by Erik Rounds
“If they kill you, you will respawn, yes?” Spindra said. “You are human… Your Zhakaran law will protect you, yes? Spindra can escape on her own, trust her. She will tell you what you want to know, and if they kill you, you will come back and be free! Help Spindra?”
“I for one, like this plan,” Mad Marina said.
“You would like this plan,” said Ari.
Mad Marina removed an ancient dusty staff from the wall. “Well, no time like the present.” She raised her staff and sent a bolt of lightning through the guard’s chest, taking off half of his health.
Ari rushed at the guard and lifted him up, suplexing his head against the hardwood floor. Pan drew a dagger and plunged it into the guard’s heart, finishing him off.
As Mad Marina got to work on Spindra’s collar, Ari said, “Next time warn us before you do something like that.”
“I did warn you. Now, Spindra dear, this might hurt a bit.” She extended one hand and held apart her thumb and index finger. A line of electricity shot from her thumb to her extended finger. “Hold still.”
She moved the arc of electricity so it intersected with the collar. After a few seconds, the iron melted, and she got to work on the other side. Blackened skin appeared on Spindra’s neck where the iron had been melted. The spider woman screamed but did not move.
Ari handed her a healing potion. “Drink this, quick.”
After Spindra drank the potion, she spoke. “Humans have freed Spindra! Event will happen in two years and forty-one days and two hours. Event will last for eleven minutes.”
“That’s two years from now,” Ari said. “There’s still time.” He looked at Pan. “You’ll only be fourteen when that happens.”
“Spindra’s debt has been repaid. May they find what they seek.” Upon saying those words, a dark cloud appeared, and Spindra vanished.
Ari turned to Marina. “Did you know she could do that?”
Marina shrugged. “She’s a time mage. They have a short-range teleportation ability, so it’s not that surprising. She said her collar was inhibiting her magic. It’s time to leave this town behind us.”
“Okay, I have a plan,” Ari said. “We’ll just leave here quietly and casually head through the town gates before the guards realize what we’ve done. If we are quiet and careful, we’ll be able to… Marina, what are you doing?”
Mad Marina had removed an object from her inventory and placed it on the ground. It was a black ball with a fuse on the end. “I’ve been waiting for years to use this.”
“That’s a bomb! You’re going to blow up your house?”
“Why not? I’m not coming back here, and I don’t want Lord Hempledon getting his smelly little hands on my research. Besides, it’s my house. Who are you to tell me whether I can or can’t blow it up?”
She created a magical spark that lit the fuse.
Ari gaped at her incredulously. “How long until that explodes?”
Marina shrugged. “I dunno.”
The bomb’s fuse was getting shorter and shorter by the second. One panicked dash up the stairs and out the exit later and they were running for their dear lives.
There were three guards waiting outside of their house: two women and one man. One of the women said, “Hey, what the hell are you doing out—”
Before she could finish her sentence, the house exploded behind them. As planks of wood and other debris flew in all directions, Mad Marina shot the female guard in the heart with blast of chain lightning that arced to the other two guards. Ari attacked the female guard with a flurry of punches. The remaining two guards who had been damaged by the chain lighting ran off.
“Don’t let them escape!” cried Ari as he snapped the female guard’s neck. “They’ll bring more guards.”
Marina shot another bolt of lightning through the male guard’s chest. The bolt continued through to the other side, striking the side of someone’s house and starting a small fire. The guard collapsed to the ground, dead.
Pan loaded a bolt into her crossbow and fired it at the retreating female guard. Her shot missed entirely and instead hit an innocent civilian in the knee. “Sorry!”
Ari pointed at the city gates, which were just in view from the remains of Marina’s house. “We need to be gone now. Let’s go.”
They raced toward the gates. There were two guards, and they were both far higher level. “I’ll draw them away,” Ari said. “Pan, once you are outside, dismiss and resummon me.”
