by Byron Kings
“Don’t try anything stupid,” he said.
Instead of taking us outside, they led us to a ladder in the center of the ship. We climbed down, not stopping on the first floor. They had dug a wide tunnel deep into the earth. Held up with wood, stone, and a bit of magic, they had managed to keep the swamp at bay long enough to keep digging down. Nobody in the badlands would expect the such a tunnel existed. What was its purpose? I wondered as we kept climbing down.
Lamps lit up the impressive walls as we kept going deeper into the earth. When we finally reached the bottom, I couldn’t tell how far we had gone. It must have been deep, though, with the marshy swamp right above. A tunnel with a semi-circle roof at least a hundred feet wide ran south of the massive cavern at the bottom of the pit. I saw even more of King Gregor’s men everywhere as the ones leading us kept us moving down the tunnel.
“Separate them and lock ‘em up,” one of the men said.
“You better not hurt them,” I warned, ready to die protecting Harper and Morgana.
“Settle down,” Newton said. “We’ll be okay. Trust me.”
“We’re fine,” Morgana said.
Harper looked frightened, but she said nothing. Several of the men led the two women to a door on one side of the massive tunnel while others led Newton and me to the other side. As we entered a long, stone-lined hallway, I turned around.
“Where’s that big tunnel go?” I asked.
“All the way back to Yusgood,” the man said.
“No way,” I countered, shaking my head.
“Keep moving!” he barked, lifting his sword.
I turned and kept walking. At the end of the hallway, we entered a room with several iron cages built around it. They put Newton in one with me right next to him in another. I didn’t see any men in any of the other half-dozen or so cages.
“No funny business, either of you,” the man said then walked away.
“What the hell have you gotten us into?” I asked.
Newton put a finger to his lips then pointed outside of his cage. I turned and saw a glowing head floating in the air. What the hell?
“They’re watching and listening to us,” Newton whispered.
I nodded my head then paced back and forth in the cage. Being locked up, the prisoner of another player, wasn’t my idea of fun. I needed to get out and rescue Harper and Morgana before retrieving the sword. There had to be an easy way. After not coming up with anything, I settled down with my back against the cold, stone wall in the back of my cell.
Fighting to keep my eyes open, I gave in and went to sleep. During my sleeping time in the game, I once again opted to not check on the real world. Whenever I did, I wouldn’t wake up as refreshed in the morning. As a prisoner, I needed all the strength I could muster.
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CHAPTER 15
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The Battle of the Boat Brothel
I woke with a jolt the next morning as cold water splashed on me.
“Get up!” a guard yelled.
I struggled to my feet, hating the man on the other side of the cage.
“You’ve both got an assignment,” he said. “You’re lucky. I would’ve killed you both.”
“What assignment?” I asked. “Don’t we get breakfast?”
“You’ll get food if you finish your task,” he said, grinning.
“Just tell us what it is already,” I snapped.
“You’ll be training female cuerno for battle,” he said.
What the hell does he mean? I wondered as he opened my cage then Newton’s. Several other guards appeared, followed by one of the floating, magical heads. Instead of going back to the main tunnel leading to Yusgood, we went further away from it. The guards stopped outside an even larger cage. Harper and Morgana stood among a half-dozen cuerno women, all naked.
“The others will let you know what to do,” a guard said as he opened a gate.
I walked through, keeping my eyes on Harper. She looked okay from what I could tell. As I walked toward her, I heard the iron gate slam shut behind us.
“Are you okay?” I asked as Harper threw her arms around me and squeezed.
“I’m better now,” she said.
Morgana walked up and patted my ass.
“Good to see you,” she said.
“They didn’t do anything to you two, did they?” I asked.
Harper shook her head. “No, but they’re mistreating these cuerno.”
I turned and saw the badly bruised cuerno females huddled near the back wall.
“They want us to teach them offensive spells,” Morgana said.
I nodded. “King Gregor must be preparing to take on Xin Jang. This could be huge.”
“A good time for you to claim your own kingdom in the badlands,” Morgana said.
“Exactly,” I said, still nodding.
“Get to work in there!” a guard shouted.
I shot him a nasty look then walked over to the female cuernos. The others followed me.
“Can’t you cast and get us out of here?” I asked, looking at Harper.
She shook her head and pointed to her ankles.
“That anklet is stopping me from casting,” she said. “I guess we train these cuernos?”
“We know fire hands,” one of them said then raised her palms.
A stream of napalm shot out, nearly hitting me.
“Hey,” I said, backing away.
The fire continued to burn on the ground.
“I do good, no?” the woman asked.
“Careful where you aim,” I said.
“They hurt us bad,” she said.
A few of the other cuernos females walked over, nodding thoughtfully.
“I’ve got an idea,” Newton said.
“And why the hell should we listen to you?” I asked. “You got us into this mess.”
“Cut him a break,” Morgana said.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Drugs,” Newton said. “I’ve got a bit of drugs secreted away on my body.”
“What the fuck are we going to do with your butt-drugs?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” he said. “Drug the guards, or something?”
