Woad Children (Challenger's Call Book 3)

by Nathan Thompson

  I told you that was a good idea, Horny-Dragon-Me spoke up. Maybe they’ll even—

  Hush. Or you’ll make this weird.

  “Yeah, I was kind of loopy back then,” I said awkwardly. “I uh, don’t remember exactly what I said after the fight.”

  But the tall woman just laughed, and began to help me fit on my new gambeson.

  “We wouldn’t have you any other way, dear Wes,” she told me with a smile.

  CHAPTER EIGHT: CHIEFTAIN’S RITES

  Two weeks of rest and training passed under a misty sky. Guineve and Breena, and now Ball-ee, did what they could to help everyone get past all the trauma we had suffered. Virtus still trained everyone in combat. No more portals had opened up, probably because the Malus Members figured out Avalon was a death trap for them now, but I refused to believe we’d never get attacked again. Again, constructive pessimism.

  The three Testifiers had begun to help out as well. Eadric had taken the role of main craftsman in our village, working with the men to help construct the tools we’d need to construct other things. Weylin led the hunters and gatherers in getting us more food. Finally, Karim began keeping records of anything our mindscreens wouldn’t automatically update us on. That turned out to be a lot of things, actually. Mindscreens only inform a person when they Rise or improve in some way, or when something horrible has happened and they need to hurry up and pay attention. So Karim had worked directly with Avalon on creating records of virtually everything we’d need, just in case Avalon had another one of its infuriating data errors.

  They also began to train others in their crafts. They said it was both for the community and because they figured they’d need more Testifiers to take note of all of the fantastic events happening. I allowed it, on the condition that they taught their magics to any good candidates among my people. They had a brief argument among themselves about whether or not they were allowed to do that, until Karim cited an old law of their order that commanded them to render any aid asked of them by a Challenger. That solved it, but they made me promise on the spot that I’d never use the same law to make them fetch my slippers or something.

  They didn’t realize my fingers were crossed though.

  At any rate, they continued teaching me as well, and I was able to use the skill points I had been saving from numerous Rises to bring all three of the Saga magics to be close to my skill level in all of my Ideal magics. Which happened to match my Risen level, 13, for now. That was a significant milestone. There was some kind of formula that meant when I hit certain odd ranks, usually twice the old ranks plus one, I received a new title for my skill and got additional benefits. So far, the ranks seemed to be Layman (1-5), Initiate (6-12), Journeyman (13-26), Practitioner (27-54), and Adept (55-110). There were more ranks beyond that but Stell said not to worry about them. When I asked why the ranks were assigned at such a stupid range of numbers, she just shrugged and said she wasn’t the one who determined how the Expanse worked. I supposed it was just a natural phenomenon, which made more sense than believing a person could actually be stupid enough to write up such an asinine number range for the entire Expanse to naturally use.

  Also, most people never really made it past Journeyman unless they went through numerous Rises, and even reaching Adept was very rare. So the ranking titles were actually misleading as well. At any rate, just like how my fighting skills all had a tiny bit of synergy with each other, all of the miscellaneous bonuses from the various magics actually helped me better understand magic as a whole. The final benefit from my semi-ambitious, semi-crazy training regimen came in the form of yet another notice from my mindscreen.

  The Challenger has reached the rank of Journeyman in two completely different schools of magic, specifically Ideal and Saga. The Challenger has taken another step on the Path of the Archmage. Limitations to spell-casting such as encumbrance or fatigue will now be easier to ignore. The level of hindrance ignored will be dependent upon the Challenger’s Will.

  That was possibly a huge benefit. I’d have to find a way to figure out just how much my Will trait would help me with that. Just in case I wound up at the bottom of a lake all tied up, gagged and in heavy armor.

  The biggest surprise of all had turned out to be Val, though.

