Into the Darkness: A Fantasy LitRPG Adventure (Axe Druid Book 4)

by Christopher Johns

  And that went a long way toward upping my respect for her. Almost enough to try and sort out a way for her to not be a threat to us and the village. I would have to continue to watch.

  “He seems pretty calm right now.” I put my arms beneath the serpent in my lap. “I’m going to help you back into the cart, so don’t move too much, okay?”

  “Frederick, come to me!” Manly ordered, gently. She held out the sack in her hand, and he seemed interested for a moment. Taking a few steps away from the cart so that he could get closer; the halfling backed away at a steady pace, and he followed as he sniffed the air before him.

  I put Ulla near the cart door and the fur on my neck waved as puffs of hot air pooped against the back of my neck instantly.

  “Don’t you do it, Freddy!” Manly barked viciously, order and anger seeping into her tone. “He’s only helping Ulla! You get back here and eat your supper.”

  Another gust of hot air hit the back of my neck. “But he’s too close to it. If he goes in, I have to hurt him.”

  There was a pause. “Please give me a reason. I’m so bored.”

  I turned after watching Ulla slither into the cart safely, slowly. Manly walking over and speaking to me in hushed tones, “Don’t be lookin’ him in the eyes, Zeke. He gets real fired up when anyone does it. Broke a lady’s arm for it a few weeks ago. I don’t think he meant to, but he takes it as a sign of challenge.”

  “From the sounds of it, he wants a fight.” I felt bad for the big guy. “He’s bored. How often does he get to come out and exercise? I’m not trying to be rude; I promise. I’m just wondering.”

  “I try to let him out every so often if we’re in a secluded enough area where he can roam without getting into trouble.” She frowned as she noticed the tension in his body. “That was a few weeks ago when he met that lady out for a stroll.”

  “I see.” the others moved in my peripheral vision and Frederick saw the same things. Rather than wait, I turned and addressed him, carefully looking at his chin area. “Hey there, tall, green, and mean. How you doin’?”

  He flinched as if struck. “You speak?”

  “Why does everyone ask me that?” I grumped under my breath. “I do. And I heard what you said. You spoiling for some exercise?”

  “I want to fight. Something. Anything.” He bared his large fangs at me.

  Up close, his fur looked really odd. As if it were grass or some kind of flower in places, and he smelled really good for some reason.

  “I get that, and I’m half inclined to let you join us for a bout of fun. But if you want, maybe let's go for a run or something? Just gallop around a little bit to burn some of that energy off?” His heavy brow lowered considerably as he sat back.

  “You would do that?” He scratched his chest, then his back absently. “You aren’t scared?”

  “Why would I be scared of you?” I blinked at the odd sincerity of his question. “You’re big, and likely really strong. But I’m strong too and so are my friends. And you don’t seem to hate anything, you’re just bored. That doesn’t make you bad or scary. Just need to have your energy redirected. It’s not your fault that you come off intimidating to some folks.”

  He snorted and beat the ground with his hands excitedly, before looking over to Manly who seemed anxious. “She will never allow it.”

  “It doesn’t hurt to ask, and if you promise her not to hurt anyone anymore, she may allow it.” I turned to Manly and spoke softly, “Frederick would like to stay out and play with us for a bit. Would that be okay? If he promised not to hurt anyone, would that work for you?”

  “I’m not worried about him, I’m worried about you lot.” Manly snorted. “He’s strong, and the only reason I can deal with him is because we respect each other.”

  “Do you promise not to hurt anyone, Frederick?” I asked the gorilla with my eyebrows raised.

  “I promise not to kill any of you.” he grinned with his teeth bared again. When I didn’t blink, he added, “Fine. I promise not to hurt anyone on purpose, unless they go into my cart. Then they are fair game. And I will crush them.”

  I shook my head, exasperated that he was so smart, but I repeated his promise to Manly, and she seemed to mull it over.

  “He sleeps in his cart tonight, but he can stay out, for now.” She sounded like a worried mother. Before I could tell him, she added, “And tonight is only a trial! If he’s not gonna behave, he can’t do it again, am I understood?”

