《Acadia: A LitRPG Adventure》 Chapter One Something was different. Carrow paused in the middle of the intersection and turned in a slow circle, trying to put her finger on what it was. Nothing particularly out of the ordinary met her eyes. The sun was bright overhead, signaling that the weather would be nice, although clouds had a tendency to build in the afternoon. Townsfolk bustled to and fro as they took care of their daily business, and vendors who had stalls around the well at the center of town cried their wares to passersby like usual. There weren¡¯t any Adventurers around, but that happened sometimes; this far out of the way, visits from the strange people weren¡¯t necessarily a daily occurrence. No, everything seemed normal, she supposed. Shrugging, Carrow turned to head for her shop. She was one of the lucky ones who had a store right near the town gate¡ªwhich was really just a low rock wall that even children could hop over¡ªand thus the main entrance to the town. If there was one thing the sleepy little hamlet of Highspring had going for it over other similar towns, it was that it received a surprising amount of trade, thanks to the eponymous springs. For as long as Carrow could remember, there had been a touch of healing magic in the water¡ªnot so much that someone with a severe ailment could take a dip and be relieved of all their diseases, true, but enough that it was a popular destination for those with deep aches and pains that the water could help soothe. More importantly, the water was being used as a base for potions to help increase their potency, which meant that there was a steady stream of Alchemists and Traders coming to Highspring for the water. All of this was fine with Carrow. Although she may not have been an advanced Alchemist, preferring to trade for the potions and such she sold instead of doing the work of preparing them herself, Carrow did just fine for herself. Her shop was often the first one the Adventurers and other Traders saw when they arrived in town, and Carrow did a tidy little business of purchasing anything and everything the Adventurers had to sell and then trading or selling it to others in town. Often it was junk, but sometimes the Adventurers brought with them unusual equipment or items from distant lands that Carrow never had and never would set foot in. Traveling with wares was for other people; Carrow preferred to stay right where she was. She occupied herself for a few minutes with setting her shop up for the day, propping the door open and placing brightly-colored flags outside to signal that she was open, sweeping the floor quickly, and switching out the chestpiece displayed on the mannequin by the door for a different one she hoped would sell better. All this accomplished, Carrow planted herself in the middle of the floor and put her hands on her hips, surveying her little shop. After a moment, she sighed loudly. Whatever it was that was bothering her, she still couldn¡¯t figure out what it¡ª ¡°Carrow!¡± Carrow nearly leapt a foot into the air as Old Madge seemingly appeared out of nowhere and tottered inside, making a beeline directly for her. Were it not for the deeply-etched wrinkles lining every available inch of her skin, you wouldn¡¯t have known Madge was as ancient as she was. She certainly hauled herself around town with surprising speed, and Carrow had the sneaking suspicion that her cane was more to whack scoundrels and misbehaving children with than to provide her actual support. ¡°Y-yes?¡± Carrow stammered, startled. ¡°Talk about jumpy,¡± she muttered to herself under her breath, smoothing the smock she wore over her knee-length skirts to try and hide her surprise. ¡°Have you seen the springs today?¡± Old Madge demanded, dark eyes bright in her wizened face. ¡°No,¡± Carrow replied, raising an eyebrow. Always one for gossip, Old Madge, and she had always delighted in being the first one to shout the newest rumor or news from the rooftops. Knowing her, the old woman was probably darting door to door to talk to everyone about whatever was going on. ¡°Now what have I told you about visiting every morning? A daily soak is good for your bones, you know. You may be young still, but there¡¯s no time like the present, right?¡± Old Madge punctuated her sentence with a laugh that came out like a cross between a dog¡¯s bark and a crow¡¯s caw. ¡°You just want to see me giving you coin every morning,¡± Carrow countered. Despite herself, she couldn¡¯t help but smile. Old Madge was something, that was for sure, but the town wouldn¡¯t be the same without her. ¡°Now, now, you know I¡¯d give you a discount, lassie.¡± Old Madge waggled a gnarled finger at Carrow, smile sly. ¡°Say¡­ pre-pay for the month and I¡¯ll give you three visits free? Good deal, no?¡± Carrow snorted, hands on her hips. ¡°All these years you¡¯ve known me and that¡¯s it? And here I went out of my way last winter to find you that special tonic. You remember, the one for that handsome old knight you had your eye on who couldn¡¯t¡ª¡± ¡°Pshaw! Bygones!¡± Old Madge interrupted loudly, stopping Carrow before she could finish her sentence. Laughing, Carrow shook her head. ¡°Anyway. What were you saying about the springs?¡± ¡°Oh! Right! They¡¯re going mad today! I haven¡¯t seen them bubble like this in years, and poor old Smith Gregg nearly fried off his¡­ well¡­¡± Old Madge waggled her fingers meaningfully near the waistband of her skirt, grinning wickedly. Just as Carrow was opening her mouth to reply that she really hadn¡¯t wanted to picture anything about what Smith Gregg looked like without his clothes, an Adventurer popped into existence near the doorway. No matter how many times Carrow saw it, the way Adventurers appeared and disappeared at seemingly random times was something she would never get used to. They were an odd lot, those Adventurers; even though it was her job to trade with them and the strange goods they brought had earned her a pretty penny many a time, Carrow privately preferred the times when they weren¡¯t around creating chaos. One never knew what to expect with them; the best thing to do was be polite and help them with whatever they needed so they would go on their way. ¡°Greetings, Adventurer,¡± Carrow said automatically, although the Adventurer ignored her. ¡°Yessss, finally! Wait¡ªwhat?¡± The Adventurer demanded, her words almost drowned out by the clatter of her armor as it fell to the floor around her, leaving her clad only in her underwear. ¡°I¡¯ll see you later, Carrow,¡± Old Madge said over her shoulder as she headed out the door. The octogenarian didn¡¯t seem to care that there was a nearly-naked Adventurer standing in the middle of Carrow¡¯s store, more interested in whatever gossip she was focused on spreading around town. Carrow, however, certainly did care that there was a naked Adventurer in her shop. ¡°Can I help you, Adventurer?¡± Carrow asked, endeavoring to be polite. The Adventurer was Farrian, likely a mage of some sort, judging by the rough wooden staff at her feet. Up here near the mountainous border between the Human kingdom of Albia and the mysterious, magic-saturated land of Farria it wasn¡¯t unusual to see some of the strange magical race passing through. Money was money to Carrow and she didn¡¯t much care where it came from, but others in town weren¡¯t always so welcoming, especially those old enough to remember when the Farrians were still barred from leaving their country as punishment for what they had done in the past¡ªdespite all the Farrians had recently done to save the Human kingdom of Albia. Again, she was ignored. Scowling, the Adventurer leaned down and snatched up a piece of her armor. There was a pause, then the Adventurer¡¯s scowl deepened. ¡°Equip,¡± she demanded. ¡°Equip! Ugh, dammit.¡± She shook the offending bracers, glaring at them. Biting back a sigh, Carrow crossed her arms over her chest and waited, hopefully without seeming too impatient. The Adventurer was absorbed in what she was doing, picking up each piece of armor and trying to put it on, but it all popped right back off no matter how well she tried to fasten it. ¡°It seems you may not be strong enough to wear such gear,¡± Carrow supplied after the Adventurer kicked her pauldrons across the shop in frustration and then had to go after them to get them back. Out of the corner of her eye, Carrow could see a Human Adventurer struggling with something similar outside in the street, only the other Adventurer was being a considerably louder about it, yelling a string of curses detailed and explicit enough to make Carrow¡¯s cheeks warm. ¡°Ya think?¡± the Adventurer inside Carrow¡¯s shop snorted, brushing her bright pink bangs out of her eyes. ¡°Except I was just wearing it¡­¡± The Adventurer glared at Carrow as though it was her fault she couldn¡¯t put on her armor as the last piece vanished in her hands, presumably into her inventory for safekeeping. ¡°You don¡¯t seem to be the only one having that problem,¡± Carrow said, pointing out the door toward the other Adventurer, who still hadn¡¯t stopped swearing. ¡°Hmm. Not sure I want to talk to him right now,¡± the Adventurer said dryly. ¡°Seems a little¡­.¡± ¡°Angry?¡± Carrow suggested. ¡°You could say that.¡± Falling silent for a moment, Carrow and the Adventurer both watched as the angry Adventurer seized the nearest passerby, Farmer Miya, and shook her by the shoulders like he was trying to rattle answers out of her. Wide-eyed, Farmer Miya tried to stammer that she didn¡¯t know what was going on any more than he did, but the Adventurer wasn¡¯t hearing it. ¡°Hey! Leave her alone and look at your character sheet, idiot,¡± the Adventurer standing beside Carrow suddenly hollered, and Carrow jumped again. The Adventurer outside whipped around to glare into the shop. ¡°Shove off, Shiya,¡± he snapped, although he did let go of Farmer Miya, who immediately scurried away shaking like a terrified rabbit. He stalked inside and over to them, scowling all the while. Shiya rolled her eyes. ¡°You¡¯re the one in my party, genius.¡± Turning back to Carrow, Shiya shook her head in exasperation. ¡°We did one quest together during the beta and I still regret it,¡± she grumbled, as though Carrow had any idea what she was talking about. ¡°Level one? They said they weren¡¯t resetting the people in the beta! What the fuck?¡± the Adventurer suddenly burst out a moment later. The expression on the Adventurer¡¯s face made Carrow back off a step, and she looked back and forth between the two of them nervously. Adventurers were a mercurial lot in general, but this one looked like he was about ready to shove his sword through whomever had the misfortune of standing closest to him.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Not that he appeared to be strong enough to use his weapon currently, standing around in his loincloth like that¡­ Nonplussed and not nearly as nervous as Carrow was, Shiya shrugged her shoulders at him. ¡°Maybe the devs changed their minds, or they had to do the reset since the launch patch was so huge? Dunno. Certainly explains why we can¡¯t equip anything, though.