Stealthcaster Read online

  * * *

  Megyn and Ella gathered by the treeline with Tyson alongside them. From half the village away, Solomon watched this happen with a keen eye, monitoring their motions, wondering what they were doing and where they were being allowed to go on their own.

  Was it a quest? A quest with experience? Why wasn’t he being asked to go?

  “Pay attention, boy!” Esmelda’s shout brought Solomon back around, turning toward an Amazon recruit as she leaped forward, swinging her sword in a tight diagonal. His axe came out, crossed over his torso and he knocked the glancing blow away with the gleaming head of his weapon. As the recruit stumbled to the side, off balance, he continued forward, pressing the attack, wedging his foot between her legs and using his shoulder to knock her over, her feet tangling with his. As she fell, Sol crooked his arm, axe held high, then swung it down, halting the deadly blow a few inches from the fallen recruit’s neck.

  “Very nicely done, young one,” Esmelda said approvingly, softly clapping her thick hands. “You are learning.”

  Solomon nodded acknowledgement to her and took two steps back, Lionel replacing him inside the small circle of onlookers. In one hand, he twirled his large broadsword, sending it swinging in an awkward, if somewhat impressive figure eight pattern. He’d left his shield on the grass as he faced off against a fresh faced young Amazon recruit who was grasping her own longsword tightly with a two-handed grip.

  The Amazon was crouched low, advancing slowly with one foot, twisting away, angling the sword down. The two of them faced off, walking in slow, opposite circles, eyes glaring at each other, sizing each other up, carefully analyzing the other’s skills. The young Amazon fixated on the paladin’s chainmail armor, appearing just slightly intimidated by it.

  But just slightly.

  Halting his spinning sword in mid arc, Lionel dodged one way, then darted forward, thrusting his blade towards the cadet. She pivoted back, twisting her blade around and parried the thrust, using the momentum to swing in a complete circle, then brought her sword back in a vicious horizontal strike, heading straight for Lionel’s helmeted head. The paladin turned and brought the broadsword close to his face, blocking the blow, then pressed it away, moved in and swung his massive weapon at the young, short female soldier-in-training. Amazingly, she swept under the blow, in a sleek ducking motion, kicking out with one foot and slamming it into Lionel’s knee, buckling it. He dropped to a half kneel, almost falling completely over and she pushed herself back upright, swinging behind him and chopping down with her sword, once again clamped in two hands. Throwing himself forward, Lionel’s head ducked as the blade whipped over it and he rolled left, moving surprisingly fast in the heavy mail armor, and he came back up, scrambling to his feet as the Amazon adjusted her stance. Swords clanged back and forth as the two attacked, defended, then attacked again striking and slamming at each other with their weapons. Using his shoulder to barrel into the young woman, Lionel knocked her off balance, then wound back for a killing blow, sweeping his arms around as fast and as hard as he could, guiding the blade toward the Amazon’s neck. She leaned back just enough to dodge the swing, throwing Lionel off balance, then she kicked at his leg again, pushing him over even faster, him crashing down onto the grass chest first, then followed his momentum with her sword, punching it into his back, though not hard enough to pierce.

  She stood there for a moment, her blade pinned between his shoulder blades, smiling at Esmelda who smiled crookedly back at her.

  “Well done, recruit,” Esmelda said, nodding. “Not so well done, paladin,” she said to Lionel, then turned her eyes to Solomon. “Help him up, kid.”

  Solomon hefted the young, armored man, up onto his feet, patting him on the back with a flattened palm.

  “Good try, mate,” he said softly. “They’re crafty. You gotta learn to fight dirty.”

  Lionel drew back. “Fighting dirty is not the paladin way.”

  “Is getting killed the paladin way?”

  “Well, no, but—”

  “Then you’ll learn to fight dirty. It’s all well and good to be mister noble when training against the Amazons, but when you’re in the jungle, facing off against the Sharak-Ku or worse, you’ll take whatever open shot you can get. Don’t forget that, all right?”

  Lionel nodded.