  Why did I feel like I was about to be scolded by someone less than half my height?

  “Yeah, we promise.” I looked back to my friends. “Fred’s gonna come and play with us. Anyone else up for a game of tag?”

  “Got any rules?” Muu asked as he limbered himself up.

  “Yeah, no attack spells, no weapons. It’s just an all-out game of tag.” I scratched my head a bit. “Utility spells are okay. Let’s keep it close to camp, though, yeah?”

  “This should be fun!” Bokaj grinned. “T’, you better be fuckin’ good at hiding. And stay out of my hood!”

  The panther snuffed at him before scampering into the wooded area around us.

  “Well, at least we know who’s not it.” Muu chuckled as the cat disappeared. “But how do we know who’s it?”

  “We decide before everyone else runs off?” Yohsuke smirked as the dragon-Kin opened his mouth, then closed it. “But once you’re tagged, you come back here so we know who’s out. Sound good?”

  Kayda circled around the area above us, her massive form casting a shadow over us in the dying light.

  “And none of that cheating bullshit,” James added hurriedly. I tried to give him the, “Who, Me?” look, and it didn’t work at all. “The bird stays out of it, or she stays in your collar.”

  Kayda, babe, we’re going to be playing a game of tag, but I want you not to tell me. Can you watch the camp while we play? If you see anything suspicious, tell us. I felt her tilt her head at my request.

  Play? She asked in return. I saw what she meant as she sent me a memory of us both flying together, then another of her torturing Muu with the little girl in the square by tickling him.

  Tomorrow, I promise. I just need to find a better bird form that’s built sturdier and stronger.

  She took that news well, and she aggressively agreed to watch over the camp and the surrounding area and then cut off contact.

  “Alright, she’s got the camp on lock.” I looked over toward Maebe, who frowned at us. “You going to play?”

  “Play?” She asked, oddly echoing my companion. “What is this game? Why do you do it? What purpose does it serve?”

  I had heard that question before, and I knew how to answer it, as well.

  “A game, like children play. It’s called tag,’ and you play it by chasing your friends.” I gave Muu and James a look, and Muu tagged James and sprinted away. The other man gave chase. “We teach it to children to teach them skills. To help them become cleverer at defeating opponents, tracking skills, and to become faster in a safe manner. That way, if something is hunting them, they can get away. Some of the meaning may have been lost over time, but it’s still there.”

  “So, why are you all doing it now?” She frowned a bit more and motioned toward Frederick. “And with him, as well?”

  “Because if we don’t include him, he could be trouble at some point if he gets too bored,” Yohsuke answered before I could, having likely heard my conversation with Manly. “If we’re going to travel with each other, these animals need to know us, and we need to be able to trust that they won’t try to kill us.”

  “So, then, this is a way for you to safely train your abilities, play, and build a rapport with each other?” Her brows narrowed. “This is new.”

  “You want to play with us, your Majesty?” Jaken stood next to her and offered her his fist. “It’ll be fun and good training.”

  “So, the person who is ‘it’ touches someone, and they return to camp?” She asked as she returned Jaken’s fist bu
mp.

  “In a nutshell, yeah.” Muu gasped as he jogged back over.

  Frederick seemed enthused by this game. “We used to play this game long before I was separated from my troop as a baby. What are the rules? No attacking?”

  “And stay close to camp,” I added as he thumped the ground excitedly.

  “I will do this, tag,” Maebe announced.

  “Awesome!” Muu grinned and looked to the rest of us. “Since it’s her first time, one of us should be it, right? It’s only fair.”

  That seemed reasonable. The rest of us looked back and forth at each other and held our fists out in an age-old, timeless tradition of decision making.

  Rock, paper, scissors.

  “Rock…paper…” We spoke, and before any of us could do anything else, a voice speared through our minds.

  Rock! Muu shouted.

  We were all so confused that some of the others, Jaken, James, and Balmur actually chose rock.

  “You cheeky fuck!” I growled as he took his paper and covered the other three. The only ones to beat him were Yoh, me, and Bokaj tied with him.

