by Galen Wolf
“I owed him it. He shot me in the back and killed me up at Carrionburg.” I pause. “Do you want to go back to Camelot and pick up Adele?”
He shakes his head.
“We’d have to fight our way back the same way. And they know we’re here. They don’t know where we’re going. They probably think we’re going to try and cut northeast and get behind the enemy army and join the King at Birdoswald. But instead we’re going northwest. Even so their patrols will be heavier from now on.”
“So are we going on?”
“Yes, to Kirkgunzeon. We need to upgrade your sword.”
Mercurius turns and we ride on until we come to a place where the road forks. We take the northwest fork and the road to Kirkgunzeon.
21
The Lady of the Lake
We ride on without Adele, our horses keep pace as we cover the miles on the stony road through the low green hills.
“Not far now,” Mercurius says.
The path winds down through a deep valley which is thickly forested in dark pines. Though it is day, little light pierces the gloomy trees as we trot beneath their reaching arms.
“Kirkgunzeon is about a mile ahead,” Mercurius says as we cross an arched stone bridge over a fast flowing river. There are no birds singing or any signs of any other animals. And there haven’t been since we entered the forest.
“What’s this place called?” I ask just as I get a message:
I’m a 1000 xp short of Level 9.
I hear a crashing in the undergrowth and I pull out my sword. Six grey furred creatures with long tails that run on their hind legs like men attack us.
Wow, these things pack a punch. Spirit rears and slams the were-rat with his hooves. There’s another to the left. I sip health potion and then damage potion and get a hack in at the rat to my right.
Thank heavens for my star silver imbued sword. But if I get hit again, I’m dead. I swing left and the were-rat on that side, vanishes in a puff of silver smoke. I get more xp.
Mercurius has killed his two and the others flee back into the forest. He’s grinning. “Getting that star silver was a real gift,” he says.
We ride on. The path here is choked with briars and weeds like it hasn’t been used for a long time. I ask Mercurius and he shakes his head. “No, this extra growth is a result of evil influence. They’re trying to block resupply to Kirkgunzeon.
We dismount. I hate to use my fine sword to hack at brambles, but we have little else. We make slow progress until we come to another stream. This one is crossed by a standing stone ford. Spirit can’t jump across on those so I take his bridle and wade waist deep leading him until we come out on the other side. We’re still in forest but it’s a more open deciduous woodland and the briars here haven’t completely blocked the road ahead.
I remount Spirit and water drips from my stirrups as we move on.
We go through an area of thick bushes and vampire bats swoop down and scratch and bite us. They’re hard to hit as they flit about. They don’t penetrate my armour but they are bothering Spirit and Mercurius’s horse. I see one land on Spirit’s shoulder and attempt to suck his blood. I grab at it and snatch it before it can fly off. I squeeze it to death in my steel gauntlet and get 30xp.
They’re more of an annoyance than anything else.
And then the trail turns and we see the grey stone cottages of Kirkgunzeon. Behind them stands a tall stone church. This must be St Gwynnan’s church.
I see weary faced men, their armour streaked with blood and dirt, standing watch at the village gate. They’re wearing the armour of King Arthur’s own company.
“Hail, and well met,” Mercurius cries. “I am a knight of King Arthur’s court and this is my squire, Gorrow.”
The NPC sergeant salutes. “I recognise your banner, Sir Mercurius. You are a welcome sight indeed. We are beset by enemies.”
As he speaks one of the spearman yells and points behind us. A company of trolls breaks out of the brushwood, clubs swinging. They try to run us down, roaring their hate. I manage to turn Spirit and get some speed up and I hit the first one for 118.
I get another two blows in before I take damage. Then I kill my first troll and heal up.
I turn to the attack. The spearmen have charged out from the village and are on our side. Between Mercurius and myself and the spearmen we kill all the trolls and stand their panting. I get a bunch of xp from the fight.
I now have 450 health and 200 skill points to spend.
“Come, sirs. We will take you to meet the saint.”
Saint Gwynnan looks pretty much like the other saints, except his has red hair and very pale skin. He sits weeding the garden at the back, taking out dandelions from among the lettuce. He looks up all mild-mannered, and smiles. As he stands he has circles of damp earth on the knees of his white robe. He comes and I go to bow or shake his hand, I’m still uncertain about the etiquette with saints, but he comes and gives us a mighty hug and says, “Welcome, my sons.”
I want to learn about his quest but I also want to plan my skill points and spend the two hundred I’ve got waiting.
Mercurius says, “We hear you are beset with evil.”
Gwynnan nods sadly. “It is true. Darkness has swept over the land and decency and kindness are now replaced by sadism and oppression.”
Then he looks over with a twinkle in his eye. “I wonder if you could help us? You and your squire here look strong men, and by merely getting here you have shown your resolve and determination.”
Mercurius nods.
I ask, “How may we help?”
Gwynnan smiles again and I notice his leaf green eyes. “A dragon haunts these parts.”
