Perla Online, Book One: Toris (A LitRPG/GameLit Adventure)

by Shawn Wyatt

  Bastion threw his arms over his head, and golden light swirled around all of us in the party. For a few seconds, the sound didn't seem so painful. I fired.

  Evey loosed an arrow.

  Wish raised her hands and threw a bolt of arcane energy at the monster.

  It's HP dropped below 20%, and the sound faded. Though the creature's hit points still ticked back up, we could focus our attacks on it without distraction now.

  "Kill it now," I shouted. A flurry of arrows from the scouts complemented our attack. Little by little, Agaric's HP fell to zero. The toadstool toppled over and lay still.

  I breathed a sigh of relief. The fight was over, but we were all a bit worse for wear. The echo of its scream still rang in my ears, and I saw the bodies of several fallen scouts across the field. The battle had not been without casualties.

  Agaric's body bulged and grew larger. Evey stared at it for a moment, and then her eyes widened. "Run!" she shouted.

  I didn't question her judgement. I turned and sprinted away from the battlefield to the shelter of the trees, the rest of the party on my heels. We made it behind cover just in time. With a loud pop, Agaric's corpse exploded with enough force to splinter the trees nearest it. Poison spores landed on the ground and killed the grass around where the creature lay.

  "Everyone okay?" I asked.

  "From now on, we make sure the monsters don't explode after they're dead," Bastion said. "How did you know it would do that?"

  Evey sighed. "I had the same type of mushrooms in my backyard when I was a kid," she said. "They would explode if kicked or damaged in some way."

  The scouts began to make their way to where we stood, congratulations and gratitude on their lips. Boris accepted the praise gladly, and many of the scouts seemed eager to pet the bear they had seen fight so bravely. Evey stared out at the ruined battlefield.

  "What is it?" I asked.

  She turned to me, and the faintest hint of tears shimmered at the corner of her eyes. "Do you think we'll ever make it home?"

  "Of course," I said. "We'll win the game and escape this world." But even as I spoke the words, I had to acknowledge the doubt that had begun to creep into my thoughts.

  Boris

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: THE NIGHT RAVEN

  The injured scouts had been laid on makeshift gurneys fashioned from branches and vines. Bastion stood over the injured men and used his mana to heal them, but when it dropped too low to cast another spell, he sat down heavily on the ground. "I wish I understood why there is an artificial restriction on healing spells," he said. "NPCs should be just as affected by them as players."

  "You've kept them alive," I said. "Even if you didn't heal them to full, you stabilized them enough that they'll make a full recovery back in Nyfed."

  "I know, but it bothers me. What happens when I can't stabilize someone? When this restriction means someone dies because my spells aren't effective enough?"

  I shook my head. "Let's deal with that hurdle when, and if, we reach it. Take some time to rest. You've done good today."

  None of our group had taken time to rest after the fight with Sloziar, and just as before, the back-to-back battles began to catch up with us. One of the scouts approached us and bowed. "Thank you for your aid in bringing down Agaric. He's a nuisance on the best days. With the corruption upon him, well...I'm not sorry to see him gone."

  "You're welcome," I said. Our guide had taken a hard hit during the battle and lay on one of the gurneys. The Sylvan that spoke to me now was the second-in-command for the scout unit. "How is your leader doing?"

  "Thanks to the efforts of your friend, he'll live. But it may be a while before he sees battle again. Agaric's poison is a nasty business, especially to those of us that work so closely with nature. Until he recovers, I'm in command. My name is Cathbad."

  "Nice to meet you," I said. I still had not gotten used to the formality of those around Nyfed, but at least Cathbad seemed a bit less formal than his comrades. "How long until we head back?"

  "Not long. Once we finish securing the injured to the gurneys, we'll take off. I understand you got here a bit faster than expected?" He turned an appraising look on Boris.

  I laughed. "We did, but he won't be able to carry everyone. We'll have to walk."

  "I understand. With the injured members of our group, it will take longer to return. I hope you don't mind. In any case, the forest should be a bit safer since you and your allies have eliminated two of the corruption's footholds in the area."

