Mage Page 13

  This place is a copied microcosm of the suburbs I live in.

  I flick across the band and stare at my level and powers, at the inventory list and gold I've looted. A new bar shows onscreen and confirms what I thought earlier—following my dungeon crawl, my reputation shifted into hostile to the Kingdom and to allied for the Council of Elders.

  But at this moment, I no longer trust Reuben. There are bigger forces at play than characters like him.

  For the first time, I doubt I'll leave this place.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Our loose alliance meets up outside the city gates close to sunrise, but people already wander the streets. Zara meets us too, which is a welcome change. Perhaps she’s starting to realise this will be quicker and easier in a group.

  Aidan wears a silver band and I can’t decide whether I’m relieved or disappointed for him. "Who gave you the silver band?” I ask.

  "I woke with it on."

  "Oh," is the best response I can manage.

  "I hope your backpacks are empty ready to fill them with goblin loot we can sell," interrupts Zara. She lifts her short sword. "I'm counting on finding a weapon upgrade."

  She leads us along a path to a small settlement a mile or so away. The small village we arrive in holds an eerie stillness; nobody in the cobbled streets or signs of human life behind the dirty windows. A bone crunches below my foot and I leap back. My last encounter with bones on the ground didn't end so well.

  "Are the bones human?" asks Aidan.

  Zara nods. "There aren't any bodies around, and I presume the goblins have respawned since a couple of days ago. They've piled their loot in there." She points at a larger building. A village hall. "And a few patrol the town in groups."

  Jay nods and the bobble on his ridiculous hat wobbles. I'm in my delightful bonnet. Why don't the others have embarrassing fashion items?

  "What level are they?" I ask my knit-hatted friend.

  "Low. Level 5. We're all level 10 now, right?"

  “I’m level 12,” puts in Zara.

  "I intend to be 15 by the time evening falls," replies Jay. "Let's go."

  The first goblins we encounter patrol the opposite edge of the village and are quickly dispensed before they can make a noise. Pockets rifled, their low-level weapons stashed to trade, we move on.

  Quest (repeatable): Goblin Problem

  The small village of Moreton recently fell at the hands of goblins and the population was decimated.

  Kill 20 goblins

  Reward: 200 XP

  "Yes!" Zara grips her sword. "We keep going until they're all dead and as a bonus we can repeat the quest until we've gained enough levels."

  "That's a lot of goblins," I remark. "Surely there can't be enough in the settlement to repeat the quest more than once."

  Jay shakes his head. "They come in from the north, as if they detect what's happening. We're good."

  "We have a healer and I brought food," says Zara and shakes her bag. “The bread gives bonus health points when we eat. There's no excuse to stop."

  "And I brought my um... candy." This time nobody mocks me, and each takes a handful with thanks. "These are my last ones."

  "We can buy more. Do you have salve?"

  "I bought some." Jay produces an impressive-sized pot.

  "Nice. Aidan?"

  He scratches a cheek. "I haven't had a chance to trade, y'know."

  "All good," Dean says. "How about training? Have you chosen a skill path yet?"

  He casts his eyes down. "I told El. I have a spell that infects enemies’ blood and slows them down. Plus the transformation... thing. I've been told I'll make a good Summoner."

  "You could summon demons?" asks Aidan, brightening. "Cool."

  “It's either that or Necromancer."

  "You have a choice? Lucky bastard," mutters Jay.

  "You never told us your skill choices, Zara," I say.

  "Hitting things hard. Naturally." She cuts me dead, as usual.

  Jay continues his scrutiny of Aidan. "Can you summon a demon now?"

  "Not yet. I need to be level 20.”

  "Only himself," says Zara and barks a laugh. "Feeling horny today, Aidan?"

  Aidan tenses. "That was an accident and happened because I panicked. Something was trying to kill us all. Thanks would be nice."

  "I'm sure the goblins will help you panic into transforming. Right. Let's get this show on the road!" Zara strides forward. "And no attacking monsters before I do."