  She had shown up to every single training exercise Virtus had created for her. She had even shown up to the militia drills, or when Virtus exclusively worked with me or the other three Testifiers. Each time Virtus told her there wasn’t a way to participate she would sit quietly and watch the others fight, and then ask us questions afterwards about nearly every detail of the fight, despite not really having a way to take notes (paper and parchment were still rare right now). Other times, Virtus would have her do calisthenics while we trained. Whenever he gave her a specific number she’d reach it every single time and whenever he didn’t, she’d run or do push-ups until she threw up. She was still small, not even coming up to my shoulder, even after Rising just before her training with Virtus, she still wasn’t strong enough to handle heavy weapons and armor for long combat.

  But she was unbelievably quick.

  Just as Virtus had told me, she closed in and retreated from her enemy easily. When I sparred with her, she kept surprising me, and when I watched her spar with someone else it was like seeing leaves dance in the wind. She shouldn’t have been able to do it, but somehow she was, and she was able to do so while fighting with a weapon in each hand, one of the hardest combat styles to begin with. Her cuts were impressively precise and she kept both blades far enough apart to avoid tangling them up, or to avoid having them both be parried at the same time. Weylin, our other dual-wielder, had been shocked at her speed of progression, and Virtus privately told me that she may be an even more determined student than I was.

  I wanted to disagree, except for another fact. Val never won a single fight with any of us. She never even touched me with her blades. But she never complained once about that fact, never punched the ground in frustration, never stalked off in a temper. She just kept trying to get better.

  It was the final reason I agreed to her request. Even though it felt like the stupidest decision I ever made.

  “So,” the dark-haired girl said as we walked in front of the tunnel. “The four of you all went down here that time? You, Breena, and the three guys?”

  “We used a different entrance, but yeah,” I answered, Breena bobbing in agreement as she hovered over my shoulder. “That was back when there was a massive trap-laden wall around everything.”

  “We remember,” Karim answered from behind.

  “Especially your own role, mighty Challenger,” Weylin added patronizingly.

  “Couldn’t have disarmed it all without your help,” Eadric grunted.

  Val turned to look at them.

  “I get the feeling they’re making fun of you,” the girl noted.

  “You will probably be getting that feeling for the entire time we are with them,” I grumbled. “Remember when we used to play Pathwalker together, with Rachel and Dad?”

  “Yeah,” the young teenager said slowly.

  “Every one of these guys is basically Andre in those campaigns.”

  “Ohhhhhh…” Her eyes widened in comprehension.

  Andre was the foreign exchange student from Mexico, and one of my sister’s friends. He was the only player I had ever met that perfectly walked both sides of the line between ‘useful team player’ and ‘asshole.’ Even when he didn’t play a rogue or bard.

  “I remember seeing that wall when we hid down there before,” Val answered, returning to the earlier topic. “Still didn’t make much sense. Especially when it all came down.”

  “There’s a long list of things about this place that don’t make sense,” I answered. In fact, they might start affecting you too, I didn’t add.

  Full disclosure, I didn’t want Val to come with us. She’s a fourteen-year-old girl that I had come to view as a sister, and had just gotten back. Bringing her with us felt like the most
freaking stupid decision ever made.

  Except for the fact that she was determined, the way Breena and everyone else said I was at the beginning. And because, according to Stell, Earthborn always grow explosively when they leave their home world.

  Finally, from Breena’s examinations, Val kept her resurrection ability. The same one I used to have before torture depleted it.

  Moving on from that thought.

  Even though she was here in her original body, she could still resurrect with a projected body. Then, according to Rhodes’ men that I captured, provided she created her projected body in a safe location and survived the next 24 hours, the projection would become her original body and she would be back to normal, with almost no downsides.

  Except for the fact that dying itself is extremely traumatic and almost drove me crazy the first time I did it.

  Scratch that. I started hearing voices in my head not five minutes after my first death. No more using me as an example.

  But Val had already gone through trauma. And she was pulling together as a survivor right before my eyes.

  So in conclusion, my heart hated the idea of Val coming, my head said the idea could possibly work, and my gut said it was the exact call we needed. 2 to 1, my heart lost.

