Chloe made a mental note to address the “host” comment later, but for now, she continued running through the woods. She ducked around branches, turning sharply in all directions to throw the bear off the scent. In the middle of a copse of tight-knit firs, she found a series of large rock structures which she wove through, moving as randomly as she dared. Soon enough, the cries of the bear began to sound farther and farther away.
When she reached a small alcove cut into the side of a hill, she paused and took a breath. Her stomach rumbled, and her mouth was dry. She opened her menu and saw that she’d spent 75% of her stamina.
Hey, at least I have something left.
Not wanting to wait around too long, and wondering where the hell the edge of the forest was, Chloe pushed herself to her feet and made her way up the hill. Surely higher ground would yield some sort of advantage? For the first time since she’d arrived, she noticed that she had been walking on relatively flat land. This was the first gradient she had encountered, and surely that had to mean something?
The top of the hill was bare of trees, reminding Chloe of the heads of the boring drones who sat in her family’s board meetings—executives who wore sharp suits and clung desperately to their fading youth by allowing silver rings of hair to crown their balding heads. How they would turn their nose up at her to see where she was now.
Shading her eyes from the blazing sun, Chloe scanned the forest—trees, trees, and more trees for nearly as far as the eye could see. From the north to the west to the south, she saw nothing but a canopy of green, falling and rising steadily until the world dropped off the horizon. To the east, there was a series of mountain ranges capped with snow and cloud.
Chloe brought her right wrist up to her mouth as if speaking into a walkie-talkie. “Any ideas?”
“You don’t need to get so close, y’know,” KieraFreya replied. “I’m a part of you. I can hear you even if you whisper.”
“Does that mean you can hear my thoughts?”
A pause. “Hey, look. Smoke!”
Chloe looked in the direction her hand was now pointing and saw the thin ribbon of smoke rising lazily into the sky.
She wondered what the source of the smoke might be. Had she been asked the previous night, she might’ve just taken her chances and wandered in that direction without a care. Now, though…
Now she had learned from several goblin stab wounds in the gut that sometimes fire meant bad things.
Still, it was the only lead she had, so with a caution that would have been beneficial the night before, she stalked in the direction of the smoke.
Chloe peered through a thicket of bushes at the cottage. It was a dilapidated old thing. The windows were nothing but holes, the door hung off its frame, and vines wrapped around the structure.
“What a shithole,” KieraFreya whispered, making Chloe jump.
“Will you shut up?” Chloe hissed, sticking the bracers under her arms. “We’re supposed to be sneaking, remember? What if there’s a monster inside making the fire?”
Skill increased: Sneak (Lv 3)
Incredible. You’re a natural at this shutting-up-and-lying-low thing. Soon you’ll be on a par with the elves, able to whisper without sound, undetectable by any creature!
For now, though, you’re slightly quieter than you were before. Congrats!
Bonuses: +3 dexterity
(NOTE: Increases in skill override any previous bonuses gained from the skill).
Well, what do you know?
“Hmmpgphhmmrgh!”
Chloe rolled her eyes. She felt her arms struggling by her side and released one of the bracers. “What?”
“Can you not put me under there! I am the fucking Goddess of Retribution. You think I belong in those sweaty pits of yours—”
Chloe fought her arms, folding them tightly again. She wriggled and writhed, straining as her arms shook and pulled in an attempt to escape. Using every ounce of strength she had, she managed to hold them in place as more muffled utterances of disgust came from her pits.
“All you have to do is shut your…” Chloe thought for a moment, “mouth? Yeah, let’s go with mouth. If you shut your mouth for long enough that I can talk to you, you’ll have your freedom.”
After another moment or two of struggling, Chloe’s arms relaxed. Another second, and there was a muted, “Hmm…fine.”
