The Dragon's Wrath: A Virtual Dream

Chapter 19: Awaiting the Search

(Monday, March 8th Game Day / Saturday, January 23rd Real Day)

It was a moonless and starless night as the clouds hung low and obscured our vision, denying us the privilege to gaze upon the heavens and the light that would have shined down upon us.

It was indeed a very dark night.

I had purposefully placed our campsite behind a grove of tightly clustered trees that would block out the sight of the village, more out of an attempt to keep them from finding us than it being a sore sight for the eyes.

Thankfully the fire had plenty of kindle and burned hot throughout the night but with snow still on the ground it was still quite cold. Selene had taken position opposite of me on the other side of the flames and was in a deep sleep… she must have been exhausted.

I felt a little bad, even if she was just an NPC.

As the sun peeked over the top of the mountain ranges to the east and light cascaded down through the tree tops I took a moment to simply bask in the warming light.

Sometimes one has to enjoy the simpler things in life.

A sunrise is one such natural beauty.

Selene had woken now with the sun's rays illuminating her face and I was able to get a good look at her, unabashed as she sleepily started to move.

She was quite pretty in her own way, not necessarily a knockout or nearly as beautiful as Kate but she was attractive nonetheless.

The developers of this quest chain must have had some weird ideas… to create two attractive women and have them be killed by an Earl with his deformed wives; I certainly couldn't understand the appeal.

The fire was put out as soon as the sun had started to rise but the smoke was still lingering and it wasn't long before I saw small dots appear at the village's edge.

Soon those small dots turned into eight warriors.

It wouldn't be long now.

The bodies had been more or less hidden in the snow so they wouldn't be able to find them without careful search, but only one glance in the direction of the bodies told the story.

Wolves had come in the dead of night to munch on the corpses and they were strewn about in plain sight… well, at least I had the presence of mind to strip the bodies of their gear.

Profit was to be made after all.

I figured it was time to set up our ambush, "Selene why don't you climb one of these trees and get a good vantage point to fire from, I'll stay down here near the campfire and the bodies of the dead. They're coming straight for us so we can use that to our advantage. It will be a straightforward ambush once they are distracted or split up by the bodies and the campfire."

While Selene found a suitable tree to climb the warriors had closed in on our position and had started to fan out into a walking line. The warriors continued to spread out until there was roughly ten paces between them; it worked out for me since I could now start at one end and work my way to the other.

Only a minute had passed since they entered the forest line but the anticipation while waiting in ambush had made time slip by slowly… it felt like minutes were passing me by.

And then it all began.

As one warrior pointed to the corpses of their friends, they all drew their weapons and continued to pace forward.

Another minute had passed as two warriors came up to the bodies while the rest continued to comb the forest floor for a trail.

While I waited patiently behind a small cluster of trees I decided to chant a three verse [Lightning Bolt]. With sufficient time, I could extend my charge by one-second per verse in addition to the normal two-second cast time. Each Chanted Verse added a +33% bonus modifier to the original strength of the spell.

It was worth it, if you could manage it.

Turning my head to look for Selene, I realized that I couldn't see her from where I was but it was of no consequence; she could see me and that was all that mattered.

Yeah, it was time to start.

"Through power, darkness turns to light, render all to ash," as I finished my chant and quickly stepped out from behind the tree, I whispered "Lightning Bolt!"

A surge of balled up electrical energy was released just as the warriors down the line had yelled, "Found a camp!" The next reply wasn't what they expected though as a warrior was knocked on the flat of his back, unable to scream due to the paralyzing-effect of the lightning as he writhed on the floor.

The one next to him yelled in his stead, "AMBUSH!"

I quickly drew my bow and released one well-placed arrow into the convulsing body on the ground, cleanly entering under the warrior's chin and up through the skull.

It was a clean kill; only seven to go.

I stood my ground so all could see and continued to release arrows as fast as I could, caring little for accuracy at this point as I simply wanted their attention on me.

The warrior that was standing next to his fallen comrade quickly became a pin cushion as he charged at me, collapsing but ten feet in front of me.

He was still alive but he was severely wounded and would bleed to death on his own, I had no time for him now. I turned my attention to the six men that were charging towards me with their mix of spears and axes drawn, some with shields as well.

I would be shit out of luck if I had to melee against these odds, but then I saw Selene deliver a well-placed and timely arrow to the last warrior at the back of the line.

