by Adam Drake
Stepping back, he said. “There, all better.”
She gave him a perplexed look. “Was that the first time you've done that? Heal someone?”
“Yup. Didn't have the spell until just now.” He shook his head in wonder. “This changes things for me in a big way. You have no idea.”
“I've been casting heal nearly my entire life,” she said, looking away. “It's no big deal.”
Rob remembered who he was talking with. “Right. No biggie for you. But let's not forget this 'tool' of yours risked his life to save you without a healing spell.”
Myna shrugged, but didn't speak.
Not sure what to make of her behaviour, Rob put his gloves back on and geared up, again. “Look, I appreciate the help, but I still have to be somewhere else.”
“You have more to do?” Myna said. “Aren't you going to make a camp and cook something?”
“Huh?” Rob said. “No, I don't have time. Why, are you hungry?”
“Do I have to remind you I was trapped for-.”
“- two days,” Rob finished for her. “Yes, I'm well aware. Here.” He pulled out a strip of cooked trench lizard meat and handed to her. “That should tide you over for a while.”
She stared horrified at the greasy strip dangling in her hand. “Ugh. Really? This is all you have?”
“Killed it myself,” Rob said. “So chew slowly and savor it.”
She looked from him to the meat and then slipped the strip into the small pack on her back.
Rob shrugged. “Now, I think we should part ways.”
“But what about me?”
“I've got a very important mission to do. Saving a bunch of people from pech slavers. I need to find them before they're dragged off to the Blighted Wastes.”
She appeared at a loss when she realized he was serious about leaving her. She said, “We should assist one another. It makes sense. Help me find the scholar, and I'll assist with these missing people.”
Rob shook his head. “I don't have anymore time for side-quests. My people need me. They come first. If you want to help with that, fine. But I'm not doing anything else until they're free.” He was getting annoyed with having to explain himself. He needed to be moving.
Myna frowned. “Okay, I'll assist you first, if it has to be that way.”
“It does.”
She sighed. “So where to next? Do you know which direction they were taken?”
Rob took out his Location Scroll and checked his position. He was a little south of the original path he had walked. They'd go there then resume walking west.
Without further argument they continued on. With the scrolls found, and spells learnt, Rob's entire focus was now on his kingdom folk.
As if reading his mind, Myna asked, “So who are we looking for? Your family?”
Rob barely stifled a laugh. “Not quite.” His family was Anika in the real world. He was doing all of this to get back to her.
“I don't understand,” Myna said as she walked alongside him, ducking branches and hopping over gnarled roots. “Who are they, then?”
This would make the third time he had to explain his situation to someone. It was getting old. But he felt he owed it to her to say something.
“They're my subjects and I'm their king.” He waved a hand at the forest they passed through. “This is my kingdom, or a part of it, anyway. I've been brought here against my will to rule it. It's been about five days since I arrived and I've loathed every second. Yesterday evening, I returned from questing to find all my people gone, kidnapped. Now I'm following their trail to rescue them.” Or try to.
Myna's huge eyes widened as he spoke. When he finished, she said, “You're the Chosen One.”
Rob stopped. “Yeah, where did you hear about that?”
“I figured as much when I saw that mark by your eye.”
Rob touched his left temple, expecting to feel the contours of the mark. “Yup, branded like cattle.”
Myna said, “I'd heard about your arrival before I left my clan's homeland. Everyone was talking about it.”
They resumed walking and Rob said, “What do they say?”
She shrugged, a delicate gesture for someone so fierce. “That the Chosen One had finally arrived, and he would defeat all the evil in the world, and unite all the kingdoms under his banner.” She glanced at him. “Your banner.”
“Yeah, I've heard that myself. I'm to create a vast and mighty empire.” He shook his head. “And, as if that isn't enough, I'm suppose to become a god, too.”
“A god?” Myna said, confused. “Is that possible?”
“It's part of the game, baby,” Rob said. Summarizing his situation made him feel a little surly.
“Who told you that you could become a god?”
“Some dickhead.”
“What's a dickhead?”
Rob laughed. When he noticed his laughter was making her angry, he got it under control. “Uh, it was a creepy statue at the bottom of a hole. Look, I really don't want to talk about it. There are other things on my mind.”
“Something more important than creating an empire and become a god?”
He couldn't tell if she was teasing him or not. “Yes, more important. The innocent folk who are on their way to a doomed existence as slaves.”
They suddenly reached the pathway with its churned up mud.
With a quick glance around, he led them west.
