“It’s gone,” he told her.
“Charlena?” she asked, looking around.
Jace looked down the river. “She floated away on the raft.”
He reached over and picked up Luna and carried her to the shore. The spider webs around the area had burned away. There was no sign of any spiders either, so he set her down and dried his clothes before setting off at a brisk pace down the river. He wanted to jog or run but didn’t dare risk it with his Stamina so low.
He and Luna hurried along the river for several minutes without seeing the raft. He wasn’t out of commission that long. She couldn’t go that far in only a few minutes. His Stamina was up to 15% so he broke into a jog, keeping his eyes peeling on the river for any sign of her or the raft.
He kept it up for ten minutes before he was forced to stop or run out of Stamina. This made no sense. The water wasn’t even moving fast.
Where could she have gone? Had she gotten caught up on the other side of the river and he’d just missed her?
They crossed to the other side of the river and walked back towards the spider area. He kept a close eye out for her and tried to fight the rising panic he was feeling. He had to find her. He had to. If they got separated, he had no idea how he would find her again.
They reached the spider area with no sign of her or the raft. Jace was in full panic mode by this point. He had no idea what had happened to her. He looked again at his HUD and could see that they were still grouped and that her character was alive.
Had she died? Had the ogre killed her and he had just missed it? Was she back in Sinking Springs right now? Jace collapsed onto the ground. They’d gotten so far and now she might be back where they started. Or she might be further down the river. He had no idea where she was! What was he supposed to do?
Charlena was his only friend at the moment and his only link to the outside world. Plus, he had to admit he had feelings for her. He couldn’t lose her! He had to do something. But what? He didn’t know if she were down the river or back in Sinking Springs. What the heck was he supposed to do?
He could find a way to kill himself or get killed and respawn in the starter town. But what if she wasn’t there? He’d be there alone with no equipment to make the trip back here. And then even if he did make it back here, how would he find her?
He could continue searching down river, but what if he missed her? There were small tributaries that snakes off the main river. What if she drifted down one of those?
He might never find her. And what if something killed her? She’d end up back at Sinking Springs.
And what if she were still alive when she logged back in and was all alone out in the forest? What would she think? Would she think he had abandoned her? Would she try to make it to Airedale? How long would it take her with only a few hours a day to travel? A week? Two weeks? Longer? Could she last that long on her own?
Jace put his head in his hands as he thought about the impossible situation he was in. He didn’t know what to do. He’d lost Charlena, and he had no idea where she was or how to get her back.
Maybe he should just kill himself. Chances were, if Charlena hadn’t already died and respawned in Sinking Springs, she would soon. Her body would be alone and unable to defend itself. The first monster that came along would kill her. Then she’d be in the starter town with him.
He knew that’s what he should do, but part of him hated it. It was quitting. Giving up. He was used to living with the hand he was dealt. He’d come so far and was so close to getting to Airedale and the capital. But he knew that when he did get to the capital, he wanted it to be with Charlena.
“We’re going to have to die,” Jace said aloud.
“Die?” Luna asked.
“Yeah,” he told her. “I need to die so we can go back to the town.”
“Why?”
“So, we can meet up with Charlena.”
“Meet Charlena?”
“Yes, meet Charlena in the town.”
“No.”
Jace looked at the cat. “What do you mean no?”
“No town,” the cat responded, and looked up the river. “Ogre.”
Jace stood suddenly, causing Luna to leap back. “What do you mean?”
Luna kept looking the way they had come and sniffed. “Ogre. Charlena.”
Jace stared up the river and then down to the cat and back at the river. “Are you saying that the ogre took Charlena?”
“Yes,” the cat said.
Jace felt like someone had blown his mind. He knew it was possible for monsters to take prisoners. In fact, some quests were rescue quests. In those quests, a player or group had to rescue someone who had been captured and usually punish the guilty party. They were difficult because it was often impossible to protect the NPC.
