ã€ŠChaos Blades: Guardiansã€‹


 Chapter 1 - Silas

    Fuck off Jerry.

    Words I have wanted to say every day for the last five and a half years since I had started working in this shit hole. Words that despite wanting to say them so badly it gave me a sharp stinging pain in the back of my head when I swallowed down.

    As I always have done.

    ¡°Have that project on my desk by 9am sharp fuckwit,¡± Jerry said, he was wearing his perfectly fitted suit as if he had barely broken a sweat today, his beach blonde hair flicked back, he looked down on me with judging blue eyes and a chiselled jawline that made me want to punch him in the throat. What made things worse was that Jerry was infuriatingly self-aware of how he looked.

    He was like a male model pulled straight from a magazine, he had it all, looks, money and a gorgeous model girlfriend. Did he deserve it? Hell no, did that stop him from rubbing it in my face every opportunity that he got, no again.

    Fuck off Jerry.

    Why couldn¡¯t I just say those words, summon the confidence, the courage to tell him to go fuck himself and follow up with a punch to the face. He didn¡¯t know me, he didn¡¯t know the things I have been through, he had no idea about any aspect of my life. He didn¡¯t care, all he was bothered about was getting all the glory for the work I was doing.

    Unfortunately, this wasn¡¯t a movie though and instead of acting out on my thoughts I simply offered Jerry a tired smile before taking hold of the file that he slid across my already cluttered desk. Pieces of paper littered the table top in front of my three computer screens which had so many programs, from spreadsheets to charts open that it would send anyone into sensory overload. But for me it was calming, it was where for some reason I found piece. I was good at analysing data, no I was great at analysing data. Something that to my detriment, Jerry had figured out about two years ago.

    ¡°No problem,¡± I said as politely as I can, paired with a feigned smile, despite the hatred that doused me to my core like a Molotov cocktail.

    ¡°Don¡¯t let me down, Barry wants me ready to present this thing first thing. I¡¯ve got a meal at Liveseys tonight and I am not missing that for any fucker.¡± Jerry laughed to himself, after all why would he change his plans when he had his go to. He was standing cocksure in front of my desk, his hands tucked into his pockets.

    Jerry was King in this office and he knew it, everything about him was coated in a layer of arrogance that only a sociopath could emit. He did not care about anyone but himself and he certainly didn¡¯t care who he stood on to get to where he wanted.

    Jerry got his promotion to senior manager not because of what he knew, but because of who he knew, he had a way of leveraging people and situations to his own benefit.

    How someone with the personality of dishcloth with not one redeemable feature got to where he is now is beyond me, why is it that the dicks of this world get all the power where as those that have good values and try to do the right thing always end up with the scraps.

    Somehow Jerry knew what to say and when to say it, the smarmy ass would promise the world then get others to do all the work while basking in all the glory that came with meeting tight deadlines.

    A high-pitched ringing started in my right ear and I felt myself zoning out as Jerry¡¯s words became nothing more than muffled noise, my heart was beating hard and fast, I swear I could hear it pumping. I often zoned out in these situations, I had learned to tune into the words that I needed to, it was the only way I could cope, the only way I could suppress my frustration.

    ¡°Silas!¡± Jerry shouted with a firmness in his voice jolted me from my thoughts. How I would love to punch him in his smug, perfectly square jaw.

    ¡°Sorry,¡± I said, racking my brain to think about what he had just said as he came into focus once more.

    ¡°You did book my table at Liveseys, didn¡¯t you?¡± he placed both his hands on my desk and leant over me so far that I could feel myself shrinking into the shadow that he cast.

    With a slight tremble in my voice I said, ¡°I did, I booked your table for half seven like you asked.¡± I didn¡¯t make eye contact with him, but I could feel a deep stare coming from his bright blue eyes, the intensity of his look threatening to burn right through me. Of course I booked it, not only was I a data analyst, I was his personal secretary too, unofficially anyway. I didn¡¯t get paid any extra, I didn¡¯t get any perks for doing everything that he said, I had lost count of how many promotions I had been overlooked on, to the point where I had stopped putting myself forward. All because I didn¡¯t have the backbone to say no.

    Fuck off Jerry.

    ¡°Fuck Silas I said to book it for seven,¡± he said with a patronising tone, I knew where he was heading, he was just looking for a way to bait me. Do whatever he wanted, to make himself feel better, flex that control. I¡¯d always thought that maybe he was overcompensating for a tiny dick because someone could not be this much of an ass hole all the time for no reason.

    ¡°Sorry Jerry,¡± I said, ¡°I thought you asked for half past, I must have misheard you.¡± I apologised despite knowing full well that he asked me book the table by the window, at half seven.

    His face remained a picture of calmness as he continued to lean over me before he swept his arm across my desk, knocking over my desk tidy, and spilling my half cup of coffee over the paper I had layered out in front of me with all my notes on. It drenched all of the papers that I had been working on before spilling off the edge of a desk onto my dark blue chino¡¯s, luckily for me I drank my coffee when it was cooler so it didn¡¯t burn my legs.

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    Not only did I have Jerry¡¯s report to put together by morning, I now needed to redo all of my notes.

    A tide of frustration began to well in my stomach and for a split second I imagined what it was like to drag Jerry over the desk and hammer my clenched fists into his face over and over until there was nothing more left than a bloody pulp.

    Instead I replied, ¡°I¡¯ll ring them while you are on the way and see if they can bring the reservation forward.¡± I said, choosing to swallow down the hatred once again with a little bit more of my pride for good measure.

    ¡°Good,¡± Jerry had a wild grin, I had no idea why he liked messing with me like this, but it was how it had always been since I had started working here. He raised his hand towards me and slapped my cheek playfully. ¡°Don¡¯t let me down again Silas, or your out on your ass.¡± He finished before snorting to himself and heading towards the elevator.

    ¡°Fuck off Jerry¡± I muttered under my breath, panicking when he stopped in his tracks for a second and my fear spiked that he has heard me. Jerry adjusted his cuff-links before carrying in to the far side of the office and calling for the elevator.

    Maybe one day I will have the balls to actually say that to his face.

    I let out a sigh and rubbed my hands over my tired face, I had already been working since six this morning, I looked up at the little white clock that sat on the wall above my desk and shake my head. It was six fifteen and with all this extra work would mean I would likely be here until late.

    Reaching into my pocket I took out my phone and stared at the screensaver, it was a picture of me, my mum and dad when I was kid, when life was so much easier. Opening it up I made a call and waited for them to answer.

    ¡°Hello,¡±

    ¡°Hi mum,¡± I said with a fake amount of energy in my voice.

    ¡°Silas, I was just talking about you to Florence next door, she was asking about you.¡± My mum sounded happy, like she had had a good day, well at least one of us had.

    ¡°Hope it was all good things,¡± I laughed.

    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t it be, I was telling her all about you being a high flying data analysts for Danatyne. Now when are you going to be here, I have dinner on, so make sure you are not too late ok.¡± Her voice was soft and reassuring, even though I was mid twenties it was amazing the comfort that speaking to her brought me.

    ¡°About that,¡± I was hesitant, I hated letting her down, more than anything. ¡°Things are little crazy in the office today so I am going to be late calling over.¡±

    ¡°Oh, ok,¡± she said, ¡°Is everything ok?¡± I could hear the disappointment in her voice, that excitement in her tone fading and I hated myself for it.

    ¡°Everything is fine,¡± I lied as I started to rub the bridge of my nose. ¡°It¡¯s just we have a really tight deadline and there are a group of us staying later to make sure we hit it.¡± I said as I looked up at the empty office around me. ¡°I don¡¯t want to let the others down and be the only one that leaves early, I hope you understand.¡±

    ¡°I do Silas,¡± Mum said, ¡°I understand, just make sure you all get some rest, are you still calling over.¡±

    I looked up at the clock, the ticking seemingly getting more noticeable. ¡°I will try but it is probably going to be a late one. Maybe it would be best if we just rearranged for tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°Last time you said that it was another two weeks before I saw you,¡± She said, her voice becoming more sceptical. ¡°I just miss my boy,¡±

    ¡°I promise I will see you soon. Look I need to go now as the rest of the team are waiting on me. Love you.¡±

    ¡°I love you more,¡± Mum said before I hung up the phone.

    Letting out a sigh I tossed my phone onto a dry part of the table before cradling my face in my hands, I just wanted to scream. Instead I set about tidying my desk and lifted the soggy, coffee soaked sheets from my desk, walking over to the radiator and resting them on top. My thinking was if I had any luck they would dry out and I¡¯ll be able to still use them. Then I tutted loudly when I realised that I never had such luck and would likely need to redo, all of my days work as well as Jerry¡¯s.

    *****

    A couple of hours later and my desk was tidy and I was busy typing away on my computer, pulling the data together that Jerry had asked for and started formulating a presentation complete with charts and analytics. My eyes were growing heavy and I could see that my concentration was waning as my vision focusing in and out on my screen as all the information started to blur together.

    I reached for my mug and raised it to take a sip of coffee when I realised it was empty.

    ¡°Well I am going to need more of that,¡± I said to myself before standing form my chair and heading to the kitchenette to make myself a fresh cup.

    While I was waiting for the kettle to boil I found my mind drifting elsewhere, anywhere but here, anything to distract me. More than anything I needed a holiday, I needed to get away from this place, if only I could have afforded one.

    I allowed myself to drift off, imagining a Caribbean beach, golden sands, turquoise blue waters, the noise of the sea, the warmth of the sun against my skin and I so desperately wished to be there. I was miserable.

    A strange noise caused me to leave the holiday in my mind with a bump. It was a noise similar to when you are tuning a radio, a high pitched frequency that seemed to only be getting stronger.

    Confused I raised my finger to my ear and used it as a plunger, like that would help, I figured I must have had a migraine coming on. For a moment the high pitch noise stopped and I focussed on the sound of the bubbling water in the kettle.

    In a split moment I felt as though the ground underneath my feet vibrated and I stretched my arms out to keep my balance.

    ¡°Woah!¡± Feeling dizzy I turned on the sink and splashed my face with some water as the noise returned. This time it was more painful and forced me to wince, clasping my hands to my ears proved pointless as the ringing continued. It¡¯s pitch intensifying. It caused a wave of nausea so I took a step back to sit at a nearby chair just as the ground shook again, except this time there was a stronger force as the circular coffee table nearby fell over.

    ¡°Okay I didn¡¯t imagine that then,¡± I said to myself, I was the only one left in the office as far as I knew and a panic came over me, was it an earthquake? That wouldn¡¯t explain the high pitch noise that was continuing to get worse. My head was pounding, feeling as though it was about to split in two, a pressure forming at the centre of my forehead similar to when you swim too deep in the swimming pool.

    It was at that moment that I feel a tug in my stomach as if I had been lassoed by a rope, tension wrapped around my waist, squeezing me tightly. It near snapped me in half as I was yanked forward by an invisible force so hard it snapped by head back with a crack and I swear I saw stars and a flash of white.

    I let out a scream of panic as the rest of the office started hurtling past me so fast the only thing I could liken it to was if I was on the main deck of a spaceship flying at warp speed looking out at the stars. Colours merged into blurred lines and the nauseating feeling intensified in the out of my stomach as everything flew past me so quickly that I had no clue where abouts in the office I was anymore.

    When I lost the sensation of feeling grounded, I lost my shit and really started to panic, how would the floor disappear? Suddenly it was like I was falling into nothing and I spiralled helplessly, all the while screaming loudly until with a thump I slammed into the ground and the world stopped spinning around me.

 Chapter 2 - A Strange New World

    I was breathing heavily, more so to stop me from hurling my guts up when I realised it was dry grass underneath my palms as I braced myself.

    That didn¡¯t make sense to me as I was in my office just a few moments ago. I opened my eyes to see that I wasn¡¯t imagining it, although blurred I could clearly see a patch of grass where I was now kneeling.

    ¡°That¡¯s not possible¡± I said aloud as my brain furiously tried to process what had just happened.

    As I stood up the world around me rocked and swayed as if I had spent a month on the deck of a ship in rough waters.

    Another wave of nausea hit me that I could no longer keep surpressed and a large gurgling sound forced its way from my belly right upto my throat. Leaning forward I slapped my hands on my knees to brace myself and threw up in the grass. Bile burned the back of my throat as I continued to vomit until there was nothing left, leaving nothing but a witching sound leaving my mouth.

    When I stood up again the sun beamed harshly on me, to a point where I could feel its heat against my skin. I had no clue where I was but it could not have been any further away from my office.

    The dried grass passed around me but staring out ahead of me all I could see was sand, like a but ton of sand piling up in the distance to form large hills. They went on as far as I could see, the air felt still and warm to breath in, like I could feel the warmth of the air in my lungs. When I spun around, my immediate surroundings were surrounded by pine trees, like some form of oasis in the middle of a desert.

    Am I dreaming? I thought as confusion continued to fog my thoughts. Had a fallen? Passed out? Had a heart attack?

    Am I dead? My next thought rocked me, had I had an aneurysm and this place was some form of pergatory?

    You have watched too much tv I told myself as I continued to look around at my surroundings, simply unable to draw any kind of conclusion as to what the hell was going on.

    My options being walking into a Barron desert or towards the trees it felt like a simple choice. I literally had nothing on me other than my wallet and keys and of course I had left my phone in my desk by my computer.

    Other than the trees I couldn¡¯t see anything or hear anything, which told me I couldn¡¯t be sure if it was or wasn¡¯t safe but giving a glance a the desert on the other side and the harsh sun above it seemed like the more more sensible option.

    ¡°Holy shit is that?¡± I had to double take to check that I wasn¡¯t still suffering from the bends of landing where ever this was but there were two suns in the sky. I rubbed the back of me head, checking for any lumps because I must have hit my head real hard.

    I avoided staring into the to suns for longer than I should and turned my head away, with two bright spots now in my vision for a few seconds. Then something appeared at the top right of my vision and I shook my head in disbelief.

    It was like having a transparent TV screen, it popped up like I was wearing some kind off VR headset. Except I wasn¡¯t. The screen remained fuzzy like it was out of tune as I naturally found myself drawn to it. I closed my eyes and it vanished but as soon as I opened them again it was like it was part of my vision.

    Instinctively I reached my hand out to see if I could touch it, I couldn¡¯t and I was grateful no one was around to see me grasping at thin air. I could however see my hand behind the translucent screen.

    ¡°Is anyone there?¡± A young woman¡¯s voice said, the screen in the top right of my vision flickered into life. ¡°Is anyone there?¡±

    ¡°H, hello?¡± I stammered still wondering what the hell was going on.

    ¡°It worked!¡± The voice said excitedly, ¡°It actually worked.¡±

    ¡°W, worked?¡± I asked, ¡°Who are you and where am I?¡±

    The screen continued to flicker but slowly a the shape of a face and head became visible, the screen was still like something from the 70s or 80s as it still continued to flicker as it focussed.

    The face was full of dark red fur with blackened jowls, hanging low on each side of its mouth, it had a somewhat humanist shape to its face but there was no mistaking that it looked like it was some form of boxer-

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    ¡°A dog?¡± I said out loud, puzzled and confused, its focus was frantic as it searched around the screen as if it was looking for someone beyond me.

    ¡°How dare you,¡± she scoffed, her voice clear as if she was stood right in front of me, say for a slight crackle like white noise. ¡°I am not some neanderthal dog, I certainly will not sit here wagging my tail, waiting for you to pat me on the head.¡± There was an assertive nature to her voice that made me feel like a kid being scolded by a teacher.

    ¡°Wh, what are you?¡± I asked, if there was anything to solidify that this was just one fucked up dream then this moment was it, a talking half boxer dog, half human hybrid. Someone had taken the term doggy style way too seriously where I was.

    The dog lady sighed, her jowells flapping with her deep exhale of breath.

    ¡°I am a drogue, surely you must have met my kind before?¡±

    ¡°A drogue?¡± I repeated back slowly as I formed the words, they seemed as alien to me as this world. ¡°Sorry, no I¡¯ve never seen anything like you before.¡±

    ¡°Anything?¡± She snapped,

    ¡°Anyone,¡± I corrected myself quickly, not meaning to offend her.

    ¡°How curious, just where are you from?¡±

    ¡°Erm, earth?¡±

    ¡°Never heard of it? Are you human?¡± She said as she pressed her eyes closer to the screen, ¡°you certainly look human, a scrawny one at best too. I asked for a champion to save us, why would they send me such a weak one? A human one too.¡± She continued to fire out inadvertent insults about my less than impressive physique, shaggy brown hair and small arms for longer than I was comfortable with.

    ¡°I am still here,¡± I said, interrupting her monologue which was turning into more of a rant at someone that wasn¡¯t present rather than myself.

    Her focus snapped back to me, ¡°I am sorry, I was just expecting someone,¡± her face looked me up and down before saying ¡°Stronger,¡±

    Well at least there is one consistency here as there is at home, and that is how I am seen to be weak.

    ¡°Tell me what is your name?¡± She asked me, hastily like I was about to take some form of exam.

    An air of defiance, surged in me the dog lady had been damn right rude to me, why should I share anything with her. ¡°Why should I tell you? You have done nothing but slam my appearance since you started talking to me.¡±

    ¡°Well if you are the champion I pleaded for, that I spent the last of my magic summoning, I thought I might get something a little more capable.¡± She looked to the side, revealing her elongated snout, her eyes continuing to dart around as she traced her thoughts.  ¡°Perhaps this is a test in itself, if he is the champion, if he is the one to destroy Belzebere and bring stability to the fallen kingdoms, well I have known the gods to put forward such tests.¡±

    There was so much in her words that I needed to take a moment to decipher and process, had she just spoken about magic? And me being a champion and gods?

    ¡°We need to act quickly, you need my help and I need yours, so as I asked, what is your name?¡± She said as if she was rushing.

    ¡°Silas,¡± I replied hesitantly. ¡°And you are?¡±

    ¡°My friends, they called me Fidget,¡± her tone and expression changed to one of sadness. ¡°But they are gone now,¡±

    ¡°Why would I need your help?¡± I asked while also asking myself why I would help her.

    ¡°Because this world is dangerous, beyond your comprehension, creatures and monsters roam this world that are probably beyond your realms of imagination.¡±

    There we go again, I thought another insult.

    ¡°First things first we need to figure out where you are, can you describe your surroundings?¡±

    I spend the next few moments describing to Fidget the desert plains as far as my eyes could see and that I had just stepped into the forrest which was more like a silent oasis.

    ¡°Havela?¡± She said, ¡°Why would Verensar summon a champion and place them so far away?¡± Again she spoke aloud but not as if she was speaking to me.

    ¡°You need to listen to me, it is not safe,¡± the screen flickered as if the signal was being disrupted. ¡°There is so much that I need to go through with you but I need to recharge my mana, to maintain this connection with you.¡±

    ¡°Wait I have so many questions I need to ask, like where the fuck am I? And how is all of this possible?¡±

    Fidget sighed again and shook her head, ¡°Because it¡¯s not like I have already explained all of this,¡± she muttered under her breath as if doing so would prevent me from hearing her, her tone was more adolescent like and it made me wonder just how old was she. ¡°Verensar is really testing me huh!¡±

    The screen flickered again this time barely keeping Fidget on the screen as her image started to distort and her words jerked and faded in and out.

    ¡°Head north west until you reach a small hut near a waterfall, when you get there tell S,¡± The name she said crackled meaning I couldn¡¯t make out what she said, ¡°that Fidget sent you. By the time you reach him, I should have enough mana to reach out to you again, use the sun above you as a compass for now, we will figure a map out later.  If you head roughly in the direction between the suns this is north west, I dont know how long it will take you but you need to get to S,¡± her voice cracked again distorting the name, ¡°He will help you get set up here, we need to find the fragments of the Chaos Blade ¡± Fidgets face looked like one filled with concern. ¡°Stay safe Silas of earth, you are our only hope.¡±

    With that the Fidget¡¯s image vanished and within a moment the screen blinked away leaving me with my full vision once again. Just like that I was alone, in a place I knew nothing about with the only detail being that it was dangerous. If it was dangerous just how was I meant to be capable of surviving it, how am I meant to be the champion that Fidget had spoken of. My only hope for now was to do what Fidget had told me to and head deeper into the forrest, to find a hut by a waterfall.

 Chapter 3 - Critters

    I had no clue how long I had been walking far but I had managed to keep up a steady pace, the climate was not as warm as what I was expected, my surroundings certainly more forrest like and less a jungle. Still that didn¡¯t stop me from breathing out of my backside as I continued to push my way through the trees. My feet would occasionally snag on the shrubs and bushes that covered the ground, causing me to trip but as things stood, I had managed to keep myself upright. The last thing I wanted was to break an ankle or something.

    My white open collar shirt was open and the neck damp with sweat, as was under my arms, the blue chinos and shoes that I was wearing were less than ideal for walking in, making it especially tricky whenever I reached any kind of embankment or slope. My feet ached and my throat was dry and realising I would need a drink and some food soon enough I started actively looking for a stream of water. What I was going to eat however was a different story in its entirety.

    The forrest was still well lit despite interlocking branches above creating a canopy of leaves of which Ravens decorated the ground. Seeing a large boulder embedded in the ground I decided to take a moment to catch my breath, my legs and back ached and I felt I was more than deserving of a rest.

    Perching on a little ledge in the stone that seemed to be perfectly placed I let out a sigh. I kicked of one of my shoes and raised my foot over my knee so that I could massage it, it helped with the ache but not as much as I would have liked. These shoes were pathetic when it came to hiking through a forrest and I wished for a moment that I had a pair of walking boots instead.

    I wasn¡¯t the most active of people, but when I did go out I did enjoy the fresh air and mindfulness that good walk could bring. Here the air didn¡¯t taste fresh and as for mindfulness, well all that was playing on repeat in my mind was Fidget¡¯s parting words obout how dangerous this place was. And other than the clothes on my back I had absolutely nothing to protect myself with, not that I could even protect myself.

    A searing pain gripped my ankle and I let out a yelp of pain before looking down at my foot, my other foot still shoeless.

    An and sat at the foot of my shoe, its pincers digging into either side of my ankle, a real big ant. It was about the size of a hedgehog and the rear of it was glowing red, under dark brown translucent skin. It chittered loudly as its grip on me tightened and my ankle started throbbing as though it had had a rock thrown at it.

    ¡°What the fuck!¡± I yelled as I started shaking my leg around as I flailed helplessly to get it off me. The ant held firm when I noticed something above it.

    *Fire Ant Lvl 1 *

    It was right there in my vision like the screen that Fidgetched used to talk to me, the words moved as I did but as I focused on the ant the letters could be seen clear as day. In small red letters hovering above the giant fire ant.

    This is crazy, I have lost my mind and when I wake up from whatever this is I am likely going to wake up in a psychiatric hospital. I shook my leg again, this time even more vigorously but the fire and still held firm. Finally I slammed down my heel on my shoeless foot onto the ant, after the third blow it finally loosened its grip enough for me to shake it off. Leg throbbing I staggered back away from it as the fire ant chittered, a high pitched noise that sent a chill down my spine. It moved quicker than I expected and raced across the ground towards me as I continued to rush backwards away from it until my back hit a tree. As the fire ant got closer to me it stopped when it was around five feet away giving me the briefest of moments to see if there was anything around that I could use against it. There was nothing I could see, and before I had time to process and as I looked at the words fire ant hovering above it the red glow cat its rear end intensified and travelled down its body towards its head. It spat a literal ball of fire at me and I dived out the way as it blasted the side of the tree, showering me in bark, the warmth was intense and my heart raced as adrenaline coursed through my body.

    Of course its a literal fire ant capable of  spitting fire at me. As if this world could not get any more batshit. Scrambling through the dirt I crawled as fast I could to get some distance between me and the ant until my hand planted onto of a rock which was about the size of a brick. It was better than nothing and as I clambered back to my feet I stood my ground holding the rock tightly as the fire ant scurried towards me once again. Biding my time I waited for the opportune moment and as the fire and stopped and started loading up its fire ball again I roared, part in frustration, part in fear and when I say roar it was more of a warble than a battle cry as I lunged forward and slammed the rock onto the head of the fire ant as hard as I could. With a satisfying crunch a little red bar underneath the word fire ant depleted quickly to near empty, so I brought the rock down a second time.

    The ant squealed loudly for a split second before ceasing to move, above it more words appeared.

    *3 exp*

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    It floated up form it and disappeared in the blink of an eye and my vision flashed brightly before the words

    *Silus*

    *Level 1*

    Pinged up at the the bottom of my vision before disappearing. Wait wait wait, had I just levelled up? Like I was in some form of game? What I did realise is the fear I was feeling when the ant had attacked me subsided and the confidence in me grew with the realisation that I had been able to kill this bug, monster thing, whatever the hell it was.

    *New skill point unlocked*

    The worlds flashed up like a notification followed by a strange symbol to the upper right, as I looked on it, it was as if I had selected it as another menu seemed to open listing some traits.

    *Primary stats unlocked*

    *Streghth*

    *Stamina*

    *Health*

    *Mana*

    *Chrarisma*

    *Wisdom*

    Their was a token symbol that flashed next to each of the words as I read them, Fidget¡¯s words lingered in my mind as I read, about how she had described me as scrawny and weak. Without realising I found myself focusing on strength for a good few seconds until with the sound of a click I heard the words.

    *Skill point added*

    *Stregth  1*

    I don¡¯t know what I was expecting but nothing else happened, like what did I think would happen? I¡¯d suddenly be ripped with shredded muscles all over my body. Letting out a sigh I turned to leave, looking up for a gap in the trees to find where the suns were so that I could get my bearings and get back on track. Then I remembered my shoe and spent the next five minutes looking for it, it was near the charred tree, I must have kept hold of it until I dived out of the way of the initial fire blast. When I picked it was charred with a small hole singed into the side of it, the leather of the shoe melted away. If I thought they were bad for this terrain before, they were even worse now. Still it was better than having a bare boot so I slipped the shoe back on looked up at the sky and settled on a general direction to walk in.

    Reach level three to unlock skill tree, I thought to myself as I set off walking, I wonder what that will look like. I didn¡¯t have much time to gather myself when a familiar chattering noise caused me to look behind me. There wasn¡¯t just one fire ant this time, there were four of the bastards and they were all moving towards me. This time I noticed that the names above them were in green.

    *Fire Ant Lvl 1*

    I wondered if this was because my level matched there¡¯s but a quick firing fireball hurled past me around a metre away. I slammed into the ground spraying dirt up in the air as I decided I wasn¡¯t taking any chances and made a run for it. The ground churned up behind me as the fire ants continued to unfurl a volley of fireballs at me, earth continued to spray up in the air as if I was running through a battlefield. Each time one blast missed me I braced myself for the next one hitting me square in the back and that was something I knew I din¡¯t want to experience.

    My adrenaline was in full flow as I continued to rush past the trees, a blast of fire exploding right next to my head.

    ¡°Shit¡± I said out loud as I flinched, using my arm to shield me from the bark, shrapnel that splintered everywhere.

    With a jolt I felt my foot snag against a root or something and It caused me to tumble forwards, unfortunately for me down an embankment too. The world around me spun like I was in a tumble dryer as the dark brown of the earth and the green of the trees blurred into one and I felt every single stone and branch that jabbed at me on my way down to the bottom. As I slammed into something I gasped for air, winded and bruised, my body ached like I had been jumped by a gang of thugs.

    To my horror above the sound of my wheezing breath I could still hear the sound of the chattering pincers of the fire ants that were chasing me.

    I don¡¯t know where I found the energy or the grit but I managed to haul myself to my feet faster than I should have been able to, and now carrying a heavy limp the realisation dawned on me that I would not be able to out run the fire ants any longer.

    I reached for a branch and swung from it, my ribs ached but I had no other option, I used my weight to pull down on it until it snapped free. Then I braced myself and waited for the fire ants to come Ito sight. As they bared down on me and drew close a whacked the first one with the branch and swatted it away, it bounced of a nearby tree and its red health bar depleted to nothing as it sat motionless at the base of the trunk. The other ants continued to advance and to my surprise, non of them were blasting any fire balls at me, then the thought dawned on me. They had used up all their mana. A new wave of energy gripped me as I began swatting the ants with the thick branch in my hand until only one fire ant remained. As I stared into its big, black eyes I saw only my enemy and this time when I roared I felt as though I was one hundred men, crunch of its head reminding me of the breaking open of an egg. When I raised my stick and slammed the end of it through the remaining fire ants head and into the ground. Slowly the fire in its rear flickered like a damaged lightbulb before the fire disappeared and I knew I could breath a sigh of relief.

    *3 xp x 4*

    Flashed above the corpses of the fire ants as I stood breathing like a wild man, wired and expecting even more fire ants to defend on me. These bastards were not going to take me down however.

    *Silus *

    *Level 2*

    *Skill point unlocked*

    The fire ants bodies disintegrated into ash clouds that blew away with the light breeze that gusted through the forest. Something caught my eye however, a strange orange orb that glowed with a pulsating life, it sat where the largest of the fire ants husk was just a few seconds ago. No soon did my eyes land on the orb did it flash up with some text that I was not expecting.

    *Legendary item*

 Chapter 4 - Legandary Item

    It took me a quick second for me to assign my skill point to my strength once again, after all if I kept having more of these fore ant bastards come at me, it would be less daunting if I could squash them all that little bit easier. I stood still momentarily as I focussed on assigning the skill point before my attention firmly fixed on the glowing orange orb, that was apparently a legendary item.

    The orb was as magic looking as I could imagine, it looked like some sort of core, like if the sun was condensed into a melon sized item. A glow of energy pulsated on the outer edge and every few seconds it shimmered with a kind of golden light. I had never seen anything like it and I found myself transfixed, like I didn¡¯t want to take my eyes off it in case it vanished. As I approached it a text box appeared beside it offering me more information on the item.

    *Sphere Of The Chosen*

    *Legendary Item*

    *Literally a gift from the gods. If you have stumbled upon this item it means that even they don¡¯t hold much hope for you. This item grants the user the ability to choose their class immediately instead of at level 10. Upon consumption the user will be able to choose their primary class. Not all class options will be offered, so be aware that you may miss out on alternative classes when choosing early. Warning this choice will be permanent and irreversible. Not even respec items will work. This will also immediately grant the user all skill point bonuses associated with their chosen class. Perfect for those low level bottom dwellers that strive to be something more than food for the fire ants.*

    Was that a dig at me? Jesus do they really think that I am that incapable. Part of me wanted to boot the magical orb into the stratosphere and tell the gods to go and fuck themselves but then the other part of me thought if I could get a bit of a boost maybe this world that I have found myself in, might feel a little less dangerous.

    ¡®I will probably be dead soon anyway¡¯ I thought to myself before reaching out for the orb. No sooner than I touched it, the orb began to crackle and speed at a rate I couldn¡¯t begin to comprehend. It popped up in the air like a trip mine and exploded right in front of me, I embraced myself to feel a slam of force against my chest as I shut my eyes and turned my head away as I flinched. There was no force or pain as expected, instead I felt a strange wave of energy run through my core as more text popped up in my vision.

    *Class selection unlcoked*

    The text came up on the left with a larger box to the right for me to flick through the options.

    *Paladin*

    *This class will grant the bearer the ability to both handle themselves on the battle field as well as the ability to heal themselves or others through magic.*

    *+3 to consitution*

    *+2 to streghth*

    *+3 to wisdon*

    This could be a good option, being able to fight and heal could be the perfect combination to me, the paladin class piqued my interest straight away.

    *Ranger*

    *A strong connection to nature, channel your magic into harnessing the power of the wilds. The ranger class is best suited to those who prefer ranged combat rather than up close and personal*

    *+ 5 to dexterity*

    *+2 to wisdom*

    *+1 to nature*

    As much as fighting from distance sounded safe I couldn¡¯t help but feel that this could mean I would also be weak in certain situations and the thought of being a ranger didn¡¯t appeal to me whatsoever.

    *Battle Mage*

    *Perfect for those that like to use their magic to cause destruction on the battlefield by channeling their raw power into the weapons that they wield. The battle mage are astute tacticians and make for great leaders of others*

    *+3 inteligence*

    *+2 streghth*

    *+2 constitution*

    *+1 Wisdom*

    Now this class sounded fun, channeling magic through the weapons that I wield, that sounded pretty badass, leading others in battle though? That filled me with dread at the mere thought.

    *Necromancer*

    *Not for the faint hearted, the necromancer will harness their dark magic to harvest the souls of those they have destroyed. Reaping souls and controlling the undead, necromancy is frowned upon by pretty much everybody and you will find it difficult to make allies. *

    *+4 Inteligence*

    *+4 constitution*

    The less said about this the better, I was new to this world and even I could tell to stay away from this class. Even the text in the menu was different from the others, I knew in an instant that this class was not for me.

    *Berserker*

    *You are chaos incarnate, meaning of all the options in front of you, you chose violence. What you lack in magic, you make up for in muscle, making you near enough indestructible. *

    *+5 stregth*

    *+3 consitution*

    *+1 dexterity*

    Indestructible eh? This concept made me sit up and listen and when I tool the time to tally up all the bonus stats that each class offers I realised that the berserker class had an extra point attributed to it. As someone who was used to working in data I knew all to well the benefits those one or two extra points could grant you. It is all about the fine margins. Besides the way Fidget spoke about me, maybe it was time that I bulked up and showed people what I could truly be.

    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

    My decision made I locked onto the berserker class and a strange vibrating sensation ran up my spine, like a cold shiver. A surge of energy rippled through me and in my menu it said.

    *Berserker class unlocked*

    *+5 stregth*

    *+3 constitution*

    *+1 dexterity*

    *Overall stats*

    *+7 streghth*

    *+3 constitution*

    *+1 dexterity*

    I shut down the menu and looked down at my body, nothing had changed, my appearance remained the same. I felt more confident according to my stats, I definitely felt more durable but other than that I felt no different. Feeling confident I ran at a nearby tree and let out a roar as I charged into it as fast as I could, I had no idea what to expect but surely with that amount of extra strength I would be able to knock a tree down.

    I was wrong, and with a blinding flash to my vision, I staggered backwards before falling flat on my back, winding myself once again. Letting out a pained groan I rolled on my side and shook my head, a dull throbbing pain a bit like a migraine teasing the front of my skull.

    Well I won¡¯t do that in a hurry any time soon, note to self I can¡¯t knock over trees, no matter how strong I get. Whilst non the ground, looking up at the sky above me the two suns came into focus and the desire to find this mysterious person that Fidget wanted me to find came back to me.

    Hopping up from the floor I dusted myself off and set off at speed, feeling as though I had more in the tank I soon understood what the constitution points stood for. Normally I could keep up a steady jog for about ten minutes before needing to take a rest, I wasn¡¯t super fit by any means. But since choosing this class I found I could run that little bit faster, for longer which seemed like a perfect combination to me. It was a strange feeling being able to run at a decent pace yet not gasping for air, skipping through the trees and hopping over logs without breaking a sweat. A far cry from where I was at the start of the day. Wherever that orb came from, I was grateful for it, heck I felt as though I could run like this all day and all night if need be.

    I covered so much ground and even though I had no concept of the time here or how long I had running I knew that I had most definitely gained an advantage now that I had a class, every now and then if I saw a fire and I would change my course just sop I could stamp on the prickly bastards and show them who was boss. Each time gaining some experience points but what I quickly figured was now I was level two and they were level one, the experience I was receiving was minimal.

    One thing that did run through my mind was, what I would give to bump into Jerry while I was feeling like this, I had never felt so good and I didn¡¯t want it to end.

    Fuck you Jerry.

    Although I couldn¡¯t run for ever, what was clear was I had a reserve of stamina that I had never experienced before, hell I even felt energised while I was running, a strange buzz running through me as I continued to run through the dense woodlands.

    I had got through a phase in my early to mid twenties where I wanted to try and bulk up and set about getting myself in a good routine with the gym, food and diet had never been an issue with me but naturally my frame was built for long distance running, I just couldn¡¯t run for shit. Until now anyway. After hitting the gym for a couple of years to try and gain some muscle it was to no avail, at best my shoulders and chest became more of an average build than scrawny but no matter how hard I tried at it, I just couldn¡¯t get it to work, and I never once left the gym with that feel good feeling I had been told by so many you get after a good train session. I would just leave, tired and fatigued and when I didn¡¯t see the results that I wanted I just stopped.

    When I could feel myself fatiguing I finally stopped and I actually felt good about myself and the ground that I had covered, despite still having no clue if I was travelling in the right direction. If anything the trees around me were only getting denser, despite the trees appearing thinner here, there were a lot more of them, meaning even if I wanted to run, the dodging from left to right would only slow me down any way.

    As I panted heavily like a dog I slapped my hands on my knees as I bent forward to take in gulps of air, but despite being out of breath I didn¡¯t feel exhausted, I simply felt like I needed a short rest and then I would be able to go again.

    It was then that I noticed that the area around me was eerily quiet, I couldn¡¯t feel any breeze against my skin and there were no sounds of wildlife, not even the birds I could here earlier. There was nothing and in that moment, if I could forget the dangers that apparently lie within this forest it was kind of peaceful, except for a feeling that I just couldn¡¯t shake that I was being watched.

    Looking around me to my right then my left before doing a full three hundred and sixty degree turn just to check nothing was following me. I figured that I was just being paranoid before I reading my self to set off, looking up at the gaps in the trees once again to try and figure out which way north was.

    When I took a couple of steps forward everything changed however when a branch snapped under my foot, it didn¡¯t feel natural and my foot quickly snagged against something. Before I had chance to react or even think my view completely changed as some kind of trap triggered and hooked around my ankle. In the blink of an eye the green of the trees and the brown of the trunks flipped on there head as suddenly I was flipped upside down, my head hanging about six feet in the air. The snare was wrapped tightly around my right ankle, the thin wire digging into my skin, my hip joint felt as though it was about to pop out of its socket, the pressure building was almost as intense as the pressure building in my head. My left leg hung limply and uncomfortably as I flailed around trying to either pull myself free or snap the rope. I tried to sit up and reach the rope but I couldn¡¯t and knowing that shouting for help all I could muster was a frustrated sigh.

    The main question was, who had made the trap and where were they. That was a question soon answered when something stepped out from the shadows and moved towards me.

 Chapter 5 - Raven

    My heart surged as I waited for the shodowy figure to reach me and spike me with something, I instantly assumed it was hostile. The way it appeared was strange, there was no sign of the hooded figure prior, they just looked as though they stepped out from the darkness.

    The figure didn¡¯t look too tall, perhaps that was simply because I was hanging around upside down and all the blood in my body was rushing to my head, perhaps it was affecting my perception, but the hooded figure seemed like they were around four feet tall.

    ¡°Get back!¡± I said, flailing around trying to make myself look as intimidating as possible and failing miserably. The hooded figure remained shrouded in darkness, unnaturally so, I couldn¡¯t  make out any discernible features on their face. It was as if the entire space beneath the hood was a deep blackened void, and I wondered if whatever this was some kind of spectre or something.

    The figure didn¡¯t do anything it just simply stood, frustratingly out of reach and raised its head before tilting it to the side as if it was examining me.

    ¡°I said get back,¡± I swung an arm pathetically, reaching no where near where the figure stood.

    They continued to stand and watch for longer than I would like before gliding across the ground to the tree that I was hanging from before removing a blade and cutting the rope.

    With a thud, I a crashed into the ground like a sack of potatoes,  shoulder first, it was a miracle that I didn¡¯t land on my head, the pain in my shoulder was enough to distract me.

    ¡°What the hell!¡± I said, furious at being strung up in the air like that. The figure turned around and moved across the ground towards me at an accelerated speed, it was if they were floating, their movement silent. ¡°Who are you? What do you want with me?¡± I readied myself to strike out but in truth I had never punched a person, even if I still wasn¡¯t sure what this thing was.

    The figure raised their hands to their hood and lowered it slowly revealing a young child, they had a mess of dark red hair, curly, frayed and unkempt. Her face was one of curiosity and naivety, her face mottled with a plethora of freckled from the bridge of her nose and across her thin cheeks.

    ¡°You¡¯re just a kid huh,¡± I said, she must have been no older than eight or nine at a guess, her height and tiny frame making sense now.

    The kid continued to stand silently again tilting her head as if she was examining me. She took a natural step forward this time revealing tiny uncovered, dirtied feet that crunched against the dried leaves on the ground.

    I sat up and brushed the dirt of my arms as best as I could, my shirt was already ruined with dirt and debris.

    ¡°What¡¯s your name kid?¡± I asked.

    She didn¡¯t say a word back to me, she did however take a step forward and offer a hand.

    Tentatively I accepted and stood back to my feet, curious as to who this girl was and where she came from.

    ¡°Where are your parents.¡±

    She didn¡¯t answer again, she just gave me a kind of goof ball smile as if she was excited to see me but didn¡¯t know what to say.

    ¡°Silent type eh,¡± I said, ¡°Well my name is Silas,¡±

    The girl stepped back from me as if my movements had startled her. She then raised her right hand and waved it to the side as if she was waving at me.

    She then started moving her hands around and it took me a few moments to understand.

    ¡°Sign language,¡± I said as it dawned on me. I had no clue what she was saying, she was animated, so clearly she was trying to explain something to me. The only experience I had ever had with sign language was seeing those small guys in the corner of the tv, often during the news or weather. ¡°So you can¡¯t speak,¡± I said, pointing to my throat as I spoke.

    The girl shook her head, before becoming animated again, there was an urgency about her, whatever she was trying to say, her wide eyes told me that it wasn¡¯t necessarily a good thing.

    ¡°What is it? I don¡¯t understand what you are trying to tell me?¡±

    The girl looks over her shoulder, then back at me, her hands becoming more animated.

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand what you are trying to tell me,¡± I can see her frustration growing as is mine. ¡°Are you trying to warn me about something,¡±

    The girl stops and nods her head, she then pointed at the rope that I was dangling from just a few moments before sticking her tongue out and bringing her thumb across her throat.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t set this trap?¡±

    The girl shook her head vigorously, before looking over her shoulder agin.

    ¡°Then who di-¡°

    Something flew past me, grazing my arm, ¡°Shit, what the hell was that,¡± I brought my right hand up to my arm, clasping where a deep burning feeling was erupting. My blood, seeped through my fingers, its thick tacky texture near causing me to faint. When I looked behind me I could see what looked to be an arrow bedded into the tree trunk behind me.

    As I turned to look back at the girl she shot towards my Raven before vanishing right in front of my eyes again. It was as though she stepped through a trap door, dropping down through the ground as though nothing was there.

    ¡°What the fuck!¡± I said, with no clue what to do. The feral noises of who ever it was that shot the bow came into earshot, shouting and cheering, shouting out in a language that I did not understand.

    Not taking any chances I turned and ran, at twenty seven years old I had never had a fight before. I had always avoided the confrontation, I wasn¡¯t about to flip that today with a bunch f cross bow wielding maniacs.

    As I surged past the trees arrows shot past me, bedding into the trees as I passed them, I was just grateful that their aim was off. I kept running as fast as I could and as hard as I could. I had no clue which direction I was going and I did not care as long as it was away from whoever it was that was chasing me. Wild cackles, hoots and shouts echoed around me when I realised it wasn¡¯t behind me I slid through a pile of dried leaves to a stop.

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    ¡°Shit!¡± I said, they were trapping me, penning me in like a wild animal an dI had fallen for it.

    From behind the trees two men stepped out from behind thick trunks. They were around the same size as each other, no taller than a pre-teen, both had no tops on, with scrawny bodies that were etched with scars and tattoos. They were wearing black leather, studded pants that reminded me of steampunk. The one on the right had a thin leather strap across his chest and over his shoulder. As if this wasn¡¯t strange enough both were wearing masks, revealing large green, glowing eyes, constrained behind black, spiked masks. The spikes them selves had no order or co-ordination, they differed on each of the masks and I couldn¡¯t tell if they were mad from bone or nails, I didn¡¯t really care. I just focused on not trying to piss myself as they looked at each other and spoke in a language I didn¡¯t understand. The one on the left held a cleaver in his hand, worryingly it was rusted and blood stained, the one on the right, he had some kind of net in his hands. Above their heads I noticed little red health bars and above that the words;

    *Terror - Lvl 3*

    *Great* I thought, literal terrors as if their outfits didn¡¯t say that enough, whats more they were both a level higher than me. There was no way I could fight them both, solidified that I didn¡¯t have a weapon.

    Well they either want to capture me or kill me, I thought as I raised my hands.

    ¡°Listen, I don¡¯t want any trouble.¡± I said, my voice trembling.

    The man on the left said something to the other and they both started bouncing on the spot, excitedly, like really excitedly, like they could not contain their excitement.

    I moved my weight to my right, ready to make a run for it but a branch broke under my foot causing the man with the cleaver to shout what I presumed were profanities at me, he waved the bade at me in a way that told me not to move. I had no clue what to do next, the shouting voices behind me were catching up, meaning it was only a matter of time before I was likely dead.

    The two Terror¡¯s edged slowly towards me, their eyes fixed firmly on my position, their knees bent like they were ready to pounce at any moment.

    ¡°Come on guys, let¡¯s not do this,¡± I said as if these lunatics would suddenly see sense at my pathetic attempt to calm the situation. As expected they ignored me and continued to advance on my position.

    A frenzied cry came from right in front of me, it was childlike, guttural and terrifying. Out of nowhere the girl that cut me down from the trap dived out of my Raven, just has she vanished into the ground she sprung out of it. This time though she had a hooked blade in each hand,

    *is that a scythe?*

    She leapt straight into the chest of the Terror on the right hand side, the one with the net and catching him off guard she slammed both of her sythes into his chest before franticly stabbing him over and over. Blood sprayed everywhere and I could do nothing but stand there in shock as the girl shredded the Terror like he was nothing.

    The remaining Terror didn¡¯t even hesitate, like what we just witnessed didn¡¯t phase him at all. Unlike me who was rooted to the spot as if my legs were made out of stone.

    The Terror swung its cleaver at the girl but she brought her legs up on the one she had just butchered and kicked off him doing a backflip out of the way. She then jumped towards the Terror, grabbing hold of one of the spikes protruding from its mask. She snapped its head downwards as she disappeared into the Terror¡¯s Raven almost folding the man in half as his face smashed into the ground with a satisfying crunch.

    The Terror tried to stand but as he used his arms to brace himself and push up of the ground, the girl reached up from the Raven and drew her sythes across the Terror¡¯s throat. Crimson blood showered the girl as she pushed out of the Terror¡¯s Raven pushing him backwards into the tree, where he slumped into a sitting position, his head cocked to the side, his chest red, she had killed them both and I could not be more grateful to her.

    The other shouting voices were growing louder as they drew closer on us, there sounded like there were a lot and as dangerous as this kid clearly was I didn¡¯t have a clue if she would be able to fight everything.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± I said, ¡°Again,¡±

    The girls face and clothes were soaked in the Terror¡¯s blood, she was breathing heavy as she gathered herself. She then strapped her sythes to her back before  starting to animatedly waving her hands at me, again I presumed this was sign language, her face just as expressionate as her body language as she tried to explain something to me.

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand what you are saying,¡± I said. I was as frustrated as her. ¡°Whatever it is, I am pretty sure that there are more Terror¡¯s on the way, do you know anywhere where we can escape?¡±

    Above the girl a name appeared.

    *Raven Lvl 4*

    ¡°Raven,¡± I said, ¡°Your name is Raven,¡± the girl smiled, her eyes widening at me speaking her name. She nodded her head before running unto me and grabbing my hand.

    ¡°You wan¡¯t me to follow you?¡± I said as she started tugging at my hand for me to follow her. I did as she wanted and followed her as she pulled me towards the tree by the dead Terror.

    She knelt down and touched the Raven, as she did everything around us became shrouded in darkness. In the corner of my vision a little red icon started blinking, it looked like and eye with a line through it, a timer started counting over the top of it, counting down from sixty. As I focused on the icon, a message popped up.

    *Blink - Your enemies cannot see you - The light of this status effect depends on the level and skill tree of the person casting it.*

    ¡°What the,¡± I said but Raven looked at me disapprovingly and brought her finger up to her lips to shush me.

    I did as I was told and did my best to breathe as quietly as I can, which was more difficult than you think it would be given that I had adrenaline coursing through my body like never before.

    Within moments a whole posse of Terror¡¯s entered where we were, I counted at least twenty of the little bastards, each of them clutching onto vast and equally terrifying, rusted weapons, from maces, axes and pikes. They looked around them, communicating with each other but like the two that Raven had killed, I had no clue what they were saying. They started pushing each other before the ground shook around us.

    Heavy footsteps just beyond the group of Terror¡¯s, a terror that was much larger walked through the middle of them, his frame more muscular, his mask more of a spiked helmet, like one a knight would wear if crudely put together by an amateur blacksmith. He walked to the two dead bodies before kneeling down and inspecting them.

    *Fuck, fuck, fuck* I repeated in my head, the Terror was huge and one that I really did not want to come face to face with. The little ones were bad enough.

    The large Terror let out a battle roar and the rest of the smaller ones cheered in delight, he then gestured to the trees.

    I looked in the corner of my vision, the blink icon started flashing as it counted down from twenty.

    The Terror¡¯s started cheering and rooting into the air like howling wolves as they ran into the thicket of trees, I presumed in pursuit of us.

    The Terror gave one last look around before following them, leaving me and Raven hidden, the blink effect timer counting down faster than I would like until it eventually hit zero.

    My shrouded vision cleared in an instant and it was as though the noise from the wind and the trees became clearer, like background noise was being muffled that I hadn¡¯t quite realised.

    *side quest unlocked*

    The message appeared at the bottom left of my vision.

 Chapter 6 - Side Quest

    *A side quest* What kind of bullshit is this? I didn¡¯t sign up for this, I didn¡¯t ask to be in this world, wherever that may have been. What I would give to be back in my office, analysing data for project managers, at least it was safe there.

    I focused on the text that popped up in the bottom left of my vision again.

    *New side quest unlocked*

    As my eyes remained fixed on it the next part of the text gave me additional information.

    *Infiltrate the Terror Camp Of Doom*

    Sounds ominous, that wasn¡¯t it though I continue to read as additional side quests were added.

    *Find out the ¡®whispers¡¯ of Raven¡¯s past*

    *Bonus Quest - Destroy the Terror camp by killing all of the Terror¡¯s 0/20*

    ¡°Shit,¡± I said out loud, Raven looked up at me as if I had seen something in the trees. She instinctively raised her hand to her back ready to grab her sythes if needed.

    ¡°No it¡¯s ok, I think all of the Terror¡¯s are gone. It¡¯s just I have been given a side quest.¡±

    Raven looked at me as if I had three heads.

    ¡°Do you not see things the same as I am?¡± I asked, ¡°Like all these messages, updates and information on everything to do with this world.¡±

    Raven shook her head.

    ¡°Well according to this information, I have been given a side quest. One that involves the camp where those Terror¡¯s are based, it also has a quest about you?¡±

    Raven suddenly seemed more interested as I explained what the message said. ¡°It wants us to infiltrate the Terror¡¯s camp and unlock the whispers of your past. Did those Terror¡¯s do something to you, is it you they are looking for? Not me.¡±

    Raven nodded her head again, she looked in parts angry but I saw a flash of the little girl that she was. That said I couldn¡¯t escape the fact that she had just masa red the two Terror¡¯s that had ambushed me with the skills of an assassin. It was strange seeing someone so young act so violently.

    I had played enough RPG games to understand what a side quest was, it was an optional extra, something that I didn¡¯t need to actually do. Fidget had told me to look for someone who was north in the forest, that is all I hd to go off before she had gotten cut off from me. The question was, what help could I be with Raven, she is a kid but she is far more deadly than I am.

    ¡°Did they do something to you in their camp?¡± I asked her.

    She nodded again, before lowering her head, a hint of sorrow about her. She then snapped back by starting to sign again but as like before I had no clue what she was saying.

    ¡°Do you want to go back? Like do you have unfinished business with them again.¡±

    Raven continued to frantically sign, I couldn¡¯t help but notice the aggression in her facial expression as she tried to explain to me, both of our frustrations growing.

    I couldn¡¯t tell anything she was saying at all, all I could do was guess. She had helped me, she hat cut down the ropes when I was suspended from the air and she had protected me from the Terror¡¯s. Helping her in return would be the right thing to do, I just wasn¡¯t sure what help I could be.

    ¡°Do you want me to help you?¡± I asked.

    Raven nodded and continued to try and sign to me.

    ¡°Well I guess we best find this Terror camp of doom then.¡±

    Raven stopped signing and pointed in the direction of the Terror¡¯s that had gone out looking for us in the forest. We had to find their camp, in the process find out Raven¡¯s history whilst somehow killing all seventy five of the little bastards. Although the latter seemed to not be an absolute, then again seeing Raven in action filled me with more confidence for he being with me.

    When I took a step forward my foot caught the dead Terror that was sat against the tree, I had never seen a dead body up close, let a lone something as grotesque as this thing was. By his hand sat his rusted weapon and I went over to pick it up.

    *Rusted Cleaver - lvl 2*

    It felt strangely heavy in my hand as I examined the small butchers cleaver, most of it was heavy corroded with rust with the outer edge serrated and chipped away in parts. The handle was rough and wooden, giving me the feeling that if I squeezed it too tightly I would wind up with a load of splinters for my troubles. Still it was better than having nothing and given I was slowly being integrated to how dangerous this world could be, wherever the hell I was, then I was not taking any chances. I swung the cleaver in the air a few times to practice with it, I had no clue what I was doing. I had never used a weapon before, let alone tried to kill anyone.

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    Raven watched me before shaking her head, signing aggressively at me. I felt like I was being scolded by a teacher at school as she stepped forward and took the cleaver from me.

    Stepping away from me she jabbed it forward in a couple of ways before slashing it downwards as if cutting from one corner of a square to the next. She then tossed me the blade and panicking I jumped back as the blade bedded into the ground.

    ¡°Shit!¡± I said as Raven stepped forward to the cleaver and pulled it out of the ground with a judgemental sigh, before passing it to me a little more delicately this time, she held the cleaver by the blade so I could take hold of the handle.

    Once I had hold of the blade she gestured with me with her shoulders, an air of expectation from her, before impatiently jabbing her hands in the air as if she still had hold of the cleaver.

    ¡°Oh,¡± I said before doing as she was asking, I mimicked what she had shown me an over and over as she watched me with pity in her eyes. After a while Raven took the blade from me, this time holding the cleaver at the top, forcing the blade to track down her forearm, before showing how agile she could be with it, making a forearm smash suddenly a lot more deadly. She passed me the blade back and I practiced for a while longer under her watchful eye, out of the two types of fighting with it I preferred the first way, it felt more natural and comfortable. I couldn¡¯t move as fast as Raven and I made the movements look disjointed and clunky but at least she had thought me a couple of moves. Not that suddenly I felt prepared to take on a group of Terror¡¯s.

    We continued to practice for a good couple of hours, my shirt was wet with my sweat and I couldn¡¯t remember the last time I had a workout like this. In fact I never worked out so it was a new experience for me, I didn¡¯t have the frame for or will power for exercise but finding that my life was genuinely in danger here, seemed to be all the motivation that I needed. Go figure.

    The afternoon wore on, I didn¡¯t have a clue what time it was but the sun was still high in the sky and not showing any sign of setting into dawn. I finished jabbing my cleaver at a fake enemy in front of me with Raven watching on, she was sat on the sump of a tree that had fallen over, silently laughing at my skills.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think k I am ever going to be ready for this,¡± I said, Raven was a monster when it came to how deadly she was with a blade, compared to me who was about as deadly as a toddler.

    Raven frowned at me and shook her head.

    ¡°Thanks for the vote of confidence kid.¡±

    In truth I had no clue how I was going to be any help at all, if anything I would be a hindrance, a six foot two gangly one.

    ¡°Maybe I could just be a decoy.¡±

    Raven nodded her head in agreement.

    ¡°I see, you want me to create a destraction.¡± I explained, ¡°So, you can get inside.¡±

    Raven became more animated, nodding like one of those bobble heads you sick on the dash of your car.

    Hopping up from the tree stump, Raven skipped over to a nearby tree and looked around on the ground for something. After wa while she went up to the branch of the tree and jumped up, swinging of it until the branch snapped with a satisfying crack.

    She landed on her ass before dusting herself down and picking up the branch, becoming me over with her free hand.

    As Iw walked towards her she started drawing a picture in the ground, it didn¡¯t take me long to understand what she was doing.

    On the ground she drew a wonky recatangle as best as she could, with an opening at the front.

    ¡°Er, is that the entrance?¡± I asked,

    Raven gave me a sarcastic sigh and nodded her head, the kind of sigh that told me she was thinking where this fuck wit had come from.

    She drew a stickman next at the front of the gate with a knife in his hand before prodding me with the stick.

    ¡°Ow!¡±

    The stick poked me in the top of my arm, the force she used was excessive at best.

    ¡°Right so that stick man is me.¡±

    She then drew an arrow of me going straight into the centre of the Terror camp.

    ¡°You want me to just wander straight in?! Kid listen, you have seen me with this cleaver. I am useless, I won¡¯t last two seconds in there.¡±

    Raven sighs again, this time rolling her eyes as if she is exasperated with me. She pokes me with her stick again, this time stinging my upper right shoulder.

    ¡°Ow! Quit it!¡±

    Raven drew a fresh stickman in the centre of the camp, followed by some squigly lines coming of my head.

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡±

    Raven gesticulated quite aggressively her frustration growing as was my own before she jabbed me again in the other side of my chest. The pointed stick stinging as she forcibly poke me.

    ¡°Stop it,¡± I said slapping the stick away.

    She didn¡¯t listen, this time jabbing me in the stomach, it was a nauseating blow and I was getting more pissed off at Raven every time that she prodded me.

    ¡°ENOUGH!¡± I roared as my anger flared and my voice boomed as if it was amplified.

    *Berseker skill activated*

    The icon flashed in the corner of my vision, the thinest of red lines sitting above a stamina bar. A little red sword icon with a flame around it pinged up where the symbol for that had appeared when we were hidden from the Terror¡¯s earlier. A thirty second timer started.

    Raven simply smiled, eyes wide as I could feel the power of the skill pouring out of me, a red glow surrounding my skin.

    I studied myself, clenching my fists as I panted like a dog, I felt angry, like really angry, as if I could lash out at anything around me. I even looked at Raven and contemplated snatching the stick from her and wrapping it around her head. I was seething, a vitriol building in the back of my mouth making me feel like I just wanted to scream at the top of my lungs.

    The sensation as incredible, as the timer counted down I felt like I was invincible, like I could take on the entire world, nothing could stop me. My chest heaved as I continued to breath in and out until the timer hot zero, the red mist that had descended onto me faded away and an air of calmness fell over me. That and a headache like I had just woken up from a heavy night on the town.

    ¡°What the hell was that,¡±

    Raven simply smiled, doe eyed like a proud parent. I looked at the sketch she had drawn of me with squiggly lines coming off my head.

    ¡°More importantly, how did you know I could do that.¡±

    Raven simply shrugged, I had no chance of getting an explanation from her. I wondered if she could see things like I could, icons, names, health bars and levels.

    ¡°That¡¯s what you want me to do, you want me to go inside the Terror camp and activate my berserker ability.¡±

    Raven nodded her head franticly, wide eyed like she was excited. She set about signing a load of signs that I had no clue what she meant.

    ¡°You make it sound so easy,¡± I said.

 Chapter 7 - Unlocking the Berserkers Path

    I spent five minutes or so reading over the berserker trait, I had missed it when I had selected the berserker class. Raven was keeping herself busy swinging from a nearby branch, dropping down and disappearing into the trees shadow before re-apearing momentarily. It was hard not to focus on her but I needed to learn more about my class.

    *Berserker - This skill allows the user to send themselves into a primal rage. The legnth of time this skill is activated will depend on the skill points assigned to this skill. While enraged the Berserker will see a temporary bonus to health, stamina and stregnth stats for the duration that the skill is activated. This skill has a ten minute cooldown period. *

    ¡°Ok, that seems simple enough.¡± I said closing the menu and focusing on Raven who continued to dive in an out of the shadows around us, in a childlike, playful manner. I had to remind myself that she was just a kid, regardless of how dangerous and deadly she was, while she was playing around, she just looked, well kind of innocent.

    ¡°Do you know anything more about the berserker class?¡±

    Raven stopped what she was doing, she was hanging upside down, the back of her legs wrapped around a thick branch in the crux of her knee. She swung back and forwards for a moment, her red curling hair escaping from her black, torn hood. Eventually she shook her head at me before allowing herself to drop once again and disappear into a shadow.

    My heart raced for a moment as my mind still thought she was going to crash into the ground like a sack of spuds and break her net, each time she would just vanish into whatever the void was she was entering. It was pretty cool to see and I knew it would take me a long time to get used to seeing her do this.

    ¡°From what the class information is telling me, the higher my level, the longer I can activate my berserker skill. Ive got two questions, one my menu says I am level two right now which seems pretty weak, is there a way to get stronger before we go to this ¡®terror camp of doom,¡¯ and two do you have a class like I do.¡±

    Raven was nowhere in sight as I shouted out as if trying to reach into a darkened cave. Anyone walking past would have thought I was a mad man, rambling like this, I was questioning it myself. After a moment Raven popped her head out of the shadow of the tree unto her shoulder, it was like she was rising up out of deep water and I started thinking about what it was she was standing on in the shadow. That was a whole rabbit hole of theories that at this moment in time my brain could simply not break down.

    Raven paused for a moment before hopping up to of the shadow and landing on solid ground, she gave me a subtle nod.

    ¡°Erm, is that for my first question?¡±

    She nodded again.

    ¡°Great, and the second?¡±

    Raven nodded again.

