The Mountain Valley War

by M. A. Carlson

  I sprang at the spirit, tackling it to the ground. I don’t know where the strength came from. I knew exactly where the brutality came from. I ripped that spirit apart, first a leg, then another. Then its tail, a souvenir I hung from my belt.

  “Wait, wait, I have secrets. I can tell you, just please wait,” the jackal pleaded as I tore off yet another leg.

  “Talk jackal,” I snapped, curious what secrets it might divulge. I had no intention of allowing it to live but it might yet prove useful.

  “The master has a secret place. Deep under his throne. Find it, destroy what is there and we both might go free of him,” the jackal pleaded.

  “Thank you,” I said, a quick twist and the spirit's neck broke. The ghost faded from existence a mere moment later.

  When I left the spirit realm my shackle was no longer on my ankle, instead, it was cracked apart, laying in six pieces on the ground. I was free . . . but not free enough. The world faded to black.

  There was rumbling noise above me as stone slid to cover the secret entrance. Now that I was alone, I risked lighting the torch I made from what little remained of my dress. I did not care about my poor state of dress, if I found whatever secret Tridiak was hiding and destroyed it, I would be free.

  The stairway felt like it went on forever, deeper and deeper into the earth. I expected it to have been boiling hot as I went deeper in and got closer to the core, yet it stayed cool, almost getting colder the deeper I went. Then there was a light ahead of me. I pressed ahead toward that light.

  The room at the end confused me. There were crystals, dozens of them. I didn’t take the time to count them all but there were so many. I didn’t understand how this was some great secret. I stepped into the room and was no longer in my body. I had been forcefully pulled into the spirit realm. And all around, stood the spirits of dozens of Dwarves, each with a thin line of energy connecting back to one of the crystals. Then I understood, this was the source of his power.

  Tridiak had made me into a Shaman for exactly this purpose. He planned to torture my fleshly body until I fled to the spirit realm where the pain would be muted, something I learned years ago. Then he would kill the body and with my spirit separated he would force me into my own crystal. I would become a totem and my gift to him would be all the Spirit I had accumulated. With the others and myself, it would only be a matter of time before he felt confident enough to attack the Dwarven city above. And with access to so many totems . . . they would perish quickly.

  Suddenly, I was back in my own body. I felt a tear on my face, I hadn’t realized I had been crying. I charged into the room, and using my torch like a club, I started smashing the crystals, freeing my brothers and sisters. The room faded to black before I saw what happened next.

  I was back in the mind temple blinking away my own tears. “What was that?” I questioned aloud, even as the memory of it was already beginning to fade. At least the finer details were, being a female Dwarf was a memory I would be fine without, memories of the whip and the shackle that liked to bite, yep, didn’t need those. The savagery of my . . . no her, her escape, I could do without. But the memory of those Shaman spirits. That was something that stuck with me, something I grabbed ahold of, not willing to let that go.

  I smiled. I sat back down on the cushion but selected exit this time. I had a solution for Micaela if she could pull it off.

  I ran through the archive, saying a quick farewell to Libre that was more of a rushed, “Bye, thank you again, see you later!” I didn’t stop running once I hit the streets. I didn’t want to risk being unable to tell Micaela if for some reason the memory faded completely.

  As soon as I was through the gates to the cavern where Mardi’s temple stood, I start yelling for Micaela. I found her slumped over by the lake. I ran to her only to skid to a halt next to her body at the edge of the water. I gave her a good shake. The memory, the link I had made meditating was still there, clear as day.

  “Bye-bye, you’re back already?” Micaela asked, coming back to herself.

  “Yes, I’ve got it. You need another totem, one made with the spirit of a Shaman,” I said excitedly, glad the memory hadn’t faded but feeling drained all the same.

  “What do you mean, I need to make a totem with the spirit of another Shaman?” Micaela repeated, staring at me like I had lost my mind.

