by Adam Horne
“Looks perfect,” said Elora.
Kelath held the paper up and pinned it to the board.
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“That’s enough guild business for now,” said Kelath. “I still haven’t gone to the town hall to turn in the quest we got at the mines. You guys want to do a quest together?”
“Lead the way,” said Galahad.
Elora beamed. “I thought you’d never ask!”
Kelath sent her a party invite, and they left the guild hall. The town hall was in the center of the city, so they followed the main road past the training grounds he’d visited yesterday. The keep grew as they drew closer, guards visible patrolling around the top of the walls. A stone courtyard surrounded it so defenders could shoot down on invading soldiers if it was ever attacked. The town hall stood along the main road at the edge of the open space.
Two guards protected the front doors. They watched everyone who entered the building and occasionally stopped someone to ask about their business. Kelath’s party walked past the guards with no problem and entered a crowded lobby. A number of the characters were NPCs performing scripted tasks like dropping off papers or arguing with one of the officials about taxes. Most of the players seemed to be going to a desk on the far left, so Kelath followed them. An elf sat there, accepting the letters of recommendation from each player and offering tasks to be performed for the city. He overheard quests being given to those ahead of them in line, and he was surprised that every task was unique. One person was sent to kill rats in the sewer, another to track down an escaped convict, and a third to check on a rumor of supplies missing from a government warehouse. Of the ten or so different orders people received, none of them were identical.
“What is your business?” asked the clerk when they reached the front of the line.
“We came from Millville.” Kelath produced the letter he’d received from the foreman and handed it over. Galahad and Elora followed suit.
The clerk glanced at the notes before dropping them into a drawer in his desk. “Yes, we seem to be getting a large number of people coming from there.”
Quest Completed: To Stockton
“We were hoping you would have another quest for us,” said Galahad.
The clerk leafed through a stack of papers on his desk. “Lots of people looking for work here today. Let me see what sorts of jobs I have left.” He looked at one of the sheets of paper and studied their group before sliding it across the desk for them to read. “I’ve had this one for a while. It’s too hard for a single adventurer, but the three of you should be able to handle it.”
Quest Discovered: The Den Mother
A pack of wolves has been causing trouble for travelers along the forest road west of Stockton. A great black wolf was seen leading them. Track down these wolves, kill at least eight from the pack, and bring back proof of slaying their matriarch.
Rewards: experience, money.
Kelath accepted the quest and thanked the clerk for his time. As they were walking away, he said, “There are supposed to be giant spiders in the forest where we’re going. I need some venom to learn a recipe for poison. Mind if we search for them too?”
“Might as well,” said Elora.
Galahad voiced his approval, and they made their way out of the city.
Chapter 14
They left the city through the southern gate, crossed the drawbridge, and followed the road. A path forked to head south in the direction of the docks, but they continued west towards the forest. There was some traffic moving around them, but most of the parties were large and the merchants all had groups of guards to protect them. Kelath figured lone travelers were avoiding this stretch of road.
They’d traveled a few miles from town when they found the remains of a horse on the north side of the road. It appeared the animal had run away from the forest. Tracks in the mud circled around where it had been killed. A large hole opened into the stomach, and the flesh around the ribcage had been torn away. Blood stained the ground around the carcass.
“That looks like a fresh kill,” said Galahad. “The scavengers haven’t found it yet.”
“I believe you’re right,” said Kelath.
“Poor animal.” Elora walked to the head and brushed her hand over its mane.
“Do either of you know how to track?” asked Galahad.
Kelath examined the ground around the dead horse. “I’ve never tried. From the amount of prints left in the mud, I assume wolves did this. Maybe we can find the trail where they retreated into the woods.”
They continued on the road slowly. They hadn’t seen any tracks before they reached the horse, so they moved forward and spread out hoping to find more clues. After about thirty yards, Elora called them over and pointed at the ground in front of herself.
“I found something.” She pushed a clump of grass aside and revealed a depression in the dirt.
“Yeah,” said Kelath, “and it looks like it’s heading into the woods. It could be the wolves we’re looking for.”
The floor of the forest was spongey and covered with dead leaves. Places where the rotting vegetation had been separated by the claws at the ends of the wolves’ feet weren’t hard to see. Sometimes they found clear prints in areas where water had collected in puddles. They moved slowly and rarely lost the trail. After a half hour of careful searching, they came to a rocky clearing with a cave on the far side. At least ten wolves lounged around the open space or patrolled through the woods nearby.
“How shall we handle this?” asked Galahad.
“We can’t fight all of them at once,” said Kelath. “I think our best bet is to take out a few of the patrollers before going after the ones in the open.”
Elora and Galahad both nodded. They hid behind a fallen log and examined the way the wolves patrolled, waiting until one moved far enough away from the others for them to pull it individually. Kelath would throw a poisoned knife while Elora began casting a spell. By the time the thrown weapon hit, she would finish her ice bolt and switch to fire spells. Galahad moved to intercept, taking off large chunks of health with each swing of his two-handed flail. Even though Kelath and Galahad were each only level one in their new classes and the wolves were a level higher, they usually killed the mobs by the time they reached Elora. They drew out and defeated five of the wolves in ten minutes.
