by Edward Brody
I swallowed hard, and after a few seconds of silence, I asked, “Where’s Adeelee?”
“You’ll come with us,” the man in the center of their group said, in a surprisingly human tone. Perhaps it was the ominous vibes they gave off or their powerful magic, but I had expected a deep, monstrous voice.
“Go where?” I asked.
“You’ll come with us,” the man repeated.
I huffed and straightened my shoulders. “Alright, well, just lead the way.”
“No. You cannot see where we’re taking you.”
I creased my brow and tilted my head to the side a bit. “Why? What do you mean by that?”
The man to the left of center whipped out the same pipe he had used to leave a note at their crime scene, and I instinctively ducked when he stuck the end up to his mouth.
A small darted sped out of the pipe and was impossible to dodge. It struck me in the shoulder, and I immediately felt tired and disoriented as the darts poison went to work.
I kneeled and weakly grabbed on to the dart, fighting to keep my eyes open and avoid an untimely death.
“Sleep,” the man in the middle said as he walked forward and hovered over me.
My eyelids felt impossibly heavy, and my vision was blurry as I looked up, trying to see who was under the hood. But before I could make out anything, I fell onto my side, and everything went dark.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
2/11/0001
You have completed the quest: Anonymous Demands!
You have gained 5000 XP!
My mouth was dry when I finally awoke, and I found myself slumped on the ground with my head against a wooden wall.
Everything around me was a light brown, unfinished wood—the floor, the walls, the ceilings—and there was a dim lamp positioned on top of a large, wooden desk in front of me.
The sound of wood boards creaking and bending against each other rang out every few seconds.
The three robed men were standing off to the side, still looking down on me, and behind the desk was a large, wooden chair turned all the way around.
“He’s awake,” one of the robed men said.
“Good,” a voice from the chair said. It was deep, malicious, and almost the monstrous sound that I had expected from the robed men earlier. “Help him to his feet.”
“I need water,” I said as I struggled to stand, rubbing my sandy tongue against the roof of my mouth. Everything, including my eyes felt dry.
One of the men rushed over to me, grabbed me by the shoulder, and yanked me up to my feet, hard. I jerked a little with what little energy I had, and almost fell over when he loosened his grip.
“Do you have water?” I asked again. I looked down, shaking my head, trying to clear the cobwebs of deep sleep. I wasn’t even sure how long I had been out.
The chair behind the desk swiveled around, and I almost tripped over again as I instinctively took a step back from what I saw.
Sitting in the chair was another black-robed man, but this one didn’t have a hood covering his face. Instead his entire head was covered by what I could only assume was a large, white cow skull with long, slightly curved horns rising up and outward from the top. I could see humanoid pupils from deep within the skull’s eye sockets, but beyond the bone and teeth, I couldn’t make out any features of whoever or whatever was underneath.
He looked absolutely terrifying.
The man slowly reached for a golden goblet on his desk and started pouring liquid from a matching golden flask.
I blinked several times, trying to get my eyes to come back into focus, and couldn’t stop staring at his head.
“Here,” the cow-skulled man said, holding up the goblet to one of the other robed men. “Give him this.”
One of the robed men grabbed the goblet and walked it over to me. I took it out of his hands, and immediately started drinking, anxious to get some liquids into my system.
My tongue and throat were attacked by an unexpectedly pungent taste, and I immediately spit out half of what I had poured in my mouth.
I cringed as I held the goblet out in front of me. “What is this? It’s not water.”
“Thistleberry wine,” the man behind the desk said. “Don’t worry. It’s strong, but it’s safe.”
Though the wine didn’t taste terribly bad, it was the surprise that had gotten me. Now that I knew what I was dealing with, I was able to prepare myself before putting the goblet back up to my lips and sipping it slowly.
I would’ve preferred water, but at least it was some kind of liquid.
After I took a few deep sips, I pulled the goblet away from my face and looked up to them. “Who are you? Where is Adeelee?”
“The Princess is fine, Gunnar,” the masked man said. “You need not worry.”
I lifted the goblet up to my lips and poured the rest of the contents down my throat. All my senses were starting to clear, and I needed to figure out what was going on.
I looked up to one of the robed men, and when it seemed I had his attention, I tossed the empty goblet at him. He caught it with one hand, and one of the other robed men took a step forward as if he were threatened by the move.
“What do you want from me?” I asked. “And how do you know my name?”
“We know everything about you, Gunnar,” the man said. “That’s why we want you here.”
“What do you mean, ‘you know everything about me’?”
The man wearing the cow skull lifted one of his hands up, and I could see human-looking hands—thick, worn hands, with untrimmed fingernails. He rubbed the nail of his index finger across his desk as he spoke.
“We know your name, and we know you’re a Reborn.”
“What?” Why would Adeelee give them that information? Or perhaps been witness to the events in the Arena? “How do you know that?”
“We know everything about you,” the man repeated cockily.
Chills creeped over my skin, and I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. “Okay. Well, then who are you? Are you the Magi?”
