by Edward Brody
The scorpion that wasn’t writhing in pain swung both its pinchers at me again, and I pushed myself back in the sand to avoid taking a hit. When it’s stinger came swinging down at me a second time I tilted to the side and swung my sword, cutting off its pointy tip and causing white liquid to come spewing out.
The scorpion squealed at the blow and started shaking erratically, obviously traumatized by its severed stinger. Taking advantage of the opportunity, I scrambled forward and jumped right past the scorpion’s pincers, diving the tip of my sword right in the center of its face.
There was another low squeal, and I shot another Arcane Missile at its body, causing its legs and body to go limp and stop moving and squealing altogether.
Right as the scorpion died, the other scorpion scrambled forward, diving its stinger towards me. Again, I dodged, and its stinger slammed down hard into the pincer of the scorpion I just killed, piercing its exoskeleton easily. That stinger was quite dangerous.
I shot an Arcane Missile at the scorpion which caused it to rear back, and then another that caused it to turn in confusion, lifting its stinger and dropping it on an invisible enemy behind it. I wasn’t sure if I had hit its eyes or what caused it lose its direction, but I took advantage of the awkward situation and swung at its tail, severing it, and second blow at its torso caused it to drop to its stomach and die.
You have gained 1400 XP!
I sheathed my sword and leaned over to catch my breath. It was good XP, but they were damn challenging enemies. If there had been a third, I wasn’t sure if I would have survived.
I shuddered as I looked at their bodies. I didn’t fear them the same way that I feared spiders, but they did bear some resemblance to spiders, which give me icky vibes in any case. As far as I could see, they didn’t have any loot.
I turned back towards Sora. She was lying in the sand looking on, but right as I turned to look at her, there was a strange rumbling noise behind me.
I spun back towards the scorpions, and the pile of debris that they had been guarding was moving up and down rapidly and the sand near it was shifting.
The debris suddenly lifted up, and sand around it started sinking as another giant scorpion, at least five times the size of the ones I had just killed rose up from a hidden hole.
It had been nest that they were guarding alright, and I had apparently awoke their Queen.. or was it King? Whatever it was, it was huge.
You have failed to inspect your target!
You have failed to inspect your target!
The scorpion roared directly at me, and I felt my knees weaken. With the smaller scorpions being a challenge, there was no chance in hell I had to beat that thing.
I turned heel and started running towards Sora as fast as I could.
Run, run, run! I shouted in my head.
I haven’t replenished much stamina, Gunnar!
Then we’ll make it as far as we can!
Sora dashed towards me, and I could hear the strong taps of the giant scorpion rushing behind me as I pushed myself as hard as I could. I jumped and squeezed Sora’s fur as I hopped on top of her, probably harder than I should have, and she shot off in the other direction.
As she ran, I turned around and we were gaining ground on the scorpion, but the scorpion wasn’t giving up the chase. Sora ran and ran, but after five or six minutes, she started to slow and was panting heavily. I knew she didn’t have much left in the tank.
I… I don’t think I can go much longer, she said as her run turned to a slow trot.
Shit, I thought, hoping that Sora couldn’t hear me. I shook my head and clenched my teeth. “It’s okay. You’re released.”
Released? she asked. I’ll try to help you.
“You’ll die, and I don’t want that.” I swallowed hard. “I’m a Reborn.” I paused a moment and looked back to the scorpion that was storming forward fast. “Go! You’re released.”
Sora looked sad, if that were possible for a panther, but then she just nodded and started trotting off in the distance over the sand. Be safe, father.
Again, I found myself in a life and death situation, much like I had when I was up against the Spider Queen in Gramora. But I was more prepared now. I still had Boiling Blood, I was more adept, and I had a few more skills that I could rely on. I had to have some faith that I could beat the thing, no matter how much higher level it was than me.
I glanced at my mana as I pulled out my sword, and it was half gone. Around 5% of my health had healed naturally, but I still was missing 10% or so.