“That was easy,” said Kelath as they waited for Elora to regain her mana.
“Though it’s not very sporting to team up three on one,” said Galahad.
“They’re animals. It’s not like we’re ambushing people on the road.”
“I only wished for a real challenge.”
“Aw, Gally…” Elora tousled Galahad’s hair, and he pulled away angrily.
“My name is Galahad. Why do you call me, ‘Gally?’”
“You’re Gally the Pally,” said Elora in a matter of fact tone.
Galahad’s face turned red and Kelath couldn’t stop himself from laughing.
“Don’t call me Gally! It sounds…girly.”
“All right.” Elora held her hands in front of her chest in a gesture of surrender. “I wouldn’t want people to think you’re girly.”
Kelath stepped in to make peace. “It was only a joke Galahad.” He shot a warning look at Elora. “I’m sure she’ll call you by your full name from now on.”
Galahad didn’t look so certain, but he nodded just the same. Elora finished drinking from her flask of conjured water and stood up when her mana was full. Kelath held a finger to his lips to indicate quiet, and together they crept towards the clearing. There were still five wolves remaining, three lounging in the grass and two more crouched on rocks in front of the cave on the far side of the open area. Kelath stopped at the edge of the trees, and the other two joined him.
“This fight is going to be harder,” whispered Kelath. “I don’t think we can pull them away one at a time, so we’ll be fighting the three i
n the middle all at once. We need a strategy.”
“Can you freeze them with your bombs?” asked Elora.
“Possibly, but there’s no guarantee I’ll get a critical hit. The way they’re situated, I can only hit two of them anyway. The third one will be out of range.”
“What if I draw the attention of all three?” asked Galahad. “They’ll converge on me, and you can throw your bombs.”
“How is your luck?”
“The fates do not favor me. I’ve lived by my strength, both in body and mind.”
Kelath took that to mean he’d dropped his luck score to raise strength and willpower. “It’s not a good idea then. If I froze you and the wolves broke out first, they could gang up and kill you before you had a chance to heal yourself.”
“I also think it’s probably a bad strategy to have one person tank all three of them,” said Elora. “If it helps, I can cast magic barrier on myself. It will absorb some of the damage I take, but the range of the spell is personal which means I can’t target others.”
“Why haven’t you used it before now?” asked Galahad.
“The skill only gains experience when it absorbs damage, and we’ve been killing the mobs so quickly, I didn’t need it. Casting it seemed like a waste of mana. Also, the extra experience I’ve been getting for being in a party has been going into the skill, so I’ll still be able to level even without casting it.”
“I’ve got a plan,” said Kelath.
Kelath explained his idea, and both Elora and Galahad agreed it could work. Galahad approached the wolves in the clearing but stopped before getting close enough to be noticed. Elora slipped around the trees to get some distance, although she was still close enough that any wolves fighting Kelath would be within range of her spells. She cast magic barrier, and a shimmering bubble of magical energy formed around her before turning transparent. Kelath held an ice bomb in one hand and a fire bomb in the other. If the first one froze his targets in place, he wanted to be ready to hit them with another attack as quickly as possible. He lined up the targeting reticle over the two closest wolves and nodded at Elora, who began chanting and making arcane symbols with her fingers. When he saw the ice bolt leave her hands, he threw his first bomb and began aiming the second.
The ice bolt hit first, freezing the back legs of the wolf closest to Elora. It let out a howl, and all three animals jumped to their feet. Before the other two wolves could go after Elora, the bomb landed between them. Kelath had hoped it would freeze them in place, but it wasn’t a critical hit. Two of the wolves’ heads swung around, and they both leapt towards Kelath. He’d aimed so they would have to cross as much slippery ground as possible, giving him enough time to throw the fire bomb.
Critical hit!
The wolves yelped as the ground under their feet erupted into flames. They skidded to a halt on the ice and turned in directions that would get them out of the blaze faster. They moved away from each other and he couldn’t hit them both with bombs anymore. He pulled out throwing knives and targeted the wolf that had been at the center of the group. Elora had switched to the same one, and Galahad charged across the grass at it. By the time he reached their target, both wolves were free of the fire and heading straight for Kelath.
With their focused fire, the first wolf died about the time it reached Kelath. He ignored the second one charging him and targeted the wolf attacking Elora. His throwing knife hit it in the side, and he couldn’t help but feel nostalgic for the prompt saying he’d made a sneak attack. The extra damage would have been nice. Elora was casting spells at the one attacking her, and after her barrier dropped, she had trouble concentrating and couldn’t cast as quickly. Galahad was charging towards the wolf attacking Kelath, whose health was dropping steadily. He ignored it, knowing Galahad would heal him if necessary. He focused on burning down Elora’s wolf so her spell casting wouldn’t be hampered.
