by Rick Scott
I keep maneuvering the Frost Salamander through the trees as Aiko takes its health down 5% at a time.
We get it to 35%.
30%.
Suddenly Aiko cries out again, “Reece, no! Don’t go that way!”
Huh?
I’m about to ask her why but I piece it together for myself…albeit too late.
Foot-long spikes drive straight through my feet.
Your shadow absorbs the attack!
Darn it!
Once again, I’m thankful for having Shadow Copy up. I pause for a split second to cast it again. I get the spell off, but then a stray claw from the Salamander immediately rips my brand-new shadow to shreds.
Double darn it!
I need to gain more distance before I recast it again. I Sprint to keep out of its range but then my thoughts freeze as a new message appears.
Frost Salamander readies Frost Fire.
Oh Crap!
I instinctively try to recast Shadow Copy again, but it’s still on Cool-Down.
No!
Frost Salamander uses Frost Fire.
The hurricane force breath hits me with a brain-numbing cold that chills every cell of my body. Pain radiates through my body like I’m on fire, so strong I fear I might pass out. I scream in agony as my HP bar is depleted by a third.
“Arrrgh!”
Two more debuffs appear on my HUD as my body becomes encased in ice.
You are Paralyzed.
You are Slowed.
You are Frostbitten.
“Reece!” Aiko cries.
The monster barrels into me, shattering the ice like glass and I lose another whopping chunk of my health.
Frost Salamander hits you for 977 damage.
I go flying and strike a tree.
You take 54 damage.
My vision blurs and I taste blood in my mouth. I can barely breathe. I try to perform a Retreat to remove my paralysis, but nothing happens.
You are too tired to perform that action.
What? This is worse than I thought. I see my Stamina is sitting at -10! I have a flashback to my negative Agility days and look to my debuffs for the cause.
Frostbitten.
Your Stamina is rapidly depleting.
Crap. That’s worse than being paralyzed! I check my HP next.
124/1732 HP
The Frost Salamander charges at me a second time, homing in on the prey it just smacked for a home run. I struggle to move, frozen by both pain and paralysis. I’m gonna die. I’m going to die and Gilly and Becky are miles away!
“Stay away from him!” Aiko cries and side-swipes the beast with a Plunging Attack across its head. The Frost Salamander bellows with a roar and its whole body shifts to follow her as she rolls into the snow. I feel too weak to move. I’m lying helpless as Aiko faces off against the giant monster alone.
“Aiko, be careful…” I strain to get out, but my voice is weak and garbled as more blood fills my mouth. I probably have a punctured lung or something; breathing hurts far more now than it did before.
Aiko doesn’t look at me, her chest heaving as her violet eyes stare with razor-like attention at the salamander. I see wild fear within them as well, but determination too. The Frost Salamander launches at her and she leaps into the air, flipping backwards and Wall Running up a tree. The monster slams into it and she flips down onto its back with a Plunging Attack. Her blades cut deep and she removes a couple more percentage points of its life.
“Come on!” she shouts. “Try and hit me!”
She has no War Cry, but the monster has completely forgotten about me now. Perhaps Aiko removed that Misdirection effect and all that hate she built up has been redirected back to her now. Again I try to move, but the Paralysis and Frostbite are still in effect.
You’re doing great, Aiko, I cheer her on internally. You’ve got this!
The wild look in her eyes is slowly replaced by one of extreme focus, confidence almost. Thieves have high evasion, but I’m not sure if it’s as high as Ninja. Still, Aiko goads the giant beast into another attack and then runs up a tree to land on its back with a savage 10% hit.
Aiko uses Sneak Attack!
Aiko hits the Frost Salamander for 9856(972) damage!
The Frost Salamander throws her off its back and rolls onto its side, wriggling and thrashing as if in a death throe. It’s down to less than 10%! Aiko flips back onto her feet and runs in to slash at the beast with her big knives.
Aiko hits the Frost Salamander for 407 damage.
Aiko hits the Frost Salamander for 402 damage.
Aiko hits the Frost Salamander for 398 damage.
Go Aiko! Go!
The Frost Salamander rolls back to its feet and releases a massive ear-shattering roar.
My brain scrambles and Aiko drops to her knees clutching her ears. The monster turns and begins limping away through the forest, blood dripping as it whines and hisses like a braying donkey.
Aiko starts after it but then sees me. “Reece!”
She falls to her knees next to me and gingerly touches my face and chest. “God, I don’t know what to do. Are you okay? You look really messed up!”
I talk to her through the party chat. “Still frozen and hurt like hell.”
“Let me get you up,” she says.
“Don’t worry about me. It’s at 10%. Go kill it.”
Aiko gazes in the direction of the wounded beast as it lumbers through the forest. She’s about to take off, but then the snowflake-like ears of the salamander sparkle and the beast vanishes from sight.
“Crap…” I say. “It cloaked! We need to find it.”
Aiko shakes her head. “How? It’s run away.”
“You think it’s going to try and attack us again?”
“Let’s not stick around to find out,” Aiko says. “It’s run for now. Let’s hope it stays that way and that there aren’t any more of them out here.”
