The Mountain Valley War

by M. A. Carlson

  “I could also use them,” said Olaf. “Let’s set these aside for now. There might be something better for you or me further in.”

  “Alright,” said Dawn. “That sounds fair.”

  “We have a tiara, it’s a head accessory, adds intellect and healing magic bonuses,” Olaf said, holding up the next piece. “I’m pretty sure this goes to Baby.”

  Baby happily took the tiara and equipped it. An ornate silver piece of jewelry appeared on her forehead though it did not wrap around her head or pin to her hair as a tiara typically would. Instead, it appeared to be held in place by magic. It was very pretty, and something I was sure Baby adored.

  “Okay, got ‘Gremlin Claws’, I think they are a weapon, maybe gloves . . . no, definitely a weapon, does anyone use claws?” Olaf asked, holding up a pair of not quite gloves that looked like the claws of the creatures we’ve been fighting.

  “Those are for me,” said Dawn. “I had a staff, but it doesn’t work with shapeshifting, so I got rid of it. I haven’t had a weapon since. However, claws sound like something I can use.”

  Olaf nodded and held them out.

  “Now, I just need to learn to use them,” Dawn added as she deposited the claws into her bag.

  “I guess that means the boots are mine,” said Olaf, depositing the boots he set aside earlier into his bag.

  I could have used a new pair of boots myself, but my prize was far more valuable to me.

  “Chainmail Coif, strength, endurance, stamina, and holy spell power. I know Bye-bye can’t wear chainmail, so I’m guessing this is for you, Rock,” said Olaf, tossing the chainmail helm to the Dwarf Paladin.

  “Thank you,” said Rock, happily equipping his new piece of armor.

  “Heath, ‘Apprentice Thief Ring’ is yours,” said Olaf, flipping a ring to our stealthy companion.

  “Thank you, ooh, an upgrade. This one gives me Dexterity and a bonus to Thief skill experience,” Heath cooed before vanishing from view.

  “He’s a bit of an oddball, isn’t he?” Icyhot asked.

  “Like you’re one to talk,” said Rock.

  Icyhot was about to retort when Olaf pulled out the next item, a gnarled wand that looked completely charred. “Burning Wand, pretty sure this is for you,” Olaf said, tossing the wand to Icyhot.

  “Ooh, yes, it is,” said Icyhot, happy for his new weapon.

  “And last, but certainly not least, Rose. I’m pretty sure this is for you. It’s also probably the best thing in here aside from Bye-bye’s quest item,” Olaf said, pulling a shield, or rather half of a shield from the treasure chest. “Shield-Wall of Thorns, a mythic and scaling item,” he said holding it out to her. It was beautiful. It was a round shield with a rose stamped into the metal, the petals forming sharp edges as they rotated out from the center. And vines of sharp spikes . . . thorns surrounded the outside edge. I also noticed it was larger than her current shield. I say again, it was beautiful, but maybe even more deadly.

  “Well this bites,” complained Rose, after looking at it. “I can’t equip it until I get the other half.”

  “Now, I am jealous,” said Rock. “Too bad about needing the other half though.”

  “I’ll get it eventually,” said Rose, slipping her prize into her bag.

  “How are the stats on it?” Rock asked.

  “Good,” Rose answered. I had the feeling she didn’t want to say just how good or it could lead to an incident. It was bad enough Olaf said the shield was both mythic and scaling. Still, Rose was the only one that could use them, so . . . moving on.

  “And that is it for loot. Are we ready to finish clearing the gremlins?” Olaf asked.

  “We are ready,” said Zid, leading the procession of miners and the two carts into the chasm. A group of the miners quickly rushed forward and started collecting the bones of the Gremlin Eater and loading them on to the carts, as if it had been planned that way from the start.

  Digren had said there would probably be another 5-7 mischiefs of gremlins to reach the bottom of the mine. There was actually double that but fewer of them per attack wave, maybe two hundred per mischief, if that.

  “This should be the end,” said Digren as we reached a section of mine that suddenly transitioned from worn looking supports to brand new looking supports. “Why is this not the end of the mine? I know these tunnels better than any Dwarf alive. This should be the end.” He was quickly checking the tunnel walls and support beams.

