Lord of the Flame: A LitRPG novel (Call of Carrethen Book 2)

by Stephen Roark

  “Did you inspect them?” I asked.

  “Just a few,” he replied. “They’re mostly in their 90s, I think. And Jane, they’re from The Redeeming Blood. Fallen God’s guild.”

  “Let me get the others,” I told him.

  “Leave Gehman here,” he said. “He can’t handle them.”

  I nodded and dashed over to the hut where Lambert was working on his cooking.

  “Need you now!” I hissed.

  He jumped and spun around and glared at me. “Excuse me?”

  “Fallen God!” I hissed. “There’s a patrol headed this way. We’re heading back to send them away.”

  “Fallen God?” he replied. “The Redeeming Blood? They should be friendly.”

  “Yeah, well I’m not taking that chance,” I told him, racing back over to Kodiak. “We’ve got a good thing going here, and I’m not about to let them screw it up.”

  He frowned at me, obviously still pissed off, but there was no time for our personal problems. We had to act.

  “Look, I’m going now. Are you coming or are you going to stay here and pout like an awkward little weeb?”

  That did it. Lambert scowled, but equipped his nekode and nodded. I grinned and we split, racing out of the hut and back over to Kodiak. Staying low, the three of us raced off quickly, following him into the woods. He really was like a ninja, a shadow leaping nimbly over roots and rocks, cutting a line through the trees. Eventually, we reached a low line of vegetation where Curafin was crouched low, wand in hand. We slid up behind him and peered out through the leaves.

  “Where are they?” I hissed. He pointed to the left where a line of shadows was approaching. It looked like at least five players, maybe more.

  “They stopped a minute ago,” he whispered. “I thought they might turn back, but then they headed this way.”

  “Damn it,” I cursed under my breath. “Let’s just jump them.”

  “What?” Lambert asked. “Why?”

  “We can’t risk them finding Cara!” I snapped. “If they decide they want to take over, they could send their whole guild here!”

  “Damn, girl. You really are aggressive,” he retorted. “Fallen God cleanse the Sunken. We’re all Unchained. They have no reason to wanna screw with us.”

  “You said this was the only intact player town you’d run into right?” I asked. “So who knows where they’re stationed! Maybe some lonely outpost in the middle of nowhere, or Fort Keth, fighting off mutated high level insane monsters!”

  “Or maybe they have their own town somewhere and are just passing through,” Kodiak suggested.

  “Uh huh,” I replied, drawing my bow and nocking an arrow. “Well, I’m not taking that chance.”

  “Wait a second,” Kodiak said, putting his hand on mine. “Let’s just talk to them and see what they want. Maybe we can just send them in another direction.”

  “What do you care?” I asked him. “It’s not like they’ll die or something.”

  “They’ll go Sunken. And without you to restore them, they’ll keep sinking until they lose it completely. The more Sunken there are in this world the worse off we all are.”

  I sighed. He was right. In a world that had what basically amounted to zombies running around, it probably wasn’t wise to actively participate in the creation of more zombies.

  “Fine,” I grumbled. “We’ll talk. But I’m keeping my distance so that if anything goes down I can take them out with my bow.”

  “Deal,” Kodiak said, turning to Lambert. “Let me do the talking.”

  31

  News of an Old Friend

  Kodiak and Lambert crept forward as Fallen God’s group moved through the trees towards us, their faces barely visible, lit by the blue glow of the moss. There were five of them, at least two using long swords and an archer, but the other two were hard to tell. But there was an obvious leader heading up the pack, and I inspected him.

  Kalihan—Level 97.

  I moved to inspect the others, but before I had the chance, something snapped behind us. I whirled around to see Lambert frozen, his foot on a cracked branch beneath him.

  “Sorry!” he mouthed, but it was too late.

  “Over there!” someone shouted. I turned back to see the group racing towards our location.

  “Shit!” I hissed.

  “Nice move,” Kodiak growled as I stood up and took aim. There was no time for diplomacy anymore.

  I loosed an arrow and hit one of the swordsmen on Kalihan’s left. I didn’t know what to expect for damage with my new bow, but was shocked to see his health instantly drop to below critical.

