Mark of the fated a litr.., p.24
Mark of the Fated: A LitRPG Adventure, page 24
“So far so good,” I whispered.
“You’re doing grand!” exclaimed Edric.
“I’ll be dead of old age before he finishes,” Sun scoffed, already mounted and waiting. “Daylight’s fading.”
“It’s barely past morning!” I argued.
“With the time it’s taking you, the moon will be up before you slip a foot in a stirrup.”
“Not helping!” I muttered as I attached the girth beneath Bolt’s chest.
I picked up the bridle and everything went to shit. I could remember the general placement of the bit and the crown, but I’d messed something up or twisted it and I had straps where they didn’t belong. I ignored Edric’s polite chuckles and Sun’s more mocking grunts and tried again. The amiable horse opened his mouth without complaint as I slipped the bit in.
“Ok. Now the nose band.”
I tucked it beneath the bit to prevent uncomfortable pressure.
“Now the throat latch.”
Tucking the leather underneath his jaw, I left slack between the strap and Bolt’s chin.
“Ok, so far so good. How’re you doing, boy?”
Firebolt shook his head and whinnied.
“Edric, is that a good or bad answer?”
“Is he trampling you?”
I looked into the soulful brown eye of the horse. “Umm, not yet.”
“Then you’re doing fine, young master. Would you like me to check him over?”
“Once I’ve adjusted the stirrups,” I replied, turning back to the horse. “Don’t trample me now, ok? We’re doing well.”
Bolt snorted.
“Sun’s watching!” I muttered. “Don’t embarrass me!”
“Too late!” she called.
“How would you feel about going back to the dungeon?” I asked her.
“How would you feel about me getting the hammer?” she replied.
“Good comeback.” I laughed at her sass. “Edric, I think I’ve done it. Would you mind just checking it over for me?”
“Not at all,” he replied, bustling into the pen. Casting an expert eye over my work, he nodded to himself as he made small adjustments. “Pretty good for someone new to riding. At this rate you’ll be in the cavalry by next month.”
“I’ll just be happy if my new friend doesn’t throw me into a nettle filled ditch.”
“Nay. Young Bolt will be a sturdy companion for the journey ahead, don’t you fret.”
“I’ll try not to,” I replied, hooking my left foot in the stirrup and hoisting myself up. I took the reins from Edric and guided Bolt out of the stall. I don’t mind telling you that I felt like a million quid at that moment. I was a stranger in an alien world. Alone except for another stranger. Yet my spirit soared as the insistent touch of my boots yielded a compliant response from my proud beast.
Edric regarded us with pride. “Look at you both. A pair of fine warriors if ever I’ve laid eyes on them.”
“Look after Lady and Bella for me while we’re gone.”
“Like they were the marshal’s own, young master,” Edric replied. “You have my word.”
I turned to Sun. “Care to lead the way, m’lady?”
“What is this m’lady?” she demanded.
“It’s just a saying in my land from a long forgotten time. Ignore me, I’m just nervous.”
“I was planning to,” she grunted and trotted away.
“Good luck!” Edric called as I slowly followed.
Chapter 31
Truth Bomb
Hours had passed since leaving the fortress. Sun had remained largely unresponsive to my attempts to engage in conversation. She would look at me strangely when I would direct our route without checking the parchment in my saddle bag. I couldn’t exactly explain that my minimap had a helpful golden line that was taking us towards our destination. Or could I? I made the decision to broach the subject with my fearsome companion over dinner.
We’d reached a point in the trail and a time of the day that thwarted our continued progress. I spied a small stream to our left on my HUD. Picking an area of thinning brush, we guided our horses into the forest for a mile or so and then dismounted by the water. My arse and back were on fire. My thighs burned too, but they weren’t unused to heavy workouts. I stretched, groaning in pain and pleasure as the kinks in my bones righted themselves with audible cracks.
The horses were busy lapping at the crystal clear water while Sun was glowering at me from the wax coated blanket she was setting up.
“Are you going to get your hammer?”
“Only if you continue to keep secrets from me,” she replied. For a barbarian, she was extremely intelligent and had me sussed from our first encounter.
“I’m not really sure you’d want the truth,” I replied, honestly.
“Suit yourself. I’m sure you’ll be fine on your own out here. I’ll head back in the morning.”
“That’s no way to speak to your great leader.”
“I thought you said I was going to lead?” she replied, yanking on the rope hard enough to shake the top of the tree it was attached to. A shower of leaves and trapped moisture fell all around her.
Our tiny camp took little time to erect on the understanding that it could be quickly stripped if we needed to move fast. I was no expert on troop movements but I expected even the greenskins would stick to well-worn paths rather than chancing a trek through a dark forest on foot.
Sun dug a set of two pits, with a small hole joining them at the base eighteen inches below the surface.
“What’s that for?”
“For cooking and warmth.”
I was still befuddled by the bizarre system. “It’s for a fire? How does it work then?”
She glared, the braids hanging over her face adding to the crazed look. “Are you mocking me?”
I held up my hands in surrender. “I’m not. Honestly. I’ve not seen a campfire done like this before. We normally just pile the wood and let it rip.”
