“Damn you!” I yelled, too stubborn to abandon my charge. Vexes merely narrowed his gaze at me, awaiting my attack.
“Fool,” the Asuran said as I swung my blade out wide, slicing through the air just inches above his shifting head. The Asuran swayed to the left and right, narrowly dodging each of my sword strikes as if I was just a child playing games of war.
Hilda gained her composure and darted back in, her dragon dance blade burning in her grasp as she leveled the weapon for a strike.
“Pest,” Vexes growled, momentarily taking his eyes off me to lash out at the approaching guardian. Again, his world breaker blade slammed into Hilda’s shield, this time sending her airborne into the high ceiling of the chamber. This was my chance!
I dove in with nevermore, taking aim at the Asuran’s bare chest... surely hit points wouldn’t matter with a sharp piece of metal jabbed through his heart!
As expected, Vexes made a quick turn and intercepted my attack with his blade, slashing at the space where my neck should’ve been... but I was no longer there. My apparition faded as I activated illusionary strike, reappearing at the demonic creature’s back. In the same breath I activated azure blade, drawing Aether into my sword as I combined the two skills for a potentially devastating blow. “Illusion of the Azure!” I roared as I stabbed my glowing blade forward, directly towards the Asuran’s exposed back. The red-skinned man turned, unable to bring his massive blade around in time to block my strike...
Instead, he reached out and grabbed my blade with his hand.
My forward progress halted as Vexes squeezed the glowing steel of my azure blade, lines of smoke trailing from in between the spaces of his fingers as thick, dark blood dripped from the fresh wound in his palm. He’d blocked my strongest attack with his bare hand… dammit all, he’d stopped it like it was nothing!
“Farewell, Darkblade,” Vexes uttered as he gave my blade a yank, pulling me in close. “You’ve done me well.”
An unbearable amount of pain suddenly ripped through my body as the world breaker blade came forward, piercing armor and flesh as it stabbed through my stomach and exited out my back.
“N-no,” I uttered as blood began to pool at the corners of my mouth and my health reticle took a massive plunge. The yellow eyes of Vexes narrowed as he ripped the blade free of my midsection, allowing my body to fall to the floor.
My vision began to swim as pain coursed through every fiber of my being and my blood spilled out onto the cold, stone floor. Notifications blinked in and out of my sight as my HP dipped dangerously low... death was oh so close.
I laid my head back against the stone floor as the sound of rushing water filled my ears. The water beneath the chamber was soothing, a small bit of comfort as I took my final breaths. The Aether of my familiars continued to churn within my body, willing me to action, perhaps the only thing fighting off my inevitable death. “S-sorry, guys,” I muttered as Vexes raised his blade for a final strike. A profound sadness began to overtake me as more blood began to form around my lips. I’d lost….
Dark energy swirled around the Asuran’s blade as he raised it into the air, calling forth his Asuran Vengeance. It swirled around the weapon like a vortex before settling into the ancient familiar blade… then, he struck.
The massive sword came barreling down in my direction, an attack meant to obliterate me off the face of the realm. I winced, unable to move as the weapon sought to deliver my end. Dammit all, I wasn’t ready to die...
Apparently, Hilda shared the same sentiment.
The winged guardian pushed herself with all the speed she could muster, swooping down over my bleeding body with her shield raised in defense. The world breaker blade came crashing down anyway, smashing into her aegis shield so hard that the cracks in the stone floor split, opening into a small chasm beneath my back.
Together, Hilda and I plunged into the raging current that ran beneath Ravenhold, swept away from the deadly Asurans, away from our friends that were likely no better than dead. My health reticle was depleted, and my flesh was ravaged and torn. Now, the only things left were the rush of the frigid water that encapsulated my body and the approach of absolute darkness.
PART 2
Fractured
10
An Unlikely Pairing
Year of Rebirth 078
Memories. Thoughts that rushed into my head before fading in the very next instant. Images in my mind’s eye.... places traveled, people met. I tried to grasp on to them, to wrap my mind around something real, but everything seemed to slip through my fingers like liquid…
Soon, the images faded and all that was left was the void... absolute dark. And then, a growing light.
