The Dragon's Wrath: Ashes of the Fallen (25 page)

She was useless.

And then a glimmer to the side, from the corner of my eye once again, two frost bolts headed straight towards Kate. I was too far to block with my weapon, too far to reach by foot. She was at least eight feet away as I whispered to myself, "Flash Step."

In a literal flash, my corporeal body transformed into pure energy and traversed the distance between us as a bolt of lightning, only to rematerialize in front of Kate as I threw my arms out and turned my back.

The sudden impact of two solid frost bolts connecting and exploding against my back sent a chill through my spine and into my chest as the wind was knocked from me. Leaning against Kate with arms wrapped around her, Selene turned to look, only to see that she had been oblivious to the state of affairs.

Grabbing Kate, I picked her up in my arms and started to run in the opposite direction. Selene followed, not knowing what else to do as frost bolts flew past us. There were only three or four rats left, but I needed to get to safety.

Katherine was cold, nearly frozen as her health was reaching critical levels.

She would die without a heal soon.

After twenty seconds of running, I set her down and told her what to do.

"Heal yourself, quickly," I stated with urgency. "I'll shield you."

Understanding the situation, her hands began to glow a dim golden-white.

Selene stood at the rear, her face clearly pained.

"Holy Light!" said Kate after a few seconds had passed, as a golden-white beam of light engulfed her and brought her back to stable levels.

"Heal to full, I think they've retreated."

Scanning the fog to the best of my ability while maintaining position over Kate, there were no signs of movement or of any frost bolt headed our way. Though it was hard to be sure, as the visibility was still piss poor.

Ten seconds passed as Kate healed everyone to full and nothing else had transpired. 

As far as I could tell, we were safe for now.

It looked, as if things were over.

A few minutes came and went as we cautiously loitered about, waiting and watching for movements. Mostly, we listened for the squeaks and squeals of those deformed rats.

Nothing ever came though.

Eventually, the sun began to rise and the fog started to part, revealing our location to us once and for all. The reality, was somewhat strange.

We had reached our destination.

And we didn't even know it.

The creek was only fifty feet away and the mountain side was an equal ways off to the east of us. The cave system that the two had mentioned, was visible in plain sight. The corpses of the weird rats were littered about in front of the cave, as everything started to make sense to me.

They attacked us, because we invaded their territory.

"So, we made it after all," I mumbled as I looked at Kate, who had fallen asleep in my arms. She was safe; comfortable with me around. Exhaustion had set in, so I didn't blame her for catching a wink of sleep.

Selene on the other hand, was clearly upset.

"Ah," I whispered to myself.

A lot of things were starting to make sense.

Selene wore the same expression when they went hunting a while back, and though she never explained why to me, Kate had later informed me that they had a close call. That Selene blamed herself for failing to protect Kate when faced with desperate odds against a pack of wolves. Selene wasn't good in dire situations, where her panic and fear could take over and cloud her judgment.

Yeah, I had seen it firsthand now.

She shot her bow well, was a proficient hunter, and was someone I could trust to hold the rear and continue to attack… she came through when we fought the village chief's henchmen. But, I also took every attack… not one was directed at her, and despite her continual pelting of arrows, I nearly died back then too.

Selene wasn't that reliable in a pinch.

She wasn't bad though, maybe a bit absent minded at times, was all.

It didn't really fit her serious persona, but that was natural.

Appearances often belie a person's true self.

"Let's rest, Selene, come here."

Beckoning her over, she sat down next to me as I opened an arm and brought her in.

The two of them could sleep while I watched over them.

There was no reason for her to worry over the past.

People aren't perfect, and it seems, even AIs aren't perfect either.

Chapter 56: Rattanorv

(Saturday, August 7th Game Day / Sunday, March 14th Real Day)

Letting out a yawn while stretching my jaw, I cracked my eyes open in order to take in the scenery before me. Selene was occupying the space between my left arm and my chest and was fast asleep, while Katherine had taken up residence on the right side, with her head resting on my shoulder, and my head, on top of hers. With my back against a tree, the three of us had napped rather peacefully during this mid-summer day.

Thoughts of rodent mutations were still on my mind, but I enjoyed the moment that was at hand, first and foremost. I was starting to wonder if I had chosen wrongly, having picked Selene over Katherine, as the latter had been steadily growing on me.

Well, even Selene told me to reciprocate some of Katherine's advances, less she lose all her womanly self-confidence. Knowing her past, I sort of understood it… but these were NPCs. They were realistic, far too realistic really, with their advanced Artificial Intelligences. Yet even with such evidence staring me in the face, I was hard-pressed to believe that she would be scarred if I turned her down.

That seemed rather, improbable, to say the least.

I wasn't looking for a harem anyways, or a three-way, triangle-anything.

Eh, it was a complicated matter… one that I didn't want to deal with.

