CA Chapter Thirty-One (Patreon)

“...pha! Alpha! Use [Turn Ally], or he’s going to die!” Myles’ voice drove through her consciousness, and she hazily became aware of her surroundings. First, she realized she could see again. Then she realized that the arm she held was too large to be Toggle’s, and the blood tasted of… guava? Passion fruit? Something tropical, but definitely not raspberry.

Pieces fell into place with an almost audible click, and she shoved Vexxx’s arm away. It flopped limply onto the ground beside the boy’s crumpled body. Horrified, she scrambled back, away from the fallen mage. Firm hands gripped her shoulders and gently but inexorably pushed her back.

“Quickly,” Myles murmured, breath warm on her ear. “I know you hate it, but it’s done now, and if you don’t want him to die, you need to finish it.”

Alpha’s shoulders tensed, but she nodded and leaned forward, picking up the boy’s skinny arm. Biting down hard on her own lip, she felt blood begin to trickle down her chin, and set her mouth to the jagged wound that was still leaking blood to drip down onto the ash-covered ground. Triggering [Turn Ally], she tried to concentrate on pushing her own blood into the mage, rather than the thick taste of citrus on her tongue.

As always, the process took far longer than it seemed like it should, but eventually, Myles tugged at her shoulder, pulling her away from Vexxx. When she looked up at the boy’s face, he looked like he was sleeping, though she knew that, as a non-immersed player, his mind was fully conscious and would remain so in spite of his apparent unconsciousness. Quickly, she checked him with [Identify].

Vexxx  (servant) - Lightning Mage. Level 81.

Blood Pack: .5 units

Myles cradled Alpha against his chest as Tess leaned in, holding a Healing potion to Vexxx’s lips. Alpha relaxed back into Myles’ warmth for a moment, before she realized what she was doing. She started to jerk away, when Vexxx’s words came back to her. You’re only alone because you make it that way. And the worst part of it was, he was right, and she knew it. Had known it for a while now.

Looking up, she caught Amy’s eyes, staring at them from a seat safely on a rock, outside the radius of the fiery flood. The woman’s gaze was thoughtful, even calculating, but when she realized Alpha had noticed her watching, she just gave a cheeky, lopsided grin.

Alpha flushed and completed her aborted movement, pulling away from Myles so she could lean forward and look down at Vexxx instead. The boy actually looked… sweet? His long, curly black lashes rested on smooth cheeks, and for once, he wasn’t talking. Then the lashes fluttered, and a huge grin transformed his face from sleeping angel to lesser madman.

“Yaaaaassss!” he shouted, sitting up so quickly he nearly rammed his forehead into Alpha’s chin. He did knock the second bottle of healing potion Tess was pouring down his throat out of the half-dwarf’s hand. The bottle spun away, circling as its bright blue contents glugged uselessly into black soot.

“Aw, man,” Tess groaned. “Do you know how much those things cost?” She climbed to her feet and stared down at the still-grinning Lightning Mage. She pointed at him accusingly. “You totally owe me for that!”

Without answering, Vexxx pulled an identical potion from his inventory and tossed it to Tess. His eyes went unfocused as he checked his character sheet. “Servant! And there are, like, buffs and stuff! I get increased speed and recovery whenever you bite me. And, yuck, some kind of private chat? Whatever.” His eyes popped open and he held up his arm, waggling it back and forth invitingly. “Bite me again! Again!”

Alpha jumped to her feet, backing away from him. “No!” She whirled, looking at Myles. “Why did you let me bite him, anyway? Why not Toggle?” Her heart froze in her chest, and she looked around frantically. “Where is Toggle?”

A little figure, almost completely camouflaged by the thick coating of ash that covered him from head to foot, shifted forward a bit from a spot near Amy. The big blue eyes looked mournful, and the gnome twisted a burned and holey hat in his hands. “Mistress?” the gnome said, miserably. “I’m so sorry, Mistress!” Enormous tears began to flow down his cheeks, clearing grayish furrows in the black ash. “I tried, but Lord Myles said-”

Myles stood, and she saw that he was the only clean member of their pitiful, filthy group. Well, him and the pure white serpent who lifted her head from his shoulder and hissed cheerfully at Alpha. “I told him not to,” Myles said. “You were too badly injured. Whoever you bit would have to be turned, or they would die, and since Toggle is already a Servant-”

“He could die,” Alpha finished, horrified, looking from Toggle to Vexxx, and then back to the gnome. If it hadn’t been for Myles, Alpha really could have killed the little being, and he wouldn’t revive, the way Vexxx would. While turning a servant was an almost guaranteed success, turning a minion was much less likely to succeed, and with each one she turned, the odds of a favorable outcome would be lower. Myles had already told her that now that she’d turned Amy, there was around a sixty percent chance whoever she tried it on would die instead. She didn’t think she would be able to forgive herself if she murdered the gnome, no matter how willingly he offered himself.

Nodding, Myles passed Orah back to Alpha. The snake hissed again, this time in displeasure as Alpha’s filthy fingers automatically reached out to stroke her smooth scales. With a squirm and a flutter, the sacred creature lifted herself back out of Alpha’s grasp, and a rushing whirl of wind engulfed the vampire.

Quezal, God of the Union of Earth and Air, is displeased to find His High Priestess cloaked in the color black, which is the sacred color of his enemy God, Tezca. Due to your high standing in His eyes, He will cleanse you, rather than chastising you, but be warned that He will not be so forgiving of a second offense.

When Alpha reached up to rub the effects of the stinging gust from her eyes, she saw that her hand was clean again. Glancing down at her body, it looked like all of her was now free of the layers of grime that had been building on her skin and clothes since they started the bonfire.

