by Seth Ring
“Good shot.” Waving her wand, Mina cast an [Ice Wall] on the barge’s deck. Unlike a normal [Ice Wall], this one was not long and thin, instead appearing more like a thick pillar of ice.
“How is that? I’ve been practicing my spells and have better control over them now.”
Running a hand up the thick cylinder of ice, Thorn nodded in satisfaction. With a thought he summoned his armor, the bronze metal covering his body from his neck down. Looking toward the chasing boat, he flexed his metal claws and dug them into the sides of the [Ice Wall]. With a grunt he heaved, his muscles bulging as he lifted the thick pillar into the air over his head.
Lady Ruby clicked her tongue when she saw OneArrowKiller’s arrow destroy her fireball. The fireballs were an ancillary effect of her [Burning Whip] ability so she was not surprised that the Forest Warden could shoot them down. Instead, her attention was drawn by the huge figure on the ship they were chasing. Narrowing her eyes, she watched as the strange pillar of ice appeared.
“Who is that giant? Is that the war construct? Why do they have it dressed in regular clothes?”
“That is not a war construct.” Heuron shook his head at Lady Ruby’s question. “In fact, I’m starting to wonder if there ever was a war construct.”
“No war construct? What are you talking about? We just fought it. You don’t remember it killing Raul and XianDragon?”
“I mean that what we fought might not have been a war construct. Do you remember that video that was going around a week ago? About the world quest?”
“You think that is Thorn?” Lady Ruby’s mouth dropped open as she pointed with her whip at the large figure on the barge.
Before Heuron could reply, they saw Thorn’s figure turn bronze as his armor appeared, confirming the bearded warrior’s guess. Slamming his fist onto the wood railing in anger, Heuron clenched his teeth.
“Wow, he is way bigger in real life.” Lady Ruby shook her head. “Hey, what is he doing with that pillar of ice?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Thorn’s claws sank into the sides of the [Ice Pillar], and with a grunt he heaved it up into the air, holding it above his head. Taking a few steps back, he measured the distance to the pursuing boat with his eyes. Throwing something at an object that was accelerating towards you was more difficult than it appeared at first glance, so he took his time. Gauging the weight of the pillar in his hands, he put one hand on the end and took two big strides forward as he launched it into the air.
Watching from the chasing boat, Heuron’s eyes grew wide and a dreadful feeling settled in his chest. While not the best player in the game, he believed that he could hold his own against anyone, which is why he was so angry when he realized that the war construct that had decimated his team was actually another player. But now, watching the [Ice Pillar] rocketing toward him, that anger was cut apart by a stabbing sense of fear.
They were not chasing a team with a strong war construct. They were chasing a team led by a player who had ripped two of his friends apart without much effort. The same player who was now throwing a wall of ice at them. The conflicting emotions boiling in his chest caused him to freeze in place. It wasn’t until the burning end of Lady Ruby’s whip curled around his waist and jerked him off the side of the boat that he realized he had been nearly crushed.
Splashing into the water, he could feel the impact of the [Ice Pillar] as it smashed through the front of the ship. Punching a hole in the deck where he had been standing a moment before, the chunk of ice drove down through the bottom of the ship assisted by the ship’s own speed, tremors from the impact buffeting Heuron as he floated in the water. Pushing himself up, his head broke the surface just as the ship began to take on water and swiftly sink.
Gasping, Lady Ruby surfaced beside him, and together they watched as the ship carrying Thorn disappeared down the river, the half-submerged boat they had just been standing on sinking beside them.
“Contact Dezil and have him send another boat. We’re going to catch them if it kills us.” Fueled by his embarrassment, the conflicted feelings that had settled in Heuron’s chest melted under his raging anger.
Down the river Thorn patted his hands together and watched the chasing ship sink with satisfaction. Hitting them on the first try was outside of his expectations, and he was not sure that he could make that throw again. Still, it had worked nicely which left him feeling quite pleased. Turning to Aien and Velin who were watching from the door to the cabin, Thorn smiled and pointed to the northern bank.
*We go.*
“To the Barrow Hills?” Getting a confirming nod, Velin patted Aien on the shoulder. “You’ve seen how quickly enemies found us. There are undoubtedly reinforcements coming from Sheylathemar to head us off. Lord Greymane is right. If we don’t want to get sandwiched between our enemies, traveling through the Barrow Hills is our only good option. Plus, it will throw them off.”
“I’m sorry, I simply can’t allow that.” The Elven guard shook his head with a stubborn look.
“We will follow your lead, Lady Velin.” Princess Rychell’s pleasant voice echoed from inside the cabin, stifling the words Aien was about to say. Walking out of the cabin, she held up her hand to forestall any argument from her guard. “Sir SmilingBandit, am I correct in thinking that you concur with Lady Velin?”
“Uh, yes, Princess. I think that the Barrow Hills are our best bet.” Refusing to back down in the face of Aien’s glare, SmilingBandit flashed his broad smile. “Please understand that, as travelers, we have a different standard for judging danger. I am confident that we’ll be able to take you through safely no matter how many spirits we run across.”
