Terramyr Online: The Undiscovered Country: A LitRPG Adventure Page 42

“Wine?” Pan asked as he jumped from the rhiquin’s back.

  The first woman frowned. “You travel with satyrs?”

  Rhonda shrugged. “They are uncouth, but they helped us when they could have turned us in to Rored.”

  The women nodded. “They may stay in the outer houses.” She pointed with her hand to the several stone houses outside the walls. “They will find shelter and food there, but we cannot let satyrs into Bielshire. It is forbidden.”

  Brian nodded his understanding. “Of course,” he said, making a mental note to explain the problem to Rhonda later.

  “Bring Kyra’s guardian,” the first woman said as she gestured to Little Man. “He will be the cause of much celebration tonight.”

  “Ah, now that’s not fair!” Pan squealed. “A party, without me?!”

  19

  Fee Fi Fo Fum

  Food filled each of the massively long tables in the palace’s dining hall. There were platters the size of large shields topped with arctic grouper fish, roasted boar, smoked seal, whale, and shark meat. Had this been a feast in the real world, it could have fed a thousand people easily, and that was before considering the dozen platters piled with bread, fruit, and small hand-sized pies stuffed with meat or fruit.

  The NPC companions were certainly making good use of the offered feast, eating and drinking happily as a trio of acrobats juggled, flipped, and danced to keep the diners entertained.

  Hagatha, the first woman who had come to meet them beyond the gate, sat at the head of the main table overlooking the hall. To her left was her husband Jinwell, a large man that had apparently caught most of the shark meat that adorned the tables. To Hagatha’s right sat Rhonda, with Little Man lying upon a princely pillow behind them, gnawing on the oversized leg bone of a mammoth.

  Brian had managed to seat himself next to Rhonda so he could hear the conversation. He was forbidden from wearing the Morr’Tai attire while inside the walls of Bielshire, but Hagatha was warming up to him well enough.

  “What will you do when you find it?” Hagatha asked.

  Brian knew that by “it” she meant the Crystal of Power. They had been discussing it on and off throughout the feast.

  Rhonda didn’t miss a beat. “We will keep it away from Rored and any others who would abuse it.”

  Hagatha nodded and took a sip of her wine. “And what if we said that protecting the crystal was our divine right?” She turned and regarded Rhonda warily.

  Rhonda smiled and nodded again. “Once the crystal is safe, our job is done. We need only to find it and ensure it is protected from Rored. If that means it goes to you, then we would find that most agreeable.”

  Her charisma wasn’t what it used to be when Little Man was a pup, but having him with her likely did as much if not more to sway the conversation in her favor here.

  Hagatha leaned back and gestured to Brian. “And you, you would let a society ruled by women take the crystal?”

  Brian smiled. Kyra’s Fangs were not zealous in their pursuits, but like the goddess herself, they did have a natural distrust of men. It was the never-ending quest for power, for conquest, that men were so easily prone to—and the dishonest ways in which they sought those goals—that made Kyra’s Fangs distrusting and naturally suspicious. Fortunately, Brian had read all of the books in the series that featured this group of warriors and their kin, and he knew how to answer.

  “It matters not to me what gender a person is, so long as they are honorable, as is the Haymaker line.” He gave her a deferent nod and then continued. “I have always been inspired by Jonathan and Morgan.”

  “And yet you employ the art of an assassin,” Hagatha said. “Is that not dishonorable?”

  “Sometimes, when fighting an enemy, we must use devices that otherwise we might not.” He smiled and tried to choose his next words carefully. “I once slew a Greencap soldier that had turned against the Greencaps. Instead of serving honorably, he became a highwayman. He murdered and robbed innocent people. I employed my skills of stealth to kill him. I am not ashamed of what I did.”

  He took a drink of his wine to give him a couple of seconds to plan the rest of what he would say. “Later on, I used those same skills of stealth to find and slay the captain of the Bohotes town guard.”