¡± ¡°This is bullsh¡ªhey! Watch it!¡± He bit off whatever he was going to say mid-sentence as another Adventurer appeared, jostling into him. Irritated, the first Adventurer shoved the new one aside. ¡°Hey!¡± the new Adventurer yelped, stumbling a few steps until he regained his balance. Shiya¡¯s eyes lit up when she saw the newcomer. ¡°Trev! Yay, you got in!¡± ¡°Hi! Yeah, I¡ªwhat?¡± In a repeat of what had happened to the others, the new Adventurer¡¯s gear popped off him and clattered to the floor, leaving him clad only in his dusky Farrian skin and the same sort of rough linen underwear the others were wearing. ¡°Level reset,¡± Shiya supplied before he could say anything. ¡°Just put the stuff in your inventory. We barely got in a minute ago and were just figuring that out.¡± ¡°Bullshit,¡± the first Adventurer repeated loudly. Watching them, Carrow sighed. They certainly didn¡¯t seem to have any interest in trading with her, and the three of them managed to fill most of the space in her small shop. She didn¡¯t really want them around if they weren¡¯t going to purchase anything from her, but neither could she think of a polite way to say that in a way that wouldn¡¯t end with her on the wrong end of a sword or reduced to a smoldering pile of ash after taking a fireball to the face. Patience, she thought to herself with another sigh. Other days, she wouldn¡¯t necessarily have minded something like this¡ªsometimes, having a bunch of Adventurers clustered in or around a shop brought in more of them curious to see what was going on, as Carrow had learned. But whatever unnamed thing it was bothering her seemed to be sapping her patience faster than a Shadowstep¡¯s daggers sapped your strength, and Carrow just wanted the trio of nearly-naked Adventurers out and for her day to go back to normal. No such luck. A loud voice drifted in through the entrance to Carrow¡¯s shop. ¡°You hit me!¡± someone exclaimed, sounding surprised. Carrow and the Adventurers turned toward the door. Just outside was yet another Adventurer, this one Half-Orc, who stood holding a hand to his cheek and looking at someone else they couldn¡¯t see. After just a moment, he leapt forward and swung his fist. Even if they couldn¡¯t see the result from inside the shop, the thud of the impact was clearly audible. ¡°Seriously?¡± Shiya muttered, rolling her eyes. ¡°Oh, I¡¯ve definitely got to watch this,¡± the Adventurer whose name Carrow still hadn¡¯t caught said smugly. He strode toward the door, paused for a moment while the two fighting Adventurers surged past locked together in a battle that looked absolutely ridiculous considering their lack of clothing, then stepped outside. Shiya and Trev looked at each other, shrugged, and followed. And gods help her, Carrow did as well. It was curiosity more than anything that drew her outside, even though she knew the wiser course of action was to stay right where she was. Getting involved in a spat between Adventurers was the last thing she wanted¡­ but seeing two of them roll around on the ground their loincloths as they wailed at one another with nothing but their fists was entertaining. ¡°Yeah! Get him!¡± the Adventurer from her shop hollered, hopping up and down as everyone, even the nearby townsfolk, stopped to watch the fight. ¡°Uh¡­ do you know them, Zaccai?¡± Trev asked, looking back and forth between them. Zaccai turned his head for just a moment, the first smile Carrow had seen from him appearing on his face. ¡°Nah. But why not pick a side?¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Trev replied. Frowning, he looked back at the fighting pair of Adventurers as Farmer Ted hastily dragged his wheelbarrow out of the way right as they were about to crash into it and ruin his produce. ¡°I know world PvP is a thing now, but I thought cities were safe zones?¡± Trev asked aloud, watching them. ¡°Cities, yeah. Guess this place is too small to count, though. And I think it¡¯s only certain zones within the cities that are safe,¡± Shiya said from beside Carrow. The Adventurer spun around in a slow circle, looking around the crowd. It was casual, but Carrow didn¡¯t miss the way her shrewd eyes landed on each and every person within view for just a moment before moving on, clearly judging whether anyone nearby posed a threat. Carrow could have saved her the time: all of the townsfolk in this peaceful little hamlet valued their health above getting into spats with the much stronger Adventurers, so the only ones who could pose a threat to Shiya and her group were other Adventurers. And, other than Trev and Zaccai, the only other Adventurers in Highspring were currently rolling around in the road and trying to beat each other into a pulp. Just as she was thinking that this was taking an awfully long time, the fight ended. The Half-Orc Adventurers threw a final punch and his opponent collapsed bonelessly to the packed dirt road. A moment later, his body vanished, replaced by a small tombstone. All of the fallen Adventurer¡¯s belongings clattered to the ground around the tombstone, the spoils of victory for anyone who wanted them. ¡°Gotcha,¡± the winner exclaimed, hauling himself to his feet. He grinned at the assembled crowd and raised his hands into the air in triumph, although the effect was slightly ruined by the scrapes and bruises covering his greenish skin from head to toe. Carrow suspected that it had been a close fight; judging from the winner¡¯s appearance, his health had to be down to a sliver. ¡­A sliver? Carrow frowned to herself. Why would she have thought of it like that? ¡°Boys,¡± Shiya muttered, rolling her eyes as a couple of the townsfolk clapped uncertainly and the triumphant Adventurer turned to bow like he¡¯d won a skilled duel or something of the sort¡ªand was so occupied with soaking in his accolades that he didn¡¯t notice Zaccai sneaking up and snatching up some of the fallen Adventurer¡¯s gear. ¡°Ugh, junk. Figures,¡± Zaccai grumbled, tossing it right back to the ground. The sound alerted the Adventurer, who turned to face him. ¡°What are you doing?¡± he demanded, taking a menacing step forward. ¡°Just looking,¡± Zaccai replied innocently, although one of his hands inched toward the hilt of his sword¡ªor where the hilt of his sword would be, had any of the Adventurers been wearing anything. ¡°Well don¡¯t,¡± the Adventurer snapped. ¡°He¡¯s my friend, which makes the gear mine. Back off.¡± ¡°It¡¯s trash anyway,¡± Zaccai retorted, rolling his eyes. ¡°You beat up your own friend?¡± Shiya asked at the same time, snickering. The Half-Orc turned to Shiya with his mouth open to snap at her, saw that she was female, gave her a good once-over, and smiled charmingly instead. ¡°He accidentally hit me and dinged my health, so we thought we¡¯d test out the new Pv¡ªoh, he¡¯s messaging me outside of the game, hang on.¡± The Adventurer froze in place for a moment, staring off in the direction he¡¯d been facing, still as a statue. Adventurers did this, sometimes; Carrow had even seen them do it in her own shop, and once she¡¯d waited three days straight for the Adventurer to return, only to have him vanish unexpectedly after all that time. This Adventurer came back again after just a minute or two, though, looking around at the others with wide eyes. ¡°Dude, his game crashed when he died! Fuck.¡± ¡°Crashed?¡± Trev asked, frowning. ¡°What do you mean, crashed?¡± Zaccai demanded loudly. ¡°The fuck else does ¡®crashed¡¯ mean?¡± the Adventurer snapped. ¡°He¡¯s back in queue, but¡­¡± He went still for another minute, and although the rest of the townsfolk were starting to wander away, Carrow found herself sticking with the group of Adventurers out of curiosity. ¡°Fuck me, the queue is eight days.¡± Shiya burst out laughing. ¡°I figured it¡¯d be long, but damn,¡± she giggled. ¡°Thank everything holy we were in the beta and got to jump to the front of the line. I think I¡¯d kill myself if I had to wait a week just to log in.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not fucking funny,¡± the Adventurer snapped, glaring at her. ¡°We took off work to play together today, and now he can¡¯t get back in!¡± ¡°He¡¯s got a point,¡± Trev said. ¡°That does suck. And we¡¯re all level one and have no gear. If something happens and we die¡­¡± He trailed off, frowning. Whatever they were talking about made very little sense to Carrow, but it was enough to make Shiya¡¯s laughter vanish immediately. ¡°Oh¡­ good point. Damn, so much for a smooth launch.¡± ¡°This is ridiculous,¡± Zaccai snapped. ¡°They promised the launch would go well, but there are problems everywhere¡ªstarting with me being fucking Level 1. They¡¯d sure as shit better give us gold or free game time or something to make up for it.¡± ¡°I mean, the beta was really limited in both players and the game itself,¡± Shiya pointed out, still frowning. ¡°We only had access to certain parts of the map, remember? And the level cap was like 20. Everything they added for the launch is huge, so it¡¯s no surprise that there might be issues. At least we¡¯re in, I guess?¡± Carrow stared at them, trying to piece together what they were talking about. When Adventurers started talking about these sorts of things in the past, Carrow had always ignored it. It was almost like a second language; Carrow had no idea what many of the words meant, figuring it was some sort of code the Adventurers shared, and she¡¯d never stopped to wonder about it. But now¡­ For the first time, Carrow was curious. She didn¡¯t want to ignore whatever the Adventurers were going on about¡ªshe wanted to know. What sort of game were they talking about? Nothing that Carrow could see seemed very game-like to her. And all this about updates and queues was mystifying. She knew the individual words, but Carrow felt like she was missing some context that would make everything snap into place, and she didn¡¯t like it. Everything was strange today; even the ground seemed to be vibrating ever so slightly, though Carrow dismissed it as her imagination. Inwardly marveling at herself, Carrow swallowed and reached out to tap Shiya¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Um. Excuse me.¡± The Adventurer turned to her, raising her eyebrows. ¡°Yes?¡± Failing to think of a better way to ask what in the name of the gods they were talking about, Carrow decided to be direct. ¡°What¡ª¡± ¡°Is it me, or is the ground shaking?¡± Trev asked, interrupting her. Everyone fell silent for a moment, waiting and listening. ¡°Definitely not just you,¡± Shiya replied. ¡°They said something about weather being added, but earthquakes? No way, right?