Rescue

by R. A. Mejia

  Down one man, I decide to stop the delaying tactics and go on the offensive. [Thrust] shoots my spear forward and catches one warrior off guard, piercing him through the belly.

  Damage dealt: 9 (Thrust)

  His comrade takes a stab at me, but I drag his impaled friend around like a living shield, placing him between us. Mary continues to shoot off magic missiles, and after only a few barrages, the guy on the end of my spear gives up the ghost and dies. Incensed at seeing his comrade die, the remaining warrior activates an ability that turns his large, curved two-handed sword red before he brings the blade down at me in a rage-fueled chop. I try to block the attack with the haft of my spear, but whatever ability the warrior uses causes it to cut right through the wooden shaft, splitting it in two. The blade continues on unabated, burying itself deeply into the meat of my left shoulder. I feel the blade scrape against something solid, and I scream.

  Damage received: 23 (Chop) (bleeding, disabled left arm)

  The pain is so intense that I drop to the sand. The spear falls from my now-useless left hand as my right clutches at the wound. More magic missiles hit the warrior, but he shrugs them off and raises his blade for a finishing blow. However, the blade never falls. There’s a scream of reptilian rage as Vrax appears out of nowhere and leaps onto the man’s back. Grabbing his clothing with one clawed hand, he stabs the berserk warrior with his short sword. Each stab is punctuated with a scream. “You . . . no . . . hurt . . . brood . . .brother!”

  Yet, even after the repeated stabs, the warrior is not done. He rolls forward, sending Vrax flying off his back to land in a heap. By the time Vrax is back on his feet, so is the robed warrior.

  A quick glance above the warrior’s head shows he’s at level 8. Geesh. No wonder he’s so hard to kill. The warrior’s health bar is still a third full, and now Vrax has lost the advantage of surprise. There’s a steady flow of blood along the man’s back as he faces off against Vrax, and it reminds me of my own painful injury and my steady loss of health. I draw the arcane symbols for ‘heal’ and ‘self’ and feed what mana I’ve regenerated into the spell. The muscles in my shoulder tingle, and the bleeding icon in the corner of my vision disappears, but unfortunately, I run out of mana before I can do any more. I won’t be dying from this wound, but I still can’t use my left arm either.

  I get back to my feet and find the robed warrior standing over a wounded Vrax. He’s saying something in a language that I don’t understand, but I have no doubt that it’s something insulting. I’m considering how to best help my friend when I see a red glow appear around the warrior’s sword as he starts to raise it above his head. Without forethought, I rush forward and crash into the man’s back. My right arm snakes around his raised right arm and around his neck, pinning the arm there and stopping him from bringing the glowing blade down onto my brood brother’s neck. Balancing on my left foot, I use my right to kick the inside of the man’s right knee, forcing him off balance. The two of us fall backwards, and I feel the weight of his powerful form crash down on me. My legs wrap around the warrior as I try to pin him and keep him down. Thankfully, Vrax knows my tactics, and he leaps onto the man and stabs the warrior with his short sword until he’s dead.

  You've helped kill Elite Desert Warrior, lvl. 8. You receive 27 XP.

  Once the life has fled from him, I have to roll the corpse off of me before the weight of the thing knocks off my last few hit points. Vrax, bleeding from a gash in his chest, asks, “You dead?”

  As I lay in the sand, I laugh weakly. “No, buddy. I’m not dead.”

  Vrax sighs in relief. “Good. I no want to take your mate.”

  I sit up and stare at my kobold friend. “What?”

  He answers as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “Yes. If you die, as brood brother, I have to take care of your mate.” He scrunches up his snout. “She good warrior, but not enough scales for me.”

  Mary interrupts the very interesting conversation. “Hey, you two. I know you both are enjoying your kobold tribe stuff, but the fight isn’t over.”