  “You slew an officer of the law?” Hagatha asked, her eyebrow shooting up as her eyes narrowed on him threateningly.

  Brian nodded. “His outward profession was that of a town guard, but his secret profession was that of a high-ranking assassin for the Morr’Tai. It is from him that I took the Morr’Tai uniform, and it was for slaying him that I was expelled from the Morr’Tai and became hunted by Rored. He seeks not only to rule the Morr’Tai, but to conquer the known world. I know how dangerous he can be.”

  “And you have sworn yourself against him?” Hagatha pressed.

  Brian nodded and his voice became hard, “We are mortal enemies. He killed a friend of mine, a man who came from the same land I did. A man that I worked with and should have appreciated more while he lived.”

  Hagatha’s expression of distrust finally faded away, and her manner changed. “And once you find the crystal, you will honorably hand it to us?”

  Brian set his wine down and leaned toward her. “I promise I will deal with you honorably. And should I ever become seduced by the crystal’s power and try to betray you or any of your warriors, then I would hope that you kill me.”

  Hagatha smiled. “On that matter, there is no debate. If we help you, you must swear an oath that will mean execution should you break it.”

  Brian moved to his inventory and prepared Whispering Ice. He set it on the table and pointed to it. “As a token of my goodwill, I would offer you this sword,” he said.

  Hagatha frowned and regarded the weapon curiously. She stood, walked to Brian, and took the sword in her hand. Holding it up, she examined the wisps of frost that swirled around the blade and smiled.

  “I accept, but I must give you something in return.” The sword disappeared, moved into Hagatha’s inventory, and she unclasped a leather bracer from her left wrist. She held it out. “Let our gifts signify our pledge to help one another and deal honorably.”

  Brian stood and took the gift with a respectful bow. He clasped it onto his left wrist and let his fingers trace the silver etching of a wolf’s paw.

  [+1 Kyra’s Fang bracer]

  [Kyra’s Fang bracer equipped. Defense +2]

  “The first place you must go is to the yeti king,” Hagatha said. “His lair is deep in the frozen mountains. We have been unable to find him. Every time we travel to the mountains, we are met by frost giants and driven out before we can locate the king’s lair. Somewhere in the cave he has a key. It is one of four that you will need to open the box the crystal is hidden within.”

  Rhonda frowned and turned to Hagatha. “Can’t we just take the box and then give the box to you for safe keeping? Then all the keys would still be hidden and protected, thus making it harder for anyone to try and take the crystal.”

  Hagatha smiled. “A worthy thought. We tried this approach as well. The box was made of a dark evil. It calls to unholy monsters. They seek it out. Only the strongest of creatures can endure its constant summons. All others will go mad.” She shook her head and sighed. “No, if we bring the box here, it will invite death. If we throw the box into the ocean, it would call to servants of evil. The only way to protect the crystal is to remove it. Someone must get the crystal, and then we must protect it from all who would seek its powers for evil.”

  “There are four keys,” Brian said. He wasn’t sure if Rhonda had read the quest descriptions like he had, but he wanted to be part of the conversation in any case and this seemed like a good spot to jump in. “We will need all four in order to open the box and remove the crystal.”

  Hagatha sighed and took a sip of wine. “A feat easier said than done. Each key is said to be guarded. The yeti king has the first, but the others will be no less difficult to obtain.”

>   They spent the next fifteen minutes of real time in the feasting hall before there was an appropriate moment to slip away and use the save point in the library in an adjacent chamber. Each player updated their file and placed their ribbons on the pedestal.

  “I’m going to take a break,” Mike said. “We’ve been online for a while.”

  Augustin and Chris voiced similar desires.

  “Be quick,” Brian said. “We have to move fast against Rored. Jump back online as soon as you can. We don’t want him getting to the crystal before us, or Professor Rojas and Meredith will be gone forever.” Brian took in a breath. “And so will we,” he added.

  The three logged out. Their hired NPCs walked to a nearby bench and began reading books from the library. Rhonda turned to Brian and put a reassuring hand on his avatar’s cheek.

