The Crown and the Key

by Andrey Vasilyev

  “I’m not ready to die,” Flosi said, pulling out his battle axe. “Not at all, actually.”

  “Abby, how did those commandos get into the house?” I asked. “Wasn’t there some kind of passage?”

  “Commandos? What are they?”

  “Those guys who came to kidnap you, the ones we killed upstairs.”

  Abigail hopped up off the bed. “Of course! We have to go down into the cellar.”

  She ran out of the room, calling to Flosi as she went.

  “Don’t forget my things!”

  Flosi grunted, slipped his axe into its loop with a practiced motion, grabbed the sacks, and headed after us.

  As we ran down the hallway on the first floor, we heard Gward bark out an order. “Down with the door!” A second later, something slammed into it. Splinters flew off the walls.

  “You sure you got enough in here, cutie?” Flosi wheezed under the load of Abby’s sacks.

  ***

  Running around in basements was apparently my new favorite thing to do. Secret passages, too. Sure, ours wasn’t as fancy as the one the inquisitors had, there wasn’t as far to go, and the simple trapdoor in the floor wasn’t as well concealed, but it did the trick. How many cellars are there in this house? Flosi had come out of a different one, after all.

  “They’re going to find it,” Flosi said sadly when I shut the trapdoor above us and slid the lock into place.

  “Of course,” I replied, sneezing as Abigail lit a torch and sent soot flying everywhere. “It’ll take them a while to get it open, though.”

  “Blood,” Abby said, looking at a red spot on the ground. “That must be Rosemary’s. What else did that little fool need?”

  I assumed she was talking about the servant girl I remembered upstairs, the one who’d let Jeremy MacPratt and his men into the house.

  Women are fantastic at bringing up meaningless and stupid things at the worst moments. I’ve never been sure if it’s a way of protecting themselves, or if it’s just the way they’re wired.

  “Who knows?” I took the torch from Abigail and started walking forward. The tunnel was earthen, with wooden supports. How has it not collapsed? “It could have been gold, or she may just not have liked you. We’ll never know, now. Sis, where does this go?”

  “Outside Erinbug,” Abby said, scrunching up her nose and kicking away a snake that had taken up residence in the tunnel. “Eww, nasty.”

  “Shouldn’t have done that,” Flosi panted. “Rat snakes are good to have around since they eat all the little creatures nobody wants.”

  “That’s wonderful,” I replied, my emotions starting to get the better of me. There I was, saving the two NPCs, and they were just content to chat about nothing. “Where exactly does the tunnel go?”

  “There’s some sandstone by the lake.” Abby suddenly gasped and stopped in her tracks.

  “The forest would have been better,” I replied angrily. I’d seen the sandstone, and it had some empty space right behind it. Straight ahead was the lake, to the right was a meadow, and it was a good kilometer away from the forest we needed to get to. We were going to stand out like a pimple on a freshly shaven face.

  “As soon as we get out of the passage, head left. They won’t see us at the bottom of the embankment if we stay low,” I said. “Once we get to the end of that, we’re going to have to make a run for it. Let’s hope they’re having too much fun to watch the outskirts of town.”

  “What if they do see us?” Flosi asked.

  “In that case, we’ll hope they don’t have any archers.” I settled my shield on my back. “If they do, we’re done.”

  ***

  The tunnel ended suddenly with a bend. It was dark, dark, dark, and then—voila—light.

  “Stay in here,” I said, handing the torch to Abigail, creeping toward the entrance, and freezing.

  I don’t hear anything. Of course, there were birds singing, grass rustling, and bumblebees buzzing around collecting pollen. That was pretty normal since even fall in the game felt like summer. There was no such thing as changing seasons. Of course, there were locations with snow, but that was even in August. And quests that took you somewhere into a leafy forest took you into the same forest even if it was New Year’s.

  But that wasn’t important. I didn’t hear any footfalls, and there wasn’t anyone yelling, “Where are they?” like a castrated cat in March. The only voices I heard were the muffled ones coming from Erinbug. Maybe, I should send a quick note to our people, have them come pick us up.

