Piper walked slowly back toward the village, her hand on Lukas’s arm to steady him. He staggered around like a drunk, and with each step, she kept shooting dark glares at Ophelia. Her friend had hit him way too hard on the head.
To her credit, Ophelia looked chastened. Or at least she looked as chastened as she could. Saying sorry wasn’t really her friend’s strong suit.
As they neared the fallen aspirants, Platon began to stir. After a moment, he propped himself up on his elbows and looked around. His gaze landed on Piper and Lukas.
“What… happened?” Platon asked haltingly. “Where’s the necromancer? And where’s my gear?”
“The necromancer cast a spell to knock us unconscious,” Piper replied. “Luckily, my friend came back and got the drop on him. They fought for a while and then the necromancer ran away.”
After she’d finished talking, she held her breath, waiting to see if Lukas would contradict her story. But aside from a grunt, he didn’t respond. Maybe he wasn’t going to expose her as a demon after all.
Platon’s eyebrows shot up. “Someone with an Iron Badge defeated a necromancer on his own?”
“He can summon elementals,” Piper explained hastily. “And as you can see, he was injured in the fight.”
“Yes,” Ophelia added solemnly. “I definitely didn’t hit him on the head with a piece of firewood.”
Platon’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t ask any further questions. Instead, he turned and checked on his group members. The relief was palpable on his face when he found them still alive.
Piper turned to Ophelia. “I’ll be right back. I need to find somewhere to wash myself off.”
“Thank goodness,” Ophelia exclaimed. “I didn’t want to say anything and make you feel bad.”
“You already said something!”
“I meant I didn’t want to say something again.”
Shaking her head, Piper went searching for a source of water. When she found none in the village, she skirted around the hill until she spotted a narrow stream winding its way through the dusty plain. It probably wasn’t much deeper than her ankles, but it should do.
Piper trotted over to the stream and then set about stripping off her clothes. Unfortunately, she didn’t have any soap with her. But she would do her best to scrub off the worst of the disgusting undead juices covering her body.
Settling down on the stream bank, she planned to start cleaning her clothing immediately. But she just sat there, staring off across the farmers' fields. Now that the danger had passed, she found her hands trembling, while her heart raced.
Holding her hands to her chest, she took deep calming breaths. As she did, her mind drifted back to the black dragon that had appeared while she’d been unconscious. The hallucination had felt so real. But there was no doubt it had been caused by the poison gas.
It’s not like I’m really the daughter of a dragon.
After a few minutes, she managed to stop the tremors and forced herself to focus on the task at hand. In the past, when trapped in the hospital bed, she’d always felt better when she kept herself busy. This time should be no different.
But back then I wasn’t fighting necromancers and skeletons.
Ignoring her thoughts, she found two river rocks and began to bang her clothing between them. After probably half an hour had passed, her clothes remained stained but far less smelly. When she returned to the city, she’d probably have to replace her dress. However, maybe she could find someone who could clean it.
The next few minutes were spent washing her face and hair. Thankfully, the grime came away easily. Soon, she felt almost human again. Or almost demon in her case.
Pulling the dress back over her head, she gasped as the freezing cold fabric touched her skin. The walk back to the city wasn’t going to be fun in wet clothing. Hopefully, the midday sun would dry them quickly.
Finished with her cleaning, Piper hurried back to the village, doing her best to ignore the clothing clinging to her skin. She really needed to find a sack like the one the necromancer had possessed. Then she could always keep a few changes of clothing on hand. She mentally added a bar of soap and other essentials to the list of things she planned to keep in it.
When she arrived back at the village, almost everyone had regained their feet. Only Selene remained unconscious. She also noticed Althea was busy tending to Lukas’s head injury, while the other members of Platon’s group were slapping the dark-haired young man on the back. After a particularly rowdy hit, Althea shooed them away so she could tend to him.
Basil spotted her and walked briskly over to her side. “Do you know what happened? Your friend won’t say a word, and Platon isn’t sharing any details with me.”
Piper shrugged, her clothing squishing with the movement. “The necromancer cast a spell to knock us unconscious. When I came to, Lukas had driven him off. He said, he came back to check on us.”