The monstrous scorpion was on me fast, and I shot an Arcane Missile at its face right before it was in attacking range. It hissed and flinched, but it wasn’t dazed by the spell the same way that the smaller ones had been. In fact, no sooner than it finished flinching, its stinger, which was almost as big as me, came flying down, landing in the sand with a quaking thud as I barely dodged. It was not only bigger than the others, but it was faster too.
The stinger landed with such impact that it was stuck in the sand a moment, giving me the opportunity to swing my sword at its tail. My blade landed, and cracked its exoskeleton a bit, but the damage was superficial. As I was pulling my blade out of its hard outer shell, a giant pincer came swinging at me and landed in my gut, knocking me back hard and causing me to drop my sword.
The blow was dazing and caused me to see stars. It was hard to catch my breath, and I knew before I even looked at my status bars that the attack had put me below 50% health, giving me the ability to use Boiling Blood.
I could use it to try to run, but where would I run to? There was sand in every direction. I could also use it unleash a fast flurry of attacks. After eating a single shot from the beast, either way seemed futile, and I’d probably end up dead.
But it didn’t matter what I thought. Before I had the chance to cast Boiling Blood, a strong pincer grabbed me by the torso and lifted me high in the sky. The scorpion made another terrifying roar, and I screamed at the pressure that was threatening to split my body in two.
You are bleeding and require medical attention. Bleeding is a damage-over-time effect.
I was so sick of that status message.
I wailed and thumped my fists at the pincer, hoping it would release, but the pressure grew tighter and tighter. Above me, the scorpion’s stinger hovered and was aimed for my head. Was I going to be split in two or impaled?
In another mindless, last ditch effort, I reached my hand out and shot an Arcane Missile at the scorpion’s face, and surprisingly the pressure was slightly relieved, and then a second later, there was a thump, and the scorpion let go entirely, causing me to fall hard into the sand.
At first, I wasn’t sure what was happening, but as I blinked the stars and sand out of my eyes, I realized that it wasn’t the Arcane Missile that had saved me at all, but instead, I was surrounded by several men.
There were around twenty of them, and they all had dark skin and wore thick red and black attire with scarves covering their faces. Their shoes had slight curls at the tip, and each one had a spear in one hand and a dagger strapped to their chest.
Several of the men had ropes attached to the end of their spears, and they threw them expertly at the scorpion. When the spears pierced the exoskeleton, they pulled hard on the rope to contain it.
Ten spears were stuck inside the scorpion’s shell, and ten ropes were being pulled, two men on each rope, before the scorpion was barely able to move. Another of the men emerged from the group, with long dark hair, dressed the same as the others but carrying a slightly bent, wooden staff in his hand.
The man walked around patiently until he was in front of the scorpion, but just out of range of the pincers that were reaching out desperately to pinch him. He raised his staff high in the sky and held it there for several moments before slamming it hard into the ground. As soon as the staff impacted the ground, a giant spike of sand shot up from the ground, right below the scorpion, piercing through its torso completely. The sand immediately fel
l down the ground, and the scorpion immediately died, strange liquid oozing from its mouth.
I was wrapping my last bandage around my torso as the strange men approached me, and I raised a hand in thanks to them. “Thank you guys, so, so much. You saved my life.”
The man with the staff, looked over to one of the others but didn’t say anything.
“Ummm…” I looked up to them questionably as I finished tying the bandage off. “Is something wrong? I’m a little lost, so I’d appreciate you guys helping me in the right direction. Which way is Thorpes?”
No one said anything.
“Highcastle? Anywhere in the Freelands? The Vale?”
The man with the staff smiled, and then chuckled a little before turning to his left and to his right. “Capture him,” he ordered.
“What!?” I yelped.
Before I could even get up off my ass, hands were gripping my shoulders and rope was being wrapped all around me.
