by Ember Lane
Picking out a green ring, Cathelina muttered, “Adventurine, it’s a green stone mined solely in Kobane. The artisans of that place craft it into pendants, ornaments, and pommels. It is believed that the center of the stone holds its soul, and it is this part they use to fashion powerful rings. This one is my favorite. It is engraved with the seven sigils of the Runemaster Hurcal Swan, and has been blessed on his burial rock.” She looked at me. I knew what was coming and was already shaking my head. “Take it,” she whispered.
“No.” I just didn’t want to be any deeper in this woman’s debt. “I can’t, I…”
She took my hand. I tried to recoil but could see the shame in her eyes.
“It is a modifier, a fearsome piece of crafting that can never fall into the wrong hands. It is four times intelligence and will quadruple your mana pool. True, it will still be feeble, but it will grow with your leveling.”
“I said, ‘I cant.'’”
She placed the ring on the bed, reaching forward again. Taking out a red stone ring. “Same crafter, different stone. While you might not be familiar with the jasper stone, you are familiar with a tree similarly named. Another modifier—this time for wisdom—three times.”
“What part of can’t, don’t you understand?”
“Let me show you the final talisman that I have.”
I watched as she placed the jasper ring next to the adventurine one and then dipped her fingers in the box once more. The ring she brought out was made of clear glass, crystal, or diamond. She held it up, and I instinctively took it, drawing it close to my eye. Inside, sparks of energy like tiny, golden lightning bolts cracked and shimmered.
“Energy,” Cathelina whispered. “Three times your current level. You will be able to cast faster; your spells will not empty your mana pool, and it will fill so much quicker. You want the truth? The boy is but one player to me. The outcome is all that matters. I’m sorry if you think I should have acted more, but do not let your hatred of me prevent you from taking the tools that might save him. They are useless to me—I can’t use the mana I have, and they would just sit in that box. But for you, playing how you are at your low level—they could make a big difference.”
“I’m not playing alone,” I muttered.
“No, and I have some trinkets for Sedge Prentice too, but none such as these. Mana and energy are your only real needs. The other rings I have are not as well crafted, but may help him where he needs aid.”
She got up, picked up the box, and walked toward the door. “If you do decide to use them they will bind themselves to you and can only be given up willingly. They cannot be stolen or lost.” The doorway shimmered and Cathelina vanished behind the illusion.
I sat there for a moment staring down at the three rings. I saw Pog’s innocent, smiling face again, looking up, telling me he was going questing. Picking them up, I put them in a line on the desk, then sat on the chair and looked into the mirror.
“Well, Alexa?” I said to myself. “What is it to be?”
Running my fingers through my hair, I saw my undercut was beginning to grow out and the mauve had faded into streaks. I pulled it down over my eyes, a devious smile spreading on my face. There was only one outcome to this little bit of soul-searching.
I picked up the adventurine ring first, sliding it onto my ring finger. As it slid home, I felt it tighten and mold itself to me. A burst of power coursed up my arm, surging through my body. I felt my mana pool explode in size, and then my shadow mana followed, and I gasped, searching for breath, and wide-eyed, I tried to contain my new power. Holding up the jasper ring, I looked at the runes carved on its inside, and though I could see them plainly, I couldn’t make heads nor tails of what they meant.
Another surge ran through me. This one was more subtle, more industrious, and sought familiarity with my being, not dominance, and not power. My mana production sped up, filling its new, vast pool.
The last ring was perhaps the most beautiful, and I held it up for a while looking through its crystal core, watching its sparks fly. Sliding it onto my index finger, my body immediately stiffened, knocking me backwards. Intense pain tensed all of my muscles at once as though I’d been plugged in. It was one electric shock after the next. I fell onto the stone floor, writhing around like a landed fish. Eventually, the feeling settled, and I lay there just staring up at the chiseled ceiling.
Then I felt that feeling, that glow in my stomach that told me I’d somehow leveled up. A shaft of light burst from me and fanned out, filling the room with its luminescence. My body levitated, and I hung there, my arms limp and sagging by my side. It was intense. It was personal. For the first time I’d leveled up on my own, and so I savored the feeling beyond any of the other times.
