Raiya- Early Game

by Russell Wilbinski

  “A chosen of the Archons has arrived in Raiya! These mysterious figures often herald great change for every inhabitant of this world and many others. As witnesses to this auspicious occasion, you have received a boon from the Archons themselves.”

  Boon of the Archons

  You have received 150,000 experience and 20 attribute points to spend as you see fit. Experience gains for the next thirty days increased by 50 percent.

  “Do not waste this boon. The Archons hope that you will grow strong through battle and training!”

  No one moved, completely stunned by the magnitude of the boon. For many, that was enough experience to earn at least five levels, not to mention twenty free attribute points. It was an astounding gift from the archons.

  “I hope you’re not going to just stand there and wait for our deaths.” A voice said from behind them.

  Priestess whirled to face the owner of that voice. “Captain Skree? You’re back!”

  “I suppose I am.” Skree said, dropping to one knee as Priestess rushed over, throwing her arms around his neck. He hugged his friend before separating himself. He stood to greet Fenna who was marching toward him. He opened his arms to embrace her and when she punched him square in the face, he was caught completely off guard.

  He stumbled back a few steps, holding his cheek. “What did you do that for!” He shouted.

  “This is your fault. First, we had to wait around here while locked in your cabin for two days, just long enough for these monsters to find us. Second-” She punched him in the gut, doubling him over. “Mills is dead, and it’s your fault.” Fenna drew her fist back again, but Hawkins grabbed her arm, pulling her away from Skree.

  “Enough Fenna, we don’t have time to fight each other. We have to come up with a plan for that monstrosity racing our way.” Hawkins said, hooking a thumb over his shoulder where the ship was growing ever larger as it grew near.

  “Holy crap!” Skree said, taking in the enormous ship for the first time. “What is that thing?”

  “No idea.” Hawkins said. “Seen nothing like it in all my days. It's much faster than a ship that size should be.”

  It reminded Skree of those hydrofoil ships from earth. “How is my ship Hawkins? It looks prettybad.”

  “She ain’t getting away from that thing. The Typhoon might have trouble at this rate.”

  Skree nodded, a plan forming in his head. “Fenna, I hate to ask, but I need you to get everyone onto the Typhoon. Take everything that isn’t bolted down and get these people out of here.” He pointed at the deck where most of the surviving crew had assembled. “Please help me save them.”

  She rolled her eyes. “You think I’d just leave them here to die?”

  “No, but you have your own crew to worry about and taking on this many will only slow you down.”

  Priestess stamped her foot. “Get these people out of here? I assume that means you as well?”

  Skree smiled sadly at her. “Someone has to stop this monster, and like Fenna said, this is truly my fault. It’s me they are after.”

  “You don’t know that!” she snapped, tears streaking down her face.

  “I do. All of this is my fault. You protected me while I was out of commission and now it's my turn to repay the favor.”

  She crossed her arms, her tail swishing angrily. “Then I’m staying.”

  Skree shook his head. “No, someone has to take care of our family. Go back to Theseldora.” A wet nose brushed against his hand, followed by a few licks from a sandpaper tongue. He looked down to see his animal companion, white fur stained with blood and soot. “You too, boy.”

  Zuka whimpered and a feeling of denial invaded his thoughts. “No arguments from you either.” He knelt down and stared into his companions' eyes. “Zuka, I break our bond. I set you free to find another master.”

  Zuka growled, then whimpered, his tail sagging. A prompt appeared in Skree’s vision.

  You have broken your bond with Zuka, your animal companion. Zuka will keep all attributes, levels and abilities earned while he was your companion. Zuka may now forge a bond with another master.

  “Skree, you can't do this.” Priestess said, clutching at his collar. “I won’t let you!” She pounded at his chest, anger and sadness pouring out in waves until she had exhausted herself. He held her for a moment, letting her radiant heat warm him.

  “This isn’t goodbye. I will find you again.” He leaned in and whispered into her ear, “I hope that you can bond with Zuka. You two are terrifying together and there is no one else I would trust to watch your back.”

  She pulled away, wiping away her tears. She cleared her throat, straightened her spine and nodded. “I will watch over him until you return.”

