Collecting The Goddess (Chronicles Of KieraFreya Book 1)

by Michael Anderle

Chloe summoned all of her Charismatic skill, sure that she could be convincing enough to pull this off. “Weed.”

  “Weed?” the other guard scoffed. “That little runt is only offering you that for a lay. You get that, right?”

  Chloe shrugged.

  Rocky’s eyes lit up. “How’s about a deal then, pretty lady? We let you through—just this once—and when night time rolls around, you find a way to...pay us back.” He winked behind his gold helmet and Chloe had to force down vomit.

  Chloe turned from the stairs to the guards. “You’ve got yourself a deal, big boy.”

  She left them chuckling stupidly behind her as she swept down the stairs.

  The stairs were circular, and Chloe ran down and around, harnessing her Sneak ability to pass the guards on other floors before they noticed she was there.

  She counted her way down, reaching levels 4, 3, 2, 1. When she reached what she believed to be the lowest floor, she was surprised to find that the stairs kept winding down.

  Following the stairway all the way down, she came to a small door, marked Private. She spared one last glance back up the stairs before turning the handle and heading inside.

  The room was pitch-black and smelled like the earth. Chloe summoned her Purple Blaze in a small ball and lit the inside of the room. It was tiny, like a janitor’s closet in size, yet now that she was here, she could feel something like a strange tugging at her chest. The air felt thick with something she couldn’t describe.

  “Magical power,” KieraFreya whispered. If she had a mouth, Chloe could imagine her smiling in awe. “I can feel it, Chloe. I can feel another part of me. It’s calling to me.”

  KieraFreya took over Chloe’s arms, forcing her to touch the cool earth of the walls. The flame orb dropped from her hand, extinguishing as it hit the floor.

  Chloe fought back, regaining control of her arms.

  “Fucking hell, you stupid bitch,” KieraFreya cursed, wrestling with Chloe. “Calm your shit down and let me take over. Trust me. I’ve got this.”

  “Trust you?” Chloe said incredulously. “You nearly burned my feet off. Besides, it’s not like you’ve given me much reason to trust you, is it?”

  KieraFreya sighed. “That feeling that’s hanging in the air? That’s a calling. The power of the gods summoning me. Summoning us. We’re incredibly close, Chloe. Don’t let your hubris ruin this for me. I mean, us.”

  Her voice was so sickly sweet that Chloe didn’t even recognize it as KieraFreya’s. She weighed her options, not liking the idea of letting KieraFreya take the driver’s seat. But then she heard the footsteps heading down toward her, followed by soft voices as a pair of guards made their way downstairs.

  Chloe grabbed a small table and propped it in front of the door. She then stepped to the center of the room, let her arms drop, and said, “Okay, all yours.”

  It was a strange sensation, letting KieraFreya lead her around the room. Her hands rose of their own accord, patting surfaces and feeling for things Chloe didn’t quite understand. At one point, she was on her tiptoes, fondling the corners of the ceiling, the next she was on all fours, patting the ground like a visually-impaired man looking for his glasses.

  KieraFreya led her around the entire room in record time, finding a spot on the floor where she used Chloe’s hands to dig and paw at the mud. Chloe complained, yelping as a fingernail snapped off.

  “Huh?” a guard said, finally reaching the door.

  “Did you hear that?” said another.

  The door handle was tried. The table took the weight.

  “Come on,” Chloe urged.

  “Oi! Let us in,” the guard shouted, urgency in his voice now.

  The door shook in its frame. Shoulder bash after shoulder bash, and the table began to splinter.

  “Wow,” KieraFreya said, pausing in her digging efforts. “Chloe, look.”

  She had uncovered what appeared to be markings etched into the floor. Her fingers brushed away more debris, the lines becoming clearer and emitting a faint glow.

  “That’s it!” a guard shouted. “Ready or not, here I come!”

  Running footsteps and a leap. The door came out of its frame and crashed to the floor, along with the guard, in a cloud of dust and dirt. Several other guards ran in, almost filling the room. They coughed, waving away the dust to look around the room.

  But there was no one there to find.