“That’s better,” she said, bringing her wrists closer to her face. A sweaty film decorated the ornate metal. Chloe flushed. “Oops, I see what you mean. It is super-hot out…”
Chloe waited for KieraFreya to jump in. When she didn’t, she continued, “Okay, so are you going to help me on this mission of yours, or am I going to have to keep you cooped up in various orifices of my body until you learn to control yourself?”
Another beat of silence.
“Well?”
“Oh, I’m allowed to talk now?” KieraFreya hissed, her voice quiet as if she were talking to herself. “How could this possibly be? I’m KieraFreya, for Obsidian’s sake. I used to rule from the heavenly thrones, and now I’m just a pet, strapped to a weakling’s wrist, unable to even overthrow her body. What has become of me?”
To Chloe’s surprise, KieraFreya began to cry—as much as an item of armor could weep.
Chloe took a seat, glancing nervously at the cottage for fear that something inside might hear them both. The shadow of something moved past the window.
She brought her bracers closer to her mouth.
“I’ve already told you—” KieraFreya snapped between sobs.
“I’m sorry,” Chloe hissed. “Look, I’m really sorry. I won’t do it again.”
“You promise?”
Chloe considered this. “Well, as long as you don’t do anything that might put us in danger, then, yes. I promise.”
KieraFreya’s sobs began to slow. Chloe waited patiently, eyes darting awkwardly from her wrists to the trees to the sky. She had never been great around crying people, and every iota of her instincts were telling her to comfort, hug, and show affection to the weeping person.
The only problem was, how the hell did you hug bracers?
Chloe brought the bracers across her chest and began to hug herself.
KieraFreya spoke up. “What’re you doing?”
Chloe’s cheeks glowed red. She glanced back at the sky, remembering that Mia and Demetri were probably watching her right now, bellies sore from laughter. She imagined bowls of popcorn falling as they fell off their chairs, watching Chloe try to comfort the tubes of metal that had melded with her body.
That is, unless they weren’t already banging.
Chloe felt a bubble of laughter rise. In all the excitement of the last night and collecting her lost items, she had almost forgotten that she was in a game and there was a world beyond this one. Once more, she marveled at the ability of this game to create an experience for the player.
There came a clatter from inside the house, followed by a minor explosion. Streams of smoke fluttered out of the window and joined the chimney’s column. Someone inside coughed.
“Argh… Son-of-a—” beep, came the voice from inside the house.
“It doesn’t matter,” Chloe said. “Come. Let’s play detective and see what’s going on.”
“What’s a detective?
Chapter Nine
It didn’t take them long to discover what was making the noises inside the house.
Peeking through the window, Chloe saw that one of the strangest men she had ever encountered. He wore a thin robe that shone purple and blue, he had a weak tuft of hair protruding from his chin, and he was so skinny that probably the slightest gusts of wind would blow him over.
“Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no,” he whined as he whirled around the small kitchen. There were several pots out on the work surfaces, many of them tipped onto their sides as they spilled liquids of various colors. Above a fire, a larger pot was boiling, emitting small stars and sparkling as the liquid snapped, crackled, and popped. It was fro
m there that the smoke was billowing.
“No, no. Not again.” The man ran a hand through his long, thin hair. Peered at a small book, nodded in confirmation, and threw something small and black into the fire. “Mmhmm, that seems to stabilize—”
Another explosion. A shout from the man. Chloe ducked her head as he turned her way, his face a blackened mess. She did her best to stifle her laughter.
“Who goes there?” the man cried.
“I’ve got to get a look at this.” KieraFreya chuckled, lifting Chloe’s arm in the air. Chloe used her other hand to try to bring her back down, and the two struggled for a moment. Chloe’s biceps strained to hold her other arm, managing to lower both arms as she strained and gritted her teeth, pouring every morsel of remaining strength into the move. She quickly flicked open her stats and saw that the maneuver had taken 10% of her stamina. Luckily, in the walk toward the house, most of her stamina had recovered.
Chloe smiled wickedly at her bracers, a bead of sweat dripping off her head when she heard the cough from behind her.