Charlena was a player character, not an NPC. He couldn’t remember any instances where that had happened. But it was theoretically possible. Is that what had happened? Had the ogre kidnapped her?
If that were the case, Jace needed to find Charlena and rescue her. He had no idea how he would do that against a level 15 ogre but one step at a time. First, he needed to find her. Then he could worry about rescuing her.
Jace checked his stats. His health and mana were back to maximum and his Stamina was at 50%. He looked down to Luna. “Can you track where the ogre went?”
Luna sniffed the air again and looked back at him. “Yes.”
“Let’s go,” he told her and she took off along the shore back the way they had come.
Jace jogged after her and had gone only dozen yards when he skidded to a stop. They had just past a large patch of what Jace thought were burned spider eggs, but something else had caught his eye.
“Wait up,” he called out to his familiar and the little cat stopped and looked back.
Looking more closely, he saw he had been right. The fire had burned the eggs, but it had also burned cocoons around the nest that held the bodies of victims the spider had caught. Part of the cocoons had been burned away, revealing the glint of metal. He’d found the spider’s treasure hoard.
Jace walked over and used his rapier to cut open the first cocoon. As he did, the mummified body inside fell to the ground and broke apart. Jace bending over, Jace saw what had caught his attention. Around the corpse's neck was a shiny golden amulet in the shape of a griffon. He took the amulet and examined it.
Griffon’s Guard
Type: Necklace
Level: 5
Wt: .2 lb
Special: If wielding a shield, the wearer gains an additional +1 Defense
Description: Given to Knights of the Griffon who had distinguished themselves in a tournament, this amulet gives the wearer extra protection.
Restriction: Requires at least 1 rank in the Shield skill.
He took the amulet and slipped it into his inventory. The amulet was level 5 and Jace was one only one level from using it. When he gained another level, the extra point of Defense would be most welcome.
Quickly hacking open the remaining cocoons, he found 112 gold, a long sword, two daggers, and a potion of healing. He stashed all the items into his inventory and signaled Luna to go. It was time to find Charlena.
Chapter 50
Luna led him along the shoreline, occasionally stopping to sniff the air. Jace scanned the shoreline continuously, looking for ogre tracks, but could find none. Was the ogre too high a level for him to track or had the ogre walked up the river. If the creature had been pulling the raft, it would make sense for it to stay on the river.
But why was the ogre heading up the river? That didn’t make any sense - unless it was heading back to its lair. That meant it had been tracking them. But they’d lost it. Hadn’t they? Then Jace realized the truth.
They might have lost it, but there was no way that the ogre had missed the huge fire he’d created when he’d burned spider nest. The fire and associated smell must have attracted the ogre to them. Jace had done that. He was responsible for her being kidnapped.
Jace slowed as he felt what felt like an anxiety attack coming on. Had he killed Charlena like he had killed his family? It was his fault. Just like it was his fault his family was dead. If he’d just gone out to eat with him. They’d be alive. Charlena wouldn’t be kidnapped. It was his fault.
“Okay?” Luna brushed up against his leg.
Jace looked down without really seeing her. The old guilt and pain was like a knife digging into his heart. His breath came in ragged gasps. No, not again. He’d done it again. And now he might never see Charlena again.
“Charlena?” the cat meowed, looking up at him.
He looked down at the orange tabby cat and they locked eyes. Luna was right. He hadn’t been able to save his family, but maybe he could still save Charlena. He had to try.
He reached down and stroked her fur, eliciting some purrs. “Yes, little one, let’s go save Charlena.”
Pushing his guilt down so he could focus on what he needed to do now, Jace hurried after Luna. He wasn’t sure exactly how much of a head start the ogre had on them. He’d gone down the river for a respectful distance before circling back. The ogre had to have at least an hour on them.
They followed the tracks for three hours before Luna came to a halt. Jace was afraid she might have lost the trail, but then he saw it too. Leading out of the water were enormous footprints. Ogre foot prints.
