Jessica's Challenge (Puatera Online Book 5)

by Dawn Chapman

  Two thudded into Terris’ shield as he leapt in front of Kaylin, another hit Aimer’s pack. I used my wind to blow a fourth off course, which missed me by inches, and the fifth went over Seraphin’s head as she ducked. But as more creatures popped up and moved too fast, swinging from tree to tree, we quickly realised there was no way to defend ourselves.

  “Run to the lake,” Jentin yelled, grabbing Seraphin’s arm and tugging her to the side as another dart came her way. No one needed telling twice. With Aimer picking a route and Jentin helping Seraphin over the larger roots, we hurried in the rough direction of the lake.

  With no path, darts raining over us, and the intelligent monkeys able to swing quickly from branch to branch, we were easily outpaced. The monkeys darted ahead, pushing us to one side, trying to steer us away from our destination.

  As a dart thudded into Kaylin’s arm, I tried to concentrate. Terris grabbed her as she wobbled, grunting under the strain as another dart hit his shield. With a lot of effort, I managed to generate a sort of whirlwind, stirring the air in a circle around the group, and keeping the tiny missiles from finding their targets.

  I could feel the energy draining from me as we ran, but with Kaylin slumped in Terris’ arms, I knew I had to somehow keep it up. Suddenly Terris stumbled, catching his foot on a tree root, but Aimer was by his side almost instantly, helping him up and checking Kaylin’s pulse at the same time.

  “She’s still breathing. I think she’s just asleep,” Aimer said.

  “We need to keep going,” I shouted back over the yelling and screeching from the monkeys. They had stopped firing their darts, realising it was useless, so I dropped the speed of the wind a fraction, not sure how much longer I could keep going.

  As I stumbled as well, Aimer grabbed my arm and guided me through the last few trees, out onto a dirty sort of beach. We didn’t stop there, rushing into the lake itself and far enough away from the trees the monkeys couldn’t reach us and stay safe themselves.

  Aimer let go of me to help Terris support Kaylin and keep her head above the water, while Seraphin used her pistol to deter the creatures from following, somehow floating almost on her back, while one arm and her legs kept her moving. Barely able to stand, let alone do magic, I let the wind around us die, hoping someone would have an idea of what to do next.

  “This way,” Jentin said, wading sideways, in line with the shore, the water barely up to his waist. We were lucky the lake was shallow and the bottom soft dirt. The screeching creatures followed us for a few hundred metres, before, one by one, vanishing back into the woods. There was no doubt we wouldn’t be returning the way we had come, but for now I was more concerned about Kaylin.

  After pushing on for several minutes, we found a wider section of dirt and sand, where the trees hadn’t encroached so close to the water, and all of us moved onto drier land, relief evident in the way we plonked ourselves down.

  “How long do you think she’ll be asleep for?” Terris asked as he lowered Kaylin down, using her pack as a makeshift pillow.

  “Hopefully not for long, but we can find a way to the centre of the lake in the meantime,” Jentin replied, checking both her pulse and the wound again. He’d pulled the dart out and compared it to the ones in Terris’ shield.

  “If any monkeys bother us again, we can always fire these back at them,” Seraphin said, taking the darts and slipping them into a small pouch she had. Feeling exhausted, I scooted closer to Kaylin.

  “I’ll watch over her,” I said, hoping the others wouldn’t mind. Jentin nodded, joining Aimer in looking over the information they had.

  “Looks like there was once an island in the middle of the lake.” Aimer pointed at something on the parchment and looked out towards the centre.

  “It’s probably just under the surface. This isn’t a true lake. Water flows in and out. If it’s flowing in slightly faster than out, it could have risen in level.” As Jentin stopped speaking, he remained deep in thought, staring into space.

  “What is it?” I asked, but Jentin didn’t elaborate.

  “Aimer, stay here with Jessica, Seraphin and Kaylin. Terris and I are going to go check something out. We won’t be long.”

