Lost Lands: The Game - Atlantis (9 page)

Chapter 11

It was late afternoon by the time Callistra finally woke up. From the look on Kastle’s face, she knew that she had been out for a while. Gracing him with a weak smile she asked, “How long?”

“About two hours. Are you alright? You gave me quite a scare.”

“Yes. I’m sure it was just a combination of feeding overload and a lack of sleep. I went a long time between meals this past month.”

Kastle cocked his head to the side. He knew she was lying but realized he couldn’t push her to tell him the truth
so he changed the subject.

“While you were out, I had a little talk with Tariq. He wants to help and says if we will protect him from the Keepers
of the Flame, he’ll travel with us.” Kastle noticed how she flinched slightly at the guild name but kept silent. “Unfortunately, your scorpion is still holding him hostage and it won’t let me get close.”

Sitting up, Callistra snapped her fingers and they both heard Tariq yelp in surprise from the other room.

Seconds later Tariq peeked in. “The scorpion, it just disappeared.”

Callistra f
lashed him a crooked grin. “It was never there. It was naught but an illusion.”

“But…but I felt it on my skin. I heard the snapping of its pincers.”

“Your mind convinced you that it was real but it was naught but a phantasm. However, if you had let it sting you, your mind would’ve convinced your body that it was poisoned and acted in such a manner.”

Tariq wiped the sweat off his brow. “How have you guys survived in this place?”

Kastle looked slightly downcast. “Not all of us have. We lost a party member mere hours after crossing over. And over the next few months, we had to watch as we lost more of our friends to this land, one by one.”

Tariq
lowered his head. “I think I understand. I will regret my actions to my last breath.”

Kastle placed a hand on the assassin’s shoulder. “Let’s hope that is true. The moment you stop regretting taking a life, then you will know that the Chaos
Spirit is taking over your soul once more.” Kastle moved back into the main room, pulled out his map and pointed at a small dot on the northern coast. “Calli, from what you said earlier and judging from what Tariq has told us, Saebroc would’ve been the closest town to where they crossed over.”

Tariq and Callistra moved into the other room and studied the map.
The assassin pointed at another village further down the coast line. “Unless they went the other direction along the coast.”

Kastle nodded. “True.”

“No,” Callistra added. “They would’ve gone along the coastline toward the mountains and reached Saebroc.”

Both men looked at her but it was Kastle who asked, “How do you know that?”

“I know the Keepers. On the other side, they were my old guild. Tariq, judging from your descriptions, I would guess the party layout was something like this; Tao was the leader with Gamble at his side. Bjǿrn and Moira are inseparable, so they were there. Pixi was the faerie and you mentioned an archer, which I would guess  was Mathias Strongbow. How did I do?”

Tariq had to remind himself to close his mouth since he was so dumbfounded.
“Unbelievable.” He hesitated for a second before asking, “So…so you knew the paladin?”

Callistra nodded. “Yes
, Roland. His real name was Steve but I don’t fault you for your actions. I understand the struggle you have with the Chaos Spirit. I fight it every day.”

Kastle waited for a moment before asking, “How good are these Keepers?”

“Real good,” Callistra replied and Tariq nodded.

Kastle nodded.
“Then they should survive the fear and hatred of the townsfolk. So the question remains, where would they go next?”

“Tao will keep wo
rking his way toward their goal, no matter what.”

“Seriously?”

“He would say that every decision leads to gain or loss and for failure to occur, you only have to do nothing.”

Kastle thought about that for a minute
. “That is an interesting mantra but what does it mean?”

“It means that as long as Tao is alive he will not stop striving to accomplish his goal.”

“Which is to get home.”

“Yes. Nothing short of his death will stop him.”

“Sounds like you know this guy pretty well.”

“Yes…yes I do.”

Kastle waited to see if she would elaborate. When she didn’t he turned to the assassin. “Are you sure they didn’t say anything else?”

Tariq thought about it for a minute before
nodding. “Now that you mention it, Tao did say something about a bubble theory and how Avalon was connected to all the other realms in the game. Honestly, I wasn’t really listening.”

Kastle slapped himself on the forehead
. “Holy shit! Why didn’t I think of that?”

Callistra grinned slightly. “I told you he was resourceful.”

Kastle nodded. “Agreed. We need to find them and hook up. I really want to meet this guy. But where are they now and how do we find them?”

Callistra
said, “Aaliyah would know where to find them. After all she is a Sha’ir.”

Tariq glanced up. “You came across with a Sha’ir?”
Tariq whistled. “Those are rare in game and supposedly one of the hardest classes to play.”

Callistra
nodded. “She could summon a djinni to find the information we needed.” She paused before asking, “Do you know where she is?”

“Probably still with
Jagoda.”

“Will you be safe?”

Kastle shrugged. “Only the gods know for certain but my apology is long overdue.”

“Do you know where to find them?”

Kastle shook his head. “Nope but I know how they can find us.”

Callistra raised an eyebrow at that remark but realized that Kastle had a plan and asking him to explain wasn’t going to aid in the situation. So, she just began pack
ing her belongings and before long the three companions were off.

*   *   *   *   *

By the time Mathias and Bjǿrn returned to the battlefield, Tao had discovered much about the riders. The other three had been similar in age to the young man who killed himself and their equipment had been of average quality. Their weapons were old and well-used but nothing special. On the other hand, the rider he’d killed with his flying side kick was the only bandit that was old enough to be considered experienced. Only he had anything of worth.