    ¡°That¡¯s good to know, is there any chance you can communicate what kind of class you are?¡±

    Raven started gesticulating her hands and signing towards me aggressively, her expression told me she was frustrated, or pissed off at me but I had no other way to communicate with her.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you are saying,¡± My own frustrations were growing and I raised my voice slightly which only seemed to raise her frustrations further.

    It was a sign she had used a few times now, a combination that I was starting to find familiar. She had both hands closed say for her first two fingers, a bit like when you make an are quote, the best I could describe it was if you were to try and make a shadow puppet of a rabbit or bunny. She was placing the inside of her palms together before placing an open palm on the back of the other hand and lift ing it up as if pushing something away.

    Raven sighed again and hid behind a tree before poking her head out from behind to scowl at me, her green eyes becoming more expression ate.

    When I looked at her, she pulled her head back behind the tree before sneaking out from behind it, taking large over the top creeping steps until she hid behind another tree and poked her head out once again.

    ¡°I get it, I get it. You sneak around, are you a rogue?¡± Raven hopped out from the tree and waved her hand from side to side in a kind of gesture.

    ¡°Ok great, that will do for now. So we have a berserker and a rogue to break into this terror camp, what could possibly go wrong. Now how about getting stronger?¡±

    Raven¡¯s eyes seemed light up, a new found energy about her and a cheeky smile pursed in the side of her mouth.

    ¡°Ok you like the sound of that then,¡±

    She gestured over to me to follow her and turned, heading into the trees so I wasted no time following her. After all I did not want to be left on my own in this place.

    I followed on her tail for around fifteen minutes, Raven continued to look around her intently like she was searching for something very particular. It gave me an opportunity to take in the forest or jungle terrain that we were in. It was like a perfect blend, tall pine trees scattered around us, reaching far higher than I had ever seen a tree reach before, creating a fibrous green canopy above us. The climate was warmer than Iw Ould expect in a. Forest, almost muggy like the air we were breathing was warmer than the climate I was used to, at times the air felt claggy and my clothes stuck to me as I sweated. There was no denying it though, as deadly as this place was the forest was kind of beautiful. Large flowers and plants were scattered intermittently, reds, blues, yellows, pinks and purples, gave a splash of colour against the brown and green backdrops. Which from time to time gave an alluring fragrance, a blend of pine and honey, making the air taste as though it was sweet.

    When Raven stopped suddenly, I did too, she held up her hand to gesture for me to stop and I paused as I waited to see what her next move was. When she smiled and waved me over I couldn¡¯tt help but think she had found what she was looking for.

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    As I reached her I took hold of the bush she had pulled back and my mind imploded at the creature that I was looking at.

    *Spore Spitter*

    *Level 2*

    *Inhabiting dense forests or overgrown ruins, these creatures add an element of environmental hazard to battles, requiring careful positioning and quick reactions*

    It was the strangest looking thing I had ever seen and that was saying something given the things I had already bore witness to in this world. The creature was toad like, pale green in colour and had a large bulbous body and smaller head which seemed to merge without the need for a neck. It dint appear to have lips just an open mouth that pushed out from its face like a snout. Small red eyes with black pupils centred the Spore Spitter¡¯s face, they looked like shiny marbles as they fixed on to me. A tiny singular horn protruded from one side of ts head, I couldn¡¯t tell if this was by design or the other had been ripped off. It had short dumpy legs, they looks like thick vines entwined together. Its arms were equally short, only slightly longer than its legs, sharp claws protruding from the end of its fingers that looked as white as bone china. Every gap and crevice of the creature had forest growth packed into it, flowers and leaves growing out of its flesh, strange spiked, red flowers growing out sporadicly from the leaves with the same flowers dotted around its head.

    The Spore Spitter hissed at me, a strange rasping noise that I instinctively took as a warning from it. Orange a red welts seemed to pulsate under its blistered skin.

    ¡°What the hell is that!¡± I said, turning to see a wide eyed Raven smiling like a maniac at me.

    The Spore Spitter started stamping its feet, leaning from side to side as it tried to stare down and intimidate me, It was about the size of a small dog, like a Yorkshire terrier or a pug. It took a deep inhale of breath and the leaves around its neck puffed out like a fan. The best way I could describe it was like one of those dinosaurs I had read about when I was a kid and it cave me a flash of its green, slime covered mouth.

    ¡°What do you want me to do?¡± I asked, dreading Raven¡¯s response.

    She continued to smile goofily at me before jabbing forward with a stabbing motion, two or three times until I eventually got the message.

    ¡°You want me to kill it?¡± I said, I struggled to digest the thought. This creature hadn¡¯t done anything to me, as hideous as it looked I felt like I was stepping into a farmers field and killing a lamb.

    The Spore Spitter was becoming more animated as it continued to stamp its feet on the ground, a croaking noise now escaping its throat. It started shuffling towards me at a slow enough speed for me to get a grip of it. It waddled from side to side and I wondered if it moved any faster if it would simply fall over. That would certainly make it easier to kill.

    I dawdled too much, staring in disbelief at the monster that continued to move towards me and I should have taken more notice of what the creature was called.

    It took a deep breath, tilting back slightly before flapping its clawed hands around quickly. When it leant forward it spat a green goo through the air which spattered into my shoulder.

    ¡°What is that!¡± Instinctively I raised my hand to the goo that spread accrues my chest and upper left shoulder. The goo felt sticky like a strange gunge, is was a thick viscous like mucus that surprising smelt sweet, not what I expected.

    When I pulled my hand away from my shoulder the goo stretched old, dripping slowly off my finger tips as I pressed my finger and thumb together as I inspected it.

    *Poison Effect*

    *You have been poisoned by a toxin*

    *Disorientation, although not deadly this toxin is designed to slow prey down.¡±

    No sooner did I see the effect flash up in my menu I felt as though I had drank a few pints of beer. Everything around me seemed to move that little bit slower, or at least my reactions were. It wasn¡¯t unbearable but it definitely surprised me at how fast it had taken effect on my body.

    Before I knew it the Spore Spitter was at my ankles and took a swipe at my shin.

    ¡°Ow!¡± I called out as I stepped back away from it before it could try and sink its spiky, stubby claws into my leg again. The pain was more intense than a fire ant bite and my leg started throbbing. Other than the pain there didn¡¯t seem to be any other toxins in my body.

    Spinning around, my vision took a second longer to catch up with me as I looked at Raven who was rolling around on the ground in delight at what she was seeing.

    The Spore Spitter kept moving towards me, croaking and hissing aggressively towards me as I tried to keep some distance between the two of us. With little other option I took out my cleaver and lunged for the master, grabbing the blade into its body. It let out a high pitched wail that pierced my ears, causing my eyes to water before exploded right in front of me. It wasn¡¯t a forceful blast designed to cause destruction, a puff of spores flew up around me, engulfing me as I coughed and struggled to breathe. My lungs burned as whatever the spore was entered my stem and I waited for a status effect to flash up but nothing did, just crippling pain that felt as though I had eaten molten shards of glass.

    Staggering backwards I grabbed hold of my throat, worrying that my airways were about to close up at any moment. When I looked at where the Spore Spitter was, all that remained were its legs and lower torso, it was like looking into a hollow flower, or mushroom, I didn¡¯t know what it looked like other than it was messed up.

    I fell backwards and started to roll around in the dirt, the pain was excruciating as I just prayed for it to stop, I had read somewhere about a cactus milk that was basically like drinking acid and I imagined this is what that felt like. Dreading to think of the damage it was doing to my body as I continued to writhe around in pain.

    The next thing I knew Raven was kneeling by my side, she wafted a large leaf like some kind of fan to blow the remaining pores away from us. She was still smiling and enjoying every moment, what was with this kid. She pulled something out and held it over my face, it was some kind of vial that looked like it had been filled with mud, the kind of thing I used to make in the garden when I was a kid, keeping myself entertained when I was told to play out because it was a nice day by my mum.

    Raising the vial to my lips I instinctively drank it in and gagged almost straight away. It was like drinking mud, grainy and earthy, I struggled against it wanting to spit it out of my mouth but Raven grabbed hold of my nose, focing me to open my mouth and drink all of it it. As horrible as it tasted I was greeted with a soothing sensation in my throat as the heat from the spores began to fade away replaced with a cooling sensation like I was drinking syrup that was lining my insides.

    I started gluing the vial like a was a baby being given a bottle until there was no more, I didn¡¯t care how it tasted anymore but I was grateful that the pain was gone.

    Raven knelt back up, allowing me some space to gather myself as I leant forward on all fours panting like I was a dog.

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you warn me!¡± I spluttered, my chest heaving but breathing more freely than a few moment before.

    Raven simply scowled at me before giving me the farmiliar sign from before.

    ¡°Sorry,¡± I said.

    As I stood up, I started looking over the carcass of the Spore Spitter before I was interrupted by a new notification.

    *Level increased to 3*

    ¡°Holy shit,¡± I said, the experience from killing the monster had given me enough of a boost to raise my level forward. I felt a sense of pride in what I had achieved, despite how clumsy it likely looked to raven. My thoughts were disrupted when another notification flashed up.

    *Skill tree unlocked*

 Chapter 8 - Skill Tree

    ¡°It say¡¯s I unlocked a skill tree,¡± I said as I started navigating the menu as I was prompted.

    *Skill Tree Unlocked*

    *Please assign skill points to chosen skill tree*

    Navigating the menu there were three skill trees that I could navigate through each with their own set of stat boosts and perks. I took my time to look over the first skill tree.

    *Swordzerker*

    *The Swordzerker Frenzy skill tree enhances the berserker''s mastery over swords, emphasizing both devastating techniques and stat boosts to embody the chaotic spirit of the sword-wielding berserker.*

    The skill tree itself was in the shape of a sword pointing downwards, it was outlined by various points giving it the look of a constellation of stars. The hilt of the greatsword looked gilded, including the pommel and guard, leading to the large blade. There were various slots around the shape of the sword, starting with the pommel, then the handle before three slots sat across the cross guard. Another seven slots were available down the main part of the sword, giving a total of twelve. I looked at the first slot on this skill tree to try and get an understanding of how it could benefit me.

    *Description: Increase damage by 5%. Stacks.*

    ¡°Seems simple enough,¡± I said, as I scrolled to the next tree.

    *Axecraze Torrent*

    *The Axecraze Torrent skill tree turns the berserker into a whirlwind of destruction with a battle axe, focusing on powerful strikes and bolstering the berserker''s resilience and ferocity in battle. This tree balances between enhancing axe attacks and providing the berserker with stat boosts to embody the chaotic and unstoppable force of an axe-wielding warrior.*

    This one was in the shape of a great axe, this time though the axe head sat at the top of the wooden pole-arm. Just like the first skill tree it had a total of twelve skill slots making the shape of the weapon. The first sat at the bottom of the axe pole-arm.

    *Description: Increases resistance to damage received by 5%. Stacks. *

    I couldn¡¯t see what the next slots were until skill points had been assigned, from what I could see, these initial skill slots could be stacked unto five times. Did that mean I needed to stack all five before the next part of the skill tree unlocked? I scrolled for a final time to see what the final skill tree was.

    *Hammerheart Guard*

    *The Hammerheart Guard skill tree enhances the berserker''s resilience and endurance, focusing on using the warhammer to fortify their vitality. This tree prioritizes constitution, health, and endurance enhancements, making the berserker a formidable tank in the heat of battle.*

    *Each successful critical hits will trigger health to replenish for 5 seconds. Stacks.*

    This one was in the shape of a Warhammer, the main head of the hammer sitting at the bottom with the handle reaching out of it, given the legnth this was to be wielded with two hands. Now I had to think about how to use my skill points, from what I could see I had three of them, meaning I had gained one for every level that I had gained since I arrived in this place. I studied the three, when I picked one would I be locked in to that skill tree? We were about to attack a terror camp so that said, I felt out of the three at this time the Swordzerker tree made the most sense.

    I assigned a skill point the the first tree, as soon as I attached the skill point, it lit up blue. It was a picture of a sword with an upwards arrow with five empty notches, as I placed the first skill slot there, the first notch of the arrow lit up.

    I scrolled to the other trees and could see I could still attach skill points meaning I wasn¡¯t committed to a singular skill tree.

    I re-read all the trees before deciding to place another skill point on the swordzerker skill tree and one on the hammer heart tree. If I was going to be fighting. Lot of terrors I wanted to be able to do plenty of damage but I liked the idea of healing myself with critical hits, even if it was only for five seconds.

    As I assigned the third and final skill point to the hammer heart tree it turned purple, the skill slot turned into an image of a little heart with the same five arrow with five empty notches at the side. The first notch had lit up.

    Closing the menu I realised I had been completely consumed by all the information, the partial corpse of the Spore Spitter still sitting by my feet. Raven simply stood gawping at me her head tilted to one side as if she was studying me.

    ¡°Can you see my skill tree too?¡± I asked, it seemed a sensible question to ask but Raven shaking her head, quickly dispelled this. ¡°Any you have your own version of this as a rogue?¡±

    She waved her hand in a so/so motion again.

    ¡°Is this going to be enough?¡± Even with the bonus¡¯ from the skill tree I still didn¡¯t feel I would be strong enough to charge straight into the terror camp like Raven wanted me to. ¡°I mean look what this thing did to me and there was only one of them, how am I meant to take on aa whole camp of terror¡¯s who I haven¡¯t even fought yet?¡±

    Raven started signing fast and hard once again and I coouldn¡¯t help but feel that she was scolding me, it was either that or she was giving me a pep talk but given the frown her face my money was on that she was giving me a bolocking of some kind.

    ¡°Ok, Ok,¡± I said, as if I had understood what she was saying but I hadn¡¯t got a clue.

    According to my skill tree and stats, I was stronger, but I didn¡¯t feel it and I still felt more of a hindrance to Raven than a help.

    Raven finished ticking me off before grabbing my hand and pulling me to follow her further into the forrest, she had a steeliness about her as she looked around as if she was looking for something again. When she stopped, she pointed ahead of her, before moving behind me and pushing me forward.

    ¡°Quite that,¡± I said, a flash of frustration showing in my voice. When I looked forward however I saw another Spore Spitter standing in the middle of a clearing, it was minding its own business and equally as grotesque as the last one I faced. The flowers on this one were yellow and blue however, it was oblivious to us at the point and I turned to look at Raven once agin. She gestured a stabbing motion again and it twigged what she wanted me to do. This time I wasn¡¯t going to let the thing explode its pores all over me so this time I thought about my approach.

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    Taking out my cleaver, I charged forward and fast as I could and as I reached the spore spitter I drove the cleaver right down into the monsters skull. I was like stabbing a balloon, this time I continued my run forwards, getting as much distance as I could before turning around.

    The Spore Spitter had exploded just like the other one, this time though a shroud of blue pores sat in the air around it, looking like a flare had been dropped on it. I didn¡¯t plan on going anywhere near it, I didn¡¯t need to, a tiny flash at the bottom of my menu told me I had gained a small amount of experience from killing it.

    Through the haze of blue spores I could see Raven sarcastically clapping in the distance.

    ¡°Right, I get it, you want me to kill a few of these and level up, make myself stronger for attacking the terror camp.¡±

    She smiled and nodded, raising her hand by her head and exploding it outwards. I didn¡¯t fully understand what she meant but I couldn¡¯t help but think it was another insult.

    We spent what felt like a few hours stalking the forest, looking for more of the Spore Spitters for me to farm. Raven was apparently adept at finding them, knowing where about they were, stopping sporadically and looking around before pointing me in the right direction. I had wondered what it was that was drawing her to them, whether it was the smell, a noise they were making, perhaps she had some way of sensing them when they were nearby.

    What I did realise was they liked to hide in thick shrubs, often behind trees with a thick trunk. Whatever their habitat preferences it didn¡¯t take a genius to release that they were not a predatory creature, despite their appearances. It made killing them all the more difficult, they were not harmless but they kept themselves a way and hidden. From me at least, I wondered if they stayed in these positions for their own safety or to trap unsuspecting smaller creatures for them to feed on.

    We came across all manner of Spore spitters, varying in different shapes and sizes, turns out the first one we came across was much larger than the others, with its flowers are established. The ones we had seen since them had been thinner, not skinny by any stretch but not as bulbous as the original, what was interesting was how they all had different shaped flowers growing from them and the glowing blisters that covered their bodies varied in colours too, usually matching the flowers on their heads an, necks and arm pits where the petals sprouted out from.

    Each time I tried different approached to killing them, doing my best to stay away from the spore cloud they would emit when they exploded. At this time I couldn¡¯t help but think that this would be so much easier if I had a long ranged weapon, rather than a cleaver. Having a weapon that required you to be up close and personal made the task of killing them that little bit harder. The tactic I had used on the second Spore Spitter seemed to work best, a speed approach, stabbing down as I ran past and keeping running while they exploded, leaving plumes of colourful spores in my wake. I was drawn to a paint festival I had seen a video about once, where people throw powder paint at each other while running through the streets, leaving a multicoloured medley of patterns on their white shirts. As much as I had done my best to avoid breathing the pores in, it didn¡¯t mean that they had not clung to my white shirt, which now had splashes of red, pink, green, blue and orange on it.

    Raven¡¯s plan worked however and slowly and surely my experience bar slowly climbed, albeit a lot slower than what I would have liked. We continued the process over and over, finding the Spore Spitters and taking them out, Raven watching in the background, arms foldinglike a stern teacher despite being a good fifteen years younger than me. One thing I did notice was that the light of. Day did not seem the same as in our world, it seemed to move slower. I felt like I had been in this place for so long already yet the sun was still just a high and as bright in the sky as it was when I first got here.

    After a while we stopped for a rest, Raven was sitting on a brabnch watching on, she looked bored, resting her elbows on her knees and resting her head on her hands. I was sat on a nearby stump, my arms and legs were burning from all the running around and slashing at the Spore Spitters. It was all new to me but I felt like a was slowly getting the hang of it. I did however fee; fatigued, not needing a rest fatigued which I found odd given that we had been farming the monsters for quite the period of time now. It was only when I realised I hadn¡¯t eaten since I got here that that was what was causing me to feel weary.

    Just as I thought about it my stomach gave a rumble of discontent and I rested my hands over it.

    ¡°Do you eat?¡± I asked, it felt like a stupid question but nothing surprised me with this place. Even for me this was an abnormally long time for me to go without feeling hungry and needing to eat. I had a well controlled diet, in fact I didn¡¯t really get hungry usually. For some reason I felt ravenous, like I was literally starving and could eat the bark of the tree if I needed to.

    Raven gave me another sign that I didn¡¯t understand before bring a spoon like motion to her mouth and nodding.

    ¡°Great,¡± I said perking up. ¡°I don¡¯t know about you but I am starving.¡±

    I looked around at the dense forest around us, not really knowing what we could in fact eat.

    ¡°I don¡¯t suppose you know what we can eat around here.¡±

    Raven swung from the branch she was sat on like she was some sort of gymnast on the poles, she spun in the air and landed on her feet with the agility of a cat before giving me a cocky smile. She raised a hand in the air before I noticed that she summoned a circular shadow in front of her.

    ¡°What is that? How did you do that?¡± I asked, it was a perfect circle that summoned in front of her, it looked like a whole in the ground except all it led to was darkness, I had seen Raven diving in and out of shadows but this was the first time that I had seen her summon a shadow. ¡°Is that a skill?¡± I asked ¡°Like part of your skill tree?¡±

    Raven sighed and signed again but as usual I had no clue what she was talking about. I got a little excited when I wondered if I would eventually unlock skills like this with my skill tree, I wouldn¡¯t know until I maximised my skill slot on one of the skill trees to unlock the next slot. In my mind I had set up my first mini mission for myself, wanting to know what waited for me as I levelled up.

    ¡°What does it do?¡± I asked as I approached, peering into the black spot on the ground. Raven knelt down and reached in, her arm disappearing unto her shoulder as soon as she touched the blackness. I could see her arm at all, it was as if it was vanished. She concentrated for a moment as she moved her arm around and again I wondered what it was that she was doing. When she pulled her arm out my eyes lit up, she was holding what looked like a piece of bread. She tossed it to me and then reached in again, rummaging around. This time she pulled out some cooked meat on a bone, it looked like a chicken leg, but I didn¡¯t want to an assume what that was. I also recoiled wondering how hygenic it was to eat something that had just been pulled out of a blackened void.

    ¡°How did you?¡± I asked, bemused at what I had just seen. I needed a new mindset here, one that would simply just allow me to accept the things that I was seeing, but my brain just couldn¡¯t move on. ¡°Where was this stuff?¡± I asked.

    Raven looked at me like a was an idiot, staring into me through lowered eyebrows and pointed at the shadow portal she had summoned.

    ¡°I can see that,¡± I said, ¡°I mean, what is it.¡± I thought for a moment as Raven continued to sign at me, she made a gesture for a bag over her shoulder and I thought that I understood what she was saying.

    ¡°Oh it¡¯s like storage.¡± I said.

    Raven used the same hand explosion from her head gesture and I think that meant that I was right. ¡°Wait you store things in there?¡±

    Raven stepped towards me with the leg of meat and offered it to me, ¡°It looked ok, it diodnt look rancid, in fact it had a nice crisp to the skin and smelt fresh. But something about eating a leg of meat pulled from a show portal didn¡¯t fill me with confidence and the last thing I wanted was to end up in a tricky situation with food poisoning, especially here. I literally didn¡¯t want to be caught with my pants down.

    ¡°I am ok thanks,¡± I said. ¡°Can I just eat the bread?¡±

    Raven nodded and shrugged before devouring the leg. I broke of some of the bread to offer her it but she shook her head, choosing to eat the leg of meat. The juices spilled down her shin and the non nomming sound she was making told me that she was enjoying her meal. Sniffing the bread, it smelt like regular bread, it was a little hard, no doubt stale to certain point but it was better than nothing and it meant we didn¡¯t have to hunt for anything. I ate the bread like it was the first meal I had had in years, it only taking a few moments for me to jest, a lump of it sticking in my throat for a moment as I was eating too quickly.

    ¡°I don¡¯t suppose you have any water?¡± I asked, laughing a little.

    Raven reached into the shadow portal and pulled out a flask, it was made of dark green fabric with a hardened lid that I didn¡¯t know what material was used for, it was a darkened cream colour and something told me given its shape that the nose was made of some. Form of bone. I only hope it wasn¡¯t human. She passed it to me and I took a drink, the water was cold, like ice cold, as if it had been pulled straight from a freezer and it was refreshing as it trickled down my throat and my chin. When I was done I passed the flask back to Raven who took a drink before pouring some of the water on her hands to clean them. She then put the flask back in the shadow portal and snapped her fingers, and the portal vanished.

    ¡°So that is like a backpack?¡± I said, staring at the ground where the portal was, I rubbed my foot over the spot as if still not believing what I had just seen.

    Raven looked at me like I was an alien speaking a language that she did not understand.

    ¡°Like a bag?¡± I corrected myself and she nodded.

    ¡°Got any other stuff in there?¡± I asked.

    Raven nodded, but set of walking again. Not that she could tell me but I was curious as to what else she had stored in the shadow portal and if there was anything that we could find useful for infiltrating this terror camp.

 Chapter 9 - The Terror Camp Of Doom

    My hunger now subsided we continued to farm the Spore Spitters for another couple of hours, or at least that¡¯s what I thought it was. I had no clue as to what the time was as my watch had stopped working, most likely as soon as I stepped into this world. It was an old watch, one my dad had given me when I was sixteen years old and I got my first job. It was the last thing he had given me before he had passed and I only ever took the thing off when I had a shower or went swimming. It was a solid watch, heavy, with a blue background and silver clock hands, the strap was metal too, it wasn¡¯t the ideal watch to be wearing while farming Spore Spitters but there was no chance in hell that iw as taking it off. I counted that we must have killed at least fifteen Spore Spitters while farming, my experience rising ever so slightly with everyone that I defeated. To my frustration however, the more we killed the slower the process seemed to take, as in my experience bar literally grinned up until finally I had reached level five. I assigned my skill points to the swordzerker skill, meaning it was now up to four points, I was so close to unlocking the next slot and even more curious now to see if it would unlock a skill like Raven¡¯s shadow portal.

    Raven continued to lead the way as if she was a bloodhound tracking a fox, she seemed to know exactly where she was going, there was an intensity about her that led me to wonder exactly what she had been through to end up like this at such a young age.

    ¡°So the plan remains the same?¡± I said as I followed here closely behind. I know I was only level five but with a stack of 20% to my damage when berserking there was no denying that I was stronger than I was when I first arrived here.

    ¡°Raven simply nodded as she walked.

    ¡°And yous till want me to just walk right into the camp and draw them all out.¡± I said, reiterating the plan to her.

    ¡°Raven nodded again.

    ¡°And you think I am strong enough to survive this?¡±

    Raven nodded again, this time though there was a hesitancy about her that did not offer me the reassurance that I needed. What was I doing? I was so deep over my head, this whole fighting thing was alien to me. I had never killed anything before today, not even a bug, I hated confrontation to a point where I actively avoided it and now we were heading straight into the centre of a terror camp will the sole mission of starting a fight with them. From what the side mission had said there were twenty of them too, which seemed far more than I should be able to fight again. One or two maybe, although they were far smaller than me, well the ones I saw anyway they still looked like they knew how to handle. Weapon and they had a feral-ness about them that made them look, well terrifying.

    Raven raise her hand to motion me to stop before jumping up and grabbing an over head branch and scurrying up a tree like she was a monkey. Her speed and ability was ridiculous. She was about twenty foot up in the air when she motioned for me to follow her up, I hadn¡¯t climbed a tree since I was a kid but this one looked easy enough, there were plenty of branches for me to use to pull myself up.

    I did as Raven commanded and climbed the tree although a lot more clumsily and less elegantly than Raven had, some branches snapped under my weight but I managed to get up level with raven. I chose to stay standing, rather than sitting on one of the thicker branches, from this height I did not want too all, if I did I would likely break my back. Not being the best with heights made this an ever worse idea but when Raven pointed outwards, I instantly understood why she had brought me here.

    The terror camp of doom was just ahead of us, I could see the entire formation of the camp. I was expecting something like a few tents dotted around, makeshift in this forest, the kind you use on a camping trip, the clue was in the name. This camp was nothing like that, it was more like a fortified village than a camp, it was oval in shape, felled trees had been used to erect a ramshackle fence around the perimeter that must have been at least ten feet tall. The top of wood had been carved into spikes, with the occasional post pointing outwards to stop anyone trying to scale it. There were three turret towers, again made of wood sourced from the forrest, they carried in size but had wooden spikes pointing out from the upper level that was covered by a canopy of gathered leaves that had been formed into some kind of roof. The centre of the camp was open, with tracks through the ground where something had been dragged through, a few huts scattered around the outer edges that looked more akin to shanty town than a home. It was shelter though.

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    ¡°Just how long have they been here?¡± I asked

    Raven remained silent, of course she did, she was a nute kid, she had no way of speaking to me. I continued to watch over the camp, the entrance had two smaller turrets either side of it and a large gated entrance that was open. It looked like some of the turrets were manned bt not all of them. The terrors were milling around the camp, some like they were talking to one another, some carrying out patrols as if they were a well trained force. I certainly hadn¡¯t got that impression when I had seen them for the first time, they seemed wild and uncontrolled, here they looked like they had a purpose. We continued to watch as a small group of the terror¡¯s walked in through the entrance, there was four of them, two at the front, two at the back, they were carrying what looked like a pig which legs had been bound around a large pole they were carrying between them.

    Now I am no genius but even I know how heavy a pig is, and I would question if four fully grown men would have the stregnth to lift one. These were clearly stronger than they looked which gave me even less confidence about facing off with them.

    ¡°Are you sure this plan will work?¡±

    Raven raised a sceptical eyebrow before diving from the tree, I clumsily climbed down, hugging the tree as best as I could so I dint lose my balance and injure myself before the fight had even started.

    Standing by Raven I looked at the small clearing between the trees and the camp and took a deep breath. Raven patted me on the back like she was a parent trying to encourage a kid to go play on a park, except this was no park it was a camp filled with terror¡¯s that would kill me if I didn¡¯t do this right.

    My chest started pounding, I had never done this before, I had never had a fight let alone started one, which led me to question the choices that I had made unto now. Why out of all the choices had I picked the berserker class, why had I not picked a more balanced class, one that would have allowed me to heal or cast spells from a distance.

    Because of Jerry, that¡¯s why. Because I was sick of being pushed around, I wanted to prove to myself that I could be something else in this world, not the push over that I am back home.

    ¡°Fuck you Jerry.¡± I said.

    Raven looked up at me, with confusion.

    I stepped forward and began my approach to the gates of the terror camp, I could feel myself getting pumped up, allowing my hatred of jerry to fuel me as the terror¡¯s camp got closer and closer, until I was at the front gates. I didn¡¯t take the opportunity to look around, I simply walked right through, confident, knowing that I had this, that I wasn¡¯t going to die today and I would complete this side mission.

    The four terror¡¯s that were carrying the pig creature were on the far site of the camp, they looked like they were arguing with one another but I couldn¡¯t tell what they were saying. Their words were muffled by the thick, black spiked masks that they were wearing.

    My chest continued to pound as I walked in, no one seemed to notice at first. That was until my foot caught on a rock in the ground and I fell flat on my face.

    ¡°Fuck!¡± I cursed as I clambered to my feet, that wasn¡¯t the entrance I wanted and I certainly had the attention of all the terror¡¯s whose feral gaze was now firmly on me and nothing else.

    ¡°I hope you know what you are doing,¡± I muttered under my breath, unsure if Raven could hear me, I didn¡¯t really care. Right now I needed to ready myself for the fight I was just about to start.

    The terrors screamed out loud, a battle drum started thundering around me, from where I had no clue but my heart beat faster than the drum as my adrenaline surged and my whole body started to tremble. What was I doing, it was too late to back out now as four terrors ran towards me, the ones that had carried in the pig thing. They all had weapons, weapons that looked bigger than mine, hatchets and maces, they were crudely shaped like they had been fashioned together with the resources they had here, not forged by a blacksmith.

    ¡°Shit, shit, shit,¡± I said to myself, momentarily frozen as the terror¡¯s approached me. As they ran towards me I saw there levels and that at least let my confidence grow, they were all level 2 and 3 meaning I was a couple of levels higher than them. When the first one reached me he swung at me with his hatchet and I stepped out of the way, lunching forward with my cleaver. It made contact, slicing through the skin on its chest and it let out a squealing noise. I didn¡¯t have time to see whether I had killed it as the other three approached.

    I let out a roar, I didn¡¯t want to trigger my berserk abuility yet, I only had it for thirty seconds and then I needed to wait for it to cool down and reset. I would need tow wait until I really needed to use.

    The three terror¡¯s hacked and slashed at me and I dodged and dipped out of th way desperately trying to avoid there attacks, each time jabbing out my cleaver at them. One by one the terrors dived at me with a crazed aggression, hurling insults, punching, kicking and swinging at me with their weapons. When they made contact their blows felt more like a dull thud rather than a blow, the pain was tolerable, more a discomfort. It was like being hit by a child. I continued to fight them off until eventually all four of the first wave of terror¡¯s lay on the ground around me, dead. I had actually killed them, if I could have omitted I would o s bile rose in my throat. I reminded myself that these were not children these were my enemies, and dangerous ones at that.

    Panting I looked up to see the rest of the terrors descending on me like ants, the fight was only just getting started.

 Chapter 10 - Swordzerker Baby

    My blood was pumping so hard I could feel the veins in my arms throbbing as if they were trying to burst free from my skin, my chest pounded as my body went into fight or flight mode. There were two many terror¡¯s to count initially but I could see in the corner of my menu that 4/20 was displayed against the bonus quest of killing all twenty terrors.

    ¡°Sixteen to go,¡± I said to myself as the terrors continued to descend on me. A wave of crude black spiked helmets rushed towards me, they were all different sizes but they were no taller than just above my chest in size, they all had different fvarients of leather material or armour. Some were even bare chested, large purple scars decorating their skin.

    They didn¡¯t scream in tandem as a unit, they were shouting out and screaming at me individually, their screams sent a chill down my spine, there were so many of them to fight at once. A arrow bolt, barely missed my shoulder and I looked up at one of the turrets.

    I hadn¡¯t even considered having to deal with ranged attacks. There were two terrors up there, pushing and shoving each other as the second one readied their arrow to fire at me. Before they had chance though Raven dived out of nowhere from the side, knocking one of them over before springing up and taking down the second one before disappearing out of sight again. The counter in the corner changed to 6/20.

    ¡°Yes Raven,¡± I said before switching my attention rightly to the oncoming swarm of terrors. The shrieks were feral, almost guttural growls escaping their throats, green glowing eyes charging at me. They looked humanoid, they had arms and legs, but their behaviour was anything but and I wondered just what st behind those spiked metal masks, that covered their heads in their entirety.

    Sensing if I was going to use my swordzerk ability this was it and I channeled my energy and my focus into triggering my berserker skill. Nothing happened at first and I started to panic, the terrors now getting dangerously close.

    ¡°Shit, shit, shit,¡± I said, cursing myself for practicing this more. I had been that focussed on levelling up I hadn¡¯t given a moments thought to actually triggering my skill. I didn¡¯t know how.

    ¡°Come on you bastards,¡± I focussed harder than I ever had, I wanted to get angry, really angry so I focussed on the thing I hated more than anything. ¡°FUCK, YOU, JERRRY¡± I shouted out as my voice boomed, my feet pressed into the earth like I was a super charged superhero and a red glow of energy wrapped around me. The berserker symbol triggered in the corner of my menu with a thirty second timer. That¡¯s all I had, that¡¯s all the time I had to take down all these sons of bitches. The terrors started jumping onto me before I had chance to swing but it was strange it was like having puppies jump at me, they were making contact but they were barely affecting my movement. I just started swinging, grabbing hold of the little bastards and tossing them away from me, hacking and slashing with my cleaver as they continued to swarm around me. It was suffocating but it wasn¡¯t overly tiring, in this form I felt as though I could take on the entire world, like there was no stopping me. I felt so strong, so powerful, it was like nothing I had ever experienced before and I dod not want the feeling to end.

    The bodies of the terrors flew through the air as I continued to throw them around as soon as they landed on me, a sudden pain in my leg reminding me that they were in fact carrying weapons and that this wasn¡¯t a game. They were actively trying to kill me. My timer continued to drop and I knew that I dodn¡¯t have long left, about twenty seconds now.

    With a roar I threw everything I had as the terrors continued to slice away at my skin, I knew they were hurting me, I could see my own blood on their weapons as well as theirs on mine and my hands. But the damage felt more like needle sticks, their strikes more uncomfortable rather than painful. The berserker skill was numbing down the pain that I was feeling and I dreaded to think how this would be when the timer eventually ran out.

    A smaller terror dived at my face and I grabbed it with one hand, it swung around in my arm as it frantically tried to break free, despertely swinging its arms at me but unable to reach. I drove my cleaver straight into the side of its head, piercing its metal mask. Its green eyes stopped glowing instantly and it fell limp. Another icon lit up next to my berserker icon which now sat at ten seconds. It was a heart, with multiple plus signs floating up from it. I figured it must have been my region skill from the one point I had allocated to the hammer heart skill tree. I was grateful, the five second timer started counting down as the throbbing, stabbing pains in my legs slowly vanished and I felt like my injuries had completely healed. I continued to hack and slash at the remaining terror as their bodies started to pile at my feet around me.

    I continued to punch, kick and scream out loud until the terrors stopped coming striking the last standing one with a roar as my berserker timer reached zero. I stood panting heavily as the red glow about me vanished and all of a sudden I felt as though I was on the mother of all comedowns. The terrors lifeless bodies lay strewn everywhere in about a ten foot radius off me, some limbs were at natural angles others were just led in a pile of their own blood but I was still alive. The counter in the top corner of the screen now sat at 18/20 and I looked around searching for the last two terror¡¯s.

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    I couldn¡¯t see them anywhere. Having my wits about me I moved further into the far side of the terror camp, there was a ramshackle hut again made clumsily from the wood sourced from the forest, the entrance way led into a larger thicket of trees however and something about it drew me inside. There was the random shanty huts around me, but something about this drew me in, it looked different. There were skills lining the top of the door frame, some looked human, some looked like animals and some looked like things I could not under stand. One had an elongated face with tusks protruding from the bottom corners of its jawline. Orc like, shit is that something I would have to deal with here, do Orcs exist? I couldn¡¯t see any sign of Raven and I had no clue where she was, I was just aware of the side quest, ¡®Find the whispers of Raven¡¯s past¡¯.

    We needed to find something, what was difficult was that Raven clearly knew what she was looking for, I didn¡¯t and I couldn¡¯t help but feel frustrated that this was a big barrier. After all how could I find something when I didn¡¯t actually know what it was that I was looking for. I stepped through the ominous doorway, it was darker when I stepped inside, the shut was larger than I had expected, it was a large rectangular room, tables and benches scattered around. More skulls were mounted on the walls like hunting trophies but there was no order to them. It was like being in a log cabin that had been neglected for twenty years, there were gaps in the walls where panels had been broken or simply crumbled under decay and rot, a section of the ceiling had a big whole in it, where the forest had pushed its way in, with branches and leaves reaching in and stretching across the ceiling like a living canopy.

    I had to have my wits about me after all, according to my terror counter there were still another two of the little bastards somewhere around the camp.

    ¡°Raven?¡± I said in hushed whisper, hoping to catch her attention, was she in here or was she looking else where. There was no answer and I called out for her again.

    ¡°Raven?¡± I whispered again, I wasn¡¯t in berserk mode but if there were any terrors in here I felt confident enough to take them down.

    I continued to look around the room, but it was bare apart from some flasks and bits of half eaten fruit and meat that were scattered hastily around the table. I couldn¡¯t help but think I had inter opted their meal time when I ambushed the camp, given this was the room they had all run out from

    I was just about to leave when I noticed something in the corner of the room, it looked like a box, it was strange in design, it was white in appearance and as I approached I realised that it was made of bone, it was surprisingly clean, given the state of the mood and decay in the rest of the room, a few vines stretching over the surface as if the forrest was trying to take back something that was its or that it was claiming.

    *Bone box*

    The notification came up and I was surprised to see what it was. Aloot box? I thought to myself as I instinctively reached forward to open it. It was easy enough to open up, a small latch which I unclipped before lifting the lid of it.

    *2x healing potion*

    *1x stamina potion*

    ''Sweet,'' I thought to myself as I reached in and added the two items to my inventory. It was better than nothing. My health bar was at about seventy five percent so I I grabbed hold of the vial that had red liquid in it and instinctively glued it like it was a jello shot. The potion was thicker than I expected, it had an iron tanginess to it that instantly made me panic that it was blood, but a sweeter taste, similar to strawberries greeted me which allayed my fears.

    The thick potion had the consistency of treacle as it continued to make its way through my body, giving me a warm fuzzy sensation, my health bar retuned to 100%.

    ¡°I¡¯ll take that.¡± I said as I looked over my stamina which seemed to have replenished naturally as time had passed, which made sense. I wasn¡¯t as pumped up, my breathing had slowed down to a more normal rate. My hands still trembled from the fight but I thought that was more because of my nerves at this point more than anything.

    By the time I noticed the heavy breathing behind me it was too late, the two remaining terrors screamed out at me ready to strike at me. I stumbled backwards when they startled me and my foot snagged on some tree roots that had forced there way through the a gap in the wooden walls. I banged my head on the floor and for a moment the room shook as I tried to grab my bearings.

    One ion the terrors had a spear pointed at me in a threatening manner, jabbing it forward as it spoke with the other, I still had no clue what they were saying to one another but judging by the second terror¡¯s body language it was encouraging it to stab me with the spear.

    Out of nowhere a knife flew through the air and pierced the second terror¡¯s mask, his glowing eyes faded and he fell to his side with a thunk as his heavy mask hit the ground. The terror with the spear spun to its side looking for where the knife had come from. No sooner than he turned, Raven dived into him, her sythes already stretch out as she slammed them into each of the terrors shoulders. The terror cried out in pain but before he could continue Raven pulled out her sythes and slammed them together decapitating him as he dropped the the ground, the metal head clanging against the other dead terror¡¯s mask.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± I said as Raven turned to face me. ¡°Again,¡± I added before clambering back to my feet. ¡°Did you find what you were looking for?¡±

    Raven shook her head, looking perplexed, she scanned around the room looking for something with a steely intent in her eyes.

    ¡°I¡¯ve already looked around in here,¡± I said, ¡°All I found was a couple of health potions and a stamina potion. Do you need any of them.¡±

    Raven shook her head, other than being covered in blood, she looked absolutely fine, like all of this was all in a days work. We really were in a messed up situation.

    In my menu I could see that the terror conter now sat at 20/20, but other than that nothing else had changed, we still had not completed the side quest and I could feel my own frustrations rising up.

    ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go look in the huts outside, maybe there is something out there.¡±

    As we left the room and re-entered the large clearing something felt off, and the terror counter vanished from my menu.

    Defat the Leader of the terror camp of doom

    ¡°Shit,¡± I said as the ground started to rumble around us. Was this a god damn boss battle?

 Chapter 11 - Boss Battle

    I looked down at Raven who had her arms stretch out to keep herself balanced as the ground continued to shake violently like we were in the epicentre of an earthquake.

    I didn¡¯t like the idea of fighting the leader, not if it could shake the ground like this, was it the larger terror that I had seen the back off when Raven had first rescued me? It must be, I hadn¡¯t seen any larger terrors since entering the camp.

    I didn¡¯t have to wait for long to find out what the hell the boss was as what looked like a cinematic sequence unfolded in front of me. There was a loud bang, then another followed by a thud as the ground continued to shake with each bang. The shanty style huts started to shake, debris falling from the doorways before a large hulking figure came smashing through the buildings. He was ginormous, at least twice my height and two to three times my width. He charged into the centre of the opening in front of us, like a rampaging rhino, roaring and banging its head with one of its hand.

    It was clearly like the other terrors except this one was wearing a bone skull as a mask, only one of its eyes glowed and this one had a red colour to it instead of green like the others. It wasn¡¯t wearing any leather armour like the other terror¡¯s its body was bare chested and it had a pair of leather pants on. Over tits shoulder was a leather strap that had a spiked metal pauldron attached which sat on its shoulder.

    It¡¯s body was like a jacked body builder that had spent his entire life in training, ripped muscles were decorated with torn, skin and scars that had been stapled back together, a tick chain, wrapped around its waist like a belt. Its skin was paler than my own, an off, white yellowish tinge to it, like it had jaundice or something. The most terrifying thing about it though was its arms, both were bulky and strong, one hand was wrapped in chains a large spiked ball about the size of a bowling ball sat in its palm, as if it wasn¡¯t phased that the spikes were sticking into its own skin. Its other arm was clad in metal armour from the elbow down, but its flesh was wrapped around the metal where it joined at its elbow. Like it was growing over the top, skin and sinew clinging to keep it attached to his arm, spikes were riveted onto his forearm, rusted, and stained with blood, its didn¡¯t have a hand at the end of this arm, it had been sharpened to cause maximum damage.

    ¡°Erm, what the fuck is that?¡± I asked, my heart sinking into the pits of my stomach.

    The Terrorminator

    Its name flashed up in front of me as it continued to stamp around, grunt and groan as it psyched itself up. It kept slamming its metal arm into the side of its head multiple times before the Terrorminator let out a roar that reached my bones. Sweat beaded on my head and a cold shiver dripped down my spine as cold as ice.

    ¡°How are we meant to fight that thing!¡± I asked, I had already used my berserk ability which was still on cool down and all I had was a cleaver. How was I meant to stand up against this thing.

    I looked down at Raven as if expecting her to show me what to do, she didn¡¯t look phased by the creature and I had to remind myself for a hot moment that she was just a kid. She was stood in a battle position, legs crouched slightly and her scythes stretched out besides her. How can a kid so young be used to all this fighting and not be phased at all by what we faced.

    With another roar the Terrorminator started charging at us, each step it took made the ground rumble. I froze, I didn¡¯t have a clue what to do. How were we supposed to take this thing on.

    As the Terrorminator closed the distance between us I felt a shove to my side as Raven smashed into me knocking me out of the way as the boss went crashing into the room we had just exited. The crashing noise was followed by a cry of anger as I darted to the other side of the terror camp wanting to get as much distance between me and the boss as I could before it came back out. That didn¡¯t take long as it stepped out from the darkened doorway, debris falling from its body as it slammed its metal hand into its chest and roared again.

    The Terrorminator dropped the spiked ball to the ground, the chain that it was attached to was wrapped around its forearm as it gripped hold of the chains tightly.

    ¡°You have got to be fucking kidding me!¡± I said, raven was about fifteen feet away from me to my left now, she was staring intently at the boss as if she was studying it. Ready to strike at any moment, unlike me who stood there trembling with nothing but a cleaver to keep me safe.

    The Terrorminator leaned back and started swinging its chained arm around, the spiked ball started circling the air around its head as he built up momentum. He lurched forward swinging the spiked ball in my direction.

    ¡°Shit!¡± I said, crying out as I ducked under the ball as it came it me with such force and speed it obliterated the wooden perimeter of the camp behind me. It was like having a canon ball fired at me, I felt the pressurised are as it screamed past me and somehow missed me.

    ¡°Raven, what do we do!¡±

    The Terrorminator tugged on the chain forcefully and the spiked ball flung back towards him, barely missing me once again. It was as though his weapon was like one of them paddle board game, like a ping pong paddle, where the ping pong was attached by a piece of string. It defied the laws of gravity with how it surged back towards him and the Terrorminator instantly pulled the change into another swing. This time it spun like it was an Olympic hammer thrower before he launched another attack.. This time it was aimed at Raven, who quickly dived out of the way into a roll.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

    Earth and dirt sprayed through the air like I was in a war movie and a bomb had just exploded covering Raven and splashing into me, bits of dirt and stone peppered into my skin causing me to turn away and shield my face with my hand. The Terrorminator dragged back its ball and chain again before picking it up and charging at me again, this time as I tried to run out of the way it centred on me even more and smashed straight into me before slamming an outward arm into me, sending me flying through the air and through the wooden barrier of the camp. The air was knocked out of me and my whole body ached like I had just taken the full force of a battering ram, my health bar flashed red, when I checked I was at 28% health, dangerously low for my liking. Somehow I had enough fight in me to climb back to my feet, back home my body would have been pulp taking a blow like that, but here, in this world I had somehow survived it. That didn¡¯t make it any less painful and I did not hesitate pulling out my remaining health potion and drinking it as fast as I could. It raised my health bar to 75% which was a lot better and although the pain did not go a way fully it was a hell of a lot more bearable than it was a few moments ago.

    Back in the terror camp Raven was dodging and diving around the Terrorminator which was waving its metal arm at her, the way it moved was slow and clunky, we needed to find a way to use this to our advantage. Raven tried to use her scythes on the boss but she was too small and could not get close enough.

    I had an idea but was still not certain if it would work, I needed to be the distraction like raven had first wanted me to be, although when we first came up with this plan we had no clue about the boss we would also have to face, or at least I didn¡¯t.

    Raven was agile and fast but I could see that even she was starting to struggle as she barely managed to dodge another throw of the spiked ball from the Terrorminator. As it swung at her again, she dropped into a shadow in the ground cast by one of the turrets, giving her a momentary reprieve from the onslaught of attack.

    I had another idea, but I needed to get the message to raven, if not I needed to manipulate a situation.

    ¡°Over here!¡± I yelled waving my hands as the Terrorminator struggled to comprehend where Raven had vanished, it stomped on the ground where she had stud, grunting and growling in erratic frustration.

    ¡°Hey dickwad!¡± I shouted again, I picked up a rock and threw it as hard as I could, I was amazed at the distance it covered, it was the farthest I had ever thrown something but my plan worked as the rock bounced on the boss¡¯ head, which snapped back, its red glowing eye burning into me. ¡°There we go,¡± I said as the Terrorminator started sprinting at me once again its spiked ball trailing behind it through the ground, carving a thick groove through the earth in its wake. I started running towards the boss, thinking at least this way I can try and shift the momentum in my favour. The metal ball came hurtling past me as the boss took a frenzied swing at me once again, this time I dived forward into a roll, taking inspiration from Raven as I moved past the Terrorminator and towards Raven who remained hidden in the shadow of the turret.

    ¡°Raven, I hope you can hear me.¡± I said, ¡°That shadow portal thing that you opened, can you open it against a wall or something or is it strictly for the ground. If you can, summon one on the perimeter fence behind us, I¡¯ve got an idea.

    ¡°Hurry if you can, I don¡¯t think we have long.¡±

    I was right the Terrorminator was gearing up for another charge.

    ¡°Raven!¡±

    On cue she popped out of the turret¡¯s shadow and landed on the ground as if it was nothing, instantly she raised her hand and a large circular shadow portal formed on the perimeter fence like I had asked.

    ¡°Get to a safe spot, I think I have got this,¡± I sounded way more confident than I had the right to do, it was safe to say that I was winging it by this point. ¡°Come on you ugly bastard,¡± I said as Raven hopped back into the shadow of the tree and to safety.

    The Terrorminator started hurtling towards me again, the ground rumbling violently again, it seemed even faster this time. I waited until it was close enough and it took a swing with its metal ball again and when it did, I dropped down as flat as I could on the ground allowing it to pass straight over the top of me. This time though it went straight into Raven¡¯s shadow portal and disappeared into the dark void of wherever it was. It kept going and going and when the available chain ran out it yanked the Terrorminator straight towards it. Its head snapped back and it snarled in anger as it continued to pull the boss forwards, using its own weapons momentum against it until its arm completely vanished into the shadow portal.

    ¡°Now!¡± I said, ¡°Close the portal!¡±

    Shadow hopped out of the ground once again and with the flick of her wrist the portal closed, taking the Terrorminator arm with it and its deadly weapon for good measure.

    The boss screamed out in pain as its blood sprayed out around it.

    This was it, this was the opening that we needed. My skill had reset and I took the opportunity to activate my berserker skill as I charged towards the Terrorminator once again, this time when I reached it I used every ounce of my strength to push it back, causing it to lose its balance, not completely but enough to put it of. When its remaining arm stretch out to keep its balance I swung around and grabbed hold of it with both arms, the spikes on its forearm guard pressed into my stomach but I didn¡¯t care.

    The Terrorminator tried to wriggle free but I was able to keep the weekend boss in place.

    ¡°Now Raven!¡± I said, hoping that she understood what I was doing.

    I didn¡¯t worry for long as Raven sprinted towards the boss with her scythes by her side, she jumped up, slicing outwards across the Terrorminator¡¯s stomach and with a sickening squelch its stomach and insides started to pour out of its body. It let out a groan, like a wounded animal and I let go of its now droopy arm. It dropped to its knees, Raven skipping out of the way as it crashed face first into the dirt under a plume of dust like she was in an action movie.

    We had done it, we had somehow defeated the boss, some how we had survived.

 Chapter 12 - Spoils Of Victory

    I stood there for a moment, my breathing heavy, my stomach throbbing but only slightly as my berserker icon counted down to zero and the pain intensified. I put my hands over my stomach, it was bleeding, more than I would like but it didn¡¯t seem as bad as I first heard, my health bar sat at 53% percent which was ok, I could live with that, literally.

    ¡°You don¡¯t happen to have any health potions do you?¡± I asked Raven who kicked the dead Terrorminator in the side lightly as if she was checking that it was definitely dead. She shook her head, aside from some dirt on her clothes she had barely broken into a sweat, the complete opposite of me, who I was sure looked like I had been dragged through a meat grinder.

    ¡°What now?¡± I asked, ¡°Should we look around some more for whatever it is you are lo-¡±

    The Terrorminator exploded out of nowhere, I yelped like a small child and I was not afraid to say so as the explosion caught me off guard. To my surprise there was no blast impact from the explosion just a loud bang which sent loads of stuff flying through the air.

    ¡°What the?¡± As I looked up it was like seeing a rainbow of colours, well if the rainbow was, white, green and blue. ¡°Is that?¡± It couldn¡¯t be, just when I thought this world could not get any more insane, the boss we had just defeated had exploded into thin air sending a ton of bootable items across the camp.

    ¡°It literally just exploded into loot,¡± I said bemused as Raven wasted no time flying through a pile of items in front of her. ¡°Hey leave some for me.¡± I said as I scooped up a couple of health potions that had been dropped and quickly drank them allowing my health bar to replenish to full. The pain in my stomach completely stopped, although my white shirt was now torn and stained red with my wet blood, the wounds had healed though.

    I wandered across the camp looking at the rest of the loot that had been dropped, naturally I was drawn to the ones that had a white, green or blue go about them. First up I reached a white coloured item.

    Uncommon weapon - Rusted dagger.

    Damage rating - Nine

    I hasn¡¯t noticed a damage rating with my cleaver when I had picked it up but when I checked my cleavers rating was nine so I left the dagger where it was, Raven also skirted past it. She wasn¡¯t picking any of the loot up, she was definitely looking for something though.

    I moved towards a green item to check out what it was and if it would be any use to me.

    Ring of constitution

    Item ability - Raises stamina by 1

    It was better than nothing, I picked the ring up and placed it on the first finger of my right hand, it felt strange to put a ring on, aside from my watch I had never really bothered with jewels. If it helped me in anyway though, well that could only be good thing. I continued to walk around scooping up potions that I recognised as health potions and stamina potions there was even a blue one.

    mana potion

    Consumption will replenish mana, used for magic.

    It read, as far as I knew I didn¡¯t consume any mana but I felt it could be helpful at some point so I picked it up and added it to my inventory.

    ¡°Do you use mana?¡± I asked Raven, she nodded but she seemed distracted barely lifting her head as she continued to search through the items that remained. ¡°Here take this,¡± I tossed her the mana potion and she caught it before continuing to search through the loot.

    I knew where my focus was, there was one last item that had blown the furthest away when the Terrorminator had exploded Loot everywhere. When I reached it I knew straight away that whatever its stats were it was going to be more helpful than my cleaver.

    Rare Weapon

    Spirit Sword

    Damage Rating - Fifteen

    Holy shit I thought to myself, that was an increase in six in damage, the sword was all black, the hilt, the cross guard and the blade, all of it. The outer edge of the sword had a seated edge, much like a saw and was clearly designed to cause maximum damage, the weapon was terrifying which was fitting given the terror camp we had just raided. I picked up the blade, it had a strange shine to it, with no blemishes as if it had just been made, I had no clue what the sword was made out of but it was cold to the touch, like a mixture between metal and stone, it was pretty heavy too but the craftsmanship on it was beautiful. As I looked over it, a blue line showdown the centre of it revealing three slots before disappearing again, it was like a magma crack you would see in the ground at a erupting volcano, threatening to spew molten lava at any moment.

    Upgradable item

    This weapon can be upgraded beyond the rank of rare.

    ¡°This is so cool,¡± I said as I continued to look over the blade in awe, I swung the sword around a few times as I got used to its weight, I had never used a sword before but I already knew that it would put me in good stead compared to a cleaver, especially if I could rank it up too. Even if I dint know how to at this stage, I felt like it was only a matter of time before I would figure that out.

    I continued to look over the incredible weapon, it was surprisingly light which was strange given that the texture of the blade was like a polished stone, I imagined it should feel heavier but non the less I was excited to see what this weapon was capable of. It would certainly stand me in good stead as opposed to a cleaver.

    My vision filled with a. Hazy screen, it crackled with a static noise, the kind you get when you tried to tune in an old TV. Given I only knew one other person in this place, I presumed that it was Fidget.

    ¡°Someone¡¯s calling me?¡± I said, not sure how to refer to the interaction. ¡°Her names Fidget and she is apparently the person who brought me here.

    Raven¡¯s head shot back, and no sooner did I mention that someone was calling me she shook her head and pointed at herself before fetching her finger to her lips. She then disappeared into the shadow of the Terrorinator¡¯s body that remained still on the ground, face down in the dirt. Her behaviour was odd, but I took it as meaning she didn¡¯t want me to say anything about her, which was fair enough, I could respect that wish given how helpful she had been.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

    ¡°Hello, hello,¡± Fidget¡¯s voice came through to me first, it was a strange sensation that made me feel like I was on some kind of acid trip. ¡°Can you hear me? Silas are you there?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m here, can you hear me? Something is going on with your screen, I can¡¯t see anything other than static.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s static?¡± She asked, ¡°Hang on,¡± I could hear her rummaging around and laughed to myself, it was like watching someone try and mess around with a n old school ariel to try and get the best signal they could. Except here there didn¡¯t seem to be any airwaves just magic.

    A few more moments passed before Fidget finally came into my vision, it was like having a floating screen projected from my retina, any which way I moved my head or my eyes, the screen followed, slightly translucent so I could see the destroyed shanti huts of the terror¡¯s camp.

    ¡°Oh good you''re alive,¡± she said, offering a smile. The relief on her face was clear and she let put a large sigh of air like she had been holding her breathe for an age. ¡°I was worried when we got cut off, I feared the worst, that when I had enough mana to make contact again that it would be too late.¡± Her words were crisp and clear, as if I was wearing some air pods that she was feeding directly into.

    ¡°Thanks for the vote of confidence,¡± I said with a sarcastic tone.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± My humour clearly lost on her.

    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter,¡± I said with a smile. ¡°It¡¯s good to see a familiar face, this world is crazy.¡±

    ¡°Look at the state of you, are you ok? You look like you have been dragged through the forest backwards,¡± Fidget¡¯s toe of voice changed, ¡°Is that blood?¡±

    Looking down at myself, I realised that my white shirt, wasn¡¯t so white any more. ¡°Yeah, it''s been an interesting first day.¡±

    ¡°First day?¡± Fidget said with a puzzled expression. ¡°It¡¯s been two days since we last spoke.¡±

    That was good to know, I had no way of telling the time given that my watch had stopped working as soon as I had landed here. ¡°Are you sure? There hasn¡¯t been a night time here?¡±

    ¡°How does night time work for you? I mean where you are from?¡± Fidget asked.

    ¡°Well there¡¯s twenty four hours in a day, in the summer, night time would fall from between nine in the evening until about six in the morning.¡±

    ¡°Fascinating,¡± Fidget said, ¡°I have no clue what those terminologies mean, but here the sun sets every second day, some regions it is less than that though so it can change.¡±

    ¡°How do you tell the time?¡± I asked, raising my watch up, I didn¡¯t know if she would be able to see it. ¡°See back home I have this time piece, it¡¯s called a watch, it helps me keep track of what time of day it is. Helps me keep organised and on task.¡±

    ¡°How odd, perhaps it is something I can have a look at when we finally are able to meet in person.¡±

    ¡°Sounds good to me? I am grateful for the company.¡± I said.

    ¡°We¡¯re getting off topic, where are you? Have you managed to find Sy yet?¡±

    ¡°Sy?¡± That must have been who she was referring to when we got cut off. ¡°No,¡± I replied, ¡°I kind of got side tracked.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean side tracked? I gave you very clear instructions, you were to head straight to the waterfall to the north of the forest and meet Sy, he will be able to help you?¡±

    ¡°Well a lot of that message was lost when you cut out.¡± I said, ¡°There¡¯s quite a lot that has happened to me since I last spoke to you.¡±

    ¡°I can see that, I can only hope that that isn¡¯t your blood on your shirt.¡±

    ¡°Some of it is.¡± I said coyly, I felt like I was being scolded.

    Fidget raised her hand to the bridge of her snout and shook her head as if trying and failing to contain her disappointment. ¡°You are my champion, I summoned you to this world. You have no idea the kind of magic that takes, I can¡¯t have you simply going off galivanting. If the gods have brought you here then you are important for this world, you could be our only hope.¡±

    ¡°No pressure then,¡±

    My sarcasm was lost on Fidget once again who just stared at me with a frown. I was still getting my head around the fact that I was talking to a half human half dog sorceress.

    ¡°Right, you''re going to have to tell me everything that has happened.¡±

    ¡°Do you have enough mana?¡± I asked.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°I mean last time we got cut off because your mana ran out, there is quite a lot for me to tell you about so I just want to make sure we are not going to get cut off again.¡±

    ¡°That was perceptive of you,¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m a data analyst, it¡¯s kind of my thing.¡±

    ¡°Data analyst?¡±

    ¡°That was my job, is my job, back home. It¡¯s what I did for work. Attention to detail is important, especially when you are running data projects.¡±

    ¡°You really re the most peculiar human I have ever come across, so much strange language that you use.¡± Fidget shook her head before saying, ¡°We are getting distracted again, I need you to tell me exactly what has happened.¡±

    ¡°Where do I start? I found this legendary orb that let me pick my class, it said it was a gift from the gods, basically they were intervening because of how useless I was. It gave me a list of classes to choose from, some were balanced, some just seemed damn right evil so I ended up picking the berserker class, figured it was a different from what someone of my frame would normally go for. Any way I was attacked by these fire ants and found that I was getting stronger so I fought them for a while. Then while heading north, using the sun as a marker I found myself in a snare,¡± I was about to tell her about Raven when I stopped my self suddenly, remembering her gesture to me before she vanished into thin air.

    ¡°A snare? How did you get out? Whose snare was it?¡±

    ¡°I managed to wriggle free,¡± I said, ¡°It wasn¡¯t too difficult but I had to hide as some terrors started firing arrows at me, one caught me in the shoulder but Its ok I have been able to find some potions.¡±

    ¡°Interesting,¡± Fidget said.

