by Michael Ryan
“Everything is always different than it seems,” Smith said. “At least it seems that way…”
“We’re being pursued,” Yingtai said.
“Of course,” Jara said. “It’s what I expected. The two assassins. Bitches. They should be dead already.”
“But they’re not,” Yingtai said. “What should we do?”
“Stay behind and ambush them,” Jara said. “I’ll take the beautiful princess and her little pony, and meet you in the dungeon.”
Amy felt a premonition – she sensed a predator stalking close-by. “Stop,” she said, and dismounted.
Emi dropped to the ground and followed her.
They crept along the trail, and an arrow flew just over their heads.
Amy ducked. The arrow struck a tree behind them in an explosion of ice that cracked the trunk, and the tree fell with a loud thud.
“Move to the left,” Amy said.
Emi did so, as Amy warmed a spell to imbue an arrow. She edged closer to where she suspected Yingtai or Jara were hiding. She assumed it was only be one of them, or both would have fired at the same time.
Amy snuck along, and eventually came across the nest that their attacker had fired from. It was empty.
“She’s gone,” Amy said.
“Was it Jara?” Emi asked.
“Doesn’t matter which. They’re leapfrogging, leaving one behind to ambush, the other getting closer to a lair. I’m sure the princess has a dungeon hideaway. It’s the only thing that makes sense, or she’d already be on the road to Ardra By The Sea,” Amy said. She followed the tracks left behind by the archer, and eventually found the pony’s trail.
“This way,” Amy whispered to Emi. “I’ve picked them up again.”
“They’re pursuing us, Jara,” Yingtai said. “We need to ditch the pony.”
“You want to carry her?” Jara looked at the rolled carpet.
“Not really,” Yingtai answered. “We could wake her and make her walk.”
“Too risky,” Jara said.
“True. I have a bear mount,” Yingtai said. “I’ll carry her with me. The bear won’t leave tracks; at least as obvious as the pony.”
They picked up the rolled carpet and threw it on the ground.
“UMPH!”
“She’s awake,” Yingtai said.
Jara imbued an arrow. “Roh, darling, if you want to live, be quiet and do what you’re told.”
Rohini moaned in pain. Her muffled voice emanated from the carpet. “Where are we?”
“In the woods,” Yingtai said. “Now shut up.” She unrolled the carpet and Rohini plopped out.
Yingtai placed a long-bladed dagger against her skin forcefully enough to draw blood. “Do what you’re told or I’ll open your throat.”
“Traitor,” Rohini said.
“From your perspective, this is true,” Yingtai said. “But I’m being true to my people. I’m no more a traitor to them than you are to yours. Now move.”
“Where are you taking me?” she asked.
“Don’t worry about it, darling,” Jara said. “Just obey, follow, and keep quiet.”
“You’ll never get the jewel from me,” the Princess said with a tone of defiance. She spat on the ground in disgust.
Jara slapped her and spoke in a quiet authoritarian tone. “Be respectful, as your station matters little now. Behave and you may live.”
Rohini scowled.
Yingtai moved to the pony with her blade extended.
“No, please, let the pony alone,” Rohini begged. “She’s never hurt anyone.”
“I don’t care if—”
Jara interrupted her. “Don’t kill the pony. It’ll leave tracks for our pursuers in the wrong direction. Slap it and let it run free.”
Yingtai put away her blade, untied the pony’s restraint, and slapped the animal’s haunch. It bolted away, into the trees.
“Come along,” Jara said.
The pony ran right to Amy and Emi, who captured it, fed it a carrot, and calmed the beast with their gentle words.
Dale and Smith noticed the signs of a fight. Dale pointed at the pony tracks and nodded. They continued for a time, inching through the trees. Dale thought he heard a voice.
“We’re close,” Dale whispered.
“I hear something,” Smith whispered back to him. “Follow me.”
Dale did so, and saw two figures in the distance with a pony.
“But no princess,” Smith said.
“No. What should we do?”
“Attack, I guess,” Smith said. “But it’s your call.”
