Chapter 47 Gambit

I saw the notification. Level nine. Miggy too had levelled up, now hitting level eight. There was no time to level up though, to deliberate over abilities, perks. I grabbed what weapons I could, a bone bow and arrows. Irritatingly all the spears were either too low level or else so damaged, their durability was shot. Not even worth picking up. I was forced to equip Balar’s spear, though I was somewhat pleased it was unique.

[Club of the Komo – Unique club, crafted from an ancient tree struck by lightning. Grants +2 to strength and +2 to hit.]

I wouldn’t sniff at those buffs to strength and hit, but I had about zero proficiency when it came to clubs. I would just have to hope it would be enough before I found a spear. The shaman finished channelling. I cut across her words. It felt like skipping a cutscene, something I normally found sacrilegious, but I didn’t have time for this.

Larry and I fought. I let him swipe at me and immediately fell on my butt. The shaman glared at me. I knew this probably wasn’t how this was supposed to go down. Epic duel between man and beast in the centre of this ancient boneyard. Yeah, cool, and I’d have done it and enjoyed it any other day of the week.

But technically Larry and I had fought. The quest never actually specified who had to win, and the shaman was forced to grant me the ability. Miggy’s duel was taking longer, his sabretooth not quite so willing to play ball.

I wasted no time, equipping the new mount ability and storming across the Disputed Lands. I could feel a swell of swaggering pride from Larry.

“Oh, come on, I let you win,” I said, “you’ve seen me fight. You know I don’t just fall on my butt after a single swipe.” Larry gave a little self-satisfied growl. “Wow,” I muttered, “you’re a bad loser, but boy are you a terrible winner.”

It felt damn good to finally have a mount. We were closing fast. I had no idea how fast Larry was, and his stamina seemed to be an impossible reservoir. Good, I needed that swiftness. Ayla. Fuck. I had never said goodbye to her. Had I really been about to jump through the Stone Gate? Really been happy to never see or speak to her again?

I didn’t know. Fuck, I didn’t know. All I knew was right then that I would give anything to see her face again. To keep her safe. I spurred Larry on, which…did nothing. He had a set speed after all.

I reached the pin on my mini-map that Balar had granted me. I had expected to see an encampment or I don’t know, a prehistoric fortress. What I saw was closer to an excavation site. There were numerous humans and vandals, the rebellion against Ironclad and his superior force. I was too late though, the battle was long finished.

I hopped off Larry and sprinted, wishing desperately that I knew where she was. But she wasn’t an avatar. This was her home. She belonged here.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

At least the Skybreakers had lost, though it had cost the Komo and their other alliances of tribes. For every dead Skybreaker, I saw three dead allied tribesmen. Still, this was one of the places that were part of the quest. This would break the Warlord’s grip, and make him vulnerable to attack.

Down I went. The ground shifted away. I realised there was no way this place could have been excavated. It was a kind of dungeon formed by the system, now taken over as a base of operations by the Skybreakers. I raced through narrow earthen corridors. Searching, desperately for her. Then, finally, I found her.

She was level four. That was the first thing I noticed. I had always assumed the natives had static levels, but then I guess that made no sense. People got stronger in life without a system, it was just slower and more opaque. I didn’t need to see her stats to see how she’d jumped a level. How the past few weeks had been to her.

She’d lost a father. A brother. And she thought she’d lost me. She was standing over a dead Skybreaker, before getting to her feet. Her eyes met mine. Her eyes were wet, but there was no sorrow there. Only rage.

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“You left.” Neither question, nor accusation. Cold fact.

“I’m sorry.” Feeble. Actually beyond feeble, but I had no idea what else to say. There was a scar on her chest, and blood on her face. Fresh.

“You. Left.” She was walking towards me. I fought the urge to activate shadowstep. “After…you left!”

“I’m back aren’t I? I came to save you!”

“Save me?” She scowled. “I was right. I never should have trusted you. You sky people have your own ways. I was just a trophy for you, before you moved on without me.”

Shame ran through me like a cold flame. I wanted to argue, to deny her, but…deep down I knew. There was too much truth to her words.

“I’m sorry! I just…I didn’t know what to do. I had to go, I had to leave, and I didn’t know how to say goodbye.”

She was a single foot away from me now. Ayla looking at me, as though urging me to continue. I blinked. “Well, let me see, how do you say goodbye?” She tapped at her chin mockingly. “Oh yes, you say goodbye. Not so hard was it?”

Miggy had appeared, racing through the door. His face brightened when he saw Ayla was still alive, though fell when he sensed the obvious tension in the room.

“Ah, what is this place?” he said. I had been so pre-occupied with my reunion with Ayla, I was only now noticing. This place had that ancient beta build look that the developer zone had.

“A place important to the Warlord, old and new,” said Ayla. “We watched him for days. He had come here many times. So we struck it, to hurt him, to make him vulnerable.”