  “I’m not sure of the mechanics behind it but I read a story book. I finally tried my ‘Meditation’ skill. It let me focus on the books I had read recently. One was a rather dark story about a young Dwarven girl that had been captured by an evil Goblin Shaman. Long story short, she beat him and escaped. I wasn’t sure what the ‘Meditation’ would do when I selected the book. I ended up living the story. I hardly remember any of it now. I just know it was awful and was most likely removed from my memories. I think they removed the memories because there is danger it might have led to problems due to some kind of trauma I may have experienced in the vision. Anyway, at the end, in the part I do remember, I saw the secret of how the Shaman got stronger. He raised up many other Shamans then turned them into totems, the exact same thing he planned to do to the girl,” I explained.

  “But you said it was a story?” Micaela questioned me. “Like a work of fiction.”

  “It was. I know, it sounds crazy. But that was the connection my mind made. I think if you can find a Shaman that lives inside the spirit world, you might be able to make it into a totem to bolster your total spirit,” I said. That was my theory and that might be all it was.

  “Okay, and how am I supposed to do that?” Micaela asked.

  “I read a lot the last few days about Shamans, like a whole lot,” I replied. I remembered the children’s story and how the protagonist got help from a Shaman that lived in the spirit world. That wasn’t the only reference to such a thing either. There were quite a few Shamans that gave up their fleshly existence in favor of living in the spirit world alone. “You need to go find one . . . in the spirit world.”

  “And how do I do that?” Micaela asked.

  How? That was a good question. And there was only one answer I could come up with. “Vision.” The spirit wolf was the perfect one to help her. He was an amazing scout as we had found out over the course of the war. We were really lucky to have him with us.

  “Yeah, that might work,” said Micaela. “Thanks, Bye-bye, you’re a real lifesaver.”

  “I do what I can,” I said, sitting down on the shore, suddenly feeling completely drained.

  “Don’t wait up for me, see you later,” Micaela shouted over her shoulder as she ran for the exit to the cavern.

  I waved her off. I decided not long after that I didn’t like ‘Meditation’ very much if it was going to leave me feeling like this all the time. I hoped it was just because of the story I chose to meditate on and not a normal side effect.

  As I sat there looking out over the water, I was very tempted to just lay back and take a nap. That would probably result in Rose messing with me somehow. Yawning in an effort to wake myself up, I decided I needed to get up and move. The temple had some rather comfy reading chairs as well as my bed. I debated which I would use on the walk over. I also used that walk to check my system notification.

  What a long strange trip its been. You earn +1-Wisdom

  I didn’t often read the stat point messages anymore. They were often repetitive but once and a while they would spit out something interesting. I believed it when it said it was a long strange trip.

  And then there was this.

  You have gained a Shamanism Advantage and Enhancement

  Lore II

  Level: 24

  Experience: 91.47%

  Professional Skill: Lore is the study of the history of the World Tree and its denizens.

  Subskill: Shamanism

  Your knowledge of Shamanism has granted you an understanding of the class.

  - Shamanism: Advantage

  Deal 5% more damage to Shaman Class. Receive 5% less damage from Shaman Totems
.

  - Shamanism: Enhancement

  Increase damage, healing, and bonuses by 5% from nearby friendly Shaman Totems.

  “Hax,” I said aloud. My friends weren’t around to say it for me, but it seemed appropriate. I had a feeling this was going to be seriously overpowered with a lot of time and research. I couldn’t wait to tell Rose about this.

  Back inside, I had an ‘Assassination Handbook’ that deserved my full attention. Then I would need to see if I couldn’t figure out more by ‘Meditation’. I had some testing to do.

  Chapter 28 – Micaela

  Micaela made a note to bake Bye-bye some magic brownies later. Her friend might have just given her the key to solving her problems. She trusted her friend Bye-bye, he had yet to really lead her wrong. That was even more clear when she received a class quest for it.

  Class Quest Alert: Spirit of the Shaman 1

  Your need to increase your totem capacity has led you to an unorthodox solution. Seek out a wandering Shaman Spirit and see if you can find the answers you need.