Without waiting for their response, Ari ran up and punched one of the guards in the face. “Hey!” complained the poor guard, but the pugilist who had sucker-punched him was already running off, and the guard chased after him. Mad Marina led Pan by the hand toward the remaining guard. As the old woman approached, the guard pointed his spear at the woman. “What do you want? Stay back, witch!”
Mad Marina raised her staff into the air and began to recite a spell in a language that Pan did not recognize. “Ba ken ba shri na ba n’kron ba alstulba!”
Dark clouds manifested in the skies just above the gate. The remaining guard looked about nervously. As the clouds gathered, dancing arcs of lightning conjoined and formed a single blast that shot straight into the gate, blasting it to pieces along with the wall and the remaining guard. All that was left of the gate was scattered rubble.
Mad Marina grasped her heart in obvious distress and retched in pain.
Pan took her hand. “Gran, we h-h-have t-to go.” Together they limped through the open gate and into the wilderness beyond.
When they were a sufficient distance from Wilmarth, Pan dismissed Ari and summoned him to her. He appeared in a cloud of mist.
Marina had fallen to the ground and was still clutching her chest.
“Marina,” Ari cried. “Marina, what’s wrong?”
“It’s Mad… Marina,” the woman corrected between scattered breaths.
“What’s wrong with your heart?” he asked, handing her a health potion, but she pushed it away.
“No,” she said, “I can’t go with you any further. I’m sorry, Aralogos, my friend, but I’m afraid… I’m afraid that I haven’t been entirely honest with you.”
“What do you mean?” asked Ari. “What haven’t you been honest about?”
“I told you… that I was… a young woman. The truth is… that I’m actually quite old. It’s my heart. Too much lightning magic at once. I think I’m dying.”
“You can’t die,” Ari said. “We need you.”
“You’ll c-come back… right? Right?” Pan asked.
“No,” said Marina. “I’m actually 107 years old. Entropy won’t bring me back again. There’ll be no resurrection for me.”
“No,” said Ari. “You can pull through this. Just drink the damn health potion.”
“No, I refuse. Ari, Pan, my time is over, and I welcome the darkness that awaits me. You need to get away before they find you.”
Pan took Marina’s hand in her own. “Mad Mar-rina… I love you.”
“Mad Marina,” Ari said, “tell me just one thing. What was your question for Libra? I’ll ask him for you.”
“It doesn’t matter anymore,” said Mad Marina. “The two of you have already given me the answer.”
Marina’s hand went limp and fell to the ground. The life left her eyes, and she looked sightlessly into the sky. Ari closed her eyes. Marina’s inventory emptied onto the ground, putting to rest any uncertainty about her final death. The sound of their pursuers were getting closer.
Ari grabbed Marina’s staff, some coins, and a few other items and stuffed them into his inventory. When Pan wouldn’t move from Marina’s side, Ari picked her up and ran off into the woods, leaving the town of Wilmarth behind them forever.
♦ ♦ ♦
Two years and forty-one days later, Pan the Thief stood at the top of a hill. She had changed her primary character class to thief partly to avoid being found by Lord Hempledon and partly so she could become more useful in combat. Thief gave natural bonu
ses to agility and precision, which she had always been in dire need of.
She smiled as she regarded the spyglass that Ari had given her a week earlier as a birthday gift. It was etched with her name in golden stylized lettering. She used it to scan the hills and plains around her for any sight of their objective. Assuming the arachnid Spindra had been honest with them, this was the exact place and the time for Libra to appear.
There was a brief shimmer of light, and out of nowhere, a glass box with a wooden frame appeared. An elfin puppet appeared in the box. With Ari in tow, she ran toward the eidolon.
Ari took out a 1 GP coin and handed it to Pan. She accepted the coin and slid it into the coin slot. She spoke as clearly as she could, focusing on each syllable. “How c-can Aralogos… remain once I lose the ability to summon?”
The puppet performed a small whimsical dance, and a sheet of parchment was printed from a second slot in the front of the box. Pan removed the piece of paper and read it.
