Archemi Online Chronicles Boxset

by James Osiris Baldwin

  “Odd name for a Tuun.”

  “Yeah.” I brushed it off. “Me and Steve were polar opposites. He was tall and handsome. I had short legs and bad skin. He was smart, and good at everything he did, and I was dumb and had trouble concentrating at school. My parents were always really proud of him, and always ashamed of me. And I lived up to their shame, too. I did stupid shit... drugs and bullying and dangerous riding. But that wasn’t my natural state, you know? When we were kids, we loved each other to death. We shared a lot of the same interests and sense of humor. As we got older, he began to believe what our parents said about me. He started to look down on me, like I was some lost puppy that just needed a firm, guiding hand to set me on the path of sensible financial decisions and good grades. We hated each other.”

  Andrik’s expression of sly skepticism faded as I spoke. He looked down. “Yes. It was the same with Ignas and I. We were very close as children… not so much as adults.”

  “Yeah. Well, both of us got sick,” I continued. “Sick enough we were going to die. And you know what his first thought was? Me. We hadn’t spoken in five years after I disowned my family in a huge, nasty fight. But when we were dying, his first thought was to find a way to help me. And he did. So if the King of Cats really is your brother... I’m just saying to give him a chance. Thanks to Steve, I’ve been able to do more with my life in the last month than I did in the previous twenty-six years. If he was alive, I think he’d be proud of me. And your brother? If he sees that you’ve been a good, wise, stable king, maybe you can talk him around. You don’t have to give to him except your time and some empathy, you know what I’m saying?”

  The Volod nodded. Then, to my surprise, he pulled a silk handkerchief and dabbed at the corners of his eyes.

  “My goodness,” he said. “That certainly touched something. I will take your heartfelt words to bed with me and think on them, you can be sure of that.

  I nodded, and almost reached out to clap him on the shoulder before I realized that was probably not a good idea. “In any case, I will be looking into the King of Cats angle. If he turns out to be some random asshole, I’ll see what I can do about removing him from play - assuming he’s guilty.”

  “Of course. However, speaking of that, you ought to turn in yourself. Who knows what the dawn shall bring.” Andrik held a finger to his nose as he sniffed, then stood without looking back at me.

  “I need to do some training first,” I said. “Karalti and I just started flying together.”

  “Is that so? Well, the parade ground is yours to use,” he replied. “I can mark it on your map, if you require.”

  “Sure.” I nodded.

  Andrik concentrated for a moment, and sure enough, the location icon appeared.

  “Enjoy your evening,” he said. “Was there anything else?”

  I was already edging away when he asked, and suddenly remembered something: the ‘quest’ I’d gotten to learn about the Ravensblood Ruby.

  “Yeah, actually. One thing.” I turned back. “What can you tell me about the Ravensblood Ruby? Like... what makes it so special?”

  The Volod regarded me shrewdly. Then he snorted.

  “It is nothing more or less than the heart of Taltos, and perhaps all of Vlachia,” he replied. “Despite its grandiose name, it is not a very large stone... perhaps the size of my thumb. It is an exceptional Corvinus Ruby. Since we found it some five hundred years ago, Vlachia has never fallen to any of its enemies. We have fended off barbarian hordes, the Jeun Empire, Dakhdir. Perhaps more mysteriously, it is said to contain the memories of the dragons themselves, including dragons who travelled here, to Vlachia. Most of the Church’s lore of dragonkind was extrapolated from a written interview with my grandfather about the contents of the stone. He did not pass down the Words to activate what he saw, unfortunately.”

  “Huh.” I scratched my stubbly jaw. “I wonder why it is that only your family can use these stones?”

  “They say we are descended from the demigod Taltos, for whom this city is named. He was the son of Khors and a human woman.” He smiled, nodding again. “It gives us some native resistance to magic, as well as... a few other quirks and features. Now, I really must be off to bed. Enjoy your training.”

  I bowed from the waist. “Enjoy your sleep, Your Majesty. I’ll definitely be thinking about what you said.”

  “As will I.” And with that, he swept out of the room.