    ¡°When they had gone I got a side quest, to infiltrate the terror camp.¡±

    ¡°Let me stop you there,¡± Fidget said, interrupting me mid monologue. ¡°Do not try and infiltrate a terror camp. Those little scamps are notoriously difficult to kill. Especially in large groups. Your level is far too low and you are too inexperienced to fight an entire camp.¡± she stopped talking before looking at me judge-ingly. ¡°What have you done?¡±

    ¡°I kind of already infiltrated the camp, it¡¯s where all the blood is from.¡± I said, ¡°On my shirt. Wanting to keep Raven hidden for now I continued to tell her what had happened, skipping over the details where Raven was involved.¡±

    ¡°So let me get this straight, you have been farming spore spitters for the last two days to get stronger so that you could infiltrate the terror camp. I assume you have managed to escape and you''re not in a prison cell somewhere, please tell me you''re not captured? Those terrors are not opposed to eating humans.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m here now actually,¡± I said, spinning around. ¡°Don¡¯t worry there are no more terrors, I unlocked my skill tree, it helped build my strength so I was strong enough to defeat them all.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Fidget asked, interrupting me again, she was equal parts intrigue and apprehension.¡±

    Looking over my shoulder I realised that the Terrorminator body was behind me. ¡°Oh that was a boss that attacked us, you should have seen the loot that spewed out of that thing when I beat it.¡±

    ¡°You, you defeated a boss? On your own?¡± Fidget¡¯s face lit up like it was a Christmas tree.¡±

    ¡°I did,¡± A little smugly. ¡°I¡¯ve managed to get some potions, health, than and mana as well as a new weapon, its a sword, it will put me in better stead than the rusted cleaver that I had.¡±

    ¡°Wait, wait wait, you are telling me that you managed to take down an entire terror camp and a boss with only a cleaver?¡±

    ¡°I guess so,¡±

    ¡°This is incredible, perhaps you are the one who is destined to free us all.¡± Fidget¡¯s image started going all skewy, her mana draining down.

    ¡°Its happening again,¡±

    ¡°Get some rest, it will be night time soon, try your best to find some shelter before darkness falls, you don¡¯t want to be o-¡± As soon as she had appeared, Fidget had vanished once again. ¡°I guess by then,¡± I said as I walked over to the dead boss. There were still a couple of bits of dropped loot that I wanted to go through before we left this place. ¡°You can come out now.¡±

    Raven hopped out of the shadow and into sight again.

    ¡°What was that about?¡±

    Raven started signing but again it was a series of signs that I did not understand.

    ¡°I guess I will just have to take your word for it.¡±

 Chapter 13 - Quest Updated

    We continued searching through the loot that the Terrorminator had dropped, I was curious to see if there was anything else that I would find useful but aside from a silver ring which offered no bonus stats there was nothing that stood out to me. It was like a used wedding band, the surface worn and scuffed, it was slightly out of shape but I figured if anything it could have some value to it so I added it to my inventory. The rest of the items were a combination of crude, rusted and fractured daggers that were of no use to me so I left them where they were.

    Raven was making her way through the loot herself, I saw her pick up one or two items that she had taken an interest in, she had opened up her shadow portal and started tossing items in quite haphazardly. I presumed that the Terrorminator arm was still in there somewhere and wondered what she would do with it, given his size I didn¡¯t thing she would have the strength to pull the thing out and discard it. She hadn¡¯t drawn my attention to it to help her so I figured I would just let her be and wait until she asked for my help.

    She had a serious look on her face as she examined each piece of loot as if she was looking for something very specific, she would pick items up, study them then toss them back on the ground, letting out the odd tut and huff from time to time. I had finished searching through on my side and had not found anything I could tell would be helpful.

    ¡°Do you want me to help you look,¡±

    Raven sat up from the kneeling position she was in and nodded, albeit it with a deflated demeanour, her shoulders slumped and her back stooped. She started signing again and I felt useless as even though I couldn¡¯t understand anything she was saying, she kept trying, she didn¡¯t hold back. I studied her hands and gestures but I just couldn¡¯t figure it out.

    Raven used her two index fingers to create a circle motion to me then pointed at her eyes and then the loot as if creating an invisible line.

    "You want me to help find a ring?¡± I asked, my heart spiked as I thought about the silver ring I had found just a few moments before. It seemed innocuous but there was every chance that this ring could be exactly what we were looking for.

    My positivity was short lived however as Raven shook her head again before thinking for a moment. She made the same gesture of a circle, using her two index fingers a couple more times before her eyes lit up, she then pointed at her wrist.

    ¡°A watch?¡± I pointed at my own and Raven just shook her head again impatiently.

    She started tapping at her wrist again before making the same circular motion, before shaking her head and starting looking through the left over loot again.

    I scanned over it but there was nothing noticeable, there was nothing. I decided to give Raven some space to look and thought I would search around the outer perimeter of the camp, the loot had fired out in every which direction you could imagine, so maybe something was just out of our line of sight.

    The camp was destroyed, the shanties, broken, with collapsed walls and pieces of debris scattered across the ground. The air was thick and heavy, my clothes were sticking too me and the smell of iron hung in the air from the blood that stained my shirt. I felt disgusting and the sooner I could grab a wash somewhere and change my clothes the better. I continued scanning the floor for what felt like a good half an hour, my own impatience growing.

    ¡°Shit!¡± I cursed as I rolled my ankle as I stepped across the roofing, of one of the destroyed shanties, my foot had gone straight through causing me to lose my bale. Feeling. A sharp sting I looked down to see a large splinter had grazed my lower leg, just above my ankle around my shin. It wasn¡¯t a threatening injury but only served to piss me off that little bit more. Kicking out at the piece of roof which seemed to be made out of branches and leaves I launched it a few feet forwards revealing a flash of blue underneath.

    ¡°I think I found something.¡± I called out to Raven, her head popped up like a meerkat looking out for prey in the desert, before she darted across to have a look.

    I knelt down, it looked like there was something between me and the item, kind of grid like, like a storm drain. My arms were too big to fit through the gaps.

    ¡°Do you think you can reach through?¡± I asked Raven as she reached me.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

    She took no time dropping to her knees and reaching down through the gaps with ease, right up to her shoulder. She started reaching around, sticking her tongue out while she concentrated. When she pulled her arm back out she had something in her hand, it was small and had a blue glow to it like my spirit sword had, making me think its as a rare item.

    ¡°What is it?¡± I asked.

    Raven¡¯s face lit up, and she became instantly more animated, bouncing up and down on the spot.

    ¡°Is that it?¡± I asked, ¡°Is that what we have been looking for?¡±

    Raven continued to bounce around. She hugged it close to her body before holding it out for me to look at.

    Shadow Bracelet

    Rare Accessory

    A wearable item for those of the Rogue class. A long lost heirloom, with only those who it is connected to knowing its true purpose.

    ¡°Sounds vague,¡± I said as I looked over the bracelet. It was more of a bangle, it was thick, about an inch in diameter, the surface rough and black. It had cracks and blemishes against the metal, giving it a slightly rustic appearance that made it look old and well worn. On either side of the outer edges of the bangle were small spikes, varying in size, they seemed to alternate between a tiny spike followed by a larger one, that ran the full way around. Around the outer edge of the bangle were small yellow runes that looked like they had been engraved into the metal, they were glowing, making it look like molten fire was inside. The same was on the inside as it flashed and disappeared as quickly s I saw it. It was like the Frodo¡¯s ring, the one that everyone fought for in the lord of the ring or at least that¡¯s what the glowing symbols reminded me of.

    ¡°What do they say?¡± I asked.

    Raven looked at me with a frown.

    ¡°On the bangle, what do the runes say.¡±

    She looked it over in detail as if trying to figure something out.

    ¡°Does it do anything?¡± I asked.

    Raven shrugged before placing the bangle onto her wrist.

    I don¡¯t know what I expected to happen but I couldn¡¯t help but feel disappointed when nothing happened at all. Literally nothing, the ¡®Whispers¡¯ quest remained open, there was no further instructions with what to do. Absolutely nothing.

    Raven looked up at the sky and pointed.

    As Fidget had warned, the sun was finally beginning to set meaning we needed to find some form of shelter for the night. I dreaded to think what kind of creatures would lurk in the forest at night time given what we had come across so far during the day.

    ¡°Is there anything else you need from here?¡±

    Raven shook her head, she had her free hand wrapped around her bangle. Whatever that was I felt like there was more to it than Raven could let on, especially with the blatant communication barrier that we had.

    ¡°I guess that¡¯s it then. Come on, let¡¯s go and find somewhere, where we can make a camp for the night. I really don¡¯t want to stay around here any longer than we need to in case only more terrors turn up.¡±

    With one last look around the camp we made the way out of the camp, using the setting sun as a marker to keep heading in the right direction of this Sy who Fidget had mentioned. The sooner we got to him the better, maybe he would be able to point us in the right direction, Fidget seemed to trust him, whoever he was and she seemed ok. Even if she did come across as a little patronising of what I had seen of her so far.

    The sun continued to set as we searched for a safe spot for us to camp out for the night. I say the word safe loosely as nothing about this place was safe at all. What I was looking for was a clear open space, where we would be able to make a fire to keep warm and one of us keep lookout through the night. I had figured if we alternated then at least we would both be able to get some rest, I had explained this to Raven as we walked and through a series of nods that gave me her approval we seemed to have some semblance of a plan. For the time east at being.

    We kept going until we eventually found a clearing that was just about big enough, it was kind of oval shape, with a couple of large rocks for us to shelter against, not that I was expecting a sudden storm or anything. The branches above us thinned, giving us an open canopy, it wouldn¡¯t shelter us from any rain but at least it meant there was nothing going to come down on us from above. Or at least that was my thinking anyway. The trees around us were thinner here too, like pine trees, reaching high up into the air, but it meant that it was clear around us, meaning that we would hopefully be able to see or hear anything creeping up on us.

    It didn¡¯t take us long to set up, given that we had no sleeping bags or camping gear, it was nice to sit down and rest though and after getting enough wood to start a fire, we set about trying to light the damn thing. By the time we had managed to get the fire started, darkness had set in and my hands were raw from rubbing sticks together, Raven had had a couple of pieces of stone which I assumed were flint and we were able to use it to light up the kindling.

    Sitting with my back against the rock I stretched out my hands towards the fire and embraced the warmth that it gave me.

    Raven let out a yawn and stretch, arching her back.

    ¡°Get some sleep?¡± I said, ¡°I¡¯ll take first watch.¡± She was a kid after all, regardless of how deadly she was. She did not waste any time settling down and curling up next to fire, it reminded me of how vulnerable she was, or would be if she did not have two scythes that she clearly wasn¡¯t afraid to use.

    As darkness surrounded us, I continued to stare into the crackling fire like it was a TV mounted on the wall back home, and I started thinking about all the home comforts that I took for granted up until now. Mainly my bed and a nice thick quilt and hard pillow.

 Chapter 14 - Uninvited Guests

    It was light, warm with the faintest of breezes kissing my skin as I sat on the beach. The warmth of the sun pressed down soothingly on my skin as I sat building a sandcastle with my dad. He was about thirty seven or thirty eight, I can¡¯t remember precisely but he had a full head of hair, his skin was tinged with red from sunburn, a oily shine on his face arms and chest from the suncream that mum had made him wear. His eyes were dark like mine, his smile genuinely as he helped me pat down on the bucket that we had just filled.

    ¡°Did you use wet sand this time?¡± He asked, ¡°We can¡¯t have the castle collapsing like last time.

    It was so nice to hear his voice, his voice was deep, his accent broad and his smile made me feel safe. It was a voice I hadn¡¯t heard for so long that I didn¡¯t know if it was accurate or just a voice that my brain projected. It sounded similar to mine, a bit more gruff though. He was an engineer, he worked in structures so he insisted that I went the sand this time, he always took things like this seriously. Like he was crafting a real castle.

    ¡°Remember son, it needs to be structurally sound.¡±

    I didn¡¯t answer I just smiled, in awe of him, he was my best friend in the entire world and everything he did was for me and my mum. I wanted to tell him I love him, I should have just hugged him right there and then. I was approaching thirteen though and starting to feel it wasn¡¯t ok to be all huggy. If I knew what was going to happen, I would have banished the thought. More than anything, I wish I could go back to that moment and tell him what eh meant to me, to thank him for everything he had done for me for everything that he had taught me. I continued watching him jump in to the air in wild celebration when I lifted my bucket to reveal a perfectly formed castle in the sand.

    ¡°You did it,¡± he yelled out so loud that I swear half the beach stopped in their tracks to see what the commotion was. ¡°You di-¡±

    I snapped my eyes open, the crackle of the fire low as it burnt through its near burnt out embers. ¡°Shit!¡± I cursed, raising my hand to my face and wiping drool from my jaw. I had fallen asleep, while on watch. How could I be so stupid. I panicked, looking around to make sure everything as ok. Raven lay sprawled on her back in a star fish position, she had pulled her scarf over the lover part of her face leaving only the strip of her eyes uncovered. I held my breathe for a moment while I checked on her, her breathing was so peaceful and quiet for a few moments I had to double take that she was actually still breathing but eventually I could see her chest raising up and down as she took shallow breathes.

    Grogginess disorientated me and I smacked my lips together whilst reaching for some wood to toss onto the fire before it fully extinguished. Thankfully nothing had happened whilst I had been asleep. My thoughts returned to the dream I was having about that day on the beach, the last day of our summer holiday and I found myself over come with sadness. Then my thoughts flittered to my mum and I wondered if I would ever see her again. One way or another I needed to find a way back, I hadn¡¯t seen her for too long, way before I ended up here. The first thing I was going to do when I was home was to go and visit her, the go and see dad.

    The snapping of a branch put me on instant high alert. I snapped my head around looking, but I couldn¡¯t see anything.

    ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡± I said aloud, my voice barking against the dark open space. Was I hearing things, was my mind playing tricks on me?

    ¡°Raven,¡± I said in a hushed whisper, not wanting to startle her. She sat bolt upright and on high alert straight away. She instantly reached for her scythes but then padded herself down as if she was missing something.

    Another snapping twig drew my attention to the right hand side where I could see a small figure with a large lump coming from its back. I could only see the silhouette but something was definitely there.

    ¡°Who are you?¡± I said, calling out at the unknown figure. I reached for my spirit sword but as I padded the ground next to me nothing was there.

    ¡°He sees me?¡± A voice said as if speaking to himself, it was a male voice, slightly high pitched, with a strange gravelly tone to it.

    ¡°Too right I see you, what do you want?¡± I stood up, looking for my sword but I couldn¡¯t find it anywhere. I went into my inventory to grab my rusted cleaver but there was nothing there. What the hell was going on.

    Raven rolled forward reaching for a piece of wood that was protruding from the fire, she raised it up like a torch light, holding it out in front of her.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    I had to double take, at first I thought my eyes were deceiving me. It looked like some form of goblin, it was short, even smaller than Raven, it must have been no bigger than three feet tall. It wore a simple torn, dark blue loin cloth like a pair of shorts. Its skin was pale green, like moss, its features seemed out of proportion, with little spangle legs, with three large toes on each foot. Its arms were also wired although a bit longer, its body was like it had been compressed under cabin pressure. It had a large head with two large ears protruding out of the side, the left one was filled with piercings and chains. It had a large elongated mouth, reaving rows of pointed, yellow teeth. The glow of Raven¡¯s torch lit up its face causing its large yellow eyes to glow, they looked like owl eyes.

    It shuffled about awkwardly as if struggling to keep its balance, then I realised what was on its back. A large backpack that looked as though it had been hastily put together was strapped to the creatures back with two thick leather straps. The bag was even bigger than the thing, which seemingly defied the laws of physics.

    ¡°I said what do you want?¡±

    ¡°What do we do?¡± A voice called back, there was more than one of them.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± another voice replied, it was coming from the same direction there or there about.

    ¡°Perhaps if we ignore it, it will go away.¡± The goblin creature that was the one I could see said. They were talking to each other like we were not there.

    Then I realised something else, I could hear them and I could understand what they were saying to each other.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you are or what you want, but were you robbing us?¡± I asked, taking a step forward. It would make sense. I could find my sword and my rusted cleaver had also vanished. A quick check of my inventory cleared things up when I realised I had nothing on me, all my potions had vanished too and my silver ring.

    ¡°He is talking to us?¡± The second voice said, in a hushed whisper like I had used to wake Raven. The whole situation was bizarre, to the point where I started to question if I was still sleeping.

    ¡°Yeah I am talking to you,¡± I said, raising my voice to show that I was pissed off. ¡°And we don¡¯t take kindly to our things being taken. Now put our stuff back down and nothing has to go any further.¡± It felt alien to me making threats to someone else, something else, I had never done it before. It wasn¡¯t in my nature but we had worked so hard for that loot. ¡°Your stuff gone too Raven?¡±

    She nodded, staring intently at the shadowy creatures as if she was studying them, did she know what they were,, who they were or why they were here?

    ¡°They shouldn¡¯t be able to see us.¡± One of the voice hissed.

    ¡°Well bad news for you, I can see your ugly face. Well one of them at least.¡±

    ¡°He is rude, he does not deserve his things.¡± The goblin closest to me said.

    ¡°What do we do?¡± The other ne repeated, they continue to speak to one another like we were not there.

    ¡°Run,¡± the one closest top me said and the vanished into the darkness, their feet crunching the leaves and branches under their feet.

    ¡°Oh no you don¡¯t!¡±

    It was surprising and alarming in equal measure just how fast they were, not made easier by it being dark. Raven bolted, like a horse out of the gates, sprinting fast with her torch raised into the air. I set off after her as fast as I could, thankfully able to know which direction to run thanks to her. I couldn¡¯t see whatever its as that had robbed us but I could hear their scurrying footprints up ahead.

    ¡°Hey!¡± I yelled, ¡°Get back here!¡±

    Raven continued to pursue them faster than me, she was ducking and dodging the branches that were whacking into my chest and face. I lost count of how many times I cursed as I chased after them. We couldn¡¯t let them get away. They had all of my things.

    ¡°Don¡¯t let them get away,¡± I shouted, I had no idea why, it felt like the instinctive thing to say as my legs started to burn as I chased after them. Raven¡¯s torch light was getting further away however, she was a lot quicker than me, that was apparent but the further she got away the more difficult it became for me to see and when her torch vanished I realised I was in near complete darkness, without a weapon and alone.

    I continued to push forward, stumbling as my feet caught on vines and roots that were creeping out of the ground like natural traps. I was running into a complete blackout, I could hear footsteps ahead of me but I had no clue if it was Raven or whatever its as that had robbed us. The scurrying seemed to scatter to my left and right ahead of me, so instinctively I chose to follow to the right, which was apparently the wrong decision to make at this time.

    ¡°Raven, where are you?¡± I called out, ¡°I can¡¯t see you,¡± panic had gripped me, I was running of adrenaline but suddenly I felt alone. A strange feeling tugged at the pits of my stomach. That feeling you got when you were a kid and you momentarily lost sight of your parents in the supermarket. It was ridiculous as I was in my late twenties and not a god damn child.

    It was like running through a dark tunnel filled with traps as I started to stumble around like a drunk man, barely able to keep my balance as I tried to keep up as best as I can. Letting out a frustrated roar I dug in to my reserve and did my best to accelerate, when I noticed that my stamina bar was getting low. What made it worse was I had no stamina potions any more because of the little bastards that had robbed us.

    A thick branch that felt like a giants club smashed into my chest, forcing the air out of my lungs. I heaved instantly as I fell backwards, desperately gasping for air. My lungs felt like I was breathing in fire, my rib cage exploding with a burst of pain that caused me to cry out in pain. When I hit the ground I must have hit my head on something hard, because as dark as it was a complete blackout greeted me as I fell unconscious.

 Chapter 15 - Here We Are Again

    I woke up sniffing the air, my eyes rolling into the back of my head. The bright light directly above me caused my eyes to wince, and leak as a pang of nausea came over me. It was daylight and the back of my head felt like I had been hit with a baseball bat.

    ¡°Eurgh,¡± I groaned loudly, like I was waking from a hangover as I sat up, raising a hand to the back of my head. It was tacky to the touch and my hair was matted, when I looked at my fingers they were coated in my blood. It was warm, sticky and slightly congealed so at least it was healing. All though it would certainly of healed faster if I had a healing potion on me.

    Then I looked around panicked, remembering what had happened. We had been robbed, it was the middle of the night, I had fallen asleep whilst I was on watch. How could I have been so stupid. How long had I been out for? I had so many questions whirling through my head that it threatened to send me into another dizzying spiral, this one lined with self pity.

    That was it, I was alone again, and I had no idea where I was, I lost my bearings completely when a huff of air caused me to kook tentatively to my right.

    Raven was sat on the branch of a tree, she had her legs crossed and her arms, folded. She had a face like thunder as she looked ready to murder me. In fact she looked that annoyed that I was genuinely surprised that she had not strangled me while I was unconscious.

    ¡°Did you catch them?¡± I asked, breaking the awkward silence like I had my tail between my legs. ¡°They took everything from me, did they take all your things too?¡±

    Raven simply raised her arm to reveal her bare wrist, the one that when she had fallen asleep had had the bangle on, the bangle that we had fought an entire terror camp to get.

    ¡°Great, looks like we are right back at square one.¡± I felt guilty, rightfully so, this was my fault after all. I had fallen asleep on watch, I had let those goblin things in to rob us. I bet they had never had an easier score. ¡°I¡¯m such an idiot,¡± I said, ¡°I am so sorry Raven, it was just the fire and the long day I must have fallen asleep.¡±

    Raven dropped from the branch and pushed me, before signing more aggressively at me than she had ever done before. For the first time I was grateful that I didn¡¯t understand what she was saying but it was clear that she was furious with me.

    ¡°Wh, what do we do?¡± I asked, nervously trying to break the tension, ¡°Do you have any idea how to find them? What were they?¡±

    Raven continued to sign at me and I swear if we hadn¡¯t have been robbed and she still had her scythes I would question whether or not she would slit my throat with them.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry, whatever it takes, whatever I need to do I will do whatever it takes to get our stuff back, to get your stuff back. I was as angry and frustrated at myself as Raven was, this was a major setback and I knew I needed to make things right.

    There was a new found vigour and liveliness to the forest that had not been apparent yesterday, I could hear the chirps and tweeting of what I would assume were birds over head but given everything so far, it wouldn¡¯t have surprised me if they started shooting lasers out of their eyes or dropping bombs on us instead of eggs. There was more than that though I could hear insect noises, howls and chittering within the trees. It only served to fill me with more worry as now we were defenceless without any weapons. It was even hotter than it was yesterday, sweat was beading on my head although I couldn¡¯t tell if that was the heat and humidity of the forest or my nerves and anxiety that was kicking in.

    Raven just about managed to compose herself as she paced back and forwards, pinching the bridge of her nose.

    ¡°Do you have any idea where they are?¡±

    Raven stopped in her tracks and gave me a thumbs up, I knew what that meant.

    ¡°Ok so you know where they are,¡± I paused for a moment, ¡°Then why are you still here?¡± I was momentarily confused, unsure as to why she hadn¡¯t followed them further if she knew where they had gone.

    Raven pointed at me, made a running motion into the tree and fell over, before pretending to be asleep. She then got up and started signing aggressively at me once more, something that I was starting to get used to, even if I still had no inkling into what she was saying.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    ¡°You waited with me,¡± I said, Raven stopped signing and sighed again. ¡°You waited with me while I was unconscious and watched over me. When you could have followed those goblin things, got your stuff back and left me behind like a deserved.¡±

    Her eyes softened, but only for a moment before her steely, hardened gaze returned and she ruffled her nose. She offered me a hand which accepted and helped pull me to my feet.

    I couldn¡¯t help but wince and shot my hand to my ribcage, it felt like I had been branded with a red hot poker and forced me into taking a few shallow breathes as I tried to regulate the pain. My head continued to throb deeply and my ankle also felt like I had a sprain, not bad to say I had managed to sustain all these injuries myself, even by my own standards.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± I said through short stifled breathes. ¡°For staying with me, you didn¡¯t have to. I appreciate it. I don¡¯t suppose you have any healing potions on you? I feel like I have been run over by a train.¡±

    Raven gave me a hard stare and the thought crossed my mind that even if she did have one, I think she would let me suffer for a little bit longer.

    ¡°Right, you said you knew where they were. I suppose there is no time like the present to go and get our stuff back, more than anything we need to get that bangle.¡± It was quite clear that the bangle had some form of sentimental meaning to her, I had noticed haw she had been running her fingers over it before falling asleep and resting her hand over it when she was sleeping. Someone only does that with an item that has more meaning to them, the question was, what was it.

    Grabbing a nearby branch and snapping it Raven set about drawing in the dirt like she had done when she was explaining my berserker ability to me. I watched as she drew some little stick people with a big bag on their backs, it was clear straight away what she was drawing. She then drew what looked like a cave with an arrow pointing between the thieves and the cave and a picture of the sun above them. She then drew multiple z¡¯s all inside of the cave.

    ¡°Right I think I have got this,¡± I said, ¡°The goblin thieves are in a cave somewhere, hopefully not too far. It is daytime, so they will be sleeping, does that mean they are nocturnal?¡±

    Raven nodded, making the hand explosion gesture that I was beginning to get used to seeing now, I couldn¡¯t help but think she was taking the Mickey out of me, but in a all honesty, I deserved it.

    ¡°Do you know where the cave is?¡±

    Raven raised her eyebrows at me and gave me a sarcastic smile, like I should already know that she knew where they were holed up.

    ¡°Well I guess you should lead the way.¡±

    No sooner than I spoke a new quest appeared in the top corner of my vision.

    New Quest

    Mission Imp-ossible

    Retrieve your stolen items from those pesky Imps

    Go figure, they were not goblins after all they were imps, at least now I knew the difference between the two of them.

    ¡°Ok it looks like we have been given a new side quest,¡± I said, still holding my ribs, not that it made the blindest bit of difference to the pain I was feeling. ¡°Out of curiosity, are these missions coming up for you? Like can you see them in your vision, words popping up telling you what to do?¡±

    Raven looked at me as though I had three heads.

    I noticed that I had a skill point to assign, I must have missed it from when we defeated the terror boss, there had already been so much happen since then. I quickly looked over my skill tree, swordzerker had four points assigned, one more and I would be able to see what the next skill slot was. Not having too much time on our hands and feeling like we were against the clock to get our items back I quickly allocated the skill point to the swordzerker skill tree maxing the first slot. This meant I was at level six overall.

    ¡°Come on, let¡¯s get to this cave. The sooner we get our items back, the sooner we can try and find Sy.¡± I said, motioning Raven to lead the way.

    It didn¡¯t feel like we were travelling too long before Raven brought us to a stop just outside the imps cave. The opening was cracked and broken, like something had smashed into it to make the opening. It was more like a hobbit hole than a cave, the ground and moss covered earth covering the top of the entrance. At the top sat an old, twisted tree, its roots clinging to the side of the cave opening like the tree itself was prising the rocks apart. It was pretty cool to see. I had a quick scan of the area and couldn¡¯t see anyone or anything else around.

    ¡°Right are we just going in there?¡± I asked, something didn¡¯t sit right, this seemed all too easy. ¡°I don¡¯t think we should harm them?¡± I said.

    Raven started signing her disapproval instantly, making a slit throat gesture.

    ¡°No, I mean it.¡± I said. ¡°These imps have been a pain in the ass but they haven¡¯t hurt us, don¡¯t get me wrong if they do try to hurt us then we should fight back but they seemed kind of clumsy, they robbed us when it would have been just as easy to kill us while we were both asleep.

    Raven let out a deep unforgiving sigh.

    ¡°Promise me? No violence unless they attack us first.¡±

    I offered her my hand, then my pinky finger. ¡°Pinky promise, it¡¯s a binding promise.¡±

    Raven shook her head but offered me her pinkie, and I took her word for it, well as best as I could from a mute kid.

    ¡°Do we just go in?¡± I asked as the two of us crouched behind a bush just a few feet away.

    Raven just set of walking, knees bent. I followed suit and the two of us made our way in through the entrance of the cave.

 Chapter 16 - The Imps In The Cave

    The cave was dank and dark, the air was damp and you could taste the mustiness of the stale cave. The cave opening was narrow, Raven was able to pass through fairly east but I needed to move more slowly, the passage way was tall enough for me but the sides were a little more narrow than I would have liked, giving an uneasy sense of claustrophobia.

    The walls themselves were jagged and gnarly with the odd section of the walls sticking out slightly causing me to knock my shoulders into them. Every time I did it sent a shock of pain into my ribs, I had a feeling that at least one of them was broken given that even breathing hurt.

    Raven was a s silent as a mouse, you couldn¡¯t hear a single footstep from her, in fact if I would have closed my eyes I wouldn¡¯t have known she was there. I kept following her through the winding passageway until thankfully it opened up into a bigger space. It felt like I could breathe freely and that feeling of dread brought about from the claustrophobia subsided almost immediately. Up until now I had never questioned that I had a phobia of narrow spaces but now, now I wasn¡¯t too sure.

    In the distance, I could hear the faint dripping of water, tap, tap, tap, it wasn¡¯t too fast, but that meant there was water somewhere and water in tunnels in caves¡­ well I had seen one too many documentaries to tell me how bad those situations could be. It hadn¡¯t been long since I had watched one about a group of Chinese kids that had been trapped deep in a cave when there was suddenly a flood which blocked all the passageways out. It had taken a few extremely talented and brave scuba divers to rescue them all and luckily they all survived somehow. Here, there wasn¡¯t any chance of anyone coming to rescue us if we ended up in a similar position.

    I looked behind me at the narrow passage we had walked though, the light behind us had all but gone, meaning we only had the walls of the cave to guide us. I could just about make out Raven¡¯s silhouette in front of me, she was tracing her arm against the cave wall, so I followed suit. It was cold and wet, the surface smoother than I would have thought as we continued to look for the Imps.

    That didn¡¯t take too much longer as it wasn¡¯t long after heading into a more open space that I could see a the orange glow of a camp fire. The space we were in was far bigger now with stalagmites hanging low from the ceiling, these were turquoise in colour with a almost transparent shine to them, making the formations look like giant icicles hanging low down, some of them reached as low as the ground where it had solidified as if it had melted into shape. I couldn¡¯t help but touch one of them, they were rough to touch which was not what I was expecting for some reason.

    Raven heaven in and out of the new formed shadows, using the darkness as her cover as we drew closer to where I had assumed the imps that had robbed us were. At this stage I was just following her lead, still walking gingerly I did all I can to keep my breaths short and shallow, trying my hardest to be as quiet as I could.

    I kept looking ahead until eventually I could see two little shapes that looked like they were laying on their sides. They were asleep, how apt, at least this way we would be able to steal our stuff back while they were sleeping just as they had us. Something felt off however, somehow this seemed to easy.

    I spoke too soon, or at least I thought too soon as I took my next step forward I suddenly felt a horrendously cold feeling erupt in my right ankle and up my shin. I couldn¡¯t help but call out in surprise, it hurt, a lot. As I looked down it was clear that I had triggered some form of trap, my entire foot was encased in ace, unto around half way up my leg, finishing just below the knee.

    Raven turned around but she triggered one too, both of her legs being sealed in ice, it climbed up to her waist and she struggled violently as she tried to break herself free.

    I did the same but the more I struggled the more the ice started to creep up my leg, passing past my knee and moving towards my groin. I had no choice as Raven continued to struggle frantically, the ice creeping up her stomach as she remained rooted to the spot.

    ¡°Don¡¯t struggle,¡± I said, Raven continued to writhe around. As I took a deep breath and kept struggling the ice stopped growing, it didn¡¯t stop the intensity and shock of the cold but at least it stopped it from growing further. ¡°The ice, it gets worse if you struggle.¡±

    Raven stopped struggling and the ice stopped spreading up her body too, the only problem we had now was the two imps that were sat bolt upright staring straight at us.

    ¡°Stupid humans,¡± the one on the right said with a slightly feminine voice. ¡°Thinking they can sneak up on us.¡±

    ¡°We should leave them in the trap and go,¡± The other larger imp said, there was a grogginess to his voice as he let out a large over the top yawn and started smacking his lips together.

    ¡°Why do you follow us?¡± The smaller of the imps said standing up and brushing themselves down.

    ¡°They seek to kill us, humans are dangerous, we should leave now before they try to slit our throats.¡± The larger imp gave me a hard stare but struggled to keep eye contact with Raven.

    Raven jolted forward causing the bigger of the two imps to bowl over backwards, nearly rolling into their campfire. As she did the ice rose further up her body.

    ¡°See she wants to kill us.¡± it said before stumbling back to its feet.

    ¡°No no no,¡± I said, shivering, it was if I had been submerged in an ice bucket as my teeth chattered together, the coldness felt like it reached my bones, causing a dull, uncomfortable ache as I tried to explain to the imps.

    That didn¡¯t take too much longer as it wasn¡¯t long after heading into a more open space that I could see the orange glow of a camp fire. The space we were in was far bigger now with stalagmites hanging low from the ceiling, these were turquoise in colour with a almost transparent shine to them, making the formations look like giant icicles hanging lowdown, some of them reached as low as the ground where it had solidified as if it had melted into shape. I couldn¡¯t help but touch one of them, they were rough to touch which was not what I was expecting for some reason.

    Raven heaven in and out of the new formed shadows, using the darkness as her cover as we drew closer to where I had assumed the imps that had robbed us were. At this stage I was just following her lead, still walking gingerly I did all I can to keep my breaths short and shallow, trying my hardest to be as quiet as I could.

    I kept looking ahead until eventually I could see two little shapes that looked like they were laying on their sides. They were asleep, how apt, at least this way we would be able to steal our stuff back while they were sleeping just as they had us. Something felt off however, somehow this seemed to easy.

    I spoke too soon, or at least I thought too soon as I took my next step forward I suddenly felt a horrendously cold feeling erupt in my right ankle and up my shin. I couldn¡¯t help but call out in surprise, it hurt, a lot. As I looked down it was clear that I had triggered some form of trap, my entire foot was encased in ace, unto around half way up my leg, finishing just below the knee.

    Raven turned around but she triggered one too, both of her legs being sealed in ice, it climbed up to her waist and she struggled violently as she tried to break herself free.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    I did the same but the more I struggled the more the ice started to creep up my leg, passing past my knee and moving towards my groin. I had no choice as Raven continued to struggle frantically, the ice creeping up her stomach as she remained rooted to the spot.

    ¡°Don¡¯t struggle,¡± I said, Raven continued to writhe around. As I took a deep breath and kept struggling the ice stopped growing, it didn¡¯t stop the intensity and shock of the cold but at least it stopped it from growing further. ¡°The ice, it gets worse if you struggle.¡±

    Raven stopped struggling and the ice stopped spreading up her body too, the only problem we had now was the two imps that were sat bolt upright staring straight at us.

    ¡°Stupid humans,¡± the one on the right said with a slightly feminine voice. ¡°Thinking they can sneak up on us.¡±

    ¡°We should leave them in the trap and go,¡± The other larger imp said, there was a grogginess to his voice as he let out a large over the top yawn and started smacking his lips together.

    ¡°Why do you follow us?¡± The smaller of the imps said standing up and brushing themselves down.

    ¡°They seek to kill us, humans are dangerous, we should leave now before they try to slit our throats.¡± The larger imp gave me a hard stare but struggled to keep eye contact with Raven.

    Raven jolted forward causing the bigger of the two imps to bowl over backwards, nearly rolling into their campfire. As she did the ice rose further up her body.

    ¡°See she wants to kill us.¡± it said before stumbling back to its feet.

    ¡°No no no,¡± I said, shivering, it was if I had been submerged in an ice bucket as my teeth chattered together, the coldness felt like it reached my bones, causing a dull, uncomfortable ache as I tried to explain to the imps.

    ¡°W, we, had no intention of hurting you,¡± My teeth chattered as I spoke, ¡°We j, just wanted to get our stuff back. The stuff that you stole from us.¡±

    ¡°Your stuff?¡± The imps voice broke off, ¡°We found it fair and square. It is our stuff.¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t find it fair and square, you took it from us as we slept which is a little shady if you ask me.¡±

    ¡°No one was asking you,¡± The smaller imp said.

    The larger imp spun round and gave them a stern look, ¡°Don¡¯t antagonise them, you will just make them more angry.¡±

    ¡°Come on,¡± I said, with how I was feeling I wasn¡¯t even interested in my weapon that they had taken, I just wanted to get a healing potion inside of me. ¡°Can you do me a favour? Could you at least pass me one of the healing potions?¡±

    ¡°You try to trick us, you want to draw us close so you can snap our necks with your bare hands.¡±

    They both seemed insistent that I was determined to kill them in some kind of violent way and I had no idea why.

    ¡°I don¡¯t have any intention to hurt you,¡± I said once again, ¡°Neither of us do.¡±

    ¡°Why should we trust you?¡± The larger imp said, ¡°You snuck into our cave.¡±

    ¡°Listen, you took our stuff, we don¡¯t want any trouble we just want our stuff back. I don¡¯t know if there is something we could do for you in return?¡± I was out of ideas though, if I was them I wouldn¡¯t return the stuff, and we had nothing we could offer at all in exchange.

    The imp stared at me with a sense of focus, like his eyes had fixed on part of me.

    ¡°What is that?¡± It asked pointing at me.

    ¡°What¡¯s what?¡±

    ¡°That on your arm?¡±

    I looked down at my wrist realising it was looking straight at my arm.

    ¡°No, you can¡¯t have it.¡± I said defensively. I wrapped my other hand around it as if I was trying to shield it from their view.

    ¡°I wants it,¡± The smaller imp said, but it wasn¡¯t talking to me, it was talking to the other imp. ¡°It¡¯s shiny, I have to have it.¡± She stamped her foot on the ground like a spoilt brat.

    ¡°What do you want for it?¡± The other imp asked, it seemed hesitant to move closer to me, almost apprehensive to ask.

    ¡°You can¡¯t have it,¡± I repeated, there was no way in hell I was going to part ways with it.

    The imp screwed up its face, one of its elongated ears twitched slightly as it folded its arms and stewed on its thoughts.

    ¡°I wants it,¡± The smaller imp said, stamping its foot on the ground once again.

    ¡°You''re not helping,¡± The other imp said, snapping his head back in disapproval.

    Raven glared at me which I assumed was implying that I should give them the watch but that wasn¡¯t about to happen, they would have to pry it from my cold dead hands and despite how annoying these little imps were, they dint seem violent.

    ¡°I¡¯ve got it!¡± The large imp said with a beaming smile, he snapped his fingers in the air like he had just had the best Eureka moment of his life.

    ¡°No offence, but I don¡¯t care what you have, you are not having my watch.¡±

    ¡°A watch,¡± The imp said as if speaking an ancient and mysterious alien language. ¡°What does it do?¡±

    ¡°Erm, it tells me the time?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean.¡±

    I stumbled on my own words as I tried to think of the best way to answer the question.

    I struggled for a moment on how best to explain the concept of time. ¡°Where I am from, there is twenty four hours in a day. This watch tells me which part of the day I am in, from that I can tell if it is morning, noon or night.¡± I think I did a good job of explaining but both of the imps just stared at me blankly, wide eyed, their large black pupils lost in my watches apparent wonder.

    ¡°Why not just look up at the sky? The sun and moons tells us whether it is night time or day time that we are in.¡±

    I kind of felt stupid, there way of explaining things was way more simpler and it made way more sense.

    ¡°Wait you have more than one moon?¡±

    ¡°Did you not notice?¡±

    ¡°I was a little busy being robbed to notice,¡± I said with a hint of sarcasm. Although they had robbed us and has up trapped in an ice spell, I kind of like them both. They did seem harmless and I was honest with myself kind of endearing.

    Raven widened her eyes and shrugged her shoulders like she was waiting for me to do something but I had no clue what. The ice was now up to her chest and her arms were completely pinned to her sides, she had stopped struggling but her lips were turning blue and that worried me.

    ¡°Ok, ok, can you let us both out? This spell that you have cast on us, its making us real cold and I don¡¯t want my friend here to end up getting sick.¡±

    ¡°You humans are so terrible with the cold, the smaller of the imps stepped forwards as if they were about to remove the magic from us but the larger one put there arm across their chest, their elongated fingers almost amphibian like with large nodes at the end of them.

    ¡°He plays tricks, he tries to woo us so he can kill us for taking what is ours.¡±

    ¡°I like him though, not the little one, she is terrifying.¡±

    ¡°Come we talk in silence, away from the humans ears for a moment.¡±

    The two of them toddled off towards the fire that I was so jealous that I wasn¡¯t sat next to. The ice magic had creeped right up to the top of my groin, which was a little too close for comfort. My teeth chattered and my breath shook as I tried to ignore the cold. I was failing miserably.

    ¡°Are you ok?¡± I asked Raven, she was worryingly still.

    She raised her head to give me another disapproving look, one which was starting to feel all too familiar.

    The two imps huddled together by the fire, their shadows dancing behind them on the cave wall, they were equally as animated as the other as they spoke in an overly hushed tone, I could hear the odd word that they were saying but nothing that was conclusive to what they were plotting.

    After a few moments they walked back towards us, stopping just a few feet away, just far enough that I couldn¡¯t reach them. The larger imp put its hands behind its back before saying.

    ¡°Vera trusts you, it is a flaw of hers that has nearly seen us killed many a time.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle to myself at the imps name, I don¡¯t know what I was expecting but that was not it.

    ¡°I am however, willing to give you a chance to prove yourself. But it will come at a cost.¡±

    ¡°Your left arm!¡± Vera shouted spontaneously as if she had Tourette¡¯s, like she had no control of the words coming out of her mouth.

    ¡°What! No way!¡± I yelled out defensively.

    The larger imp turned and scowled at Vera who started laughing playfully.

    ¡°Sorry, do humans not know how to joke.¡± She rubbed her foot on the ground in front of her bashfully.

    ¡°You know what, that¡¯s actually kind of funny.¡± I said and Vera offered me a polite smile.

    ¡°I like him,¡± She said, reaffirming the trusting nature that the other imp had described to us.

    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± I asked to the other imp.

    ¡°I see what you are doing, creating conversation to get us to drop down our barriers.¡± He sighed an over the top sigh before saying, ¡°If you must know it is Dave.¡±

    ¡°Vera and Dave the imp,¡± I said aloud, that was not the names that I would have put to them both in a million years but fair play to both of them. ¡°Well Dave, other than cutting my arm off,¡± I said with a smile. ¡°What do you want me to do for you to release us and give us our stuff back.¡±

    Dave simply smiled a slightly manic smile, ¡°I want you to solve a riddle.¡±

 Chapter 17 - Riddle Me This

    ¡°Well three to be precise,¡± Dave said, he paced around in front of me with his hands behind his back. ¡°Us imps love a good riddle and you can¡¯t answer them it will show that you are simply a neanderthal and of no use to this world. Answer them correctly and it will show us that you have an ounce of a brain and thus are worthy to walk free of this cave.¡±

    ¡°Us imps love a good riddle,¡± Vera said, bouncing up and down in excitement behind Dave, she was practically vibrating.

    This was such a random experience, stuck in a cave, trapped by ice magic with two imps that had robbed us in our sleep. It only amplified how boring my life was, or had been.

    ¡°What is in it for you?¡± I asked. ¡°What is the catch? There is always a catch with riddles.¡± My remembered the stories I was told as a child by my mum like Rumpelstiltskin, you were never to trust the creature that spoke in riddles.

    ¡°Your watch?¡± He said the word slowly as if it was a new word to him and he wanted to make sure he pronounced it right. ¡°If you do not get the riddles right, then you will give it to us freely. There is so much power in an item that is given and not taken.¡±

    ¡°What? My watch, hell no, this is the last thing that I have that belonged to my d-¡± I stopped myself when I noticed how blue Ravens face was turning, her body encased in ice. I couldn¡¯t leave her like this, not after everything she had done for me.

    ¡°And if I get the riddles right, you will let us free and give us our things back?¡±

    Dave thought for a moment.

    ¡°Do we have a deal?¡± There was an insistence in my voice, a shout of urgency which started Dave.

    ¡°Yes, we have a deal, if you agree to these terms then we shall begin.¡±

    ¡°I agree,¡± albeit reluctantly, I didn¡¯t have any other choice, besides how hard could these riddles be.

    Vera started clapping in the background, smiling almost manically.

    ¡°Then we shall begin,¡± Dave raised a close fist to his mouth and let out a dry cough as if clearing his throat. For some reason he started speaking like he was a thespian in a stage play at the theatre, his voice low and booming, almost over the top.

    "Bound by magic, a servant''s role to play,

    In a grand old castle, where young wizards stay.

    With bat-like ears and eyes so green,

    A loyal friend, though often unseen.

    Freedom granted by a single sock,

    This creature''s joy, a master''s shock.

    What is this being, so small and brave,

    Whose love and courage, a boy once saved?"

    I chuckled to myself, knowing the answer almost instantly. It was a movie I watched time and time again as a kid, in fact it was one of my favourites. The question is how did Dave the imp, know about it in this world. It made no sense.

    ¡°I have you don¡¯t I?¡± Dave grinned, leaning into me slightly. ¡°Go on, admit it, admit your defeat and that you do not know the answer.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a house Elf." I said, ¡°The answer is a house elf.¡±

    ¡°No!¡± Dave laughed, slapping his hand on his knee.

    Vera started bouncing around in absolute glee.

    ¡°I was sure I had you with that one, do you have house elves in your world? Such beautiful creatures, the bravest of us all.¡±

    ¡°Kind of,¡± I said with a smile, there was something oddly satisfying with answering a riddle, but I needed to remind myself of the gravity of the situation.

    ¡°Well done,¡± Dave said becoming more animated, ¡°Shall we move onto riddle number two?¡± He held out his hand stretching out two fingers into the peace sign.

    "In a realm where summers span decades and winters a lifetime,

    Lies a seat of power, forged from the blades of the fallen.

    A thousand swords, melted and beaten, to form a twisted throne,

    A symbol of conquest, for a king to call his own.

    Many have fought and died, for a chance to claim this prize,

    But in the end, only one can rule, under the watchful eyes.

    What is this seat, so sought after and revered,

    Where kings and queens have sneered?"

    No fucking way, I thought, dumbfounded at the riddle, it was so simple, for me anyway. This had been my favourite tv series as an adult, the bloody violence, the characters amid some racy scenes too, except for the sister shagging, that was far too much for me. It let itself down in its final season and I definitely preferred reading the books but I knew exactly what Dave was talking about and I couldn¡¯t help but feel giddy, my own excitement growing.

    ¡°Go on say, you can¡¯t can you? I have you with this one.¡± Dave beamed, he was so sure about himself. To be fair it was a good riddle, especially if he had just come up with it of the cuff. Did this also exist here? My mind was blown.

    ¡°The Iron Throne.¡± I said with confidence. ¡°The answer is The Iron Throne.¡±

    Dave stopped in his tracks as soon as I spoke, I thought he was going to lose his head but was pleasantly surprised when his stern face erupted into a ginormous smile.

    ¡°Wow, I mean, I thought I had you with that one. Have you heard these riddles before? You must have.¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    ¡°Just call it intuition,¡± I said, I had so many questions to ask but we didn¡¯t have time, Raven didn¡¯t have time. ¡°Are you ok? One more riddle and I will have us free.¡±

    Raven¡¯s eyes were open but they were vacant, it was strange seeing her look so vulnerable.

    Vera was now dancing around in sheer delight, I had never seen anyone so happy about a riddle being answered but I could be forgiven for also feeling a little snug.

    ¡°Right the, riddle number three!¡± Garry held out his hand up with three fingers and rolled the r¡¯s as he spoke in an extremely theatrical manner. ¡°I have saved my best until last, it is a riddle no one has ever solved and one that I am sure you will fail on, leaving us with your watch. I may even let you free of our trap, even if you get it wrong, are you ready?¡±

    I glanced at Raven before saying, ¡°Hurry up, we don¡¯t have long.¡±

    ¡°Well aren¡¯t you eager. Very well here goes,¡±

    "In the darkness of the night,

    a tapping at the door,

    A visitor, a messenger, from the distant shore.

    Perched above the chamber door, with eyes that burn and bore,

    A bird of ebon, speaking words, ''Nevermore, nevermore.''

    Silently it sits and stares, a haunting, dark refrain,

    A symbol of the lost, the mourned, the sorrow and the pain.

    What is this creature, black as night, with wisdom to impart,

    Forever etched in poetry, and cursed with a broken heart?"

    It was on the tip of my tongue, it was the word nevermore that rang a bell in my head, it wasn¡¯t quite chiming though. It was on the periphery of my minds eye, I was pretty sure it was a poem but there was something niggling at the back of my mind. I had watched something recently and that word kept playing over in my head, over and over again.

    ¡°Just say the word, and concede, we will leave with your watch and be NEVERMORE,¡± Dave grinned at his over the top clue his was giving me, it was like he wanted me to succeed which was odd given what was at stake.

    I watches as Raven¡¯s head lulled into unconsciousness and my heart sank, at the same time my brain ignited into the answer that Dave was searching for, she was the clue, she was the answer in fact.

    ¡°A bird of ebon, speaking words, ''Nevermore, nevermore.''¡° I repeated slowly, then I looked across at the mute kid who had saved my life more times than I could ever repay.

    ¡°A Raven.¡± I said, ¡°The answer is a raven.¡± I looked at Raven, encased in ice and in a bad way. We needed to get her out and we needed to do it now.

    Vera let out a high pitched squeal as Dave stood open mouthed and in awe, he rested his hand n the top of his bald head. ¡°I- I don¡¯t believe it, no one has ever got that. My boy, you are a genius!¡± He started clapping and laughing with sheer joy, grabbing hold of Vera¡¯s hands the two of them danced around like they were the only people in the room, or cave at least.

    ¡°I don¡¯t mean to interrupt, but a deal is a deal right.¡±

    "The two of them stopped dancing around and straightened up.

    ¡°Yes of course, where are my manners, a deal is a deal.¡± Dary said before Vera stepped forward and with flick of her wrist and a click of her finger the ice cold pressure in my leg vanished and I stumbled forward. As the ice finished around Raven she slumped forward and I rushed towards her just managing to catch her before she crashed into the ground.

    She was freezing cold to the touch, her skin pale and her lips now a deep purple colour.

    ¡°Shit!¡± I said, ¡°And our things?¡± I looked back down at Raven, ¡°Your going to be ok kid, everything is going to be ok.¡±

    Vera ran to my side with a satchel in her hands, ¡°here are your things. Your weapons are by the fire.¡± she said delicately, ¡°is she going to be ok?¡± surprising concern in her voice.

    I reached inside and took out a health potion and pulled the cork out of the top before spitting it onto the ground. Tipping Raven¡¯s head back I poured the bright red potion into her mouth until it pooled and spilled down her chin.

    ¡°Come on kid, drink it!¡±

    Vera continued to watch on, leaning forward like she wanted to say something but hesitating and stepping away. Dave watched on from afar, he looked just as worried.

    ¡°We¡¯ve never killed anyone before, it¡¯s not in our nature.¡± His voice was filled with guilt.

    My own frustration was rising, ¡°Come on kid, drink the potion.¡± I shook Raven slightly, her eyes closed as if she was sleeping, her head lulled back.

    ¡°What have we done Dave,¡± There was a crack in Vera¡¯s voice as her eyes welled with tears. ¡°We are monsters.¡±

    ¡°You aint going that easy, come on.¡± I growled, my voice boomed in the cave and a flash of red threatened to engulf me as I could feel myself becoming enraged.

    Ravens throat moved as she started to take in the potion and I exhaled in relief. I continued to hold her until eventually all the potion was gone, she still locked like she was sleeping but a peachy colour returned to her cheeks and her purple lips faded into their normal colour. I fetched my hand up to her cheek, resting the backs of my fingers against it, she was warm, there was no signs of the ice she had been trapped in.

    Raven sat bolt upright, gasping for air and panting heavily, it startled me but I was thankful that she was ok. Dave and Vera shot back with a shocked gasp but the fear and worry dripped from their faces. Raven continued to cough and splutter as she tried to pull her self free but I held her for a moment.

    ¡°It¡¯s ok kid, I¡¯ve got you.¡± I eased her up and she shot forward with murder in her eyes.

    ¡°Woah!¡± I said, grabbing hold of her wrist and pulling her back as she reached out to grab Vera who looked ready to feint. ¡°Remember what I said, no killing. If they hadn¡¯t of helped us, if hey hadn¡¯t of let us free when they did then they would both be dead.¡±

    Raven spun on her heels and pushed me backwards, her hand signs were moving at a pace I had not seen before, I could not decipher anything she was saying but I just stood there and smiled. It only served to infuriate her more as she continued to furiously sign and pushed me once again before finishing with another double bunny gesture and folding her arm while turning away.

    ¡°She will be ok,¡± I said, turning to face Vera and Dave. ¡°She is understandably a little pissed off, you did nearly kill us after all.¡±

    ¡°Not intentionally,¡± Dave said, instantly in a defensive kind of way. ¡°If you hadn¡¯t of snook in here, you wouldn¡¯t have triggered Vera¡¯s traps.

    By naming Vera I couldn¡¯t help but feel he was deflecting the blame onto us and Vera. Vera didn¡¯t look impressed as she shot a scathing look at Dave who suddenly withdrew into himself and decided to stop talking.

    ¡°What my husband is trying to say is that we are sorry, it isn¡¯t in our nature to kill other creatures. My trap wasn¡¯t intended to go that far. Normally those trapped figure out it gets worse if you stop struggling and by the time the ice thaws to a point where they can be free we have already escaped. We didn¡¯t intend for your friend to get hurt, but I am glad she is ok.¡± Vera looked at Dave before saying, ¡°We both are.¡±

    "Well hopefully you will learn from this, you guys need to stop taking from others what isn¡¯t yours. Wouldn¡¯t it be easier to trade items?¡±

    The two imps both looked at me blankly as if I was speaking another language.

    ¡°With what?¡± Dave said, ¡°We gave everything back to you, we have nothing until we steal from the next people.¡±

    ¡°No more stealing,¡± I said. ¡°There has to be another way. I reached into the satchel that they gave me, taking out a couple of health potions and three stamina potions and adding them to my inventory. ¡°Here take this, I have taken all I need.¡± I passed them the satchel leaving the rest of the health and stamina potions, the rusted cleaver and a couple of uncommon weapons that were of no use to me or Raven.

    Vera¡¯s eyes lit up as I passed them to her.

    ¡°Are you serious?¡± she said, almost acusory in her tone. ¡°Of your own free will you are giving us these items.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, do with them what you wish, but no more stealing. If you do then I will be forced to come and find you.¡±

    ¡°Of course,¡± Vera said, she was clutching the satchel to her chest like she was hugging a baby.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± Dave said, ¡°No one has ever given us anything.¡±

    ¡°Consider yourself free,¡± I said, thinking a reference to a house elf would put me in good staid. Instead they both just looked at me as if I had three heads.

    ¡°Well I guess we will be seeing you, Vera, Dave, it has been a pleasure.¡±

    ¡°Farewell,¡± Dave said, ¡°but tell me what is your name?¡±

    ¡°Silas,¡±

    ¡°Silas,¡± Vera waver her head in the air as if she could see it in big lights. ¡°Until next time Silas. Make sure to keep your guard up at night, there are plenty of creatures that would gut you like a fish given the chance.¡±

    We picked up our weapons by the fire before I waved them off and we mad our way out of the cave. Raven walking ahead of me, her arms folded. At least we had our things back, that was a win.

 Chapter 18 - A Blister, Of All The Things

    We kept walking until the cave was nothing but a memory passed behind us. The forest area we were walking through was not as dense as previous areas, the ground relatively east to walk on compared to earlier terrain.

    My feet were killing me however, turns out that wearing a pair of black office shoes were not the greatest footwear choice for hiking through a forest. I was surprised that they ere not torn to shreds by now, looking down on them they were heavily scuffed and full of dirt. What was torn however was the skin at the back of my heel, most likely a blister. It stung like hell as my shoe rubbed on the back of my heel.

    I had used one of my healing potions as soon as we had left the cave, the satisfying sensation mixed with surprise and shock when my ribs audibly cracked and popped ack into the correct position was met with a relief at being able to breathe without it killing me. My body had stopped aching and I was full of energy as we had set off. Now however I was less enthusiastic, my foot starting to throb like crazy, however I didn¡¯t want to waste a healing potion on it. I figured I would use the potion when I actually needed it, that way my blistered foot would heal at the same time. Otherwise I would waste it. For no, I would simply have to put up with it and try not to let it affect me too much.

    If Raven could speak to me, she wouldn¡¯t have said a word to me, she had not given me any signs or gestures since we left Dave and Vera behind at the cave. I had no idea why she was so mad at me, yes they took our stuff because I fell asleep and yes she nearly died from me triggering a trap but we had got our stuff back. Come to think of it, I absolutely got why she was so annoyed and felt it wise to just let her continue to stew. I was sure she would communicate me in some capacity when she was ready.

    As we continued to walk the forest seemed almost tranquil in its beauty, like we were hiking on some kind of forest trail back home on earth. It felt weird to think of earth as a distant land, where ever we were, whatever this place was, it couldn¡¯t have been further away from home. The smell of pine trees and sap surrounded us, bringing a calmness to me, there was no sign of any animals or at least nothing that would want to do us any harm and we had not seen any traps on the ground. This eased my worries around running into more terrors but given the ass kicking we had given them I hoped they had learned there lesson and knew better than to cross us. Somehow, together we made quite the combo.

    ¡°Shit!¡± I cursed as I rolled my ankle, ¡°Sorry,¡± I said, Raven didn¡¯t acknowledge me. My ankle was throbbing with that familiar burn you get when you have a blister and it had popped, when I raised the back of my blue chords I could see a reddish, yellow stain seeping through my sock. The last thing I wanted was for the thing to get infected. Then I would need to use my potion.

    ¡°Hey, can we stop for a minute?¡± I asked, as I continued to hobble behind Raven.

    Surprisingly she did stop and I took the opportunity to sit down on a small rock and kick my shoes off. It was such a relief and I let out an audible groan of satisfaction as I started rubbing my right foot, squeezing it tightly to relieve some of the tension in it. Then I took of my sock, it was damp and I only just avoided the temptation to sniff it. I needed a shower badly, did those things even exit here. I could also do with a change of clothes. I wondered for a moment about what kind of outfit would be better suited to this climate, id happily walk around in just a pair of shorts and a vest in this weather but that wouldn¡¯t offer me any protection when it came to fighting in this world. More than anything I craved a pair of comfy shoes, what I would give for some thick padded boots, to support my ankle while we walked. These shoes were rubbing more than I cared to like and if not for the fact that walking barefoot in the forest would likely cause more damage to my feet I would hurl these things as far away from me as possible.

    Raven chose to lean against a tree in silence, she looked around her, seemingly struggling to look at me.

    ¡°I am sorry Raven,¡± I said, trying my best to break the tension. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to fall asleep and I am sorry our stuff got stolen, more than anything I am sorry you got hurt. It is all on me, but hopefully you can accept my apology and we can move on from this awkward silence.¡±

    Raven raised her eyebrows sarcastically and I let out a dry laugh.

    ¡°Sorry, again.¡± I said, ¡°You know what I mean though.¡± I would rather her angry signing at me than this, more than anything it had been maddening walking through the forest with nothing but my own thoughts. ¡°My dad always encouraged long hikes in the hills and mountainside. He loved that kind of thing. We were blessed to be a couple of hours away from the Lake District, now there, there you would see some of the most beautiful sights in the world. It was so peaceful, so serene.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

    ¡°When we were on the hikes we would have proper foot wear, boots designed for long hikes. I mean have you seen what I am wearing?¡± I lifted. Up one of my shots and Raven chuckled to herself, ¡°these things are shredding my feet.¡± she laughed again and I could feel the tension lift between the two of us and I carried on massaging my feet.

    The thought of slipping the shoes back on filled me with dread but we couldn¡¯t stay here forever, we would never find this Sy guy doing that. ¡°Whenever we get to where we are heading, I want a pair of boots like yours, now they look comfy. What size feet did you say you had.¡± I smiled at Raven and in turn she rolled her eyes at me. I would take that. It was better than nothing.

    Raven started looking of into the distant with vacant expression, she was messing with the spiked bangle around her wrist, rubbing her fingers over the surface whilst finding herself lost in a memory.

    ¡°Are you ok?¡± I asked, wincing as I slipped my foot back into my shoe. ¡°You seemed to kind of get lost for a moment then.¡±

    Raven nodded but I could tell she was lying.

    ¡°Want to talk about it?¡±

    She raised an eyebrow.

    ¡°You know what I mean,¡± I laughed.

    She shook her head.

    ¡°Can I take a closer look at that thing? Maybe there is something that I could help with.¡±

    Raven replied by pulling her sleeve down over the bangle and shuffling around awkwardly. Whatever it was about that bangle she didn¡¯t want me to know about it, or at least she didn¡¯t trust me enough to tell me about it.

    ¡°Ok, I get it, well when you are ready I am here if you want to talk about things. My mum always said, better out than in. Something that my dad often misinterpreted when he would fart but I think what she meant was if something is on your mind it is better to share it with someone else rather than let it stew in your mind. That is when things can get worse, when thoughts are left to fester. As I said, when you''re ready I am here.¡±

    My curiosity was piqued however, what was it about that bracelet, it clearly held some meaning to raven or certainly her past, it was linked to the side quest after all. There was something more to this though, trust or no trust it was like she just we didn¡¯t want me to know either way.

    My shoes back on I stood up and pretended like nothing had happened, ¡°Come on, let''s go, we are never going to find Sy sitting around.

    We carried on walking for longer than I would have liked my limp getting progressively worse as we made our way deeper into the forest. All I could think about was my foot, every step I took starting to feel like I was walking on hot coals.

    ¡°I am sorry, I can¡¯t,¡± I am going to have to use my last potion. I stopped in my tracks and reached for a potion out of my inventory. Raven laughed to herself and held her hand out telling me to stop. ¡°I know I said I didn¡¯t want to waste my last healing potion but I can¡¯t carry on like this.¡± I was winging like a baby, even worse I was being a diva. I didn¡¯t care at this stage I just wanted the throbbing to stop, it was torturous.

    Raven summoned her shadow portal against a nearby tree and reached inside, her arm vanishing as she rummaged around with a focused and determined look on her face. After a moment her eyes lit up and she pulled something out.

