Elusive Prey

by Cheek, Jason

  ELUSIVE PREY

  BOOK SEVEN

  OF

  THE WORLD

  Copyright 2020 Jason Cheek

  Published by Jason Cheek on Amazon

  Cover Art by Leonardo Black

  ISBN-13:

  License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your enjoyment only, then please return to Amazon.com or your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Table of Contents

  Note from the Author

  Map of the World

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Appendices

  Character Sheet

  Startum Ironwolf’s Gear

  Character List

  About Jason Cheek

  Connect with Jason Cheek

  Post Credit Scene

  A Note from the Author

  I hope you enjoy the story and apologize in advance for the grammar and proofreading mistakes that are sure to be a part of this work. Being an ‘Indie Author’ typically means that you do not have the extra money to pay for a professional editor or proofreader and end up doing all of the work yourself. While I do the best that I can to find mistakes, I know well my lack of ability in the proofreading, spell-checking, and editing arena. At the same time, I have done my best with the tools available to clean up the story for publishing to the best of my ability.

  Luckily enough, I had help from Eric (Toten Sie), a friend who offers his expertise for editing my books and gets them cleaned up for release. Steven (Zeven) is another friend that helps with the ideas and concepts that makes the series so great. Both of them were joined by Jeff and Steven, both ex-military and DoD along with a local physicist named Josef. The five of them beta read the story to make sure everything sounds right, besides listening to me when I have those bad days that writers get, especially when you have a group of authors ganging up against you to do their best to block your work on Amazon, Goodreads, and Audible. Some major additional help for corrections have been Aaron, Naz, Austin, and Ryan. Thanks you for the multiple corrections of spelling and misused words.

  This issue was something I was ignorant about as a reader of the genre. Now though, the more I learn about how a number of established authors try to block new authors from entering the genre, or learn about the groups of authors ganging up on new authors and choose to say nothing against it. It’s depressing, to say the least. Truly, this book would have never been written if not for the fans who enjoy the series. Your continued support truly makes a difference and you have my heartfelt thanks.

  As you enjoy this story, I ask that if something does stand out grammatically that you let me know at jasonacheek@gmail.com so that I can make the necessary corrections needed to make this book as enjoyable to read as possible. Also, if you enjoy the story, please make sure you post a positive rating on Amazon. Even with book five, it makes a difference. Only in this way does this let us ‘Indy Authors’ know that our stories are appreciated and helps to motivate us to write more. It also enables new readers to find our works and helps to stop these established authors who would stop ‘Indy Authors’ from breaking into the writing field.

  Book 7 is a little bit different than the others in the series. It covered a lot more different perspectives so you get a better idea of what’s happening around The World. I hope you like the addition. Besides, it breaks up the fight scenes nicely too. Also, this is another book that covers a twenty-four hour time period. I have no wish to rush the telling of the story. My goal is to have a hundred or more books that draw you into the various adventures that Star and his friends face.

  Also, I would like to thank everyone for allowing me the freedom to explore a number of different adventures and topics in these stories. Whether it’s Star’s romantic misadventures with Fylreh, the disturbing Meer Lizards, the real-time strategy aspect of the story, self-aware NPCs, dealing with his abusive ex-girlfriend, or the new types of monster empires I’m introducing. Many of the ideas and adventures cover concepts I’ve never read in other stories within the genre. I want to explore every exciting dream I’ve ever had of gaming. Like a Captain Kirk of a fantasy MMO universe. As long as everyone finds the stories interesting, I will keep on writing about Star’s exploration of The World.

  I’d like to thank any other fans who made comments that allowed me to tweak the story or go back and correct the more notable mistakes that needed to be corrected. For those who can’t see the updates, please delete the book from your device’s local cache and re-download it or Amazon has an area in your account where you can force the updates onto your device. My books always tend to be works-in-progress for the editing side.

  Lastly, I’d like to address a few points that came up in reviews: (This won’t be an issue for the next several books, but I think it’s important to list part of this again.)

  There are some people who think that Startum Ironwolf disrespects women and thinks they are inferior to men. This couldn’t be further from the truth. The one great thing about video games is that there are no differences between the sexes, ages, or races. Men and women are absolutely equal on all levels. It is your choice of starts, your choice of class, how you distribute your stats and how you treat others in the game that is important.

  In most online games, the golden rule is you have no idea who is really on the other side of that computer screen. Women play men, men play women, and players play themselves. There is no prejudice except for what you bring with you into the game world. On the field of battle, you slaughter your enemies, period. There is no consideration of sex, race, religion or age. Over many years of gaming, I’ve had so many online friends from all around the world that it is truly amazing at times when I think about it.

