Rescue

by R. A. Mejia

  At least I get a notification that I’d increased my [Craftsman] skill to Novice level 6. I’d honestly forgotten that I even had the skill since I hadn’t done much crafting previous to becoming an artificer.

  Now, the only downside to using magical grenades as weapons is that, once the energy is expelled, it takes a while to refill the battery--that, and each grenade has a finite number of uses. Each use depletes the durability, which can’t be repaired. Once the durability runs out, the whole thing breaks apart. Also, each grenade costs about 10 XP to make. That’s not bad compared to the cost of making a simple healing charm, which is 30 XP, but it also carries the spell engraved in it till it breaks.

  One of the neater experiments I conducted in [Design Mode] was seeing what happened if I put in more mana than a crystal could handle. The results were very exciting.

  Exceeded mana capacity of crystal. 100% chance of crystal explosion.

  Damage estimate: 15-30

  Area of effect: 6 ft^2

  The damage estimated was almost five times higher than anything I’d created before, but I’d essentially devised a mana bomb. It took some more experimentation to design something that wouldn’t blow up in my hand. A two-crystal approach wouldn’t work since the mana battery would have to be overcharged, so I ended up using a three-crystal approach. The first crystal, the mana battery, is charged to capacity, and then a second, smaller mana battery is also charged to capacity. The third crystal has the instructions to transfer energy from the second crystal into the first, thus overcharging it and causing it to explode. The code was actually pretty simple compared to the mana grenades.

  [Activation]—>[Delay]—>[Draw mana from battery 2]—>[Send to battery 1]

  For the first real life experiment, I use the smallest mana batteries I can to make a mana bomb. I place the device at the end of the mine shaft and run behind the mind cart where Token is already crouched.

  “I don’t think this is such a good idea, Armon. Remind me why you can’t just rely on the information from the [Design Mode] experiments?”

  “Cause a real life prototype will show flaws in my design that [Design Mode] won’t. Don’t worry, what can go wrong?”

  Just then the timer on the mana bomb runs out. For a fraction of a second, the ground seems to vibrate, and the very air seems to be sucked towards the end of the mine shaft. Then there is fire everywhere and a boom loud enough to make my ears ring.

  Damage dealt: 15 (Mana Bomb)

  Only after my hearing comes back later do I realize that I probably shouldn’t have set off the bomb in the cramped mine tunnel, but I need to keep the experiments secret.

  “What in the world is going on down here? I felt that from my tent.”

  I turn around to see the mine overseer and three guards staring at us. I grin and am about to make something up when Token rushes over to the overseer.

  “Oh, thank goodness you’re here. I think we hit a pocket of gas or something. One minute we’re working, and the next, we’re blown way back here. It’s a miracle we weren’t crushed to death.” Token points to the end of the tunnel, where rocks have been knocked off the walls.

  The overseer stares at the pile of rocks and then shakes his head, turns around, and leaves muttering something about ‘inexperienced miners.’ I hear Token snicker once the overseer and the guards are out of earshot.

  When I check the results of all this experimentation on my skills I’m quite pleased. I’m able to increase my skills in Crystal Programming to Novice 4 and Magical Engraving to Novice 6. However, my spellwriting skills seem to be stuck at Magical Aura: Novice 9 (99%), Aura Projection: Novice 9 (99%), and Mana Control: Novice 9 (99%). When I ask Token about it, he tells me I need to take a test to prove that I can handle moving into Beginner level skill ranks. He can’t give me the test, though, since he doesn’t know spellwriting. It’s frustrating not being able to progress in the skill when I’m using it so much, but I’ll just have to wait until I can find Lilliandra again.

  Even though working with the [Design Mode] saves me a lot of XP, since I don’t have to make something to experiment, I still end up spending 100 XP making prototypes and a few mana grenades. If it weren’t for the XP from completing the daily quest to turn in my ore quota, I’d be in trouble. Still, I now need 826 XP to get to level 6.

  While my experiments with [Crystal Programing] and the [Design Mode] ability move forward, my experience with meditation is much different. Each night after dinner but before I go to bed, I try and practice what Token taught me. After a week, I get the skill [Meditation] and am actually able to slip into a kind of light trance where my mind relaxes, and I can objectively look at my own thoughts. It’s an existential experience to see the thoughts pass through my mind but only feel muted emotional connections to them. I feel faint happiness thinking about my friends but see that the happiness is linked not to them directly but to the shared experiences we’ve had. Thoughts about the kobold massacre pop up, and while part of me is sad remembering the dead bodies and crushed eggs, the emotion is distant enough in this state for me to see that my guilt resides in the fact that I was on a date when the massacre happened. Not that I could have done much even if I were there fighting right besides the kobolds. After all, they faced an army.

  A strong breeze pushes the side of my tent against me, and I lose my meditative state. As I blink and the world around me returns, so do the strong emotions associated with the memories I was examining. The weighty guilt at not being there with the kobold tribe when they were dying returns, but it’s a little easier to bear somehow.

  Each night, I continue to practice [Meditation], and I find that I can hold the state of mind for longer and that it becomes harder for small physical distractions to knock me out of the state. I’m able to get the skill up to Novice level 3 and increase my Wisdom stat to 18. I guess meditation is for wisdom what lifting weights is for strength.

