Sorcerers quest, p.23
Sorcerer's Quest, page 23
“Why didn’t you tell us?” came Dave’s voice from next door. It was muffled through the wood, but she could make it out.
“Because it’s rare. I didn’t expect it to happen here.” That was Conti. He almost sounded bored.
“Well it did. And we’re stuck here.” The tone was accusatory.
“Informing you earlier wouldn’t have changed that. We were stuck then and we’re stuck now.”
She got up and smoothed out her robes. They still looked like they were slept in, but she didn’t have anything to change into. The argument was coming from the guy’s room. Conti and Dave were at it over something. They had been working fine together so far, for her sake if nothing else, but she wasn’t too surprised to hear an argument from the two of them, She just wondered what it was all about
She made her way to the room. Ruby’s minions were outside the door but let her in without a word. Jane realized Ruby hadn’t been in their room. She opened the door to see everyone awake and listening to the two argue.
“We could have worked on something all this time,” said Dave, pacing back and forth.
“What could we have tried?” asked Conti. He sat in a chair near where Dave paced.
“Something, anything,” Brett said, as Jane closed the door behind her. He sounded desperate, which made her worry. It was stark contrast to his normal laid back attitude.
Ruby stood up and looked over at Jane, standing beside the door. Everyone turned to look, and quieted down when they saw her.
“What’s going on?” she asked. She felt like a mother walking in on a room of misbehaving children.
“Told you guys,” Ruby said, raising her hands
“Sorry Jas,” said Dave. “We didn’t mean to wake you.” Brett and Gavin muttered similar apologies. Even Conti looked slightly abashed.
“Well, I’m awake, and I’m here. What’s going on?” she asked again, while taking an open seat. She looked around at each of them. They all looked exhausted. Brett had calmed down a bit but Lazorhawkk looked frightened. Eventually Gavin spoke.
“We can’t log out,” he said plainly. “And with the zorcs outside we can’t leave.”
“Can’t log out?” she asked. “Is that to do with the Edge Zone?”
“It has been known to happen in some,” said Conti, shrugging. “But it’s rare. I’ve only experienced it once before.”
“Yes, and some of us don’t like the idea of being stuck in the game,” said Dave, his voice rising again. “Some of us log out more often than the minimum required.”
The whole time since they reached the Edge Zone Jane had been doing everything from feel. Now she tried to pull up any interface. She ended up being able to open several: character information, inventory, system menu. But in each of them things were missing or had menu options blurred out. She could reach in her pouches to find spell reagents, but she couldn’t find them in her inventory settings. Most of her character sheet stats weren’t there and the ones that were made no sense. In the system menu there wasn’t even an option to log out of the game. Her travel crystal spell was also disabled, which she realized with a frown.
“So we leave,” she said simply, closing her interfaces so she could see the group again.
“And how do you propose that?” asked Brett. “Those zorcs are still everywhere.”
She explained her experience, channeling into the crystal, and what she had sensed.
“That cavern was just one small part. The caves below here snake everywhere,” she said, “and they extended beyond where I could sense the zorcs gathered.”
“That brings up two questions,” said Dave. “First, can you guide us through them?”
She frowned, and shook her head. “Not right now. If I tried using the crystal again, I could study a path out, but I couldn’t guide us right now. What’s the second question?”
“Why didn’t Mr. Esson of the estate of Ressix tell us of these caves?” Conti chimed in. Dave looked irritated for a moment, but then simply nodded.
“Maybe he doesn’t know,” Lazorhawkk said, as if he were trying to assure himself.
Jane shook her head. “No, he has to know. If I sensed them my first time, he has to know about them if he uses that crystal regularly. And they should be safe too. I sensed nothing dangerous in those caves.”
The thought that their host wanted to keep them here was unnerving, but they couldn’t deny that was what it seemed like.