¡± Carrow stared around, wide-eyed. This was definitely not normal. A few of the townsfolk were calling out in alarm, although a group of small children seemed to think this was the best thing in the world and were dancing around on the trembling ground, giggling. The brightly-painted flags decorating the town wobbled alarmingly despite the unnatural lack of breeze; a great plume of white steam rose from the hills behind the town where the hot springs were, bigger than Carrow had ever seen. ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t think this is an earthquake,¡± Zaccai said, looking around suspiciously. The rumbling of the ground increased by the moment, to the point that everyone had to brace themselves against the outer wall of Carrow¡¯s shop to keep from stumbling or falling. It almost sounded like a roar. ¡°It isn¡¯t,¡± Carrow whispered, though her words were lost beneath a great roar that seemed to echo up from the center of the earth. A moment later, a massive dragon burst up out of the ground and into the sky like an arrow. Wings unfurled from its sides, big enough to block the sun and throw the town into shadow. The dragon hung in the air for just a moment, splendid and terrible¡­ then it started dropping back down toward the town. Shiya had time for two words, with which Carrow wholeheartedly agreed: ¡°Oh, shit.¡± Chapter Two Oh shit, indeed. Carrow stared at the dragon as it swooped down to land near where it had burst through the ground, stretching out its legs to balance on the side of the mountain above the town like a cat ready to pounce on its prey. She¡¯d never seen a dragon before, only crude pictures that some of the crazy old hermits who lived up by the springs had drawn, but it was obvious what it was. The dragon was huge. Even from where they stood on the other side of the town, Carrow could see every detail clearly. It was beautiful, in the sort of way a raging forest fire was beautiful, terrifying and thrilling all at once. The dragon¡¯s dark scales glimmered in the sunlight with an almost pearlescent teal sheen, no color Carrow had ever seen before; its claws were each the length of her forearm at least, if not the entire length of her arm, and Carrow didn¡¯t even want to think about the size of the teeth in the dragon¡¯s fearsome snout. It lashed its tail, taking out a building with the all the effort it took a person to swat a fly, and the mighty roar the dragon gave shook the ground like an earthquake. Then came the fire. At the end of its roar, the dragon turned its head to breathe a great gush of fire at Highspring. No normal flame, it was red and green and blue all at once, imbued with the dragon¡¯s magic. The buildings closest to the dragon¡ªand the townsfolk¡ªwere gone in an instant, consumed in the inferno. Even this far from it, Carrow could feel the heat of the fire as it stirred the air and licked at her skin. In shock, Carrow watched as someone down the road holding a bucket full of water from the well threw it at the patch of fire closest to them. The water hissed and turned immediately to steam, completely useless against the magical fire. Above it all, the dragon trumpeted another wordless roar, rearing back on its hind legs. ¡°Fuck this,¡± Carrow heard Zaccai yell over the cacophony of the dragon and the fire and the cries of the villagers. It took Carrow several long seconds to drag her eyes away from the dragon and look over at him; when she did, it was to discover that the Adventurer was already gone, pelting down the road toward the village¡¯s entrance as fast as his legs could carry him. Screams drew Carrow¡¯s attention back to everything happening around her. Close, down the road toward the center of town and across the square, Carrow could see a few townsfolk struggling with something at one of the doorways, desperate to get inside and rescue whoever was in there before the flames licking at the roof spread. Move, Carrow tried to tell herself. Go help. Do something, anything. She repeated the words over and over, but it was for naught; try as she might, the fear coursing through her kept her frozen in place. Carrow had never been afraid like this, never felt so helpless and overwhelmed. In the end, it was good that she didn¡¯t try to help. A moment later, the dragon turned in a circle and lashed its tail in a wide arc, destroying every stone building that stood in its way, including the building the villagers were at. Shiya immediately dove out of the way as rubble and debris came flying at them. Carrow couldn¡¯t bring herself to move. She watched the debris come closer and closer, suddenly certain that this was the end for her. Like so many of the other villagers, she was going to die to the dragon rampaging through her home, and there was nothing she could do about it. ¡°Look out!¡± someone hollered in her ear. Suddenly, Carrow felt herself moving, yanked to the side. She crashed hard to the ground on her hands and knees, narrowly avoiding being crushed by a large piece of wall that landed inches from her right leg. Trevien landed son top of her an instant later, eyes wide, and only then did she realize that the Cleric had pulled her out of the way and saved her life, nearly getting crushed himself in the process. Even now he was using his own body to shield her from the hail of smaller debris raining down around them. The Adventurer who had been fighting with his friend wasn¡¯t so lucky; he yelped as another piece of a building knocked him from his feet, and a moment later he was nothing but a small tombstone half hidden by the wreckage. ¡°I hate to say it, but I think Zaccai might have had the right idea,¡± Trev yelled over the noise. He pushed himself to his feet, eyes trained on the dragon. Carrow raised her head slowly, staring at the ground around her. Half the town had been wiped out in minutes, and she knew it would only be minutes more before the rest was decimated, too. She had to get up and run or she would die with all the others. But a handful of inches from her fingertips was a rusty old sword, likely thrown from Trader Myles¡¯s weapons cart as the dragon¡¯s tail swept through the town. All Carrow had to do was reach out and grab it. It would be nearly useless against the dragon, of course; it probably wouldn¡¯t even scratch the thing¡¯s scales. But Carrow had to do something, didn¡¯t she? This was her home; this was her life, and it was all being destroyed before her eyes. Run, Carrow told herself. She stretched out her arm and closed her fingers around the hilt of the sword instead. A dizzying array of words seemed to flash before her eyes:
Title Unlocked: Adventurer
New Class: Warrior
World Event: Danger! Zolzrinth has awakened!
New Quest: Fight or Flight. Face Zolzrinth... if you dare. Otherwise, RUN!
Taking a deep breath, Carrow shook her head to dismiss the words, tightened her fist around the hilt, and took a step toward the dragon. Maybe if she could just get its attention and run, try to draw it away so anyone left alive would have a chance to flee¡ª ¡°Are you insane?¡± Shiya hollered. Carrow found herself being yanked around to face the Adventurer, whose eyes were wide as the moon in her face. ¡°Let me go,¡± Carrow ordered. Her command didn¡¯t work, not that she had really expected it to, what with the way her voice wavered on the words. Shiya stared at her, grip like a vice on Carrow¡¯s upper arm. ¡°You can¡¯t take on that dragon¡ªlook at it. It¡¯s so high I can¡¯t even see what level it is! It¡¯d be suicide!¡± That much was true; when Carrow looked over at the dragon again, she could now see its name floating in the air above it, similar to how she could see the names and titles of people around her, even Shiya and Trev¡ªno, his full name was Trevien. ¡°I have to do something,¡± Carrow protested weakly. ¡°It¡¯s destroying everything.¡± No sooner had she spoken than the dragon began hopping and splashing around the hot springs and the rubble of the buildings closest to it, looking for all the world like a kitten at play. Except this kitten was enormous and had a tail that decimated more and more of the town with every twitch; it had claws that could crush a building in an instant and it felt like an earthquake every time it landed with all its weight on the ground. Shiya shook her head as all of them staggered in place on the shaking ground. ¡°I know. But you can¡¯t help anyone if you¡¯re dead, right? We need to run.¡± ¡°Shit¡ªShi, it¡¯s not letting me join the party. Quick, add me,¡± Trevien interrupted, arms waving in the air as he tried to keep his balance. ¡°I told you not to leave the party before logging out at the end of the beta,¡± Shiya snapped, releasing her grip on Carrow at last. ¡°Yeah, yeah, just hurry before the dragon decides it¡¯s done playing and it wants a snack,¡± Trevien hollered over another roar from the dragon. ¡°I am, I am¡ª¡± Just then, a particularly large jolt sent Carrow staggering to the side, right into Trevien. The Adventurer managed to keep his balance, but Carrow tripped over one of his feet and crashed down to the ground. There was a flash of pain that signified a ding to her health pool, but Carrow was distracted by more words that popped up in front of her eyes for a moment: Joined party! Members: Shiya, Zaccai, Carrow ¡°Uh¡­¡± Shiya said. ¡°Huh, why¡¯d it let me¡ªwhatever. Trev, don¡¯t move this time.¡± ¡°Kinda can¡¯t help it,¡± Trevien grumbled. Bracing himself against the wall, he reached down a hand toward Carrow.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Still gripping her sword like it was a lifeline even though she had no idea how to use it, Carrow accepted the help and got back to her feet. It killed her to look around and see the chaos all around her, to hear the screams of people she¡¯d grown up with. This was her home, and it was being destroyed by a creature no one, not even the Adventurers, had any hope of defeating. New party member: Trevien ¡°There we go,¡± Shiya said. ¡°Now let¡¯s skedaddle! Run like your ass is on fire, ¡®cause if that dragon sees us, it will be!¡± She took off just like Zaccai had earlier, heading for the main road out of town and the forests and foothills beyond. She knew she had to follow, but Carrow still lingered, torn. The world of Acadia was dangerous, but this? This was too much. What had Highspring done to deserve this? Trevien took two steps to follow Shiya, then realized that Carrow wasn¡¯t following. ¡°Hey,¡± he said, turning back. He reached out and rested a gentle hand on Carrow¡¯s shoulder, squeezing slightly. It was strange¡ªCarrow didn¡¯t usually think of Adventurers as people who cared about small, inconsequential villagers like her. But when Carrow turned her head to look at him, Trevien¡¯s expression was sympathetic, as though he knew how upset she was. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± The two words were simple, so quiet as to be nearly inaudible. But there was an unexpected kindness in them, and it gave Carrow the courage to do what she knew she had to. Swallowing hard, she nodded her head and turned to follow Trevien away from the only place she¡¯d ever known as her home burned and crumbled behind her.
