She didn’t wonder for long; there was a more pressing question she needed to consider. Why was she still standing there? Didn’t she have more important things to do? Yet, she couldn’t stop thinking about the mage city or the quest prompt she had received after talking to Jerry. If Jason wasn’t logging back in for a few days and all he could give her was some cryptic explanation, then maybe she ought to follow this quest line. That might be a better use of her time than sitting around the Twilight Throne twiddling her thumbs.
Making up her mind, Riley quickly tapped at her interface to bring up the system menu and disabled the tag for her guild name. Then she stepped around the wooden post in front of her and into the restaurant. She approached the group cautiously, keeping her hood drawn. As she neared the players, Ethan looked up at her – his hand resting on the massive great sword strapped to his back.
“Can we help you?” he asked gruffly.
“Perhaps you can,” Riley replied. “I was walking past and overheard you mention that you were traveling to Vaerwald. That’s where I’m headed next. I was wondering if I could accompany you. It might be a bit safer to travel with a group than on my own.”
I also doubt that anyone would expect me to group with a bunch of strangers, she thought as she considered the bounty on her head.
The woman observed Riley’s gear and gave an unimpressed snort. Riley still wore a worn-looking cloak that obscured her weapons and equipment. She had intended to give the appearance that she was a beginning player. Her observation was that players with a low Perception skill couldn’t easily pick out her level.
“The area between here and the city is riddled with high-level monsters,” the woman explained. “We can’t afford to carry a low-level player.”
Riley took the opportunity to inspect the group. They were each in the mid-50s. “I think I can handle myself,” Riley replied. “Besides, you guys have a tank, a healer, and a caster, right? I’m an archer, so I doubt I’ll be in the way; I might even be able to help.”
Lucas gave the woman beside him a questioning look. “That kind of makes sense. I don’t see why we can’t help her out. We’re headed in the same direction after all.”
The woman frowned and looked to the warrior for support. “Don’t look at me, I don’t care,” Ethan said distractedly. “I’m fine with anything as long as we get moving soon.”
“I can leave immediately,” Riley said, deciding to change her plans. She could always message Frank while she was on the road.
“Well, then that sounds like a plan,” Lucas said. “What’s your name?” Riley hesitated, unsure how to respond. The man must have interpreted that as confusion. “So I can invite you to the group,” he added, motioning to a system window in front of him that she couldn’t see.
I can’t lie if they invite me since my player name will show up in the group menu. I’m just going to have to hope they don’t recognize who I am. At least she wasn’t as well-known as Jason.
“It’s Riley,” she said cautiously. She breathed a mental sigh of relief when the players didn’t react. “Just let me drop my current group.” She made a few gestures in the air in front of her. “There. Go ahead.”
After accepting the group invitation, Riley could see the players’ names and status information in the corner of her vision. The large man was indeed named Ethan, and the woman’s name was Emma. However, the young man’s name wasn’t Lucas – it listed him as “Cowabungus.”
“Uh…” Riley began.
Lucas looked embarrassed. “Yeah, I know. I was stupid and picked a tag I used in other games. I didn’t realize how realistic AO would be. You can just call me Lucas,” he said with a grin.
“Okay,” Riley replied with a chuckle, not missing the dark look she received from Emma. “Thanks for the invite. Do you want to head over to the south gate now?”
“Sounds good to me!” Ethan said, mustering the first signs of excitement she had seen from him. He rose from the table, hoisting a heavy pack and throwing it over his shoulder. “Come on guys, let’s move it!”
Lucas and Emma groaned and readied their equipment. As they started walking toward the south gate, Riley felt a bit nervous. This would be the first time that she had played AO on her own. Technically, she was with a group, but she was still unaccustomed to making her own decisions. However, her curiosity regarding the quest was still greater than her sense of trepidation.
As she walked at the rear of the group, her eyes rested on the backs of the other players as they bickered playfully. An amused expression slid across Riley’s face – at least this would be an interesting change of pace.