  “Good lesson, young one,” a soft voice said and Solomon turned, acknowledging Soracia’s approach with a soft bow.

  “Good morning, my queen.”

  Lionel took his hint and repeated the motion himself, bowing low before the approaching Amazon.

  “Esmelda,” Soracia said, turning toward the instructor. “I have need of these two.”

  “Take them then,” Esmelda replied. “They’re doing me little good anyway.” She said it with a soft, chiding smile, but the two men looked sheepishly away and followed the queen away from the training area.

  “What can we do for you?” Solomon asked, remembering the site of Megyn and Ella wandering off into the trees a few moments before.

  “I have sent your two friends on a quest. A quest I think they’re uniquely suited to. A quest I’d rather not sacrifice my own trusted captains on, if you can forgive my bluntness.”

  “Understood,” Solomon replied, nodding, though he had to admit, he wasn’t crazy about her assumption that they were somehow less important to the war efforts. Even if it was blatantly obvious that they were.

  “I’m sure you’ve heard Woody talking,” Soracia continued. “He had a group of brothers and sisters who have been heading south to assist us in battle against the Sharak-Ku.”

  “Yes, I’ve heard.”

  “They are a couple of days overdue and Woody is concerned for their well-being. I am concerned that we don’t have enough soldiers.”

  “What can we do?”

  Just then, the quest alert flashed on Solomon’s screen.

  Preparations for War

  Part 04- Gather the Harefolk

  Woody’s brothers and sisters are on their way south from the Grove, but are a few days overdue. Travel north into Gallowind Wood, retrace the path to the Grove, find the Harefolk and bring them back to Thorathon Village so they can assist in the conflict with the Sharak-Ku.

  Quest Class: Rare

  Quest Difficulty: Difficult

  Success:

  Find the missing group of Harefolk

  Rewards:

  1500 XP

  Reputation with Soracia improved

  Reputation with the Harefolk improved

  Charisma: +1

  Penalty:

  Reputation with Soracia Reduced

  Reputation with the Harefolk Reduced

  Charisma: -1

  Accept: YES/NO

  Solomon smiled, reading through the quest, and turned toward Lionel, who was already nodding enthusiastically.

  “We’re in, Soracia,” Solomon replied. “When do we go?”

  “Why not now?” Soracia asked. “Go retrieve Woodland Roundtail, and bring us our reinforcements.”

  “Grab your sword and shield, Sir Lionel Reymark,” Solomon said. “We’ve got ourselves a quest.”

  Chapter 15 - Spies Like Us

  * * *

  Ella’s blue/gray skin blended in with the dim light of the shrouded forest almost too well, and more than once Megyn lost track of her friend as they passed between trees heading northeast of Thorathon Village. For several moments they proceeded in silence, Ella taking the lead with Megyn and Tyson bringing up the rear. The dark elf Druid wore her cloak of containment and leaf adorned armor, her long, dark hair spilling down over her slender shoulders. She walked with a certain skillful grace, even over the uneven terrain, a figure who was completely aligned and in tune with the natural world around her.

  Megyn wore her hair in a tight braid around the crown of her head, long strands pulled out and draped down to her back. Layered leather and composite metal armor moved with the motion of her body, somehow soundless and fluid, a quiver thumping against he
r back. The bow and arrow she always carried was slung over her shoulder, a sword and sheath at her left hip, and she reached out, touching Tyson with her left hand, as if using him as a guide. The large wolf wore a buckled saddle meant for large horses and seemed completely fine with it, his snout pressed to the ground and sniffing heavily as they moved between trees.

  “So… a Ranger?” Ella asked, turning and glancing over her shoulder.

  Megyn shrugged. “Seemed like a good idea at the time?”

  “I think it makes sense, my only real worry is our lack of a legitimate tank. If we’re going to form a more permanent party, which I think we will, after this quest is done, we may need to find ourselves some muscle.”

  “Solomon would be so angsty if you told him that.”

  Ella chuckled. “Solomon is not muscle.”

  “He thinks he is.”

