CD Chapter Thirty-two (Patreon)

When Alpha opened her eyes, Toggle was awake, staring into her face with worried blue eyes. As soon as he saw she was awake, he extended a vial filled with blood. “Mistress, Tess said you would be here soon, and to tell you she’d be right back,  so I made this for you.”

Switching so abruptly from one place to another was even more disorienting than usual, and Alpha took a moment to struggle to a sitting position before she accepted the vial. Tipping it back, she swallowed the contents, noting that it seemed less thick this time, and tasted more like fresh raspberries than raspberry cordial.

You have restored 275 Drops of Blood. Your Health is now full.

Your Mana and Stamina regeneration will double for the next three hours, thanks to drinking the Blood of a Servant.

Remembering what Myles had said about benefits to the servant, as well, Alpha glanced at the little gnome, who looked as innocently pleased as ever to see her drinking his blood. “Did you… get any notifications, Toggle? Like, improved regeneration, or a Dexterity buff?”

The gnome tipped his head, looking puzzled. “No, Mistress. Should I? Is that part of being your servant?”

Alpha grimaced, rubbing her temples. “So, you know about that? And you aren’t… mad? Or anything?”

Toggle shook his head, his red hat tipping roguishly over one eye. “Oh, no, Mistress. You saved my life. Thank you!” He leaned forward and laid his small hand on hers, beaming happily.

Orah, who had still been wrapped around the gnome’s wrist, slithered over to Alpha, taking the tip of her own tail in her mouth so she looked like a slender white bracelet. Absently, Alpha patted Toggle’s head and then Orah’s, and stood.

“I’m glad you’re not upset, and when we get to the dungeon, of course you can go home, just like you planned.” Alpha met Toggle’s eyes. “I won’t try to actually make you my servant, or anything, so you don’t have to worry.”

He shook his head, causing the hat to nearly slip from his head. He took it off and clutched it to his chest, staring up at her. “I trust you, Mistress. I know you only want the best for me.”

Alpha sighed, feeling the burden of that trust. “Look, Toggle, you can’t-”

Tess threw open the door and breezed in, triumphantly raising a tray with three bowls of some kind of steaming stew on it. “I got us dinner, and let them know we’d need the baths now. We can get the Well-Rested, Freshly Cleansed, and maybe a meal buff before we head out.”

Alpha raised an eyebrow at her friend, and let a little smirk touch her lips.

Tess reddened. “And I forgot you don’t eat.” She looked down at the tray, then back up at Alpha. “Have you tried, though? I mean, I may or may not have read a lot of vampire romances, and sometimes the vampire can eat food, and it just doesn’t fully satisfy them.” She let her voice grow throaty on the words ‘fully satisfy’, and Alpha couldn’t help laughing. She was well aware that the romances Tess preferred tended toward the steamy side.

Still, Alpha held out a hand. “I guess I can try.”

A cheerful rat-a-tat-tat came from the door to Myles’ room, and he cracked it open a moment later. Peeking in, he saw that they were all up and stepped inside, leaving the door open behind him. “Did everyone get some good sleep? Feeling ready for some more adventures?”

Alpha nodded. “I know we actually got to Vargo much more quickly than usual, but it still seems like it’s taking forever to reach Refuge.”

Myles hesitated, then glanced at Toggle. Switching to party chat, he said, ::And on that note, in the interests of open communication,:: he did not look at Tess as he said this, or indicate in any way that he’d been listening in when the girls were talking, but Alpha knew he’d said it for her friend’s sake, ::I should tell you that William just finished the tunnel under the Whispering Mountains. He’s telling Queen Saravelle right now, and she’ll be sending a messenger to Commander Cavendish tomorrow morning. However, I know where the entrance is, and we need to take that path. Not only will it allow us to avoid traveling in daylight, there’s a newly spawned dungeon that we need to check out.::

Tess looked interested, but frowned. ::What kind of dungeon?::

Myles grinned. ::That would take the fun out of it!:: Reaching out, he scooped two bowls of stew from the tray, handing one to Toggle and keeping the other for himself. Looking at Alpha, he said, ::No solids for you, I’m afraid. As I mentioned, the person who created vampires wanted them to have to drink blood, so eating anything else won’t produce positive results.::

Alpha snarled. She could really get to hate the developer who made vampires. One of her secret pleasures in playing VO was the opportunity to eat things that she could never afford in real life. She folded her arms and gave Myles a flat stare. ::You’d better be able to un-vamp me as soon as this is all over.::

He nodded, scooping some stew into his mouth and eating it with a sinful level of pleasure. ::I’ve got that part figured out. Just hang in there.::

Myles, Tess, and Toggle ate their stew in happy quiet, the only sound the scraping of their spoons and soft chewing sounds. Alpha had never had misophonia - an almost irrational dislike of normal sounds, like those associated with eating - but her mom had, and Alpha suddenly thought she understood how Molly must have felt.

A tentative tap came at the door, and a girl’s voice called, “Your baths, m’ladies!”

Alpha, as the only person without food in her mouth, started to tell the girl to come in, but Myles clapped a hand over her mouth. ::Your [Glamour] wore off while you were sleeping!:: he sent, urgently. ::Either turn it back on or go into the other room, but if she sees you like this, you’ll start a panic.:: His eyes twinkled. ::And not the kind the Commander was worried about.::

Alpha glared, but stepped back into Myles’ room, leaving the door slightly ajar. She could hear muffled conversation, and a few loud thunks as the wooden bathtubs were maneuvered into place. There was a brief moment of silence, and then Tess pulled the door open, pulling Alpha out and shoving Myles and Toggle in.