“Sweet!” Vexxx said. He held his hand out as if trying to grab Orah from the air, and the serpent’s tail coiled and then smacked him sharply on the wrist. He yanked back the limb with a yelp, and glared at Orah as she settled back into place around Alpha’s neck. “Hey! I saved your priestess’ life, y’know! Like, not even five minutes ago!”

Orah’s tongue flickered out, as if the snake was thinking, and then she lifted from Alpha’s shoulders again, her wings creating a rainbow blur as they moved faster and faster, until a blast of wind blew away from her small body. Vexxx and Tess, who had just stood up behind him, were both knocked back several steps, and the soot coating their bodies lifted away and blew off into what remained of the trees. Even Toggle and Amy, who were off to the side, caught the edge of the gust, and were left looking windblown but mostly clean. Satisfied, Orah hissed once more before returning to Alpha and coiling around her neck once again.

Vexxx and Tess both rubbed at their eyes. Tess’ braids had been blown into wispy balls in front of her ears, and her helm sat askew atop her head. Vexxx’s robe was up around his ears, revealing his undershorts and knobby knees for all to see. He scrambled to pull it down as everyone else snickered.

“You need to get some pants,” Tess observed, as she straightened her hat.

“This robe has great stats, you know,” Vexxx insisted, tightening his belt. “And it’s made of spider-silk, so it’s super strong.”

Myles patted him reassuringly on the shoulder. “Well, at least you have nice legs.”

Vexxx’s cheeks turned a brilliant shade of brick.

(===||:::::::::::::::>

“Are you sure this will work?” Vexxx asked, peering down at the cube-cows and Porkcubes in their pens below. The fences had been repaired, and the creatures returned to their enclosures. Alpha wondered if the farm automatically reset after an encounter, or if there was some kind of gelatinous farmer around who was able to put things to rights.

Neither Myles nor Amy responded, so Alpha shrugged. “No, but it’s worth a shot. They’re made of acid, so a strong enough base should neutralize them. If it doesn’t work, we can always run away.”

“Unless,” Tess put in, “they’re actually already basic, not acidic, and we just make them more corrosive.”

Alpha and Vexxx turned to look at her incredulously, and the Axe Maiden shrugged. “What? I like chemistry.”

“And you couldn’t mention this sooner?” Alpha asked, hefting the seventy-five pound bag of ashes she held in her hand. “Like, before we spent three days burning down a forest and I almost died?”

Vexxx grinned at Tess, tossing his own, smaller, bag of ash over his shoulder. “I’m glad you didn’t. Now, I just have to be around when she almost dies two more times, and I’m finally going to be a vampire!”

Tess laughed. “I mean, everyone always says they’re acidic, so-” She lifted her hands in a ‘what can you do’ gesture, waggling two more jumbo-sized bags of ash.

Alpha sighed. “I wish we could just pour it on them.”

Tess’ nose wrinkled. “My brother sprinkled salt on a slug once, and it was horrible. This better not be like that.”

Shaking her head, Alpha started down the hill. “Let’s just do this. We’re not getting anywhere talking about it.” Everyone else fell in behind her, and soon enough they were all arrayed along the pasture fence, staring at the ‘cows’, who had already sensed their presence and were making their sluggish way towards the party.

Looking at Vexxx, Alpha said, “You try the sprinkle method. You’re small and fast, so you should be able to dart in and get back out easily enough.”

He grinned. “That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.” His nose wrinkled. “Legit real, though, I’m not small, just still growing. I’m gonna be taller than you someday.”

Alpha looked at him dubiously. It was true that he was already taller than Tess, but that wasn’t exactly impressive, and if he was more than five foot six, she’d eat Toggle’s hat. Speaking of which… She glanced back over her shoulder at the gnome, who had refused to remain back at the campsite once he realized that everyone else was leaving. Alpha had assured him she didn’t blame him for her injuries, but he still looked guilty and kept hovering nearby, ready to assist her with anything he even thought she might need.

“Toggle, you stay back here, okay?” Alpha said.

The gnome’s thin lips pinched, but he nodded reluctantly. “Yes, Mistress.”

She fixed him with a serious look. “I mean it. I don’t want to have to worry about you. Okay?”

“Yes, Mistress.” This time the answer was more resigned, and Alpha actually believed it. She glanced at the furry, black and white cubes, who had crossed most of their pasture by now, and were close enough for her to [Identify].

Moocube - Corrosive/Poison. Level 82.

Alpha shot a glance at Myles. “Moocube? Really?” He dropped her a wink, but didn’t reply, so she sighed and turned to Tess. “Tess, do you have the meat?”

Tess nodded and started dropping chunks of meat on the ground by her feet. Players had a tendency to hoard anything they thought they might eventually use or be able to sell, so between Tess, Alpha, and Vexxx, they had ended up with a surprisingly large amount of different varieties of flesh. They had then coated this in a breading of ash, followed by some soot seasoning, and the resultant pile of filthy meat chunks almost seemed to produce a sense of gloom and despair as it grew.

“Okay. Tess, you throw the meat to the cube on the left. Vexxx, focus on that little guy who’s kind of separated from the pack on the right.” Lowering her bag of ash to the ground, Alpha produced her sword from her inventory. She had coated it in oil, so it glistened as she slid it into the open bag, and emerged caked in blackness. “I’m just going to try slicing them up, and hope the ash keeps them from eating my sword.”

Looking around, she met each person’s eyes. Myles and Amy claimed they were just there to watch, and certainly Amy wasn’t ready to help, but Alpha didn’t like the look of amusement in Myles’ eyes. Still, they were committed now, so she hopped the fence as the first Moocube drew close.

“Let’s do this.”