* * *
Quest Completed: Fight or Flight. Escaped from Zolzrinth! XP Gained: 510
Level Gained! New Level: 5
¡°Whew!¡± Shiya exclaimed, dropping from a run into a trot, then coming to a stop. She leaned over to brace her hands on her thighs, shaking her head. ¡°I know I¡¯m not actually running, but I¡¯m tired after that!¡± ¡°That was¡­ interesting¡­¡± Trevien said. He turned to look back in the direction they had come, shaking his head. Highspring was hidden behind trees and hills since the road curved around the base of the mountain, but a dark plume of smoke was clearly visible in the sky toward the town and the dragon¡¯s roars, although distant, were still audible as they echoed across the land. ¡°You can say that again,¡± Shiya agreed, far too cheerful for someone who had just been forced to run away from a rampaging dragon wearing nothing but her underwear. Carrow sighed heavily, far less cheerful than the others. She was glad that she had escaped from the dragon, but¡­ what was she even doing out here? She didn¡¯t have the first idea how to survive in the wilds. Even with the help of these strange Adventurers, chances were that a monster would be using her bones to pick its teeth by nightfall. But it wasn¡¯t like she could go back to Highspring; her home was gone, crushed beneath the dragon¡¯s claws, and Old Madge and everyone else she knew was gone. Carrow¡¯s best chance now was to rely on the Adventurers to help her get to another town where she could try to start over again. Then again, she wasn¡¯t sure that these naked Adventurers would be much help at all. ¡°You took so long I thought you might have been a snack for the dragon,¡± Zaccai said, emerging from around the curve of the road just ahead. His appearance was sudden enough that it should have startled Carrow, but she had somehow known he was there. An understanding of where the others in the party were was just there in her head like it belonged there. They were linked together now, whether Carrow wanted to be or not. ¡°Sorry to disappoint,¡± Shiya replied sweetly, batting her eyelashes at him. Zaccai gave a mighty eye roll and crossed his arms over his chest, half turning away as though annoyed by Shiya¡¯s presence. ¡°Well¡­ now what?¡± Trevien asked after a moment when all of them fell silent, listening to the distant, triumphant bellowing of the dragon as it made clear to the world that Highspring now belonged to it and no one else. The sound made a shiver crawl down Carrrow¡¯s spine. It had taken armies of mages from Farria to help save Albia the last time a dragon had come calling; that was the reason the centuries-old prison barrier around Farria had been lifted in the first place. That had been a high dragon, true, much larger and stronger than the one who had attacked Highspring. But this one seemed more than capable of further devastation if it decided to turn its gaze past the ruins of Carrow¡¯s town. It was clear that it would take a very large force to defeat the dragon. A decidedly unpleasant thought struck Carrow then: what if there were more? ¡°Let¡¯s sum up what we know,¡± Shiya suggested, drawing Carrow¡¯s attention back to her. ¡°Player levels have been reset, either through a glitch or intentionally, and we don¡¯t know if they¡¯ll be fixed. Not the end of the world since we were only like 12 anyway, but a bummer. Also, dying seems to crash the game.¡± ¡°Word PvP is definitely working,¡± Zaccai added. ¡°So not that any are around, but we probably want to stay away from other players right now¡­¡± ¡°M-hmm. Most of them will probably be in the starting areas though, right? Only beta players will be out and around the world for the moment, and everyone will be dealing with the reset, too. We were unlucky in that a World Event happened to drop right onto our heads, though it is kind of cool. I¡¯d guess the dragon is going to be there until someone can kill it? Which is going to be a long time. That fucker was max level, I think.¡± ¡°Where¡¯d it even come from, I wonder?¡± Trevien mused. ¡°The springs,¡± Carrow said, finding her voice at last. The three Adventurers turned to look at her in surprise like they¡¯d forgotten she was there, but Carrow kept speaking. ¡°The-the town was built because of them. A couple of the crazy old hermits who live in the mountains always said there was a dragon sleeping down below and that¡¯s what made the water hot, but no one believed them. I¡­ I guess they were right,¡± Carrow said quietly. She hadn¡¯t had any family in Highspring, but it was still strange to think that she¡¯d never see any of the other townsfolk again. The road behind them was still empty. If there were any other survivors, they were elsewhere, but Carrow doubted many had gotten out alive. ¡°Uh¡­ why is she here?¡± Zaccai asked, frowning. ¡°Accidentally added her when I was trying to get Trev,¡± Shiya replied. ¡°I¡¯m surprised it let me add a NPC, actually. That¡¯s definitely new.¡± ¡°Well un-add her and let¡¯s go. We¡¯re sitting ducks for mobs just standing around here like this. I already tried to kick her, but it wouldn¡¯t let me.¡± Shiya frowned at Zaccai. ¡°Who died and made you king, huh?¡± ¡°You yourself said you didn¡¯t even mean to add her, so I don¡¯t know why you¡¯re giving me shit,¡± Zaccai shot back with a scowl. Not entirely liking being talked about like she was invisible, Carrow frowned as she inspected the trio of Adventurers. She had no idea how, but she knew more about them than she had before. Zaccai was obviously Human like Carrow, but now Carrow knew by looking at him that he was a Warrior. His amethyst eyes stood out from his inky black hair and pale skin¡ªan unusual combination for townsfolk, perhaps, but not for Adventurers, who often seemed to have strange colors of skin, hair, and eyes. Shiya and Trevien were both Farrian, with the strange grey-brown skin and pale hair common of the race. The Mage¡¯s hair was light pink in color, her irises the same; in contrast, Trevien¡¯s eyes were the same as Zaccai¡¯s and his pale hair was a silverly-lilac shade. Trevien seemed to be the kindest of them from what she could tell so far, so it didn¡¯t surprise Carrow to see that he was a Cleric. Being able to look at them and see this information was strange enough¡ªbut knowing that she herself was now a Warrior was even stranger. ¡°Actually, we¡­ kind of need her,¡± Trevien said slowly, as though he was thinking something through. Carrow raised an eyebrow when she looked over at him and saw him staring pensively at her. ¡°What? Why?¡± Zaccai demanded. ¡°She¡¯s just an NPC and I¡¯ll be damned if I have to do an escort quest while running around in my underwear. Dump her.¡± ¡°As much as I hate to admit it, he¡¯s right,¡± Shiya grumbled, jerking her chin to indicate Zaccai. ¡°We¡¯re not exactly in a position to be dragging an NPC around, fancy new AI or not. It¡¯ll be a miracle if we can get somewhere safe without dying and getting booted from the game. God, I hope they fix that soon.¡± ¡°That¡¯s exactly why we need her help,¡± Trevien insisted, turning to the others. ¡°Her level didn¡¯t get reset like ours did. She¡¯s only level five, but that¡¯s four more levels than we are. And she seems to be a Warrior now, however that happened. If we can get her to help kill stuff for us¡­¡± ¡°¡­the whole party gets XP,¡± Shiya finished with a grin. Trevien nodded. ¡°It¡¯ll take a while to get back to where we were when the beta ended, but even getting a few levels under our belt will help with survivability until we can get somewhere safe. And if we¡¯re lucky, the mobs will drop some gear to tide us over until we¡¯re high enough to equip the stuff we¡¯ve got again. Or at least until we get to another town where we can buy better stuff.¡± ¡°This is ridiculous,¡± Zaccai grumbled. ¡°Hey, if you think you can outrun any monsters along the road until the next town, leave the party and go for it,¡± Trevien said mildly, raising his eyebrows at the Warrior. ¡°That¡¯s what I thought,¡± he added when all Zaccai did was scowl and cross his arms again. ¡°I guess the only other option is standing around waiting for them to fix the reset¡ªif they¡¯re going to,¡± Shiya mused, drumming her fingers on her chin. ¡°And it let me add her to the party, so maybe we¡¯re actually meant to have NPC¡¯s in the party and stuff now?¡± ¡°They did promise big things with the AI they were adding at launch,¡± Trevien agreed, sounding excited. ¡°Maybe this is part of it? Being able to interact with NPCs as if they were players? The goal for Acadia was always a living, breathing world, after all. I didn¡¯t realize NPCs could have the same classes as us, but the devs kept a lot secret so players could figure it all out on our own¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m standing right here, you know,¡± Carrow snapped. After everything that had happened that day, it was very irritating the way the Adventurers were talking in their mysterious code again after already discussing her like she wasn¡¯t there listening to everything they said. Whatever they were on about, it certainly seemed to have something to do with her, and the least they could do was include her in it. As soon as the words left her mouth, Carrow regretted them. All three of the Adventurers turned to look at her, Shiya and Trevien with wide smiles and Zaccai with his ever-present scowl. It was clear from the way Shiya looked her up and down that they wanted something from her, and Carrow wasn¡¯t sure she was going to like hearing what it was. Gods help her. What had she gotten herself into now? Chapter Three The Adventurers stared expectantly at Carrow. Carrow stared right back at them. ¡°You¡¯re going to help us,¡± Shiya announced brightly. Despite the cheerful tone to the Adventurer¡¯s voice, it was clear to Carrow that this was not a request¡ªit was a statement of fact. ¡°What makes you think that?