In Service of the Pharaoh (League of Losers Book #2)

by Michael Atamanov

  Your character is now level twenty-five!

  Reward: three skill points (total available: twelve) and one mutation point (total available: twenty-four).

  I did it! I avenged my mistress, got the maximum possible benefit out of the two sherkhs’ conflict, got a whole bunch of experience and went up two whole levels! And although I wasn’t at all sure that Avelia would approve of my interference, let alone her brother, it didn’t matter now. I’d taken an important step toward becoming an independent player with my own interests and motives, not just someone else’s dumb pet.

  My Whiskers now had over a hundred Magic Points. The little kitten was steadily becoming a real mage. And finally, level twenty-five! Now I was ready to go out into the big wide world! Before I had time to get used to this new sensation, a new message appeared before my eyes:

  CONGRATULATIONS! You reached level twenty-five! Reward: +2 character stat points. Your game class has been set to Shadow Hexxer permanently. You can no longer change your game class.

  Shadow Hexxer class bonuses: +20 to Stealth, +20 to Curse Magic, using Curse Magic spells does not break stealth (using magic from other schools will still remove stealth).

  New Curse Magic skill learned: Veil of Darkness.

  New Transformation Magic skill learned: Incorporeal Beast.

  ATTENTION! Skills incompatible with game class deleted: Hand-to-Hand Combat and Dodge. Accumulated eight skill points have been converted into free points (total: twenty skill points).

  ATTENTION! Because you have killed players several times, your character’s name will now show a warning symbol in the form of a skull.

  Damn… It would be a little harder to make like a cute and harmless kitten now that everyone I met would see just how dangerous I was!

  Chapter 11 [Sergeant]

  Downstream

  THE MARSH MISTRESS actually did fit on the raft, although it was no easy task to bring the cruel arachnoscorp onto the logs as they bobbed in the water. I even had to use Calming Touch, otherwise there was no way the giant spider would set foot on the platform, unstable as it looked to her. After that was done, we set off with the very first signs of the dawn. The huge armored raft slowly drifted down the river, the two creeping crocodiles as escort. I ordered Katy and Tick-Tock to protect the humans and chase any dangerous creatures away from the raft. I was on foot, leading Atlas along the bank and talking with Varya as she rode beside me on Irosaurus Regina. The Engineer’s daughter yawned openly — the girl hadn’t managed to sleep that night. She’d done the journey to the forcefield and made it back before the dawn.

  She’d asked me to keep talking to her so she wouldn’t fall asleep. We discussed our most serious challenges — we only had a little milk left for the baby, and nowhere to get more. Hope’s mother had left that morning with the other humans to go further into the world outside. They had no plans to return to the energy barrier. She said as much in the note she passed through along with two jars of breast milk. It was a very hard decision for the mother, but I couldn’t blame her — she wouldn’t be able to survive on her own once the other humans went further out into the frontier. She had to follow the group.

  Little Hope was sated and peacefully sleeping for now, and we had enough milk to feed her once more, maybe twice. That was all. The problem was starting to look pretty serious. Where could we find a nursing woman? And would she agree to nurse someone else’s child? As an alternative, we could try to catch a female mammal of some wild species, in the hope that its milk might be fit for a human child. We’d need to do that in the next day or two, otherwise little Hope would die.

  The only animals I’d seen in this world that fed milk to their young were mice, and I wasn’t sure the little rodents my cat Whiskers occasionally caught even played by those rules. The chimeric monkeys came to mind too, but although they were outwardly somewhat similar to the gorillas of old Earth, they were more likely reptiles. I’m no biologist, but I didn’t see any teats on the female chimeric monkeys. The surest option was still to find a nursing mother with a baby among the thousands of humans inhabiting the Pharaoh’s lands. And try to convince her to adopt another baby. This was no easy task, and it would take a lot of thought.

  “What’s that?” Varya asked in concern, pointing into the distance.

  I looked at the view that appeared to us as we rounded a bend in the river. I was struck dumb. The river village was gone! Where Rumbler’s Refuge had once stood, now there were just burnt shells of buildings. The blackened remains of the drawbridge and the charred logs of the palisade stuck out from the river bed. What happened?!

