by Adam Drake
Another travel gate appeared, this one a solitary sentry against a rocky cliff. We went through.
Finally, to my great relief, we appeared within a large assembly of travel gates placed close together. A blighted desert stretched out in every direction. Shimmers of heat warped the flat horizon. Two orange suns seemed to bake our shadows into the dry ground.
“Quick!” I said and led Thorm to one of the many gates to the right.
Through that we came out within some ancient ruins in a jungle. Thick greenery enveloped the rubble of stones placed by a long forgotten people.
Six gates presented themselves.
Without hesitation we went through the next one. Then the next, and the next and the next. Each time a different setting, a different town or city, a new place.
After the twentieth gate we arrived in a little fishing village located next to a huge lake.
Thorm said, “I think we lost them, Miss Valesh.” His avatar's face was flush from the chase.
I agreed and consulted the map. “The next gate is the last one listed.”
“And after that, Wally's Womp?” asked Thorm.
A shrug was my only answer. At least it was honest.
We trotted our mounts away from the village and along the lake's shoreline. A travel gate sat upon a mound of giant rocks as if waiting for us.
Thorm stopped at the gate's base and gave me a pensive look. “I have a suggestion you will not like.”
I hadn't even heard what it was and already I didn't like it. “Suggestion?”
“I should go through first, in case there is a welcoming committee on the other side.”
“Why, do you think there might be one?”
“How do we know those guys chasing us didn't send word to Ogden that we were coming? One of them might have realized our intent from the path of gates.”
As much as I hated to admit it, he was right. If this happened to be the only gate that led to Ogden's hideout then it would most likely be guarded, or watched at the very least.
But sending Thorm into a potential ambush on his own didn't sit well with me at all. Not after Mudhoof's sacrifice. I didn't want to have another friend end up in the newbie zone because I couldn't go through a gate.
Thorm sensed what I was thinking. “It will only take a moment. Once on the other side I'll send you a chat with a situation report.”
“A situation report?” I said with a rueful smile. “A girl doesn't get many of those now a days.”
Thorm waited for my response. He could have gone anyway without my blessing but he was just too darn honorable. Part of why I liked him so much. And didn't want to get him killed.
“We'll take another approach to this,” I said, and dismounted Smoke who nickered in protest.
“And that is?”
I dismissed Smoke, and the horse vanished. “I'll go with you.”
“Without your mount?” Thorm looked confused. “You will still be seen if someone is there.”
I unsheathed my sword and slipped into Shadow which, thanks to my Legendary Cloak, made me invisible.
“Don't worry. No one will see me,” I said, and jumped up onto Snowflake behind Thorm.
“Ah,” Thorm said. “That will work.”
“Just a solo Holy Knight looking for the next marker of a quest chain.”
“And if there is trouble?”
“Then we fight,” I said with determination.
“Very well,” Thorm said.
And we went through the last gate.
CHAPTER TEN
Immediately upon crossing to the other side, Thorm pulled Snowflake to a stop.
A dark marshy swamp surrounded us. Thick fog cocooned the small patch of muddy ground the gate stood upon.
Blighted trees and dead brambles appeared as murky shadows through the fog. Strange animal noises and cries undulated from all directions.
Despite the dire looking scenery, I found myself relieved.
No one was here waiting for us. We appeared to be alone.
After a few moments, Thorm quietly said, “So far so good.” He had his long kite shield pressed up against one side of us while holding Snowflake's reigns in his other hand.
The giant cat mount warbled with distress.
“Snowflake doesn't like it here. Maybe we should take that as a sign,” I whispered.
“Shall we continue?”
“Yeah, we came this far. Why not?”
Thorm guided Snowflake away from the gate platform and a short distance across the muddy grass. Then he paused.
“Problem?” I asked quickly scanning around.
“Yes, which direction do we go?”
“No idea. The route on the map ends at this gate.”
Thorm looked about at the grimness of the place. “This is Wally's Womp?”
“I guess. Well, I don't know. The cartographer at the Locators Guild couldn't really specify. He only said that this gate was one of the closest to Wally's Womp.”
“There may be other gates nearby?”
“I suppose. Why?”
“Then we may have other avenues of escape when it becomes necessary.”
There wasn't a path leading from the gate to follow. I pointed to the south, then realized, even as an ally, Thorm could not see my invisible form. “Head south and see what we can see.”
Thorm nudged Snowflake forward, and we cautiously entered the marsh. Within moments the gate vanished into the fog behind us. Only the gloomy outline of trees could be seen around.