¡± Carrow demanded. Some tiny part of her was shocked that she was speaking to Adventurers this way; the old Carrow wouldn¡¯t have dreamed of it. But the old Carrow might as well have fallen with the other townsfolk back in Highspring, because she was dead and gone. Someone new stood in Carrow¡¯s place now. She had no idea how or why it had happened, but she wasn¡¯t Trader Carrow now¡ªshe was Adventurer Carrow. She¡¯d been right that morning about something being different after all. ¡°Because we need it,¡± Shiya replied, apparently unperturbed by Carrow¡¯s tone; if anything, Shiya sounded even more certain now. ¡°Uh¡­¡± was all Carrow could manage. ¡°Great, so it¡¯s decided!¡± Shiya exclaimed, clapping her hands once in excitement. ¡°N-no¡­¡± ¡°Ridiculous,¡± Zaccai muttered under his breath, rolling his eyes. Trevien shot the Warrior a pointed look, then turned back to Carrow with a polite smile on his face. ¡°I think what Shiya means to say is¡­ will you please help us?¡± Carrow stared into the Farrian Cleric¡¯s lilac-colored eyes, uncertain how to respond. She still only understood half of what they had been talking about or what they wanted from her, but anyone with two eyes could tell that they needed help. The roads were mostly safe, but a trio of naked Adventurers with no weapons and no armor? If they did run into some sort of threat, be it monster or bandit, they¡¯d be easy pickings. But it made more sense for Carrow to find another quiet town far from Highspring and settle down and try to rebuild her business instead of pretending to be something she wasn¡¯t¡­ didn¡¯t it? Going on adventures and fighting monsters wasn¡¯t her, it never had been. Except everything about her old life was gone now, burned to ash and smashed to rubble. Could she really be content with the same small, quiet life after that? She drew in a slow, somewhat shaky breath, realizing that Trevien and Shiya were still staring at her. Zaccai was watching her too, although he was making a show of pretending not to be paying attention. All of them were waiting for an answer as the faint cries of the dragon still echoed faintly across the hills. Carrow knew what answer she wanted to give¡­ and she also knew the answer she needed to give. Out of all of them, Carrow liked Trevien the most. Not only had he saved her life, but he was also the only one to pause and try and offer her some consolation, such as it was. Trevien was the only one who had been treating her like¡­ well, like a person instead of a thing. Carrow owed him a debt, one that she wanted to repay. ¡°What exactly is it you want me to do? In detail and in a way that I would understand,¡± Carrow asked carefully, mind whirling like a tempest. Never in her life had she felt such uncertainty. Always before, any choices she had to make seemed simple, like they weren¡¯t really choices at all. Every day was the same, with only a few small changes depending on whether or not Adventurers came a-calling. Carrow had been content with that; she¡¯d never felt any need to break the mold. But now the mold was gone and there was nothing telling her where to go or what to do. Carrow had to come up with the answers for herself, and that realization was almost as terrifying as the dragon. Almost. ¡°We need you to¡ª¡± Shiya began. ¡°I was asking Trevien,¡± Carrow interrupted. Beside her, Shiya made a sound that was half cough, half laugh, but Carrow ignored her. She kept her eyes trained on the Cleric, waiting for him to answer. ¡°Well¡­¡± Trevien said, searching Carrow¡¯s face. Carrow wasn¡¯t certain what he was looking for, but he continued speaking before she could ask. ¡°This probably sounds strange, but we get experience from killing monsters.¡± ¡°Of course,¡± Carrow said, staring at him. ¡°Once you¡¯ve fought a creature before, of course you¡¯d be better at it in the future.¡± ¡°Well, yeah, but I meant experience points. And when we have enough of those points, we go up in level and get stronger.¡± Carrow was about to tell him that made no sense, but right as she opened her mouth, she remembered some of the words that had popped up in front of her eyes a few minutes before, once they had successfully escaped from the dragon. She distinctly remembered something about gaining a level, and some sort of number called ¡°XP¡±. ¡°XP¡­rience¡­ experience¡­¡± Carrow said slowly, puzzling it out. ¡°Yup,¡± Shiya said. ¡°So¡­ you need to kill things¡­ and that¡¯s why you can¡¯t wear your armor right now, because you have to be stronger. I mean, a higher level¡­¡± Trevien nodded, smiling at her. ¡°Yeah. We¡¯re not strong enough to do much of anything right now. Any monster we find would probably kill us right away. But you¡¯re a higher level, and you have that sword. Since we¡¯re all in a party together, we get credit for anything you kill, so we¡¯d get stronger, too.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Carrow said. She supposed that made sense, in as much as any of this made sense. Amazed, Carrow shook her head. She had always known that things seemed to work differently for Adventurers, but she never would have expected something like this¡ªand she had the feeling she was only scratching the surface of the differences between Adventurers and normal people. ¡°So¡­ will you help us?¡± ¡°All right,¡± Carrow answered at last. This was insane, all of it, and Carrow felt a sudden pang of longing for the simplicity of her old life. But the more she thought about it, the more she was sure. Whatever had happened, whatever had changed her, there was no going back now. And, honestly, Carrow wasn¡¯t altogether certain that she truly wanted to go back even if she could. ¡°Excell¡ª¡± ¡°But,¡± Carrow said loudly, cutting Shiya off again, ¡°you¡¯re going to do something for me in return.¡± Apparently forgetting that he was pretending not to be paying attention, Zaccai raised a sardonic eyebrow. ¡°Oh?¡± he asked, voice dripping with barely concealed sarcasm. Choosing to ignore the other Warrior¡¯s tone, Carrow nodded and focused on the other two. ¡°You¡¯re going to help me find a way to kill the dragon.¡± There was a prolonged moment of silence as the Adventurers processed Carrow¡¯s request. She could practically see them thinking about how much work that would be. Perhaps they knew the history Acadia had with dragons, or perhaps not; either way, Zolzrinth wasn¡¯t going to go down easily and all of them knew it. As Carrow expected, Trevien was the first to break the silence and agree. After a moment, so did Shiya. The three of them then turned to stare at Zaccai, who was glowering silently at all of them. ¡°Fine,¡± he snapped eventually, when it became clear that he didn¡¯t realistically have any other option. ¡°Great!¡± Shiya exclaimed, clapping her hands. ¡°Now let¡¯s go kill some monsters!¡±
* * *
¡°You know, I just thought of something¡­¡± The whisper drifted up from behind her as Carrow and the rest of her party crept through the woods in the ever-darkening twilight, trying to get a jump on a monster without a monster getting the jump on them. Thankfully, the dragon¡¯s roars had mostly quieted, although they were still closer to Highspring than any of them were really comfortable with. But Carrow didn¡¯t want to risk going too far out, where the monsters were likely to be stronger. If all of them were able to fight, there wouldn¡¯t have been a problem with venturing further away from the ruins of her town; when she had to do battle on her own for all of them, Carrow didn¡¯t want to take any chances. ¡°What?¡± Shiya whispered back in response to Trevien as they tiptoed along behind Carrow, Zaccai sulking along in the rear. ¡°We know what happens if we die¡­ but what happens if she dies?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ good question.¡± ¡°I know. We never changed our attunement to anywhere close to here, right? So it¡¯d probably just dump us in the closest city. And NPCs normally respawn back where they belong, but her town is gone, so¡ª¡± ¡°Ssh!¡± Carrow hissed suddenly. The shush came out harsher than intended, although it actually didn¡¯t have anything to do with Carrow¡¯s irritation that the Adventurers were yet again discussing her as though she wasn¡¯t right there listening to every word they said. No, Carrow had spotted a silhouette in the gloom up ahead, something four-legged and hunched and beast-like. A moment later, they heard the low, menacing growl the thing let out, a growl that didn¡¯t promise anything good. Carrow took a deep breath, inspecting it. The sun had recently set and there was just enough light left to make it out amongst the plants, but Carrow was more interested in the green-colored words that popped up before her eyes:
Coyote Level 3 HP: 85/85 A wild dog-like creature native to Albia. You probably don''t want to try to pet it, though... especially if its hungry.