  I raised an eyebrow and Terris let out a groan, but no one complained. Whatever it was Jentin was up to, it was bound to benefit all of us. Weary, I sat back and waited, sometimes watching Jentin and Terris wandering along the lake edge, getting farther and farther away from us, and sometimes looking around, checking nothing was trying to sneak up on us.

  Aimer sat on a rock nearby, his eyes closed, his breathing steady, almost as if he was meditating. I watched him, struck by how peaceful he always seemed. Thousands of questions about him, the real him, came to mind, but I didn’t dare speak any and disturb whatever he was doing. For all I knew, it could be some important game mechanic my broken system wouldn’t let me see.

  So, I waited, and waited, and kept watch.

  Chapter 8

  “Can you close your eyes a moment?” Aimer suddenly said aloud. I jumped, having almost forgotten he was there and awake. At least an hour had passed. “I think your mum can fix your glitch now, but she said you’re going to want to have your eyes closed.

  “Oh, okay,” I replied, liking the idea of having everything working again. I did as Aimer suggested, wondering if I’d notice, but when a minute or so had gone by and I was still sitting with my eyes closed, I wondered if anything was going to happen.

  “Brilliant. You can open them again now,” Aimer said. I frowned, looking straight at him, but then my jaw fell open. Now, when I looked at him and then Kaylin, boxes popped up, letting me know who I was looking at and other relevant info. I looked at my pack and noticed a list of its contents, then looked at his and noticed a similar list. It was so helpful.

  Deciding it was time to finally see about my character, I opened my settings and went through the character stats. Over the last few days in-game playing, I’d managed to discover a lot of different affinities and things to learn, as well as managing to learn some basic magic, herbalism and alchemy thanks to Desiree, and several other useful things.

  There was still a long way to go if I was to get my character really proficient, but it was a start. I could also tell it must have pulled some of my own life into the game somehow. It had a proficiency in playing the flute, despite not touching one my entire time in game. I had learnt flute at school for a while. That must be why my character wasn’t fleshed out like the others. It was literally exactly me, translated into game mechanics and then improved with the time I’d been playing.

  Finally, I noticed a number six inside the black splodge in my lower vision. I assumed it was related to my health in some way, but I didn’t know how bad a six was. I made a mental note to keep an eye on it as I interacted with the world, ate, drank, and got hurt.

  “Your mum says she has your body and your sisters’ safe, and you’re all being monitored, and she would like you to try logging out again,” Aimer said, after giving me some time to look through everything.

  I nodded and navigated to the log-off button, actually able to read it now, but like before, nothing happened. I sighed. It would have been nice to see Mum and my sisters again, even if only for a few minutes. It had already been so long.

  Before I could read any more, or ask Aimer for suggestions, I noticed Jentin and Terris appear in the distance, coming back to us. A few minutes later, long before they reached us, Kaylin stirred.

  “Urrggghhh,” she said, as I went to her and helped her sit. “I think I got hit by one of those things.”

  “Yeah, knocked you out for a while, but otherwise you seem okay. You hurt anywhere?”

  “Few bruises maybe. I’ll live.”

  Terris waved as he and Jentin came closer, and then we were all together again, our two new arrivals looking pleased with themselves.

  “Noticed anything different?” Terris asked as soon as he was in talking distance.

  I looked around, not sure what
I should be able to notice, but it was Aimer who spoke first. “The lake. It’s gone down a little.”

  “Hoped it would have done something by now, but it’s going to take a while to really have an effect,” Jentin said. Most of the group still looked confused, until Aimer pointed at one of the few rocks sitting near us in the lake. There was a line of wet on it about half a centimetre above the actual water level.

  “You found a way to increase the water flow out of the lake,” I finally said for everyone else’s benefit as much as my own.”

  He nodded.

  “It will only work so well, but over time branches and other debris have caught up at the top of the river running out of here. We just unblocked it, so it can flow out faster.”

  “Won’t that cause a problem for anyone down river?” I asked, thinking of dams back home and how whole villages could be wiped out if they broke. Jentin shook his head.

