CD Chapter Twenty-seven (Really!) (Patreon)

As soon as they reached the road, the players all summoned their mounts. Every player got a basic mount at the end of the tutorial, though most people quickly bought a different one or won one during a festival. Alpha’s was a chestnut mare, named Beta. Tess’ Argent was one of the broad, sturdy ponies the dwarves rode, though hers was a metallic silver. Surprisingly, Myles’ horse was a default roan, named Sleipnir.

Myles scooped Toggle up and settled the gnome at the front of the saddle, before swinging up behind him. Once everyone was ready, he looked back. “Everyone good?”

Tessle nodded, then hesitated. “I should probably party with you guys. I’ve been in the same party for so long that I forget I can change it, but someone can re-invite me when we get to Refuge.” Her eyes went distant, and her fingers twitched. “Yup, I’m ready.” She looked back and forth between Alpha and Myles, unsure who the party leader was.

Alpha sent her friend another party invite, and Tessle’s fingers twitched again.

Tessle has accepted your party invite! You may now send this player private messages when you are within one mile of each other.

::Cool, cool!:: Tess thought cheerfully. ::Now we’re ready to move.::

Myles nodded and urged his mount into a trot. He spoke aloud, so Toggle could hear. “We’re going to make a hard run for Vargo. If we really hurry, we should be there around noon.”

“Whoa. Um, that’s optimistic, but sure. And, I hate to bring it up, but what if we’re attacked? Especially during the day.” Tessle asked. She was right, though. The area around Bloodhaven was notorious for the gangs of PvPers who lurked near the roads. These players were too high level to bother with the NPCs and mobs nearby, so instead, they laid in wait for other players, hoping to find someone they could take down easily. Other players not only provided the best loot, but they were usually good experience, too.

Myles shrugged, glancing over his shoulder at Alpha. “I’ll leave the battle plans up to you ladies. I’ve never been particularly into that aspect of the game.”

Tessle blinked, and her gaze grew speculative as she eyed the level ninety Sword Reaper, obviously wondering how he’d gotten a fighting class up that high without, oh, fighting. Alpha rolled her eyes. At this rate, Amythyst was going to blow her cover on the first day.

“Our primary job is to protect Toggle,” she said firmly, drawing her friend’s attention from Myles. “Tess, you can tank, right?”

The dwarf waggled her hand. “I can, but I’m better at dealing damage. I have [Fireball], so I can do a little distance damage, but Tessie here,” she patted her axe, “can bring the pain.”

Alpha struggled to keep her face straight, but Myles snorted a laugh. Tess mock-glared at them before grinning, obviously well-aware of how silly she sounded, and not caring a bit.

“Okay, then,” Alpha managed eventually, “if we see them before they reach us, use [Fireball] on them. If you can knock one of them out in a single blow, without leaving an opening, then ‘Tessie’ can come out to play. Otherwise, you’re going to have to protect Toggle.” She looked over at the gnome, who was listening with bright, excited eyes. Tess and Toggle both nodded, and Alpha switched her gaze to Myles.

“Do you have any distance damage abilities at all?”

He arched a brow at her, and she realized that he could probably crush anyone who came at them with a blazing asteroid from space, but he just said, “Not really,” and left it at that.

She sighed. “Then just get in there and take out anyone you can. I’d use [Fear], but,” she looked at Toggle, frowning. “Since Toggle isn’t in our party, he’ll get hit as well.”

Carefully, Myles said, “I believe, since you have a quest to escort him, the game counts him as part of your party, and any skills or spells that don’t have friendly fire won’t hit him either.”

“Oh!” Tessle said, surprised. “I haven’t ever read that in any of the FAQs. Man, I’ve turned down a few escort quests because I figured there was no way to use the big area of effect skills without taking out your own quest companion.”

Myles shrugged, eyes on the road ahead of them, though they could hear him clearly, thanks to the magic of game logic. “I just happened across the info a while ago.”