Whether it was the potential for an ambush, or the thick fog that limited our vision, we became very jumpy. Several times we stopped and did nothing but listen. Once it became apparent we would not be immediately attacked or were being followed I dropped my invisibility.
I was about to ask Thorm to stop so I could summon Smoke when we pulled up short.
“What's this?” Thorm asked, concern tinging his voice.
Ahead of us, the fog thinned enough so details of the topography could be seen. A massive hill appeared. I noticed it was oddly shaped; wide, and rounded along its top. Almost as if we were looking at a cathedral dropped in the middle of the marsh to obstruct our progress.
As the fog dissipated more, a large path could be seen leading away from the strange hill and vanished to the west.
“Guildhall?” I whispered.
Thorm shook his head. “Doubt it. We're looking for the guildhall's gate. Aren't we?” Suddenly, Snowflake tensed up beneath us and let out a low growl.
Mounted figures emerged from the west, following the path approaching the hill.
We were far enough away, and within a thicket of bushes and dead trees, that we were not spotted right away.
I slid off Snowflake as did Thorm. Our eyes never leaving the passing forms. As we hunkered down behind the cover of a fallen tree, Thorm dismissed Snowflake with a gesture. He was too big to try to hide, even in this fog. If we were spotted, though, we could bring our mounts out in an instant.
None of the figures, numbering about a dozen, seemed to look in our direction.
“Who are they?” Thorm asked.
I tried to assess them, but came up with character information screens with blank statistics. The fog, or even magic, masked these individuals from prying eyes.
A pair of horses pulled a small wagon. Lashed to the top of the wagon sat a black statue of what looked to be a woman. One arm stretched out in front of her with a finger pointing ahead.
The group stopped directly in front of us and looked toward the odd hill. Their outlines were various, indicating a wide range of races and classes.
But one near the front caught my attention. Its form was sloping and had what looked like wings grasping at the reins of its horse mount.
Then it struck me. I knew exactly who it was.
Just then the figure turned its rounded head to speak with another rider, and I saw a small beak instead of a mouth.
Ogden Trite!
With an avatar of
a huge gray owl, Ogden Trite was recognizable even at this distance. This was the individual who had tried to double cross me over the Cloak of Shadows and spitefully put the bounty on my head.
Anger blinded me and I rose up, sword in hand.
Thorm grabbed at my wrist and pulled me down. It took everything I had not to strike out at him, but did not resist.
“There are too many, Vivian,” he said, tone firm. “No need to commit suicide when we now have the advantage.”
“Advantage?” I hissed. “How do you figure we have that?” Getting my anger under control was difficult considering my tormentor was a short sprint away.
Thorm released my arm, and calmly said, “We know we're in the right place, now. Before it was just speculation. Let us bide our time, at least for a little while longer, and try to learn more.”
The rational part of my brain wrestled with the animal aggression which howled for revenge. But Thorm was correct. We had Ogden now. There would be no more hiding. If I wanted to end this once and for all, it wouldn't be gained from rushing at him here. But I wanted to. Badly.
I glared at Ogden from the safety of our hiding spot. There was small satisfaction to be gained knowing he was unaware of our presence, and that I could kill him now. But it would be both suicidal and, most likely, unsuccessful.
Ogden had surrounded himself with a large cadre of guards. No doubt, because he knew I would be out to get him. Another small bit of satisfaction.
Still, he only had me to be concerned about, while I, on the other hand, had a blood-thirsty subset of the server's population out to get me.
“What is he waiting for?” I asked.
Thorm shrugged. “That hill is strange, maybe-.” Before he could finish, Ogden stopped speaking to his companion and raised a wing above his head. A signal.
Suddenly, the hill before us moved.
The vast object heaved upwards as if forced from below by tectonic forces. The sound of cracking rock and earth filled the air, blotting out the natural noises of the marsh.
Stunned, Thorm and I could only watch in wide-eyed amazement.
The hill shambled forward, its huge murky outline getting bigger. Then, it stopped moving.
From the middle of its dark mass two large ovals appeared. They illuminated brightly as if many lanterns or torches burned from within. Then the bright ovals blinked.
I stifled an intake of breath.
They were eyes.
The eyes moved in closer and a colossal reptilian head formed. A hooked beak, mottled with lichen and muddy grass appeared beneath them. It took me a second to recognize what I was gaping at. A turtle. A huge, mountain sized turtle.
None of the group before us fled in fear, they simply waited, as if being confronted with one of the largest creatures in the game was a normal occurrence.
