Fate of Camlan Page 4

  Level: 29

  Requirement: Archery Level 8

  Changes when equipped: + 18% damage

  “I don’t see any prices on these,” I say. “That will affect my choice just as much as the stats will.”

  “Of course, SirAsh3r. Will you be trading in your Bow of Elements?”

  I hesitate one last time before finally succumbing. It’s really just nostalgia that makes me want to hang on to my old bow anyway. “Yeah, I’ll trade you for it.”

  “Wonderful. In that case, with the value of your current bow taken into account, Truestrike would cost you an additional forty Gold Crowns, the Bow of Eternal Rest would be forty-five Gold Crowns and the Maple Warbow would be thirty-five Gold Crowns.”

  Julius watches silently as I pick up each bow again, weighing them, studying how they feel in my hands, considering their individual merits and detractions. It’s only after this more in-depth examination that I realize the Slay Poison will cause damage over time. It might not provide the hard immediate hit I wish for, but it can be effective in a totally different way.

  “This one,” I tell him, holding the Bow of Eternal Rest. “This is perfect.”

  “An excellent choice, SirAsh3r,” the merchant says as he stows the other two bows away.

  With all my buying and selling done, I save the new bow into my inventory and make my way out of the store. As I’m walking back through to the open square, the game dings in my ear. I look around but all of my current compatriots are fully absorbed with their own purchases. Pulling up my messages, I realize one of my best friends, Tessa, is in the game now and messaging me.

  OtherTSwifty: Asher! Dude, where you been? I thought you’d hit me up when you were done with the Toterra thing.

  SirAsh3r: Yeah, sorry. I got caught up. Leaving their HQ and traveling and stuff.

  OtherTSwifty: So you’re home now? How long you playing today? Don’t you have to go job hunting?

  SirAsh3r: LOL don’t remind me

  I try to figure out how to redirect Tessa’s questions. While I might be tempted to break the NDA for her, it’ll have to be later. I’m not stupid enough to do it while actually in the game and being monitored.

  OtherTSwifty: You wanna meet up?

  SirAsh3r: Oh, maybe. I’ve got another time-sensitive thing, and I’m heading north. Where you at?

  OtherTSwifty: Somewhere on the east coast, I think. I’ll start heading north too and maybe we’ll meet.

  SirAsh3r: Sounds good.

  OtherTSwifty: One last thing, before you get back to it. Did you hear that Jargonaut is back?

  I groan out loud and the NPC walking past me looks at me with concern, before continuing on his way.

  SirAsh3r: No. Damn. Doesn’t he have some PR or something to do?

  OtherTSwifty: No idea. All I know is Toterra made a big to do about him releasing his first YouTube video about Camlan Realm. Looks like he’s got whatever job with them plus sponsorship of his channel.

  SirAsh3r: Ugh.

  OtherTSwifty: I know. I mean, I know I didn’t talk to him like you did, but he just seems like he’s the worst.

  SirAsh3r: He is.

  OtherTSwifty: LOL. Well, good luck with that. Hope you don’t run into him.

  SirAsh3r: Thanks :) You too.

  As I click out of the instant messaging interface, I wonder if Jargonaut’s reentering the game at the same time that we are here on behalf of another company is a coincidence. Talbot must know by now that his Camlan Challenge players haven’t made it home. If he has any idea how much Guy Fountain knows about what Toterra is doing, he would at least be cautious.

  I am walking down the steps from the Summerrun Emporium, lost in my own thoughts, when I accidentally run headfirst into a petite older woman with several shawls wrapped tightly around her shoulders.

  “I’m so sorry,” I say as I hasten to help her up. I realize she’s even smaller than I thought, hunchbacked with age. “Can I— Are you hurt? Can I help you?”

  Name: Mildred Murkle

  Level: 33

  Description: A local of Summerrun, Mrs. Murkle and her family run a bakery on the east side of town.

  “Oh, my dear,” she exclaims. “You’re too kind. I was just looking for some generous soul to help me.”

  Of course you were, I think to myself. Because that’s how all good quests start.

  “Absolutely, ma’am. What seems to be the trouble?”