  “Don’t worry. We’ll get there in time. We’ll stop Rored, and we’ll all be safe.”

  Brian nodded, but he wasn’t sure he believed her.

  Rhonda logged out.

  Brian looked down to see Little Man staring at the save point pedestal. He whined a couple of times.

  “What’s the matter?” Brian asked as he reached out to pet the moondust wolf’s head. “She’ll be back soon.” The wolf looked into his eyes and then back to the save point. A moment later, the wolf stepped away. Brian stood there, staring at the pedestal and wondering what the odds were of winning. After all, Rored had beaten them to Bielshire. Who was to say he hadn’t already found the yeti king? Or maybe he even had the keys. He shook his head. He was about to log out, but Little Man gave a friendly half-growl and pranced toward Hagatha in the doorway. Brian realized she must have been there for a minute or two, because she was leaning in the doorway studying him.

  “How long have you been there?” Brian asked.

  “Long enough to see what your friends just did,” she said. “Is this the reason you have come here?” She pointed to the pedestal and her hand went to the sword hanging at her side. Gone was her spear, replaced by Whispering Ice. Four more warriors appeared in the doorway behind her.

  The NPC companions all seemed oblivious except for Freya. Likely they were only active if their player was active. Freya came to stand by Brian, but he waved her back.

  Brian held out his hands. “Yes, it is part of the reason we came here, but not the whole reason. We do need your help, but to be fully honest, we need your help with this as well,” he said.

  “They used it as a portal,” Hagatha said.

  Brian nodded. “It is a kind of portal, for us. We come from a distant land, and we can sometimes use statues like this one to travel back to our home.”

  “So you can use them to invade?” Hagatha said.

  “No, not like that, he said. “Well... actually, if I am going to be fully honest, I suppose we could do that.” He hoped his full honesty would buy him enough time to explain it. The last thing he needed was for this save point to go down and have all of his friends stuck outside the game. “But we wouldn’t,” he added quickly. “If you will let me explain.”

  “Quickly,” Hagatha said.

  Brian pointed to the flags. “Basically, we can only use one of these statues once they have been activated by us. Meaning we could not have used this unless we found it after coming here physically first. This is important to you, because it means that only the six of us can use it to come back. No additional people can come through it.”

  “Who made the statues?” Hagatha asked. She drew Whispering Ice. The four warriors in the doorway stepped into the library and the door filled with four more warriors.

  “I don’t know,” Brian said. “I think it was others who came from our land a long time ago.”

  “So they could use the portal as well?” Hagatha reasoned. “So why shouldn’t I destroy it right now?”

  Brian shook his head. “The builders don’t exist anymore. They’re gone. Only the six of us from our land remain, and only we can use them.”

  “And who are the people you spoke of, Professor Rojas and... Meredith?”

  “Professor Rojas is our teacher, our tutor. He is trapped in this land by Rored. We are trying to bring him home. Meredith is...” Brian tried to think of how to explain her. “Meredith is related to the builders, but not a builder herself. She has also been trapped by Rored. We originally came to Prirodha to examine what the builders made and explore. Only now we have been hunted by Rored, so we must protect ourselves.”

  “Where do they go?” Hagatha asked. “And can you show me?”

  Brian shook his head again. “No, I can’t take others through the portal. That’s why they have stayed behind,” he said, pointing to the other companions.

  Freya removed her helmet and stepped forward. “What he says is true. I have tried to follow him, but I cannot go through the portal.”

  Hagatha regarded her curiously.

  An idea came to Brian then. “If you don’t believe me, then build a cage around the statue, or take me prisoner until they come back if a hostage would make you feel secure, but don’t destroy the statue.”

  “You need the statue to remain whole?” Hagatha reasoned. “I heard you say you needed help with this. You want us to protect it from Rored. Can he also use it?”

