Collecting The Goddess (Chronicles Of KieraFreya Book 1)

by Michael Anderle

  “But I’m not up there,” Chloe stated.

  “I guess they put the successful ones up there. The ones they believe can be rehabilitated stay on the lower levels.”

  “Which level are we?”

  “Level 5, I’m told.” Jesepiah chewed something green and mulchy-looking as she spoke. “Not that we’re ever told the truth. It’s not like we get to mingle with the nutters on the higher decks.”

  They stopped talking as a guard slowly strolled past their cells. “Keep it down, inmates,” he said, sparing only a cursory glance their way as he passed them.

  Jesepiah made her way back to her bed. Chloe followed suit, arm behind her head as a pillow. The bracers were remarkably uncomfortable.

  They had taken pretty much everything when they’d locked her inside. For a short while they fought her bracers, demanding that the magic be unlocked until eventually the lead guard who had taken her to the prison sighed and just told her to go on in with them on. It was nearing the end of his shift, and he didn’t believe she could do any harm with them.

  Chloe stared at the blank ceiling overhead, watching shapes coalesce from the darkness. She thought about Tag, Ben, and Gideon, wondering if they were okay. Where they looking for her? Desperately ripping around the city on a mad hunt?

  Had Tohken’s goons already killed them?

  Had they decided to take the opportunity to keep going without her? The three gaming musketeers setting off on their own adventure, ditching the girl who kept getting them into sticky situations.

  Chloe shook her head at that last one. She trusted them, and they liked her. The last thing they’d do was abandon Chloe.

  But it was you who abandoned them, right? KieraFreya said, cutting into her thoughts.

  Chloe huffed, trying to find a way to distract herself from her thoughts. She pulled up her Activity Log to find several nice surprises.

  You’ve unlocked a new skill: Charismatic (Lv 1)

  You’re quite the talker. No, seriously, you’re quite the talker. Shut up once in a while.

  Hone those conversational skills to learn the art of negotiation and convince others to bend to your will. The higher the level of this skill, the more eligible you are for store discounts, too.

  Requirements: Spend considerable time with a stranger.

  Bonuses: +1 intelligence

  Wow, she thought. Looking at the time of the notification, she deduced it must have been from her time spent with Neville. Maybe when she got out of this situation, she would find him again. Just to thank him.

  Skill increased: Armed combat (Lv 3)

  Fight one-on-one in a near-death situation. Oh, wait! You already did that! The higher this skill goes, the stronger and better your fighting style will become.

  Bonuses: +3 strength

  Well at least something good came out of that fight, Chloe mused. A few hacks and slashes and BOOM! a new skill level gained. She laughed when she read the next notification.

  Uh-oh! You’ve been captured…

  Naughty girls deserve to be punished. In a tree cell. Bet you never thought you’d read that sentence in your life.

  You’re goddamn right. Chloe smirked, pulling up her character sheet to check her progress.

  Bio

  Character name: Chloe (click to select a new character name)

  Level: 10

  Class: Click for more information on selecting a character class.

  Race: Human

  Stats

  HP: 275/275

  MP: 200/200

  Stamina: 345/345

  Active effects: Null

  Attributes

  Strength: 22 (+21)

  Intelligence: 10 (+15)

  Dexterity: 20 (+17)

  Endurance: 25 (+18)

  Etheric Potential: 9 (+21)

  Skills

  Languages: Human

  Acrobatics: Lv 3

  Armed Combat: Lv 3

  Charismatic: Lv 1

  Cooking: Lv 2

  Crafting: Lv 1

  Creature Identification: Lv 4

  Dark Vision: Lv 4

  Dual Wielding: Lv 2

  Experimental: Lv 1

  Fishing: Lv 1

  Hand of the Gods: Lv 1

  Herb Identification: Lv 2

  Sneak: Lv 4

  Swimming: Lv 1

  Reckless: Lv 4

  Available Points: 0

  Chloe sighed. It had been a while since she had gained a level, but her progress bar showed that she was getting perilously close. She didn’t think she had a bad mix of skills, either. Each one was slowly growing as time went by.