  Reward: Experience

  Do you accept this Quest?

  Yes

  No

  With that quest in place and at Bye-bye’s suggestion, she started by searching for Vision so that the little super tracker could help her. Finding Vision meant finding her husband first.

  The most obvious starting place was the barracks and the command room. A command room that was completely empty aside from a few Hammerton soldiers and Colonel Grandmite.

  The Colonel was standing by the large diorama, staring at it intently while her hands gripped the edge of the table.

  “Afternoon Colonel,” Micaela said, startling the soldier.

  “Lieutenant Crushhammer,” Colonel Grandmite nodded in acknowledgment, still not saluting the adventurers.

  “I don’t suppose you’ve seen my husband?” Micaela asked.

  Colonel Grandmite frowned. “He is on the front with the rest of the adventures,” she answered, looking back to the diorama.

  Micaela walked up next to her and looked down at the 3D model of the valley. The north side of valley looked so much different from the last time she had been here.

  Hammered Dwarf Brewery – Secured – Producing at 90% capacity

  Flattop Mill – Secured – Producing at 110% capacity

  Unstoppable Factory – Secured – Producing at 150% capacity

  Snowy Gulch Sheep Farm – Secured – Producing at 90% capacity

  Hatchet and Sons Lumbermill – Secured – Producing at 120% capacity

  Hammerpeak Mine – Secured – Producing at 150% capacity

  Everything on the north side of the valley was firmly under Hammerton control. A significant change from a week ago. Micaela couldn’t help but swell with pride, she knew her husband was responsible for most of that. She always told him he would have been a great officer. This just validated that opinion in her mind.

  Even the south side, the Anvilton side, of the map looked much improved as well.

  Anvil Cracking Brewery – Enemy Controlled – Producing at 40% capacity – Under Siege

  Anvildeep Mine – Abandoned – Producing at 0% capacity

  Chop and Cut Lumbermill – Enemy Controlled – Producing at 20% capacity

  Big Boar’ing Farm – Abandoned – Producing at 0% capacity

  Immovable Factory – Abandoned – Producing at 0% capacity

  Stoneground Mill – Hammerton Controlled – Producing at 30% capacity

  Seeing three of Anvilton’s resources were abandoned suggested Heath had been hard at work as well. Someday Heath would need to share the story of exactly how he accomplished it. It also strongly suggested that Anvilton was losing the war. Micaela knew that Hammerton would prevail, or at least she believed they would. And while she really believed that, she never thought that Hammerton would win so quickly.

  “Major Crushhammer and his soldiers, with the aid of my own soldiers, have been trying to capture the Anvil Cracking Brewery since this morning. The reports I have been receiving suggest it won’t be long before they finally take it. But as Anvilton loses more resources it has become harder and we have been taking heavier losses,” Colonel Grandmite explained. “If we take the brewery today and the lumbermill tomorrow then by this time next week we should be sitting comfortably in control of Anvilton and this war will be over.”

  Micaela truly hoped everything would be over in a week as that was about all the time they had left before they were forced to log out of the game.

  “Yeah, my husband is a force to be reckoned with,” Micaela said, smiling fondly. “I suppose I shall just need to wait here for him to return.”

  “Do as you will, I only ask that you not interfere with the soldiers,” the Colonel requested, much more gently than Micaela had come to expect from the woman.

  An hour later the status on the brewery finally flipped.

  Anvil Cracking Brewery – Hammerton Controlled – Producing at 20% capacity

  “Yes!” Micaela cheered. Her husband won, but more importantly, it meant he would be on his way back here soon.

  “It is indeed worthy of celebration,” Colonel Grandmite said. Possibly for the first time, Micaela saw some of the tension the Colonel carried in her shoulders relax as the barest hint of a smile upturned the corner of the Dwarven soldier’s mouth for the briefest of moments. Coming from the Colonel, it was an outburst of joy.