  I jumped off Atlas and called over Tick-Tock the creeping crocodile — I needed to cross the deep and dangerous river to see with my own eyes what had befallen the river village. Varya stayed behind to keep an eye on the animals. I stripped to my underwear, folding up my clothes and putting them into a waterproof plastic bag. A minute later, I was wandering the charred ruins alongside the other members of my group, who had moored the raft up at the island. There were plenty of tracks on the island — both human and some belonging to some strange creatures with long splaying claws. Some giant lizard? No, they couldn’t be lizards. It looked like they walked on two legs, and I saw evidence of long tails here and there. I racked my brain, but couldn’t remember any creature from this world that could leave tracks like that.

  Tracking skill increased to level sixteen!

  There was little of value that could be saved. Apart from some iron nails that Edward Samarsky pulled out of the burnt logs with a claw hammer. And a few beansprouts. Almost the entire harvest from the priceless seeds I’d brought had died in the fire. Only around twenty shoots had survived, the ones furthest from the burning section of the plot. The seedlings were wilted and scorched, but Max Dubovitsky still carefully dug up all the shoots still alive along with their roots and soil. He assured me that we could still save the valuable plants. I left it up to him. I’m no botanist or horticulturist — Max had more experience than me with that type of thing. Personally, I thought there was barely a chance in hell of bringing those shoots back to life.

  But something else of value caught my eye. It was hidden from the others in the thick rushes behind the smoking lake at the island’s other side. Varya and I had made a nest and shelter out of branches and mud there. We took the three chimeric megasaurus eggs and placed them on a bed made from a thick layer of mulch in the nest. We had tried to recreate the conditions of Irosaurus Regina’s lair, and when I checked the nest a few days ago, the eggs were alive and well. Rumbler and the other villagers didn’t know about the eggs, so they hadn’t taken the precious eggs with them.

  I was up to my ears in mud and had near a dozen leeches hanging off me by the time I got there, but I reached the spot. All three eggs were whole, and more than that, they were still alive. With the greatest care, I carried the priceless eggs to the raft one by one and gave them to my sister to look after. The level 18 Veterinarian examined the huge darkened eggs and said she could feel the heartbeat of the future giants in each one of them through the thin shells, and even felt movement.

  “They’ll hatch soon! If not today, then tomorrow!” my sister announced.

  Nothing else held us on the island. Our raft set off, traveling further downstream toward Hundred Skull City. Judging by our partial map and the speed of the current, the Dreadnought would reach our destination around midday. According to the Philosopher, this was the best time to pass through the traps and illusions of that dangerous zone. Wishing the others good luck with the rapids further downriver, I went back to Varya on the creeping crocodile and told her the good news that the three megasaurus babies would soon hatch.

  “Now that’s some news…” The sherkh Swordmaiden appeared a couple of paces from me, smiling. “Shouldn’t I kill those dangerous little dinosaurs to take an advantage away from the humans?”

  Varya shouted in fear, taking the long-eared sherkh girl’s words seriously, but I knew Avelia well enough
to know she was joking.

  “Don’t worry, Varya, if the magnificent Avelia Un Ponar wanted to break the megasaurus eggs, she’d have done it already without warning us first. Anyway, she knows perfectly well that I and my group stay well out of political squabbles and we have nothing against the sherkhs.”

  I said those words with an air of calm confidence, but of course, I couldn’t be completely certain. What if I was wrong about Avelia? But the Swordmaiden’s laugh confirmed it — she was just kidding. The tension relaxed.

  “Hey, Avelia! I’ve been wanting to thank you for helping to save me. Just one thing, though… What did you do with my kitten?!”

  Whiskers was barely recognizable. He’d grown a lot, and it no longer even seemed right to call him a kitten. He was now a young, furry, whiskery cat, full of confidence and strength. Not yet a hardened street tom, but by no means the helpless whining furball that came into the new world. And my pet’s description…

  ☠ Whiskers. Cat. Level 25 Shadow Hexxer. Sergeant’s pet.

  Level twenty-five? Shadow Hexxer? A skull next to his name with that threatening orange color? What the hell had happened to my pet in the two days that he’d been gone?

