Chương 17: Stand Together

'This is the life I wanted,' says Belle, stretching out on the grass, 'except perhaps with more dancing.'

'Enjoy yourselves while you can.' Gerard is adjusting the straps on the ponies we bought to pull a cart on which he and Lisandra travel. He is not even looking at the beauty of the world, namely Belle all languorous in the sunshine. Lisandra is sitting on the grass beside Belle and our sorceress smiles at me before replying.

'You can dance with Crow.'

'Oh, you know, I was imagining royal balls; music from an orchestra; fancy dresses.'

'Oh, that kind of dancing,' laughs Aarax. We are two days east of glittering Callondum and because the land we have travelled is low and flat it is only in the last few hours that the city's shining walls have disappeared from view. Now we travel a well-maintained road towards the Arkine Empire and our next challenge. Merry is our company, thanks to my unexpected success in obtaining Trolland's dragon tooth. A generous supply of food in a new cart is also a foundation for a glad heart.

And I have additional reason to be pleased with the world, with the gain of a new point in Stealth while I slept. My most advanced skill was now 11. My new level has raised the cap on all my skills to 15.

'I wish Mistress Withen and Master Cathaldus could know, that having two teeth secured it's on to the third we go. And I'd tell them something about me; that I have reached Level Three.'

'I wish I could let my mother know all was well,' says Belle, without opening eyes that are closed against the sun.

'And I my father,' adds Aarax. Lisandra looks around us.

'Can you write, Crow?'

'Cathaldus taught me my lines, but it's easiest if I write in rhymes.'

'Well, I think that writing home is reasonable expenditure; when we get to Cassikos we'll hire a rider to deliver letters back to Nekis.' The satisfying thought of Mistress Withen and Cathaldus reading my letter and learning of my swift progress to Level 3, reminded me that I had yet to choose my new skills.

Upon reaching Rogue 3 as a result of my reward for completing the Trolland dragon tooth quest, more skill options have become available to me, ones so powerful that I can't help but hop around with glee as I read over them. The full list of new skill options I can choose from is: Wield rapier; Meditation (immediately gain 1 mana point. Recover after use with five minutes of mediation); Blinkstep (min. requirement mana 5, Stealth 10. Short distance teleport, self only); Venom Strike; Critical Stab; Doppelganger (min. requirement mana 5, Disguise 10. Copy of self appears for a short time and acts as directed); Trapsense (min. requirement Find Traps 10. Check for traps even when not concentrating on the skill) and Knowledge (Arcane Languages). As well as these, I can still acquire the skills that opened up at Level 2 but which I did not select at that time: Camouflage (min. requirement Stealth 5. Effective invisibility in natural environments); Pickpocket; Forgery; Appraise Value (recognise fakes from truly valuable items); Tumbling (move near enemies while avoiding their strikes); Jump; Escape Artist; Backstab; Knowledge (Underworld) and Cryptography. Again I have 5 skill points to add and again I should use them all to obtain new skills rather than reinforce older ones that could increase with my divine boon. Or should I spend all five?

Perhaps wisdom lay in only using four of my new skill points and keeping one for an unexpected situation where being able to add a new situational skill could save my life and our mission? Four then and as I wanted the magical ability to Blinkstep, I must first obtain Meditation. Decision made, I command the menu and confirm my choice. A new bar on my character sheet shows in blue: it is mana and I have 1 point. What does it feel like to possess mana? It feels exciting, like the taste of a sweet fruit.

I am aware of a golden energy in my chest, an energy I can move to my fingertips by concentrating upon it. I am Crow the magical! Blinkstep is now listed as a skill of mine, but it is grey, unavailable. Mana 5 is a requirement to use the skill. It seems likely that if Meditation grants me mana, then increasing that skill will result in mana increases? I swap my afk levelling skill to Meditation to test this when it advances.

Were I at home in Nekis, or even still in Callondum, the rogues' guild could probably advise me about these skills. I say 'probably' because while it is known that rogues can have magical skills, I have never heard of a rogue who took that path because it is difficult enough levelling up core rogue skills, let alone the required ones for a rogue magic skill to function. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Here ––nowhere–– in the wilds of Trolland, I will work out for myself the best direction for my progression. For I have the power to level up even obscure skills and I am tasked by my god with completing the Epico Draco Missio. Not even the wisest of rogue guildmasters can guide me. Two more points then. Again, I wish I had more. So many of the remaining skills seem likely to help our mission. The one that appeals to me most is Doppelganger.

This is another magical rogue skill and as I am determined to develop my mana to at least 5 for the sake of having Blinkstep, I will get this skill too, since it has the same requirement. A rogue with these two magical skills would make a most elusive and unexpected opponent. One more. I choose Trapsense. If ever there is a skill that could save the life of a rogue it was surely this one, albeit that I have to raise my Find Traps to 10 to activate it. And then I think about my last skill point.

