by Paul Bellow
She pushed me aside and walked over to the chests.
“Everyone leave,” she said. “I need to work.”
Bernard, Raven, and I joined the others in the larger, open room.
“I found something,” Razzo said on the far side near where I’d crashed into the lich.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Magical post-it note,” he said.
I cocked my head to the side.
“What’s the message?” Derringer asked.
I followed as he walked over to Razzo.
“This is one of four undead generators on level one-three,” he said. “All of them are tied to the Tower of Sherlock somehow. If we take that one down, they all go down.”
I stared at Razzo, once again wondering if I could trust him. The game made it easy to be overly paranoid.
“What do you think, Raven?” I asked.
She stared ahead, showing no emotion. “It’s as good a place to start as any,” she replied.
“Great,” I said, nodding. “We’ll go back to Fishguard to stock up on healing and buffs before heading to the Tower of Sherlock.”
Everyone nodded in agreement. Josh sat down on the bone floor with his back to the bone-walls. I paced the floor as we waited for Leena to return with a list of all the magic items.
“Here,” she said, handing me a piece of parchment.
I glanced over the loot.
· Bag of Holding
· Boots of Levitation
· Bone Golem Manual
· Oil of Bless Weapon x4
· Alexandrite (600 gp)
· Black Pearl (300 gp)
· Blue Sapphire (1000 gp)
· Chrysoprase (60 gp)
· Deep Green Spinel (110 gp)
· Freshwater Pearl (12 gp)
· Golden Pearl (100 gp)
· Potion of Endure Elements x2
· Potion of Major Healing (1d100) x5
· Giant Bone Club (+25) (+25% to hit / +5 damage)
“Something for everyone,” I said. “And then some.”
The gems went to Derringer. Josh took the bone club for a backup weapon. Everyone got a healing potion. Our tanks each got a bottle of the oil to bless their weapons while Razzo claimed the Bone Golem Manual.
Bernard and I both stared at the remaining Bag of Holding and Boots of Levitation. I remembered the ring from the vampire and took it off.
“I call the Ring of Flying,” Raven said.
“Cool,” I said. “Your bow will be deadly from the air.”
“It’s already deadly,” she said as I handed her the ring.
“Can I have the boots?” Bernard asked.
“Sure,” I said, grabbing the Bag of Holding. “Let me just slip this new Bag of Holding into my other Bag of Storage.”
“No, idiot!” Razzo shouted.
I laughed then said, “Just kidding.”
“Don’t do that to me,” Razzo said. “Are we camping here tonight?”
“That’s a good idea,” I said.
Even Leena nodded her head. We camped outside at the base of the bone tower. I kept to myself most of the evening. Not being able to take another Everlast potion for thirty days weighed on me more than anything.
I craved the power but dying wouldn’t help. Were Magi Inyontoo and I the only ones who’d never died inside the Tower of Gates? Could I kill him? My thoughts drifted from my virtual addiction and enemy to my still missing friend. Had something happened to Sarah? When would we finally find her?
Chapter 22
Seeking a Stranger
Eric
After what passed for breakfast the next morning, we boarded the floating platform and flew west toward Shockly Forest. Once we left the wastelands, traveling south along the edge of the forest would be safer. We’d defeated the lich at the tower of bones, but we knew at least a few others existed somewhere.
“We should’ve destroyed the tower,” Josh said. “Or at least the mirror.”
“If we kill Magi Inyontoo, none of that will matter,” I said.
“Killing him won’t solve all your problems,” Leena pointed out.
“Back to cheerleading for him, are you?” I quipped.
“Quiet,” Raven hissed. “I see something ahead.”
We were flying over a well-traveled road leading west out of the orc wastelands.
“Caravan,” Derringer said. “It’s heading west.”
“We should just keep going,” Raven said.
I agreed with her, but Leena raised an objection.
“Maybe they’ll have a clue we need,” she said.
“She’s right,” Derringer said. “We should at least see if they need anything.”
Josh slowed our rate of speed considerably. We hung behind the caravan, levitating fifteen feet in the air. I strained to make out any details.
“They’re alive,” I said. “We should drop down and see if they need anything.”
Josh maneuvered the floating platform toward the ground as the wagons continued forward, not slowing down. We landed in middle of the dirt road leading south.
“Whoa!” a bearded man wearing dirty brown robes yelled as he stopped the first wagon.
The other wagons behind him did the same.
“What do you want?” the man sitting on the front of the wagon asked.
“To talk,” I said, stepping forward. “We just killed the lich at the tower of bones.”
The man’s eyes narrowed.
“You’re kidding…” he said.
“No,” Razzo said, stepping toward the wagon. “We’re powerful, and we accept donations of all kinds to help in our quest to rid the lands of evil.”
I rolled my eyes. He’s really laying it on thick.
The man on the wagon stared at him warily as a few others dressed in the same brown robes walked up.
“Who are you?” I asked. “And where are you going?”
A quick query of the game interface told me they were all NPCs. They probably didn’t have any information that would prove useful to us.