  "I hope so," I said. "Our initial experiences with this area have not been great." I thought back to the guards at the Forest Gate and wondered if the monster attacks had lessened in frequency.

  We had searched the area after the battle, but Agaric dropped no items. If he had, the explosion of his corpse destroyed them. I didn't know if I should feel ashamed or not. Despite the seriousness of the situation, the gamer side of me still wanted more loot--certainly loot more effective than the aloe vera stems Althea had given us. I wanted gold.

  This world needed an auction house system, I decided. Some way for players to buy and sell all of the crafting materials they needed. It would be a good way for the grinding groups back in Grenay to earn gold for their efforts.

  Bastion and Wish kept Evey company while she scraped dried honey from Boris' fur. She had checked him over after the fight to make sure he wasn't injured, and a patch of matted, blood-covered fur had turned out to be a patch of matted, honey-covered fur.

  Boris ran when Evey pulled out her knife.

  It took Wish calling him and offering more snacks for the bear to calm down enough for Evey to try to clean him.

  "Are you guys ready?" I asked.

  "Almost," Evey said. She flicked the blade underneath Boris' fur and cut away a large section. He whined at the sight of the fur in her hand, but a glare from Evey quieted him down. "If you hadn't been such a glutton with those sprites, this wouldn't have happened," she said.

  Wish held a stone in her hand and glared at it. "What's wrong?"

  "The soul of the Hamadryad is gone," she said. "I had captured him, and I should have been able to use it more than once. I don't know what happened."

  "Was it because he was destroyed in the fight?"

  Wish shrugged. "Possibly. That could have led to his overall destruction, but I'm not sure. I'll have to experiment more." She stared at the battlefield. "I would have liked to capture Agaric's soul, too."

  "Just how many of those stones do you have?"

  She looked up and grinned, and a chill ran down my spine. This five-foot-nothing girl would have an army of captured souls if we let her have her way.

  Cathbad's voice drifted across the clearing. "We're ready to depart if you are."

  The scouts had finished securing the gurneys, and had rigged them together in such a way that a group of four could carry all of the injured men. The remaining scouts would take shifts carrying the injured so that we did not have to stop to rest often. It worked out better that way, since the men would receive the care they needed in Nyfed.

  Cathbad took the lead, with Evey and I behind him. Bastion and Wish took up the rear, and the rest of the scouts fanned out around our makeshift caravan. Nothing would approach undetected. The setup wasn't perfect, but given the short time it had taken to put it together, it would provide some level of protection as we made our way through the forest.

  Our group set out and left the chaos and destruction of the battle with Agaric at our backs.

  The scouts hummed as we walked. The song had an ethereal quality, like the men only borrowed the notes for a few seconds before they released them back into the air. Cathbad began to hum under his breath, and then chuckled. "My grandmother used to sing this to me," he said. "It's one of Nyfed's traditional folk songs."

  "It's beautiful," I said. "It makes me think of the wind."

  "Aye, as it should. It's name is...well, I don't know the exact translation from the Sylvan tongue, but it would be something li
ke "'The Wind Rustles.' It celebrates cool breezes on hot summer days, and the sound of wind through leaves."

  "Our songs are nothing like that," I said. "We have a few that are about nature, but human songs are more focused on carnal desires."

  "Carnal desires?" Cathbad asked.

  "Yeah. Like sex."

  "Ah." The Sylvan laughed. "Mating songs. We have quite a few of those, as well, but they aren't sung in mixed company. Rather, they are reserved for private quarters."

  My face flushed. "No, no. Not mating songs. Just normal songs. I guess you could say humans are a bit more open about sexuality."

  He raised an eyebrow. "I see. Truth be told, we don't have too many human visitors, so I know little of your culture. So does that mean you and Miss Evey are mated?"

  My jaw went slack, and I turned to face her.

  She raised an eyebrow and plucked her bow string. "I have a lot of arrows. Remember that."

  "No. No, we aren't," I said. "We're just friends."

