DLC: A LitRPG Adventure (Beta Tester Book 4)

by Rachel Ford

  The ranger turned red, scowled, and stomped off. He didn’t rejoin his party, though that probably had something to do with their smug smirks and open laughter. But by now, much of the room had emptied, leaving plenty of empty seats between the really devoted partiers. Arath took up a place in a corner by himself, where a full jug of wine sat unclaimed.

  Jack and his party laughed the more heartily at their companion’s self-imposed exile.

  “Who knew we’d have dinner and a show,” Karag mused.

  “I can’t believe he thought that would work,” Er’c said.

  Migli snorted into his mug. “Fool. As if any woman would choose a man when a dwarf was nearby.” This provoked a few raised eyebrows from his friends, but Migli didn’t seem to notice. He drained his mug and rose. “Alright my lads.” And to Ceinwen, he added, “And lass. Let me show you how it’s done.”

  The whole band groaned of one volition. “For goodness’s sake, must you humiliate yourself too? Did you learn nothing from the failure we just witnessed?” Karag asked.

  “Come on, dude,” Jack agreed. “Arath just crashed and burned. You really need to go down in flames too?”

  “The woman’s father just died,” Ceinwen said. “She’s already been harassed by one fool. You should know better than that, Migli.”

  “Anyway, Miss Mint has been glancing over at you all night,” Er’c agreed. “Surely it would be more honorable to stick to the pursuit of a single woman at a time – and one who is actually interested in you?”

  Migli, though, would listen to no reason. He got up with the same confidence Arath had risen with and brushed their commentary aside. “Watch and learn,” is all he said. And then he headed to Estelle’s table.

  The process happened much as it had the first time. Migli put himself between Elfkin and Estelle, and her initial glance was warier and less pleased. Otherwise, things went off about the same: he spoke to her, ignored her unfavorable reaction, and pressed on anyway. Miss Mint’s face flushed, and Elfkin gaped. Then Estelle dismissed the dwarf, and he seemed astonished by the dismissal – as if it hadn’t been the obvious result of his unwelcome overtures.

  He started to leave, but then he paused and glanced back at Miss Mint. Pepper, though turned her head away abruptly, refusing even to meet his gaze. So, more crestfallen than the ranger, he too slunk off to the corner.

  His companions laughed less this time and shook their heads more. “Unbelievable.”

  “It’ll be a miracle if she doesn’t turn us out into the snow.”

  After a long moment of head shaking and silence, Ceinwen and Er’c exchanged glances, and then nods. “Right. Let’s go.”

  Jack watched them rise, grabbing a full decanter of wine from their table. “What are you doing?”

  “Going to go talk to Estelle.”

  Karag’s jaw dropped, and Jack demanded, “Not you two, too?”

  Er’c’s face flushed. “Of course not.”

  Ceinwen frowned at Jack, raising the decanter by way of demonstration. “I said ‘talk,’ Jack. She just lost her father. She needs someone to talk to. And probably, a lot to drink. Especially after those two clowns showed up.”

  “Oh.” Jack nodded, relieved that at least some of his party hadn’t lost their minds. “In that case, I guess I’ll go with you.” There were plenty of seats now open at her table.

  Karag seemed to consider, then said, “I’ll stay here. I’m sure she doesn’t want one of my kind at her table anyway.”

  “Don’t be like that, Karag. Of course she wants you,” Ceinwen said.

  The giant snorted. “I dare say she would have refused me admittance if not for you all. I think I’ll stay, thanks all the same.”

  “Suit yourself,” Jack shrugged.

  But Er’c frowned thoughtfully. “She opened her home to you. She let you accompany Jack on a mission very dear to her. Perhaps I am overstepping to say this, and I do not mean to offend you; but it strikes me that it is you, and not Estelle, who is holding onto the old grudges between your people and hers, Karag.”

  Karag frowned at the boy in turn, and Jack waited for a moment. But when the giant made no move to get up, he shrugged. “Alright, let’s go.”

