by Adam Drake
Annoyed, Feign swung his dagger when Phlixx got close enough. But the ferret bounded away unharmed.
The ice around me melted faster, and although my legs remained encased with solid ice, I managed to wrench my hands free. The Cloak, still in ice, clunked to the ground.
Ogden spotted my sudden movement. “Feign! You idiot, look out!”
Feign turned in my direction, a snowball in his upraised hand. He was going to freeze me solid again, and then I was doomed.
In one motion I summoned my bow, snatched the magma arrow and fired.
Feign reacted by creating an ice pillar in front of him. But the magma arrow cut straight through the pillar with ease.
The arrow lodged in the ice mage's chest. Feign tumbled backward, lava beginning to spew from his mouth and ears. Behind him was a chasm in the floor. He pitched over it and vanished from view.
“What is going on?!” Ogden raged from the view screen, before it too was pulled over the edge to catch up with its creator.
When Feign hit bottom the remaining ice around me shattered and I was free.
Phlixx bounded over to me. “Are you okay, my sweet? Did I do well?”
I laughed and gave the ferret a hug. “I'm fine, and yes, you did very well.”
Little hearts bubbled above his head and he swooned.
I retrieved the Cloak and held it in my hands. Guess I should put this on, I thought and slipped it over my shoulders, tying up the lacing at the collar.
“It makes you even more beautiful,” Phlixx said with a tear in his eye.
It didn't make me feel more beautiful, or any different for that matter. But when I looked at my own ability list, I saw that I now had access to everything the Cloak offered.
Void Portal? Interesting.
Phase? Wow!
Teleportation? Amazing!
A chat request appeared. At first, I thought it would be Ogden wanting to scream at me, but then I saw who it was from and opened it.
“Muddie!” I said.
The first thing Mudhoof said as he appeared was, “Did you get my stuff?” Then smiled. “Just kidding.”
I laughed. “Where are you? Minotaur Warrior Newbie zone?”
Mudhoof angled the camera so I could see behind him. Half-naked minotaurs ran around a grassy field chasing little boars with wooden axes. “Yup,” Mudhoof said and showed me his own wooden ax. “This is the end result when you're punted by an angry god.”
“Sorry about that,” I said. “It was a tough encounter all around.”
“No worries, I'm a power-leveling fiend. I'll be back up in no time. Oh, and congrats on the Legendary Cloak!”
I furrowed my brow. “Thanks, but how did you know? I just put it on.”
Mudhoof said, “Yeah, and when you did, the game updated the database with its existence and all the news-feeds picked up on it. Now everyone knows what you got. You're famous!”
I frowned. “That's to be expected, I guess.” This was something I hadn't considered since keeping the item wasn't originally my intention.
“Uh-oh,” Mudhoof said, looking at something on his view screen.
“What is it?”
“Looks like Ogden Trite has put a bounty on your head, and a reward for the return of the Legendary Cloak. Claims you reneged on a contract to give it to him.”
“What?” I said. “He's the one who reneged on the contract. Tried to kill me, too!”
“Well, it's all over the bounty hunter boards now, and there are lots of them signing up to go after you.”
“How many,” I said, swallowing.
“Oh, a couple hundred thousand.” Mudhoof gave me a mournful look. “Might want to think about going into hiding, Vee. That's a lot of people looking to get you to re-roll.”
I sighed. Wasn't owning a Legendary Item suppose to make things easier instead of harder?
Mudhoof said, “Hey, no worries. Once I power-level up, I'll help you out. Bounty hunters beware.”
“Thanks, Muddie,” I said. “I'll be in touch.”
I closed the screen and frowned. This was going to suck. As a new owner of a Legendary item I should be over the moon with delight. But things became a lot more complicated.
In an effort to make myself feel better I tried one of my new Cloak abilities.
Summon Shadow Steed.
A beautiful black horse appeared complete with full tack and saddle. The beast was tall and majestic. A sight to behold. When I ran my hand over its skin I noticed the animal was transparent as smoke.
“Cool,” I said and jumped up on my new mount.
“Pretty horse!” Phlixx said as he jumped up to sit in front of me.
A request appeared on my screen. 'Name of Mount?'
I thought on it for a moment, but only one answer seemed appropriate. “Smoke,” I said.
Name assigned, the request closed.
A gate irised opened in the air in front of me. A forested landscape covered in snow could be seen within. The exit.
I stared at it for long moments. Now I had a Legendary item and six others had been created in the game world. Ogden would be after them. And what of the growing Darkness the parchment mentioned?
I also had a huge price on my head, thanks to Ogden's treachery. Every bounty hunter and cutthroat would now be on my tail looking to take me out. I touched my new cloak. I guess this Legendary item, and its incredible abilities, will be useful in keeping me alive. However long that may be.
