Into the Light (Axe Druid Book 1)

by Christopher Johns

  “Going high, baby, watch your heads!” I called to the group. “Please don’t shoot me!!”

  I swapped my great axe for my dagger, leapt into the air above the creature, and tried to bring it down. It came with me for a second, but I phased through it before I could get anything other than a jab into it. At less than ten percent, horrid chanting filled the air as its lips moved, and it raised its hands. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end, and everybody went into overdrive.

  Jaken reached out, touching the thing’s chest and shouted something. A flash of radiant light and the creature’s health bar went from where it had been to nothing. A notification filled my vision telling us that we had received five hundred EXP. That one fight had put those of us at level 11 a nice portion toward our next level. When we checked the loot, we saw that the Lich had dropped a scroll and a ring.

  “Ding!” Yohsuke shouted.

  “What? How the hell?!” I shouted.

  “I had gotten to ten the other morning. When we killed the Bone Dragon and completed the quest, I got most of the way to the next level, about three hundred short. That put me to the next level right there.”

  When we check the ring, it seemed odd.

  Ring of the Lich

  Raises the level cap of the summoned Undead of the wearer and allows it to reside on this plane for a longer period of time.

  Made through cruelty and malice of the previous owner.

  The ring was a black gold and held a blood red ruby in the face with runes inscribed on it.

  Once we saw what the scroll did, we realized why the ring popped.

  Summon Undead Familiar (spell)

  Teaches the caster to summon the Undead to do their bidding.

  Summoned creature has base stats that reflect the intelligence of the caster.

  One time use to learn the spell forever.

  “Who wants it?” Balmur asked. “I’m out because I don’t have the intelligence nor the need for it. Having a pet would be cool as a distraction, but it would make sneaking hell.”

  “I’m good.” Bokaj patted Tmont affectionately, and Jaken shook his head.

  “I’ll get one of my own eventually, so that leaves you, Yohsuke,” I said. “You want it?”

  “Do I want a minion?” he asked sarcastically, and we all laughed. “Stand back, fools.”

  He took the scroll and opened it. A fiery, aura-like glow migrated from the scroll to his hands, then up his arms to his head. Yohsuke’s eyes slammed shut, and his head rocked back. The light faded, and the scroll fell away to ashes. He opened his eyes and held his hand out for the ring. Balmur tossed it to him, and he put it on.

  He spread his hands and shouted, “Burst forth from Hell and do my bidding, worthless dead.”

  His ring glowed a sickly red, and the ground in the center of us burst apart as a skeletal hand then head and shoulders dragged itself from the ground. It stood taller than him by a good foot. Bleached white bones and a skull with a constant smile. The summoned creature’s name was Bonzer, and he was level 7.

  “Woah!” Jaken said. “Is that the chant you have to use to summon it every time?”

  “Nah,” Yohsuke said with a chuckle. “I just like to add a little flair to my spells, man.”

  We all gathered around the Skeleton and looked it over.

  “I can give him equipment and play with his stats a little, too,” Yohsuke said as he pulled up a screen in front of him—I assumed to distribute the Skeleton’s stat points.

  We canvassed the room, and just like we thought, the weapons were collectible loot. Jaken took the great sword while Bokaj nabbed the daggers. It appeared that the armor itself was purely decorative, much to Jaken’s disappointment. We searched the room but found nothing else of note.

  We left the room and went to the final area to look at—the courtyard. We would have sent Balmur to scout, but after the surprises we had gotten today, it didn’t seem worth it. The afternoon sun shown in the sky and lit the courtyard well. We walked in, and all was peaceful. The ground was littered with more bones; seemingly, this would have been the location that the Lich would have summoned more of his minions if we had come here first. That could’ve been terrible. We didn’t find anything here either, so we decided to go loot the Dragon’s body in the kitchen.

  The place was demolished. The skeletal corpse laid overtop the broken brick and mortar unmoving, and the kitchen equipment was crushed wholly. When we looted the corpse, we got a good amount of money—five hundred gold. The item the Dragon dropped was also pretty cool.

