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

by Stephen Roark

  “Oh…” he said slowly as he got to his feet. I saw a glimmer of recognition in his eyes as he glanced back at Baltos, but of course nothing for me. He’d known me as D, not as Jane. “I’m Chaucey. What—where am I?”

  “The Targanic, Chaucey,” I told him sternly as he looked around for his bow. “You were Sunken. I restored you.”

  “Sunken…” he muttered. “What’s that?”

  “That’s what you were just now,” I told him. “Losing your mind after dying too many times. What killed you, the Great Chaucey?”

  Chaucey gave me a funny look for a moment then thought back. “I don’t know…I remember standing at the edge of something…a great fall. Something hit me from behind. I fell and died.”

  “You died many times,” I told him. “Each time you die, you lose yourself until you’re completely gone. That’s how we found you.”

  He gazed around, and I saw his expression of wonder as his eyes landed on the floating islands in the distance. We’d found him in the Targanic, but it was like he was taking the place in for the first time.

  Even though I knew I was looking at his character avatar, I couldn’t help but feel as though I was seeing the real Chaucey, the person behind the player. There was no bravado, no confidence, no sign of the fierce PK that had terrorized Carrethen. And what was worse, I actually felt bad for him.

  “This is…Carrethen?” he asked, obviously confused. How much of his mind was gone? Gehman and Baltos didn’t remember anything about even entering the Dark World, was it possible Chaucey didn’t either?

  “Sort of,” I told him. “We call it the Dark World.”

  “The Dark World…” he repeated slowly, his eyes searching across the landscape. When he looked back up at me, it was like a child looking up at his parent looking for answers.

  “What do you remember, Chaucey?” I asked him. “What do you remember about Carrethen?”

  Chaucey’s eyes seemed to search inward as he thought back. Slowly, he shook his head.

  “Just pieces really,” he replied. “Images. Dark red caves…a black knight…”

  “He’s lying,” Baltos whispered in my ear. I held up a hand to silence him.

  “Do you remember how you got here?”

  “I—I remember dying,” he replied slowly. “Someone killed me with a sword…”

  Jack.

  “And then I woke up somewhere else,” he continued, frowning, digging through his fragmented memories.

  “Sheol?” I asked him quickly. “Were you with the others?”

  “Others?” he asked. “Sheol? I don’t—I don’t know.”

  “Where were you, Chaucey!?” I asked loudly, causing him to jump.

  “I don’t know!” he stammered. “I was running from these big blue guys. I got away, but then I ended up at the edge of something…I fell…”

  His eyes sank to the ground again and I glanced over at Baltos, who was staring at me intently, waiting to see what I was going to do. Part of me wanted to just leave him there to fend for himself, but at the same time, there was no chance he’d ever make it out of the Targanic alive.

  “We can’t help him, Jane,” Baltos said quietly. “He’s evil!”

  “He’s level 50, Baltos,” I whispered back. “He’s not a threat.”

  “Think of what he’s done! Who he is!”

  There was no doubt that he’d been a killer in Carrethen—no doubt at all. He’d known the consequences of dying and he’d chosen to kill people anyway. But unless he was lying, he didn’t remember any of that. Was it fair to hold him accountable for things he didn’t even remember doing? What was more cruel? What he’d done, or what would certainly happen to him if I left him now?

  It was an impossible decision, but I made the one that felt right. I extended my hand to Chaucey and stared into his eyes. “Come with us, Chaucey. We’re your only hope to get out of here.”

  Chaucey looked up at me and actually smiled before reaching up and taking my hand.

  “Thank you, Jane,” he said gratefully, nodding his head like a tiny bow. “You won’t regret this.”

  63

  Enemies and Allies

  The Targanic was gorgeous, despite the fact that the sky was still mostly stormy overhead. As we walked, I would catch Chaucey looking up at it from time to time.

  “Pleasant isn’t it?” I said sarcastically.

  “Why is it like that?” he asked.

  “This world’s not like the one you remember,” I told him. “Many things have changed.”