  I heard Bastion snicker from the back of the group, but the laughter of the other scouts drowned him out. I'd get him back for that later.

  The conversation faded away after that. I expected the scouts to grow more relaxed the closer we drew to Nyfed, but the tension in the group seemed to rise. The sun had started to set; the forest grew darker with each passing step.

  "Halt," Cathbad called out. "Something is wrong."

  The group froze in place. Evey and I had our weapons draw in the blink of an eye, but Cathbad didn't move. He peered around him in the gloom.

  "We should be near Nyfed," he said. "But the light is wrong. Look above."

  I followed his hand. The sun's faint outline could be seen high above through the leaves of the canopy, a faint orb that burned in the sky. It hung low, but had not yet dropped to the horizon. "I thought the sun had begun to set," I said. "What is this darkness?"

  "It feels wrong," he muttered. "Evil." Cathbad dropped to a knee and placed a hand on the ground, then stood and shook his head. "We're on the right path. We'll continue for Nyfed."

  From that point, the journey became more cautious. The scouts assigned one group to carry the gurneys so the others could be prepared for combat. In moments, the scout group transformed from careful-but-carefree men to trained warriors, each step efficient, no movement wasted. The forest darkened more and more until our group inched forward, unable to see more than a few feet ahead.

  I heard rustling in the darkness to our sides, and Boris stuck close to Evey, every hair on his body on end. Several scouts lit lanterns, but the light did little to penetrate the darkness. I kept both of my pistols at the ready, bullets loaded in both. We had run from one fight to the next. The scouts had tracked Agaric for over a day. No one had the energy for another battle. We were going to sleep when we reached Nyfed, give our bodies and minds time to recover.

  I dropped back from the front and beckoned Bastion to me. "How is your mana?"

  "About 75%." At my surprised look, he shrugged. "I've been healing while we walked. Even if it doesn't restore their HP by much, it seems to soothe the pain."

  "Let it regenerate to full," I said. "I've got a bad feeling about this."

  "You and me both."

  A gurgling sound ripped through the air, followed by the sound of weapons being drawn. The sound seemed to come from all around us; it had no single point of origin.

  "What...was that?" Bastion asked.

  Light exploded from a point to our right. In the illumination, I saw the trees of Nyfed. The light came from inside the barrier, centered between Duneyrr's massive horns.

  At the border, at the edge of the shimmering barrier, stood an impossibly tall and skinny creature. Two curved horns sprouted from the top of its skull. Its long arms hammered against the barrier, each one as loud as the strike of a gong. Several of the scouts paled at the sight. Cathbad cursed. "By Duneyrr," he said. "The Night Raven."

  "Night Raven?" I asked.

  "If the Waldgeist is the incarnation of an angry forest, the Night Raven is the incarnation of evil and darkness. And Nyfed's worst enemy." He cursed again. "I never imagined this is the form the corruption would take."

  Another fist slammed into the barrier and sent ripples over its surface. "That is the third creature the Elders told us about?" I asked.

  "This darkness isn't normal, not even for this monster. It's been strengthened." Another hit on the barrier, accompanied by a sound like broken glass. "The protective field around Nyfed won't hold long against this onslaught. We have to fight."

  Bastion and Wish had moved forward beside us. Cathbad turned to his scouts. "Half of you, stay with the injured. Take them around to one of the other gates and get them inside. The rest, with me." He sat his bow down on the ground and faced us. "I trust you'll find alongside us?"

  "Of course," I said. "This thing stands between us and our own goals. Besides, we wouldn't let Nyfed fall. Not after the aid you've given us."

  "Then it's time." Cathbad dropped to his knees, and his body blurred in front of us and changed into the shape of a huge bear. I blinked in surprise. He had never said he was a shapeshifter.

  "Let's do this," I said. Cathbad nodded, shot Boris a glare to ward off the too-curious sniffs the bear gave him, and charged.

  The Night Raven turned its head a full 180 degrees to watch our approach, but its body did not move. A single arm raised and flung a dark ball of energy over its shoulder toward us. The attack crashed into the ground just ahead. It did not seem to have any effect, until I noticed the plant life.