Congratulations! You have over 1000 mana—a remarkable milestone. The land rewards those who seek to improve themselves by whatever means. You are awarded 2500 XP.
Congratulations! You have leveled up. You are now level 9. You have 6 unallocated attribute points.
I pulled up my newly trimmed stat sheet and clicked to open the attributes menu as well. Thinking of Mezzerain, I decided that I’d never be as strong a warrior like him, but I could still wield a sword, a staff, and so I could forget about strength for now. Of the others, humility and compassion could get lost—they weren’t important enough, and I appeared to be getting along with folk, so charisma could wait. Luck? Heck, I’d had my fair share of that, and stamina—meh! I could swim up that clepsydra a few more times before I started struggling. Agility—if I was going to cast and fight, that was what I was light on. I pumped them in to that.
Name: Alexa Drey. Race: Human. Type: Chancer.
Age: 24. Alignment: None. XP: 20,750.
Level: 9. Profession: None. Un/Al pts: 0.
Reputation: Known.
Health Points: 550/550 Energy: 510/510
Mana: 640/1040 Shadow Mana: 0/3000
HP Regen: 55/Min EN Regen: 51/Min
MA Regen: 57/Min SMA Regen: NA
Attributes: (Level, Bonuses)
Vitality: (12, 38), Stamina: (12, 5)*3, Intelligence: (26, 0)*4, Charisma: (6, 6), Wisdom: (11, 8)*3, Luck: (7, 5), Humility: (2, 0), Compassion: (3, 0), Strength: (3, 20), Agility: (13, 0)
Skills: Select to reveal
Magic tree: Select to reveal
Talents: Select to reveal
Quests: Select to reveal
Pushing myself up, I picked up the chair and sat back on it. I wanted its glass to mist again. For some reason I hankered for Greman—trusty old Greman. He could steer me right, advise me—tell me what to do.
But I knew what to do, really. I had to find Pog. I had to rescue Pog. I just needed Greman to tell me how. Slumping forward, I tried to think things through. I had the navigator, that would lead me to him, but could I really just walk into this city of wizards and expect to just walk up to him and take him in my arms? That was a best-case scenario. What if he’d been captured? How was I supposed to rescue him then?
Then the truth of it dawned on me. “I guess that’s the fun of it,” I told my reflection.
First off, I had to get to Shyantium. “One step at a time,” I muttered.
I stood, but quickly leaned on the desk and looked at my reflection again. I stared myself out, courage flowing through my veins. I thought of this mythical Finequill—this thing that had sold Pog. I thought of that dread family, of Tunpeg, the father and the dire daughter, and I thought of the evil wizards sent to capture him. I wasn’t going to let it stand.
No way.
“Pog! I’m coming to get you.”
24
The Groarg
We stood outside the cave’s entrance: Mezzerain, Glenwyth, a really happy Sedge Prentice, Star, and I. All of us were looking at Cathelina. The Loremaster was standing on the edge of the ravine, silhouetted only by the sky. She was summoning The Groarg, and though I didn’t know what they were, I was as nervous as hell. Why couldn’t courage be an attribute I could enhance with a ring? I cast
Solid Soul on myself, and just in case, Sedge too. If nothing else, it advanced that subskill a bit more, though I noticed it was by much less if I wasn’t under any pressure.
“So what are they?” Sedge asked.
“Groarg?” Mezzerain replied. “Fearsome creatures. Not quite sure what the plan is here though. I was kinda expecting her to explain.”
“Do they fly?” Sedge asked. It was a logical question. A vast bird that would fly us straight to Shyantium, but then, if such a bird existed, why hadn’t she called it before?
“Nope,” said Star. “No wings.”
“So pack animals then—like mountain donkeys, that kinda thing?” Sedge pressed.
“Not like that either.” Glenwyth had a smirk on her face, though a truly nervous one—a double-edged smirk.