The area we had ended up in was awfully beautiful, despite the perilous journey that preceded it. At the base of the eastern mountain range that separated my territory from an undisclosed neutral region, and with the elven territory a ways off on the other side, we were quite a distance from Dragon's Breach. It was at least fifty miles by the end of it, and I was a bit mystified that Kate and Selene had ventured this far out into the forest on some whim.

An odd thing, really.

Meh, who was I to question what two women did on their spare time.

Glancing around at the scenery, the trees were much larger here, and considerably greener as they were near a large source of water. At the base of the mountain were multiple creeks spreading out like a web, as the melting snow and ice trickled down the mountain and filtered out through the forest.

Dragon's Breach sat at the end of all these creeks, streams, and rivers and was quite lively in its own right, but the source was a bit different.

Lush grass and green foliage throughout, this isolated area had been largely undisturbed. Humans didn’t travel this far out, only animals and beasts. This area was truly a secluded one, far more so than my village.

That was something we could all enjoy.

Listening to the soft sounds of rushing water all around, the creeks weren’t such fast movers to be loud. If one walked hurriedly, they would miss out on the soothing, ambient music of nature itself. A gentle mountain breeze, kept one cool under the shade of a tree, while the sounds of nature relaxed one's mind. The lack of outside influence, allowed one to let go of his or her inhibitions as well.

And at that moment, I almost kissed Katherine.

She had woken up and turned her eyes up towards mine, with lips slightly apart, while breathing lightly on my neck. Those tri-colored eyes of hers, with an inner deep green ring blended with an outer light blue ring, split across by a soft dark gray that spread out with a light splatter… they were captivating.

A mixture of colors that a description couldn't do justice, green and blue from a distance, yet with the intermixed grays up close… a spectacular arrangement of color.

When Katherine wanted to be seductive… well, no one held a candle to her.

Even with Selene asleep under my left arm, I wanted Katherine.

That was wrong.

Quickly kissing Kate on the forehead to dispel my thoughts, I then hugged her tightly and turned to stare at the sun directly above. It was partially blocked by the canopy of the trees, but it gave me something else to look at.

Kate buried her head into my chest, possibly blushing or potentially harboring her own desires. I didn't know which it was nor did I dare to check. She was far too tempting, and that was a risky proposition.

I needed to get up, before the situation devolved any further.

Nudging Selene awake was my first step. I then slowly stood up as the girls got back to their feet and gathered their belongings, none the wiser to my internal plight.

"Ah, now that we're rested," I started to explain, while not risking making eye contact with either female. "Shall we give that dungeon a go? Revenge for their sneak attack last night, and to instill a little fear into those mutated things?"

Nothing quite like a dungeon grind to distract one's inner thoughts.

"No?" I asked, while looking at the girls that were standing idly by.

They seemed bothered by the previous night's events, and stayed silent.

"Alright, we're going in," I declared with some conviction. "You two stay behind me, as long as I'm in front and we're fighting in narrow rooms, you two will be safe."

"Do you mean to fight, those things?" asked Katherine with a slight frown.

"They're weak, I'll show you," I stated, hoping to convince them with little effort.

Selene had yet to say anything, which was unusual for her as she often interrupted to throw out some witty or sarcastic line of some sort. Her silence, was uncharacteristic of her. She must be afraid of failing again… I, could understand that.

As someone who fails far too often, I understood where she was coming from.

Because of that, I also knew that the best remedy was to move forward.

"I trust you Sir Sigurd but… it was, dangerous, last time," Kate uttered hesitantly.

"They caught us by surprise with no visibility, it won't be difficult this time."

No longer wanting to discuss the same topic over and over, I grabbed Kate's arm and wrapped my other arm around Selene's waist as I dragged them both with me. Selene was in a poor mood, but we would fix that with some confidence-boosting action in this Open Dungeon.

Stepping through the cave entrance, there was no portal here that separated the two worlds like the Static Dungeon where the Outcast Goblins were located. That was an "instanced" dungeon, something that never changed and was always there, simply requiring a reset related to a timer. These Open Dungeons, were free and randomly populated by the creatures that existed within the game.

After clearing an Open Dungeon, there was no telling what would show up next.

It very well could repopulate with the exact same creatures, but that wasn't a guarantee. Also, as far as the information from the Alpha and Beta phases of the game went, it could take a few days for an Open Dungeon to fill up compared to the one-hour hard reset after all players had left a Static Dungeon.

The first thing I noticed when stepping into the cave, was the smell.

It didn't smell like puke and urine… though, it still smelled like urine.

Rat piss, is what it reminded me of.

"Eh, wonderful," I muttered, as I flared my nostrils and blew out a puff of air somewhat noisily. "You girls brought your scarfs right? I suggest wearing them now."

They must have been marking their territory, with how odorous it was.

The cave system was quite different thankfully, as it appeared to have small cracks and open spots in the ceiling that allowed sunlight to directly shine through. It wasn't much really, and it didn't have the same ambiance as a bunch of scattered torches, but it was nice in its own little way.