No one I know has ever saved a skill point. But then, no one I know has my boon. While for others it makes sense to have the maximum benefits of a skill as soon as they become available, perhaps for me, it's worth saving the point to have some new options when I need them. So with a point unspent for now, I am done. My happy contemplation of my character sheet skills page is interrupted by Aarax murmuring, 'Someone is in a hurry.' A brown horse is galloping along the road from the east; its rider crouched low.

As it draws near I can see foaming sweat on the stallion's flanks. Our ponies and our horses all raise their heads to look, as curious as we are. The rider, a man in leather armour, shouts 'Flee!' as he briefly turns his head to look at us. Then his attention is once more on the road ahead.

'Flee what?' Belle is sitting up and asks the question that must be in all our minds. Shading his eyes with his hand at his forehead, Aarax says, 'There's a cloud to the east.' I see it too, a brown veil making a V shape against the blue of the afternoon sky. The cloud rises from the ground like smoke from a large bonfire, only this cloud is much wider and less dark than the cloud that would be raised by a fire.

'Some very big monster?' wonders Aarax aloud.

'What do we do?' asks Gerard.

'Try to ride back to Callondum?' The terrain around is mostly flat grassland. There is a copse of trees about a kilometre away and Lisandra points to it.

'Let's hide in there.' We hurry to our horses, while, flushing with exertion, Lisandra does her best to run to the cart and mount it beside Gerard. As we ride towards the cover provided by the trees I can see that the trail of trampled grass we are creating ––especially the cart tracks–– is going to show the monster exactly where we are. Yet, what can we do? Even a low level druid might be able to restore the grass to an upright position, but I know that Aarax has only prepared curing spells.

There are just a dozen trees and not much more by way of bushes for our hiding place, beyond which is more grass.

'I worry that our trail upon the ground means we will easily be found.'

'Should we keep going then?' asks Aarax. No one answers. Eyes find eyes, searching for wisdom. Yet none of us know, is it better to wait in what cover we have or keep running, even though we will be visible to whatever massive creature is approaching.

'Let's ride, not hide,' I say. Is it because I'm Level 3? Because I'm lucky? Because our god favours me? Or because it accords with their own thoughts? Whatever the reason, no one hesitates; we urge our horses and the ponies onwards, away from the road. The cart creaks and groans with the uneven ground; it is slow. The cloud of dust is growing closer and filling more of the eastern sky. I repeatedly stop to look at the grey and brown plume and try to understand it.

Only when I hear a distant, regular thumping sound and see glittering flashes of silver do I realise what the threat really is and I look to Belle, who sits on her horse a few metres away from me.

'That's not a monster intending to swoop, that's the march of a thousand troops.'

'Hurry!' Belle rides back to the cart.

'Faster! Those are soldiers.' Flicking the reins, Gerard urges the ponies onwards. This is dangerous though, for the cart jolts and groans heavily as it bounces over the rises and dips of the uneven land. There are rocks too among the grass and it almost seems inevitable when, after a particularly wild lurch, I hear a terrible crack and splintering sound, followed by the tail of the cart collapsing, with the rear left wheel rolling away and falling on its side.

'We can ride the ponies.' Gerard leaps down to help Lisandra to her feet.

'Not I,' the shake of her head is definite and I have to agree. She is too heavy for either of the ponies to carry her.

'You all go on. Stay free. Maybe the soldiers won't bother with me. But if they do, you'll be free to keep going on the quest.'

'We will never leave you,' says Belle, brave Belle. It seems to me that Aarax is of the same mind. Gerard, however, is busy pulling the cart straps through the harnesses of the ponies and could well be intending to ride away.

'We don't know that they are hostile to our Kingdom,' Belle continues, 'and if they are, then we can go into captivity together and Crow can get us out again.'

'Everybody hates the Kingdom of Lost Souls. They will probably just kill us and take our supplies.' Lisandra shakes her head and lets out an unhappy sigh. I feel helpless. Not for me the open field and wide sky. Where is the alley down which we can escape? In a town, there's always a way for a rogue to escape. Now the soldiers are plainly in view. Their armour is a dark leather tunic and long skirt on which has been fastened dozens of rectangles of iron.

Purple banners sway above pointed helmets and on the cloth is the design of a white owl with outstretched wing.

'The Arkine Empire,' says Gerard.

'So, the emperor is attacking Trolland?' Lifting her head, Lisandra sounds enthusiastic once more.

'This will suit our kingdom. If we let them know we are from Nekis, they might not harm us.' Her hopes will be put to the test soon. For having reached the part of the road where our tracks can be seen, a dozen lancers leave the road and ride at a canter towards us. None of us leave. Belle is right. We stand together; we share the risks together.