by Jamie Davis
Cari turned and smiled at Rodrigo. She breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed. She knew it was all going to be alright and walked into the cabin. Rodrigo followed as the kind woman shut the door behind them.
Chapter 27
Cari rolled over in bed, sat up and stretched as the morning sunlight came in through the window of the farmhouse. She was tired from a long day’s work the day before bringing in the first part of the harvest. It was a good kind of tired, though, born of hard work towards an accomplishment of which one could be proud.
A snore next to her brought a smile to her lips as she looked down at her husband, Rodrigo. He’d worked twice as hard as she had, but then he always did. He always slept better because of it, too; which she envied more than a little.
Cari reached over and jostled him by the shoulder. “Wake up, sleepyhead. We’ve got more work to do today in the fields if we’re going to finish up before that barn raising at the Finch’s tomorrow. We have to get everything done before then.”
Rodrigo groaned and rolled over. “I need to go back to sleep,” he said.
Cari smiled and reached over, tickling his ribs. He bolted upright and darted out of bed, turning around and pointing his finger at her. “Don’t do that, woman. You know how I hate it when you tickle me.”
“You should get out of bed when I ask you to, then.”
Rodrigo smiled and waggled his finger at her.
Cari headed out into the main room of their small cabin and started making the batter for griddle cakes. A soft sigh of “mama” behind her drew a fresh grin on her face. She turned around to see her daughter Jaycee sitting at the top of the narrow stairs up to the loft overlooking the main cabin.
“Good morning, my dear. Are you ready to help us with the harvest again today?”
“Yes, mama. I like it when we all work together in the fields.”
“I know you do. You’re such a hard worker. Now come down here, grab a bucket and fetch me some water from the well. I’ll have breakfast ready by the time you get back.”
Cari turned back to mixing her batter and paused, frowning for a moment as the shadow of strange words appeared right in front of her eyes. They faded as soon as they appeared, and she was unable to make out what the words said. A nagging sensation in the back of her mind told her it meant something important. Of course, that was silly, and she decided it was just a figment of her imagination.
She went about her work getting breakfast ready as Rodrigo went out to feed the animals in the barn. He would be back soon, ready for breakfast. It was always best to have it prepared for him when he came in because he worked so hard to keep the farm running alongside her. As she poured the batter onto the griddle of their wood stove, she thought back to that time six years before when the two of them were first married.
It seemed so long ago, yet the time had flown by so quickly that it seemed too fast. It was almost as if it all happened overnight. Cari shook her head at that last thought. Why had she thought that? What a strange thing to… Once again, the faded hint of words appeared in front of her eyes and faded away just as quickly.
It bothered her that she didn’t know what the faded words meant.
Cari pondered the words for a few more seconds, then Rodrigo’s return from feeding the animals interrupted her thoughts. “Is breakfast ready yet?”
“It will be soon, dear. Jaycee is fetching the water from the well. There’s still some in the pitcher on the washstand. Make sure you wash up first.”
Rodrigo went to the washstand and poured the remaining water from the pitcher into the basin, washing his hands and splashing the cool water on his face before drying off with the rough cotton towel folded on the washstand. He settled down on the bench beside the small table in their tiny cabin and smiled as Cari set the stack of griddlecakes on the plate in front of him.
Rod slid the jar of honey over next to his plate and lifted the ceramic lid pulling out the notched wooden rod to drizzle honey across the top of his breakfast cakes. “These look delicious, honey.”
“They’ll taste just as good as they look, I promise.”
Jaycee came in holding the bucket in front of her with two hands. She worked hard to not spill any as she set the bucket of fresh water down next to the stove and then sat at the table next to her father.
Cari set a smaller stack of griddlecakes down in front of her daughter, who also drizzled fresh honey over them before starting to eat. Cari prepared her plate last of all and sat down across from the two of them. She was so happy here with the two of them it almost seemed like it was a fairytale.
Once again, the hint of shadowy words flashed across her eyes. She had that nagging feeling in the back of her mind that something wasn’t right. She stared at Jaycee and Rodrigo, making sure they were alright. They seemed fine to her eyes and Cari shook her head, banishing the concerns.
Rodrigo looked up at her, concern showing in his eyes. “Is something wrong, dear? Are you not feeling well?”
“It is nothing,” Cari said. She waved her hand in the air to dismiss his worry. “I think I am just having the leftovers of a bad dream from last night’s sleep. It was the oddest thing, you know. You and I were running from someone who wanted to hurt our little Jaycee. We both carried swords. Isn’t that odd?”
Rodrigo laughed out loud. “Swords? Like we were soldiers or something? As if you and I could know anything about fighting. My father would have had me hit with the strap if he thought I would run off to war and become a soldier. There’s nothing quite like earning an honest living working the land with your own two hands. My father always said that, and I believe him.
“My father said much the same thing to me,” Cari said. For some reason, the words didn’t ring true in her ears. She thought for a moment about why they didn’t comfort her the way they should. She shook her head. No, her father had never said anything like that to her.
Her father had always wanted her to achieve great things and would have been disappointed if she had settled down to work a small farm like this at such a young age.