Is... is this death?
The light absorbed me, stretching over every fiber of my existence, welcoming me in with a sudden warmth....
Suddenly, my eyelids flicked open. I took a deep breath, filling my lungs with air as the realization that I wasn’t dead began to settle in. My hands rose from my sides and slid over my stomach where a series of thick bandages lay strapped to my bare abdomen. The wounds were still there, and dammit all, did they ever hurt... and yet, I wasn’t dead. I wasn’t dead!
My gaze shifted up from my abdomen as I began to scan my surroundings, unfamiliar as they may be. I was in some sort of makeshift shelter, a large tent from the looks of it. The walls and ceiling were made of a thick maroon fabric, nearly transparent from the sun’s powerful rays beating down outside. Beneath me lay a tattered bedroll partially sunken into the soft ground, a pungent smell of “musty adventurer” emanating from the dark, green cloth. It certainly wasn’t paradise, but it was better than the bottom of the river.
I was pleased to see my health reticle had made a partial recovery, its color changed from an alarming red back to a calming green. Any status alignments I’d acquired had also been removed... Someone had worked to save my life, but who?
I turned my head to the left in order to get a look at the tent’s small exit, but quickly froze. My muscles tensed as I laid eyes on the strange man sitting next to me. Dammit all, I hadn’t even realized... but I wasn’t alone.
“Finally awake,” the man said, raising a white-haired eyebrow as he gazed upon my startled expression. He wasn’t human, but rather a derivative of the elvish species. His skin was a pale violet, a stark contrast to his long, white hair that he wore tied behind his head. His body was lean and his face angular, giving him a young appearance (though his true age was impossible to guess, at least for me). The last thing my eyes rested on was his long, pointy ears... a clear indicator of the man’s heritage. Sitting beside me was a dark elf.
“What, you don’t speak?” he asked, his voice sultry and smooth.
Before responding, I gave the man a quick inspection.
Name: Thamriul
Race: Dark Elf
Lvl 28 Daggermage
The dark elf rolled his eyes as I examined his information, clearly perturbed by my lack of dialogue. “You humans are such rude creatures. Didn’t your mother teach you any manners?”
The sudden mention of my late mother carried an unexpected sting. Despite the fact that the memories of my past life were fading, my mother was one thing that I would never forget.
“S-sorry,” I replied, burying my feelings as I fought to regain composure. “And thank you... for your help.” I rested my hand on my bandaged abdomen, careful not to put pressure on my sword wound.
Thamriul grinned. “No thanks needed. I’m not the one that saved you, human. I just came in here to get out of the damned sun.”
“Oh...” I said, not quite sure how to respond.
Carefully, I propped myself up onto my elbows before moving to a sitting position, grimacing from the pain in my abdomen. I still couldn’t believe that I’d survived the encounter with Vexes. Hell, I probably wouldn’t have if it wasn’t for...
“Hilda!” I yelled, ignoring my pain as I rose to a knee. If they’d pulled me out of the river then they must’ve gr
abbed her too! “Where’s Hilda?”
“Calm down, boy,” Thamriul replied as he moved to a crouching position. I could now see a single dagger sheathed at his waist.
“Please,” I begged, my voice becoming frantic. She had absorbed a direct hit from Vexes, after all. “Take me to Hilda.”
Thamriul frowned. “Listen, boy. We found you alone, unconscious, and floating down the damned river. There was nobody with you.”
My heart began to race as the dire nature of the situation began to dawn on me... Taryn was dead, Hilda was missing, and Brenton and Helena were likely trapped at Ravenhold or worse. Hell, even Max was being held up north in one of the raven outposts. The guild… that goddamned guild had a hand on everything I cared about in this realm... and there wasn’t a damned thing I could do.