  I could see ahead of us was more mine, and just a dozen yards ahead of us the tunnel curved downward sharply, limiting our view.

  “It would seem someone has done some remodeling,” Olaf said, checking his weapons one more time. “Rose, lead us down. Rock, just behind her, this tunnel looks much narrower.” And it was. Because it was so narrow, the carts and most of the miners stayed behind with Denslo and Dinger to guard them. Only Zid and Digren accompanied us from that point.

  The newly dug tunnel was about a hundred yards long, but with the way it curved, you wouldn’t have known. At the bottom of which, there was a circular room carved into the mountain. In the center of that room was a pit filled with bubbling green energy and spiraling out from the center of the room, the floor was covered in arcane writing carved into the stone filled with that same green energy.

  “In the name of the God Ivaldi, what is this madness?” Digren said, falling to his knees in shock.

  “A spawning pit,” said Zid. “No one ever knew what gremlins were. They seem like such an amalgamation of beasts it was too difficult to determine. But to learn they are Demon spawn . . .”

  Quest Alert: Destroy the Pit! (Recommended Level 8-10)

  You have discovered a Demon Pit is responsible for summoning the gremlins to this world. Now, you need to find a way to destroy it before something bigger than a gremlin finds its way out.

  Reward: Experience, Increased reputation with Captain Grandmite

  Do you accept this quest?

  Yes

  No

  “How do we destroy it?” Olaf asked, seeing the energy start to boil, the energy that filled the writing began to suck inward.

  “We need a Priest or Paladin to close the portal,” said Zid.

  “Okay, and how do we do that?” I asked, hoping Warrior Priest would be sufficient.

  “Pray,” said Zid.

  Rock and I shared a brief look before rushing forward and taking a knee next to the pit. I had no idea what to do or if praying would work right now. The last time I spoke with my Goddess, she warned me she could not see what was going on in this province. I closed my eyes and hoped anyway.

  I prayed to the Goddess Issara, asked her to help us, but there was no reply.

  “It’s working,” Olaf shouted.

  I opened my eyes to see Rock’s hands held out above the pit, golden energy flowing from them into the green miasma, steadily eating away at it.

  I was glad. But I was also sad. I felt like a failure. Was a Warrior Priest not enough? Or was the Goddess Issara truly blocked from this province? Or was Rock just better at this than I was? I didn’t enjoy feeling self-doubt like this.

  “Good, I will go back and let the others know,” said Zid, his shoulders sagging in relief.

  “I will go with you. I do not like the feel of this place,” said Digren, following after the Fire Mage.

  Seeing Rock had things well in hand I moved away to wait with the others.

  “It’s alright, Jack,” Rose said softly, sneaking up to take my hand in hers. “You can’t fix everything.”

  “I still feel like I let you down,” I replied just as softly.

  “You never have, Jack,” Rose said, kissing me softly on the cheek, bolstering my confidence.

  I gave Rose’s hand a squeeze and gave her a small smile, trying to express my gratitude.

  Feeling better about the situation, I felt the need to make myself useful. And if Rock had this in hand, then the least I could do was look around the room, see if I couldn’t figure out wher
e the pit came from.

  To start, the writing carved into the floor was illegible to me, I didn’t speak Demon, though I made a mental note to see if I couldn’t find a skill book for the language. For now, I took a minute to scribble a rough copy of some of the writing in my notebook.

  I didn’t stop my search of the room there. I let my gaze slide over the walls, looking for anything out of place. They were smooth as can be, no cracks or seams and nothing appeared to be out of place. Or there wasn’t until one section of the wall suddenly lit up in golden light.

  I moved closer to investigate, Rose came with me, her hand had reclaimed my own after I put my drawing pad away. With my free hand, I touched the wall, only for my hand to go through it up to my elbow.

  “Baby, over here,” said Rose, releasing my hand and bringing out both of her shields.

  “What is it, Rosie?” Baby asked.

  Rose touched the false wall with her shields to show Baby. “I’m going through first, be ready to heal me.”