  “Help!” he cried out, hurling himself behind the cover of a tree. A mage behind him drew his wand and began to cast a healing spell, but I quickly fired another arrow and struck him, interrupting his spell and almost killing him in the process.

  Kodiak dashed into action, flanking the group, and engaged one of them, who drew a short axe and quickly slashed out at Kodiak, who dodged out of the way and lashed out with his dagger.

  Lambert rushed in, nekodes held high like Wolverine, and leapt at Kalihan. But he had ten levels on Lambert, and ducked and rolled out of the way as he drew a jet black Bo staff. In one smooth gesture, he slammed the butt end into Lambert’s gut, causing him to double over, then followed up with a blow to the jaw that sent him off his feet, knocking his health down close to half.

  I fired again, blasting him in the chest with another arrow. He was wearing heavy studded leather armor, and my shot did heavy damage, but not like I’d done to his companions. A large chunk of his health vanished and he looked up as I aimed another arrow at him.

  “Stop, now!” I cried out, shifting my aim to the fallen mage at his side who was still at critical health. “I shoot—he dies!”

  “Stop!” Kalihan shouted, raising a fist in the air. Lambert jumped to his feet and raised a nekode to attack.

  “Lambert!” I snapped. He stopped and looked at me, his eyes filled with anger. “Just relax for a second.”

  “Who are you?” Kalihan asked.

  “I’m Jane,” I replied, keeping my arrow aimed at the fallen mage. “This is Kodiak and Lambert, part of the Red Devils. You’re with Fallen God?”

  “You’ve heard of us.” Kalihan smiled.

  “I have.” I nodded. “What brings you this way?”

  “Well if you’ve heard of us, then you can probably guess,” Kalihan replied.

  “Looking for Sunken,” I replied.

  “That’s right,” he nodded, glancing at Lambert and Kodiak.

  “Well, there’s none of them here,” I told him as one of his swordsmen got to his feet and used a Health Kit. “In fact, this forest is pretty much empty, we were just passing through. If you head to the east, though, we saw a group of them staggering around like they do.”

  “East, you say?” one of his men asked suspiciously.

  “Yeah, why?”

  “We just came from the east,” Kalihan said. I glanced nervously at Kodiak and Lambert. Both of them were still on edge, ready to fight, but I was doing everything I could to avoid that. Obviously I had the upper hand with my new bow, and we could probably make minced meat out of these guys in a matter of seconds, but polluting the world with more Sunken that I wasn’t around to deal with immediately was probably not a great idea.

  “So you saw them then?” Kodiak asked, thinking quickly. The swordsmen glanced at him for a moment, then finally grinned.

  “We sure did. And we dealt with them.”

  Phew, I thought. The bluff worked!

  “So, how is it that you guys deal with them anyway?” I asked. I still didn’t understand how any player in Carrethen would have the ability to remove another player from the world permanently. Without a permadeath penalty, the Sunken should just continue to respawn over and over with each death. According to Wintermute, I was supposed to be the only one with the power to remove players from the game—despite not even having that power yet.

  �
��Trade secrets,” the mage replied bitterly, obviously not a fan of mine at the moment.

  “Hmmm.” I nodded, drawing back my bow string a bit more, threatening to fire. The mage scrambled back, waving a hand in the air.

  “No, wait!”

  “Then spill it!” I snarled.

  “Okay, okay, okay!” he stammered. “We don’t deal with them like Rayne does…we just kill them when we see them. She’s the only one who can cleanse them for good.”

  “Her and Vayde,” Kalihan corrected him.

  My heart almost exploded out of my chest. “Wait, what!? Vayde? Did you just say Vayde?”

  “Uh…yes?” Kalihan replied slowly.

  “Vayde,” I repeated. “A mage, right? You’re sure?”

  “Well, he’s Rayne’s second in command,” Kalihan replied. “So, I’m pretty sure.”

  Holy shit…

  “What?” the mage asked. “Friend of yours?”