    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± I asked as she walked towards me with it. Her hands were clasped together holding what looked like baking paper, when she opened it up there was a luminous green paste inside. She offered it to me. ¡°Nah I¡¯m ok,¡± I tried to push it away, ¡°I¡¯m not eating that,¡±

    Raven shook her head and offered it me again, seemingly taking no for an answer. Begrudgingly, I took it from her, the paste was full of lumps, I had no idea what it was made of, it was thick in texture with an antiseptic, hospital kind of smell to it. As I raised it to my mouth Raven grabbed hold of my arm to stop me from eating it before pointing to my foot. She then bent over and started rubbing the back of her boot.

    ¡°It¡¯s a cream,¡± I said, ¡°Like an ointment.¡±

    Raven nodded.

    I wasted no time kicking my shoe of and pulling my sock off. I slavered the back of my foot with the ointment, it was cool against my red hot heel, it felt like the back of my foot had its own pulse as it continued to throb but it was much more manageable now.

    ¡°Wait a minute,¡± I said as a thought dawned on me. ¡°You had this this whole time?¡±

    Raven let out a muted laugh, before clasping at her throat like it hurt her.

    ¡°Are you ok?¡± I asked, instinctively moving towards her, Raven held her hand out to tell me to stop so I did. She coughed a couple more times before stopping, she looked in pain, her eyes were watering but she settled back down quick enough.

    Whatever that was, I didn¡¯t like it, it wasn¡¯t nice to see her struggling like that and to see her in pain, she was just a kid after all.

    ¡°I still can¡¯t believe you were holding out on me.¡± I said with a smile. The best I could do was try and move on and not draw too much attention to it.

    Raven reached back in her shadow portal before turning to pass it to me. It was a piece of fabric, it was bandage like in texture, with a crisscross texture to its fibres. She pointed at my heel.

    I knew what she meant and placed it over the paste she had cave me before pulling my sock over the top, holing the bandage in place. It wrapped around the back of my foot sitting a little under my heal. It would have been easier if I had had some tape but in this situation beggars could not be choosers.

    ¡°Thank you,¡±

    Raven raised her head up like she could hear something. Instantly I went into defence mode, ready to activate my berserker skill if I needed to.

    Raven pointed to the trees but then cupped her hand to her ear. Taking the hint I did the same listening intently. My spirits lifted when I heard it.

    ¡°Is that a waterfall?¡±

 Chapter 19 - Sy

    My ears pricked up at the sound, Fidget had told us to search for a waterfall, this was where Sy was. We had finally found him. Or we were nearly there at least. I closed my eyes and listened intently for a moment as if there was nothing else around us, honing in on the sound of the crashing water. At first it was hard to pinpoint, the acoustics of the forest throwing the sound of the water out but there was no mistaking it, there was a waterfall nearby.

    I didn¡¯t have time to prompt Raven, she set off into the trees at lightning pace, I took no time wasting in following her. Skipping through the bushes and hopping over broken branches and vines that would try to snag me with the focus and agility of an athlete. This was the most enthusiastic I had felt since I landed here and hopefully Sy would be able to help us and shed more light on what I was supposed to be doing. It was hard to have a conversation with a talking dog sorceress who would keep vanishing part way into a conversation.

    I had missed human interaction, that is if Sy is a human, I didn¡¯t want to assume given that all manner of creatures lived in this world. My mind went down a rabbit hole as I continued to follow Raven through the last of the dense forest until we hit an opening and the sight took my breath away.

    ¡°Wow,¡± I said as I looked out over what could only be described as a forest oasis. Water the bluest I had ever seen cascaded over the side of a fall into a beautiful lagoon, decorated with large Lilly pads. The sound was hypnotic, almost soothing as the water crashed into the lagoon below and given how much my body was aching, I could only imagine how nice it would be to let those waters beat into my muscles. In fact just having a swim would be amazing. At the top of the waterfall sat a ramshackle hut that was simply perfect, made from the materials of the forest it had wooden walls, with a big bar like opening at the front, giving the best panoramic view of the oasis. A string of different glowing bottles hung down on pieces of string or rope by the side of the window, but what ever was ins side looked like they were moving. The bottles chimed lightly in a melodic tone as they glanced of each other, like a wind chime. Thick felled branches, although uneven, braced up against a canopy made of large leaves and dried grass which then connected to a slightly raised, circular roof, moss was growing over patches of the dried grass as if the building its self was becoming its own eco system. The ground in front of the house was covered in thick moss, it looked spongy and comfortable, almost carpet like.

    ¡°I wonder if it has a bed inside.¡± I said as I continued to look down at the lagoon below us. I noticed a rope ladder trailing down from a small walkway, that reached down into a patch of land by the lagoon, it must have been at least fifty feet down. I wondered if it would be big enough to be able to jump from without hurting myself. The water was that inviting, whatever this place was, I never wanted to leave.

    I continued to look over the lagoon, exploring every detail, even the smell in the air was soothing, floral, with a hint of sweetness that just pulled you in. People would pay good money to be in place like this with kicking back with a cocktail.

    ¡°Is that a hammock.¡± I pointed at the trees at the base of the lagoon, sure as anything a hammock was set u, pulled tightly between two robust trees. Where in the hell did this guy find the materials he needed to make a hammock. As I looked closely it looked like it was made of some sort of parachute. The edges were frayed, with bits of material hanging from it but I didn¡¯t care. The first chance I got, I was going to have a swim in the lagoon followed by a sleep on the hammock.

    Raven led the way as we waved around the outer edge of the clearing towards the house which was on our level, all the while I fought that increasing urge to jump of the top and into the lagoon below. I could practically feel the cold waters an my skin. We crossed a makeshift bridge that crossed over the water that led to the falls, it wobbled when we got on but it was sturdy enough for us both. I was in awe at what I was seeing.

    When we reached the door to the house there was no sign of anyone so I called out.

    ¡°Hello?¡±

    There was no answer.

    ¡°Hello?¡±

    ¡°Who are you? And what do you want?¡± A voice called from behind me.

    I don¡¯t know what I was expecting when I turned round but what was stood there was not it.

    I was greeted by a man, he was of a strong build, wearing an oversized peach coloured hoody, he had a pair of pastel blue shorts on that were probably bait shorter than they needed to be, revealing heavily tattooed legs. His face was one that had seen a lot of sun, tanned and worn, I think I saw another tattoo on the side of his face, near his eye but I was too far away to make out any discernible detail. His face was matted in a thick brown beard, one that was big enough to nest some birds in and his thick neck was also covered in tattoos. A thick, khaki coloured beanie hat sat on his head as he stood in front of us, I couldn¡¯t help but noticed one of his hands were clenched. Then I noticed he was wearing a pair of slippers, with a single duck etched onto each of them.

    Quest complete

    Reward 1x health potion

    1x stamina potion

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry you''re just not what I expected?¡± I said as I took a step forward, towards him.

    ¡°Woah there brother, that¡¯s close enough,¡± He said, it was clear that despite wearing an oversized hoody this man was built like a monster. ¡°Let¡¯s not just go diving in like that without any introductions.¡± His accent was recognisable, he was English, it sounded northern but I wasn¡¯t one hundred percent sure.

    ¡°Sorry,¡± I didn¡¯t mean too, it¡¯s just a relief to see someone who is,¡± I paused for a moment, ¡°Well like me.¡±

    The man smiled, as I accessed my menu to see if it would let me confirm if it was who were looking for but I was greeted with a bunch of question marks where his name should be.

    ¡°I¡¯m Silas, this is Raven.¡±

    ¡°Get that fucking thing away from me,¡± The man said, it was part fear part hostility and instinctively I stepped in front of Raven, shielding her from him in case he attacked.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    ¡°Woah there, she¡¯s with me.¡± I said, confused as to why he would react like that. ¡°We mean you no harm whatsoever. I am lost, you see I am not from around here I just kind of landed here.¡±

    The man¡¯s eyes remained fixed on Raven, deep blue eyes bore into her with anger and distrust, and had no idea why.

    ¡°Raven means you no harm, she saved me, if not for her I would never have found you, I would likely be dead.¡±

    ¡°Am I supposed to thank her for that? You still haven¡¯t told me why you are here?¡±

    ¡°As I was saying, one minute I was home, then the next minute I was here, lost and miles away from home with absolutely no clue how I got here or how to get back. Then I had this sorceress Fidget contact me-¡±

    ¡°Fidget?¡± The man said, ¡°You know Fidget?¡±

    ¡°Yes, that s what I am trying to say, she is the one who told me to look for a man named Sy who lived by the waterfall, she said you would be able to help you.¡±

    ¡°Did she now,¡± he still had an untrusting look, albeit slightly softer than before. ¡°And why would I do that?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know, she didn¡¯t go into that much detail all she mentioned was that I was brought here as her champion to help defeat some evil warlord called Belzebere, or do something like that and I needed to find the fragments of the chaos blade to do this.¡±

    There were so many words that were spilling out of my mouth that I was like the conversational equivalent of a waterfall.

    He continued to stare at me before looking at Raven then back at me.

    ¡°There¡¯s a lot to dissect there,¡± he said.

    ¡°You are Sy aren¡¯t you? You are the person we have been looking for.?¡±

    ¡°I am,¡±

    ¡®quack, quack¡¯ my attention was brought to a couple of full grown ducks that waddled out from behind Sy¡¯s thick, tattooed legs. These were full sized ducks but more like the ones you would see in a bath tub, they were bright yellow, with orange beaks like they had been painted by an artist. One of them hissed at us in disapproval.

    ¡°It¡¯s ok Magenta,¡± Sy said, ¡°Apparently, Fidget sent these two to find us.¡±

    The other duck let out a loud quack.

    Sy laughed as if he understood what they were saying. ¡°I agree,¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s that one called?¡± I asked, interrupting them. ¡°Magenta and?¡±

    ¡°This right here is Malachi, but he likes to go by Mal.¡±

    ¡° And you can talk to them?¡±

    He looked at me like I was the crazy one. But then again, who was to say he couldn¡¯t have a conversation in this place, I have genuinely seen stranger things happen.

    ¡°Fidget said you would be able to help me, I am new to this place and as much as Raven has been able to help me, she can¡¯t speak, so I have kind of been guessing how everything works.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s why she sent you here then, she wants me to train you.¡± Sy slapped his hands on his hips, ¡°There is no chance, I haven¡¯t trained any body for years.¡±

    ¡°You have been here for years?¡± I asked. I don¡¯t know why I was so surprised to hear his say this.

    ¡°As long as I can remember, or at least ten years, everything before then is like my mind has been wiped clean.¡±

    ¡°Well you dress like people from where I am from so I am guessing you are from there.¡±

    ¡°Word of advice, what did you say your name was?¡±

    ¡°Silas,¡±

    ¡°A word of advice Silas, I am going to tell you something that I was told when I first got here by a man who died not long after. You should never guess, never assume. You see if you assume it makes an ASS-out of U and ME.¡±

    I had heard the saying before and for a second I thought I was watching a parody training video that HR would make us endure as part of our mandatory training. The kind where people just talk through the most basic things that even a child would know all so they could tick a box and make sure that there insurance was clear.

    ¡°Thanks for the advice,¡± I said, I offered my hand out to shake. ¡°I was hoping you would be bale to help me because as of right now, I haven¡¯t got a clue what I am doing.¡±

    ¡°Isn¡¯t that all of us?¡±

    ¡°Well I was hoping you would be able to shed a little bit of light. If I am honest it¡¯s nice to have a conversation with someone, without being in imminent danger.¡± I looked down at a disapproving Raven. ¡°No offence,¡± I said.

    ¡°Let me think on it, the last person I trained, well,¡± Sy paused for the briefest of moments, ¡°Well that didn¡¯t end well shall we say. After that I Tod Fidget that my training days were over, the question is why would she send you here, to me knowing this. Besides weren¡¯t they off on their quest to go and fight Belzebe-,¡± he stopped himself mid sentence and the world looked like It had just Allen onto his shoulders.

    ¡°Are you ok?¡±

    ¡°I just need to sit down.¡± His legs wobbled as he staggered past me and towards his house, Mal and Magenta followed closely behind.

    We followed him into the house where he took a seat on a large tree stump that had been carved very poorly into a stool.

    ¡°That means they are all gone, they must have failed.¡±

    ¡°Who has failed?¡±

    ¡°The Guardians,¡±

    He was talking no sense and I had no clue as to what he was talking about. ¡°I don¡¯t know who these Guardians are, or what happened to them?¡±

    ¡°But you say you know Fidget?¡±

    ¡°Yes she reached out to me with some form of telepathic projection, I could see her in my vision like I was watching a movie screen. She Tod me she had summoned a champion and that that was me. That here is dangerous but he is too far away to help me and that I should find you, that you would help me and I assume keep me safe.¡±

    ¡°You do know she is a Guardian?¡±

    ¡°Who is?¡±

    ¡°Fidget is, one of the newest recruits, it''s rare you get two members in the Guardians of the same class type but, Zurin he believed in her.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± I said, interrupting Sy, I was worried that the conversation was getting away from us and wanted us to keep on track. ¡°Who is Zurin?¡±

    ¡°He is Fidget¡¯s master, her mentor, the dude who trained her in the art of sorcery.¡± He wiggled his fingers around like he was casting a fake spell. ¡°If Fidget has tried to summon a new champion then she must hope that you can potentially become a Guardian. But that means that the Guardians must have been defeated, they must have failed.¡±

    ¡°And what does that mean?¡±

    ¡°It means that we are all fucked my friend.¡±

    At least he referred to me as friend, that was a good sign given the circumstances.

    ¡°I just want to get home, and if I can survive along the way that would be great, I will help as many people as I can along the way.¡±

    Sy stewed on his thoughts for a while and I took the opportunity to look around the house from where I stood. It was perfectly neat and tidy, everything was perfectly placed, or placed as best as they could be given he had a house made of raw materials sitting at the top of a waterfall.

    ¡°Be right back, I got to go take a pee!¡±

    Sy just stood up and left, leaving me and Raven stood in the equivalent of his living room with Mal and Magenta just staring at us, Mal gave a quack as if he was inviting us to sit down. I didn¡¯t, choosing to stay standing, Raven remained by the opening at the front, she was on guard, I could tell she wasn¡¯t at ease being here, the question was why.

    ¡°Sorry about that,¡± Sy said as he returned to the room, ¡°Now where were we?¡±

    ¡°I was just telling you that I wanted to find a way back home.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Sy said, sitting back in his stool. There was an awkward silence that filled the air when he didn''t say anything else. I looked at him blankly, still not knowing what the next steps were.

    ¡°What¡¯s the plan then?¡± I asked, choosing to take the lead. ¡°Fidget said you would help us, it wasn¡¯t easy finding you and I was hoping she would be right, I mean you seem like a nice guy.¡±

    ¡°What did I say just a short moment ago? You should never assume, if I am going to train you, you need to start listening to what I tell you.¡±

 Chapter 20 - Tutorial

    Sy just stood up and left, leaving me and Raven stood in the equivalent of his living room with Mal and Magenta just staring at us, Mal gave a quack as if he was inviting us to sit down. I didn¡¯t, choosing to stay standing, Raven remained by the opening at the front, she was on guard, I could tell she wasn¡¯t at ease being here, the question was why.

    ¡°Sorry about that,¡± Sy said as he returned to the room, ¡°Now where were we?¡±

    ¡°I was just telling you that I wanted to find a way back home.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Sy said, sitting back in his stool. There was an awkward silence that filled the air when he didn''t say anything else. I looked at him blankly, still not knowing what the next steps were.

    ¡°What¡¯s the plan then?¡± I asked, choosing to take the lead. ¡°Fidget said you would help us, it wasn¡¯t easy finding you and I was hoping she would be right, I mean you seem like a nice guy.¡±

    ¡°What did I say just a short moment ago? You should never assume, if I am going to train you, you need to start listening to what I tell you.¡±

    ¡°Your going to train me?¡±

    ¡°Well that¡¯s why Fidget will have sent you here. That is what I do after all, never trained a Guardian before though, well I¡¯ve trained people who have gone on to be Guardians but you know what I mean.¡±

    ¡°Actually I don¡¯t,¡± I said. ¡°Fidget didn¡¯t tell me anything other than I needed to find you.¡± I started doubting myself, had Fidget said that Sy would train me, it certainly is something that would be helpful.

    ¡°What has she sent me,¡± Sy muttered under his breathe, ¡°Right well lets start at the basics, I can only imagine there is a lot of stuff to get through so lets start with what you already know about this world.¡±

    ¡°Well when I landed here, killed some fire ants and came across a legendary item, it was like an orb and it let me choose what class I wanted to be.¡±

    ¡°Shit, straight away? Right of the bat you were able to choose your class?¡± Sy said, becoming instantly more animated, almost excited. ¡°What were your options? I can¡¯t see your class you see, not at the moment anyway but we will get onto that later, have you already picked it?¡±

    I tried to remember all of the options, I couldn¡¯t though, I reeled off what I could remember. ¡°A Paladin, A Necromancer, A Berserker.¡±

    Sy raised his hand, the colour draining from his face. ¡°Sorry to interrupt but please tell me you did not pick the necromancer class? There are certain types of magic that just should not be touched. Necromancy is one of them,¡±

    ¡°There¡¯s more? Don¡¯t worry I didn¡¯t pick that, it didn¡¯t read well and I didn¡¯t like the look of stealing other peoples or creatures life essences.¡±

    ¡°Well that is at least one positive,¡± Sy said, looking at your frame, your size, your kind of skinny, not much muscle to you, you''re not the tallest.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m six foot,¡± I said defectively, Sy himself looking like he must be about five foot four.

    ¡°Let me guess, you went for something like a rogue didn¡¯t you, that would have been perfect for you.¡± He looked across at Raven who wasn¡¯t paying attention, looking out into the open as if she was on the lookout for something. ¡°Either that or some kind of cleric, did you say Paladin was an option? That could kind of work for you.¡± Sy picked up a nearby cup and started taking a drink from it.

    ¡°I picked the berserker class.¡±

    Sy spat whatever he was drinking across the room, some of it splashing onto me.

    ¡°You picked a berserker.¡± he said, a slight grin on his face.

    ¡°What¡¯s funny about that?¡± I couldn¡¯t help but notice Raven glancing over, she was also grinning like a Cheshire Cat.

    ¡°It¡¯s not the class I would have thought someone with your capabilities would have gone for and it isn¡¯t the easiest class to master, but the situation could be worse.¡± He paused on his thoughts for a moment and took another sip of his drink. ¡°Come to think about it, the situation is pretty dire. Did Fidget say if she was with any of the other Guardians?¡±

    ¡°She didn¡¯t no, she said she was alone, she seemed pretty beat up when I spoke to her.¡±

    ¡°And did she know about your friend here?¡±

    That seemed an odd question to ask, given Sy¡¯s initial hostilities towards Raven when awe first got here. ¡°Yeah,¡± I lied, I didn¡¯t know why but it seemed like the right thing to do in these circumstances.

    ¡°Can you communicate with her? I¡¯ve got a few things that I would like to ask her?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think so, she normally rings me, I wouldn¡¯t know how to make contact with her.¡± I said, my head was starting to spin with all the quick fire questions that Sy was firing at me but I understood why he needed to ask them.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

    ¡°That makes sense, given you are a berserker you will only get access to mana if you unlock the right sub class, but again that is for a conversation for another time, form projection is a skill that can be unlocked but not for you, not in your current form.¡±

    I couldn¡¯t tell if Sy was talking to me or just talking out loud to himself, I was desperately trying to remember everything he was saying as he was saying it.

    ¡°So I guess my job now is to get you ready for the big old world that are beyond the boundaries of my oasis. So class aside, have you been able to unlock your skill tree? That might of taken some doing since you got here, but with your berserker class activated early I am guessing this gave you a nice little strength boost to help you along your way.¡±

    ¡°Well I guess it did, after unlocking my class I tried fighting these fire ants over and over again, it kind of worked for one level but then the more I farmed the less impact it made to my over all level.¡±

    ¡°Yeah that kind of happens, I guess it is one of the gods ways of stopping folk from becoming too OP, you know what that means don¡¯t you?¡±

    ¡°Over powered?¡± I had played enough video games to realise that it was like I was living in my own version of a RPG.

    ¡°The more you kill of the same creature, the less it will have on your growth, this place like variety, defeating new enemies will help you level quicker but that might not necessarily be a good thing, after all knowledge is power, and knowledge takes time.¡± Magenta, gave a loud quack like she was agreeing with what Sy had to say, it was easy enough to tell the difference between the two ducks. She had a darker orange crest on her chest in the shape of a half moon. Where as Mal¡¯s was a full circle in the centre of his crest.

    ¡°That makes sense,¡± I said, ¡°Raven showed me how to farm some Spore Spitters, the same thing happened that when I was fighting the fire ants, it became a real grind if you know what I mean but I was able to progress a little.¡±

    ¡°Spore spitters eh, you need to be carful with those things, fire ants, they will just leave you with irritated skin where they bite you, the bigger ones may even have a bite strong enough to pierce your skin but Spore Spitters, the spore they can produce can leave a Nast taste in your mouth and lung burn too.¡±

    ¡°I figured that out the hard way, luckily Raven had a potion that helped ease the pain.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a good job too, if left too long lung burn can start to effect your breathing which can quite quickly cause you to stop breathing entirely if not treated. What colours did you see?¡±

    ¡°The spore spitters? Blue, Pink, Orange, Green and Red, I think?¡± I tried to cycle back through come to think of it, I kind of wished I had kept a log.

    ¡°They are all common types, there¡¯s a couple of really rare ones out there, one with a black flower onto of its head, a bit like a Venus fly trap, there is another that is meant to be huge about four to five times the size of your usual spore spitter, that one has a ginormous flower on its back and is more deadly than the rest. I imagine it is a higher level, imagine the experience you would get for beating that, I¡¯ve never actually come across it though, only ever heard whispers of its existence. My advice to you if you ever crossed paths with it, especially at this stage. Run.¡±

    I was grateful for the advice, it was clear that Sy knew his stuff. "Thanks,¡± I said, ¡°I will certainly bear that in mind. As I was saying, I farmed the spore spitters to help me get a little bit stronger and then I realised I had unlocked my skill tree.¡±

    ¡°You have unlocked your skill tree already,¡± Sy raised his eyebrows, seemingly impressed. ¡°That¡¯s pretty impressive, especially without any guidance. So how long have you been here, three weeks? A month?¡±

    ¡°Actually I got here a couple of days ago, or at least I think so. The days seem to last longer here than back home, but the sun has set once since I was brought here.¡±

    ¡°And you already have your skill tree? Now that is impressive, well if there is a sign that I am to make a Guardian out of you then this is it. Now if you have the berserker class, let me just see if I remember it all right.¡± He stopped as if he was accessing his own menu like I had access to.

    ¡°Can I just ask, I have this kind of menu, I can access, I can see it as if it surround me, but no one else can. Do you have this.¡±

    ¡°I do, it takes some getting used to but you soon will. ¡°Now as I was saying the berserker skill tree, let me get this up on my notes. Swordzerker Frenzy, Axecraze Torrent and Hammerheart Guard. That right?¡±

    ¡°It is,¡±

    ¡°Where have you put your skill points so far?¡± Sy asked, if you get your menu up it should tell you at the side.

    I did as he asked and cycled through my menu just to double check rather than trying to go off memory. ¡°So I have five points added to the swordzerker frenzy tree and one added to Hammerheart Guard, I figured adding a point to the Hammerheart tree would help with the heath regeneration.¡±

    ¡°I like what you did there,¡±

    ¡°Yeah I assigned the fifth skill point to the first slot when we defeated a boss. More out of curiosity as to what the next slot would do.¡± I realised that with everything that had happened I hadn¡¯t actually read up on what the next skill was.¡±

    ¡°Wait up, did you say you defeated a boss?¡± Sy¡¯s jaw dropped and if he wasn¡¯t already sitting down I think he would have fallen over backwards.

    ¡°Yes, I got given a side quest to help Raven, one of the missions was to infiltrate a terror camp.¡±

    ¡°You infiltrated a terror camp,¡± Sy murmured, ¡°and survived, without any training other than farming some fire ants and spore spitters you were able to sneak into a terror camp and get what you needed.¡±

    ¡°Not really,¡± I said, I felt sheepish, ¡°We beat all the terrors, that¡¯s what triggered the boss battle.¡± I raised my hand to the back of my head and rubbed it.

    ¡°Good gods! You defeated all of the terrors and a boss, well if I wasn¡¯t convinced before that you had what it takes to become a Guardian, then I am now! Hell I¡¯m actually kind of excited to train you to see how far you can actually go, this is incredible.¡±

    Sy stood, he was practically vibrating he was that excited, ¡°I cannot wait to see what we can do with you, but as I said you have a lot to learn, as well as you have done getting this far, you have been lucky as hell that you are still alive. My job now is to make sure that moving forward, luck doesn¡¯t have to play a part in your over all progression.¡±

    Sy moved to leave the home while talking, stepping past me and walking beyond Raven who looked curious herself, in a sulky pre-teen kind of way. He stopped at the top of the waterfall that pored down into the lagoon below, where a tranquil oasis awaited us. ¡°Can you taste that air, there is always something fresh about it, kind of zingy. It is why I set up camp here, keeps me away from all the fighting, that isn¡¯t the life for me, not anymore. But training fighters who can help change the world, I am down with that.¡± He turned, looking over his shoulder at me. ¡°And your training is about to start right now, the winds are changing Silas. Fidget believes in you and that is good enough for me, with what you have shown so far, with the right aptitude and training, we just might pull this off. You just might be able to save this world.¡±

    ¡°No pressure then,¡± I said.

 Chapter 21 - Jungle Gym

    We were stood at the bottom of the waterfall, by the edge of the lagoon. Looking into the bright blue water, I found myself getting lost in the sound of the crashing torrent of water,, the mist sticking to my face, offering me a reprieve from the heat. There was only my reflection staring back at me, yet it felt as though I was looking at the face of a stranger, so much had changed, I had changed so much already. I was able to do things I would never of dreamed of back home, here I was free, free from the curse of being, well, of being me. No more office job, no more being pushed around and being told what to do, working stupid hours and getting nothing back in return other than a paycheque that didn¡¯t even cover the hours I was putting here.

    This place though, this place was different, I was different, people had faith in me, they had a belief in what I could do. Even Raven, who has the snark of a great white shark must have believed in me to get me to help her defeat the terror camp. She had taken herself over to the hammock where she swung from side to side, silently, I would love to know what she was thinking but until I had picked up sign language I wouldn¡¯t have a way of figuring this out. Her arms trailed over the edge of the hammock as she stared up into the open sky above us, swinging gently, her arms lulling each time it changed direction.

    She had been distant since we had got here and I could tell something was right, when we had a moment to ourselves I wanted to check in and make sure she was ok, she certainly didn¡¯t seem herself. I also wanted to speak with Sy about why he was so hostile towards her when we first got here, after all she is just a kid, she didn¡¯t deserve that kind of response, not from an adult.

    Sy had asked us to wait down here, I had walked straight over to the lagoon to take a look at the waters, Raven over by the hammock, he hadn¡¯t kept us waiting long and I watched as he awkwardly made his way down the rope ladders to the base where I stood. There was something about his strong frame that made me more nervous about the rope ladder giving way under neath him. Still he was a hundred more times agile than I had been when I made my way down, turns out I was a little uneasy from heights, something I had only just figured out when climbing down, who knew.

    When Sy reached us he had a wide grin, I couldn¡¯t help but notice that his oversized hoody was straining against his chest, this man was strong, he must have been training for a long time to get in the shape he was in. Mal and Magenta flew down, beside him, settling down on the waters of the lagoon, they started bobbing their heads in the water, looking for grubs and bugs I assumed.

    ¡°There is no place like it is there?¡± He said, taking in a huge sniff of the air, he was right though. The air tasted cleaner here, it wasn¡¯t musty or stale, it seemed free of the dangers of everywhere else in the forest and I was ok with that.

    ¡°How do you keep the monsters out?¡± I asked, ¡°And people, you know dangerous ones like the terrors?¡±

    ¡°This place is protected with more magical wards and barriers than you could ever begin to imagine. Some were set up by Fidget for me when she was last here, some by artefacts that I have found and strategically placed around the oasis.¡± Sy pointed at an oval shaped boulder that sat just at the boundaries of the trees on the opposite side of the lagoon. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t want to know how long that took me to drag down here. With all of these, that is everything I need to keep the creatures around here away, they may struggle with something high level but as far as I am aware there his nothing like that around here, its been that way for years since I made this lagoon my home, when I decided I was done with the fight. As for anything other than creatures breaking into here, well I don¡¯t think any one would be that stupid or brave. ¡±

    ¡°It really is a beautiful place?¡± I said, still mesmerised by this hidden sanctitude. ¡°I could spend a lot of time here,¡±

    ¡°Good, coz you kind of are,¡± Sy said.

    ¡°Can I ask what made you come here? What took you away from the fight?¡±

    ¡°That is a story for a different time, we have a lot to be on with for now, there will be time for stories later. ¡°Come on, there will plenty of time for that, for no I want you to head over here with me, there is something that I want to show you.¡±

    Raven continued to swing around in the hammock, generally uninterested in anything else that was going on.

    ¡°Before we go,¡± I said, ¡°What¡¯s the deal with your hostility towards Raven. I don¡¯t want her feeling unwelcome here, if it wasn¡¯t for her I would definitely be dead. I need to know she is ok to be here with me, if not we can just leave.¡±

    Sy was uncomfortable, and he leaned in closer to me, keeping his voice lowered. ¡°Between you and me, her kind cannot be trusted, but if Fidget has said she is ok she must be different, it takes a lot to win Fidget over. As long as she doesn¡¯t step out of line or do anything stupid like try to kill me in her sleep then we should be ok.¡±

    I kind of felt like I still wasn¡¯t getting the full picture but at least I had Sy¡¯s word that he would lay of Raven, hopefully now she could open herself up a little, maybe even let her guard down. I just wanted her to feel safe, especially here, especially when she was with me.

    ¡°Ok then, where are you taking us?¡±

    ¡°Follow me,¡± he said, ¡°You are going to love this.¡±

    Leading the way Sy took us beyond where the stone relic he had pointed at earlier was, from a distance it had looked nothing more than a moss coloured boulder, the upturned earth tracked the path it had taken to be dragged here, leaving a large groove that went beyond the trees in front of us. The boulder itself was cracked with large indentations, like cracks that were meant to be there, wrapped around it, leaving hollowed black grooves trailing along its surface, shapes that I did not recognise were etched into it at various points, some big some small.

    ¡°Those are runes,¡± Sy said, ¡°That¡¯s where the magic is stored, never had to use this one, I kind of hope I don¡¯t ever have to, because if that thing has to activate well we are kind of screwed.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

    Well what ever it was I hoped I never had to see it after that warning. We continued a little further into the trees, Raven had decided to follow us in after I gave her a little nod. I was glad that she wasn¡¯t completely isolating herself and felt better having also spoke to Sy, even if I wasn¡¯t aware of the bigger picture and having told a white lie to get him to lower his guard. I didn¡¯t regret what I had done and I hoped I wouldn¡¯t regret it later, Raven hadn¡¯t given me any reason to, as snarky as she was I could see she was good, albeit a little unconventional.

    We tailed behind Sy until eventually he brought us to a new area where we had not explored.

    ¡°What is it?¡± I asked, as relaxing and calming that the oasis was, this was where all the real work took place. It was a training area, and a large one of that, crafted from the resources of the forest.

    ¡°I call it, the jungle gym,¡± Sy waved his hands out like he was an estate agent, showcasing a home, he seemed oblivious to how funny I found the name, in truth, I actually kind of liked it.

    ¡°Holy shit,¡± I said, ¡°Did you make this?¡±

    Sy stood just inferno of me like a proud father, arms folded across his chest. ¡°Well don¡¯t just stand there come on in.¡±

    To the left of us were a series of monkey bars of different sizes, the kind that gymnastics use, where they can do a crazy amount of spins and twists. They were made from wood and bound together using thick vines. In the middle sat a open area, a circular stone barrier had been made to create a perimeter, in the centre of the pit sat a manikin, a large torn t-shirt with the band name Boutique¡¯s was printed on the front, I could tell it was a band by the silhouette of four people stood beside the name. It was packed full of leaves that had been rammed inside to pad it out, some where green some were brown and others yellow. What looked like a coconut was wedged onto of a stick that protruded out of the body, with a footprint painted on the front of it, like it was the actual print of a foot, like someone had been playing around with paint. On the right hand side were a series of wights that had been fashioned from stone and thick pieces of wood, carved from the trees. The stones on the ends were of different sized, gradually increasing in size until they were just small boulders, most akin to an atlas stone.

    ¡°How long did this take you?¡± I asked, stepping into the jungle gym to take a closer look around.

    ¡°I¡¯ve had a lot of time on my hands, this place has stopped me from losing my sanity at times, but in isolation there is peace. With the jungle gym we will have you ship shape in no time, it isn¡¯t going to be easy and there is a lot to learn but I have no doubt you are up to the task.¡±

    ¡°So will training with you here help me level up?¡±

    Sy burst into laughter and my cheeks burned with an embarrassment, what had I said that was so wrong.

    ¡°God no, if it was that easy we would all be indestructible. Could you imagine that. Think of it this way, levelling up, lets you increase your statistics and grants you new abilities, things like that. You might feel and be stronger and harder to kill but that doesn¡¯t mean that you know how to fight, how to use those skills, how to tap into those abilities that you unlock.¡±

    ¡°That makes sense,¡± I said, which was odd given what we were talking about, there was absolutely no sense to this.

    ¡°So while you are here at my oasis I will train you how to hone your skills, you will learn how to fight and I will show you how to tap into that berserk ability that you have so you don¡¯t necessarily have to be all angry to start smashing things up.¡±

    ¡°That would be really helpful, thank you.¡± I looked down at Raven who had instantly run towards the monkey bars, she started swinging around like she was a kid that had been set free at a play park. As I watched her swinging around, leaping from one monkey bar to another it seemed like for once, she was just that, a kid. ¡°What about Raven?¡± I asked as Sy started moving his makeshift weights around, putting them in order as if they were out of place.

    ¡°She¡¯s good,¡± he said, picking up the largest weight, the one that looked like an atlas stone as if it wasn¡¯t too difficult. ¡°Like I said, if Fidget is ok, then I am ok, as long as you need to use the jungle gym, she can.¡±

    I watched on a few moments as Raven continued to hop from the bars, she was adding a little bit of flare to her moves now which was impressive.

    Sy finished up with weights then came and stood in front of me, ¡°What do you think then?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s amazing,¡± I said, not really knowing what else to say, the jungle gym was like his house in the oasis, he had crafted it, he had put all his effort and skill into building these things but they were still part of the forest, they were still connected to the trees, roots gripped the outer edges, vines and branches and leaves, intertwining with the make shift gym as if they were one and the same.

    ¡°There¡¯s more?¡± Sy said.

    ¡°More than this?¡± I was not a gym bunny by any stretch, in fact I had never trained in the gym in my life, apart from this one time when my friend Phil gave me free pass to try and get me to sign up. I had hated every second of it, looking at what surrounded me now though, all that did was made me want to dive in.

    ¡°No this is everything, the oasis and the jungle gym, this is all my space, ward surround it to keep us safe, well as I said earlier, from most things. No what I need you to do now is accept me as part of you party from your menu. This will allow me to open communications with you when I am not with you.¡±

    ¡°You mean like Fidget does?¡±

    ¡°Exactly, it will also mean you will be able to read all my data too, my stats, level, all those things. More importantly I will be able to see everything to do with you. It will make it easier for me to guide you with your choices if I can keep a close tab on you. Of course you can sever this connection whenever you want, if you were to find a new trainer for example.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t see that happening,¡± I laughed, he seemed like he would be a great trainer, I felt lucky to have him in my corner.

    ¡°You say that now, but you haven¡¯t completed a training session with me yet. Now open you menu, you will have a request from me.¡±

    Surely enough I opened up my menu and there was a request to accept Symon to my party. It was easy enough to accept and straight away it came up with his information.

    Symon

    Level 57

    Class - Monk

    Subclass - Guiding Hand

    ¡°Level fifty seven! That is insane. You must be the safest guy in the forest.¡±

    Sy looked all coy, ¡°and you are a monk, that¡¯s pretty badass.¡±

    ¡°If you want to call it that?¡±

    ¡°Well it sounds badass, I don¡¯t actually know what it means though, what kind of stuff can you do?¡±

    ¡°My class is more balanced, a blend of being able to fight and cast spells, with more of a focus on support than anything. My subclass, I made that my own, as far as I know I am the only one in this world with this type?¡±

    ¡°Why is that?¡±

    ¡°Because I refuse to fight, I won¡¯t ever take a life, doesn¡¯t matter who they are, I just don¡¯t have it in me anymore.¡± Sy¡¯s tone changed, his eyes becoming slightly vacant like he was becoming lost in his thoughts. I thought better than to press any further.

    ¡°My role now is to support and help others, though I might be a little rusty given that it has been a while. Now let¡¯s get to it, its time to put you through your paces.¡±

 Chapter 22 - Basic Training

    Over the next week, by this worlds standards that must be at least two or weeks from my world, Sy put me through my paces as he started a rigorous training regime to get me ups to scratch. Worryingly, in this period I hadn¡¯t had any form of contact from Fidget and concern was starting to creep in about her welfare. Sy had told me not to worry that she went of grid like this all the time and that when she needed to she would be back in touch.

    The training had been gruelling to say the least, it turns out Sy was somewhat of a task master with his training and his methods were somewhat unorthodox. The other day he had me trying to balance on one leg all day while he tossed these strange nuts at me called Raenuts, they were about the size of a hazelnut and turns out when Sy flicked one it was like being hit by a paintball gun at close range. By the end of the day my body was peppered in bruises of different shades of purple. I didn¡¯t want to waste resources so I just had to deal with it. Raven had found the whole thing hilarious, she would, she had the agility of a cat ninja, if that was a thing, why wouldn¡¯t it be. She could balance all day on one leg without issue and dodge everything that Sy threw at her and trust me he tried, not once had he managed to catch her with a Raenut and his frustration on this was telling.

    He had me climbing up and down trees, over and over again, some thin some thick, I preferred to climb the thinner trees than the big trees they were more reliant on my upper body strength which I was still developing. No sooner would I get to the top he would demand I climb straight back down and repeat it over and over again. At first it would take me forever to climb up, but I was gradually getting better, still not perfect by any stretch. He even showed me how fast he could climb up and down and it was ridiculous, it was like he was part monkey, part tiger, the man was a completely different kind of animal.

    For cardio he head me doing a combination of running around the jungle gym and strange exercises that felt like a HIT class, he started of with high intensity and it only got worse from here. The one saving grace here, was that my asthma wasn¡¯t as bad as back home, in fact it didn¡¯t seem to be bothering me at all, which was a good thing as I had no inhaler on me. It was strange being able to run and I actually found that for the first time I actually kind of enjoyed it, which was something I never imagined myself ever saying.

    For strength training Sy had me using the stone weights he had fashioned and I had started off with the lowest ones, he would show me different positions to get into using the largest of the weights which initially made me feel kind of inadequate but he had told me not to worry and that over time we would build up the weights and that was ok. Still it was pretty intimidating to see him lifting the heaviest weights and getting frustrated as he wanted to go heavier but didn¡¯t have anything in the gym to facilitate this. I would chuckle from time to time at the different postures he would make while demonstrating a new exercise, each one designed to target a different muscle. I couldn¡¯t help but notice that the shapes he would make, would often leave him posturing like a duck, especially when we were working on my back or chest, he would squat down, stick his ass out and keep his chest upright and proud. I had lost count how many times he had made the duck reference, while Mal and Magenta watched on as he continued to patiently train us.

    I say us but I wasn¡¯t sure if Raven would class it as training, her skills were so far beyond me it was borderline embarrassing, the monkey bars, and the pit where she would fight against the manikin, practicing her moves as she danced around it with a speed that would often leave her looking like a blur. It was insane watching her and again I kind of felt inadequate when compared to the two of them, I was so far behind.

    Yes I was getting better but I was still clunky and clumsy, I felt stronger and fitter but I hadn¡¯t been any physical change. My favourite part of the day was swimming in the lagoon, this was when I was at my most relaxed and the waters seemingly had some kind of healing qualities to them. I would spend what I assumed was hours swimming up and down, finding it a relaxing way to unwind after long brutal days of training with Sy. After swimming in the bright blue waters, I would find that my muscles no longer ached, that and cuts, grazes or bruises that I had would fade to nothing and I would come out with more energy than when I went in.

    If you could bottle that water up, all then we would be millionaire¡¯s, back home anyway. Even here the water must have some value, even the water felt different on my skin, it was a perfect balance between hot and cold, the perfect temperature for swimming and it had a slightly thicker consistency of normal water but somehow it made it easier to swim not harder.

    On this day in particular I was in the training pit sparring with Raven, I was yet to land a jab on her as she weaved in and out of my own shadow to sucker punch me more times than I would have cared to remember. Sy stood on the sides like a boxing trainer, shadow boxing as he mimicked each and every punch that Raven landed on me which was many. That didn¡¯t stop me from giving up however and I continued to jab and swing at her, a hint of a growl going in the back of my throat as my frustrations were starting to rise.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

    ¡°Well that¡¯s one hundred missed jabs now,¡± Sy laughed as he continued to jab in the air, he mimicked Raven as she shot out of my shadow to slap me across the face with a gleeful smile. She was mocking me now¡­

    ¡°She¡¯s too fast,¡± I said, panting heavily, I was covered in sweat and my arms felt like dead weights, we had been training like this for quite some time but Sy continued to push us.

    ¡°Sounds like n excuse,¡± Sy said, his tone was harsh, almost like he was yelling at me, maybe he did feel disappointed in what I could do.

    ¡°Your strength and agility have definitely improved since we started training but wow, for a berserker you really are bad at fighting- wooo¡± He hollered as Raven sprung out again this time. Hitting me with a jab to my stomach.

    It was enough to cause me to stagger back and lean forward as I tried to catch my breath, the wind being knocked out of me.

    "You need to stop worrying about your guard so much, are you forgetting you''re supposed to be a berserker. You should really start acting like one. Offense, over defence, your skills will compliment that style, you need to be able to adapt to your enemy and shit, if you can¡¯t adapt to raven in here you are not going to last two seconds out there.¡±

    ¡°Do you not think I know that?¡± I snapped, sweat was dripping from the end of my nose, I was tired, my arms ached and my face and body throbbed form all the attacks I had taken from Raven. She seemingly was enjoying every second of this as she finally stood still in front of me, her arms crossed with a smugness that made me want to throw her into the lagoon.

    ¡°Raven did Silas just raise his voice to me?¡± Raven raised and eyebrow then looked at me.

    I shook my head at her, almost begging her without saying a ward she raised her hands gave me the double bunny gesture then nodded to Sy.

    ¡°That¡¯s what I thought,¡± Sy said. He rubbed his hands together like he was happy about what he was now going to make me do.

    ¡°Duck drops, I want one hundred of them, now.¡±

    ¡°Shit!¡± I cursed as Raven set about laughing silently, she sat on the floor crossing her legs as she got to rest while I was blasted even more.

    I hated duck drops, they were literally the worst exercise, not only did they wreck my legs and my back, they were humiliating. Clearly Sy¡¯s way of teaching me to quit answering back but it was hard, especially since I had this berserker class, it felt like there was a constant fire in my beady, like I was craving confrontation at time, even though in my head it was the last thing that I wanted.

    Letting out a sigh I did as Sy asked and squatted down, sticking my ass out and keeping my chest upright, my arms were crossed across my the front of my chest so that my hands touched my shoulders. I completed the first one and my legs were already burning, only ninety nine more to go.

    ¡°Are you not forgetting something.¡± Sy said, there was a sternness in his tone.

    Like a petulant child I huffed as I started the next duck drop.

    ¡°Quack,¡± I said with as much enthusiasm as you could imagine.

    ¡°That¡¯s more like it,¡± He said with a satisfactory grin.

    Mal and Magenta started quacking to one another where they were sat by Sy and it felt like even they were mocking me, having a giggle at my expense.

    By the time I was done with the duck drops I had learnt my lesson, I was tired, like really tired and Sy knew that he had pushed me as hard as he could today. I was now in the lagoon, taking a swim like I did every evening since we got here, there was something about being in the water that made me feel like I was at peace. My sour mood was pretty much gone, my growing frustrations a distant memory on what had seemingly been the longest day of training. I had had to endure four rounds of duck drops through the day, a record by my standards, but Sy was pushing me harder every single day. I just wanted to be better, I just wanted to be ready. The water streamed around me as I swam up and down at a slow and steady pace, I was glad I was in a better mood, I didn¡¯t like getting angry and I didn¡¯t like stomping around like a stroppy teenager. Sy was offering to help me, and I needed help more than ever. Even if I questioned his methods at time, it was coming from a good place.

    ¡°Dinner¡¯s up!¡± Sy¡¯s voice boomed down from the top of the water fall. Raven hopped down from the hammock she had seemingly claimed as her own and Mal and Magenta followed closely behind, her quacking quickly to one another as if they were in conversation. I pulled myself out of the lagoon and dried myself off quickly before throwing my clothes back on and climbing the rope ladder to the top.

    The smell that greeted me mad my stomach grumble, I hadn¡¯t realised how hungry I was until whatever Sy had cooked hot me. It was meaty smell, steak like and I followed it to a make shift table and benches we had fashioned at the side of his house. Five slate plates were laid out tow on one side and one opposite, two smaller plates sat side by side at the end. Mal and Magenta were already pecking away at their tea it looked like a sort of bread crumb mixture. Whatever it was the ducks were lapping it up.

    When I sat down I looked down at the beautifully cooked steak, and appreciated the fact that Sy kind of made up for his at times brutal training methods by rustling us up some great food in the evenings. Raven wasn¡¯t waiting for anyone as she was already boring into her steak and Sy sat patiently, waiting for me.

    ¡°This looks and smells amazing?¡±

    ¡°Make sure you eat it all top, the vegetables too, I made sure it''s balanced to help your muscles develop, it will hopefully take the edge off you for tomorrow.¡±

    At first I thought he meant tomorrow''s training but I couldn¡¯t help but notice the familiar smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.

    ¡°What is happening tomorrow?¡±

    ¡°Tomorrow, you will undertaking your first mission or quest, call it what you like. But I will find out whether or not your training has paid off.¡±

 Chapter 23 - The Labyrinth

    The next morning Raven and myself were stood out front of Sy¡¯s house like we were in some form of military parade. Sy was stood opposite, his arms behind his back. Last I had seen of Mal and Magenta they were taking a swim on the lagoon like they did most mornings, they seemed to enjoy the water almost as much a Is did.

    There was a weird excitement in the air and it felt like I was hyper charged, kind of buzzing to be set loose following the training, my main hope was that it involved no fighting, given how poor I had been in combat training the last few days. I hadn¡¯t slept much, Sy had remained tight lipped over what our mission would be today and it wasn¡¯t like I could discuss this with Raven, she seemed to be going along with it too, despite her side mission ¡®whispers¡¯ still being open.

    ¡°Ok so here we are, your first quest, this is a pretty important one too as it will show me whether or not you two are going to make it in this world. Simply put, if you make it I will be sixty five percent certain that you are in fact a guardian.¡±

    ¡°And if we don¡¯t?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Well you will both be dead, so there is that.¡±

    Suddenly the weight of the quest felt so much heavier than before, I thought this would be a nothing mission, a kind of time trial or something like that. I wasn¡¯t expecting it to be a dangerous one.

    ¡°What do you want us to do?¡±

    ¡°Ok well let¡¯s dive straight into it then, I need you two, to go and retrieve something for me. An ancient artefact called the Orb Of Zephyr, one that has been in place for a long time and I mean a long time. Now this artefact is simple enough to carry but it is getting to it that is going to be the problem.¡± Sy came across as nonchalant, like what he was telling us was completely normal.

    ¡°Why haven¡¯t you gone and got it?¡±

    ¡°Because.¡± His reply was short and sharp, I knew I wasn¡¯t going to get any more information out of him.

    ¡°As I as saying the issue with getting to the orb is where it is exactly. You see it is placed on a stone table at the centre of a labyrinth. And there lies the test that I told you about, finding your way through the labyrinth and retrieving that artefact. Once you have brought it back here, I will explain its purpose, well kind off, there is still quite a lot that we need to go over. But too much information at once is not going to help anyone, for now, you know what you need to succeed. Be warned though, this Labyrinth is anything but simple, there will be tricks and traps after all its walls are lined with a magic that you cannot begin to comprehend. It isn¡¯t going to be easy by any stretch but I have no doubt that between the two of you, you will be able to pull this off.¡±

    New Quest

    Locate The Orb Of Zephyr

    ¡°How about you?¡±

    ¡°Pardon?¡±

    ¡°If this artefact is so important, why can¡¯t you come with us to retrieve it?¡±

    ¡°Because I do not leave this place anymore, there is a reason for that. One that I am not ready to share with your right now, you have just got to trust me.¡±

    It felt like a big ask, telling someone to trust them while at the sometime purposefully with holding information. If we had Sy with us, with his level and his abilities I have no doubt that getting to this orb would be a walk in the park.

    ¡°Is there anything else we need to know?¡± I asked.

    ¡°The labyrinth is about two miles south east of here, it is easy enough to find, it¡¯s that big that you can¡¯t miss it. Getting to it will be your first test.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°All you could take the long hike to it, the scenic route as it were, that route will be safer but it will take you a lot longer to get there. The second route is to travel down the river, that route is more dangerous but will have you at the entrance to the maze in no time.¡±

    Looking down at Raven, her eyes had widened at the prospect of the river.

    ¡°How long are we talking?¡±

    ¡°The scenic route will probably take you three to four days to get there and back, the river will get you there very fast, its just you will then have to take the scenic route back as it only kind of works one way.¡±

    ¡°That makes sense. What do you want to do?¡± I asked Raven.

    She made a motion like she was paddling on a raft.

    ¡°River it is I guess,¡± I said, whether we would regret that choice would remain to be seen.

    ¡°Great well when you are ready, I will take you down to the river so you can be on your way. Before you go though, how are you for supplies?¡±

    Raven gave Sy the thumbs up, I checked my inventory, I had one health potion left and a couple of stamina potions. ¡°I am a little light.¡± I said.

    ¡°Take these, I will add a couple of health potions for you.¡± Sure enough as he said, a couple more health potions were added to my inventory.

    ¡°How did you?¡±

    Sy laughed, ¡°I can only do it when you are in close proximity because you have added me to your party. Outside of this oasis, you are on your own, I won¡¯t be able to transfer anything to you.¡±

    It was a pretty cool thing to be able to do and felt strange receiving items that I hadn¡¯t physically touched but I accepted it non the less.

    ¡°Now while you are out there, I will be able to communicate directly with you. I have plenty of man ate do this. As a berserker your mana levels are low so reserve communicating directly for me for times only when you absolutely need to. To do that just select me on the, menu and you will see an option to contact me.

    I took a Quick Look and could see a speech bubble icon next to Sy¡¯s name.

    ¡°How come I can¡¯t do this for Fidget?¡± Because she is not in your party?¡±

    ¡°But she can me?¡± I said.

    ¡°Its complicated, Fidget is a powerful sorceress, its one of her skills that she is using, ¡®spectral telepathy¡¯ it grants her the ability to communicate with you through a connection that is far to complex for you to comprehend at this time. Now I am just quickly going to test that our connection is working ok.¡±

    Sy walked around behind his house and out of sight.

    ¡°Right, can you hear me ok?¡± It was like I had a hidden ear piece in my right ear. His voice was crisp and clear as if he was standing right in front of me although there was a slight tiny noise when he spoke.

    ¡°I hear you.¡±

    ¡°Good stuff,¡± Sy went all muffled like there was an interference or something before re-appearing. ¡°Well there is no time like the present, so if you are both good to go, let¡¯s get moving. The sooner you set off, the sooner you will be back.

    ¡°You ready?¡±

    Raven nodded and Sy led the way, climbing down to the lower part of the lagoon. We continued to walk through the trees until we could hear the river, it was loud, far louder than I had imagined. For some reason I had pictured us traveling down, in a nice raft, taking in the views. When we go there it was anything but that. The river surged passed quicker than I could keep uptown, turning white where hedge of the waters broke, the water was wild and untamed as if storms themselves pushed it down stream.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

    ¡°This is as far as I can take you?¡± Sy shouted, the roar of the water fierce and intimidating. ¡°It¡¯s not too late to change your mind, but as I Sid it is going to a ad a lot of time onto your journey. There is a raft over there, not been used for a long time and an absolute pain in the ass to bring back once you have travelled down river in it. If you could bring it back I would appreciate it.¡± he patted me on the back, knocking me forwards, the power in his arms almost knocked the wind out of me but as I stumbled forwards I tried to stand it out.

    This wasn¡¯t just a river, it was a rapid, and last I heard, if you didn¡¯t know what you were doing with these things they were dangerous, like deadly dangerous.

    I went to ask Raven if she was still ok to head down this way but she was already at the raft and starting to pull it towards the edge.

    ¡°See you soon,¡± I said as I went to help Raven out the raft into position.

    As we got closer to the rapids I started having serious doubts over whether we were making the right choice here. My confidence was growing and I really did not fancy taking the long route down. Besides how dangerous could it really be?

    More like how wrong could I be, Raven hopped onto the raft first, she was easily able to keep her balance as I held it in place, that itself wasn¡¯t simple against the pressing water as it passed hard against us. Not wanting to hesitate and lose my grip I quickly hopped on board landing on my knees with a crunch, it wasn¡¯t dignified nor delicate as I nearly bounced over the other side of the raft and into the water.

    We took of at a speed that even I didn¡¯t expect, the swelling waters taking us in one direction and one direction only. The raft was sturdy enough but I was surprised that it was able to hold itself together with the vines Sy had used to find the wooden planks together. I instantly started regretting my decision, my heart beating so hard I feared it was about to burst out of my chest. The raft bounced through the air more than once as we hit what I presumed was a rock beneath us. We both held firm, Raven rode the raft like it was a surfboard, I curled into a ball, gripping the surface as hard as I could with my fingertips, the surface was wet and slippery, a thin layer of grime clinging to the surface like an unwanted blanket.

    ¡°Are you ok?¡±

    Raven gave me a thumbs up as water lapped up around us. Calm within the calamity. The raft was big enough, it must have been six feet by six feet and the river itself was wide about twenty meters in width and aside from the speed we moved and how rough the waters were, so far this journey seemed ok and I felt confident that if it remained like this we would be ok.

    ¡°What is that?¡± I called out, pointing at the waters, blue and white frothing waters continue to crash up against the sides of the raft but within it, within the cascade I could swear I could see something within it, poking out of the surface. Then as fast as I saw it, it was gone.

    ¡°Did you see that?¡±

    Raven shook her head, remaining focused on the rapids as we crashed over another large rock, the jolt caused me to fall on my side, pain erupting in my elbow as it slammed into the surface of the raft.

    As I lay on my side I saw something in the water beside us, moving with the crashing, unforgiving waves of the rapids.

    ¡°Is that a fin?¡± With a splash a blur of blue and white bowled into me, knocking me sideways into a roll. I was grate full I was led down because If I wasn¡¯t I was pretty sure I would be in the water now.

    Blind panic consumed me as I gathered my bearings and with no option tried to balance as I stood up, something had forced its way onto the raft and somehow I didn¡¯t think it was here for the ride.

    Shog

    Level 4

    These things are as playful as they are deadly.

    The think was terrifying to look at, it was around two foot long, short and stocky, shark like in shape which was insane because we were in a forest. The top half of its body was a dark blue colour, underneath a cream, whitish colour. It had small bone like spikes protruding out of its body mainly around its rear end, its large snarling mouth filled with razor sharp teeth. It looked like a shark, but with four stumpy legs, each ending with a row of jagged claws designed for tearing flesh from bone. Sections of its skin were cracked and scarred from previous fights, and its small blackened eyes gave it a feral look that made my legs go weak. Something was attached to the lower part of its mouth, a rope I think, it trailed into the water.

    ¡°Raven, what do we do?¡±

    The shog let out a snarling growl before whipping its head from side to side, it yanked the rope up out of the water to reveal a spike metal ball attached to it. It was like a dog with a rope toy except the last thing we wanted to do was play. It snapped its head back and the spike ball whipped out towards me, I hopped backwards barely avoiding the blow, holding my arms out as I desperately tried to keep my balance.

    Its eyes were not necessarily fixed on me but it kept whipping the spiked ball around, making it clear where the scars and cracked skin on its body came from. Streaks of blood and puss oozed from the scars that were like cracked bark, froth foaming in the corners of its mouth. Even now, I couldn¡¯t decide if it wanted to play with us or kill us.

    ¡°Where the hell did it get a spiked ball from! And what do we do?¡± I was frozen, barely balancing on the edge of the raft and for a moment I thought that was it, I couldn¡¯t see a way out of this ridiculous situation.

    Raven chartered forward as if she was a coiled spring, her speed was incredible, she leapt through the air into a cork screw kick and two footed the shod in the side as hard as she could. Turns out shots do not do well from side attacks, probably because of their barrel like frame and stumpy legs but Raven sent it rolling like a barrel of cask ale and back into the water.

    ¡°That was awesome!¡±

    Raven hopped back to her feet and balanced herself, she had one hand placed to her hip, gripping the hilt of one of her scythes. She eyed the water, untrusting and I wondered if she had come across these things before.

    The raft rumbled this time, not like we had hit something that was unmoving but like something had crashed into us. I had no doubt it was thee shot and it was pissed.

    Rather than crawling on the raft, I decided to try and take Ravens approach and positioned myself next to her, putting one front in front of the other like I was snowboarding. I had never surfed and I had tried snowboarding once when I was a teenager. My mum had forced me to go with friends, even though I had no interest and by the end of the day that was only solidified further when I was covered in cuts and bruised and a dislocated shoulder. Turns out I wasn¡¯t good at it, at least from that day I roughly knew how to stand and balance, I could only hope it wouldn''t end the same day or even worse.

    ¡°Where is it?¡± I called out, readying myself for if it returned, as we continued to travel down the river at speed.

    Raven sarcastically pointed at the water with a raised eyebrow, she was infuriating at times but I kind of appreciated her humour, even if she had the timing of a sledge hammer.

    She wasn¡¯t wrong however as she pointed at the water the shot came hurtling out of the water towards us, this one was different though, it was slightly smaller and had an eye missing, replaced with a large jagged scar, like something had raked claws across its face.

    It took a bite in the air as it shot passed and I ducked out of the way before it passed over and landed backing the river on the opposite side.

    ¡°Shit!¡± There¡¯s more than one.

    As if on cue multiple shots started springing from the water at us, hoping and biting at the air as they tried to tear our flesh from bone. We both ducked, dipped, dived and dodged as they continued to fly out, I had no clue how many of them there were but no sooner had we dodged one, another would spring out from the water.

    The raft continued to rumble and sway as they tried to knock us off, I struggled with my balance but Raven seemed to take it all in her stride, unphased by the situation.

    ¡°How much further?¡± I asked as I activated my berserker skill, as a shog came at me from the side. It crashed into me with the force of a boulder but I was able to stand firm, activating my skill just at the right time as it bounced onto the raft. Raven pulled out her scythes and buried them into the show¡¯s stomach before dragging them down, spilling its guts on the raft. There was more water poured out of it than I expected and I was surprised to see a number plate come tumbling out of its stomach. I mean where the hell would that have found a number plate here, were there more people like me, I mean from my world here?

    The surface of the raft not only turned red but it also turned my stomach, the smell reminded me of the fish mongers you would find at the market, except this was rotten and rancid. I gagged before staggering forward and kicked the shot as hard as I could rolling it from the raft and back into the water with a splash.

    This served to only antagonise the shots more as they started springing out of the water even faster, snapping even harder and taking inspiration from Raven I removed my spirit sword. Another shot dove out this time it was primed for Raven and I stepped forward slicing down on the thing with as much strength as I could call on. It was surprising how easy the blade sliced through the shot and it split in two, the front half crashing into Raven, knocking her over.

    She slipped on the thick, slimy blood on the raft, losing her balance and falling backwards, she rolled a couple of times as a shot out the water at the back of her, mouth wide opened ready to catch her and tear her to shreds.

    ¡°Raven!¡± I called out as I slammed my sword into the raft and dove forward grabbing hold of her hands as tightly as I could, I held tight as her legs trailed behind her and the shot disappeared back into the water. Raven¡¯s eyes were wide and for the first time I saw a scared kid, she bounced of the raft with a thud and my grip loosed, her hands were covered in blood, so were mine, making it difficult to hold on.

    On of her hands slipped free and she slid further away, only stopping when I tightened my grip around her wrist, more around her forearm now. The panic in her eyes was clear and she kicked with her legs as she tried to push her self away from the edge of the raft from the snapping shags. These things were relentless.

    A tug on my leg and a sharp shooting pain caused me to cry out, one of the shots had taken hold of my leg, thankfully it was a smaller one. It started dragging me back, which actually helped as it pulled Raven away from the edge. Still in berserk mode I let go of Raven turning and kicking the shag in the face frantically as searing pain travelled up my leg. It was relentless though and wouldn¡¯t let go. Only stopping when raven slammed one of her scythes into its eye. It shrieked and hopped back into the water.

    We go to our feet, battered and bloodied, I was barely able to hold my weight when a rock poking oust of the water slammed into the raft sending us hurtling into the air.

 Chapter 24 - Maze Runner

    This was it, I had to options, sink or swim, or fight in this circumstance, as we bucked up into the air, I stretched out grabbing hold of my sword in the edged of the raft and pulled it free, rolling through the air with a wild slash which took out another shog as the world around me span, blues, brows and reds mushed into one like I was in the centre of a tumbled dryer as I braced my self to land in the cold water rapids where we would be well and truly dead.