  “Look, Rose, why don’t you let me go through first?” Heath asked, appearing next to us. “I can scout it out easier.”

  Heath had a point, one that Rose reluctantly agreed with as she stepped back.

  Heath vanished from sight, the only sign of him was the slight waver of the false wall as he walked through it.

  “All clear,” Heath’s voice called from the other side of the wall.

  Rose still went through first, ready to protect us if necessary.

  Baby and I followed a moment later.

  It was a room, one that reminded me of a studio apartment, though in the style of those in Hammerton, carved into the stone. At one end was a bunk bed and at the other was a stove and table. But sitting at the table were a pair of Bronze Dwarves, face down in bowls of rotting food.

  “Poison?” Heath asked, sniffing at one of the bowls.

  “No, broken necks,” Baby said, inspecting the two bodies.

  “Search everything,” I said, looking around, hoping my ‘Perception’ skill would pick something up. I moved towards the bunks to start. Pulling back sheets, pulling them off and shaking them out. Then lifting the mattresses and checking under them. I pulled apart the pillows and pillowcases. Nothing.

  There was a small dresser of drawers next to the bed. I opened each drawer, one by one, emptying the contents, checking the undersides of the drawers, inside the drawer-less dresser and once again, I found nothing.

  At the other end of the room, I saw Rose tearing apart the kitchen while Heath searched the bodies. Baby was flying around the ceiling though I wasn’t sure what she was looking for up that high.

  I ended up sitting back on the bottom bunk, trying to let my eyes do the searching, trying again to let my ‘Perception’ skill do the work but seeing nothing out of place.

  “I think this is a bust. Whoever set this up covered their tracks well,” I said, standing from the bed, my feet scuffing the smooth floor. Then I felt an irregularity, a rough spot on the otherwise glass-smooth floor. I looked down and suddenly my ‘Perception’ kicked in, lines of scratches in the floor, all arcing from the foot of the dresser, as if it was moved regularly. “I may have spoken too soon.”

  I started to move the dresser when I felt a pull and stopped.

  “Heath, I think I might need you over here,” I said, trying not to move, there was a glow coming from the edge of the dresser, one I had come to associate with traps. Unfortunately, in my rush to investigate, I got sloppy and may have activated this one.

  “What have you got there, mate?” Heath asked, sauntering over.

  “I might have just stumbled into a trap. It hasn’t gone off yet but I’m afraid if I move, it just might,” I explained. I would have disarmed it myself, but again, might have set it off if I moved.

  “Alright, let’s see what we’ve got,” said Heath, his cavalier attitude disappearing, at least for the moment.

  I could only hope Heath would succeed.

  “Right, mate, I’m just going to step out of the room for a minute,” Heath said a minute later, moving away from me. “Rose, Baby, might want to step outside for this next bit. Probably going to get messy in here.”

  “Heath, this isn’t funny,” I said, feeling a little panic creep in.

  “Is Jack going to die?” Rose asked.

  “Probably,” said Heath nonchalantly.

  “I suppose he did bring it on himself,” Rose said. “Alright, see you when you respawn, Jack.”

  And just like that, I was alone in the room, expecting to die because I didn’t check for traps first. I mean, respawning wasn’t the worst thing ever. It was just a pain, mostly because I would need to run all the way back here. Accepting my inevitable respawn, I let out a long calming breath, preparing to let go. “Real stupid, Bye-bye,” I mumbled to myself, letting go of the dresser.

  “BOOM!”

  I must have jumped twenty feet in the air . . . more like ten feet. However, based on the way my head impacted the ceiling and my HP dipped, I could have easily cleared twenty feet.

  The laughter of Heath, Rose, and Baby that greeted me after the ‘Explosion’ explained so very much.

  “Ha, ha, very funny,” I said, rubbing my head where I hit it. It didn’t really hurt due to the muted pain, but it still stung a little. I think my pride was hurt more than anything.

  “I owed you that,” said Heath. “A little payback from Grave’s house.”

