by Edward Brody
“Of course,” Adeelee replied. “You said that it was a misunderstanding. I take it that everything has been cleared up now?”
“No.” I shook my head. “I’ve been pardoned by the King, but when Jeremy joined the guild, he brought some baggage that we need to take care of to clear his name. In addition, I have a mission that might help the King of Highcastle live longer. Completing the mission might buy us more time from Dryden and possibly help me sway the King to take action against him.”
“You implored the King to help you with the Bloodletters?” Adeelee asked.
I nodded. “Queen Faranni wouldn’t help, so I turned toward the King of Highcastle. The threat is real, Adeelee, whether your mother wants to acknowledge it or not.”
“You met with my…” Jax trailed and paused. “You met with the King of Highcastle?” I could see an etch of concern across his face.
“Yes, Jax. I did.” I raised my chin and scanned everyone in front of me. The whole guild was there other than Gerard—who was likely in the shop taking care of things—several of our dark elven guards, Adeelee, and her two elves who looked highly uncomfortable. “The King of Highcastle is gravely ill, but there’s a cave in the Freelands that may bear a remedy for his disease.
“Snake venom,” I continued. “In particular, Jeremy saw a giant serpent there which may have a venom potent enough to concoct a cure.”
“Sa-sa-sa-sanana…” Jeremy stuttered and looked over to me. “What did they say its name was again?”
“Shashana,” I said. “They suspect it’s a great beast known as Shashana.”
“Impossible,” Adeele said, her eyes flicking wide open. “She hasn’t been seen since…”
“Since the great war that destroyed the Wastelands,” Keysia finished.
“Right,” Adeelee upheld. “The Wastelands were once a sea of great plains and forests—before the orcs formed the Scourge. Shashana served a powerful orc summoner who was killed in battle during that time. With no master and the Wastlelands burned to ash, she had no obligation to continue fighting. Some speculate that she may have fled into hiding, but since she hasn’t been seen since, most assume that she died in battle.”
“Whatever is in there, it killed a level 35 with poison, so it’s likely higher level than that. If we go into that cave, it’ll be risky, and I need as many guild members to join me as possible.” I scanned my guild mates. “Jeremy is obviously coming, but Ozzy, Jax, Rina, Keysia, are you willing put your lives at risk to join us?”
“Hell yeah, I’ll go,” Ozzy said.
“Of course I’ll accompany you,” Keysia added.
Jax nodded.
“I owe you my life, Gunnar. I’ll go,” Rina said.
Aaron held up his hands. “Umm, I think it might be a little out of my level range.”
I snickered. “You’d probably be wiped out before we even made it two feet into the cave, Aaron,” I agreed. “You stay here and take care of the village. But that makes six of us, so we might have a fighting chance.”
“I’ll go too,” Adeelee suddenly said.
“You’ll go?” I asked, surprised at her offer.
“Princess… you can’t,” one her guards said.
The Princess turned to him and snarled. “I’m the one who gives orders. Remember your place.”
“Yes, your highness,” the man said with a bow.
The Princess turned back to me. “While I can’t send the elven army across the sea to fight your human battles, I can at least lend myself to your cause. You’ve helped me and the high elves multiple times in the past.”
I smiled. “Thank you, Adeelee. That’ll give us seven—almost enough for two full groups.”
“You’ll fight with me?” Keysia asked towards Adeelee, her face twisted in disbelief. “You’ll fight alongside a dark elf?”
Adeelee swallowed. “I would be lying if I said I was enthusiastic about the idea, but if Jax and Gunnar have been living in the same forest with you for this long without incident, I’m willing to risk fighting with a dark elf during a single hunt.”
Without incident? I thought. It was a good thing she didn’t know about my episode with the dark elf who bashed my head in. I smiled anyway. It was a small step towards progress, but I could see Adeelee had opened up a little since the first time I saw her step foot in Edgewood.
“You could ask Gerard to join you to fill the empty group slot,” Aaron suggested.