  “I hope this StealthCaster skill tree helps keep him on a specific path. If he keeps divvying up his stat points into a bunch of different abilities, he’s never going to get anywhere specific. He’ll just end up mediocre at everything. Maybe not a total glass cannon, but pretty close.”

  “How do you know all of this stuff?” Megyn asked.

  “Come on,” Ella replied, stepping around a thick tree, looking back at her friend. “You’ve played Shyft 1.0 as much as I did.”

  Megyn shrugged. “Yeah, I guess. I wasn’t really paying attention. I mean, it was a lot of fun, but as far as tanks and glass cannons and balancing stat points. It was just a fun distraction to me.”

  “Well, in case you missed something,” Ella replied, “it’s gone a ways past that now. We’re in full blown life or death situations here.”

  “What are you talking about?” Megyn asked. “This is still a game. A really crazy immersive one, but still just a game.”

  Ella stopped walking, halting her progress among a thick group of trees and looked at Megyn with hard, pale eyes.

  “Is that what you really believe?”

  Megyn looked suddenly nervous. “Well… yeah.”

  Tyson whined softly, glancing out into the forest.

  “I admit,” Ella continued, “my memories were pretty scattered of that APEX R & D facility, but I pretty clearly remember a big ass explosion happening right as we were getting dropped into this virtual world.”

  “I… sort of remember that, too,” Megyn confessed. “But I figured it was just the effects or something. A splashy intro to this new game.”

  “Then why are we still here? And why can’t we log out?”

  The look on Megyn’s face told Ella all she needed to know. Megyn had been thinking many of the same things, but hadn’t verbalized those things for fear of her suspicions becoming reality.

  “I’m worried,” Ella said softly, her face shifting to something deeper and more emotional. “I’m worried that our bodies may have died in those explosions. The only reason we’re here now is that our consciousness got zapped into the game as our physical bodies were blown apart. It created some weird synergy that made us… a part of this game.”

  “Woah, woah, woah,” Megyn said, putting her palms up. “I think that’s going a little far, Ella.”

  “Maybe it is,” she replied, “but it would explain some things.”

  Megyn didn’t answer, she just strode forward, walking past the Druid and deeper into the trees.

  “We’re going to have to face the truth eventually,” Ella called out. “We can’t just keep playing this game in ignorance, pretend that it’s just another virtual world. Something else is going on here, something deeper.”

  “Right now, the only thing that’s going on is this quest,” Megyn replied. “I want to finish it so we can soak up some more XP. Solomon’s been playing catch up in recent weeks, and I like holding my higher level over his head.”

  “Well, technically he’s level five now, too.”

  “Then let’s move our asses, girl. We’ve got level six to achieve.”

  Ella seemed to relax somewhat and followed her into the trees with Tyson walking alongside them both. After a few more moments, the wolf stopped and lifted his blunt snout, snorting the air, his black nose twitching in the low light.

  Megyn held up her left hand while the other moved to her bow, sliding it smoothly from her shoulder.

  “I hear it, too,” Ella replied quietly. Megyn looked at her, eyes narrowed.

  “The chittering,” Ella whispered. “Something is talking a little ways up ahead.”

  Megyn quietly activated her Wilderness Instinct skill and dropped to a low crouch, letting the forest settle in around her. Closing her eyes, she couldn’t hear or feel anything beyond normal, but the skill gave her this ‘gut feeling’ about things, and the gut feeling she was getting today was telling her that something was going on in a clearing up ahead.

  “Something’s up there,” she whispered.

  Ella nodded and Tyson chuffed quietly, the minor, gruff bark shifting into a low growl.

  “They’re separating,” Ella said, “whatever they are. Come on, let’s check them out.”