  No goblins have appeared in response to our voices, and our early morning ambush begins in the closest building. The small home, identical to Skip's, stinks of rotting flesh and body odour unlike anything I've come across before.

  Two goblins sleep upstairs, both lying on the floor on dirty blankets and straw. Before I register how they look the same as those in the catacombs, Zara runs them through with her sword before they can react. I close my eyes and repeat my mantra "this is a game, we aren't killing".

  We apply the same strategy to each house we enter, on our progress towards the main building. Some homes contain larger groups, and we learn how many Zara can hold off us by taunting them, and how fast we can take them down. Hacked, slashed, scorched, and decimated, the corpses count mounts and my disgust lessens.

  The first one to touch me, salivating with dog-breath and knife drawn, shocks me into playing the game properly. I'm knocked back by a stray goblin, and my head bounces off the wall. Pain cracks across my skull, causing me to lose focus, and the creature bears down on me.

  I lift my hands between my chest and his, and fire slams into him. He screams, high-pitched, and calls for help. His burnt flesh smells acrid and chokes me.

  The goblin's dagger scrapes my arm and I prepare to cast a shield around myself. Dean slashes the goblin's throat; green blood bubbles from the wound.

  "Why did you attack him?" calls Zara, turning from the littered corpses in front of her. "Stay back."

  "I didn't. You let him past," I retort.

  "I did not. Dean was supposed to slow him down."

  Dean straightens. "You should stop trying to take five on at once. Take one building at a time rather than dragging more goblins in from the streets."

  "Things would be better if he helped." Zara points at Aidan.

  I really do not like this girl. She's rude, bossy, and thinks she knows everything. I won't put up with this crap. We're equals—Zara doesn’t get to call the shots.

  "If she doesn't calm down, I'm not going to heal her," mutters Jay.

  "Don't say that. You have to," I reply quietly. "Even if she is being a raging bitch."

  Jay's mouth falls open and he nudges me. "Eleanor, I never thought I'd hear such things from your mouth."

  “It’s true,” I mutter. “She’s too much.”

  Aidan turns from his position in the doorway. "Excuse me? You asked me to keep an eye out for the group we saw outside town. I'll use my slowing spell as soon as I do."

  "We all have our roles, Zara," I add.

  Zara shakes her plait over her shoulder and her response pokes at a suspicion creeping over me since we met her. "Yes, and you should have the roles I say. It's what I paid for."

  "Paid for?" asks Dean.

  She blinks rapidly, and her face reddens. "You know. Paid for with my time wasted grouping with you."

  I exchange looks with Aidan.

  Who is she?

  "Are there any approaching, Aidan?" she asks quickly. "Or can we stop? Who's hungry?"

  My health bar is orange, as my body fights exhaustion from the fight and whatever the goblin's saliva has done to my skin in the places their slobbering hit me. My clothes are foul with dirt from their sweaty, filthy bodies and I can't tell if the wooziness is this or hunger.

  My band chimes.

  Quest Complete

  Reward: 200 XP

  Do you want to repeat the quest?

  I hit the yes button on screen.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

 
The muddy ground between buildings in the small settlement is covered in bodies and blood, carnage unlike anything I've seen in reality before. I waver between hunger and disgust, insisting we sit behind a building with a view of the trees instead.

  Zara's provisions add more than health points and critical strike chance against humanoid creatures.

  Dean's silence while we eat worries me, more so when he crams the food in his mouth and stands. Without speaking, he steps around the corner, shifting into the shadows.

  "Where did he go?" asks Zara.

  "He likes to sneak off sometimes," I say. "I think it's in his nature. You know—assassin?"

  Zara returns to her food, ignoring my sarcasm. Strange that she's quiet after her slip-up earlier.

  A figure reappears from behind the tree. "There's a Mythical level goblin in the main hall," announces Dean. "There's a treasure chest behind him too."

