength, just as she’d been taught.
An opportunity then presented itself for a different sort of attack, and she took it. This was a fight to the death and there was no room for hesitation.
When he leaned a bit too far forward on a lunge, Cari parried it and then rammed her basket hilt forward, bashing in Raden’s nose. Blood started running down his face onto his chin, and tears of pain sprung to his eyes.
The status bar in Cari’s visual field filled to the top and flashed a deeper green.
Power-up active — Unleash special innate skill — Burst of speed.
Cari didn’t know what that meant, but she didn’t have time to look it up. It sounded like something she could use right now.
Focusing on the words “Burst of speed,” she pressed a new flurry
of attacks.
A chime sounded, and without warning, everything slowed down around her while she seemed to keep going at full speed.
An old-fashioned ticking stopwatch sound started in her head as the world crawled around her. Even a bird flying past in the background flapped its wings in slow motion.
A countdown timer next to the now empty status bar started at five and proceeded to descend.
Raden barely had time to register surprise on his face, much less defend himself, before Cari’s flurry of attacks struck him four times in rapid succession. The final lunge as the timer ticked to zero impaled him in the chest just below the Duke of Charon’s insignia.
The guardsman clutched at the wound as he slid backward off Cari’s blade. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out except a spray of blood as he coughed once and then fell over dead.
500 experience points awarded.
Level Up!
Cari felt a moment of overwhelming exhaustion, panting and gasping for breath after her superhuman exertion faded away.
The other guards stood dumbfounded, staring at their dead comrade on the ground at Cari’s feet.
“She used magic,” one of the female guards said. “She killed him with some sort of spell or potion.”
The one named Gareth pointed an accusatory finger at Cari. “He came here for a fair fight and you cheated. Your life is forfeit in our eyes. Tell us how you did it and we’ll kill you quickly. You must have a charm or potion, something that assisted you.”
Cari bent over, still struggling to catch her breath. She was amazed at what she’d been able to do during that countdown cycle, but it was not without a price. Using the skill left her drained for a long time afterward. Too long.
She struggled to stand upright and lift her weapons as the remaining seven members of the Duke’s city guards spread out and circled around her. How was she supposed to explain what she’d just done?
Cari was sure it looked like magic to the guards. Maybe it was after a fashion. There was no way to tell them how she did it because she wasn’t sure she could replicate it. On top of that, she wasn’t really certain what had happened either.
The status bar now flashed a dim red, and when she focused on it, a new notification appeared.
Special ability cool-down period engaged.
Cari figured she wouldn’t be doing that again anytime soon. Her burst of speed was a once-a-battle ability, it seemed.
Turning in place and trying to keep all seven guards in view at once, Cari struggled to come up with a plan of action for fighting more than one opponent at the same time. She wondered if she should have selected that ability over two-weapon combat.
Cari tried defusing the situation. Her strength was returning, slowly. She had to buy time.
“Look, I didn’t want to kill your friend. I was just defending myself. No one else needs to die.”
“No one else is going to die, at least not anyone important.” Gareth pointed his sword at Cari. “You, however, I’m going to gut like a fish.”
“Seven on one doesn’t seem like a fair fight to me,” a new voice sounded from behind Cari. “What do you think, Thad? Should we lend the lass some assistance?”
Another voice, deep and gravelly, answered. “Makes no nevermind to me. I’ve got a stein of ale waiting for me right now, so I’d just as soon get this over with.”
A third voice jumped in, a singsong lilt to the tone. “I agree with Thad, Liam. Let’s get this finished so I can return to my lady friend. She was most upset when I was roused to come out here to this place.”
Cari pivoted to see who’d spoken, keeping the guards in view as best she could. She saw three people in blue uniform tabards, trimmed in a deep crimson red, the same color as fresh blood. She didn’t even think it strange that she noticed that comparison right now.
She blinked as she surveyed the newcomers. Only one of them was human. Another had green skin and a brutish face with two small tusks protruding up from his lower jaw, similar to the bartender from the Empress’s Rest.
The third new arrival had blond hair pulled back in a ponytail to reveal ears that rose up to a slight point. His almond-shaped eyes and high, arched eyebrows indicated he was something other than human as well, perhaps an elf?
Beside all three stood a grinning Rodrigo.
When he saw Cari looking his way, Rodrigo winked at her. Her eyes narrowed at the gesture, making him frown. She didn’t like it when men winked at her. To her mind, it usually meant something demeaning and condescending.
Gareth had turned to face the new threat along with his comrades. They’d forgotten Cari was even present, it seemed.