  “No, the river runs in a deep bed that evidently holds more water in the winter season. It will be fine. The blockage looked fairly new, and we worked down gradually. That’s why we were gone so long. As the water recedes, we might even need to clear more.”

  I nodded, glad Jentin was overcautious rather than eager. I didn’t want to ruin this area’s ecosystem just for an easy way to get a few trinkets.

  “The downside is, we’re probably going to have to wait it out for a day or so. Making a boat just isn’t an option with these trees. Not enough straight wood.”

  “Couldn’t we swim?” Aimer asked.

  “I could possibly swim across the lake, maybe back as well, but I wouldn’t have the energy to dive several times and try to find something under the surface as well,” Jentin replied. “Could any of you do better than that?”

  I shook my head, knowing I couldn’t. I’d never taken to swimming, or anything particularly athletic. Probably why this avatar wasn’t all that good at any physically taxing tasks. I made a mental note to improve that stat. I had a feeling I was going to need it.

  “What now?” Kaylin asked.

  “Well, I don’t know about you lot, but I’m hungry,” Jentin said. We all nodded. Although the raedwulf had been fascinating to feed, even I was hoping for something to eat. “I reckon, between us, we should be able to catch some fish down by the river, and we can keep an eye on the water level as well there as here.”

  With a plan to follow, I helped Kaylin to her feet, and we all trudged to the river. It was already clear this adventure wasn’t going to be as short as we’d planned, but I was learning a lot and I could see my character growing and becoming more competent at things I would need. Catching fish would be yet another great way to enhance my avatar for when I needed to go hunting for my sisters.

  It didn’t take long to get to the river, and we heard it sooner than we could see it, the sound of water rushing over rocks and away from the lake distinct in the otherwise quiet location. When we grew closer, I soon spotted the section that Terris and Jentin had made wider and cleared out. There was a pile of wet branches, most covered in mud and silt that had collected up against them and formed a blockage, but some shiny and clean from where the water had rushed past.

  The river itself was swollen, right up to its banks, almost threatening to burst them, and I hoped it wasn’t so high farther down. As we approached, Jentin frowned and slowed.

  “Some more debris must have come dislodged. It wasn’t this high when we finished,” he said, looking a little sheepish.

  “Should we try and dam it a bit more?” I asked, but he instantly shook his head.

  “Any damage has already been done, and it should die down slowly. We’re best off just fishing and being grateful this will probably take less time than it could have done.”

  I sighed, but allowed myself to be directed across a portion of the lake, where rocks were lying just beneath the surface, acting like stepping stones of sorts. The whole team spread out across the lake exit and watched and waited. Jentin showed all of us how to use our jackets to catch fish as they came flowing past, giving each of us pointers when we inevitably failed at our first attempts.

  Annoyingly, I failed at several more, splashing myself, almost falling in, and generally struggling. Aimer had already caught a couple, and everyone else at least one, with the exception of Seraphin, who had fallen in when a particularly large one got tangled in the fabric she held, by the time I managed to trap something in my jacket.

  I squealed in delight, carrying the fish back to shore. They were only small, so we were tasked with catching at least two each on average, so back I went again, emboldened by finally succeeding.

  Putting a foot down wrong, I slipped, splashing water all over myself as Aimer caught my arm and stopped me falling the rest of the way in. Pain flared in my shoulder, increasing the number in my damage counter by four. I sighed, thanked him, and rubbed at the sore limb. Hopefully it wouldn’t stop me catching another fish. I could see my learning curve for the task coming down, and I’d been hoping to learn it before we had enough to eat.

  Ten minutes later, Jentin was calling us back to shore, but I zoned him and the others out for a second, my eyes locked on the glint of silvery scales coming my way. With a quick flick, I managed to wrap the fabric around it, swinging it up and out of the lake with a flurry of water.