This was the very definition of a bad day.
Chapter Seventeen
1/20/0001
My hands and arms were roped down at my sides, and I was in a cage that was atop a caravan platform that was being pulled along by a giant scorpion—one of the smaller versions that my captors apparently had tamed somehow. The man with the staff sat atop the scorpion, and on either side, the rest of the men were riding horses.
I knew we were heading north when I saw that we passed the small prison cave that I had been trapped inside all day. Other than getting myself almost killed and then getting captured, the hour of riding south had been a complete waste of time.
It was almost two hours at a steady pace before we reached a large canyon that seemed to appear out of nowhere in the sand. Between the tall plateaus of stone appeared to be a small, unsophisticated settlement with a large fire burning and several men and women moving about. Nearby, there was a large cave where people were going in and out of, which I could only assume acted as a sort of living quarters. But most disturbingly, there were roughly ten unclothed men who were all kneeling outside. They had a single long log stretched across their shoulders, and their hands were dangling over it, roped tightly so that they couldn’t move. Their feet were shackled, and they had nothing on but their shorts.
Prisoners obviously… like I guess I was going to be.
“What is this place?” I asked loudly. “And what do you want from me?”
The red-attired men paid no attention to anything I said and simply continued on into the settlement, leapt off their mounts, and tied them off on a nearby post.
After dismounting, one of the men unlocked the cage that I was trapped in, pulled me off the caravan, and started dragging me towards the line of men who were tied to the log. He forcefully removed all my gear, leaving me down to my boxers, and even tried to take my elven bag. When he realized that it was a bound item, he simply reached into the bag and dug out everything I had inside.
There was enough space on the log for at least three other people, and I was quickly tied to the log, just like the others, in one of the vacant spaces.
“Come on, man!” I moaned as my feet were being shackled. “At least tell me what’s going on! What do you want from me?”
“Quiet down,” the prisoner directly to the left said low to me. “They’ll lash you if you don’t shut up.”
“What?!” I barked, trying to turn my head against the log to get a good look at him. The prisoner had a thin but muscular frame and blond, shaggy hair that looked as if it hadn’t been cut for weeks.
“Shut up…” he hissed quietly.
I had no reason not to believe him, and since no one else was offering me any sort of suggestions, I just shook my head and took his advice by saying nothing more.
After being tied and shackled, the captors went about their business, paying no attention to me or the other men who were secured to the log.
“What is this?” I whispered to my left.
“Slavers.”
“Slavers?” I replied.
He chuckled a bit as if it were almost comical. “You don’t know? You’re a slave now, my friend.”
I snickered. “Slave?” I shook my head. “No…You mean prisoner, right?” Dr. Winston’s ‘perfect’ world wouldn’t have allowed the possibility to become a slave…
The man shook his head with a sarcastic smile. “No... Slave.”
I had just finished sitting in a prison, and now I had to deal with this shit? While I doubted the man for a brief moment, I then switched my thoughts to Aaron telling me Dr. Winston’s wisdom about “There can be no pleasure without pain,” or something of the sort when we first met.
So why was I surprised?
I took a deep breath and rolled my eyes. The idea of being caught by slavers was annoying and uncomfortable, but I hadn’t forgotten that I was a Reborn. The situation was complicated for the NPCs, sure, but I still had that option—the one that had been so hard for me to do when I was in the cave. If worst came to worst, I could always try to kill myself again and respawn at my last bound point.
After all, the slavers had just stolen everything I owned, so now I wouldn’t be losing anything.
If only I could deal with the pain…
“Don’t get any ideas,” the guy whispered.
“Ideas?” I asked.
“I’m a Reborn too…”
The hair on the back of my neck stood up. “What? How did you…?”
“‘Come on, man?’” the guy mimicked what I said earlier. “I’ve encountered enough NPCs to know that none of them talk like that without being taught by a Reborn. It struck me as your natural dialog.”