“And that is exactly the reason for doing it like this. What happens when night falls fully?”
“It gets dark and cold?”
“Exactly. It gets very dark. What isn’t dark?”
“A fire.” It all clicked. The smoke would be unavoidable unless we could find wood that was dry. Even a city dwelling dunce knew that. The light from the flames would be mostly obscured by the edges of the pit itself. Considering we were very near, or even in the growing territory of the goblins and their orcish shock troops, it was a sensible precaution. “You’re a genius, Sun.”
“I’m anything but a great thinker. I leave that to the old men with their robes, potions, and frail bodies.”
“You don’t need to be a scholar to be a great thinker. You can be a warrior and a genius at the same time. Some of our greatest legends were proficient with their brain and their blade. How do you think those scholars would do outside of their towers and libraries? Out here in the world, I mean?”
“They would be prey,” she replied with certainty.
“Exactly! Your genius lies in survival in the real world. How can I put it? You could live in their world easily, but they would fail in yours. Does that make sense?”
“In a convoluted way, yes. Now help me strip the horses and get them fed. Then we can settle down to our own food.”
“Salt pork and stinky cheese?”
“You can have salted herring if you’d prefer. The cheese is good if you eat it with the bread.”
“I’ll take your word for it,” I replied, sourly. The acidic tang still clung to my nostril hairs hours later. I dreaded to think what my mouth would feel like afterwards.
We unburdened the horses of their tack and strapped up their feed bags. Content with the fare, they started to munch through the oats while their tails swished to shoo the forest flies that settled on their hides.
“If the journey was any longer I’d have taken a third horse to switch with during the day,” she explained, looking over our steeds. “We should be back with time to spare, so it was best we stuck to two.”
“Cool.” I was no wilderness survivalist and let the expert take the lead.
She fashioned a cradle for the meats from some severed branches. “You can eat it dry and cold. I prefer it to have some heat and smoke first. It softens it up so you don’t break your teeth.”
“I’ll have the same, thank you.”
Sun took out a small pouch and withdrew three items. An iron rod that looked like a cheap knuckle duster, a flint, and an even smaller pouch which held some fur type material and some charred cloth. She caught my expression and paused. “What?”
My eyes snapped up. “What?”
“I asked you what? You’re making a face as if you’ve never seen this type of thing before.”
“Not at all.”
She smiled a predator’s smile. “Then what is it?”
I put two and two together and hoped it didn’t come out nine. “To start a fire?”
The smile never faltered. “Ok, so how does it work?”
Shit!
I added three plus three. “You light the fur with the other things. The stone and the metal.”
“That sounded like a guess.”
Double shit!
“Erm…” I sat on my fallen log and decided to just go for it. Truth all the way. “I have an… easier way.”
“By all means, Englander, show me your advanced methods,” she mocked, packing away her kit.
I took a deep breath. “Once I do this, I have to tell you a story. Do you promise to leave my toes alone, even if you’re not happy with what I have to say?”
“I can’t make a vow like that.”
“Ok, fine. But it all leads back to what we were talking about in the cell. You want the truth, I’m going to give it to you.”
She sat cross legged next to her cold firepit and waited. I almost grinned at how much she looked like an oversized schoolgirl waiting for assembly to begin. Then I remembered the axes and battle tattoos and stopped myself lest I join the inking at the end of her blades. Taking a small bunch of the twigs, I laid them inside the hole while I gathered the courage to open up fully. When a suitable construction of kindling and small logs was ready, I turned to her and held out a hand. She made to reach for it, but jumped back three feet when a burning torch appeared out of nowhere, throwing back the encroaching shadows.
“What is this?” she demanded, bounding to her feet and snatching it from my grasp. Sun turned it over in her hands and sniffed at the wooden shaft. “Witchcraft?”
“I think a male witch is called a warlock,” I replied, summoning another from my inventory and feeding the blazing wick into the pit while she gaped at my first. The angle was awkward, but the heat soon transferred and the thin sticks started to crackle and char. I stood up and took the first torch from her. In the blink of an eye they were both back in my pack and the darkness was settling on us fast.
“You are a sorcerer? Explain yourself!” she snapped, reaching for an axe.
“Put the weapon away and join me at the fire. I’m not your enemy.”
“I’ll be the judge of that,” she replied, moving to the other side of the growing flames.
I fed a few more thin logs into the pit and settled back onto the softness of the loamy soil and decaying leaves from the previous winter’s shed. “I do come from somewhere called England, that much is true. The lie is that it exists in this world. I don’t come from any land on your planet.”
She didn’t reply. Neither did she scoff, so I continued. “I’m going to do something strange now, just please don’t freak out.”
“What’s freak out?” she asked as I conjured Ratty. Yelping, she fully withdrew an axe at the sight of the growing rodent.
“His name’s Ratty,” I explained, feeding him some more milk as I stroked his fur. “He’s my companion.”
Sun gaped as he disappeared, only to be replaced by Spidey. I still felt a shiver of revulsion as his legs kneaded at the palm of my hand.
“What is that thing?” Sun spat, reaching for one of the burning logs.