  The question was still, what should she choose as her class? She somehow knew it would make a huge difference to her character if she were to specialize, but what should she pick? When should she pick? Did she know enough about Obsidian to know what type of player she wanted to be?

  She viewed the options again, thinking that since there was nothing but time to kill, it would be worth it to take time to consider her choice.

  If she went for the Warrior class, she’d be a deft hand with a sword. She would also gain favor with the guards, and could maybe worm her way out of a cell and into the prison to hunt for KieraFreya’s armor.

  Then again, if she chose Mage, her magic could advance at a much faster rate. Although she loved the idea of battling with a sword, the power she felt while casting spells was next to none. She closed her eyes, remembering how it had felt to cast Deic Light and sweep her power around the dungeon, wiping out skeletons as she went.

  But then there was also Berzerker. Maybe not her typical style, but something that could come in handy if she wanted to wreak havoc and let the red rage take over.

  Oh, who was she kidding? Berzerker was out of the question. It just wasn’t her style, and besides, Tag thought it was a good idea. That was enough reason right there not to select it.

  Battle Mage sounded amazing but limited the bonuses she could get from either the Warrior or Mage classes. Sure, she’d master both classes, but at what cost? Would she level up more slowly? She’d definitely struggle at the Mages’ Academy, with battle mages seen as second-rate learners of magic and put lower on the priority list than anyone else.

  And finally there was Cleric, a class that brought healing and peace and put the player closer to the gods than any other class. Surely that would be beyond helpful, given the quest she was on?

  Chloe groaned, her head hurting from the monumental decision. She went to blink away the information and saw a flashing icon that made her sit up.

  She focused on the pulsing Mail icon and read the list of messages.

  Chloe? What the hell, man? Where are you?

  Look, I’m not sure what happened last night, but something clearly went down. There’s bloodstains on the floor, and your bed is disturbed. Did something come to get you? Why didn’t it get us?

  Sorry we weren’t there to help. It’s not our fault we have to log off when we do. What I wouldn’t give to go full-immersion like you.

  Anyway, I’ll keep this short. Let us know where you are, and we’ll find a way to meet up again.

  Gid

  Chloe,

  Bumped into that elf waitress, who took us to some weird back room and told us everything. She’s good people. Said you’re on some kind of secret mission thing. Sounds ominous but awesome—AWESOMINOUS!

  Let us know how you’re doing. Still a little worried that I haven’t heard from you. We’ll keep looking around the city to see what we can find out.

  Gid

  Chloe,

  I was getting a weird feeling that elf chick lied to us, then we heard a commotion in the streets and tried to see what was going on. Apparently some broad who had been arrested and was practically nude was being paraded through the street. Looked over the crowds and it was you!

  Not sure where you went. We lost you after the crowds bustled us out the way. Hope all’s okay.

  Check in.

  Gid


  Seriously, Chloe?

  Get in touch. This isn’t funny anymore. Are you even playing the game right now?

  Gid

  Chloe felt a wave of guilt wash over her as she read through the messages. She took a deep breath and composed the reply.

  Gid!

  I’m so sorry I haven’t been in touch. Remember, you were the one who taught me how to turn notifications off until I needed them. I think maybe we need a little bit more fine-tuning.

  I’m fine! I’m fine! I’m alive. LeavenHawk was right, I was off on a super-secret mission that ended badly. I’m totally in prison now—LOL!

  It’s all good, though. Guess what? I might have found more of KieraFreya’s armor! How sweet is that? I’m going to need to stay in here, though, until I find out more.

  Bumped into our friend Tohken. Weird artifact collector with a hard-on for out-of-towners. He gave me a clue to the location of more of KF’s armor. It’s in here somewhere, I can just feel it.

  Anyway, visiting hours are 11-3pm. They’ll check your bag on entry. Bring me a toothpick baked into a pie that I can pick the lock with.