  Chapter 33

  I walked from the Great Hall to the parade ground in the bitter wind, spear in hand. I’d stripped my gear down to the bare minimum, leaving the rest in our suite. I had my two primary weapons - the Spear of Nine Spheres and the Alpha Rod - some healing potions, our cash, and essential quest items that I either couldn’t unequip or didn’t want to.

  “Karalti,” I called out to her, mind to mind. “It’s time to come back and talk, Tidbit. I know you know where I am.”

  For a couple minutes, all I heard was telepathic grumbling. I kept my ears pricked and my eyes keen, waiting, and was about to message her again when I saw a familiar, winged shadow cut in front of the moon and then vanish again.

  Karalti slowly wheeled around in a crescent, sweeping great clouds of dust from the smooth stone of the drilling yard as she came to land. She dropped into a series of neat hopping steps, tucking her wings in against her sides. Her eyes gleamed brightly in the golden light that Erruku cast over Archemi.

  “You alright?” I asked aloud.

  Karalti turned her head, grunting and huffing.

  “You need to use your mouth-words, girl.” I set the end of my spear on the ground, leaning on it.

  “Is... Suri okay?” she asked, after a short pause.

  “Yeah. She’s going to make it. She’s tough.”

  The dragon’s nostrils flared and then sealed as she snorted, and then she turned her muzzle back toward me.

  “Look, I’m sorry I split my attention between you and her at the party,” I said. “But at the same time, you have to meet me halfway. You need to really believe me when I say that you’re one of the best things that’s ever happened to me, Karalti, and that’s never going to change. Neither is the fact that I’m human, and you’re a dragon. It doesn’t matter how we feel about it - that’s the truth. We’re going to have a different kind of relationship than I would with another human.”

  Karalti paced on the spot, chomping her jaws together as she wrestled with my words and herself. Just then, I remembered what Suri did to placate Cutthroat. I smiled at Karalti and put the Spear down. Then I stood up and held my arms out, and bobbed my head.

  Karalti turned her snout from side to side, looking at me with one eye, then the other. She took one step toward me, and then she spread her own arms, mantled her wings, and bobbed her head quickly. She drew one leg up, and then dropped into a sweeping bow - a ton of weight perfectly balanced on three toes.

  “You dance back,” she grumped.

  Grinning, I bowed as well, and as she plunged and reared her head, I did my best to mirror her, dancing slowly to the left as she set the pace to the right. As we moved, she came closer, winding in until I could wrap my arm around her neck and grip her arm with the other hand, my face buried against her wing shoulder.

  “I’m jealous. I know it’s bad.” Karalti ducked her head, and crooned low in her throat as we embraced. “My Words are Words of pride, because pride is part of Darkness... pride and jealousy. I don’t like that you like Suri, but I like her, and I... like you.”

  “Yeah.” I petted her scaly forearm. “I know. And you’ll be okay, okay? So will we.”

  “Yeah.” Karalti hung her head.

  I stood back, and on impulse, I caught Karalti by the muzzle and gently pulled her head around so that I was looking straight into her eyes. By moonlight, they seemed especially luminous. They were very much like her mother’s, but innocent and hopeful instead of wise and pain-stricken. It was hard to meet her gaze for long, because I could feel the churn of emotions she was e
xperiencing: the puppy love and confusion, the instinct she had to form pack bonds clashing with the instincts of a predator driven to challenge and drive away rivals and threats.

  “Seriously,” I said. “I promise.”

  Karalti made a little gurgling sound, then stretched her nose forward and licked me right up along the face.

  “Urgh, what-!” I let go of her and wiped dragon drool off my nose. “Why?”

  Giggling, my dragon paced forward, eagerly licking at my head and and hands as I tried to shield myself. Her head darted back and forth, while I laughed and cursed her and backed away. I let her smack her nose into my palm, and then hooked my fingers into her nostrils and pushed. Karalti squealed, shaking her head. “Nooo, don’t!”

  “Then don’t lick my faaaace!” I pretend-whined back at her.

  She beamed at me, jaws agape. “Then stop being made of meeeeat.”

  “You have teeth the size of my thumb now. That joke is… in poor taste.” I played a little rimshot on her wing, and she groaned.

  “You’re the worst,” Karalti grumbled. “You wanna try flying again?”

