by Deck Davis
The troll lashed out wildly, catching Tony in the chest with one of its mighty fists.
Tony tried to shout, but all that came out was a horrible, twisted groan. His chest looked like it had caved in. Broken ribs for sure.
As it tried to strike him again, Ash fired another Ignis ball. The arcane fir lashed its face. A sickening smell rose in the air as its skin singed.
The troll roared and struck out in a wide arc with its arm. Chad pulled Ellie just out of reach. The troll’s fist crashed into the side of the cliff and tore a hole in the stone.
Jesus Chris, these things are tough.
The troll took a giant step forward, it’s feet making a booming sound when it touched the ground.
Without a second to check his HP, he grew a level 2 Ignis. Just as he cast it, he heard a sickening pop.
The troll gave such a high-pitched scream that it chilled Ash to the core. Blood and goo ran down its face. It’s eye sockets seeped red.
My god, he thought. Its eyes have burst.
Ash gathered himself. Ash cast Durus and then told the others to stay back. The closer he was to the troll, the more his flames would hurt it. It was blinded and weakened, and he needed to finish it off.
The troll was swinging wildly now, hitting thin air with one first, punching the cliffside with the other. Stones as big as Ash’s head tumbled down. He lost all the breath in his lungs when one, big enough to kill him, landed an inch away from him.
Just a few more steps.
He got as near as he dared, and then blasted it. Flames devoured its chest, but the beast wouldn’t go down.
“Doesn’t this thing ever die?” said Chad.
He heard a click behind him and then heard Ellie say, “oh shit,” and sure enough, he saw her put her pistol in her holster.
“I’m empty,” she said.
“Chad, switch to the bow,” said Ash. “We need to conserve bullets.”
It was down to him then. He lashed Ignis after Ignis at the beast.
Keep an eye on your HP, FF warned him.
Gasping for breath, Tony charged his bullets with a stun spell and then shot it in the arm, locking the low-HP troll in place.
When Ash was drained to 380 HP he unleashed one more Ignis level 2, blasting the troll in the chest. The creature took two stumbling steps back.
Fall, damn it!
With the last of his energy spent, Tony stumbled forward and fell face first on the ground. He was a goner. If Ash didn’t do something soon, he was done.
Ash acted quickly, casting Blood Share and using the troll’s life force to heal Tony.
Just as he had finished, the troll cried out in pain and anger, and then stepped back again.
“The stun’s losing effect!” shouted Chad.
It was now or never. He grew a burning ball of purple Ignis in his hand. He charged at the troll. He was so close that if it swiped out, he wouldn’t be able to avoid it.
Just a little closer…
“Okay, you bastard!”
He unleashed his ball of fire and blasted the troll in the chest. The forced rocked it backwards. It lashed out with its arms, catching Ash on the shoulder and knocking him to the floor. Pain seared his upper arm and shoulders. The wind was knocked out of him.
He looked up to see the troll trying to beat its own chest to fan the flames. IT took two steps back…then two more…
…and it toppled backwards over the mountain side to join the wreck of their vehicle.
Ash listened to it roar as it plunged down the mountainside. Its fall seemed to last hours, but he knew that was just a trick of anxiety. Finally there was a loud crash. The mountain was silent after that, save for the faint crumbling of rocks falling from the cliff side.
Is now a good time for…
“Just one second,” he said.
He rushed over to Tony. His heart was hammering. He was too late, he knew it.
He carefully turned the old man over. His chest was a mess, caved it from taking the blow of the troll’s fist. His breaths were shallow and raspy.
Ash cast transfusion on him, pumping with HP until his chest started to look normal again, and his breaths came at a steady pace.
With that done, Ash fell on to his back and closed his eyes.
Ahem. Is it a good time now?
He knew FF wouldn’t be happy until he told Ash his stats, so he agreed.
Great! Said FF.
Level up to level 13!
- HP increased to 820
Blood Concentrate Lvl 1 increased to 70%
Durus Lvl 1 increased to 60%
Blood Share Lvl 1 increased to 15%
“So, we have no food, no ride, and we have miles of troll infested mountains to walk through,” said Chad.
“Cheer up,” answered Ash. “You never know, that might be the last troll we ever see.”
“Doubt that very fucking much,” grunted Tony.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Time For your Reward
Tony stared over the mountainside. His vehicle had disappeared amongst the trees at the bottom of the fall, so he looked in its general direction and put his hand on his heart.
“You were a good truck,” he said. “And a damn fine friend.”
Ellie looked at Chad and put her finger to her temple and made a ‘he’s batshit crazy’ gesture. Ash walked over Tony and squeezed his shoulder.