  PSYCH!

  I have no idea what the deal is here. Just getting my bearings.

  Ciao for now.

  Chloe

  After hitting Send, Chloe returned to her staring match with the ceiling, wondering what the guys were doing right this second. A part of her wished she was there with them.

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  When Chloe awoke, it was to the horrendous sound of metal clanging on metal. Through bleary eyes, she saw several guards strutting through the corridor, swords dragging along the bars to create the din.

  Chloe stared sleepily across to Jesepiah’s cell. She was already awake, great wet stains around her pits as she counted her sit-ups. “Ready for breakfast, sleepyhead?” She grinned.

  Chloe was led through the corridors of the tree into a mess hall lined with benches. She queued, received a bowlful of gray sludge (which once again reminded her of the filth she had seen in the bathhouse), and played with her spoon until the slop went cold and the inmates were ushered back out of the room again.

  They were led to a separate room which housed next to nothing. There were a few tables with board games and a chalk-like substance with which people could draw on the walls or floor, but besides those, there was very little. Jesepiah found Chloe and ushered her over to a small table where two ratty-looking women were deep into a game of something that looked like chess but had pieces shaped in the likeliness of tree leaves and nuts.

  “Beat it,” Jesepiah said, towering over the pair.

  “Get lost,” one of them said.

  “Yeah, we’re nearly finished anyway.”

  Jesepiah leaned in closely, her musk clothing all three of them. “I said, beat it!”

  The two women turned to each other and growled, then skulked away. Jesepiah took a seat, offering the other to Chloe. She reset the board, and after some explanation of the game, started playing.

  “Can I ask you a question?” Chloe began, breaking a strange silence she couldn’t comprehend.

  Jesepiah grunted, her full concentration on the game.

  “Why are you being nice to me? You hardly know me.”

  Jesepiah glanced at Chloe, then focused on the game again. “You’re a good one. I can tell. Attempted murder aside, there aren’t many scumbags who come into this joint that I can safely say are good guys on the inside. I may be a piece of work, but I didn’t do what I did to hurt others. I’m morally clean through and through. If people blew up or exploded because of my dealings, that was never on me. I was a distributor, not the creator. Not my fault if people died.”

  Chloe raised an eyebrow. “So because we’re both good guys, we’re teaming up?”

  “Hey, keep your voice down,” Jesepiah said, looking around fearfully. “The only thing getting me by is my reputation. I ain’t had to slam no one, but my size makes people think I will. And besides, who said anything about teaming up? Just because I don’t want a butterfly to get squished don’t mean I have to baby it and keep it beside me in a jar.”

  Chloe pondered that image—the great hulking beast that was Jesepiah attempting to catch a butterfly. She chuckled, made her next move, and studied the other inmates around her.

  They were a strange bunch, although she wasn’t sure why she had expected anything less. Over by the far wall, in a deep huddle, three elves stood, shiftily taking it in turns to cast their eyes on the guards.

  On a table adjacent to theirs, the two ratty-looking women had found a new game to play and occasionally cast stink-eye at Jesepiah, who paid them no mind.

  And then there were those who looked as though they didn’t belong in the prison at all. A few plain-Jane sorts who milled around, catching up as if they were friends in a schoolyard. A group of these girls caught Chloe’s eye as they approached the guards at the door and were subsequently allowed to leave the room with nothing more than a nod and a smile.

  “What’s the deal with them?” Chloe asked, nodding in their direction.

  Jesepiah spared a furtive glance. “Brown-nosers. Girls who suck up to the guards and play nice get away with murder. They’re allowed to stroll around the prison and use the guard facilities, and most have a job they get to do while inside. Armor-shining, cooking, manning the library, that sort of thing.”

  “That hardly seems fair.”

  “If you’re looking for fair in a prison, I think you are a bit loopier than you led me to believe. I win!”