“I see.” Basil looked at her intently. “If that’s true, why are so many of the zombies riddled with arrows?”
Piper silently cursed herself for forgetting that detail. She really wasn’t cut out for deceit. Why hadn’t her [Subterfuge] skill warned her before she said something? What was the point of a skill like that if it did nothing?
Shrugging again, she gave Basil a pained smile. “I woke up a bit earlier than the rest of you. I just helped out as much as I could.”
Basil placed a hand on her shoulder. “I understand you have secrets, and they are yours to keep. Thank you for saving my friends.”
“Did Platon and the others notice the arrows?”
Basil shook his head. “I don’t think so. However, we should gather them up before they do.”
With Basil at her side, she jogged over to the far side of the buildings and to the location of the battle. At the sight of the mangled corpses, her stomach did a little flip-flop. During the heat of the battle, she’d barely registered what she’d done. But now, the carnage made her feel vaguely sick.
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Basil set about gathering the arrows. Some of them were damaged, so he tossed them to the side. The ones he found that remained in good condition, he returned them to Piper.
She took a few minutes to wipe the worst of the gore off before sliding them back into the quiver. With her quiver’s ability, she didn’t need to retrieve them. But refusing to take the arrows from Basil would look weird.
While Basil was busy, she snuck over to the fallen aspirant with the gem eye. Kneeling, she pulled it out of his injured eye socket, and stuck it in her pouch. She didn’t want anyone trying it out and seeing through her illusions.
Once they were done collecting the arrows, they returned to the others.
Platon regarded them as they arrived. “I hope you weren’t looting without us.”
“Nothing of the sort,” Basil replied. “Piper dropped her dagger, and we were attempting to find it.”
She nodded her head, worried her expression was blaring that they were lying. But when she pointed at the blade in the carved sheath on her belt, Platon seemed to accept their explanation.
Althea rose up from tending to Lukas and moved over to Selene. She spent a few seconds ministering to the dark-haired woman. Finally, after a few spells, the young woman opened her eyes.
Looking groggy, Selene sat up and took in the scene with one eye closed. “What did I miss?”
“Not a lot,” Basil replied. “A battle with a necromancer and being saved by an earth mage.”
“Is that all?” Selene ran a hand through her hair. “I was worried I'd missed something exciting.”
Piper smiled at seeing her friend up and about. The terrible events of the battle and the uncomfortable feeling of her sopping wet dress were immediately forgotten upon seeing everyone alive. She’d been terrified she was going to lose someone in her battle with the necromancer.
Platon moved to the center of the group and held up his hands. “I want to thank our new friend Lukas for saving all our lives. His future holds great things if he can stand toe-to-toe with a foul servant of the Death Realm. Let’s hear it for him!”
The rest of his group cheered. clapping their hands together and stomping their feet. Piper and the others joined in after a second.
At first, Lukas looked glum, but then he smiled despite himself. He rose to his feet and rubbed the back of his head. “I only did what any other aspirant would have done.”
“Nonsense,” Platon said in a booming voice. “Most aspirants would have left us to become food for the buzzards. You’re a real hero, and I’ll make sure the guild hears about it. If you ever need a group, you’re welcome to join mine.”
“Thank you,” Lukas said. “I’ll consider your offer.”
Basil strode over and clapped Lukas on the shoulder. “The same goes for our group. Not that you probably want to join us.”
“You never know…” the earth mage trailed off, shooting a glance at Piper.
Piper exhaled with relief. For now at least, it looked like Lukas wasn’t going to expose her secret. Maybe he still thought he owed her after the Black Pyramid. Or maybe it was something else. But regardless, she was grateful.
“Is everyone fit to travel?” Platon asked. “If so, we should loot what we can find and then head back to the city.”
Althea clicked her tongue. “I think we should rest here for a while longer. The poison was particularly potent. I can still feel the effects lingering in my group. I knew someone who ignored a poison once, and their body literally fell to pieces a short while later.”
Platon crossed his arms. “Need I remind you there is a necromancer lurking out here?”
“He used a portal to leave,” Piper added. To be honest, she didn’t want to depart until her clothes dried. Otherwise, she’d probably chafe terribly.
At her words, everyone assembled fell silent.
