Bartholomew spent some time talking with Isabelle and Reynard. He answered their questions calmly and was a perfect gentleman. He apologized for the way his kind had treated the dwarves and explained to them that if there was anything he could do to further peace between the two races he would try, but he wasn't sure how much he would be able to accomplish because he was now an outcast from his people.
“Yes. After what happened between Darian and me, I cannot return to Dragon Peaks lightly. I may be able to return after Darian has calmed down, but for now, returning would mean my instant death by him and his lackeys.”
He also reiterated to them what he'd told me about dragon arrogance and explained that as long as they held on to that belief, peace with them would be difficult. He'd only come to realize that his arrogance and assumptions were wrong when he'd befriended me.
After the political talk had ended, Bartholomew turned to me and stated, “Valkyrie. I have a request for you. While you've been with the dwarves, I've spent my time with the elves. They wanted to know who you were and why I was around you, so I told them how we'd met and what you were seeking in this world. The elves are curious about you and they request that you join them in Tetherwood. They have given me their word that they will not harm you and will see you safely through Tetherwood if you agree to speak with them, but I told them I couldn't make the decision for you. Do you want me to fly you over Tetherwood or take you to the elves?”
I gave a stifled laugh, trying not to be too loud in case others were still searching for me, and answered, “I'd love to go. In fact, I was already planning on asking you to take me through Tetherwood instead of over it. I've felt like the forest was calling me for a while and wanted to see what the forest held.”
I smiled mischievously at Bartholomew and he asked, “Should we get going?”
Before I could answer, there was a firm pressure against my back. Nothing hit my back, but I felt a magical pressure flutter on my back as my hairpiece flashed. A throwing knife fell to the ground behind my feet. We all turned in unison at the direction the blade had come.
Standing on top of the small hill between us and the dwarven kingdom, which provided us some shelter from prying eyes, was Garoth. He'd managed to escape his hunting party after all. He had a wild look in his eyes and was covered in dirt. It looked like he'd spent the entire day buried in the earth, which may have been the case. It would be a good way to hide from his pursuers until he could escape.
I didn't waste any time in attacking. I knew it could be fatal to delay, but as I tried to use Shadow Step to close the distance between us nothing happened. I tried again and realized that for some reason I couldn't move. Frustrated grunts told me the others were like-wise paralyzed.
“You really shouldn't have shown me how fast you could move today, Valkyrie.” Garoth's smile was more serpentine than Bartholomew's when he was in his dragon form. “If I hadn't known that you could move like that, I wouldn't have come prepared tonight.”
He lifted his hand and I saw a strange tube in it. It reminded me of a detonator for a bomb, except made of crystal. I wanted to rage at him and strike him down by lightning, but my voice was paralyzed too, so I couldn't cast any of my spells. We were fully under his control. I had to figure out a way to escape his grip.
“You see,” he continued his monologue, reminding me of every super-villain in every comic book I'd ever read. “This device freezes everyone within a twenty-yard radius of me. With this, I can take my time killing the lot of you. Then I can return to the city and tell them the truth, that Queen Isabelle and Valkyrie were planning an alliance with the dragons to destroy our people and they had even brought a dragon to attack our kingdom.
“Reynard and I bravely fought off the beast, but Reynard died in the assault. Afterward, I executed the traitor queen and her accomplice to restore order. All they have to do to corroborate my story is come to this hill and see the dragon corpse beside the rest of you. Then we will have a real ruler on the throne and the hatred for the dragon race will multiply exponentially. We'll have enough manpower gathered to launch a total assault on Dragon Peaks and wipe every dragon from the face of this earth.”
I expected a crazy, villainous laugh, but he disappointed me. Instead, he started his procession toward us and drew a sword with his free hand. The look of glee on his face told me everything I needed to know about this creep. He was insane with hatred and fear. At least he couldn't use magic on us. The crystal that paralyzed us was one of those magical items that required you to focus all your magic into it so that you couldn't use any other magic. He would have to kill us by hand.