“So what—”
A roar cut off his latest question. It bellowed up the ravine at us, and I swear I felt the unseen beast’s hot breath on my cheek. Then its head appeared. It was the head of a bear mixed with a wolf. One at a time, its huge paws clawed at the rocks, pulling its immense, brown-furred body up. Standing on its hind legs, it beat its chest like a gorilla, dwarfing Cathelina, who stepped to one side as if allowing it passage. The groarg dropped to all fours and bounded toward us, roaring the whole time. It stopped ten yards away. I saw Mezzerain had his hand on his sword’s pommel.
“No!” Cathelina shouted. “The beast will yield. Two of you can mount it. It will take us where we need to go.”
This time, I cast Solid Soul all around. Another roar rang out, and another beast appeared. Sedge turned and looked at me. “Awesome!” he cried, his grin larger than life. “Shall we?” He approached the first of them.
I wished I could be more like Sedge.
Glancing at Mezzerain, he rolled his eyes. “I’ll leave it as long as possible, if you don’t mind.”
Creeping forward, I drew aside the beast. Sedge had already straddled its back. He leaned over and offered me his hand, then pulled me up. I swung my leg over and grabbed hold of his waist. The second groarg bounded past us, stooping by Star and Glenwyth. Star jumped on as if it was an everyday occurrence, and I decided there and then that nothing could faze her. Glenwyth jumped up behind her just as Cathelina rode past on a third beast.
“It’s unnatural, that’s what it is,” Mezzerain grumbled but accepted Cathelina’s outstretched hand.
“Beats a mutant,” was all the Loremaster said. “Follow me!” Cathelina shouted, and her groarg immediately ran up the sheer-sided rock at the side of the cave.
Ours soon followed suit. Where we had been climbing along the mountain, they headed straight up, right toward the fang’s peak. A biting wind swirled around us, getting colder the higher the beast climbed. I hugged Sedge Prentice tight, drawing warmth from his body. We passed the first smatterings of snow, Cathelina’s groarg kicking chunks into our faces. The beasts began to slow, appearing wary of the ground underfoot until everything was white apart from the rising rock. The groarg then settled, soon bounding into the thick, powdered snow.
From afar, the mountain had looked like a fang, but now, close-up, a spire more adequately described it, and we were on the last of its pedestal, the rock rearing up, needle-like. Cathelina’s mount forged a path through vast plumes of snow shooting up in its wake. It flew down slopes, jumped bottomless crevasses, then thundered down a central glacier until that came to a sudden end. At its edge, the groarg roared and reared onto its hind legs. It was no longer a beast in a beast’s sense, but a majestic beast—an animal worthy of worship. It was gargantuan, all-powerful, and king of this world. We soon came to a stop, our mount rearing and roaring too, and I saw why. Below, far below, through the patchy clouds, Shyantium sprawled, and somehow I saw it for what it was, and what it was sickened me.
“Is that a lake?” Sedge asked.
“A city sitting on a lake. Four ways in, four ways out,” Cathelina told us.
I saw it, a dot of yellow surrounded by a skirt of blue. The lake in turn hemmed in on four sides by four mountains. Ours took the southwest point, the other smaller three dotted due north, and east, and northeast.
“Four mountains, four valleys, and four roads,” Cathelina continued. “The northern route leads to Atremeny, the western one to Petreyer and Beggle. East takes you to Apachalant and Kobane, and south, Irydia. The roads are the tendrils that suspend, the lake—the web that spans, and the citadel—the spider itself. Four roads, four bridges, and four legs—that, Alexa, is Shyantium.”
“And Pog is headed there,” I said, my voice hushed by the wind.
Looking up my navigation, I was shocked to see the blip was no longer on the periphery of my navigation bar. Pog was in Shyantium. Pog was close.
“How much time do you think we’ve made up?” I shouted at Cathelina.
“I would say a week, maybe a bit more. There’s every chance he got delayed under the mountains, maybe even crossing into Shyantium itself. There are charms protecting all the passes in, guarding the bridges and the city gates. Can you see where he is?”
“City center,” I muttered.
“It looks small from up here, but trust me, down there, it is one sprawling city of festering evil.”
“You make it sound so welcoming,” said Sedge.