Chapter 4 - Adventurous
The group’s journey through the dark woods surrounding the Twilight Throne had been uneventful so far. The dead, gnarled limbs of the trees overhung the road like grim claws, and Riley could see intermittent flashes of lightning in the boiling, black sky. As they progressed through the forest, Riley noticed that the thick cloud cover had begun to slowly thin. The ever-present darkness lifted gradually as they traveled.
The gloom that still hovered over the road was currently being pushed back by a crystalline white light that shined from the crystal embedded in the top of Emma’s staff. She maintained the illumination spell constantly since everyone but Riley lacked the Night Vision skill.
Riley idly considered that this was a strange change of pace from Jason’s method of travel, which emphasized caution and darkness. The group spoke loudly with each other and walked at a casual pace down the winding road. This seemed like a waste of time to Riley, but she supposed with the game’s heightened realism, most players wouldn’t choose to travel at a brisk jog.
As they trekked through the forest, Riley received a chat invitation from Frank. She pulled up her chat window as she kept pace with the other players. Her hands drifted across the luminescent blue keyboard hovering in the air before her.
Frank: Hey, Riley. Why did you drop the group?
Riley: I received a lead on the quest for my bow, and I’m traveling with a group of players to a city south of the Twilight Throne. I figured I might as well do something constructive while Jason is busy.
Frank: And you didn’t invite me!? I’m joking. I’m dealing with some in-game stuff of my own. By the way, what did you make of Jason’s message? Did he give you any more info?
Riley: I was actually going to ask you the same question. Do you think he’s okay?
Frank: I’m sure he’s alright. I can’t imagine what would keep him out of the game, but it must be important. Maybe I’ll drop by his house in the next couple days and find out what’s going on.
Riley: That sounds like a good idea. Just keep me in the loop, okay?
Frank: Will do! Good luck on your quest!
Riley: Thanks.
Riley terminated the chat log. She bit her lip as she considered what Frank had told her. Jason was often rather uncommunicative, but it was odd that he hadn’t told Frank or Riley anything about what was going on. She could feel a familiar worry bloom in her chest – not that she could really do anything about it at the moment.
“Something the matter?” Lucas asked, coming up beside her. He used his crude staff as a walking stick and kept well within the circle of light cast by Emma’s spell.
“Why are you asking?” Riley replied.
“It’s just that you look a bit anxious,” he said, watching her. “Not that I can see much of your face with your hood,” he added with a chuckle.
“I’m just worried about a friend. It’s not a big deal,” Riley said, swiping away the windows in front of her with a wave of her hand.
“Oh, a boyfriend?” Ethan asked with a bark of laughter and a glance over his shoulder. His mood seemed to have improved now that they were making some headway toward their destination. Ethan’s comment earned Riley a curious glance from Emma.
Riley’s face flushed slightly in embarrassment, her reaction hidden by her cowled hood. “Not exactly,” she said. “He’s just a
friend.”
“Single and mysterious, huh?” Lucas asked with a grin.
Riley smiled at him in return, causing Emma’s eyes to darken as she watched the pair. She decided to change the subject. “So where are you guys from? It’s the middle of the day for me. Are you all skipping class or something?”
“We all live in the United Kingdom,” Emma said, straightening her back slightly. “We attend a university together outside of London.”
“I guess that would explain how you guys can be online at this time of day. It must be evening for you,” Riley replied. She wouldn’t have guessed that the three were in college based on their appearance, but she supposed that college freshman and sophomores likely wouldn’t look much older than herself. She also didn’t detect much of an accent when they spoke. “That’ll be convenient as we travel. I’m in the U.S., and I’m usually done with class by early afternoon,” Riley added.
“Great,” Ethan spoke up. “We should be able to make good time without having to wait on each other. They really need to add some kind of auto-pilot or quick travel system to this game.”