“Come on, buddy. With the way things are, there’s gonna be thousands of abandoned vehicles in the city. We’ll get you a new one.”
With no truck they had a lot of walking ahead of them, and that meant they were going to need food for the journey. This was why, a few hours after sunrise, Ash found himself stood in the middle of another patch of trees with a crossbow in his hand.
The treetops were fanned out wide above him and smothered out the daylight light. Some of the trees cast violet and crimson glows, a symptom of the spread of Rapto onto the mountain. He had his weapon cocked, bolt ready. Chad and Ellie were over at the pick-up playing cards on the back seat. Tony had come hunting too, but he’d gone over to the west, toward a rock nestled in the center of the forest.
Ash walked further over the bracken, crushing the twigs and leaves under his boots. He held the crossbow in front of him. Chad had given him instructions on how to use it, and after that, a message had appeared in front of him.
Proficiency gained – Crossbow LVL 1
LVL 1 – You know the fundamentals of using a crossbow. With practice, you may even hit something.
As much as he enjoyed learning a new skill, he still wished he could just Ignis the unlucky mountain lion, hare or fox that got in his way. The problem with that was that although they were going to cook the meat before they ate it, he doubted the others wanted their food charred black beyond belief.
Not only that, but he’d decided he better work on a secondary mode of offence for situations where his Ignis wasn’t effective. He was bound to come up against something that couldn’t be barbequed eventually. So, he’d use the crossbow and level up his skill a little. If anything really big came his way, like another goddamn troll, he’d shoot an Ignis up its ass.
He’d walked on a few more minutes, until he heard a sound. He glanced around and couldn’t see any sign of Tony. Ellie and Chad were out of view. He held the crossbow ready. With his basic proficiency, the weight of it felt good in his arms.
As he carried on, he saw a shape.
Ok. Time to be quick, and quiet. The bolt was loaded, all he had to do was fire. Just a few more steps closer…
And then he stopped. There wasn’t a hare or lion or fox in front of him, but a woman. She was on her back on the forest floor with blood seeping from a wound in her shoulder. For a second, Ash was completely taken aback with how beautiful she was, with her long, red hair and supple skin.
He kneeled beside her. “Just one sec,” he said.
He cast transfusion on her, and the wound on the shoulder began to knit itself together as though a surg
eon was closing it with stitches. It gradually became less swollen and red and returned to a more normal pale color.
She looked to be Ash’s age, with green eyes that shone like sapphires.
“You okay now? What happened to you?”
“It’s coming back,” she said.
She sat up.
“It’s coming back!”
She pointed behind Ash. He turned around to see a giant grown bear coming after him. Its course fur was matted with mud and twigs, it’s yellow teeth looked sharp enough to crush Ash’s skull in one bite.
He scrambled to his feet. He had just seconds to react before the beast reached him. Just as it swiped with its paws he cast Durus and absorbed the blow with his blood armor. The bear reared back, then stretched out tall on two feet to show Ash how big it was.
“Yeah, you’re pretty big, but you’ll still burn all the same.”
He grew a level two Ignis flame, letting the purple arcane fire ball crackle and spit until it was big enough. As the bear bounded back at him, Ash unleashed his spell, catching the bear on its face with its flames.
The beast roared, and Ash wondered if it would attack again despite the flames coating its fur. It took one stumbling step, then another, and then crashed face first to the forest floor. Ash life drained it, topping his HP back up to 695.
Level 13 EXP inc to 98%
Durus Lvl 1 inc to 70%
Adrenaline sloshed around his veins for a few minutes while he gathered his breath. Then, as the adrenaline started to drain away, a wave of tiredness shot through him. He sat down on the forest floor. He just needed a minute or two, and then he’d be back on it.
As soon as he sat down, he felt two hands touch his shoulders. He lifted the crossbow and spun around, only to see the redhead behind him.
Not only that, but she was naked.
“It is time for your reward,” she said.
He didn’t quite believe what he was seeing, and something told him this was wrong. He knew he should get back to the others, but as the redhead stared at him, her felt drawn in by her green eyes. All sensible thoughts left his brain as if she’d cast them out, and she was reeling him. It was as if she cast a spell on him, and every last dredge of common sense was sucked away.
He stood up. Before he knew it, she embraced him, and he let her. They walked a little further into the forest. Part of him knew this was stupid, but an even stronger urge told him that he had to accept his reward, that he had no choice.
3 minutes later…
Ash was on his back. Man, he’d needed that. He hadn’t realized it until now, but he’d needed it.
“I didn’t get your name,” he said, catching his breath.
Silence.
He opened his eyes. He turned to look at the woman.