  “Yeah, but first, we need to do some groundwork.” I nodded. “Then I think we need to go and grind you up to Level Six. You said you found some monsters outside the city?”

  “Yeah! They’re down by the valley river, in the forest. Slimy dead people called mavka and frog things called vodniks.”

  “How much EXP do they give?”

  “Uhh... about 80 and 170 each, I think.”

  I looked at our sheets, and did a rough calculation. I had a bit over a thousand EXP to go before I hit Level 13, and Karalti needed 934 before she reached Level 6. We’d need to kill nine mobs. “Are they tough?”

  “Kinda. They don’t like fire.”

  “Perfect. I cut down on weight, so you should be able to fly longer.” I nodded, and bent down to pick up the Alpha Rod. I spun it in my hand and tucked it back under my arm. “You want to do it?”

  “Yeah!” Karalti bounced up and down.

  “Awesome.” I clapped her on the shoulder, and went around to swing up into the saddle. “Because I’m about to try the stupidest thing I’ve ever done.”

  We soared over the valley river in near silence. The only sounds were those of the night: frogs croaking, the wind rippling over Karalti’s wings, the slosh and gurgle of the shallow, salty water below. I hung forward over my dragon’s shoulder, searching the stagnant marsh for our next target - preferably a vodnik.

  We’d already killed eight monsters: five [Mavras], three [Vodniks]. Karalti was 25 EXP from leveling up, and I was 121. We were up to Dragon Riding 4 and Laden Flight 3 respectively, and with every point invested into the skills, flying became easier for both of us. Despite all of this, I still hadn’t been able to work myself up to jumping off Karalti’s back from a height.

  Down below, I saw a motion in the stands of tall cattails. I tracked the rustling and swaying, and the glowing crosshairs in my HUD darted in to auto-target it. Yep - it was a vodnik, a hulking, orc-like, amphibious demihuman carrying a large rock as a weapon.

  “There,” Karalti said. “See it?”

  “Sure do.” I drew a deep breath, and squeezed the haft of my spear. This time, this strike, was going to be the one where I did it. “Buzz it as close as you can. I’m going to try to jump.”

  Karalti dipped her wing, and I drew a sharp, excited breath as the horizon tipped thirty degrees. I’d learned to relax while leaning into her momentum, just like I would have on a motorcycle. The more relaxed I was, the easier it was for her, and the less likely I was to fall off.

  “You really gonna do it this time?” she teased.

  “Hell yeah I am.”

  Like a hawk, Karalti swung around and lined up at the unsuspecting Vodnik. I swallowed, and got ready to stand.

  “Keep it steady.” Drawing deep breaths, I drew one foot up underneath me, got some weight on it, and braced to leap. “Here we…. GO!”

  This was a test of the game’s limitations: namely because I had no idea if Jump worked while plummeting from a short height onto the back of a monster. If it did work, I’d stab and bounce, as I generally did when I called the maneuver on the ground. If not… splat.

  Biting down the urge to scream ‘DEATH FROM ABOVE!’, I got my feet down, and half-Jumped, half-fell off Karalti’s back.

  It was a long way down - thirty feet or more - and I was moving at speed. I stayed calm by focusing down the length of the spear as the crosshairs disappeared, and….

  WHAM.

  The spear plunged through the unsuspecting creature’s body, taking it right in the back of its neck. The bloody weapon thrust out through the monster’s sternum. The impact rattled my teeth, but I got the notification I’d been dying to see.

  [You have landed a devastating blow on Vodnik! X5 damage!]

  [You have taken 80 impact damage!]

  The monster slumped and clawed at the spear blade sticking out through its body, eyes bugging with shock as Karalti flew back in. Her jaws opened as I pulled my weapon free and got the hell out of the way.

  “CHAAAAAAR!” White fire blasted over the Vodnik like a furnace, crisping it. All that was left after the flames died was its loot bag.

  [You have defeated Vodnik!]

  [Congratulations! You are Level 13!]

  [Congratulations! Karalti is Level 6!]

  [New Feat: Banzaiiii!]