“Ah, a few of the Empress’s pet dogs are here. Excellent! We’ll kill you dragoons, then we’ll finish with the girl.”
“Many have tried,” the tall, thin man named Liam replied, drawing his sword. “None of your ilk have succeeded yet.”
“Enough,” Gareth shouted at his comrades. He pointed at the newcomers. “What are you waiting for? Kill them!”
The seven thugs from the Duke of Charon’s guard charged forward. Almost immediately, two of them fell over dead when the pointy-eared fellow produced a throwing knife in each hand and took both men in the throat with his targeted blades, killing them instantly.
Rodrigo and the other two newcomers took on the surviving guards as they charged in. The tall, thin one, who the others called Liam, spun like a whirling dervish, moving almost faster than Cari could discern, even with her experienced eye for sword work.
He killed one of the guards almost instantly and backed another one up as that woman struggled to put up a defense. She fought in desperation as she backpedaled.
The green-skinned newcomer, the one called Thad, charged at Gareth, and soon, the two of them were trading blows amidst snarls of anger from both combatants.
Rodrigo drew his blade and rushed toward one of the remaining guards while the pointy-eared dragoon engaged the final guardsman standing, another one of the women.
Within a minute, three more of the Duke’s guards were down, and the others were backing up, clearly looking to retreat. That all stopped when a troop of ten more guards in the Duke’s livery jogged around the corner of the grand bazaar. Several of them carried long thin objects in addition to their swords. It took her a few seconds to realize they resembled musket firearms.
Cari called out to her new allies as she ran forward to join them. “Hey, they’ve got reinforcements coming, and they’ve got guns, I think. What do we do?”
Liam, who appeared to be the leader of the blue-and-red-clad men, thrust his sword through the leg of the woman he was facing. She fell to the ground, her leg crumpling beneath her. He backed away rather than finish her.
“Follow me. If there are more coming behind these, we’ll never disengage. This way.”
He turned and ran for a copse of trees at the edge of the field. Cari followed, flanked by a grinning Rodrigo and the elf. The one called Thad with the green skin and tusks brought up the rear. The newly arrived guards took in the scene, and Cari heard shouts behind her.
“Halt, in the name of the Duke of Charon. I order you all to halt and wait for arrest.”
The elf laughed, then replied in his lilting voice, “Fat chance of that happening.”
Rodrigo let out a shout of triumphant laughter and ran into the cluster of trees. Cari darted in just behind him. It was dark inside the small wooded area as the sun had just about set. Behind her, a series of long bangs announced the guards were firing their guns.
It took her eyes a moment to adjust. As they did, she saw Liam heading to a tall, stone wall bordering the far side of the wooded lot. He yanked open an iron gate.
“Everyone, in here.”
“They’re shooting at us!” Cari shouted.
“Those things aren’t accurate at this range, and they’ll take at least a minute to reload. We’ll be long gone by then. Come on, girl. Get inside and out of sight.”
Cari a
nd Rodrigo ran through the gate into a covered stone passageway leading to stairs down into darkness. She slowed down because she couldn’t see where she was going.
The elf followed behind her and squeezed past to move to the lead. When he reached the stairs, he snapped his fingers and held up his hand. A dim light appeared hovering over his fingertips.
Liam nodded. “Good work, Chance. Be a good fellow and lead the youngsters down into the catacombs. I’ll help our orcish friend secure the door, and we’ll be right behind you.”
Chance, the elf, nodded and pointed to Cari and Rodrigo. “You two heard the sergeant. Follow me and stay close. It’s easy to get lost down here, and I don’t want to spend the time trying to find you again.”
He held his hand with the blue-white light up in front of him and started down the stairs. Cari and Rodrigo followed.
The grinding screech of twisted metal sounded behind them. Thad, the orc, had caught up to them. He grasped a bar from the iron gate and wrenched it free at one end then wrapped it around and through a ring set in the stone wall. It made a perfect locking mechanism to hold the gate closed.
She turned around and started forward at a barked reminder to keep moving from Chance. She hurried along and caught up to Rodrigo.
“Who are these guys? I’m not sure I should be following strange men into dark tunnels.”
Rodrigo laughed. “You’re funny. They’re from the Empress’s Dragoons. All of them are members of her personal bodyguard. They’re on our side. You don’t have to worry about them, I promise. I knew them through my uncle. He helped me find them to assist you.”
Chance looked back at them. “It’s a good thing he found us when he did. We would have been perfectly happy to go on and attend to our own business rather than rescue a young puppy in trouble. You were in way over your head, missy.”