  I should have seen that coming. I had played a very similar prank on Heath during my very first month in the game while we were searching the home of Lieutenant Graves, a werewolf who had designs on Hurligville.

  “I take it you disarmed the trap?” I asked, trying to ignore the laughing. No doubt I would be a source of great entertainment for the rest of the evening.

  “Yeah, mate, all good,” said Heath, wiping away tears of laughter.

  I pulled the dresser out of the way to reveal a small safe, the door firmly closed. “Heath, do you know how to crack a safe?”

  “Let me try,” said Heath, still finding amusement in his joke, the stupid smirk on his stupid face said as much. “Did you know, that ‘Safecracking’ is a subskill of ‘Lockpicking’?” he asked, spinning the dial rapidly back and forth. “It is really interesting. You feel the tumblers pop into place as you spin the dial, until . . .” he paused, a loud click like something releasing sounded from the safe. Heath twisted the handle and opened the safe, “the lock is released and the safe cracks wide open.” Heath reached inside only to remove a single book and set it on the dresser.

  Demonology: Summoning Demonic Plagues and Pests

  “Is that a skill book?” Rose asked.

  “Not exactly,” Heath said. “It didn’t offer me the skill. Makes me think this is one of those things you need to read and learn from. Which, I am not going to do.”

  “No way,” said Rose and Baby together, backing away from the book.

  “Don’t look at me,” I said, except that they were all looking at me.

  Quest Alert: Demon’s Rising 1 (Recommended Level 13-15)

  Something foul, this way cometh. Demons have been found in the Hammer and Anvil Mountain Valley Province summoned here with foul magics. You have but the first clue. Find the being responsible, destroy him or her before he starts another Demon War.

  Reward: Experience, Hidden, Hidden, Hidden

  Do you accept this quest?

  Yes

  No

  “Yeah, we’re taking this quest,” I said accepting it right away. This was the kind of thing that just screamed big payday. I would have also put money on it that this would end up being related to our quest to protect Mardi. It was above our paygrade level wise, but this felt like one we couldn’t, no, shouldn’t refuse.

  “Why don’t we take this to the Mage’s Guild then, see what we can find out? For now, we need to identify those two Dwarves. Heath, once we know who they are, dig into their lives, find out whatever you can. I want to know who killed them,
” I said, stuffing the book into my bag.

  “You got it, mate,” said Heath, moving over to the corpses and taking one of them under the arms and pulling him from his chair, dragging him back into the ritual room.

  Rose and Baby quickly followed him out, leaving me to deal with the other corpse.

  “Find anything interesting?” Olaf asked when he saw me dragging a corpse out of a hidden room.

  “Plenty,” I said, dropping the body next to the one Heath left behind.

  “Well this looks exciting,” said Icyhot, reminding me of him and his team’s presence. “Quest?”

  I shared a look with Olaf, he was our leader, and this was a decision I couldn’t make for our group.

  “What do you think, Bye-bye?” Olaf asked, putting the responsibility on me.

  I wanted to glare at him and complain about putting me in the spotlight. “My first instinct is to share it with them. We never would have gotten this far without their help. That also suggests we will probably need their help to finish it,” I answered.

  “That is a very good point,” said Olaf thoughtfully. “Alright, tell them.”

  I read the quest text to the group. Told them what I knew about Demon Wars and how it related back to Hurlig Ridge, which led to more questions from Icyhot and his people. The only thing I held back was the Gras situation, and given Olaf didn’t say anything, he apparently agreed with me. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to share, I just didn’t know Icyhot well enough yet to share that kind of information.

  “So, if I’ve got this right, you have been tasked with protecting the Duchess of Hammerton and ending the war between Anvilton and Hammerton. If that wasn’t enough, there is now a Warlock or something somewhere trying to start a Demon War,” Icyhot recapped briefly.

  “Basically,” said Olaf.

  “And most of this was Bye-bye’s doing?” Icyhot asked.

  Olaf nodded.

  “Where have you been all my life,” Icyhot said, suddenly enveloping me in a hug. “You’re still single, right?”

  Thank the Goddess for Rose, she separated us then stood protectively in front of me. “My quest monkey, find your own.”