  Dragon Bone Bow

  +5 to attack

  Can fire Dragon Fire arrow 3 + dexterity divided by 5.

  This bow, formed by the bone and sinew of a corrupted Dragon, should serve as a reminder not to mess with the owner.

  “Oh! This has Bokaj all over it, baby,” Jaken said with a smile as soon as we all saw the weapon.

  Bokaj picked it up and grinned. “Oh hell yeah, that’s me.”

  He equipped the weapon, and it slung over his back easily. The bones looked bleached, the curved portion of the wings joined by a piece of leathery sinew acting as the string. It looked disgusting but cool as hell.

  It was a sweet piece of gear. Looks like the dungeon had taken care of my friends so far, I thought to myself. Wow. The rewards were stacking up.

  We decided to go ahead and head on back to Sunrise. Once we cleared the dungeon grounds, we saw another surprise waiting for us. Bears had come to the hill leading up the path entryway. Not just a couple bears, hundreds. I couldn’t count them all because they were pouring out of the trees.

  * * *

  Jaken came to the front and roared, his enmity generating aura coating his armor, and the others readied for battle.

  “Put them away, guys,” I said, swatting at them. “They’re friends.”

  I could see Kyra, the Bear Queen, lumbering my way. I activated Nature’s Voice.

  “My queen.” I smiled and went to a knee in front of her hulking thousand pounds. She smiled and patted my shoulder.

  “Rise, friend of the bears,” she allowed.

  To me, she sounded just fine. Her tone sweet like honey. To my friends, she must have sounded like she was about to fight because they had their weapons at the ready again.

  “Seriously, if you hurt any of these bears without them attacking first, I will fuck you up,” I said mildly. “I’m a Druid. I’m talking to my friends. Specifically, to the queen of all these bears.”

  “Good enough for me, my dude,” Yohsuke said and put his Astral Sword away. He stepped up to join me but didn’t kneel. I knew his reasoning—he would kneel to no one, willingly—and the queen didn’t care. The others followed suit and joined us. Tmont didn’t like all the attention she was getting from the bears, but she liked the queen’s cub enough to romp playfully.

  “You did it, my friend,” the queen said softly. “We had faith, and you came through. Our people’s deaths were not in vain, and we can finally mourn them properly. With the lands opened again and free of the infection that minion of War brought, we can hunt and prosper.”

  “All in a day’s work, my Queen,” I said smiling.

  “Stop that,” she reprimanded and pawed my chest softly. Warmth radiated throughout my being starting at that point and moving outward.

  BLESSING RECEIVED!

  Blessing of the Bear Kingdom – The bearer of this blessing is to be treated as an emissary of the Bear Kingdom.

  Given by Queen Kyra, ruler over the bears to the east and ally to Ursine peoples of the world.

  “Bear kind will treat you with the utmost respect with that,” she said. “If you will translate, I would speak to your friends.”

  She went to each one of them, and I relayed her thoughts. She thanked them all and blessed each of them in turn, including Tmont.

  “Thayron, my heart, please come here for a moment,” Kyra called out softly over the murmuring din of bears who had gathered.

  A large,
brown dire bear, easily the larger of the two, lumbered over. His bulk shook the ground a little, and his muscles shivered with each stride. Slightly larger than Marin, he towered over me in my natural form, and though I knew I was safe, I would not want to piss this guy off.

  “My love,” he greeted her sweetly in a growling bass that made my fur stand on end.

  “Zekiel has the ability to take the forms of animals he interacts with. I believe the requirements were two minutes of constant touching or through fighting?” I nodded. “Would you like to receive the dire bear form?”

  “I would be honored.” I smiled, and then my features shifted slightly. “Though I do remember that I gained the panther form from being bitten once by Sharo.”

  “Sharo bit you?” Thayron puzzled aloud. “You must tell me that story sometime, maybe over a honeycomb. I would like that. It would be my honor to share my form with you, Friend Druid.”