“Then let’s leave. Now and without a word to Wilhelm,” said Dave. “If he didn’t tell us about them, then he’s hiding something. We leave before he can do anything else.”
“What would he want with us?” Gavin asked.
“My best guess would be something to do with Jasmine,” Dave said. “She filled those crystals far more than he did. Maybe he wants to keep us around for her help. In any case, I’m not sticking around long enough to find out.”
“He’s hiding lots of somethings,” Jane said. “When I was channeling there were pockets I couldn’t sense. There were dozens around the manor, and larger ones elsewhere. I felt like those places had tons of power to draw from, but that is more intuition than anything I sensed. The more I think about it the more I believe he blocked those places off on purpose.”
“Our concern is getting out of here,” Grendalt growled from the edge of the group. “To get you safe. We can consider those pocket things later, but now we need to get out and get your quest done.”
“I agree,” said Dave. “Whatever those pockets are, I don’t care. We need to get out of here. This place gave me the willies before I knew we can’t log out. I don’t like being trapped in it.”
The others spoke in agreement. Jane frowned. Those underground pockets were hiding something, and there were lots of them. But it wasn’t just her safety she had to think about. They were all stuck here together, and they had to get out together.
“You’re right,” she said. “We need to leave. Let’s not waste any time.”
The group readied themselves. Wilhelm was hiding something. Jane was sure of that now. The question was what, and could they escape before getting caught.
~ ~ ~
Once everyone was ready they carefully snuck through the halls. Jane and Brett were the spell casters in the party, and as such they could sense magical flows. They kept their senses open for any wards. Wilhelm was a high level spellcaster, so there was a good chance he had set some up. Ruby and Gavin led the group, watching for tripwires or anything that might be set up to alert Wilhelm that someone was moving through the halls. The manor looked threatening now with its dark wood and bare walls, as if it was purposefully bare to leave more room for traps.
They found the staircase to the cavern without incident. Jane sensed a ward on the stairs, but disarmed it with a touch of power. It would rearm itself in a few minutes, but that was plenty of time for them to get by. Down at the bottom the door swung open easily. The cavern was brighter than when they had left. Jane wondered if Wilhelm had added more power to the crystals or if it was more evidence he was hiding something. She had all but charged the crystals in a few moments, but then the power went elsewhere. He had said the wards needed it, but he also had said the crystals were the battery of the wards. The wards would have to have been all but drained for that much power to rush into them.
She walked up to the pedestal and was ready to touch the crystal again when she heard a voice. She froze and listened, only moving to glance back at everyone else. Conti had heard something as well, and was silently but urgently waving everyone to move to one side of the cavern. Jane followed his lead. She couldn’t make out the words just yet, but it was clear two people were talking and coming this way.
There was a small cave mouth where Conti had motioned everyone to go. Jane wondered if he was just lucky to find it, or if he had spotted when they were here earlier. Dave led them in, but his armor was loud. Even the hunter’s mail armor clinked loudly in the relative quiet, and Jane felt like it must echo for miles.
They were able to settle down before the voice came too near. Jane was near the mouth of the cave, along with Conti and Grendalt, everyone else was farther in. She laid her staff across her knees, trying to make sure it wouldn’t accidentally bang into any of the rocks. Soon she could hear three voices, talking to each other.
“The shipment is ready,” came a deep baritone voice. She recognized it as Wilhelm’s “You can take it with you as you leave if you would like.”
“That is simply fabulous.” That voice was a woman’s. Jane felt Conti stiffen when he heard it, and after it spoke again she recognized it too. “You’re saying she drew enough power to finish it at once?”
“Yes, Wanda, and more besides,” Wilhelm answered. “Another shipment will be ready in two weeks if I can get her to use the conduit again. It will be a shame when she stops cooperating.”
“Ugh, such a detestable practice,” said a third voice. Grego.
“Yet one you willingly let happen,” Wilhelm retorted. “Unless you’d rather I find another patron.”