That thought makes me want to get to my feet badly. The debuffs finally disappears from my HUD and I’m able to move again. “Thank goodness that stuff wore off. That was a really strong Paralyze effect.”
“You sure you’re okay?” Aiko says as she helps me to my feet.
My chest still feels like a truck ran over it, but I see my HP slowly go up. “I’m healing. I guess I’m okay.”
“We need to get you back,” Aiko says. “You need a heal. Bad.”
“Tell me about it.”
Aiko wraps my arm around her waist and together we limp through the forest, headed back for Star Fall.
“You really think that thing is gone?” I say, looking over my shoulder, almost expecting the Frost Salamander to blast us with its breath attack at any moment.
Aiko grimaces. “I hope so. I actually felt a bit sorry for it, seeing it limp away like that. Honestly I don’t know if I could have killed it even if I did catch up to it.”
That one takes me by surprise. “Whoa. This from the lady who told me to kill a snake before it gets a chance to bite you?”
Aiko rolls her eyes. “When I said snake I was more referring to the human variety. Those type you don’t play with—far more dangerous, as you well know. When it comes to monsters though, they’re pretty much just animals.”
I consider it a moment, thinking of that giant creature as merely an animal rather than a monster. I suppose from that light I do kind of have sympathy for it. “Yeah, I guess. You did great against it though. You pretty much soloed it at the end. Saved me too.”
She shrugs. “Had to do what I had to do.”
I smile. “You looked strong out there. Like you got over your fear a bit.”
She mirrors my smile. “Yeah. Maybe I did get a little bit of my mojo back. Thanks to you.”
“Me?”
“Well I couldn’t just let you get killed, could I?”
She grins and we share a laugh. I truly hope she has overcome some of her fear, though. It’d be great if she could one day put it all behind her.
W
e travel on in silence for a bit. My HP crawls above two hundred and I feel the pain subside. But as it does it’s replaced by a growing awkwardness as the memory of our abruptly truncated conversation comes to mind. I almost wish I could erase it altogether, but I can tell Aiko’s probably thinking about it too.
I sigh inwardly. I can’t leave this hanging in limbo, for both our sakes. “So…I never really answered your question.”
She stops and I feel her torso stiffen as I hold onto her waist. She answers without looking down at me. “You don’t have to, you know. Perhaps it’s best left unsaid.”
“No,” I say and turn inward to face her. “It needs to be said.”
I take a breath and steel myself for what’s about to come next.
“I do really like you, Aiko, but I’m not sure if what I’m feeling is right. Especially when I have Gil—”
“Hey…” She places a finger over my lips. “You don’t need to explain anything. I’m the one at fault here. You’re a guy, remember? It’s normal for you to feel attraction.”
“Yeah, but I don’t want to feel guilty about it.”
“I know,” she says. “And I’m sorry for that. I shouldn’t have put you in that position.”
I go quiet and just listen to her.
“Honestly for me,” she says looking up. “It was just a nice feeling to know that you kind of liked me—and for who I am on the inside, not just my character’s body.” She looks back down. “I know this might sound kind of pathetic, but believe it or not, that’s a really rare thing for me. For someone to even take the time to get to know the actual me, much less still like me afterwards.”
My heart sort of melts when she says that and I feel all over again what I think I’ve been feeling this entire time. Am I attracted to Aiko physically? Sure. But I think I care for her a lot more than that. I know her on the inside like she said and, in a way, I just kind of want to see that side of her more and more.
“It’s okay to have feelings, Reece,” she says. “It doesn’t have to mean anything. It’s normal and natural. It’s when you act on them inappropriately, like I did, when it becomes a problem.”
“So that wasn’t kosher, what you did?”
She chuckles. “I guess I took my infatuation a little too far.”
I still can’t believe she even thinks that way about me, but listening to her now, I can sort of understand why. And maybe it’s not really romantic at all. Maybe it’s something more than that. Something deeper.
“I don’t ever want us to not be close, though,” I say. “I still really do like you, a lot. I respect you and have so much to learn from you. And I really do love who you are inside. Rough exterior and all.”
Her eyes glisten, looking both happy and sad at the same time. “See. It’s when you go and say stuff like that, that makes me want you even more. You really are a sweet guy, Reece. And you actually see me. I appreciate that. I appreciate it more than you know.”
I blush a little as she pulls me closer. I still don’t know quite where all this is leading yet. “So…how do we figure this out?”
“Figure what out?” She looks down at me quizzically. “There’s nothing to figure out, Reece. You’ve got a girl, a good one. And honestly you’re too damn good for me.”
“What?” Now I’m really confused. “Why do you say that?”
“It’s true. You’re young and sweet. And you deserve the same. So long as this old cougar can steal a kiss from you every now and then…” She gives me a wink. “I’ll be happy.”
I laugh when she says it, because I’m sure she actually means it too.
“You’re totally crazy, you know that?”
She grins. “So I’ve been told.”