  Please understand, Startum is a guy in his early twenties. He likes women, he finds them beautiful and he enjoys seeing that beauty. There is nothing wrong with finding someone desirable, pretty, or sexy. In my experience, women do this the same as men. Enjoying beauty is not judging the worth of a person or their cap
ability. How you treat those people though is important. In Startum’s case, you have a first row seat to his every private thought. Also, as the game progresses, Star’s thought processes change along with his exploration of The World, especially after experiencing the horrors in books four and five, not to mention the need to prepare for the coming war that he sees looming on the horizon. Also, in many ways, he’s growing up as a person throughout the series.

  Also, for pictures of the concept art for many of the characters, the in real life LAN parties, and the friends that are the concept personalities for many of the characters in the story, you can find that here: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100007596607095

  One final point, if you like the story, please leave a good review on Amazon and Goodreads for the books. Not just mine, but any Indie Author you like, especially if you want to see new stories coming out that are not the cookie-cutter-copies that seem to be so rampant in the genre. The only way you will encourage this to happen is by leaving reviews for the authors you like. It lets everyone know that they’re telling a good story, besides being the only way to protect them from the established authors in the genre that try to block new stories from coming out.

  I have personally experienced this type of harassment and trolling since releasing The World series. Every book, whether audible or eBook has been repeatedly attacked. Not just book one, but every proceeding book in the series. Even now, they continuously check my blog to know when my newest book is going to be released to leave bad reviews. Truly, it’s like battling an in real-life Syndicate guild. Your support has been all that has stopped their bullying from blocking my stories.

  Map of the World

  Chapter One

  (Thursday, May 8th / Day 18 of The World.)

  (Orion Prakoli and friends on the Plains of Atoll)

  Running Pod Diagnostic – Complete

  Synchronizing controller units - Complete

  Neuro Synchronization - Complete

  Initializing virtual environment …

  Opening his eyes, Orion was greeted by the sight of the morning sunrise coming up over the sulfur plateau on the Plains of Atoll. Even though the landscape was barren, it was strangely beautiful with the red rays reflecting off the sulfuric clouds of steam that were hanging over the field of mineral deposits like a thick fog. Sitting up and turning back to the camp, he was unsurprised to see that he was the last one to login.

  “It’s about time you woke up,” Minny called out in a high-pitched voice, from where she made breakfast around the campfire. “I thought you were going to sleep in all morning, lazy head.”

  “Whatever you say, little mouse,” Orion said with a chuckle. Even though he’d just gotten off of his last twelve hour nightshift for the week, he couldn’t find it inside of himself to be angry at the little Gnome woman. “The life of a newfar can be a bit more complex than that.”

  “Can’t be too complex if you still haven’t got out of your sleeping hides,” Minny shot back without hesitation, as she handed him the meat roll she’d been preparing. Walking away, she began cleaning up the dirty frypan as she called out over her shoulder. “Anyway, I figure you must be a prince in your other life.”

  “Why’s that, little mouse?” Orion asked, ignoring the snorts of laughter from the other Marines in the raid listening in on their conversation. As a retired Marine and a helicopter mechanic, he came from a life that was about as far away from being a prince as you could possibly get.

  “Because only a prince would expect to be served breakfast in bed on an expedition,” Minny said with a piercing laugh, as she doubled over slapping her knee. “Now eat up and get moving, big man. We’ve got mining work to do.”

  Rolling his eyes, Orion tucked into the meal as everyone in the raid prepared to move out. The food was a hard travel-bread softened with grease from cooking up the sausages. The bread roll had then been stuffed with the hard, travel cheese, which had been softened up by the heat, grilled onions, and a hunk of bratwurst-style sausage that wouldn’t have been out of place at any Oktoberfest celebration. Not that the House of Kayden NPCs were German, but the food fit the rustic culture of the mountainous Half-Elves.

  As soon as Orion bit into the bread roll, hot grease ran down his chin as an explosion of flavor filled his mouth. The food in-game was always such a surprise. It tasted surprisingly good for such basic fare. After cooking healthy for so long, having the natural fatty meal was a unique treat and one that wouldn’t harden up his arteries. The funny part was that his Advance start avatar didn’t need to eat, but nonetheless, everyone he knew enjoyed spending time in the local pub eating and drinking at least one meal by the end of the day.

  Finishing up breakfast quickly, Orion took a swig of weak beer from the water skin hanging at his belt, before cleaning up his hands by scooping up a handful of frozen snow. The World had little features like using a lot of beer, mead, and mulled wine for most drinks. While that might seem odd to many of the players’ modern sensibilities, he had no doubt that the game had pulled this from Earth’s medieval past where water wasn’t safe to drink. He was just packing up his gear and standing up to head out, when Blu3buck who was silently standing nearby exclaimed in surprise.

