Balanos had similar luck, dodging each of the creatures’ attacks and answering with a quick crack of his staff. In a move that seemed very reminiscent of Shiva, the dryad gripped his staff with both hands and slammed his staff against the wolf’s skull. With a crunch, its lifeless body fell to the ground.
Wolves were easy. A month ago they might have been a little bit of a challenge, but that was before her weapons skills had gotten so high. The only downfall was that they didn’t drop very much loot.
Sphiel walked behind Balanos until they reached a copse of trees and several shrubs that grew together. The dryad knelt down and peeked over one of the larger shrubs and the elf joined him.
There were four goblins there. Three were loafing about while one was scooping dirt into a wheelbarrow. “What is that one doing?” Sphiel whispered, pointing to the active goblin.
“They’re collecting dirt that once surrounded my tree. The dirt from around a dryad’s tree can be used as a spell component,” Balanos whispered back.
“Sounds like these goblins are serving another wizard. Shall we put a stop to them?”
“If you want to, my lady.”
Sphiel’s cheeks grew hot as she looked at Balanos’s sparkling eyes. She stepped out of the trees and stood with her hands on her hips. The goblins that spent their time loafing stood up and gripped spears.
“Goblins of the wood. Stop your dirt collecting and…”
The goblins didn’t allow Sphiel to finish. They charged her, spear points aimed up at her stomach, screaming their battle cries. The elf rushed forward and knocked one of the goblin spear points away with her sword. She planted a knee into the goblin’s chin and he fell back.
Two spears were shoved at her. One struck across her arm and the other stabbed into her thigh.
Sphiel Lvl. 8
Health 87% (-13%)
Stamina 91%
Character Status
Healthy
Perhaps charging into battle wasn’t the wisest move, especially since she was outnumbered. Sphiel backed away and ran into someone. It was the goblin with the shovel. He backed up a step and raised the impromptu weapon, only to have a staff crack across his head. Two more fast attacks by Balanos and the goblin fell unconscious.
Sphiel swung her sword to knock away two spear heads that came dangerously close to stabbing her again. Balanos took up a battle stance beside her and knocked away another goblin’s spear.
The goblins grimaced and Sphiel unshouldered her buckler and quickly slipped her dainty hand through the leather strap at the back. They held for several seconds, eyeing each other before charging again. Two goblin spears came at Sphiel. She remembered the last battle of how two goblins held her at bay with their spears. If she wanted to beat these creatures she was going to have to find a way to eliminate one.
Both of the goblins had their spears pointed upward, but not too far up. If she moved right she could avoid a blow to a vital area. She charged ahead as best she could with her injury and when she was close she leapt up with her good foot.
One of the spears still found her leg and she suffered another stab.
Sphiel Lvl. 8
Health 77% (-10%)
Stamina 86%
Character Status
Healthy
She caught the other goblin’s spear on her shield and pushed downward. The goblin dropped his spear low and she hobbled forward and sliced with her sword. She connected with his face and he backed off. Sphiel had been hoping to catch him with a fatal blow, but at least she damaged him.
The other goblin rushed her, and the elf wheeled around the spear head and slid forward. The metal glanced off the wood and stabbed her in the shoulder. She ignored the blue flames burning in her new wound and continued the momentum. She thrust her sword out with all her strength. Her blade passed through the goblin’s thin hide jerkin and into his chest. Another stab ended his life.
The goblin’s comrade stuck her in the back of the leg, just beneath her buttocks. Sphiel screamed.
Sphiel Lvl. 8
Health 67% (-10%)
Stamina 86%
Character Status
Healthy
She fell to the ground and rolled. She spun to her knee and parried the goblin’s thrust. The goblin viciously attacked her, stabbing with a blurring ferocity at her body. A couple blows still managed to catch her but they were weak.
Sphiel Lvl. 8
Health 58% (-9%)
Stamina 86%
Character Status
Healthy
The elf hopped to the balls of her feet and managed to backpedal to gain her footing. The goblin came at her again, but this time, there was only one of him. Even though she was wounded, she was able to outmaneuver him. Her sword slashed at him quickly and the only contact he made with his spear was with the wood of her shield.
Sphiel was amazed with how much better her weaponcraft was. Fighting all of those goblins in the clearing and that encounter with all the zombies didn’t hurt. It was sure coming in handy against this creature.
It tried its best but the result was inevitable. The goblin found its end after Sphiel elegantly parried one of its thrusts and slid her short sword on the outside of its spear and stabbed him in the neck.
Your skill with One Handed Swords has grown to 16!
You’ve made it to level 9! Good job!
When she was finished, she looked up to see Balanos standing over the fallen goblin. He looked like he’d suffered a couple of scratches, but the goblin that lay before him seemed to have suffered more. It’s head was caved in and it was most assuredly dead.
Sphiel looted the bodies of those that were alive and found 3 silver pieces and 48 copper. Around the neck of one that had a shovel was a silver chain with a simple pendant with the picture of a square face with tusks jutting from its mouth. She took it in order to show Shiva. Perhaps she’d know what tribe these goblins belonged to.