  We’d given Chaucey just enough information to go on so he wouldn’t be completely lost, but hid the rest from him. I wasn’t completely sure about him yet, and certainly didn’t trust him. Baltos was even less on board with the idea of taking him with us, and had refused to speak to him except for the occasional spiteful comment here and there.

  “Everything here is twice my level,” Chaucey said timidly. “At least.”

  “That’s why you’re with us,” I told him. “We’ll protect you.”

  I caught Baltos’ eye as he glared at me when I said that. It felt strange to be protecting a killer, and couldn’t help but wonder what Jack would say if he were with us.

  “You were the one telling me to kill him!?” he might say. “And now you’re protecting him!?”

  I groaned to myself as we circled wide to avoid a pack of Horngrin Savages. The Dark World was messing with my head in ways I never thought possible. I wasn’t used to being responsible for people. I was a loner. But in this world, people relied on me, followed me, and it was influencing the way I was thinking.

  My loner, D play style didn’t fit the Dark World. I couldn’t just go off on my own and answer to no one. I had friends to find, an entire server of people to save, and I couldn’t do that without help. The old D would have never even considered helping out Chaucey, and now here I was, leading him through the Targanic and making sure he was okay.

  “Thank you,” Chaucey said earnestly as we walked. “I still don’t feel right. It’s like there’s a fog just behind my eyes.”

  “It will pass,” I told him. I didn’t know if that was true, but it felt like the right thing to say.

  “Maybe,” Baltos added. I glared at him but he just looked defiantly back at me.

  We were approaching a cluster of floating islands, smaller than most, clinging to each other with long branches and vines that spanned the distances through the air between them. Some kind of flying mobs swarmed in packs around them, occasionally diving towards the ground. I managed to inspect one of them.

  Targanic Condor—Level 127.

  “At least they’re up there,” I said, more to myself than anyone else, but Baltos took the occasion to chime in.

  “Why? You scared of some birds?”

  I frowned. “They look more like dragon-dinosaurs to me, buddy. And will you just chill out a bit please?”

  “Chill out,” he scoffed. “I can’t imagine what the old D would think about this.”

  “Yeah, well don’t hurt your brain trying to think too hard,” I countered. “The old D didn’t even want to help you out in the first place. The old D wanted to let that Hollowed Warrior kill you!”

  Baltos’ face fell off as my reply hit home. I turned away from him and walked a few paces ahead, leaving him behind. I’d been nothing but good to him, ever since the day we first met, and the last thing I needed was him questioning me about one of the hardest decisions I’d ever had to make.

  I could feel the tension as we walked, and knew Chaucey probably wanted to say something, but wisely kept his mouth shut. We came upon a group of two Horngrin Savages that were blocking our way between two ponds, and I quickly drew my bow.

  “Stay behind us, Chaucey,” I told him, firing a Scatter Shot into their feet. Their health fell and I fired another shot into one’s chest before switching to my daggers as they rushed into melee range.

  I opened up with every cooldown I had and got the first one below half health. H
is buddy swung at me with a rusty hatchet, but I’d gotten used to their rhythm by now and expected it. I dodged out of the way, keeping my attention on the low one, expecting Baltos to leap in and help out, but he didn’t. I glanced over at him to see him standing there defiantly, arms crossed over his chest.

  “Nice,” I muttered as the other Horngrin struck me with a thick wooden club. It was decent damage, but nothing I couldn’t handle while I finished off the low one. Using Mutilate, I spun and buried my daggers in his side, then stepped quickly through the cloud of smoke he left as he died, and kicked out at his companion, who was racing towards me.

  The kick itself didn’t do much damage, but that wasn’t the point. The Horngrin tumbled backwards over a small rock and landed hard on his back. Vaulting off the stone, I leapt high into the air and brought both of my daggers down, straight into his exposed belly.

  Both of them scored critical hits and the Horngrin’s health plummeted. He lashed out reflexively with his mace, striking me squarely in the face. There was no stun effect on the attack, but the sheer force and pain of the blow was enough to stagger me back, allowing him to land another blow to my chest.