  Chloe recoiled as Jesepiah celebrated, tossing the table in the air and attracting the attention of the other girls with her dancing.

  Over the next few days, Chloe thought about what Jesepiah had said. When the guards came around, she flashed her winning smile and spoke in a polite tone, managing to draw them in for conversation (not that it had anything to do with her puffing out her chest and showing more cleavage, of course).

  Her breakout times soon became more frequent with less time between, even Jesepiah laughing as Chloe was allowed out to wander the prison blocks, much to the dismay of the other inmates.

  On day three, she was led to the far reaches of level 5, where several small rooms were made available to her. The first was the guard’s personal bathroom. The second was the prison library, a room filled from floor to ceiling with books. The third was a padded private room to which many of the inmates were taken to calm down during their rages.

  “Feel free to use it for quiet and meditation and crap,” a guard Chloe had come to know as “Weed” said as he opened the door for her.

  He leaned close to her ear. “It’s also a great place to bone.”

  “Thanks,” Chloe said, not wanting to offend the guard now she had gotten this far, but also not wanting to give the wrong impression. “I’ll bear that in mind.”

  She kept in touch with the others, of course, sending messages every morning and evening to Gideon to keep him up to date on her progress. Gideon messaged back, detailing his day—mostly complaints about Tag and how he had upset and offended the locals with his brash personality that day.

  They had begun to get the lay of the land, discovering useful stores and speaking to those who had small quests that needed fulfilling. Mostly messages that needed to be passed from one person to the other, or in which they needed to play bad cop and threaten civilians due to certain acts of behavior. Creepy stalkers, hateful mothers, and so on.

  By day five, Chloe had begun to push the boundaries of her newfound liberties. According to Weed and the others, Chloe’s punishment for her crimes was to be decided on the seventh day of her imprisonment. Thanks to a backlog created by a wave of criminal activity in the city, there was no one available to consider her case until then.

  Jesepiah told Chloe her sentence would likely be minimal. That due to the fact she had clearly been attacked, there was enough evidence to throw the case out and just serve an injunction against her, perhaps some kind of order to keep
her distance from Tohken.

  However, no matter what the outcome would be, Chloe began to panic. Five days, and still she had found no sign of the armor.

  Chloe was getting desperate. Each day she found a new corridor and explored its length, discovering new inmates and finding new dead-ends. KieraFreya sarcastically congratulated her every time this happened, and Chloe began to wonder if she really wanted to find more of her pieces. Would more armor mean more personality?

  I think you should consider being nicer to me, considering the lengths I’m going to here to help you, she mused.

  Oh, wow. Thank you, Chloe. Truly, I’m grateful. The lengths you go to, eh? Strolling around a prison block like you own the place, flirting with the guards, and getting your own goddamn lavatory. That must be sooooo horrible for you to have to put up with.

  Chloe was on her way back to her cell that evening when she realized something she had been missing.

  As she approached the intersection where the stairs that led to the other floors were, Chloe waved at the guards as usual, casting them her beaming smile. By now her Charismatic skill had risen to level 4, and she was finding the guards easier to convince of her kindness.

  Something crossed her mind as she stared into the darkness beyond the guards. She approached them, causing them to tense slightly, their hands adjusting on their weapons.

  “Evening, fellas,” Chloe said, flicking her hair behind her head. “Nice one tonight, don’t you think?”

  The guard on the left, Rocky, shuffled his feet. “Certainly is. Great night to be standing guard. Doing nothing much at all.” His words sounded bitter and slightly sarcastic. “Shouldn’t you be getting back to your cell?”

  Chloe shook her head. “I’ve been granted permission for an additional stroll. Got to keep the blood flowing, y’see? Problem is that I feel like I’m going crazy. I’ve exhausted these halls and, well, it’s been suggested that I take a brief stroll of the lower floors. Really stretch my legs. Shine as an example of what the others can do if they behave while they’re in here.”

  Rocky turned uncomfortably to the other guard. “Under whose orders is this?”