Chapter 10: A Creature in the Dark

The forest's edge was just ahead of him now. Gabriella and Channia had both paused near the edge of the trees, weapons at the ready.

Realizing that Sami and the prisoner from the town were lagging behind – and wary that there may yet be further goblin patrols or other threats in the trees – Ricky stopped a few yards back rather than speeding on to join them. He may have already gained the experience points for rescuing the girl, but leaving her here – in the dark, some distance from home, and with dozens of goblins on the rampage – would certainly not sit well with him.

Nor was he sure that he trusted the other prisoner to look after Sami. Frankly the local man seemed far too interested in the teenage girl for Ricky's liking.

“I am a godly man,” announced the portly villager shrilly as the pair approached him. “And I will not consort with shape-changers or their allies. Young man, I insist that you must accompany us back to Barrowdale this instant.”

“I’d like to, if I could,” growled Ricky, “but I don't want your deaths on my conscience. If we go that way right now, we'll be walking into the jaws of the full goblin force.” He sniffed. “And by the way – keep your voice down.”

“He’s right,” said Channia, stepping back towards them and ushering them towards the trees with an arrow in her hand. “Dozens of goblins, with ogres and worse in their force. And what’s more, they're all stronger and more dangerous by night.”

“They can see in the dark, too,” called across Gabriella sternly. “Now, come on.” She hurried back into the trees.

But the two freed prisoners still hesitated.

Ricky looked at the pair. “All right. What’s your name, godly man?”

“Denholm Spanch. I’m a pastor and a merchant.”

“I see.” Ricky was tempted to make a joke about having to decide whether to prioritize the people's souls or their money – but perhaps now was not the time.

“Sami, I promised your parents I would get you back home safely, and I intend to do that as best I can. Shapeshifters may be dangerous, but these ones don't mean you any harm. The goblins do. Do you understand that?”

The young woman nodded solemnly, rubbing her bruised face.

“Gabriella and Channia here are our best chance of achieving that. They know this area. They’re brave and trustworthy, and I've seen both of them in a fight – small bands of goblins don't stand a chance as long as we all stick together.”

*Achievement: Silver tongue! You have been persuasive in the presence of your NPC companions. +10XP

With a nod, Sami – again appearing to be on the verge of tears – hurried forward to walk alongside Channia. Spanch scowled, hesitated, and then followed. “I don’t trust these adventurers,” he said to Ricky, “but I suppose it’s better than goblins. Sometimes even godly men must compromise.”

Now, Ricky realized, he had to keep an eye on both Sami and Spanch until such time as they could find a safe place to stop for the night.

*Quest 009 (level 2): Get the two villagers safely through Triptych Forest.

Soon they found themselves on a wooded path. The trees were tall and sparse, and there was enough moonlight filtering through to see by, at least once Ricky’s eyes adjusted.

They walked in single file. Gabriella took the lead again, with Channia second, Sami in the middle, Ricky next and Spanch at the rear. There was still no sign of Xarok.

They passed through a round clearing, and then Gabriella pointed and led them down a further path of a similar type.

Ricky got the sense that they were gradually moving around towards the south as they proceeded. He pulled the map of the area from his pocket, but it was too dark to read it. He drew the dagger, but it had now stopped glowing, and he sheathed it again, feeling deflated.

But then he remembered that he could see maps mentally.

Guide - map please!

In just a fraction of a second, the map had again appeared across the lower part of Ricky's vision.

He took a moment to view the scene. There were a lot of green stars, presumably indicating larger animals. One seemed to be approaching from around a hundred yards behind. Xarok? Or would the spellcaster show up as a blue circle, even in animal form?

Ricky then perused the area of the map where their own icons were clustered – he was falling behind, he realized, because three of the icons near the middle – Gabriella’s blue circle and the two NPC red dots – were a short distance ahead of the other two circles now.

Then Ricky gasped. There were not two human players among them, but three. The icon directly behind him was a blue circle, just like his own. Spanch was a real live player.

“Spanch,” began Ricky, turning with a frown. “How come...”

But he didn't get to complete his sentence, for a fist came towards his face.

*Damage report: You have lost 2 hit points (8 remain).

Ricky staggered backwards towards the side of the path, spluttering.

*Combat event: You have been disarmed.

Disarmed, what..? Ricky wondered. But it didn't take him long to figure it out. After punching Ricky backwards and sending him staggering against an oak bole, Spanch had grabbed the dagger that had previously been tucked into Ricky's belt... and it was now heading for his throat.

He pulled to the side just in time, feeling the fabric of Spanch’s sleeve brush his neck as the dagger slammed firmly into the wood of the oak tree.

“Traitor,” grunted Rick, now reaching for his katana sword and drawing it.

Spanch, he could now see, had blundered, for the dagger that he had stolen was now embedded into the tree itself. The man pulled at if for a moment, and as he did so, Ricky raised his katana and brought it down firmly towards Spanch’s wrist, missing by just a fraction of an inch as the man pulled his hand away just in time.