  Eventually, Micaela sat down in a quiet corner to enter the spirit world, popping a peppermint in her mouth as she did, she had come to really enjoy them since that little quest. Entering the spirit world, she was thankful the peace had been maintained since Kody and Paddington left her. It still hurt to think about, but it was her own fault.

  “You okay, boss?” Sundance asked, emerging from his ax and laying a head on her knee.

  “I will be,” Micaela replied, scratching the spirit behind his ears. She was very surprised when Butch sidled up next to her as well. Butch was usually very standoffish. Maybe he was softening a little.

  “Sorry,” Butch grumbled softly, laying down next to her but distinctly looking away.

  “I’m also sorry. I was stupid,” Micaela said. “I clearly didn’t know enough about being a Shaman. If I had, I could have prevented this from happening.”

  “Then do not let it happen again,” Butch said with a huff, though there was no real anger in the statement, it sounded more like concern in Micaela’s opinion.

  The trio fell into a quiet comfort as they waited on her husband and Vision. Eventually, Micaela saw the little blue spirit wolf padding into the room alongside Olaf. While she could see him clearly within the spirit realm she wondered if he was visible in the real world as well.

  “Boss, you are back!” Vision cheered, padding forward to Micaela. “Are you feeling better? Did Minion Number Two figure out a cure?”

  Micaela chuckled a little at the nickname that had stuck with the little pup. “He might have,” she answered, exiting the spirit realm to properly greet her husband.

  “Hey, Mic, you’re looking quite a bit more yourself,” Olaf commented.

  “I’m not out of the woods yet, but Bye-bye might have come through for me. Except, I need Vision’s help to even have a chance at pulling this off. You going to be okay without him?” Micaela asked.

  “Yeah, whatever you need,” Olaf replied automatically. “I need to go check in with the Colonel. Don’t go anywhere, I’ll be right back.”

  “I’ll be right here,” Micaela replied, watching her husband walk toward the waiting Colonel.

  Micaela knew he would miss the help Vision provided. With all the praise that had been heaped on the little wolf at the dinner table and very well-deserved praise it was, it would be difficult to replace him.

  Looking down at Vision, Micaela asked, “You ready for a mission? Just you, the others and me?”

  “What is the mission, Boss?” Vision asked, wagging his tail excitedly.

  “We need to find
a Shaman,” Micaela answered.

  “Hmm, I do not think there is another Shaman in the city. Do you want me to check Anvilton?” Vision asked, his brow scrunching in thought momentarily.

  “Nope, not looking for that kind of Shaman. We need to find a Shaman in the spirit world, one without a body,” Micaela said. She had no idea if that was an easy request or not, but she needed to try.

  “Are you sure that is wise?” Vision asked, sounding slightly nervous.

  “Not sure, but it is what we need to do,” Micaela replied. “So, please, find me a good one.”

  “Alright,” said Vision, still sounding hesitant. The wolf slipped into the spirit realm.

  Micaela was very grateful for Vision’s ability to track. As her Spirit stat grew stronger, she started seeing more in the spirit realm, more spirits, some good and some not so much. And as she was starting to learn, stronger spirits could hide from her if they wanted to. That was where Vision had come in really handy, it seemed like nothing could hide from him. Thankfully, she had yet to run into a malevolent spirit that her spirits were unable to deal with. Unfortunately, she hadn’t really learned how to fight spirits herself in the spirit realm, at least not yet. In her defense, she did have a lot going on recently.

  Thinking about recent events led Micaela’s thoughts down a dark path. A shake of her head and she pushed it aside. Just in time too, Olaf had just come back.

  “Sent Vision to work already?” Olaf asked.

  “Yep, I’ve got to find me a Shaman,” Micaela replied.

  “Trainer?” Olaf asked.

  “Um . . . that’s a good question,” said Micaela thoughtfully. “I need to find a Shaman spirit . . . spirit of a Shaman . . . Shaman ghost spirit thing,” she corrected then corrected again, confusing herself and Olaf more. She didn’t know if there was a specific term for what she needed. She just knew what she needed.