  Fenna leaned against the railing, watching the touching exchange with an angry stare.Shall we get everyone moved over mister Hawkins?”

  “Aye-aye captain.” He replied, moving to shake Skree’s hand. “It has been an honor to sail with you Captain Skree.”

  “Hell of a maiden voyage, eh?”

  “One of the most exciting, that’s for sure.”

  Chapter 62

  It took them less than ten minutes to transfer everyone to the Typhoon, the smaller ship laboring to stay afloat with all the added crew and supplies. It impressed Skree just how fast desperate sailors could move when a deadly adversary loomed on the horizon. He shook hands with each and ever surviving crew member, exchanged a hug with Elaina, Old Greg, Jury, and Moultry and patted Zuka on the head one last time.

  “Don’t make it easy for them.” Fenna said, squaring up to him. “Make it hurt, make it count.”

  “You’ll look after her won’t you?” Skree said, watching Priestess hop across the gang plank and onto the deck of the Typhoon.

  Fenna nodded. “They’ll be safe and sound in Theseldora, but that little lizard has big plans. She will not wait around forever you know? I give it two months before she is putting together a team to settle that island of yours.”

  “I suppose it’s hers now. But I’ll be back, someday. I promise.”

  Her features softened. “I will miss you, even though I don’t want to. When you came aboard my ship, I knew there was something special about you. I guess I was right.” She shrugged. “Sometimes I wish I would have listened to Hawkins. Just left you on the blasted island, to live out your days or let those strangers snatch you up.”

  Skree raised an eyebrow, but she continued. “I couldn’t. I wouldn’t.” She wrapped a hand around the back of his neck, and pulled his forehead to hers. “Stay alive.”

  “That’s the plan.” He said, pulling away. “Now, get going, that ship is closing quickly.”

  She nodded, walking effortlessly across the plank back to her ship. Skree smiled as she shouted orders, the crew breaking into motion; the ship came alive in an instant. He made his way to the wheel, and oriented the Sawbones toward the strange vessel.

  The last thing he heard was the sad, sonorous howl from Zuka that tore at his heart. Zuka had and always would be important to him, but this wasn’t his fight. If he stayed, he would die just like Sawbones, just like the kobolds, just like Mills. He couldn’t do that to his companion. Better to set him free than to watch him die.

  The bow of the Sawbones oriented toward the enemy vessel, and Skree bound the wheel into place with a cord of rope. Moving quickly, he ducked below deck searching for the thing he asked Moultry for and found it easily. The massive cannon Moultry had crafted for himself years ago. When he first asked, the burly dwarf had nearly choked himself to death, but when Skree explained his plan, He was more than willing to sacrifice the powerful gun to take down the bastards that had attacked them.

  It took a lot of effort, but he muscled the heavy weapon onto the deck, using nails to anchor it to the deck. With a grunt, Skree aimed the cannon straight into the air. He poured the gunpowder into the mouth of the cannon, stuffed the cannonball into the tube and plug in a fuse. Once lit, the fuse would burn a foot every second. He
unfurled sixty feet of cord, running it below deck.

  In the cargo hold, Skree stared through a gaping hole in the hull, the monster of a ship looming in close enough to see the crew preparing to board him. He ran another length of fuse, this time to the stores of powder barrels. He sparked the fuse for the cannon, watching the sparking fuse whip back and forth wildly as the flame raced toward the cannon. Just as expected, he heard the shouts of the enemy crew and the hold dimmed in the shadow of the huge ship. After thirty seconds passed, he lit the second fuse, watching the flame chase the first.

  He cast his water breathing spell, and when the cannon fired he dove through the hole in the ship, plunging into the warm, crystal clear water.Pumping his legs hard, he sank deeper into the water, the wavering shapes of the ships becoming less and less solid. Despite his experience with the water breathing spell, his hard wired instincts fought against him. A million years of evolution screamed that he couldn’t breathe in the deep, dark water but he knew the magic would allow him to do just that. Focusing, he calmed his racing mind and opened his mouth, sucking in a huge mouthful of water.