  We walked forward into the tunnel, all seven of us. Myself, Breena, Karim, Eadric, Weylin, Virtus, and Val. I had debated leaving Virtus behind to guard our new settlement out of gamer-ingrained paranoia, but I dropped the idea because it was so obviously stupid considering that the settlement was deep inside an underground complex on a world I had full surveillance on. And because Virtus had insisted on coming with Val.

  “Hey, Val!” a voice called from behind us. I turned to see a young girl Val’s age, pale-skinned, with jet-dark hair and a white dress, running up to us.

  Talitha. The first resurrected Avalonian. The former ghost who had guided me to the Shelter.

  “I heard you were going out on a trip with Mr. Dragon,” the young girl said curiously.

  Val looked surprised to see her.

  “Um, yeah. Yeah, I am,” Val said, her voice growing firm. “I have to keep an eye on him. He’s my brother.”

  “Oh, okay.” Talitha swayed to a stop, then kept swaying in place. “That makes sense. Is he about to complete another Rite?”

  “Umm, maybe?” Val answered carefully. “I’m not a hundred percent clear on what those are. And why do you keep calling him Mr. Dragon?”

  “Because he’s a dragon, silly,” Talitha giggled. “You’re asking the same question he did.”

  Val turned to look at me, squinting carefully and cocking her head in confusion.

  “I have no idea,” I said with a shrug. “She started calling me that before I had that crazy power-up, so I don’t think it’s the reason she gave me the nickname.” The Avalonian seemed to nod in agreement. “But I can promise I’ve never breathed fire and not told you about it.”

  “Hmph,” my little sister said, rolling her eyes. But there was a twinkle there that I recognized. For another minute we were our old selves again, doing homework together or playing video games.

  “Okay, well, have fun,” Talitha said with a shrug. “Remember not to overuse that trick I taught you though, or you’ll get bored really quick.”

  “Talitha!” Val hissed. “You’re gonna ruin the surprise!”

  “Oops.” The other young teen covered her mouth. “I mean, just kidding. Mr. Dragon, your sisters are really smart though. Goodbye!”

  And before I could get a more satisfying explanation the pale girl spun on her heels and vanished into a tiny wisp of mist. She reappeared some thirty feet away, translucent as if she was made out of mist herself. She remained there long enough to stick her tongue out at us, and then she vanished again, this time completely from sight.

  “Show off,” Val grumbled, and I turned to cock an eyebrow at her. “She keeps doing that to show the four of us just how far we have to go until we can mist step that easily too. I’ll catch up to her though.”

  “Wait,” I asked. “Did you just say you can do that same vanishing trick the Avalonians can? And that Sam and Kayla can do it too?”

  “And Gabby.” Val nodded. “She thought all four of us could learn it for some reason.” The young Asian suddenly blinked in realization. “Crap. I uh, I was going to save that as a surprise.”

  “Why?” I demanded. “Val, that’s an awesome power! That could save someone’s life! Why would you feel the need to hide it?”

  Her eyes widened in realization. Then her entire face fell. “I didn’t think of that.” Her head began to hang. “I uh, thought I’d hold onto it until we really needed…”

  For a minute I was upset because I couldn’t think of why she would do something so mind-bogglingly stupid. Save a power you hadn’t finished comprehending until the minute you really needed it, thereby increasing your chance of failure? Because you squandered a bunch of opportunities to practice it, and because your teammates can’t synergize with a power they don’t know you have. Something that stupid only works when you can’t trust your teammates, or when you’re in a movie and you need to make a big flashy entrance…

  And just like that, I realized Val was still trying to impress me. Still trying to convince me she was good enough.

  Still trying to make up for a lie others had forced her to tell.

  “Hey, Val,” I said, bending down a bit because even though she was a teenager now, she was still short. “Remember our Pathwalker games? How everyone got to know up front which class you played?”

  She nodded glumly, not meeting my eyes.

