by David Petrie
"Really?" Max asked as a solid black lagopin plodded its way over to him. "What made you choose something so fluffy?"
Ginger continued to pet the animal but craned her head back to listen.
"It was one of our designer’s ideas actually." Alastair shoved his hands into his coat pockets casually. "I wanna say his name was Craig." He looked off into the distance as if he wasn’t sure, but he went with it anyway. "Back before all this existed, we spent months coming up with the designs for all creatures to populate the world. We delegated the horses to him, but he took it in a different direction."
"And he just thought he'd create something cute?" Max assumed.
Corvin jumped in. "No, the lagopin isn't something new," he corrected. "I think they're based off a skvader, which was a hoax from the early 20th century. It was built by a taxidermist in Sweden using multiple animals. It's in a museum somewhere."
"Huh. I didn't know that," Alastair ran his hand up the back of his neck and into his hair, "but when we logged into the Sphere to see the horse presentation." He paused. "Sorry, the Sphere was the testing platform we used back then." He glanced around at the others before continuing, “Anyway, we expected to ride a bunch of majestic steeds. Instead we got these goofy looking things." He smiled. "We were pissed at first, but with some convincing, we gave them a chance. After riding them, we were sold. The way they move is so unique. A plain old horse wasn't the same afterward."
"Plus, they're adorable." Ginger nuzzled her head into her new friend's furry cheek. She looked so happy that one might mistake her for a child who had just been given a pony for her birthday.
Max smiled at the sight.
The group paid an NPC and saddled up, Max choosing the black one that had approached him moments before, its color representing the creature’s overall speed capabilities.
Farn followed his lead, selecting a similar one.
Max nodded with approval.
Kira though, despite being used to performing high-speed aerial maneuvers, had always been uncomfortable with riding another creature while traveling that fast. It didn’t surprise Max when she picked a gentle looking runt, colored a dusty brown. The animal’s face looked a little dumb. She climbed into the small saddle between its wings and hunched down low, holding on tightly to its harness. She probably planned to cling to the animal's back and hope for it to be over soon like usual.
Before heading out, Alastair stopped the team to feed each of their mounts a carrot that glowed a purplish green color to further increase their speed.
Max appreciated it.
Kira did not.
Then with an obligatory, "Ye-Haw!" they bounded off in the direction of the area located on their map. Max looked back at Alastair who watched enviously as they vanished into the tree line. He felt a little bad for the man, but the feeling passed. It was hard to frown while riding a giant, winged black rabbit through a forest.
Max gripped the harness with both hands, steering his mount by shifting the weight of his body. He leaned forward toward the creature's ears and clicked his tongue twice in quick succession to signal his lagopin to increase speed. In the real world, rabbits only really have two settings. One being a slow and casual hop, and the other being frantic dash like a bat out of hell. It was a detail that their online counterparts shared. Which was why Max grinned like a madman as he demonstrated the reason that all lawn mowers have a hare icon next to their fastest setting.
“Oh, come on!” Kira shouted as he left her in the dust. She’d always kept her mount preferences set to auto-follow her party leader. It was a feature that allowed the fairy to cling to the animal with her eyes shut and her face buried in the fur of its neck without having to worry about steering. Unfortunately for her, this also meant that Max could make her ride as gentle or as rough as he chose, since her little runt would follow his path. His grin grew wider.
Farn, choosing not to use the auto-follow function, bounded close behind.
Max glanced back as she gave her mount the same double click of her tongue, pushing the animal to its top speed. The race was on.
Trees whipped by as Max slipped between them, his mount bobbing and weaving on its own, using its small wings to help stabilize tight maneuvers. Every now and then, he felt bark graze his feet and legs as he cut his turns close.
The tiny hairs on the back of his neck stood up as the Shield closed on him, Farn's midnight black mount gaining ground every second. He couldn't help but love the challenge as the darkness and lack of a developed path through the unused forest served to make things more interesting.
Ahead, the approaching ground gave way to a sharp decline. He didn't slow. Instead, he readied himself for the fall, whispering a pointless apology to Kira who he knew would be following in his path.
The animal's powerful hind legs pushed off, and for a moment, they were almost flying. Its stubby wings stretched as wide as they could, extending their leap and slowing the fall. Standing high in the stirrups while the air flowed past him, Max kept his legs loose to absorb the coming impact. He landed well, and his lagopin let out an excited squeal almost as if it, too, was enjoying itself.
Despite knowing that looking back would shave a few seconds off his lead, he couldn't resist. He had to see Farn take the jump, but when he looked, she wasn't there. Questions raced through his head. Did she give up? Did she see the drop coming and get scared? Did she lose interest? Then the sound of breaking twigs and the crushing of fallen leaves caused him to flip his head forward.
A black shape landed, kicking up dirt and stumbling before recovering, Farn on its back. She looked back at him with a wide smile.
Max’s jaw dropped. She had leapt clear over him. The race was over, and in a way, he was glad he lost.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Max slowed his mount as they approached the search area on the map, eventually coming to a stop to allow the others who had trailed behind to catch up. A blanket of dense fog lowered their visibility to almost zero, making it even more important that he wait there. He and Farn meandered about, keeping an eye out for anything that looked out of place until the others arrived on the scene.