“Do you think they’ve killed her already?” Emi asked.
“No. They knew we were tracking the pony. This is a diversion.”
“What should we do?” Emi ran her hand along the pony’s neck. “She’s a beautiful beast.”
“We’ll send her home and—”
Emi dove behind the pony. The arrow meant for her missed, but a second volley was already in the air. Amy threw herself in front of Emi with a shield and blocked the arrow that would have ended her. Emi’s health dropped to barely ten percent. Someone had fired powerful magic.
“Who’s firing on us? Jara?” Emi asked.
“I don’t think so,” Amy said. “I’m afraid it might be Dale and Smith.”
“We need to tell them, we—”
Two arrows came from the other direction. One struck Amy, and the other struck the pony.
Emi healed Amy and glanced around. “We need to get to cover. We’re in a cross-fire.”
Amy stared at the ground. “It’s the jewel…”
The dead pony had dropped the Jewel of Sartozel.
“That bitch Amy has the jewel,” Yingtai said.
“I see that,” Jara said as she drew a sword. Swinging to decapitate princess Talargo, she muttered under her breath. “One less piece of baggage.”
Rohini wasn’t as dull-witted as the pair had assumed. She ducked the blade, retrieved a small knife that she slept with, and plunged it into Jara’s chest.
Jara punched her in the face.
Rohini, even in full combat gear and armed, couldn’t have won a fight against two highly skilled warriors. As it was, she’d been kidnapped from her bed and wore a silk nightgown. She pulled the knife from Jara’s chest and prepared to plunge the blade for a second time. Yingtai grabbed her arm and stopped her.
“Cowards,” Rohini said.
Yingtai twisted her arm to the point of snapping, and she dropped her blade and sank to her knees.
Jara pulled out a longbow and pulled the bowstring taunt—and an incoming arrow skewered her shoulder. She misfired and the bolt flew past Rohini and struck Yingtai. The Mugron warrior screamed in fury, but she had the presence of mind to kick Rohini and scoop up her dropped blade.
Rohini tackled Jara.
Once on top of her, she pulled out the arrow—grateful that someone was pursuing her—and lifted her arms above her head. The shaft firmly in her hands, she aimed at Jara’s face, intent on ramming the bloody shaft through one her eye.
It was Yingtai slitting Rohini’s throat with her own blade, who stopped her plan.
Rohini, spurting blood, drove the arrow downward, but too slowly…it sunk into the ground near Jara’s head.
“You’ve lost, Roh,” Jara whispered in her ear. She pulled the assassin’s arrow from the dirt and plunged it through Rohini’s ribs.
“The assassins have the jewel,” Dale said.
“They can’t escape. We have them in a crossfire,” Smith said.
Dale nocked another arrow and fired it at Amy and Emi.
Smith did the same.
They watched the two assassins move into the trees. “We can keep them in a crossfire and get the jewel back,” Smith said.
“I still can’t believe Amy would assassinate the princess.”
“What else can we believe?”
“I don’t know,” he said.
“You don’t have time to feel bad,” Smith
said.
“I know I have to kill Amy if I get the chance.” Yingtai was right. Jara was right. “This is one really sick—”
“It’s like you said,” Smith whispered. “We’re pawns.”
“We need to get close to Dale so I can talk to him,” Amy said.
“He’s not going to believe you,” Emi said.
“We have little choice.”
They moved under the cover of brush and headed downhill. They occasionally stopped to fire arrows in the direction of Jara and Yingtai, but mostly they moved towards Dale and Smith.
When they got close enough to speak to them, Amy called out to Dale.
“I don’t believe you, Amy,” Dale said. “How can I?”
“Think about it. I could have killed you. I didn’t,” Amy said.
“But Yingtai saved me,” Dale said.
“To keep her true identity hidden. She’s with the Declanians.”
“That’s crazy.”
“Maybe, but think about—”
An arrow—a near miss—stopped Amy from finishing her sentence.
Yingtai and Jara were close.