She turned, seeing the blackened face of the man hanging out of the window.
An awkward silence passed between the two as Chloe realized how stupid she must look. She was knelt as if praying, her hands palm-up.
“Hi,” she managed.
The man blinked at her, smoke wreathing behind his head. “You’re not a bear.”
“No. No, I’m not.”
“You’re human.”
Chloe nodded. “Yes, I am.”
Another explosion came from inside the house. The man jumped and threw his hands over his head.
“Need a little help?” Chloe asked.
The man nodded. “Yes, please.”
Quest unlocked: We didn’t start the fire
Some idiot has lost control of his flames. Help him to put out the fire before the whole house burns to cinders.
Difficulty: 1/10
Rewards: 50 exp
Accept quest: Y/N
Chloe nodded toward Y and joined the man inside the house, fanning her way through the smoke. The whole place was a mess. Chairs were upturned, and the rest of the furniture was broken and rotting. She found a doorway that led to a small cellar and headed down the stairs, finding that the cool air soothed her throat. At the bottom of the stairs was a small hole bored into the ground, through which running water dashed under the house.
Managing to find a bucket, she called the man downstairs, and between them, they managed to ferry water upstairs to chuck at the blaze. Between their trips, embers leaped from the fireplace and landed on various surfaces, which burst into flame. A quick dampening with a water-soaked rug Chloe had found in the upper bedroom soon brought the fire and smoke under control.
Chloe placed her hands on her hips and looked around the kitchen as she recovered her breath. “No permanent damage, then?”
The man laughed, coughed, then laughed again. “Thank you so much for your help. I wasn’t sure I was going to last much longer, let alone stop this house from burning to the ground.
Quest complete: We didn’t start the fire.
Smart, cunning, quick wit, and intelligence to solve a problem. These were none of the things you used as you launched water on the fire and jumped head-first into a smoke-infested building. You somehow managed it, though. Hooray!
Difficulty: 1/10
Rewards: 50 exp
Chloe smiled as she read the notification of the increase to her experience.
“Woah, I just gained 200 exp.” The man grinned, a far-off look in his eyes.
“Hey! No fair. I only gained 50, and I did half of the work.”
“You had a quest unlocked too? What did it say?”
Chloe read out her initial quest log.
The man’s face fell. “Some idiot? It doesn’t say that, does it?”
“Sure does.” Chloe smirked. “What did yours say?”
The man read his notification out, the quest titled Clean up your mess.
“This is a pretty smart system,” he said, finding a clean(ish) towel and dabbing the char off his face. “Giving us two separate requests with different rewards for the same thing? I got bonus points in mine for acquiring help to complete the task.”
“So it forces cooperative play?” Chloe scanned her notifications, not spotting anything about working with other people.
“I guess so. Which is ridiculously hard out in these woods, considering that there’s barely anyone here, and it’s stupid easy to get lost.” The man stepped forward and held out his hand. “I’m Gideon, by the way. Gideon Fleetwood.”
“I’m…” Chloe paused, remembering the fun KieraFreya had made of Chloe’s name of choice. “Tamara the Incredible.” Chloe puffed out her chest, adopting a superhero stance.
To her dismay, Gideon burst into laughter. Chloe glared at him.
“I’m sorry,” he said between breaths. “That’s one of the dumbest names I’ve ever heard. Have you ever played an MMORPG before? That’s...that’s…” Gideon clutched his stomach, tears falling from his face.
“Well, at least it’s better than ‘Gideon Eatwood,’” Chloe retorted. “I’d hate to think what you get up to in your spare time.”
Gideon stopped laughing instantly. “Actually, it’s ‘Fleetwood.’ As in, the Fleetwood Forest where you’re standing now? Don’t you know anything about this game?” Gideon grabbed the pot, checking carefully to make sure it had cooled down before kicking the back door open and flinging the contents outside.