“Good luck with that,” I said, shaking my head.
“Sorry,” Newton said. “Should I get them out?”
“No,” I said. “We’ve got work to do.”
“Too late,” he said, digging around near his ass.
He pulled out a rolled-up sock and presented it like a trophy.
“What’s going on in there?” a guard shouted.
“That smells good,” a cuerno female said and grabbed the sock.
Before we could get it back, she had torn it open and sampled the contents.
“Not bad!” she exclaimed then dropped the rest of the drugs.
A few of the other cuernos snatched up the tiny pink pills.
“So good!” she exclaimed, touching herself between her legs.
“I’ll be back after lunch,” the guard called. “You guys better be working by the time I get back.”
The rest of the cuernos gobbled up the remaining pills, some of them taking two or three.
“Uh oh,” Newton said.
“What the hell kind of drugs did you have up your ass?” I demanded.
“Aphrodisiacs,” he said. “And we’ve got nowhere to go.”
I turned and saw several of the female cuernos staring in my direction.
“Fucking great,” I said, getting turned on despite my best efforts.
“What are we doing?” Harper asked, a hint of fear in her voice.
“Ride it out,” I said. “Maybe we’ll cause a distraction.”
“Hey!” Newton shouted as three cuernos females toppled him over.
They ripped off his clothes then rubbed their bodies against his, getting him hard. I smiled, knowing he would have fun with the NPC cuernos. Then four others came over
to me. I tilted my head back, not showing any fear. Two of them kissed me.
“Hey, now!” Harper said. “What about us?”
I looked over and saw one of the female cuernos reach the point of no return. As she screamed, flames shot out of her palms. The napalm stream hit the ceiling. Flames dripped down as the ceiling burned.
“What the hell’s going on in there?” a guard yelled.
Yet another cuerno woman screamed in ecstasy and shot fire toward the gate. The guard screamed as his armor caught fire. Instead of dropping and rolling, he ran down the tunnel. I grinned.
“We’ve got to make a run for it,” I said.
I stood and glanced over at the gate. Several other guards had appeared and were about to open it. A war mage stood nearby, ready to hit us with damage if necessary. I thought we might be in trouble until I turned and saw the cuernos females in a frenzy.
“More! More! More!” they yelled.
“What the hell kind of aphrodisiac did you give them?” I asked.
Newton shrugged, grinning sheepishly.
“I guess it works different on cuernos,” he said.
“Get ready to make a run for it,” I said. “We’ll make our way back topside and reclaim the sword and the rest of our possessions.”
“I don’t know,” Harper complained.
“Do you have a better idea?” I snapped.
“No,” she said. “You don’t need to yell.”
I shook my head in disgust.
“Pull yourself together. We’ve got to get out of here and get my sword back.”
“That’s all you care about, isn’t it?” Harper asked.
“Right now, yeah,” I said, not ashamed.
“Stop arguing,” Morgana hissed. “The guards are coming.”
I turned and saw several armored men step into the giant cage. They didn’t stand a chance as several of the naked cuerno women rushed forward and surrounded them.
“Let’s go!” I shouted as I ran toward the gate.
The spell caster raised his arms as we approached. I reached him first, plowing my fist into his stomach. He gasped for air, grabbed his stomach, and fell to his knees.
“Help!” a guard behind us shouted.
I glanced back and saw the cuernos females ripping off their clothes.
“Lucky bastards,” I muttered then ran forward.
“Wait,” Newton said as we reached the main, wide tunnel leading to Yusgood.
I stopped. “What now?”
“You’re forgetting something,” he said.
“I’m going for the sword back in the boat brothel. What do you mean?”
“You still need to Alondra to charge it,” Newton said.
“Fine, we’ll find her too,” I said. “Come on, let’s go.”
I ran down the hall, flinging doors open and looking for where they might be keeping her.
“They probably have her on the other side of the big tunnel,” Morgana said. “With the other women.”
“Yeah, but they had the other cuernos over here on this side,” I said. “Did we miss her in the crowd with the others?”
“In here,” Newton said next to an open door. “Weapons.”
“Finally, a break,” I said, rushing over to him.
We crowded into the long, narrow room lined with weapons.
“There,” Morgana said, pointing to a desk near the back. “The horn sword.”
I smiled as I ran back and grabbed it.
“Everyone grab something,” I said. “We might have to fight our way out of here.”
I walked back to the door and went into the hallway, looking left and right. Screams and moans still filled the air from the way we’d come.
“There’s one more door on this side,” I said, pointing down the hall.
We ran over and flung it open. On the other side, Alondra looked up from the floor. She smiled as she stood and ran over to Newton, throwing her arms around his waist.
“You came to rescue me!” she exclaimed.
“We’ll have time for a reunion later,” I said. “Let’s keep moving.”
“Stop!” someone shouted from behind us.
“Go!” I screamed. “Back to the pit to climb up! Don’t stop!”
