Necromancer

A Royal Road Fan Fiction

By: Halosty

Chapter 45

Note: Hey guys, sorry it’s been so long. I’d like to give a good excuse like “I was busy with stuff” but that wouldn’t be true. Mostly I was lazy.

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Mortimer woke up in a strange place. He reached for his knife, but it wasn’t in the right place. Then he realized he wasn’t in his leather armor, either. After he really woke up, he wasn’t in Royal Road. He was in, well, reality. He wasn’t wearing his leather armor because he didn’t have any. His knife wasn’t there because he had been in pajamas. Finally, he didn’t recognize the place he was in because he’d never woken up in a tent before.

Right. He was camping.

He looked around the tent, quite visible in the morning light. There were three others in their sleeping bags. Robert was to one side of him, taking up probably more than his fair share of space against the side of the tent. Then again, he was about the size as any two of the others put together. Angela was on his other side. Beyond her was an empty sleeping bag. Then, at the feet of the other sleeping bags was Alex’s sleeping bag. It looked occupied, but Mortimer couldn’t see Alex’s head.

Mortimer heard the tent zip closed, carefully, and realized he probably woke up when Solara left the tent. He pulled some clothes to change into and crept out of the tent. Alex was almost entirely covered by the sleeping bag, but a bit of Alex’s brown hair and eyebrows could be seen. It hadn’t seemed that cold, though.

After he finished changing, he saw Solara at the camp fire starting to cook what must be breakfast. Around the campground many of the other groups had members who were up as well, and many had gone to get the supplies from the teachers as well. Mortimer sat across the fire from Solara, since anything else would have been even more awkward.

He wanted to say something. He wanted to ask what good books she’d read lately. Perhaps how she was doing in classes, although he knew she was always doing well. He didn’t know anything about her personal life. He was starting to miss the insights her journal had given him. Since she didn’t start a conversation either, both of them just sat there quietly until the other members of the group were up.

Robert, as expected, ate quite a bit of food for breakfast, although he didn’t hog the food. Mortimer wasn’t too far behind, since he now ate much more than he had before he started training with Master Valarao. Although Mortimer wasn’t much bigger than he had been, he had a lot more muscle he needed to support.

After breakfast, everyone who had come to the camping met in a large group. Mortimer didn’t pay too much attention, but the gist of what was said was that they would be going on hikes in groups, and then everyone would come back together to do some kind of activities.

In preparation for the hike, Mortimer packed a small bag he had with him. He might need some snacks. Of course, he had enough to share with the others as well. It was important to have good relationships with the members of your party.

As the group walked along, Mortimer was reminded again of the party atmosphere he felt. It was probably the trees along the path. Plus, although they were not exactly walking in formation, it reminded him of the group in Royal Road, although Angela and Alex were part of that party. (Note: Since he still doesn’t know Solara is Ruby)

The thing that most evoked the feeling of Royal Road was very simple. It was just being outside for an extended period. Mortimer hadn’t done that much outside before starting Royal Road, and afterwards his only real contact with it was going to and from a car. This was the first time he’d been outside for long since he started playing. He silently thanked James for packing sunscreen.

Around him, the group chatted casually about things. School, television, books and Royal Road all came up at some point. Robert talked about times he’d been camping with his family before.

Mortimer looked around at the rocks and trees again. He thought the scenery was pretty enough, but the hike had been pretty uneventful. The group was about an hour out, and nothing exciting had happened. In Royal Road, they would at least have run across a few groups of monsters.

As soon as he finished thinking that, he saw something move quickly past his range of vision, and then heard Solara scream. He quickly looked in her direction, and saw something completely unexpected. A mountain lion. It wasn’t very big, but it looked like it had gotten a nasty scratch on Solara.

The first one to act was Robert. He was closest to Solara, and he actually tackled the mountain lion from behind. He was strong, and it was only about the size of an average dog, but it was fierce. It was trying to scratch at him, but couldn’t get him from its position.

By this point, Mortimer was over next to the mountain lion, with his knife out. He took a swing at the mountain lion’s neck. Just one, with a very sharp knife. Blood sprayed on his hand. It was strange, and unexpectedly warm. Soon, it stopped struggling.

