by Byron Kings
<< Warning: 10% of health remaining! >>
I reached into my sack to grab a healing potion, but the fall had broken at least two of the bottles. Unable to find one intact, I scrambled to my feet and looked around.
“Everyone okay?” I asked.
Harper moaned nearby as she sat up.
“Where’s Morgana?” Harper asked.
I glanced around, not seeing her until a loud popping sound got my attention. Morgana and the other spell caster both appeared about twenty yards away, wrestling each other to the ground.
“A little help!” Morgana yelled.
I rushed over, looking for a safe moment to plunge my sword into the spell caster’s chest. She rolled around with Morgana, not giving me any opportunities. Harper stopped by my side, also watching the two women wrestling on the ground.
“Maybe we should ask her to join us,” Harper said.
“If Morgana doesn’t kill her first.”
The two women stopped struggling as Morgana got the upper hand. She sat on the other woman’s stomach, holding down her arms, so she couldn’t cast any other spells.
“Let me go!” the woman screamed, wriggling around to get free.
“Stop resisting,” Morgana said. “Or I’ll kill you right now.”
“Then kill me!” the woman shrieked.
“Hold on,” I said. “We could use a woman like you in our group.”
“I’m already in a group,” she replied. “The one you just killed!”
Harper stepped forward, bent down, and slit the woman’s throat, killing her.
<< Battle complete! >>
<< No xp awarded! >>
“That was a waste,” I said, sword still in my hand. “Stupid PvP rules.”
“We need a bigger group,” Harper said. “We almost didn’t win that one.”
“I want to find someone, but we want to be sure they’re a good fit,” I said then turned to Morgana. “Great job on that last spell caster. Did she teleport you away too.”
She smiled and nodded. “I grabbed on right before she zapped away.”
“Good thinking,” I said. “Hopefully they’ll have some healing magic on them. I broke a few of my potions when I went down to the ground.”
“Are you okay?” Harper asked.
She stepped closer, putting her hand on my arm.
“I’m fine,” I said, reaching into my sack and retrieving the last unbroken healing potion.
My health returned to full after I drank it down. Morgana peered up from where she was going through the mage’s belongings.
“I found something,” she said.
“More healing?” I asked.
She shook her head and handed it to Harper.
“It’s a clue,” Harper said as she read it. “For the map!”
“They must’ve been coming for the map if they had the clue already,” Morgana said as she stood.
I nodded. “What’s it say?”
“Hold on,” Harper said. “Give me a minute. Oh... Now it makes sense.”
She reached into a sack and pulled out the map to the horn sword.
“According to this, someone called the Daughter of Time has info on the sword. We can find her on a nearby island. Looks like it’s a new one that formed with the last game reset.”
“Great,” I said. “We have a destination. Is it far away?”
Harper nodded. “We’ll need to get a ship at Harboringer.”
“I hate that city,” Morgana said.
“Me too, but it’s the only place to hire a ship and crew. It’ll take us a day at least to reach it. We should get going. Everyone else healed up?”
“I could use some rest or healing,” Morgana said.
“Me too,” Harper added. “I used up a lot of sexual energy in that encounter.”
“You two set-up camp while I check the other bodies. We’ll leave for Harboringer in the morning unless something else comes up. Sound like a plan?”
Both women nodded. As they recovered our horses and found a place off the main road to camp for the night, I pulled all the corpses into the woods and looted them. The gold and gems would be helpful, but I was more interested in any magic armor or weapons they might have.
I cast Identify, the single spell I knew, but didn’t see anything extraordinary except for a few minor healing potions. After grabbing them and the two bags of coins, I went over to the others. They had started a fire and were sitting on a log next to it when I walked up.
“Not too shabby,” I said, dropping the sacks of coins on the ground. “Three healing potions if one of you two need something.”
“I’ll be okay if we rest for the night,” Morgana said. “Her fireball missed me completely.”
“And my fire immunity helped,” Harper added. “Are you feeling okay?”
I grinned as I glanced down at the two amazing women.
“Doing good, but I could be better,” I said then grinned. “Who wants to share some of my sex energy? Anyone?”
Harper and Morgana smiled then crawled over to me. They stood and began taking off my light leather armor as I unclothed them at the same time. Naked next to a fire, we took turns giving each other an orgasm to be remembered. Our sexual energy came together, grew, and became even more powerful. All the while, I kept dreaming of getting my horn sword.
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CHAPTER 8
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Why Would a Dragon Fear?
We headed straight for the docks when we hit Harboringer the next afternoon. A bulletin board gave us the names of two ships leaving the next morning.
“Prices are expensive, but we’ve got the gold from that other party,” I said.
Harper grinned. “Easy come, easy go…”
“We’ll find more,” I said. “Don’t worry.”
“Are you looking for a ship?” a man asked.
I turned and saw a disheveled man with wrinkled clothes and an unkempt beard.
“Possibly,” I said. “Are you a captain?”
“One of the best,” he said. “What’s your destination?”
