“I wish we’d at least gotten their loot,” Vayde grumbled. I wasn’t exactly sure how he was feeling about the whole thing, but if he wasn’t pissed at me, that was good enough for now.
D was standing away from us on the crest of the hill Bonecrusher and Chaucey had disappeared over. I wondered if he could see their backs from there or whether they were already too far gone.
“He’ll come around,” Vayde assured me.
“Yeah,” I grumbled. “Come on. Let’s get going.”
30
A New Destination
“Where are we headed now?” I heard Baltos ask D. They were walking ahead of me. D hadn’t spoken to me since we’d left Daric over an hour ago.
“The Plains of Arana,” I heard him reply.
“Aren’t there mounts in this game?” Vayde groaned. “Or some sort of quick way to travel in this game!?
“There are portals,” I shrugged.
“I’m an idiot…”
“Are the Plains dangerous?” Baltos asked.
“They’re not bad,” D replied. “Big and open. Enormous trees with these huge bird-men type things that live in treehouses up in the branches. They’re mid 20s I think, but we can steer clear of them as long as we don’t run into other players who pull them in our direction—like someone I know.”
Baltos cringed. “Hey, it was just one time!”
I smiled as we pressed on. The sun was high in the sky as we climbed yet another hill as we left Daric behind. No one spoke much, as the tension between D and me was being felt throughout the group.
Had I done the right thing letting them go?
That was the question that had been running through my mind as we made our way across the hilly terrain. Now it wasn’t just Gehman’s face I saw if I closed my eyes—it was Chaucey’s and the terror I’d seen in him when I held his life in my hands.
You should have done it, I thought miserably as we crested another hill and came down the other side. Part of me was screaming out in frustration over my decision. Gehman’s death was still fresh, vivid, and painful in my mind. Chaucey was the one responsible, and I’d had him right there in front of me. One more blow from my sword and he would have been gone forever.
It was too much to handle. I couldn’t think about it anymore, but I also couldn’t get it off my mind. I shook my head and looked around, trying to find something to distract me from my thoughts.
The landscape was still harsh, desolate and barren and wasn’t doing much for my mood. Despite the fact that we were still headed North, the snow was actually starting to thin out and I had to assume we would soon be approaching the Plains of Arana.
“I guess Void Magic worked out,” Vayde said from beside me.
“Right?” I smiled, thankful to have something to talk about. “I’m only 5 points away from Menace 3.”
“That removes 30 percent of their armor, right?”
“Killer, right?”
“I need to get some levels, guys!” Baltos chimed in, coming back to us. “Can we do some leveling in Arana when we get there?” I asked him. D was still walking ahead of us. I couldn’t tell if he was pouting, waiting for me to come over to apologize to him, or if he was legitimately so angry that I should just leave him alone.
“We could,” I replied. “But if they fly a lot, you won’t be able to do much.”
“They must land at some point,” he replied. “And then I’ll get ‘em!”
He leapt into action again, doing one of his katas, showing off his skills and punch combinations he’d use during combat.
“We need to find you some loot too,” I continued, looking at D. “D, do those bird monsters drop anything good?”
D growled back. “Sometimes yes, sometimes no.”
The rest of us exchanged glances. He was still obviously pretty pissed. I quickened my pace and came up beside him.
“Look, are you done having your little temper tantrum?”
Wow, I thought. You’re a lot more angry than I realized!
“Excuse me?” D snapped. “You don’t get to lecture me right now!”
“So, what? You’re just not going to talk to me?”
“What are you going to do when we get to the Catacombs, Jack?” he asked. “What are you going to do when we run into them again? Or more Sinful members? Or the Mercenaries? Just fight them, get them low, and let them run away again? Take them prisoner and bring them back to Stoneburg for Cavey and Xavier to watch over nonstop?”
“What do you want me to do, D!?” I shouted back. “Just pretend I don’t have a conscience and kill everyone who gets in our way?”