My shadow stayed put behind me, rather than leaving me to dance awkwardly along the domed ceiling like the previous dungeon. There was a fresh breeze as well, that carried cooler air through the cave and aided in drying the place out. The cave, so far at least, was far from damp and dank.

All pluses, in my mind.

Continuing into the cave system, the passageways weren't uniform and resembled large cracks in the mountainside, which was most likely the actual case. Gray slabs of massive rocks that formed the base of the mountain, split here and there in such a way as to provide a natural cave. This was far from a man-made structure.

It was actually, kind of neat.

The further we traveled, the darker it became but it was never too dark to see.

With my halberd lowered and ready for a quick thrust, I kept my pace as I turned each and every corner. Slowing and shortening my steps, I walked as quietly as I could, while listening intently to the sounds of rats echoing in the distance.

We were coming upon  them, and they would be in range, at any moment.

I was eager for my revenge.

Stopping for a split-second to gather myself before turning the last corner, the mutated rats could be heard on the other side chattering away with their odd language. I raised my halberd above my head, utilizing it like an axe and stepped forward.

Turning the corner with an inhale, I held my breath as I prepared to swing down on some pitiful creature when a frost bolt hit me dead center in the chest. Staggered from the sudden blow, another frost bolt flew towards my face as I batted it away with a quick swing. The frost exploded in a mist and distorted my vision for a millisecond, as the rats in the distance turned tail and retreated back down into the darkness of the cave.

"What the," I whispered to myself, unsure if my eyes were playing tricks.

They retreated… after launching a surprise counter attack?

"Save your mana Kate, heal me when I'm low," I said to the girl whose hands had started to glow. There was no reason for her to waste mana now, with a frost bolt only damaging me by about five-percent of my total health.

They were weak casts and weren't something to worry about in single digits… in waves though, they were frightening. The slowing effect had spread through my chest and into my shoulders as I stretched and attempted to warm up.

A few solid hits and I would nearly be frozen over, restricted in my movements to a pathetic degree. Frost or Ice magic, was primarily a crowd control school of spells. They outlasted you, stopped you in your tracks, and controlled the tempo of a fight.

That's how they won.

Yeah, ranged crowd control was the bane of physical melee players everywhere.

"Alright, let's follow them."

"Um, are you sure… that we should chase them?" asked Kate, clearly out of hope that I would change my mind once questioned.

Ignoring her, I made my way down into the darkness.

Inching forward one step at a time, the rats had gone silent with only the lingering smell of their dirty fur left as a clue to their location. The pungent odor hung in the air, disgustingly so, to the point where I let my nose lead. With my mask around my neck, I attempted to shift my senses. Eyes shut in the darkness, the loud echoes of our steps distracted slightly but the smell guided me as my outstretched arms ran along the edges of the interior walls.

A split in the rocks led to two distinct pathways, both heading downwards and into an abyss. All I knew, all I could know, was that the left path smelt slightly worse… and seemed, to contain a
fresher
odor. Taking the left path, the three of us continued down until we reached a large opening, a gigantic cavern of sorts.

Sunlight shone down through a large gaping hole in the ceiling as the large cavity that spanned an easy hundred yards in each direction was littered with smaller crags and boulders. Behind those smaller rocks that were at least ten to thirty feet tall, were the beady eyes of my prey. Peering at us from behind the safety of their rocks while hiding in the dim light of the cavern, they watched our every move.

And then, something I never expected, happened.

Filing out in a line from every single rock in the vicinity, a hundred rats had lined up with their hands held at their chests. Mouths began to move, as hands began to glow. A cold blue, whitish light had formed between their palms as frost collected and coalesced into the shape of a small ball. A hundred balls of frost, all at knee-height, in a singular line scattered across the entire cavern.

I didn't have the words.

Turning back and wrapping both Selene and Kate in an arm each, I looked ahead and thought of the two magic words that would save our hides,
Flash Step
. Only, nothing happened, and as I realized the issue I could hear the end coming.

I could hear the hundred-plus frost bolts being released as they cut through the air, and I knew what would happen if even a quarter of them hit. Without the time to even utter a word, I grabbed both women with all of my strength and threw them forward and onto the ground as I dove on top of them.

A blinding white explosion of frost soon covered us in our entireties. The impacts of numerous spells colliding and smashing into my body made me recoil and grimace as the pain shot through me. Heat dissipated entirely as the area around us began to freeze over. Only a second had passed, and I looked down at the two women beneath me as they appeared chilly but safe, then turned my head back to look at the rats once again.

Their hands were aglow, once more.

Nearly immobile from being hit countless times, I picked the girls up and trudged forward before the familiar noise hit my ears again. Repeating the process, I dropped to the ground as frost bolts impacted the walls around us and a few found their mark. The rats couldn't see the moment of impact, what with all of the explosions of ice.