  “Gah, where the hell am I?” Blu3buck asked, as he wildly looked around at the odd landscape.

  “Hey, Buck,” Orion said, as he clapped the Priest-Ranger on the shoulders. “It’s nice to see that your old lady let you login for a change.”

  “Oh, hey, Orion,” Blu3buck said, noticeably relaxing as soon as he saw his buddy’s face. “The wifey is out of town on a business trip, so I’m a free man to play until my heart’s content until Monday. Ummm …,” he paused to take in the sulfuric geysers, “where the hell are we?”

  “Mining run for mana accumulation crystals and ore a day out from BrokenFang Hold,” Orion replied, without missing a beat. “Figured we might as well keep you on follow in case you logged in.”

  “Thanks, man,” Blu3buck said, thankful that his buddies were looking out for him. “If not for you, I’d still be level 10.”

  “It’s cool, man. That’s why I told you to jump on and put your character on follow with me yesterday,” Orion said, as a wry grin came to his lips. “Though, it’s not much different than having you playing with us. I mean, you just stood around and did nothing unless someone attacked you first.”

  “What the fuck ever, Orion!” Blu3buck said, shoving him away hard as they grappled with each other laughing. “It’s not like there is much control with this Hot Log Out feature.” The wrestling started to turn half-serious, when a woman’s voice called out behind them.

  “Are you boys coming or are you going to play grab-ass all morning?”

  “We’re coming,” Orion apologetically said, as he gave Blu3buck a last hard shove to push him away.

  “Hey, Ashley,” Blu3buck said, hurriedly standing up straight as if nothing had happened. He continued, nonchalantly giving the armored woman a flirtatious smile. “It’s always nice to see you.”

  “Whatever,” Ashley muttered in a decidedly unhappy tone, as she headed over to the raid that was forming up. “Just get your ass moving.”

  “Dude, what the fuck, did you eat paint chips or glue as a kid?” Orion hissed at his friend under his breath. “Killtet is standing right over there!“

  “What’s the big deal?” Blu3buck asked under his breath. “I’m just being friendly.”

  “Seriously?” Orion asked, giving his friend a shove towards the raid. “By now, do you really think there’s anyone in the support group that doesn’t know you have a thing for Ashley?”

  “It’s not like that,” Blu3buck began to stutter an excuse, as Orion ignored him and walked over to Minny.

  “You ready to head out short-stuff?” Orion asked the Gnome woman, as he came to a stop by her side and squatted down. “Thanks for breakfast, the meal was excellent as always.” Orion lowered his voice. “But, you do know that you don’t have to cook for us all,
right?”

  “Don’t worry your pretty little head off about it,” Minny shot back, as she shouldered the large rucksack onto her back. Orion still had a hard time adjusting to the fact that the little Gnomes weren’t any weaker than anyone else inside the game, regardless of their diminutive sizes. “I heard you had a pretty hard time of it in the newfar realm, so I made you a little something to eat. It’s no big deal. Besides, I know how it is to go hungry.”

  “Well, thanks anyway,” Orion said, giving the Gnome a friendly pat on the shoulder as a blush came to his cheeks. Even though Minny shrugged off his thanks as if it were nothing, Orion had a feeling the little Gnome was being especially nice to him at times. While it made him feel somewhat odd on one level, at the same time, he had to admit that he found her attention somewhat endearing after the fallout he was constantly dealing with in real life from his divorce. The only thing worse than going through an ugly divorce was not having your best friend around to lean on, because he couldn’t help sticking his dick into your old lady.

  “Hmmm, where is my pickaxe,” Minny muttered out loud to herself, as she looked around somewhat confused.

  “I think I know where it is,” Orion darkly said under his breath, as he shook the ugly thoughts away and focused back on the here and now. Looking over at Killtet who was standing next to his wife Ashley in the raid, his voice turned suddenly serious. “Follow me,” he said to both Blu3buck and Minny, as he walked over to the group.

  “Okay, Killtet,” Orion said, lowering his voice so only the newfar around them could hear what he was saying. “Hand over Minny’s pickaxe.”

  “Dude, I’m a rogue,” Killtet protested, as he held his palms up. “What would I even do with a pickaxe?” Before Orion could push the issue further, Ashley smacked her husband’s arm hard.

  “Cough it up,” she said, in a tone that was equally half annoyance and growl. “All of it!”

  “How many times do I have to say it?” Killtet continued to protest. “I didn’t take-“