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Chloe coughed as she landed with a thud, kicking a cloud of dust into the air.

  “Okay, what the hell just happened?” she wheezed, hunting for the wall in the blackness so she could stand. Her hand found support and she lifted herself up, crying out in disgust as she looked at the faint outline of the domed skull of the skeleton she was clutching. “Ew! Gross!”

  “We transported,” KieraFreya said matter-of-factly. “That emblem was a transport pad, a minor cousin of the moonhopper. Great for small distances and lighter loads.”

  “So the guards will be joining us any second? Quick. We need to run.”

  Chloe went to run but KieraFreya pulled her back. “Calm down. They won’t be going anywhere. Transport pads require a small injection of magic, and I’m almost positive the guards don’t possess the requirements to follow.”

  “Where did we get the magic?” Chloe asked, realizing as she pulled up her character sheet and saw the small expenditure of magic what had happened.

  “You stole my mana?”

  “Borrowed,” KieraFreya replied. “Remember, it replenishes. And besides, I needed to get us out of there. Would you rather have been recaptured and marched back to your cell, all privileges cut off? Or worse, dead?”

  Chloe’s shoulders dropped. “No.” She squinted into the darkness, waiting as her Dark Vision ability kicked in and she began to see vague outlines of the walls of the tunnel ahead. “We should get a move on, though. If we can transport using a small amount of magic, it won’t be long until they find someone who can follow us. I can’t imagine the Nauriel guards would take kindly to losing a prisoner.”

  They set off at a brisk pace along the tunnel, the air thick with the feeling of magic. Chloe’s wrists tingled as they walked, getting farther and farther away from the transport pad.

  “Where the hell do you think we are?” Chloe asked, not waiting for an answer as she pulled up her map. Her heart leaped as she saw that her icon was a hair’s breadth from the sigil of the gods.

  “We must still be in the tree,” KieraFreya said. “Deep in the very heart of it.”

  “Why would your armor be here? If anything, it looks like this passage hasn’t been used in thousands of years.”

  “Exactly. See, there is a legend that says the Nauriel Tree was planted as a peace offering between two clans at war in ages long since passed. A great battle ensued, ravaging the lands and destroying nearly all who were involved. As the numbers dwindled and the war waned, a resolution was reached and the houses of Nauthala and Tamriel were united when a prince and princess wed.”

  “Nauthala and Tamriel? Nauriel?” Chloe said, putting the pieces together.

  “You’ve got it.”

  “One thing I don’t understand,” Chloe said, stepping over another skeleton lying haphazardly in the passageway. “If you are a goddess, that means that you were birthed at the beginning of time, right?”

  “What’s your point?”

  “Well, surely you would have seen all of this take place? Why are you talking as though it’s all just legends and myths? Can’t you tell me what actually happened?”

  KieraFreya took a few seconds to reply. “The truth isn’t often half as romantic as the legend. Sometimes stories mature better over time. The most delectable wines are the oldest.”

  “So what really happened?”

  “The prince and the princess banged, their parents weren’t happy, and after a small brawl in one of their abodes, they settled their differences, planted a tree in union, and that was it.”

  Chloe l
aughed, the sound echoing a fair distance down the tunnel. She clapped a hand to her mouth.

  “Nice one,” KieraFreya scolded. “Let them know we’re coming.”

  “Who?”

  “You think this passageway is going to be empty? Think again. This area was obviously used at some point to house the worst of the worst prisoners.”

  “How do you know?”

  KieraFreya pointed Chloe’s arms at the walls, where they could now make out the silhouettes of bars and open jail cells. They poked their heads in and saw shackles hanging from the walls, along with chains and locks.

  “Maybe they all just died and stayed that way?” Chloe said hopefully.

  KieraFreya sighed. “You’re far too optimistic to last five minutes in this realm. I admire it. I do, really. But I also think you’re one of the stupidest people I’ve ever met.”

  “Well, like it or not, you’re stuck with me,” Chloe said, resting her back against the wall and putting her hands into the shackles, pretending to be an old-time prisoner. “Hey, check it out. Help! Help!”