  He held his great arms out as if to give me a hug, which I took at face value. One doesn’t often get to hug a bear. “Ouch!” His teeth, as large as one of my clawed fingers, pierced my shoulder and neck as gently as he could probably manage it. He licked his now-bloody chops before giving me a bear-like grin. I grunted a “Thanks,” before seeing my friends tense as he reared up.

  “It’s cool, guys. He’s helping me. Chill,” I said before they could take action.

  I cast Regrowth on myself, and the wound closed slowly. Jaken helped by giving me a pat on the shoulder, and I felt his healing spell take root. My HP shot up to full, and I felt so much better.

  I focused like I did for my panther form and found another animal waiting for me this time. I pulled the animal up and out of my skin, and my body changed in an instant. I stood and looked down at my friends, then my new body. Bulky and powerful, this felt more like my normal body—though two-and-a-half-feet taller than I was normally. My fur had retained the black pigment of my original form, but I had a tuft of fur that looked brown on my chest. My claws looked and felt razor sharp. I dropped to all fours, and my powerful muscles coiled and flexed as I took my first steps as a dire bear.

  “You make a handsome bear,” I heard a light voice say behind me. It was a female bear about the queen’s size with the same colored fur.

  “Thank you,” I replied simply and warmly. I wasn’t going to return the compliment because I didn’t know what the bear standard of beauty was. I didn’t want to be rude.

  She laughed and joined the queen. “Will he be staying with us, mother?”

  The queen had multiple cubs? Well then.

  “No, little one,” she said and nudged her lovingly, “but he and his friends are welcome whenever they should need it. Go, friends, and continue your great quest.”

  She stood and roared, a long bellow, and the rest of her people stood and joined her. I stood on my hind legs and roared back as loudly as I could. Spittle flew from my mouth, and out of the corner of my eye, I could see Jaken smiling and trying to copy us. He roared with delight. After the last roar was spent, the bears turned as one and began to filter back into the woods. Some of the braver ones filed up to us and bumped their heads against mine with words of encouragement and strength. One particularly playful bear stood at her full seven feet and looked Jaken right in the eye before bellowing into his face and then licking him. She scampered away at a trot as Jaken tried to get the drool off his face while sputtering.

  “Haha!” I heard Bokaj chuckle. “Dude got slimed.”

  Our walk back to the village was uneventful, though I did note a small contingency of bears matching our pace toward the village in the fading light. Despite the growing shadows, the village was alive as it always seemed to be, but this time it was different. The villagers cheered when they saw us. The whole village must have been in the square. Tables and chairs were set up like a party was about to go down.

  Our friends, Sir Willem, the bear-kin armorers, and some of the other friendlier villagers met us at the outskirts. People flooded the square and patted us, vying for our attention to tell us how grateful they were. Finally, Sir Willem stood on a table and called all to a quiet.

  “Our Lady Radiance would like to congratulate her champions, Balmur, Bokaj, Jaken, Yohsuke and Zekiel,” he said, and the crowd truly stopped talking now. “She implores you to rest and prepare how you will for the next leg of your journey. She and her brothers are working tirelessly to keep War out, but they will also be searching for your next target. She has left word that you are to celebrate this victory and that you did well. More aid will come to you soon.”

  He motioned to his left, and there was Rowland with his daughter hefting another barrel of his Forge Mead. This was going to be bad. He put it down next to several other barrels, and I knew this was going to be really bad. People brought food, and the music didn’t stop until sunrise the next day. We partied and celebrated however we could. Hell, I even shifted into my bear form and decided to dance a little. Not a good idea. I almost crushed Rowland, and I’m fairly certain the lady armorer was flirting with me at some point.

  We awoke the day after next, feeling refreshed and discussed what we might be able to do until we got word for our next target.

  Balmur had decided to take Rowland up on his offer of training but for jewelry rather than arms and armor. Jaken had decided to try and get the Dwarf to teach him some of his techniques. Maybe he could pick up on how to make weapons.