Well¡­ not as bad as it could have been, although the Coyotes in the hills around Highspring were mangy, half-starved things that were likely to attack unwary travelers on sight. More than once a group of them had tried to attack Highspring itself, desperate for chickens or food or even any townsfolk they were able to bring down. At least there was only one of them right now, as far as Carrow could tell. Okay. She could do this. Carrow had her Rusty Short Sword that she had picked up back in Highspring, and Shiya had rooted around in her bags and found a Weak Wooden Shield for her that helped her chance to block attacks a tiny bit. Both items were in poor condition, hardly worth more than a few coppers, but it was better than nothing. Carrow desperately wished that she had some armor beyond her clothing, which would provide little defense against the Coyote¡¯s teeth, but there was no help for it. The Coyote was just a Level 3, lower and presumably weaker than her. And even though she wasn¡¯t an experienced fighter, it was pretty clear how to swing her sword or jab it at the Coyote when it tried to attack. All she had to do was stay away from the claws and teeth¡­ right? Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Tightening her grip on her sword, Carrow stepped forward. ¡°Wait!¡± Shiya hissed. Carrow was brought up short as Shiya grabbed the back of her shawl, preventing her from moving forward. ¡°What?¡± Carrow snapped, glancing uneasily back and forth between the Adventurer and the Coyote. The beast didn¡¯t seem to be advancing¡ªnot yet, anyway, but Carrow didn¡¯t trust it to stay where it was for much longer. The ferocity of its growls meant that it had spotted them, too. Even inexperienced as she was, Carrow wasn¡¯t stupid enough to turn her back to it. ¡°Your points! Did you assign them?¡± Watching the Coyote carefully out of the corner of her eye, Carrow frowned at Shiya. ¡°I thought you said the XP points just add up¡­¡± ¡°No, no, no, not those points¡ªyour stat points. You get some each level. Shit, how should I explain this? Just,¡± Shiya said, waving her hands in the air, ¡°uh, just think about the menu?¡± ¡°Is now really the time¡ª¡± ¡°Yes!¡± Shiya insisted, Trevien nodding from behind her. Biting back a sigh, Carrow turned to face the Coyote fully again so it couldn¡¯t sneak up on her, then did as Shiya suggested. She didn¡¯t expect anything to happen¡­ but much to her surprise, a translucent list of things appeared before her. It was a little bit familiar¡ªfrom when Carrow put things into or took them out of her inventory, she realized. But there were a lot more options now, enough to make Carrow¡¯s head spin. Later, Carrow would have to stop and look thought everything, but there were slightly more pressing issues at the moment¡ªnamely, the Coyote, who was crouching low to the ground and taking an exploratory step forward, hungry eyes fixated on her. Not sure how to do any of this, Carrow focused on the option that said ¡°Stats¡±. The words in front of her eyes shimmered and changed to something new, a list of different things like Strength, Vitality, Dexterity¡­ the list went on and on. A handful of the ones near the top had a plus sign next to them, presumably ones she could change, while the ones further down seemed to display other numbers that Carrow couldn¡¯t change directly. And, up at the top, a glowing notice that said: Unassigned Points: 30. ¡°What do I pick?¡± Carrow asked, nervously focusing through the floating menu at the Coyote beyond. It was great that she could see the words and what was behind them all at once, but it was only going to take the beast a few more seconds to slink forward close enough that it could jump at her¡­ ¡°Strength,¡± Shiya and Trevien said at once. ¡°And some Vitality! It¡¯ll give you more health, since I can¡¯t really do much to heal you right now,¡± Trevien added. ¡°Um. Okay,¡± Carrow said, focusing on the menu again. It seemed strange to do things just by thinking them, but it worked perfectly. Carrow quickly added sixteen of her points into strength, distracted for a moment by the swell of energy that surged through her. It seemed crazy, but she felt a little stronger, a little more sure of herself and her physicality. The Coyote snarled, eyes boring into her. Right. Danger. Carrow hastily started adding the remainder of her points into Vitality like Trevien suggested, watching as her health rose with each one. There didn¡¯t seem to be an obvious correlation between each point she added to her Vitality and how much HP she gained from it, but Carrow wasn¡¯t complaining. However it worked, it was a big improvement. ¡°Move!¡± Shiya suddenly shrieked, yanking Carrow to the side as the Coyote lunged. She gasped as she was pulled off-balance. The jolt caused her to accidentally put the remaining two points into Dexterity instead of Vitality. Carrow had no idea what that meant, but it was too late now. She shook her head, mentally wiping the menu away as she planted her feet and stared down at the Coyote. No more time to figure things out; the fight was now. Carrow shifted a step to her left to help block the other Adventurers as they carefully retreated, giving Carrow space to fight in. Here went nothing. Just barely within range, the Coyote crouched again in preparation. Carrow hastily swung her sword in a wide, wobbly arc at it before it could jump. To her shock, her sword collided with it, catching it hard on the shoulder.
Coyote takes 19 points of damage!
For just a moment, Carrow felt a little thrill run through her as the Coyote yelped in surprise and shook itself and the words floated up above it briefly, then faded. She¡¯d done it! She¡¯d actually hit it! It was a solid hit, too, thanks to the points she had put into her Strength, which significantly helped the weak damage from her sword. Her excitement was short-lived, however, as the Coyote immediately reached out a paw and swiped at her with its claws. Carrow wasn¡¯t quick enough to move her leg out of the way, and she winced as her newly enlarged health pool took a hit.
Carrow takes 11 points of damage!
There was a faint sting in her leg from where the claw had caught her just above her boot, but it was easy enough for her to ignore. Adjusting her stance, Carrow quickly swiped at the Coyote again.
Coyote dodges!
She blanched as the Coyote twisted away from her blade just in time, avoiding her attack completely. The thing was faster than its thin, half-starved frame suggested. The Coyote recovered before Carrow, who was thrown off-balance by her attempted attack. Carrow flinched as the beast jumped at her, raising her right arm to try and shield herself. The Coyote¡¯s jaws closed around her upper arm above her shield, and Carrow gasped as the teeth inflicted more damage on her.
Carrow takes 14 points of damage!
Carrow kicked at the Coyote, twisting at the same time to try and dislodge it from her arm. The kick caught it in its belly and served its purpose, although it didn¡¯t seem to damage it. The Coyote dropped down to the ground and Carrow hastily shoved her sword in its direction, more trying to drive it back than actually attack. But her hit landed, the blade¡¯s edge sinking into the Coyote¡¯s matted, filthy fur.
Coyote takes 15 points of damage!
Her fighting was completely inelegant, she knew, and about as coordinated as a child waving around a stick as they pretended to be a knight. But sharp metal was still sharp metal, and she was relieved to see the text pop up momentarily after the last hit she managed to land. Darting back a couple of steps, Carrow looked at its HP¡­ which was still 48, above half after all that. She hastily checked her own health as well, relieved to find that she still had 220 points remaining. Momentarily relieved, that was. Taking advantage of Carrow¡¯s distraction, the Coyote leapt at her again, and Carrow was too slow to do more than get her left arm up in defense before the beast¡¯s jaws clamped down on her.
Carrow takes 16 points of damage!
¡°C¡¯mon, Carrow!¡± Shiya cheered from somewhere behind her, but Carrow didn¡¯t exactly have a chance to respond at that moment. Grunting, Carrow brought up her shield and smashed it into the Coyote¡¯s head as hard as she could manage. She had only been trying to knock it off, but the Coyote yelped and danced backward away from her as her shield bash actually hurt it.
Coyote takes 5 points of damage!
Well, that was better than nothing, Carrow supposed. Summoning up every bit of coordination she possessed, Carrow darted forward to strike at the Coyote again. Busy trying to shake its head after the solid whack Carrow had given it with her shield, the Coyote didn¡¯t see the incoming attack in time to dodge it.
Coyote takes 20 points of damage!
¡°Getting there!¡± Trevien exclaimed. ¡°Keep going! It doesn¡¯t have much left!¡± ¡°Kick its ass!¡± Shiya hollered. Without meaning to, Carrow made the mistake of glancing back over her shoulder toward where her other party members were clustered around a tree, watching the battle¡ªand Carrow immediately paid for it. There was a thud and Carrow suddenly felt herself falling to the ground, knocked over by the Coyote¡¯s weight. She managed to twist as she fell and landed on her back, but before she could do more than blink, the beast¡¯s jaws clamped down on her neck.
Critical hit! Carrow takes 21 points of damage!
She wasn¡¯t sure if the loud shriek came from her or one of the others; either way, that was a big hit, and the Coyote didn¡¯t seem ready to let her go any time soon. The one upside was that the Coyote couldn¡¯t dodge when it was busy trying to tear her throat out. Carrow yanked her arm up and jabbed her sword into the Coyote¡¯s unprotected side as hard as she could, desperate to do anything to get it off before she took more damage from it.
Coyote takes 18 points of damage!
Shocked by the sudden burst of pain from her sword, the Coyote released its grip on Carrow¡¯s neck. She awkwardly shoved it off and scrambled to her feet, trying to push away the pain and ready herself for another attack before the Coyote did the same. A quick check of her health showed she was still at 183 HP, which was a relief¡ªpaying attention to where her health was at and where the monster¡¯s health was at and fighting at the same time would probably come easier with time, but for now it was difficult to focus on everything at once. After that critical attack, Carrow had worried that she was far lower than she actually was. This was all new to her, unlike the Adventurers behind her, and it was without a doubt going to take her a lot more practice before she felt comfortable truly thinking of herself as a Warrior. In the meantime¡­ Once again taking advantage of her distraction, the Coyote lashed out with its claws. Even wounded near to death, the beast was still quick. Carrow saw the attack coming this time but still didn¡¯t manage to move quickly enough to avoid it, and she winced as the claws slashed into her leg.
Carrow takes 11 points of damage!
¡°Finish it!¡± Shiya hollered from behind her, and Carrow got the distinct impression that Shiya was hopping up and down in excitement and enjoying watching this far more than she should have been. It was all well and good for her to be excited about all this¡ªshe wasn¡¯t the one actually fighting. Steadying herself, Carrow narrowed her eyes at the Coyote. One good hit was all it would take to kill it, and Carrow meant for this to end now. And this time, she had a plan. Coiled for action, Carrow waited until the Coyote jumped at her again. This time she used her shield, small and weak though it was, to help deflect the Coyote¡¯s head. Stepping aside at an angle at the same time, Carrow let the jolt of the impact from the Coyote¡¯s own momentum help pivot her around so she could stab at the Coyote¡¯s exposed flank with the head and claws out of range to hit her. It worked. The Coyote¡¯s momentum continued to carry it forward as it crashed to the ground with a last, pitiful whine, Carrow¡¯s sword still sticking out of its side. It attempted to clamber to its feet with the last of its strength, failed, and collapsed motionless to the ground.
Coyote takes 16 points of damage!