She was gone. In her place was a four-foot tall, green and vaguely humanoid monster, with three large, oval eyes and. It had a long tail that trailed along the ground, with something resembling a scorpion’s sting at the tip.
“What the hell!” he shouted. He zipped up his fly, grabbed his crossbow and pointed it at whatever this thing was.
The monster held up its hands. Ash saw that it had ears on its palms.
“Do not be alarmed,” it said.
“Alarmed? I pretty far beyond fucking alarmed right now.”
“I am a changeling,” said the monster, “And the flame-haired human woman is one of my forms.”
Ash felt sick. “So I just…with you? I just banged a changeling?”
“My name is Verto and I classify as female. Since arriving on earth planet I have looked for a mate.”
You’ve really done it now, said FF.
Ash felt like unleashing a bolt in this thing’s forehead. He took a deep breath and forced himself to stay calm.
No. That wasn’t working. He needed to remove himself from this situation before he completely lost his head.
He turned and went to leave, but he heard footsteps follow him.
“What the hell do you want, Verto?”
“I have looked for a mate,” said Verto, “And I am pleased to announce that fertilization is complete.”
Status Gained: Changeling Father
By fathering an offspring to the unbelievable fertile changeling, you are bonded to the creature.
“FF, tell me this isn’t happening. Please.”
Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time.
“A status just told me I’m bonded to this thing. Tell me it doesn’t mean that literally.”
I’m afraid so. Neither you nor the changeling will be able to stray a certain distance from each other until the changeling baby is born. It’s a defence system they have to stop changeling fathers just leaving after mating.
“Verto wishes to see your dwelling,” said the changeling.
Ash rubbed his face. Jesus god-damn Christ. He’d never wanted kids. Not even the human kind, and he’d always been careful. Then, all it took was one little mistake, and bam! He was the father of a changeling. They should have covered this in sex-ed at school. Then a thought struck him; what was he going to tell the others?
As he contemplated that, he heard footsteps crunching over the forest floor, and soon, Tony loomed into view.
“Ash, I found another blue orb!” he shouted. Then he stopped, saw Verto, and raised his rifle. “What the hell is that?”
“It’s okay,” sighed Ash. “She’s with me.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The Oathbreaker
After Tony and Ash joined the others, they all stood in a circle. In this little gathering were two points of interest; one being the blue orb that Tony had found beside a hollow felled log, and the other was Verto, Ash’s new changeling bride.
Ash felt that Verto warranted the most pressing explanation, so he’d told Ellie and Chad what happened, making sure to leave in the parts that emphasized what an ass he was. There was no point trying to hide it; they’d spent enough time with him already.
Ellie shook her head. “You know, I fell pregnant with Jake when I was fifteen, and my dad called me a whore and an idiot. But you, my friend, have hit a whole new level. At least my lay was Brad Thommo from the soccer team. You got yourself a mutant inter-dimensional girlfriend.”
Verto shook her head. “No. Not girlfriend. No emotion, only help Verto until baby is born.”
“There’s nothing I can do about this, FF?” asked Ash.
Not until your little changeling offspring enters the world, no. But does this man I’m an uncle? Or joint father? I can’t figure out how this works.
“What if I just kill her?”
Ellie gasped, and Verto eyed Ash with suspicion.
You wouldn’t do that.
Ash sighed. “No. I wouldn’t. What if I force her to leave?”
The bond you have won’t allow it. Get beyond a certain distance from each other, and your HP will begin falling. Sure, you’ll respawn, but then you’ll be even further away, and your HP will drain again. It’ll just happen over and over, keeping you in an endless respawn loop.
“Damn it. Looks like Verto stays with us until I figure this out. Sorry, guys.”
Tony hefted the weight of his rucksack on his back. The tip of his rifle poked over the top. He put his foot on the blue orb in front of him as if it were a soccer ball.
“So…we need to decide who gets this,” he said. “Ash and I touched a blue orb and got our classes, and it looks like it’s time for one of you two to join us.”
“What’s it like?” said Ellie. “Do you feel different?”
“Fitter. Stronger. And I could never charge my bullets with fucking fairy magic before.”
“Ash?” said Ellie.
“I killed a bear, Ellie. By myself. I’m pretty sure I couldn’t have done earlier.”
Ellie looked at Chad. “What do you think?”
“You take it,” he said.
“Listen,” said Tony. “If I can just toss a penny in our worryingly low thought ja
r, I have an inkling that Chad might be the guy we need. The orbs give classes based on something inside you. I’ve always been preparing for disaster scenarios, so I became a Survivalist, meaning I’m better in-tuned to stuff, I can cast shields for damage protection, and I can charge my bullets with stun effects and the like.”