What he didn't know was that he couldn't kill me. I would simply reappear at the dwarven kingdom’s fountain, race toward where he was assaulting us, and slaughter the bastard from a distance. But would I be able to make it before he killed the others? What if he started with the others instead?
In that moment, I made a decision I'd promised myself I would never do. I hacked the system. I had long ago learned how to hack the system, but I'd decided I wouldn't do it as it was unethical, but ethics be damned. This man was going to kill my friends and I wouldn't lose another friend in this game. It wasn't a detailed hack because I couldn't risk alerting the SimTech personnel that a hacker was in their system. It was only a small hack more like a cheat-code than anything else. It gave me back my voice.
“Stop, you pig!” I ordered.
Garoth stood there stunned. It was clear that no one had ever been able to break a paralysis charm before.
“Listen to me clearly, swine. You can't kill me. You already know that I'm not from this reality. I've made no secret of the fact that I was from an alternate reality and hundreds of thousands, possibly even millions of my kind are making their way to this world. As this body in front of you isn't real, I can't be killed. You strike me down and I'll instantly reappear inside the walls of the dwarven kingdom.
“Now for the interesting part. Try to keep up. I'm an Avenger. I fight to protect the innocent from monsters like yourself. But there's more to it than that. I protect the innocent, but more than that, I protect my friends. If I'm not able to protect them, you damn well better believe I will avenge them.
“If you take the lives of Bartholomew, Queen Isabelle, or Reynard you can guarantee that I'll be back to avenge them, but my vengeance will not end with you. There are both good and corrupt people among the dwarves, but if you manage to overthrow this kingdom with the corrupt faction that wants to destroy Isabelle's rule, I will take that as a sign that the dwarven kingdom is beyond help and cannot be saved. I will bring an army of Avengers and non-Avengers alike to wipe the dwarven kingdom off the map.
“The Avengers will help when they learn the truth of what you've done because vengeance is our mission. The others, well, many of them care nothing for this world and would gladly wipe your kingdom off the map if it means they get to plunder the items and money you possess. Make your choice wisely because it's not just your life on the line here.”
“You're bluffing,” Garoth shouted, but it was clear that he didn't believe his own words.
“Well then, let’s just see what's quicker. My spell-casting or your sword. Remember my words for they are no threat, but a promise.”
Garoth squinted his eyes in fury and lifted his sword to advance. I opened my mouth to begin reciting a spell called Thunder Bolt, but before I could even form the first word there was a shattering sound, a yelp of pain that was cut short, and we were able to move our bodies again.
Garoth stood motionless for the briefest of moments. The crystal lay in pieces at his feet. Blood was dripping down his hand and there was an arrow shaft stuck in the dirt behind him. There was another arrow protruding from his eye socket. The arrow had pierced the back of his head. The arrowhead and a small portion of the shaft protruded from his skull. A squashed eyeball was stuck to the arrowhead. The rest of the shaft and fletchin
g stuck from an empty socket.
He fell forward, landing face first and pushing the arrow deeper into his skull.
Bartholomew spoke like he was simply reporting the weather, indifferent and emotionless. “Never threaten to kill dragons within earshot of elves. It looks like our escort has arrived.”
Tetherwood Forest
I could hear rustling in the trees, accompanied by a gentle thumping sound. I stared into Tetherwood Forest, but couldn't make out anyone approaching. I heard the thumping sound again and looked higher. Jumping from branch to branch as easily as if they were running on the ground were two elven males with their bows in one hand and their other hovering over their quivers in case they needed to fire again.
They leapt from the nearest tree and almost floated to the ground. They landed so gracefully that I couldn't even hear a leaf crunch under their feet. When they were certain that Queen Isabelle and Reynard weren't a threat, they slung their bows over their shoulders and stood quietly, waiting for us to finish our goodbyes.