  Estelle was lost in a quiet conference with the two elves, Pepper and Elfkin. But she glanced up at the trio’s approach; and her face fell. Unlike Migli and Arath, Jack did not miss the expression, and he knew at once that she’d jumped to the wrong conclusion, in the same way he’d done when Ceinwen and Er’c got up.

  Ceinwen raised the decanter and started to say that she thought Estelle might need this after – but that was as far as she got. Miss Winter’s face flushed a deep, angry crimson, and she said, “Look, I already told your friends –”

  At the same time, Elfkin said, “Really, this is an outrage. You can’t possibly think –”

  “We don’t,” Jack interjected. “For the love of God, we don’t. Believe me. I told them – we all told them – to leave you be. I’m very sorry.”

  “We came to apologize,” Ceinwen expounded further. “And to offer a drink, if you like. It is yours, I know. But…well, it’s all we have.”

  Estelle stared at the trio suspiciously. “That’s it?”

  “I swear it,” Er’c said.

  “Oh.” The color receded a little from her face, and the frown on her forehead relaxed. “Well, then, I’m sorry.”

  “Please, don’t apologize. We’re sorry.”

  “Don’t be. It had nothing to do with you. And I will take the wine. I have a feeling I’m going to go through what’s left of ours.” She smiled and gestured to the empty seats beside her. “You’d better sit, and help me drink, or I will probably go through this new bottle too and be quite sick.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Jack and his friends did sit and drink. Indeed, they drank so heartily that they got through their peace offering, and another decanter, and a third besides. It was at this point that Karag finally ventured to their table, bringing wine of his own. And they all went on drinking together.

  So it was that they were all fairly plastered by time they called it a night – or a morning, in their case. Miss Mint was the one to bail first. “I’m going to have the worst headache if I don’t get some sleep.”

  Jack was pretty sure that boat had already sailed – for all of them. But he agreed, and one by one so did the rest of the party. His head swam a little as he headed to his room. Still, it had been a good night. At least, he felt certain it had. He couldn’t recall too much of what had happened. He remembered Estelle talking about her father, and shedding tears. He might have mentioned his own dad. There may have even been tears on his part too. He vaguely remembered Ceinwen and Er’c consoling him. He was quite certain he recalled Karag declaring, “You’re better off without him. Family is overrated.” But whether the statement had been about Father Winter or his own dad, he couldn’t say for sure. And he might have talked a little about Jordan, too. A little, or a lot. He wasn’t certain.

  But he did note with no mistake the slumped figures of Migli and Arath. The ranger was on the floor, propped up against a chair, snoring. Migli’s eyes were shut, but he remained in his seat, occasionally blurting a line of verse to a tune that no one recognized.

  Jack didn’t pay much attention to his accommodations. Estelle had put them all up in rooms in the ice castle, and he had the impression that they were princely quarters. But his head swam and his eyes hurt. So he collapsed face first into bed and was fast asleep before long.

  He woke some hours later and checked his alarm clock. Shit. His head throbbed a little, and his thoughts were foggy. But not so foggy that he missed the implications of the hour: Jordan’s shift only had just about one hour left.

  So, bleary-eyed, he pulled himself out of his bed and wandered back to the great hall. The palace elves were hard at work clearing away the plates from the morning’s festivities. But Migli and Arath were exactly where he remembered: passed out by the fire. “Speak to
supervisor,” he said.

  The game paused, and Migli sprang to awareness. “Jack? Oh, thank goodness. I was getting worried. Why didn’t you call me earlier?”

  “Worried? Why?”

  “Richard said you were – well, kind of freaking out. About dragons or cookies or something. He wasn’t really sure.”

  Jack frowned. “I was not freaking out.”

  Migli nodded. “Okay. Well, that’s good. Everything’s okay?”

  “Of course. Actually, I have a surprise for you.”

  She scrutinized him, and then their surroundings, a bit warily. “Did you already conquer the North Pole?”

  He laughed. “No. I reloaded, actually. I’m playing on Team Santa.”

  Jordan glanced around again, her – Migli’s – eyes lingering on the elves, now all frozen in the midst of their work. “Wow. You really did.”

  “Yeah,” he nodded.

  She smiled at him. “Why?”

  He shrugged. “No reason. Definitely not because someone was guilt tripping the heck out of me.”