Jace bent down. He used his Tracking skill and examined the tracks.
Forest Ogre
Level: 15
That was his ogre all right, but he didn’t see any prints from Charlena. Looking more closely, he saw something next to the tracks. It was a long straight track, like something that was being dragged. The raft! Charlena was still tied to the raft. And the ogre was dragging it along with him!
“Let’s go,” he told Luna and hurried up the shoreline toward the tracks. He didn’t even have to look at the tracks as the path the ogre was following was well worn with many sets of tracks, but they all seemed to belong to the same ogre. He hoped they belonged to the same ogre.
The two of them ran on through the rest of the night and into morning. He found it odd that the ogre’s lair was so far from where they had encountered it, but there were many things odd about this ogre. Then again, Jace had seen little of them in the wild. He’d usually just gotten a quest, found the ogre or ogres and killed them.
Was this what ogres did without players around? Went on a walkabout? Explored the countryside? He had to admit, if that were so, he had to hand it to the original developers for adding in some deeper, or at least more diverse, depth to the monsters. In a way, it almost made them like real people. But he guessed that was the point.
At midmorning, Jace received the Hungry debuff and quickly used up one of his rations to get rid of it. He hadn’t had time to fish for food before they’d started after the ogre. Luckily, Luna had complained about food since she wouldn’t eat the ration and he didn’t have time to find something.
The morning turned into early afternoon, and still they followed the tracks. Jace wasn’t sure, but if he had to guess, he thought they were traveling north. He tried to remember what was north of Charlena’s map, but he couldn’t remember her drawing much to the north. All he knew is that they were heading deeper into the Wild Lands. That meant more danger.
Jace continued their fast pace, trying to close the distance. Judging by the sun’s position, he had an hour, maybe two, before Charlena logged in. He wasn’t sure how she would react, but he didn’t want her freaking out. Assuming she was still alive, if she freaked out, the ogre might kill her just to shut her up. Then all of this would be for nothing.
Another hour passed. They still followed the ogre’s trail with no indication that they had gotten closer.
If Jace’s Tracking skill had been as high as Mordred’s, he would have been able to tell the age of the tracks. As it was, he had no clue.
Then the screaming started. It was distant, but Jace knew it instantly. It was Charlena. She must have logged in and realized her new predicament. He ground his teeth as he imagined what she must be thinking.
He had no idea where the screaming was coming from, his ears just weren’t good enough. But luckily, he knew someone with excellent hearing. He looked down at Luna. “Can you find her?”
Luna's body was tense as her ears twitched and moved. Without looking at him, she took off down the trail and called back to him. “Yes.”
Smiling at the spunky little cat, he raced after her. The screaming continued, but now Jace realized she was calling out a word. His name. She needed him, and he was on his way.
They ran on for fifteen minutes before Jace had to call them to a halt. He was dangerously low on Stamina and couldn’t afford a repeat of his last encounter with the ogre. From this point, he needed to walk and regenerate. He just hoped Charlena could hold on.
As Jace followed the tracks, the screaming had stopped. The silence was ominous, and Jace hoped it wasn’t because the ogre had killed her. He checked his system log but didn’t see any messages. But he could be out of range. He just had to keep going and trust that she was okay.
A few minutes later, Jace came upon the raft. It was still intact, but she wasn’t there.
The twine that had held her was broken. Charlena was gone. He guessed the ogre had gotten tired of carrying the entire raft and just pulled her off.
Jace dropped into Stealth and continued following the tracks until he reached a large clearing. Scanning the clearing, he saw a cave in the far end with an enormous bonfire in front of it. The ogre sat near the fire, looking down at something.
Peering at what the ogre was looking at, Jace saw that it was a make-shift cage. Inside the cage was a very familiar red-headed elf. It was Charlena, and she was alive. Relief washed over him like rain on a warm summer day. She was alive, and he’d found her.