I shook my head. “I wish he could join us, but I promised him I wouldn’t drag him out of the village if possible.” I turned to Shal, our head guard. “Would you be willing to accompany us on this hunt? It’s risky, but I’ll pay you for your time.”
Before Shal could speak, a confident voice said, “No, I’ll go.” We all turned to see Donovan step into the clearing, march closer to Adeelee, and kneel. “Would you be willing to fight beside another dark elf, your highness?”
The Princess took a fearful step back. “Donovan…”
“Donovan would give us eight,” I said. “Two full groups, and perhaps the strongest fighter of us all.”
Donovan remained in a kneeling position for some time as the Princess stared down at him. For a moment, I thought she may tell him no, but she glanced at me a couple times before finally saying, “Very well… I will still join you, Gunnar.”
“Great!” I said. “We’ve got a pretty awesome team.”
“Are we heading out tonight?” Ozzy asked.
“No,” I replied. “We’ll spend the rest of the day making preparations. I want everyone to take whatever you need from the shop to max out your gear—weapons, armor, etc.” I turned to Jax. “Can you make potions? We’ll need some.”
Jax shook his head. “I still haven’t set up my alchemy equipment, and I have no reagents. I’ve kind of let my alchemy training fall to the wayside.”
“Travel the nearest town and buy at least eight cure potions—one for each of us to take with us in case of poisoning. Check to make sure we have enough healing potions as well, and if not, buy the required reagents, set up your alchemy equipment, and make what you can.”
Jax nodded.
“Alright!” I said with a slap of my hands. “If you don’t need anything, just make sure you’re mentally prepared for what could be a major fight tomorrow. We’ll head out first thing in the morning.”
Everyone except Adeelee and her guards spread out and started taking care of the things they needed to do.
“You’re becoming a great leader,” Adeelee said. “I’m impressed with how far you’ve come.”
“Thanks,” I said shyly. It had been a while since I had been so close to Adeelee, and once again, I found it hard to focus away from her beauty.
“What is the purpose of the giant stone slab?” she asked.
I turned to where she was looking to see that the foundation for our castle had been completed. It looked even larger than it did when it was just a hole, and whatever process they had used to create it, it was now basically a solid rock. “It’s the foundation for a castle.”
“A castle?” Adeelee asked. “You’re building a castle here?”
I nodded. “I don’t think Edgewood will ever be as grand as Mist Vale, but we’re going to turn our village into something great, and we’ll need defenses from Dryden or anyone else who may attack us.”
“Ambitious,” Adeelee said. She turned her head towards Donovan, who was across the clearing sharpening one of his swords. She took a deep breath. “I’m willing to chance fighting with the two dark elves, but I believe it’s best that I’m not put in the same group with them. It’s my first time with a…”
I nodded, cutting her off. “I understand. I’ll put you in a group with Jax and me.”
“Thank you, Gunnar,” she said.
I scratched the back of my head. “And I want to apologize if I was rude to you the last time I was in the Vale. I had just been through a lot, and I didn’t mean to take it out on you.”
“It’s okay, Gu
nnar,” Adeelee said. “I understand you were upset with my mother’s decision. I was rather disappointed that you didn’t stick around to spend time with me, but I suppose we’ll be fighting side-by-side tomorrow.”
“Yeah, I guess so…” I said. It wasn’t ‘alone time’ like I had originally wanted to spend with Adeelee when I first invited her, but it was something.
“I do have one question to ask you though,” she said, scanning me up and down.
“What’s that?” I replied.
“Why are you wearing nothing but gloves and a fur hood? This is not an appropriate look for an ambassador of the elves.”
“Uhhh… Um…” I suddenly felt naked and super self-conscious, worse than the first time I met the Princess and was still wearing my newbie gear. “The— the King confiscated it?” I stuttered as if I were asking a question. “I’ll go put something on now!” Adeelee twisted her lips and fluttered her eyelashes, as I scurried away straight for our guild’s shop.