“A webspinner. A type of companion spider.” I swallowed hard and called forth his food. The hunk of meat was quickly clasped in its fangs and the spinnerets went to work cocooning it as it disappeared into my pack. My skin crawled for a good few seconds afterwards. I’d saved my newest companion for last. The little pup appeared, curled up and snoring until I conjured a baby bottle of milk.
“Is that a…?”
“A warg pup. It’s mum was going to eat us.”
Her shock had vanished at the little ball of furs’ arrival. Sun shuffled round on the leaves and sat beside me, holding out her hands.
“Don’t ask me where I got the bottle from as I don’t know,” I explained, handing Wargy over. I was planning on working on the names at some point, but my mind had been on other things.
“He’s new-born. A day or two at most,” she marvelled. “You say it’s mother attacked you?”
“She was part of a small goblin party that struck our wagons on the way here. We managed to hold them off and I found this little fella on one of the bodies.”
“You mean in the body?”
I would explain the strange way I collected things later. “Yes, that’s what I meant.”
“He’s beautiful,” she cooed, scratching a fingernail gently on his small tummy. His back leg twitched as he suckled on the rubber teat.
“They don’t look so cute when they’re fully grown and charging at you.” I thought of the massive, salivating maw of the mother. The razor sharp fangs that snapped in anticipation of the meal to come.
“I know, believe me. Thank you for letting me hold him,” she said, handing him back. “Here you go.”
I put him safely back into my incubator or whatever it was within my pack that kept them safe and growing. “You don’t seem as freaked out as you did before.”
“By freak out do you mean an expression of shock?”
“Yeah.”
She nodded in understanding. “Good. Then no, I’m not as freaked out. My fear has given way to questions.”
“Ask and I’ll answer. No more lies, I promise.”
“Where is this England from which you hail if it is not on our world?”
“Another universe.”
Her brow furrowed at the strange word. “Another what?”
I pointed skyward. “You see the stars above? The tiny specks against the dark. They’re the suns that other worlds like ours revolve around. Everything here and out there is called a universe. Billions of stars and planets. I come from a different one to yours.”
She looked skyward and regarded the spots of glittering light. “They’re suns?”
“What did you think they were?”
“We are always told they’re our greatest warriors, watching down on us to ensure we keep the true barbarian faith.”
“On our world, many older religions thought along the same lines.”
“But they aren’t the spirits of the fallen?”
“I’m afraid not. They’re just suns that lie a very, very long way from here. So far you couldn’t travel there in a hundred lifetimes even on the fastest horse.”
She turned to me, her expression one of wonder. “How is it you know this?”
How indeed? What would a medieval society know of telescopes and computer imagery? I had an idea. “Do you have… binoculars. No, that’s not right. Do you have anything that can spy people from a long way away? It uses glass to magnify things. We call it a telescope.”
“No.”
That was a complete bust. “Oh, ok. Well in our world, we can use these things to see things up close that are very far away across the universe.” I noted her dour expression. “What’s the matter?”
“I feel sad now,” she muttered.
“Don’t be. Your ancestors are out there somewhere.”
“In another universe?”
“Yeah, they could be. We believe the souls of our dead go to another place. Depending on the life they’ve led, it can be a place of beauty and love, or one of horrific suffering.”
Sun softened at my explanation. “Our beliefs are not dissimilar. If you haven’t bathed in the blood of your enemies, you can’t be welcomed onto the Isle of Giants to drink in the great halls. Do you have to kill many enemies too?”
“Umm, kind of,” I replied, recounting the ten commandments. Unless there was an eleventh hidden on the other side of the stone that said thoust shalt killeth ten score of thine enemies, we weren’t meant to bathe in anyone’s blood. “I’ll explain more about it another day. Now, please don’t be angry with what I’m going to say, but there’s no way to put it lightly.”
Sun regained her composure and nodded. “I’m prepared.”
Here it was. The knockout punch. “I was sent here by a race of beings that are akin to gods. So you could say I was godspawned, but I’m not a brave warrior or anything like that. They’ve threatened my world, and the only way I can help my people is by helping this kingdom.”
“That sounds noble. Why would I need to prepare myself for it?”
“It’s the way they speak of these worlds, it makes it seem like a game. Like they’ve created this land with their magic. A place of pretend, fantasy, make-believe.”
“What is this nonsense of which you speak? Games and such. Fantasy. Make-believe.”
“It means none of this is really real,” I replied, motioning all around me. “If what they’re telling me is true, that is.”
“How can I not be real?” she asked, throwing a rock at me.
Its impact on my chest was extremely real as I rubbed at the sore spot. “I’m only telling you what they told me.”
“Then your gods are lying to you. How else would I have lived the life I have? Have the memories I do? I didn’t spring into being from under a rock when you deigned to arrive.”
Her point about my sponsors lying had me wondering, but the tutorial wasn’t something that just happened to exist. The dungeon had been created for us to traverse, as had the enemies within. That being said, if the world was real, then I had a whole bunch more issues coming my way. Until I knew for certain, I decided to just cut my losses and shut up about it. “You’re probably right.”