“If both of you are confident, that is good enough for me. Aien, I know you are worried about me, but I am requesting that you follow Lady Velin and Sir SmilingBandit’s lead in this. The sooner we get back to Thilvena the better off we will be. If we need to brave some danger to do it, then that is what we will do.”
“Princess!”
“Aien! I’ve made up my mind. Taking this route will cut days off of our trip, days that we cannot afford to waste. Getting back home is vitally important. And besides,” the Princess sent a fascinated glanced at Thorn from the corner of her eyes. “If we are not safe with this party, I’m afraid we will never be safe.”
“Well said, Princess.” SmilingBandit agreed. “I’ll go ask the captain to land once we’re at a good spot. Velin, do you have some weapons we can lend to our friends here? I’m sure they would feel much safer once they are equipped. I’ve got an extra set of armor I can chip in. ”
Seeing that the Princess’ guards were still armed with their broken weapons, Velin nodded and called Thorn over, explaining the situation to him. Under the Elves’ astonished gaze Thorn began to pull piles of weapons out of his inventory for them to look through. While the four Elves outfitted themselves from Thorn’s mobile armory, SmilingBandit gave them his spare leather armor and left to talk to the captain about docking the boat.
Aien picked through the weapons that Thorn had dumped out onto the deck, choosing a long, straight sword, a thin dagger, and a spear. As the others selected weapons, the princess chose a pretty looking dagger and tucked the sheath into her belt, ignoring the protests from her maid.
“Hey, a girl’s gotta be able to protect herself.” Mina popped up next to Princess Rychell and gave her a thumbs up. Retrieving an icy blue potion from her inventory, she waved it in the air in front of the princess’ face. “But you should really take one of these. It is a frost bomb. All you have to do is drop it and it’ll freeze everything and everyone in twenty-five feet. If you add a drop of your blood it will not freeze you. Here let me help you.”
Taking out a small needle, she pricked the princess’ finger before anyone could react, drawing a single bright red drop of blood. Shaking it into the potion, she swirled it around and then put the cap back on the potion. Ignoring the outraged looks from the princess’ guards, Mina tucked the potion into the princess’
hands and sauntered off.
Spinning the wheel, the captain steered the boat to the edge of the bank and Thorn jumped to the shore. Laying his massive hands on the side of the ship, he pulled it to the edge of the river, holding it there while the sailors secured it and put down the gangplank. Climbing back up onto the boat, Thorn gathered up the extra weapons that the Elves had not chosen and put them back in his inventory. Calling Akira over, he left the boat. Once everyone stood on the shore, he did a quick count. Their group had grown substantially since they arrived at Maandell, more than doubling from five to twelve. Noticing that Velin had a slight frown on her face, he tapped her on the shoulder.
*Problem?*
“Hmm? Oh, not really a problem exactly. I’m just worried about our speed. Most of us have movement abilities, which will let us travel without resting on our way to the forest. My concern is that our charges do not have any travel abilities.” Velin spoke quietly as she explained the problem to Thorn. “I’m pretty sure that the people chasing us will be players, which means they’ll be able to move as fast as us, or maybe even faster. If the Elves can’t keep up we’ll lose our head start. This will be especially bad once we get into the Barrow Hills.”
Tapping his chest, Thorn wiggled his fingers as if they were running and then crossed his arms. His travel ability had been locked by his [Living Statue] curse, along with the rest of his abilities, so he did not have a travel ability either.
“Sure, but have you ever gotten tired from running? Have you ever gotten tired from anything? Exactly. My concern is that the Princess will not be able to keep up if we try to make this trip in one go. The players chasing us will not need to rest.”
Realizing the extent of the problem, Thorn thought for a moment. Getting an idea, he held up a finger to tell Velin to wait and ran back onto the ship. It took him a little while to find what he was looking for, and the others were getting antsy by the time he re-emerged. Carrying a large crate that he had emptied out, he set it down on the river bank and gestured for the Elves to get inside.
It took a little bit of convincing, but eventually the Princess climbed into the box with his help, accompanied by her maid. Her two guards chose not to get in so Thorn shrugged and lifted the crate up, setting it on his shoulder. Giving OneArrowKiller a thumbs up, he followed the Forest Warden as they set out for the Barrow Hills. Running along with the crate on his shoulder, Thorn tried to make the ride as smooth as possible for the two Elven ladies riding inside.
After a few hours of running the two guards were starting to lag behind, so Thorn picked them up and tossed them into the box, ignoring their embarrassed protests. Settling the box firmly, he picked up his speed, his long strides making the scenery fly by. The rest of the players used their abilities to keep pace with him, and the whole group began to move even faster.
The distance that would have normally taken them most of a day to cover flashed by, and within a few hours they saw the mist shrouded hills on the horizon. Princess Rychell was peering over the edge of the box and could not help exclaiming when she saw the hills appear.
“There they are. Let’s keep moving folks. The sooner we get in, the sooner we can get through.” SmilingBandit spoke as he ran. Looking at Velin, he patted his sword. “Any chance of a blessing for our weapons before we go in?”