The surprise of the arrow hitting him in the collarbone while in full sprint caused him to trip over an upright root and sent him tumbling head-first into a tree with a loud thud.

I quickly let off another arrow into the lead warrior that was simply deflected by his shield; I had now run out of time to shoot.

Tossing my bow to the ground I drew the woodcutter's axe from my sling and met the warrior's charge head-on, as axe clashed with shield the force of my blow staggered the warrior and I pressed on with my onslaught.

From above my head I swung down with a fierce blow, hard enough to shatter a portion of the shield in front of me as splinters of wood exploded in all directions.

I quickly kicked out against the man to free my axe as a spear was simultaneously thrust at me from a second warrior.

It was a shallow glancing wound and I paid it no heed.

I pressed on with my attacks as an axe belongs to an offensive style; defense was created through offense here.

I went with a horizontal swing towards the man's midsection, a blow he could only hope to deflect with his broken shield. As anticipated, the man in front of me raised his shield while bracing for the impact to come.

The axe-head landed with a solid ker-chunk as it shattered the shield entirely and continued on with a soft thud into the arm of the warrior, stopping only at the contact of bone.

A loud scream pierced through the snow covered trees of the forest as birds flew from their nests and cubby holes in a state of sudden confusion.

The man himself fell to his side as he grasped his arm writhing in pain.

Without a moment of hesitation I transitioned from the pull of the axe out of the man's arm into an upright downward swinging motion.

I used [Execute].

The first man to be properly [Executed] died with an arm dangling by his waist and a forearm shielding his face. Unfortunately for him, I had aimed for the chest and split it open like a budding flower.

Staring at the imagery in front of me I was soon brought back to reality as the pointy end of a spear found its way into my side. My body instinctively twitching from the sudden burst of pain, all I could muster was a glance in the spear's direction as I attempted to create separation.

It was a deep wound. I could feel that much… yeah, I could really feel it.

The wound burned as pain radiated throughout my stomach, causing me to place my hand over the hole in a vain attempt to stop the pain.

Gaining the necessary distance between us, I turned my focus onto the second warrior before he could freely attack a third time.

But, I was disappointed in what was standing before me. In the few seconds that we had been fighting the other warriors had appeared as well.

I was surrounded by four warriors now, all bearing shields and an even distribution of spear and axe.

Things weren't looking up for me as the two spearmen violently thrust their weapons towards me.

I could only parry and deflect the spears with my axe and soon was hit from behind by an axe to the shoulder.

The blow was strong enough to knock me forward and onto a knee as I rushed to get back on my feet.

It was too late.

I was hit with a shield from behind that knocked me flat on my stomach.

I could only turn my head as the men prepared their final assault.

Four men raised their weapons but only three attacks came down as I frantically tried to block the two axes. I had no time to look for the two spears but by the registered pain in my side I figured one spear was accounted for somewhere in my liver.

The other spear couldn't be felt and as I rolled around on the ground I saw a man with an arrow sticking out of the side of his temple.

I wanted to yell, "Boom! Headshot!" but I didn't have the time to goof around as an axe dug deep into my thigh.

That got me to yell for a brief moment, more in anger than in pain though.

As another arrow found its mark, I found myself getting hacked to death by the two axe-men. My health had depleted considerably and I was losing anywhere from ten to twenty percent of my health with each swing.

I wouldn't last long at this rate.

No, I wouldn't last more than a few more seconds.

As their blows continued to land I was simply left to covering my head, as I pathetically lay there waiting to die.

All I could do was try to buy some time for Selene before I met my fate.

Selene had landed a few more arrows as I was being butchered and soon the attacks had ceased. I was already below critical levels and would bleed out within a few moments but it wasn't that big of a deal.

The fight was over, that was all that mattered.

We won, my sister in arms survived.

A necessary sacrifice I was willing to make.

Selene rushed over to me and soon stopped in her tracks, I simply wasn't in the kind of condition that gave people hope that they could bring you back.

A tourniquet and some wound pressure wouldn't really work here.

She seemed worried.

I decided to cheer her up, "Ah, don't worry about this. You know we adventurers are chosen by the Gods right? Cough I'll be brought back to life in short order. Just make sure they're all, cough cough, dead."