“My name is Troy,” the man said as he climbed down off the wagon. “We’re heading north to the tower of bones.”
“Too late,” Josh said. “We cleared it.”
“You killed the lich?” Troy asked.
I nodded, smiling proudly.
“We’re on our way back to Fishguard,” I said.
“Us too,” Troy said. “We tried to find the powerful magic user rumored to live in the trees, but it turned out to be a bust.”
“You couldn’t find a treehouse?” I asked, intrigued.
“We found it, but the place was empty,” Troy said. “Our map’s good.”
“Can you give us the map?” I asked. “We should still check it out.”
Troy stroked his beard before answering, “What’s in it for us?”
“Not ending up dead,” Josh said, holding out his huge hand. “Give us the map.”
I noticed none of the other men had any weapons, but I tried another way.
“We’ll give you gold,” I said. “Fifty pieces for the map.”
Troy smiled, nodding his head.
“Barron, bring the map!” he shouted.
A man with white streaks in his long, brown hair turned and went to the back of the lead wagon. I kept an eye on him as he rummaged around. He returned a few moments later with a brown, folded sheet of paper.
“Give them the gold,” I said.
Razzo clutched the gold pouch tied to his belt.
“You give him your gold,” he said.
“I don’t have that much on me,” I countered.
Troy raised his hand, causing the man with the map to stop.
“Here,” Raven said, handing me a pouch. “That should cover it.”
I took the gold coins from her then handed them to Troy. He nodded his head, and the man with the map stepped forward, holding out the map. I snatched it, unfolding it quickly.
“Let me see,” Raven said
, grabbing it.
I let her have it and turned my attention back to Troy.
“We’d love to stay and chat, but we should be going,” he said.
“If you don’t mind, we’ll follow you to Shockly Forest at least,” I said. “Better to travel together with all the undead about.”
Troy said, “Fine. That’s an interesting flying device.” He nodded his head toward the floating platform where Bernard and the others stood.
“It’s dwarven,” I said. “From a friend. We should go.”
“Very well.” Troy motioned with his hand for the others to return to their wagons. “Keep an eye out for us up there.”
“We will,” I said then turned and walked back to the platform.
“Strange that NPCs are on a quest for a powerful magic user,” Raven said.
I nodded. “Very odd, but I bet it’s her. The game is bringing us back together.”
Josh took us back up as the wagon trained turned around. We followed as they headed west toward Shockly Forest. I enjoyed the view, hoping we ran into Sarah or found a clue about her whereabouts.
* * *
We reached the eastern edge of Shockly Forest later that evening. Troy offered to camp with us for the night and part ways in the morning, but I turned him down.
“Are you sure?” he asked. “The woods can be dangerous at night.”
“We’ll be fine,” I said. “We need to find our friend.”
“Be careful,” Troy said. “We had a heck of a time escaping the forest.”
I nodded, briefly wondering why NPCs were on a quest.
“We should go,” Raven said.
“Agreed,” I said. “We’ll get to this treehouse and stay there tonight. According to this map, it’s not too far in.”
“I still don’t recommend it,” Troy said. He sat at the front of his wagon, hands on the reins.
“Any specific reason?” Bernard asked. “That’s the second time you warned us.”
“The whole forest is crawling with undead,” Troy said. “Good luck to you.”
I stood tall as Troy nodded, waved, then pulled on the reins. His wagon lurched forward, heading south with the half-dozen other wagons behind him. I watched as they rolled away.
“Can I see the map again?” Raven asked.
“Sure,” I said, handing the parchment to her.
“How far is it?” Josh asked. “I need to eat something soon. The evil Four Wizards frequently starved me.”
“Quit complaining,” Leena said.
“Yeah,” Razzo added. “You moan more than any tank I’ve ever met.”
I wondered briefly what was up with those two, but I didn’t say anything.
“Everyone follow me,” Raven said as she folded the map. “And keep your eyes open.”
“Razzo, we need light,” I said.
He grinned and cast a simple light spell on a dagger which he held above his head. The extremely bright light source cast odd shadows on the ground. Raven turned and slipped into the woods. The dense undergrowth slowed our movements as we followed her. Even with Razzo illuminating the way, we couldn’t see more than five or ten feet ahead of us. The massive, hundred-foot or taller trees became a maze.
“Are you sure we’re going the right way?” Josh grumbled.
“Quiet,” Raven said from up ahead. “Something’s wrong.”
I pulled both weapons as Raven crept forward, motioning for us to follow with a wave of her hand. We followed, emerging in a clearing half a mile into the forest. I noticed several dead trees around the edge. A willow stripped of its leaves loomed largest. The dead oak next to it was shaped different but just as big.
I saw several other varieties of dead trees, including a birch, maple, and three firs missing their needles. Was something killing the trees in the forest?
“Nothing here,” Josh said, walking into the clearing. “All I see is a few dead trees. We can use them for firewood tonight.”
“Um, guys.” Derringer pointed to the dead oak. “That tree just moved its branch.”
“You mean the wind blew it?” I asked then peered over at it.
“No,” the dark knight said. “Watch.”
I continued staring at the tree.