“The necromancer… used a portal?”
Piper nodded, unsure of why everyone was staring at her.
Basil shook his head. “The bastard hid his level. No one under level 400 has access to portals.”
“Really?”
Basil nodded. “The threat was even direr than we realized. Your friend Lukas is going to be quite the hero back in Kalmyros.”
Platon crossed his arms. “We’ll linger for another hour, but no longer. I wish to get back and buy everyone a round of drinks.” He pointed at Basil. “Come with me and we’ll collect the fallen aspirant gear to return to their families. Perhaps we’ll find some loot as well.”
Basil nodded and set off with Platon toward the field of battle. She doubted the peasants would have much in the way of loot on them. Though they might have a handful of copper coins.
She settled down on a log and pulled up her character sheet. During the battle, she hadn’t had time to examine it.
Piper Ashcroft
Race: Shadeling, Level 49
Class: Deceiver (Epic), Level 46
Attributes
Strength – 125
Dexterity – 70
Stamina - 60
Vitality – 50
Perception – 40
Swiftness - 70
Magic - 200
Mana - 750
Mana Regeneration – 750
Free Attribute Points - 80
Racial Skills (6/10)
- Demonic Blood, Level 36
- Demonic Fury, Level 1
- Demonic Intellect, Level 8
- Infernal Resistance, Level 3
- Tail Strike, Level 21
- Quick Claw, Level 22
Skills (10/10)
- Ambush Detection, Level 6
- Animal Caretaker, Level 5
- Archery, Level 20
- Cooking, Level 6
- Enduring Casting, Level 11
- Identify, Level 12
- Hunting, Level 10
- Running, Level 17
- Stick Wielder, Level 1
- Subterfuge, Level 20
Spells (5/10)
- False Face, Level 20
- Truth Shroud, Level 24
- Shifting Veil, Level 18
- Umbral Terror, Level 5
- Wraithskin, Level 9
Piper read her racial level with growing anxiety. She’d almost reached level 50 in the battle, which meant she’d nearly been sent back to the Infernal Realm. Thankfully, she hadn’t dinged surrounded by strangers. There was no way she could have explained the little orbs of hellfire shooting around her body like last time.
Plus, she didn’t think this was the best place to slip into a coma for three days. She’d have to be careful about the next quest to ensure it was close to the city.
Piper returned to her character sheet and looked over the information. She’d gained 4 levels in her race and 4 levels in her class. That had given her 80 points to distribute. More than anything, she wanted to allocate them now. But who knew what her next class would be?
Glancing down at her character sheet, she was surprised at how many levels she’d gained. Her [Tail Strike] and [Quick Claw] had both shot up, most likely from digging her way out of the pile of zombies. She’d gain 4 levels in [Tail Strike] and 7 in [Quick Claw].
Next, she moved on to her skills. She’d gained another two levels in [Archery], bringing it up to level 20. And she’d also gained another level in [Identify].
Meanwhile, she’d seen a big jump in a few of her spells. Her [Shifting Veil] was now level 18, and [Wraithskin] was level 9. Next time, she’d have to concentrate on leveling up [Umbral Terror]. It was the most powerful spell in her arsenal, though it cost a lot of mana.
The sound of approaching footsteps made her look up. She saw Selene approaching her with a smile on her face.
The woman settled down lithely at Piper’s side.
Selene patted her knee. “You saved us, didn’t you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Piper mumbled.
“There’s more to you than meets the eye. Since no one else can say it, I will; thank you.”
“I really didn’t do anything…”
“It’s alright.” Selene winked at her. “Your secret is safe with me.”
Piper pressed her lips together. She really didn’t know how to respond. For now, she was happy to let Lukas take the credit for defeating the necromancer. Though she had to admit it was nice to have at least one of her group members say thank you.
Piper shook her head as Selene rose to her feet and headed off in the direction of Platon and Basil. The reality of trying to hide her true nature while becoming a wayfarer was far more difficult than she’d expected.
Glancing over at Lukas, she felt her stomach twist with worry. She didn’t think he was going to expose her true nature. But she’d have to talk with him further when they got back. And she had no idea what she’d do if he planned to report her to the guard.
Hopefully, it wouldn’t come to that.