Galahad finally reached the one on Kelath and smashed it with his flail. Kelath figured the attack must have been a critical hit because the wolf whimpered and turned its attention to the new threat. It was slower killing the second wolf because there were only two of them hurting it, and Elora’s spells were harder to cast because she was being attacked. Kelath wasn’t worried though because the mob was almost dead, and there was no way a single wolf could defeat Galahad with his heavy armor and healing abilities. When the second target dropped, they all concentrated on the final enemy and burned it down quickly. At the end of the fight, they were all at half health, Galahad had used up almost two-thirds of his mana, and Elora was almost out.
A deep growl came from the mouth of the cave, and a giant, black wolf strode out into the clearing. Her ears perked up, and she scanned the forest around her. When she saw the carcasses of her pack mates, she reared her head back and howled, the two remaining wolves joining in. Kelath stumbled back farther from the tree line so she wouldn’t see him. Galahad and Elora soon followed, and they all crouched behind the tree trunk they’d used when scouting earlier.
“That’s a big wolf,” said Galahad.
“Yeah,” said Kelath, “and she’s level three. Elora’s level two, and we’re still both level one. This could be a hard fight.”
“All the wolves will come after us this time,” said Elora. “Even if she does move away from the other two, she can likely call them to aid her. How do we handle this?”
“We’ve killed enough of the pack to complete one of the requirements for the quest. We only need to kill the alpha and collect something from her body as proof. I say we do the same thing we did last time, except Galahad should tank the pack leader instead of Elora.”
“That will make it harder for me to keep everyone healed,” said Galahad.
“That’s a risk we’ll have to take,” said Kelath. “I’ll keep the other two occupied, and the two of you focus on her. If we’re lucky, the smaller wolves might bolt when we kill her. If not, target the one I’m attacking and keep me healed.”
“Finally, a real challenge.” Galahad saluted both of them. “I will do my best to make sure we all get through this fight.”
“You’ll do fine, Gally!” Elora smiled and he shot her a dirty look. “Sorry, I forgot I can’t call you that anymore.”
Kelath grasped Galahad’s arm to cut off his reply. “Never mind about that. Everyone know what to do?”
Galahad and Elora nodded. They moved back to the positions they’d used for the previous fight. Galahad bowed his head over his hands, and they began to glow. Light wasn’t one of a paladin’s class skills, so it wouldn’t do much damage, but it would be enough to draw the pack leader’s attention to him. Kelath lined up an ice bomb for the other two wolves and threw it when he saw a ray of light shoot from Galahad’s hands and strike the matriarch in the snout. She howled and her pack members rose to come to her aid, but they had barely moved when the bomb exploded between them.
Critical hit!
Both wolves froze in a crouched position from where they’d been standing up. Kelath threw a fire bomb with his other hand. Although it wasn’t as accurate as the first since he hadn’t had as much time to aim, it still covered both of his targets.
Critical hit!
Kelath cheered when he saw the flames ignite the ground at the animals’ feet. He threw two daggers, one at each of the wolves.
Poison applied.
Poison applied.
Both wolves had lost almost a quarter of their HP, and the rest was draining quickly from the poison and fire damage that ticked each second. Kelath glanced at the pack leader and saw she was at almost full health.
“Change of plans,” yelled Kelath as he threw another dagger at the wolf closest to Galahad and Elora. “Kill the smaller wolves first, starting with the one on the right. Galahad, keep the leader occupied until we’ve taken care of the others.”
Elora moved forward into firing range and resumed casting her spells at the new target. Galahad yelled an affirmative and cast a heal on himself since his health was
dropping quickly. Despite his armor, he was taking a lot of damage because the mob was two levels higher than him.
The wolves broke free of the frozen effect and charged at Kelath, their claws making scratching sounds as they worked to get traction on the slippery ground. He kept throwing knives at the one on the right, and Elora continued pelting them with spells. By the time they reached him, one was at a quarter health, and the other was still over half. They lunged forward, biting at his arms and legs, their manner more ferocious than before. Kelath wondered if the pack leader’s howl had given them some kind of buff to damage. He yelled that he would need a heal soon.
Galahad turned towards Kelath and took one hand off his weapon to cast the spell. The pack leader darted behind him when his attention wavered and snapped at his hamstring. Galahad screamed in surprise as his leg buckled underneath him, and he crumpled to the ground.
Kelath’s health was critical, and he knew there was no way he would survive long enough for Galahad to stand and cast the spell while still being attacked from behind. With nothing to lose, he drew an ice bomb and threw it, hoping he was out of the area of effect.
Critical hit!
Luck check to resist. You have been frozen for 2 seconds.
He’d accidentally frozen himself, but at least he was still alive. As long as the wolves stayed frozen longer than him, he would have a few seconds to put some distance between himself and them. A fire bolt hit the wolf they’d been working on, and the ice encasing it shattered as it finally ran out of health. When Kelath became unfrozen, he ran towards Elora.
“Hit it with ice bolt to slow it down,” he yelled to her before checking on Galahad. He’d managed to stand back up and was trying to cast a heal. “Don’t worry about healing me, Galahad! She tripped you because you weren’t focused on her, similar to a sneak attack. I’ll kite this one until Elora kills it, then we’ll help you.”
The heal spell finished and refilled some of Kelath’s health a second before the pack leader tripped Galahad again. Kelath threw a knife at it out of spite.