  Karalti came in to land, splashing water everywhere. Her form rippled and twisted, and then she grew - but not as much as the last five times. From levels one to five, she had almost doubled in size. This time, she only grew an extra three or four feet in length.

  “Hell yeah!” I sloshed over to her, limping a little. “Did you see that! Times five damage, baby! Woo!”

  “I saw!” Karalti beat her wings exuberantly, nearly knocking me down. “Oops. Wings are bigger now.”

  “This will make flying so much easier.” To my great relief, the saddle had grown too. Like human armor, the accessory stretched or shrunk to fit whoever it was equipped on.

  “I have more Lexica!” Karalti crouched down to let me up. “Enough for a new spell! And more strength, too!”

  “Excellent.” I mounted up, still riding the adrenaline high, and chugged a potion. “Alright - you should be able to take off from the ground, now.”

  “I’ll try! Hang on!”

  Of all the things I was sure to do, it was hang on. I stashed my spear in my Inventory to make use of both hands.

  Karalti waded to shore, and when she was on drier land, she broke into a run into the wind. On instinct, I flattened my body down. It was a good call.

  The dragon picked up speed, both hearts pounding against the walls of her chest, and then kicked herself up as she scooped with her wings. It was like trying to ride an earthquake. Her back bucked up and down, and it was all I could do to not bang my nose and knock myself out as she labored up into the sky.

  “Yeah! We did it!” She was panting, her tongue flapping out the corner of her mouth… but we were in the air and gaining height.

  “We need to put you on a treadmill, Tidbit. Make you run laps around the parade ground.” But even though it was still hard work, I could feel how much stronger she had become - and how much faster. She’d gained 15 points of Dex in that one level.

  I dumped my ability point into Umbra Blast. I hadn’t thought I’d need that ability, but during the fight with the Flesh Amalgamation, I had missed it. Then I opened up Karalti’s sheet.

  Karalti - Queen Dragon

  Level 6 Juvenile

  Strength: 54

  Dexterity: 68

  Stamina: 30

  Will: 24

  Wisdom: 8

  Intelligence: 16

  HP: 949

  MP: 64

  Affinity: Darkness/Life

  EXP: 1934 (1645 to next level)

  Lexica: 14 (4 points to spend)

  Spells: 4

  Skills:

  Acr
obatics: 8

  - Aerial Acrobatics: 9

  Dive: 5

  Laden Flight: 4

  [Karalti has two unspent skill points!]

  Abilities:

  Gift of the Blood: Allows a dragon to utilize magic and other supernatural abilities.

  Eviscerate: A power attack with the front claws.

  Ghost Fire: 195-285 fire damage; sticky fire that burns underwater.

  Bite: 237-255 damage.

  Gore: A dragon’s unarmed attacks do double damage and cause Bleeding.

  Split Turn: Burn 5 mana points per second to immediately change momentum while rolling. This allows for 90 degree and 180 degree turns in any direction. 2 bonus Lexica.

  Spells:

  Bioscope: Analyze an enemy and learn their strengths and weaknesses.

  Sense Aether: Detect and assess magical effects, artifacts, and locations.

  Dark Focus I: Double power of next magical attack.

  Dirge: A curse that slowly damages enemies every turn and has a chance to cause the Deaf and Mute debuffs.

  Sixty-eight dex? I whistled out loud into the wind as we cut the air.

  I’d already planned what spell I wanted her to take with this level - Haste. I probably couldn’t yet withstand the forces that sped Karalti up to supernatural speeds, but if something ever happened to us, I wanted her to be able to get away. I didn’t know if dragons could respawn, and I never wanted to find out.

  Chapter 34

  We ended up sleeping on the floor of Suri’s suite, with my back curled up against Karalti’s belly, warmed by the shelter of her wings. I woke up to bright light, the sounds of clattering and shuffling, and pushed Karalti’s wing to see Suri’s copper-skinned back as she pulled her shirt over her head. She had a lot of scars.

  “G’morning, sunshine,” she drawled. She didn’t turn around while she tugged the shirt down and slung a short leather vest on over it.

  I glanced at her bare right arm. It was back, fully formed. The only sign that she’d lost it was the difference in color. The skin below the elbow was noticeably lighter and smoother than the rest of her.