  Grinning, I brought it to shore, only feeling a slight pang at catching more than we might be able or need to eat, but it was clear the others didn’t think that way when I revealed one of the largest fish we’d managed to get between us.

  “Nice catch, Jess,” Kaylin said as she smiled back, three fish to her name. It meant more coming from her, and despite normally being a bit squeamish about the idea of cutting a living animal open, I joined the others watching Jentin gut one.

  It’s only a game, I thought to myself over and over as we all tried to copy the demonstration and prepare our own fish for cooking. Several times I thought I was going to throw up, but I just about managed to prepare the two fish I’d caught and not cut myself. It was a win, and it made me wonder if I’d now be able to do the same in the real world.

  Once the fish were cooking over a small fire and our sodden jackets drying in its heat, everyone kicked back and relaxed. The lake level had come down by a good few inches now and I was pleased to see the river flowing out from it was no longer so swollen, everything calming down enough that Jentin was already considering trying to increase the flow some more and continue the process.

  It was only when we’d finished eating that Aimer stood up, his eyes fixed on the centre of the lake.

  “I can see something,” he said, a grin slowly appearing on his face. “I think that island is now visible.”

  “Good. There’s still plenty of afternoon sunshine to help dry it out a bit, too.” Jentin got up beside Aimer, but no matter how he looked, he couldn’t see what the young elf could. The rest of us didn’t bother trying.

  After waiting another half an hour while we all played a bizarre game I’d never heard of with stones and twigs, Jentin checked again. This time he nodded approvingly.

  “Yes, there’s definitely an island out there. I’m going to swim out to it. Can anyone else make that distance comfortably?” Jentin asked. Surprisingly, Kaylin nodded and got up.

  Both of them stripped down to significantly less clothing, making neat piles of the clothes left behind, and waded into the lake together. They were about a quarter of the way before either of them even needed to swim, and then they were off, seemingly racing each other to the centre. With nothing else to do, the rest of us watched.

  Kaylin beat Jentin to the island and hurried onto the top before turning and waving at us. I waved back, hoping they wouldn’t take long to find what we were looking for. A small chest was supposedly buried on the island, beneath a large rock. But finding the rock wasn’t necessarily going to be easy, especially if the island was still mostly underwater.

  The information Aimer had given us provided no more details than that, so the rest
would be up to us, but most of us were stuck on the shore still, no way to get to the island and no way to help. All we could do was watch as Kaylin and Jentin wandered around a lump we could barely see, sometimes partially in the water and sometimes visible.

  “I’m bored,” said Terris, turning his back to the group and looking for something else to do. “There’s got to be something else to do around here.”

  No sooner had he said this than Kaylin waved once more, this time bouncing up in the air excitedly. It seemed she’d found a giant rock. Jentin waded over to her and then held a big thumbs-up for us to see. Progress, at last. Riveted, we watched as both of them knelt down in the water and pushed at something we couldn’t see.

  Nothing seemed to happen, but both of them changing angles, trying to get a better grip until suddenly something moved, kicking up water, and both of them toppled head-first into the lake.

  Unable to help ourselves, we all burst out laughing. They both came up gasping a few seconds later, making it clear neither of them were harmed for the unexpected dunking. Jentin disappeared again, and then he had the chest, a small wooden thing no bigger than his own head.

  “Yeah!” Aimer exclaimed, the uncharacteristic loudness making me jump.

  As they swam back, carrying the prize between them, I could only hope the water hadn’t damaged the contents too badly. It had been buried on dry land. The chest’s contents weren’t listed on Aimer’s information, but it was possible some of them would be ruined.

  We helped them from the water as soon as they came close enough, and then we gathered around. The lock was stiff and rusted but a quick hit from the butt of Seraphin’s pistol soon broke it off, snapping the water-damaged metal. Jentin prised the top open, revealing a large bag swimming in a pool of reddish water.

  “Careful,” Jentin said, tipping the water out gingerly, making sure none of it touched his skin. He then used lake water to rinse the insides and bag before he’d let anyone touch it.