How embarrassing.
I not only needed to replace my missing armor, but after breaking my sword, I needed a new weapon as well.
Tomorrow was going to be a big day.
It was time for our first big raid.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
2/2/0001
Adeelee Vost has joined your party
Jeremy Cole has joined your party.
Jax Horn has joined your party.
Rather than staying in Edgewood Village, Adeelee and her two guards traveled to the edge of the forest and set up their own camp the night before to avoid sleeping near the dark elves. This distrust that the High Elves had towards the dark elves never ceased to amaze me.
We reconvened early the next morning, and I could see that everyone had replaced any pieces of battered gear with the new ones. Jax delivered two health potions and one cure potion to everyone who was traveling on the hunt, and we all carried at least two small bandages. Rina was also armed with two large bandages just in case of extreme injury.
Aaron forged me a new sword that was identical to the last one, except the 25-41 attack damage that the last one had was bumped up to 25-42. Even over the two days I was gone he had honed his craft a little bit. I picked up a few pieces of our best quality leather armor from our shop. None of it was special, and it was a huge step down from the heritage armor, but it was better than being naked.
After making sure everyone was prepared, we rode for the mysterious cave in the Freelands. Keysia rode with me on Sora, Rina rode with Jax on Fenris, Jeremy rode with Adeelee on Tsarra, and Ozzy rode his horse with Donovan on the back. Adeelee’s two guards also accompanied us on our way to the cave.
It was only a fifteen to twenty minute ride through the Freelands before we reached a large field with several small hills beside it. The hills were covered in lush, green grass like most of the Freelands, but one of the hills had a large cave opening in front of it.
“This is it,” Jeremy said as we rode up in front of it. He pointed to a flat area near the field and several meters away from the cave entrance. “That’s where Percy perished.”
I took a deep breath, stopped, and held a hand up. “This is it, guys!”
I hopped off Sora, and everyone followed suit, jumping to the ground. Ozzy tied his horse to a nearby tree, and Adeelee’s guards posted themselves nearby. We walked Sora, Tsarra, and Fenris to the guards and left them there as well.
“Take good care of her,” I said to the guards.
The guards frowned, clearly still not happy that Adeelee was accompanying us into the cave.
I am fully capable of taking care of myself, father, Sora said.
I know, I projected to her. So why don’t you take care of them then? Or just enjoy your time with Tsarra and Fenris.
I’ll try, she said. Are you certain you don’t want me to accompany you?
I’m sure, I replied. This is our first large group battle together. I don’t want to risk losing you if I’ve bitten off more than I can chew.
Be careful in there, Gunnar.
Everyone lined up in front of the cave, and I took a position in front of them.
“As we discussed,” I said loudly, “Adeelee’s guards will look after our mounts while we’re in the cave. Since there are four to a group, Adeelee, you’ll be in charge of healing our group. Rina, you’ll be in charge of healing your group.”
Adeelee and Rina nodded.
“Since we can only see the status of the other three people in our groups, if someone needs healing, curing, or anything like that, yell out that you need healing if you’re not getting heals, so the healer in the other group can heal you.”
Everyone gave simultaneous nods.
“Ozzy, you’ll be our front line at all times. Try to keep as much of the aggro [monster attention] on you at all times, since you can absorb the damage the best.”
“Got it,” Ozzy said.
“Donovan, Adeelee, and I will be our primary damage dealers behind Ozzy. We’ll use our ranged attacks when necessary, and close in to dispatch as many enemies as possible.”
Donovan and Adeelee nodded.
“Jax and Keysia,” I said, “you’ll be our ranged damage. Use your ranged magic and arrows whenever possible, and only use close-ranged attacks when necessary.”
“For shizzle,” Keysia said.
Adeelee’s head snapped toward Keysia, and her eyes rose in surprise. I thought she was going to say something, but she quickly turned her attention back to me.