Coyote has been defeated! XP gained! 306
I did it!¡± Carrow gasped, turning to the others. ¡°I actually did it!¡± ¡°Fuck yeah, Level 2!¡± Shiya exclaimed. ¡°Nice and easy.¡± ¡°Easy?¡± Carrow demanded. She felt like the battle had lasted forever, and the thing had taken nearly 100 HP from her¡ªand it was a lower level than she was! What if it had been the same level, or even stronger? Trevien shook his head. ¡°It was only easy to level up because we had the XP from escaping the dragon. Next level¡¯s gonna take a lot longer.¡± ¡°Easy?¡± Carrow demanded again when they didn¡¯t answer her. Nothing about that had seemed easy to her, not when she was the one putting her neck on the line¡ªliterally. ¡°That fight took way too long,¡± Zaccai grumbled, scowling at Carrow. ¡°It was just a Level 3. Should¡¯ve been like two hits.¡± ¡°Yeah, maybe if Carrow didn¡¯t have a shitty level two sword,¡± Shiya said, rolling her eyes at him. ¡°So unless you¡¯ve got something she can use¡­¡± ¡°Whatever,¡± Zaccai muttered under his breath, turning away. ¡°Let¡¯s just keep going.¡± ¡°Might as well,¡± Trevien said with a quiet sigh. ¡°I can¡¯t heal you until I find a staff of some sort, but you should be fine for now. This is going to take a while.¡± ¡°Um¡­ what level were you before¡­?¡± Carrow trailed off, waving her hands to try and encapsulate the reset or whatever it was that had caused the Adventurers to be weak and naked and in need of her help. She still didn¡¯t understand why it had happened, only that it had. ¡°¡­Twelve.¡± Carrow groaned and dropped her head into her hands, nearly skewering herself with her sword in the process. Chapter Four Carrow sighed, finally realizing the true depth of what she had gotten herself into. On the surface, helping these Adventurers gain experience and levels had seemed relatively simple¡ªbut that was before Carrow had actually swung a sword for the first time. She wasn¡¯t sure she liked the idea of spending who only knew how long getting gnawed on by Coyotes and any other monsters wandering these parts¡­ but unfortunately for her, she had already agreed to help them, and she wasn¡¯t about to go back on her word. ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Zaccai grumbled. The Warrior muttered the words under his breath, but Carrow still heard them. ¡°Just a minute,¡± she shot back, not bothering to moderate her own tone. All of this was a lot for Carrow to take in, and it wasn¡¯t Carrow¡¯s fault that Zaccai was wandering around the woods in his skivvies. Zaccai¡¯s petulance worked its way under her skin irritatingly easily, but Carrow decided that she¡¯d had enough of always being polite and amicable to every Adventurer that crossed her path. She was the one doing a favor for them, not the other way around, after all. ¡°We need to loot the corpse, anyway,¡± Shiya reminded them, already on her way to do just that. Ignoring Zaccai for the moment, Carrow followed Shiya so she could retrieve her sword. ¡°Anything good?¡± she asked as the Mage passed the weapon over and then knelt down to rummage through the items the Coyote had dropped. ¡°Couple copper, one pelt, one broken claw¡ªjunk¡ªand¡­ a pair of Holey Boots!¡± Laughing, Shiya straightened up and held them out. Trevien¡¯s face fell when he saw them. ¡°Aww, I thought you said holy boots.¡± ¡°Negative,¡± Shiya chuckled. ¡°Though these look like they¡¯re made of more holes than leather. Well, here you go.¡± Shiya held the boots out toward Carrow. Hesitating, Carrow looked around at the rest of them. ¡°Don¡¯t you need gear, too?¡± she asked reluctantly, eyeballing the boots hanging from Shiya¡¯s fingertips¡ªliterally hanging, as Shiya had looped her fingers through a hole in each of them as she held them out. ¡°Yeah, but you¡¯re first priority for anything you can use to help kill stuff faster,¡± Shiya replied, wiggling the boots a little. ¡°But I have boots,¡± Carrow protested. She stuck out a foot, demonstrating. The ones she wore were nothing fancy, just worn and scuffed plain leather, but they had always served her well enough¡­ for wandering around the packed dirt roads of Highspring, anyway. She would need something sturdier if she wanted to keep tramping through the woods and killing things, but the looted boots looked like they would last all of thirty seconds before disintegrating completely. ¡°Oh for fuck¡¯s sake,¡± Zaccai muttered from somewhere behind her. Shiya was more patient than the Warrior. ¡°What level are yours?¡± she asked. ¡°Go to the menu, then Equipment.¡± Biting back a sigh, Carrow did as she was told. Now this was interesting. Before, Carrow had been able to tell general things about any items she had in her inventory, such as their name and whether or not they were magical, and she could get a general feel as to their rarity just by looking. But now, information about her items was blatant right before her eyes. Her Fingerless Gloves were level one, their name grey in color; her Roughspun Linen Shirt was level one as well, but its name was white and it provided her with +1 Armor, as did her Worn Leather Breeches with Overskirt. On a hunch, Carrow looked at her Inventory, too. This, at least, she knew how to do without being told. And just like with her equipped items, she could see details about her belongings that she¡¯d never been able to see before, only somehow know without realizing how or why. ¡°Well?¡± Shiya prompted. Carrow closed her inventory and made the menu vanish. ¡°Level one,¡± she admitted grudgingly. ¡°And these are level three with plus two armor. So, even though they look like trash, they¡¯re actually better than what you have on.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t make any sense,¡± Carrow grumbled, although she reached out and accepted the boots. She put them on with a thought, frowning down at her feet. ¡°I¡¯ll take the old ones if you don¡¯t need them,¡± Trevien said, nodding his head toward the pair Carrow had removed. ¡°They don¡¯t do anything,¡± Shiya reminded her friend. Trevien shrugged, smiling sheepishly. ¡°Yeah, but I feel weird without shoes on. It¡¯s not like it hurts to walk around without them like it would in the real world, but¡­¡± He trailed off, wiggling his bare feet. Carrow passed them over to the Cleric without hesitation; they weren¡¯t worth much, and it wasn¡¯t like Carrow had anyone to sell them to, anyway¡­ even if she still thought it was ridiculous that the scraps of leather currently on her feet were still somehow ¡°better¡± than what she had given Trevien. ¡°Boots and underwear. Stylish,¡± Shiya giggled, and Trevien grinned at her as he struck what Carrow presumed was intended to be a sexy pose. The Cleric did look amusingly ridiculous, but Carrow had something else on her mind. ¡°Hey,¡± she said. ¡°What did you mean about the real wor¡ª¡± ¡°Can we go already?¡± Zaccai asked loudly, drowning out Carrow¡¯s question. ¡°Geez. Calm your tits,¡± Shiya huffed. ¡°My tits are fine,¡± Zaccai said flatly. ¡°Sue me if I don¡¯t want to spend all my game time standing in the woods with my thumb up my ass.¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah,¡± Shiya replied. Trevien turned to Carrow. ¡°You good to go?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡ªyes, actually. My health has gone up.¡± Carrow blinked at the Cleric, surprised to see that her HP was up from 168 to 220 and climbing as she watched. ¡°M-hmm,¡± Trevien said. ¡°Health and mana regenerate outside of combat. Well, usually. There are a few curses and things that can prevent it, but they seem to be rare at low levels¡ªI¡¯ve only read about them on the forums.¡± Deciding not to point out that the Cleric surely meant that he read about it at the forums¡ªnot that there were any cities anywhere nearby large enough to even have a forum¡ªCarrow simply nodded. ¡°All right,¡± she said with a sigh. ¡°Let¡¯s go find some more monsters.¡±
* * *
By the time the sun rose the next morning, Carrow was thoroughly sick of hunting Coyotes. The group had been successful so far, in as much as Carrow had killed eight more Coyotes, ranging from Level 2 to Level 4, and none of the other Adventurers had gotten eaten in the process. The accumulated experience was enough for the others to all get to Level 3, as well, which they were happy about. The spoils of war were lacking, however; after all that effort, the only useful item they had managed to find was a weak wand for Shiya. Other than that, it was simply some other odd bits of clothing that didn¡¯t provide any defense. The Adventurers still put them on just for the sake of it, but all of them had really been hoping for more. The one upside was that all the pelts they had collected could be sold whenever they got to another town and that money could be put toward armor and weapons. Although, Carrow realized, she didn¡¯t have any idea how much money the other Adventurers had. Carrow herself had only around 12 gold with her, and she felt a sudden flash of regret as she recalled how much had been sitting in a locked chest in her home. Well, money was something to worry about another time. Right now, Carrow was occupied with trying to think of a way to speed this process up as the group continued what felt like their millionth loop through the same patch of forest, looking for more prey. The Coyotes came back fairly regularly¡ª¡°respawned¡±, to use the Adventurers¡¯ terminology¡ªbut not quickly enough to keep this from being fairly boring. Carrow never thought she¡¯d ever think of fighting as boring, yet here they were. Sure enough, she wasn¡¯t alone in her boredom. ¡°Maybe we should find another area?¡± Trevien suggested, the first one of them in a while to break the silence with more than a sigh. ¡°I second that,¡± Shiya said immediately. ¡°There¡¯s gotta be somewhere around here with more mobs or a higher respawn rate or something.¡± ¡°Fine by me,¡± Carrow said with a sigh. She felt like she knew this little patch of the woods better than she knew Highspring at this point. It was an exaggeration, of course, but she was more than happy at the prospect of finding another patch of woods to circle through a hundred times. A short while after agreeing to head a bit deeper into the forest to see what they found, Carrow was starting to get the feeling that they would have to go back, or at least work their way back to the road and head for a completely different area. There wasn¡¯t anything around to fight at all, other than occasional rabbits and birds.