  Just as it had always done, he felt the liquid fill his lungs, but also oxygen that flooded into his body. Moments later, he was breathing normally. Staring upward, he waited for the Sawbones to explode, hopefully sending any boarding party to a watery grave. Minutes passed as evidenced by the timer on his water breathing buff. Two minutes. Five minutes. Nothing.

  “What the hell?” he said, the words nothing more than a gurgling sound this deep underwater. even though he could breathe, communication still posed a challenge underwater. Even though his plan had failed, Skree had no intention of surrendering. They would have to kill him, if they even could. Neither Sharktooth nor Abrenacht had explained the details of his immortality but regardless, he wasn’t trying to figure it out today. Death would have to wait, he had other matters to attend.

  Pulling at the water, he thrust toward the surface, watching the shadows of the ships resolving once more into recognizable shapes. Instead of swimming for the Sawbones, he made his way to a skid the massive ship used as a stilt, putting it between him and the Sawbones. Breaking the surface slowly, Skree scanned above him and was relieved to see no one staring down over the railing on this side.

  He submerged, pulling himself along the strange featureless hull to the end, surfacing just enough to see the Sawbones. On the deck were two dozen sailors, along with a familiar man he only knew from visions of the past.

  “Tamarand.” he growled, slapping a hand over his mouth and submerging. He had almost shouted the emperor's name, stopping himself at the last moment. The first of the Chosen corrupted by Abrenachts dark influence had come personally to ensure his capture. Skree steeled his resolve, swimming behind the skid once more. Now there was no way he could surrender. Looking up, he saw that Moultry’s powerful cannon had hit the hull of the floating galleon sized vessel, punching a hole clean through.

  Moving quietly, Skree pulled himself onto the skid, inspecting the stilts leading upward more closely. They were thick timbers, easily as thick as he was tall, and every few feet, a dark metal band wrapped the wood, reinforcing it to support the massive weight overhead. Lucky for him, they made for excellent handholds. Channeling his inner squirrel, Skree scrambled up the outer edge, reaching the top in under a minute. With a dangerous leap, he grabbed the lip of the hole he had made, pulling himself inside with a grunt.

  He rolled away from the edge, sucking in air. The climb had been difficult, but he still had stamina to spare. Taking in his surroundings, Skree saw crates stacked in neat rows, all tied to the deck with thick ropes. The heavy cannonball had blasted one crate to bits, scattering fruits and vegetables everywhere. He snatched up an apple, took a bite and tossed it away. He was hungry and realized suddenly he hadn’t eaten in nearly three days.

  At the far end of the hold was a large cage, made from dark metal clearlymeant to function as a cell for prisoners. He shuddered at the thought of his crew and friends being locked inside, sailing to an unknown prison far from here.

  “Not on my watch.” he whispered. Crouching low, he activated Stealth, the familiar icon appearing in his vision. The closed eye told him he was alone and in no danger of being spotted, at least not at the moment. Reaching into his Nearly Bottomless Bag, he withdrew his Savage Steel Hatchets, spinning them a few times, the weapons comfortable in his hands. The tight interiors of a ship were no place for a Great Sword.

  Moving up a set of stairs, he cracked open a door at the top, peering down a long corridor extending in two directions. The space was clear of cargo, lit every ten feet with glowing stones instead of lanterns or torches. Whatever these stones were, he would need to purchase some for his ship, if he was lucky enough to find another one. He heard voices approaching so he shut the door until only a sliver of light remained.

  "… Empty. The Emperor has called for Water Breathers to board, thinks the coward is hiding under the ship.”

  “We better get down there ‘fore he has us executed.”

  Their footfalls sped up and faded into the distance, silence once again filling the corridor. Skree slipped into the hallway, approached the nearest door and listened carefully. He heard nothing and cracked the door open, revealing neat rows of bunks lining the walls, and hammocks sagging between the pillars. At a glance, there had to be at least three dozen sleeping spots. Chests of belongings rested at the foot of each bunk and any other time, he would have searched them for loot, but he couldn’t dally.