Yet, while it relieved him to see her alive, there was still the ogre to deal with. Going at the thing one on one was suicide. Even having recently gained another level in Fighter, he was no match for the creature. He had to think of some other way to deal with it.
He looked at his skills and abilities. Jace had nothing powerful enough to truly hurt the ogre. Nor did he have anything that could keep him alive long enough to kill the thing. That meant he had to outsmart it somehow. But how?
From his hiding spot, Jace looked over the entire clearing. It was barren except for the ogre, the bonfire and Charlena’s cage. There was nothing he could use against the beast. He considered getting above the cage and seeing if he could drop something on the thing. But anything he hauled up to the top of the cave wouldn’t do enough damage.
What did that leave? Nothing. The ogre was simply too tough to kill. It just wasn’t possible given the weapons he possessed and the thing’s thick hide. Was this it then? He’d tracked the ogre all the way to its layer only to fail?
At least if they both died, they’d wind up together. They’d be out there equipment but they might be able to do more quests in Sinking Springs to earn enough money to get the equipment and items they needed. Maybe.
It seemed like the only plausible solution and the only one that involved them being able to stay together. He just needed to let her know what he was planning. That he’d let the ogre kill him and then she’d need to figure out a way to get it to kill her too. Then they could try again. Who knows, maybe they’d even try another raft.
Jace stopped. The raft. Their raft was nearby, and it was intact. Suddenly a crazy idea came to mind. It would be a long shot - a very long shot - but it just might work. He slipped away from the clearing and made his way back to the raft. Jace examined the raft and realized his plan just might work. Maybe. If he were lucky.
First, he untied the logs from the raft. He ended up with ten logs and several pieces of rope. He used the long sword he’d recently acquired to sharpen one side of the logs. Next, he used the frying pan and his buckler to dig holes in the ground. Once the holes were dug, he set the logs
into the holes with the pointy side facing up, slightly tilted towards the ogre’s camp.
In essence, he’d created a large spike trap. The problem was how to get the ogre on the spikes. It couldn’t run into the trap, it had to fall onto the trap for the spikes to do any real harm. That was where the second part of his plan came into play.
Jace took the pieces of rope and tied them together. He strung them across two trees as tightly as possible, making a tripwire in front of the spikes. Theoretically, if he could get the ogre to run into this area, it would trip over the rope and fall into the spikes. Theoretically.
He went over the trap again, making sure everything was right. When he was confident there was nothing more he could do to improve the trap, he put the next phase of his plan into action. It was time to get the ogre’s attention.
Jace once again snuck up to the edge of the clearing. Remembering a very old vidstream his dad had made him watch, Jace yelled in his best Sloth voice. “Hey you guys!”
The ogre’s head shot up, and its angry eyes fixed on Jace. The thing climbed to its feet and grabbed a nearby stone. With surprising speed, it hurled the small boulder directly at Jace, but he was ready.
Forest Ogre throws Draining Rock at YOU but you Evade.
Jace used his Evade ability to completely dodge the rock, which went sailing harmlessly past him to smash into a nearby tree. Making a chicken gesture, he yelled out at the ogre. “Chicken!”
The ogre roared and grabbed another small boulder and threw it at Jace. This time, Jace deflected the attack with his buckler using Bastion.
Forest Ogre throws Draining Rock at YOU but you Block.
“Jace?” came Charlena’s familiar voice. “Is that you?”
“Can’t catch me chicken!” he yelled. “Bock! Bock! Bock!”
Jace turned and ran towards his trap as the ogre grabbed its club and stood up. He didn’t look back but could hear the thundering footsteps of the ogre as it ran after him in huge loping strides.
Running at full speed towards the trap, Jace could feel the ogre catching up to him. He turned the corner and then threw himself to the right just as he reached the tripwire. The ogre seemed to see the trap and skidded to a halt, its arms wind milling to keep its balance.
VEIL Online - Book 1 Page 33