She asked Balanos. His eyes went pure white for a second and Sphiel jumped back. When his pupils returned he shook his head. “I don’t know.”
Sphiel looked at him, her eyebrows raised. “What just happened?”
“What do you mean?”
“I just asked you a question and your eyes went white.”
Balanos shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe these goblins had odd magic attached to them.”
“Maybe. So now that we’ve vanquished our foe, what do you want to do? Think we should take this dirt back with us?”
“We can if you want. It would feed my tree and help it grow stronger.”
“How much do we need to do that? Do you think there’s enough in that wheelbarrow?”
“It should be, but if you want more we can get some. I can still show you around, but there isn’t much to see.”
There was nothing in the area but a few rocks and fallen tree limbs. “Nah, I’ve taken enough damage. I don’t want to stick around and get ambushed. Let’s head back to the clearing.”
Sphiel walked over to take the wheelbarrow but Balanos volunteered to take it. As they made their way back, the dryad commented on how much damage she took and said he should heal her. The elf waved him off, telling him she’d be fine.
They came under attack twice on their way back. Each time a pair of wolves tried their luck against the duo, and all four met swift ends.
Sphiel took a small amount of damage and the amount of fussing from Balanos increased. To shut him up, she allowed him to heal her a little more before they continued toward the clearing.
It’d been a little trying, having the dryad worry over her. When they reached the clearing, she looked into his bright pupils again and eyed the rest of his lean, strong body. He was a bit annoying, but he was nice company.
SIXTEEN
Sphiel planted the dirt around Balanos’s tree and it gave off a soft glow. The silver leaves grew brighter and the small sapling rose up from the ground. By the time it was finished growing, it was close to six feet in height.
Balanos had changed as well. His body grew a little thicker and taller, and his “hair” obtained more sheen. He still wasn’t very masculine, but the elf found that his wispy fey handsomeness very appealing. Once she was done placing the dirt around the tree, she turned to the dryad.
“So what do you want to do now? I have a little more time before I have to go back to my ‘other plane of existence.’”
Balanos stroked his chin, then shrugged. “We can do whatever you like. I can accompany you on another adventure.”
“Not right now, I’m a bit tired. If you don’t have any ideas I guess I could meditate a while. Maybe I can think of something else to do.”
The pupils on Balanos’s eyes went out then came back. “Your friend left that black book you found at the necromancer’s hideout before. Why not look through that. Perhaps you can learn some interesting information.”
The elf was taken aback by the sudden disappearance of the dryad’s pupils, but said nothing. She wasn’t in the mood to exchange banter about “strange magic” on something that was probably just a game bug. “Okay, I guess I can do that.”
Sphiel took the book out of a sack behind the boulder she liked to sit on and thumbed through it. There was some interesting anatomical information about a few different races that were in the world; goblins, kobolds, trolls, ogres, and various other races. Most of the information focused on how “life energy” flowed through the creatures, how it could be harvested, and turning them into undead.
Toward the back of the book, there were many grizzly drawings instructing a user how to create living skeletons and zombies that went into a great detail Sphiel found very disconcerting. On the last page was a section written in a language she didn’t understand.
She stared at the page for a while, trying to understand the strange looking runes on it. Balanos came over to her and looked at the book.
“Hmm, Tree Bark,” Balanos said.
Sphiel looked at him incredulously and ran her finger down the creamy page. “No, this is parchment paper.”
Balanos shook his head. “Not the paper, the language. Tree Bark is a language that was spoken by the Living Trees, a culture of tree peoples that haven’t been seen in a long age.”
“And their language was Tree Bark?”
“I was one of their languages. It was mainly the language they spoke when the trees were angry. They would bark, and that’s how it got its name.”
Sphiel groaned and slapped her palm against her forehead. “Okay, can you read it?”
“I can make out a couple.”
Balanos pointed out the meaning of a few of the symbols. Among the treasures she’d obtained in her time in her clearing, she found a brass ink pot and broken feather quill. She wrote down the English translation of the runes and found the page was a puzzle that had elements of a cryptogram, anagram, and connect the dots.
She spent two hours putting runes together and drawing little line segments. When she found the meaning of one of the symbols, she was able to apply that knowledge to another. Balanos aided her, and by the end of it she managed to create a message.
You managed to solve this complicated riddle. Good job! Now say “I’m smart” to retrieve your prize and gain the power to control a force of nature.
Sphiel smirked and shook her head. “I’m smart.”
The dryad smiled. “You certainly are, that was a difficult riddle to crack.”
A grey cloud bubbled up from the page. There was a little explosion and burst of dust exploded into Sphiel’s face, sending her into a coughing fit.
When her vision returned, she found a half humanoid form with bulging muscles, a squared jaw and a curling, handlebar mustache. His lower body was formed by a roughly conical column of smoke and his entire body, including his hair, was a dull grey.
The figure adjusted grey, thin, wireframe spectacles on his nose. “Oh my, well that was different.” The figure stretched his arms and looked down at Sphiel with sharp eyes. “Well, well, fancy meeting you here. I take it you were the one who released me from my prison?”