Cathelina shot him a look. “It might even wipe the smile from your face, Sedge Prentice.”
The Loremaster nudged her groarg forward, and they dropped over the edge.
“Oh no,” I whispered to myself, as ours followed.
At first, I couldn’t even see the slope. It was so steep that the back of my head scraped at its snow-clad bank. Our groarg skipped one way, dropping and slipping about thirty feet, and then just as it seemed we would topple and roll, it spun in the air, and we slipped another thirty odd feet, then it skipped around again and again until the slope lessened, and the groarg could run again. It settled into a meandering walk soon after, and the first dark green conifers came into view. It had turned from a treacherous, ice-capped wasteland to a winter wonderland in a matter of minutes. I heard the bubbling of a stream, and the groargs turned toward that sound and were soon drinking from a stream’s crystal clear water.
Cathelina dismounted, and bid us do the same. “They have taken us far enough—farther would be an insult to them—they aren’t pack animals.”
I didn’t need asking twice. Don’t get me wrong, the beasts were majestic, magnificent, and had dropped us halfway down to Shyantium where we would have probably perished trying, but it felt good to have my feet on the ground again. The dizzying heights of before had sure taken my breath away, and now I felt the beast’s thirst, and sank to my knees beside it and drank the fresh stream water with it. Once the groarg had sated its thirst, it roared into the sky, then nudged me with its head, pushing me until it forced me to roll over onto my back. Then it nuzzled me, and its big, sloppy tongue swiped a lick across my face. It stared into my eyes for a moment, then roared again and jumped over the stream, bounding into the trees and away. I saw Cathelina and Mezzerain staring at me. Cathelina whispered something in Mezzerain’s ear. The warrior laughed, and they both turned away, marching through the snow.
Sedge, Star, and Glenwyth all trampled behind them, so I sprang up and followed, running in their tracks, stumbling along. Now I knew what Sedge was talking about. Now I had a smile plastered over my face. This was a magical land, despite everything, despite the evil we had to rid from the place, and despite Pog. I caught up with them, gasping for air, but not in the slightest bit tired. We walked and walked and walked, the sun fading, ducking between us and the mountainside north of ours and shining its waning amber along the road far below.
Before it got too low, Cathelina pointed to a log cabin barely visible on the edge of the slope, part buried by the deep snow. She made a beeline for it, as if she’d had a vague idea of where it was but was mighty pleased to see it. An hour’s trekking and we were getting close. I smirked at the fact my energy was only half drained.
Sedge Prentice, though, was staggering badly.
“Nearly out,” he muttered to me, so I grabbed his arm, draped it around my shoulder, and let him lean on me. “Slower,” he gasped, then drew to a stop, his arm slipping off my shoulder. He doubled over, breathing deeply.
“I thought my stamina was sorted out, but that snow leached it away. How much have you got?”
He knew how to make me feel guilty without intending to…
“Cathelina gave me a ring… It’s a three times modifier. Fifty-one.”
“Nice,” he said. “Twenty ahead of me.” He flashed his hand at me. “Plus fifteen, and I thought that was a precious…” He coughed. “Man, I could live with a pipe. All this fresh air is doing me in. Ha! Ha! Oh god, I think I’m going to die.”
“No dying on me, Sedge,” I said, bending down. “Not if your respawn point is still over the other side of the mountain.”
“Nah,” he said, his hand grabbing at my waist to steady himself. “I put it on random—anywhere within three hundred yards.”
“You can do that?”
He let out a cross between a laugh and a huff. “You really don’t know too much about this stuff, do you? Pull up your respawn, scroll down through your favorite locations, right at the bottom, select new, random, set the distance and then add the caveats.”
“Caveats?”
“Like…” He looked around. “Like avoid cliffs, that sort of thing. You can set it to avoid sea, swamps, lakes. Or, just type in solid ground—whatever.”
I followed his instructions and set it for three hundred yards like he had. Looking around, I couldn’t see any solid ground, so I just selected “Avoid drops of any kind,” and pushed the menu back up. “Thanks,” I muttered. He looked up at me, still clearly struggling.