  Looking around, I see that Mary is correct. Sonya has not only killed her three opponents, but also the one we left caught up in the vines. She’s now tanking the giant scorpion and its rider while Keans picks off the last of the robed warriors with his powerful bow and arrows.

  Vrax quickly takes out the healing charm I gave him and uses all of his meager mana to help me recover from my wounds. My health goes up by 14 points to 34, and the wound on my shoulder has been healed to the point that I can again move my left arm.

  By the time the three of us reach the remaining attackers, Keans has killed off the last of the robed warriors and is helping Sonya. Looking above the man in dark embroidered robes atop the giant arachnid, I see his name is Obliek, Scorpion Rider lvl. 7. I quickly add Vrax and Sonya to the group, and their respective health, mana, and stamina bars pop up under Mary’s. I try to add Keans to the group but get a notice that he’s declined the invite. Being a higher level than us, he likely doesn’t want to nurf our XP gain.

  Mary still has some mana left, and he starts firing off magic missiles at the scorpion. Vrax harasses the monster as its master directs its attacks with great skill. I, however, sit. That’s right. I sit down in the sand. I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but I know it’s the best thing I can do right now. I’m weaponless, and I only have one fully-functioning arm. At best, I might be able to get a few punches in on the scorpion, but based on our last fight with this kind of creature, I doubt I would do any damage. So, I decide that the best thing I can do is recover my mana and be prepared to either rain down magic on the monster and it’s rider or play healer.

  I got a big boost to my mana regeneration rate when I took the artificer class, and I know that meditating will boost that even more. I push aside the sight of my friends and allies fighting and breathe. I rest my arms on my crossed legs and focus my attention internally. Breath in. Breath out. I push all other thoughts away and just try to exist. The sounds of battle still clash around me, but I let them pass away and focus on the calm mana pool at my core. I imagine the pool has been drained by drought and that I can see the cracks along the ground that show the point to which the pool used to extend. I imagine a mighty rainstorm coming to finally satiate the thirst of the land. As the rain falls, I feel a sense of peace and calm.

  That is, until a loud fairy voice breaks through my mediation. “Armon!!”

  My eyes pop open, and I see Mary flying in front of my face. “Don’t just sit there! I’m out of mana, and she needs you!”

  Glancing up at the health bars in the corner of my vision, I see that the ‘she’ is Sonya. Her health is in the last 10% and, looking towards the sounds of battle, I see that she’s being attacked magically by the scorpion rider. A beam of dark magic is projected from his outstretched hands. Sonya has dropped her sword and is trying to fight the power of the magical attack while holding up her shield with both hands, but some portion of the damage is getting through.

  Keans fires arrow after arrow at the rider, but the projectiles are intercepted by the giant scorpion’s claws as it defends it’s rider.

  Without wasting any more time, I get back to my feet and run toward Sonya. A quick glance at my own mana shows that I was able to recover about a third of it while meditating, and I immediately spellwrite the symbol for ‘heal’ along her back. As I pour mana into the spell, I glance up to see that her health bar is recovering slowly. She has a serious amount of health, but my spells are enough to help bring her back up to about 25%. It’s enough to put some pep back in her step, and I hear her say, “Thanks for the heal. I’m going to roll to my left to get away from this spell. You move to the right.”

  She moves before I can argue, and I follow her plan. The black beam of magical energy blasts the sand where we had just been standing but is then cut off when the rider looks for a new target. His eyes dart between Sonya and me as we run in opposite directions, and his indecision is his downfall. Un
beknownst to him, Vrax has slowly and stealthily climbed the monstrous scorpion while Keans kept it distracted. Just as the rider begins to cast his next spell, Vrax drops out from [Sneak] behind him and uses his [Backstab] ability, stabbing him right in the kidneys.