Alpha rolled her eyes. He’d probably written the code that way himself, possibly thirty seconds ago, when it came up. “All right, then I’ll use [Fear]. It uses a lot of endurance, though, and it’ll break my [Stealth], which also sucks endurance points, so if it’s daytime, I may not be much use.” She grimaced. “I guess we try to stay near trees and shadows, and if we do get attacked during the day, everybody try to lure them into the darkest spot you can see.”

“What about mages, healers, and archer-types?” Tess asked. “They’ll just stay in the sunlight and lob in spells.”

Myles grunted. “Guess that’s me, at least in that situation. I’ll go out and take them down while you and Alpha take out the fighters.”

Alpha nodded. “All right, we have a plan. Now, how much faster can we move?”

Myles grinned. “Now that I have a spell for.” He patted Sleipnir on the shoulder, and the horse sprouted four extra legs, instantly doubling his speed. ::Stay right behind me, and you’ll go faster, too, though not as fast as Sleepy, here.::

Instantly, Tess and Alpha nudged their own mounts into a line behind the roan, and though Argent and Beta didn’t grow any more legs, they did, indeed, speed up. Tess whooped. ::Why were we even talking about being attacked? No one is going to be able to catch us!::

Alpha groaned. It was never a good idea to tempt fate, even with a virtual deity by your side.

❦ ❦ ❦

The attack came during the day. Of course. While muggers and thieves in the real world preferred darkness to cover their illicit activities, players in Veritas Online had no such bias, and in fact tended to prefer daytime, since most of them didn’t have either [Low Light Vision] or [DarkVision]. Still, people logged on whenever they could, regardless of the day-night cycle, so everything happened whenever was most convenient for the players involved.

Or, it seemed, the least convenient for Alpha.

The attackers were probably highwaymen, since they set a trap on the red stone road. A huge tree had fallen, completely covering the path. When Sleipnir slowed, gathering himself to make a jump that would have been impossible for a normal horse, an arrow flew from the bushes near the road, stabbing into the mount’s muscular shoulder. He whinnied and staggered, his extra limbs vanishing. This was a common tactic of PvPers. Normal mounts only had three health points, so if the attackers could kill them, it effectively prevented their victims from fleeing.

Myles looked angrier than Alpha had ever seen him as he leaped from the horse’s back up onto the six foot diameter tree. As Sleipnir retreated, Myles raced along the top of the trunk, bending low to avoid a few more arrows, and jumped up, lifting his rapier high as he dropped onto the hidden archer below.

Fortunately, they had transferred the gnome to Tess’ pony a few hours before, so he’d be closer to the person who was supposed to protect him, and Tess pulled out not one, but two kite shields, closing them up around herself, Argent, and Toggle like a clamshell.

Alpha was traveling under [Vampiric Stealth], of course. Unless the highwaymen had been watching them long enough to see her pop in and out of the skill’s protection, then it probably looked like Tess and Myles were bringing a horse back to their party after they and the horse were killed. That implied they could still be under death debuffs, which would just make them look more vulnerable. She gritted her teeth, angry at herself for not considering the possibility, even though there really wasn’t anything they could have done differently.

Beta reeled as two arrows dug into his body, and Alpha tracked the trajectory of the projectiles. While a few arrows had come from the left, most of them seemed to be launched from the right, where the crown of the fallen tree provided the most cover, and probably some branches to stand on while the archers fired.

She kneed Beta to the side even as another barrage fell around them. There seemed to be fewer missiles this time, and she could hear angry shouting coming from where Myles had vanished, so he was doing his job. She glanced at Tess, who was still hunkered down. The small fortress shifted slightly as, somewhere within the protective triangle, Argent moved slowly to the right. ::You good, Tess?::

The dwarf sounded a little frustrated, but calm. ::Sure. I can keep this up for quite a while, though eventually they’ll figure out it’s only physical defense, and if they have a mage, they can crack me open like a nut.::

::No worries,:: Alpha sent, grimly. ::They’re going to be dead before they can start actually using both of their brain cells.:: She could only move herself slowly, if she wanted to avoid breaking [Vampiric Stealth] before she was ready, but as soon as Beta was close enough to the shadowy space beneath the tree-top, she climbed down, and sent Beta after Sleipnir, just in case. The ‘riderless’ horse would be a low priority target, especially now that Myles was distracting the PvPers, but there was no point in taking chances.

