Collecting The Goddess (Chronicles Of KieraFreya Book 1)

by Michael Anderle

  The passageway opened to a small room. Raised steps led to a dais where a hooded figure stood before a lectern, arms raised on either side as rhythmic words tumbled out of its mouth. A white glow shone around either hand as it leaned over the dusty pages of an ancient tome.

  “Ahoy!” Chloe shouted, unsure of what else to do. The skeletons came up fast from behind.

  “Ahoy?” What the hell are you, the captain of a ship?

  The figure looked up, pulling back the folds of its hood to reveal a face so old and rotten that it took Chloe’s breath away. She performed a quick Creature Identification.

  Necrotic Black Mage (Level 15)

  496 HP

  Chloe exhaled, her shoulders slumping. Her MP was low, and her health had taken a hit. She also felt the effects of sprinting down the passageway since her stamina displayed that a hefty chunk was gone.

  “Any ideas?” Chloe asked desperately.

  “Throw fire at it? That seems to be the one arrow in your quiver.”

  Beep— ”you.”

  The black mage’s eyes locked with hers, and Chloe felt his power. She focused on her own incantation, summoning another fireball between her hands, and launched it at him. Her heart dropping as the mage waved his arms and the fireball faded into nothing more than steam, rolling off a forcefield around him.

  “Well, I guess it’s back to good old armed combat,” Chloe said, drawing her sword.

  She charged at the mage, who merely leered back at her with its rotting jaw. The mage muttered some new words, hands turning to a putrid green. The next thing Chloe knew, the walls of the space were crumbling as bony arms punched through the rock and more skeletons crawled out.

  Chloe sighed, not liking her chances here. She bent her will on using the last of her MP as she placed her palm flat against her sword and caused the blade to erupt into purple flames. She smiled with satisfaction, having been unsure that would work the same way the electricity had in the bog.

  Chloe sized up her enemies now that the others from the tunnel had caught up. She was surrounded on all sides by the dead.

  “Come at me, bro.”

  KieraFreya coughed. “Sexist.”

  “Shut up.”

  With a mighty roar, Chloe raised her sword and hacked at the first skeleton that came her way. She caught its neck at just the right angle, and the creature crumpled to the floor.

  Keeping the momentum of her swing, she stood on the spot, stretched the sword out with both arms, and spun. The blade whirled around the room, leaving a bright trail of purple flames as the sword hit skeleton after skeleton. They came in waves, Chloe managing to take down several dozen before she became so dizzy that she had to stop.

  The room whirled around her. She tried to steady herself and aim, but now found that every swing of her sword just missed its target. Stupidly her mind went to Gideon’s message about his conquest with the dead. She imagined what it might be like if Gid, Ben, and Tag were here right now.

  A smile played on her face.

  That sure would be a lot more fun than this.

  Chloe blinked, trying her best to fight the dizziness. Though she had made a dent in the skeleton population, there were still a dozen or so to defeat—not to mention the mage.

  The mage!

  The puppet master.

  Surely that would be the trick to defeating the dead? The skeletons behind the wall hadn’t risen until the mage had done...whatever the hell he had done.

  Chloe dropped to the floor as several skeletons reached for her throat. Crawling as fast as possible, she ducked between their legs, emerging by the crumbled walls. Chest squeezed in, she skirted the confused skeletons and found her way to the dais, secretly pleased that the hooded mage hadn’t changed his focus and that she was now out of sight behind the folds of his hood.

  Chloe took a steadying breath, held her sword aloft, and lunged at the mage. Her teeth bared, she gave a great scream as she envisioned the sword plunging through the robes and into the mage’s back.

  She was just inches away when she suddenly froze in mid-air. The mage reached glowing hands up and lowered its hood again, neck turning a semicircle on its spinal column, eyes bright with etheric power.

  “Er, call it a truce?” Chloe chuckled nervously.