  “You boys won’t get anywhere doin’ that. Here.” Manly came over with a handful of twigs and offered them to us. “The shortest one has to be the seeker.”

  “Does this mean you’ll be joining us?” Jaken cocked his head to the side and smiled hopefully. “We could always use one more.”

  “Sweet of you to ask, but I’ll be needing to tend the animals a wee bit before we head to sleep.” She nodded to the sticks.

  “Shit. I’ll ref then, since I need to be sure that dinner is cooked right.” Yoh backed out and turned to the cooking fire and adjusted the rabbit meat and veggies.

  The rest of us shrugged and drew lots. In the end, it was James cursing vehemently as he held up the short stick.

  “Y’all got to the count of fifty, then I come running.” He closed his eyes and took a breath.

  “Dude, that’s hide and seek,” Muu corrected with an incredulous look on his face.

  “Fifty. Forty-nine. Forty-eight.” Then he counted down as all Marines remembered from boot camp. A skill that many poor souls learned that drill instructors had mastered—speed countdowns.

  A thrill ran through my nerves, and I moved toward the opposite side of the camp as I gingerly put the egg into my inventory. The others scattered as well, and we were off. The first thing I did was shapeshift into my hare form and bolted into the underbrush. I shifted back into fox-man and used Nature’s Path to touch a tree to move from it to another tree about a hundred feet away, up toward the top where I waited quietly.

  Once I was in the tree, I pulled the egg back out and held it in the gauntlet. The whole process was odd as I still funneled my mana into the egg, but it moved with me regardless. It was a small mana cost at 30 MP, but the constant funneling meant that it was a little longer than normal getting back to full MP.

  After what felt like a long time, I decided to cast Life Sense, another small mana cost that allowed me to do exactly as the name stated. Little blips of life appeared as if on a radar screen in my mind. All of them gray, so they weren’t hostile, though one was green, and it was almost directly beneath me.

  My heart pounded as I cast my eyes about, wildly. But it was only Balmur moving beneath me in the fading light. He shifted through the shadows with ease, then turned invisible. I could still see him thanks to my True Sight, but he was hazy even then.

  This was going to be fun. I heard shouting, so James must have found someone. A crack and manic laughter, likely from Muu as he sprinted away. Then cursing. Did I dare move closer to try and get a look?

  If you said no, you’re in the wrong here.

  Leaving my hiding spot in the tree by using Nature’s Path to travel just a little further closer to the camp was a great idea, as I had phased out in time to see Muu walking dejectedly back toward the campfire. Yohsuke laughing and teasing him a bit.

  “He came out of nowhere!” Muu retorted loudly to one of Yoh’s jokes. “Fucker moves like lightning, and I’m not talking FF-thirteen man.”

  “Dinner will be done soon, so sit down and shut up.” Yoh sighed. “Pay attention, though. May learn something.”

  I decided it may be a good idea to put the egg into my collar for a bit so I could focus and have my hands free. I shifted into my owl form, carefully skirting trees and branches to keep me and my green, metal-armed beacon hidden. Swift, but surprisingly heavy movement, like footfalls and branches being gripped and moved violently to my left drew my attention to Frederick who eyed me curiously as he moved from tree to tree.

  Then I noticed James hot on his trail, damnable gorilla brought him straight to me!

  I plummeted to the ground and shifted into my fox form in a bush before taking my new vorpal viper form. Being a snake was weird. I could somewhat make out shapes, but most of what I “saw” was infrared heat. I could sort of sense that they were in the area through scent and heat signatures.

  Frederick weaved and dodged the monk to the best of his ability, but the gorilla just wasn’t built for speed.

  It was irritating that I couldn’t see all the details, but the reds and oranges moved in the sea of blues and greens well enough that I saw when James tapped the gorilla on the head and danced away laughing.

  Frederick beat his chest in frustration, then moved toward James and his exposed back. I tensed up to try and do something, and help if needed, but I saw the orange of Frederick’s hand smack James’s ass as if to say, “Good game.”

  What a weird animal.

  It took a little longer for him to find Bokaj, the ranger growing bored and moving.