  She pushed back ahead of Megyn, walking quietly, sliding her long staff from the sheath on her back, holding it with two hands. In spite of carrying the long, unwieldy weapon, she still moved through the woods in near silence, as if she was just another leaf, rustling in the breeze. Over Ella’s shoulder, Megyn could see the trees separating into a quiet clearing, and she picked up her pace to catch up to her friend as they reached the edge of the sparse, small meadow. Looking out into the grass, they could both see a small, lizard like creature. Standing at around five feet tall, perhaps a little less, the green-skinned humanoid had a long, rounded snout, two eyes dug into protruding brows, and a row of finned spikes running from the top of his head down beneath a brown tunic. He wore torn shorts underneath the tunic, his lizard legs walking on extended, bent toes. In his three-fingered hands he held some kind of scroll, unwrapped in front of him, and he was studying it very carefully, acting like a normal human, appearing to have a certain level of intelligence, but he was obviously of a different species.

  Ella looked at him, drawing up her class bonus of Druid Intuition.

  Kobold

  (Lizardmen Mercenaries of Gallowind Wood)

  Level: 8

  HP: 140/140

  MP: 55/55

  Skills:

  Clever Tongue

  (These slimy lizards tell you what you want to know… and you almost believe them!)

  Backstab

  +10% chance to Critical Hit

  +2 to Attack

  Ella turned to explain to Megyn what they were looking at, but saw Megyn lift her hand, her mouth parting as she looked over Ella’s shoulder. The Druid whirled just in time to see Tyson bound from the trees and charge toward the Kobold, barking and snarling.

  “Tyson!” Megyn hissed, but it was too late, the wolf was charging over the grass, heading straight for the Kobold, who had dropped what he was carrying, eyes widening as he stumbled frantically backwards, away from the leaping beast.

  “No no no!” the creature screamed as he landed on his back and started shoving away from the wolf, pushing with his elbows, trying to get away. Tyson moved in closer as the Kobold squirmed away, mouth twisted into an angry snarl, eyes fixated on the item that he dropped. Tyson perched there, limbs bent, eyes boring into the humanoid lizard, the growl continuing to rattle his black lips. Megyn looked at the dropped scroll and stepped from the trees, peeling an arrow from her quiver, standing several yards away, looking at the small, trembling creature.

  “Don’t hurt me, please don’t hurt me,” the kobold pleaded. “I am just a simple scout. I am not a threat, I bring no danger here!”

  “Scout?” Ella asked, stepping from the trees behind Megyn. “A scout for who? What are you scouting?”

  Suddenly the kobold looked nervous, his eyes shifting within the confines of his thick, leathery hide. Once again, he glared at the scroll and Megyn moved that way, lowering her bow so s
he could crouch down and pick it up.

  “That’s mine!” the kobold screeched, his voice turning suddenly to a high, almost squealing pitch. “You can’t have it, that’s mine!”

  “You don’t seem to be in much of a position to demand anything right now, reptile,” Ella said, pointing the business end of her staff toward the creature, who had scooched back so far, his spine was pressed tight to the trunk of a tree. Behind him the woods stretched out on each side, acting like a barrier, preventing him from going any further. Tyson lowered his snout even further and stepped forward again, nearly trapping the kobold against the tree.

  “I wish you no harm,” he stammered, his voice shifting back to a plead. “Please understand. No harm. Mean you no harm.”

  “And why should we believe that?” asked Ella. “Why else would you be sneaking around in the woods within such a close distance of Thorathon Village?”

  A flash of recognition drifted past the lizard’s eyes, yet he continued to plead ignorance.

  “I have never heard of his Thorathon Village,” he said. “I am merely a hunter, nothing more. Just looking for dinner.”

  “I thought you were a scout?” Megyn asked as she handed the scroll to Ella, who opened her cloak and slid it neatly into one of the magical pouches inside, which held far more than it should have physically been able to.

  “Scout? Hunter? What difference does it make? You’re all going to die, anyway.”

  Megyn swiftly pressed the blunt end of the arrow to the bow string as Ella dropped back into a fighting stance, bringing her staff up and around. The trees behind the kobold were suddenly alive with the eyes and leathery green skin of a dozen more. Swords slid from sheaths, leaves rustled as more unseen enemies arrived, and instantly they found themselves dramatically outnumbered and with nowhere to go.

  Megyn looked at Ella, who looked back at her, each of them exchanging glances that went a fair distance past mere nervousness.

  Somewhere in the trees one of the kobolds screamed, and the woods came alive.