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°We may want to turn around,¡± Carrow ventured, perhaps needlessly since she only had to glance at the others to see they were all thinking the same thing. It would only take a few minutes to get back to where they had previously been hunting the Coyotes if they cut straight back instead of kept sweeping back and forth in wide arcs like they had been. ¡°Man,¡± Shiya grumbled. ¡°Where¡¯s a convenient rat-filled sewer when you need one?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think there are any sewers around here,¡± Carrow told Shiya, frowning. The Adventurer rolled her eyes. ¡°I know, it was a joke. Obviously there wouldn¡¯t be a sewer in the middle of nowhere. It¡¯s just a stereotype that there¡¯s always a quest to kill rats in a sewer in most¡ª¡± ¡°Look!¡± Zaccai exclaimed suddenly. Shiya turned her head to the Warrior, likely to snap at a him for interrupting her, but her eyes widened when she followed Zaccai¡¯s line of sight and saw what he was looking at. ¡°Oooh!¡± she breathed, eyes widening. ¡°A Rare!¡± Carrow stepped toward them so she could see around the tree blocking her vision, curious. Sure enough, she could see a monster pacing slowly through the trees down a slight incline. It was far enough away that it hadn¡¯t noticed them yet, but Carrow could tell at a glance that it wasn¡¯t a typical Coyote. It was larger, for one thing; if Carrow didn¡¯t know better, she would have thought it was a Hyena of some sort. Its coloring was different too, darker where the other Coyotes had tended to a ruddier color. Excited and nervous all at once, Carrow read the words that popped up as she looked at it¡ªnot green-colored like all the other Coyote names had been, but yellow, with a small bronze skull preceding its name:
Den Mother Level 5 HP: 125/125 Not your average Coyote¡­
¡°Level 5, though,¡± Trevien said doubtfully as they all stared at it. ¡°And it¡¯ll be stronger than normal, since it¡¯s Rare¡­¡± ¡°Pssh, It¡¯ll be fine. I¡¯ve got a wand now¡ªI can help with the pew pew finally,¡± Shiya replied, drawing the wand. It was really more of a stick than anything else, but Shiya waved it around in the air in the direction of the Coyote like it was the mightiest sword, grinning all the while. ¡°We need the XP, and it¡¯s the first mob we¡¯ve found in a while,¡± Zaccai reminded Trevien, folding his arms. After a moment, Trevien sighed and nodded. ¡°Just be careful,¡± the Cleric said with a shrug. ¡°If we get in over our heads, we might have to try and run.¡± ¡°It¡¯ll be fine,¡± Shiya repeated. Then, turning to Carrow, she waggled the wand again. ¡°Ready?¡± ¡°I guess,¡± Carrow replied. Her health was full and there was no reason not to kill the beast. She¡¯d just have to keep a closer eye on her health throughout the fight and make sure she landed as many hits as possible, right? Telling herself there was nothing to worry about and she could surely handle a Level 5 Coyote¡ªshe¡¯d managed a couple Level 4s already, after all¡ªCarrow headed in the Den Mother¡¯s direction, sword and shield at the ready. Shiya followed behind, perky as ever, and the other two trailed at a safer distance. Planting her feet once she was in range that it would hear her, Carrow waved her arms in the air. ¡°Hey,¡± she called. ¡°Hey, you! Coyote! Over here!¡± The Den Mother¡¯s response was immediate. Its head swiveled around, the fierce amber eyes fixated on her, and a loud snarl filled the morning air. It was still a ways away, but the Den Mother didn¡¯t hesitate before charging. It wasn¡¯t the only one. Abruptly making a decision, Carrow broke into a run, charging at it, too, trying to head off its inevitable lunge attack. Carrow swung her sword as they met, twisting to the side as she did so to avoid a collision¡ªand to avoid its teeth.
Den Mother takes 15 points of damage!
¡°Oy! You¡¯re almost out of range!¡± Shiya hollered, running in their direction. A few steps later, she swung her wand in a wide arc and a wobbly ball of white light floated out of it and smashed into the Den Mother a moment later.
Den Mother takes 9 points of damage!
Shiya skidded to a stop and quickly shuffled to the side to put Carrow between her and the monster, which was good¡ªthe Mage didn¡¯t have nearly as much health as Carrow did, and Carrow didn¡¯t want the Den Mother to notice and decide to attack her. As usual, the creature was quick in its recovery. It was on her in an instant, all jaws and claws, and Carrow winced as she immediately took 21 points of damage. She retaliated with a sharp jab of her sword, then groaned when the Den Mother twisted out of the way without taking any damage. This wasn¡¯t uncommon for Coyotes, but it was always annoying; Trevien had explained that some creatures had a naturally high dodge chance, while Carrow would have to put points into Dexterity if she wanted to increase hers. In a fight like this against a strong monster, that one missed hit could spell disaster later on if Carrow wasn¡¯t careful. ¡°Boo,¡± Shiya called. She attacked again and managed to hit the Den Mother for another 9 points of damage, but it wasn¡¯t enough to distract the beast from the attack it directed at Carrow.
Carrow takes 23 points of damage!
Grudgingly thanking the Holy Boots she wore for giving her a little bit more defense and keeping the Den Mother¡¯s attacks from being worse than they were, Carrow lashed out and hit the beast for 14, followed by 8 more from Shiya. She took another 19 points in return and hunched down behind her small shield, carefully eyeballing her health. It was okay¡ªfor now. ¡°Take tha¡ªoh come on!¡± Carrow groaned as the Den Mother dodged again. She had tried to clip the Den Mother¡¯s head with a backhand swing of her shield as the Den Mother recovered, attempting to stun it in the hopes of giving herself and Shiya time for a couple quick attacks before it recovered, but the Den Mother apparently had other plans. Not only was it stronger than a typical Coyote, it seemed to have a better chance to evade their attacks, as well. ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Shiya said, darting aside for just a moment to send another magical bolt toward the beast before returning to her safe spot directly behind Carrow. ¡°We¡¯ve almost got it down halfway, and you still have plenty of health! Just keep going!¡±
Den Mother takes 8 points of damage!
Growling, the Den Mother danced back a few steps, carefully putting itself outside of Carrow¡¯s reach. Carrow tensed as it crouched, assuming it was going to lunge at her again. Instead, the Den Mother craned its head back, looked to the sky, and let out a fearsome howl that seemed to shake the world around them.
Den Mother summons Coyote!
¡°That¡¯s not good,¡± Carrow muttered, half to herself. She scanned around, trying to find the new Coyote without taking her eyes off the Den Mother¡­ but it wasn¡¯t until she heard Shiya swear loudly from behind her that Carrow realized where it had appeared.
Shiya takes 16 points of damage!
¡°Get off,¡± Shiya snapped, lashing out with her wand. The magical bolt hit the Coyote at point-blank range and it danced away from her, shaking itself in what looked almost like irritation.
Coyote takes 8 points of damage!
¡°Are you all right?¡± Carrow asked, trying to angle herself such that she could see both creatures at the same time. It was impossible, though; the new one was far enough behind her that she had to look away from the Den Mother to see it and vice versa. ¡°Fine,¡± Shiya snapped. ¡°Just keep it away from me!¡± Taking a risk, Carrow turned her back to the Den Mother so she could face the new Coyote. Yelling had worked to attract the Den Mother the first time, so she tried it again. ¡°Over here! Look at me!¡± Carrow cried, waving her shield and sword in the air to attract its attention. It worked and the Coyote turned to snarl at her instead of at Shiya, but Carrow paid for turning her back to the Den Mother.
Carrow takes 23 points of damage!
Carrow takes 11 points of damage!
The two beasts attacked one after the other, leaving Carrow no chance to try and defend herself in between. She stumbled and nearly fell, wincing as she quickly looked at her health as they both stalked to and fro to either side of her, looking for another opportunity to attack. Thirty-four points of damage was a lot to take that quickly. She still had 148 HP left, but that wouldn¡¯t last long if both beasts attacked her like that again. And if they managed to get a critical hit in, especially the Den Mother¡­ Trying to take the initiative, Carrow charged forward and swung hard at the Den Mother. The blow landed for 13 points of damage, but Carrow twisted her foot oddly and nearly lost her balance as she tried to step back out of range, leaving her open and unprepared to guard herself against an attack. Luckily, Shiya was paying attention and had her back. ¡°Duck!¡± Shiya hollered. Carrow didn¡¯t hesitate, immediately dropping down to one knee. As soon as she did, a bolt of magic sailed over her head, nearly singing her hair off as it passed. The Den Mother¡¯s mouth was wide open in anticipation as it leapt through the air toward her, and Shiya¡¯s attack caught it right in the teeth for 9 points of damage. Nothing could stop its airborne momentum, however, and Carrow just barely managed to get her shield up to protect her head as the Den Mother¡¯s claws raked at her. It worked, and Carrow was relieved to avoid taking any damage from the Den Mother. She remembered the other Coyote an instant too late.
Critical hit! Carrow takes 25 points of damage!
The Coyote¡¯s claws raked at her as she stood, and Carrow had to force herself not to instinctively look away from the Den Mother toward it. The Den Mother was the bigger threat here, and it was down to 40 HP. They needed to finish it off before worrying about the Coyote if they wanted to make it out of this alive. Steeling herself even though she hated the idea of having her back exposed to the Coyote, Carrow darted in to the Den Mother for another attack. Her sword slammed into it for 15 points of damage, dropping it to 25 HP¡ªnot bad. It would probably only take two more solid hits from Carrow and maybe one from Shiya to take it down. All they had to do was focus¡ª
Den Mother summons Coyote!