“I second that!” Lucas said. “I’m getting tired of walking everywhere.”
Riley kept quiet. She didn’t mind the travel times. She had come to realize that the lengthy distances between cities were part of what protected the Twilight Throne. If a huge group of players could suddenly materialize out of thin air outside the walls, they would constantly be under siege.
Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard a faint rustle from the tree line. Her enhanced vision and her Perception skill picked out the faint blue outline of footprints in the gray dirt.
“I think we should…” Riley began but broke off quickly as dark missiles suddenly erupted from the trees. Acting on instinct, Riley dropped to her stomach, pulling Lucas down with her. She could hear whistles as the arrows raced above them and the thud of the missiles striking the dirt some distance away. After the first attack, the woods went silent again.
“Damn it,” Ethan muttered. Riley glanced up and saw that the burly warrior lay on the ground, clutching at his leg. The shaft of an arrow was buried in his thigh, and blood welled around the wound. Emma was also on the ground, an arrow jutting from her abdomen. She stared at the wooden shaft in horror, her hands hovering above the arrow.
Riley shook herself out of her stupor, automatically summoning her dark mana. She could feel the icy chill pulse through her veins. “Emma,” she hissed, the woman looking at her with panicked eyes. “Yank it out and heal yourself. Then get Ethan up but stay low to the ground.”
Riley turned her gaze to Lucas beside her. He had managed to escape the first barrage unscathed due to her quick reflexes. “You and I need to make it to the tree line and attack them in the woods. Got it?”
Lucas nodded at her numbly, clutching at his staff as his eyes darted to their injured teammates. Riley didn’t wait to see if he followed her orders. She jumped to her feet and sprinted to the edge of the road. She could hear arrows race through the air around her. Time seemed to slow as her Dodge skill activated. The missiles decelerated slightly, allowing her to nimbly duck and weave to avoid the bolts. Even with her heightened reflexes, one grazed her face, leaving a thin line of blood in its wake and slicing through the fabric of her hood.
Ignoring her stinging cheek and not bothering to check to see whether Lucas was following, Riley entered the forest. She swiftly put her back to a tree, hearing dull thumps as more arrows were embedded in the wood on the other side. A few seconds later, Lucas slammed less gracefully into a nearby tree, having used Riley as a decoy to make it to the tree line.
“Give it up,” a voice barked from deeper in the woods. “We’ve got your group surrounded. We just want your equipment. Drop everything you’re carrying, move back to the road with your hands up, and we’ll spare your lives.”
Riley didn’t bother to respond. Between her Night Vision and the sound of the man’s voice, she could roughly place his position. She saw his body edging out from behind a tree, his pale skin practically glowing in her enhanced sight.
Are they undead? Riley wondered in shock.
She didn’t have time to reflect on this question. She pulled her bow from her shoulder and knocked an arrow. Lucas looked at her in surprise. “What are you doing?” he whispered. “You can’t hit anything in this darkness.”
She raised an eyebrow, then pulled back on the string and darted from behind cover. As she raced for another tree, Riley fired several arrows in quick succession. She heard a muffled groan, and her combat log showed that she had made her first kill.
“Rupert?” a voice called out. “What just happened?” Riley shifted her head again. There must be more undead in the trees. She could see a man cowering a few dozen feet away, but she couldn’t be certain where the others were located. She took a deep breath.
What would Jason do? She asked herself.
Her eyes darted back to the tree where Lucas was hiding. He was practically useless in the darkness of the woods, and he was severely under-geared. She could make out faint flashes of light from the roadway signaling that Emma was trying to heal herself and Ethan. Riley was the only one in the group capable of taking out their ambushers.
I need a distraction, she thought as she returned her gaze to Lucas. With her position now unknown to the enemy, she activated Sneak. Then she pulled up her chat menu and typed a quick group message to Lucas, ordering him to wait thirty seconds and then start launching spells from his location. He didn’t need to target anything in particular – just draw their attention.