  “This clever furball took full advantage of a leveling boost,” the Swordmaiden said, picking the ginger cat up and gently cuddling him to her breast. “I’m so grateful to Whiskers! He protected me fearlessly all this time.”

  What ‘leveling boost’? What was Avelia talking about? She gave no further explanation. She also failed to answer my question — who exactly had my pet killed? At least she answered Varya’s question about what had happened at the river village.

  “The Pharaoh’s people did it. The squad that burned down Rumbler’s Refuge is led by a human by the name of Spike.”

  Spike? There was a name I’d heard before. That was what they called the commander of the group of punishers that was headed for the river village to deliver retribution to the villagers for their defiance. It all matched up. My sister and I were lucky we left the village when we did!

  “Right…” was all I could manage. “Well, now it’s time to return the pet to his rightful owner, Avelia.”

  “Not a chance!” the Swordmaiden snapped, affronted. She held my pet even tighter.

  Then, suddenly, the cat in her arms… dissolved, and, leaving a strange trail of darkness in the air, he drifted to Varya’s shoulder as she stood listening to our back-and-forth. There, Whiskers took on the form of a ginger cat again and started cleaning himself as if nothing had happened. This demonstration of his abilities was so impressive that the Swordmaiden, Varya and I all stood with our jaws on the floor.

  “I suggest we leave the question of who Whiskers belongs to for later. First we have to complete our main mission today: getting to the center of Hundred Skull City and making it out of there alive with the loot” the sherkh Swordmaiden suggested, and I agreed immediately. It was true; we didn’t have the time for arguments right now. A serious challenge awaited us.

  “You staying on foot? Or do you want to ride up on Atlas with me? Or on the megasaurus with Varya, if you want. I don’t recommend the creeping crocodiles — the water is cold today, you’ll freeze.”

  Avelia thought for a moment and looked over the mounts on offer, then decided to ride with me. I let Tick-Tock the creeping crocodile go to catch up with the raft, then I climbed onto the giga-komodo’s back. The long-eared sherkh girl had already swung herself up easily and was waiting for me.

  “Same as before, Sergeant — if your hands go wandering, they might fall off. And order the human woman to ride further away, so she can’t overhear us. I have a lot to discuss with you, and not all of it is fit for listening ears.”

  Varya snorted in disapproval when she heard that, but decided to be diplomatic. She twitched the reins, leading Irosaurus Regina forward. As soon as Atlas resumed his run along the river, Avelia sat down behind me on the huge lizard’s back and spoke quietly:

  “Sergeant, you’ve shown me that you’re a man of honor, that you keep your word. We aren’t friends, but still, I trust you. That’s why I held up my end of the bargain in advance — I met with my brother and settled all the conflicts that arose between us. It wasn’t easy, and don’t ask what it took. But I did it — Arvedo Un Ponar swore that he won’t pursue you any longer and has no more quarrel with you. And you’re no longer an enemy of the Eastern Garrison. I hope you appreciate that!”

  The Swordmaiden made her speech with emotion clear in her voice, and she seemed to be expecting gratitude from me for the help, or maybe even some generous gesture in response. I couldn’t help but knock her down a peg or two:

  “A mutual acquaintance of ours, a certain Huntress from your group, told me yesterday that she was hearing about your guild’s sentence against me for the first time. She even told me there was no way it could be true. Any comment on this oddity, guild leader’s daughter?”

  Avelia blushed, clearly embarrassed. I could tell she was considering going into stealth and jumping off the giga-komodo, anything to end this conversation. All the same, she got a grip on herself and tried to answer:

  “Anita Ur Vaye is a simple Huntress, so she doesn’t know everything that happens in Eastern Garrison. I am indeed our leader’s daughter, as you said, and a squad commander. That means I have more information than a low-ranking member of the guild. And as it happens, I’m surprised you met my friend Anita. Tell me how you met. It’s important!”

  That was such an obvious attempt to change the subject that I laughed. Alright, I’d go along with it just for her sake. I told her about little baby Hope, brought in by the sherkh Huntress. At the same time, I asked whether the Eastern Garrison had any nursing mothers that might agree to help us.