“Of course not, Wilhelm,” said Wanda. “We know your methods, and we accept them. As Echelon grows more powerful there will be fewer to challenge us, and you will be supplied with more sorcerers than you could need.”
They voices had entered the cavern. Jane held her breath.
“If you find any more like Miss Jasmine, it would greatly push our schedule up,” Wilhelm said, walking by the pedestal.
“You know we cannot control who comes here for the quest,” said Wanda. “If she benefits us, then we were lucky. Not even GMs can alter sorcerer quests. Perhaps if we are lucky to get one to sign with us we can convince them to come, but otherwise, we will have to suffice with who we can get.”
Behind the three came more footsteps. The main conversation faded as she heard their footsteps move up the wooden stairs. Jane dared a careful look at what followed the trio and spotted several zorcs, carrying some heavy cases between them. These ones were sedated and compliant. A large contrast compared to the frenzy that had been outside.
So Wilhelm could control the zorcs. Had he used them to herd her party here? It made the most sense if he wanted sorcerers for whatever thing he was working on. This didn’t change what they needed to do, though. They needed to get out of here, and worry about other mysteries later.
They waited until the last footsteps had faded away. Conti motioned for them to wait a minute longer before letting Jane move to touch the pedestal.
“What the hell was that?” Brett asked in a whisper.
“Confirmation that we need to leave,” Gavin said.
“Oh my god, oh my god. We need to leave,” said Lazorhawkk too loudly.
“That’s what I just said!” Gavin hissed, shushing him. “You gotta calm down.”
Conti and Grendalt took positions by the stairs. Dave joined them. Jane didn’t waste any time. She reached out and touched the crystal.
This time she focused on the power again, but just on finding its source in her surroundings. She had no intent on channeling it and helping Wilhelm any more with whatever he was doing. If he was working with Echelon then she was against it on principle.
Not channeling the power was tougher than letting it flow. She could feel the crystal greedy for power. It wanted her to gather the power and feed it to the crystal. It was a strong pull and she had to brace her mind against it to prevent it from happening. After a moment her senses opened up again. She could sense her friends immediately, bright lights of strong connections and power. Knowing such power and connections were there was amazing, but she forced herself to move from them and focus on finding a path. She felt the holes again, but ignored them. Her senses snaked out through the caves as they moved away from the manor. She pushed her perception farther and farther and then found a path. There were several, but she picked the simplest one that went far beyond the fence and memorized it before releasing her hand from the crystal.
“Oh Jasmine, I had just started to enjoy your company,” said Wilhelm from far behind her. She felt a snap and a collar closed around her neck. She spun around to see a zorc next to her. Behind it she saw her party and several more zorcs. Grendalt and Dave were on the ground, knocked out. Conti had two zorcs keeping him face down on the ground. Everyone else was pinned against the walls or had a blade shoved at their throat. Dozens of zorc bodies littered the ground. Wilhelm stood at the foot of the stairs, overlooking the scene. He walked towards Jasmine.
She pulled up her hand to throw a fireball at him, but nothing happened.
“The collar prevents you from casting,” Wilhelm explained, gesturing to it. “Although you can still channel mana and power, you can’t form it into spells. It’s much less effective than doing it directly with the crystal, but you can still do it.”
“I’ll never help you,” she said, as he stepped up next to her. The zorc beside her grabbed her arm to prevent her from moving away.
“You don’t have a choice, my dear,” he said, standing in front of her. He gave her a caress on the cheek which she shuddered away from. “I had hoped to not have to do this for a few more days. It’s a shame. Even in the meger few hours, your company was lovely.”
He pulled out a dagger from his belt. Before she could even move to stop him he had stabbed her in the stomach. She fell over, clutching the dagger, and everything faded into darkness.
Chapter Eight
She opened her eyes and realized she was in the spirit world She had died immediately. Her spirit appeared outside the manor. There was no graveyard or spirit guide here, and she dared not go back to her body and resurrect. She wondered why Wilhelm had killed her when he had her trapped. Had he thought she would have only been wounded? Why stab her in the first place?