Cari stood and backed away from the table. She stared at her husband and daughter, suddenly seeing them as companions and not her family.
Why was she here?
More of the shadowy words drifted across her vision. She managed to make out three of them before they faded away. They made no sense to her at all.
Saving throw failed
She thought about the words. It seemed like it was an odd thing to see. She hadn’t thrown anything. She once again brushed the words away from her mind and sat back down to continue eating her breakfast. There was much that needed doing today on their farm and Cari wanted to make sure she still had time this evening to continue working on embroidering the new dress she’d made for Jaycee to wear at the barn raising tomorrow. She loved to show off her needlework skill to the neighbors. It was the best in the county.
When they finished breakfast, Cari gathered the plates while Jaycee went out with Rodrigo to gather up the eggs from the chicken coop. As Cari washed the dishes off with some of the water from the bucket, she looked out the window at her daughter and husband as they walked towards the chicken coop together.
She noticed once again something strange. At the edge of her vision, things were blurry. It seemed as if the world wavered there just beyond what she could see directly in front of her. Cari wanted to turn and see what was beyond the edge of that wavering area, but she couldn’t take her eyes off of Rodrigo or Jaycee. It was as if the world only existed in the direction in which she was looking.
Something was wrong.
She knew it now. Cari didn’t know what it was, but something wasn’t right with her or with her family. Were they all in some sort of danger? If that was true, she had to act and protect her family.
Her family?
Why did she think there was something wrong with her family? She looked out at Rodrigo and Jaycee again and had the odd thought again that neither of them was actually part o
f her family.
The instant the thought passed through her mind, many more followed in a crushing wave.
Cari wasn’t married. She didn’t have a husband and had never had any children. She was far too young to have a daughter as old as Jaycee was. This was all wrong.
Saving throw successful
Magic resistance engaged
Suddenly, as if someone tore apart a canvas picture in front of her, the image of Rodrigo and Jaycee walking towards the chicken coop ripped away and was replaced with the sideways image of the wooden floor of a small cabin. She could see the legs of a small table and chairs and behind them a small fireplace. Cari blinked her eyes and tried to orient herself to where she was.
The last thing she remembered was entering the old woman’s cabin with Rodrigo looking for Jaycee. The kind woman had invited both of them inside. Then she’d fallen into that strange vision.
Cari’s thoughts went back to the last game message she’d received. Magic resistance the message read. That meant someone had used magic on her. Someone had created that false vision of her, Rodrigo, and Jaycee. Cari sat up, anger fueling her recovery.
Across the room from her, the old woman stood in front of the small fireplace with her back to Cari. She bent over a black, cast-iron pot suspended over the flames.
“What have you done to us,” Cari whispered, her voice hoarse as she struggled to get to her feet. Her mind was still fuzzy, and she found herself stumbling a little as she stood up. Dizziness threatened to make her fall back to the floor of the cabin.
The old woman spun around. Her eyes wide with shock. “How did you break my spell? No one has ever been able to break my spells before.”
Cari drew her dagger and pushed past the dizziness, advancing on the old woman.
“None of your unsuspecting victims has ever been a member of the Dix family before. You made a mistake casting that spell on me. You should have killed me while you had the chance.”
The woman backed away from Cari sidling around towards the cabin’s only door. Cari turned to continue her advance around the table. An open flyer on the table caught her eye. Once again, Cari saw a remarkably accurate drawing of her face along with a description of Jaycee. This time there were also descriptions of the Dragoons, Rodrigo, Helen, and Francesca. Below the descriptions were the words, “2,500 Gold Crowns for any information leading to their capture.”
Cari snatched up the flyer and held out in front of her. “Is this what you’re after? You thought you could capture us with this simple magic spell?”
A glance around the small cabin revealed Jaycee lying on a cot in the corner and Rodrigo collapsed on the floor next to where she’d been lying moments before. “Release my companions. Release them this instant or so help me I’ll break the spell by gutting you with my dagger right here in the middle of your home.”
Rage boiled within her. Cari felt betrayed and deceived. She was embarrassed at being caught by the illusion, in part because something deep inside of her had enjoyed the vision the woman had cast on her. That revelation renewed her anger and she took another step towards the old witch. Cari wanted blood.
She wasn’t sure, however, if killing the woman would break the spell on Rodrigo and Jaycee. Cari took another two steps forward, pinning the woman against the wall with a hand against her chest while holding the point of her dagger at the woman’s throat.
Cari looked back at her friends, trying to puzzle out what to do next. Rodrigo’s eyes were open in a blank stare as he walked through the vision created by the old witch’s spell. Jaycee still lay on a small bed in the corner. She too stared forward, still caught in the illusion.
Cari turned back and fixed her eyes on the woman cowering before her. Then she noticed the woman’s lips were moving.
She was casting another spell.
Cari leaned forward and pricked the tip of her dagger’s razor-sharp edge against the woman’s throat. A drop of blood welled up and dripped down onto her bosom. “Utter one more syllable and you’re done,” Cari hissed. “Just one more syllable.”