Spanch now pulled back, dodged another sword blow, then kicked out, his foot hitting Ricky full in the sternum.

*Damage report: You have lost 1 hit point (7 remain).

Ricky gasped; the blow wasn’t hugely damaging, but it was really painful, and he felt winded. Clearly Spanch was not new to unarmed combat, and could move well despite his bulky figure. And immediately afterwards, the man leaped nimbly to one side, kicking once again – and this time, knocking the katana from Ricky’s hand. It flew off into the bushes.

*Combat event: You have been disarmed.

Now he had lost both of the weapons that had been in his belt. Ricky stepped back, vaguely aware of a movement in the undergrowth behind Spanch. His companions were coming to his rescue, then.

But no...

Unless he had somehow been turned around and lost his bearings, the movement was from the other direction.

And then, remembering the green star indicating an animal that had been moving towards them, Ricky swung around and dived into the nearest bush. Thorns and branches stuck into him as he came to a halt, and it was all he could do to right himself a little, crouching down near the base of the tree that he had recently been pinned against.

*Damage report: You have lost 1 hit point (6 remain).

The position allowed him a great view of what was to follow. A huge lizard, twice the size that Xarok had been when in his wolf form, bounded onto the forest path. The moonlight gleamed upon its humped back, but it was its enormous mouth with rows and rows of teeth that caught Ricky’s attention.

Spanch had retreated just as the beast had emerged, and he stood for a moment, fists raised, before spinning around and beginning to charge down the path away from it.

He didn’t get far.

Without taking a step forward, the lizard-beast opened its mouth wide, and an enormously long tongue shot out. It wrapped around Spanch’s ankle like a snare, and the portly man found his feet pulled out from under him. He thumped down face-first onto the path, and began to be dragged towards the beast’s mouth.

The creature gave a satisfied gurgle as it pulled Spanch right up to its mouth, and then chomped down hard on his leg, immobilizing him. With its feast secured, it turned at bounded away from the path once again, dragging the unfortunate pastor behind him.

Ricky staggered out from the undergrowth, brushing pieces of twig and dead leaf off his clothing, seeing several notifications as he did so:

*Achievement: Blending in! You have stayed still and evaded detection by potential foes. +10XP

*Combat event: You have survived the attack of a stronger enemy. +20XP

*Experience update: You now have over 500 unallocated XP. Please select an attribute to increase.

*Game mechanics alert: Your hiding bonus (+2) has made the difference between success and failure.

*Health update: Your level of permanent hit points has risen to 23 (8 remain).

Uh... Guide?

“Yes Ricky?”

I’d like to increase my nimbleness score.

“Consider it done, Ricky!” said the Guide. “Well done on getting to your first attribute increase. Allow me to remind you of your new scores.”

***

Endurance: 6

Mana: 0

Nimbleness: 5

Speed: 2

Strength: 8

Hit points: 23

***

Ricky nodded silently.

As the information faded away from his vision, he had looked again at the path in both directions. There was no sign of any of his other companions, and he couldn’t hear them either.

He was now alone – alone in a forest which was, apparently, the home of ferocious man-eating lizards.

Ricky hurried on along the forest path, alone in the dark. He tried once again to bring up the map, but frustratingly, he appeared to be at the edge of what was visible to him. That made sense, he reflected – the paper map that he had received from Heck the Herbalist only showed Barrowdale and the surrounding area. He would need to find a larger printed map in order to see the forest and the nearby city.

He was now once more clutching the dagger; before departing, he had pulled it from the trunk of the tree where Spanch had previously embedded it, and after a minute’s searching had managed to find and retrieve his katana, too.

*Achievement: Sharp eyes! You have found a valuable object in the dark. +10XP

It was a real pity, he lamented, that the dagger no longer benefitted from Xarok’s glowing spell. The path was getting even darker than before as he went deeper into the forest, and although the beast had appeared satisfied with its prey after taking Spanch and was perhaps unlikely to return, Ricky now felt even more anxious about walking through the forest at night than he had before.

He had seen a couple of quest updates; the former making him half smile despite his worry:

*Quest 009 update: Get the two villagers safely through Triptych Forest (quest failed).

*Quest 010 (level 1): Reunite with one or more of your companions.

*Quest 011 (level 2): Find your way safely out of Triptych Forest.

Hopefully he would complete the latter two quests in combination. Were Gabriella, Channia and Sami safe? He didn’t know, and frankly there was nothing he could do but to hurry after them.

Not that he was in much of a position to help, anyway. He had already shown that even with a sword in his hand, he couldn’t be relied on to defeat an unarmed man, and he was down to eight hit points with no way of healing himself. Clearly some of the fellow players of this game were much more advanced and dangerous than he was, just as Xarok had warned him.

And yes: all of this had meant that he had certainly failed to get Spanch through the woods. Not that he had any sympathy for the traitor. As he ruminated on this – the revelation that Spanch was a player, and a skillful one at that – Ricky wondered what the man had meant when he had insisted on walking them back past the caves. Had he intended to get Ricky killed, with the risk to Sami being a price worth paying?