I guess this quest was set before the minions of Satanus overran the surrounding countryside. As long as they don’t destroy the chapel, then the quest will still run for all of those who can make it here.
“There is a lake,” St Gwynnan says, “Loch Arthur, to the east of the village was the home of a sainted lady who rose from beneath the waves to greet true knights and offer them a boon. But now a great black dragon has coiled itself there, waiting to eat her should she emerge. Both I and the Lady of the Lake would be most grateful to any knight who could free the area of that foul beast.”
A message pops up:
Without hesitating, I hit accept and we begin the quest. I turn to Mercurius with a grin.
“I hope you’re up to it,” he says then then just as I think he doesn’t believe I am, he winks and slaps me on the shoulder.
“By the way, Saint Gwynnan,”
“Just call me Gwynnan.” He says it but I can’t; He’s a saint after all.
“Is there a forge in the village I could use?” I continue and he points. “Brother Mihangel will show you the way.”
Mercurius says, “Get your skills up. Do whatever forging you need and then I’ll meet you at the East Gate of the village.”
The village blacksmith is called Roderick and not a dwarf this time but a black haired human. He has a forge I can use.
I put 100 points into smithing.
At a total smithing score of 200, I get my final message:
That makes me almost need to sit down. So I can get armour pieces worth 600 with meteoric iron double-folded. I feel overpowered. I guess most warriors don’t put this much into smithing, but it’s well worth it.
I can check on my HUD to see how Silver Drift is doing. I see
my soldiers are all still there as are my miners. I see the status or my crops and my ore stores. Jason as business manager has bought another mule and we got good prices for the oats and hops down at Camelot. Money is flowing in. Soon, I’ll have enough to reinforce the palisade to stone, but I need something else first.
I turn to Roderick the blacksmith. “Do you have any meteoric iron for sale?”
He nods, he’s a man of few words but he points at the ore bins at the back of the forge. It’s going to cost me 50 marks for each lump of ore and I need six because I’m going to upgrade my shield too. I sell him the shield for 60 marks so the whole deal costs me 240 marks, which will mean the palisade has to wait a short while.
With the six lumps of meteoric iron in my hot little hands, Roderick shows me the forge. He even works the bellows for me.
First of all I upgrade all my armour to meteoric iron, then I use the double-fold skill to improve it further.
Double-folded Meteoric Iron Plate (600) 5% FR, 5% CR, 5% AR
Double-folded Meteoric Iron Greaves (600) 5% FR, 5% CR, 5% AR
Double-folded Meteoric Iron Helmet (600) 5% FR, 5% CR,5% AR
Double-folded Meteoric Iron Gauntlets (600) 5% FR, 5% CR, 5% AR
Double-folded Meteoric Iron Shield(600)
Double-folded Meteoric Iron Longsword (600) C50 F150 SS
I am now a proper tank. I can’t imagine how anything is going to get through this, not even a dragon.
I still have 100 points to spend. I put 50 into riding.
<+100 Dodge while Mounted>
<+20% Attack while Mounted>
I put 40 points into swordplay to give me 20% melee critical chance and 500 to hit.
I put my final 10 in Haggling which gives me 15% discount in deals. I should have done that before I bought the meteoric iron, but hey ho, I can’t feel bad, in fact I feel awesomely overpowered.
I whistle spirit and mount him, then giving a cheery wave to Roderick who looks glum still, I turn and go to meet Mercurius at the East Gate.
He sees me coming and says, “What are you grinning for?”
I wink. “Wait and see.”
22
The Dragon
The weather turns unexpectedly sombre as Mercurius and I head out of the East Gate of Kirkgunzeon, as if it knows what’s ahead of us. The villagers give a cheer as we trot away down the stony path towards Loch Arthur. A streak of lightning shoots across the sky in front of us.
“The game’s building up for the encounter, I think,” Mercurius says.
I feel powerful, with my upgrades I feel like I can take anything, but then I’ve never faced a dragon before. I’m carrying Mercurius’s lance with its silver and blue pennant fluttering. Even Spirit seems uneasy below me.
“So, it’s a black dragon,” Mercurius says like that should mean something. And of course it does; I’ve played games before. I just need to confirm. “So it spits acid, right?”
He nods. “Do you have acid protection?”
“5%”
“Pity it’s so low. You know you can upgrade?”
I scratch my brow. “How?”
“It’s not my area, but you have smithing, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I just improved it. I got double-fold which has basically doubled the base defence of my armour.”
“I don’t know the smithing skill-set well,” he says, “But I think you can double-fold your elemental protection too.”
Damn. I’m so dumb. If I’d double-folded the sulphur and cobalt, etc I could have raised all my elemental protections to 10%. Still not wonderful, but better. I promise myself I’ll do that when I get back to the village.
The sky darkens further and we see the small lake, grey and leaden, half surrounded by sick looking trees. It appears that a great blight has come on the place and soon I see why. I stand on my stirrups to see better. At first I think it’s was a great fallen tree, but it was smoother and more sinuous than that. Then it stirs.