  "How do you know?" I ask.

  "I can see through walls."

  "Right." By this point, questions how we can do certain things are moot; accepting things as they are saves time and unnecessary conversation.

  The loot collected since we started killing now fills our bags, but I haven't found any upgrades for me. Jay found a tunic which increases power for clerics, a smarter blue one he put on straightaway. This guy's strength is obvious from his powerful shoulders straining against the cloth. Again: why isn't he a physical fighting class?

  Wounds healed by salve, we prepare for our final assault. Trash litters the floor—chewed bones, rags, excrement. I cover my nose, gagging at the sight and scents.

  Aidan inhales then exhales loudly, turning his eyes to us. "He's a caster. Four mobs around him and one of those is a healer. We need to get them down quick. Big bastards—much bigger than the others."

  "I thought you said these goblins are an easy kill?" I ask Zara.

  "Mostly, yeah. We can keep going in circles with the groups, if you like?”

  We’ve managed three levels— my hat’s bonus helps me gain points. Disappointingly, I don’t earn any new abilities or spells though. Jay’s hat does the same, and we catch up to Zara. Aidan and Dean lag behind by a couple of levels.

  “We’ve killed them all,” says Dean.

  “More will arrive if we wait,” Jay suggests.

  “Nope. Let’s get the big guy, maybe he’ll drop something decent. Plus... there’s a chest.” Zara’s eyes shine. “That could contain better gear. More powerful items means killing goblins is easier—and quicker.”

  “And more experience points,” puts in Aidan. “I need as many as I can get.”

  “I’m still not sure.” Something isn’t right here. I like to think we’re capable of anything, but we can’t be overconfident.

  We look through the window at the lanky creature with ripped clothes. He’s twice the size of the others we’ve killed—and twice as ugly. His black hair grows in patches on his head, looking as if somebody pulled out clumps, and his clothes are rags hanging from his bony frame.

  “Are you sure we can take him down?” I ask. “What level is he?”

  “Doesn’t matter. There are five of us,” whispers Zara. “Plus, the goblins Dean saw protecting him aren’t here.”

  “Yet. Think about this.”

  My suggestion falls on deaf ears.

  The goblin doesn’t hear or see us step inside the building; he’s hunched over a corpse in the corner. Any doubt I had about hurting him disappears when I see he’s gorging on a human body. Male. Possibly.

  With her signature yell, Zara forges forward.

  The goblin turns at the same time as my wristband screen flashes in ominous red text.

  Gorlack

  Goblin Overlord

  Level 20

  Extremely Aggressive

  “Zara! Stop! He’s too high level,” I call.

  “We got the last high level down, we’ll be fine.” Her words are joined by the sound of her blade snapping as she slices at the creature’s thick green skin. “Shit.”

  Goblin claws slash her arm and she drops her shield too. Dean materialises in front of her and impales the goblin’s eye with his dagger. Zara snatches the opportunity to step away and back to us in the doorway, as Dean slips away again.

  The goblin screams at a pitch that drills into my head, causing pain behind my eyes. Still howling, he yells something in a strange tongue and drags the dagger from his socket. More gore. I swallow the rising vomit and start to conjure a fire barrier around Zara. The goblin screeches and interrupts my spellcasting.

  Worse than that, he sucks away my magic energy as my band pings to tell me I’m low.

  Shit.

  A female goblin rushes through the door, equally as ugly and dressed in a filthy grey dress. Lank dark hair hangs around her squashed features and touches the necklace of teeth she wears.

  Goblin Medicine Woman

  Level 10

  Aggressive

  Ignoring us, she conjures pink spheres in the air that spin around Gorlack’s head. A pink light shines across his face and his body straightens, pain leaving his face.

  I struggle to cast and a half-hearted fireball fizzles from my fingers. The goblin healer rasps a laugh. “No fire touch us.”

  Omigod. She’s preventing me from spell casting.