The man laughed with a deep guttural tone. “What do you think?”
I looked to the motionless men standing off to the side in the shadows of their hoods. There were several kegs or barrels stacked in the corner near them with skull and crossbones etched into their sides, but there was nothing else of note in the room. Behind the man at the desk was a circular window, but I couldn’t see what was beyond it.
There was a loud thump, a splashing noise, and I felt a little off-balance. It seemed as if I were in a ship of some sort.
Wherever I was, there was no clue who the men in the robes were, so I could only assume they were, indeed, the Magi. “I would assume so.” I swallowed and tried to be firm. “Whoever you are doesn’t matter. I just want Adeelee back.”
“I’m sure you do,” the man said.
“Do you want war with the High Elves?” I asked.
The man behind the mask laughed again and leaned back in the chair. “I wonder if they think they’d find us. Or perhaps they’d blindly march against the Ivory Tower to find the Princess. Either way, they would be fools.”
The man seemed to have little regard for the elves at all.
I took a deep breath. “Okay, well what do you want from me them? Tell me the ransom, and I’ll do my best to make sure the elves give you what you want.”
“Ransom?” The man laughed again. “I suppose you might call this a ransom, but what I want is not something that the elves could or would be willing to give me. What I want is from you.”
“From me?” I asked. “I don’t have much to offer.”
“Oh, but you do,” the man said. “Like I said, we know all about you.”
I was beginning to grow frustrated with the man’s mysterious way with words. I wanted him to cut to the chase. “Okay, so just tell me in simple terms. What do I need to do to get Adeelee back?”
The man leaned back, pressed his hands together at the fingertips, and swive
led his chair around so that he was looking out the tiny window behind him. He waited a few seconds before speaking again. “It has come to our attention that you single-handedly stole the Fellblade from the Sparrows and returned it to King Ergoth. An impressive feat for someone of your level.”
“How do you know that?” I asked.
The man ignored my question as he continued. “I suppose Reborns are capable of many extraordinary things—even things that would be difficult for the Magi. And that is what I want from you.” The man swiveled his chair back around and tilted his cow skull of a head to the side. “If you’re capable of securing an ancient weapon once, I’m sure you’ll have no problem doing it again. I want you to bring me an ancient weapon in exchange for Adeelee’s life.”
You’ve received a quest offer: Adeelee’s Ransom
The robed men want you to bring them an ancient weapon in exchange for Adeelee’s life.
Reward: 50,000 XP, Adeelee’s Freedom
Do you accept this quest? Accept/Decline
“An ancient weapon?” I asked. “You don’t want gold?”
“Pffft,” the man spat under his mask. “I have plenty of gold. An ancient weapon, however, is worth its weight a thousand times over.”
“So you want me to try to get the Fellblade again?”
The man chuckled. “Whatever you want. Bring me any ancient weapon, and I’ll return the Princess. But I think you’ll find the Fellblade a near impossible grab now that it’s been stolen once. The orcs will have it guarded by the highest of security now.”
Steal the Fellblade again, or find another ancient weapon? I wasn’t sure if either were possible, but they weren’t giving me any alternatives. I had used an invisibility potion to retrieve the Fellblade, and the only other ancient weapon I had seen was the eye of the All-Seeing. Neither of them were things I could hand over to the Magi, but perhaps I could find another somehow? Maybe?
“I don’t know if I can get a—”
“Then the Princess dies,” the man said harshly. “And remember… We know all about you. If you abandon or ignore this quest, you’ll die as well. Even if you’re a Reborn, we’ll find a way to make you suffer.”
I felt my loins tighten as I looked up to the three robed men standing nearby. I could’ve sworn I saw one of them smiling under his shadowy hood. The man behind the desk didn’t seem to be bluffing.
I took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, trying to calm my nerves. “Adeelee—” I began before promptly being cut off.
“Bring me an ancient weapon!” He slammed his fist on the desk.
“I need to know that she’s actually alive, first,” I said forcefully.
There was a long moment of silence as the man behind the mask stared at me intently, and he finally said, “Fine.” He looked over to one of his men and nodded lightly. “Bring the elf here.”
There was a small single door that one of the robed men scurried through, and after a couple minutes of intense waiting, he returned, dragging Adeelee behind him by the arm. Her hands were shackled behind her back, but she looked otherwise unharmed.
Adeelee’s eyes lit up as soon as she saw me, and she immediately blurted out. “Gunnar! Don’t do anything that these guys tell you to do. They’re—”
The robed man slapped her across the face, hard, silencing her immediately.
“Gag her,” the man behind the desk said.
“Hey!” I yelled. “Don’t hurt her!” I stepped forward in an effort to help her, but another one of the men stepped in front of me and shoved me back.
“No!” Adeelee yelled. “It’s all a—”
The man slapped her hard across the face again, pulled what looked like a bandage out of his bag, and immediately behind wrapping around her mouth. There was nothing I could do but watch.
When Adeelee’s mouth was fully covered, the man yanked her straight, and Adeelee shook her head and mumbled as she stared at me wide-eyed.