"You both suck," Kegan commented as he appeared through the fog.
Ginger agreed, straightening her hair which had gained a somewhat wind-blown appearance like she had been riding in a convertible.
"We got places to be. Can't spend all night waiting for all you slow people." Max shoved aside his cocky attitude as soon as Kira's mount came into view, sans its small passenger. "Crap. Did we lose her?"
The lagopin stopped short as the fairy raised her body which had been glued so tightly against its back that the two had almost become one. "No, you didn't," she said with as much annoyance as her voice could muster. "Not for lack of trying, though."
Farn lowered her head. "Sorry. We got carried away."
"That's okay." All traces of anger left her voice, though her continued glare at Max told him that he was not yet forgiven.
Max ignored the dissatisfied fairy and steered his mount to face the group. "Okay, we've got a pretty big area to search here. I say we spread out in a line and ride in a circle to cover the most ground." He waved one finger in the air, indicating a circle.
They followed his orders and moved into position, making sure to stay within earshot. The last thing they needed was one of them getting lost. The moon was doing what it could to light their way, but with the tree cover and the fog, their visibility had been cut drastically.
It wasn’t long before the group found a large pond sitting in the middle of the search area, its edges surrounded by swamplands. The mounts hopped along, their progress slowing as the ground became soft and wet. Ginger frowned as her lagopin's fur became caked with mud and it stumbled in the muck. She reached forward to stroked it with her hand and whispered apologies in its ear, despite it not being real to begin with. Max lost sight of her after that.
He slogged through the seemingly endless swampland, hoping that eac
h step would bring a dungeon entrance into view. None did. His mount struggled as its legs also sank deep into the wet ground, its belly dragging in the mud. He usually had little trouble separating the game world from reality, but now, a pang of guilt bit at his chest because of the ordeal that the fictional animals were forced to endure. He was also grateful, since without them, it would have taken several times longer to reach the area and even longer to search it on foot.
He scanned his surroundings, catching a glimpse of something moving in the murky water but failing to get a decent look through the fog. It rattled his nerves despite the knowledge that he was safe on his mount, since the monsters of Noctem ignored anyone riding atop one. They had always been the simplest way to make it through high-level areas without getting killed.
He scanned his surroundings but saw nothing that stuck out. He worried they might have passed the entrance without noticing. If the search took much longer, they would have to log out in shifts and try again later after resting. He shuddered at the thought of it. The idea of leaving two of his teammates in the swamp to wait for the others didn't sit well with him. He decided that if it came to that, he would take the first shift inside. After all, he was the one that got the party into this insanity in the first place.
His train of thought was broken by the sound of a low hissing, like air escaping from a leaky tire. Searching for the source, he turned his attention to a dead looking tree near the water's edge where a black snake the size of a boa constrictor was slithering up its trunk at a leisurely pace. He gave thanks again to his furry protector beneath him for keeping him safe.
The serpent turned toward him, lifting its head away from the tree a few inches and giving Max a better look at the creature. He steered closer, curious but not too concerned. The shape was indeed that of a snake, but from what he could tell, it had no mouth or eyes, just two nostrils from which the hiss emanated. It separated more of its body from the tree, moving toward him but making no motion to attack. He had never seen a creature like it before and wondered if it had been added by Carver for the quest.
He shifted in his saddle. "Why would he make a snake with no mouth?" Then panic alarms went off in his head as the answer hit him like a bolt of lightning. It wasn't a snake. It was a tail.
The hissing form whipped away as the concealed threat struck from below. Jaws came at him through swirling fog, a wide mouth filled with needle-like teeth, the bottom row splitting apart in the middle in an unnatural manner. An ear-splitting screech came from the creature as it rushed him. No, not him. His mount. To his horror, it clamped down on the front leg of the rabbit and yanked. They toppled over, Max landing in the mud. His arms sank into the elbow. The lagopin screamed, a sound never before heard in the world. It was like a squeal, combined with a howl, and merged with a child's cry. It cut through him, connecting with something instinctive deep inside, something primal that remained from the days of Neanderthals. Terror gripped him like a chain around his chest, cold links digging in as they took his breath away. He froze as the helpless animal squirmed in the monster's grip. There was no blood, but its flesh glowed red and the cracking of bones popped from the limb in the monster's mouth as the screaming continued without end.
The lagopin turned to Max for an instant, its eyes meeting his. In them, he saw fear. Real, honest to god fear, and in that fear, he saw himself. He hated it, struggled against it, forcing it down inside and locking it away so he could find the courage to climb up out of the mud. Lunging onto the animal's side, he grabbed the harness with one hand while drawing a pistol with the other. He fired several shots into the eyeless head of the creature.
It let go, sinking back into the swamp only to be replaced by another. It's webbed, frog-like hands stretched around his mount's back and abdomen, yanking the harness from Max's hand. Another came at them, grabbing the back end of the helpless animal and pulling it away.