My life got much more complicated than I ever imagined it would before taking this silly quest.
I kicked at Smoke and my steed ran forward.
But as we jumped through the gate, my mind heavy with all these thoughts, I found myself grinning from ear to ear.
This was going to be fun.
END.
Shadow Hunting
The most powerful player in the gaming universe wants me dead.
Now I have a price on my head with tens of thousands of bounty hunters out to kill me. But I can only run for so long. I need to put an end to this madness once and for all.
If I'm going to die, it will be on my own terms.
The tables must be turned.
Time to go hunting.
CHAPTER ONE
I was busy looting the corpse of a goblin raider when the unicorn attacked.
I'd pinned the goblin with arrows up against a large oak tree. It wore a mismatched set of armor, no doubt taken from pillaged victims, which gave the humanoid a scarecrow-like look. But it was the handmade leather-armor vest which had my interest. This specific type was currently in high demand by leather workers on the auction house. These leather vest mats – or materials – were desperately sought after for a new type of armor leggings.
I have no idea why they are so valuable, but I knew it took a lot of goblin raiders to farm – or kill – to find one.
Anyways, the unicorn. I was distracted while trying to estimate the best way to remove the vest without touching the vile goblin. My back was turned to the forest, so I was caught unawares when the equine beast burst from the tree line.
Greed has always been my undoing. I've died many times because of it, and have become quite familiar with the newbie zone to know that avoiding death for as long as possible would help me keep my sanity.
Yet, now, it looked like I was about to be sent there in quick fashion.
I heard the rustle of branches and the clomping of hooves, and whirled around, surprised.
Head tilted down, with horn (uni-horn?) pointed right at me, the creature closed the distance between us in less than three frantic heartbeats.
Had it been two heartbeats I would have been killed. Thankfully, that extra bit of time allowed me to select an icon on my view-screen; the only icon which might have saved me at that moment.
Use Phase Ability
I swear, even now, that I felt the tip of that horn press against my chest. But I can be dramatic when recounting near-death experiences.
My phase ability
kicked in at that instant and my entire body, armor, weapons, and inventory became as corporeal as a ghost. Wisp-like as smoke.
The unicorn, large pink eyes wide with triumph, didn't have time to realize what had happened and passed straight through me like a steam-train in a fog.
Instead of skewering me, and presenting me with the joy of leveling yet another new character, the unicorn charged into the dead goblin raider, and plunged its horn straight into the oak tree.
For a few moments both I, and the unicorn – participants in this sudden little drama – were too shocked to move.
I took in the sight of the animal. It was most definitely a unicorn but there were odd things about it. First, it was yellow. Bright yellow, almost offensively so. Second, it had a large saddle strapped to its back.
I blinked in confusion. A mount? A yellow unicorn mount just tried to murder me?
While the being was stuck, I queried the game to pull up its statistics.
Species: Unicorn
Subspecies: Unknown
Level: Unknown
Hit Points: 680
Mana: Unknown
Armor Class: 10
Attack Rating: 80
Damage Range: Unknown
Weapon Type(s): Horn, Hooves, Bite
Abilities: Charge, Animal Rage, The Prance of the Pony
Special: This creature has been trained as a MOUNT.
Owner: Unknown
My eyes stuck on the final line. Owner: Unknown.
I looked to the tree line from where the unicorn appeared, but no one emerged. Where was the owner?
The unicorn pushed against the tree with its front hooves, desperate to pull loose. One large pink eye locked on me with rage.
My Phase ability timed out, and my avatar became solid again.
Time to go, I thought.
I spun around to run away and make some distance, but was blocked by a wall. No, not a wall. A massive humanoid who towered over me.
I think at that moment I squeaked in surprise, but I'm not admitting it now.
Before I could react to this new menace, the humanoid scooped me up in two massive arms and lifted me. I struggled, but the opposing strength was greater. My body became wedged between two huge green pectorals.
Held close, the humanoid's face leered down at me.
“Hello, little Shadow,” he said. His voice rumbled from deep within his chest like the sound of a volcano ready to erupt.
“He-hello, Kragg,” I managed. The meaty arms were tightening and my avatar's body made alarming popping noises.
Kragg, an Ogre-Beserker, was one of the most feared bounty hunters in the game's universe. He had a reputation for being ruthless which lent to his success rating as a hunter. He always got his mark.
And I knew why he was here.
The ogre pulled me up closer to his face, mouth gaping wide in a grin. Hot breath gave my face a retched smelling steam-bath. I turned off my simulation-suit's olfactory settings completely.