“Whoa,” Thorm said, awestruck.
“Yeah,” I said. I'd encountered nothing like this before. It was terrifying as much as it was impressive.
“Pull up its stats,” Thorm said.
I did.
Name: Wally's Womp
Species: Void Titan
Subspecies: Guardian
Level: Unknown
Hit Points: Unknown
Mana: Unknown
Armor Class: Unknown
Attack Rating: Unknown
Damage Range: Unknown
Weapon Type: Unknown
Abilities: Unknown
Special Abilities: Unknown
Notes: Enslaved. Avoid at all costs.
“Holy cow,” I said, amazed.
“What is a Void Titan?” Thorm whispered. Then in an incredulous tone, said, “And why is it named 'Wally's Womp'?”
My thoughts flitted back to the void portal I had opened earlier that day before Mudhoof sent Kragg through it. I'd seen something big moving in the distance. “That is something we don't need to be messing with.”
The titan shuffled forward, shaking the ground. The dark shape I took for a hill was in fact its shell. This thing was the size of a palace. The gargantuan beast brought its head down to ground level.
I said, “What is it doing here?”
The titan settled its house sized head onto the path before Ogden and his riders, blocking the way.
Still, none of the others reacted in fear.
Ogden moved his horse mount closer until he was only a short distance from the creature.
Then, without being given any obvious signal or command, the Void Titan opened its massive beak. Wider and wider its mouth stretched out until the opening to its throat was exposed.
And there, somehow inserted into the flesh deep within its mouth, was a travel gate, its silver surface shimmering.
“Well I'll be,” Thorm said.
Then, without a bother in the world, Ogden rode his horse over the rounded edge of the monster's lower beak, and entered its mouth. He casually moved up the large tongue which resembled a wide, wet road.
The rest of the group followed suit, along with the wagon, picking their way up and inside the living cave.
At the travel gate, Ogden rode through its flat surface and vanished. All the other riders did the same.
Then, after a few moments, the beak slowly closed. The Titan shut its eyes and was still.
Both Thorm and I were speechless. So that was how the gate was protected. Ogden had somehow secured the safety of his guildhall entrance within the maw of this colossus.
I slumped to the ground, leaning up against the dead tree. How were we expected to gain entrance through that? For the first time in quite a while, I felt utterly hopeless.
Thorm sat down next to me, still speaking softly. “We'll wait here for him to emerge. Then hit him when he is further down the trail.”
I shrugged. “We don't know when that will be. This arrival could signal the beginning of a long stay. We have no inkling whether he'll ever leave or not.”
After some thought Thorm gently nudged my shoulder. “I believe there may be a way inside, but you will have to go solo, I'm afraid.”
I gave Thorm a confused look. “Okay, you got me. What way?”
Thorm started to answer when he was suddenly interrupted.
“There you are you FILTERing FILTERs!” shouted a voice behind us.
Caught of guard we could only spin around and look.
A man wearing a bright white cloak sat on a horse a short distance from us. Behind him, other mounted men rode out of the gloom into view.
These were the guys who'd chased us through all those gates. And somehow, by some miracle of miracles, they'd found us.
“Uh oh,” I said.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Thorm and I were instantly on our feet, weapons at the ready.
The man with the white cloak did not attack. Not yet. The other riders, well over a dozen of them, began to encircle us.
If it was a fight they wanted, then we would oblige them.
But Thorm had a different plan. He turned to me and said, “I'll slow them down, you go do that trick you showed me.” He nodded toward the Titan.
“What trick-,” I started to ask, but Thorm suddenly lunged forward and swiped his huge broadsword at White Cloak.
The Holy Knight did this so fast that White Cloak barely parried the blow causing his mount to rear back.
Thorm then summoned Snowflake, and the massive snow-leopard instantly attacked the nearest horse, sending the rider sprawling to the ground.
This all happened in the blink of an eye.
Thorm turned back to me, “Go!” He brought out his kite shield just in time to block an arrow from a mounted archer.
Damnit! I thought. Not another friend making a sacrifice because of me.
But I didn't argue. Again, I was forced to act.
A rider rode at me at full speed, but I slipped into shadow mode, and rolled to one side. As the rider passed by, swinging his sword, I switched to my bow and fired, dropping my shadow.
The arrow struck the attacker in the
back and he grunted in pain.
With a final glance at Thorm and Snowflake, who were both fully engaged in combat with multiple adversaries, I hopped up on a fallen log, then leapt through the air.