  “Oh, heavens. Thank you. There’s a dark creature just outside the town wall that is simply torturing my family. It wails every night, reaching into our windows with its shadowy limbs. It disturbs all of our sleep, which is essential since we are getting up so early every morning to bake fresh pastries and bread for the town. We can’t seem to get rid of it, and we can’t live with it any more.”

  Quest Offered: Be Gone, Fell Shadow!

  Description: Help Mrs. Murkle rid her family of the nuisance that plagues them. Defeat the unnamed dark creature and give them all a chance to sleep soundly. If attacking during the day, you will need to trigger the creature to show itself. Disturbing the guardians of darkness should do the trick.

  Reward: + 600 XP, 30 Gold Crowns, Recipe for Starless Night Potion, Unknown weapons

  “Absolutely. I’d be happy to take care of that for you,” I tell her. “Tell me more about this creature.”

  I get the details from her as I accept the quest. This will just be a small side quest, but anything we’ll get as a reward, especially that potion, will more than come in handy.

  I say good-bye to the woman and hurry to find my team again.

  When I’m double checking my log, I realize I have another open quest still accepted. When I click through to look at the details I’m reminded that I need to get to the other side of Camlan eventually.

  Quest in Progress: The Alchemist’s Apprentice

  Description: Visit the alchemist in Smeaton to advance your alchemy skills.

  Reward: + 90 XP; Alchemy lesson

  When I review the Camlan Realm map again, I zoom out to find where Smeaton is. It takes me a minute to find the yellow dot indicating the open quest, but I finally find it, there over on the east side of Camlan. Not totally the opposite direction of where we’re supposed to go for FGI, but close enough. It’s certainly not on the way.

  I wonder if I can talk the others into letting me make the detour. I’m sure we can use the speed and truth potions I have the recipes for, but I have to get the alchemy lesson before I’m able to make them.

  The rest of the group has finished their shopping and joined me in the town square. A game message interrupts my thoughts.

  Erinocalypse has invited you to a group. Do you accept?

  I promptly choose Yes and turn to the others.

  “Good timing. I just picked up a little quest we can do just outside town before we leave.”

  “Maybe we need to deal with that first,” Erinocalypse says with a grimace, indicating over my shoulder.

  Chapter 9

  I turn around to look where Erinocalypse is pointing. I wanted to get started on this side quest I found. What is it she thinks we need to deal with instead?

  An enormous knight exits of the official-looking brick building at the end of the town square. There is a crowd of merchants at the foot of the steps, and as the knight reaches the bottom, he pushes through them, scattering the NPCs in every direction. A young woman is startled into dropping her basket, spilling it all over the dirt. One man stumbles backwards and his wife reaches out to catch him. The knight doesn’t even acknowledge he has made contact.

  From this distance I can’t read the player handle that hovers above his head, but I recognize that armor. And that arrogance. That bear crest on the front of his chest is unmistakable.

  It’s Jargonaut.

  Jargonaut who was an internationally well-known YouTuber even before he got the sponsorship of Toterra Online. Jargonaut who secured himself a job representing the gaming company all over the world. Jargon
aut who is the only player to beat me in the Camlan Challenge on our first day here.

  I hate that guy.

  And, let’s be honest, this is probably also Jargonaut here in Camlan Realm with some kind of ulterior motive for the corporation. Why else would he be playing, when he could be making another YouTube video and another several thousand dollars?

  I curse under my breath. How he managed to show up in the exact same small town as us, I don’t know. Of all the places in all of Camlan Realm, especially considering we have logged far more hours in the game than him, he should be literally anywhere else. Maybe it’s a coincidence, but with as much data as is swirling around in this video game, I tend to doubt it.

  I shake my head. I knew it. I just knew Fountain’s plan was too easy. We’re barely into the game at all and it’s already been compromised. If he claims to have someone on the inside at Toterra, how easy would it be for that person to double-cross him? Looks like we’ve found ourselves in the middle of a turf war between two immensely powerful corporations.

  “Is that…?” TexBadass sees the same thing I do.

  “Yep.”