With shaky hands, I pulled up my friends list, afraid of what I might find. As expected, Taryn’s name was gone, but to my relief Hilda, Helena, Brenton and Max all appeared to be alive and active still. That was a start.
“I need to find my friend, Hilda,” I said, forcing myself to my feet as a wave of pain and nausea washed over my body.
Thamriul rolled his cloudy blue eyes. “What is it with you humans and always shouting out the names of your women at the slightest bit of distress. ‘It is I, the overly hairy human. I am afraid, so bring me my wench and my booze and give me your land’.”
I scowled. “Dark elves don’t care for their women, then?” I shot back, cutting my eyes at the elf.
“Oh, we do,” he replied. “But we don’t disrespect them by shouting their names like buffoons and assuming that they can’t care for themselves. If I did that to my first lover, Lylia, she would’ve had me biting down on darkwood bark while she split my skin with her whip.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “So, what you’re saying is that dark elf men are nothing more than trained dogs that get scolded when they fall out of line? I think I’d rather be human any day.”
Thamriul immediately placed a hand on his dagger’s hilt. “Listen here, you wrinkly skin sack! If I didn’t yank you out of—” Thamriul abruptly paused his tirade as another form entered the tent, the newcomer’s large frame blocking out the rays of the sun that intruded through the tent’s opening.
Standing before us was a beast of a man, towering nearly a head higher than me and sporting broad shoulders that made my slender frame look downright puny. His face was covered in a thick, brown beard and his body was clad in earthy green plate. He would’ve been an imposing figure to be sure, if not for the gentle, welcoming nature of his green eyes.
Candor
Lvl 28
Spiritwalker
Familiar: Sledge (Nature Familiar)
The man’s calm gaze rested on me as he gave my bandaged torso a look over. Slowly, a smile began to form under his bushy beard. “Glad to see that you’re back on your feet,” he said, his voice deep yet somehow soothing, like a storyteller that had perfected his craft. “I did what I could with my healing spirit, but you were in pretty rough shape. Hopefully after a little more work I’ll have you good as new.”
“Thank you,” I replied, genuinely appreciative of the kindness he and that cocky dark elf had already shown me. “Without you two, I might’ve been...”
“Dead,” Thamriul replied with a wink and a sly grin. “Your soul would’ve been nothing but moondust, floating forever more in the continuous stream of time and—”
“I think the boy gets it,” Candor interrupted as he placed a hand on the dark elf’s shoulder. After giving the elf a stern look, his focus slowly shifted back to me. “So, how did you end up in such rough shape... Zander?” he asked, clearly reading my name off the character info that was displayed on a translucent screen in his field of vision. “It’s not every day you come across a man with a hole in his gut just floating down the river.”
“I was... betrayed,” I replied, recalling the overwhelming power of those damned Asurans. “My friends and I were led to believe in something that just wasn’t what we thought... we were led into darkness. Now, they’re likely either in the hands of my attackers or lost to the winds...”
Candor bore a look of concern as I explained the nature of my situation, but Thamriul seemed to perk up. “You know, not all of your friends are lost. A few of them actually helped lead me to your old water-logged body.”
I cocked an eyebrow in suspicion as the dark elf strolled past Candor and fully yanked open the tent.
It was then that I saw them, a trio of creatures perched atop an overturned log, patiently awaiting news of my recovery. Worry was etched into each of their faces.... that is, until they laid eyes upon me. I couldn’t help but grin as my gaze met their own and they began charging towards the tent. Razyr, Salence and Kord... My familiars.
“Zander!” Razyr howled as his scaly body leapt into my arms. “You’re well!”
“Sort of,” I replied as Salence wrapped his body around the back of my neck in a draconic embrace. Kord, being Kord, took a seat at my feet and let out a prolonged croak.