Myna was intrigued with him now. Before, she was dismissive, now she couldn't stop asking questions. “So, we're to fight these pech slavers? How many are there?”
“No clue, but I figure quite a number if they've managed to wrangle all my people.”
“Thousands of your people?” Myna said, blanching at the thought.
“No, no. About twenty or thirty.”
“That's it? That's all the people who are your subjects?”
“Yup,” Rob said, enjoying her confusion. Ahead he noticed the forest path turning sharply to the north.
“Just twenty people,” she said. “Well, you have only been here a short while. It would certainly explain why you're so underdeveloped.”
“Thanks for noticing,” Rob said as they reached the bend. He stopped and looked around. Why would the path turn here?
Myna was still caught up in his story. “So where are you from? Another kingdom?”
He noticed that the foliage to the west was trampled and some of the branches bent or cut off. They'd continued on from here, leaving the path. He tried looking in that direction but couldn't see anything but more forest. It appeared they were going straight to the mountains.
You have advanced in Basic Tracking! Skill has increased from 4% to 5%.
Ignoring Myna's questions, he stepped off the path and pushed through the vegetation, noting footprints in the ground.
“Where are you from, Rob?” Myna said, sounding concerned.
“Somewhere else,” he said, not paying attention to her. He thought he could see something far ahead, hidden behind the trees.
“You're from the beyond, aren't you?” Myna said, awestruck at the realization. “Beyond the realm of the Gods.”
But Rob wasn't listening. He spotted the mouth of a cave a short distance away and stopped.
Myna was nervously staring at him, but he didn't notice. She whispered, “There are tales of others from beyond the realm-.”
“They went through to that cave!” he hissed, motioning her to crouch down. “See how the footprints lead directly to it?” The cave mouth was dark, but no one appeared to be around.
When she didn't answer he turned to look at her.
Her eyes were wide with fear as she stared at him as if seeing him for what he truly was.
Suddenly, she stood up. “I can't speak to you!”
“What are you doing?” Rob said. “Get down!”
She backed away, tears welling in her eyes. “I can't speak to you!” Then she turned away and ran off back in the direction they'd come.
�
��Whoa, wait a second!” Rob said, watching her run away through the trees. “Where are you going?”
But she didn't answer. She continued running as if the devil himself was after her. Then she vanished from view.
He stared at the spot she'd disappeared, thoroughly confused. He couldn't go after her, not now.
What the hell was that about? Maybe she intended to bail on him all along and was waiting for a time to do it.
He turned back to look at the cave. Pretty crappy time to leave him. For several moments he sat hidden in the vegetation, his eyes on the cave, but his thoughts on Myna's behavior.
Whatever had upset her didn't matter to him. She'd acted crazy since the second he met her. This was just more of that.
He started this quest on his own and it looked like it would continue to be that way.
Working up his courage, he moved toward the cave. There wasn't any movement or light from within. Nor was a guard posted.
He moved through the bush as quietly as he could manage, carefully placing each foot.
You have advanced in Stealth! Skill has advanced from 4% to 5%.
When he reached the side of the cave, he slowly peered inside.
The cave formed a short tunnel that led to what appeared to be a cavern, beyond. Rob noticed that his Light spell was still active and played at the edges of the darkness.
He waited for a while, listening. He strained to hear over the natural sounds of the forest, but couldn't tell if any of them emanated from the cave, itself.
Convinced there was nothing there, he stepped inside. His light pushed the darkness further ahead, and he followed.
After a dozen paces he stood at the entrance to a cavern. His light was strong enough that he could see its sides curving off to his left and right.
He took a step inside and stopped.
The cavern's darkness faded beyond the limits of his light spell. It was getting brighter inside.
Surprised, he looked around. Hundreds of little rocks and crystals studded the cavern walls. At his entrance, they sparked to life and began to glow.
In moments, the entire cavern was alight, without darkness anywhere.
“Cool,” he said. He scanned the cavern interior and gasped.
There were dozens of metal cages forming rows along the cavern floor.
He rushed over to the closest one. Its caged door was open, but no one was inside. As he looked around, he could see all the cages were empty.
They'd been here, he thought, in these cages. While he was bumbling around back at Castle Hill, his people had been here, trapped and afraid.
But where were they now? He looked about frantically. There wasn't another way out of the cavern except from where he entered. But wouldn't he have seen another trail outside, one leading away from the cave?
He suddenly saw a smaller opening near the back of the cavern. Picking his way through the network of cages, he hurried toward it.
It was an entrance to a narrow tunnel which was lined with glowing rocks and crystals. Did they go through there?