  I was flabbergasted. I’d been wondering for so long when I’d catch wind of my old friends, thought about how to find them, and now, all of a sudden, here was this random person speaking casually about one of them.

  “Where is he now!?”

  “After Rayne blessed him with the power of cleansing, she sent him to take back Neydeesa Castle.”

  “Neydeesa Castle on the coast of the Velsilian Isles?” Kodiak asked.

  “You know it!?” I asked quickly.

  “Yeah. It’s far away, down on the Southeast Coast,” he replied grimly. “Far.”

  Scowling, I turned back to Kalihan. “We’re going with you.”

  “Oh, we’re not going to Neydeesa,” he said, shaking his head. “We have other things to do.”

  “What do you mean, Rayne blessed him?” I asked. But Kalihan just smiled and I could see by his expression that he wasn’t going to tell me. He was hiding something.

  “Rayne is very powerful,” he said simply.

  “Uh huh,” Lambert replied sarcastically, for once, echoing my sentiments completely.

  “Well, there’s nothing in these woods,” I told him firmly. “I’d head somewhere else if you don’t want to waste your time.”

  Kalihan gave me the eye, and I could see he was trying to discern whether or not I was lying to him. But after a moment, he nodded.

  “Fair enough,” he replied. “Glad we ran into you.”

  “Sorry about the arrows,” I said to the two I’d shot. “You can never be too careful, ya know?”

  “It’s fine,” the mage replied.

  “Good luck,” Kodiak told them. “Maybe we’ll see you again.”

  Kalihan nodded and turned and took his group east and headed off into the woods. We stood in silence until they were out of sight, then I turned quickly back to Kodiak.

  “You can lead us there, Kodiak?” I asked.

  “You sure you want to go, Jane?” he replied. “I mean—it’s really far and dangerous.”

  “Look, if you don’t want to go, I’ll go myself—”

  “Take it easy,” he interrupted. “I never said that, I just want you to know what you’re getting yourself into.”

  “If you even knew what happened to us back in Carrethen.” I grinned. “Don’t worry about me.”

  Kodiak smiled and we headed back towards Cara, questions racing about my mind like a school of fish.

  After Rayne blessed him…? I thought. What was he talking about? Was it possible that Rayne was passing on her power to cleanse the world of the Sunken? It just didn’t seem possible. I have to find Wintermute!

  32

  A New Destination

  “The Hell, we’re all going!” Lambert protested as we sat around the well in the center of Cara. “This is her thing. Why do we want to go trekking around the whole damned continent trying to find some old friend of hers that we’ve never even met?”

  When we’d arrived back in town, I’d told the Red Devils what Kodiak and I had planned to do. Lambert was, let’s say, less than enthusiastic about embarking on an epic journey across the Dark World.

  “What a pussy,” I scoffed, channeling my alter ego, D.

  “What did you say?” he growled, getting to his feet angrily. I waved my hand for him to sit down.

  “Take a sit, boss. You don’t want any of this.”

  He glared at me like he wanted to shoot me, but he knew I was right and took his seat.

  “He’s right,” Gwin said to the group. “I mean, I like you, Jane. I love this crossbow you gave me, but I’m not sure I want to start heading across the world trying to link up with your old buddy. No offense.”

  “None taken,” I replied. It was true, I wasn’t offended, but I was a bit disappointed by their lack of enthusiasm. Even when Cavey and Xavier were guarding Stoneburg, they were up for anything. “How about you, Sabotenda? With your upgraded armor my friend made for you.”

  “I’m in,” he said without hesitation.

  “Yeah?”

  “What’d I just say?” he asked with a sly grin. I smiled back.

  “I’m in,” Kodiak said.

  “And me,” Curafin added. “I owe you my life. Anything I can do to help.”

  “Thanks, Curafin,” I replied. “Anyone else?”

  I looked across the square at Lock, but before he had a chance to respond, Gehman threw his hand in the air.

  “I’m in—”

  “No, Gehman,” I replied quickly, shaking my head.

  “What!?”