“Rina, you’ll be at the back of the squad, healing. I want you to conserve your mana for heals and much as possible, but feel free to use ranged attacks at your discretion.”
Rina nodded.
“Jeremy, since you’re the lowest level of the group, your primary concern is keeping any and all enemies off of Rina. I also had you carry an extra quiver of arrows in case you need to hand it off to Jax. You’re free to use your discretion as well, but just remember, keep Rina from being attacked if at all possible.”
Jeremy didn’t look happy about being the backup defense, but he gave a halfhearted grin and a thumbs up. “Got it.”
I looked up to the line and scanned all their faces. “Our number one objective is to always keep Rina alive. If someone dies, especially a non-Reborn, she’s our only hope of resurrecting them. If Rina dies, it’s all over, and we don’t want to leave here with any casualties. So, if you see Rina in trouble, I want all focus to go on saving her even if you get your head bashed in for doing so. Just remember that she can resurrect you, but you can’t resurrect her. Everyone understand?”
Everyone nodded in understanding.
We took a few minutes to cast buffs on everyone. Adeelee cast Barkskin, I cast Divine Zeal and Divine Sight, and Rina cast Divine Shield, Divine Blessing, and Nourishing Aura. After that, we all took a moment to meditate and bring our mana back up to full.
“Alright,” I said. I stepped forward, placed my hand out, and immediately the other members of the guild joined me in a circle, placing their hands one on top of the other.
“What’s all this about?” Jeremy asked.
“Get over here, dumbass,” I said. “Put your hand on top of ours.”
Jeremy joined the circle and placed his hand on top.
“Adeelee, Donovan,” I said looking to them, “I know you’re not a part of the guild, but you should join us just for good luck’s sake.”
“Hmmm…” Donovan hummed.
“Get over here, dude,” I insisted. “Just do it.”
Donovan sighed, squeezed into the circle, and placed his hand on top of Jeremy’s.
“Adeelee?” I said. “Don’t be stubborn. Hurry before our buffs run out.”
“Okay…” Adeelee said low. She squeezed in between me, but instead of putting her hand on top of Donovan’s, she slid her hand to the bottom, underneath mine.
I smirked but didn’t say anything. If she couldn’t be bothered to sleep near a dark elf, I guess I couldn’t expect her to touch one
.
I gave a brief nod to the guild mates, and we all said in unison, “One, two, three, Unity!” and threw our hands in the air.
I pulled my sword out of its sheath and turned for the cave. “Let’s go find us a giant serpent.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
2/2/0001
We all entered the cave with our weapons drawn, Ozzy first.
There were no signs of any creatures in the first small chamber immediately at the cave opening. Vines hung down from the ceiling, and there were several broken rocks laying randomly across the cave floor, but it was otherwise dry and empty. There were two large openings at the back of the cave leading down separate paths.
“Were there snakes in this area before?” I asked Jeremy.
“Not here,” he said. “Just a little further. I’m pretty sure I followed Percy down the opening on the right.”
Without needing any instruction, Ozzy led us down the wide path on the right, and as we walked, Jax asked, “Were there any traps on the way?”
“Not that I remember,” Jeremy replied, “but I was following at a distance. There could have been something.”
Jax nodded. “Everyone stay alert.”
The large path was much like the chamber opening, empty with nothing but hanging vines and large rocks.
“Right up ahead,” Jeremy said. “This is where the snakes start.”
As we walked carefully into the next chamber, all expecting to be attacked at any moment, we were surprised when there were no snakes inside. There were a few shriveled, decayed remnants of what might have been snakes with maggots eating what was left, but there were no dangerous creatures that we could see.
“That’s weird,” Jeremy said. “This is where I remember them being.”
“Creatures move freely in Eden’s Gate,” Jax said. “There’s the possibility that they’ve been cleared out or even moved to another cave.”
I sighed. “I hope not… If all of us came here for nothing, that would be pretty shitty.”