    That didn¡¯t happen though, I grunted loudly as I slammed into solid ground, rolling fast across the earth as I bounced violently until I eventually stopped. My body ached with a pain like I had never experienced and I tried to push myself up, my arms were shaking so much that they nearly collapsed under me as I frantically looked around.

    ¡°Raven?¡± I called out, ¡°RAVEN¡± I couldn¡¯t see her and I panicked, worried that she had not landed on land and been consumed by the rapids, where the shogs would have certainly finished her off.

    I don¡¯t know why I was worried because she was absolutely fine, in fact she was more than fine, she was bouncing around like that was the wildest ride of her life, she was so animated, bouncing up and down, signing god knows what at me although this time she wasn¡¯t her aggressive self. She looked happy.

    I rolled out my back and let out a huge sigh before another wave of pain tore through my body. Sitting up I looked down at my mangled right leg, the shot had made a right mess of it. I quickly accessed my inventory and took out one of my potions and I downed it in one, the thick viscous fluid went down like I was drinking warm syrup and instantly the relief was the best sensation. A warmness trickled down my body like something was coating my skin, then there was a hot sting like I had sat in a bath with the water temperature too high, it was oddly satisfying. When I looked at my leg again, the blood was still there, but there was no pain, when I touched my leg there was no shredded skin, there was however a shog tooth, sat next to my leg.

    ¡°I am definitely making a necklace out of that.¡± I said as I stood up and tested that I could walk on my leg ok. It was as if nothing had happened to me, the pain just a memory now and I was so grateful that potions existed in this world. ¡°Next time though, we are taking the long way around.¡±

    Raven gave me a disappointed look, her shoulders dropping.

    ¡°Shit the raft,¡± I said as I spun around to watch it carrying on down the rapids, it looked like the shogs were trailing the raft and not us, which I was grateful for. ¡°Sy is going to be mad, we lost his raft.¡± To be fair I didn¡¯t really care, he could be as pissed as he wanted to be, it was a miracle we had made it down this far.

    ¡°Now all we need to do is find this labyrinth,¡± I was facing the river, looking round for anything that could point us in the right direction, Raven was stood opposite me. She walked towards me and grabbed hold of my arm, forcing me to spin around. ¡°What are the chances of that,¡± A head of us was the outer edge of what looked like the opening to a labyrinth, well as best as one could look in the middle of a forest.

    Giant hedged walls ran across from one side to other, as far as I could see, they merged with the trees from the forest, branches and vines inter twinning.

    ¡°Holy shit,¡± I said as I looked on, ¡°Well I guess we found it.¡±

    ¡°Did you guys make it down the river?¡± Sy¡¯s voice called out in my ear, causing me to jump. The was going to take some getting used to. I raised my hand to my ear, instinctively, not sure how to communicate back, so I just replied.

    ¡°Yeah, barely, next time I think you should warn us about the shogs that may want to east us alive.¡±

    ¡°You were attacked by shogs? They are not usually this far down stream, sorry about that. Did you find the labyrinth?¡±

    ¡°We are looking at it right now, it looks kind of ominous.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s beautiful isn¡¯t it? No idea how it got there but do me a favour, if you come across some Piya Shrooms, will you pick some up for me?¡±

    ¡°I wasn¡¯t aware this was a grocery run,¡±

    Sy set about laughing in my ear, Raven looked on, oblivious to his part of the conversation.

    ¡°What do they look like?¡±

    ¡°Pretty much the same a as toad stool, except these will have purple spots on them.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll keep my eye open for them.¡±

    ¡°How about my raft?¡±

    ¡°Yeah that thing didn¡¯t make it, we got tossed off while the shogs were trying to make breakfast from us.¡±

    ¡°Piss it! Ah well guess I will just have to make an other.¡± There was clear frustration in his voice but at this stage I didn¡¯t care.

    ¡°Now magic might get a bit squiffy inside the labyrinth, so I may not be able to communicate with you as clearly, I will still try and touch base though. Remember, you need to get to the centre, that¡¯s where the Orb Of Zephyr is. As soon as you find, =you high tail it out and get your asses back here as fast as possible ok. Just follow the river back up north the way you came and sure enough you will be back here in no time.¡±

    ¡°Erm, how are we going to cross the river when we get back.¡±

    ¡°We will cross that bridge when you get back.¡±

    If only it was that easy, I thought to myself.

    ¡°Now keep your wits about you in there, it not going to be easy, that labyrinth is going to play tricks on you, both of you and yes there may be some creatures and monsters in there of varying levels.¡± Just like that Sy vanished from my ear, leaving me and Raven gawping at the entrance to labyrinth.

    The entrance way looked as beautiful as it did deadly, the branches at the entranceway spiralled into a tunnel, natural steps forming between each section like it was a giant ribcage that e were walking into. Red rose like flowers were scattered around in the over growth as well as some orange gerbera, the petals of which were vibrant and fresh. The floral smell was alluring drawing us in closer. The ground had a cobblestone looked to it, stones, placed specifically to create a pathway in, someone had made this, it wasn¡¯t natural. How, how had someone created this place.

    Beyond the entranceway I could just see the coiling branches and flowers decorating the sides but as I got closer the entrance it was clear that we needed to be carful, thorns as large as branches protruded from the over growth, from the sides and above, like gnarling teeth waiting to bite down on us at every moment. As we stepped inside, all sound around us was immediately dampened, the roaring noise of the rapids vanished in an instant, the chatter of birds stopped and a looming, heavy sense of dread sat on my chest threatening to suffocate me.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

    All I could hear was my own heartbeat, our breathes and footprints as we started to navigate our way through the initial entrance of the labyrinth.

    ¡°Try not to touch anything,¡± I whispered. ¡°We don¡¯t know what this maze can do and Sy said we needed to keep our wits about us.¡±

    Raven didn¡¯t hesitate to draw on her scythes, twirling them in her hands, ready to strike out at anything that might jump out at us. The entrance way was like an illusion, from afar it looked like a winding tunnel but as we walked deeper it was clear the tunnel was getting smaller, the thorns reaching in closer and closer to us until we had no choice but to start hacking at them to clear a oath through.

    One of the thorns caught my arm, tearing my shirt and drawing blood from me, but it was only a light scratch. It was enough for me to become more aware, my senses were heightened and I continued to use forward until finally we were through the first section. I dint realise how much I was holding my breath until we made it through the tunnel and I was no longer crouching, reaching an opened up area.

    It was a maze inside a maze, the outer walls reaching up to the tree tops as high as I could see, the flowers dotted around like an ancient tapestry, it wrapped around the walls as if they were holding the growth back from truly taking over the space. In front of us though was a much smaller maze, one that at first glance sat at around my head height. From this vantage point I could see the pathway to the other side.

    ¡°Looks easy enough, We can do this one or two ways,¡± We take a mental shot of the path from this point and then we both go in together. Or you go in and I will guide you through from here. The second one makes more sense, we are both just more vulnerable if we split up than we are together.¡±

    Raven pointed at herself before then pointing down at the labyrinth, then pointed at me and held her hand up in a stop motion.

    ¡°Ok you want me to guide you through, that makes sense. Id rather we stuck together but if that¡¯s what you want to do then ok. Any sign of trouble I will be straight down. Besides I¡¯m pretty sure my dad always said in any kind of maze as long as you keep turning right you will always come out of the other side, or was it the left.¡±

    Raven looked at me like I was talking in riddles and hopped down to the lower area and walked at a crouch until she was at the entrance away of the smaller maze.

    ¡°Ok, set off straight then take a left, then a right.¡±

    Raven set off following the directions. They were simple enough to follow.

    ¡°Ok now you are going to carry on straight, there will be a turning on your left, ignore it, then your right ignore that too.¡±

    Raven continued forward, slowly, keeping her guard up, understandably. There was no sign of anything else being in here except us. I continued quideing her, but one thing I hadn¡¯t considered was that the further she got from me, the louder I needed to shout. I kept giving commands and Raven continued to follow them but the last couple, it took a second or so from me shouting to her actually moving.

    When she reached a cross section, I needed to take a moment to scan ahead to figure out which way it was that I needed to send her.

    ¡°Just hang on. Second,¡± I shouted, my words bounced around like I was skipping a pebble of water, it was disjointed, as it bounced around the labyrinth. Raven remained still, but she was getting farther away and I couldn¡¯t see her as clearly as I liked. ¡°Ok, I think you need to take a right here.¡±

    As Raven took a step forward though she vanished. ¡°Shit!¡±

    I stepped forward and as I did, something snagged on my ankle sending me smashing into the ground, a vine had wrapped around my ankle. One that I sure as shit knew was not there earlier. Without hesitation I reached for my sword and brought it down on the vine, severing it. It squealed like it was a living thing, the shriek cased me to wine and sent a shiver down my spine. The rest of the vine around my ankle fell loose and I kicked it off before scrambling to my feet and sprinting towards the labyrinth.

    ¡°Raven, if you can hear me, keep moving!¡± I cried out as loudly as I could but my echoing words, continued to bounce around me naturally. At one stage it sounded like the echo clapped past me from behind. ¡°I think this place is alive, like it can move on its own!¡±

    I set off at sprint through the entrance, as soon as I passed through the entranceway collapsed in on itself.

    I rushed forwards, skipping through the uneven ground, trying to retrace the path that I had given Raven, I had no time to think no time to get this wrong, as the walls behind me continued to collapse in on itself, the ground rumbled, as everything around me tried to consume me.

    Was it left then right? Right then left, then straight on?

    As easy as I thought it would be there was something about being under this amount of stress that made my memory turn to mush.

    Left then right, then straight ahead, I told myself.

    Thankfully I was right as I started navigating the path, the walls felt like they were closing from the sides, rustling as if something was ready to jump out at me at any moment.

    ¡°Raven,¡± I called out, ¡°I hope you can hear me, just keep pushing forward. It''s collapsing on itself.¡±

    Spiked thorns shot out from the walls, spraying my arm, they felt like bee stings, easy enough for me to ignore but I could only tolerate so many. Vines started whipping out that I either had to cut through, hop over or duck as I continued to push forward, tracing my memory as best a Is could, the last thing I wanted was to hit a dead end. Another spray of Thors fired at me, this time from my right hand side, they made the sound of multiple blow darts as they covered my left arm, one or two snagging into my neck. I swatted them away like mosquitos, my focus solely on getting the hell out of here.

    The wall, the ground, everything skipped past me so fast I barely had time to think which way I needed to turn, I just took the direction I though was the right one and thankfully it seemed to be so.

    When I reached the second cross section I knew this was where I saw Raven last, I scanned around quickly, sure that I had said to turn right, but did I. My brain was in hyper mode and I was overthinking everything.

    ¡°Raven, RAVEN!¡±

    The ground continued to rumble, enough to case me to stumble slightly, I was a head of the collapsing walls but they were catching up with me after than I liked.

    Try as I might I just couldn¡¯t remember which way it was, I was about to turn right certain this was the way I had told Raven to go when I noticed a scuff mark on the ground, a line in the dirt, it was a mark made by hands, I could see the tracks raking the soil. Then there were red settles sporadically scattered on the ground.

    ¡°Raven you genius!¡±

    I sprinted, following the petals, raising my arms to shield me whenever the walls sprayed the next line of dart, thorns at me. I had gotten used to the sting now, my legs were tiring and my breath was heavy, I activated my berserker skill once more, hoping it would help me keep going through. My vision turned to a red tinge, as my energy levels increased, suddenly I no longer felt tired and as hard as I ran, I did not lose any breathe.

    I felt like I had drank a potion of invigoration as I sprinted fast and hard, continuing to follow the petals, as the collapsing walls seemed to speed up behind me, I could feel the whoosh of air on my heels as I continued to hop over some loose vines and roots that were protruding out of the ground.

    As I rushed around a corner, I nearly skidded into the wall but when I looked up I could see an opening at the bottom, and stood in the centre was Raven, she was waving frantically at me. At least she was ok.

    There was about fifteen seconds left on my berserker counter and it was a straight run from here so I lowered my head and put everything I had into making it out of this place.

    It was a race against time as soon as my berserk ran out I knew I would slow down and I was only just keeping enough distance between me and the collapsing labyrinth. When I reached the end of the final section I leapt as hard as I could as the last of the walls collapsed behind me.

    When I landed on the ground I thought I was free, thought I had made it but a vine grabbed hold of my ankle and started pulling me towards the growling bushes.

    Raven tried pulling me but she wasn¡¯t strong enough and quickly let go before flipping over the top of me and throwing one of her scythes down, if she had missed I would have been an amputee, I wouldn¡¯t have cared as long as that thing did not drag me back. She didn¡¯t though. He scythe cut through the vine and with a squeal it retracted back into the collapsed mini maze.

    I rolled onto my back.

    "When we are done here, I need to find a bar. I need a drink!¡±

 Chapter 25 - Stepping Stones

    We continued to traverse the labyrinth, each step taking us deeper and deeper inside. I couldn¡¯t speak for Raven but I was on edge the entire time.

    Once we had gotten some distance from the collapsing maze, Raven had helped me with removing all of the thorns that had fired into me on my way through, I looked like a porcupine with the thorns definitely hurting when they were taken out than when they were shot into me. I had been peppered with them, Raven however had managed to get through unscathed other than a minor graze to her cheek where she must have slammed into the ground.

    ¡°I hope we have no more maze¡¯s to contend with,¡± I said as we continued to walk side by side, I was exhausted, we had already been through so much and yet somehow I felt like we were only just getting started. I didn¡¯t speak for the conversation, it was merely to fill the silent void between her, I was nervous, understandably so. Raven kept a calm exterior throughout our walk, despite the dangers that we had faced, truly nothing seemed to phase her and she just kept going.

    ¡°I know you can¡¯t tell me but I am interested as to how you are so bad ass, who knows maybe one day you will be able to tell me.¡±

    Raven didn¡¯t even glance up at me, choosing to focus on the terrain.

    ¡°Or not, it¡¯s up to you, I just want you to know that if you do. Want to talk about things. Well I am here, whatever it takes I want to find a way for you to be able to speak to me. Even if that means you teaching me how to sign.¡±

    Raven looked up at me this time, giving me the double bunny sign.

    I mimicked her hands and copied her.

    ¡°See I am getting it, bear with me kid, I am trying.¡±

    Raven smiled, dropping her serious exterior before shaking her head before stopping in her tracks. She pointed ahead.

    ¡°Is that?¡± My spirits raised when I realised what she was pointing at, in the distance there was a blackened glow, like a reverse light, it was strange, but it was circular.

    ¡°Do you think that¡¯s the Orb?¡± I didn¡¯t run, I didn¡¯t charge forward, I took my time, checking for traps, making sure there were no tricks this time. I had learnt my lesson from before and put it simply, I did not trust this place.

    It didn¡¯t take us long to get close enough to see what was ahead of us.

    The Orb sat atop a circular stone table in the middle of a large clearing. The floor was decorated in individual, stone slabs, all different shapes that connected in a large mosaic, different symbols carved into them. On the outer edges were a series of wooden platforms, vines and ropes hanging down in front of them. Around the outer edge was more stone and trees, that I didn¡¯t know where they led to. I honed in on the orb just to make sure it was what we were looking for and not a trap.

    Orb Of Zephyr

    Mythical Artefact

    Origins Unknown

    Details Unknown

    Well that isn¡¯t helpful, I thought. As I continued to look around.

    ¡°Careful, there must be more to this, this seems too easy.¡±

    Raven slapped her hand against her forehead and I knew by her smug grin that she was being sarcastic with me.

    ¡°It says it''s a mythical artefact, I am guessing that means it is pretty powerful.¡±

    Raven slapped her hand against her head again.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be a smart ass,¡±

    I took a step forward naively onto one of the stones in the ground, it crumbled under my foot, luckily I regained my composure and stepped back, peering into the blackened hole that now replaced the stone. Below was filled with wooden spikes, the smell was rancid, the air was stale and unforgiving and a bunch of flies made their escape, at least I thought they were flies anyway as they buzzed around me while I swatted at them before making their bid for freedom.

    ¡°Ok so we know the catch now. One wrong move and we will fall onto a pit of old wooden spikes, certain death it would see. Well it could be worse.¡± I laughed to myself, I didn¡¯t know who I was trying to kid. ¡°How are we meant to figure this one out?¡± I stood there scratching my head at the different symbols that were carved into the stone. They clearly meant something but the question was what?

    Raven knelt down and pressed on the stone in front of her, it crumbled under touch, the stones were definitely pressure activated.

    ¡°Careful kid.¡±

    She leant forward and pressed the stone next to it, that collapsed too. Kneeling up she scanned over the stones for a Monet before pointing me to towards the wooden platforms on the outer edge.

    I could see what she wanted me to do so I headed over and used the rope attached to climb up to the top. On the top there was another stone, with a carving on it, five other platforms were spread out forming a half circle around the back of the circular formation. I looked back at Raven and counted the stone steps between her and the Orb, there was five.

    ¡°Ok I think we have this figured out,¡± I said looking at the carving in front of me. "Can you see a carving of a tree?¡±

    Raven started walking around the outer edge of the circle stone before stopping, she gave me a thumbs up.

    ¡°Right, press it lightly, let¡¯s see if this works.¡±

    Raven pressed won on it slightly and the symbol in front of me flashed white with a blinding light. I could only hope that was a good thing.

    ¡°It still there?¡±

    When my vision returned, Raven was already standing on the stone, it was also lit up, the tracks of the carving, glowing brightly. The platform under me started rumbling, as I braced myself for it to collapse, I realised that the stone in front had me had pressed into the ground. A trap triggered firing arrows straight from the wall beside me. I lucked up to the sky and smiled, someone was watching over me as all three arrows that shot out missed me thankfully, I wouldn¡¯t have had time to dodge them, but at least now I knew that these things were rigged to activate when the corresponding stone was touched. I hopped down of the platform and climbed up to the next one to see what stone it was. Like the other, the carving sat in the centre of the stone.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

    ¡°This ones a snake, can you see a snake?¡±

    Raven looked around before finding it, as did I. It was a couple of stones away, likely to stop people from just pressing the stones, to find the right path.

    ¡°Can you reach it?

    Raven stood tall before leaping forward and landing on the stone with the snake on, with an agility I had no chance of, it was a good job she was down there and not me.

    After last time I wasn¡¯t taking any chances and I quickly happed from the platform onto the ground before anything could be shot at me. With a chink I heard a mechanism activate and from my right, a large log, with a pointed end came swinging at me through an opening in the trees.

    ¡°Shit!¡± I cursed as I dived forward clumsily, somehow dodging the trap. These guys were not messing around. I climbed up to the next one, tentatively looking at what the symbol was. ¡°This one is wavy lines, like the ocean, I assume you have an ocean here? Water maybe.¡±

    The next carving was three away from Raven. She stepped to the edge of her stone before taking a small step and leaping across, landing on the stone, this time stretching her arms out to keep balance.

    This time I just ran and jumped to the next platform and I was glad I did. No sooner did Raven land on the next stepping stone, a boulder came out of nowhere, flattening the platform completely. Another second or tow and I would have been toast.

    I pulled myself up and bent over panting.

    ¡°gimme a second kid, I don¡¯t know if you have noticed but as soon as you are landing on those things it is triggering traps on my end.¡±

    There were two more steps to go, two more pairs to match up and then we could get the hell out of here. When I looked at the next symbol it was hard to make out what it was, it was an animal, but what kind of animal I had no idea.

    ¡°Ok, so this one is kind of boar shaped, a pig or something like that.¡±

    Raven slapped her hands to her sides, clearly not impressed with my description.

    ¡°It''s got a long snout, I gestured with my hands while talking, looks like a few fangs.¡±

    I readied myself as Raven crouched ready to jump like a coiled spring. I noticed an extra detail, my focus being on the shape, of the picture I hadn¡¯t noticed the zigzag markings on the carvings side.

    ¡°Wait, there are zigzag markings on the side of it too.¡±

    I was too late though Raven had already leapt and me adding the detail did not help her one bit as she hesitated when she jumped. She wasn¡¯t going to make it and it was going to be my fault.

    Raven¡¯s movement wasn¡¯t clean, she kind of staggered in the air, slowing, the step she needed was the furthest one away too, about four steps away from her. There was no way I could have made that leap and I only think Raven could because she was a rogue.

    ¡°Raven!¡± I called out, not that me shouting after her gave her any sort of hand. She landed on the stepping stone just before the boar like one she needed. It crumbled like ash under neath her and she plummeted like a stone. Slamming her hands onto the right stone she clung on with her fingertips, struggling to keep a tight grip.

    ¡°Shit!¡±

    Raven held firm, struggling for a moment before pulling herself up and giving me the hardest death stare that I had had from her yet.

    I snapped back waiting for a trap to spring around me as the two stones lit up at the same time with a blinding flash. The sound of a latch unhooking caught my attention again, this time there was more of a grumble, like the entire ground in this place started to grumble and groan as it shook into life. It was enough to cause me to wobble as I struggled to keep my balance, Raven was ok though she had better agility than me. I wooden pole pushed its way out of the stone circle where the orb sat, it was thick, with spikes protruding out of it. Stone on stone grinded together ad to my horror the wooden spike started turning the lights of the puzzle. It was on the opposite side of you and moving fast than I would have liked.

    ¡°Look out Raven!¡± I pointed at the trap as it hurtled towards Raven. We needed to get to that last stone and quickly. Taking a running jump I cleared the air, fuelled by my adrenaline and landed on the final platform. This one rocked as I thundered into it and I worried that age and decay would cause it to collapse under my weight.

    I spun around as Raven vaulted straight up in the air as the wooden spike that was about the width of a tree trunk flashed by her. She landed back on the stone again managing to keep her balance while simultaneously giving me an expectant look.

    I looked at the stone in front of me, this one was more portrait like, it was a head and shoulder profile, with two large horns protruding from the side of its head.

    ¡°Ok this one is like a bull, it has two horns coming from the side of its head, I gestured the two horns, not that that would be much use to raven. She had to leap into the air again as the trunk whipped around again. ¡°Can you see the last stepping stone?¡±

    Raven started looking, as did I, the sooner we got her to safety the better.

    ¡°Over there?¡± I yelled, this stepping stone was even further away than the last, how was she meant to make that jump.

    Raven jumped over the trap again, it seemed to be speeding up, the spikes around it spread out unevenly across the surface.

    Raven clicked her neck and waited, she needed to be quick, if she wasn¡¯t as soon as she landed the trap would clatter into her and I was powerless to help. Her I hopped down from the platform and moved to the side of the puzzle to cheer her on, she was too far in for me to do anything though, I had no way of helping her and I felt powerless.

    ¡°You can do this Raven!¡± Was the best I could offer as I cheered her on from the ide.

    She waited, biding her time and I panicked, what was she doing, why wasn¡¯t she moving the trap was about to swing back around again.

    That was what Raven wanted, as the trap passed the stone with the bull she jumped across, planting one foot on the spiked trap and used it as a step to continue her momentum. I wasn¡¯t sure if she pressed into a spike or not, she didn¡¯t show any signs she did. She landed on the last stepping stone, before turning to face the stone centre circle and used her momentum to jump across to the middle, landing with a theatrical roll.

    ¡°Yeah!¡± I cheered, throwing my fist into the air as she had made it across. The spinning trap ground to a halt as Raven dusted herself off and moved towards the Orb Of Zephyr. She looked hesitant to pick it up as she approached, she removed her scarf to wrap it around her and then she did something that surprised me. She spun around and threw it across the circle pit around her, using her neck scarf as a sling. Her accuracy was impressive and it slammed straight into me and I wrapped my arms around it like a rugby ball.

    ¡°Get your ass back over here,¡± I said as I started to unwrap Raven¡¯s scarf and take a look at the Orb. It was heavy, it reminded me of when I used to play bowls with my grandpa at his nearby bowling club. It felt strangely satisfying to hold in my hand, an unnatural coldness to it. There was a cracked swirling marbled pattern in the finely polished stone and it had a strange glowing black energy around it. It reminded me of the negatives you used to get on old school photographs, before everything went digital. I felt charged with it in my possession, but at the same time it made me feel uneasy, a strange anxiety pushing to the centre of my chest that I couldn¡¯t shake.

    The Orb Of Zephyr

    When you activate this thing you will know

    Only the chosen can wield this Mythical artefact.

    Chaos

    Its description gave me know clue how to activate it, the best thing we could do was get this back to Sy and let him tell us what it was and what it did.

    Raven started hopping across the stepping stones back to me as I wrapped the orb back up in her scarf, draping it around my shoulder so I could wear it like a papouse, holding the orb close to my chest. My heart beat felt intensified against it, it was almost nauseating.

    ¡°You did great kid,¡± I said as Raven reached me.

    The ground rumbled again and the last of the strapping stones lit up, this time there was a thunderous roar followed by heavy footsteps coming from the clearing on the opposite side of us. I had completely forgotten about the final trap, except this time it sounded like something living was coming for me. It stepped out from the trees.

    ¡°You have got to be fucking kidding me!¡±

 Chapter 26 - Minotaur

    A guttural roar built of anger and hatred shook everything around us, I felt it in my bones and I froze, what was I looking at and how were we meant to survive this thing.

    The monster stomped its way into the puzzle pit, slamming angry feet into the ground. It must have stood at about twelve to fifteen feet tall, with a huge hulking frame.

    ¡°Is that a minotaur?¡± I said, my mouth wide open as I took in the monstrous form in front of us.

    It only wore, torn fabric around its midriff, a skull sitting in the centre of a metal, spiked, chained belt which wrapped around its waist. Its body was shaped like a mans, except it was covered in a light brown fur, thick muscles rippled across its body. The creatures arms and legs had thick, spiked metal bands wrapped around its wrists and ankles, chains hanging lily from them. Just how long had this thing been chained up. However long it had been it had only served to make it more angry and unfortunately for us we were in its cross hairs. Its hands were gripping a giant axe, the outer edge shaped like a crescent, moon, rusted and crude. The creatures face was the most terrifying part, though. Hit was huge I couldn¡¯t see the creatures neck, its hair or fur wrapping around it like a darkened main, its nose was a hole in the centre of its face, its eyes dark and sunken. Large jagged teeth snapped and snarled as it slammed its feet into the ground like it was going to charge at us. Two symmetrical tusks curled out from the bottom of its mouth. It had two large serrated horns, protruding from the side of its head that looked more metal than bone, cracked, with rat clinging to the upper edge. A central, thicker horn poked out the centre of its head, cracked and chipped, this looking more like bone.

    Extendabull

    Level 15

    Fuelled by a primal rage and cursed by the gods themselves. This monster is the guardian of the Labyrinth. If you are seeing him, then the best option for you is to run.

    ¡°Raven are you seeing this?¡± I asked, I still wasn¡¯t sure if Raven could read stats like I could, ¡°Apparently this thing is level fifteen, we have no chance against it.

    The Extendabull let out a ferocious roar, shaking its head as if it battled with its own thoughts, it slammed its large hoofed foot into the ground again, dragging it behind it and started charging straight at us.

    Its speed was frightening, moving faster than a creature of that size should be.

    ¡°Run!¡±

    I didn¡¯t have to tell Raven twice, she was already making her way back in the direction we came from and I was hot on her tail. With a smash, the ground rumbled and a whoosh of air blew from behind us, I didn¡¯t want to turn, I didn¡¯t want to see the damned thing again. I just dug deep and ran as fast as my legs could carry me, Raven was faster but I kept up as best as I could.

    The Extendabull¡¯s steps continued to shake the ground with every violet step that it took, its grunts and snarls far enough away to grant me the faintest bit of comfort.

    When we excited the area, confusion whirled around me as I realised the mini maze had gone, it had been replaced with another. How, why had this happened it was as if the Labyrinth was a living breathing thing and it wanted us to fail.

    ¡°Keep going!¡± I called out as Raven shot inside, I was right behind her, the sides of the maze were taller than before. ¡°Keep right,¡± I said, convinced that this would see us to the exit. Raven did as I said and I followed her, this worked well for the first couple of turns and my chest heaved, I could hear the Extendabull but I could not see it and that was utterly terrifying.

    ¡°Shit!¡± I cursed as we reached a dead, end spin round, ¡° keep tracking to your right,¡± I was sure this was the right way to do things, sure this was what my dad had told me all those years ago when I was just a kid. What I would give for him to be with me now, well not in this moment but to be able to give me the advice that I needed.

    With thud the Extendabull crashed through the side of the hedge to our left about ten feet ahead. It ripped through the walls like they were made of paper, sending throned, splintered shrapnel spilling out in every direction.

    It roared loudly until a rumble and thud told me it had crashed into something.

    ¡°Go!¡± I said the two of us momentarily frozen. We rushed forward, I glanced to my right, the Extendabull was around twenty feet away shaking its head as it searched around for us. We continued tracking the walls of the maze, I could hear the echoes cries of the master as it charged around like a feral animal searching for us.

    We ran and ran, navigating the maze but it did not take long for it to feel like we were lost. We passed another hole in the hedged wall where the Extendabull had crashed through and I couldn¡¯t help but think we had already been here.

    ¡°We¡¯re going around in circles,¡± how are we meant to find our way out of here.

    The monster smashed through the wall behind us, this time it led with its axe, barely missing me. How, how were we meant to get out of this place, what were we meant to do. There was no way that we could face of against the Extendabull, is was such a higher level than us.

    We continued pushing through the maze, when I remembered what Raven had done with the flower petals in the last maze. ¡°Keep pulling the flowers out¡± I said, panting like a dog, desperately searching for breath s I busted a lung to keep as much distance as I could between us and the Extendabull. ¡°It, it will help us track where we have already been, that way if we see petals on the floor we keep running in the opposite direction.¡±

    The plan made sense at least it did to me, I started raking my hands grazing what flowers I could from the walls, pulling off the flowers, decorating the ground with their delicate petals. We took a hard right, my ankle rolling as we turned, I stumbled forward needing to press my hand into the ground to stop me from falling over.

    With a chop the Extendabull¡¯s axe came slamming down in front of me, carving the earth, mud sprayed over me like a grenade had just exploded in front of m. If I hadn¡¯t of stumbled that would have made contact with me.

    ¡°Go!¡± I called out to raven, ¡° I¡¯ll catch you up.¡±Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

    The monster swung out an arm at me, catching me in the shoulder, it was as if I had run in front of a steam train, the force was incredible and my health bar flashed dangerously low as I rolled backwards several times, only stopping when I hit the boundaries of the hedge wall. I cried out in pain, my left arm and shoulder fell limp, that thing had shattered my bones. I quickly searched my inventory for a health potion, drinking it as fast as I could before scrambling to my feet. The Expendable had eyes for me and lowered its head, gripping its axe as it charged at me once again. I dropped the health potion vile, only managing to drink about half of it as I scampered away. It was enough to reduce the pain in my shoulder to a dull ache but at least I had my mobility back. I could not afford to be hit like that again, I only had one more health potion left.

    I glanced over my shoulder as the monster smashed straight though the wall where I just was, that thing had no control, it was charging at speed in straight lines and I could use this to my advantage. Ahead of me there were scatterings of red petals, they trailed of to the right so I took a left, hopefully there was more than one way out of the maze.

    I skidded to a stop as I passed a hole in the wall where the Extendabull had ripped through, I could use these tracks, they could be like a short cut back to where I was before I got separated from Raven. The Expendabull roared again, it was far too close, so I took the torn up path,, bits of hedge and roots made it difficult to run fast but hopefully it would give me the edge I needed, and more importantly the distance.

    When my foot snagged on a root I instantly regretted my decision as I face planted the ground and slid to a stop, before I had chance to react, thick thorn filled vies reached from the earth, and gripped me tightly. As I struggled against the vines, the thorns bedded into my skin, but that did not stop me from trying, the was no way that I was going down without a fight.

    I continued to kick and struggle, lashing out wildly, desperate to escape, the vines only grew tighter as it became harder to breath. When the Expendable stomped into the broken opening in the wall, it turned slowly, breathing angrily through its nose, its blackened, unforgiving eyes, showing no sign of resolution. It had one thing in its mind and one thing only.

    Its head shook again and the beast started beating its chest, this things level already dwarfed my own, it only just caught me in the shoulder before and nearly destroyed me, like it needed to be any more amped up for a fight.

    ¡°We don¡¯t ned to do this,¡± I said, I had no idea why, ¡°Just let us leave, preferably with the orb but hey if that¡¯s a non - negotiable then I will put it right back where we found it.¡±

    The monster continued an anxiety fuelling slow walk towards me, each thunderous step causing me to recoil into myself. I pressed my legs into the ground, pushing my arms out into the vines naively thinking my strength would cause them to simply snap. They only gripped me tighter, and I could feel my face bulge as it threatened to make my head explode with pressure. The Orb was pressing into my rib and I could swear I heard a crack, not the ribs - not again, I thought to myself as I fought in defiance, I couldn¡¯t go out like this.

    I did have one more thing up my sleeve and I started tapping into the one thing that seemed to help me trigger it ever single time.

    With the last few struggled, laboured breathes I had I said, ¡°Fuck¡­. you¡­¡­ Jerry!¡±

    For some reason this is what my mind latched onto to help me activate my berserker skill.

    Berserker Skill Activated

    The berserker symbol came into my screen with a thirty second timer which started counting down straight away, I drew on my increased strength and pushed out against the vines in defiance, not just at them but the whole situation. It was like I was in a nightmare that I was desperate to wake up from.

    I was able to flex the vine enough to give me some breathing space but they were still too strong, still able to hold me in place as the Extendable started its advance on me.

    When the vines started loosening enough, it aggressively grunted again and let out another roar that brought another wave of sheer panic. I was no match for it, I couldn¡¯t fight it. All I had was to run.

    With its final step it raised its rusted, serrated axe high above its head, but I wasn¡¯t giving in, I didn¡¯t wanted to submit. All my life I had ran away from conflict, did as I was told by people who were in positions of power over me. Again it was Jerry¡¯s face that triggered every ounce of defiance in me, that smug, rugged face, he got the flash cars, the fancy cars, the promotions and the women and I got nothing, every time even though I did all the work. Deep burning rage poured into me, the vines wrapping around me groaning like strained leather as they threatened to finally snap. I was not going to die today, not in this world.

    ChAoS MOdE activated

    The notification flashed up in big black letters across my vision, a golden edge to the lettering that made it stand out boldly.

    The red mist that wrapped around my periphery vision when I was in berserk mode became more concentrated, it creeped across my vision, like blackened tendrils turning black as it consumed me.

    I hadn¡¯t a clue what the hell this was but it felt incredible, I let out my own scream, one bore of frustration and anger and as I pushed against the vines again they shrieked as they snapped and flailed around in the air as I broke free.

    Hopping uptown my feet as if I had channelled my inner Raven I should have ran, I should have every ounce of what I had left in me to turn and run, that would have been the logical thing to do. That was what the mouse inside me would have done, continued to run and hide, to do what I needed to in order to survive. But whatever this chaos mode was it did something to me, it changed me, changed the way I thought, my senses were supercharged, the air feeling like I was breathing in a menthol, sound was more intense, hyper focus, I was aware of every minuscule detail around me. I was moving quicker, before I had time to think of a plan I was already acting it was like the Extendable was moving in slow motion as I charged towards it.

    What was I thinking, I knew I couldn¡¯t take this thing. I knew I couldn¡¯t kill it but that didn¡¯t mean I couldn¡¯t put up a fight. Black energy surrounded me, replacing the red I was used to, it was stronger, firing up a fierce storm around me filled with static energy. Grabbing hold of the Expendabull¡¯s arm I stopped his attack, straining against the monsters incredible strength. The pressure was intense, my feet pressed into the ground, which cracked around me. I should have been toast, left as nothing but a bloodied pulp, but I wasn¡¯t and this only served to antagonise the Extendabull even more.

    Its warm putrid breath sat in the air, I could feel each grunted snarl that it made like a torrent of wind. But I continued to stand in defiance, standing firm, putting every ounce of strength into pushing the beast back, I had no clue where this strength came from and I did not care, berserking was kind of fun this was something else.

    The Extendable continued to grimace and snarl as its warm spit splashed against me, I dug in as deep as I ever had before and started to push back against it, using all my might.

    ¡°Not today!¡± I said, My voice sounded different, there was an echo to it was magnified, intense and intimidating. The Expendaull pulled back its axe and took another swing at me, its speed increasing, I was overly confident, could I actually defeat this thing?

    I immediately regretted my confident as the Expendabull¡¯s axe crashed into me.

    Berserker Skill Activated

    Ricochet

    Incoming attacks have a 5% chance of deflecting back onto the attacker.

    Stacks Up-To 50%

    What the, I hadn¡¯t unlocked and skills other than berserking, that sounded badass. Before I had chance to realise what was happening the Extendabull let out a screaming roar of agonising pain. With a thud, the arm holding the axe slammed into the ground with a thud and blood sprayed everywhere. Somehow this skill had caused the monster to sever its own arm instead of mine.

    As the Extendable looked down in its arm then back at me, it started staggering backwards, blood spraying the ground red like it was a farmer muck spreading in the fields, it was disgusting, with my heightened senses I could taste the iron in the air, rusted iron at that.

    My berserker icon, had turned black with some kind of energy field around it, the timer was at two seconds, as it counted down the Extendabull, slapped its hand over its arm, covering the stump which sat below its elbow, it turned and ran.

 Chapter 27 - What the hell was that

    Return To Sy¡¯s Oasis With The Orb Of Zephyr

    The updated mission flashed up before disappearing just as quickly.

    I had not wasted any time high tailing it out of the maze, suddenly the pressure was gone, that fear subsided, but the splitting headache I had when my chaos mode had de-activated told me that I had spent just about all of the energy that I had. Stinging pain gnawed into the side of my head, sending jolts of pain down my face and my shoulders, in wave after wave of sporadic bursts.

    It didn¡¯t stop me from making my way out and I continued to stumble through the labyrinth until I finally reached the entranceway, where Raven was stood like nothing had happened. I was battered and bruised as I ran past her and out into the open, and started laughing and wheezing as I prayed that there were no other tests.

    I swear if a shog had jumped out right then and there, I would have punched it in the face.

    Raven looked at me more in shock than in awe, then peered, expecting to see the Extendabull chasing after us. She gave me an untrusting look, that was also part confused.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think that thing is going to be bothered about us for a while.¡± I said, breathing heavily, I was still bent over, hands braced on my legs as I heaved in as much air as I could. ¡°I have not got a clue what happened in there, something happened to me, something activated inside of me, I got a notification saying Chaos Mode. Any idea what that means.¡±

    Raven shrugged and shook her head as she walked towards me she started signing, fast and frantic, too fast for me to keep track of, I couldn¡¯t understand anything she was saying but her wide eyes and rare smile told me that she was happy. When she reached me she gave me a playful dig on the arm and as I stood up I ruffled her hair playfully, she slapped my hands away.

    ¡°You did great in there too kid! The way you jumped about those stones and dodged that trap, that was insane.¡± I was speaking fast, a wave of hyperactivity washing over me. There was so much I wanted to go through and we did as we had a step by step debrief as we followed the river back towards Sy¡¯s oasis. It was me that did all the talking but Raven, to her credit did sign along, there was the odd sign that I was starting to familiarise myself with but nothing that mad us able to have a two way conversation. I still appreciated her listening.

    I had taken my last health potion and a stamina potion too as soon as I could, while they helped me with the cuts and bruises I had received in that chase through the labyrinth it had done nothing to quell the horrendous pain I was still getting through my head. It was worth it though, if not for that random skill activating, then that would have been me gone and for the time being, I took comfort in feeling like there was some kind of higher being watching over me. If I had a way of saying thanks directly to them, I would not hesitate.

    We were just heading past a bend in the river, following the rapids back up like Sy had told us to when the faded static screen popped up in my vision.

    ¡°Hold up, I think Fidget is trying to get through to me.¡±

    Raven raised her finger to her lips and disappeared into my shadow again, just like she did last time, there was more here that I needed to pick a part but for now I waited for her to appear.

    The static continued for a few moments before Fidget appeared, her face was bloodied and she had a black eye.

    ¡°Silas, Silas,¡± She said, in a panic, when her eyes settled on me she seemed to immediately calm, her shoulders dropping and she offered me a worried smile. ¡°Thank the gods! I when I couldn¡¯t get through to you, when I couldn¡¯t find a connection, well I thought the wise had happened to you. It''s been longer than I would have liked since we last spoke but it has been too dangerous.¡±

    ¡°What happened to you? You look like you have been run over by a truck?¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s a truck?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s just a figure of speech that we use back home, never mind,¡± I didn¡¯t have the energy to go into detail about what it meant, my head was pounding, and Fidget appearing on a screen send a wave of nausea over me, a flash of heat rising up in my face.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

    ¡°I could say the same to about you? Silas are you ok? You look like you have been in a fight with a cave troll.¡±

    It was good to know those things existed and I made a mental note not to go anywhere near caves in the future.

    ¡°You first, where have you been? I thought you would have been in touch before now.¡± I asked as I took the opportunity to take a drink of water.

    ¡°Well after our last call, I was ambushed, it seems that somehow I am being tracked, by Belzebere¡¯s minions. When ever I communicate to you, they seem to be able to find my general location. I have no idea how but she must be desperate. She sent a group of twelve reavers last time and although they are a lower level than me, my magic isn¡¯t fully replenished since,¡± She cut herself of, getting lost in her thoughts for a moment before returning to the conversation, she shook her head, her jowls shook,, and there was a slapping noise as she did it. "I had to remind myself I was talking to a half human, half dog sorceress.

    ¡°Are you ok? You look kind of beat up.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, just a little battered and bruised. Probably my own fault for becoming too reliant on my magic since I started my apprenticeship. Belzebere, will need to send more reavers than that if she wants to stop me.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve been meaning to talk to you more about her,¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately now isn¡¯t the time, I can¡¯t stay on too long because that¡¯s when I think they can lock in on my location.¡±

    ¡°And where is it you are,¡± I asked.

    ¡°Far north of you in the Ferera region, there is not much here apart from, bandits and frost scorpions and obviously reavers but they are only here because of me., If I continue south, it is only a matter of time before I can get to you. Now more importantly, did you find Sy?¡±

    ¡°I did, he is a pretty cool guy.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± Fidget gave me a puzzled look, ¡°Why would he be cold? He is in a forest.¡±

    I chuckled to myself as I continued, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, Sy has been a great help, he took us in,¡± I quickly corrected myself, ¡°Me, he took me in.¡± Thankfully Fidget didn¡¯t seem to notice my mix up, Raven apparently anted to keep hidden for whatever reason and I wanted to respect that.

    ¡°Thank goodness, I was worried that he wouldn¡¯t, he said after me he was done. But I hoped he would be willing to help.¡±

    ¡°He was hesitant at first, but he showed me around and put me through my paces, he even sent me on my first quest, I imagine to kind of prove to him that I am in fact a guardian, I think that¡¯s why you couldn¡¯t get through to me. He said he wouldn¡¯t be able to communicate with me while I was inside the Labyrinth, because of the magic, I assume it interferes with the signal or whatever it is that you use to communicate around here.¡±

    ¡°He sent you to the Labyrinth already? He must be impressed, or in a rush, one or the other anyway. How did you get on, did you find the orb?¡±

    ¡°You know about the orb?¡± I asked, suddenly finding myself more intrigued.

    ¡°Of course I do, all guardians do, well the ones that survive anyway, The Orb Of Zephyr only shows itself to those who have the potential to be guardians. The puzzles change every time, they are unique to the person who enters but that Extendabull, he is one determined creature! Tell me how did you get past him? When it was my turn in there, I cast an illusion spell to distract it so I could sneak on past him, frightful thing, ridiculously overpowered.¡±

    ¡°I cut off his arm, at least I think I did, something activated within me, I didn¡¯t really have any con-¡±

    ¡°You cut of its arm?¡± Fidget shouted across the screen excited at the prospect, ¡°I have no doubt in my mid that-¡± there was a strange ring, similar to an alarm clock, an old school one with the metal bells at the top.

    ¡°I¡¯ve got to go, my times up, I need to keep these conversations as short as possible. It sounds like you are making great progress and I will be in touch as soon as it safe to do so, say hi to Sy for me.¡± The screen cut of abruptly and vanished from my vision.

    Every conversation with Fidget was a hundred miles an hour but I was starting to get used to her, she seemed nice, if a little quirky.

    ¡°You can come out now,¡±

    Raven reappeared in front of me, I still couldn¡¯t get my head around whatever kind of spell she was using, it was trippy to watch, extremely cool but trippy none the less.

    ¡°What¡¯s the deal with that?¡± I asked before Raven could set off walking again.

    ¡°Why do you keep hiding when Fidget calls?

    Raven started signing at me, frustration in her eyes as she tried to explain to me. But I was still just as useless at reading sign language as I was the day that I arrived here.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I can¡¯t tell what you are saying. But as soon as we find a way for you to tell me, I am going to need you to tell me exactly what it is you are hiding from. It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t trust you, but if we are going to stick together I need to know what is going on. And don¡¯t worry, I haven¡¯t forgotten that your whispers quest is still open to me.¡±

    Raven signed again, this time she was more deflated, as if she was fed up of trying to communicate with me and not being any closer to being able to.

    I felt guilty, how could I not, she could understand what I was saying but she wasn¡¯t able to speak to me, tell me what she was thinking or how she was feeling and that tore me up. It was something that I wanted to fix.

    ¡°When we get back, can you spend some time showing me how to sign, like the basics. I mean it¡¯s ok Sy training us to get stronger and how to fight but, I need to make sure I can understand you, you know I want to help give you a voice.¡±

    Raven gave me a half smile which told me she appreciated the sentiment, she waved me over to follow her and we continued our journey back.

 Chapter 28 - A Welcome Return

    We made it back to Sy and his oasis in what I thought was good time, when we arrived at the camp, he was stood waiting for us patiently, he had a look about him like he had been working out. His face was reddened, sweat beading on his head and he was still choosing to wear an overside hoody, this one was an off cream, or white. It had when patches in his arm pits and in a deep v shape around his neck.

    I couldn¡¯t imagine why he would wear such a thick jumper to work out in but that was his choice. Thick, tree trunk like legs were on show underneath his pastel blue shorts, that came down to his knees. I took a moment to admire the tattoos that decorated his lower legs. They were of no order and seemed to be random things patched together rather than one large picture. There was a cartoon mouse, a cat of the same style, a portrait of a dog and a spider web, that¡¯s all I made out before I raised my head, not wanting to look like I as staring.

    Sy had a huge grin on his face, one that escaped his thick brown beard, his blue eyes beaming as he readjusted his green beanie hat on his head. Magenta padded around his feet pecking sporadically at the thick grass where they stood. There was no sign of Mal, I figured he was in the lagoon taking a swim, but up until now I had never seen the two ducks separated.

    Sy had offered us a wave, one that I returned, glad to see him, I was tired and desperately needed some rest. Raven didn¡¯t wave she just continued her walk, heading straight past Sy and down the rope ladder. I assumed to go to her favoured position in the oasis, the hammock. I didn¡¯t blame her, I wanted to do the same but before I did anything I knew I would need to update Sy on the mission.

    ¡°Where¡¯s Mal?¡± I asked, stretching my back as I stopped in front of Sy¡¯s house where he stood. It clicked with a satisfying crunch and I wondered for a moment what I would give to have a good back massage a spa. I had pushed my body to its limits this last week and the fatigue was catching up with me, no amount of potions would help me with that.

    ¡°He is off running some errands for me, figured I would do my own bit of research on the Chaos Blade fragments that you mentioned, see if there is anything I can do to help. I could really do with a conversation with Fidget at some point.¡± Sy folded his arms. ¡°I¡¯m not going to lie, I am a little bit disappointed that you have not been able to bring my raft back, took me months to get that thing working like it did. You have no idea how much trial and error went into perfecting it."

    ¡°Maybe next time warn me about the shogs.¡±

    ¡°We have already had this conversation, they are not usually this far south, I can¡¯t imagine them enjoying the rapids and they usually prefer a warmer climate.¡± his eyes fixed on the self made papouse fashioned from Raven¡¯s scarf, ¡°All can be forgiven if that Is what I think it is,¡± His smile returned, part awe part pride. ¡°Did you manage to get it?¡±

    ¡°I did,¡± I said, pulling the weighted orb from my shoulder, keeping it wrapped in the scarf. Suddenly I felt as though I was ten feet tall, a literal weight lifted from me, it was surprisingly heavy even how dense it was, but keeping it close to my chest as we hiked back had been the sensible thing to do.

    Sy took the orb with both hands and removed some of the ripped, black fabric to take a peek at the metal orb. There was no glow coming from it and I did worry that its power had been used. I had thought about it on our walk back and it was clear to me that the chaos mode that had activated had something to do with this orb. It had to. ¡°You know, the orb of Zephyr only shows its self to those worthy of holding the title of -¡±

    ¡°Guardian?¡± I said, cutting him off, ¡°Fidget made contact with me on our way back, so I have already had that conversation. She told me all about how she got past the guardian.¡±

    Sy laughed, ¡°Well there is no doubt about it now, you have retrieved the orb and in doing so proven that you have what it takes to become a guardian.¡±

    ¡°So I am a Guardian now?¡± I said.

    ¡°Not quite, there is still a long way to go, this was the first step of many you will need to take in order to reach that level.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t wait,¡± I said with an intentional sarcastic tone.

    ¡°How did you get out?¡± Sy asked, he went and took a seat on a little bench that sat in front of his house, with the width of his shoulders there was only room for him but Magenta managed to find a little spot beside him where she got herself comfortable and curled into a little oval shape ball. Sy rested his huge hand on her and started stoking the back over neck and head.

    ¡°I want every detail,¡±If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    I must have spent at least half an hour running through everything that had happened from the second we left him, it was one hell of a monologue. The rapids, the shots, how Raven had nearly fallen into the water, navigating the labyrinth as wee search for the Orb Of Zephyr.

    Sy remained wide eyed, intently listening like he was listening to the best story he had ever hear in his life. I was animated as I explained everything, jumping around, kicking out as I acted out every part of our quest.

    ¡°And I could smell the Expendabull¡¯s breath, it was disgusting,¡± I said as I was getting to the most exciting part. ¡°I thought that was it, I was going to die and all this had been for nothing, I had failed.¡±

    ¡°How did you get out?¡± He said reaching into his hoody and placing something in his hand, I figured they were nuts as he started popping them like he was eating popcorn at the cinema. ¡°Tell me man, I am on the edge of my seat here.¡±

    ¡°Something happened to me, something strange, that I wasn¡¯t expecting. I was desperate to escape and I activated my berserk mode, it was all I had left in me. I was determined not to go down without a fight. A got a system notification that something called Chaos Mode had activated and it did something to me.¡±

    ¡°No, fucking way!¡± Sy interrupted me, his jaw dropped before he clapped his hands together in excitement. ¡°That is incredible, do you understand how rare that is?¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°So the Orb Of Zephyr has mystical properties as you would expect from a mystical artefact, but you need help or technology, as best as you can get in this world anyway, to tap into it. The Chaos Dust that it produces has so many properties that you can use. One of them is channelling the power of your class.¡± Sy rubbed his hands together and Magenta gave him a look of disapproval as he disturbed her rest.

    ¡°Chaos dust?¡± I repeated, there certainly wasn¡¯t anything that had seen Ince having the orb in my possession that was dust like.

    ¡°Well the orb itself is an artefact that can be turned into chaos dust, with the right equipment and magic, it is not an easy process and it certainly not something I can help you with here. That Chaos Dust can be used however you so wish to craft weapons, armour, or enhance your class abilities.¡±

    ¡°It made me stronger,¡± I said, ¡°Like so much stronger than I should have been, I was able to grab hold of the Expendabull¡¯s arm and stop its attack.¡±

    ¡°This is what is incredible,¡± Sy said, he was becoming more and more animated himself. ¡°You would normally need to compete the next stage of your training, the next rung on a big ladder to becoming a guardian, that would be harvesting the Chaos Dust from the orb. But somehow, somehow you were able to tap into its power in it rawest form. I have never heard of this before.¡±

    ¡°So Chaos Mode activated and you took that axe and cracked open the Expendabull¡¯s skull, there¡¯s no other way you could be here.¡± He stopped for a moment his eyes scanning over me like he could see right through me, before turning his head to the side. ¡°No, no that can¡¯t be right, your level hasn¡¯t gone up, killing the Extendabull would have gave you a serious power creep, especially if it was such a higher level compared to you.¡± He looked at me again, ¡°What was it you did?¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything, the Extendabull went to hit me with its axe and I thought that it was going to cleave me in half when a skill activated that I have never heard of. I think it was called ricochet.¡±

    ¡°A-MAZ-ING¡± Sy laughed, slapping his hands against his knee, ¡°Do you have any idea how lucky you are to be alive right now? That is the beauty of Chaos Mode, especially when you are a lower level like yourself. When activated Chaos Mode will randomly pick an ability located in your skill tree and give it a boost, like a super charged boost. It is overpowered and what sets Guardian¡¯s apart from everyone else. Now if I remember rightly, ricochet is one of the top end skills of your swordzerker skill tree, designed to deflect incoming attacks while you are in berserk mode.¡± Sy¡¯s eyes widened again, ¡°Holy shit, you deflected the Expendabull¡¯s attack didn¡¯t you.¡± He jumped to his feet and started bouncing around like a child. ¡°This is incredible,¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what happened I guess, the stack said I had a fifty-fifty chance of deflecting incoming attacks. When it hit me, it kind of severed its own arm of. That¡¯s when I took the opportunity to turn and run, I didn¡¯t see it again after that and was able to escape the Labyrinth with the orb.¡± I thought on what Sy had said about experience, it felt disappointing not to have levelled up more, given everything we had done. ¡°What you said about experience, does that mean?¡±

    ¡°The Extendabull is still alive? Absolutely, you will only get experience for killing enemies here my friend. He halted himself to some more of whatever it was that he was eating.¡±

    ¡°What are those?¡±

    ¡°Remember those mushrooms I asked you to keep an eye out for? Did you find any?¡±

    ¡°No sorry,¡±

    ¡°Shame this is the last of what I have, makes everything you are telling me seem like I am watching it on a big screen.¡±

    His pupils were completely black and filled his eyes like he had licked a poisonous toad.

    ¡°Wait a minute, are you high right now?¡±

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t use the term high, but you will not believe the detail I am seeing everything you are telling me. I am going to need to lie down in my snug for a while to process everything that you have told me, these shrooms are going to send me on the craziest ride, it¡¯s almost spiritual. I am telling you, you have got to try these one day, it is one of the best things about this world.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m ok thanks, I think I will pass.¡±

    ¡°Your loss, but I respect that, now I am going you to keep your self busy for a little while, while I ride this out. Do what you need to, get some rest, don¡¯t stray beyond the boundaries. Come on Magenta,¡± He said, nodding his head towards his house, I had wondered why he was so happy and animated and now it all made sense. Magenta hopped down form the bench and followed Sy inside. I took the opportunity to sit on the bench and take in the view over the lagoon.

    There was so much information to process.

 Chapter 29 - A Sign Of The Times

    I didn¡¯t hear or see Sy for the remainder of the day and I hadn¡¯t wanted to disturb him, I had taken it easy and got a good nights rest, I had decided to sleep outside, the weather was nice and it was peaceful, and there was something special about staring up into the night sky, watching the stars as I let my mind fold into the blissful darkness that was sleep. The night sky was different here, there was a green hue to it bleed with a deep purple. The stars themselves littered the sky, in little clusters much like the constellations that I was used to but in different shapes. I had spend a good few hours mapping them and giving them names, seeing what shapes they formed. Mostly the ones that picked out all drew a similarity with weapons. I found a sword, bow a mace and even a tiny cluster that looked like a dagger.

    I wondered if they were somehow linked to the skill trees I had seen and then my mind went down that rabbit hole for way too long. It had helped settle me after what had been a pretty traumatic period, there was so much I had learnt, so much that I had changed and at no point had I ever had any time to process it.

    After waking up I had taken my self down to the lagoon for an early swim, leaving my clothes in a pile by the house, Raven was fast asleep on her hammock, peaceful and motionless. It was the only time she looked relaxed, the pale features other face, softening as she rested. I say the word loosely as she still had one hand tucked to the hilt of her scythe, ready to strike out at any moment if she needed to, coiled like a viper. It was enough to cause me to not get too close in case she woke and mistook me for an attacker and slit my throat, so I had got into the lagoon and done forty five to fifty lengths, I had lost count a couple of times a Is found myself getting lost in the water. It was enough to allow me to loosen the stresses of the last few days.

    Finishing up I dried myself off with a towel, Sy had left out for me and returned to the house to get changed.

    To my surprise, my clothes were not by my makeshift bed where I left them, the towels draped over my shoulders I headed inside.

    ¡°Sy? Have you moved my clothes?¡±

    ¡°Morning,¡± he said, startling me. He was walking around the corner at the far side of his house. ¡°Your clothes are out back drying, I gave them a wash for you while you were having a swim. They were a bit torn up and bloody so we will have them as good as new in no time.¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t have to do that, but thanks.¡± The thought had crossed my mind, more so after the shog guts and Extendabull blood that had sprayed over me. My clothes stank.

    ¡°In the meantime, you can wear this. Sorry it¡¯s not in your size but it is all I have. Maybe if you find a merchant you will be able to get some armour or something. The clothes you have literally offer you no protection and out there you re going to need all the stat boosts you can get, regardless of what you look like.¡± Sy tossed me an item of clothing. It drowned me when I caught it and had a rough texture too it, it reminded me of a towel that had been left on the washing line to dry for too long. It had a grassy smell to it, with a hint of lemon, and a spice that I couldn¡¯t quite put my finger on. I opened up the clothing to see that it was twice the size of what I needed. I put it on and it draped over me like a kaftan, it was dark green and frayed around the edges but it was better than walking around in my boxer shorts.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± I said as I stretched into it. ¡°How are you feeling today?¡±

    ¡°I feel great, managed some deep thinking in my snug. If you ever need a place to chill and gather your thoughts you are more than welcome.¡±

    I was curious what the snug looked like, having not been inside but I wanted to go and see Raven, I had something I wanted to ask her, something we had discussed on our way back here, well something I had said. I pointed to some fruit on the table.

    ¡°Can I?¡±

    ¡°Help yourself, that¡¯s why it is there.¡±

    The fruit I grabbed was the shape of an apple except it was bright purple, it was my favourite thing that I had eaten here and had a sweet flavour to it that matched the thicker texture to the fruit. The outer skin was a bit of a pig to bight through but once you did it was so worth it. Sy had told me they were called Nova fruits, he said they could also be used for alchemy but I had no interest in that. I just wanted to eat the thing.

    I grabbed one for me and took a bight straight away, savouring the sweet, tangy taste before grabbing a second piece for raven, before heading down towards the lower part of the lagoon to speak with Raven.

    ¡°Once you guys are done down there, let me know, I got a few more bits I want to catch up with you both.¡±

    ¡°No worries,¡± I said as I made my way down the rope ladder to the lower level.

    Raven was sat up right in the hammock and stretching her arms high and wide into the air as I approached her, she was smacking her lips together after what looked like a solid sleep. I tossed her the Nova fruit which she bought in both hands and she wrinkled her nose at it, apparently she wasn¡¯t as keen on them as I was. I could demolish four or five of these in one sitting if I had the chance but Sy had warned it would play havoc with my gut so I had avoided it. They were so moreish.

    ¡°That¡¯s all that there is today, it is better than nothing.¡±

    Raven tucked into the nova fruit before tossing the core into the nearby trees, wiping the excess juice of her chin with her sleeve. Her eating manners were like she was a wild animal.

    ¡°So I was thinking that today we could spend a bit of time going over whet we discussed on our walk back here.¡±The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    Raven just gave me a puzzled look.

    ¡°Are you serious, I thought we had a moment.¡±

    She just shrugged like she was bored of me already, she did not seem that interested in what I had to say.

    ¡°Well I know it''s first thing but I thought we could maybe spend some time this morning, you showing me some signs. At least then I might be able to understand better what you are saying to me rather than keep guessing all the time.¡±

    Raven gave me the double bunny sign before sniggering.

    ¡°Exactly, I don¡¯t know what that sign means but I have a feeling it is not complimentary.¡±

    Raven nodded, still sniggering in silence. She sat down in the long crass, crossing her legs and patted the ground in front of her, which I assumed she wanted me to sit.

    Sitting down, I said, ¡°Thank you,¡±

    Raven held out her hand and placed it to her chin before moving it in a motion like blowing a kiss, without actually blowing a kiss.¡±

    He then pointed at me.

    I copied her and repeated the words ¡°Thank you, is that what that means?¡±

    Raven nodded.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think I have seen you use that one,¡± I said with a teasing smile.

    Even gave me a slow version of the double bunny and I laughed so hard.

    The next sign was easy enough to under stand, Raven brought her right and moved it to the right in a kind of wax of motion.

    ¡°Oh I know this one,¡± I said, ¡°Hi?¡±

    Raven lifted her left hand in a closed fist and made a knocking motion like she was tapping on an invisible door, she nodded slightly as she did it.

    ¡°Is that yes?¡±

    She repeated the sign.

    ¡°Great, ok then what is no?¡±

    Raven used the same hand to make a sign that I had seen quite a few times from her, she used two fingers and her thumb and Brough them together like a hand puppet and shook her head at the same time.

    I repeated it and said ¡°No¡±

    Raven gave me a thumbs up and for the first time I felt as though I was getting somewhere with her.

    ¡°Ok, I feel like we are getting somewhere now,¡± I thought for a moment, what would be helpful to us when we are out exploring. Then it dawned on me. ¡°Can you show me the sign for help?¡±

    Raven nodded and placed an open palm out in front of her before bringing her other hand down in a closed fist, with her thumb pointing upwards. She then repeated it again and then a third time, slowly as if she was speaking to a complete moron.