He tried to hold onto the fur of its neck, but his fingers slipped through its muddy hair. For just a moment, he held the animal's face in his arms, its screams muffled by his chest as he hunched over it. His own head pressed between its large ears. "I'm sorry," Max choked without really intending to as the two creatures yanked at once. He lost his grip, and the lagopin was torn away, swallowed by the fog with only its screams and the sound of splashing reaching back toward him. Screams that brought tears to his eyes. Then there was silence.
It didn't last.
The monsters came for Max next. He scrambled backward like a crab, drawing his other pistol, the deep muck preventing him from regaining his footing and matting his hair against his face. He fired at the toad creatures from the ground, their insatiable mouths snapping at his feet. The only thing holding them back was his dwindling ammunition. Without an opening to reload, once he was out, it would be over. Then the slides locked back empty.
In desperation, he used a class skill by placing both pistols against his forehead and breathing the words, Life Shot. He snapped the slides back into place and continued to fire as the skill created rounds from his hit points, keeping him alive by draining his health with every bullet.
Less than a minute had passed since he first noticed the tail, but already, he was at his limit. There were too many for one person to take on. His health fell into the red, but he fired regardless as they closed in on him. Then, from behind, came the slopping sound of a lagopin running at full speed in the swamp. Through the air flew Farn, having leaped from the back of her mount. To Max, she seemed to appear from the fog itself as she landed sword first on top of one of the creatures. The rest of the team converged on his location almost at once.
Still on the ground, he yelled to the others. "They target the mounts!"
Horror washed over Ginger's face and she jumped down without hesitation, slapping the winged rabbit on the rear to give the command to return to the stable. Her furry friend took off at full speed.
The rest of the group did the same, despite the fact that losing the mounts put them at a disadvantage. It wasn't the best strategic move, but Max was relieved knowing that the rest of the animals wouldn't suffer the same fate as his. He never wanted to hear that scream again, and from the look on Ginger's face, neither did she.
Back together, they stood a chance. Kira set up a number of spells to bring Max back to full health as well as a few to boost the rest of the party's stats, her rapid casting drawing the attention of the monsters. She slipped behind Farn who took the hits to her shield and pulled their attention back to her. Ginger threw out a couple of stun mines to slow the creature's advance while they waited for Kira to be able to cast again. Bursts of orange electricity pushed the toads back each time they triggered the items. Jumping into the fray, Corvin targeted the creatures, casting a few spells to weaken them as Kegan helped Max to his feet.
In the first few minutes, it seemed like they could hold their own against the endless supply of enemies, but as time went by, they were forced to fall back several times to put in some distance. It was then that Max noticed they were being pushed in one direction, south. They weren’t escaping; they were being herded. He was sure of it. But toward what? The boss? Was that possible? Was there no dungeon? Just this evil swamp? It would make sense with Alastair's theory that Carver had no intention of letting them win, but something told him that wasn't right. When they saw the video at the start of the mission, Carver was a dick, but he hadn't seemed like he wanted them to fail. It was possible that the creatures pushing them southward might be his way of making sure that they found the dungeon entrance within the gloom of the fog. Like Carver wanted them rattled but didn't want to stop their progress.
No sooner than Max had the thought, his hopes were dashed as they hit a dead end. Their path blocked by a single, massive tree, his back pressed up against its rotting trunk. The smell of damp mold filled the air as the enemies seemed to double in number around them.
No longer herding, the monsters surrounded them. Shapes moved in the fog all around, impossible to count. The
re could have been twenty or a thousand. A chorus of screeching cries scraped against Max's mind like rusty nails on a chalkboard. There was no way out.
The creatures didn't attack all at once. It was more like they just wanted to keep them from running away. Then Max remembered Famine, the first Nightmare of the night. It had been a bell, and it had caught them off guard because it didn't look like the monster they expected it to. So what if the boss here didn't look like one either? At that, his eyes went wide with terror. There he was, pushed up against a giant twisting tree, almost the size of the bell. He was afraid to turn around but didn't hesitate. He looked up at its dead branches, a skeleton of something that once lived. He placed his hand against the black bark of its trunk. It was warm and wet, and almost seemed to be breathing. It had to be his imagination. At least he hoped it was.
He waited a moment. If it was a boss, it hadn't moved yet. Then Max aimed one gun at the decaying surface of the trunk, getting a few confused looks from his teammates who were still focused on the monsters. He fired, blowing a hole in the bark the size of his fist. Nothing happened. Then a sickly draft flowed from the hole. It was hollow! Relief washed over him as he realized what it was. It wasn't a boss at all; it was a dungeon entrance.
He called to Farn who didn't ask questions. She just started chopping. Moments later, the tree splintered as her blade hacked into it, sending bits of soft wood and rotting bark everywhere. Max leaned in through the hole, aiming his guns downward just in case. The inside of the tree dropped off into the ground. It was definitely an entrance.
Corvin pulled a small bottle from his pouch, shook it, and tossed it in as it lit up like a magical glow stick.
Max watched it fall as it slid off to one side, disappearing into the dark. "Only one way to know for sure," he said, climbing through the hole. He looked back to Kira who attempted to cast Flight only to find that the area didn't allow it. Apparently, she was the only one that could fly, her wings being the one method that wasn't blocked.