His armor and weapons were of
excellent quality, not nearly as good as their own but very serviceable. Along with the standard rations and basic camping items that Tao had found in every saddlebag was a crudely drawn map. This was something they truly needed for it marked several towns. Of course it did not show the reputed location of Atlantis but it was better than nothing. Tao did notice other marks on the map but those would have to wait until later since it was approaching dusk.

Bjǿrn
was limping but seemed no worse for the wear. The large Norseman gestured to the flying serpents. “What are we going to do with them?”

Tao just grinned. “Ride them of course.”

Mathias snickered. “Ride them? Are you nuts?”

“Nope. You saw how all four followed the alpha wyvern. They exhibit the herd mentality. They si
mply follow the leader or alpha just like horses.”

Bjǿrn
said, “But they’re flying serpents.”

“It
’ll sure beat walking back don’t you think?”

Bjǿrn
cocked his head to the side. “There is that but you don’t know if you can ride them.”

Tao chuckled. “I’m from
Kentucky. I’ve been around horses my entire life. Trust me. It’ll be easy.”

Too tired and sore to argue,
Bjǿrn relented. “Okay but it’s been decades since I’ve ridden.”

Tao
talked Mathias through some basic horsemanship skills, grip with your calves not your thighs. Don’t jerk on the reins but pull slowly and evenly. Lean into your turns and try to keep your weight in your hips, not your shoulders. Once he felt confident that the archer understood the instructions, Tao had them mounted up.

Bjǿrn
was mounted on the largest wyvern in the herd. It was a reddish brown and seemed the only beast capable of carrying the Norseman. Mathias had opted for one of the two green wyverns which didn’t seem too skittish when he mounted.

Tao
walked up to the alpha and patted the grey-skinned serpent on the neck. Keeping his voice low as he talked to it, he moved forward to scratch the great beast behind its hooded eyes. “Alright boy, I don’t know what your old master called you but you need a name. How about Shadow? It seems like a fitting name?”

Whether or not the wyvern understood him, the serpent leaned into his touch and hissed. Tao wasn’t sure what that actually meant but took it as a positive sign and climbed on. Glancing over his shoulder at his friends, he leaned forward and called out. “Lean forward and han
g on, cause here we go.”

Kicking the wyvern in the flanks like he would a horse Tao
called out, “Giddy up.”

Even though he was expecting it, the way that the flying
serpent shot into the air jerked him back into the saddle and nearly threw him off. Tao peeked over his shoulder at the other wyverns and sure enough, all four serpents leapt into the air to follow Shadow.

Bjǿrn
and Mathias managed to hang on as they circled the battlefield. Tao leaned left slightly and with minimal shifting of the reins, Shadow responded; the same to the right. Through trial and error, Tao figured out the basic commands of controlling the wyvern. It was very similar to a well-trained horse. The gait was a bit different but the view was spectacular. Within moments, they were on their way back to their friends and whoa…did they have a surprise for them. 

*   *   *   *   *

After Cozad had watched the samurai run off, he began to make an assessment of their situation. Their only healer was wounded, the skald was tired and Arieal seemed shaken to the core. Add in the fact that they were barely out of bow shot from the city and this was a recipe for disaster.

Knowing what he had to do, Cozad moved over to the druid and took a good look at the arrow. It was lodged just below her left clavicle. From the way it was wedged in, he knew the arrowhead had to be barbed.
Cozad said to no one in particular, “You know that has to come out.”

Gamble
nodded. “I was thinking the same thing. But given its location, we won’t be able to push it through.”

“That leaves two options. Leave it in or cut it out.”

That seemed to shake Arieal free of her fear. “But she may bleed to death. She’s our only healer.”

Pixi popped into view overhead. “The guards are getting organized and the mob is back. I don’t think we have long before they come after us.”

Cozad’s eyes flashed from blue to red in a split second as he glanced at the gates of the city. “Let them come. Many of them won’t return to their homes.”

“We won’t be able to stop them all. Our only hope is
to put a bit more distance between us and them before they come.” Gamble lifted the injured druid and added. “Lead on. I have enough energy for another run.”

Seeing the wisdom in his words, Cozad lead the way. They followed the river south for a short while until he spied a group of rocks.
They weren’t overly large but they would give them something at their backs when it came time for battle and would make it more difficult for the townsfolk to surround them. Glancing back the way they came, they could see that the mob had actually left the city. They were still milling about the gate. However, Pixi was right, it wouldn’t be long before they screwed up their courage enough to follow them.

Cozad pointed at the necromancer
. “Arieal, move up to the rocks. It will be your responsibility to make sure no one flanks us.”

She chewed on her hair for a moment before nodding. “I
’ll do my best.”

Cozad looked around. “Pixi?” When the
faerie popped back into view he said, “Once they get here, I want you to cast your wall of flame again but I want you to let at least five passed by first. I don’t care if the rest get caught in the flames or not. Got it?”

Pixi furrowed her brow
. “You want me to let a few pass first? Why?”

Cozad pulled off his helm for a moment and scratched his bald scalp. “I have a plan.”

Pixi shrugged. “Okay.”

Cozad t
urned to the dwarf. “Skald…you have the hardest task.”

“What? Blend in and backstab the leader?”

“Nope. I don’t want you to attack at all.”

Gamble
cocked his head to the side. “I don’t understand.”

“You were wrong when you said that Moira is our only healer. I too can heal, sort of. When the mob arrives, I want you to cut out that arrow as quickly as possible and staunch the flow of blood. But you cannot act too soon or too late. For when the
y arrive, I will use my powers to drain the life force from the leading idiots and transfer it into Moira. If you do it too soon, she could die before my spell goes off. Too late and you waste my one spell.”