  “Well, this is going to be a little like that,” I continued gently. “I get that you want to show me you have what it takes. But the fear that comes with that feeling? It’s always going to get in the way. It’s never going to give you good advice. I still have to ignore it myself, and I’ve had all kinds of practice.”

  “Really?” she asked, looking back up at me.

  “Yeah.” I nodded. “Handling Challenges is just like anything else back on Earth. You’ve got to figure out how to ignore the part of your brain that keeps giving dumb advice.”

  “Oh,” she said, biting her lip. “I guess I should have told you earlier.”

  “That’s okay.” I grinned at her. “Every day you survive to learn from your mistakes in this business is a day you’ve won.”

  She grinned back. It made me happy.

  And then my own advice washed back over me.

  I survived…

  I wanted to argue, to point out all the crazy voices and other problems I had now. But the truth was that I wasn’t dead, even though I died in the past and often still felt dead. But in spite of all of that, I was still trying to make the best of things and still growing, learning, and Rising.

  The burden over my core, the one I always pushed on to Rise, shuddered, condensed to press back down on me, then shuddered again.

  I had survived, I realized. Therefore, whatever I felt and whatever had actually happened, I had gotten at least one victory every day.

  I survived… I’ve won every day so far.

  Failure is Non-permanent.

  All is not lost.

  “Um, is he okay?” Val asked after a moment.

  “Yeah,” Breena answered. She flew in front of me and looked at my face. “He’s just zoning out again. He does that from time to time, if you leave him alone long enough. You back, Wes?”

  “Yeah, sorry,” I replied with a sheepish grin. “Just processing my own advice. Let’s move out.”

  “Hey Wes,” Breena spoke up again. “Mind if I hang back with the new gal? Make sure she knows the ropes and everything? It’s her first Challenge. With us at least.”

  “Yeah, you can do that. We’re all supposed to look out for each other anyway,” I answered. “But it’s a good idea to coach her like you’ve coached me.”

  “Sure thing. Maybe I can keep her from cheating as much as you do, too,” the fairy grumbled as she
flew over to Val. “Hi! I’m Breena! Pretend this is the first time meeting me, and tell me your name.”

  Val grinned at her.

  “Is this because you’re not the only girl in the group anymore?”

  “You have no idea,” Breena sighed. “But yes.”

  I smiled too and turned back around. As I started to walk forward, Val called out one last time.

  “Hey Wes? I think my ‘class’ is ‘rogue.’ Does that help?”

  “Yeah, Val,” I said with another smile. “Thanks. You’re way ahead of me if you’ve already got it narrowed down that far.” Then hating myself for just now remembering, I concentrated and sent a message to her with my mind.

  Battle with me, sister.

  The dark-eyed girl blinked in surprise, then nodded, then blinked again as a new awareness washed between her and me. I got a deeper awareness of her abilities at the exact same time she became aware of what I could do.

  Dang, I thought. She wasn’t kidding about being a rogue.

  “Ahem,” Karim coughed. “If we are ready, now?”

  “Yeah, sorry,” I said. “Let’s go.”

  #

  I looked down the dark tunnel, and realized I was being paranoid.

  There should be nothing down here anymore. Not on any the levels we’ve been to before. There could be all kinds of things behind the sealed doors, although that didn’t seem likely unless those tunnels somehow had their own water supply and ecosystem as well. Everything down here should already be dead. Just like the Detrite had been. Or Virtus’ Immortal Legion had been. So forget that helpful thought.

  Still, though, I had executed the classic gamer strategy of thoroughly looting the dungeon and slaughtering everything we could. There should be no more traps. There should be no more undead skeletons. There should be no more lingering, whimpering ghosts.

  I told myself all that, and then commanded we kept our eyes sharp anyway. Through the mindlink, I felt everyone else’s paranoia agree with that idea. So we walked back down into the tunnels, leaving the safety of the manor’s meadow for the dark, still-probably-safe-but-hey-you-can’t-be-too-careful caverns that reached under so many places in Avalon.