Robert had a few scratches on his arms, but they were very shallow. Quietus, no- Mortimer turned to face Solara. She had been unexpectedly quiet. Although she had only been scratched once, she didn’t look so good as Robert. It was a fairly deep scratch, which was obvious with the blood staining her shirt. She was standing there with her hand at her side, with a pained, and somewhat surprised face.

Mortimer quickly wiped his knife off and put it away. Then he reached for his bag. “You’re bleeding too much… you’ll need treatment. “ After sifting through the drinks and food, he pulled out the first aid kit. “Can I look at it?”

Solara nodded slowly. “Okay.”

It was somewhat awkward for them both, as the wound was on her lower ribs. He had to lift her shirt some to see it. “This looks pretty bad. I think you’ll need stitches.”

Angela looked worried. “We’re an hour away from camp, and then we’ll have to drive to the hospital.”

Richard spoke up too. “You don’t look in any condition to be walking. I can carry you, if you need it.” Looking at him, he seemed like he might even make it all the way back to camp.

Alex just stood there in a panic.

“It’s okay,” said Mortimer. “I can do it.”

Angela looked at him oddly. “Really?”

Mortimer nodded. “I’m just about intermediate level in stitching in Royal Road. I have the supplies for it here. It should be fine. May I?” He looked at Solara.

“S- sure.” Her voice sounded kind of weak.

“Sit down please.” He began to clean and sterilize the wound, but it was hard with her shirt getting in the way. Eventually, Angela held it up for him. It was still more modest than many outfits Mortimer had seen people wearing.

Mortimer even had a mild anesthetic in the kit. After applying it, he prepared to stitch up the wound. “This will only hurt a little bit. That last stuff should help numb you.” Mortimer had learned that it was important to lie to patients about how much pain there would be. Otherwise, it hurt more.

As he started stitching her side, Solara stiffened. She definitely felt it, but she was trying to be tough. Fortunately, she held still. Mortimer was practiced enough, and good with his hands, so he had no trouble finishing up the stitches, although it did take some time.

Solara was looking pale, and Mortimer had her drink one of the sports drinks from his bag. “You’ll need the fluids.”

“Wow,” Alex said. “You’re prepared for anything.”

“Hmm? Actually, I just thought we’d want snacks. Maybe someone would get scratched by a branch…” At that, he turned to look at Robert’s arms. He cleaned the scratches, but nothing needed stitches.

Solara’s shirt was ruined, and Robert gave her the jacket he had been wearing. Mortimer would miss looking at her stomach. It was quite nice, and reminded him of something. In fact, it looked exactly like…

“Are you Ruby?” Mortimer asked. He was pretty sure she was. Although the face was slightly different, and the hair was completely different, her bare stomach was the same. He’d never seen Solara in that state before, but Ruby was constantly going around with a bare belly.

Solara looked at him, then laughed at bit. Then she grimaced. Finally, with a slight smile on her face she said, “You mean you hadn’t figured it out before now? With me talking to Angela and Alex about the game?” She shook her head.

Mortimer realized it should have been obvious, but he just hadn’t seen it.

The group started walking back toward camp. Nobody there wanted to be far away, in case any more “surprises” happened. As they walked away, Mortimer looked at the body. It was thin. Probably starving, and desperate. Otherwise, it would never have approached a group.

On the way back, Angela spoke to Mortimer. “Where did you get the knife?”

“Master Valarao gave it to me. He said it would probably be handy. Didn’t I tell you about it?”

Angela shook her head. “I guess I just didn’t notice.”

“Who’s this master Valarao?” asked Robert.

“He’s my teacher. He teaches me knife fighting.” Mortimer said. “Well, it has a fancy name, but that’s basically what it is.”

“Is that how you killed the mountain lion?”

“Well, it’s also from playing Royal Road. Speaking of which… since the rest of us are here, I don’t suppose you happen to be Nilrem?”

“Who? In Royal Road? No, I’m a barbarian named Gawain. I wanted to be a knight, but it didn’t work out.”

“Well, that would have been too much of a coincidence anyway.” Mortimer nodded to himself.

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Back at the campsite, after explaining what happened to the teachers, they decided to have her sent home early. One of the teachers would take her to the hospital to be checked out. Mortimer knew she would be fine, but he didn’t say anything. He knew he wouldn’t want to stay around at a campout with an injured side. He’d had plenty of painful wounds in Royal Road. Of course, he didn’t want to stay at the campout with a perfectly healthy side, but he did.

End Chapter 45

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