“I want you to realize the reality of where we are!” he bellowed. “We are stuck here! This is the real world now! Our morality can’t exist here! Those guys are going to run around killing people unless we stop them!”
I opened my mouth to respond, but I knew I had nothing to say. D was right. Chaucey was right, but that didn’t change anything about the way I’d felt when I looked at him and knew that one more blow from my sword would end his life. I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t send his soul into the Electronic Void, to spin forever in the darkness. Just the thought of it sent a shiver down my spine.
“Nothing to say?” he asked. All I could do was look at him. “Yeah, I thought not.”
And with that, D turned his back on me and began walking in the opposite direction, back towards Daric.
“D!” Baltos shouted. “Uh, where are you going? The Plains of Arana are… this way…?”
D didn’t respond. Baltos looked at me, then at him, and then back to me again. Vayde was standing there dumbfounded, and I knew they were both waiting to see what I was going to do.
But I couldn’t believe what had just happened. Never in all of our years of gaming together had D just bailed on me. But those were just games, but this… was something else.
“You need to go after him,” Vayde said quietly. “We need him.”
“I know…” I muttered. D was walking away quickly. In another few seconds he’d be over the slope of the hill and out of sight. Was he going back to Daric? If he wanted to head home, he could just use his Bindstone Shard. Swallowing my pride, I jogged after him.
“What are you doing!?” I asked as I grabbed his arm. He spun around and knocked my hand away.
“Get off me!” he snapped.
“What do you think you’re doing!?” I roared. All of the anger and frustration from what had happened in Daric came spilling out of me as I looked at him. Suddenly, I realized just how hurt I was that he was abandoning us—abandoning me.
“I’ve got my new arrows. I’m gonna go find Chaucey and finish him off.”
“Finish him off?” I replied, almost laughing. “What the Hell are you talking about? You think he’s still one hit away from death? He’s full health and good to go!”
“Yeah, well someone has to do something!”
“So, you’re just going to abandon us? Abandon me because I didn’t kill someone?” I shouted. “This isn’t just another game, D! There are real consequences to what we do here! Do you really want to be responsible for killing someone—for real!?”
My anger surprised him. I could see it in his face as he took a step back. I was always the levelheaded one out of the two of us, more willing to forgive and forget to avoid drama. D was the more aggressive one, who relished conflict and combat. He wasn’t used to seeing me so upset.
“Look,” I told him, lowering my voice. “We need you. We can’t do this without you. We need to get to the Catacombs and take over that leveling spot. It’s the only way we’ll be able to help Cavey, get our levels up and go take on The Ripper. If you go back there now—you’re just going to die.”
“What are you going to do when you get to the Catacombs, Jack? Have you thought about that?”
I didn’t reply. I couldn’t. I knew where he was going, what point he was about to make, and I knew I didn’t have a response.
“If Sinful is there, an
d if we are able to take them on, which I doubt, do you think you can just give them a stern talking to? Tell them not to come back to Stoneburg again—and they’ll just listen?”
He was right of course. Again.
There was no way around it. Someone was going to have to die for all of our plans to come to fruition, and so far, I couldn’t see any alternatives.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” I said softly. It was an admission of defeat, and D knew it.
“No,” he replied sternly. “No, we won’t. You need to realize, here and now, that when we get to the Crimson Catacombs, we’re going to have to kill whoever we find there. Bonecrusher, Chaucey, any of their other guild mates. That’s the only way this is going to work. Otherwise, they’ll just keep leveling, keep raiding, and killing people. I’m sorry, Jack, but there’s no way around it—”
“I know!” I shouted, more at myself than him. I brought my sword down on the ground and watched as the flames tore out of the ground like the anger pouring out of me. I wanted to slash the entire world of Carrethen to bits with my blade—carve a way out of the world so we could make our escape.
Get me out of here!
I was screaming inside. Why was all this happening? Why me? What did The Ripper want from me? Why had I been singled out? How could someone be so horrible?
Too many questions.
