With one goblin left, it would be the perfect time to pump it for information, but without a way to communicate, there is nothing we can do. Kindra has gotten all the information we need from its mind. I’ll give the goblin credit, though. Even after witnessing the death of all of his party, he still defies us in the face of certain death. Unblinking, he stares at us as my blade pierces his green skin and severs the life from his body.
We loot the bodies and take everything we can fit into our packs. The armor can be deconstructed and repurposed once we are back in Carolton and their weapons will come in handy for the inevitable battle. They are cruder than the bronze weapons most soldiers and even the bandits had, but it will be an upgrade for many of the stableboys whose only defense is a pitchfork. I take the slingshot and pebbles for myself, having an inkling of how I can put them to use.
Among their camp, we find several tents, burnt meat, and some amber liquid. I try to analyze it but learn nothing. Instead, I place it in my bag for later.
“That was some pretty good teamwork back there,” says Carter as we walk on the road by the light of the moon. Our recent encounter has taught me how foolish it is to give away our location in the open. Walking in the dark with my shield as a giant beacon, we’re lucky we weren’t attacked. I’ll save the Shield of Light for dungeons and caves from now on.
Once we are far enough from the goblin battle, we settle down for the night in a dense copse of trees using our newly acquired tents.
It’s the first time I sleep in the game and I have the most vivid dreams of electrical charges traveling through my brain, each charge stopping at a memory. The memory plays like a holographic image and my brain throbs before the electrical charge moves on to another. They pass over my time in the mines, the Developer’s Tournament; there are some scenes I don’t remember, but I recognize myself as a child. I briefly see Merlin and try to stay in that memory, but I have no power and he is whisked away.
A gentle hand presses into my shoulder and I’m blinded by sunlight when I open my eyes.
“You were out cold,” says Carter, leaning into my tent. “It’s time to get a move on.”
It’s a bright and sunny day as we journey back towards Carolton. I use my mana to temporarily enchant our boots for one hour at a time, increasing our speed. We make good time, bypassing the Cursed Forest. Who knows what could be waiting for us in there now, and we certainly have more pressing issues. It’s better to take the longer route and avoid the risk altogether.
My dreams continue to cross my mind as we walk. Was my mind actually dreaming or was whatever that energy was scanning my brain? Everything feels so real here that I often forget I am only here mentally. Could that be the real reason I’m here, to study the effect this technology has on the brain?
Those answers will have to wait. Right now, we have a town to save.
“Do you think that the king will send soldiers to defend Carolton? Or your lord? We could send a raven to the castle,” I ask my group.
Carter scowls and Kindra lets out a sarcastic laugh.
“No way,” she says. “The king only sends soldiers to intimidate and quell the unrest. If he has an inkling that there will be an invasion, he will pull all of his soldiers back to the castle. That’s where Lord Regis will be as well. Commoners, small town… to him, those can all be replaced.”
“Do you think that’s true, Carter?”
“Unfortunately, I do. You saw the bandits before we left. If he wouldn’t send help for them, why would he protect a town where the only information he knows is how much taxes we owe?” He says it with the luster of someone who has been let down too many times by those he has looked to for support and protection.
Aleesia’s words cross my mind. ‘You can’t save them all, Esil. You just can’t.’ I can’t save the kingdom, but I can do my best to help save the town.
“Then we will just have to do it on our own,” I say. “How long do you think we have until the goblins realize that their scouts aren’t coming back?”
“A week, maybe more, maybe less.”
A week. One week to prepare a town with only a wooden wall and a handful of soldiers for an invasion of goblin warriors. I have my work cut out for me.
“It’s a little surprising that all of the scouts were together last night, don’t you think? Seems smarter to spread them out.”
“From what I gathered from their minds, they are a more barbaric society. They thrive off of brute strength and power, not intelligence. Which is all the more reason we need to hurry.”
For the rest of our journey, our enchanted boots help us make excellent time. Carter carries Florian on his shoulders. Luckily for us, we pass no other travelers on the road. Could be that all of these new magical creatures have people afraid to venture out. We don’t even pass any bandits.
We encounter several new creatures and I use my analyze skill to determine what they are, but we don’t stay to fight. The only time we are forced to fight is when a swarm of fairies blocks the road.
We attempt to go around, but the annoying creatures cross our path no matter which way we go. They utter high-pitched squeals and hover in the air, holding out their hands greedily as if telling us we need to pay a toll to pass.
If you want payment, here it comes.
I take the slingshot and bag of pebbles from my pack. Strapping the bag of pebbles to my belt for easy access, I load one pebble into the slingshot and focus my mana into it. The pebble grows cold in my fingers. Once the enchantment is ready, I let the pebble fly and it soars across the sky, hitting a fairy in the gut. Ice cracks out from the impact and runs along the fairy’s body, freezing its wings in place. It falls to the ground, breaking off an arm and wing. The other fairies chitter in response and dive for us.
