Destiny Rising

by Lachlan Wells

  Umbra nodded, face turning a deeper shade. “How’d you know all that? I mean if it was true…”

  “I’ve been a similar situation,” Myra smiled. “I know how it feels to be the odd one out. Don’t worry about it. No one here is gonna doubt your capabilities. We’re all in this together.”

  Adrianna looked at the two women and frowned. Why was Umbra blushing at everything Myra was saying?

  “Hey girls!” Jace called from up ahead, distracting Adrianna from her thought process. “Hate to interrupt, but we might have company!”

  In the midst of the swampland, Adrianna’s heart skipped a beat as she heard a familiar fall of steady footsteps plodding heavily into the wet mud.

  Myra’s thoughts went the same direction as she pulled out her short blade. “Trolls.”

  Chapter 14: Return of the Trolls

  “What kind of trolls?” Jace asked, as he began to unlatch his jacket.

  “What? I don’t know!” Myra turned to look at him. “Are you seriously stripping at a time like this?”

  Jace ignored her and threw his pack down next to his armor, not caring about the mud it was now caked in.

  “He’s preparing for battle,” Umbra called and stabbed her staff into the ground, glancing at Adrianna as her face illuminated in green energy pouring from her staff. “You should too.”

  “Let’s stay steady team,” Myra nodded, her voice weaved with magic as her energy bolstered her three companions.

  “Protectorate!” Umbra called and a green field surrounded Adrianna’s body. “That’s a temporary ward. Should help if one of them get a lucky hit in.”

  STATUS: stable, encouraged, warded

  Two trolls appeared from the mist and spotted them immediately. One of them lifted up its makeshift club and roared.

  Encounter! Start initiative!

  Jace flew forward, eyes burning in a wild orange blaze, as an unbridled rage overtook him. He heaved his axe swinging and gashing through the troll’s thigh before using momentum to bring it back down into the same wound. The troll began to bring up its club but was immediately pelted by green energy bolts that spiraled from Umbra’s staff.

  “Get this done quick guys!” Umbra called, alive with a sudden burst of confidence as the magic flowed through her body. “I have to concentrate on keeping those wards up, so don’t take too much damage!”

  Myra stepped forward and yelled, “I thought mountain trolls looked ugly, but you...swamp trolls look like a butthole!” Adrianna watched as the energy from her words wrapped around the troll’s head as it tried to shake off the buffeting effect.

  Adrianna took the opportunity to leap to cover, her speed allowing her to climb to a high branch and take out her crossbow. She fired twice and each bolt stuck into one of the troll bodies. The second one was not as hindered as it jumped forward and swung at Jace. Jace slammed into the strike and looked up at the troll with a roar of his own. He reeled back and yanked on the second troll’s arm as hard as he could, pulling it off balance as Umbra kept the first one busy with green energy bolts.

  Myra inhaled and Adrianna braced herself as her sonic scream rippled in the air. The sound split the troll’s ears and black liquid bled from their ears.

  Adrianna used the opportunity to reload her crossbow and take another shot. She jumped to one side as a troll tried to throw a wad of hardened mud at her, and she laughed at how it easy it was to maneuver on her branch. She twisted around and fired another shot which Umbra turned into a flaming bolt that pierced into the first troll’s flesh and started to burn its skin.

  “Awesome!” Adrianna said excitedly.

  “More where that came from,” Umbra grinned, and smashed her staff into the ground again, reinvigorating the wards.

  Adrianna jumped to another hiding spot and didn’t see the troll behind her until his club came down and smacked into her back. The world around her flashed in green light as the magical barrier around her shattered into pieces.

  WARD BROKEN!

  She tried to dodge the second strike, but it grazed her head and she began to see stars.. It took her a moment to realize that the one that was screaming was her. She lifted her crossbow and fired but had no idea if it hit a troll or not.

  STATUS: stable, bruised, dazed

  MID HEALTH

  She could hear people around her but couldn’t identify friend from foe as she staggered backwards trying to figure out where she was. She got to her feet and almost instantly she was on the ground again as what felt like a large fist slammed into her and she collided with a tree. In her dazed state, she saw her world tinge red, pulsing with a danger signal.

  LOW HEALTH

  STATUS: unstable, bruised, dazed

  She tried to talk, but nothing but incoherent words came from her lips as she dropped her crossbow and tried to recover. Then she felt a hand on her shoulder, warm and firm. Power surged through her body and she looked up to see Parrish healing her with his coin hovering over her head.

  “Get up, sunshine, we can’t be losing you here,” he said grimly.

  STATUS: stable

  MID HEALTH

  She looked around to see Hancock and Markus leaping toward two more trolls stomping into the area. The first two monsters were nothing but piles of black dust with golden orbs in their stead. Hancock slashed with his black katana, as arrows from Markus’ bow slid down the path that Hancock forged, making the wounds deeper. Myra followed up with a cut into their hamstrings to keep them from moving too far.

  “Kathy! Hold down the other troll as we finish this one! Parrish, make it count!”