I turned my head harder against the weight of the log to get a better look at the blond. He had a shit-eating grin on his face. “Okay… so, what do we do then?”
The man creased his brow. “I just told you. We’re slaves, bro. Just wait it out… Every few days, the slavers sell off their captured slaves, and I’ve been here about three days now, so one, two days max, and you’ll have a new master.”
“New master?” I laughed at the thought.
“They run a tight ship here,” the man said. “Escaping will be easier once you’re sold off.”
“And how do you know everything?” I asked.
The man snorted. “This is my third time here. The Endless Sands is one of the easiest spots to level due to number of mobs and the way they’re spaced out, but if you’re caught with your guard down, the slavers will capture you and sell you off. I escaped twice, but the loot and XP gains you can get out here keep luring me back.”
“The Endless Sands?” I asked, my jaw starting to drop.
“The Sands, you know?” He rattled his head and creased his eyebrows. “Don’t tell me this is your first time in the dunes.”
I looked down to the sandy ground and loathed myself for not putting two and two together sooner. I had been so caught up in meeting Adeelee and then so disappointed when I wound up in the prison, that I hadn’t correlated the fact that Satorin, my attacker from the day before mentioned that he was from The Endless Sands. I hadn’t even stopped to consider that the sand dune that I had warped to might be the same damn place.
Satorin hadn’t given me the rune, but could he have possibly had something to do with it? Was he an agent of Adeelee’s working to deceive me? It was a pretty wild coincidence that I’d end up where I was right after turning down Satorin’s demands by using Adeelee’s rune.
“Do you know the Freelands?” I asked.
The blond shook his head. “Where’s that near?”
“Highcastle?”
“Highcastle?” His face twisted. “I’ve heard the name before. Isn’t that across the sea or something?”
“Yeah,” I said. “That’s the area where I’m from.”
He tucked his chin in and smirked. “So how the hell did you end up out here? Probably not a good idea to wander so far from home without some levels under your belt…”
“Yeah, I know. I w
as tricked into recalling here or something.”
The man chucked. “Fuckin’ idiot.”
“What’d you just say?”
The man sighed and shook his head. “Nothing man… We’ve all made newbie mistakes before.”
His arrogance was setting me off. “I’m a newbie?!” I snapped. “Look who’s got themselves caught by slavers three times already!”
*Crack*
I arched my back cried out in pain as the whip struck my bare skin.
“Keep quiet!” a husky voice of one of the slavers said from behind me.
I huffed hard as I tried to steady my breathing and get over the pain of the lash. It had only taken away 10% of my health, but it hurt more due to how unexpected it was.
“Touché, Touché,” the blond said quietly. “Getting caught three times was quite the newbie move.” He cleared his voice and looked over to me. “But I did tell you to keep quiet, didn’t I?”
“Asshole,” I hissed.
“Hey, don’t take it personal. I’m just being honest… harsh but honest.”
“Yeah, whatever.”
“Hmph,” the man said calmly. “What’s your name, anyway?”
The guy was a bit of a dick, but I sensed from the tone of his voice that it was mostly in jest rather than him actually being a bad guy. And although I didn’t admit it at the time, I sort of appreciated his honesty.
“Gunnar.”
“Cool name, bro. Is that some shit you made up or your Earth name?”
“Carried over from Earth.”
“Cool, Cool. I’d love to shake your hand but—” He wiggled his arms a bit against the tight rope and managed to make our dangling hands touch enough that he could pinch my fingers between his. “—our situation doesn’t allow it. The name’s Dent—same name I used back on Earth.”
“Loco,” the man to the immediate right of me said, and I felt another set of fingers brush against my right hand. I turned my head to see a guy with the build of an average-sized sumo wrestler smiling at me. The honey toned skin of his belly hung low and his black hair was cut into a flat buzz at the top. “Back on Earth, they called me Sunny, but that doesn’t matter anymore.”