“Did you really mean what you'd said to Garoth?” Queen Isabelle asked with worry. “Would you really have killed my entire race if he'd killed us here?”
“Yes and no,” I explained. “I meant some of what I said. The rest was just a bluff. When I'd told him that friendship was more important to me than my duty as an Avenger, I meant it. I'd do anything to protect, or if I couldn't protect, to avenge a friend, but I would never let my vengeance be directed at the innocent. I'd hoped that he would stop his assault if he believed it wasn't just his life at stake, but the lives of everyone in the dwarven kingdom. Apparently, his hatred and fear had driven him too far into insanity for him to care.
“If he had killed us here, I would have gathered a force of Avengers to sneak into the dwarven kingdom. We would have thoroughly investigated the usurpers who were trying to dethrone you and annihilated them all, but we wouldn't have harmed the innocent civilians. Any Avenger who would willingly sacrifice innocents isn't a true Avenger and would be stripped of their status by Aurora Eventide instantly.”
Satisfied with my response, Queen Isabelle and Reynard said their final farewells. I was worried what the other dwarves would think about Garoth's death. They assured me that it would be taken care of and I had nothing to worry about as he'd already been identified as a traitor and would have been executed anyway once caught. Then they left me and Bartholomew alone with our elven escorts.
The elves had been silent and still as statues during our conversation and only became animated again when we were finally alone.
“Welcome to Tetherwood Forest, Valkyrie,” the closest elf to me announced in an official voice. “We are so glad you've agreed to come to our city and speak with our elders. My name is Aden and this is Benedict. We will guide you through the forest. Stick close to us and nothing in this forest will harm you.”
After the curt introduction, the two elves swiveled on their feet and started walking into the forest. I could tell that they were reluctant to let me in. They didn't trust me. Even after all that they'd heard about me from Bartholomew, they weren't the kind to take another person's word for truth until they witnessed with their own eyes.
As Bartholomew and I followed them into the forest, I found myself examining their features very closely. It was true that I did look slightly like an elf, but there were still minor differences. For instance, their skin was not fair and pale like mine. Instead, their skin had a golden hue like the sand at a tropical beach. Their bodies were tall and slender, I'd estimate Aden was at least six feet two inches and Benedict was even a few inches taller. They towered over me, even with my avatar being half a foot taller than my actual body.
Our facial features were similar, but my features were more feline than theirs. Their faces looked like a combination of panthers and birds of prey, probably from the hawk family. Their noses were sharper than mine, with their eyes set a little further apart, more toward the side of their heads. It gave them a wider range of vision.
One major difference was our ears. Mine came to a point at a forty-five-degree angle to the ground and were six inches long. Theirs were also long and pointed, but they were about twice as long as mine and were at a steeper angle of about sixty degrees, so that they seemed to stick out the top of their heads instead of trailing behind like mine did.
Their hair was also interesting. They had no facial hair and their eyebrows were only a thin line above their eyes. The hair on their head was earth-toned, and I don't mean dull earth colors. Their hair seemed to copy the color from different elements of nature. Their hair was as long as mine, maybe longer. Aden had dark green hair that matched the color of the leaves around us. Benedict's hair was deep crimson, reminding me of roses.
They also had their hair held up in a ponytail with a long cylindrical holder, but their holders were even longer than the new one given to me by Isabelle. They also appeared to be made of tightly braided silk. It kind of reminded me of a Chinese finger trap.
They wore form-fitting, sleeveless, silk clothing. Despite that, their clothing didn't snag on the forest around them even once.
As we walked deeper into the forest, I could feel eyes on me. Hungry eyes. I heard a beeping noise which told me I'd received a system message but paid it no attention. I was too busy focusing on my surroundings and protecting my hide to care about a system message. Besides, it was probably just a warning about my hacking earlier.