  Vrax deals damage: 20 (Backstab)

  Vrax deals damage: 7

  The rider, not dead yet, loses his balance when Vrax stabs him again, and he falls forward off the scorpion. Vrax, whose blade is still in the man’s back, is pulled off as well, and the two crash to the sand together. The scorpion, now directionless, seems to go berserk and begins to stamp, claw, and stab with its tail in all directions. Vrax is able to scramble away from underneath the creature thanks to his high agility, but the wounded rider is not so lucky and is quickly trampled to death.

  You’ve helped kill Obliek, Scorpion Rider lvl. 7. You receive 20 XP.

  The giant scorpion continues to thrash around for a moment before scurrying off into the night. Our group, injured and drained of both mana and stamina, is more than happy to let the monster go.

  Chapter 15

  My left arm still doesn’t work well, but now that the fighting is done, I can focus on meditating and recovering my mana. Once that is done, I heal the wound on my shoulder. There’s a large scar, likely the result of delaying the healing, but everything seems to work well, if a little stiffly, when I roll my shoulder to test it out.

  After that, I focus on healing the others, meditating when I get low on mana. Once everyone has gotten enough healing to bring them back up to at least 50% health, we scramble to gather loot. We’re not able to strip all the bodies of their gear before they start to disappear in flashes of light, but even those that disappear leave loot, just less of it.

  6 Short Swords

  4 Scimitars

  1 Two-Handed Kopis

  6 Reinforced Robes

  6 Sandals

  1 Scorpion Stinger

  1 Poison Sac

  1 Ring of Stealth

  1 Robe of Darkness

  7 silver, 4 copper

  Most of the gear is pretty standard stuff, but there is an interesting ring and a robe of darkness, both of which are enchanted.

  Ring of Stealth

  Worn by thieves, assassins, and others who stalk the night, this ring enhances the wearer’s stealth capabilities.

  Effect: +1 to Sneak

  Robe of Darkness

  This robe has been steeped in a mystical bath, giving its wearer an enhanced connection to the dark school of magic.

  Effect: +1 to spells in the dark school of magic.

  Once all the loot is gathered, we divvy up everything. Since most of it is standard stuff, we agree that it will be sold off and that we’ll split the profits. Vrax likes the ring, and he gets that. After we’re done, we gather up our stuff to leave. The sun is just starting to rise above the horizon, and we’d honestly rather not stick around in case any more of these guys show up and try to figure out where their buddies got off to.

  It takes us another couple days to travel back to Pauline, but she’s happy to see us return. Over a celebratory dinner, we recount the events of our expedition. She knows the band of raiders we describe and plans to deal with them harshly, but she declares the job finished.

  You've completed the quest 'Smashed Smugglers.' You receive 100 XP plus promised supplies.

  Woohoo! I definitely love the XP reward for finishing this quest. It’s so much easier to level from quests than from just killing stuff, but it’s even better if you can do both at the same time. In addition to only needing 432 XP to get my next level, all of my spellwriting skills, spear, and meditation went up a level.

  I stop examining my character sheet as Pauline claps her hands, and servants bring in the promised supplies, gear, and documents she promised. She also lets us know that she has a team of smugglers heading into the Empire whom we can tag along with. While everyone else is busy drinking, Pauline approaches and hands me a slip of paper that contains a drawing of me. At least, it’s me from half a year ago. I’m pictured with medium-length hair, wearing black leather armor, and holding a long spear. It has the name Avocado underneath it with a reward of 100 silver offered for my capture. That’s almost two year’s wages for an unskilled laborer.

  “Being in my line of work, I have to keep apprised of all the rumors. I heard an odd story six months back. Apparently, some nut job broke into a high-end slave dealer’s warehouse and freed some slaves. They were estimated to be worth upwards of a hundred gold in total at auction, and what does this guy do with these valuable commodities? He just let them go. Threw away all that money because he thought it was wrong to enslave people. He gave the Imperare army a good chase, but he disappeared. I picked up that bounty notice not too long after.”