  It’s also about this time that I’m finally rewarded with my first hints at the divine. My dreams have started to become muddled. Normally, I either have nightmares about the kobold massacre or, if I’m lucky, a good dream about a certain beautiful redhead. But after I started to meditate, my dreams began changing. There are hints of someone watching at first, then a mysterious presence. I dismissed the feelings, but Token tells me that is how the divine reaches out into our world.

  Then, one night, a vision comes through clearly. There are flashes of battle, danger, and a monstrous beast. Two words are spoken in the reptilian language: “She comes.”

  I wake in a cold sweat, my head hitting the top of the low tent ceiling. The wind blows through the open tent, and cold seeps into my bones. Was that really a vision? Token described what it would be like to be visited by a god or goddess, but I didn’t believe it. He said it would be like nothing I’d ever experienced and that I’d know it for what it was. Well, that was definitely like nothing I’d ever experienced. That dream felt real. Too real. Like I was peeking through the very fabric of reality.

  I shake my head and wipe away the sweat, still confused by what the dream means. Images of violence. It was like I was watching myself battle warrior after warrior. It seemed like there was an endless line of people coming to kill me and the people I care about. I had the distinct feeling that, if I fell in battle, then everyone I love would soon follow me into death. Like the Sword of Damocles was hanging over us all. Yet, there was also hope--just a sliver of the stuff, but it was there. It all hung on ‘her.’ The ‘she’ that’s on her way.

  I’m unable to go back to sleep, my brush with a divine entity having shaken me up severely. All that day, the vision sticks with me. My efforts to meditate are wasted as my mind keeps going back to the dream.

  That night, I find myself unable to rest. My body is tired, but my mind is afraid of another visit from . . . well, whoever came by last night. Thus, I’m awake to see a light off in the forest. At first, it’s just a flicker I catch in the corner of my eye, but then it becomes a dot of
light that disappears and then reappears.

  Wait, is it my imagination, or is that a pattern? It is. Dot, dot, dot. Dash, dash, dash. Dot, dot, dot. It’s Morse code. My heart starts to race. There’s only one person I know of on this planet that would know Morse code: Mary!

  I have to close my eyes and control my breathing. I can’t act rashly. Okay, obviously, Mary is trying to get my attention and wants me to meet her in the forest. I’d memorized the prison guards’ patrol pattern a long time ago, so it shouldn’t be a problem to get past those around the perimeter. I can only hope that Mary isn’t too deep. The guards that patrol the woods ride those weird cat creatures and are much more likely to catch me.

  I slowly crawl out of my tent and activate my [Sneak] skill. I feel my movements slow as the skill hides me from view. Ever so quietly, I sneak through the work camp. Each snore, rustle, and shift I hear seems to be magnified, and I can’t help but imagine that someone will catch me at any moment. Despite my fears, I make it to the edge of the forest. I continue to use [Sneak], but with the trees hiding me, I’m able to get up from my crawl and walk. There’s no moon out tonight, and the forest is pitch black, so I activate [Darkvision]. The forest becomes bright as day to my eyes, and I can see my way more clearly now. The dot of light hasn’t flashed in a while, but I remember its general location, and I carefully make my way toward where it was.

  It feels like it takes forever using the [Sneak] skill, but I’m reasonably sure that I’m finally near the source of the flashing light. I search for any hint of Mary, but don’t see anything. Then I realize that she may not be able to see me and deactivate [Sneak], calling out in a whisper, “Mary! Mary, is that you out there?”

  I’m starting to wonder if I imagined the light when I hear a sound off to my left.

  “Pssst.”

  I turn and search for the source of the sound. My eyes focus on a large, gnarled tree, and I hear someone whisper.

  “Psssst. Down here, stupid.”

  I crouch lower and see that there’s a small opening at the bottom of the tree. When I peek inside, I can see a glow. I quietly ask, “Mary?”

  The voice whispers sarcastically, “No, it’s Tinkerbell, and I need you to clap for me, or my ego will die.”

  I’d recognize that snark anywhere. I press my face to the ground to look directly into the opening and see my raven-haired fairy friend standing with her hands on her hips. She’s glowing with fairy light and is giving me that look of annoyance that I’ve missed so much.

  “Oh, it is you, Mary. I’ve missed you so much!”

  “Shhhh. Lower your voice, Armon. There are patrols roaming around here.”

  My eyes dart left and right, half-expecting a guard to be looking over my shoulder. Not seeing anyone, I repeat, in a quieter voice, “I missed you, Mary.”

  I sit up as Mary dims her fairy light and walks out of the crevice. She’s wearing her black leather armor, and it’s a bit harder to see without the fairy light. Her wings flutter, and she flies up to me. I feel her little arms hug my neck, and I choke up as she whispers, “I missed you too, you big lug.”

  She pulls back and flies into my field of view. “So, how you been, jailbird? You been careful not to drop the soap?”

  “Mary!”

  “What? That’s what happens in those prison movies.”

  “Well, this isn’t a movie.”

  “So, how have you been?”