  Without another word, the mage flung his hands at Chloe, and the full blast of his power hit somewhere in the region of her stomach as she was forced back into the wall.

  Chloe raised a pounding head, staring into the glowing eyes of the mage. There was pain somewhere deep inside her, and her sword fell limply to her side.

  The mage advanced, hands raised. The remaining skeletons also came at her. She was surrounded on all sides—

  —except one…

  Chloe managed to pull herself to shaky feet. She psyched herself up, preparing for the run, ready to make a dash through the gap and dodge around the skellies. Surely if she just headed back the way she had come, she could find another way out? She could outlast them all. Hide. Find a way to heal herself before they found her again. She’d made it out of stickier situations than this, surely?

  It was at that moment that Chloe spotted the small message icon in the corner of her sight. A small note from Gideon just waiting to be opened by her. She felt that familiar warmth grow inside her as she thought of her comrades, imagining what it would be like if they were with her now. Tag bowling the skellies over like ninepins and firing arrows to distract the mage from afar. Gideon caught in the midst of battle, hands glowing, giving the black mage a run for his money.

  It would be a different story right now. It would be a whole lot different. The skellies’ numbers would shrink, the mage would be toast, and they’d all be laughing as they healed each other’s wounds, looted the corpses, and found whatever treasure remained.

  Chloe knew what to do then. It was all so clear and simple. Obsidian, this…game, was built around leveling up and teamwork. It was designed around multiplayer adventure, and here she was trying to take on the world on her own. She had always felt lonely. Always been the odd one out. Even around her deliciously beautiful and shallow friends, Chloe had never quite fit in, which was something her family had made a point of highlighting whenever they could.

  The mage advanced on Chloe, the gap closing.

  Chloe wanted her friends there now. Needed them. It was all so clear. If she was to stand any chance of making her way through this game and fulfilling the legendary quest on which she had been sent, she needed to work with others. She would have to admit defeat and ask for help to get through the tougher times this game would offer.

  But how to find them now? They had gone off on their own adventure. They had set off from Oakston and—

  Chloe stared up at the ceiling and exhaled. If there was any way to work her way back to them, this was likely going to be it. She wouldn’t find them by hiding. She wouldn’t find them by running away from danger. There was only one way to get back, and as risky as it was, it was the only option Chloe could see.

  Gritting her teeth and preparing for the worse, Chloe stared into the glowing eyes of the mage. She lowered her head and charged into the throng of skeletons, making her way toward him. Her battle cries echoed around the room.

  When Chloe was just a few feet away, the mage’s hands pulsed once more. He lifted Chloe and threw her against the wall a final time, taking the last of Chloe’s health as her lifeless body fell to the floor.

  Wup-wup. You’re dead.

  Congratulations. You tried to brave the big, dark world of Obsidian alone. Few solo travelers fare well there or chance taking on dungeons by their lonesome, but you? Well, look what just happened.

  -50n experience (where n equals your character’s level)

  -1/2 your equipment

  Time to respawn: 2 hours

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Demetri was already awake when he heard the soft notification from the TV screen in the other room.

  He hesitated before rising, his arm
trapped under the crook of Mia’s neck. Her skin was soft, and her chest was slowly rising and falling in the moonlight. He considered waking her, then thought better of it, admiring how peaceful she looked when she was asleep, sleeping being something she rarely seemed to do.

  In the short time since they had reconnected, Mia had always been awake by the time he got home and was nearly always up before he had thought of rising. She didn’t have the zeal of an insomniac, but she certainly seemed to prefer sleeping when the rest of the apartment was quiet.

  And since Chloe was getting along so well in the game, there had been little to interrupt them as they laughed, cuddled, kissed, and reminisced over the lost decades.

  In fact, Chloe had been getting along so well in the game—according to Mia, anyway—that Demetri had had few worries over the last several days. His time was spent with his clients, then with Mia whenever he could get away.

