by Isaac Winter
New Quest: Bonekeeper
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They say that Skalidra the Unshaken died there, heaped upon the piles of skeletons of adventurers past. Find her body, and the amulet she left behind.
Reward: Skalidra's amulet, an item of rare and mysterious power.
Condition: Must have two players present to enter dungeon.
Accept?
[Yes/No]
I selected yes and gulped as the world spun around me. The only anchor to reality was my hand in Tris's, and I held on tighter, afraid I might be lost forever if I did. A few harrowing moments of motion sickness later, my feet hit a stone floor, hard. I fell to my knees and groaned in pain as I saw my Health Meter flash.
Fall Damage. What goes up...must come down. -25 Health.
Ouch! Just how far had I fallen? I dismissed the notification and my Night Vision kicked in. Finally, something my race was good at! We appeared to be in some sort of cave. Stone floors stretched out down a corridor in three different directions, and crude dirt walls sprung up about ten feet high. It was spacious enough not to feel claustrophobic, but still pretty spooky. There was a faint dripping sound and the pungent scent of decay filled my nostrils.
I scrambled back to my feet and backpedaled hard. This was no cutesy little Hobbiton. This was a tomb.
What had I gotten myself into?
6
This was bad. This was bad, bad, bad. Possibly the worst idea I'd ever had. How did I let her talk me into coming on a dungeon run at level 1 with no armor or items? I was so totally screwed!
"I, uh, lost my weapons back there," I said meekly, holding out my hands. "Guards took 'em. You know how they can be..."
Tris sighed and pulled another knife out of her belt. "Catch!"
Thank God for my instincts, I caught it. On the handle, too. "Thanks," I said, giving it a few practice swings. I'd used knifes before...for cooking. I was a sleepy old scholar in the real world, what did you expect?
"It's not a sword, you know," Tris said. "It's more stabby, not slicey." She didn't look at me, busy digging in the bags slung around her shoulders. They didn't look very big, but I heard that bags in fantasy games had that whole 'bigger on the inside' thing going on. I heard metal clanking around and resisted the urge to look over her shoulder. Instead, I inspected the blade I'd borrowed.
> Iron Dagger.
Well, it's better than nothing.
3-5 damage.
Quality: Average.
Durability: 5/5.
I had no idea how to tell if it was any good, but the flavor text wasn't exactly promising. Still, I kept my mouth shut. I spent enough time in academia to know you didn't look a gift horse in the mouth.
When I closed the inspection dialog, Tris was putting together some kind of metal contraption. The goggles I'd seen perched atop her head wrapped around her face now, and her face froze in a mask of concentration. Hmm, so they weren't just for show, after all.
A cool blue light spilled from the metal globe and illuminated the path. I squinted the brightness. Guess she didn't have Night Vision. The long corridors stretched forth and I could see a little more clearly the texture of the terrain. Stones and rocky crags littered the ground on two of the tunnels, but the third was worn smooth. What could have done that? Water smoothed stone like that, but why would it rush down only one tunnel?
"Let's go," Tris said, pulling me out of my thoughts.
"Where are we going, exactly?" I asked as I took a few long strides to keep up. "And what is that thing you made?"
"I'm a tinker, but less talking," She said. "They'll hear us. Just stay behind me and follow my lead."
Who is they? I thought wearily. I never should have agreed to this. I could be eating, or sleeping right now.
With what money? The little devil on my shoulder prodded me forward, and I continued through the dark tunnel.
While I found the dark cave to be easily navigable, Tris stumbled and could only see a few feet in front of her at a time. My racial bonuses were finally coming in handy! Eventually, I took pity on her and took point.
"Let me go in front," I whispered. "I can see better than you down here."
She scowled at me, working her jaw. Finally, with a look like swallowing glass, she said, "Fine."
Tris has shared a waypoint with you.
A crude map appeared at the lower left edge of my vision with an arrow pointing to the north. Handy. I nodded at her and stepped forward, leading the way.