As to what Spanch had been doing in the goblin jail in the first place, that remained a mystery. As Ricky pondered over this, another quest notification appeared:

*Quest 012 (level 3): Find out what Spanch was doing in the goblin jail.

Ricky mused on the latest update. It appeared that wanting something or even being deeply curious about something was enough to trigger a quest. The AI which ran the simulation was smart enough to know what was going on, and was somehow able to... what? Read his mind?

It was possible, he supposed.

He walked on, the path rising and falling, with the occasional fallen tree requiring care to pass by. His hands and face were still painful from where he first fell in the goblin caves, and he could also still feel the punch from Spanch. It reminded Ricky of his years on the road on his way to Technoburbia; more than once he had been set upon by bandits and relieved of all of his possessions.

Indeed, he had got good at concealing valuables – one pair of boots that he had worn featured concealed compartments inside the boot-heels. Perhaps something like that would be useful here, too.

All the same, people would hit you even when they could see you had nothing to give. And the feeling of making his way onwards, exhausted and in pain, was a familiar one. All too often he had walked for many miles, hungry, with next to nothing in the way of valuables and no clear idea of his end destination. Indeed, he could still barely remember the miles of ground he had covered in the last stretch of his journey before the refugee camp at New Baravia, and had no memory at all of joining the long line of people there.

As he reflected, Ricky had been hurrying on through the forest – walking rapidly, or running where that was possible. His surroundings were nearly uniform, and after continuing for about an hour, there had still been no sign of the others. He considered turning back at several points during this time, but each time he paused, looking back, he realized that it would just put him into an even worse situation – further from his companions, and one again closer to the goblins.

At least he hadn't seen any further of the monstrous beasts that had taken Spanch, though he had seen an unwelcome notification:

*Daily event: You are fatigued. All of your attributes are reduced by 1 until you rest (minimum 1).

As he continued, he saw a second fatigue notification, and then a third. It occurred to him then that he would now be unable to use his katana, as despite his recent increase, his nimbleness would now have fallen below four due to the penalties.

If this went on any longer, he’d be unable to use his shield, too.

And after what seemed like an age of stumbling onwards and feeling increasingly tired, the way widened ahead of him, then opened up into a very large clearing.

The edge of the forest?

Not quite.

There were further trees ahead, but these were a distance away. However, in between there and where Ricky now stood ran a wide paved road, and along its length – every fifty yards or so – there hung a lantern. At last – a sign of civilization. And another update was similarly promising:

*Quest 011 complete: Find your way safely out of Triptych Forest. +20XP

Guide, which way leads to Barrowdale?

“Ricky, I’m afraid I can’t give you that information,” she replied. “I can tell you how things work in the Dark Framework, but I can't give you directions. You need to find maps in the game, or ask other people you meet for some help and advice.”

He grunted, this time not feeling charitable enough to give the Guide a polite response to this.

How had the others got so far ahead of him, he wondered? He hadn't seen any side paths or stopping points along the forest path. It was hard enough to understand how he had failed to catch up, but surely he couldn’t have gone right past them, either?

Well, it was done now, either way.

Stepping out into the middle of the road, he looked both ways. His hunch told him that turning left would take him back the way he came, more or less. That way could lead towards Barrowdale, or somewhere else close by. But it felt that he would be unlikely to see Gabriella or the others if he went in that direction. And at present, he no longer had the smiths’ daughter with him. So why return to Barrowdale – and would he even be welcome if he did?

To the right... well, the only other settlement which he recalled hearing mentioned by name was the city of Imperialis, home of the Tooth and Claw Guild. Gabriella had suggested that the place was relatively close. If it was the nearest major city, then could it be that turning right down this road would take him there? Or at least to a junction where a signpost would give him the information he needed?

He turned right.

It was uncertain, but the prospect of a major city and the protection of a guild of players who were based there was a huge draw. After the attack by Spanch, Ricky could see all too clearly that he was going to need it. He also needed to train and upskill –the sooner the better.

Besides, there was at least an outside chance that Gabriella and the others had continued in that direction, too, somehow leaving the forest path at an earlier point than he had.

Wild garlic grew along the verges and its smell hung in the air, but the road itself was clear and flat, paved with granite flagstones that glistened in the moonlight. It was wide enough for a wagon to travel along it with ease, and would make for much easier travelling than the forest path that he had been on. Perhaps he could even secure somewhere safe to rest before dawn.

Dawn.

That reminded him. An overnight in the real world equated to a day in the Dark Framework, he had been told. That meant that if he arrived to the city too late in the morning, he would return to his day’s work in the refugee camp without getting somewhere safe inside the Framework, first.

He really needed to get to an inn, both for rest and as a safe base.

*Quest 013 (level 1): Travel to Imperialis.

*Quest 014 (level 1): Find somewhere to rest before noon.

Again... perhaps these were two quests that could be achieved via the same action?

With this thought in his head, Ricky began to run.

Accumulated XP: 535 (unspent – 35)