  At first, he had been concerned for Chloe’s welfare, the experimental game seeming to be a lot tougher than anything he’d seen before. But now that she had friends and was spending time grinding in the village, there was little concern. She was glowing, her mind working hard to overcome the trials of her former life. When they went into her pod for preventive maintenance, her real body was smiling as her eyelids flickered as though she were in a deep sleep.

  Which he supposed she was.

  Wheedling his arm out, Mia shifting at the disturbance, Demetri crept into the apartment’s living room and took a seat in front of the TV. The screen hurt his eyes—bright white light in a dark room—and it took him a few seconds to adjust.

  “Chloe!” he said in a hushed whisper, the phone pinned between his chin and shoulder. “What brings you back to the land of the living?”

  “You’re kidding, right?” Chloe replied, an incredulous look on her face. He watched her on the screen, reclining in that chair, feet on the desk as usual.

  It was strange speaking to Chloe through the TV when he knew her body was just a few feet away in the other room.

  “No?”

  “You mean you didn’t just watch me get blasted by a mage and mauled by skellies?”

  Demetri picked up a candy bar and undid the wrapper, shoving the candy into his mouth whole. “What’s a skelly?”

  Chloe explained her entire situation in the room, Demetri’s eyebrows going up as she gave specific detail on the skeletons and their decaying appearance, his nose crinkling as she described their smell.

  “Sounds gross,” he replied. “How far is that dungeon from the village, then? Oaks…ville?”

  “You mean ‘Oakston,’ Doc. I haven’t been in the village in over a day or so. They booted me out.”

  “Why? They loved you? They called you ‘the blessed!’” Demetri wracked his brain, remembering Mia’s recounting of what was happening in the game. The last he could remember, she had been in that strange room with the villagers gathered around her.

  “Loved me? Eventually, they did.” Chloe scoffed. “I’ll still never forgive them for killing me. Not really.”

  Something in Demetri’s tone must have alerted Chloe because she added, “Doc, they stabbed me in the gut to test whether I was telling the truth about who I was. I died and came back to this room. Had a chat with Mia. She gave me advice about searching for shrines or holy places to start on my quest properly. Didn’t she tell you?”

  Demetri wracked his brain, trying to remember any nugget of information he might have missed. Maybe Mia had told him, and he had just forgotten. She must have done so. Surely somewhere between their daily bedroom tumbles (well, it wasn’t always in the bedroom), she must have mentioned something about Chloe suffering another death and them talking one on one.

  Demetri screwed his eyes shut, silent on the line. Try as he might, there was nothing. A small prickle of doubt appeared in the back of his mind. Surely if she had told him, he would have remembered. Chloe was the daughter of his biggest client. Hugo and Helen Lagarde had trusted Demetri with their daughter’s life and well-being. He would have remembered something like that.

  Which begged the question, why the hell hadn’t she?

  “Doc? You there?”

  Demetri started. “Yeah, sorry. It’s late here, and I’m not quite awake.”

  “Everything all right with you two?” Chloe asked.

  “Fine. I’ve just remembered, she did tell me. Yes.”

  “Doc?”

  Demetri brightened his voice, talking a bit too loudly. “Yes, nothing to worry about. Just keep focusing on yourself for now. In the best way possible, it’s been nice that we haven’t talked as much lately. You’ve had quite a run over the last few days.” He heard Mia shuffling in the other room and lowered his voice again. “Am I right in thinking the treatment is working?”

  Chloe hesitated before responding, her image on the screen displaying one eyebrow raised. She chewed over the question, then fell into discussion with Demetri about how alive she felt (well, not technically at that moment after dying). About how real and beautiful the world was, and how for the first time ever, she felt truly free.

  “Seriously, if you’re not careful, I’m never coming back.” She laughed, hearing the timer announce she had one hour to go until re-immersion.

  “Oh, you’ll be coming back. It’s more than my job’s worth for you to remain immersed in that...game.” Demetri laughed.