I knew it was futile, but I opened my character sheet and scrolled down to the log out button. Using two fingers, I closed my eyes and pressed it.
Please… I thought as the sound of rushing water filled my ears. Portal space swirled around me and I pictured the ceiling of my bedroom above me, with the water stains on either side of the overhead lamp from the damn ice last Winter.
Please… just let me go home.
But of course, my bedroom didn’t appear. The portal peeled away, and I found myself standing exactly where I had been, looking right at D who was eyeing me with something like pity. I hung my head, wanting to cry.
“That’s not going to work,” D said simply.
“I know,” I replied. I stared up at the sky for a long time. I could feel Baltos and Vayde’s gaze on my back as I summoned up the courage to say what I knew I had to say. “Okay, D. When we get to the Catacombs, I’ll do what needs to be done.”
I looked at him and saw his expression soften. He stepped up to me and put his hands on my shoulders.
“I don’t like it any more than you do, Jack,” he told me. “But we have no choice.”
“I know,” I nodded. “Come on. Let’s get going.”
31
The Plains of Arana
The Plains of Arana were incredible to look at and the most impressive area of Carrethen I’d seen so far. As we came down the crest of the final hill, the last patches of snow and ice faded away and I looked out with amazement at the gorgeous green plains that stretched out as far as the eye could see.
“Wow,” I said, letting my jaw drop.
“Beautiful,” Vayde agreed.
The ground was incredibly flat, almost artificially so, unlike anything I’d ever seen back on Earth, which gave the Plains an other-worldly feel. The short grass was speckled with flecks of yellow, like gold leaf, that sparkled when it caught the sun. Then, in the distance, were the trees D had mentioned.
They rose up out of the ground like skyscrapers. Enormous branches stretched out like arms from their thick trunks, and I could see dark patches that I assumed were the treehouses. Then, barely visible above them, were shadows flitting through the sky.
“There they are.” D pointed. “The Araliths.”
“Araliths,” I repeated, wishing we were closer so I could make them out fully.
“Are they aggressive?” Vayde asked. “Or do we have to pull them?”
“They’re pretty high and pretty spread out,” D replied. “If we get too close sometimes they’ll pull, but we could easily just go around them.”
“I thought we were going to hunt a little!” Baltos protested. “Get me some levels?”
“Oh, right,” D grumbled with a sigh. “Okay, well let’s start at the first tree there. I’ll pull one and we can see how tough they are. They might have been beefed up since Beta.”
“Hit them with as much ranged damage as possible,” I agreed. “Then Baltos can have a go. I’ll finish them off if you get in over your head.”
“I won’t,” Baltos grinned, doing a one-two punch in the air with his cestus.
We set off across the plain at a quick gate. As we grew closer to the tree, its massive size became more apparent. The trunk was thick and would probably take five minutes or more to walk around completely. I saw a small opening in the bark and wondered if the entire trunk was hollow, giving players a way to reach the treehouses. As far as I knew, there were no flight spells in Call of Carrethen, so there had to be a way to get up there.
I had to squint against the sun to see the treehouses, which were small shacks with thatched roofs and a single open door, almost like a birdhouse that my dad would have made before we moved to the city. I could make out the shadowed figures of more Araliths perched on the giant branches, as well as more flying overhead. Under different circumstances, if the consequences weren’t so dire, I’d have been pumped to get up there and check things out. But things had changed, and I was cautious.
“They’re too far away to inspect,” I said. “Can you even pull one from here, D?”
“Of course I can.” D chuckled, nocking an armor-piercing arrow.
“Probably end up being like level 40,” Vayde groaned. “I’m just going to get a heal spell ready.”
“Don’t say that!” Baltos whined. “They’re going to be mid 20s like D said, and I’m going to pummel them into oblivion!”
“Overconfidence is a weakness, grasshopper,” D said as he took aim.
“Don’t worry about me, Mr. Miyagi,” Baltos countered quickly. “I am the master.”
