Guardians of Camlan

by A. T. Gilbert

  “Dude!” I call to him. “It’s called a Noose Vine for a reason.”

  “He doesn’t care,” Erinocalypse says with a small chuckle. “He really has been waiting for a chance like this all day.”

  “Those vargs weren’t enough?”

  She shrugs. “They fight back.”

  “You don’t think something called a Noose Vine will fight back?”

  Balderdash13 runs after the other tank, the two of them well equipped with sharp melee weapons to hack through the vines efficiently. After a quick look at my inventory, I decide Fire arrows are probably my best option in helping to eradicate the plant. Those should be destructive, but also let me keep my distance from the groping vines that are already trying to go after our tanks.

  In no time, it’s clear that this plant has a very sophisticated defensive system. Each vine seems to have a mind of its own, reaching to grab and tie down its attackers, or continuing to establish roots and strength of position.

  I nock a Fire arrow and aim for the base of the plant to the far left side. I don’t want to catch SteelFeather and Balderdash13 in an uncontrolled blaze if this thing is particularly flammable.

  I fire off my arrow and watch excitedly for the damage. It hits the wide vine and immediately catches fire, blazing a bright, hot ball of flame bigger than I expected, before it is quickly extinguished.

  Wait, what? What just happened?

  I try again, aiming for the same side of the mess of plant, looking to destroy one of the wide, foundational vines that has the Noose Vine rooted to the ground. Again, the plant catches fire in a brilliant blaze, before being put out nearly immediately. This second arrow, though, shows me what I’m dealing with.

  While the foundation vine caught fire, its ancillary branches circled back, braving the flames. As I watched, tendrils and leaves stretch out to pat out the flame, not unlike hands or limbs. In fact, I notice some of the leaves on the ends of these thinner vines are charred and burnt, apparently a worthy sacrifice to keep the whole of the Noose Vine from bursting into flames.

  “Aw, come on.”

  From behind me, TexBadass protests when he sees SteelFeather waving his arm. The tank has a thick vine wrapped around his throat, with another around his hips and a third creeping up his right leg. The Noose Vine is cutting off his air and cutting through his health points. Balderdash13 rushes forward, chopping at the vine once, twice, three times before fully severing the branch choking SteelFeather. The tank unwraps himself, cuts through the branch at his waist and continues his assault.

  “You’re not even trying to stay out of its reach,” the healer calls.

  “Sorry!” SteelFeather calls back, not sounding a bit sorry.

  The sun has almost completely set now. Every Fire arrow I send sailing toward the plant temporarily lights up our fighting area, blossoming into a bright hot blaze before being put out by the other branches.

  Callidus has disappeared again. I suppose you can’t Backstab a vine, but he can probably still saw away at it with his dagger.

  “None of this is really working,” Erinocalypse says, coming over to cast spells from my side. “Petrify doesn’t freeze it, Surge of Air does nothing at all, and my Fire Bolt just gets extinguished immediately.”

  “Mine too. I’m not sure I’m making much progress.”

  A scream interrupts us. I look around quickly, not able to identify where the sound came from. But then, with a flicker, like an old tube television powering up, Callidus’s form becomes visible again. He’s in the dead center of the Noose Vine cluster, surrounded above and below by the homicidal vegetable, with thick tendrils completely encasing both of his legs and his right arm. With his left, he is trying to peel the plant away, but with no success.

  How did the Noose Vine know where he was? It must have some motion or pressure sensors, which makes sense since it doesn’t have eyes. Even being invisible won’t hide us from this deadly plant.

  Balderdash13 has already sprung into action, rescuing Callidus from the vines the way she had rescued SteelFeather. The kid panics a hell of a lot more than the tank does.

  I chuckle to myself.

  “What?” Erinocalypse asks.

  “Nothing.” I shake my head. “Just thinking about how different we all are.”

  “Yeah.” She smiles at me with a tenderness I’m not sure I have ever seen from her before. “We’re a good match, I guess.”

  I nod, unsure how to respond.