“A new island. We’re looking for a horn sword.”
“Damn treasure hunters.” The captain spat. “I expect you want me to take you in exchange for a percentage of everything you find, right?”
“No,” I said, holding up a bag of coins and shaking it. “We’ve got coin.”
The man’s eyes widened briefly when he heard the sweet sound.
“I have an extra hazard charge with uncharted islands,” the captain said. “There’s too many unknowns both known and unknown.”
“Uh huh,” I said, nodding. “Tell you what. We’ll give you this bag of gold and gems to take us to the island. You’ll the get a second if you wait and bring us back.”
“Sounds fair enough to me,” he said. “I’m leaving in the morning. My boat’s the one with the dragon carved on the bow.”
“We’ll be there with the gold in the morning,” I said. “Have you heard any of the other captains talking about a new island?”
“Only One Eyed Jack, but he’s a miserable drunk,” the captain said. “See you three in the morning. Don’t be late!”
I turned to the others as the captain walked away.
“That wasn’t too hard,” I said, grinning.
“We should go talk to this One Eyed Jack guy,” Morgana said.
I nodded. “Good idea. We have the map, but who knows if someone else has stumbled onto the new zone by accident already. Let’s go.”
We walked west, back into the city proper. It didn’t take long for us to find the tavern district. On a hunch, I crept around one of the buildings to check the alleyway behind them before we went inside. The guess paid off as we saw a man wearing a patch over one eye laying in a pile of vomit in middle of the alley.
“Should we heal him?” Morgana asked.
“I don’t want to waste a healing potion on him,�
�� I said. “We need to find a healer for our group.”
“Damn land-loving mother-humping camel-herding healers!” One Eyed Jack shouted.
He sat up, looking around wildly as he held up a thin, rusty dagger.
“Whoa, hold on, old man,” I said, stepping back.
Harper and Morgana did the same. One Eyed Jack dropped the dagger before bending over to puke again. A fresh layer of vomit hit the older, causing a stench to rise in the air.
“What can you tell us about the new island and the Daughter of Time?” I asked, losing my patience. “Tell us, and we’ll give you a gold to go get another drink or three.”
One Eyed Jack struggled to get to his feet, but he slipped on the vomit and fell on his ass. He groaned on the ground. I looked at Harper. She shrugged as if to say it wasn’t her problem.
“Fuck the Daughter of Time!” One Eyed Jack shouted as he sat up. “Fuck her hard! They’re coming for us all. The cuerno will rule the lands again…”
He burped then fell back over, not moving.
“That wasn’t very helpful.” I sighed. “Let’s go find a room for the night. We can rest up and decide our next move.”
“Sounds good to me,” Harper said. “I need to clean up.”
We made our way out of the alley, leaving poor One Eyed Jack to fend for himself. Cleaning him up would’ve been too much work. As a drunk, I doubted he’d come across the Daughter of Time or knew where to find the new island. We didn’t have time for nonsense.
Harper and Morgana walked by my side as we moved further away from the seedy side of the city near the docks. I stopped at what appeared to be a reputable inn.
“This work for you two?”
Harper and Morgana both nodded.
“Looks expensive, but we’re worth it,” I said. “We want to be rested up before we land on the island and search for the horn sword.”
“And recharged,” Harper added with a wink.
I smiled, loving my new virtual life. With a new horn sword within my grasp, things were about to get even better. After we reserved a single room for the night, we ate a light yet hearty dinner and enjoyed each other’s company. Both women had an even better time after we retired later that evening.
* * * * *
The next morning, tired and groggy, we packed up our belongings and rushed toward the docks. I had insisted on a light breakfast which made us even later.
“He better not have left without us,” Harper said as we got closer to the ocean.
I spotted the dragon ship still anchored where it had been the night before.
“See, we’re fine,” I said. “You get too worked up over the small stuff.”
Harper pursed her lips together, not saying anything. We walked in silence to the ship. Once we arrived and climbed on board, the captain took the first bag of coins to get us to our destination. We were overpaying, but I wanted to make sure he stuck around until we found the horn sword and got off the island.
Later that afternoon, we reached the previously uncharted island. I stood on the starboard side, looking at the densely packed jungle island.
“We should’ve hired a tracker,” Morgana said.
“Good time to bring it up,” I muttered.
“We have the map,” Harper said. “We’ll be fine.”
“I’ll give you twenty-four hours,” the captain said as he walked up. “After that, I’m leaving. I can’t risk hanging around a new island.”
“We need more time,” I said. “Leave before we get back, and you won’t get the rest of your gold. Do you understand?”
The captain scowled but slowly nodded his head.
“Gar, that’s fine, but if we see something strange, we’re leaving. I value my ship and crew over your bag of gold.”
“Fair enough. Just remember, if I get this sword, I’m going to be a very important man.”
“If you get it,” the captain said then turned and walked away.