  “You didn’t have to, Jack. I didn’t say that.”

  He brushed this away. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Anyway, I finished all the objectives. I delivered all the gifts, and all the coal, and completed the bonus objectives.”

  “Both of them?” she asked.

  “Both of them.”

  She grinned at him. “How do you like your dragon?”

  “Well,” he said, “he’s not a dragon yet. He’s still an egg.”

  This gave her pause. “Really? You didn’t hatch it yet?”

  “No.” He added, not quite truthfully, “I thought maybe you’d want to be there. Since Richard tells me you designed it and everything. That makes you kind of its fairy godmother, right?”

  “Wow. That’s…actually really nice of you, Jack. That dragon is my favorite pet in the game. But I don’t know how I can – not without confusing your companions.”

  Jack remembered the vague feeling he’d had the night before that he’d talked about her more than once. He laughed nervously. “Oh, I’m not worried about that. I’m sure it’ll all work out.”

  “I don’t know,” she said dubiously. “The early alpha testers had all kinds of problems when the techs would butt in…”

  “Well, you could keep control of Migli, and just un-pause the game. As long as you don’t say anything Migli wouldn’t say, no one will notice. Right?”

  She considered for a moment. “I guess. And if we run into problems, I can duck out right away.”

  Jack nodded. “Exactly.”

  “Alright. Well, we’ll need to head outside.”

  He was about to nod again when he remembered, “Sugar. I don’t have the egg.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I…uh…gave it to Er’c. For safe keeping.”

  “Oh.” She blinked. “Well, we’ll need to go get him.”

  So Jack retraced his steps, returning to the guest quarters. But they met Er’c halfway there. The boy looked a lot worse for wear. He smiled sheepishly, and said, “That’ll teach me some restraint, I reckon. My head is pounding like a goblin drum.”

  “I don’t feel great myself,” Jack admitted. “But hey, you don’t happen to have that egg on you, do you?”

  Er’c nodded, then winced at the movement. “I do indeed, Jack. It has not left my side since you entrusted me with it.”

  “Well, that’s very dedicated. But, Jor-uh, Migli and I are going to go hatch it.”

  The boy’s expression brightened. “Capital. I shall join you.”

  “Oh, you don’t have to do that. You probably want to go ask the kitchen about a hangover remedy or something, right?”

  “No. No, I’ve decided I shall suffer for my excess. Nothing like dealing with the consequences of your own actions to smarten you up next time.

  “But I would be delighted to watch the dragon hatch.”

  “Oh. Well…great. Come on then.”

  Jordan had said nothing at all so far. But as they turned, she winked at Jack, as if to say, so far, so good. He grinned back, and they headed toward the courtyard with Er’c taking up the rear.

  They didn’t get very far, though, before they ran into Ceinwen. The elf woman looked a little better than the dwarf or the orc – or, Jack figured, probably himself either. But she definitely looked like the night had taken its toll. She was sipping a mug of something, and grimaced. “It tastes like troll fat. But it’ll clear your head. The kitchen has a whole batch of it brewed up.”

  She added with a wry smile, “Apparently, we weren’t the only irresponsible drinkers.”

  “I’ll grab some in a minute,” Jack said.

  She nodded and went on drinking, and that might have been an end to it had not Er’c said, “We are going to the courtyard, to hatch the dragon.”

  “Oh? Well, good thing I caught you in time, then. But where’s Karag? He won’t want to miss this.”

  “I’m sure he doesn’t care,” Jack said.

  “I don’t know, Sir Jack,” Er’c countered, “but I think we should ask him. Even if he isn’t interested, he really has been making an effort lately.”

  Ceinwen nodded. “Yes. I still don’t trust him. But he was alright with Estelle last night.”

  “Which,” Er’c said, with a pointed glance in Migli’s direction, “is more than we can say for some.”

  Jordan glanced at Jack, confusion spread across her avatar’s dwarven features.

  Thinking quickly, Jack declared, “Oh, well, uh, Migli’s already apologized for that. We’re – we’re going to pretend none of that happened. Isn’t that right, Migli?”