We walked like that for the better part of an hour. The dripping sound became louder and the waypoint swiveled in my view, but the tunnel continued.
Finally, we came to a dead end. Tris nearly ran into me and I held out a hand to warn her.
"What?" She hissed. She stepped forward and felt the wall, even leaned on it to see if it would budge. Nope. It was solid. "This isn't supposed to be here."
"Don't tell me we went down the wrong tunnel," I grumbled.
She glared at me and went back to fishing in her bags. "We'll make do, but be prepared. This is gonna wake up a looot of baddies around here."
I didn't like the sound of that. Something told me my measly little Iron Dagger wasn't going to do much good against whatever lay in this dungeon. I just hoped Tris could handle herself. I'd get the gold and get out. She wasn’t my problem.
She rolled something that looked like mud in her hands, forming a sphere about the size of a tangerine. "You might wanna stand back." Tris said with a wicked smile.
I scuttled backward and my heart pounded in my chest as she threw the ball toward the dead end. "Wait, what are you--"
BOOM!
I ducked and covered my ears on instinct, stumbling with the force of the blast. Dust and shrapnel flew from all angles, getting in my eyes, my nose, my lungs. I coughed and heaved, trying to see through the haze. She's crazy! Insane!
> Status: Deafened. Lessened hearing for next 30 seconds.
> Concussive Damage: -30 Health!
> Status: Bleeding. Look before you leap next time. -1 Health every 3 seconds for the next minute.
My head throbbed and my eyes stung. Never should have come here, I thought for not the first time.
I peered through the haze, trying to find her. Light shone through a hole blown in the wall, but Tris was nowhere to be found. This worried me for a moment, before I remembered she was just some girl that dragged me on this stupid adventure. Still, I probably needed her help if I was going to survive. I grit my teeth and waited for the Deafened countdown to run out. Any minute now...
Through the dusty haze, I heard a peal of laughter. "It worked!"
"And you're a lunatic!" I shouted before I could stop myself. "You trying to get us all killed? What was that thing?"
"My newest invention." Tris sounded very pleased with herself, but I couldn't see where she'd gone.
A small scratching sound came from whatever was beyond the wall. It sounded like two rocks beating together. Rocks...or bones. My breath caught in my throat as I looked at the quest name again.
Bonekeeper.
We were so totally dead.
"Tris!" I called out, this time more in alarm than annoyance. "Where are you?"
"Over here, idiot!" She called. I rolled my eyes. Even in mortal danger, she just had to get in some verbal barbs, didn't she?
The dust finally cleared enough for me to see and she crouched in a corner, prepping another one of her bombs.
Then, I saw them. Moldy, dirty bones. Lots of them. I'd seen them in science classrooms at the Academy, but they weren't walking. They weren't holding weapons, and they weren't coming right toward me.
Instinct told me to run, but my feet stayed rooted to the spot.
> Leave Party?
Running away from this fight will remove you from this quest. You will no longer receive this quest's XP or loot rewards, and you will no longer be in your current party.
Other effects: reduced reputation with Tris.
C
onfirm?
[Yes/No]
I groaned as loudly as I could. Stupid consequences! I frowned, selected No, and drew my dagger. "Incoming!" I cried, and leaped through the hole she'd formed toward her position.
Through the dirt wall lay a wide open room, almost like an arena of old. I gulped. With all these skeletons pouring in, that's basically what this was. I felt woefully unprepared with my lack of armor and shitty little borrowed dagger. I took a breath and just hoped the consequences for death in this game weren't too dire.
Skeletons poured forth from the breach, raising cutlasses and screeching in a tone like nails on a chalkboard. It made me cringe just to hear. I eyed my dropping health gauge and grimaced.
As if reading my mind, Tris tossed me a red flask. "You're gonna need this!" I took a long swig and nearly gagged. This stuff was vile!
> Minor Health Potion. Restores 2 health every second for 20 seconds.