    I repeated the motion, ¡°Help,¡± I said.

    Raven repeated the gesture again but this time when her thumbs up fist was on top of her open palm she moved it towards me, with an expectant look.

    ¡°Help me?¡± I guessed.

    Raven shook her head and widened her eyes in exasperation.

    I copied her and it took a few times and me, doing the sign slowly to realise what she meant as I looked up at her and gestured the sign a final time.

    ¡°Oh you mean Help you?¡±

    She slapped her hand to her head sarcastically with a wry smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.

    She then repeated the sign again, this time pulling her hand sign towards herself.

    ¡°Help, me?¡± I said.

    Raven gave me a thumbs up.

    ¡°You see you are a great teacher,¡± It surprised me how empowering it felt to be learning a way of communicating that would help someone else. Then it dawned on me that I had never done anything like this before and I felt like an ignorant ass. I thought about all the people back home in my community that needed additional support, there was Freddy who was Mr And Mrs Dawn¡¯s son, he was about twelve year old and had a learning disability and autism which affected his communication. I had always been polite and smiled and said hello but I had never thought about how it must affect him every day. Then there was Mrs Ferell, she lived a few doors down from me, she was in her forties or so I would guess and had a guide dog that we were not allowed to pet. She lost her sight in her twenties from a rare form of glaucoma. That was just a couple of examples, being here in this moment with raven reminded me just how powerful they were that they went about their daily lives despite the disabilities they had. They were both happy, they were both free.

    As I watched Raven, who continued to sit in front of me I could help but wonder how long she had felt trapped, when was the last time she had a meaningful conversation. I wanted to do better, I wanted to try harder. Not just for the ¡®whispers¡¯ quest but also for her. Her body language was sunken, as confident and accomplished as she was with her blades she looked uncomfortable in this situation, one on one speaking with another, with nothing around us to distract us.

    ¡°Ok, this time I want you to teach me something that I don¡¯t already know, except I won¡¯t tell you, I want you to pick something and I guess I will kind of figure it out.¡±

    Raven smirked to herself and brought her hands together.

    ¡°And don¡¯t be giving me this one,¡± I did the double bunny sign pretty much perfect after all I was most familiar with this.

    Raven laughed silently and sat motionless, legs crossed in deep thought. When her eyes lit up I could tell she had thought of something to teach me.

    She stretched out her index fingers on both hands closing her other fingers into a ball and curved them into a letter c shape. She then linked them together for a second before switching and linking them the opposite way.

    I watched her intently as she did the sign a few more times and regretted what I had said, how on earth was I going to figure this out. How could a hand gesture be so difficult for me to break down.

    ¡°Ok, Ok I have got this.¡± I said, while studying the hand sign.

    Raven stopped for a moment and slowly pointed towards me then brought her hand to her chest before repeating the sign, it was like she was linking her index fingers like a half chain.

    ¡°So this sign is something to do with you and me?¡± I said, it sounded stupid to say it out loud but I just wanted to be sure.

    Raven nodded again.

    ¡°Ok so is it something we are together?¡±

    She nodded again and I could feel the excitement building up inside me, becoming more animated I said. ¡°Enemies, hindrance, chain,¡± I said, reeling off all the things that I thought Raven would see me as. ¡°Annoying, useless, pain in the arse.¡±

    Raven shook her head, repeating the sight, pointing at, me then her then curving her index fingers around each other.

    I stood up in front of her perplexed, what other insults could it be. When I looked down at her she was smiling at me, not forcefully or sarcastically, her freckled cheeks had softened and there was a kindness in her eyes that I had not seen before.

    I continued to think about what the sign could mean when I had a hunch, it couldn¡¯t be right though and I braced myself for Raven to laugh at me again. ¡°Wait a minute, does it mean friend?¡±

    As I said it, I repeated the sign back.

    Raven¡¯s cheeks blushed slightly and she bowed her head almost shamefully and she nodded.

    I sat back down in front of her and smiled, pointed at her, then me, did the friends sign and nodded my head.

    We sat in comfortable silence for the rest of the morning, watching over the lagoon. Something about this felt more powerful to me than any class, skill or trait I had learnt since I wound up here.

 Chapter 30 - Chaos Blades - Fragments

    We had sent the next week or so, training hard, Sy continuing to put us through our paces in the jungle gym. He pushed me harder than anyone had before but he had got us into a solid routine. The days were long and hard, they would be split into three sections and each section we would be training something different. Cardio, strength, agility, combat skills and every now and again he would set up an obstacle course where he would set traps and throw things at us to put us off.

    I could feel my skills and fitness increasing so it was odd to see that my overall stats and level remained the same, despite how hard I had worked. Sy continued to assure me that this was normal and that in the long run, it would only benefit me in combat situations, he had also told me that up until now I had been incredibly lucky in the situations I had been in and that that luck was due to run out. And for those situations, I needed to be prepared.

    Swimming was still my favourite part of the day, I was managing this in the mornings and the evenings and found it a great way to unwind and recover, convinced that the water had healing properties, although Sy insisted that as all in my head. It was in the water where I felt truly free, the aches and pains would stop and I would think about things back home. I wondered if time was passing the same there, had anyone noticed I was missing by now? Outside of work I hadn¡¯t really kept in touch with people, only sending the odd text to my family or friends when they checked in, they were used to me not replying for days on end. Would anyone even care that I wasn¡¯t there anymore. Yeah swimming was where I did my best and my worst thinking, but I treated it like a form of meditation.

    After my latest swim I had dried myself off and was just about to get dressed when a static screen opened in my vision, I knew straight away it was going to be Fidget and I wondered what she would want to talk about this time. I looked around me for Raven but I couldn¡¯t see her, looking up at Sy¡¯s house above the lagoon I could see the smoke from the fire and assumed she was up there helping him cook dinner. Something she had got more and more engaged in since we had been here, she seemed to have an affinity for mixing the right ingredients into the pot and Sy loved how good she was becoming with flavours.

    I waited for a moment for Fidget to come into vision.

    ¡°Silas, hello, Silas.¡± Fidget¡¯s familiar voice, sounded more like a butt dial, it was muffled and her voice was distant. After a few more seconds she came into view. ¡°There you are.¡±

    ¡°Hi Fidget,¡± I said with a wave. ¡°It¡¯s been a while?¡±

    ¡°Where are you? Is that Sy¡¯s oasis?¡± She took a look around, like she was trying to see though me before her wondering eyes looked me up and down. ¡°Why are you not wearing any clothes.¡± her voice was stern and matter of fact.

    ¡°Well I didn¡¯t know you were going to call and I have just been for a swim, don¡¯ worry, I am wearing my boxers.¡±

    ¡°Boxer¡¯s?¡± She said with a confused expression. ¡°Is that you trying to make fun of my race? I¡¯ll have you know that that is quite offensive.¡±

    I shook my head and laughed, ¡°Whoa, there, no offence meant, it is an item of clothes I am wearing, they are like a pair of shorts you wear under your pants.¡±

    ¡°An under garment,¡± she said.

    ¡°Yeah, just like that.¡±

    ¡°How peculiar.¡± she said before changing the topic ¡°I assume you are with Sy?¡±

    ¡°I am, he has been putting us through our paces,¡±

    ¡°What do you mean us, is there more of you there.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a figure of speech, from back home.¡± I lied, I was starting to feel guilty about it but figured that Raven would open up about wanting to keep secret when she was ready. Then I would be honest with Fidget about her.

    ¡°The phrases that your kind use are quite strange, why would you refer to yourself as if you were multiple people? It just makes no sense.¡±This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

    ¡°Are you ok? Where about are you?¡± I started dressing myself and headed towards the rope ladder to Sy¡¯s house. Initially walking and talking with Fidget was a little disorientating but I soon got used to it.

    ¡°I¡¯m actually doing ok?''¡° She said, the black eye had gone and her bust lip was nearly fully healed. ¡°I have been able to keep out of the way of those Reavers since our last call, but I know they are still trailing me. Overall I think I am making good progress, I can see some mountains in the distance and if I am where I think I am, you should be southish of those mountains.¡±

    ¡°And if you are not?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll figure that out if that happens.¡±

    ¡°Wow you re really free wheeling it.¡±

    Fidget gave me a confused look, ¡°Is that one of your strange figure of speech things?¡±

    I laughed again as I climbed to the top of the rope ladder.

    Sy was standing over the cooking pot, stirring whatever was inside. It smelt amazing and my stomach rumbled straight away, there were vegetable notes, mixed with some kind of meat and gravy, a bit gamey that made me want to hang up the call and dive back in.

    ¡°Sy, Fidget is here?¡±

    He dropped the large ladle, protruding out of the cooking pot and looked around the oasis as if he was actually looking for her.

    ¡°No, she has called me.¡±

    ¡°Oh great,¡± He rushed around in front of me. ¡°I¡¯m glad you have finally called,¡± he said, ¡°I should be able to establish a direct link with you, nothing fancy, but I should be able to hear you.¡± Sy waved at thin air.

    ¡°It¡¯s so great to see you, old friend.¡± Fidget said, but Sy couldn¡¯t hear her yet, he was busy doing whatever it was he was doing.

    A high pitched noise pierced my ear, the pitch raising. And lowering, causing me to wince.

    ¡°Just a minute, this shouldn¡¯t take me too long.¡± Sy said.

    The itch continued to change as he tuned into the frequency, the magic or whatever it was that we were communicating through.

    ¡°That should just about do it, can you hear me?¡±

    Fidget¡¯s face lit up and her, jowls raised to what I assumed were a smile. ¡°I can, can you hear me.¡±

    ¡°I can,¡± Sy said, ¡°Shit,¡± He rushed over to the cooking pot and started stirring dinner. ¡°We have so much to catch up on,¡±

    ¡°You are right,¡± Fidget said, ¡°I don¡¯t have too much longer though, the Reavers are able to locate me if I use my mana for too long, I don¡¯t know how but it is too risky.¡±

    ¡°Silas told me about that, ok well excuse me waffling, I will have you talking for hours.¡±

    ¡°I know,¡± Fidget said with a soft smile, it was a welcome change to her usual serious expression. ¡°It is so good to hear your voice.¡± There was a sadness as she spoke, ¡°I needed to hear from a friend, these last few weeks, well they have been hard to say the least. She brought a hand up to her face and wiped a way tear as it rolled down her cheek.

    ¡°What happened?¡± Sy said, ¡°I mean Silas has told me what he could but it would help to know precisely what you need us to do.¡±

    ¡°We lost,¡± Fidget said, her eyes welling again, ¡°They are all gone Sy, all of them, there was only myself that survived. Something happened though, I cast a spell, I was able to get away but the Chaos Blade, it split into fragments, I think there were five. It¡¯s hard to tell when you are spinning through a vortex, the fragments scattered in every direction that I could see, to destinations I do not know. We have to find them.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ve mentioned the fragments a few times and this Chaos Blade a few times, but you have never told me what it actually is.¡± I said, jumping back into the conversation.

    ¡°I am afraid I do not have time to explain, not on this call. Sy when we are done here, could you take the time to explain to Silas, the history of the Chaos Blade and what it means?¡±

    ¡°I can do that.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡±

    ¡°I think I can help with where one of these fragments might be too,¡± Sy said.

    ¡°Really how?¡± Fidget said.

    ¡°Well when Silas here mentioned them as fragments I decided to do some digging while they were away at the Labyrinth. I¡¯ve been sending Mal back an forth with messages too and from Ruby, I think she might be able to help.¡±

    ¡°Ruby?¡± Fidget pretty much sighed and rolled her eyes at the mere mention of this Ruby.

    ¡°I know you two have clashed in the past but let''s face it, she is the best person to help Silas with Chaos Powder and she has mentioned something going on near her camp. I am just waiting on Mal to get back before explaining everything to Silas.¡±

    ¡°Well it seems like you have a lot to catch up on, I don¡¯t necessarily like it, but needs must. Silas, if you do head to Ruby¡¯s camp, it will veer you slightly of course but hopefully it won¡¯t be too much of a detour. The sooner I can get to you the better. I have-¡±

    Fidget¡¯s signal started wavering and flickering as she became difficult to see and hear, ¡°I¡¯ll sp- k wh-n It¡¯ sfe,¡± Her screen vanished leaving me and Sy by the cooking pot, I took a seat by the large table, running my hand on the surface as I sat down, it somehow grounded me.

    Raven appeared from around the corner, all too convenient for it not to be a co-incidence but I had more pressing matter son my mind.

    ¡°Well it seems like we have a lot to catch up on over dinner,¡± I said.

 Chapter 31 - A Brief History

    ¡°I need you to tell me everything Sy?¡± I said as I was sitting at the table opposite him. He was busy chomping into a banana shaped fruit that was bright purple, with a fury skin with a texture similar to a kiwi fruit. I hated them, they were so bitter they made my eyes water, but Sy he was almost as obsessed with them as those mushrooms he would casually pop throughout the day. He insisted the fruit helped with muscle recovery but even then, I would rather let my muscles recover the old fashioned way and endure the pain.

    The juices dribbled down into his thick beard as he made audible non nom noises as he finished what I had counted to be his fourth Figera fruit. Raven was sat beside me, she was tucking into a broth that Sy had fashioned with the help of her, the gravy was thick and full of flavour, Sy had told me the name of the animal that¡¯s meat he had used but I wasn¡¯t able to pronounce it, from how Sy had described them they were similar to bisons, but for a main of silver fur that was far larger and four horns protruding from their heads instead of two.

    Sy finished up the figera fruit with a belch and leant back on his stool and patted his stomach with satisfaction.

    ¡°I¡¯ll have to work this off later,¡± He said with a smile, bringing an arm up to wipe at his sodden beard, there were bits of pulp that had stuck to it which turned my stomach a little.

    ¡°Sy,¡± I said, ¡°I need you to tell me everything you can about Belzebere and about the Guardians and the Chaos Blade. Fidget said you would tell me all about them, if that is the case, I need to know as much as possible. I can¡¯t keep running around not knowing what the hell I am letting myself in for, it¡¯s not fair on me and it isn¡¯t fair on Raven.

    Raven remained unmoved, seemingly more interested in eating a second bowl of the broth and I wondered if she already knew all of this stuff. I imagined she did given that she was actually from this world, unlike me.

    "Where are my manners, sorry I was just so hungry that I kind of got caught up and when I get like that there isn¡¯t any getting through to me. Now bear with me here, there is a fair bit for me to explain so if you have any questions do not hesitate to ask.¡±

    I nodded, leaning forward on the table, I wanted to know everything, I needed to.

    ¡°Once upon a time,¡±

    I couldn¡¯t help but snort at the start of Sy¡¯s story, this couldn¡¯t be further away from a fairy tale, I quickly raised my hands to apologise when Sy cast me a disapproving stare.

    ¡°As I was saying, once upon a time there was prosperity across all of Erentar, war was a distant memory, frowned upon by all of this continent, that was seen as something more primitive lands engaged in. Crops grew, villages, tows and cities were in their prime. Sustainability breathed new life covering every section of land, as far as you could see. We had a council that served everyone, we had no need for the few warriors, rogues or sorcerers that we had, Erentar had never had to defend itself. Not since the days of the Dark Knight Vorgrim, a Deathnight that was hell bent on destroying everything, to rule all of Erentar. Vorgrim was a distant memory, the faintest of whispers on the wind, the story you told children to behave themselves. That was until the day where Belzebere appeared, seemingly out of the blue, and if the stories of Vorgrim were true, she made him look like a duckling.¡±

    Magenta gave Sy a dissatisfied quack to which he patted her on the head to reassure her.

    ¡°Where did she come from?¡± I asked.

    ¡°No one knows, the first thing they knew of her was when she single handedly levelled the city of Ruma, showing power that Erentar had not seen the likes of for hundreds of years, like I said, not since the days of Vorgrim. That was twenty years ago and to this day no one knows or understand why she tore Ruma down, she showed no mercy, but like Vorgrim her class was rare, unique, you see she was a Deathnight.¡±

    ¡°What is a Deathnight?¡± I asked, it felt weird to say it out loud, like the class itself should not be spoken out loud.

    Sy leaned in closer, bringing his voice down to just above a whisper which was strange given there were only the three of us here, four if you counted Magenta. ¡°It is a forbidden class, deemed two destructive, too corrupted for any person to master. Think of it as a sorceress with untapped access to the most heinous magic and a Paladin with the powers to sustain and heal themselves while having the attacking prowess of a Berserker. She has literally proven to be undefeatable, and the scary thing is she seems to be only getting stronger and stronger. Over time she has conquered more lands, with each City she destroys her armies only grow in size and yes I said armies as she has multiple. We know now that she travelled from Deep South past the borders of Netharia to reach Erentar but beyond that we have no further information on her, her backstory her motives anything. It¡¯s hard to defeat a villain who you do not know what their end game is. She seemingly just likes the destruction and she cannot be negotiated with. She has a stronghold, the Dreadforge Of Azoreth but slowly she is destroying more and more of Erentar, I estimate she must have taken over at least fifty five percent of the continent. Do you have any idea how much that is.¡±

    ¡°Erm, no,¡± I said, mater of factly.

    ¡°Well think of back home, then times it by about fifty and you get the general gist of it.¡±

    The way he dressed, his northern accent, I couldn¡¯t help but think that Sy was from where I was, that this world wasn¡¯t where he was from either, but it didn¡¯t feel like the right time to ask about how he ended up here.

    ¡°Belzebere has been a force for death and destruction, no one remotely strong enough to face her. Until we learn about Chaos Dust.¡±

    I looked at the metallic orb that sat at the head of the table like a prized trophy, it was wrapped in a rough piece of torn fabric, that Sy had found. As an inanimate object, it had an ominous air about it, and I kind of understood, I had felt the surge of power as I accidentally tapped into it inside the labyrinth.

    ¡°We learnt that only a select few could interact with the Orb¡¯s Of Zephyr which produce Chaos Dust, those that seemed powerful enough to wield it. There were warriors who were deemed worthy by the gods to be able to interact with the chaos powder. Fidget who you already know, Zurin, he was a powerful mage and Fidget¡¯s mentor, then there was Gretchin, she was a strong Dwarves Warrior, the strongest we had, an absolute tank on the battle field. Rane was our Paladin and our leader, his wisdom and courage unlike anyone else.¡± Sy paused for a moment as he recalled everyone¡¯s names, there was a glazed look in his eyes as he spoke about each of them. ¡° Then there was Ruby, who Fidget mentioned before, she never got involved in the fighting but with her research she was able to tap into the Chaos Powder on a wider scale. And it is through her that we came up with the concept of the Chaos Blades. Each of the guardians, chose to harness their power into a singular blade, more powerful than any weapon crafted in the forges of Torenspire. That one weapon strong enough to destroy Belzebere. It was not easy and it took a long time for the Guardians to collect the necessary components, the strongest ore¡¯s to be melted into the hardest of metals. When Ruby figured out how to channel the chaos sense from each guardian, the Chaos Powder being the conduit, each Guardian sacrificed their ability to tap into their own Chaos Modes so that they could craft this weapon, they were desperate to destroy Belzebere. Everyone was. It took them one hundred days to craft it, each of the guardians involved in the smithing at the great forge, the only one which fires burnt strong enough. Every hammer blow delivered by the Guardians one. At a time as their power was siphoned into the blade, it was the best chance Enterar had. When the mythical weapon was finished, the Guardians formed a council meeting and through deliberation that Rane would wield the Chaos Blade, that he would bring peace back to our world.¡±If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    ¡°Except they failed,¡± I said, my voice delicate, it was affecting Sy like I hadn¡¯t seen before as he explained everything thus, his voice becoming cracked and broken, his eyes welling with tears.

    ¡°From what you had said and our last communication from Fidget it would appear they did, that means they are all gone, but somehow Fidget survived, somehow she summoned you here and somehow that blade still exists, even if it is in scattered fragments. Now I have been communicating what I know to Ruby, she can help after all she was key in helping craft the Chaos Blade, there is no one else that know Chaos Powder more than she does, and if what Fidget is said is true, that for some reason the fragments of the blade have scattered around the continent then hopefully she can help us go in the right direction. There aint no doubt about it Silas and brother I am sorry for the burden that has been placed on you but you have to help collect the fragments, you have to help reforge the Chaos Blade. It is the only way that we can stop Belzebere.¡±

    ¡°What if I can¡¯t? What if I fail?¡±

    ¡°Then we are all doomed,¡±

    The weight of the pressure was suffocating, for a moment I felt like I was about to start choking when I tried to breath, my chest feeling heavy, my mind whirling with anxiety. Out of everyone, out of all the people that could have been summoned here they chose me, I didn¡¯t want to let anyone down, despite not knowing many people here but the burden hit me in the chest like a sledge hammer.

    ¡°Are you ok?¡± Sy asked, he looked solemn he was clear how much it was that was being asked of me.

    ¡°It¡¯s just, back where I am from I would be the last person left with such a monumentally important mission. From what you are saying the fate of this world is relying in me.¡±

    ¡°The gods do move in mysterious ways, but if they brought you here when Fidget asked for help, then there is no doubt they have seen something in you that perhaps you haven¡¯t realised.

    A quack just beyond Sy¡¯s house diverted the conversation and Sy seemed to perk up as he looked over his shoulder. Sure enough Mal swooped down landing on the ground beside the bench, he shook himself off, from the top of his head to the tip of his tail feathers before padding towards Sy.

    His feet slapped on the ground as he approached and he carried what looked like a letter in his beak, how long he had been flying with that in his beak I had no clue but Mal looked tired. Magenta gave a quick fire series of quacks ad hopped down from the table before nuzzling into Mal after he had placed the letter at Sy¡¯s feet. ¡°Thank you buddy,¡± he said patting Mal on the head who gave a satisfactory look in return. ¡°This must be from Ruby.¡±

    Sy scanned the letter, I couldn¡¯t tell if it was concern or stress that was showing on his face but either way it wasn¡¯t necessarily a good thing. ¡°What does it say?¡± Sy waived his hand at me dismissively as he started muttering under his breath as he read the letter.

    ¡°What do you think it says?¡± I asked Raven, the only sign I could make was you but at least it was progress. She shrugged her shoulders, she seemed odd this evening, like she wasn¡¯t quite happy with the conversation, distant and uninterested. Surely she would want to know what had been happening and what was going on. ¡°

    You two have got to move, and fast.¡± Sy said, folding the letter up and placing it on the table.

    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Is it Ruby?¡±

    ¡°It is and I think she is going to be able to help you guys in more than one way. I mean I was going to send you guys up to her to learn more about chaos powder, after all she is the expert. She says she thinks she knows where part of the chaos blade is and that she is happy for you to head over to her camp, if you can call it that, its more like a research laboratory.¡±

    ¡°She knows where the blade is or a fragment,¡± I asked.

    ¡°Well given Fidget said the Chaos Blade had split into pieces I¡¯m going to hazard a guess that it is a fragment. Still the sooner you can collect all the fragments, the sooner we are going to be able to reforge the blade. One more thing,¡± he said, ¡°I¡¯m going to give you access to something, if you just bear with me one moment.¡±

    A Mini Map Unlocked In the bottom left a large circle popped up with what looked like a map of our current location. The box itself had a golden edge to it with a compass surrounding it. There was a North, East, South and West marker that rotated around depending on which way I turned.

    "That''s pretty cool," I said with a smile, I could see a rectangular shape on the map ahead of me, which I assumed was Sy''s house and there was a blue space to the rear of me, which I looked like the lagoon that sat at the bottom of the oasis. "Wait a minute, could you not have given me access to this sooner? Like when we were looking for the Labyrinth?" I couldn''t help but shake my head at Sy, this would have certainly been so much more helpful if we had it sooner but still better late than never.

    "I could have, but that would not have tested you with finding the Labyrinth or the orb, and you managed both without it." Sy raised his hand to the back of his head and gave me a nervous smile. "That said you are going to be travelling a lot farther now and with that you are going to need this map or I can guarantee that you are going to get yourself lost." He focussed for a moment and I assumed he was navigating his own menu, his tongue was out slightly while he was concentrating. "Ok let me know when you see us appear on your mini map. ¡°I focussed on the map and at first nothing happened but then a four little blue dots appeared in a formation around my own white dot.

    "There are some blue dots." I said.

    "Great, it''s working. Those dots represent, me Raven, Mal and Magenta. We are friendly, remember that. Red dots you want to be careful around, that means there are hostiles and Green''s are people or creatures that you can interact with, they are neither friendly or hostile and which colour they turn will depend on your interactions with them."

    "Sounds simple enough," I said. "Now let''s get you ready to head out, I am going to place a marker on your map, that is where you need to go." Sure enough a purple dot appeared on the outer edge of my map, beyond its periphery.

    "Just head in the direction of the purple dot, that is now your waypoint, it will help make sure that generally you are heading in the right direction. We best get you ready, this next part of your journey is not going to be easy, I can only hope the training you have had will have prepared you for what is to come." Sy slapped me on the shoulder and looked deep into my eyes. "I''ve kind of enjoyed having you around, both of you in fact." He looked down at Raven and smiled at her, she simply waved it away.

    Mal and Magenta both gave a quack.

    "I am going to be able to stay in contact with you, so if you need to know anything you are not sure about, do not hesitate to call me. I can''t stress how important it is that you reach Ruby and learn how to use the chaos powder as well as start to learn how to use it. Then you may stand a chance of gathering the fragments of the Chaos Blade."

 Chapter 32 - The Long Road Ahead

    Sy was not wrong, the road ahead was long and arduous, we had been navigating the forest for a good few hours and still we felt like we were no closer to getting to Ruby''s camp. Thanks to Sy though I felt more capable than I had ever had done and with Raven by my side I felt like we may just be crazy enough to pull this off. The layout of the forest had changed, we were still surrounded by all manner of trees and plant life, the trees had changed though, they were not as tall and slim as near the oasis, these trees were a lot bigger and the shrubs and vegetation around use were a lot bigger.

    I would have been forgiven for thinking that I was in a honey I shrunk the kid movie or something, everything seemed ginormous. Flowers larger than cars, covering all the colours of the rainbow, even one that looked like a Venus fly trap that we decided to stay clear of, it just was not worth the risk.

    The worst thing was the humidity, it was warmer here than any other part of the forest, in fact we would have been forgiven for thinking we had now stepped into a jungle. We had not come across any wildlife or terror''s for that matter and for the time being there had not been any flashes of red on my mini-map which was a good thing, the less critters or enemies we came across the better. I still had not gotten over my encounter with the minotaur and I would be kidding myself if I thought it was my skill and not a but ton of luck that had gotten me out of that situation alive.

    We stopped sporadically for rest, I noticed that while resting my stamina bar naturally returned to full, depending on how much I had spent would depend how long of a rest we needed to take. Sometimes it was for five minutes, sometimes it was longer. It was hard to judge given that my watch didn''t work and I had no way of telling the time accurately.

    "I wonder how long this will take us," I said to raven who was stretching her back out silently.

    She shrugged, and sighed something that I didn''t understand, go figure.

    "It is a good job that Sy gave us that mini-map or we would be screwed,"

    Raven ushered me to follow her and set of walking, clearly wanting to get to Ruby''s camp at any moment. She was faster than me, that I knew but I had a better amount of stamina than her.

    "I''ve been wanting to ask you about that bracelet of yours.¡±

    Raven had no intention of answering me, she waved me away and continued walking forward, telling me that there was more to it than she was letting on, either that or she just knew that signing everything too me would prove too difficult for me to figure out. Perhaps when I have learnt to understand her better.

    She pulled the cuff of her sleeve over her wrist to cover the bracelet, I wasn''t sure whether this was intentional or subconscious but all that did was lean me closer towards she was hiding something from me.

    As we continued to push through the trees and plant life, the hairs on my arms stood on end and I quickly spun around, checking if anything was following. I had no idea why but it felt like fore some reason we were not alone, my senses felt heightened.

    I swear for a brief moment I could hear a strange noise, like a whisper but mixed with chattering of some sort, I could not quite put my fingers on it but it passed like a gentle breeze before disappearing.

    "Did you hear that?" I asked. "I think we are not alone."

    Raven stopped and shook her head before raising an eyebrow at me with an accusatory look.

    "I heard something I swear, just keep your wits about you."

    I reached for my sword that was strapped to my back, just in case and gripped the hilt tightly, my palms were sweaty and the metal hilt made it uncomfortable to hold. When we got to Ruby''s I would be sure to see if there was anything I could bind around the hilt to make it more durable. The black serrated blade was about three to four feet long and had a finely polished shine to its surface, I didn''t know if it was a reflection or magic that gave it a shimmer but it was as if it had a thin layer of water coating there surface.

    Raven turned to set off again but as she did there was another whisper that I could hear, this time it was louder. Raven stopped in her tracks and instantly reached for her two scythes. Clearly I was not imagining the whispers.

    "What do you think it is?" I said, holding my blade in front of me with both of my hands. As I reached Raven I turned so that we were back to back so we could create the best defensive formation for us. "Do you think it''s worth us hopping into one of your little shadow portal things?

    The whispering was getting louder and louder, it came from every direction, meaning whatever it was there was more than one and they had us surrounded, I could have activated my berserker tree but decided to at least wait to see what it was. A large bush ahead of me that was covered in triangular, fluffy, turquoise flowers started to rustle and I braced my self for the fight that was about to come.

    "Come on Dave, it shouldn''t be too much further."

    I recognised the voice immediately, the higher pitched raspiness in Vera''s voice unmistakable. She stepped out through the bushes, looking over her shoulder and not in our direction as she started to use a little machete to hack away at the bush to form a clearing.

    "Oh Bilow petals," she said excitedly, looking down at the triangular petals that had fallen at her feet. She knelt down straight away and started foraging them, placing them in a little fanny pack that sat on her waste.

    "Don''t let us interrupt you," I said.

    "Oh," Vera''s head snapped up, she was startled at our presence. "What are you two doing here?"

    "I could ask the same of you two, I hope you were not planning o robbing us while we rested again."

    Vera scoffed, "No, we promised we wouldn''t do that anymore, you told us not to." She looked back at the clearing behind here and shouted, "DAVE! You will never guess who is here."

    "What is it woman," Dave''s deeper voice grumbled from behind her, along with the sound of squeaking wheels, rumbling against the uneven earth. "Honestly you will be the death of me, do you know how difficult this thing is to pull on my own." Dave was dripping with sweat, his green skin glistening, his cheeks were reddened as he dragged a small cart behind him. It was a rickety old thing that sat on two wheels, the cart had raised sides and two handles at the front. The wood was broken in places, having seen better days, one of the wheels was slightly slanted as if it was ready to fall of at any moment. "Blasted cart," he said through cursed breath. "We are going to need to stop to fix this wheel love, other wise we are never going to make it to town." When he looked up and saw us he looked just as shocked as Vera his goblin eyes widening. "Vera, why didn''t you tell us Silas was here. Honestly."If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    "It''s nice to see you again Dave, I was just saying to Vera, I hope you are not here to rob us again."

    "Nah, we have left those days behind us," He eyes my sword nervously, "Please could you lower your weapon, it is triggering my flight mode and I have simply not got the energy to run."

    I kind of understood what he meant and presumed flight mode was a class ability that he had so I lowered my weapon and strapped it back to my back. It was surprisingly light for its size.

    There was something different about Dave as I looked at him, something that I could not quite put my finger on.

    "Oh you have noticed it haven''t you." Dave said with a proud smile, he turned his head and leaned his ear towards me. "What do you think? They are all the rage in Avendria apparently."

    He was wearing a gold chain around his neck with a pale blue almost turquoise gem in the centre of it. The thing was hideous to look at and I found it near impossible to keep a straight face, clearly the people of Avendria were completely tone deaf when it came to jewellery.

    ¡°That looks, lovely.¡± I lied, as I examined the chain, it had thick links that were interlocked with one another. It was completely disproportionate to his short body. Like a child who was wearing their parents jewellery or something like that. It hang right down to his stomach.

    Lucky Amulet

    Grants +1 to luck

    ¡°A Lucky amulet?¡± I said, ¡°how did you happen on that?¡±

    ¡°I know how this looks, but you told us to stop taking what wasn¡¯t ours so we have, got this chain through good honest graft.¡±

    Vera was beaming next to him with a proud smile, she bobbed her head into a short nod over and over as Dave continued to explain.

    ¡°We were out and about when we happened to come across a trader. He offered us all sorts and all we had was that rusted cleaver to our name. He offered to take it from me in exchange for some magic beans.¡±

    My eyes rolled, ¡°Magic beans, really?¡±

    ¡°He was a really nice man, smartly dressed and well spoken, he said it was all we could afford from his stock.¡±

    I looked at the cart that sat behind Dave, it had a large piece of tarp made from a thick leather looking material and judging by the bulge underneath it was pretty full. ¡°So how did you manage to come across all of this?¡±

    ¡°Well our plan was to continue to one of the towns north of here, see what we could sell the magic beans for. You know try and make a profit so we can start upselling.¡±

    ¡°But there was a mistake,¡± Vera interrupted. ¡°You see I had a look at the beans and they were strange, they did not look like beans you can plant to grow vegetables, they were bright coloured, one was red, one was orange and one was green. I told Dave something seemed wrong with them and he insisted it was because they are magic. Anyway I took a lick of one of them and it was like nothing I had ever tasted, it was so sweet it nearly made my cheeks implode. I thought they must have been spoiled.¡±

    ¡°Sounds like you were given jelly beans.¡± I said, shaking my head.

    Vera looked at me blankly, her large eyes unblinking, ¡°You have come across these before?¡±

    ¡°I hate to break it to you, but I think they are sweets. I think you guys were conned by the trader.¡±

    ¡°Conned?¡± Dave said in defiance, ¡°No, no, no. I told Vera that this must have been a honest mistake. The trader must have given us the wrong beans by mistake.¡±

    It was kind of endearing how naive the two of them were, perhaps there was a lesson to be learnt from this for them, if there was it was clear they had got the wrong message.

    ¡°So we followed his tracks, well the tracks of the cart anyway, just so we could let him know about his mistake,¡±

    Vera¡¯s colour changed from light grey to a pale blue as the colour seemingly drained from her. She looked nervous, her body language shifting, crossing her arms in front of her.

    ¡°What happened?¡± I asked, my concern rising at the situation.

    ¡°Well when we caught up with him, his cart was just sat half tipped over like his wheel had got stuck in a hole and it had become overbalanced,¡±

    ¡°Dave,¡± I startled the imp, his story dragging on longer than not needed to. ¡°What happened to the merchant and how did you end up with his cart.¡±

    ¡°We didn¡¯t kill him,¡± Vera said defensively, ¡°It¡¯s not in our nature to do such a thing.¡±

    ¡°I didn¡¯t cause you of anything,¡± I said, a feeling of dread washing over me, just what had happened between them and the merchant?

    ¡°Vera is right, we may traditionally be thieves but we would never kill anyone.¡±

    They must have a short memory as the ice trap that Dave had set in their cave had nearly killed Raven not that long ago.

    ¡°The merchant was already dead when we found him.¡± Dave finished, he was very matter of fact in his approach. His body language shifted slightly too, mirroring Vera¡¯s he looked over his shoulder as if they were being followed or watched from deeper within the forest.

    ¡°The merchant is dead?¡± I recoiled, ¡°And you took his stuff?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the laws of the land,¡± Dave said defensively, ¡°it¡¯s better we use his wares than they get ransacked by others in the forest. We haven¡¯t broken any laws taking anything. Finders keepers.¡±

    ¡°Any ideas what happened to the merchant?¡± I asked. I didn¡¯t have any reason to question how things are done here and Dave seemed honest in his appraisal of the situation.

    Dave glanced over his shoulder again as if he heard something, he started visibly shaking and there was a tremor in his voice. Vera stepped closer to Dave pressing against the side of him for a hug, he wrapped his long spindly arm around her.

    ¡°It was horrible Silas,¡± he said. ¡°His face was as red as an apple, his eyes were bloodshot and bulging like they were ready to pop right out of his head.¡±

    Vera started wailing, burying her head into Dave¡¯s chest. He patted her on the back tenderly. ¡®there, there dear.¡± he said, ¡°It¡¯s ok.¡±

    ¡°Do you think Terror¡¯s did this?¡± I asked, it was the only logical option I could offer, I didn¡¯t know this world or its lands well enough to suggest anything else.

    ¡°No, no¡± Dave shook his head, his earrings jingled like a wind chime. ¡°Terrors are feral, they would have sliced the merchant into a gazillion pieces and flayed his skin before stealing the cart and everything else on it. No it was something else that did this.¡±

    ¡°Tell Silas around the marks on the merchants neck,¡± Vera said, talking as if I wasn¡¯t only a meter away from them.

    ¡°What was up with the merchants neck?¡± I asked.

    ¡°It was bruised, like he had been strangled.¡± Dave said.

    That would make sense, given the reddened face and bulging eyes.

    ¡°There were multiple lines across his neck and face, with cuts too and he strangely smelt really strongly of honey. We saw there was nothing we could do so we grabbed the cart and set off, we didn¡¯t want to wait around in case whatever it was that had done this came back for us. That¡¯s when I found this amulet, in the back of the cart. We made the best out of a bad situation.¡±

    ¡°but now we are worried that whatever killed the merchant may be following us.¡± Vera added, her impish face was wet with tears, forming slimy streaks down her face. ¡°Perhaps you can help us Silas.¡±

    ¡°Me? What do you want me to do?¡±

    ¡°Perhaps you could help us get to Willowshire, you know escort us, keep us safe in case what ever killed the merchant is following us.¡± Vera said, she was devoid of any confidence, shuffling her feet in the dirt as she looked down at the ground as she spoke.

    ¡°That is a great idea,¡± Dave said, his voice raising in delight. ¡°You are full of them my dear. We can pay you for your time and efforts,¡± He looked over at their newly acquired cart. ¡°Once we have managed to shift everything on that is tradable, I reckon there is a good bit of profit to be had. What do you say, escort us to Willowshire and in return we will give you coin a plenty to see you on in your own quest.¡±

    I looked down at Raven who was stood arms folded, unimpressed beside me. She looked up and shook her head.

    Dave was right, we had our own quest to be getting on with, we needed to find Ruby so she could teach me more about chaos powder but also she seemingly knew where one of the chaos blade fragments were. At the same time Vera and Dave looked genuinely spooked and I didn¡¯t want anything to happen to them.

    ¡°How far away is Willowshire?¡± I asked.

    Vera¡¯s eyes grew wide and softened, giving me a warming smile. ¡°it¡¯s about half a days walk from here.¡± she said.

    I looked down at Raven who continued to shake her head at me before giving me the double bunny sign.

    ¡°We can¡¯t leave them on their own,¡± I said, ¡°Come on, we will take a slight detour help them get to Willowshire safely and be on our way, with a few coins in our pockets too. What is the worst that can happen?¡±

 Chapter 33 - Welcome To Willowshire

    We had spent the rest of the day navigating the forest as we made our way to Willowshire under Dave¡¯s direction. Raven had walked beside me, her face etched with disapproval at the side quest we had taken. It had flashed up in my menu for a brief moment once we, I had agreed to help Dave and Vera by escorting them to the nearby town. It was the least we could to, both of them seemingly terrified by whatever it was that had killed the merchant.

    I had decided it made sense for me to pull the cart given that Dave was able to pull it, albeit slowly and Vera and Raven were both half my size. That didn¡¯t mean that the journey to Willowshire had been easy, the train was horrendous to say the least with the bumps, shrubs, plant like, weeds and everything else that littered the ground proving to be nothing more than monumental pain in the ass when it came to pulling the damn thing.

    I had recommended maybe throwing a few of the lesser valuable items in the cart but Dave had looked at me like I had three heads so I figured I just needed to dig deep and get to Willowshire. Besides when we got there they may actually be an opportunity to get some rest, in a proper bed. Or even better find somewhere to have a drink, boy what I would have given to be able to kick back relax and enjoy an ice cold beer. Especially when I was hot, sweaty and tired. My shirt clung to me uncomfortably and my shoes continued to rub on my feet like crazy, my thoughts continued to switch between the ice cold beer and getting new clothes over and over. It was what motivated me to get to Willowshire sooner rather than later.

    Vera and Dave had taken it upon themselves to settle in the cart as I dragged it, at first I felt inclined to protest but once they were actually in the cart they didn¡¯t seem to add much weight to the cart so I let it slide.

    ¡°Not much farther now,¡± Dave said, ¡°Just past those trees there should be an opening, then you will be able to see the town.¡±

    ¡°Are you sure this time,¡± I said as I strained. My shoulders were burning and the knuckles at the base of my fingers were raw from gripping the cart and dragging it all this way. I was starting to question my own decision to help Vera and Dave.

    ¡°That rock formation was deceiving,¡± Dave said, ¡°How was I meant to know we were going around in circles.¡±

    ¡°Because we had passed it three times,¡± I said with a sigh, foot steps crunching the dry soil and fallen leaves that littered the ground.

    I didn¡¯t appreciate the nervous laughter that fell from Vera and judging by Raven¡¯s pursed lips neither did she. She picked up the pace and walked ahead of us, her feet slapping on the ground as she stomped forward, it was like having a stroppy teenager with us.

    We continued past the trees like Dave had said and to my surprise he was right, ahead of us I could see a cobbled stone path, it was covered in dry soil from the forest but it was a path all the same. It felt strange to see something normal like a path here, it reminded me of home more than it probably should have and I felt a lump forming in my throat. There were actually going to be people here, more people than I had seen in a long time and I kind of looked forward to that. I wondered if subconsciously this was on e of the reasons why I had accepted dates side quest, because even though I appreciated Raven¡¯s company, even when she was being moody, I kind of missed having a conversation with other people. Normal conversation that didn¡¯t involve saving the kingdom, those days seemed like so long ago.

    ¡°Looks like you were right,¡± I said, I nodded forward at the path.

    ¡°And to think you were doubting me.¡± Dave said, ¡°Keep following the path, we are on the right track, the village should be just ahead.¡±

    Vera clapped her hands in delight as Raven continued to walk ahead of us, albeit a little slower than a moment ago.

    ¡°Keep you wits about you Raven, we still have no idea what to expect here.¡± Raven gave me a fleeting glance over her shoulder before waving my warning away with a flippant hand.

    Luckily for us we had made it this far without any trouble or sign of whatever had taken out the merchant.

    ¡°Welcome to Willowshire,¡± Dave said as I took in the sight of the town.

    The sight brought me more joy than I thought it would, ahead of us, built within the midst of the forest was a village, seemingly in the middle of nowhere.

    ¡°Woah,¡± I said under my breathe as I took in the welcome sight. The smell of pine seemed to intensify from what I was used to, giving it a kind of roasted smell that was alluring in itself. The houses were like something pulled out of Victorian England, houses built from timber but finished with an off white render, steep roofs that formed neat triangles were decorated with autumn coloured tiles. Presumingly to blend in with the trees in the autumn season. Against the luscious green backdrop it made them stand out, the houses were beautiful. The cobbled street snaked through the centre and up a steepening hill, the houses placed on either side of different sizes.

    At the top of the path and what I assumed was the end of the village sat a larger building, like a clock tower minus the clock, its spire twisting and reaching high into the trees that encased the outer edges of the town.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t she beautiful,¡± Dave said as if he was speaking about a person and not a town.

    ¡°It is so nice to be back, we haven¡¯t been here since we came for a holiday, how long ago was that Dave?¡± Vera hopped of the cart and stood next to me pointing out at the different buildings. ¡°Now if I remember right there is a bakery over there, just behind that is the armoury and if you go right across to the other side there is a tavern.¡±

    My knees almost buckled underneath me with the confirmation that a tavern was here, I could practically taste the sweet beer.

    ¡°Are you ok dear?¡± Vera asked, placing a hand tenderly on my arm as I lowered the cart. My back clicked more times than it probably should have but the relief on the pressure in my shoulders was indescribable.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± I said as I clicked by back and let out a sigh of relief. ¡°It¡¯s just I didn¡¯t think taverns existed here.¡±

    ¡°What would give you that idea?¡± Vera said with a puzzled expression, she looked at me as though I had three heads. ¡°We are a civilised society,¡±

    ¡°Well most of us are,¡± Dave balked as he stepped on the other side of me and patted me on the back. ¡°You have been a great help, why don¡¯t you have a wander around while we go and sell what we can, once I have some coin I can pay you for escorting us and then you can be on your merry way. Just try not to get into any trouble in the meantime.¡±

    ¡°I have no idea what you mean,¡± I laughed.

    ¡°I was talking to you,¡± Dave said, his gaze reaching beyond me to raven who was stood, arms folded and unimpressed with us standing around.

    Raven huffed, sighed, waved her hand in discontent and set off down the path towards Willowshire.

    ¡°Best catch up to her, I wouldn¡¯t leave her unsupervised around here. She doesn¡¯t fit in.¡± Dave raised his eyebrows as he picked up the cart to set off walking into town with.

    Vera gave me a polite wave. ¡°See you later Silas, thanks again for all your help.¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t need to thank me for doing what was right I said, I¡¯ll see you both later,¡± I said as I turned to run after Raven, ¡°Hey wait up,¡± I said as I called out after her. My mind focused again on what Dave had said about Raven that she didn¡¯t fit in, what had he meant by that. Raven continued her walk at pace, she was clearly pissed off and at this moment in time I was guessing that there wasn¡¯t too much that I could do about it.

    ¡°Come on Raven slow down, I know you didn¡¯t want to head here but we shouldn¡¯t be here long.¡±

    She continued to ignore me and paced ahead just a couple of yards ahead of me as I tried to keep up. I could understand her not being over the moon with the detour but I couldn¡¯t understand why she was being this off with me. When she didn¡¯t slow up I decided to let her walk it of and keep us as best as I could as we approached the town. It was picturesque, you could take a snapshot of it from where I stood and put it on a postcard. A place like this back home would be a tourist hotspot.

    Before we knew we were walking amidst the town folk and it was a breathe of fresh air to see other humans, going about their daily life. Everyone was dressed funny, their attire like I had been transported back in time to a medieval world, for some reason I imagined people to be wearing clothes like me or Sy would wear but they didn¡¯t.

    Some for long tunics, some old and musty some of vibrant colours and clearly better material. Others wore leathers, strapped tightly to their bodies causing me to question how they actually breathed.

    ¡°Raven,¡± I called out, ¡°Come on you can¡¯t stay mad at me forever, let me make it unto you, as soon as we have coin I will get you something nice, chocolate or candy, there must be something that you want.¡± Raven turned as she marched forward and if looks could kill, hers would have buried me six feet in a grave, but given Raven¡¯s nature it would likely be a shallow one.

    A man stepped from the side, more in a stumble than anything, his body clad from head to toe in dull metal armour, his head covered with a helmet, the visor down. I say a man, in the moment it could have been a woman, a horse, ogre anything for all I knew. A full blown medieval knight walking around a village in the middle of the day and no one bats an eye lid. Just when I think this world cannot get any crazier.

    ¡°Raven watch out.¡± I said, my voice raised.

    It was too late though the knight continued to stumble backwards into the path of Raven who clattered straight into his legs, sending both tumbling to the floor.

    ¡°What in the blazes!¡± The knights voice was deep and well spoken with an English accent, one you would expect with a medieval knight. There was a slight slur to his speech as he rolled around like an upturned turtle as he tried to regain his footing.

    Raven scurried on the ground and got to her feet with noble agility before raising her hand to the hilt of one of her scythe¡¯s.

    ¡°No, no no,¡± I said as I rushed forwards, placing a hand on raven¡¯s shoulder. So much for staying out of trouble. "Raven relax it was an accident.¡±

    Her shoulder was tense, she was looking for a fight and for a moment I couldn¡¯t rule out that she hadn¡¯t done this intentionally. With a puff, Raven vanished as she recalled into my shadow, probably not the worst idea she ever had, leaving me alone with the fallen knight. I rushed forward and leaned down to help the knight back to his feet, grabbing hold of his arm, he was really heavy, the metal ice cold against my hands.

    ¡°What is the meaning of this,¡± he slurred, hiccupping in the process. ¡°Unhand, me at once.¡± He swung out his arm, although not intentionally his gloved hand caught my chin and lower lip, the sharp sting was followed by the taste of iron in my mouth.

    ¡°Hey I am just trying to help you up, relax,¡± I said my voice deepening as my temper paired, I bit down on my resolve to calm myself. The last thing I wanted was to get into a fight as soon as we stepped foot in a new town. I scanned the area around us, a couple of people were looking at us to see what the commotion was about, the rest were going about their daily business.

    A woman tutted as she walked past, raising her head in the air like she had caught a whiff of a bad smell. ¡°I¡¯d leave him if I was, you, the man is nothing but a drunkard that if he knew better would leave a town where he is not welcome.¡±

    The knight continued to stagger around as he very uncouthly got back to his feet, his armour clattering and chiming as he swaggered about on the spot. ¡°good lady,¡± he started with another hiccup, ¡°I¡¯ll have you know that you are right, I am drunk. How very observant of you, but in the morning when I am sober, you will still be ugly.¡±

    She scoffed, tutted again and scuttled off down the street.

    I let out a nervous laugh, it was a good come back after the woman had been rude to him but decided to intervene non the less.

    ¡°Ok, that¡¯s enough of that I said,¡± Helping the knight get his balance back. He swayed from side to side and I was paranoid he was just going to fall over again.

    ¡°Was it you?¡± he said, an accusatory tone to his voice. He raised a hand and point a finger at me, unable to keep his hand still. ¡°Did you trip me up?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± I said, ¡°I was just passing by, you seemed to trip over the cobbled roads.¡±

    His dark beading eyes scanned me through his visor and there was an awkward silence for a moment, interrupted by yet another hiccup, ¡°hmmph,¡± he said. ¡°Very well,¡± and with that he turned and went to walk away but stumbled forward. I rushed forward and helped keep him balanced again.

    ¡°Touch me again without invitation and you will lose those hands of yours. You have no idea who I am do you.¡±

    "Sorry,¡± I said, ¡°I just didn¡¯t want to see you fall over again.¡± He was drunk but my own patience was wearing thin with him now, he may have been drunk but he was coming across as more than a little obnoxious.

    ¡°Don¡¯t let it happen again,¡± he said in-between another hiccup and he set off, down the road, stumbling from side to side, tripping and stumbling but somehow managing to stay standing.

    ¡°jeez, what an asshole.¡± I said under my breath. ¡°You can come out now,¡±

    Raven didn¡¯t re-appear, so I assumed she was still cooling off, so I set off down through the centre of town. I wanted to have a good look around and the sooner that Gary and Vera could sell their wares, the sooner I could have some coin to trade myself. My attention drifting to the tavern that Gary had already told me about.

 Chapter 34 - Just Rewards

    I lost track of time as I explored the sunny town of Willowshire, enjoying every moment of what felt like normality. In. Sense that not everything was trying to kill me for once. Once I got used to how everyone dressed it seems like any other town, that I had been too. Shops, bakeries, hell I even walked past a barbershop where one man was led back in a chair having a shave.

    The smell off sweet roasted pine was everywhere and it made my stomach growl so loudly that I worried that people would notice. I had the occasional look from passers by, most likely curious at the man wearing strange clothes that was walking around town but aside from that everyone left me to it. I only wished I had a bit of coin.

    The town of Willowshire was beautiful and I found myself often at times transfixed on the architecture, they were such beautiful buildings that I often had to remind myself that I had not travelled back in time.

    I was window shopping at one of the bakeries that sat on the outer edge of town, the window was large and unfrosted, the breads and pastries on display combined with that freshly baked smell enough to send my stomach churn even more than it already was.

    ¡°Can I help you?¡±

    The stern voice warned my attention straight away. When I turned I was greeted by a man that was wearing a full boy of chainmail underneath a green and white tunic, with diagonal stripes. The man also wore a metal helmet and looked less than impressed with me, dark eyes looked out from underneath the shadow cast by the helmet, accompanied by greying eyebrows and wrinkled forehead.

    ¡°No thank you, I am ok.¡± I said, not really knowing what else to do in this situation.

    ¡°I¡¯ve had a complaint of a stranger gawping through windows, the merchants are not happy and neither are the locals. So I will ask again, is there anything I can do for you?¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± I said looking around, there were a few people who had stopped to watch the exchange between me and this man. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I didn¡¯t mean to cause any alarm. I am just waiting for a friend, he is completing a trade, when I have my coin, I will be on my way.¡± My eyes glanced at the large window beside me, a shiny bread roll catching my attention with some kind of berry mixed in with it for good measure, it looked delicious. ¡°Maybe I will grab something from here first.¡±

    The man eyed me up and down with an untrusting gaze, I wondered if this moment if he could a cess information on me like I could other people and creatures.

    ¡°You are dressed funny, are you not from around here?¡±

    ¡°I am not, as I said we are just passing through.¡±

    ¡°We?¡±

    ¡°Sorry me and my friend who is the trader.¡± It was too much hard work to explain I also had a shadow reaver by the name of Raven currently hiding in my shadow.

    There was a moments pause as the man looked me up and down once again.

    ¡°Very well, make sure when you are done you don¡¯t hand around longer than needed. Some of the townsfolk are worried about you. Make sure you keep out of trouble and please for the love of god, stop staring through the windows.¡±

    ¡°Sorry,¡± I said, ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to upset anyone, it is just nice to be in such a vibrant town,¡± I looked at the man and offered him a polite smile. ¡°You see I have travelled a very long way and this is the first time I have seen any kind of town in a long time.¡±

    ¡°Fair enough,¡± he said, ¡°Oh and one more thing. That sword of yours looks pretty dangerous. If you wouldn¡¯t mind, I¡¯d like you to hand out over to me. Just to be on the safe side.¡± He reached out his hand expectantly, seeing little option I removed my sword and passed it to him.

    "It¡¯s heavier than it looks,¡± He inspected the weapon for a moment before returning his gaze to me. "Make sure you stop by the guards station on your way out of town, you will be able to collect it there. Providing there is no trouble, you are fine to pass through.¡±

    ¡°Thank you,¡± I said, ¡°I¡¯ll be sure to do that."

    The guard turned and walked away with my sword inland and I continued to stand around awkwardly watching the world go by. Scores of men and woman passed by, dressed fairly well in tunics of varying styles. A group of children were knelt in a circle on the other side of the street, tossing something onto the ground between them and cheering intermittently, all with huge smiles on their face apart from one boy who looked fed up, I presumed he wasn¡¯t having much luck with the game.

    ¡°Making friends I see,¡± Dave¡¯s familiar voice was one that I was happy to hear and looking down beside me, he stood with his hands on his hips, like he was about to give me a scolding.

    ¡°The guard just asked me to keep out of trouble, he was quite polite actually, he¡¯s taken my sword to the guards room and said I can pick it up when we leave.¡±

    Dave rolled his eyes, so far back that his pupils nearly completely vanished while simultaneously letting out a huge sigh.

    ¡°What have I done¡± I asked shaking my head at him, half smiling.

    ¡°You are so naive to the world, that guard will likely charge you for the privilege of giving you your sword back, I tried to get back as fast as I could but I was too late and you were too forth giving. Honestly I am amazed you have made it this far. Do you not learn anything from where you are from?¡±

    I couldn''t help but laugh at the imp as he shook his head in disbelief.

    ¡°There''s me getting some coin so I can pay you and you are already wasting it.¡¯

    ¡°Does that mean you were able to sell you wares?¡± I asked, curious as to how busy Dave and Vera had been while they were away from me.

    ¡°It does,¡± Dave said with a wry smile, he looked around confusedly,

    ¡°Where is Raven? Some of this coin is hers.¡±

    ¡°She is having a little downtime,¡± I said. ¡°She isn''t happy with my decision to come here and wanted us to go direct to find Ruby''s camp.¡±

    ¡°She is head strong that one, bit of a nightmare if you ask me.¡± Dave said, I much prefer dealing with you.¡± He leant in and raised a hand to cup the side of his mouth as he spoke at a whisper. ¡°She is very stabby stabby, makes me and Vera very nervous, its in her nature, you know her kind.¡±

    ¡°Well I would much prefer if you didn''t speak about her to me when she isn¡¯t with me, its not very fair. Besides if not for Raven, I would not be standing here today, which means you wouldn''t either.¡±Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

    ¡°Very well, I didn''t mean to cause any offence,¡± Dave said coyly.

    ¡°Where is Vera?¡± I sked, I couldn¡¯t see her across the town square, or in any of the shops from where I stood.

    ¡°I told her to treat herself, so she has taken herself to the spa. I am going to try and see if there is anything else on my cart I can sell, I''ve got a trader appraising it now which is why I came to find you.¡± He unclipped the buckles on the oversised bag that was strapped to his back and slid out of the shoulder straps with a large, over the top groan. He then opened it up and rummaged inside, whatever it was seemed to be in the bottom of the bag as I worried that he would fall into the bag, only his legs poking out of the top.

    ¡°Ah, here we go,¡± His voice was muffled as he re-emerged with a coin purse in his hand, it was a shiny purple material with a gold piece of rope pulling it tightly shut. He gave it a shake before his face lit up like a kid on Christmas day.

    ¡°Here is your pay for escorting us here, you may as way take Raven''s too, I¡¯m sure you won''t be dishonest with it although it is up to you how you split it.¡± He leant in towards me again before saying, maybe split it sixty fourty or maybe even seventy thirty, with his hand cusped to the side of his mask. Little did he know that Raven could hear everything he was saying crystal clear and I was half surprised that she didn''t leap from the shadows and stabby stab him as he had put it there and then.

    ¡°I¡¯ll split it fifty fifty,¡± I said stretching out a hand to accept my reward and Dave dropped the coin bag into my palm.

    Coin bag added

    30 gold coins added

    Thirty gold coins, I wonder what that would get me around here. I looked down at my battered shoes, one of the first things I would be getting was a pair of boots that I could walk in comfortably.

    ¡°Thank you Dave,¡±

    ¡°Thank you Silas,¡± Dave gave me a polite nod, ''''I am glad our paths crossed, our luck certainly seems to have changed since we met you in our cave.''''

    ¡°That it has,¡± I said as I gave him a slight nod in return.

    Dave smiled once again before heading off, ''''I will see you around Silas, thanks again for all your help.''''

    Side Quest Completed

    A little tick came up and it flashed up with a small amount of experience points, not enough to level up. Raven would be pleased that the side quest was done and we could be on our way.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know about you but I could use a drink.¡± I said aloud as if talking to myself. An older woman, walking past with her hair tucked into the deep hood of her red cloak gave me a confused look and I chuckled to myself. Raven still was hiding in my shadow and while she was I decided that after the detour that I more than deserved a drink in the local tavern. It was on the opposite side of the town square, it was a warm day and more than anything I needed a refreshment. Besides, what was the worst that could happen.

    As I approached, the sound of raucous laughter was suppressed by the tavern walls, looking up there was a tavern sign with a hand painted picture of a haggard woman, her face covered in wrinkles that hid her eyes like a shar-pei. She was holding a tankard in her hand, with gnarled, elongated fingers wrapping around it. Underneath in gold fanciful lettering was the words, ¡®The Old Hag¡¯.

    ¡°How charming,¡± I said under my breath as I took a step towards the dark wood door and pushed it open, the door was heavier than I thought it would be as it slowly crept open. The laughter in side growing in volume.

    I couldn¡¯t help but smile, the atmosphere was boisterous and electric, reminding me of my local pub, not that I was an overly social guy back home. But it made me feel that perhaps this world was not as different from mine as I first thought.

    The first thing I noticed were that the people inside were happy, jovial, people sitting at tables, deep in conversation as if they were the only people in the room. In between the tables people were up on their feet dancing along joyfully to the music that was playing. On the far side of the room a slender woman with a green dress and long wavy brown hair stood tapping her foot on a platform as she played a fast paced tune with a fiddle. Next to her sat on a small stool a larger man with pale blue skin, tapped his hands energetically tapped along on a small drum with his hands.

    The woman must have been playing for some time, her hair sticking to her sweat covered face, but she wore an enchanting smile that told me that she was at her happiest when playing music to a crowd.

    The room itself was quite a sight, it had the feel of an old English pub, the walls and floor all clad in wood that had a light brown colour to it. Small windows were dotted on three of the four walls, with a cris-cross pattern on the inside. To my right there was a large open fire, that thankfully was not on, a huge stove sitting in the centre of it, it gave the tavern a nice fragrant smell of smoke and embers that helped to hide the sweat from the patrons that were dancing around. The atmosphere was more akin to the middle of the night and not in the middle of the day but I couldn¡¯t help but mile as I looked around, watching everyone enjoy themselves.

    The bar was on the left, with a group of older men, stood in conversation with each other as they leant against the air. As I approached I could feel the eyes of some locals falling on me, my cheeks felt a flash of warmth, I didn¡¯t like being the centre of attention and all I wanted was a drink. Besides I knew that I could not stay for long, we had already took a detour and we could do with getting back on track to find Ruby, along with the news of one of the chaos blade fragment locations.

    ¡°How can I help you love?¡± The man on the other side of the bar was big and burly but he had a more feminine, friendly voice than his size would imply.

    ¡°Can I get a beer?¡± I asked. I was almost shaking in anticipation.

    ¡°Sorry a what now?¡± The bar keep asked, ¡°Never heard of a beer before.¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± I said, taken aback, this wasn¡¯t the response that I expected. I looked around the room at everyone else, wondering what it was they were drinking from their tankards. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m not from around here,¡±

    ¡°Well tell me something that is obvious.¡± The bar keep smiled, his demeanour friendly which I was thankful for. ¡°I can¡¯t for you a beer but I can pour you a tankard of the finest, honey mead you will taste in Willowshire. Well we are the only tavern in the town so there¡¯s not much competition but,¡± He started pouring a tankard of mead from the cask behind him without me asking, ¡°If we did have other taverns it would still be the best mead around.¡±

    Mead made senses far as I knew mead was the same as beer and it frothed slightly at the rim of the tankard, so it certainly looked as close to beer as I would get and it more than would do. ¡°Thank you so much,¡± I said, as I accepted the metal tankard, it was heavy, with the mead in. ¡°What do I owe you for this?¡±

    ¡°two silver dreymar.¡± He said with a polite smile. He leant against the bar with one hand while placing his other on his hip whilst waiting. A cream dirtied cloth sitting over his shoulder that I assumed he used for wiping down the side of the bar.