  Then he was on my trail, his nose working overtime.

  “Come on out, Zeke.” James cautiously moved through the trees and brush as quietly as he could.

  I was still in my viper form so I could see him moving, the warmth of his body lit like a beacon. He left the area, and I stayed completely still.

  It was another ten minutes before a cry like thunder sounded from above, and James called over our earrings, Hey, I think we have company.

  Yeah, right, you just want us to come out so you can tag us. Jaken snorted.

  An explosion rang out east of my position, close enough to set my ears ringing.

  Moving west toward the camp! There’s five of them, and they’re armed to the teeth! Balmur called to us. They spotted me somehow and cast a fireball, but I was able to evade them.

  Move on the eastern portion of the camp. Stay out of sight if you can. Muu and I are already waiting, Yohsuke ordered through the earrings.

  I shifted into my fox form and moved that way, quickly, but cautiously. It was so much better being able to see what was actually going on in real-time. Kayda worked on trying to get a better eye on things but had trouble due to how these guys moved. They weren’t too amateurish and stuck close to the trees. Likely why it took her so long to see them.

  I came upon a group of five men huddled close together, all of them dressed in thick leather armor except for the two in front. Those wore cloth and plate armor. Then I began to see others separating from the trees. Fuck. There had to be a dozen more, at least.

  I got eyes on at least twenty of them, Bokaj stated, startling me slightly. I glanced to my right and saw Tmont’s eyes glowing from the underbrush.

  James added to that. At least ten more moving in on the western side. A couple of their levels look to be in the late teens and lower level than us.

  I heard swearing in the center of the camp. Alright boys, time to see what’s going on. Yohsuke sighed heavily. Zeke, Bokaj, and Balmur—you lot stay outside the perimeter. Let them surround us. Once we know what’s going on, you fuck up as many of them as you can on our signal. Everyone else, come in.

  “There are more of them coming from the trees to the north,” the man in cloth spoke. He looked like he could have been a mage of some sort, but he wasn’t all that old. Maybe in his twenties or so. Looked young with his longish d
ark hair.

  “Good,” the armored one spoke, his deep voice took on a more commanding tone. “All of you fan out. Surround the camp, and don’t let them leave. That bounty is as good as ours. And remember—we want them alive. So, don’t kill them.”

  That was a good bit of information for our use. But the bounty? I remembered Jaken saying something about Lindyburg looking for us, but why? Anyone could have killed those guards they sent after Pharazulla.

  My thoughts had distracted me enough to allow one of the leather-covered soldiers to get within inches of my position, so I stood statue-still until he was passed me. I released my held breath and shifted slowly until I faced their backs.

  Level 19

  Not too terrible. Significantly lower than us, but there were thirty of them and counting.

  “No sense trying to hide when you have us surrounded,” Muu called tiredly. “Come on out and let’s chat. No one needs to die.”

  Oh man, maybe don’t lead with the stick, buddy. I crawled forward a little more so that I could see more of what was going on in the camp.

  The armored man snorted, then he motioned and his people stepped into the clearing. Several of the ones on my side held back as others moved in. The ones in the rear took out bows and strung them swiftly, nocking arrows onto the strings and loosely taking up fighting stances.

  “Well, that’s mighty kind of you to say, mister,” the apparent leader drawled sarcastically. “There’s supposed to be more of you, where are they? They hiding like the murderous, thieving cowards they are?”

  “We don’t know who you are, or why you’re here.” Yohsuke hadn’t even stood from the cooking fire. He checked the bottom of the rabbit meat and flipped the one in the center before switching it out to place it in the best heat. “But you can still walk away from this.”

  “Why don’t you all go ahead and just do this the easy way, right?” One of the others standing next to the leader groaned with sarcasm dripping from his voice, “No one wants to just save themselves a beating, come quietly.”

  “Now now, Shepherd, it’s alright.” The older man comforted the other before turning toward my friends once more. “You’re wanted for crimes against the Governess of Lindyburg, to include theft, murder, and evasion. If you come peaceably, I can try and put in a good word for you. If not? Well, we get paid, bruised or not.”