From behind him he heard a noise. Spinning around, he tensed ready for an attack.
But there was nothing there.
As he listened, he heard the distinct sound of water dripping.
He looked back at the tunnel. It was possible they'd been taken this way, but he needed to be sure, so he stepped inside.
The tunnel continued several dozen paces. Rob strained to see what was ahead of him. Although fully lit, the tunnel's twists and turns made it impossible to see more than several paces ahead.
He wasn't sure how long he could follow it before-.
An audible snap at his feet made him look down.
Suddenly, there was a horrific rumbling, and the ceiling collapsed around him. Rocks pummeled him and he was pushed to the floor.
Once the rumbling stopped, and the dust cleared, he could see his legs were trapped under a pile of rocks from the ceiling.
A message had blinked before his eyes as the rocks had fallen.
You have triggered a trap!
“Oh, great,” he said, trying to move, but his legs were pinned up to his thighs. “What a mess,” he said, gritting his teeth in pain.
“No, not a mess,” a voice said.
Alarmed, Rob looked back from where he came.
A man appeared around the tunnel's turn. He walked over, stopping a short distance away from Rob.
“This is a gift,” the man said, his eyes full of hatred.
“Oh, shit,” Rob said.
It was Gredd.
CHAPTER NINE
Rob stared at the bandit in surprise. “Oh, hi Gredd. How's it hanging?” He knew he was in deep trouble.
Gredd glared at him, sword twitching by his side. “I knew the gods would grant me revenge. And now they have delivered you to me.”
Rob still gripped his buckler, but his axe was gone, buried under the rocks. He glanced around for it while trying to buy some time. “Hate to break it to you, but you're not the gods' golden boy. That title is already taken.”
The bandit took a step closer, working himself up to attack. “You're here, aren't you? I prayed for this moment and now it has come!”
Where was his damn axe? He shifted some rocks around, then spotted the axe's handle sticking out of the rubble. Grunting with effort, he tried to reach, but it was too far.
Gredd watched him and smiled. “See? You're defenseless as the gods wanted it to be.” He took another step closer.
Fully realizing his futile situation, Rob said, “Hey, you guys started it. How can you try to kill people and not expect one of them to fight back?” He suddenly remembered the rusty dagger at his waist and quickly drew it. Better than nothing.
Gredd wasn't phased by the sight of the tiny weapon. “How can I? I'm a bandit, it's what I do. My destiny, you could say. And your destiny is to die in this cave.”
The bandit suddenly lunged forward, striking out with his sword.
Unable to dodge or even move, Rob held his buckler up, blocking the blow. He attempted to slash out with the dagger, but the bandit was too far away for him to reach.
Gredd jumped back, grinning. “Right now Dodger is laughing at you from his bright place above. I'm going to smash your skull in, like you did to him. But only after I've cut a thousand pieces off your body.” He leapt forward, swinging his sword.
Trapped on the ground beneath the rocks, it was all Rob could do but try to block the blows with the buckler. When the bandit moved in closer, he slashed out with the dagger.
But the bandit was ready and parried the smaller blade away.
The sword cut the back of Rob's arm and he dropped the dagger into the rocks. Swearing, Rob held the injured arm against his chest. Son of a bitch that hurt!
“That is only the start,” Gredd said. “The first of a thousand cuts!”
Rob was angry and scared. Now weaponless and trapped it didn't look good for him. “You talk big for such a little coward. Let's say you let me out of this and we fight fair?”
Gredd laughed and swung his sword in answer.
“Okay, then,” Rob said and cast Sun Bolt at the other man.
The spell lived up to its namesake. A golden beam of light shot out from the gloved palm of his hand and struck Gredd in the chest. With a surprised grunt, the bandit was sent flying back like he'd been kicked by a mule. He landed on his back, stunned.
“Oh,” Rob said looking at his hand in amazement. “That's awesome.”
Gredd sat up, shaking his head, stunned. A round hole was burnt into his leather armor exposing his chest beneath. The bandit coughed and stood.
“You don't want a fair fight then I'll use all my powerful magic to destroy you!” Rob said with as much dramatic emphasis as he could. He only had enough mana for one more blast, and he didn't think Gredd would let him swig a mana potion to top off.
Gredd staggered forward. The spell may have taken him by surprise, but it didn't change his resolve to hack R
ob into pieces. “This only makes your death longer. Magic or not, you will die.”
Something behind the bandit caught Rob's eye. From a crevice in the ceiling seeped out a deep green goop. It didn't drip to the floor, instead it spread out like an upside-down spill.