Almost immediately, I felt warmth rush to my extremities and my health gauge started rising again. It may taste awful, I reminded myself, but it will save your ass. "Thanks!" I called. "Now let's destroy these fuckers."
"With pleasure." Tris smiled, and threw the first bomb.
This time, I was prepared. I ducked and covered, shaking as the blast blew bones in all directions. A severed skull landed right next to my feet, the eyes still glowing a ghastly green.
I shivered and lunged forward. Tris's bomb had made short work of the first wave, but more still spilled forth. She crouched low, digging in her bag again. A skeleton was running right for her!
"Cael! Keep 'em off me while I set this trap!"
This won't end well, I grimaced, and charged the skeleton.
I ducked out of the way of his first blow, leaving him off balance. He was even more gruesome up close. Huge, shining eye sockets bored into me and his mouth hung limply open, letting a terrible screech past. I winced at the sound but drove my dagger forward, right into the glowing eye socket.
I tried to mentally prepare for stabbing solid bone, but it wasn't enough. The reverberations shook me head to toe and I lost my grip on the dagger as the skeleton yanked its head away in pain. He dropped his cutlass and I stooped low to grab it, angling it at him as he flailed with the dagger in his eye. His hands flailed at his face, trying to dislodge it, but whatever I'd struck took the knife in and held it fast. The green light in his eye faded, then went out completely.
Now I just had a half-blind skeleton on my hands. And he was angry. I chanced a glance over my shoulder and saw that this guy was only the advance party. More skeletons were crawling over the ridge, and fast. I couldn't take them on all at once like Tris could.
"How much longer?" I called, swinging the cutlass I'd stolen from the skeleton. It bit into the bones at his neck and severed it. This time, I was prepared for the shock. I didn't lose my grip but it still jarred my arm. The sight of that bastard's head rolling across the floor was worth it though.
> Enemy defeated! Lesser Skeleton. +23 XP.
> You've learned the Dodge skill.
Avoid your enemies! Avoid your friends!
Dodging now takes less stamina.
"Just keep fighting!" Tris said. "Not much longer!"
I rounded on the troop of approaching skeletons and dug my feet in. While everything about the skeletons was old and dirty, this cutlass looked surprisingly well made. I gulped as I thought of the alternative. They probably took it off the body of a dead adventurer. Someone like us.
As soon as the first skeleton was in range, I struck out with a mighty swipe, hoping for a critical. He was too quick, parrying with his own sword. For a bag of bones, he was crazy strong! I grunted and pressed forward, trying to overpower him. Thank God I'm playing a character and not myself, I thought. Lanky Scholar Winston wouldn't stand a chance.
The skeleton pushed with a burst of strength and caught me off guard. I stumbled backwards, knowing I was open to attack. The beast raised its blade before I had a chance to react and I threw my arm up in a long arc, hoping to block before it skewered me.
Then, I heard something. A long, low howl, almost like a tuba. It was coming from one of the other two tunnels we hadn't taken. Whatever it was, the skeletons didn't want any part of it. They shrieked and backed up, looking to one another as if for advice. I didn't have much time to celebrate my not-death, though. Whatever scared skeletons that bad was probably no friend of mine either!
"Shit!" Tris screamed and abandoned her trap, running to me. "We're trapped!"
The horn blew again, closer this time. The skeletons weren't actively attacking us anymore, but they weren't running away, either. "What are you talking about?" I yelled over the chaos. "Can't you blast us out of here like last time?"
Another horn blast. This time, from the third tunnel. Whatever this was, they were coming, and coming fast.
"I'm out of bombs," Tris said. "Used too many resources back there, noob move really. Come on, let's run!"
I didn't think twice. My heart pummeled against my chest as I turned and ran. This time, I didn't get a notification about leaving the quest. Maybe it was because Tris was running too. Turns out, I didn't have a lot of time to think about game mechanics when I was running for my life. "What's out there?" I called to her.
"They've found us," She said simply, and kept running.