  He moved further down the corridor, and when a pair of sailors emerged into the hallway he had no choice but to throw open a door and slip inside. Much to his relief, the space was dimly lit,filled only with shelves he could barely make out. It was much smaller than the crew cabins he had seen. In the corner was a pile of crates, nearly hidden by shadows. The footsteps grew louder and stopped on the other side of the door.

  “Come on, we slip inside, grab a few of the healing potions and hide them in our normal spot.” A female voice said.

  “I dont know Maya, stealing from the captain is one thing, but with the emperor on board? He’ll destroy us without question.” The man said.

  “Don’t be such a baby Harin, how many times have we done this and no one ever found out?” Maya said.

  There was a brief pause. “Six? No, Seven!” Harin said excitedly, as if remembering the answer to a difficult question.

  “Keep your voice down.“She hissed.

  Skree slunk to the pile of crates in the corner, ducking low. The door creaked open, and the pair slipped inside. The woman extended her arm, and a lantern bloomed into life, shining a narrow beam like a flashlight. She rushed to the wall of shelves, checking the small boxes quickly and efficiently, not bothering to open anything. When she found the box she was searching for, she set the lantern on a shelf, opened the box and yipped softly.

  “We’re in luck Harin, three vials of the stuff.” She whispered, turning to show them to the man. Skree realized he was wearing a metal breastplate, but it was thin and rusty, unlike the black armor of Tamarand’s soldiers. The man stepped toward her and clanked into the box, nearly knocking it from her hands. A single vial spilled out and shattered on the floor.

  “You idiot Harin, that was worth a fortune.” She snapped the box shut and stuffed it under an arm. “Come on, we have to get these to our spot before someone shows up.”

  “You mean the cubby by the steam engine?” He asked.

  “Where else do we put our treasures you idiot?”

  He slumped at the insult and she patted him on the shoulder. “Sorry, I didn’t mean that. But come on, we have to go.”

  She rushed back toward the door and a pungent smell assaulted Skree’s nostrils. He stuck his tongue out in disgust, the powerful aroma all too familiar. The healing potions were Samolin, the ancient alcoholic drink of the Kobolds. King Sawbones told him it was a powerful healing tonic, and after drinking way too much, Skree had learned that it was in
deed a very strong healing agent, and an intoxicant.

  Drinking it had earned him a mighty hangover, but a powerful buff that might have saved his life back on the island. If they had Samolin on this ship, then it probably meant that High King Sawbones was alive, just like Abrenacht had shown him. How else would they know the recipe?

  Skree slid out from his hiding spot, slipping into the hallway a dozen paces behind the pair of theives. He followed them through a series of turns, almost losing them more than once as he had to hide behind support beams and crates to let other crew members continue past them. A loud rhythmic sound thudded in the distance and the planks of the floor vibrated with each clang.

  The thieves opened a door, and a cacophony filled the corridor. The sounds of metal on metal, the smell of burning word and a quickly evaporating cloud of steam drifted toward him. Taking a chance, he ran full speed toward the door while he had such a great distraction to cover his footfalls. Upon reaching the door, he scanned the corridor one last time, seeing the area remained free of enemies. He slipped inside, closing the door behind him. Inside the compartment, the noise was so loud it was borderline painful. Over the din, he heard a voice cry out.

  “Who are you?” Harin asked, sounding confused. Skree spun, throwing his hatchet at the man. It streaked across the steamy room, burying itself into the man’s chest. He looked down at the hatchet, even more confused and toppled to the ground. He groaned and clutched at the weapon, blood welling from between his fingers.

  “What did you do that for?” Maya shrieked. She scrambled out of a small compartment in the floor holding a vial in her hand. Maya dropped to a knee and shoved the healing potion into Harin’s hand. “Drink it you big dummy. I’ll deal with this.”

  She stood, drawing her blades smoothly. Skree readied himself for her attack, expecting her to rush forward but she vanished, blinking out of existence, the steam rushing to fill the space her body had occupied. Weeks of battling Fenna at sea had given him plenty of practice dealing with someone who could teleport. He turned, swiping his blade in a left-to-right arc that nearly caught her off guard when she appeared behind him. She parried at the very last instant, the pointy end of the hatchet digging into her hand as she leapt away.