“You couldn’t give us some warning?” Kindra yells. She fires an arrow and mentally guides it through the air, ripping holes in the wings of two fairies. With wounded wings, they fall to the ground and attempt to run away, squealing as Florian chases them. She then follows up with quick psionic blasts, enough to disorient but not kill.
Carter has somehow managed to summon a large flower creature the size of Florian that shoots petals like projectiles into the swarm of fairies. While the flower takes out fairies like a surface to air missile, Carter jabs his trident towards any fairy unlucky enough to come within his range.
A sharp pain courses through my neck and I reach up to find a fairy sinking its razor-sharp teeth into my skin. I pull it away and it gnashes its bloody teeth at me. In a fit of anger, I throw it to the floor and stomp down with a sickening crunch.
I load another pebble into my slingshot. This time, when it hits, a violent explosion rips the fairy apart like a hand grenade, sending pieces of it raining down on its brethren.
I lose track of Kindra and Carter in the fight, but the number of fairies continues to dwindle. They are out of reach of my sword and are now throwing projectiles at us from a distance. Several try to pour fairy dust on us, but Carter has pinwheel plants that blow the dust away any time it gets near. I stick to my slingshot, alternating between ice pebbles and explosions, and before long, we’ve eliminated the threat.
“Damn fairies. Most annoying creatures we’ve encountered by far. They’re like mosquitoes, but worse,” says Kindra. She wipes a streak of purple blood from her cheek.
“I hear you on that,” echoes Carter.
We gather the loot from the bodies, which include several more vials of fairy dust, and head on our way once again.
With all of the armor, weapons, and loot we’ve gathered over the past day, my pack is almost full and I’m nearly at my limit for what I can carry.
Checking the map, we’re only a couple of hours away from Carolton. The boot enchantment has really made this trip a lot easier.
When we arrive at the gates to Carolton, they are barred shut. The guards who normally stand sentry outside have retreated inside and peer at us through a slot.
“Who goes there?�
�� the guard asks.
“Kindra, and these are my two companions. We have grave news for the council. You must let us in at once.”
The guard stares at us with suspicion.
“I have direct orders to not allow any outsiders into the town. You may enter, but your companions may not. Have them stand back and I will allow you to pass.”
“That’s not going to work.”
“Then you shall not en—”
The guard stops mid-sentence and Kindra has her hand pressed to her temple. A moment later, the gate opens and we enter.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The streets inside Carolton are eerily quiet. We bypass the single guard at the gate and he comes to with a slight shake of his head once we are safely away. Only a few merchants have set up shop, and a fraction of the populous seems to be about.
“We need to find Priscilla and then we need to go to the town council building,” says Kindra.
Heads follow us as we run through the courtyard. What few people there are gasp at the sight of Florian. It’s not every day they see a bush walking through town.
We arrive at Priscilla’s cottage and the black building with the white hand seems less obtrusive than I last remember. The handprint on the door is dirty and faded, making the building almost fit in with the surroundings.
Kindra knocks at the door, but there’s no answer. After a few more attempts, we enter anyways. The inside is just as I remember. Dozens of vials and containers filled with various colored liquids and herbs. Papers are scattered around the room, and a cat sits idly in a leather chair.
We walk through the cottage, calling Priscilla’s name to no response.
In the room where Carter first met Florian, the same glowing orb still moves through the air, bathing the plants in light. Florian extends an appendage and wraps his vines around the light source. His leaves immediately grow a brighter green and he seems stronger, healthier even. Whatever that orb is, it has power.
Priscilla isn’t here.
“Where else could she be?” I ask.
“I—I don’t know. She could be on a house call, but those very rarely happened. We don’t have time to search her out, though. We need to warn the council of what is coming,” says Kindra.
Just as we are walking out the door, an alert flashes across my vision.
System Alert: you will be logged out in one in-game hour.
“One hour?” I say to myself, but both Carter and Kindra look at me.
“What is it?” asks Carter.
“I have to go back to my world in an hour. We need to set our plan in motion before then.”
Kindra takes us to a building near the town dungeon. A staircase leads up to a second story entrance. We follow her up.
This time, she doesn’t knock, just barges right in. A group of people sit around a table arguing. They go silent when we enter.
An older man with a short gray beard is the first to speak. He wears nicer clothes than most of the townspeople. Whoever he is, he isn’t a laborer.
“Kindra, what is the meaning of this?”
“Jacob, our town is going to be attacked by goblins.” She cuts right to the chase. “They are crossing Thunder Mountain as we speak. My companions and I came across several scouts and were able to take them out before they made it here.”
The table is silent. A middle-aged brunette woman stares out the window while the other two men, one bald and the other with frizzy brown hair, whisper among themselves.
Finally, the older man speaks again. “First elves, and now goblins. What is coming of the world?”
“Elves? What do you mean?” asks Kendra.
“They have been spotted near the Endless Forest. I feel the end times are upon us.”
The woman returns her gaze to the room and for the first time, notices Florian. She leaps out of her seat with a scream.
“What is that?” she asks, pointing a shaking finger at Florian.