    Placing the tankard down I took out the purple coin purse that Dave had given me and took a look inside, I presumed they were dreymar, but they were all gold coins. ¡°I only have this.¡± I pulled out one of the coins. ¡°Will one of these do?¡±

    ¡°Of course it will, we can give you change you know, we are not primitive around here.¡±

    ¡°If you don¡¯t mind me asking how many silver dreymar, make a gold one?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Blimey, just how far away re you from?¡± The barman laughed taking the gold coin from me. His hands dwarfed my own, but were surprisingly soft to the touch. ¡°One gold dreymar is worth four, silver dreymar.¡±

    That seemed easy enough to remember. ¡°Thank you,¡± I said, ¡°No need to give me any change back.¡±

    ¡°Well let me return my thanks,¡± The bar keep said, ¡°Tell me stranger what is your name?¡±

    ¡°Silas.¡±

    ¡°Pleasure to meet you Silas, my name is Geovana, welcome to The Old Hag.¡±

    ¡°Pleasure to meet you Geovana,¡± I said as I raised the tankard to my lips. I took a sip of the honey mead, and the first thing that hit me was the sweetness. It was like drinking liquid honey, but with a strong, almost burning sensation as it went down my throat. The taste was intense, and I could feel the alcohol warming my chest. It wasn''t exactly pleasant, but it wasn''t unpleasant either. There was a slight bitterness that balanced out the sweetness, and a hint of something floral that I couldn''t quite place. As I took another sip, I realised that this was unlike anything I had ever tasted before. It was strong, almost too strong it forced a nervous cough from me as I finished my first taste.

    Geovana laughed, ¡°Don¡¯t worry you will get used to it. Will put hair on your chest that drink.¡± He turned and started serving two of the older men that were waiting for him to fill their tankards.

    They both eyed me suspiciously, glowering through untrusting eyes. Instinctively I offered them both a nervous smile and raised my tankard to them both before taking another swig. The drink was harsh but it was something I was more than willing to get used to.

 Chapter 35 - Bar Fight

    By the time I finished my drink, my head was already feeling a little foggy, my senses were dampened slightly but my mood had lifted even more. To the point where if I had had the confidence I would have happily got up and had a dance, but I didn¡¯t so I remained perched by the bar enjoying the music.

    I contemplated ordering one more drink but given how I could already feel the one drink I had had affecting me I did not want to risk it, especially when we needed to be leaving.

    Geovana continued to serve up the patrons as the atmosphere continued to feel charged, my chest beating in time with the drum that the blue skinned man was pounding. The music had a feel of Irish folk song, not that I had heard it frequently, it just made me think of it.

    I didn¡¯t want to leave but I knew that I needed to.

    ¡°Come on, time to go,¡± I said, not to me but to Raven I had no clue if she could see what I could see or even hear me as she continued to hide in my shadow so felt best to keep her up to date on what was happening.

    No sooner as I took a step forward there was a commotion in the far corner of the room and the music stopped abruptly as someone fell back into the platform where the musician were. The woman stepped back, pulling her fiddle away from her chin, her expression clearly less that impressed.

    ¡°Geovana its him again.¡± she said with an irksome tone, this was not the first time this had happened.

    My curiosity got the better of me and I stepped away from the bar to see the source of the commotion. It was someone that I recognised, or should I say I recognised their plated silver armour.

    ¡°Galahad,¡± Geovana said as he tutted and stepped out from the bar, ¡°What did I say? You can only stay if you remained at your table in the corner,¡± He reached down to pull-up the fallen knight, who continued to stagger around like he did when he tripped over Raven.

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me what to do bar wench,¡± he said, he. Isn¡¯t aggressive in his tone but Geovana did not appreciate it non the less. He slapped him across the back of his helmet so hard that it made my head rattle just watching it.

    ¡°Call me a wench again,¡± Geovana growled, his tone suddenly deeper and more menacing. ¡°Now I said you could come back in as long as you drank a pitcher of water and kept quite, you have gone back on your word, so I am going to have to ask you to leave.¡±

    There was a cheer from the crowd, a few fist pumps into the air too for good measure.

    ¡°What is the meaning of this, you can¡¯t kick me out, do you know who I am.¡± Galahad said, he sounded even more pompous than earlier.

    ¡°Galahad, I have to kick you out most days, today, it is just a little earlier than usual.¡± Geovana, wrapped one of his tree trunk arms around Galahad and started guiding him to the door. Their was a kindness in Govan¡¯s eyes, a sadness almost as he continued to walk a staggering Galahad to the front door.

    ¡°Very well, but only because I am choosing to leave.¡± Galahad said with a raised chin, ¡°I have my pride after all,¡±

    ¡°Go on, piss off.¡± One voice sneered from the crowd. ¡°Why don¡¯t you fall in the river too while you''re at it, hopefully your armour will stop you from surfacing again.¡±

    More of the rom laughed at the mans words, all I could see was the back of a balding head and broad shoulders of the person who had called out. He had some kind of black tattoo on the top of his neck, I was too far away to pick out any detail.

    ¡°You were the one who pushed me from my chair.¡± Galahad said in protest, I was minding my own business when you pushed me over.¡±

    ¡°Yeah yeah,¡± the man taunted.

    ¡°Come on,, it¡¯s not worth it.¡± Geovana said as the two of them reached the door. ¡°Is what Galahad said true?¡± He said as he propped the knight against the wall.

    ¡°What if I did.¡± The man said stepping forward, his shoulders seemed to double in size as he sized up to Geovana. ¡°It¡¯s not like you are going to do anything.¡±

    Judging by Govan¡¯s clenched fist he wanted to punch the man but was showing incredible restraint.

    ¡°I can still ask you to leave.¡± Geovana said, taking a deep breath. ¡°I don¡¯t want any trouble, not in may tavern.¡±

    ¡°And there won¡¯t be, when you have kicked him out.¡± The man said, the atmosphere in the room had shifted to one of apprehension.

    With a defeated look, Geovana turned to Galahad and said, ¡°you best leave, before this escalates.¡±

    ¡°Very well, but it is out of respect for Geovana and not you,¡± Galahad said, ¡°I¡¯m in two minds to call you outside so we can settle this like men.¡±

    Govan¡¯s eyes almost rolled into the back of his head as he shook his head in disbelief. Galahad seemingly undoing all of his good work to calm the situation with one drunken slur. That said I kind of felt bad for the night.

    The man laughed and took a step forward towards Galahad as Geovana stepped across in front oof him.

    ¡°Morgrim, he is not in any fit state for a fight. You would kill him if I allowed this.¡±

    ¡°Then he should go around offering people outside.¡± Morgrim said, his voice a low threatening grumble. It was painfully clear he was the one looking for a fight and Galahad was the one in his sights. Even I could see this wasn¡¯t a fair fight though, Galahad was not in a fit state to defend himself against a child let alone this brute. ¡°I don¡¯t care about what he has done in the past, look at him, he is pathetic.¡±This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

    ¡°Who are you calling,¡± Galahad stepped forward from the door frame, wagging a finger, ¡°I¡¯ll have you know I am a,¡±

    He didn¡¯t have time to finish his sentence as my tankard soared across the room and bounced of the back of Morgrim. Time seemed to stop as it floated across the room and my heart sank, not just because I knew what this would trigger but because I knew that I had not thrown it.

    The room fell completely silent as all eyes locked onto me and I wanted the ground to swallow me up, the vast majority looked at me in concern, apart from Morgrim and a couple of other thugs beside him who looked furious.

    I looked down at my shadow ready to curse Raven, I knew its as her. Had she done this to get back at me, whatever the reason she seemed more than happy to start a fight and to stay hidden.

    ¡°Well someone is feeling brave,¡± Morgrim said as the three thugs around him grinned while punching a fist into their opposite hand. ¡°No weapons,¡± he commanded. ¡°But feel free to break his bones.¡±

    Morgrim Strongarm

    Level nine

    The label flashed above him in thick gold embossed lettering like when we fought against the Terrorminator. Morgrim grabbed hold of a smaller man who sat scared in a chair and pummelled the side of his head, causing most of the room to hastily start to leave.

    Side quest activated

    Survive the bar fight

    This was not what I wanted as one of the men charged me down, above his head it said.

    Grunt

    Level 6

    He was a lower level than me, but he was still thick set with a. Menacing snarl on his face. Morgrim simply stood with his arms folded in front of him, he was wearing a leather armless jacket, it reminded me of a biker jacket but surely those didn¡¯t exist here.

    The first grunt got close and swung a punch at me but instinctively I reached out to block this before pushing him away from me, he stumbled backwards, falling over a table that tipped over with him as he crashed to the ground.

    Raising my hands I said, ¡°Look I don¡¯t want any trouble, I just came here for a quick drink.¡±

    ¡°Well you should have thought about that before you threw a tankard at me.¡± He sneered. His scarred face was reddened, he was furious, one eye twitching, it was larger than the other. ¡°Get him,¡± as he spoke the two remaining grunts rushed at me as blur of silver piled into Morgrim from the side, it was Galahad.

    With no time to spare I channelled my berserker rage as Sy had been training me, using my hatred of Jerry to ignite the fires within. Activating my berserker skill, the red haze descended on my vision as I rushed forward. I wasn¡¯t going to sit and wait for the grunts to attack me, I was going to take the fight to them.

    I grabbed the one on the right by the scruff of his neck and slammed a fist into the side of his head before rolling my body and tossing him into the grunt that was already groaning on the ground. They crashed into each other and the upturned table behind them split in half as the second grunt clattered into it. Splinters of wood sprayed through the air as the two of them grounded loudly, their health bars dropping to half.

    When I spun to face the remaining grunt he speared me in the stomach but I was able to remain upright, stumping back a few steps as he pushed against me with all of his weight. Clasping my hands together I slammed them down on the grunts back between his shoulder blades. His grip loosened as he grunted and I repeated the strike. My berserker icon counter continued to drop.

    The tavern door flung open and a couple more grunts stepped in, surveying the carnage before racing toward me.

    Across the room Galahad¡¯s arms were wrapped around Morgrim, who just seemed pissed off at being held in place. He continued to struggle against Galahad who surprisingly was making to hold firm.

    As the new grunts entered the tavern Geovana spun stretching out one of his arms and clothes lining both of them at the same time.

    With another slam of my fists into the back of the grunt holding me he collapsed to the ground, groaning just as loud as the others who all writhed around on the ground.

    I gave Geovana a worried look, ¡°I am so sorry,¡±

    He didn¡¯t say anything in return instead, he barrelled down on Morgrim who had clasped his hands on Galahads forearm to pull it away from him slowly. Raising a hand he grabbed hold of Galahad¡¯s shoulder and flung him over the top of him with surprising strength, straight into the approaching Geovana. The noise rang out as Galahad along with his metal armour clattered into the ground.

    Morgrim looked incensed, he rolled his neck as it cracked multiple times as he limbered up for his next strike.

    ¡°Over here!¡± I said, clapping my hands together, I still had my berserker rage and wondered if I could afford Galahad and Geovana time to regroup.

    ¡°You will regret this,¡± Morgrim sneered, he was a higher level than me and I wondered if even with the three of us we would be able to beat him.

    Galahad, climbed to his feet, his full body suit of armour, making his movement loud and clunky. ¡°Unhand me he said,¡± Shrugging of Geovana, he seemed to think everyone in this situation was his enemy. Raising his fists like he was a boxer from the 1930¡¯s he let out a huge hiccup. ¡°I could do this all day,¡± he said, slurring his words. He stepped forward towards Morgrim but caught his foot on one of the grunts on the floor, tripping forward.

    He hit the floor face first with an almighty clatter, his head concealed in the full headed helmet. Probably for the better given the force of his landing. I couldn¡¯t help but groan to myself as Galahad remained completely still, no longer trying to get up. He had managed to knock himself out.

    ¡°Shit,¡± I said as I watched my counter drop to it¡¯s final second. When it hit zero my berserker mist faded and suddenly I felt completely vulnerable.

    ¡°Look¡¯s like it is just you and me.¡± Morgrim grunted, slamming his knuckles into each other and clicking his neck. It snapped like a thick branch from a tree. The guy was a monster, at least twice the size of me and clearly a brawler.

    ¡°Listen up Raven,¡± I said, ¡°I don¡¯t care what the hell is going on, I understand you are pissed at me for taking a side quest, but I need your help!¡±

    ¡°Who are you talking to?¡± Morvin asked, he was clearly confused at me standing in front of him shouting to himself. It didn¡¯t make him any less deterred to kick my ass however.

    ¡°Raven!¡± I shouted again, ¡°Please!¡± I don¡¯t know whether it was out of pity or that she sensed the desperation in my voice but Raven shot out from my shadow, her scythes already drawn and by her side. She landed in front of me, half leaning forward ready to strike and I breathed a huge sigh of relief.

    ¡°Thank god,¡± I said, ¡°You came back.¡±

    Morgim¡¯s face changed in an instant from contorted rage to a look that I wasn¡¯t expecting. Was that fear?

    ¡°What are you doing here? I didn¡¯t know that he was with you,¡± Morgrim started stammering. ¡°Forgive me,¡± he said, lowering his fists. All the anger all the vitriol he was showing towards us vanished like a puff of smoke, he was breathing heavily but his eyes were wide as he searched for his next words.

    ¡°I, er, we, will be on our way.¡± He said, scooping up a couple of grunts from the floor. The ones that could were already scarpering out of the tavern, they had no intention of fighting once they saw Raven standing side by side with me.

    This whole situation was strange, I couldn¡¯t put my finger on it, it was definitely her that had triggered this response and not me. I thought about the side quest, Whispers. These guys knew something about Raven and we needed to get more information from them before they piled out.

    ¡°Woah, what do you know? Can you help us?¡± I asked calling after Morgrim as he bolted for the door, kicking it open.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I don¡¯t want any bother with the Reavers.

    With this Morgrim disappeared through the door.

    ¡°What the hell was that about?¡± I said.

 Chapter 36 - Galahad

    Geovana finished bolting the front door to the tavern shut before returning to Silas, Raven and a still unconscious Galahad. I was picking doing my best to help clean up the mess that we had made with our brawl.

    Raven was sat on a stool at the bar, she was drinking out of a tankard that was left on the side and I didn¡¯t really feel like checking to make sure it wasn¡¯t alcoholic. In fact I didn¡¯t even know if this place had rules about kids getting wasted in a tavern.

    ¡°I am so sorry,¡± I said as I continued to sweep up the broken glass on the floor into a tidy pile. I had already turned the tables back over but two were damaged beyond repair.

    ¡°I¡¯d like to say I am used to it but, it is still frustrating when brawls break out. I¡¯ll be back open by the evening, once this mess is cleared up.¡± He was surprisingly calm, given the circumstances, something about that made me feel uneasy. Back home I would have been kicked out, told I was barred and to never return.

    ¡°What made you do it?¡± Geovana asked, he picked up a table leg and checked it over before sighing and picking up one of the broken tables. He tried to see if he could get the leg to reattached but it was too badly damaged.

    ¡°Made me do what?¡± I asked, I felt a warm flash of red in my neck as guilt overcame me. Did she blame me for the fight? I would have done. I looked at Raven again who was still sat on the stool playfully kicking her legs as they draped over the edge. It was as if she was blissfully unaware of the chaos she had created.

    Geovana looked down at Galahad who was lay down on his back, a slow rattle coming from behind his helmet. I had rolled him over to make sure he was breathing once Morgrim and his grunts had left the tavern.

    ¡°Help him?¡± He said, ¡°No one else would have, but something about you tells me that you are different.¡±

    ¡°It kind of felt like the right thing to do,¡± I said, ¡°Besides I don¡¯t think Raven here helped with the situation.

    ¡°About that, do you know what she is?¡± Geovana said, ¡°I didn¡¯t see her with you when you got here and I am guessing non of the regulars did. You are going to want to keep things that way.¡± He said, leaning over to pick up the other broken legs that were scattered on the floor.

    ¡°She is Reaver, why?¡± I asked, I noticed Raven turn in her seat to face Geovana. I needed to know why Morgrim had freaked out when he saw her, why his demeanour changed when he realised a Reaver was present. We needed to get answers and hopefully Geovana could help me with my whispers side quest, I felt like we could be onto something here.

    ¡°You know what Reavers are don¡¯t you?¡± Geovana, was heading towards the bar when the suit of armour sprawled out on the ground started to move.

    Galahad groaned loudly before flailing around as he tried to get up from the floor. ¡°Blasted thing,¡± he said to himself. ¡°It¡¯s all fun and games wearing a suit of armour until you fall over and flail around like an upturned turtle.¡± He rolled onto his side, spotting me but then shifted to a position where he could at least sit up. ¡°Well don¡¯t just stand there boy, are you going to help me?¡± he was still slurring but he spoke with a posh English accent.¡±

    I rushed over to help him, hooking my arms underneath his to help him to his feet, he was heavy, really heavy, he reeked of stale ale and was in desperate need for a shower. Seeing that I was struggling, Geovana came across to help me heave the knight to his feet.

    He bumbled around as he staggered forward, planting his hands on the nearest table to get his balance, for a second I worried that the table would flip over and send him crashing to the floor again.

    ¡°I can¡¯t see a blasted thing in here, bloody helmet!¡± He flicked up the face guard to reveal his face. He was a black man, I could see the top of a dark curled mustache and what looked like a pointed beard. His eyes were bloodshot, most likely from the booze or the concussion he likely had. He had a few lines of wrinkles reaching out from his weary face but it was not possible for me to guess how old he was. ¡°That¡¯s better,¡± he said taking a deep breathe in. He looked around the tavern, eying the broken glass that I had been sweeping into piles, a couple of misplaced chairs, hole in the wall and the two broken tables that remained up turned. ¡°What the bloody hell happened in here?¡± he said. The guy was sincere, judging by his reaction he genuinely had no clue what had gone on.

    ¡°There was a brawl,¡± I said.

    ¡°Bloody scoundrels,¡± he said as he faced me, he gave me a suspicious look. ¡°And you are?¡±

    ¡°Silas,¡± I said. ¡°Are you ok?¡± I asked, ¡°You took one hell of a fall in that fight.¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

    ¡°I am fine,¡± he said, ¡°A little dehydrated but nothing that a good drink will fix.¡± He gestured to Geovana to bring him a drink. ¡°Geovana, if you could, the usual please.¡±

    ¡°That is going to be a hard no from me,¡± He said, ¡°You still haven¡¯t paid your last tab and although you didn¡¯t start that fight you certainly didn¡¯t help with the situation. Although I do appreciate you stepping in to defend my honour.

    There was an emptiness in his eyes as he tried to recall what happened but he shook his head, ¡°pah, don¡¯t remember any of it. Are you sure I was involved.¡±

    Geovana simply laughed, and went behind the bar before fetching a jug with some water. He placed a tankard in front of him and poured him a glass. ¡°That is the only drink you are getting from me.¡±

    ¡°Well, I have to say I am disappointed,¡±

    Geovana placed a hand on his chest and feigned being hurt.

    The knight raised his glass into the air as if raising a toast and said, ¡°The names Galahad, knight of the realm,¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know about that,¡± Geovana laughed.

    ¡°So Sean,¡± Galahad said, ¡°Strange name if I do say so myself. What brings you to Willowshire?¡± He looked at Geovana before saying, ¡°We are still in Willowshire aren¡¯t we.¡±

    Geovana laughed loudly, clapping his hands together before fetching a pan to start sweeping up the broken glass piles.

    ¡°It¡¯s Silas.¡± I corrected, ¡°My name is Silas.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s what I said,¡± Galahad said, matter of factly.

    ¡°And this is Raven.¡± I said, pointing as she continued to watch on from her stool.

    Galahad fell backwards, clambering to get away. ¡°Sh, she¡¯s a Reaver!¡± he said, he scrambled on the floor to get distance, before pulling himself to his feet ready to run.

    ¡°Woah,¡± I said, ¡°There is nothing to be scared of, she is just a kid.¡± Raven yawned, completely disinterested in the conversation.

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand?¡± He stammered, how can you two be so calm when we have a Reaver in the room. Geovana, how can you allow her in your tavern?¡±

    It was genuine fear in his eyes and I kind of felt sorry for him, I mean I had seen first hand how dangerous Raven could be but, she had done nothing but saved my ass since the day that I met her.

    ¡°I was just getting to things with Silas, when you woke up.¡± Geovana said.¡±

    ¡°Can someone tell me what the hell is going on.¡± I demanded, I knew there was something about Raven, she always hid from Fidget and Sy had alluded to something with her. It was clear I had been burying my head in the sand, but even now I couldn¡¯t see what she could have done that was so bad. ¡°She¡¯s just a kid, I said, and she is a good kid. A little disturbed, but when you get through all the barbed wire there is a heart there.¡±

    ¡°That doesn¡¯t change that she is a Reaver.¡± Galahad said, straightening himself up, ¡°Could you help me?¡± Geovana, helped him up from the floor again, this time however he remained standing. He reached for a sword that wasn¡¯t there.

    ¡°Woah, I don¡¯t want any trouble Galahad, we just want to get by, we were not planning on being here for long, I just completed a side quest for a merchant and then we were meant to be out of here. What can she have done? As I said she is just a kid.¡±

    ¡°My boy have you been living under a rock? How can you not know how dangerous she is.¡±

    Raven remained sat on the stool, but something about her demeanour told me that she was listening intently to every word that was being spoken.

    ¡°I know how dangerous she can be, how is that a bad thing? She helped me escape some Terror¡¯s that attacked me, helped me defeat a boss, she even showed me how to level up.¡±

    ¡°Reaver¡¯s are a scourge and they are evil.¡± Galahad said.

    ¡°Raven isn¡¯t,¡± I said. These guys knew a lot more about these Reavers than I did, and despite Galahad¡¯s presentation, Geovana had been a lot calmer with one being in my company. ¡°Listen, I am not from around here and I know I have so much to learn. For that end I would appreciate it if one of you would take the time to explain things to me so I can figure all of this out. And to do that I am going to need you to calm down.¡±

    Geovana, took up a seat beside Galahad before pulling a chair out next to him. ¡°To be fair Galahad, the kid did save you without raising a finger. You were unconscious and Morgrim only left when he saw her. Which means we might not have too long before they come back with re-enforcements.¡±

    ¡°Still, it is dangerous to have her around.¡± Galahad had calmed slightly but was still coming across as hostile. Reluctantly he took a seat beside Geovana.

    ¡°You¡¯re going to want to take a seat.¡± Geovana said.¡±

    I sat down opposite them both, offering Raven a chair beside me, she declined, she lent forward with her elbows on her knees, resting her face on her hands like a bored teenager. Given her reaction I couldn¡¯t help but think that she already knew what was about to be said.

    ¡°Will someone tell me what the hell a Reaver is.¡± I demanded.

    ¡°It isn¡¯t just what they are,¡± Geovana started, it is who they fight for. Do said you were new to this place, if you don¡¯t know about Reavers then just where are you from because I don¡¯t know of anyone in this world other than a new born baby who wouldn¡¯t know what a Reaver was.¡±

    ¡°I was brought here, by a sorceress. I was working late when I was dragged through some kind of portal or vortex by a sorceress. Here name if Fidget, she brought me through, told me some story about the chaos blades and that I needed to help find its fragments so that I can stop Belzebere and save the world.¡±

    ¡°Fidget,¡± Geovana said, ¡°She is one of the guardians, I have heard stories about her.¡±

    ¡°So you know about Belzebere?¡± Galahad said at this point he stood up and walked around to the bar, pouring himself a drink of ale before returning.

    Geovana gave him a hard stare but he simply waved this off, ¡°Put it on my tab,¡± he said.

    ¡°You don¡¯t have a tab, we have already discussed this.¡±

    ¡°I need a drink,¡± he said, ¡°This is a lot to process. So you know about Belzebere, yet you knowingly are walking around with a Reaver.¡±

    ¡°What is your problem with this?¡± I could feel my jaw tightening, it seemed like we were just going round and round in circles and I was non the wiser to what a Reaver was.

    ¡°Because all Reaver¡¯s fight for Belzebere.¡±

 Chapter 37 - Reavers

    ¡°What?¡± at first I felt flummoxed. How can he have meant all Reavers.

    ¡°Raven? Is this true?¡±

    She shook her head.

    ¡°That¡¯s all I need, if she is saying she isn¡¯t with them then I believe her.¡±

    ¡°Then you are bloody well blind old boy,¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve been with Raven a while now, I have had enough fights with her, enough arguments to know that if she wanted to kill me she would have already.¡± I was defensive and I didn¡¯t care. "Raven, come on I think we need to leave.¡±

    I stood up ready to march straight out of the door, Raven hopped in her chair.

    ¡°Wait, wait, wait,¡± Geovana said ¡°You can¡¯t go out there with her, if you do you won¡¯t make it past the guards check point. ¡°Galahad, stop talking, let me explain about the Reavers and then, you can do what you need to Silas. At least I know I will have given you all the information you need.¡±

    I sighed, I wanted to leave but Raven wasn¡¯t able to tell me what she knew so this was the best shot I had at learning something about her past and I hoped this would help me with her side quest.

    ¡°You have five minutes,¡± I said, after that we are gone.

    ¡°It is the least I can do after you stood up to Morgrim. But I must ask, what are five minutes?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a time thing,¡± I pointed at my watch, Galahad¡¯s eyes widened so much that I thought he would try and snatch it from me, likely for his next drink.

    ¡°I am not disputing that Raven has helped you, you have been more than honest in your situation and how she has saved you more than once. What you need to know is that she is very clearly a reaver, all be it a young one but she is a Reaver non the less.¡± Geovana said.

    Raven rolled her eyes, making a ¡®duh¡¯ gesture. She made a sign but once again I didn¡¯t know what she meant.

    ¡°Is she deaf?¡± Geovana asked.

    ¡°No she is mute, I don¡¯t know how but we just kind of crossed paths. Not long after I ended up with a side quest called whispers. I need to help her find the whispers of her past. That is something I want to do for her, it is the least I can do.¡±

    ¡°I understand, now usually I would freak out myself if a Reaver was in the room but I will admit she does seem different, her temperament is under control.

    These guys hadn¡¯t seen her in action, for them to make such a bold accusation made me dread what a fully grown Reaver would be like. Sure she had been difficult, she had caused the bar fight, something I still didn¡¯t know the reason for other than not being happy with me escorting Gary and Vera here.

    ¡°Reaver¡¯s are feral, well usually they are, I have never come across a youngling before. They are usually much older, although when I say come across I mean heard of because it is safe to say that not many people come out of those encounters alive.¡±

    ¡°Savages they are,¡± Galahad piped up, Geovana gave him a hard stare that forced him to shrink back into his armour. He was about to speak again, when Geovana followed up with a prolonged stare and shrunk into his armour, for his better judgement. Geovana was twice the size of him and although I couldn¡¯t see his level I assumed he would be able to back up that hard stare, given Galahads reaction.

    ¡°Ravagers are not necessarily part of this world, they were summoned. Created in another realm and dragged into these plains to do the bidding of the person who summoned them, who ultimately has control of them.¡±

    ¡°Belzebere,¡± I said. I turned towards Raven, ¡°That¡¯s why you keep vanishing when Fidget makes contact with you, you knew that she would know what you were and that¡¯s what you would tell me.¡±

    Raven¡¯s expression turned to one of a rabbit caught in the headlights and shook her head. She started signing.

    ¡°That¡¯s why Sy was cautious about you when we found him. You knew that if Fidget said what you were then you wouldn¡¯t have been able to stay with me.

    Raven continued signing, more animatedly though now, she seemed desperate to tell me something.

    ¡°The thing is Silas, I have never heard of a Reaver breaking free from the control of Belzebere, I don¡¯t even know how it is that she controls them or communicates for them. Perhaps it is telepathic, that could be the only explanation.¡±

    Geovana¡¯s face read like something had dawned on her. ¡°That means that Belzebere could know you are here now, she could have seen our faces.¡± The colour drained from him.

    ¡°Is this true Raven?¡±

    She didn¡¯t move, no signing not a shake of her head.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    ¡°Is this true?¡± My voice was raised, even though Raven couldn¡¯t speak to me I felt as though she had been lying to me all this time. Or at the very least misleading me.

    Raven had a blank expression, she was looking into my eyes but seemed like she was frozen to the spot.

    ¡°I said is it true,¡± I raised my voice even more, startling Geovana and Galahad.

    She shrugged her shoulders.

    ¡°This would be so much easier if you could talk to me!¡±

    Raven started signing to me but I didn¡¯t understand what she was saying, despite her trying her best, she wasn¡¯t aggressively signing for a change but it only served to add to my frustrations.

    ¡°Let¡¯s all calm down,¡± Geovana said, trying to cut through the tension.

    ¡°I dare say I agree with the bar wench.¡± Galahad said.

    ¡°Call me a wench again.¡± Geovana said.

    Galahad raised his hands, ¡°No offence meant.¡±

    ¡°Consider it taken.¡± he said, he leant forward onto his elbows which were planted on the table. I am trying to calm this situation down, no one is going to benefit from you going all berserkery on us, besides, something seems different with you energy when you activated that skill.¡±

    ¡°The problem we have is that either Raven here, is under Belzebere¡¯s control, which means all of this is a trap.¡±

    Raven shook her head in disagreement.

    ¡°Or somehow she has found a way to break free of Belzebere¡¯s control and escape.¡±

    Raven started nodding, pointing towards Geovana.

    ¡°That¡¯s it then,¡± he said. ¡°You have somehow broke free and escaped.¡±

    Raven nodded again.

    ¡°The thing is I have never heard of this happening before. What if she takes back control of you?¡±

    ¡°Could that happen?¡± I asked. I had seen what Raven was capable of and the last thing I wanted was for her to lose control and as Galahad said, go full savage on us. ¡°Could Belzebere take control of you?¡± I asked.

    Raven shrugged her shoulders again and sighed.

    I guess this was why we had her side quest to complete.

    ¡°Maybe this is why I have the whispers quest,¡± I said, ¡°If we can just figure that out, perhaps it somehow links to the chaos blades. What if it is all linked.¡±

    The question was, where did we go from here.

    ¡°What about Morgrim?¡± Geovana said, ¡°He was spooked when he saw Raven standing in front of him. The man near shit himself at the sight of a Reaver.¡±

    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t anyone,¡± Galahad said, sniffing the air and checking himself.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I checked you while you were passed out.¡± Geovana said with a smile.

    "The way Morgrim reacted was different. He could tell she was a Reaver but what if he recognised her.¡± I said, ¡°Raven did you recognise Morgrim.¡±

    Raven stretched her hand out and waved her hand from side to side.

    ¡°He definitely recognised you,¡± I said, ¡°And I don¡¯t mean like as in you are reaver, he knew who you are. If I can find him, maybe we can get some answers for you. Then we can get the hell out of here.¡±

    ¡°Wait, you can¡¯t be serious. Do you even know who Morgrim is?¡± Geovana protested, shaking his head, it was clear he disapproved with the plan. ¡°Not over is he stronger than you but he isn¡¯t even the one in charge.¡±

    ¡°Who is in charge then.¡± I asked, if not Morgrim, I will go straight to him to get the answer that we need.

    ¡°The Godsfather,¡± Galahad said.

    I stood their in disbelief and shook my head, ¡°Yu have got to be kidding me.¡± The kingpin of this town was called The Godsfather and no one in the room could see the humour in that. ¡°Ok I am going to need you to tell me what you can about this Godsfather. I need to know as much as possible if I am going to get information out of him. These guys know something about Raven¡¯s past and we have to find out. How long has he been hear.¡±

    ¡°The Godsfather has run Willowshire for years, as soon as he managed to get the control of the captain of the guards he had everything that he needed. He collects taxes, for protection of course. That is supposed to stop them trouble happening around the business that pay.¡± Geovana said. ¡°Not that that did me much use today.¡± He sighed.

    ¡°So you pay him protection money.¡± I asked.

    ¡°Not like I have much option, it¡¯s either pay the coin or pay the consequences, I know which option works for me. You have seen how strong Morgrim is, no one is going to say no to him.¡±

    ¡°I would,¡± Galahad said defiantly.

    ¡°And look how many times that has got you knocked out. I bet you don¡¯t even remember half of the fights that you have had, you are lucky to still be alive. Out there giving a whole new meaning to the term punch drunk.¡±

    I laughed, I had to give it to Galahad, he was persistent if anything else.

    ¡°My boy this is no laughing matter, The Godsfather is the most powerful man in the whole of Willowshire, his influence, his control. He has all of it. He is the blasted reason I am still here, the scoundrel has my sword and shield.¡±

    ¡°Then let¡¯s go and get it back.¡± I said.

    ¡°You must have a death wish. Do you actually think you can just walk up into his hideout, demand answers and steal from him.¡± Geovana said.

    Raising his hand Galahad said, ¡°Well technically it isn¡¯t stealing if we take what is already stolen.¡±

    ¡°Nope, uh, uh,¡± Geovana shook his head standing up and walking back behind the bar to pour himself a drink. ¡°You are crazy if you think you are going to be able to do that. He doesn¡¯t just show up for anyone, he never gets involved. He always gets others to do his bidding.¡±

    ¡°Well that looks like we just need to get his attention then. Galahad, you said that he had your sword, if you help us and I promised to help you get your sword and shield back, would that be enough of a deal.¡±

    ¡°I can¡¯t say that I feel confident but with four of us we may just well be able to pull this off.¡± He said.

    ¡°No, I can tell you now that I am not stepping foot outside of this Tavern, I have got a business to run and people depend on me. By all means feel free to drink here, to use this space to come up with a plan but that is as far as I go. Sometimes you have got to pick your battles. And when all this is said and done I would like to still have my tavern and my life.¡±

    ¡°What about you two?¡± I asked, ¡°I won¡¯t be able to do this on my own.¡±

    ¡°Count me in old boy, I have got nothing to lose.¡±

    Raven stepped forward, nodding agreement with the plan. She seemed keen to find out her past too.

    ¡°Are you sure you want to do this Galahad, you know what happened last time you stepped out of line,¡± Geovana said.

    ¡°What happened?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Well after he got a savage beating he was placed in the stocks for ten days. No food or water.¡±

    Galahad gave Geovana a look of bemusement as if he had no idea what she was talking about.

    "Are we going to sit around gossiping all day or are we going to get my things back?¡± Galahad said, ¡°First things first though, Geovana, may I have another drink before we do anything.¡±

 Chapter 38 - Scouting

    Quest updated

    Whispers

    Infiltrate the Godsfather base to find out more about Raven¡¯s past

    I had gotten the notification shortly after confirming with Galahad and Raven that we were actually going to try and pull this off. Was it madness or desperation, I had been unsure but leaving wasn¡¯t an option. We had an opportunity to find out more about Raven and we needed to take it, no matter the cost.

    The task right now was a simple one, Galahad knew the layout of Willowshire but given his half drunk ramblings, we needed to see the town for ourselves. Geovana stuck to his guns about not getting involved. Not outdoors anyway, true to his word he had reiterated that we were free to use his tavern to meet up providing that we didn¡¯t draw attention to it.

    Geovana wasn¡¯t adverse to trouble starting in his bar and would get involved in breaking them up but he explained that he needed to be seen as impartial. When it came to the Godsfather however, Geovani had said that he needed to be careful. If he was seen to be aiding any kind of rebellion then it would have catastrophic repercussions for him. Geovana had been white as a sheet as he had told us that his goons wouldn¡¯t just trash his tavern but they would likely burn it down.

    I understood where he was coming from and said that we could find another place to meetup but he had insisted that he wanted to help in whatever way he could, he just needed to be extra careful.

    Myself and Galahad were walking down a cobbled street in Willowshire, the stones paving the ground surprisingly well kept and maintained. Horse and carts intermittently passed, the click clacking of hooves against the cobbled stone giving me a familiarity of home that I needed right now.

    Men and woman of all shapes and sizes walked up and down the sides of the streets, their clothes something like you would expect from medieval times. I did draw occasional disapproving or curious eyes as we walked through the town which was funny given that I was walking with a fully armour suited knight yet it was me drawing attention with my dirt covered chinos and torn work shirt.

    Raven was tucked away in my shadow, it had seemed like the sensible option given the hostility towards Reavers that Galahad and Geovana had explained to us. Although they remained suspicious of her, there was no way that I was going to turn my back on her, not after everything that we had been through.

    I had always been brought up to judge people on their action and not on the words of others. It was something my dad had always said to me that didn¡¯t make much sense until I had grown up. Jerry being a prime example of that very theory, people loved Jerry, my colleagues, our bosses. They didn¡¯t see what he was like though, that was something only a couple of us that he used as stepping stones got to view.

    ¡°As I was saying if we start over here by the guards tower over there old boy, I can give you a tour of Willowshire.¡± Galahad, stumbled slightly, I couldn¡¯t tell if it was the armour¡¯s clunkiness making it harder for him to walk or the fact he had insisted on a couple more drinks which had likely topped him back up to being partially drunk.

    ¡°lead the way,¡± I said, ahead of us was the main gate where I had entered Willowshire with Gary and Vera, already that seemed like such a long time ago and only a few hours had passed. I wondered if they had already left or if they were still around here.

    ¡°As I was saying, this is the guards tower.¡± Galahad said, his voice elevated to a level that brought instant attention to us. The opposite of what we needed.

    From this side I could see a large wrought iron gate, it was closed, a the metal was rusted on the criss cross design. Either side of it were two cylindrical towers that were built into the large stone wall that reached as far as I could see either side.

    ¡°Now these towers are where the guards are based, hence the term guard tower,¡± He said the last two words slower, as if he was talking to and idiot. Come to think of it, everything he was doing was over the top and the opposite of what we had discussed.

    ¡°Galahad,¡± I whispered under my breath, frustration and worry rising within me. Had I already made a mistake involving Galahad in all of this?

    With a stumble Galahad stopped. "Leaning into me he said, ¡°What is it old boy?¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re meant to be keeping a low profile.¡±

    ¡°Trust me I know what I¡¯m doing,¡± He said in a coherent way. ¡°As I was saying these towers were erected by the founder of Willowshire, Per, Par, Pir,¡± He was speaking loudly and stumbling on the name that he was searching for. It took everything in me not to rush him and slap my hand over his mouth. All that would do would draw even more attention to us.

    ¡°Never mind,¡± he said moving on from the name he was trying to recall, a trying look on his face. You see the wall was built to keep the terrors out, frightful creatures, would murder anyone that gets in their way. As vicious as they are tiny, trust me if you ever come across these little blights, either run or dispatch the slippery little buggers before they come back with more of their kin. You see I¡¯ve noticed that they will send one or two out to scout out an area before mounting a full fledged attack where the will swamp whatever village, camp or town they see fit the rapscallions.¡±This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on here.¡± A gruff voice said, judging by their tone they were less than impressed. Galahad turned around, stumbling in his steps, seeing the guard that had stepped out of one of the towers he offered them a polite wave.

    ¡°Ah, hello old boy.¡± Galahad said, swaying slightly on the spot. ¡°This chap is new to town, so I thought,¡± He paused for a moment as he hiccupped. ¡°I would show him around, give him a little tour.¡± He turned back to face me waving his hands around in the air as he spoke. ¡°As I was saying, the guards remain in the towers to keep watch from the terror¡¯s should they wander a little too close to the towns boundaries.¡± He aimed at me with a fake crossbow in his hands and pretended to fire it at me.

    With how crazy this place his I half expected a damn weapon to materialize in his hands and if he had, it wouldn¡¯t have surprised me. ¡°With expert precision they keep their crossbows trained on the blighters and are ready to fire at any moment.¡±

    ¡°Clear off,¡± The guard said, dismissively, he clearly did not had time for Galahad and I felt like this wasn¡¯t the first time he had encountered him.

    Galahad spun back around and staggered towards the guard, ¡°Don¡¯t be like that,¡± he said as he reached the guard, he wrapped his metal coated arm around the guard like they were best friends, the guard however looked less than impressed. The more Galahad moved the more his armour sounded like it needed a good oiling. Was that even a thing with a suit of armour?

    The guard took a sniff before looking to his side at Galahad, a wave of repulsion came across his face as Galahad continued to talk to him, blissfully unaware of the ire he was causing.

    ¡°As I was as I was saying,¡± Galahad rolled his free hand around in the air as he was talking, making an exaggerated circle that moved in time with his words. ¡°This young chap has just arrived in Willowshire and I was showing him around, telling him the rich history, then out you popped. Perfect timing or what.¡± He was expressive with his face, his eccentricity on full display. ¡°Is there any chance that you can perhaps show him around the guard tower, it would be a fantastic experience.¡± He turned his head to align with the guards, a hopeful smile in tow. ¡°Pretty please?¡±

    ¡°I said clear off!¡± The guard shoved into Galahad who put up little fight as he stumbled away, losing his footing and tumbling over in the mud.

    He clattered to the ground and I kind of felt sorry for him, as he tried to clamber back to his feet.

    ¡°The only way you are getting a tour of the guards tower is if you take up residency in the cells, then it will be a quick walk to the gallows.¡±

    I knew that Galahad was being a little full on but threatening him with the cells and the gallows was a little extreme. I went to take a step forward but caught a glimpse of Galahad who waved a hand at me to back down.

    A second guard excited the guard tower, his hand firmly gripping the hilt of his sword. I had to double take, it wasn¡¯t his sword he was gripping, it was mine, I could recognise the serrated pommel. It was the same guard that had comphescated my sword before I went to the tavern. The same guard who said I could collect it on my way out. ¡°What¡¯s going on here?¡± He growled, the other guard wiped at his shoulder like something nasty had spilt on him.

    The guard that had taken my sword saw Galahad stumbling around in the dirt as he tried to get to his feet and groaned. ¡°Not you again Galahad, I swear I can smell you before I see you. Do us all a favour and piss off.¡± He spat at Galahad and I couldn¡¯t stand back.

    ¡°Hey,¡± I called out. ¡°There¡¯s no need for that.¡±

    The guard marched at me without any hesitation, looking me up and down as he stood in my personal space. My berserker skill had cooled down but this was neither the time or the place for me to activate it. ¡°I recognise you, I thought I told you to stay out of trouble.¡± The guard jabbed me in the chest, his whole demeanour completely different from the first time I had met him, I wondered if he perhaps had an evil twin, such was the contrast.

    ¡°He doesn¡¯t mean any harm, ¡° I said leaping to Galahad¡¯s defence. ¡°Like he was telling your colleague here, he was just showing me a round as I am new here.¡±

    Galahad managed to get himself back to his feet before dusting himself down. ¡°That¡¯s quite alright,¡± Galahad said walking back towards me, we don¡¯t want any bother, we will be on our way.¡± He placed his hands on my shoulders to lead me away, stale and fresh ale smacked me in the face, it was grim to say the least.

    "Piss off back to where you came from Galahad.¡± The other guard said, still wiping his shoulder as if it was contaminated.

    The other guard kicked him in the backside and he stumbled forward. In a flash of a second there was a deep sadness in Galahad¡¯s eyes, one filled with shame and embarrassment, then the next second it vanished as he continue to shepherd me away from the guards who stood glowering at the two of us.

    ¡°Well there goes my chance of getting my sword back.¡± I said as Galahad continued to lead me away.

    When we got far enough he let go of me, allowing me to walk freely.

    ¡°What a dick,¡± I said, ¡°Are you ok,? He didn¡¯t need to treat you like that.¡±

    ¡°Being the town drunk comes with its own pitfalls,¡± he said. ¡°Sooner or late people just accept you for what you are. A simple drunkard, chasing his next drink.¡±

    ¡°What was that all about?" Why do I feel like that isn¡¯t the first time you have had dealings with them?¡±

    Galahad laughed loudly, ¡°Those guards are nothing more than cowards and their behaviour all but confirms what I have suspected for a long time. They are in the pocket of the Godsfather.

    ¡°How do you know that? I mean they were assholes but what. Makes you think they are in the Godfather¡¯s pocket?¡±

    ¡°Because no one tasked with protecting towns or villages, treat people like that. They should patrol these streets with pride and honour, remembering the vows they swore.¡±

    We passed a couple of shops while we walked, Galahad pointing out the varying positioning of the guards, they were posted at guard towers at different points around Willowshire, but they also had a continuous patrol on the streets. The more I watched their behaviour from a far the more I agreed with what Galahad had said.

    These guards were here to protect them but as we looked around I saw guards hassling women, kicking the legs of people and even one pushing a man up against a wall as he extorted him for coin, or he would throw him in the cells for the night, probably with a beating for good measure.

    ¡°You see, guards who were true to their vows, to their allegiance wouldn¡¯t behave like this. They would be duty bound, to keep Willowshire safe, but it seems they only have their needs that they wish to see to.¡± Galahad was frustrated, he had a bit of a power march going on as he showed me around town, continuing his tour.

    ¡°Come Silas, we need to keep scouting the area.¡±

    ¡°What then?¡± I asked.

    ¡°Then we need to increase our notoriety.¡±

 Chapter 39 - Notoriety

    We had spend most of the day scouting the town, Galahad had shown me around every last street and now I think I could safely say that I had seen every single building in the town.

    Willowshire was a beautiful place, it was truly fascinating to see how the town had been built within the jungle, the two environments blending perfectly together.

    We had successfully mapped out the guards locations throughout the town, I had contacted Sy who talked me through how to highlight them on my map, it took me a while to get used to the system, it felt kind of clunky at first but once I had done it a few times I slowly started to get the hang of it.

    Sy had explained that there was a few different ways that I could place markers, one was location based. This type of marker was if I wanted to mark somewhere I wanted to head to, this was mainly to avoid getting lost and keeping on track. I had a limit for where I could mark, given that my map only exposed places I had actually been, all the areas outside of this were shrouded in a black mass which consumed pretty much ninety nine point nine percent of my map interface when I tried to zoom out on it.

    The feature that Sy had shown me how to use was similar except I had been able to mark down multiple locations as a point of interest on the map, these would now show up as purple crosses on the map. Once Sy had explained this to me, myself and Galahad had doubled back on ourselves to make sure that we didn¡¯t miss anything. That now meant that I had roughly two dozen points of interest layed out on the map.

    I had asked Sy if it was possible to place markers on the guards themselves, this would of helped us track their locations so we knew where they were at all times. He had told me that this wasn¡¯t possible for me, you needed to be in a hunter class that would give you access to a skill called tracker. Even then you would only be able to highlight one person to track on your map, unless you were higher than level fifty, this was when you would have access to a higher stacked version of this ability. Even then you could only track a maximum of ten people or animals. I had asked Raven if she had access to this skill, but she had shook her head.

    That meant we would need to just make do with the markers that I was able to pace, that gave us a clear point of view around where the sentries were placed but it meant that when it came to patrols, all we could go off was what we could see. Luckily for us their movements around the time were predictable once we had taken the time to study them.

    There were three patrols of two guards on a constant rotation around the outer perimeter of the town, they were evenly spread with another three to six groups of two guards patrolling the streets, depending on the time of day. This increased in the evenings which I assumed was to keep people in check when they were stumbling out of the taverns.

    We were back at The Old Hag, you would not have thought there had been any trouble the day before with Geovana making sure the place looked good as new. The two broken tables had been replaced, one of the chairs had been bodged together but all in all it was ready for business. Geovana wanted to make sure the tavern was open today as he didn¡¯t want to lose out on any more business. Her fees were due soon for the Godsfather and his goons would be round in a matter of days for collection.

    He had allowed us both to stay in two of the guest rooms above the tavern so I was feeling pretty refreshed, I had managed to get a decent sleep and it was nice to sleep in a bed rather than a mattress made of leaves. Geovana had offered us the rooms for free but I insisted on paying our way.

    I was now sat at one of the table eating some breakfast that Geovana had readied for us, a platter of bread, apples, grapes, a watermelon and a strange pink fruit with green spots that I didn¡¯t have a clue what it was. I had decided to skip it and ate a slice of watermelon, a handful of grapes and a slice of freshly baked bread with a dollop of butter on their for good measure. Raven was to my right tucking into most of the watermelon, her table manners were to be desired as she ravaged the fruit, ploughing her face into it leaving a bright red-ish pink pulp smeared across her face. She was oblivious to it and although I was used to it, Galahad looked on in shock as he slowly made his way through the bright red apple he was holding, having finished some bread.

    He had come down from his room already clad in his full suit of armour, minus his helmet meaning we had got our first proper look at him. His face was weary, his skin cracked and worn from what I assumed was a combination of drunken fighting and falling. He had a diagonal scar at the top right of his forehead and a smaller criss cross shaped one on his left cheek. His large greying mustache was curled at the end with a white residue on the tips with what I presumed was some kind of wax he had used to keep it that way. He had a rough stubble around the rest of his jawline, his hair was dark, thick and matted, large flashes of grey streaking down the side.

    ¡°You know some table manners would mot go a miss,¡± Galahad said dryly. ¡°I know you are a Reaver but still, do they not teach you anything about decorum,¡±

    I nearly spat the bread out I was eating when Raven raised an eyebrow, feigned sitting politely and then followed it up by sticking her middle finger up at him.

    Galahad sighed and took another bite of his apple choosing not to retaliate. There was still an odour of stale ale that clung to him and I desperately wished that he would have a wash, but I didn¡¯t know him well enough and I wasn¡¯t brash enough to tell him this.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

    Geovana was stood behind the bar, polishing glasses and wiping his tankards which he pas placing in neat rows behind the bar top. He was humming a happy tune to himself as he went about getting set up for the day. His long hair looked well groomed, his thick beard shaped to his face, the complete opposite of Galahad.

    ¡°You were saying that we need to improve our notoriety yesterday when we were scouting the guards.¡± I said as I finished a final slice of bread. ¡°But you never actually explained what you meant.¡±

    I had tried broaching the subject with him while Galahad was marching us around town but he had insisted that he would go through everything in the morning.

    Galahad stared at me blankly, one of his eyes lowering as he concentrated.

    I sighed, ¡°Do you actually remember?¡±

    ¡°Of course I do old chap,¡± he said.

    ¡°And why would you want to increase the rating,¡± Geovana asked, looking up from the bar. ¡°Have you got a death wish?¡±

    ¡°Absolutely not, ¡°Galahad said, ¡°I want my belongings back, this way, we can get access to the guard tower by getting ourselves arrested. Once inside we will fashion a good old fashioned breakout and then break into the armoury, escape and disappear with our weapons in towe.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s all well and good,¡± I said, ¡°But why would we increase our rating? Wouldn¡¯t it be easier to just pick a fight with a guard and then get arrested. And besides that, we need to get to the Godsfather remember, that¡¯s how I am going to help Raven.¡±

    ¡°Yes boy, well if you let me finish I will bloody well tell you.¡± Galahad shook his head and tutted, ¡°Goodness me, you offer to help and every bugger is ready to jump down your throat and interrogate you every chance that they get. Leaning forward Galahad rested his elbows on the table and leant forward, interlocking his fingers like he was some kind of evil genius. ¡°We not only want to raise our notoriety rating, we want to capture the attention of the Godsfather, only then is he going to show himself. That is when you will be able to confront him and get all the answers that you see fit. After you have defeated him in battle of course and bring his evil reign to a gripping end.¡±

    ¡°You make it sound so easy,¡± Geovana laughed, ¡°I think you are all crazy to do this. Galahad is right about the notoriety rating but there is one thing that he has forgotten to tell you.¡±

    Galahad looked confused as he shook his head at Geovana.

    ¡°What he has failed to mention is that your rating will increase with the guards from level one to level four, depending on your behaviour. Level three is where the guards will really start to pay attention to you, level four and you are looking at one heck of a beating before you will get thrown in a cell. It doesn¡¯t stop there though.¡± Geovana said, ¡°At level four you will start to build a town wide reputation, meaning every guard in Willowshire will be actively looking for you and a bounty will likely be put on your head. If you get a higher rating than that, then things can start to get messy really fast.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± I asked.

    ¡°I mean that when you surpass level four your reputation will start to reach further out than Willowshire. Level five will see the neighbouring towns and villages will start to know about you and that will mean a likely confrontation or arrest as soon as you step foot into their boundaries. From that it goes to level seven which is a regional rating, meaning every town, village and city in this region will be on high alert for you. At this rating it will make it nearly impossible for you to enter anywhere freely, when you end up with a level seven rating you tend to need to move in the shadows,¡± He nodded at Raven, ¡°She will be fine in that situation,¡± He looked back at me, ¡°You however stand out like a sore thumb in the strange clothes that you choose to wear. Basically if you end up with a level seven rating you are going to get spotted when you enter anywhere and its likely that they will just up trying to kill you before asking any questions, that¡¯s easier than trying to arrest you for them.¡±

    Raven laughed, but no noise left her throat, instead she grabbed her throat and grimaced as if she was in pain, a slight panic creeping into her eyes. She fell into a pained silent coughing fit, clasping her throat.

    ¡°Here have this,¡± I said, sliding over her glass of water, she took a gulp which seemed to help her calm her cough.

    ¡°Any higher than a seven and,¡± Geovana shook his head, ¡°Well we won¡¯t go there because lets face it I cannot see any of you being able to take things that far. You would have to be out there killing innocents for that kind of thing. At that point hunters will start tracking you trying to claim the high bounty that will have been placed on your head and lets face it, you would not last two seconds against those guys,¡±

    ¡°Ok so we are going to go out there ands start causing trouble, but we have to slowly raise it so not only guards notice but the Godfather does too.¡± I said, trying to wrap my head around everything that the two of them had just explained.

    ¡°That¡¯s the spirit old boy,¡±

    ¡°What level do you think we should be aiming for?¡± I asked.

    ¡°I¡¯d think level three should be enough but depending on the situation, you may need to take it to level four.¡± Geovana said.

    Raven¡¯s seemed to have her pained cough under control and sat finishing the glass of water that I had passed her.

    ¡°Are you going to remember all of this?¡± I asked Galahad.

    He looked at. Me blankly, like I was the village idiot and I had said something completely goofy.

    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I remember?¡± he said, his face told me he wasn¡¯t impressed with me asking him but truth be told, as much as he seemed eager to help with the Godsfather, I would be lying to myself if I didn¡¯t think he was a liability. ¡°Geovana, may you pour me a tankard of your finest.¡±

    ¡°Erm, isn¡¯t it a bit early?¡± I said, it was literally first thing in the morning, personally I couldn¡¯t think of anything worse.

    ¡°I am not serving yet,¡± Geovana said, ¡°The bar is closed until mid morning, you know this Galahad.¡±

    ¡°Well you can¡¯t blame a knight of the realm for trying,¡± He rolled his eyes, scoffing at Geovana, ¡°The gods know that once upon a time, we were lauded when we graced towns and villages with our presence. Waited on hand and foot, our every wish taken care of, after all we put our lives at stake every time we go into battle.¡± ¡°Except you have not left Willowshire¡¯s boundaries for nearly two years Galahad!¡±

    Galahad gave Geovana a puppy eyed look, which may of worked if he didn¡¯t have the look of a middle aged drunkard wearing rusting armour. ¡°I may not make it back from our epic quest to vanquish the most vile of monsters that has plagues this town for two long.¡± He said, ¡°The least you could do is grant me this final request.¡±

    With a sigh, Geovana raised a tankard and started pouring Galahad an ale.

 Chapter 40 - Do you want to be a badass

    Over the next few days myself and Galahad went about our business, with one goal in mind, to get the Godsfathers attention. We needed to find a way to disrupt things in Willowshire as much as we could, starting low and raising the stakes until the mob leader had no option but to expose himself to us.

    We had been staying together, something that I had insisted on, I dreaded to think the chaos that Galahad could cause on his own. At least if I kept eyes on him I could keep him out of trouble, which was ironic given what we were trying to achieve.

    We had spent our time mainly observing from a distance, which shop vendors we thought were under the protection of the Godsfather.

    Using my mini-map I had figured out that I could change the colours of the markers that I was placing, this made our lives easier than having a map filled with purple markers. For the shops and merchants I had been placing orange markers, to keep tabs of our scouting missions.

    The telltale signs were always groups of two to three people, at least one of them a larger woman, she stood out the most given her stronger frame and ginormous arms and legs complete with bulging veins. She looked like she would ease a worlds strongest woman competition. She had two averaged sized men with her, the second group was led by Morgrim, the man strutted around like he owed Willowshire and he seemed to enjoy taunting people in between collecting payments.

    They would enter the shops, usually for ten to fifteen minutes before leaving carrying large satchels and sacks. They were not even being discreet with what they were doing, the more we watched, the more we saw the guards blatantly looking the other way if they were getting a little handsy with others.

    It was hard to not get involved with Galahad stopping me on more than one occasion, reminding me that we had to stick with the plan, no matter what. That way the town could be free from all of this. It was hard to not get involved but Galahad was right, if we were going to do this we had to avoid petty fights with low level street goons.

    For now at least anyway.

    When we were satisfied that we had marked all of the merchants that were paying for protection, it was not surprising that this covered approximately eighty five percent of Willowshire but at least we knew which places we were going to target.

    Raven had stayed behind at the Old Hag, as far as I knew she was sleeping, her role was going to kick in, in the evenings once we had set our plan into motion. It was strange not having her with me, even when she was hiding in my own shadow. I had gotten used to her company and I knew I was more at risk not having her with me than I would be if she was here.

    Today was the day that we were going to start making a move, it was time to start getting some attention.

    ¡°Are you ready?¡± I asked Galahad, who was stood beside me. It was late morning, there was a reason why we had waited for this time to do anything.

    ¡°You can count on me,¡± he replied, lowering the visor on his helmet, leaving only his eyes on display.

    Today¡¯s task was simple enough, we needed to target all of the merchants that were paying the Godsfather for protection, show them that he was not doing what he was saying he would do.

    We were both standing by the large water fountain in town, it was large, standing at around twelve feet tall and was made of some kind of polished marbled stone. There was green algae creeping up the sides of the base which was shaped like an hour glass but then sprouting into branches of a tree. The algae made the feature look more tree like and whether intentional or not it worked.

    We had used this spot as our scouting spot, it gave us a great vantage point over much of the town square and we didn¡¯t stand out as people were always near it, either admiring the fountain, taking a break or sitting around.

    We watched as the scary lady and Morgrim continued their rounds, we had found that they worked opposites, starting from the centre of town and making their way outwards as they patrolled and checked in with the merchants.

    They were generally done by noon, spending much of the afternoons in the Old Hag or just vanishing into thin air, even after all this scouting we still had been unable to figure out where their hiding place was. By late morning they were on the outer edges of town meaning this would give us longer to put our plan into motion.

    ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go,¡± I said. ¡°Remember the plan, you will keep look out.¡±

    ¡°Ready when you are old chap.¡±

    I had wondered whether or not I needed to wear a mask for this but had decided that their was no point. Galahad was completely clad in his full suit of armour, something that I had seen no one else wearing in all my time here. That meant that the guy stood out like a sore thumb. That also meant that when we had caught attention, that we would get to a point where we wouldn¡¯t be able to move about as freely as we would be recognisable.

    We headed across the town square, and towards our first target, the bakery that smelled like it had the best, freshly baked bread I had ever smelt. Part of me felt bad for what we were about to do, but hopefully it would be worth it in the long run and they would understand.

    The front of the bakery was all glass, a display of bread and cakes lining the front. The bread was neatly plaited, with a glaze over the surface giving it a fresh look, even though I could swear it was the same bread that had been there the last few days. The cakes, were plenty in variety, with buns, cream cakes and frosted biscuits, neatly laid out next to one another. The sight of them made my stomach gargle loudly in anticipation. I had wanted one of those cakes since I got here.

    At the top of the window there was an awning fixed to the stone, it had a blue and white striped canopy which was stretched out, providing some shelter from the heat of the suns.

    Standing underneath the shade, I felt a brief reprieve from the heat, but my attention was on the alluring smell drifting out from the bakery.

    My hands were shaking, I had never done anything like this before and no matter how many times I tried to justify why we were doing this, it didn¡¯t stop a tight ball of anxiety twisting in the pits of my stomach.

    I had grown up being told to always do the right thing, to treat others kindly and with respect. Since I found myself here, it kind of felt like those boundaries were blurred and that was proving to be a huge mental block.

    I could have brought Raven, she could have been in and out in no time. But we needed her for tonight, so today was about me and Galahad doing our bit.

    I waited for the shop to be empty and when the last person inside excited I gave them a nervous smile before stepping through the doorway and into the bakery.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.

    The smell of freshly baked dough was even more intense than outside and my stomach growled again in desperation. Ahead of me there were two counters in a L shape, leaving me standing on a square, open floor. The counters had rectangular boxes lined up at an angle to display the different products that were on offer. They didn¡¯t look as impressive as the ones on display outside and I found myself getting lost as I stared at the cakes, just sitting there.

    ¡°Can I help you?¡±

    Looking up I saw the baker standing behind the counter, he was an average build, middle aged at a guess. He had a full head of dark hair and was clean shaven. His eyes were tired, no doubt because how early he would have gotten up to bake all of the things on sale.

    ¡°Sorry, I am new to town.¡± I stumbled on my words, my nerves getting the best of me. I couldn¡¯t simply take something right in front of the baker, if I did that he would just shout the guards and we would be caught straight away. He needed to figure out after I had left what I had done, so for now I just needed to distract him.

    ¡°I can tell,¡± the man said, ¡°You are dressed oddly, just how far away are you from.¡± He was surprisingly jovial in mood and offered me a polite smile which made me feel even worse that I already did.