  “Uh . . . fine, I guess. The mining was pretty tough at first, but I found a couple friends, and now it’s easier. Plus, I found someone that gave me a class, and I have been working on all my skills.”

  “What? You got a class in prison?!”

  “Shhh, Mary. You’re being loud.”

  Mary scowls at me and asks, “How did you get a class in prison? And what kind of class did you get?”

  I quickly recount my experiences with Token and how I got the Artificer class.

  Mary shakes her head. “Well, aren’t you just a Lucky Lucy. Only you would find a class trainer in prison.”

  “Well, I didn’t exactly find him. He says that he was sent by one of the kobold gods, Cherax Quadricarinatus.”

  Mary’s eyes widen, and her hand comes up to her mouth. “Uh-oh. It’s never good when a god starts to take an interest in your life.”

  “So, they are real? Uh . . . the gods, I mean?”

  She nods. “Yup. I know people from your world don’t take much stock in them, but here on Terra, they’re very real. Well, to be clear, they’re entities of immense power that exist in a spirit plane that have varying abilities to effect our world.”

  Oh, well, when she describes it like that, it makes me feel better. For some reason, it’s easier for my brain to accept that beings from an alternate dimension exist than straight up gods and goddesses.

  Mary continues, “The big question is, ‘What does Cherax Quadricarinatus want with you?’”

  I shrug. “I have no idea, but a better question is, ‘How am I going to escape from this prison?’”

  The shift in topic makes Mary pause for a moment. “Well, I can tell you that your friends are already waiting in a town a couple days travel from here. There were two groups: one wanted to charge in and rescue you, and the other wanted to scout things out. The group that wanted to scout things out won. Considering how many mounted patrols I had to avoid flying here, I’m glad we decided to wait. Otherwise, we would have all been caught.”

  “That bad, huh?”

  Mary nods. “Yup.”

  Hmm . . . that sort of ruins my plan to just try to sneak out of the camp. I’d be picked up by a patrol for sure. I rack my brain for any ideas, considering all the prison escape movies and TV shows I’ve ever seen. Well, the bed-sheet-escape method won’t work. The Shawshank tunneling technique might, but I discard the idea. Once the warden discovered we weren’t there, all the guards would be out looking for us.

  Then it hits me. What we really need is for the guards to be busy looking not just for me but for everyone.

  I look at Mary with a prideful smile. “I think I have a plan.”

  Mary looks up at me with a raised eyebrow. “This better not involve Quidditch uniforms again. I keep telling you that it’s not a thing here.”

  I roll my eyes. “No, no Quidditch. But it does involve a prison break.”

  I lay out my idea to Mary, and for once, she agrees that it’s not a bad plan. She promises to get everyone on her end into position before giving me a quick hug and flying off into the forest.

  I reactivate [Sneak] and make my way back to camp and my tent. I’m not able to get back to sleep and lie there thinking about all the preparations I need to make before I try to escape in four days instead.

  Chapter 7

  The next four days are spent in preparation for our escape. Yes, our escape. Token has become a good friend and my mentor, and there is no way I would leave him here in this hole to rot. I told Meno about the escape plan too because I’m going to need his help as well. Plus, he’s been a good friend, even if he is a scoundrel, and I don’t leave friends behind.

  Over the last few months, Meno has become an expert in the prison trade economy. He’s become ‘the hobgoblin who can get you anything,’ and he uses his contacts to gather all the materials I need for my plan. He trades stone knives I make for the crystals the other miners find while they dig. My little flint blades are not very good weapons, but they’re much better than anything else available to the prisoners.

  I fear that the jig is up when one of the weapons is used to kill another prisoner in a fight over a bar of soap, but the warden must not care much that some of the prisoners kill each other because, after a fruitless search of everyone’s beds and inventories for weapons, the issue is dropped. Thankfully, Token has his own separate inter-dimensional space in which we’re able to hide the crystals and the other materials we’ve been saving up. While Token serves as our hidey-hole, he’s also teaching me how to be a better artificer. This plan depends almost
entirely on my ability to craft. I ask Token to help me make what I need, but he declines, saying something about not wanting to interfere with my development as a chosen one. I roll my eyes and tell him I’d gladly give up my ‘chosen one’ status for his help, but he just laughs and walks away.

  I work feverishly to get everything we’ll need set up, and it costs me 140 XP to make everything.

  The fifth day is tense as word spreads among the more trustworthy prisoners that we’re making a move against the guards and the warden.

  During dinner, Meno initiates his part in the plan. Holding a big bowl of steaming-hot soup, he ‘accidentally’ trips and spills the whole thing on Larry, Moe, and Curly. The three stooges scream in pain and get to their feet, surrounding my hobgoblin friend. They’re more than eager to get their revenge for the beating Meno gave them when we first arrived, and they start to push him back and forth between them in a juvenile attempt to intimidate him. But it’s all part of Meno’s plan. He over-exaggerates the effect of one of the pushes and goes spinning into a group of large orcs. Soup goes flying everywhere, and I see Meno point to the stooges and yell, “It’s those humans. They said you’re mothers must have a thing for dwarfs since you’re all so short and hairy!”