  “You have to understand, Sergeant, it’s not that simple,” Avelia said, dropping her eyes. “I’ve spent enough time studying your race, your language and customs, and just getting used to your appearance. I no longer think you humans are quite as stupid, clumsy, smelly and disgusting as you seemed at first. But most sherkhs aren’t like me. Many of them have never even seen humans, and your appearance will shock them. For them, your race is completely alien. This might sound offensive, Sergeant, but no sherkh woman would accept a human baby and willingly feed it.”

  Her answer wasn’t nice, but it was honest. I dropped my head sadly. As if to soften her words, Avelia hastened to add:

  “Don’t worry, Sergeant. I’m not like the other sherkhs. And your appearance doesn’t bother me at all. Although I won’t deny, human, you are far from the ideal of beauty among my people. Among the sherkhs, a handsome man must be agile and quick, tall and thin, imperceptible in stealth, and certainly blond — those are the fundamentals, I think. You don’t satisfy any of the criteria. You’re too square and muscular, much bigger and slower than any sherkh man. You have no stealth to speak of. But I saw the interested looks you got from the human women on the river island. And that young Scout, the one who galloped off ahead in a huff, she looks at you when you aren’t watching too. Say, is she your new girlfriend now that furry Shelly is gone?”

  “Uhm, Varya…” I mumbled, blushing and unable to find the right words. “No, she isn’t my girlfriend. She’s beautiful, kind and nice. Maybe even too nice. And her dad has given me all signs of approval short of a written invitation, but I… I don’t know why, I just can’t do it. Maybe it’s that Varya is too… too pure, maybe? For a casual relationship. And I already have a girlfriend for the long term, even if she is far away right now.”

  “You mean that fleabag veich loser?”

  Her voice suddenly dripped with obvious enmity for Shelly. Strange. What difference should it make to Avelia? Was she really jealous of my long-tailed girlfriend? She couldn’t be! Avelia had only just told me of how humans fail to measure up to her people’s ideal of attractiveness.

  “Shelly isn’t a fleabag,” I said, feeling the need to stand up for her. “As for loser… You know, there isn’t a single person
in my small group that has a positive Luck Modifier. My sister Julie has the highest, at zero. All the rest have negative or even extremely negative Luck. I checked. I can’t say for sure about the winged veyer kid, but judging by what I’ve seen happen to him so far, Avir Tan-Hoshi is just as much of a loser as the rest of us. We’re the League of Losers. Shelly fits into our little group just fine.”

  “And what is your group’s purpose? Why have you gathered together and not joined the Pharaoh?”

  “Purpose..?” I chuckled. Last night, I’d had a long conversation with the Philosopher and the other group members on that very subject, and much of what was said was still fresh in my mind. “We just don’t feel all that drawn to the hierarchy of blood and slavery that the Pharaoh has built in his guild. It’s a horrible way to rule! Can’t say we’re tempted by the open fascism that your people have in place either. Where I come from, slavery and fascism are considered the worst ways to rule. So we’re taking a different path. Everyone in my group is free, and anyone is welcome from any sentient race, as long as they share our convictions and work for the good of the whole. For now, we just want to learn more about the laws of the new world, survive and level up. Then we’ll leave the sandbox and go settle in the world beyond. Sure, little Hope showing up has changed our plans some, but I’m really glad that none of our group members suggested that we abandon her. If anyone had, I would have kicked them out without a second thought. Every life is precious, but a child’s life doubly so!”

  We rode in silence a while. Avelia seemed to be pondering my words, or maybe just thinking of something else. Finally, she broke the drawn-out silence:

  “You know, my own Luck Modifier is minus two,” the sherkh Swordmaiden admitted in a quiet whisper. She seemed very embarrassed, as if she’d said something shameful. “And although my Agility is fine, I fail almost all the Luck checks I get. That’s what stopped me from completing the traps in Hundred Skull City on my own, twice. That really annoyed dad. If I fail again today…” Avelia sighed heavily, “then I won’t be a squad leader anymore, just a front-line scout in my horrible brother’s squad. Or I’ll have to beg to join your group of losers like me!”