“Hold on, Yingtai!” Dale shouted. “We need a parlay of some kind.”
“No time, Dale,” Yingtai said. “You know your duty. Stop the assassins. Unless you’re one of them?” Yingtai spat her words with contempt. “They’ve killed Princess Talargo. Now they have the jewel. You’re not a traitor, are you?”
“No, of course not,” Dale answered.
“Then do what the king commissioned you to do,” Yingtai commanded. “Stop the assassins and secure the jewel.”
“Amy!” Dale shouted. “Is this true? You have the jewel? You killed the Princess?”
“I have the jewel, but I didn’t kill the Princess,” Amy answered.
“She lies,” Jara shouted from the distance. “I watched her kill Rohini with my own eyes, Dale. You watched her try to kill me at a peaceful diplomatic function. Do your duty!”
Smith had left Dale and snuck around Amy and Emi while they argued. He moved close to them and brought out his war hammer.
He could hear Amy shouting at Dale, but he couldn’t find Emi until she spoke.
“Amy,” Emi whispered. “We’re going to have to kill—”
She didn’t finish her sentence. Smith, swinging his war hammer with full force, smashed Emi. Her health was already low, and the blow, hitting her in the head, destroyed her completely. She died.
Amy screamed and ran.
Smith chased her.
Dale cringed when Smith killed Emi.
When he ran after Amy, Dale jumped up and took off after them.
Amy was very fast, and she was running downhill, but she was also leaving an easy trail to follow.
When Dale caught up with Smith they were in a box canyon. Amy was cornered against a tall cliff, and her health was nearly at zero.
“We got her,” Smith said.
“Maybe we should listen to her,” Dale said.
“We have all the evidence we need. She’s got the jewel,” Smith said. “It’s the thing we came to protect. What more could you want to know?”
“Dale, I’m not a traitor,” Amy said. “I’m in the assassin’s guild. We were hired to stop two traitors, and recover the jewel. We are Klaharnians, the same as you, the same faction, the same team. We’re on the same side. Jara and Yingtai are your enemies. They took the Princess.”
Dale thought she sounded sincere, but he’d been tricked too many times. “Why’d you have the princess’s pony?” he asked.
“I can explain,” Amy said. “Let me come out and I’ll give you the Jewel of Sartozel. That would prove my alliance with you.”
“Okay,” Dale said.
Amy stepped from behind a group of rocks holding the Jewel of Sartozel in her hand.
Smith threw a spear. It struck her in the chest, and she fell. The jewel rolled on the ground beside her.
“No!” Dale shouted. He ran to Amy, ignoring the jewel, and cradled her head.
“I’m sorry, Dale. I should have told you,” she said. “Stay my boyfriend? Please? I love you, Dale.”
“I… I can’t,” Dale said. “You lied…”
“No,” Amy said. “I upheld my guild obligations. My duty.”
“I thought you loved me,” Dale said.
“I do.”
“No. Love is first. Above war, alliances, guilds, the platoon, and…anything. Love is either first, or it’s not love.”
Dale set her head down.
Her tears mixed with blood as she died.
“Come on,” Smith said. “It’s dangerous here.”
Dale looked at the jewel, its brightness glistening in the moonlight. He took a step towards it, and an arrow streaked towards him. He barely dodged being struck.
He turned towards Smith. A second arrow embedded into Smith’s thigh.
The giant ape-man screamed in agony and dove behind an outcropping of rocks.
Dale had enough mana to heal Smith, but the enchantment took his light mana down to nearly zero, which was where his dark mana was at the moment. “We’re in big trouble,” he said.
“I can see that,” Smith said.
“You killed Amy. She was telling the truth.”
“I’m sorry,” he said.
Smith sounded sincere and Dale knew he’d probably have done the same thing. But the fact remained, Dale had watched Amy die twice now, and it hurt.
“We’ll talk about it later,” Dale said. “For now we have to protect the jewel.” He peeked from behind the boulder and an arrow with Ice Magic exploded in his face.
He jerked back, partially blinded.
