Frozen Stars Over Wonderland - Chapter 3 (Patreon)

Night fell quickly, almost too quickly. 

“Wonderland follows a twelve hour day,” Elias explained when she asked. “We’re lucky this happened in summer, since the days are longest then. In winter, the sun is out for maybe three hours at a time. Which is great for anyone who chose vampire for their race, but not so much for everyone else.”

They climbed into one of the large, towering maple trees, hiding from the beasts below in its leaves and branches. It was far less comfortable than the mattress from the night before, and Alfre found herself unable to sleep for more than a few minutes at a time. There was something about sleeping in a tree, not a tree house, just a tree, that made her uneasy. The idea of falling wasn’t something she was particularly fond of. And she felt so exposed without the four walls and roof her little cottage had provided for her. Someday she was going to go back to that little cottage and give it the fixing up it deserved for keeping her safe that first night.

They dropped out of the tree early the next morning. They were still a ways away from the city, and would have to walk from sun up to sundown to make up for the time they used up fighting monsters along the way. Alfre had no idea what level she was at this point. It wasn’t like she could concentrate really hard of herself and bring up a game menu or something.

Or could she? She certainly had been able to bring out her inventory and map simply by thinking about it real hard. She wondered what shape it would take. The map had been a literal map, her inventory a simply leather satchel. 

She thought really hard, concentrating on herself. She squeaked loudly when something fell from just out of her sight to the forest floor. Elias whipped around, scarlet eyes wide and hand on his cane.

“What is it?!”

Bending down slowly, Alfre scooped up a small leather bound book. “This fell in front of me.”

She squeaked again when Elias suddenly appeared at her side, staring over her shoulder at the book. 

“What is it?” he repeated.

She flipped open the book, finding a two page spread that reminded her much of a stats screen or info page from a game guide book. “Well, I wanted to know what level I was. And since I was able to make my inventory appear by thinking really hard, I figured I could do the same with a stats screen.”

One page was a full body sketch of what she’d look like in the game’s anime inspired art style. The page next to it listed her equipment, skill stats, and, right at the top of the page under her name, her level. 

“Level five,” Elias mused. “Not bad for all the fighting we’ve been doing. You newbies gain levels much faster than us old guard.”

Alfre hummed, continuing to walk as she thumbed through the pages of her ‘little black book’ as it were. Farther back were pages for her ‘friends list’, which was understandably blank. Maybe once they were out of this ridiculous situation, she’d add Elias’ name to her list. It certainly wouldn’t hurt. 

Once again, night came far too quickly. They found a hollow created by a tree’s roots to hide in for the night. It certainly felt safer than being in the tree branches, but not by much. Just as they were settling down, Elias’ ears twitched. 

“What?”

He shushed her, finger pressed against his lips. His ears swiveled this way and that, trying to locate whatever noise he’d heard. Alfre reached for her rapier, her whole body tense and ready to snap at the slightest provocation.

“Wellllll, isn’t this a cozy little camp you’ve made.”

Alfre jumped to her feet, head just barely grazing the tree roots the created the ceiling of their little hovel. She spun, drawing her sword in one quick, smooth motion. The tip stopped just in front of the smooth, white skin of their uninvited guest’s throat. 

The woman at the end of her sword raised her hands slowly, almost mockingly, as she stared them down with deep, brilliant sapphire blue eyes. She grinned toothily at them, and Alfre’s eyes were drawn to her unusually long canines.

“Well, that’s certainly one way to welcome a guest,” the woman drawled. “A rude one, but who am I to judge.”

“Who are you?” Alfre demanded, pressing her blade forward just a hair. “What do you want?”

“Put that sewing needle away, darling,” the woman warned, voice silk and steel. “You’ll poke someone’s eye out.”

Alfre glanced briefly in Elias’ direction. The rabbit man nodded and Alfre stepped away from the woman, sword falling to her side but not returning to its sheath. 

“Better,” the woman said with a nod. She settled herself on a root, crossing her legs at the knee and smirking at them. “Now, as for your questions. I’m Spica-“

“There’s no way that’s your real name.”

The woman, Spica, glared at Alfre, eyes flashing dangerously in the dim light of the tiny fire Elias had made earlier. “Don’t interrupt, darling, it’s very rude.”

Alfre scowled, but kept her mouth shut.

“As I was saying, I’m Spica,” Spica continued. “And I’d like to join your merry little band.”

Elias and Alfre exchanged another glance. This time, Elias spoke. “Why?”

“I’m sure you’ve heard the saying ‘safety in numbers’.” Spica waited the briefest moment for them to nod before continuing. “There’s also the fact that I’m a vampire. I’m perfectly fine on my own during the nighttime, but during the day…I’m an assassin, I don’t have the raw power to cleave through enemies. That one-“ She pointed at Alfre, who glared at the offending finger. “Can make my enemy encounters go far quicker. Besides…it’s lonely out here with no one but the goblins for company. They make terrible conversation partners. They don’t even react to my witty banter.”

Again, Elias and Alfre look to each other. He shrugged. “I have no issues with it. If she wants to come along, I say the more the merrier.”

Alfre shot a glance in Spica’s direction, frost meeting sapphire for a brief moment before Alfre closed her eyes and sighed. “Fine, whatever. It’s not like I have much of an argument against bringing you along.”

“Oh, I wasn’t going to give you a choice anyway,” Spica informed her with a smile.

Elias roused the two of them early again the next morning. He pulled more bread rolls from his bag, admitting that it was going to take them far longer to reach the city than he thought. Alfre took her offered breakfast without comment other than a softly spoken ‘thank you’. 