The creature had a high pitched, whiny voice. It stretched and grinned down at the elf. Sphiel shuddered when she saw small, dark red waving patterns in his translucent teeth.
“I guess,” Sphiel said, scooting away from the floating creature.
“Oh where are my manners, I didn’t introduce myself. My name is Vespus, I’m a genie that was trapped in that book by a very annoying necromancer. How is the old devil?” Vespus made a motion to crack his knuckles, but there was no sound. “I have a little score to settle with him for trapping me in that book.”
“If you’re talking about a necromancer wearing a stupid bath robe and nightcap, my friend and I killed him,” Sphiel said.
“You did? Rotten luck. I’d been working on a lovely little spell to turn him inside out. Oh well, he’s gone and you freed me. So I’m assuming that means you want a reward,” the genie curled his body and leaned a little too close for the elf’s comfort.
“You don’t have to give me anything,” Sphiel said, leaning away from the looming Vespus, “you are free to go.”
“Now what fun would that be? I’d be my pleasure to give you a spell that would allow you to wreak havoc, particularly bloody havoc, on those that would dare to cause you harm.”
The genie was getting closer and his smile slowly grew wider with each passing beat.
Sphiel held up her hands. “It’s not necessary, please don’t lean in so close.”
Vespus’s smile turned to a grimace and grey conflagrations took the place of his pupils. “I said, it would be my pleasure.”
Sphiel’s heart skipped a beat. She nodded and her blond hair flew in many directions. “Okay, okay, whatever you want. I’ll take it. Just back off.”
The genie backed away and took up a pleasant demeanor again. “Splendid. Now what should I give you? I am able to grant you the powers of nature. Oh, I know, how about a nice fireball. Fry your enemies into charred husks. I could provide you with a lightning bolt if you’d prefer that, or if you’re a sadist, I can give you the power of ice or water. Nothing is more fun than watching your enemies drown or slowly watch the life being sapped out of them as they freeze to death.”
Sphiel had the distinct impression that this genie was perhaps every bit as disturbing as the book he was trapped in. “I don’t know if I want all of that. How about the power to heal people, that could be handy.”
“You could have a power that would allow you to infuse your own blood with healing properties, would that do?”
Sphiel cringed and shook her head.
“Well, you have to choose something.” Vespus snarled. “I’m not going anywhere unless you do. I warn you, I’m very impatient, and you don’t want to see when I am?”
Sphiel was getting more disturbed by this strange genie with each passing moment. She resolved to pick something and make him go away, but she didn’t know what. She never cared for the idea of shooting fireballs or ice bolts. Her preference for magic was something more subtle with a hint of beauty. But what would it be?
She thought for a moment and heard the singing of birds around her. She was reminded of an anime where the protagonist used a song to command animals. Given her proximity and where she chose to spend her time, a power like that made sense. She relayed this to the genie.
An evil grin spread across Vespus’s face. “So you want a power that will allow you to manipulate animals to do your bidding? I like that, it sounds more fun than a fireball. I had my doubts about you before, but now I think you’re worthy of such a power.”
The elf made a face. She didn’t like the way the genie put it, but it was true, she’d be manipulating animals. She set these concerns aside when she rationalized that she wouldn’t be causing them harm, or even random people, just those who wanted to hurt her.
The genie nodded. “Very well, one animal enslavement spell coming up.”
Vespus wiggled his fingers and there was a
flash of red light around her. A window popped up in front of her.
New Spell Acquired: Animal Enslavement
For a period of five minutes, control all animals in a twenty foot radius to do your bidding. The caster must focus on this spell and take no other actions. Losing concentration or taking another action will break the spell.
Sphiel frowned. “I really don’t like the name, can you change it?”
Vespus sighed. “Goodness, you’re one of those kinds of players. Fine, I’ll make the name more palatable.”
The name changed from “Animal Enslavement” to “Animal Enchantment.”
“Are you happy now?” Vespus crossed his arms.
Sphiel looked away and smiled. “I do have one more request.”
Vespus let out an exasperated sigh. “What is it?”
“I’m a fan of a character from an anime - uh, I mean a great and noble adventurer, that sings to control animals. Can you do that for me?”
The genie rolled his eyes. “I guess.” Vespus snapped his fingers and included this feature, and Sphiel noticed the radius of control changed to sixty feet.
“Because you included something that would be a hindrance in case you lost your voice, I made it more powerful. Happy now?”
Sphiel’s character screen popped up. A mana bar appeared beneath her stamina bar, signifying her new magical power.
Sphiel grinned at the genie. “Yes. Also, could you tell the customer service team I’m really thankful for this?”
“We already know, and you’re welcome.”
There was a shuffle in some bushes up ahead. Three large snarling black wolves came through the clearing. Each one had a collar with that was held by a goblin. Sphiel recognized one of the goblins as the shovel wielder from earlier.
“There she is. She and that stupid dryad killed our friends, get them!”
The goblins released the wolves and they ran toward her.
The genie smiled. “How convenient, a chance to use your new power.”
Sphiel’s smile turned to worry as the wolves rapidly encroached, snarling and snapping their slavering jaws.
Sphiel's Song Page 9