“Only a master of evil, Darth,” D replied as he loosed his arrow.
I watched as D’s arrow streaked through the sky towards one of the Aralith. It was an incredibly long shot and took at least three seconds to reach the creature.
No way he’s going to make that shot, I thought. But then, to my surprise, the Aralith let out a screech of pain, whipped around in the air to face us, pulled back its wings and dived.
“Got it!” D shouted.
“Okay, get ready!” I called out as D fired again. This time, the Aralith was ready for him, and dodged out of the way. Vayde cast a Fireball, but it dodged it easily as well. As it grew closer, I was able to make it out.
It was more a bird than a bird-man, but I could understand the comparison. Its body was longer and slimmer than a normal bird. It had a sharp yellow beak, but its face had something human about it—in the eyes. Its feathers were dark blue and flecked with white, and its wings were almost twice the size of its torso. It let out a terrifying screech as it plummeted towards us.
“Give them nothing,” Baltos said, turning to me with a smile. “But take from them—everything!”
The Aralith slammed into the ground in front of us, spraying dirt and grass everywhere. It was at least eight feet tall and its enormous claws looked like they’d do a lot of damage if they hit you. I inspected it.
Aralith Scout—level 22.
“Yah!” Baltos roared as he leapt into action. His fists moved at blinding speed. Unarmed weapons were smaller and easier to move quickly with. Each strike was dealing decent damage, and within seconds, the Scout’s health was approaching half.
“Ayye, there we go, grasshopper,” D said, nodding with approval.
“Ya? Check this out!” Baltos replied.
I’d never paid much attention to Baltos’ skills and was caught off guard as his right fist began to glow with a golden aura. He leapt back and raised his arm high above his head. A swelling sound filled the air and I could see a very strong attack was coming.
The Aralith however, was not about
to sit there and wait for it and moved to leap out of the way. But before it could, Vayde aimed his wand at it and cast Petrify.
“Stay there,” he whispered as the Aralith froze in place.
“Falcon Punch!” Baltos shouted as his skill activated. Similar to Warrior’s Charge, Baltos rocketed forward and slammed his fist into the Scout’s chest. The damage was enormous, bringing the Aralith down to below a quarter of his health.
Baltos followed up with some kind of back fist ability that chirped as it scored a critical hit, then unleashed an even faster flurry of punches that must have been another one of his skills.
The Aralith’s health flashed critical, and with one last blow, the creature cried out and exploded from existence.
“Ya-hah!” Baltos shouted, leaping into the air to celebrate his victory. “You see that? I kicked that thing’s ass!”
“Wow, it’s like… our first battle that didn’t almost kill us all,” I joked, examining the loot the Scout had dropped. “Some Pareals, a couple of Aralith Feathers, and an old Tattered Leather Loincloth.”
“Oooh!” Vayde joked. “Give me that! I might ditch my robe for a nice sexy loincloth.”
We all laughed as Baltos picked up the loot that was rightfully his.
“How far from 18 are you?” D asked.
“Not too far,” Baltos replied. “Probably a few more of those and we’d be good to go.”
“Well, it doesn’t look like you’ll need my help for this,” I replied, taking a few steps back and lying down on the grass. “Let me know when we’re ready to go.”
“Unless you wanted to go up and explore the treehouses…” Baltos said, testing the waters.
“Normally, I would,” I replied as I looked up at the sky. “But we’re on a clock here, and don’t have much time to spare.”
“You’re lucky we’re even letting you level up here,” D teased. “Mr. Glorious.”
“Shut up and pull another one!”
I smiled to myself as I lay in the sun, listening to my party pull more Aralith for Baltos to finish off. It was strange to think that I wasn’t looking at the real sky. The whole thing had been designed by someone—some programmer, or a team, who had decided exactly what shade of blue to use, what the clouds should look like and how fast they would move.
Call of Carrethen: A LitRPG and GameLit novel (Wellspring Book 1) Page 14