  Kathy lifted her crucifix and uttered a spell. Bright golden chains suddenly wrapped around the troll’s body. Parrish winked at Adrianna before jumping into action and pulling out his mace. Parrish held his coin to his mace, and his weapon illuminated in a sickly purple light. He whipped the mace up with a leap and connected with the troll’s chin. The troll immediately burst into a black mist.

  Out of Combat! You are safe!

  Earned: 250 xp!

  PROFICIENCIES EARNED:

  Crossbow: You are now trained with a Crossbow

  Myra suddenly sprang towards Andriana. “Hell yeah,” she grinned, and gave her a high five.

  “Okay, so for those who did not level up, gather around,” Parrish rolled his eyes and Kathy laughed.

  “Hey, where’s Jo and Umbra?” Markus called.

  “There!” Parrish pointed at Umbra who was kneeling over a large body. The two healers rushed over.

  Adrianna stopped and inhaled sharply. Umbra was fine, leaning against her staff weakly as she stared down at her party member. No one spoke, because Jonathan Peirce had no head.

  “He was protecting me from one of the trolls and he didn’t even see what hit him,” Umbra whispered.

  There was a timer over his body, slowly ticking down in fractions.

  “Can you…?” Parrish started, but Kathy shook her head, face solemn.

  “I’m assuming you can’t either,” Kathy gave a quick but sad smile. “I’m all about damnation. Not resurrection.”

  “My domain isn’t in restoration from death, either.” Parrish frowned. “But now I wish it was.”

  Markus sighed and knelt by his side as Jace growled in frustration.

  “There’s nothing we can do for him?” Adrianna asked, as Hancock stepped back and nudged her.

  “Let’s give them space,” he said and pulled away from the other party.

  “Don’t go too far,” Markus nodded to Hancock. “We won’t be long.”

  Adrianna didn’t hear the whole thing, but it took them all of five minutes to say words and move on. The timer went out and something new appeared over his body.

  Here fell Jonathan ‘Jo’ Pierce, the Stupidly Brave.

  He valiantly died doing what he loved: protecting his friends and fighting monsters.

  “May he pass on peacefully to the next life,” her companions said in unison as the other party came back towards th
em.

  Adrianna repeated the words, but they felt empty to her. Was there a next life? There was only one way to know for sure.

  She looked at their faces, as they approached. None of them looked surprised or too broken up about it. Umbra sniffled but seemed to have recovered quickly. The boys were ready to go, Jace grabbing his bag and wiping off the mud and Markus collecting the last of his arrows. Even Kathy, who seemed to be close to Jo, didn’t look back as she nodded to Markus.

  “Come on. We shouldn’t stay here.”

  Adrianna all at once understood what happened. They were no strangers to death.

  Chapter 15: The Doctor

  They knew they made it when they saw the two-story glass building in the midst of the swampland, sporting a red cross on every door.

  “This is it.” Markus said and looked at Adrianna. “You ready team leader?”

  “As I’ll ever be,” Adrianna nodded, and both of them entered, the death of Jo still fresh on their minds.

  They walked in and were immediately startled by a stark white interior. Chairs sat against a faded wall that held a sign labeled “waiting room”. A large desk sat directly in front, labeled “reception”. The building was otherwise empty, save the straight-backed man who sat behind the desk, casually leafing through a book. He had on thick-rimmed glasses and a white coat. His completely bald head gave away his sickly grey skin. “Hmm,” he looked them over and tutted. “It seems that you’ve lost someone. I could have sworn there were nine of you who set foot on this island.”

  “Are you the being who solves problems?” Markus asked.

  “Is that how they see me out there?” he chuckled. “How underwhelming. Stories of my grandeur don’t go that far.”

  Adrianna tried to look above his head but was disappointed with the result.

  ???-???

  “What do we call you?”

  He seemed to mull it over for a moment. “The Doctor, as it were. I think that’s a good name for today.”

  “Alright, Doctor,” Markus said. “We have some questions we need you to answer.”

  “Only one question can be answered, for all that is here,”he stated. The silence that permeated the room made the Doctor blink. “I thought you knew? It’s why full parties rarely come here. One question per group. If your group is one person then you get your question. If it’s more than one person, then you get one question amongst all of you.

  Markus and Jace exchanged glances and Kathy gritted her teeth, as she looked at Adrianna. “We need to know about the Shadow Isles,” she demanded in a harsh whisper.

  “I need to know where my uncle is,” Adrianna said in an urgently loud voice.

  “I’ve been looking for my sisters.” Parrish suddenly spoke up, face dark. “I thought we could ask about...never mind. I can look elsewhere.”

  “What happened to your sisters?” Myra frowned and Parrish waved his hand dismissively. Adrianna realized all of them had something they wanted the Doctor to fix, and she couldn’t hide the disappointment in her face.

  “Obviously we’re all here for some answers,” Hancock said. “We should all decide the best question to ask together--”

  “That’s not how it will work,” the Doctor spoke up. “I will answer the question, but theirs in particular,” he pointed at Kathy, “I will only answer to those who want to know. The Shadow Isle is for those not looking to come back. You ask either question and some of you are not going to end up satisfied.”

  Silence fell again, and the parties looked at each other.