It was the truth after all, as players didn't have permanent deaths like the NPCs; we simply lost experience and time.

By the look of Selene's face you could tell it was a hard concept to understand but in a moment it was as if she had completely accepted it. She simply turned around and began to check all of the warriors that were strewn about.

Not even a nod of acknowledgment for the parting.

I muttered my last breath before dying, "Damn that's cold… just walking away…."

My ghost spawned at the town square but the world was only shades of gray and I couldn't see or interact with the living; the death state was pretty cool yet trippy and scary too. I had the option to revive in the town or to find my body, with a stiffer penalty if I chose immediate resurrection.

Well, even if I revived in the center of town I would probably just get cut down in my weakened state by the guards.

Forced situations made decisions easy, really.

After ten minutes of hopping and skipping I arrived near my body and was prompted with a system message:

[Would you like to Resurrect?]

[Yes / No]

Selecting [Yes] was an obvious result.

Not long after, I could feel my spirit body being sucked into my physical body as if I was traveling at warp speed. The gray surrounding stretched into lines and then in a moment of darkness I found myself staring up at the foliage above me.

As I enjoyed the serenity of the beams of light streaking through the breaks in the trees I couldn't help but wonder how long the developers had worked on the death state.

It was certainly well done after all.

It was… quite the experience, really.

After I finished contemplating the death state I rolled to my side and sat on my knees.

Selene was relaxing against a tree while nonchalantly munching on some of the bear jerky we had made the day before; she certainly took things in stride.

Standing up and brushing my knees off, I looked around to find all the bodies were still with weapon and armor… I kind of expected Selene to gather them, oh well.

I walked through the group of bodies to gather everything I could, they didn't have much money on them but I at least had a few hand axes and spears I could sell. I stripped all of their bodies of the fur clothing they were wearing; though some of it was blood stained I could still boil the fur off and re-use the leather hide underneath.

While collecting the items I had been conversing with Selene, "So, the town has seven warriors left plus the Earl."

"And yet you still intend to launch an attack, after being reduced to a mauled corpse."

Cough.

"Ahem, it was all a part of the plan to ensure your safety."

"Mm. Appreciated."

"Anyhow… I'm thinking we wait until night fall in three hours and then attack."

"Do you think you can actually win?"

I hesitated for a moment to think about our prospects, and decided it was completely up to chance. "Not sure, the Earl's Champion is quite strong and I'm not sure I could beat him in a one versus one situation."

Selene didn't seem to share my enthusiasm or my confidence. With a dejected tone she curtly replied, "But you intend to beat him in a one versus seven situation."

"Yup!"

It had to be done, so it would be done. That was my reasoning so far as being outnumbered was concerned. Of course, Selene still was having none of it as she shook her head from side to side in disagreement.

"Sigh why didn't you bring Kate… she could have helped a lot."

"I didn't know the situation, didn't want to risk it."

"Sigh but you want us to launch a surprise attack at sunset in the middle of the town with no way of knowing if the towns people will aide or hinder us… this could get out of hand quickly."

"Ah don't worry about it ey? I've got a plan of attack!"

"And…?"

"The wisest words ever spoken right here, 'Attack!'"

I was laughing at the corny reference but Selene simply shook her head in disagreement.

At least she didn't make a fuss, she was rather grounded and level-headed and I could appreciate that. I was usually the grounded level-headed guy but if someone else wants to take that role, I'm all for getting a bit silly.

The next three hours were a bit mundane but I had nothing better to do, so Selene and I sat and chatted, hunted when animals came near, and continued to dry out the rest of the bear meat… nearly a hundred pounds of bear jerky would last far too long.

At some point near the end of one of our many conversations Selene brought up my actions when we first left, "So, where did you come up with that idea… when the five guys were behind us."

Fully aware of what she was referencing, I continued to play dumb.

"Hm?"

"You know, your whole act."

"Oh. It wasn't really an act. I was just using the situation to steal a kiss really."

I said it so nonchalantly that Selene just sat there motionless for a few minutes as she seemed to be stewing. Rule number something out of my top so and so rules of engagement with a woman: if a girl asks you a serious question and doesn't say anything after you reply and sits or stands there silently, she is angry and will only be getting angrier with you the longer it goes.

So yeah, remedy that as soon as possible or dip out and don't turn back.

I chose option number two.

She could stew by herself, I had hunting to do.