  I rolled backwards and used my Health Kit, but before the charge could restore me, the Horngrin leapt on me and bludgeoned me across the cheek with his mace. My health was approaching 25% and he still had more than half left.

  “Baltos!” I shouted. “Seriously?”

  I activated Rush and used the surge of speed to slice away at the Horngrin as he leapt towards me. Snatching him by the head, I leapt over him and activated Ambush, dealing a severe critical hit that brought him down a ton. Finally, Baltos decided to help out. He moved casually in and unleashed with his cooldowns, finishing off the Horngrin.

  “Gee, thanks,” I said angrily as the Savage burst out of existence.

  Baltos didn’t respond, and I pocketed the junk loot, a few Pareals and some scraps of armor to sell later if we ran into another vendor. “You getting any experience, Chaucey?”

  “I sure am,” he said excitedly. “I’m already almost 51!”

  “Oh, great!” Baltos exclaimed. “Dude, that’s awesome! You can just walk around with us and get a free ride off our kills!”

  “Would you cut the shit, Baltos!?” I hissed, getting right up in his face. “We’re taking him with us, okay? Now you can either shut the Hell up and come with us, or you can go on your own. It’s up to you.”

  He stared at me through thin eyes.

  If looks could kill, I thought. He opened his mouth to reply, but before he could, a cry rang out from above us.

  “Help! Jane!” I looked up and saw someone hanging from the claws of a Targanic Condor. He was wearing a dark grey robe with golden fringe. I didn’t even have to inspect him to know.

  “Curafin!” I shouted, swapping back to my bow. The Condor was clutching him by the ankles and was carrying him towards the closest island. Flaming sword in hand, Curafin was trying to slice at the massive bird’s legs to get him to release him, but his swings were hitting nothing but air.

  I nocked an arrow and took aim. I didn’t need to kill the Condor—I just needed to do enough damage to get his attention or cause him to drop Curafin. But that meant timing my shot perfectly, or he’d drop Curafin over the land and the falling damage would definitely kill him.

  I kept my arrow locked on the Condor as it flew, eyeing the terrain beneath him. There was a single pond below the island that caught the water spilling down from above. If I could get the bird to drop Curafin there, he’d most likely survive the fall.

  “Careful, Jane!” Baltos said.

  “Shut up!” I snapped. I needed every ounce of my concentration, not just for the aim but for the timing. Everything had to be perfect.

  “Jane!” Curafin screamed. The Condor was almost at the island, and if he landed up there, Curafin was done for. By the time we figured out how to get up there, the beast would surely have killed him.

  The creature flapped its wings and I saw my opportunity and fired.

  My whole body was tense as my arrow streaked towards the massive beast.

  “Come on, come on, come on!” I muttered as the projectile crossed the enormous distance between us. Finally, it struck the Condor on the right side where its wing met its body. The gigantic bird screeched and spun in the air to face down on us, but its claws remained tightly wrapped around Curafin’s ankles.

  “Well, that didn’t work,” Baltos grumbled.

  “Shut up!” I snapped, nocking another arrow as the Condor swooped down towards us. Curafin slashed out again, trying to break free, but the bird’s grasp was tight and there was nothing he could do. I took aim, but waited to fire. They were flying over solid ground now. If my plan worked this time, Curafin would never survive the fall.

  The massive bird beat its wings. Each flap was like a small clap of thunder as the fierce flying creature came bearing down upon us. It opened its mouth as it dove, aiming straight for me. I held my bow tight until the last possible moment, then fired straight into the bird’s mouth.

  The shot silenced its cry, and scored a critical hit. The Condor shook and careened off at an odd angle, but most importantly, released Curafin.

  “Whoa, whoa!” he shouted, flailing his arms as he fell. There was a pond beneath him, and I held my breath as he fell, praying he’d land safely in the water. He almost made it, but his legs slammed into the bank, blowing off almost his entire health bar.

  “Oh, God!” I cried out, putting my bow away and racing towards him. I splashed down the shore and drove my hand into the water, grasping him by the wrist and tugging him to shore. He gasped and sputtered, quickly swapping to his Cleric’s Staff and using a self heal to get him back above half.