  All of it had died on contact with the energy, with nothing but withered, blackened husks left behind.

  "Watch out for that attack!" I shouted. "Spread out! Don't let it hit you!"

  Cathbad went left and Boris went right, one bear on each side of the creature. Boris howled a challenge. When the Night Raven turned to him, Cathbad launched a vicious attack at its back, his paws tearing feathers and flesh away. I lined up a shot and fired. One bullet slammed into the creature's chest, while the other glanced off one of its horns.

  Beside me, Wish's hands began to glow with an eerie blue light, before she flung two balls of energy at the monster. The balls lit the darkness as they flew through it and burned away flesh when they landed. Despite the ferocity of the attack, the Night Raven's HP had hardly wavered. The attacks had distracted it from Nyfed, however.

  It turned its body toward us. Jet-black feathers sprouted under each arm. When the beast raised its arms, the feathers stood on end, and blood seeped from its skin onto the feathers. The Night Raven brought its arms together and then thrust them forward. The motion flung the feathers outward in a fan shape.

  We ducked, but not in time. Pain flared through my right arm and shoulder as several of the feathers sank into my skin, the tips razor-sharp. A pulsing debuff flashed in front of my eyes.

  Night Poison

  Duration: 10 seconds. Inflicts 5% poison damage per second on the target.

  I winced and yanked the feathers out of my arm. I didn't want to think about how much damage that attack would have inflicted if it landed in the eye or neck. "Everyone okay?"

  Evey spit. "Yeah. One of them caught my lip."

  Bastion knelt beside me and cast Holy Light, restoring 15% of my HP. The pain faded for a moment, but the poisoned remained. "Thanks," I said. "Any chance you can cleanse poison?"

  "Afraid not," he said. I noticed where a bundle of feathers jutted from his leg. "I already tried it."

  "You're okay?"

  He nodded. "Let's kill this thing. I'm here to bring down a tree, not become bird food."

  I took another look at the Night Raven. Despite its name and the feathers, the creature in no way resembled a bird. More like a demon or something from one of those creepy stories for kids. "Wish?" I asked.

  "It didn't hit me," she said. "But I want its soul."

  "What?"

  "You heard me. I want to capture its soul. I can make it fight for us later
down the line."

  "I don't even know how to begin to do that," I said. "But if you can pull it off, fine. I'm not putting anyone at risk just so you can attempt that."

  "Got it." Greed flashed in the smaller girl's eyes, and I found myself thankful she was on our side.

  "Ren, we've got a problem." Evey pointed to the Night Raven. The feathers it had flung had begun to regrow from its arms. "Looks like about 15 seconds until its cool down is up."

  Boris and Cathbad had avoided the attack, and both still tore into the monster with attack after attack, but its HP dropped only by 1 or 2 percent every few seconds.

  "Bastion, what's your strongest healing spell?"

  "Flash Mend. It's got a long cool down, but heals 50% HP."

  "Use it on the Night Raven. If any of us take damage, we retreat and get away from here. Agreed?"

  Everyone nodded. The cool down on that attack was almost up, and we needed to be ready. The poison debuff disappeared from my view.

  "Here we go."

  I fired more shots at the monster, one Caster Shell after another. Anything to inflict injury on it. Wish threw more of her balls of energy, then stepped back to invoke her minion. Evey muttered a spell under her breath and fired several glowing arrows straight at the Night Raven.

  All of these attacks landed at the same time as Bastion's healing spell. In total, the creature lost 65% of its HP in the span of a few seconds. The Night Raven screamed with fury and threw out another AoE. I felt more feathers slam into me, but Bastion healed what damage they inflicted. I stood my ground and watched. If he followed his previous pattern, he would revert back to balls of dark energy.

  The damage must have triggered an enrage buff. The Night Raven's feathers regenerated, and the creature flung them toward us once again with almost no delay. I caught a volley in the chest and staggered back as the pain stole my breath away. My HP dropped to 60%. Everyone in our group winced with pain and tried to recover from the attack.