She took one step to the side, sinking into the shadows, and dropped her [Stealth]. It was unlikely anyone was watching, and she needed to be able to move more quickly than the skill allowed.

Looking around, she saw branches move, and two dark figures appeared, almost on top of her. Certain now that she was in the middle of things, she triggered [Fear], putting everything she had into it. Her endurance points, which were already low thanks to her continuous use of [Vampiric Stealth] and her nerfed regen rate, plummeted. She wouldn’t be good for much else, skills-wise, until she could get some blood.

You have inflicted Fear on D1scourd. D1scourd flees in terror!

You have inflicted Fear on xxBlinkxx. xxBlinkxx is Frozen in Terror!

Aber-nation resists Fear.

You have inflicted Fear on Mr. Bad. Mr. Bad is Frozen in Terror!

You have inflicted Fear on Plague Bunny. Plague Bunny flees in terror!

You have inflicted Fear on Bip0larbear. Bip0larbear flees in terror!

Partyllax resists Fear.

::Three coming out, Tess. Take them down, if you can do it safely. Myles, there are four more in here, and two are probably mages of some kind.:: She knew even as she said the last that it was pointless, since Myles no doubt knew exactly who they were fighting, where the enemies were, and what effect Alpha’s skill had had on them. Still, Tess would expect it, and Myles seemed to want to be treated like a normal player as much as possible.

One of the two enemies who had almost tripped over Alpha broke and ran, but the second was one of the people who’d managed to resist fear, and he was already raising hands that glowed yellow in the darkness. Yellow usually meant lightning or solar, and as Alpha lunged toward him, she prayed it wasn’t solar.

Quezal has heard your prayer. You now know that the antagonist you face wields lightning!

As a lightning bolt whipped by her, searing her cheek, Alpha growled. Thanks for nothing, big guy.

You have lost 27 Blood Drops.

Damn. She hadn’t checked where her health was sitting, but she’d last topped up about an hour ago. She’d have lost about forty-five points since then from natural attrition, and had reset [Vampiric Stealth] at least six times, losing around thirty Blood Drops during each of the thirty-second cooldowns on the skill.

Her thoughts spun, attempting to do the math even as she swiped her sword at the mage, who dodged, though it wasn’t as easy as he had expected, from the look on his face. Most mages dumped points into Intelligence and Dexterity, making them powerful and fast, but not particularly tough. Judging by this guy’s speed as her sword whirled through the air, backed by her own high Dex, if she could just tag him, he’d probably go…

There!

Her sword sank into the mage’s side as he bumped into a branch during one of his desperate jumps.

You have inflicted 122 points of damage on player Partyllax!

“Partyllax?” Alpha snorted, taunting the player as she continued to close on him. “Is that what happens the day after a really good party?” She swung a powerful blow at the man’s neck, and he avoided the crit, but gained a deep gash in his shoulder.

You have inflicted 112 points of damage on player Partyllax!

“No!” he growled, tossing a ball of lightning at her. It crackled as it touched her sword, traveling down the blade to her hand.

You have lost 103 Blood Drops.

“Parallax was a badass villain from- You know what, screw you!” He lobbed another ball of lightning, obviously emboldened by the success of the first one, but she dodged it easily now that she knew what it did. When he raised his hand again, sparks danced along his fingers, but nothing happened.

“Out of mana?” she asked, closing in as Partyllax grimaced at the spell’s failure.

“Yeah,” he said, but grinned, “but I’d like you to meet my buddy, Mr. Bad.” He slid behind what she’d originally thought was part of the trunk of the enormous tree, and she could now see was actually an orc, standing over seven feet tall, with muscles in places she was pretty sure there shouldn’t actually be muscles.

Before she could halt her motion, her sword dug into Mr. Bad’s tricep, breaking the Frozen in Fear debuff he’d been under.

You have inflicted 18 points of damage on Mr. Bad!

The behemoth grinned, revealing broken yellow trusts, and swung the spiked wooden club he was wielding. A nearby branch exploded into splinters.

::Uh, guys?:: she sent. ::I may have a problem.::