“Yes. I can do that. Let’s pause for a five minute rest when we get to the edge of the hills.”
“Sounds good. Hey, Arrow, you and Baxby will be leading the way so figure that out. Boon, you and I will be guarding the sides. Thorn, are you okay holding the back with Mina? Alright, good.”
The group slowed down as they got to the edge of the rolling mist, taking a moment to reorganize themselves. Velin took out her staff and murmured a prayer, touching the glowing end of her staff to Boon’s weapon. The golden glow from her staff seeped into his club, making it shimmer with holy light. One by one Velin blessed everyone’s weapons as they prepared to head into the Barrow Hills.
“This blessing should last around two hours, so we’ll need to stop and reapply it as we go.”
“About how long do you think we’ll be in the hills?” Princess Rychell had been fearless back on the boat, but now that she was facing the misty hills she was starting to get nervous.
“To completely cross them? If we’re lucky, eight hours or so,” SmilingBandit said as he swapped out some of his armor. “It depends how many patrols we hit and if we can avoid aggroing any dread hunters. If we’re unlucky, we'll have to push through the night. We should avoid spending the night in the hills if we can.”
“That shouldn’t be an issue.” OneArrowKiller took his bow back from Velin and tested the string. “Even if we do a full clear on the path we should be done in ten hours max. We have the right party for it. Alright, everyone ready?”
Completing their final check, OneArrowKiller led the way forward into the mist.
Back at the bank of the Maandell river where the barge had landed, a party of players stood waiting for a leather armored ranger to finish examining the area. Armed to the teeth, they chatted quietly as they watched the ranger carefully looking over the ground. Once he had combed over the area a few times the ranger frowned and looked toward the north.
“What’s up, Dezil? Were you able to lock on?” Heuron asked.
“Yeah, I think so.” The ranger nodded slowly.
Picking up on his hesitancy, Heuron frowned.
“You seem unsure. What is the issue?”
“Well, I am seeing the tracks of the players, and the male slaves, but I don’t see tracks for the two female slaves. They came off the boat here, but it looks like they might have gotten back on, because they disappear. You can see here where they were standing next to a giant crate that was then lifted onto the boat. Probably by a crane. The only thing I can think of is that the female slaves got onto the crate and were lifted back onto the boat. Could they have split up?”
“Hmm. Possible, but not likely. The male slaves probably wouldn’t let the female slaves out of their sight. I think it is more likely that they are heading through the Barrow Hills.” Heuron looked north. The Barrow Hills could not be seen from where they stood on the bank of the river but he knew they were there.
“That is smart. And probably enough to throw off any NPCs that are chasing them. Too bad for them our party is totally made up of players. One of them is pretty big and left a clear trail of prints so they’ll be easy to follow. Haha, I bet we’ll catch up soon. And once we do they’ll have no choice but to fight with us.”
“Yeah, that's what I’m worried about.” Lady Ruby muttered under her breath from where she stood listening to Heuron and the ranger talk.
“Hm?”
“Nothing, nothing.” Giving Heuron an embarrassed smile, she waved her hand. As worried as she was, she knew from the look in Heuron’s eyes that there was no way she would be able to convince him to drop it.
“Well, we won’t catch them by standing around here. Let’s go!”
With a wave of one of his axes, swirling wind appeared around Heuron’s feet and he led the charge toward the north, following Thorn’s deep footprints.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
The mist that covered the Barrow Hills was not overly thick, but there was a mystical quality to it that made Thorn’s head spin. Thin wisps of mist swirled across the path like fingers enticing travelers to chase them from the path. OneArrowKiller led the way between the hills, following a winding path that seemed to appear under their feet as they walked. From his position in the rear, Thorn could see the Forest Warden constantly correcting his direction as the swirling mist caused him to stray from the path. After a few minutes OneArrowKiller lifted his hand and the group stopped.
“Our first fight is ahead. Visibility is too low to pull, but from what I can see there are six or so spirits.”
“Then we’ll wade in.” SmilingBandit gestured for Boon to come forward and then stopped and looked at Velin, embarrassed. “Sorry, force of hab
it. I didn’t mean to take over.”
“If you want to take the lead you are welcome to.” Velin said with a small smile as she glanced at Mina and Thorn who were standing at the back of the group. “Normally Thorn would be taking point, but I’m not opposed to you handling it.”
“In that case, how can I refuse?”
“Haha, now’s your time to shine!” Laughing, Boon slapped his friend on the shoulder, nearly knocking him over. Getting the chance to play with players of Velin, Mina, and Thorn’s calibre was a dream come true for casual players like him so he was excited to see Velin let his friend take the leader position. Lowering his voice, he added in a loud whisper, “Just don’t embarrass yourself."
“Knock it off.” Rolling his eyes at his friend’s antics, SmilingBandit gave a small bow and looked over the group quickly. “Thorn, are you okay tanking? Boon will take the right, I’ll take the left, and Arrow will clear stragglers. Velin and Mina, can you handle our backline?”