“To find a cure, travel to longitude 33.285947 latitude -96.572767 by sundown on Catuary 29th.”
“That’s less than two months from now!” Ari said. “There isn’t enough time.”
He pulled out a map and examined it carefully. “Actually, it might just be possible, but only barely. The queen has declared a ceasefire with Questgivria, so we can cross through what used to be the warzone. If we circle the Ultros Bay to the east and take the train, we might be able to make it on time.
“We’ll have to leave now, right now. I don’t need to sleep, so I’ll carry you at night. We’ll sell everything we have and use the money to hire caravans. I don’t think we have enough GP to purchase our own raptor, so we’ll have to rent them as we go.”
“Okay,” said Pan. “L-let’s do it.”
Pan turned to leave, but Ari lingered for a moment. He removed another 1 GP piece from his inventory and inserted it into Libra’s slot. “Libra,” he said, “when a person lets out their final breath and dies, does anything of that person survive?”
Instead of answering, the eidolon simply faded away and disappeared from sight, continuing on his journey.
Chapter 29
A Sky Full of Pirates
Pan wandered aimlessly for days through the wilderness in a trancelike state, her eyes cast downward at the ground. She kept running over the events of the past few days. She had finally made some true friends, but she had hurt them, which was the last thing that she had wanted to do. Worst of all, she’d hurt Tasha.
Growing up in Zhakara, friendship was seen as a weakness and was hard to come by. Even after she emigrated to Questgivria, she had great difficulty interacting with other people. But through it wall, she had always had Ari.
She didn’t understand why this had happened. Tasha said that Pan had lied to her, but she had never lied. She might have withheld certain truths, but that wasn’t the same as a lie. But because she had withheld the fact that Ari wasn’t a real person, she had hurt her one and only real friend.
She had learned from past experience that people became uncomfortable when they learned that her father wasn’t a real person and was merely a projection of her mind. Was she wrong to keep this a secret?
For days she continued to wander, eyes downcast, without any real destination or purpose. She didn’t summon Ari again after the incident. She didn’t know what she could say to him, scared of how disappointed he would be. It was easier to not face him.
On the fifth day, a shadow darkened the grass upon which she walked. When she looked up, the sky was filled with a multitude of flying ships. One of the dirigibles was descending upon her position. She stepped back apprehensively, but it was already too late to escape. Too late to become invisible. The only fleet of airships of this grandeur could be that of the pirate group of K’her Noálin.
A port along the side of the main ship opened, and from it descended a small runabout boat carrying a band of four sailors. Two of them were human, along with a gnome and a dark elf. It descended onto the grass not twenty feet from where she was standing.
Without realizing it, Pan took another step back but then stopped herself. She wouldn’t be able to escape the armada by running from it. She was in an open field, and there was nowhere to go and nowhere to hide.
She took a tentative step toward the dark elf, who seemed to be the one in charge.
“Fair morning to ye, wee lass. Might I be askin’ what brings a child such as yerself t’ this faraway place? What be yer name, lass?”
What should she say? She looked up at him for a moment before averting her gaze and looking at the ground. The dark elf had an orb affixed to his wristband that contained swirling patterns of wind.
“A-are y-y-you the p-pirate captain K’her?” she asked.
“Now, that not be fair at all. I do believe that I asked ye for yer name before ye asked fer mine.”
What should she say? Should she lie and make up some other name? No, that was a terrible idea. She was amazingly terrible at lying. Despite what Tasha said, Pan wasn’t capable of telling a deliberate lie. Ari could always tell when she wasn’t telling the truth. She would have to tell the truth, but that didn’t mean she needed to tell the entire truth.
“M-my name is P-Pan. M-my mother abandoned me. I am alone and have n-nowhere to go.”
“Arr… ye seem to be telling the truth,” he said.
“You c-can t-tell?” Pan asked.
“I be a high-level thief with an ability fer detectin’ untruths. If ye were lyin’ ta me, I’d be savvy to it.”