    ¡°A long way away, you will have never heard of it before." I waved my hand, ¡°Now I am here because everybody keeps on telling me about your cream cakes, I have lost count of how many times I have been told about them. So I told myself that I would treat myself today and head over the first chance that I got.¡±

    ¡°Well, that is great to hear,¡± The baker said with a beaming smile, he clapped his hands together, a dust cloud of flour pluming out as he did, before wiping his hands on his, already flour covered, dark blue apron. He reached over the counter and offered his hand to me. ¡°The Name Luca,¡± he said.

    I knew I needed to make conversation but I had not intended on him being so friendly, this made the whole situation ten times worse than it already was.

    Although hesitant, I couldn¡¯t keep the guy standing there so I accepted the hand shake. He had a firm grip, his hands were rough like sandpaper and I could sense a lot of power in his hand.

    I took the moment to see if I could find any more information on him, as soon as I did, a little table appeared above him.

    Luca Simeone

    Class: Master Baker

    His name was green in colour, given that enemies usually showed up in red I could only assume that he was a non hostile, after all it didn¡¯t take a genius to figure that out.

    ¡°Pleased to meet you Luca,¡±

    ¡°And your name is?¡± He asked.

    ¡°Erm,¡± I said hesitant, ¡°Graham,¡± I said, I had no clue where I plucked the name from but I was stuck with it now.

    ¡°What a peculiar name,¡±

    ¡°It was my grandfather¡¯s¡± I lied, even that made me feel bad and we hadn¡¯t even got started yet.

    ¡°You travelling alone Graham?¡± Luca said, he grabbed hold of the dough on the table in front of him and slammed it onto the table. I jumped, before he started needing it with his fists.

    ¡°Yeah,¡± I said.

    ¡°Thought I saw you standing outside with Galahad,¡± Luca said, directing me to the window where Galahad was stood on the other side.

    He was stood upright with his hands behind his back, his chin raised as he nodded at people who walked past.

    ¡°Word advice, stay away from that man, he is trouble, likes his drink too much and causes all manner of bother. I had to bar him from here,¡± Luca stopped mid sentence and looked at me cautiously. ¡°Wait a minute, did Galahad send you in here to get him some bread, because if he did, I am going to have to ask you to leave.¡±

    ¡°No, no, no,¡± I said shaking my head. ¡°He simply offered to show me where the bakery was, it was me that got talking to him at the tavern and he said he would walk me over. To be honest I wanted to decline,¡± I lent forward towards Luca and raised a hand to cup my face before whispering, ¡°He kind of smells of piss and ale, but I didn¡¯t want to offend him.¡±

    Luca laughed before continuing to need his dough. ¡°Well you are not wrong there.¡±

    I was hesitant, I needed to distract him but all I was managing to do was create small talk, which was just making him even more endearing. Luca told me about how he ended up in Willowshire, how he met his wife after bumping into her at the markets.

    He even told me about his two children, Jura and Nora. All of this information did absolutely nothing to help me with the situation.

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s enough of me yammering on at you, I can talk for hours. I am sure you have plenty to do, so if you would just want to let me know what you want, I will let you get on your way.¡± Luca said as he finished telling me about what he wanted to do with the bakery.

    ¡°Oh,¡± I said, that meant I was actually going to have to do what I was meant to and stop procrastinating. Looking over the bread I tried to think of something that I couldn¡¯t see, ¡°Do you have any focaccia bread? I can¡¯t see any here, that is my favourite.¡±

    ¡°Focaccia?¡± Luca said, with a bewildered look. ¡°What is a focaccia?¡±

    ¡°Oh you don¡¯t have it? It is my favourite bread back home.¡±

    ¡°I have never heard of it?¡±

    ¡°Then you are missing out, if you have a pen and paper to hand I could give you the recipe?¡±

    ¡°Pen and paper?¡±

    I tutted to myself, I really needed to start remembering that people here don¡¯t have access to these things.

    ¡°Sorry, a pen and quill will suffice, there are a lot of steps.¡±

    Luca¡¯s face lit up like a Christmas tree, ¡°I have my cookbook in the back, handed down from my grandfathers, you see we are a long line of Master Bakers.¡±

    He started to turn to head into the back, affording me to opportunity to start my petty crime spree. ¡°Focaccia,¡± he said, pronouncing it slowly as to make sure he got it right. ¡°My grandfather would have loved to have a conversation with-¡± He stopped what he was doing as his face started turning a shade of red.

    ¡°Galahad!¡± He bawled, his voice raised, ¡°What the fuck!¡±

    I turned to see Galahad emptying his bladder at the side of the bakery, so much for keeping a low profile.

    Luca shot past me, expletives and profanities spilling from his mouth as he rushed outside to confront Galahad, he was furious with him and I could not blame him.

    Suddenly I found myself in the bakery alone, which was what we had planned. I didn¡¯t want to do this and I knew I would feel terrible for the rest of the day but I needed to think of the bigger picture here. I opened up the satchel that I was wearing and took two loafs of bread and a cream cake and placed them inside.

    My chest hammered and my palms were sweaty, my knees weak and the satchel felt heavy as I spun as fast as I could to get out of the bakery. My adrenaline was spiking more than when we had to fight in the terror¡¯s camp, I had never done anything like this. Now I was a petty thief, taking from a really nice, respectable guy.

    As soon as I left the door I was hit with a notification.

    Notoriety level increased

    Level one notoriety

    Our plan had worked, we had got on the notoriety scale, now all I needed to do was get the hell out of here, then Luca could realise what I had done.

    ¡°Sorry old chap, is this not the toilet?¡± Galahad said, he was standing in front of Luca who had his back turned to me. He raised his hand and wiped it on Luca¡¯s arm who was continuing to swear and shout at Galahad, demanding that he got away from his bakery or he would be sorry.

    It was enough of a distraction for me to slip away and find an alley way for me to hide in.

    I could hear Galahad, continuing to cause a commotion, his armour, chiming and clinking as he bumbled around, it got louder and louder as he approached me.

    I swear I could hear my heart beat but now that I was out of the bakery with stolen goods, I hated to admit it but it kind of felt exhilarating.

    ¡°Ah there you are,¡± Galahad said as he stumbled into the alley way. As soon as he was out of sight, he started walking normally, instead of staggering and swaying like a drunkard.¡±

    ¡°Wait was that all an act?¡± I said.

    Galahad raised his visor and offered me a cocksure smile, ¡°Of course it was old chap, how in the blazes were you going to get out of there. Goodness, I had been waiting long enough for you, so I thought I would create a distraction for you to steal what you needed to and make you escape.¡±

    ¡°I had it covered, Luca was just about to go in the back,¡±

    ¡°Sure you did, It isn¡¯t something to be ashamed of, but if we are to be a success with this we are going to have to move a little faster Sean,¡±

    ¡°Silas,¡± I said, correcting him.

    ¡°That¡¯s what I said,¡± Galahad shook his head as if he was speaking to an idiot. ¡°As I was saying we need to move faster if we are to start getting attention.¡±

    ¡°So your not really drunk?¡±

    ¡°Gods, of course I am, what do you take me for? A bumbling old fool? I¡¯m just not that drunk, not yet anyway.¡± he laughed. ¡°Now shall we move onwards to the next merchant.¡±

 Chapter 41 - Stollen Things

    The rest of the day we spent, sneaking in and out of the merchants through out town, we were sure not to hit ones that close together, keeping our targets well spread so they didn¡¯t start talking with one another. So far my notoriety rating had remained at level one and Galahad had told me he was already at that level to start out with. Galahad had told me that this was normal and that it would take something a little more serious than petty theft to get it to increase to level two.

    We were back at the Old Hag, it was late and both of us had snook upstairs to the rooms that Geovana had given us. My satchel was filled with items that we had taken through out the day and boy did I not feel good about myself. Raucous laughter vibrated through the floorboards, with the strums of a lute from the entertainer that Geovana had brought in for the night.

    His plan had worked and they had managed to whip everyone up into high spirits and judging by the shouting and laughter Geovana would have shifted plenty of ale too.

    I took a moment to search through my satchel and pulled out the cream cake, I was just about to take a bite when Raven hopped straight out of the shadow of my bed.

    ¡°Shit!¡± I cursed as I fell backwards in my chair, the cake came with me and bounced off my face. When I looked across at Raven, she raised an eyebrow and signed at me, before mimicking eating the cake and shaking her head in disapproval.

    ¡°Don¡¯t judge me,¡± I said, the cake was splattered on the floor and all I could smell was cream. I wiped at my face, which confirmed I was covered in it. ¡°We had taken it so, if I didn¡¯t eat it what was I meant to do with it.¡±

    Raven waved her hand in front of her and opened her shadow portal, before waving her hand at me. Taking the hint I grabbed hold of the satchel with all the stolen food and passed it to her, she tossed it straight into the portal and snapped her fingers together closing it.

    ¡°Well at least we can¡¯t be caught with the stolen items,¡± I said with a Dry laugh. The moment seemed completely lost on her as she stared blankly at me.

    ¡°Ok so I don¡¯t know what your rating is but my notoriety is at level one.¡± Any movement on yours?¡±

    Raven shook her head and gave me a sign for zero.

    ¡°Ok well that means that the two of us are not linked, which I assume is a good thing. Are you ready to do your part for today?¡±

    Raven gave me a sos sign with her hand.

    ¡°Come on it will be easy for you,¡± I said, sneaking around in the shadows is kind of your thing. The paint is down the hall, it¡¯s is in the cupboard where Geovana keeps everything.¡±

    Raven sighed, snapped her fingers to open her shadow portal and reached in up to her shoulder before pulling out a large pot that was filled with paint.

    ¡°Ah I see, you have already got it.¡±

    Raven nodded, before disappearing into the shadow of my bed. I found her power nothing short of fascinating and I had no clue how it worked it just did. Her power was perfect for the next part of our plan which was for her to sneak around and put a streak of white paint across the doors of every single merchant that we had targeted today.

    Given how fast she could move I had figured that it shouldn¡¯t take her too, long, the key for her job tonight was to make sure that she was not spotted by anyone, given that she was a Reaver, that would bring too much attention from the guards too soon.

    There was a knock on the door.

    ¡°Come in,¡± I said.

    The door creaked open to reveal Geovana standing there with a tray in his hands. ¡°I brought you some food, figured you would be hungry after today.¡±

    ¡°Thanks,¡± I grabbed the tray of him and lay it down on my bed it was a sandwich, with some kind of salad leaves poking out of the sides on brown bread. The sight of the bread made me think of Luca and suddenly I lost my appetite.

    ¡°Here, I brought you this too. Figured you might want to come down and listen to the music, at least you will blend in a little.¡±

    The cloak was dark green in colour, it had a large hood but the main body was shredded and torn in places. It was made of a thick fabric and coarse to touch.

    Vireo¡¯s Cloak

    The cloak of the legendary bandit known for taking from the rich to give to the poor.

    This cloak grants the wearer the ability to blend into crowds, making them partially invisible in crowded spaces. Warning once spotted, the cloaks ability will enter a cooldown period until the holder once again becomes unseen.

    ¡°Thanks,¡± I said, I flipped the cloak around me so that it rested on my shoulder and brought the fabric together in front of my neck.

    ¡°Oh,¡± Geovana said, reaching into his back pocket. here, I forgot to give you this. He passed me the item, which looked like a large arrow head. ¡°It¡¯s. Clasp, it should help you fasten your cloak in place.

    It was heavier than it looked but sure enough there was gap in it for me to clasp the cloak into place. It smelt musty and in need of a good wash but at this moment, beggars could not be choosers.

    I raised the hood, which seemingly lessened the noise coming from down stairs, it brought a sense of comfort to me that I could not quite describe, like receiving a warm hug from a friend.

    ¡°What about Galahad?¡±

    ¡°Right here old boy?¡± he appeared around the corner, a thin shirt thrown over the top of his armour.

    ¡°Do you ever take that thing off?¡± I asked. He looked utterly ridiculous, but I supposed he didn¡¯t need to disappear, the town already classed him as the town drunk.

    ¡°Only when I am alone, it¡¯s too dangerous otherwise. Now are we going to stand around here all day or are we going to have a drink and enjoy some music.¡±

    ¡°Just make sure you stay out of trouble,¡± Geovana said, ¡°I don¡¯t want to be cleaning up after a bar fight.

    A glass smashed alongside some loud cheering from downstairs.

    ¡°Which reminds me,¡± Geovana said before ducking under the door frame and heading back down stairs. His voice instantly booming as he scolded those that misbehaved and not so politely warned them what would happen if they didn¡¯t modify their behaviour.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

    ¡°Come on, if we stay to the back of the room we should be ok. Let¡¯s just hope that Morgrim isn¡¯t drinking here tonight.

    We both went down stairs and into the tavern, the temperature was warm with so many people crammed in, I hadn¡¯t seen it this busy before, even at the earlier mentioned bar fight.

    The atmosphere was no where near as jovial as the first time that I had come here, people were crowded around tables, on one table they were playing cards, another they seemed to be trying to unwind. The rest of the tables they looked like they were not happy about something, they were not mincing with their words as they spoke about the days that they had had.

    ¡°Some one stole at least half a dozen apples today,¡± One woman said, I recognised her from earlier in the day. She had been the 3rd merchant that we had hit. Galahad once again had proven to be a great distraction as I had gathered up the vibrant green apples.

    ¡°Yeah I had a scarf taken today, took my wife two weeks to make,¡± A scrawny man said, he was short and older than the rest of the merchants, a snootiness in his accent. He had come across as a pompous ass when I had spoken with him. It made me feel a little less guilty when I had stuffed the scarf inside my satchel before making my escape.

    One by one the two tables consisting of half a dozen merchants started complaining about the day, I recognised every single one of them and my heart sank.

    The cloak that Geovana had given me said it allowed me to hide in crowded places, that didn¡¯t help with my paranoia as I stuck to the far side of the tavern, deciding it was best if I remained by the stairs.

    Part of me wanted to escape and stay holed up in my room, that was the logical option. But part of me wanted to hear them complain, I wanted to make sure that our plan had worked, especially given that we were in the early stages.

    Then it dawned on me, the group were here together, that is not something we had thought about.

    ¡°What if they link either of us to all the thefts?¡± I spoke under a hushed voice and waited for a reply but when I didn¡¯t get one, I turned to face Galahad. He wasn¡¯t standing beside me.

    ¡°Shit!¡± I cursed as I snapped my head around to see Galahad standing at the bar getting a tankard of ale from Geovana. He was stood just a couple of feet away from the nearest table of merchants. He was either blissfully unaware of the situation, or completely arrogant. After spending a good few days with him I honestly couldn¡¯t say which of it he was.

    My thoughts raced, I needed to get Galahad away as quickly as I could, I couldn¡¯t raise my voice for him, that would only draw attention to both of us and if the merchants saw us both together, they would put two and two together.

    Stepping forward my path was blocked as two people I didn¡¯t recognise stepped up to the bar to order their drinks from Geovana.

    He was busy chatting and serving customers, he even had a woman helping him today who seemed pleasant and happy as she spoke with all of the customers she was serving.

    With no other option I stepped behind the bar, to get to Galahad who was just a couple of people away from me.

    When I stepped in front of him, his head was tipped backwards as he gulped down his ale until it was gone, he slammed the tankard down in front oof him.

    ¡°Again!¡± He said, he was aloof and rude. A side of him that I really did not like. He did a double take and frowned when he saw me standing in front of him, the hood of my cloak, pulled over my head.

    ¡°Sean?¡± He said. ¡°What are you doing behind there?¡±

    I didn¡¯t have time to correct him for the thousandth time about my name. Instead I leant forward and spoke quietly yet assertively to him.

    ¡°Listen to me,¡± I started, ¡°Do not turn around but behind you are two tables filled with all of the merchants we stole from today. If they see us together, then our cover will be blown and things are going to escalate really fast.¡±

    ¡°That sounds like a you problem old boy as I didn¡¯t take anything today.¡± He glanced down at his tankard, before looking at me with expectant eyes. His voice was raised louder than I would have liked.

    ¡°Shhh,¡± I said instinctively, my adrenaline spiking. Was he really throwing me under a bus right now.

    ¡°Pour me a drink and I might pay more attention.¡± he said with an air of arrogance. He slid his tankard towards me, giving me a sly grin.

    I couldn¡¯t believe what I was seeing, he was genuinely leveraging the situation to get himself another drink and he did not give two shits about the consequences. It took every ounce of self restraint not to toss the tankard into his face and drag him over the bar, all I would need to do would be to activate my berserker skill and that would be that. That wouldn¡¯t help the situation however, so I bit down and suppressed that burning fire that was rising up within me like a volcano ready to erupt.

    ¡°No problem,¡± I said through gritted teeth and a forced smile.

    Luckily I had worked in a bar when I was studying at university so I knew how to pour a drink. The mechanism was similar to what I was used to, so I grabbed hold of Galahad¡¯s tankard and placed it under the nose before pouring him an ale. The head was a little thicker than I would have liked but Galahad wasn¡¯t paying so he couldn¡¯t complain.

    I slid him the tankard, he stopped it and examined it as if he was suddenly a fine wine connoisseur. I was finding it increasingly difficult not to react to him.

    ¡°Now do me a favour and go stand in the corner over there and keep out of trouble.¡±

    "¡°Fine,¡± Galahad exhaled, responding like I was a nagging wife. He turned on the spot and started bumbling his way through the crowd, knocking into one or two people who cursed him but no one else seemed to pay him much attention.

    It was as if everyone in this town just accepted him for what he was, a monumental pain in the ass. I started asking myself all kind of questions around whether or not it was a good idea for me to be working with him on this but as things stood, I really didn¡¯t have that much of a choice.

    As I moved to distance myself from the bar, the two men stood beside Galahad raised their hands.

    ¡°Oi,¡± a voice said.

    My heart sank, had I been recognised

    When I spun around I saw one of the men with their arms raised in the air.

    ¡°Pour us another two drinks,¡± he said, his speech was slightly slurred and he had his other arm wrapped around his drinking buddy. Judging by their sunken eyes it wasn¡¯t easy to figure out who was propping who up at this point.

    Neither of them had a clue who I was and I intended to keep it that way.

    The outer edge of my vision flashed red and a warning notice flashed up in the corner of my sight, a long with a symbol of a partially closed eye.

    Warning

    Detection level increased

    I panicked, my chest thundering, my stomach churning, I felt like I was going to vomit.

    ¡°Of course,¡± I said with a smile, trying to make the hood of my cloak obscure my face. I took both of their tankards and poured them fresh ales, this time taking my time to pour them both the perfect drink. ¡°Here you go,¡± I said as I passed them their tankards.

    ¡°How much do I owe you?¡± The man said, he put a small coin purse on the bar.

    I had no clue about the value of money here, it was something I hadn¡¯t had the time to figure out, after all we had been a little busy.

    ¡°If I may,¡± I picked up the coin bag and took out a single coin.

    ¡°Thank you,¡± he said, before grabbing his coin purse and bundling it into his pocket, it took him more than one attempt.

    The flashing red light, started to slow it¡¯s pace and I could feel my own heart beat settling back down.

    I looked across at Geovana who had noticed me behind the bar, he mouthed. ¡°What are you doing?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± I mouthed back, shaking my head, I placed the coin I had just taken from the two drunk men and placed it behind the counter where he could see, before stepping away slowly before anyone else asked me to pour another drink.

    I only stopped when I drew level with Galahad.

    He was slumped in the corner, his head resting against the wall, fast asleep. It amazed me just how susceptible to alcohol he was, he looked kind of blissful as his breathing became heavy.

    I couldn¡¯t help but laugh to myself and I leant downwards and flicked my hand over his visor, brining it down over his face, his heavy breathing becoming instantly more muted.

    "¡°Everything ok?¡± Geovana said, she had fetched me a drink which I appreciated.

    ¡°It is now,¡± I said.

    Geovana saw Galahad and laughed to himself, he started drinking not long after you got back, I know him well and he is pretty predictable when he is drunk. I can safely say he will be there for the night now, if you want to go back upstairs, I would slip away now if I was you. I didn¡¯t realise all these merchants were going to come in, otherwise I would have told you to stay upstairs.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s ok, but that definitely sounds like a plan.¡± I said.

    As I went to leave however, the tavern door swung open, revealing a hulking figure that I instantly recognised.

    Morgrim.

 Chapter 42 - Morgrim

    It was as if the air in the room had been sucked out by a vacuum, the atmosphere becoming instantly more palpable, an air of apprehension, tinged with fear.

    Morgrim¡¯s hulking frame filled the doorway as he stepped inside the tavern, his footsteps tapping against the wooden floor as the room fell silent. He was not alone either, the woman who we had noticed doing the rounds with the merchants followed just behind him. She was smaller than Morgrim but she was of a powerful build her self. She wore leather pants, and a sleeveless, studded leather vest with metal spikes poking out of the seams. Her platinum white hair was short, with the sides shaven, her right eye was completely white with no pupil, with a zigzagged scar ring from above her eye to below it. She was more intimidating to look at than Morgrim.

    As she stepped through the door she simply sneered at everyone, she didn¡¯t need to say a word to voice her displeasure at being here.

    Morgrim continued forward, towards one of the merchants table, where there was one stool free. He slid the stool back before taking a seat, leaning forwards onto the table.

    ¡°You have summoned us here for a meeting,¡± He growled, his voice was low and deep, it practically vibrated through the ground.

    The woman stepped behind Morgrim, dead-eyeing each and every person sat around the table. They all sank back into their stools, terrified to speak.

    "Does no one care to speak?¡± Morgrim said, interlocking his fingers as he rested his arms on the table.

    There was a moments silence before one person spoke up, he was of an average build, thick head of blonde hair, his voice quivered slightly as he spoke. ¡°W, we have all had issues this last day.¡± He started, a slight stammer to him that I couldn¡¯t figure out was due to nerves or some kind of speech impediment. ¡°All of us have had items stolen by us.¡±

    ¡°Is that so,¡± Morgrim sneered as his eyes circled each of the merchants sitting at the table. ¡°And¡­¡± he waited for someone to fill in the blanks.

    ¡°And, I can¡¯t afford to pay you protection and have my bread stolen.¡± Luca spoke up, standing from the table of merchants behind where Morgrim was sat. ¡°We have no choice but to pay, you make that pretty clear, but what toy did promise is that we would be under the Godsfather¡¯s protection, that we wouldn¡¯t need to worry about thieves.¡±

    Morgrim looked over his shoulder to the corner of the room, there was a man sat there who I had not noticed, he was usually in a guards uniform but not tonight. He was wearing a simple tunic and pants, he had hold of a tankard of ale in his hand, which wrapped around it. It was the same guard who had taken my sword, one of the two guards who had kicked Galahad into the dirt, one that Galahad had warned was dirty.

    He cleared his throat, ¡°There has been a stranger in town,¡± he started.

    My chest thundered straight away.

    ¡°I confiscated his blade when he first arrived here. I last saw him a few days ago. Judging by the description you have all given, we think this is the man responsible from stealing from you supplies. The guards have been alerted to keep a look out for him and if we find him, he will face punishment for his crimes.¡±

    I could feel myself shrinking into the wall and I wanted the ground to swallow me up.

    Unfortunately for me it didn¡¯t, they were talking about me and unbeknown to them I was standing in the corner of the room.

    If ever we needed confirmation that the guards were dirty, this was it, the guard was standing side by side with the very goons that were extorting all of these merchants for their hard earned money.

    "Once more we are offering ten gold pieces to anyone who may know his location.¡± The guard said.

    I looked down at the comatose Galahad and I was grateful he was asleep, if he wasn¡¯t I was sure that he would have given me up in a heart beat and used the gold to buy some more ale.

    My eyes met Geovana who shook his head and continued to watch the conversation going on between the merchants.

    With Luca and the other merchant already spoken out, the rest of the merchants voiced their concerns, one by one around the thefts that Silas had carried out methodically through the day. Their voices were becoming raised, their discontent made clear, all the while Morgrim¡¯s face became redder and redder as he simply sat and listened.

    With a thundering fist he slammed his fist onto the table so hard that it was a miracle that the whole thing didn¡¯t collapse from the force.

    The room fell silent again as Morgrim spoke once more.

    ¡°You have made your concerns, do not imply this is on us however, this is petty theft at best.¡±

    ¡°Then what are we paying you for?¡± A voice called out, it was the man with the stammer. All eyes landed on him as he looked around his surroundings awkwardly, the instant regret dripping down his face in beaded sweat.

    I swear I could see a thick vein throbbing in the side of Morgrim¡¯s head. He looked to his other side.

    ¡°Helga,¡± he said before nodding in her direction.

    Helga walked towards the out spoken merchant, his posture became almost childlike as he frantically looked around hi for support. I wanted to step in but that would have been madness, that didn¡¯t make me feel any better for sitting back and letting what happened unfold.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

    Helga grabbed hold of the merchant by the back of his head and slammed it into the table. Luca stood up, in protest, but Helga gave him a dead stare while she forced the other merchant¡¯s head against the wooden surface of the table.

    ¡°Do not interfere,¡± she said in a cold, harsh tone.

    Reluctantly, Luca sat back down, visibly frustrated but understanding that he was powerless.

    The merchant continued to squirm underneath Helga¡¯s grip but she was simply too strong for him. Leaning forward she spoke slowly into his ear. ¡°This is what happens when you imply we are not doing our job.¡± She rubbed her hand down the top of his arm only stopping when she reached his wrist before stretching it out over the table. Then with her other hand she brought a small hatchet down on his forearm, blood oozed out across the table, stopping when it reached the gaps, and dripping through onto the floor.

    The tavern was filled with the merchants screams before she pulled him backwards off his stool and he collapsed on the floor. Luca and some of the other merchants were quick to tend to him.

    ¡°Be thankful that it was not your tongue.¡± she said as she stared at the rest of the merchants. The colour drained from all of their faces as she exited the tavern. Morgrim stood up and laughed to himself.

    ¡°Do not question what the Godsfatehr does in your town, he has much bigger plans and you all have your part to play. He will not tolerate, insubordenance from anyone. He gave the corrupt guard a menacing look, ¡°From any of you, especially those who he pays out of his own pock, captain.¡±

    The captain nodded his head and followed Helga out of the door with Morgrim leaving soon after, ¡°Consider the Godsfather displeased.¡± he said before finally leaving.

    The room fell into chaos as the merchant started talking to. One another, trying to come up with their own excuses.

    ¡°Well I wasn¡¯t blaming him.¡±

    ¡°I never said it was the Godsfather¡¯s fault¡±

    One by one they all made their excuses and fell back into line.

    It was something I had seen time and time again in the office at work, people being strong armed into doing things for others, things that they didn¡¯t want to do but had no option to, for their job, or their career. Say for the part where people had limbs cut off. I had never seen anything go to that extreme before but the politics were the same.

    Luca and a few other merchants were still busy tending to the merchant who had just had his hand severed, his motionless hand still sat on the table, his fingers, curled inwards.

    ¡°Everybody out!¡± Geovana boomed.

    He shot out from behind the bare with a piece of rope, passing it to Luca, ¡° here use this, it will help with the bleeding.

    ¡°Elva, fetch a torch from the back.¡± The barmaid who had been working did as she was told and disappeared through a doorway behind the bar. ¡°Luca hold him still.¡±

    Luca finished tornicating his arm before grabbing hold of him.

    ¡°Hold his legs,¡± Geovana told another man, ¡°You grab his other arm.¡±

    Elva returned, with a torch and hovered it over one of the lit candles, the end of it burst into flames.

    ¡°This is going to hurt.¡± Geovana said. He searched around him and placed a piece of wood from the broken stool into the merchants mouth. ¡°Bite onto this.¡± he said. The merchant was now a ghostly shade of white, he must have been close to bleeding out as Geovana brough the flame towards the merchant¡¯s arm.

    His muffled screams only stopped when he passed out from the pain.

    I stepped forward to help but Geovana shook his head, I felt powerless. The urge to help was overwhelming, this was my fault, if I hadn¡¯t stolen form them all today this meeting wouldn¡¯t have happened. Morgrim and Helga would have had no reason to turn up. A knot in my stomach formed and I just wanted to vomit.

    A little while later the tavern was empty, once again. Geovana had closed up for the night, Elva had left, Galahad was still asleep in the corner. Luca had taken the injured merchant back to his house and had told Geovana he would keep an eye on him over night.

    Once the tavern was empty I had removed my cloak and added it to my inventory, it had certainly worked in helping keep me hidden. Myself and Geovana had moved the tables to the outer edge of the room, blood was splashed everywhere in the centre of the room, so much so that the merchant was lucky enough to be alive. Geovana had told me that his name was Eric and that he was the fish monger. I think that was the sixth place that we had taken from, but given the smell once I had taken the fish I had dumped it on the back streets, not wanting to keep it in my inventory.

    The guilt had not subsided, ad I didn¡¯t think it ever would. I still blamed myself for what had happened.

    I was standing over the blood with a mop in hand, sloshing it around in the congealed mud. This was the fifth bucket of water that I had used and the stains were still there. I was determined to clean the mess up though.

    Geovana pulled up a stool from the side and took a seat, letting out an enormous sigh as he stared into the wet floor in front of me. His usual jovial and friendly demeanour gone, he looked exhausted. He wiped a bear like hand wearily over his face.

    ¡°I would ask you if you were ok, but that seems like a stupid question.¡± I started, dipping the mop in the water before continuing to mop the floor.

    ¡°I am just tires Silas,¡± He said with a sigh, ¡°It is getting hard to have to fix the tavern up, it used to be once or twice a month there was an issue. But recently, it is becoming more frequent than I would like. Frankly it is exhausting.¡± He let out another deep sigh before clicking his neck. ¡°I am getting too old for this shit.¡± He said.

    ¡°You mean since I got here?¡± I added, it didn¡¯t take a genius to figure that out.

    ¡°Things have certainly ramped up since you and Raven got here but don¡¯t kid yourself into thinking that these issues were not here before you came, the side effects are well,¡± he paused for a moment before saying, ¡°exhasibated, to say the least, but the issues would still remain if you were here or not.¡±

    ¡°With Eric¡¯s injury, you seemed to know what to do straight away, to help him. Have you dealt with injuries like that before?¡± I asked, I had no doubt that if Geovana had not reacted as quickly than he did, that Eric would have bled out in the middle of the tavern. ¡°You were incredible.¡±

    ¡°Unfortunately I have seen it hundreds of times,¡±

    ¡°What here?¡±

    ¡°No,¡± Geovana laughed to himself, ¡°I would have packed things up long before now if that had been the case. You see I used to be a battle medic, a little strange given I don¡¯t have any healing spells, or the ability to wield magic but still it was something I was passionate about.¡±

    ¡°What brought you here,¡± I asked.

    ¡°There is only so much blood that you can deal with, I have seen things that no person should, had to watch people recover with life debilitating injuries. I wanted to put all that behind me with the coin I had earned over the years. That is where this Tavern came from. This was meant to be my escape from all of it, now it just seems that violence is destined to follow where ever I go.¡± Geovana got up from the stool and grabbed a near by brush and started sweeping the floor along side me.

    ¡°These bastards have to pay Silas, they have to be stopped.¡±

    As much as we had a plan we had not foreseen what had happened tonight, happening and I would be lying if I had of said it hadn¡¯t affected me. It had and in a really bad way. I wanted to make amends, I wanted to do what I could to help, but in a way that wouldn¡¯t put the merchants at risk. Tomorrow I needed to ramp things up a little.

    Tomorrow, we were going to focus on the grunts working for the Godsfather and the corrupt guards while we were at it.

 Chapter 43 - Escalation

    Raven had returned in the early hours of the morning, I had still been up with Geovana, cleaning the tavern. I had noticed her hands were splattered with red paint as well as her clothes, she had given me a simple thumbs up when I had asked her if she had managed to mark all of the shops.

    We had decided to call it a night not long after that, Galahad had taken a lot of rousing to wake up, he wasn¡¯t particularly impressed or polite about the fact that he didn¡¯t appreciate being woken up before he stumbled up the stairs and to his temporary room.

    Raven had spent a short time with us, even helping move the tables back into place once I had finished cleaning up all of the blood as best as I could. After that I had led in bed for a couple of hours trying my hardest to get to sleep but my mind just wouldn¡¯t settle, my legs were restless and I just could not get comfy.

    Eventually I did, but not long after it felt like I could finally shut my eyes, I opened them and was greeted with the light of day.

    Now Galahad and myself were stood by the fountain, it was early morning, too early for Morgrim and Helga to rear their ugly heads but early enough for some of their grunts to be around.

    ¡°Are you sure this will work?¡± Galahad said, he was still bleary eyed from the night before. "And you say they chopped a merchants arm off and I slept through it?¡±

    ¡°Yes and yes,¡± I said, my eyes fixed on two grunts that were loitering around outside Luca¡¯s bakery. He had already been out scrubbing away the paint that Raven had put on his door in the middle of the night. Other merchants were out too doing the same.

    It was clear that the merchants were less than impressed at needing to be out so early to clean up the mess left behind by Raven, with only those that we didn¡¯t think were paying for protection from the Gods father left alone. Accusatory glares were shared between them and the few grunts that were doing their rounds around the town square.

    My cloak was pulled up on the eye icon was showing as completely closed in the top right of my vision. Raven was hidden in my shadow, I had only told her to get involved if absolutely necessary.

    When one of the grunts made their way down the alley behind Luca¡¯s bakery I knew that this was our opportunity.

    ¡°There is no backing down once we start this?¡± I said.

    ¡°You can count on me,¡± Galahad said.

    I shook my head, if there was anything that he had proven to me it was that I could not rely on him. Still I couldn¡¯t do this on my own. We walked across the square as incognito as we could, which was odd as it felt like everyone would notice us, but they didn¡¯t. We snook behind one grunt that was outside Luca¡¯s and followed the other one into the alley.

    When we saw him, he was relieving himself against the wall, letting out a groan of satisfaction as he emptied his bladder, before starting to whistle a tune to himself.

    He didn¡¯t see us sneak up on him, but when we were too close, he turned when Galahad¡¯s armour gave away our position.

    ¡°What the-¡± before he had any chance to say anything else, I slammed his head against the wall, knocking him unconscious. He slumped back and I caught him before Galahad helped me move him to the side so he was a little less obvious.

    ¡°Ready?¡± I said.

    Galahad nodded and whistled, before standing behind a section of the wall that allowed him to hide.

    ¡°Where the blazes?¡± A voice cursed as the other grunt entered the alley way. ¡°Hurry up? We have our rounds to -¡± He stopped himself when he couldn¡¯t see anyone. Moving towards us, he had his guard up.

    When he reached level with Galahad, he stepped out from the shadows and placed the grunt in a sleeper hold. He struggled against Galahad¡¯s arm but he was too strong for him, when his arms went limp Galahad lowered him to the ground before the two of us regrouped.

    This was it, the plan was in motion we just needed to stick to it as best as we can. First we were going to take down as many low level grunts as possible, just to minimise their overall numbers. Then when the time was right we were then going to focus on the guards.

    Through our scouting we had figured out that the grunts didn¡¯t tend to move around in groups, they tended to split up to cover sections of the town, there were two more groups in this section and all we needed to do now was wait for them to come into the alley so we could deal with them.

    That didn¡¯t take too long when after around ten minutes the another two grunts passed by. This time Galahad had used his hand to make what sounded like unnecessary duck noises to get their attention, I had been surprised when this had worked.

    As soon as the two grunts were far enough into the alley we both ambushed them, rendering them both unconscious with relative ease and adding them to the fast growing pile of bodies.

    By the time the third group were lured in my confidence was growing and we moved quickly to take out the last two grunts.

    Now we needed to move faster before the rest of the grunts started to notice that some of them were missing, if we could at least take out another two or three groups that would put us in good stead.

    ¡°Down here,¡± Galahad said, leading me down a connecting alleyway. The floor was filled with cobbled stone, my ankle rolled once or twice as we ran, towards the next checkpoint.

    Galahad¡¯s armour, ground against itself, like metal grate, and it sent a shiver down my spine, it had the same effect on me as chalk on a board, when it makes that irritating squeaking noise. Frustrating as we needed to keep a low profile and remain hidden.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

    ¡°When we are done today, I am going to get some oil for that suit of armour.¡± I said, peering behind Galahad.

    He had poked his head out from behind the wall of the building at the end of this alley. In front of us was a cross section which led to the next row of building and adjoining alley. To the left, took us into the square and it was here where e saw the next group of grunts. This time there was three of them, they were laughing and joking to themselves, pushing and shoving each other.

    Galahad made the strange duck noise again, it was like it was being strangled, but for some reason it worked.

    ¡°What was that?¡± One of the grunts said.

    ¡°Hearing things again,¡± another said.

    ¡°I definitely heard something?¡±

    ¡°Probably a cat,¡±

    ¡°Sounded more like a duck, like its in pain or something. I¡¯ll be back in a second.¡±

    I shook my head in disbelief, one that Galahad¡¯s injured duck impression was working and two that these grunts, were happy to extort and hurt those who didn¡¯t pay in Willowshire, but were seemingly quick to want to help a injured animal.

    ¡°Be quick,¡±

    One of the grunts headed towards us and we quickly moved backwards into the shadows.

    I could hear the footsteps moving closer on the cobbled stone and held my breath, Galahad made the noise one last time. No sooner did the grunt step out of sight of the others, Galahad shot out again, his squeaking armour drawing the attention of the grunt. It was too late, Galahad, quickly had him in a chokehold and despite his struggles he was unconscious within thirty seconds.

    I was kind of impressed with how efficient Galahad was and wondered how much of a badass knight he would have been when he didn¡¯t drink so heavily.

    The edge of my vision flashed red for the briefest of seconds, when the grunts wide eyes looked straight at me.

    Like the last group, once the two remaining grunts figured their friend had missing for longer than they liked they both moved towards the alley, it was just a case of waiting for them to move out of sight and then we could strike again.

    We continued this process, moving around town via the network of alleys, drawing in the grunts and dispatching them, getting into a good routine. We kept going until we were on the far side of town and had taken down another five sets of grunts.

    We were waiting in position, on the opposite side of the bakery, where we had started, when I looked out at the town square there were only a few grunts left. I looked down at my watch.

    ¡°What is it old boy?¡±

    ¡°I think that is about as much time as we are going to get.¡± I said.

    notoriety rating increased

    Level 2 notoriety

    Right on que.

    ¡°They are starting to wake up and spread the word, my notoriety has just gone up to level two. How about you?¡± I asked.

    Galahad nodded.

    ¡°It hasn¡¯t been that high for sometime,¡± he said with a grin, now the grunts are going to be actively looking for us, but now we need to garner the attention of the guards. Time to kill two birds with one stone.¡± He said with a cheeky smile.

    He stepped out from the alley and moved toward the fountain with a certain swagger about him.

    When he reached the fountain, he fumbled around for a moment before giving a quick look around him. Those in the town square¡¯s eyes were on him including the grunts that remained, the incoming situation more manageable with their numbers depleted.

    I watched as Galahad took a deep breath, clicked his neck and relieved himself into the fountain with an over exaggerated sigh.

    ¡°Not again!¡± I heard one guard say to another that were passing by the fountain, Galahad had managed to time his anti social behaviour perfectly.

    ¡°Oi!¡± The other called as the two of them marched on Galahad who was still pissing in the fountain when they reached him.

    ¡°I¡¯ll be done in a second,¡± he said, waving his free hand dismissively.

    ¡°You can¡¯t do that!¡± One of the nights said, he cut a frustrated figure, like this wasn¡¯t the first time that they had found Galahad doing this.

    Galahad ignored him and continued, even starting to whistle a tune to himself.

    ¡°Is there something wrong with your ears?¡± The other guard said, his face turning a beet root colour. He grabbed hold of Galahad¡¯s arm and spun him around, which was an unwise decision at best.

    ¡°Woah,¡± Galahad shouted as he spun around, staggering as he continued to empty his bladder, all over the guards feet who were now stood in front of him.

    I thought there faces were red before but both of their expressions instantly changed from frustration to anger as they looked down at their now soggy feet and then back at Galahad who gave one or two extra squeezes for good measure until he was completely empty.

    He put his junk away before wiping his hands on the guard on the rights sleeve.

    ¡°Ah,¡± he said, ¡°What were you saying.

    Unable to contain his anger any longer the guard struck Galahad across the face, which as he was wearing his helmet I imagined it hurt the guard more than him.

    Then the other guard drew his sword.

    This was it, go time.

    ¡°That¡¯s it, you are coming with us. A week in the stocks should teach you a lesson.¡± the guard on the left said.

    The one on the right reached for his sword and retorted, ¡°After we are done with you.¡± he spat on the ground on front of Galahad¡¯s feet.

    ¡°Now now, gentlemen, is that anyway to behave in public.¡± he said with an infuriating grin, and despite us being on the same side I felt frustrated for the guards. He really was a master of being a huge inconvenience.

    The guard to Galahad¡¯s right pushed him back before swinging his sword straight at him. Galahad staggered back, dodging the strike but making it look like an accident.

    ¡°Whoah, is that anyway to treat a knight of the realm,¡± his words were slightly slurred as he pulled up a flask and took a drink from it.

    The two guards were furious and each of them lunged at Galahad but he stumbled forwards, awkwardly, ducking their strikes, grabbing hold of one guards arm to push his sword away before stepping through the opening that it created.

    The two guards looked at each other dumbfounded as Galahad had moved to face them both again, their backs now facing the fountain.

    ¡°Bringing weapons to a fist fight,¡± he said, ¡°Where is the honour in that.¡± He stumbled forwards again, this time pressing a hand on each of the guards chests and pushing them back with force.

    The two guards stumbled backwards, until their legs hit the stone edge of the fountain and despite their best efforts the two of them fell backwards with a huge splash as they landed in the piss filled fountain.

    Their were laughs and gasps from the small crowd of people that were forming as both guards stood up. Repulsed as they sniffed the air around them.

    ¡°Seize him!¡± The guards said, grabbing the attention of more guards who started descending on the square.

    ¡°He¡¯s over there,¡± another voice bellowed, it was the first few grunts that we had taken out in the alleyway, they were emerging from the alley, bleary eyed.

    The grunts that were already on the square poked their heads up like a herd of meercats as they saw the grunts in the alleyway pointing at Galahad, their expressions turning from laughing at what they were seeing unfold to serious.

    This was my cue, and I rushed out into the square, taking up position next to Galahad.

    Notoriety level increased.

    Level 3 notoriety.

 Chapter 44 - Repercussions

    From my initial count there were eight grunts and four guards, two of which were in the fountain, wading through water, trying their hardest to escape as fast as they could.

    In the meantime anyone who wasn¡¯t one of the Godsfather¡¯s grunts or a member of the towns guards seemed to retract back inside as fast as they could. Leaving the square with plenty of space and less risk of any civilians getting injured.

    ¡°Remember to stick to the plan.¡± I said. So far everything was going how we had intended. If we could hold back this first wave of grunts, more guards would be alerted, that was ultimately what we wanted.

    Galahad punched downwards into the air, like he was shadow boxing before raising his fists in front of him. ¡°I think the best thing right now is to not get killed, any thing else is a bonus.¡±

    Time seemed to slow down as the grunts and guards descended on us, we were at level three notoriety, which was pretty good, but we needed to try and get this up to level four and there was only one way we could think of doing that.

    The grunts reached us first, they were not as skill full as the guards and came at us as a pack, three of them held their fists up, two of them had knives.

    Two of them focussed on me, the three others on Galahad.

    The grunts were low level, both of them level seven and I was able to hold my own against them, I was slightly higher in level but the traits that I had selected had maximised my strength. A fist fight ensued, but I overpowered both of them, punching one so hard I felt his jaw crack and using the other¡¯s moment tum to toss him into the fountain, where the two guards were climbing out of.

    It gave a moment to regroup and ready for myself as more numbers started to descend onto the town square. I watched as the three grunts, two of them with knives tried to take down Galahad. He weaved in and out of their strikes, making it look easy, but somehow accidental as he staggered about, it was a similar to fighting styles I had seen on video games, drunken monkey, except he was in a full suit of armour and had a posture like an old English boxer from the nineteen twenties.

    He dodged and weaved, between the strikes, jabbing back, and pulling the arms of the grunts, to use them to block strikes from the other grunts. When the three grunts lay sprawled out on the ground, groaning, Galahad stopped for a moment to take a drink from his flask.

    ¡°Really?¡± I said, ¡°Now isn¡¯t the time for a drink,¡±

    ¡°On the contrary old boy, I want to keep my levels topped up.¡±

    More grunts reached us from the alley way, this time mixed with a hand full of town guards, splitting into two groups. Galahad continued to dance around them, swaying in and out, like a drunkard but somehow incorporating this into his fighting style and it was effective to say the least, you would have thought that his rusted armour would be ore of a hinderance but it wasn¡¯t, it seemingly not slowing him down. I thought about if this could be an ability that he could activate like my berserker skill. That led me to wondering if it had a cool down period like my skill did.

    I wasn¡¯t ready to activate my berserker rage yet, I needed to save that for later, given the cooldown period.

    The two of us continued brawling as wave upon wave of returning grunts brought the fight to us but with Galahads fighting experience, despite their superior numbers we were more than able to hold our own.

    "Bugger,¡± Galahad said as I knocked another grunt to the ground, there was only one or two left.

    Galahad had his flask raised above his head, shaking it aggressively, trying to get the last drop of whatever was in it out. ¡°Empty,¡± he said, with a frustrated look.

    ¡°You still got plenty in the tank.¡±

    He stumbled forwards ducking under a blow from a grunt before stepping into him and slamming his helmet into his face. The grunt crumpled with a whimper.

    ¡°Guess we will have to wait and see,¡± he said.

    Level up

    Level 9

    That was good to know but I didn¡¯t have time to allocate the skill point as someone shouted across the town square.

    ¡°You will pay for your indiscretion,¡±

    It was Helga and she was gearing up for a fight as she stepped forwards in front of us.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    This was it, the moment we were waiting for, the chance to face off against one of the Godsfather¡¯s right hand men, or women in this case.

    I took a moment to check out her level.

    Helga

    Level 12 Aggravated Luitenant

    Not from these lands, Helga was raised on the streets quickly learning that pain accompanied with manipulation was all she needed to survive.

    She was gripping tightly of a hatchet, the end of which was still bloodstained, presumably from the merchant who¡¯s hand she had chopped off.

    ¡°She¡¯s level twelve so that is higher than me, what¡¯s your level?¡± I asked Galahad, for some reason his information was obscured and I wasn¡¯t able to see it.¡±

    He gave me puzzled expression, ¡°Ten,¡± He said, ¡°used to be far higher but that all changed when,¡±

    Helga took no time in letting out a roar as she flew towards us, her speed was alarming, her pace was unnatural, especially for her size. She caught me off guard and before I had chance to do anything her fist smashed straight into my stomach, winding me instantly.

    It felt like my eyes were going to pop straight out of my head as the pain ripped straight through me, more than anything I was grateful that it was not her hatchet that she led with.

    ¡°I will make you regret your actions.¡± She said into my ear her tone menacing and taunting at the same time. She went to bring her hatchet down on me but thankfully Galahad intervened, grabbing hold oh her arm.

    She pushed back against him before pushing me backwards. Somehow I managed to keep my balance but I coughed and heaved my guts up from the blow, my eyes stinging.

    Galahad remained in front of Helga grappling with her arm, but he was barely hanging on.

    Helga ripped her arm free, before grabbing hold of Galahad¡¯s head and slamming him into the ground, before lifting him up and doing it again. The stone paving surrounding the fountain cracked from the force, before she tossed him forwards, he only stopped when he reached my feet.

    Letting out a pained groan Galahad said, ¡°I think she likes me.¡± his bottom lip was bust but he was smiling none the less, his blood filling in the gaps of his teeth. Overall I thought that he had gotten of quite likely.

    ¡°She has a funny way of showing it,¡± I said as I helped him to his feet.

    ¡°She is a higher level than both of us, we are going to have to work together if we are going to beat her. Raven, we might need you with this one, ok.¡±

    From my shadow I saw he small hand emerge to give me a thumbs up before vanishing again.

    I panted as I regained my breath and Helga geared up to charge at us once again, it was at this point that I knew it was time to trigger my berserk.

    I channelled my rage, feeling it simmer like a boiling kettle until I was ready to unleash it.

    ¡°Fuuuuck, you Jerry!¡± I roared as my berserker range activated, my adrenaline spiked, my body bulking up and I felt a power surge throughout me. I no longer struggled to breath as I stood and stared down Helga.

    ¡°Interesting,¡± she said, ¡°Come show me what you can do.¡±

    I let out a roar, charging down at her, jumping through the air as I tried to land on her with a fist stomp. She darted out of the way, as fast as I now was in my enraged state, she was faster.

    Galahad launched himself forward but the two of us were out of sync, ultimately I was relatively knew to fighting and had had limited training, Helga had had a life time of violence behind her.

    She continued to jab at me, reserving her strikes with her hatchet for Galahad who thankfully due to his armour was holding up better against the strikes than I would, sparks flew from his armour every time she made contact and much to my dismay, Galahad was slowing down, after all he was carrying a full suit of armour.

    Galahad jabbed at her again as I charged at her again, but Helga slapped his hands away she was toying with him. His efforts were getting weaker and weaker as she started punching him back, his head snapping backwards every time but he stood firm.

    I jumped through the air again as Helga brought her hatchet down towards Galahads head.

    Managing to get in the way I slammed my elbow down onto her arm with as much force as I could manage and thankfully it was enough to cause her to drop the weapon. I was closer to her than I would have liked as she snarled and wrapped her arms around me.

    I struggled against her vice like grip but even in my berserker state I was no match for her, she was simply too strong.

    ¡°You are pathetic,¡± Helga¡¯s said as she continued to squeeze, with an audible crack I cried out as I felt one of my ribs break. It was like pain I had never felt before but I needed to put every ounce of my strength into stopping her from causing me to pop as all of my blood rushed to my head.

    Dizzy and disorientated I said to Galahad, ¡°Please tell me they are coming.¡±

    ¡°They certainly are old boy,¡±

    ¡°Now!¡±

    From my shadow Raven leapt up from the ground, her scythes in each of her hands, as she drew level with Helga she slammed one scythe into her shoulder, her arm instantly falling limp.

    I could breathe again and dropped back to my feet as Raven used her feet to push of Helga¡¯s chest, doing a backflip and landing next to Galahad. Her eyes were fixed on Helga and she was leaning forward, he scythes either side of her.

    ¡°No,¡± Helga said, a sudden fear in her eyes. ¡°Morgrim was right, about the Reaver about you being,¡±

    Before she could say another word, Raven darted forward, hurling her scythe through the air with deadly precision, it hit Helga square in the head and she fell backwards like a trap door. As Raven reached her she removed her scythe before disappearing into the shadow of the fountain.

    Our plan had worked. If this wasn¡¯t going to get the attention of the Gods Father then nothing would.

    A large circle of guards surrounded me and Galahad as my berserker rage counter reached zero, I felt all that adrenaline rush from me, instantly replaced with the searing pain in my rib cage.

    We didn¡¯t need to fight anymore, we had achieved what we wanted, city wide notoriety and we had killed one of the Gods Fathers henchmen.

    We both raised our hands into the air as the infuriated guard captain stepped forwards in front of them all.

    ¡°Place them both in irons,¡±

 Chapter 45 - Cell Mates

    I didn¡¯t remember much of the journey to the cells, once we had willingly surrendered, I had been hit over the back of the head with something, I don¡¯t know long I was out for but as my eyes opened, I was greeted with the darkness of a cell.

    The smell was odious, like we had been thrown into a sewer, the stench enough to force me into a gag as I sat bolt upright with a startle.

    The floor where I was sat was wet and their was a dampness that clung to the air.

    As I breathed in, I winced, raising a hand to my rib. My health bar was at sixty percent, but I would survive. I sure as hell could do with a health potion. I looked through my inventory but the health potions I had were gone, along with everything else I had been collecting.

    I checked over my body, half expecting them to have taken all of my clothes but thankfully they hadn¡¯t.

    I let out a groan as I rested my head on the cold stone wall behind me. A small plume of light from the tiny window above landing on my outstretched legs.

    ¡°How¡¯s the head,¡± Galahad spoke from the shadows, startling me, his voice sounded pained and weary.

    As my eyes adjusted to the dark I noticed his feint outline, he was stood up against the wall.

    ¡°I feel like I have been hit by a truck,¡± I said, standing up and walking around the cell to get my bearings.

    ¡°What¡¯s one of those?¡± he asked.

    I was just about to explain when I simply said, ¡°never mind,¡±

    The cell looked simple enough, it was a squarish shape with three sides being stone walls and in front of us floor to ceiling bars that had a three to four inch gap in between.

    I grabbed hold of the bars to test their flexibility and they were not for budging.

    ¡°What now,¡± I asked, we had planned up to this point, we knew we would be thrown in the cells. We could only hope now that e had caught enough peoples attention too.

    ¡°We wait for the opportune moment.¡± Galahad sighed and examined the cell, he tapped the wall with his knuckle until he hit a hollowed point. ¡°Ah brilliant,¡± he said as he pulled out the stone and sat down on it, before reaching his arm inside.

    When he pulled his arm out their was a large flask.

    ¡°I was on a good run, not been in these cells for a while. Still it has given this time to ferment.¡±

    He popped the lid of the flask before taking a sniff and pulled his head away quickly, ¡°Good gods that is quite the potent drink,¡± he laughed to himself before taking a swig.

    ¡°What the hell is that?¡± I asked as Galahad recoiled from the harshness of it. He coughed and spluttered before passing the bottle to me.

    ¡°Just some dried up peel from the fruit that they gave me last time I was here, simply add a bit of water use a tiny bit of fruit as the sugars and let it sit. Nature will do the rest.¡±

    ¡°Seriously, you spent your time in the cell making your own liquor?¡± I laughed at his ingenuity, I was however curious for just how potent this was.

    I took the flask of him, judging by its smell this was strong, ¡°How long has this been here,¡± I asked.

    ¡°Couldn¡¯t tell you.¡± Galahad said.

    I questioned what I as about to do but with a shrug of my shoulders I figured that I had nothing to lose.

    ¡°Bottoms up,¡± I said, before taking a swig of the home brew.

    I swear the room lit up like a Christmas tree as soon as II tool a swig, this tasted strong enough to put hairs on your chest. A bitter aniseed taste with hint of banana, a combination that quite frankly should be banned.

    I coughed and chugged, before passing the bottle back to Galahad who gratefully received it, saluted me with it before drinking from it again.

    ¡°Wait a minute,¡± I said as I gathered myself, ¡°Don¡¯t you need water to ferment things?¡±

    Galahad looked away sheepishly before taking another drink. ¡°I regret nothing, desperate times call for desperate measures.¡±

    I instantly spat out of my mouth what I could, the taste even more bitter now that I had the knowledge that Galahad had made it with fruit peels and his piss. If I had had the energy I would have dived across the cell at him.

    ¡°You bastard,¡±

    Galahad started laughing, it was the first time I had seen him laugh and I didn¡¯t expect it to be in a cell. It was a deep laugh, more of a chuckle, despite the circumstances a felt a smile tug at the corner of my lips and started laughing myself.

    ¡°What¡¯s so funny?¡± The voice caught me of guard as a shadowy figure emerged on the other side of the bars.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you come inside this cell and we will show you old boy.¡±

    The light from above revealed the guards captains stony face as he drew level with the bars of the cell, his upper lip curled in complete disdain at us. Like it repulsed him even being in our presence.

    ¡°I have no idea what has brought on the disturbance you have both created but I will be sure to make you both see the error of your ways while making sure that no one else gets any thoughts of starting a rebellion.¡± He sneered, his teeth were crooked and stained, he had one of those faces that you just wanted to punch.

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t quite call it a rebellion, there is only two of us?¡± Galahad said, playing dumb.

    ¡°Funny that, we were told there was three of you, I have even heard on the streets that your third member may in fact be a Reaver, not just any old Reaver too.

    ¡°You would know all about the streets wouldn¡¯t you,¡± Galahad sneered, ¡°Tell em just how long have you been in the pocket of the mindless thugs.

    If the captain could have reached through and throttled Galahad I think he would have

    He straightened himself up, regaining his composure before offering Galahad a teasing smile. ¡°I have no idea what you are talking about, but spreading rumours like that will lead to you losing your tongue.¡±

    ¡°Very well,¡± Galahad said, ¡°You have had your chance to repent for your indiscretions but I can see that you will always be a self righteous arse.¡±

    ¡°Save your words Galahad, your days of being a shit stain on this town are over.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± I said.

    ¡°Oh so it does talk,¡± The captain said. ¡°You should have listened to me when I told you to keep out of trouble when you first got here, you will live to regret crossing me and causing so much trouble.¡±

    His whole demeanour had changed from the person that I had met when I first arrived here, his features were sharpened, like a poised viper waiting to strike. He may have comphiscated my weapons that day but he had come across as friendly all in all, such a far cry from what I was witnessing now.

    ¡°Well sometimes you need to stand up for what is right,¡± I said. ¡°Otherwise what is the point?¡±

    ¡°The point is that you will not be standing up for anything, come sunrise,¡± The captain said, his smile becoming more menacing.

    ¡°How so?¡± Galahad asked.

    ¡°We can¡¯t have you putting on a show like you did and humiliating my men and get away with it, no, no, no, that just wont do.¡± He placed his hands behind the small of his back and puffed his chest out. ¡°The stocks simply will not do, as I said, we need to set an example, one for all to see.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean we?¡± Galahad said, ¡°There was me thinking it was you that was in charge, lets face it, you are just another puppet on a string.¡±

    The captain laughed, ¡°I do what I need to keep order in this town,¡±

    ¡°While lining your pockets,¡± Galahad snorted, ¡°Look how far you have fallen captain.¡± he feigned an over exaggerated bow. ¡°Whatever it takes eh,¡±

    ¡°Say what you want Galahad, I would savour the air you breathe while you can because in the morning, you will both meet the hang man.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± I said, this was not what we had wanted. We knew the guards would be pissed at us, but aside from Helga who was nothing more than a street thug we had not seriously injured any guards.

    ¡°Let¡¯s just say that you have pissed off the wrong person.¡± he said with a incredulous laugh. ¡°Something you will live to regret. Honestly the headache you two have given me with all of this.¡±

    ¡°I am glad we could be of service.¡± Galahad bowed again before taking a seat, ¡°Now if you don¡¯t mind, I could do with a little nap, be a darling and switch of the lights on your way out.¡±

    Galahad¡¯s ability to infuriate anybody was simply incredible, the captains jaw tightened as he shuffled himself before taking a deep breathe and turning to leave.

    ¡°I will see you both in the morning,¡±

    ¡°We cannot wait captain,¡± Galahad said sarcastically, before sitting down on the stone and leaning his head back and shutting his eyes.

    The captains footsteps faded into the distance until they could be heard no more.

    ¡°Execution!¡¯ I said, my voice elevated and more than a slight hint of panic.

    ¡°What did you think would happen?¡±

    ¡°A flogging, the stocks maybe, I didn¡¯t think it would be a public execution?¡±

    When the sound of a door closing echoed down the dungeon block Galahad shot back forward and stood back up. He pressed his head against the bars as if he was waiting for something. ¡°Finally,¡± he said, ¡°I thought the oaf would never leave.¡±

    ¡°What are we going to do Galahad?¡± I said, ¡°How are we going to get out from here.¡±

    ¡°Remember this was all part of the plan, we knew we would be inside the dungeon, at least I knew they would over react and want us dead, especially now that we have confirmed that we have the Gods Father¡¯s attention and the captain has confirmed what I already suspected. That he is in cahoots with him.¡±

    ¡°Did he actually say that though?¡± At no point had the Captain mentioned the Gods father by name. ¡°If we are going to go down that route we are going to need a little thing called evidence.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry I have a plan for that too?¡±

    Galahad reached for the piece of metal protecting his groin, it was like a medi-eval jock strap and I found myself recoiling in horror.

    ¡°Galahad!¡± This wasn¡¯t the time or the place as he reached in and started rummaging around. ¡°The hell are you doing?"

    Galahad wore a determined expression as he fished around with something, only stopping when his face lit up.

    ¡°Aha,¡± he said, he pulled out something that jingled around, it was a familiar sound that I recognised from when we were running around all of the alleys in town.

    ¡°Wait is that?¡±

    Galahad was stood holding a set of keys attached to a large metal hoop, he was wearing had the smuggest of grins on his face.

    ¡±How? Where? How long have you?¡±

    Galahad laughed to himself, ¡°As I said old boy it has always been part of the plan?¡±

    ¡°But when did you get these?¡±

    Had he always had them on him? How had he been so resourceful, I had so many questions that I wanted to ask.

    ¡°It was the other day when we first started scouting the guard tower,¡± he said. ¡°When that guard was being somewhat of an arse with me, but he played right into my hands and got too close.¡±

    My jaw hit the floor, I could remember the guard being dismissive and Galahad being over familiar when he wrapped his arm around the guard. Shortly before being kicked to the dirt.

    ¡°You son of a bitch,¡± I smiled. I could have hugged him, why didn¡¯t you say anything?¡±

    Galahad didn¡¯t say anything, instead he started sorting through the keys and testing them in the lock to the cell. When he found one that worked he simply said.

    ¡°Now we wait until dark, to try and make an escape in daylight would be madness.¡±

    ¡°That makes sense,¡± I said, I still couldn¡¯t believe that Galahad had played this entire situation, bumbling around as the town drunk.

    ¡°Hey Galahad,¡± I said, ¡°Thank you, I couldn¡¯t have got this far without you.¡±

    ¡°I would save your thanks for when we are free from this cage and those guards have paid for everything they have allowed to happen here. Now rest up, while you can at east. When night falls we make our move.¡±