  I look down at the serious-looking halfling. She is studying me through her beautiful green eyes with an expression that is somewhere between interest and disbelief. It is clear that she is measuring me, but I can't tell what she's planning. Why bring this to me? Is she looking to cash in on the bounty? Did I steal some slave she’d planned on buying? My eyes scan the room for a quick escape, but her people are closing curtains and blocking every exit from the room. I am trapped.

  I swallow hard, defeated. I see a calculating stare when I look back to her. I nod once and admit it. “Yeah, that guy was an idiot. But, sometimes, you just have to do the right thing, no matter the cost to profit.”

  She considers me for a moment more before nodding slowly. Then, quicker than I can follow, her hand snakes out and grabs mine. My first thought is that she’s attacking me, but after a panicked second, I realize she’s shaking my hand. Her countenance is still serious, but there’s a softer look in her eyes.

  “My second cousin, Harold, sent me a letter, telling me about the bravery of the human that saved him from a lifetime of slavery.” She sniffs once, and I think I see a tear in the corner of her eye. “Harold was always a bit of a snob, but he’s family. Thank you for helping him.”

  I don’t know what to say, but I let out a deep breath that I didn’t even realize I was holding. After a few more seconds of handshaking, Pauline gestures to my wanted poster. “This, however, is going to be a problem for you. I know more than a few people who would sell their own granny for a hundred silver.”

  I hadn’t considered what being a wanted man would do for our trip into the Imperare Empire. Of course, someone would want revenge for what I did. How am I supposed to travel through an entire country when so many people are looking for me?

  Pauline must see the worry on my face because she pats my arm and says, “Don’t you worry, boy. Getting things to where they need to go is my business. You’re just another parcel for me to smuggle.”

  She takes a small ring off her thumb and hands it to me. The ring is made of gold and has a flattened surface on one side with an odd collection of markings engraved on it. “That is my personal signet ring. You see those symbols on the inside band?”

  I hadn’t, but I look now. On the inside of the ring are three symbols in a row: a triangle, a circle, and an X.

  “Well, anywhere you see those symbols, either laid out next to each other or overlapping, that place is a haven for the Smuggler’s Guild. If you show my ring there, you’ll get access to goods that the ‘normal’ clients don’t. You may also trade in the ring for one favor. I’ll ultimately end up owing the person you give it to, but it may get you out of trouble some time.”

  I realize the enormity of the gift she’s given me. It’s like a get-out-of-jail-free card, except one that is designed to get into criminal circles. Part of me wants to give it back, but the more mercenary part knows that I’m going to need every advantage I can get if I’m going to free the kobolds from whoever has them. I drop the ring in my inventory and thank her.

  “Well, it’s the least I can do after what you did for my cousin. Now, to deal with your appearance.”

  She claps her hands, and two female servants appear. One is carrying a chair
, and the other is holding a wash basin, a pair of scissors, a straight-edged razor, and a cup of lather.

  One of the servants looks me over and tells Pauline, “He needs a full wash before we can do anything with him.”

  Pauline nods once, and before I can protest, I’m pulled into another room of the tent. Hands grab me everywhere and tug at my clothes.

  They ignore my cries of “Please let me undress myself!” and “Oh, you’re not supposed to touch my special place!”

  I soon find myself naked and dropped in a tub filled with steaming hot water. I feel like I’m being cooked alive and try to scramble out, but the women around me seem to have supernatural strength and hold me down. Hands flow across my body, applying soap to my every limb and patch of hair. I feel a scrub brush scratch against my skin, and I almost start to relax. That is, until the brush heads south.

  In a cracked, squeaky voice I haven’t heard since I hit puberty, I shout, “Ladies! I’m more than capable of cleaning myself!”

  They just snort and continue their work. Before I know it, I’m tossed out of the tub, all cleaned up. I stand there naked and dazed, my long hair sopping wet and dangling in front of my face. I try to comb back my hair and realize exactly how long it has grown since I came here. My bangs easily reach past my eyes.