  “Look,” she says, changing the subject. “Let’s both send fire over and over to the same area. If we alternate, we can attack fast enough that the plants won’t be able to put out the flames.”

  “Yeah, okay, that sounds good.” I nock a Fire arrow and look for a likely place. “There, you think? Callidus moving just cleared a space right to the heart of the thing.”

  “That’s perfect.” She smiles at me again and I feel like my face might be flushed.

  “You first,” I say.

  A Fire Bolt sails through the air, followed almost immediately by my own Fire arrow, illuminating the Noose Vine at its source. I’m holding my breath, watching, realizing that while the two rapid fires in quick succession are soon extinguished, it’s not quite as quickly as previously.

  I grin.

  Wordlessly, as if she knows I’m watching her every move, Erinocalypse fires her spell again and I follow immediately with another Fire arrow. And again. And again. Soon the gap between the fire being put out and the fire being reignited is so minuscule I am not sure it even occurs.

  Within minutes the tide turns, and so much of the plant is now on fire that the vines that would be putting it out catch fire themselves instead. It’s a tsunami of flame, spreading out from the center.

  “Move, y’all!” TexBadass shouts.

  SteelFeather and Balderdash13 finish their last attack and hurry to back up out of the line of flame.

  In just a handful of seconds the Noose Vine has burnt to a crisp, crumbling charcoal branches falling in pieces from the wall of the castle.

  Quest Completed: Annihilate the Invader

  Description: You have successfully destroyed the Noose Vine that has been giving Ida, the gardener so much trouble

  Reward: +200 XP

  Attention: You must return to the gardener, Ida Firth, to claim your reward.

  “That was fun,” SteelFeather says. “You guys should have let me beat it back more before you lit it on fire. When am I going to get another chance to do that?”

  Erinocalypse laughs. “Yes, you poor thing. Playing a full immersion video game without nearly enough opportunities to hack at things.”

  When we loot the husk, TexBadass lets out a victorious hoot.

  “Damn, son, I am on a roll.” He waves a piece of paper at us. “Another goddamned area of effect spell. Y’all are lucky I’m around.”

  “What did you get, Tex?”

  “Curtain of Invisibility.”

  “Awesome,” SteelFeather grins. “We can use that.”

  While TexBadass and the tanks are trying out this new spell, I pick up my own reward from destroying the Noose Vine.

  Acquired: Stone of Adapting

  Item Type: Singular

  Description: Unknown. You do not currently possess the skills necessary to identify or use this object.

  Another of these mysterious stones. I have got to figure out what skills I’m missing so I can do something with them. Three now, and no closer to solving this puzzle.

  As the last embers of burning bush fade, I look around, noticing for the first time how dark it is. It’s now full night in Camlan, and we are stranded outside of the castle walls.

  Chapter 29

  “We’ve got to figure out how to get back in, you guys,” I say, still looking around and highly aware of the dark and dangerous forest that surrounds us now that we are outside the walls of Castle Nennius. “Soon. Like, now.”

  “So, how do we get back in?” Balderdash13 asks. “We can’t just waltz back up t
o the front gate and hope that Captain Crowhurst has changed his mind.”

  I have an idea. They might not like it. Or, rather, Erinocalypse might not like it. I meet her eyes, nervous to even bring it up. “Remember the Challenge? I broke into Lord Crimson’s castle a different way than you did?”

  Her eyes get hard, and she purses her lips, as though trying to keep herself from saying something she’ll regret. After a pause she responds. “Yes.”

  “I climbed the walls. Straight up without a rope or anything. There’s a plant here in Camlan called Scaling Weed, and if we can find it, we should be able to break back into this castle the same way.”

  Callidus wears an enormous grin. “What, like Spiderman or something?”

  “Yeah. Basically. We just have to find the plant.” I turn back to scan the meadow between us and the woods south of Castle Nennius. It all just looks like grass from here. “We might need to venture into the forest, though.”

  “What does it look like?” Erinocalypse asks.