Mercurius sees me looking. “That’s it.”
The dragon rears its head. It has spiky scales on its ears and jaw and is covered in oily looking scales the size of dinner plates or bigger. It’s completely black apart from its eyes which are a lurid green shot through with black lightning forks. It rears up and I’m glad to see it has no wings. I have nothing to bring it down if had hovered above us spitting acid. It made a chittering noise and then ten or so smaller versions of itself snake from the undergrowth and run towards us on scaly legs with talons like meat hooks.
Mercurius snaps down his visor. “Hand me my lance, please.”
I give him his lance and flip my own visor shut. Through slits in the metal, I see the dragonlings hurtling at us. The dragon is sending its own children into the fight. Maybe it thinks they’ll finish us with no effort. I sip my damage potion, thanking Bernard and draw my sword from its scabbard, hearing the crackling of elemental flames from its blade, then with my knees, I urge Spirit into a canter.
The first dragonling leaps at me from right side, causing Spirit to rear and snort before brining his hooves down on the reptile’s head.
It bites at me and even with my plus 100 mounted dodge, its teeth sink through.
In my old armour the beast would have killed me. I smash my sword down on its armour plated head.
And that wasn’t even a crit.
I chop again for another 260 then the thing spits a torrent of acid at me. I’ve got 5% of acid resistance on four out of five pieces of my armour, giving me 20%, but I still take 80 damage. I sip a health 80 and I’m back up to full. I jab the dragonling just as another bites and clangs off me from the left. I hit the first dragonling and get a crit of 780 and the thing dies.
Another dragonling comes at me from the right and I get two torrents of acid. The things can’t bite through my armour, but they can still potentially kill me.
My Heal potion is on cool down still. I concentrate on slashing both sides. I get an ordinary hit on the right one then a crit on the left one. I go for the kill and that one falls in a twitching mass to my right. Spirit is kicking at them and I don’t know what damage he’s doing, but he’s definitely doing some.
I get hit with more acid.
and the potion is still on cool-down.
I kill my final dragonling and see that Mercurius has dealt with all of his.
“Now time for mother.”
He has put his lance away and has his sword out. I go forward with him. The great dragon is rearing above us, bigger than the chapel, standing on its hind legs.
I take a sip of the heal potion and follow Mercurius, galloping into to the fight.
He closes and I see him hack at the dragon’s legs. It comes down on him hard and seems to damage him. Then it swipes with its foreleg at me.
It must have a damage of 3100 then. Easily enough to slaughter me in one blow before my upgrade. I go to sip a heal potion automatically but just waste the dose.
Then the monster turns and unleashes a torrent of acid at me. The stinking acrid liquid squirts all over my armour. Even with my meagre acid resistance I take damage.
I sip a heal potion but it blasts me again with acid. It must see me as the easy kill because it’s turned its attention from Mercurius.
I sip a heal dose but I’m it buts me off Spirit and go rolling on the ground taking more damage.
It slashes me with its talons as I struggle to get up and I’m down to 160. I finally get a hack in on its knee scoring only 60 damage. It must have big armour, but at least I hit.
Then, Mercurius roars and charges in on his horse, striking the dragon on its unprotected flank. It shrieks in pain
and turns away from me, thank the Lord.
I rush it and because it’s turned away I get an autocrit for 180. It’s locked in combat with Mercurius but still hasn’t managed to unhorse him however rageful its assault. I see it pumping acid at him, but he has his shield raised up to his face and jabs under the shield with the sword into the dragon’s belly.
I slash at the dragon again and again, getting 180 each time. The dragon is screaming in agony, black steaming blood pouring from rips in its stomach. Mercurius buries his sword in its belly right up to the hilt and it roars and rages.
But it’s me that kills it. A stab in the back for a measly 180 is its death blow.
The thing dies with a scream like a deflating balloon and then lies dead beside us. Its black blood seeping into the lake.
Mercurius raises his visor and I see him smiling. “Hey, hey, Gorrow. Killed the dragon and levelled unless I mistake that blue glow I just saw round you.”
I smile back. “No, you’re right. Level 10. But I stole your kill. You damaged it most.”
“No, no. It was a team effort. Well done. Level 10 . You’re eligible to be knighted now, you know that?”
I knew that. I shrug and grin. This is big news. I can hardly take it in.
“Now for the reward,” he says.
I turn to see that the lake water has turned from grey to blue. The dead trees around the lake start to bud before my eyes. I see green leaves unfold and as if that isn’t amazing enough, there is a stir in the middle of the lake. As I watch the water froths and bubbles and an arm extends out, its hand is empty but its fingers flex as if reaching for something. I see a ring on one finger, a twinned emerald and ruby. It’s a woman’s hand.
“The Lady of the Lake,” Mercurius says.
“Doesn’t she show herself?”
“No, no more than this here. Only her arm.”
Then a message flashes on my HUD.