  That wasn’t an option, though. Kro might not have read the message right away, or something else could have happened. The MacPratts probably weren’t going to just wait while I took care of my correspondence for the day, either. No, we needed to take matters into our own hands.

  “Okay, put out the torch,” I said to Abby. “The longer we wait here, the less of a chance we have to get out alive. Flosi, you’re first; Abby, you’re after him; I’ll bring up the rear. Flosi, if anything happens, drop those sacks—we’ll be fine without them. Grab her, and make for the forest. Got it?”

  “Of course, König,” he nodded. Abby didn’t say anything, apparently recognizing my right to give orders, at least then and there.

  Flosi noiselessly slipped out into the light, looked around, and waved to us. I tossed the sacks out, he grabbed them, I shoved Abby out, and then I stepped out myself.

  The sand crunched under Flosi’s feet as he ran surprisingly quickly. Abigail set off after him, her skirt in her hands, and I tried to stay right behind her. I was expecting an arrow to smack into my back at any second.

  The forest was right there, close enough for me to see the knotty roots of the enormous oaks at its edge when I heard a voice call out.

  “Hey, that’s the MacLynns’ girl, by Tsernunnos! What’s she doing here?”

  I very nearly breathed a sigh of relief. Thank God, they don’t have any archers. I had no doubt that we were going to have to fight them—it was just our luck that we wouldn’t get away clean. But who, how, and where? That was simpler. It was steel and skill against… Oh, who’s up there?

  It was apparently a three-man patrol they’d sent out to check the roads in search of people slipping away from the village. If there were too many to intercept, they could see where we were headed, too. And there we were, as if made to order.

  ***

  Three hillmen, shaggy and bearded, stood near a hazel bush with excited looks on their faces. I wasn’t surprised that we hadn’t seen them—the bush was a big one.

  They headed toward us smoothly, glancing hungrily at Abigail as they tried to cut us off from the forest.

  “Flosi, go!” I yelled, pulling my shield off my back. “Hurry!”

  One of the hillmen put a horn inlaid with silver to his mouth and blared out a quick call.

  Oh, that’s not good… The village was a brisk, seven-minute walk away, but running…

  “I summon the Shadow Brigade!” I roared as I caught a sword swung at me by one of the three.

  Four warriors pulled their usual appearing trick.

  “Get the far one,” I ordered, taking the second hillman’s blade on my shield and thrusting at the first with my sword.

  The warriors dashed toward the third scout, who had almost gotten to Abigail.

  “Ah, you MacLynns,” hissed the hillman, as I cut deeply into his leg.

  “Wolf Soul!” My gray brother launched himself at the legs of the gelt I’d wounded.

  Swords flew, and sparks sprayed everywhere. The first hillman whacked away at me, his skill betraying his Level 69—better than mine.

  “Memory of the God,” I said as I finally broke through his defense and sent my blade ripping through his leather breastplate and the pieces of metal he’d attached to it.

  The gelt sank down onto one knee with a groan, holding his sword above his head in a last-ditch attempt to parry my next blow.

  It didn’t work; I brought my blade smashing down on him, alon
g with Sword of Retribution. The ability didn’t work, but the gelt fell onto his side with a bare sliver of health remaining. A quick jab finished him off.

  My wolf let out a death howl, though he’d done his job by keeping the second opponent off me. I turned to take him on only to see that the Shadow Brigade had already gotten to work on him.

  “Good luck, gents,” I called over to them before dashing off in the direction of the forest. There were already a couple dozen warriors headed our way from the village.

  It was cold and gloomy in the forest. I plowed ahead, trying to figure out where my companions could have gone. We should have agreed on something. But what? I didn’t know anything about the forest, anyway.

  I must have been running quickly because the shouts from the gelts running up to where we’d had our little skirmish had died away completely. Either they’d had enough, or I’d gotten so deep into the forest that I couldn’t hear them. One way or another, I wasn’t going back to check.