  “Jane!” he practically shouted in disbelief. “Thank you!”

  “Curafin!” I replied. “What the Hell—I thought you were dead.”

  “So did I,” he stammered. “After that prick demolished the bridge with us on it. What happened to you?”

  “That’s a long story,” I told him. “What about Sabotenda? Have you seen him?”

  Curafin shook his head sadly. “No. I don’t think he survived the fall. I lucked out and landed on…something soft.”

  I raised my eyebrow, looking for him to elaborate.

  “I landed on a big pile of corpses,” he clarified. “And then I just started running. Barely got out of Jahannan with my life.”

  “Did you end up in the Stilt Village? How the Hell did you get out of there?”

  “I swam,” he chuckled.

  “Seriously?”

  “Almost got drowned by some tentacle beast too!” He laughed. “That place was disgusting.”

  “You can say that again.” I smiled, shaking my head in amazement. Unlike back in Carrethen, my group kept changing. “Curafin, this is Baltos and Chaucey.”

  “Hey, guys,” Curafin said with a wave as he got to his feet.

  “Baltos was stuck in a monster just like you,” I told him. “The Befallen Grub of Jahannan. Level 250. Almost killed me too!”

  “Awful, wasn’t it?” Curafin asked commiseratively. Baltos nodded grimly but said nothing.

  “He’s a little upset,” I whispered. “I’ll tell you later.”

  “Okay. So, where are we headed?” Curafin asked, gazing around the Targanic, looking up at the island where the Condor had almost escaped with him.

  “Through this zone,” I told him. “If what Kodiak said is accurate, there’ll be an Underground City around here that will lead us to the Devil’s Mouth Canyon and then on to Neydeesa.”

  Curafin grinned, healing himself back to full. “Awesome. Well, let’s get moving.”

  We started out, making our way across the planes of the Targanic, stepping through pools of light that penetrated the cloud cover, and shadows of the islands that floated lazily in the air above us. It was an incredible place, and one I’d have loved to explore fully if we had the time. But we didn’t. We had a journey, a
destination and a goal, and there was no time for sightseeing.

  64

  Beatle

  Curafin was level 90 now, having done some leveling on the Horngrin before being snatched up by the giant Targanic Condor. It turned out they were vulnerable to fire, and with his Bishop’s sword and Menace, he was able to do some good damage. His mage-sword hybrid build seemed to be working well for him as long as he kept his buffs up, and he helped us cut down several more camps of Savages and a few more Assassins, helping us progress across the plains.

  “It’s nice to see some green grass again,” I said with a smile. After spending so much time in Jahannan, it was nice to see any kind of color at all.

  “Tell me about it,” Curafin agreed. “I was having an okay time here until that damned Condor snatched me up.”

  “Have you been up to the islands?” I asked.

  “Not yet,” he replied. “Can’t figure out how to get up there!”

  Baltos was still in a sour mood and was walking behind us. I’d made sure Chaucey stayed in the center of the group, as he was the most vulnerable. At level 50, pretty much anything in this zone was sure to one-shot him, and after restoring him from his Sunken state, I felt it was my responsibility to look after him until I could figure out what to do with him.

  “So, who is this guy anyway?” Curafin asked. “An old friend?”

  “The opposite actually,” I replied. “He was…a terrible person back in Carrethen. Major PK. Killed lots of people. Killed Gehman, actually.”

  “Gehman? Seriously?”

  “Tried killing us many times.” I nodded. “Jack, my friend, ended up killing him. That’s why Baltos isn’t happy about me bringing him along with us.”

  “So…why are you?”

  It took a second for me to answer. I had to find the words to explain my reasoning, as I didn’t fully understand it myself.

  “He doesn’t remember what happened,” I told him. “Or at least he claims not to. And—I don’t know. Leaving someone Sunken like that, no matter what they did in the past, seems like cruel and unusual punishment to me. I mean, imagine if I’d just left you stuck in the Bishop’s body for however long this world continues to exist.”