  “Small. Wide leaves. Kinda looks like mint, I think. The last time I looked for it was for a quest so it glowed gold for me.” I scan the meadow farther to the east but still don’t see anything. “Maybe my Power Perception will help.”

  “Okay, everyone. You heard SirAsh3r. Keep your eyes open for a plant that looks like mint. Use the Examine function if you have to. We’re looking for Scaling Weed.”

  “How am I supposed to know what mint looks like?” Callidus asks.

  “You ain’t never had a Mint Julep or something?”

  “Tex, I’m seventeen.”

  The older man shrugs. “I guess you don’t do the same things I did when I was seventeen.”

  The six of us begin a slow pace across the grass, focusing on the ground under our feet the whole way. Instead of spreading out, though, Erinocalypse walks just ahead of me and I realize she’s not even watching where she steps. Instead, her gaze scans the horizon all around us. With all of us focused on the plants, we would have been the perfect target for any kind of enemy trying to sneak up on us, but Erinocalypse thought of that first.

  We get all the way to the edge of the trees without finding anything. The forest is dark. Even if it were daytime, not much light filtering through the dense canopy, and as it is I have to just feel around with my feet before each step. It’s not unlike Foyle Forest, where I first found Scaling Weed. I have a good feeling about our chances of finding the magical plant but wish we didn’t have to venture into the trees to get it.

  I activate Power Perception before stepping into the forest. Looking all around, to the right, to the left, nothing seems to stand out at first. Then, just faintly through the shadows, past dozens of trees I notice a faint green glow. That could be it. That could also be the beginning of a quest or even random gear, but, let’s hope it’s the Scaling Weed we’re looking for.

  Attention: You have discovered Dyrnwood

  Description: This forest stretches most of the western coast of Camlan. Many challenges and gifts are hidden within, if you can keep your health.

  “Okay you guys,” I say, pointing. I’ve lowered my voice to a whisper, instinctively. This is, after all, almost the same forest all those vargs came from. “Back there. Through the trees. You might not even be able to see it but, there’s a wide, gnarled tree with the low branch that looks almost like a bench. Just to the left of that, I think.”

  “Lead the way,” Erinocalypse whispers.

  I step into the woods, placing my foot carefully between what looks like the entrance to some small animal’s burrow and a pile of dead leaves gathered at the foot of this tree. There is no clear path through this forest; to get where we want to go we have to climb over fallen trees, thorny shrubs, large stones and keep an eye out for traps and enemies while we do it. I have not had a peaceful experience in a forest in Camlan yet, and I don’t think for a minute this will be an exception.

  “Callidus, you’ve got Night Vision activated, right?” I ask.

  “Yep. Nothing yet.”

  I nod and continue my careful steps through the brush toward the faint green glow. With six of us picking our way through the undergrowth, there’s no way we can be quiet. Every crunch of a twig or rustle of a branch makes me cringe inwardly.

  As we stalk closer to the Scaling Weed, my Power Perception begins to pick up more green glows deeper in the forest. Okay. Good. There’s more. I hope we don’t have to go that far, but I’m relieved that there seems to be enough for all of us.

  Only ten or twelve more feet, and the rest of the party is not far behind me. I realize they don’t see what I see, and so are watching me rather than necessarily watching where they are stepping. As I approach the green glow, I recognize the leaves of the Scaling Weed. I count four plants in this spot, and another five plants in a patch about six feet to my left.

  “It’s here. Come grab your plant. Just a couple of leaves should be enough.”

  I move ahead to the patch of plants on the left, leading the way and pointing out the weeds as I go. Each member of the party gathers their own and between the six of us we should be able to get as much as we need to scale the walls of Castle Nennius.

  Just as I’ve finished saving the plants to my inventory, I straighten up and a red glow catches my attention.

  “Oh no,” I say under my breath.

  The glow of danger from my Power Perception grows stronger, quickly. Something is approaching us from the depths of this forest.

  “You guys,” I call. “Callidus, what do you see?” I point in the direction of the approaching enemy.