  I step back and look to Aidan, whose skin has taken on a purple hue. Like watching a train wreck, I can't turn away as his body elongates and broadens, his horns almost touching the ceiling as he towers over us all. I wait for him to cast, but instead he shoves me sideways behind him. A sharp claw catches the edge of my sleeve and tears.

  “Be careful, Aidan. This is good armour with high stats.”

  Oh crap, I’m scolding a demon. Blazing red eyes meet mine. Is he like the Hulk—out of control and unable to recognise friends? I offer a placating smile and back away. I hate to cower behind him, but I have little choice.

  "Will you kill the female? She’s healing him," yells Zara as she slashes with her broken blade, dodging his clumsy attack. "Holy crap. He’s full health again, come on!"

  Demon Aidan steps forward and grabs the goblin healer by the throat, then twists her head until her neck snaps with a sickening sound.

  My band vibrates and I glance down.

  Magic energy critically low.

  Shit. I’m useless. Totally, bloody useless.

  "I'm almost out of energy," I call out.

  Jay says the words I don't want to hear from our healer right now. "Me too."

  Zara's knocked back by a spell from Gorlack, and her back thuds against a nearby table. She leaps to her feet and spins around, deflecting another blow with her shield. “Stop attacking. I’ll hold him off until we can get the hell out of here.”

  I scream out in pain as my head snaps back and instinctively reach behind me to loosen the fingers holding my ponytail. My assailant yanks again and my eyes stream with the pain. The stench that permeates the town from the filthy invading horde intensifies as I’m pulled against a goblin’s body. Dean and Aidan are focused on Gorlak and Zara, and only Jay hears my yell.

  Cold, bony fingers stroke my cheek and the goblin’s rank breath chokes me as he speaks. “Humans die here.”

  His thin fingers curl around my neck, choking me further, and I flail my arms attempting to stop him before I pass out. He holds me to one side, arm outstretched and cackles. His other hand goes to his belt and seconds later he holds a blade in front of my face.

  Blackening dizziness overcomes me as I wait for the dagger to slice my throat. My hearing dulls and I fight to stay conscious. Instead, I fall forwards as the goblin drops his grip on me and cries out in pain. Jay stares back at the goblin, hand still fisted from where he thumped the creature in the face.

  “Run, El.”

  I’m shoved onto my hands and knees by the goblin, who lets out a roar as he turns back to Jay. Gathering my magic strength, I prepare to look round and cast. A weak spell would be better than no spell at all.

  A
strangled yell cools my blood, and I snap my head around. The goblin sits astride Jay’s chest and lifts a sword, cackling as he does. The world switches to slow motion as the sword plunges into Jay's chest. I scream out and launch myself at the creatures. Dean spins around at my scream and darts over. He seizes the creature’s scraggly hair, pulls the goblin's head back and slices across its throat.

  The world freeze-frames at the sight of the dagger skewered through Jay’s chest. I can't move either, as the chaos from the continuing fight around doesn’t register anymore.

  “Jay!” I stare back uselessly as his eyes glaze.

  This quest was supposed to be easy.

  Nobody was supposed to die.

  “Run!" Dean shouts and shoves at demon-Aidan.

  I reach out to Jay but Dean grabs my hand, pulling me back to here and now. A lightning bolt of magic hits a chair behind me. "We need to go."

  Zara backs up, parrying attacks, breathing laboured. "We nearly have the bastard now."

  "You're injured, come on. We've already lost..." Dean doesn't look down as he shoves me towards the doorway. "Zara!"

  Stupefied, I stumble out and into the silent village centre.

  "Keep going!"

  "We can't leave Jay,” I protest

  Zara limps out, holding her side. Bile rises in my throat at the sight of the gash in her chain tunic and blood seeping through her fingers.

  "I can't run," she mutters.

  “You need to, come on.” Dean supports her on one arm, and me the other side of her. I don't look back. I can’t. The carnage caused by our rampage through the town shocks me as we stumble through bodies.