  “Jargonaut? What do we do?” Balderdash13 says.

  “Hide,” I say. I sprint toward the closest alley, to the side of the shop we just exited, and gesture for my teammates to join me.

  “You don’t think he’s after us, do you?” SteelFeather asks in a whisper.

  “Yes,” I say. “I do.”

  “Yeah, we have to assume it’s possible,” Erinocalypse says. “It’s too much of a coincidence otherwise. I don’t know what he can do to us, or what Talbot might want him to do to us, but even if he’s not technically out to get us, it’s not like I want to be friends with him.”

  “Can we sneak out of town without him seeing?” TexBadass asks, peering around the corner of the alley to watch the knight. “Once we get on the road north, maybe he’ll lose track of us.”

  “Doubt it,” Erinocalypse says.

  “Yeah.” I peer around the corner too. “If he’s here, I’d bet money he can find us wherever we go. Besides, staying on a road seems risky,” I counter. “It might be better to cut across open country, depending on what they’re using to track us.”

  “Totally,” SteelFeather agrees. “We can hide and all that.”

  “Shh,” Erinocalypse warns, pressing her back to the building nearest and all but sinking into the shadows.

  The rest of us hasten to copy her and freeze in place just as Jargonaut saunters past the opening of the alley. We stay quiet for several long moments after he passes. For a brief second I forget that Callidus isn’t with us and start to tell him to go into Stealth to follow the other player. My mouth is already open to whisper when I remember that I’m now the only one in the party with any Stealth ability.

  I wonder how long it will take to get used to that. Damn, I miss that kid.

  Without a word to the others, I quickly activate Stealth and tiptoe to the end of the alley to watch where Jargonaut went. I visually scan the town square and spot his broad back a couple streets away. He is no longer pushing his way through the crowd, but instead seems to have found his destination. He stands in the open square, surrounded by maybe a dozen knights, all with helmets and visors obscuring their faces. A quick scan tells me there are no players in the group.

  He’s interacting with a group of NPCs. What is that, an army? Is he giving them instructions?

  My stomach drops.

  The group breaks up after a few moments and I have to head back to the alley before I can see where Jargonaut heads to next. My Stealth timer is almost to zero when I duck back into the shadows.

  I take a deep breath, debating what to tell them.

  “Let’s get out of here,” I whisper.

  “What did you see?” Balderdash13 asks.

  “Jargonaut has a whole gang of what looks like NPCs. There are a ton of warrior-looking guys just crowded around him. I didn’t hear what they’re planning, but I would bet it’s not anything good. There’s at least twice as many of them as there are us.”

  “And NPCs can kill us, even if Jargonaut can’t,” SteelFeather says.

  “We need to avoid them, not engage,” Erinocalypse says.

  “Exactly.” I nod. “So let’s go do this little side quest I found. It’ll take us out of the town; it’s over by the edge of the forest. Hopefully that will be far enough away to be off their radar and give us some breathing space.”

  “Why not just keep moving north?” TexBadass asks. “We gotta get a move on.”

  “Trust me,” I tell him. “The reward for this quest is worth the sidetrack for. I’ll get a recipe for a potion, for example. We’ll all get gold and XP. There’s never enough of that. Here, let me share the quest with you and you can see for yourself.”

  Still crowded in the alley, I pull up my game interface, click around and figure out how to share this open quest with the rest of my party. As each of them accept the quest, I see smiles and nods all around as they read through the details and reward.

  “Yeah yeah,” TexBadass says. “Fine.”

  “Let’s just move,” Erinocalypse says.

  I lead the way, using small bursts of Stealth to check around corners for Jargonaut’s team of knights before we move forward. We get all the way to the eastern gate of Summerrun without being seen and make our way across the grass to the edge of Dyrnwood to investigate the darkness.

  Chapter 10

  Quietly, without drawing attention to ourselves, we exit the gates of Summerrun and head cautiously toward the edge of the forest. The tell-tale glow of a quest destination flickers in the trees in front of us, partly obscured by the shadows and uneven light of the forest.