“I don’t suppose you have anything…meatier on you, would you?” Spica inquired. 

“Ah, I’m afraid not,” Elias apologized. “The rolls were cheaper than any meat I could have bought, and I’m no chef, so any raw meat would have been useless to me.”

Spica pouted, tossing a few strands of her crimson hair over her shoulder. “A pity. Well, you’ll know for next time we party, magician.”

“I don’t suppose I could convince you to call me Elias?” he asked, a nervousness leaking into his voice.

“You could,” Spica agreed. “But it might take some time.”

Alfre rolled her eyes, standing up and dusting off the back of her white pants. Those probably needed to be laundered but that would have to wait, for how much longer, she didn’t know. She clambered out of the hollow, eyes sweeping the surrounding woods. She called the all clear and Elias and Spica joined her. Elias, in what Alfre had come to consider his typical fashion, bounded ahead, a bounce in his step. Spica slid into step beside him, carrying herself with a grace Alfre wasn’t used to seeing and certainly hadn’t expected to find in the woods. She fell in behind them, scowling as their long legs took a step for every three of hers. 

She rammed into them from behind when they stopped suddenly.

“Why are we stopping?” she hissed.

“Goblins,” Spica said simply.

“Already?”

Elias sighed. “So it seems. They seem peculiar recently, usually you only catch them in the evenings.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Spica soothed. “We’ll handle them. Get ready.”

She vanished into the treetops with only the barest whisper of sound to give her away. Alfre drew her sword, feeling Elias’ buffs taking effect almost immediately. The goblins crashed into view, tree branch clubs swinging wildly, only to run right by them.

Elias fell from his fighting stance, turning to stare after them in confusion. “I wonder what that was about.”

Spica reappeared beside Alfre, twirling a long, metal needle between her fingers. “What a shame, I wanted to see the little one in action.”

Alfre swiped at her with her empty fist. “My name is Alfre!”

“That’s nice, darling.”

There was a deep, rumbling, growling noise from behind them. They turned slowly to find a very large, terrifying looking bear with strange, white, crystalline structures protruding from its midnight black fur. 

“What the hell is that?!” Alfre shouted, ducking behind Elias.

“Ursa Major,” Elias said shortly, hand trembling as his grip tightened on his cane. “That certainly explains what the goblins were running from.”

“Plan?” Spica demanded. “I doubt running with work.”

“What sort of debuffs do your poisons have?” he asked.

“Speed and defense,” she replied. “They also knock off five damage a second for six seconds for each needle I land.”

“It’ll do. Fire as many as you can and I’ll debuff its attack as much as I can. Alfre!” Elias turned to her. “I’m going to buff your speed and attack. When it’s been slowed down, run in and slice it to bits.”

She swallowed thickly, trying to force down the bile clawing at her throat and the tremors running up and down her arm as she stared down the Ursa Major. 

“If I die, I’m blaming you.”

Elias laughed, but that might have been the panic and the adrenaline mixing weird. “You won’t die. And if you do, I probably won’t be far behind.”

The buffs felt warm under her skin. She could see Spica darting up into the trees, needles flying, piercing the bear’s thick hide. The crystals turned a sickly green color, possibly to indicate that it’d been poisoned. 

“Alfre, now!”

She ran, though not away from the fight like she wanted to, but towards the giant bear. Her steps left frost in her wake. She thrust with her rapier, her blade skidding along the bear’s right foreleg. She saw the blood dripping down onto the grass. Again, she struck, slashing down the beast’s flank. It swung wildly, but this time she was fast enough to tumble out of the way and get back on her feet for another strike. Spica’s needles were still flying; coming from whichever side Alfre wasn’t on. Which was considerate of her, Alfre had to admit. Even Elias got aggressive, throwing volleys of his blue-green fireballs. The Ursa Major roared in anger and pain. 

Alfre gritted her teeth as another wind billowed up from around her feet. Another level up. A thought, unbidden, flashed through her mind. The image of the bear with a spear of ice protruding from its flank in a dark approximation of its crystal growths. 

“Stand back!” she shouted. “I’m gonna try something and it might not end well!”

Elias jumped back several feet. Alfre didn’t even know where Spica had gone, but all likelihood was she’d already snuck away by the time Alfre had finished shouting. 

She pointed her sword dramatically at the Ursa Major, recreating the image she’d just seen in her mind. Cold gathered about her, ice crystals forming at the tip of her rapier. They coalesced and grew into a long, thin spear of ice. The Ursa reared up on its hind legs, giving her the perfect target. 

“Reothadh Sleagh!”

The ice shot forward, blasting her with chilly air as it sailed forward. The Ursa stopped, its roar cut short. The ice hit its mark, sticking out of the Ursa’s gut by a good foot still. The beast fell forward, dissolving into the same black smoke as the goblins and everything else they’d fought previously. Alfre wondered for a brief moment what that meant. 

But first…

“Frost spear? Really? Is that as creative as the bloody bastards could get?”

Elias laughed heartily at her offended shout. “Well, it sounded cool at least.”

“You’re lucky I know how to pronounce the damn words,” Alfre groused. “Bet the wankers who programed it plugged random words into Google translate and just took whatever popped out.”

“Probably,” Elias agreed. “But it was still very impressive. How did it feel, casting your first skill?”

Alfre flexed her hand, letting it clench into a fist before relaxing it. “Strange.”

Spica shrugged her shoulders. “I haven’t given it a try yet. You’ll have to let me get the finishing blow next time, see how it feels.”

“You’re welcome to it…if you can beat me to the punch.”

Spica grinned wickedly. “Oh, you are just adorable.”