“That’s really c-cool,” she said honestly. She knew about this ability but had never witnessed its use.
“Yes, it is indeed. So, with ye bein’ wise t’ me truth-discernin’ capability, I hope ye will answer me honestly. We be searchin’ fer an elven woman who answers to Kiwistafel. Have ye seen her? Can ye tell me where she be now?”
How should she answer? It would have to be the truth, yet not lead the pirates to her. Pan might no longer be part of the group, but she wouldn’t betray them.
“Y-y…” she said, trying to get the words out.
“Take yer time, lassie. There be no rush.”
It took her a minute, but she was finally able to get everything out.
“Y-yes, I s-saw her just under a w-week ago. She w-was t-traveling with a slime, a monk, a g-gunblade user, a d-d-dragon, and a thief. They didn’t want me with them, so I left.”
“And do ye know where they be now?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Well, I be taken aback. It seems that ye do indeed be tellin’ me a true tale. I apologize fer troubling ye like this. We’ll be on our way, then.”
Captain K’her tossed the girl a 100 GP coin. “Fer yer trouble.”
He turned back toward the runabout and began to walk away. Panic was rising up within Pan. This could be her last opportunity to help her friend. It was clear that these people meant to capture the princess and they would likely take Tasha as well.
“Wait!” she said.
“Why do ye delay me from me business?”
“Please! Let me join your c-crew! I’m… a high-level thief. I just made level 23, so I’m s-sure I can be useful. I’ll do whatever you want. I can swab the d-decks or scrub the toilets or whatever you need. I… have nowhere else to go.”
“It won’t be an easy life, but if ye be interested, ye can join us. T’ain’t every child who can attain the exalted level of 23.”
“Thank you so much, C-Captain,” Pan said, bowing slightly. She tried to exude confidence, but inside she wanted to curl up into a little ball and hide somewhere dark.
“Ye’ll have ta learn ta speak like a proper pirate ta be one o’ us, savvy?”
Pan thought for a moment. “Yo ho ho?”
“It needs work, but not bad fer a first attempt. Mr. Malarkey! Find a position fer our most recent acquirement to our crew.”
The diminutive little man sighed. “As you wish, Captain. Come with me, girl.”
&nbs
p; Pan followed Mr. Malarkey onto the runabout, which ascended into the sky. The ground flew away as the boat rose into the sky. It occurred to Pan that this might not be the most opportune moment to reveal her debilitating fear of high places.
What had she gotten herself into?
♦ ♦ ♦
When Hermes respawned, he found himself standing on the save point by the capital city outside Brightwind Keep. He hadn’t died since being killed in the ninja attack many months ago, and it wasn’t an experience he enjoyed. With his good hand, he opened his inventory and removed his spare arm attachment and equipped it, covering up the stub of his broken arm.
He equipped some clothing and waited for about half an hour by the save point, hoping against hope that no more of his friends would respawn. Fortunately, he seemed to be the only casualty of that battle. If someone else had died, they would have respawned at approximately the same time.
Hermes headed into the city and made his way to Brightwind Keep. He should report what had happened to the King. At this point, there was little hope that he would be able to catch up with the others. He had to at least try, though.
The guards recognized the dwarven prince and let him through unchallenged. He had grown up in the castle, raised by elves. Though he had nobody who he regarded as father or mother, he had grown close to both Princess Kiwistafel and Slimon. Kiwi was like a little sister to him. A tall, pointy-eared, strangely beardless sister. And if Hermes had a best friend, it could only be Slimon.
Upon entering the throne room, he found King Questgiver standing in front of his throne. Before him was Penryth, an elder red dragon who occupied most of the room. They seemed to be in discussion, but the dragon focused on him when he entered. The dragon’s voice came unbidden into his mind.
Dwarven princeling! What are you doing here? Where is Kaze?
“Hello, Penryth.” He turned to King Questgiver. “Your Majesty, I’m afraid I died while in the princess’s company. We hadn’t had the chance to bind to another save point, so I just respawned here moments ago.”