Several of his crew came over and directed us into a rowboat hanging from the side of the ship. After we climbed in, they lowered it to the choppy water below. I sat down, noticing the fins of sharks nearby. Harper and Morgana took seats at the front of the boat. I rowed us toward the island, hoping the captain stuck around to give us a ride back.
“We need to make this quick,” I said as the boat slid forward in the water.
“It would’ve been nice if the map had given us more information on the island,” Morgana said.
“We need to be ready for anything. If it’s too huge of a challenge, we retreat to the boat and make a decision on what to do next. Understood?”
The two women nodded silently. I could see by their faces they both had a lot on their minds. Morgana, as usual, didn’t look as concerned. She almost had a look of longing on her face. I still hadn’t asked Harper how the two of them had met. Finding and claiming the horn sword as my own was my biggest priority.
We landed the boat on the beach, all of us climbing out then pulling it further on shore. I glanced down at the map. Harper came over and flipped it.
“You had it upside down,” she said. “We’re here.”
“Okay, we need to head inland to find the Daughter of Time who lives in the trees.”
“Sounds too easy,” Harper said.
“We’ve got company!” Morgana shouted.
I turned and saw her looking toward the line of trees past the beach. Several male and female cuernos wearing wooden armor rushed out of the trees and ran toward us.
“Harper, cast! Morgana, come with me!”
I ran forward, sword drawn, ready to cut down the primitive cuernos. What they lacked in intelligence they made up for in toughness. I hoped they didn’t have any shamans or other spell casters in their first group as I approached three of them.
They all swung crude, stone-tipped weapons at me. I dodged them easily then connected with my sword, slicing the unprotected throat of one of them. The other two attacked again, one of them nicking me on the arm. I kept attacking as more streamed out of the jungle.
A chained lightning bolt hit one of them, spreading to at least a dozen others. The remaining few kept attacking Morgana and me despite all their fallen comrades. We’ve got this, I thought with too much confidence. Another swarm of cuernos warriors came at us violently.
“Hold the line!” I shouted as Morgana fought next to me.
We couldn’t let them rush around and get to Harper. She would go down quick if they swarmed her in a group. I wasn’t about to let that happen. A third wave of cuernos followed the second, giving me pause. Had I bitten off more than I could chew?
I should’ve known the horn sword wouldn’t be easy to get. Despite my morale slipping, I kept on fighting, taking out one cuerno after another. Their bodies piled up on the beach, giving us easier choke points to work with as they continued coming at us.
When the fifth wave of warriors hit, I got worried. I had a plan, but it would be dangerous and might not even work. Desperate, I dropped my sword and pulled two potions from the sack at my side. As even more cuernos rushed forward, I uncapped both.
Here goes nothing...
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CHAPTER 9
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Fuck the Daughter of Time
After pouring the Potion of Fire into the larger container of Fire Oil, I lobbed the mixture at the largest group of cuernos. The impromptu bomb exploded, sending body parts flying in every direction. Morgana and I also got thrown back from the blast.
<< Battle Complete! >>
<< You get 12,000 xp! >>
<< You have 12,317,000 xp >>
<< 283,000 xp needed to level.>>
“Everyone okay?” I asked in a loud voice.
“Fine,” Morgana said as she stood up nearby.
I turned around and saw Harper on the ground. Smoke rose from her clothes.
“Get a healing potion!” I yelled as I scrambled to my fee
t then ran over to her.
Morgana uncorked a healing potion and poured it into her mouth as I patted her clothes to put out the flames the rest of the way.
“That was a dangerous move,” Morgana said.
“Desperate times,” I replied. “She’ll be fine. We’re good.”
“Thanks for the healing,” Harper said, sitting up.
I glanced out at the bay, seeing the dragon-shaped ship.
“Maybe we killed everything on the island,” Morgana said.
“We can hope so.” I reached out to Harper. “Are you okay on mana?”
“I could be better,” she said as I helped her to her feet.
“Good enough to keep going?”
She nodded. “For now…”
“Let’s get inland and find the clearing where the Daughter of Time lives,” I said. “We can camp and rest up tonight.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Harper said, dusting herself off. “I need new robes.”
“Once I get this sword, we’ll all be set for life in here,” I said.
We maneuvered through the piles of cuernos and made our way to a worn footpath leading into the jungle. There was only enough room for us to walk in single file.
“I’ll go first,” I said. “Morgana, you bring up the rear.”
Harper chuckled. “She can bring up the rear tonight at camp too.”
I grinned then turned and headed into the dense jungle. Branches and vines draped down onto the path, slowing our progress. I used my sword to cut them as the need arose. The sounds of birds, chimps, and other wild creatures filled the surrounding air. I glanced up a few times, unable to see the sun through the canopy.
“How much longer until we reach the clearing?” Harper asked behind me.
“Not much,” I replied, seeing light at the end of the path ahead.
I stopped at the edge of the clearing, marveling at the perfection of the circular hole cut into the jungle. As I looked around for any signs of life, Harper poked me with her elbow.