  Stopping where I was, I looked around. Nobody. A breeze rustled the treetops, a hedgehog ran by, and everything else was quiet.

  Where was I supposed to find them? And how? Shout? No, a few of those, and I’d have had a band of MacPratts chasing me down. I wasn’t sure they’d start a manhunt right there, but, as soon as Gward found out that Abby and I were there… It was a good guess that he’d send everyone into the forest—it sounded like he’d had a thing for my sister for a while, and he’d probably turned maniacal on me the second I just about spilled his guts to save Abigail. I’d met people like him in real life, and they were terrifying, especially when they were backed by real power. Oh, how they love to make people pay for their complexes. Given the way the local AI worked, he was probably that kind of person.

  You unlocked Save Your Sister.

  Task: Find Abigail MacLynn and get her to safety.

  Reward:

  1000 experience

  The gratitude of Abigail MacLynn (reputational bonus)

  The gratitude of Lossarnakh MacMagnus (reputational bonus)

  Note!

  You have to save Abigail before Gward MacPratt’s people find her. Otherwise, you will fail the quest.

  If Abigail dies in the forest for any reason, you will fail the quest.

  Failing the quest could complicate your relationship with the leaders of the Borderlands.

  The first thing I did when I accepted the quest was to give myself a pat on the back for grasping the situation perfectly. Then, an issue started bothering me.

  How did the developers write this quest? They couldn’t have predicted that things would turn out the way they did since there were just too many ifs.

  After standing there another minute, I decided it didn’t matter too much and headed toward my left. There was a goal, already: a red spot on my map that was moving at a good clip. Flosi was apparently pushing the pace hard.

  It was a good thing I’d gotten the quest. Otherwise, I would have had no chance of finding them in the forest. I probably would have headed in the exact opposite direction.

  The forest got thicker and thicker, turning into more of a windbreak than anything. Flosi had been right logically—it was harder to get through. But tactically… That direction probably didn’t lead to civilization. It wasn’t like the Moscow area, where it was impossible to get really, truly lost (though there are some idiots every year who manage to do exactly that). I’d been pushing my way through the underbrush for a few hours, but I still hadn’t seen any signs of life, not to mention the pair I was following.

  As I kept going, I started to get messages from clan mates surprised that I hadn’t gotten there yet. I answered their questions about where I was with a quick “in the woods.”

  The underbrush was getting darker, too, and the ground started getting mushy underfoot. It didn’t help my mood when the large trunks covered in vines gave way to an exceptionally unpleasant-looking bog. The whole thing was gray and unsightly, with crooked birches jutting out of the stinky, bubbling slime. That turn of events didn’t even surprise me, though—it was just the next logical step in the trajectory things were following.

  “What brought them here?” I asked myself, and, surprisingly, got an answer.

  “Are you talking about the strange man with the sacks and the pale girl? We took them to our island. Today is the Fall Sun Festival, and we needed someone to burn. It’s tradition! They may not burn the guy, but they’ll definitely burn the girl.”

  I looked around and saw an impish, girlish face peeking out from behind a rock.

  That had better be some naiad or caryatid, or maybe even a mermaid. But the flutter of wings that sent her hurtling skyward put an end to that idea. It was a vila, and I had clearly caught her eye.

  Chapter Eleven

  In which we find that curses can have an upside.

  “I’m married, my dear vila,” I quickly told the beauty hovering above my head. “It’s been a while, and we’re madly in love with each other. Really, beyond what a normal human could hope for.”

  “I think you’re lying,” she replied slowly, squinting her left eye and scrunching up her nose. “That’s not how married men look.”

  I sat down on a large boulder standing at the edge of the bog. “How do they look?”

  “Doomed,” she said with a flutter of her wings. “Hopeful, too. But you look appraisingly, to see if you like what you see. No, you’re lying.”