After a short but much needed reunion, Candor led us out of the tent and into his tiny riverside encampment, a simple setup featuring a large tent, a pair of travel packs strung to a nearby tree, and a small charred barbecue spit which sat atop a makeshift fire pit What really caught my attention was a massive boar-like creature tied to one of the larger oaks... a hairy mass of bulk with long, curved tusks and thick hooves that appeared harder than stone. I’d seen some awfully large familiars, but this creature didn’t seem to have that mystical nature about it. Perhaps it was a pet or hell, maybe a mount?
“That’s Horus,” Candor said, as he strolled over and gave the beast a stroke across his bristly back. “And he’s better than any horse in the realm.”
Thamriul shook his head. “Don’t lie, Candor. He’s just a damned war wagon with tusks.”
Candor grinned, failing to suppress a chuckle. Horus on the other hand, cocked his large head and let out a snort.
><><
After a few moments of acquainting myself with the area, I sat down with the men as Thamriul went to work roasting the carcass of a young elken he’d tracked down. As I sat, each of my familiars took turns cycling their Aether through my body, providing a slight bit of added regeneration to my still-serious wound. Candor sat opposite me with a familiar of his own, a gray lizard-like creature with stones embedded into its skin... a nature familiar named Sledge.
“Thanks again, for helping me,” I said, running my fingers across Salence’s scaly back and drawing a purr from the small dragon.
“No thanks needed,” Candor replied as he prodded at the roasting elken, eagerly awaiting the meal’s completion. “I should be able to finish healing you up tomorrow. Being a spiritwalker, I have restrictions on how far I can push my spirit auras each day.”
“I’m just happy to be alive,” I replied, resting my free hand over my abdomen. I wanted more than anything to go out and search for Hilda, but I knew I’d be next to useless with this wound. Perhaps Tham was right… perhaps I just needed to have a little more faith in her.
Candor adjusted himself on the log where he sat before leaning in a bit closer. “So... I heard you yelling that woman’s name. Hilda, was it? Were you two separated?”
I nodded. “The floor caved in beneath us and we were both sucked into the current that ran beneath our old guild’s stronghold. From what I could tell, she was in better shape than me when it happened, but still...”
“I’m sure she’s ok,” Candor said with reassurance. “This river runs quite a ways south. It’s likely that you just got separated in the current and she washed up a bit farther down.”
“Then I have to find her,” I said, grimacing as I moved forward on my seat. Talk of the guardian had made my concern resurface.
“Easy,” Candor urged, reaching over and placing a hand on my shoulder as he guided me back to my seat. “Let’s get you fixed up first, then Tham and I will help you find her.”
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I gave the man a puzzled look. “Why are you so willing to help me?”
Candor gave me a solemn grin, a smile that seemed to mask a deep pain behind it. “I made a lot of mistakes in my old life...” he said, his gaze shifting to his feet. “And I hurt the person that meant the most to me. I actually logged into this world a few weeks after everyone got trapped, just trying to search for him.” He let out a slight chuckle. “I actually thought it would kill me. My old life... it just didn’t seem to hold any more meaning.”
I gave the man a sympathetic look. “You’re lucky you still remember any of it... a lot of players… er, people went mad or have begun to suffer memory loss since coming here.”
Candor raised his head, meeting my gaze once more. “Oh, I wasn’t exempt from loss of memory, but I found a way to counteract it.” The spiritwalker reached into a nearby hanging bag and produced a small, leather-bound journal. “As soon as it all began, I started writing down the reason I was here each and every day... I refuse to forget.”
Slowly, the man peeled open the journal, revealing pages filled with the same sentence written over and over. My eyes went wide as I mouthed the words, those impossible words that seemed to force out any thought or feeling that I might’ve had. I read the words aloud, my voice cracking as I slowly pronounced each syllable... “I must find my son, Adam. I must find my son, Adam. I must find my son, Adam.”
11
Reunion
“This can’t be possible,” I mouthed the words, unable to produce sound as I gazed upon the pages of Candor’s journal. The bearded man cocked an eyebrow, unsure how to gauge my reaction.
I tried to compose myself and went on. “Did... did you say you’ve been here in Aetheria since the beginning?”
The Blade Guardian Page 7