  Mrs. Murkle seemed petrified by whatever dark creature lurks around here, but I don’t see anything out of the ordinary. The bright light of mid-morning helps keep my own unease at bay.

  I revisit the quest details, pulling up the interface in front of me.

  Quest In Progress: Be Gone, Fell Shadow!

  Description: Help Mrs. Murkle rid her family of the nuisance that plagues them. Defeat the unnamed dark creature and give them all a chance to sleep soundly. If attacking during the day, you will need to trigger the creature to show itself. Disturbing the guardians of darkness should do the trick.

  Reward: + 600 XP, 30 Gold Crowns, Recipe for Starless Night Potion, Unknown weapons

  Without taking the time to wait for night to fall, we’ll have to do something else to trigger the appearance of the monster. I glance back over my shoulder to Summerrun, but everything seems normal. I keep my fingers crossed we can buy ourselves enough time to get this quest completed before Jargonaut figures out where we are.

  “Y’all see this?” TexBadass asks, gesturing to the giant fir tree in front of him.

  I step closer. Something about the tree looks off. The blacks are blacker than they should be, the leaves a dark, shaded tint of green that seems wrong for the brightness of this time of day. The thick bark of the tree seems to dance with the shifting shadows.

  Somewhere in this monstrous scene is the dark creature we have been tasked with banishing.

  “Any ideas?” SteelFeather asks. He holds his sword in both hands, but casually in front of him, ready but waiting. “We’ve got to provoke it somehow.”

  “The description mentions some guardians of darkness,” I remind him. “Maybe if we can flush out whatever that is, the shadow creature will come next.”

  “Oh yeah,” Balderdash13 says eagerly. “Let’s do that.” She hoists her new battle axe up onto her shoulder.

  TexBadass is still peering into the tall oak branches. “Maybe if we could shake them down…” he suggests.

  “I got this!” Erinocalypse shouts, casting Surge of Air in a broad stream, ruffling the entire width of the treetop with wind. This spell is maybe the strongest I’ve ever seen her cast. The leaves and branches all the way up through the tree tremble under the force of the gust.

  The
sorceress drops her hands back down. We watch. And wait.

  The next silent beat feels like an eternity. I watch, horrified as the dark shadows high up in the tree begin to move. With her spell, Erinocalypse has disturbed something black, something deep within the tree. The barest movement becomes ripples. The ripples become wings of movement. And suddenly the dark shadows are winging their way toward me.

  No. Damnit.

  Birds.

  “WHY IS IT ALWAYS BIRDS?” I yell, frustrated.

  Balderdash13 laughing behind me doesn’t help my mood, but nocking an arrow and taking aim to kill one of them does.

  After their branches and resting place are disturbed, the most enormous flock of charcoal gray owls I have ever seen rises up out of the tree as one mass. The cloud of feathers and talons blots out the sun. I can feel them targeting our group, as the flock swings around to the north to come at us from another angle.

  Once they get closer, I can examine the traits, looking for any hint of how to handle and defeat them.

  Name: Twilight Owl

  Level: 34

  Description: This guardian of the darkness lives in the fir trees of Dyrnwood. You will usually find it with or near menacing shadows.

  I shake my head. Level thirty-four is far more than I am in the mood to deal with right now, but I guess it’s too late for that thought.

  My new bow feels slightly off-balance in my hand. The weight feels different from the Bow of Elements and it’s not until the second or third arrow that I find my rhythm again. Once that rhythm is established, my aim is true; the next arrow brings down a Twilight Owl with no trouble. I’ll just need to get faster at nocking and arming the bow.

  Fortunately, the increased power of the Bow of Eternal Rest makes up for that.

  Around me, the others are also bringing down the owls, one by one. Erinocalypse’s Surge of Air spell helps direct the flight of the birds toward the waiting weapons of our tanks. SteelFeather and Balderdash13 fall into their easy rhythm, as if it has been no time at all since we have fought alongside each other.

  The only thing we’re missing is Callidus. I spare a short moment to hope he got home alright, to hope his mom was proud of him and happy to see him. But then I have to put him out of my mind. There are still nearly a hundred Twilight Owls that need to be taken down.