A huge sense of relief fills me, like a weight lifted off my chest. We’re able to joke again. I think we’ve finally come full circle in our understanding of one another, perhaps even closer than before.
“Just one thing,” she says. “Please don’t tell my sisters about any of this.”
Uh oh…
She must read the look on my face, because she sighs. “Don’t tell me…”
I shrug haplessly.
“Which one?”
“Val?”
“Great,” she says, rolling her eyes. “Now she’s going to think I’m a total loser for making a pass at you.”
“Actually I think her exact words were homewrecker.”
She lets out a cackle. “Well I’m not that. I’m just a basket case with intimacy issues.”
I grin. “I can keep your secret.”
She gives me a hug and I finally feel safe in her arms again.
“Come on, pretty boy,” she says and kisses me playfully on the nose. “Let’s get you home to Gilly.”
Chapter 35: High Gear
The wind and snow seem to die almost completely as we trudge back towards the keep. I’m up to 30% health and although I can walk unassisted, my ribs still hurt something awful from when the giant salamander slammed into me from behind. I actually can’t remember the last time I’ve been in so much pain. I suppose most other times I’ve lost HP it’s been from some kind of acute action, like an AOE blast or a slash from a weapon. Once it’s done it’s over. But this blunt trauma must have dislocated a rib or something.
I’m hoping Gilly can fix it with one of her spells.
If not, this is really going to suck.
I walk just behind Aiko as she picks our path through the forest. We’re travelling a lot slower now thanks to me and walking back seems to take ages, but with this pain, limping is about the best that I can do.
“You hanging in back there?” Aiko says, looking over her shoulder at me.
“Getting better slowly,” I say.
At least, I think I might be. Or hope.
I glance at the sky to see the thick layer of clouds beginning to break. Behind them the sun is fading into late afternoon and reminds me that we haven’t been out of the labyrinth for very long. With the storm locking us in for most of the day it feels like we’ve slept through a night already. But my body knows different and I’m feeling fatigue along with my pain as true nightfall approaches.
I wince as I endure another spasm. I need something to take my mind off this. Talking with Aiko would be welcome distraction for sure and thanks to us finally having our “talk” we can do so freely. I can’t think of anything real important to talk about though, but I guess there is something I’ve been curious about ever since I saw Aiko switched to Thief.
“Hey, Aiko?”
“Yeah?”
“Is playing Thief how you were able to afford that Scroll of Shadow Copy?”
She pauses at the admittedly oddball question. “What?”
I shrug. “Just curious. I remember you saying you get major drop bonuses from Thief.”
She starts off again, with a small shrug of her own. “I suppose so, yes.”
“How long did it take you? To save up that much? Eight million was it?”
“Close to a year.”
“Wow.”
She laughs. “I don’t think I ever worked so hard for anything. There was this one dungeon I used to solo. I got it down to a science. 13 minutes 42 seconds per run. I used to do it for ten hours a day.”
“Yikes.”
She chuckles. “I was young and dumb back then so it barely fazed me. I just kept my eye on the prize. I knew the next Scroll of Shadow Copy that went up for auction was going to be mine.”
I nod appreciatively. “Looks like you made it happen. How does Thief play by the way? Hit and run mostly?”
“Pretty much. Traps like you saw, as well, depending on your set-up. I always went for the spike damage build myself. I used to take on bosses and kill them just like how I showed you with those dockworkers back in Swifttide.”
I think back to my first every lesson from Aiko and grin.
“Man that feels like ancient history now,” I say. “I suppose it must be even more so for you. That’s like more than t
en years ago, right?”
She rolls her eyes. “You’re making me feel old, Reece.”
I chuckle. “What was the game like back then? Was it pretty much the sa—”
“Hold on,” she says, cutting me off. “Do you hear that?”
I stiffen as I strain my senses, but all I hear is the soft whisper of the wind. “Is it the Salamander?”
“No,” she says, still cocking her ear and shifting her eyes in discernment. Finally, she looks upward. “I need to get a better vantage.”
She aims for the nearest tree and scales it quickly, using something that looks a bit like Wall Run but not quite. I follow after her and once again we’re stuck up in a tree together. Aiko squints, peering back in the direction we just came. The ground slopes away from us, forming a gentle valley that’s miles across and remarkably, the visibility has cleared so much that I can easily see the snow-topped trees on the other side.
“What is it?” I ask.
She’s silent for a moment, still studying the landscape. Finally, she points. “There.”
I trace her line of sight and catch a glimpse of a tree top moving. No…not moving…falling.
What the…?
A moment later another one goes down. Then another.
“They’re cutting a path to us,” Aiko says.
“Who?” But I think I already know the answer, even though it doesn’t make any sense.
She stands on the tree limb for a better view. “Braxus.”
My heartbeat quickens.
“No way,” I say. “How could he be here so quickly? The storm just stopped and the Vale is like twenty miles away.”
I stand to peer as well and to my chagrin, through the opening made by the fallen trees I see a line of mammoths and giants. “Holy crap. Did he march through the storm?”
Aiko grimaces. “Followed behind it is more likely.”
“What?”