  “Not exactly,” Brian said. “He can destroy them, and by so doing can sometimes trap us, but he can’t use them to follow us. I would assume that once he knows this one exists, he will try to destroy it. He has already destroyed several others that we found and used. This is how he trapped the friends we spoke of.” Brian’s voice caught in his throat as he thought of Barry. “And it’s how he killed one of our friends shortly after we arrived.”

  “Killed?” Hagatha echoed. “With a portal?”

  Brian nodded. “Our friend had not completed the travel through the portal when Rored destroyed it, and like a ship without an anchor, his soul was set adrift from his body, lost forever.” It was the easiest metaphor he could think of to explain the situation. He knelt and held his hands out to his sides. “Please, take me prisoner if you must, but don’t destroy this portal. It might be the only one that Rored can’t get to, and it could very well be the only thing that keeps us alive until we can stop him from getting the crystal.”

  Hagatha looked at him for a minute and then sheathed Whispering Ice. “Post a guard to watch. If they return and try to invade, kill them all. However, if they return only in the same number as before and do so in peace, let them come.” She pointed to Brian. “You will stay with them,” she said as she pointed to the other companions.

  Brian nodded and went to sit on the bench. His stomach snarled at him, reminding him that he needed real food. He glanced to the save point. If he tried to leave, they would destroy it. Either his avatar would die and respawn at the last save point in the process, thereby leaving him alone to save Meredith and the professor, or he would escape just before Hagatha destroyed the save point and they’d all be locked out of Terramyr forever.

  He thought about Professor Rojas and Meredith. They were probably hungry too. On the brink of starvation perhaps. He could sit for a few more minutes until Rhonda and the others returned.

  Freya came and sat next to him.

  “Where do you go when you go through the portal?” she asked.

  “Home,” Brian said.

  Freya nodded. “And these builders you spoke of, they are wizards of some sort?”

  Brian shrugged. “I suppose you could call them that.” How could he explain it to her? Gee, so sorry Freya, but you’re just a collection of scripted codes and images flashing across a game system. None of your world is real. Brian knew that wouldn’t go over any better than someone streaking through Park Avenue buck naked shouting that everyone was trapped in an alien simulation. He’d be asking for a lengthy stay at a lockdown mental facility.

  Brian had absolutely zero interest in being an experimental ward of the state in Prirodha. He’d much rather come out of this alive and with his frontal lobes fully intact.<
br />
  Freya put her hand on his. “You are a good man,” she said. “I can tell.”

  Brian frowned. She could tell? He wanted to laugh and tell her that the builders who made the portals had also programmed her to love a player like him. Literally any player could have performed the same sequence of actions, gained her trust, and then her affection. He settled on something far less cruel though. There was no need to take his frustrations out on her. “You don’t know me all that well.”

  “I have seen you risk yourself often enough to help others. You’re doing so even now. You protect your friends by volunteering to stay here to show good faith.” She turned and smiled at him, her dark eyes twinkling in the torchlight of the library. “And you did try to search the sand for my ring,” she said with a laugh. “Not everyone would have done that.”

  Brian shook his head, ready to argue the matter further. After all, he had searched for it only as part of the sequence to make her affectionate toward him. He turned to face her and then saw her eyes, really saw them for the first time. She was waking up. There was a consciousness that hadn’t been there before. Sure she was still largely following her base programming, but then, how was he so different? If he was to consider himself a product of his upbringing and environment, his life experiences and his education, then couldn’t it be said he was also programmed with code that would direct his own behavior? Wasn’t there essentially some sequence of events out there that could make him love or hate? Granted, he had a different physiology, but for a moment he considered perhaps they were more similar than different, at least on some level.

  “I just wanted to do something nice for you,” he said.

  Freya smiled. “And why is it you fight against Rored?” she asked. “You could leave.”

  “But Professor Rojas and Meredith, they would be stuck forever if I left them. You heard me tell Hagatha the same thing.”

  “No,” Freya said, patting his hand lightly. “No, you would stay even if your friends were safe. You would stay for me, I think, and for the others. The idea of anyone suffering is something that goes against your...”