  “We came a long way on foot,” Hancock started.

  “We lost too much,” Markus said at the same time.

  “You know I respect you, Markus, but I made a promise--”

  “So, did we!” Jace suddenly barreled towards Hancock.

  PvP! Start initiative!

  Hancock braced himself and the two went sprawling to the floor. “Jace!” Umbra yelled, as Parrish stepped forward to help Hancock.

  “Oh no you don’t!” Kathy snapped and held out her crucifix. Parrish narrowly dodged three pure white bolts that shot from her hand and pierced into the opposite wall. “You’re not taking this away from us!”

  “I don’t want to fight you, Kat,” Parrish started. “We’re both low on mana, we don’t have to--”

  “Don’t call me that!” Kathy held out her crucifix again and it started to glow charging up in power. “You’re the one that’s out of mana! I’ve got just enough!” She started chanting and Parrish pulled out his mace.

  Markus notched an arrow and pointed it at Myra. “Call off your people, Adrianna!”

  Adrianna instinctively held up her crossbow at Markus. “Call off Jace! He attacked Hancock first!”

  “Not till your Cleric backs off!”

  “Then tell your Cleric to do the same!”

  Kathy suddenly released the white energy and gold light crackled over Parrish. He suddenly seized up and his breath stopped short as he started to gag.

  “You’re choking him?” Adrianna snapped and turned towards her.

  “We just need to know!” Kathy screamed.

  There was a sharp noise and Adrianna pulled the trigger on her crossbow instinctively.

  She watched the bolt strike Markus in the armor, and he grunted. Adrianna dropped her crossbow, gasping. “I didn’t mean to--I wasn’t actually--”

  “You little,” Kathy’s rage turned towards her.

  “Everybody…” Myra screamed. “Everybody STOP!”

  A wave of Bard magic washed over everyone all at once, and everyone suddenly stopped and turned to face Myra, who was grimacing.

  Without looking at her party, she pointed at the door “I suggest that you all go back the way you came and let us ask the question.”

  One by one, all of them left the room. Jace being the most reluctant as he grabbed his weapon back from a bruised Hancock.

  “Myra?” Adrianna whispered.

  Out of Combat! You are safe!

  “A Charmspeaker,” the Doctor laughed. “Now there’s a trick you don’t see every day.”

  Myra put her hand over her mouth and swallowed. Parrish looked impressed at the same time Hancock looked furious. Once more, Adrianna stepped towards the Doctor, clearing her throat trying to block out everything that had just happened.

  “I suppose you now have a question for me. Remember. You only get one, and I can sense that your beautiful mind is full to the brim just thinking of them all.”

  Adrianna opened her mouth and shut it. One question. One answer.

  Chapter 16: Trust

  Current Status

  Name: Adrianna Swann

  Class: Seeker

  Level 5

  Speed: 40

  Armor Class: 15

  XP to next Lvl: 50

  Strength 10 (+0)

  Dexterity 16 (+3)

  Constitution 12 (+1)

  Intelligence 19 (+4)

  Wisdom 13 (+1)

  Charisma 13 (+1)

  Reputation: Nobody Special

  Proficiencies: None.

  Traits

  Keen Mind

  You remember everything you’ve read within the last 30 days.

  Ambidextrous

  You have no penalties to with using your off-hand

  Way Finder

  You gain additional experience when you discover a new place.

  Internal Compass

  You always know where you came from and which way is north.

  Active Quest(s)

  Quest: History of the Pseudodragons (Any)

  You’ve made a promise to collect and record the history of the pseudodragons. There are troves scattered around the Quell, waiting to be discovered.

  Success Conditions: Collect all 8 scrolls of the pseudodragon ancestors.

  Reward: Experience (duh). The approval and alliance of Gyanati. That might come in handy.

  Failure: You offered this quest. To fail is to break a promise. That may have lasting consequenc
es. Perhaps Gyantai will be generous....perhaps not.

  Quest: Secrets of Kelly Hancock (Personal)

  Hancock certainly has a lot of secrets hiding in that black beard of his. You should probably figure them out if you want to know more. Talk to him, gain his trust--maybe you’ll get the answers you're looking for.

  Success Conditions: Unlock Kelly Hancock’s tragic backstory.

  Reward: Experience. And you get to know what’s up with Hancock!

  Failure: You’ll never know now.

  Quest: Secrets of Joseph Parrish (Personal)

  You’re not certain, but you’re pretty sure Joseph Parrish is hiding something. Finding out other’s secrets seems to be a favorite pastime of your. Who am I to deny you?

  Success Conditions: Get Joseph Parrish to tell you what he’s hiding.

  Reward: Experience. And someone gets to know his secrets.

  Failure: You’ll never know now.

  Adrianna sat on the beachfront staring at the boat that was smashed into smithereens. Maybe it hadn’t been such a good idea to piss off Jace so badly. Now, they had no way off the island. She could see where her internal compass led her back across the water, but she knew she had no means of following it. She was starting to think this particular trait of hers was quickly becoming useless.

  The meeting with the Doctor ended somberly. With the box popping up after she spoke to him.

  You have completed a quest: Search for Answers