Chloe felt herself at a disadvantage. Truth be told, she did know nothing about this game. This was a brand new game, or so she had been told, but this guy Gideon seemed to know a hell of a lot more than she knew about the mechanics and the lay of the land. Not only that, but she was certain he’d been practicing some sort of apothecary or magical arts in that house.
An idea struck Chloe.
“You seem to know an awful lot about this area.” Chloe softened her voice, coyly twirling her hair. “I suppose that means you have a map of some kind, yes? Something that might perhaps help us get out of these woods?”
Gideon returned inside and placed the pot back on the stove. He sadly shook his head. “Not anymore.”
Gideon’s eyes lowered to the floor as he told Chloe about a party that had been traveling with him and how they had gotten lost in the woods. According to Gideon, he had managed to gain an early VIP tester pass to play Obsidian due to the ridiculous number of hours and followers he’d generated livestreaming his gaming conquests with his friends.
“I didn’t even have to ask them. They called me, like, a day ago. Out of the blue.” He flung out his hands like an explosion. “Poof! And here I am.”
Gideon told Chloe he had come into the game with two other friends, Ben and Tag, and they had been exploring when they were attacked by the black bear and each scrambled in their own separate directions for safety. Gideon had trundled through the forest until he found succor in this cottage, and was now looking for better ways to arm himself against the elements.
“I’m only a level 3 mage, y’see?” Gideon fanned his robes out wide.
Chloe nodded appreciably. “Nice. And you were spawned with that to start?”
“Yep. Selected my class and character, and there you have it. Meet Mage Gideon Fleetwood.” Gideon twirled and knocked over what appeared to be, an empty potions bottle. “I admit that my skills need a bit of work.”
“I’ll say,” KieraFreya piped up.
“What was that?”
Chloe flushed, crossing her arms to cover her bracers. She had forgotten about KieraFreya for a moment and wasn’t sure now whether it was the best idea in the world to let a stranger know she had found a mythical relic that had a personality and voice all its own.
“Nothing,” Chloe said. “I’m actually jealous you got to pick your class and character. I was dumped into the game with nothing but these clothes. I didn’t have a chance to customize anything.”
Gide
on shuffled awkwardly.
“What?” Chloe asked.
“It’s nothing. Just…” He raised his hands. “You know what? It doesn’t matter.”
Chloe considered pushing the issue but could tell from Gideon’s demeanor that he would much rather put a lid on that particular topic.
“Fine.” She joined him in leaning against the work surface on the other side of the kitchen. “Well, since we’re both stuck in this godforsaken forest, I don’t suppose you’d be up for a bit of collaboration? Y’know, I scratch your back, you scratch mine?”
Gideon’s eyes flickered to Chloe’s chest, hovering a moment too long before finding her eyes. He gulped. “What did you have in mind?”
Chloe raised an eyebrow. “It seems to me that in order to get back to your friends, and for us to find this map so I can get out of these woods, we need to fix the local pest problem. What do you think about doing a little bit of bear hunting with Tamara the Incredible?”
Gideon scoffed, bringing a hand to his mouth as a notification popped up in Chloe’s vision.
Chapter Ten
There was a knock on the door. Mia started awake, wiping the line of drool that had crept down the side of her mouth with her sleeve. She pawed at her eyes and rose to answer.
“Just a minute.” She paused at the door. “Password?”
A muffled voice said, “Delta, kappa, delta.”
Mia laughed, opening the door and allowing Demetri to sweep into the room. It was dark outside, the sounds of traffic disappearing when the door closed.
Demetri ruffled his hair and exhaled. He took his place in the leather chair where he had spent every available moment staring at Chloe on the screen. He had had to disappear for a few hours today to spend his time consulting the other Lagarde siblings, ensuring that fame, fortune, and success didn’t inflate their egos too much.
Yeah, like that was a problem he could stop.
Collecting The Goddess (Chronicles Of KieraFreya Book 1) Page 7