  Jordan nodded. “That’s right.”

  Ceinwen harrumphed. “I don’t know. I think he’s getting off too easily.”

  Er’c nodded but said nothing further. Jack decided to change the topic. “So, Karag: let’s go get him, shall we?”

  After asking around, one of the elves told them that the giant was in the kitchens, eating leftovers. So they set out for the kitchens. Elves in festive garb bustled this way and that. Most of them paused as they entered to scowl at Migli. A few gave the entire party the cold shoulder.

  Er’c shot the dwarf a dirty look. “I guess not all of us are pretending it never happened.”

  Again, Jordan shot a questioning look Jack’s way. Which put him in a bit of a bind. He obviously couldn’t stop to explain what had happened. Migli would know what he’d done. Nor could he explain that Migli’s body was being piloted by someone else. His companions were already worried about spirits and spies. He had no idea what that kind of intelligence would do.

  At last, he settled on, “I’ve already explained to Migli that harassing Estelle after her father died was wrong –”

  “Disgraceful,” Er’c put in.

  “Disgusting,” Ceinwen agreed.

  “Exactly. And he acknowledges that he was in the wrong. Don’t you, Migli?”

  Jordan’s jaw had dropped a little – which surprised Jack. She’d helped build the game. Didn’t she know what her characters would do? But she nodded now, and her avatar’s beard bobbed with the motion. “Right. Absolutely disgraceful. I’m thoroughly ashamed of myself.”

  “As well you should be,” a new voice said. They turned around to see Karag looming large over them, an entire roast goose on a plate.

  Jack loosed a sigh of relief. The giant’s timing was impeccable. It meant he could change the subject without seeming to do so. “Karag, there you are. We’re going to hatch the dragon egg. We thought we’d tell you, in case you wanted to come along.”

  The other man glanced down at his goose, then shrugged. “Certainly. I’ll just take this with me.”

  “Ohh, I want one too,” Ceinwen said.

  Er’c went a little greener. “I don’t think I’m going to be able to eat for a week.”

  “Try the hangover brew,” the giant nodded confidently. “It’ll make you right as rain.”

  “He doesn’t wa
nt to,” Jack volunteered. “He’s punishing himself for having a good time.”

  Karag raised an eyebrow questioningly. “Singular discipline. You’d have done well in the Obsidian Isles.”

  “As a wine merchant?” Jack asked wryly.

  Karag didn’t take the bait. Instead, he gestured for Jack to lead on. Ceinwen, meanwhile, grabbed a platter of leftovers, and then they all trudged out to the courtyard. It was late afternoon in the game world, and the day was another bitterly cold one. Jack glanced around for a snowbank and chose the nearest one he could find. Then, Er’c handed over the egg.

  “Dig out a little valley,” Jordan said. “Or pack snow over the egg.”

  Jack nodded and did as he was bid. Almost at once, the egg started to move, rocking back and forth in the depression he’d dug. The magical shimmering got brighter. A crack appeared in the side of the shell – first one, and then another, and another.

  Karag and Ceinwen smiled. Er’c drew his cloak a little tighter around himself but watched with rapt attention. Jordan smiled broadly and threw an appreciative glance Jack’s way.

  He smiled too, and in a moment a tiny blue dragon’s face broke out of the egg. It might have been that Jack was just in a good mood, despite the lingering feeling of a partial hangover. But he was pretty sure this dragon was the cutest thing he’d ever seen. It shimmered like ice on a bright winter’s day, its blue scales catching every ray of light. Its eyes glimmered a pale bluish green. Indeed, everything about it was blue, except for a little stripe of red that ran from the top of its head back down its body.

  It pulled itself out of the broken shell a little clumsily, and then chirped in a quizzical fashion, staring at each of the party in turn. It tilted its head to the side when it saw Jack.

  “We need to feed it,” Jordan said.

  Jack started to rifle through his pack, but Karag interjected, “I’ve got this.” Without waiting for permission, he yanked off a full goose leg and put it out in front of the dragon. He moved slowly and spoke reassuringly. “There you go, little one. Sink your teeth into that. It’ll make you grow up big and strong, yes it will.”