I ran, hoping the others were close behind. A green arrow of pure energy flew by, almost hitting me. My sword felt useless in my hands. We kept running when we reached the wide tunnel. Near the cavern with the ladder up, Harper stopped and turned to me.
“Can you get this anklet off me?” she asked.
I dropped to one knee and examined it.
“There’s a lock. I can get it. Keep an eye open.”
“We’re all clear,” Morgana said nearby.
I studied the lock before pulling out my lock-picking kit. After a few suave moves, the lock popped and the anklet opened, dropping off her leg.
“Great,” Harper said. “Stand back.”
I moved away as she cast a spell near the ladder leading up to the surface. A barrier of briers appeared around us. We climbed up the ladder as guards yelled below, unable to follow. At the top, I pulled my sword out and ran through the building and toward the exit. Two more guards appeared, but I stabbed one and slashed the throat of the other. As they fell to the floor of the hall, I ran to Alondra’s old room and retrieved the horn sword.
“Got it,” I said. “Let’s get out of here.”
We ran outside and down the stairs of the boat brothel, stopping on the deck of the boat near the rope ladder leading down to the swamp.
“Wait,” Harper said. “I’ll cast invisibility.”
She waved her hands, causing all of us to disappear.
“Be careful when we’re in the swamp,” I said. “They’ll see the water moving.”
“Good point,” Morgana said. “I’ll go first.”
One after another, we climbed down the rope ladder. Several men appeared on the deck of the boat brothel as we reached the bottom. Hugging the base of the vessel, we walked around to the other side before making our way to drier land. When we reached the edge of the swamp, I stopped.
“Alondra needs to charge this sword,” I said. “Now.”
She tilted her head, looking at me. “What you mean?”
“Charge the sword,” I said.
“Sorry,” Newton muttered.
“What now?” I asked.
“She can’t really charge horn swords,” he said. “I just wanted you to save her because I love her. Everyone treats NPCs so horribly in this game. They deserve better.”
“I’d reach over and choke you out right now if I could see you,” I said.
“No hurt Newton,” Alondra said.
“Sorry, man,” Newton said. “We’ll leave if you want.”
“No, I still need you,” I said. “And her. Can she cast spells too?”
“I don’t think so,” Newton said. “You can ask her. She’s right here.”
“But she’s your favorite NPC,” I countered.
“Me no cast,” Alondra said.
“Great,” I said.
“What are we going to do?” Harper asked. “I say we get out of the badlands. We can buy papers to get into the Twelve City-States territory and live proper lives.”
“No,” I said. “Not until I get my horn sword charged.”
“You and that fucking sword,” she sighed.
“I’ve got an idea,” I said. “We owe Xin Jang one since you stole his katana. If we tell him of King Gregor’s plan, he’s likely to be thankful. Maybe he’ll know how to charge the sword for me. I can start an alliance with him to take out King Gregor once and for all.”
“Worth a shot,” Morgana said.
“I just want to get out of this fucking swamp,” Harper whined.
“You’ve been acting so strange,” I said.
Morgana giggled.
“What’s so funny?” I asked.
“Nothing,” she said. “We should get going. How long does the spell last?”
“Long enough for us to get away from here and head north,” Harper said.
“Everyone try to keep the others nearby,” I said. “We don’t want anyone wandering off.”
I felt a hand on my shoulder.
“Form a chain?” Morgana asked from behind me.
“Sure,” I said. “As long as we keep moving. We barely escaped.”
We kept walking, all of us keeping quiet, trapped with our own thoughts.
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CHAPTER 16
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Enemy Fights My Enemy
That evening, as the invisibility spell wore off, we arrived at Sim Yung, a small village on the outskirts of Xin Jang’s small empire in the badlands. Compared to the villages in the League of Twelve City-States on the northern reached of the continent, Sim Yung was pathetic. Everything in the badlands was inferior. The undercarriage of the continent, the castoff portion of land, was still fought over by those not big enough to take on the bigger rulers.
As I walked down the main stretch of dirt road leading through the loose collection of buildings, the others followed. A few grisly looking trees hanging on for dear life littered the landscape, but like the rest of the badlands, everything looked bleak. I caught glimpses of a few dirt-covered faces peeking out of smudged windows as we passed. At the end of the road, near the other edge of the town, I saw the familiar entwined serpent of a healer.
“Here we go,” I said, stopping outside the ramshackle shack. “This is better.”
“You no trust me but go here?” Alondra asked, shaking her head to shame me.
I walked up to the front door and opened it. The damn thing almost fell off the hinges. As the others filed into the single room on the other side, I glanced around. On the other side of the room, a man with wild, curly hair sat on a small stood next to the fireplace. He stood as we entered, a wild smile plastered to his face. I noticed a few empty wine jugs on the floor. Can’t we meet anyone normal? I grinned as he stumbled over.
“What’ll it be?” he asked, slurring his speech. “Two for me.”
I cocked my head to the side.
“We need help,” I said. “A cream or something.”
“You got gold?” the man asked. “Shaman Sammy fix you up good.”