  Chloe rested her head on the back of the chair. Demetri followed suit. It was nice catching up with Chloe, talking like old friends. He had always had a soft spot for her over the other Lagarde kids, and now that they were spending time together outside his professional practice room, he found that he could relax around her. She was fun, lively, and honest.

  They continued chatting right up until the timer announced Chloe’s departure back into the game. Over the last few minutes, Chloe had asked once more: “Doc, are you sure everything’s all right with you?”

  Demetri’s lips tightened. He half-turned his head as the first sign of dawn appearing through the slatted blinds of the apartment. He had served as a professional in psychology for nearly two decades, detecting when others had problems and ironing them out using common sense and an objective lens. Now…

  Was he allowing himself to do the exact thing he’d silently judged others for doing so many times over the years?

  “Everything’s fine,” he said dryly. “Just concentrate on yourself, Chloe. I’m rooting for you.”

  He watched a flicker of concern wash once more over Chloe’s face before she nodded and said her goodbyes. The screen flashed bright white, announcing her departure back into Obsidian.

  Demetri placed the receiver down, leaned his head back again, and closed his eyes.

  He was unaware of Mia standing silently in the doorway behind him with a mournful expression on her face.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chloe had prepared for the worst, wondering if she would find herself back at the top of the mountain by the shrine. Having no idea what the difference between a fast travel point and a re-spawn point was, she had taken a hell of a risk choosing death over survival, but when she opened her eyes and saw several dozen shocked faces staring at her, she breathed a sigh of relief.

  Ignoring the flummoxed faces, she patted herself down, rolling her eyes as she noticed that… Yep, once again, the top half of her clothing had been confiscated as part of the punishment for dying.

  “Seriously?” She sighed. At least she was proud of what she was sporting.

  Realizing that the message had read that half her items would be claimed, she opened her inventory, discovering that her rusty sword, croc meat, and—

  “No! Not my tiny stick!”

  True enough, Chloe’s first Obsidian weapon was missing. At first, she had thought she was joking as she yelled her disdain, but she realized there was a hint of real sadness there. Although the stick had been next to useless, it had reminded her of where she had started in the game—a mental checkpoint to show her how fa
r she had come.

  Still, at least you have your coin, KieraFreya said in her mind as Chloe saw with mild delight that half the coins she had stolen from the skellies were still in her possession.

  Chloe rubbed a hand over her face, stared once more at her own deliciously firm and fake game breasts, then resolved to sort out adequate protection. She looked around at the unsettled faces, suddenly remembering that her welcome had been worn out at this village.

  “Maybe you shouldn’t stick a respawn point in the center of your town if you don’t want blessed suddenly appearing out of nowhere,” she told them.

  Spinning on her heels, Chloe resolved to find a quiet place to collect her thoughts and plan how to get new clothes to cover herself.

  But not before she pulled up her menu and checked her messages from Gideon.

  Wow...did not expect to open a message like that right now!

  Just logged back in. Mom’s going haywire over how much time I’m spending in-game and having a fit over the fact that bro funded it all.

  Found a butt-ton more bugs in this game. We really need to patch together some kind of report to send back to Praxis, but I can’t find the option to send stuff anywhere. If they’re reading this now, then:

  CAN YOU MAKE IT SO ENEMIES DON’T ATTACK WHEN WE’RE LOGGED OFF?

  I get needing to find safe spaces just like in the real world, but seriously, I’ve got so many bug bites that I look like I’ve got poison oak. It’s itchy as…

  Anyway. Found no cleaning products in the mountains, but you should definitely watch out for those spiders. They get real…excited when they see women!

  Hope you cleared your dungeon.

  Gid

  PS Say hi to KF for me ;)

  Chloe couldn’t help but smile as she read his words. She stared a little too long at the postscript, wondering who KF was until she heard KieraFreya tell her to keep walking into cover. Then it made sense.