“What?” I asked. “There’s nothing…”
As I watched, a dead branch moved, pointing at us.
“Those trees aren’t dead,” Bernard said. “They’re undead!”
“Battle positions!” I yelled.
“We can go around them,” Raven said.
“Never!” Josh yelled. “Time to take out the dead wood!”
He ran forward, sword raised as the massive willow tree inched forward.
“No fire,” Raven said. “We don’t want to light up the whole forest.”
Josh reached the oak tree and swung his two-handed bastard sword. The blade hit the bark, barely damaging the creature. A branch-arm swung down and hit the half-orc in the head.
The other six undead trees slowly moved into the clearing. Razzo cast lava discs, setting one of the first aflame. Raven and I both turned to him with anger on our faces.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
Razzo grinned.
“Starting a forest fire,” he said then turned to cast again.
I saw another two lava discs fly, setting another undead fir alight. The flames upset the other trees. Spooky sounds filled the air as they rapidly moved their branches. Leena walked over and whispered something into Razzo’s ear. His smile faded as I turned away to come up with an impromptu battle plan to take out several undead trees.
The two burning fir trees stopped in their tracks, flames and smoke rising into the air. Josh still stood by the oak, chopping and slashing at its trunk but getting nowhere. I turned to Raven, hoping the higher-level character had an idea or two.
“Any ideas?” I asked.
“We should’ve gone around,” she said as she pulled her sword.
Derringer followed her toward the undead birch tree. Bernard ran toward the maple tree, the smallest of the bunch. That left one fir and the giant undead willow tree. I ran toward the oak and willow tree with both weapons raised. Josh screamed in frustration as the dead yet strong branches hit him repeatedly on the head.
When I reached the trunk of the willow tree, I slashed and hacked with both swords before several wiry branches whipped down, pelting me repeatedly.
Your slash HITS the undead willow for 8 damage.
Your hack GRAZES the undead willow for 4 damage.
Your slash SCRATCHES the undead willow for 2 damage.
The undead willow is not concerned with you.
The undead willow INJURES you for 12 damage.
The undead willow HITS you for 9 damage.
The undead willow GRAZES you for 4 damage.
The undead willow GRAZES you for 5 damage.
The undead willow GRAZES you for 7 damage.
You have [133/170] health remaining.
Between the undead tree’s thick bark and the slender branches scratching me to death, I wasn’t feeling confident and stepped backward. When I did, a cold, biting wind to my right got my attention. I turned and saw a spell from Leena cover the burning firs with ice. That stopped them in their tracks.
Her spell sent the oak and willow into a rage. The massive tree knocked Josh down while several branches whipped down toward me from above. I dodged a few, but there were too many of them to avoid completely. The magically undead wood hurt.
The undead willow HITS you for 10 damage.
The undead willow HITS you for 8 damage.
The undead willow INJURES you for 14 damage.
The undead willow GRAZES you for 6 damage.
The undead willow SCRATCHES you for 2 damage.
You have [93/170] health remaining.
If I drank the Everlast potion, I’d die after its effects wore off, so I battled on. My attacks weren’t doing enough damage, so I retreated. Leena and Razzo both cast as I reached them. Another i
cy blast along with several golden bolts of energy slammed into the undead willow tree as it lumbered forward and inch at a time. The attacks made it even angrier.
The whistling sounds above us increased as the five remaining undead trees regrouped in the middle of the clearing. Bernard, Derringer, and Josh all fell back, forming a line of protection.
“We could still retreat,” Raven said. “The battle isn’t going well.”
I gulped a healing potion as the trees formed a line of their own.
You feel refreshed.
You have [156/170] health remaining.
I tossed the glass bottle to the forest floor.
“Don’t litter,” Raven snapped.
My eyes opened wide.
“Really? Now?” I asked.
She frowned then turned back to the trees.
Josh downed his own potion then said, “I vote we stay.”
“Yeah, we’re here, let’s clear them,” Derringer said. “I can use a blue sapphire to turn them, I think. Should work…”
“Do it,” I said as I quickly rubbed the oil of bless weapon on the Scimitar of Speed.
“They’re moving,” Raven said then ran to the left, skirting the edge of the trees.
When she reached it, she flew into the air with her ring of flying.
I should go around too, I thought as I gripped both weapons. Derringer and Josh both shouted then ran toward the smaller maple tree on the right. Leena and Razzo both cast, sending electricity and golden bolts of energy at the willow.
I ran toward the undead fir on the far left, hoping to take down one of the trees on my own. The Everlast potion would’ve helped, but I didn’t want to die after taking it. The fir lurched toward me as I approached. I dodged to the left then right, zig-zagging my way to the bare rear of the tree. Even dead firs had a backside.
Your slash INJURES the undead fir for 14 damage.
Your hack WOUNDS the undead fir for 18 damage.
Your slash INJURES the undead fir for 12 damage.
The undead fir is dead.
My combined attacks had severed the monstrous tree in half. The undead birch next to it turned its attention to me. Several thick, white branches whipped down.
The undead birch HITS you for 9 damage.