“Don’t hurt her,” I ordered again.
The man lifted his finger and touched it against the chin of his skull. “I believe it was actually the Princess who returned the Fellblade to the orcs, was it not? You were the thief, and she took the credit.”
I creased my brow as I listened to him, feeling even more confused. They could’ve found out I was a Reborn from the Arena, and if they had some sort of magic, perhaps they could’ve found out I was the one who stole the Fellblade. But the details he was giving were a little off. Yes, I was the one who lifted the Fellblade from the Dark Hand, but technically, Adeelee, Jax, and I all took part in the theft. And while Adeelee was present when we gave the Fellblade back, I was the one who handed it over. If Adeelee had told them the story, she wouldn’t have mixed things up.
What the hell was going on? Maybe the man knew less than he was letting on or was getting second-hand information. I couldn’t tell.
“Are you hurt?” I asked towards Adeelee.
Adeelee glanced over to the masked man and then back to me before shaking her head slightly.
I breathed a sigh of relief and looked towards the man. “Okay, I’ll do what I can to find you an ancient weapon.”
You have accepted the quest: Adeelee’s Ransom!
Adeelee squirmed erratically and hummed something through her gag. I wasn’t sure what she was warning me about, but there was no use, no matter what it was. It was either ignore the quest and let her die, or do what I had to do.
“Wonderful,” the man said.
“How long do I have to do it?” I asked.
The man shrugged. “The Fellblade was stolen quickly, so I’m sure you’ll have no problem finding another ancient weapon in short order. I’ll give you three days.”
“Three days?” I asked. “I’m not even sure where to begin.”
The man looked to robed man near Adeelee and gave a slight nod. In response, the man kneeled slightly and threw a hard elbow into Adeelee’s gut. The Princess keeled over and coughed violently through her gag.
“No! Don’t hurt her!” I said. “You said you wouldn’t hurt her.”
“Did I?” the man asked.
“If you want me to do this, you won’t hurt her,” I corrected. “Just leave her alone, okay, and I’ll do whatever you need.”
“Good,” the man hissed. “You have three days.”
I swallowed hard. “And how do get back here if I can get what you want?”
“We’ll make it easy for you,” the man behind the mask said. “Return to the same location at the same time in three days, not four.”
As soon as the last word left the man’s lips, one of the robed men again pulled out his pipe and shot a dart in my direction, this time hitting me right below my jawline. My knees instantly went weak, and I felt like I was going to lose my balance.
As my vision blurred and my eyelids went heavy, I heard Adeelee screaming loudly behind her gag.
It was horrifying to hear someone I cared for in so much distress.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
2/11/0001
My eyelids cracked open, and I found myself outside under an evening sky. It seemed I had spent almost the entire day in an induced sleep.
I was lying on the ground with a rope tied to my wrist. The other end was tied around the neck of my horse. I guess the Magi had no regard for my well-being, because the horse could’ve easily killed me if it had decided to run around and dragged me along.
I pulled myself up to my feet and again pressed my tongue against the roof of my mouth, feeling incredibly parched from whatever drug or poison they had put into me. I clumsily untied the robe from my wrist and used all of my strength to pull myself up and on top of the horse. I immediately pushed the horse into a ride back to Edgewood.
Upon arrival to Edgewood, I found the whole guild near the fire. A few of them were sparring, a few were eating, and a few were just having a chat. Jax immediately dropped what he was doing and ran over to the stable as I was dismounting the horse.
“You’ve been go
ne all day!” he said. “I thought you might’ve been killed.”
“If I had died, I’d probably be back a lot sooner,” I said. “Couple hours in the void, and then a walk back to Edgewood.”
He narrowed his eyes as if he didn’t fully comprehend what I was saying. “Did you find Adeelee?”
“Yeah,” I said, as I started tying off the horse. “She’s… okay.” Though she was alive, I wasn’t sure if ‘ok’ was the best way to describe her situation. But I also didn’t want to send Jax into a tailspin. “The Magi have her.”
“So, it is a ransom,” Jax said. “What do they want from the elves?”
“They want nothing from the elves,” I explained. “They want me something from me…”
“From you?” Jax asked. “Why would they want something from you for the Princess?”
I gathered the guild up and explained to them the gist of the situation—that the Magi were somehow aware that I was a Reborn, that I had stolen the Fellblade, and that the Princess was somehow involved. Further, I explained to them that in order to secure the release of the Princess, they wanted me to retrieve and ancient weapon.
“How do they know you’re a Reborn?” Jeremy asked.
“Perhaps some sort of Dark Magic spell?” Keysia suggested.
“That was my thought as well,” I said. “But something felt off about what they were saying.”
“I don’t believe such a spell exists,” said Jax. “But however they found out about everything, it’s all absurd. They can’t just expect you to come up with an ancient weapon in three days.”
“They’re some of the most sought-after items in Eden’s Gate,” Rina said.
“I got the Fellblade,” I said.