  Her giggle lasted until the shackles clamped shut.

  “Hey? What…”

  Chloe struggled against the shackles, her wrists now locked in tight.

  “As I was saying…” KieraFreya sounded downtrodden.

  “It’s fine,” Chloe told her, not quite believing her own words when she heard footsteps outside the cell and down the passageway.

  “I swear to the gods, if it’s more goddamn skeletons, I’m going to—” beep “scream!”

  The footsteps grew louder, and there were more than a single pair. When she saw their figures appear around the corner, Chloe lit a purple orb and immediately regretted it as the rotten creatures came into view.

  “I’m starting to regret wishing the skeletons away.”

  Several zombies came into view, staggering toward Chloe. They limped along, clothes decayed and ragged. The only thing that gave Chloe an ounce of hope was that their arms were still shackled.

  Nauriel Prisoner - Zombie (Lv 6)

  115HP

  “115HP? That’s hardly anything!” Chloe said, the zombie’s scent now making its way to her nostrils. She struggled once more against the ancient shackles, praying they’d break.

  She scanned the others, all ranging between levels 5-7. If she were free, this would be a pretty easy battle.

  Chloe focused her will on summoning a fireball between her hands. She chucked the orb like a netball, watching with dismay as the fire pooled around her feet, singing her toes.

  “Nice one,” KieraFreya snipped, “Now you can barbecue yourself before they feast on your flesh.”

  And indeed the fire did nothing to stop the zombies. They were within reach of her now, clawing at her trouser legs. The smell of charred flesh rose into the air.

  Chloe hung from her wrists, raised her legs, and booted one of the zombies away. It bowled into the others, knocking them to the floor, one of them now alight in a purple column.

  “Come on!” Chloe shouted, feet back on the ground as she tore at the shackles. The wall behind her crumbled and the shackles got a tiny bit looser. She shouted in frustration as she pulled and pulled, not quite having the strength to give to the cause.

  “I wonder if specialized classes provide a bonus in strength?” KieraFreya muttered as Chloe distracted herself with another kick. The flames at her feet beginning to die down now.

  “What are you saying?” Chloe grunted, sending a swift boot into the zombie’s face. She grimaced as she heard the skull crumble.

  “The best choices are those made in the heat of the moment. Get it? Get it?”

  Chloe rolled her eyes as several of the zombies rose once again, even fire unable to hold them down.

  In a spur-of-the-moment flash of inspiration, Chloe flicked up her menu, hovered over her character sheet, and clicked for more options under the Class section.

  The same five options she had been deliberating painfully over popped into view, and without hesitation, Chloe selected one. It all made so much sense in that moment. It had never really been a question; she had known exactly what she wanted to be from the moment she’d won her first battle.

  After she confirmed her decision, her entire body began to glow. The world became clearer, and warmth coursed through her veins. She felt her mind unlock a thousand possibilities as several notifications popped into her display. Her hands began to weave an incantation she felt she had known all her life, the words finding their way to her lips.

  Chloe’s hands began to glow. The glow spread to the shackles that held her. She fought with all her willpower, feeling her MP drain as the metal squealed, rust falling off in flakes as they fought against her. Chloe’s wrist became freer by the second.

  With a snap, the shackles popped open and Chloe was free.

  Her face darkened as she stared at the zombies, now just inches away from her. She closed her eyes, drew on the power of the gods, and summoned Deic Light, a straight column of dazzling light flying from her hands and penetrating the hearts of the zombies. They fell to their knees, crawling on the floor as the light faded.

  Chloe used the last of her MP as she trained her hands on the shackles. The metal groaned as the brickwork crumbled, and soon the whole lot fell into her hands. She raised the heavy metal bands, and smashed them onto each of the zombies’ heads in turn, relishing the little flashing icons that appeared in her vision.

  “Take...that…” Chloe gasped, the last of her strength gone. She tossed the shackles aside and looked down at her work. Several dead zombies, a fair amount of thick ichor, and the dying embers of purple flames.

  She sat against the wall, took several deep breaths, and checked her notifications.