  She frowned, and I looked back at her with an expression that wasn’t much brighter.

  After a minute of that, I’d had enough. “You know, I think we got off on the wrong foot. What’s your name?”

  “Ellie. The mover.”

  “What does that mean?”

  She came down to sit next to me. “Just that. The girls haven’t been leaving the island much lately, only when they have orders or something they need to do. But I’m always flying around the bogs or near the forest—it’s boring on the island. So, they call me the mover.”

  “It’s easier to find a husband that way, too…” I said with a touch of sarcasm.

  “Who cares about them?” she replied with a flap of her wings. “Life’s pretty good when you don’t have one. Interesting, too.”

  Huh. She was a simpler vila than the ones I was used to.

  “And here I thought girls like you spend all their time trying to figure out how to land a husband. That’s what people say, at least.”

  Ellie took off into the air above me. “They’re right. We all want that, sure, though not me.”

  “Why is that?” I was intrigued to hear what had turned her off of the other gender.

  “I don’t like you men.” Ellie’s eyes narrowed as she held her hands up in front of her. “You’re all liars. And I know that better than anyone.”

  From out of nowhere, her eyes lit up with bright yellow sparks, and I realized something was wrong. Two streaks of lightning smacked into my chest, taking off 15% of my health. I ducked behind the rock, shocked by the turn of events.

  “Liars! Liars!” she shrieked at the top of her lungs, sending two more lightning bolts my way. “I hate you all. If everything isn’t exactly the way you want it, you run off to find someone else!”

  She isn’t simple; she’s crazy! Something had clearly gone sideways for her, and she took out her anger on passers-by. It’s a good thing she didn’t kill Flosi, though…

  “Wait a second, so, you’re not a liar?” I dodged another pair of bolts and dove back behind the rock.

  She stopped her bombardment and presumably froze in midair. All I could hear were her wings flapping. “What are you talking about?”

  “My friend and sister. Did they really take them to your island, or did you make them up?”

  “Yes, they took them to the island.” Judging by her voice, the vila was starting to change her disposition, and I slipped noiselessly to the other side of the boulder and stuck my head out. “I told you—we have a ritual today when it gets dark.”

 
; “And here, I thought you were all peaceful,” I replied as I watched the crazy beauty’s aerial antics warily. “But now, I find out that you’re into human sacrifice.”

  “We’ve never done anything like this before,” Ellie said, golden shoes flashing above me. “This is the first time we’re going to be burning people in the bonfire. Our mother said we have to, so there you go.”

  “Your mother…” I muttered. “Is that the Supreme? I wouldn’t have thought she’d go that far…”

  “You know our mistress?” Ellie asked in surprise from directly above me. Her fingers were primed and ready to send another round of non-therapeutic electrotherapy my way.

  “Both her and her mother. I know them very well, actually, though that hasn’t worked out that great for me.”

  “Okay, then I’m not going to kill you,” she announced suddenly and came down to earth. “She’s been furious at everyone lately, just looking for excuses to lash out at anyone she can find, and I’ll be next on her list if I finish you off. Anyway, I’m tired of you.”

  “Sounds good to me,” I muttered, not sure what to even expect from the odd creature anymore. If Tren-Bren had been there, the two would have had a lot in common—they would have been perfect together. But normal people? “Could you take me to your island? I need to have a chat with your mommy about your prisoners.”

  “Not a chance.” Ellie flew up into the air. “You have no business being there, got it? Get out of here, and never come back.”

  She flew higher and higher until she disappeared into the mist above the bog.

  “There she goes…” I mumbled as I watched her.

  But what was I supposed to do? Shove my way through the swamp like a tractor plowing up the soil? I did know the direction I needed to go in since it was marked on the map, but it was an hour and a half away. That was enough time for me to drown thirty-times-over. Plus, there were probably all kinds of creatures living in there—different spirits, crazy vilas, a local boss that was probably a snag come to life or a swamp turtle… I knew as well as anyone how rich the developers’ imagination was.