Without waiting for his reply, Riley swiped the chat log away and crept farther into the woods, flanking the undead archers. As she moved forward, she counted the seconds in her head: twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine. At thirty seconds, Riley stood and faced the road, drawing the string of her bow back to her ear. A bolt of lightning flashed through the trees and struck a trunk with a crash and a blinding explosion of light. At the same time, the undead hidden in the forest moved from behind cover, pelting the tree that Lucas hid behind.
Riley didn’t hesitate. Her bow repeatedly hummed as arrow after arrow raced forward. Under the effects of Steady Aim, time slowed, and her vision increased, allowing her to pick off the undead archers. Four men soon dropped to the ground. Then she reactivated Sneak and hurried back to Lucas’ location.
As she neared his tree, Riley whispered, “All of the archers on this side of the road are dead, but there are still more on the other side.” She could hear the thumps of arrows striking the roadway behind them and the shouts of Emma and Ethan. A glance at her party menu also showed that the pair were taking damage and their health was plummeting.
“What are you talking about?” Lucas asked in a confused voice, his eyes wide.
Riley sighed. She was too used to the calculating dispassion of Frank and Jason. It was strange to be dealing with someone unaccustomed to battle. “Just turn around and move back towards the road. We need to hurry, or your friends will die.” Lucas nodded, and they crept closer to the road, taking cover behind two trees.
Riley could see Emma and Ethan standing in the road. The warrior shielded the mage with his bulk, having pulled a shield and longsword from his pack. Arrows pinged off the metal and flashes of light illuminated the pair as Emma healed their wounds. However, they were pinned down by the undead archers and were unable to make it to the tree line.
Thinking quickly, Riley turned to Lucas. “Emma’s a light mage, right?” He nodded numbly. “Does she have a spell that creates an explosion of light?”
“Uh, yeah. She picked it up just before we left Vaerwald,” he whispered.
“Good,” Riley replied. “Message Emma and Ethan in group chat and tell them to cast the spell in sixty seconds. Also, remind them to keep their eyes closed. When the spell goes off, they need to start attacking the undead on the other side of the road. Got it?”
Lucas nodded, and his hands began waving in the air
, presumably pulling up his chat window. Riley didn’t wait for him to finish. She reactivated Sneak and started moving quickly north along the tree line. After crossing the road, she entered the forest on the other side. She needed to flank the group of archers.
Riley saw a warning in her chat log and squeezed her eyes shut at the last second. A blinding explosion of light pierced the gloom; the glare was visible through her eyelids. She waited a full second and then opened her eyes. She could see that the forest was now engulfed in light, a glowing ball hovering over the roadway. Riley didn’t bother to question what spell Emma had used. Instead, she began sniping the undead in the forest, who were staggered and blinded by the unexpected explosion.
Riley heard a roar and Ethan soon entered the fray. Now that he could see his opponents, he rushed forward. Swinging his longsword wildly and with poor form, he held his shield in front of him. His inexperience made little difference since the undead weren’t in a condition to put up much resistance. Meanwhile, Lucas also joined the battle, hurling another bolt of lightning that slammed into an undead archer, electrifying the man. His twitching form hit the ground, and Ethan quickly finished him off.
Soon only one undead remained. Riley could see that the man was trying to flee farther into the forest, likely hoping to hide in the darkness. She sighted along her arrow carefully, tracking his movement through the trees. She activated Aimed Shot and then fired. Her missile darted between the dead trunks and pierced the man’s thigh. He stumbled and then fell forward, landing with a thump. Riley ran after him.
As she neared the undead, she saw that Ethan had beat her to the zombie. His sword was raised, and he was about to end the man’s life. Without thinking, Riley drew an arrow and released in a flash of movement. The arrow struck Ethan’s sword and knocked it off course. The blade slammed into the gray dirt, throwing up a shower of dust.
Awaken Online: Retribution (Side Quest) Page 3