  Congratulations, you have selected your class: Battle Mage (Novice)

  Battle mages are ferocious in combat, with an insatiable appetite for destructive magic and the ability to dual wield with physical weaponry.

  As a battle mage, you now have access to a select range of unique starter spells for your class. Continue quenching your thirst for magic by playing with experimental spells, training at the Mages’ Academy, or learning from a Master Mage.

  Take advantage of the benefits of both the warrior and mage classes, but pay close attention to those you allow within your circle. There are many who envy battle mages, and there are many who are mistrustful of a player who can cast magic and fight well with swords. There are those in Obsidian who would rather see you fall than prosper, so keep your cards close to your chest.

  In order to further develop your abilities as a battle mage, you will need to keep rising in the ranks. Reach higher levels to increase your standing in your class.

  Next increase: Battle Mage (Apprentice) - Level 16

  Bonuses: +15 intelligence, +10 etheric potential, +15% luck to experimental magicks, +5,000 exp, +300MP, +10% increase to exp gains (24 hours)

  New (mystic) spell acquired: Telekinesis (Lv 1)

  Tap into the etheric, dear mage, and manipulate the world around you with nothing but a thought. Metal bends to your will, rivers stop running, fires stop roaring…

  Eventually. For now, you can tweak the behaviors of small things.

  Requirements: n x 40MP (where n is equal to the number of seconds taken to cast the spell)

  New (destructive) spell acquired: Ice Shard (Lv 1)

  Ice may melt and ice may thaw, but you can guarantee it’ll do some damage before it fades into oblivion.

  The ultimate spell for stealthy kills. Fire an ice shard into your opponent’s heart and watch the baffled faces of the investigators when the shard melts without a trace.

  Requirements: n x 10MP per shard (where n is equal to the number of seconds taken to cast the spell)

  New (restorative) spell acquired: Healing Hands (Lv 1)

  A studious mage would be nothing without a little healing power. Lay your hands upon an injured comrade and help bring them back to health. Lay hands on yourself to fix t
hose bumps and bruises and return to the battle as if nothing had ever happened.

  Requirements: (on others) n x 15MP (where n is equal to the number of seconds taken to cast the spell)

  (on self) n x 18MP (where n is equal to the number of seconds taken to cast the spell.

  Level increased! You are now level 11

  Congratulations! By confirming your class and kicking the snot out of your enemies, you have gained a level. (When will it stop, eh?) Take advantage of your newfound specialization and try new combinations of spells and attacks to rapidly rise in the ranks and soar to heights heretofore unseen in Obsidian.

  +4 attribute points

  (Attribute points must be assigned within 24 hours of gameplay. If unassigned after 24 hours, any remaining points will be randomly assigned.)

  Monster defeated: Nauriel Prisoner - Zombie (Lv 6)

  +60 exp

  Monster defeated: Nauriel Prisoner - Zombie (Lv 5)

  +60 exp

  Monster defeated: Nauriel Prisoner - Zombie (Lv 6)

  +60 exp

  Monster defeated: Nauriel Prisoner - Zombie (Lv 6)

  +60 exp

  Monster defeated: Nauriel Prisoner - Zombie (Lv 7)

  +60 exp

  Spell power increased: Purple Blaze (Lv 2)

  You’ve just gained your first advance in a spell. Continual and accurate use of a spell will help you grow in etheric potential. Use your additional power to cast two individual orbs of purple flame in each hand for double the damage against your enemies. Or combine with another spell to create a floating orb of light to accompany you down those dark holes in the world.

  Bonuses: +1 etheric potential, reduced cast cost (n x 19MP)

  Chloe couldn’t believe what she was reading. Why the hell had she waited this long to select her class? The benefits were astounding!

  Experience points granted, additional attribute points, three new spells, and a level gained! She beamed, her grin stretching from ear to ear. Wow, when this game gives rewards, it really gives rewards.

  As she re-read the information, her lip curled as she realized the MP spend that her new spells would take. Now that she was level 11, that would mean that casting Ice Shard at 10MP per shard would cost her 110MP per attack. Considering that MP wasn’t the highest stat she had, that would make spell-casting pretty expensive for her.