  He looks around, confused only briefly until he notices my outstretched arm.

  “Oh, shoot. A bear.”

  “Tanks get ready,” Erinocalypse calls.

  Enhancement received: Bubble of Protection

  Description: You will sustain -5% damage for the next sixty seconds

  I nock a Fire arrow and aim for the low branch coming off of the old gnarled tree next to us. It doesn’t catch fire like I had hoped, but in the light of the flare I see the creature lumbering toward us. It’s enormous, far larger than any brown bear would be in real life.

  Name: Large Brown Bear

  Level: 31

  Description: Although not the largest creature in Dyrnwood, this bear will dominate any battle.

  As it gets closer, I fire again, still hoping to give us some light to fight by. But this time, the flame gets a bit too close to the animal. It roars in protest, standing up to his hind legs, nearly eight feet tall.

  “Easy,” SteelFeather says, just before he runs toward the bear.

  Chapter 30

  I watch as both tanks take running swings at the giant brown bear, throwing all their weight and power behind their weapons as they hit it from opposite sides. The bear roars in anger at the double attack, swiping with both enormous paws and missing both of the tanks. Even with all their heavy armor and weapons, SteelFeather and Balderdash13 are lighter and faster than the animal they’re fighting.

  Erinocalypse fires Petrify at the monster, freezing him for several seconds and letting the tanks get in several quick hits. I only have time shoot off two of my own Fire arrows before the bear collapses to the ground. We’re getting faster at this.

  [+260 XP!]

  “Hurry, you guys,” I call. “Get your loot and get back to the meadow. We’ve got to get back into the castle.”

  I collect a handful of gold, another Small Dagger and pair of boots identical to the ones I’m already wearing, saving all to my inventory as I tramp back through the dark reaches of Dyrnwood to the meadow and Castle Nennius. I’m going to have a lot to sell to a merchant the first time we visit another town.

  We finish looting the bear and hurry out of the forest back toward the castle. Now that we know where we’re going, I’m more confident in the pitch blackness of the night. This full dark will cover us while we break back into Castle Nennius, hopefully unseen. From the edge of the forest, I see some of Crowhurst’s
soldiers patrolling the parapet at the top of the wall. Large fiery torches burn every thirty feet or so, the shadows obscuring our view of the soldiers, but hopefully the same will obscure their view of us.

  “We’ll have to run for it,” I whisper, as the group gathers around me. “The open meadow will give them easy view of us if anyone happens to be looking. Stay low. Stay quiet. Once we get to the bottom of the walls we’ll have more cover.”

  Callidus nods once and winks out of sight. His Stealth should let him cross the entire distance invisibly. Both of the tanks begin their crouched run across the tall grass, with TexBadass just behind them. When I look at Erinocalypse I can’t place immediately what is different, until I realize that she has swapped her golden yellow cloak, with who knows how many protections and enhancements, for an older, lower level dark blue cloak. Smart. Brave.

  I activate my own lower level Stealth and start the run, as fast as I can before my invisibility runs out. The meadow grass is as high as my knees, but flexible and supple enough to let me almost sprint my way through. I’m glad I put those points into Stamina.

  With still fifteen feet to go before I reach the wall, my final Stealth seconds countdown begins. I dig in and pull out the energy I didn’t realize I had and push myself to run even faster. I see my limbs fading back into view as I run the final six paces and practically run directly into the wall.

  [-820 HP!]

  Ouch! That will bruise but will be well worth it if I successfully kept from being seen by the soldiers. SteelFeather and Balderdash13 reach the wall about the same time I do, with Erinocalypse just behind. TexBadass, weighing probably sixty pounds more than any of the rest of us, trails behind, practically gasping for air.

  “Sh!” Erinocalypse scolds him.

  He shoots her a cranky look, bends over double against the wall, but manages to quiet his wheezing a bit.

  Rather than try to communicate this out loud, I send the group a private message in the game.

  SirAsh3r: First, let’s all agree Tex needs to put more points into Stamina