“Vivian Valesh,” Kragg said. “I never thought I'd catch you off-guard. At least not so easily as this.” He squeezed a little and something in my back cracked. “What's a famous Shadow like you doing out here of all places? Hmm?” Another squeeze for emphasis.
“G-gold,” I sputtered. Which was true enough. I'd blown through all my reward money from my last big quest. Searching for high valued mats for the auction house offset my poverty.
Kragg looked over at the oak tree. The yellow unicorn had pulled itself out of the tree, but the goblin raider's corpse was now stuck to its horn. The animal shook its head about, the goblin corpse flailing with it.
“Yeah,” Kragg said, “Good money now, in leather mats.” He spoke slow, almost ponderously. But I knew better than to thing it was because he was stupid. He was far from it. Instead, he was taking his time tormenting me. Enjoying these moments before my death.
He looked down at me, again. “But there is better money in collecting bounties. Far more thrilling, too. And you, little Shadow, have a sizable bounty on your pretty head.” Another squeeze, another crack.
“Maybe we can make a deal,” I said through clenched teeth. My health bar was dropping steadily. If I didn't get out of this living vice I'd find myself in the newbie zone.
Kragg threw his head back and laughed, giving me a rather terrifying view of his mouth with its rows of sharpened teeth. “Funny, Shadow. No, no deals. Not for you. Perhaps if I was feeling generous, but you have something more than just a bounty I want.” He leaned closer. “That Cloak of Shadows you are wearing. A Legendary Item. Don't get many bounties with those. Usually, after I kill a mark and loot their corpse, I find some interesting bits to sell on the auction house. But a Legendary Item? That there will fetch a high price on the black market. Even more than your bounty.”
He squeezed, and I kicked futilely at his prominent belly. I must have looked like a tiny temperamental child caught in an adult's bear hug.
Fighting was not an option. But I had one trick up my sleeve.
I turned my head and set my eyes on a nearby hill, about fifty paces away. My screen wavered as my avatar began to lose consciousness.
Hold on a few more seconds.
The top of that hill was all I cared about in that moment.
Set Recall Point.
“Gonna put this death video up on the forums. For posterity,” Kragg said with grin. He was enjoying my final moments of high-level living.
Then the message I was practically dying for appeared.
Recall Point Set.
Finally!
Use Teleport Ability.
I then appeared on the top of the hill.
Suddenly free of Kragg's grip, I collapsed to my knees on the ground. Air sucked back into my lungs, and I used a Health Boost to shoot my health bar back up to 100%. But I was still in immediate danger.
Stunned, Kragg looked down at his empty arms, then locked onto me. His face boiled with rage. “You FILTERED!” he shouted.
My language filters were set to maximum. It helps me pretend that my fellow players are as civil as I am.
Although I had escaped, it was only momentary. I needed to get some distance from this freak and fast.
The yellow unicorn was hopping about begging for an order to attack me again. Kragg had different plans.
Like a sumo wrestler preparing to fight, the ogre lifted one thick leg up in the air. The unicorn, ducking his head, scooted underneath. Kragg dropped into the saddle. He looked ridiculous. A giant, green, oversized ogre riding a mustard-yellow unicorn mount far to small by comparison.
But neither he, nor the unicorn, cared about aesthetics. They both locked angry eyes onto me. Kragg kicked the unicorn forward and the small creature who easily carried his weight, shot forward.
My instincts kicked in and pulled me out of the incredulous spectacle of the ogre and unicorn. Fight or flight?
Flight!
“Two can play at that game,” I said, and selected an icon from the bottom of my view-screen.
Summon Shadow Steed.
A beautiful black horse, with full rider's tack, blinked into existence beside me. It was partially transparent, which was why I had given it the name Smoke.
Smoke noticed the incoming ogre/unicorn threat and nickered, tossing his head about in alarm.
I leapt up into the saddle, and without delay, kicked at his sides and lashed the reigns.
Smoke charged ahead and in moments we were at full speed. We raced away from the forest's edge and into a dry grass plain.
After a few moments of exhilarating speed, I risked a glance behind us.
Kragg and his mount were closing fast. The ogre had brought out a large iron mallet from his inventory and gripped it in one hand. Its comically huge size was nearly as big as him.
I was dismayed. The unicorn was faster than Smoke!
As the distance between us evaporated, I felt a growing sense of dread. This would not work. I needed to buy more time, slow the green mania
c down. Scanning the horizon I looked for anything that might help save my life.
Then I spotted something. Up ahead to the left was a trio of what looked to be raptors. They were loitering in the shade of a small copse of trees.
I angled Smoke in their direction, and he didn't protest. With another look back to ensure my pursuers were still with me, I then focused on the raptors and called up the stats of one them.