The woman’s lips stop moving and her resolve withered beneath Cari’s grip and the tip of her dagger.
“Finished with trying to use magic against me?”
The woman didn’t say anything, she merely nodded.
“Good. Don’t talk, just nod or shake your head. Do you need to say anything to break the spell on my friends?”
The woman shook her head.
“Also good. Now, without saying a word, bring them out of the spell you have them under.” Cari kept her eyes on the old woman, ready to skewer her the instant she said anything before she got any more spells off. Behind Cari, she heard both Jaycee and Rodrigo groan and begin to wake up.
“Where am I?” Rodrigo asked. “Cari, what’s going on?”
“Go and help Jaycee. This woman cast a spell on us so she could try and take the bounty offered for our capture.”
“But, what about the farm, and our family together? It was all so real.” Rodrigo’s voice sounded confused. He still wasn’t entirely free of the spell’s effects. Cari wanted to turn to look at him but resisted. She needed to make sure this woman didn’t cast any more magic on them and she was unsure how much she might be able to do if Cari wasn’t vigilant.
Jaycee called out to Cari. “Mama, uh, I mean, Cari, that woman asked me to come into her cabin. Then she gave me something to eat and told me to lie down and rest while she went to look for you and Da— I mean Rodrigo. Then I had a bizarre dream. It was a dream, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, honey, it was a dream, a spell. It was cast by this woman while she tried to capture us for the reward. We all fell for it. It’s alright, though. I’m here now. I told you. I’ll always come to rescue you.” Cari spared a glance back to reassure the princess.
The old woman took advantage of Cari’s distraction and lunged towards the door while muttering something under her breath. She almost slipped past Cari’s guard.
Almost.
Without a thought, Cari turned back and plunged her dagger into the woman’s chest piercing her heart and driving her to the floor. Cari knelt on top of the woman, watching the life fade from her eyes. Killing used to bother her, but this one had her bloodlust up.
Cari shook her head, a savage grin on her face. “Foolish woman. I told you I’d kill you if you tried anything.”
8,000 experience awarded
Quest completed — escape the witch’s trap
25,000 experience awarded
Quest completed — locate the lost princess
25,000 experience awarded
Level up!
Cari waited until the light faded from the woman’s eyes, then got up and wiped the dagger clean, scrubbing off the old woman’s blood on her apron. She turned back to her friends. “I’m going to drag her body out of here and into the woods where the carrion birds and animals can have at her. She doesn’t deserve a decent burial. I’ll be back shortly.”
“Why don’t we all come with you,” Rodrigo said.
Cari shook her head. “There’s no need for that. We found this cabin. It’s safe and dry and out of the way where it’s hidden in these woods. We should take advantage of it. We can stay here safely for at least the night while we figure out where to go next. Clearly, we’re going to need a better plan than to just walk to the Crystal City.” She gestured to the flyer on the table with her picture on it. “Too many people know who we are and are keeping an eye out for us.”
Cari motioned with her head towards the fireplace. “Why don’t the two of you see what she had cooking for dinner. Hopefully, there’s enough for all of us. I’ll be right back.”
Cari bent over and lifted the woman’s legs. She dragged her by her ankles out the door of the cabin, across the clearing and a good way into the woods. She made sure to leave the body well away from any trail in case anyone should pass by.
The cabin was hidden deep in the woods, so it was unlikely anyone lived too close. Cari
figured there was no way the woman had time to send for anyone since she’d cast the spell on the three of them. Cari planned on taking advantage of the break to make sure their next move was the right one.
Cari remembered she’d leveled up again and pulled up her personal stats to allot her new attribute points and skill point. She decided to increase her ability to resist magic by increasing her luck score by two.
She added another level to her acrobatic dodge skill anticipating the need in the fight she knew was coming once they reached the city and planned for interrupting the coronation of Timron.
She turned and headed back towards the light from the cabin door. Once again, she’d flirted with death and won. Cari looked over her stats one more time and wondered if the extra luck would do anything.
Name: Cari Dix
Class: Duelist
Level: 14
Attributes:
Brawn: 12 - +2 to hit/damage
Wisdom: 10 - +1
Luck: 14 - +3 to all saving throws
Speed: 22 - +7 defense
Charm: 18 - +5 personal reaction
Health: 140/140
Skills: Two-Weapon Combat, Acrobatic Dodge — 4, Multi-Foe Tactics — 2, Feint — 2, Bladesmith — Master, Prescience — 4, Ambidexterity, Seamanship — Master, Navigation — Master, Aimed Cannon Shot — 2, Earth Sense
Master Duelist — Projectile Dodge (60% Chance of Activation, Max)
Regeneration – 1hp/second (max 60 seconds); 1/day
Experience: 852,500/1,100,000
Chapter 28
It took Hal and Mona five days of hard riding northward to reach the area marked on Colin’s map. On the final day, Hal started noticing signs that a wild grendling tribe lived in the area. Grendlings were distant cousins to goblins. They lived in more of the northern regions of the empire where they followed the caribou herds. They were fairly war-like and not to be trifled with. He was surprised to find one of the northern grendling tribes shifting this far south.