I didn't take the time to ask who 'they' were, or why she was so scared of them. This was a very different Tris than I'd seen outside the city gates aboveground. Where was that snark, that bravado? She seemed genuinely afraid. And if she was afraid...I was toast.
I saw the light of day spilling into the cave up ahead, and good thing, cause my stamina bar was running dangerously low. I panted and pushed on. Just a few more yards. Just a few more...
A large, looming figure filled the doorway and blocked out the sunlight. Tris skittered to a stop, cursing. There was nowhere to hide, nowhere to run. We were truly trapped.
"There you are," A menacing voice called. It echoed off the walls and made it sound even more ominous. "You didn't think you could run away, did you? And who's this? Your friend?"
Tris seethed at him. "Leave Cael out of this."
"Oh, your boyfriend then?"
I looked to the side and saw one fist clenched as the other worked into a pocket on her belt. I could really use a miracle right now.
"I'm not falling for your tricks again," The man said, and rushed forward. He grabbed Tris by the neck, lifting. I leapt forward as fear boiled in my chest. I wanted to help, but what match was I against this hulk of a man? Her panicked sounds echoed through my ears. I had to help her.
"Hey buddy!" I called, trying to get his attention. He loosened his grip on Tris and she pulled in a few raggedy breaths. "Mess with her, you mess with me too."
I drew my skeletal cutlass, narrowed my eyes, and hoped this would be enough. I was going to die, but at least Tris would make it out alive. She probably had an actual purpose in this game, and I didn't want all her progress to be for nothing. I was just a noob, after all. A stupid noob.
"Cael!" She cried. "No!"
"Take them both," A cooler voice intoned, and another man stepped into the doorway. He wore a robe over most of his face and stood unnaturally tall. Elf, I thought. "Take them alive."
The giant man grunted in reply and a club struck my skull, knocking me senseless.
7
I woke slowly, with a throbbing headache and sore shoulders. As my vision acclimated, I realized I definitely wasn't in the dungeon anymore. I was in a cell.
Slowly, my brain began to cut back on, realizing the gravity of my situation. My health bar flashed angrily.
> Warning! Your HP is dangerously low!
10 HP. Great. It was regenerating very slowly, but a strong wind could blow me over at this point. Why they hadn't just killed us was beyond me, but--
Wait a second. Us. Where was Tris?
This is why I didn’t get involved with people. They just fuck you over.
&n
bsp; I tried to move and my wrists protested painfully. They were lashed to the wall. Bastards. "Tris?" I called, my voice ragged.
"Look who's awake. The noob." Tris's voice carried even more venom than usual. I turned my head. There she was.
Tris looked even worse off than I did, if possible. Dried blood caked on her lips and down her nose, and she had a black eye.
Well, there was no hiding it now. "Yeah, what of it?" I shouted. "You're the one that dragged me on this stupid quest!"
"I looked at your stats while you were out," She spat. "What did you think was going to happen? It's a miracle you made it out alive."
For once, I was grateful for the iron bars separating us. She looked livid!
"Why are you so angry?" I grumbled. "It's not my fault we got captured."
Tris huffed and turned away. Fine. I took the time to inspect the cell around me. The furnishings were pretty bleak. A wooden stool and a chamber pot sat on the other side of the room, and the floors were a damp stone. I shifted in my seat and my joints protested again. Being tied up on a dungeon floor wasn't how I expected to spend my evening. If it even was still evening. With no windows in the cell, I had no way to know what time it was. And I still hadn't eaten! My stomach growled in agreement.
The last thing I remembered, the giant and the hooded man had ambushed us in the tunnel. We were so close to getting out alive...
"Tris," I started. I almost knew she wouldn't give me a straight answer, but I had to try. "Who were those men? You seemed to know them."
She stayed silent, not meeting my gaze. Okay, I'd just have to find that out later. Finally, I heard footsteps coming down the corridor. Great. Here they come.
The giant man we'd seen earlier came lumbering down the hall, peering into our cells. "How are our captives doing?" He asked in a mocking tone.