But she was free. She had to get out of here. The closest graveyard would be in Endran, but it wouldn’t be open to her. She’d have to travel all the way back to Fort Prenth to find one she could use. She started walking. It would be a long journey. The zorcs couldn’t harm her or stop her. She couldn’t even see them here in the spirit world. Fort Prenth was at least a day away at her fastest pace. She idly wondered how fatigue, body functions, and sleep worked if someone was dead that long.
Her best hope was to escape and convince someone in Gripe to come back and rescue Conti and her friends. Gripe might be willing to come just for Conti’s sake, but she also knew she might have to sign some contract to get them to come. She didn’t care. Her friends were trapped here. They couldn’t escape or log out. She would do anything to get them free.
All these thoughts swirled in her head as she walked out the gate. Suddenly she felt something was wrong. She took two more steps and could feel something tugging her. At first she thought it was her quest as the gates opened up in that direction, but it was pulling her back towards the manor. She kept walking, but the longer she went the stronger the pull became. Soon she could no longer move farther away. It was as if the earth had tilted, tipping her back towards the manor, but it didn’t stop there. She had no muscle, only spirit, but as she clawed at a shrub to hold onto her grip broke and she fell. Pain flashed through her whole being in a way she could not imagine.
When she opened her eyes, she was back in the caves. Back in her body. It hurt to breathe, but she felt her chest move up and down, bringing air to her lungs. She was laying on her back, on an angled slab. She tried to move, but her arms were chained down. She felt the collar still around her neck, but still tried to cast something. She felt the power flow, but couldn’t form anything with it.
“You are a strong one, I must give you that,” Wilhelm’s voice came from the side. She looked around. They were in a different part of the caves. It was another large cavern, and what it lacked in crystals embedded everywhere it made up for in equipment. Tables were filled with tools. On one side a giant machine towered, with twisted pieces of metal and slivers of crystals and precious stones sticking out from all over. It reminded her of a mad scientist’s lair, and thinking about it she realized she just might be in one. The thought brought her no comfort. Mad scientists were funny when you weren’t the one on the slab, which literally she was. She saw cells lining the walls—recessed alcoves into the cavern walls with bars in front. Her friends were in them, each alone in their own cell. She saw Dave standing in his, gripping the bars in front of him. Brett and Gavin were in cells next to his. She saw the hopeless look in all their faces. There was nothing they could do. She could barely make out Conti’s face as he hid in the back of his cell. Her other friends were hidden from her, but she knew they were all here.
In the Game the quests usually had the player stop the mad scientist before he could finish that one last invention that would kill thousands or rule the world. But there was no one to stop Wilhelm now.
“I am sorry, my dear,” said Wilhelm as he stepped up to her. He wore thick gloves and had an apron over his clothes. One had held the same knife he had stabbed her with earlier. “This is the most troublesome part of the process. Unfortunately you cannot escape. Even in death we can bring you back here. I found a way to use a death shard to pull the spirit back in. It has the added benefit of helping channel what we need from you. You resisted the pull of it longer than anyone I can remember. It is such a shame we had to do this so early. You and your friends were too nosy for your own good.”
“How...” She tried to speak, but her breath came ragged.. Something was still hurting in her chest. “How did you...”
“How did I find out?” he asked. She nodded. It hurt to breathe. It hurt more to talk. “The ward at the top of the stairs. It hadn’t reset when I walked by. You did a great job in disarming it though. If I had been just a few minutes more I would never have noticed until it was too late.”
“Is it over yet?” came Grego’s voice. Jane looked up and saw him standing on a outcropping of rock above them, along with Wanda. The cavern roof was high enough for several levels, and it looked like Wilhelm had made the outcropping into a sort of viewing area to look down on the rest of the room.