“Here, drink this,” Smith said. He handed him a potion.
Dale’s health was restored, but Smith was going to run out of health potions and mana too.
“We need a plan,” Dale said. He exhaled a deep breath. Completely mentally and physically exhausted, he didn’t know what to do next.
“No shit,” Smith said. “We need a plan.”
“The jewel.” That was the priority.
“Why don’t you just walk out there and get it?” Smith asked, his voice cold.
“Why are you being such a dick?” Dale had never heard Smith be so mean, especially to him. He suspected it was probably guilt over killing Amy.
Amy and Emi had been working on their side the whole time.
Jara and Yingtai had been the traitors, and not only that, he and Smith had been helping them all along.
“We need to move if we’re going to live,” Smith said.
“The jewel?”
“It won’t help us if we die,” Smith answered. “It can’t be bound to anyone. It always drops at death, no matter who possesses it. It’s one of the rules of this crazy-ass war. The jewel has to be taken back to a base and protected. That’s how it works. Otherwise I could jump out there and grab it, and hell, you could kill me and it would be safe.”
“So…” Dale was at the end of his patience. He began to think it wouldn’t matter if he died. He’d be back on the ship. He’d get a hot shower. He could talk to Amy. “These government fuckers…”
“Yeah, so… What to do? First priority is to survive, yes?” Smith sounded tired, but also pragmatic.
“Should we make a run for it and then regroup?” Dale stood and tried to peer around the boulder.
“Regroup with who?” Smith asked. “I think it’s just you and me.”
When Dale got his head just beyond the edge of the stone, he saw Yingtai approaching the jewel with an Ice Magic imbued arrow ready to fire. Jara was in a position to fire on them as well from behind a rock, a few meters behind Yingtai.
“Crap,” Dale said. “They’re right here, and they’ve got the jewel.” Dale watched Yingtai ease her bow-string, pick up the stone, store it, and redraw. She backed away, keeping her arrow pointed at them, and joined Jara.
Dale didn’t have enough power to attack them directly.
“We’l
l have to follow them, but if we don’t recover more mana, it’ll be a short fight,” Smith said.
“Agreed.”
Dale and Smith weren’t highly skilled trackers, but Yingtai and Jara were moving at a fast pace, so they left a clear trail. They continued uphill, following the tracks until they came to a dungeon.
Dale lit a torch as they walked into the entrance. A stone statue, seated on a stone chair, stood and spoke. “What do you seek?” Its voice was raspy and old.
“We’re chasing two traitors,” Dale said.
“Ah, a traitor’s quest,” the stone figure said. “This dungeon mine is perfect for betrayal and treachery, travelers. If you seek power and loot, then enter here, but I must warn you that you will face your worst nightmares and demons.”
“It’s not like this night can get much worse,” Dale said.
The guard laughed deeply. From his rumbling chest, he spoke. “It can always get worse, travelers. Always. I offer you a quest.”
You’ve been offered a quest: A Quest of Betrayal and Traitors
You’ll pursue traitors, face fears and nightmares, and perhaps die alone.
The Rewards: Unknown
The Risks: Specifics unknown, but really, really bad. You should turn back!
Accept: [Y/N]
“Screw me twice,” Dale said.
“You’re really not my type,” Smith said, “but thanks for the offer.”
“I accept the quest,” Dale said.
“I’ll pay for my own sins,” Smith said. “I accept.”
The door opened.
They walked into a dark mine shaft.
The door slammed shut behind them.
Dale’s torch sent flickers of orange and yellow along the walls. It wasn’t a dwarf mine. The walls were rough stone, as if formed from lava. Moss and plants grew, and water dripped. Mushrooms grew in colonies along the base of the walls. Bats hung from the ceiling. Rats scurried when they approached with their torches. Nothing attacked them as they walked, which seemed like a bit of good luck, but Dale thought maybe it was a false security.
He skewered a rat.
+10XP
Killed: Common Brown Tree Rat
Dropped: 1 mangy pelt: Poor Quality (and rather disgusting)