“They’re going to bring two more baths to this room, so get back over here.” The dwarf pointed a stubby finger at Myles. “No peeking!” Alpha stifled a laugh at Myles’ crestfallen look. Amythyst was at least mostly female, after all, and it wasn’t like players could actually get naked in Veritas Online. Their perma-undies kept them decent at all times, like it or not, and the public baths weren’t separated by gender. Not all players used the baths regularly, but everyone eventually needed to get rid of a Stench debuff or pick up the Freshly Cleansed buff, so they were all used to seeing each other’s bathing-suit style underwear.

Shaking her head, Alpha dismissed her clothes into her inventory and turned on her tub’s magic tap that attached to nothing, but let warm water flow freely anyway. “Why were you getting rid of him this time?” she asked her friend, dipping a toe into the rising water. As always, it was perfect.

“It’s the principal of the thing,” Tess sniffed, plopping unceremoniously into her own tub. Water sloshed, but the dwarf was too short to displace enough to actually splash out, in spite of her impressively muscled girth.

Alpha just laughed and started scrubbing.

❦ ❦ ❦

Within half an hour of waking, all four of them were fed, clean, and ready to go. They left a tip for Doreen, called their mounts, and climbed into their saddles when the horses appeared, trotting down the bluestone streets from the direction of the stables. Alpha had her hood pulled tight around her face, but she went ahead and triggered [Glamour] anyway, in case the wind knocked it askew. She was slowly coming to terms with the fact that she was going to stand out no matter what she did, and it might as well not cause panic in the streets.

::All right,:: Tess said, reaching around Toggle to grasp Argent’s reins. ::Where to? I know how to get to the mountain pass, but I’ve never even heard of this tunnel before.::

Myles clucked to Sleipnir, and the horse moved out at a steady trot, without his eight-legged speed bonus. ::Queen Saravelle and Aspen decided that it was for the best that no one knew until it was done and guarded. You know how players are when they find out there’s a new area to be explored. It’s a little to the west of the pass entrance. In a week or so, there’ll be a world announcement about that and the new dungeon, but that should give us plenty of time to get through and do what we need to do.::

Tess shrugged, but when Alpha glanced back, her friend’s expression was rebellious and a little hurt. ::I thought we were friends,:: the dwarf muttered. Why wouldn’t they tell me? And Rouge, Motte, Lyrec, Fluff…:: Her voice trailed off, and Myles laughed out loud.

::I think you figured it out. If they tell one of you, they have to tell you all, and some of you are better at keeping secrets than others.:: He tugged at his reins, and Sleipnir pulled to a halt at the city gates.

The guard looked up at them, expression bored. “Anything to declare? All luxury items for sale must be taxed when leaving Quarternell.”

Myles shook his head. “No, I was just hoping you could convey my gratitude to Commander Cavendish for his excellent hospitality.”

The guard snapped to attention, looking around as if the Commander himself might suddenly appear. “Sir, yes sir! Ah, may I tell him who-?”

Myles leaned down, and the guard drew in close. “I’m Lord Myles2Go,” Myles whispered, and the guard paled.

“Ah, yes, sir! I’ll, uh, we’ll make sure we’re better prepared next time! Thank you, sir! My lord!” The guard stammered, and his partner, a middle-aged woman, looked at him like he was crazy. The first guard bowed deeply, pulling at the woman’s arm until she did the same. The two remained like that as the quartet left the town behind, and Alpha could hear fevered whispers rise behind them.

She shook her head. ::Way to be subtle. You know everyone in town will have heard that a real lord came through here by tomorrow.::

Myles looked back at her and winked. ::And then they’ll start wondering where I’m going, and how I vanished, lending more mystery to the legend that is Lord Myles, Holy Executioner!::

Tess reined in her stout pony. ::Wait, what? You, like, literally kill people for someone?::

The Sword Reaper lifted a hand, waving it idly. ::Nah. I built Myles as the traveling executioner of the Gods. Which could have been a real problem, since some of them are super sensitive about weird things. Like, did you know that Typhus actually hates people who pick up litter? He considers trash an offering to him, so picking it up is sacrilegious, and he’d have me lopping off the heads of every environmental do-gooder out there, if he could.::

Tess opened and closed her mouth a few times, but urged Argent to fall in behind Beta again. ::So you just ignore it when the gods tell you to kill someone? Even though you’re literally their executioner?::

Myles sniffed dismissively, and urged Sleipnir off the road. ::I’m on vacation.::

::Wait, executioners get vacation?:: Tess demanded.

::Everybody should get vacation. Mine is just a little longer than most.:: Sleipnir started down a winding path that looked like it started life as a game trail.

::How long is it? Are you going to just suddenly start lopping people’s heads off for using waste bins?::

::Not any time soon,:: the AI replied calmly. ::During the last congress, Gina moved to grant me a century of vacation, and Atae seconded the motion.::

Alpha snorted a laugh, completely unable to tell if Myles was just winding the dwarf up or not.

::Wait, the gods have a congress?:: Tess yelped.

::Sure,:: Myles said, ::If it weren’t for committees and requiring paperwork before smiting, everyone would constantly be cursed or blessed, and everything would just be chaos. It’s really boring in heaven, so the gods just sit around, watching us and eating Spiritual Popcorn, and they can get really invested sometimes.::

Tess spluttered indignantly, but before she could figure out how to respond, Sleipnir came to a stop, and Myles hopped down. Pulling out his rapier, he thrust it out ahead of him. The blade shimmered into blue brilliance, and Myles crouched, lifting a hand. “Shh,” he murmured, “the blade glows blue when orcs are close.”

Tess stared around, her axe appearing in her hand. ::Really?::

Myles straightened. “Nope, not really. It just lights up so we can see better. Tunnels are dark.”

Alpha leaned down from her horse and smacked him upside the head.