Florian steps behind Carter’s leg, concealing all but his head.
“He’s mine. And he’s on our side,” says Carter.
“What do you mean ‘our side’?” the woman spits.
“A war is coming whether you like it or not. The world has changed. You may think it’s the end times, but I feel like it’s a new beginning. We have the opportunity to change the world. Magic is real again. Creatures of myth roam the meadows and the forests. It is truly an amazing time to be alive, but if we are going to be around to see it, we have to stop those that want to destroy us.”
“I don’t believe it,” says the bald man. He wears a rich robe and several gaudy rings on his fingers. “We have yet to see any of this for ourselves. All this is hearsay and conjecture. It has the town in a panic, and for what? There has been no proof.”
“No proof?” asks Carter. “You want proof?” He pulls something from his pocket and tosses it on the table.
“A seed? That’s your proof of magic and a new world. Of all the—”
The seed begins to shake. It bounces a little and flips over several times like a hatching egg. A crack forms and two green saplings reach out to the table. A moment later, they form into roots, more saplings shoot out and stems begin to grow into the air. It continues to grow until a large daisy stands in the middle of the table.
If that wasn’t enough, Kindra presses her fingers to her temple and the table they’re at rises slowly into the air. A foot off the ground, she releases the table and it falls with a smack.
“Gods help us,” says the man. “We’re doomed.”
“Not if you let us help you,” I say. “How many people do you have in Carolton?” I ask. Whatever the number, I know it’s not a lot and we will need every one of them.
“Around three hundred,” says Jacob. “If you take away the children and elderly, we have about two hundred who can fight. A little over half are men.”
“And, Kindra, do you know how many goblins are coming?”
She shakes her head. “I can’t say for sure, but from what I saw in the goblin’s memories, there were at least three hundred. The difference is that they are all fighters, even the children.”
You have completed the quest ‘Save Carolton, Part 1.’ Reward: Your standing within the town has increased.
You have been given the quest ‘Save Carolton, Part 2.’ Defend the town from the impending attack. Reward: High standing in the town and other benefits.
Other benefits? I wonder what that could mean. If I want to find out, we will have to defend the town first.
Over the next hour, we explain everything we know about magic, our own powers, and what we’ve seen in the world. Jacob, the gray-haired man, is the town governor. Being such a small town, it doesn’t give him very many powers, but he convenes with the council to make all decisions at least once a week. Taking advice from others means that if nothing else, he isn’t stubborn.
They all agree that the king will not send help. The reason they were meeting to begin with is to decide how to guard the town. The king had recalled his guards the day after we left on our quest. The only guards in Carolton at the moment are local militia with no experience in combat.
Regardless of whether or not the king will help, we send ravens to every town in the kingdom to warn them of other possible attacks and to request assistance. If there are elves appearing from the Endless Forest, they may mean harm as well.
“How do we prepare for a goblin invasion?” asks Jacob. “Where do we even begin?”
I don’t know the first thing about actual defenses, so I stay silent. Luckily, some of the council have ideas.
Tarence, the frizzy-haired man, who is also the town blacksmith, is the first to offer help. “I can get to work on weapons immediately. I know we aren’t prepared for battle. We are a farm town and a trading post. The extent of my blacksmithing has been for horseshoes and farm tools, but I still remember a thing or two from my training in the kingdom. I can make spears easy enough. Swords will take more work. As far as the
town goes, it may be prudent to add turrets or some kind of defense along the perimeter.”
“We also have a handful of weapons we took from the goblins,” I offer.
The bald man, Clinton, is the town moneylender. Responsible for making loans to local farmers and businesses, he has a great deal to lose if the town falls and is the closest thing the town has to nobility.
“If you require money or assistance, I will do whatever I can.” I don’t trust the man, but I trust his self-interest, so I make a mental note of his offer.
The woman who had a panic attack over seeing Florian is named Gertle. “I can make sure the workers are well fed while they build up our town. Send me several women and we will handle the cooking en masse.”
“If you don’t mind, can I talk to Kindra and Carter in private for a moment?” Jacob nods and leads us into another room, where he closes the door behind us, leaving us alone.
“What’s up?” Kindra asks.
“They were quick to join our cause, which is great, but I don’t know the first thing about city building or preparing for war,” I say.
“None of us do,” says Carter. “But we will figure it out together.” He seems the least worried of all of us.
“I have to go back soon. Do you think we can handle things while I am away?”
“It’s not like we have a choice, is it?” Kindra smirks.
“You should call a town meeting and inform everyone of the situation. It may help ease panic if we are forthcoming with information.”
“It will work itself out, Esil. I have a few ideas of my own for defenses and it just might take a week to get them up,” says Carter.
I say my good-byes and leave the council room. If I’m going to be pulled from the game, I want to bind myself somewhere so that I will be safe when I return and not dropped randomly on a street like before.
I make my way back to Priscilla’s. She still hasn’t returned, but once I enter, I bind myself to her cottage and wait to be pulled out.
Pangea Online: The Complete Trilogy Page 42