  “Gehman, I like you,” I told him. “I really do. But you’re just too low level right now. If we bring you along, we’re going to have to spend all our time watching out for you. And if you die before we find a new Bindstone, and end up back here in Cara, you’re going to start going Sunken and I won’t be around to restore you.”

  “But…” His voice trailed off. He knew I was right, but it was still a bitter pill to swallow.

  “Don’t worry,” I told him. “There will be more times for you to help. Stay here with the Devils and level up, and get your smithing up so when I get back you can upgrade the Hell out of my armor.”

  Gehman thought for a second, then smiled and nodded. “You got it, D! When you get back, I’ll be such a pro blacksmith that you won’t even believe it. That reminds me, I can probably upgrade your armor now with the Cobalt I have left. It won’t be much, but it’s better than nothing.”

  I smiled and patted him on the back before turning back to Lock. He glanced at me, pondering a moment before shaking his head.

  “I’m sorry,” he said finally. “But Cara is our home and I have sworn to protect it. My healing spells may not be as good as Curafin’s, but I’ll be needed here. Besides, if we don’t hold down the fort, you might not have a home to come back to once your journey is over.”

  It was a bit disappointing, but I nodded anyway.

  “I understand,” I told him. “Hopefully we’re not gone too long. That reminds me, is there a portal dungeon anywhere near here that Curafin could tie to so we don’t have to run all the way back?”

  “Low level junk dungeon in the swamp past the river,” Lock replied. “Should be able to get there and tie with no problem. I can show you, Curafin.”

  “Thanks.” Curafin nodded.

  “Okay, Lambert,” I said with a heavy sigh. “You mind whipping us up some food for the journey? Or did I hurt your feelings?”

  Lambert may have been a bit of a dick, but he was a proud dick, and I didn’t peg him for being overtly spiteful in front of his guild. He twisted his lips for a moment, then nodded.

  “Yeah, sure,” he replied. “I wouldn’t want you guys dying and coming back here to blame me that you weren’t well fed or something.”

  “Gee, thanks,” Kodiak replied.

  “Lock, can you take Curafin to that dungeon to get a portal tie?” I asked, getting to my feet.

  “Sure,” he replied. “Shouldn’t be more than a few minutes.”

  Lock got up and led Curafin away into the woods. I took off my armor an
d handed it to Gehman. “Do what you can,” I told him. “But when I get back, I expect to see some sick skills.”

  Gehman grinned and raced off to the smith’s hut. Lambert headed inside to do some cooking, and I found myself alone in the square with Kodiak and Sabotenda.

  “You sure you want to do this?” Kodiak asked. “It’s a big commitment.”

  “Vayde was a good friend of mine,” I told him. “He died helping us. I owe him. Besides, he might know more about where the rest of my friends are.”

  Kodiak nodded. “I understand.”

  “Let’s just hope we get some good levels and loot along the way,” Sabotenda replied. “And that those Fallen God guys weren’t lying.”

  33

  Roll Out

  We were ready to go. Curafin had portal tied at the swamp dungeon and returned with Lock, and Gehman had finished upgrading my studded leather armor dropped by the Houndmaster, adding an additional 30 armor level to each piece. It wasn’t much, but it was, as he kept reiterating, better than nothing.

  “I promise I’ll be better when you guys get back,” he told me. “And if you can bring me some better metals or minerals, that would help.”

  “Well, hopefully I’ll find a drop for some armor my level and I won’t have to rely on you to upgrade it for me,” I laughed, but when I saw the look of disappointment on his face I quickly corrected myself. “But I’m sure you’ll be able to pimp that out too.”

  I winked at him, instantly regretting it when I saw his reaction, and turned around to Sabotenda and Kodiak.

  “You guys got everything you need?” I asked. “Health kits? Whatever?”

  “That’s about all we need.” Sabotenda grinned. “You got enough arrows and all that?”

  “Yup,” I replied. “I also picked up some Fire and Frost oils from the Mage.”

  “Fire arrows?” Kodiak asked with a grin.

  “You know it.”

  “Okay, so what’s our route?” I asked. “I haven’t been down to this part of the world really—maybe just a tiny bit in beta. But who knows if it’s even the same now as it was then.”