Looking off to my left I saw a wolf larger than a bear lick his lips and wink at me. Just as I thought it doesn't get much weirder than that, more and more unique creatures started coming out of the woodworks.
A large plant waved its vines at me in a friendly gesture and a sweet scent stopped me for a second. The plant had a large flower bud on it that was closed, but as I stopped, the flower bud turned toward me like it could see me and opened. Inside were an enormous row of teeth, more vines that moved like a tongue, and a sack of pollen that looked like a uvula. I started walking faster to catch up to my elven escorts.
This forest was so thick with magic that I could feel it caressing my skin. I guess that was why so much of the plant-life seemed to be intelligent. Even the animals I saw had a heightened sense of intelligence, and ferocity, about them. I saw a boar that was only a little smaller than the winking wolf and it reminded me more of a small elephant than a pig. All the animals were enormous. A falcon flew over my head and made me gasp. It was the length of my leg from beak to tail and its beak was a little larger than my hand.
Now I knew why Tetherwood was such a dangerous place. You were more likely to get killed by the plant-life or animals before you ever reached the elves, but if you did manage to get close enough to the elves they didn't take kindly to outsiders. In fact, apart from dragons, I was the only outsider they'd ever let into their city.
We'd been walking for a few hours, with the forest getting thicker and darker, when I heard a catcall whistle. I looked off to my side and had trouble making out what was there through the thickness of the trees, even though night had come to an end and the sun was shining dimly through the dense trees.
I noticed something move and squinted to bring it into focus. Standing about ten feet away from me was a beautiful, naked woman. Her skin was a faint green and her hair was made of thick, flowery vines trailing down her skull. Her lips were a dark green that bordered on black and her eyes were the same brown as the bark on the tree she was leaning against.
She licked her lips, sucked on her finger for a moment, and then drew her hand in between her legs. With the other hand she beckoned me forward. Just like with the fanged plant that I'd seen earlier, a sweet smell flooded my senses. This one was stronger, and almost impossible to resist. I found myself starting to walk up to the woman as she slid down the tree and spread her legs wide in invitation.
Then I felt a firm grip on my shoulder and claws piercing my flesh. The pain was enough to wake me fr
om the strange trance the woman had put me in. I shook my head and then looked toward the hand on my shoulder. Bartholomew had his hand on me and was staring menacingly at the woman. His face no longer looked human as it was starting to form back into a dragon's head. His long fangs and protruding snout sent a jolt of fear through me, but he wasn't directing his anger at me. He growled a warning to the woman.
She stood up instantly and shrieked at him. It sounded like the yowl of a large cat. Her face changed at the same time. It was no longer beautiful, but reminded me of Medusa. The vines on her head moving like snakes, her eyes became large and pure black, her mouth opened about a foot wide and she had multiple rows of long, thin fangs that reminded me of acupuncture needles. Then she fled back into the woods and I noticed there was a large nest of women who looked just like her.
Some of them were engaged in intercourse with one another, others were in varying stages of tempting creatures in the forest like the one that tried to tempt me. One was on all fours being mounted by one of the large wolves I'd seen earlier. Another was holding the decapitated head of another wolf in her hands, letting the blood drip down her throat, while the headless body at her feet still had an erection.
Then I understood, these were the forest nymphs of Tetherwood that Aurora had told me about. She'd described them as precocious and witty, but all I saw was vicious and promiscuous. They were just like black widows or praying mantises who killed their mate after sex. The only difference was that these promiscuous beings didn't care who or what they had sex with as long as they could feed off it afterward.
“Watch yourself,” Bartholomew told me. “The forest nymphs use a powerful pheromone to attract their prey. Dragons and elves are immune to it, but it has a hypnotic effect on others that turns them into puppets. Sorry about this, I didn't think they would try to attack you with two elves and a dragon near you. I know it hurts, but until we pass their nests, I'm going to have to keep my claws in your shoulder. The pain negates your other feelings.”
Virtual Me- Valkyrie Page 12