  Bokaj had decided to take to fletching and woodcraft, since he would always need arrows, and he may even be able to improve our weapons at some time.

  Yohsuke hadn’t decided on one yet, and to be honest, neither had I. As a caster, I could do the whole enchanting thing, sure, but that just didn’t sound like something I want to pursue until I saw how the rest of the group fared.

  “Cook,” Yohsuke suddenly blurted. The rest of us looked at him confused.

  “I want to be our cook,” he said. “I like good food, and it’s something different. I’m all about different.”

  I laughed inwardly and patted his shoulder.

  “Then I’ll see if I can’t pick up enchanting,” I said finally. “Let’s get to it guys. I have a good feeling about this.”

  Chapter Eight

  “This was a terrible idea,” I muttered to myself.

  It had been a week, and I had managed to learn one element to enchant with and that was fire. Which was so cool, but I kept super heating the metal and failing to actually enchant. When I first started, I would melt the metal completely. Now it was just warping and failing at times. I was coming along, and luckily, I wasn’t costing anyone any money because I was just working on ingots.

  No matter how hard I pushed myself to learn it, it didn’t help that the asshole training me—Tarron Dillingsley—gave minimal instruction and was a self-proclaimed messiah to the enchanting world. He hadn’t even bothered to come see how I was doing in the last two days, either. Again—he was an asshole, but I pushed him from my mind.

  What I thought I ruined, Rowland just used to smith since the metal was already hot. I heated it faster than his forge, apparently. The others had all grown in their skills quickly, and though no one had leveled, it seemed that leveling up your overall level with use of the skill took quite a bit of work. It was like having a secondary class. Every twenty levels would bring your main level up, unless crafting was your primary class, in which case, that was your actual level. It was an interesting dynamic that I liked. The gods here had done some amazing work.

  The crafting system was cool, but enchanting was shit. It didn’t work like the skills I had seen in other games—other games gave you the option to give a very specific enchantment. Sometimes you had to find a blueprint for it, or there were even mini-games that allowed you to pass magic into objects. Here, you had to do something different, and I wasn’t sure how the hell to do it.

  I was on my thirteenth ingot that morning when the beautiful Elven Druid, Dinnia, and her partner Sharo came into the forge.

  “Got
a minute?” she asked. I nodded and followed her outside. She looked a little frazzled, her hair unkempt and her eyes slightly wild. Well, more so than normal.

  “What’s up?” I asked as I wiped my hands on my borrowed apron.

  “Mother has spoken to me. She asked me to find a creature that is in trouble. It is in the mountains near where the ruins are,” she explained hurriedly. “She believes that you can help me find the creature. Also, when you find it, we will know what to do with it.”

  I froze for a second. A quest from Mother Nature herself? Damn.

  Quest Available: Nature’s Way - Mother Nature has tasked you, through Dinnia, to find a creature in the Lightning Mountains. Restrictions: Two person party. Reward: Unknown, 500 EXP.

  Will you accept? Yes / no?

  “You’ve got it, Dinnia,” I said, taking off the apron. “I’ll let my party know, and I’ll set out right now.”

  She nodded and turned to leave, then stopped and turned back.

  “I have Sharo as my partner to watch my back in this,” she said, and Sharo peered in from the outside. “You should have a friend come with you to watch your own.”

  I nodded, and she left. I poked my head around the corner and shouted at Jaken and Balmur to get their attention.

  “Hey, I’m going on a quest to try and get on Mother Nature’s good side. I don’t know how long it’s going to take, probably a couple days.”

  “Give us a minute, and we’ll get the party together, man,” Jaken said as he started to take his apron off.

  “No need, just wanted to let you guys know. I’m going to get Yohsuke for this. I’m going to need his help,” I responded. “It’s a two-man party restriction. Once we get back, we will fill you all in.”

  “No worries, man,” I jumped as Balmur spoke to my left. “We’ll let Bokaj know what’s up. You and Yoh are a good team and know each other too well for it not to make sense. Good luck out there, and be safe.”