Chapter 39: Darklings, Drunks & Disasters

“Is that my cue to join the conversation?” asked one of the roughs standing behind her with a voice that was both familiar and entirely out of place for that body. 

Who? Where had I heard that voice?

The rough’s form began to shimmer and melt away like a desert mirage disappearing on approach. Rough stained work clothes faded away revealing immaculate black naval officers garb. Bulky build and muscles shifting and falling away to reveal lithe curves. Ruddy tanned skin evaporated to reveal pale purple flesh underneath.

"So? What do you think, did I pass your test?"

It was… 

“Shifty!” I called out.

“I’m hurt,” she teased and yes it was once again a she. “Not even two weeks have passed since we parted and you’ve already forgotten my name.”

Amusement twinkling in her eyes, she lowered herself into a curtsey matching the one Gael had mockingly given not so long ago. 

And winked.

“Elixatmael, Darkling Infiltrator mk1, the seductive swashbuckler, hero to all, first Blessed to visit and leave the City of Flotsam without having to resort to strength of arms. Call me Elle,” she reintroduced herself, rising out of her curtsey.

“El,” acknowledged Gael, nodding her way. ”I see you’ve met the Duchess’s dalliance, Alaïs. Elixatmael here has been of great use to her, both as a Blessed adventurer and as a distraction from her grief, if you know what I mean.” 

Not one to let her innuendo speak for itself, the merc made a series of obscene gestures to drive her point home, leaving Roxi and I struggled to smother our giggles at birth.

“Oh? Do tell,” replied the Merchant, her eyes gleaming with interest at the potential gossip.

“Why don't we let our Blessed catch up,” offered Gael, slipping an arm across Alaïs’s back and steering her away. “And while they’re doing that, we can go find somewhere to sit and do some catching up of our own. Y’know share stories and all that shit where the kids can’t hear.”

Watching the pair wander off, El released a sigh. “I’m not sure if I want to hear what Gael is going to say about me or not… She is one spicy maid and I’m not sure she entirely approves of me.”

“No, you’ve got it wrong I think,” I replied, slowly shaking my head. “She only mildly teased you, from her that’s pretty much an affection. If she hated you, your ego would have probably been subjected to an ego destroying verbal bombardment of ridicule and creative swears involving frequent references to fucking and excrement.”

“Huh, that right?”

“Pretty much,” shrugged Roxi as she leaned back against some crates. “So how’d you get here before us Elle? Last we saw you, you were heading back west on your own quest for the Duchess?”

“You’re talking to the great Elixatmael don't you forget. It's been two weeks and even without Murphy’s blessings, I’m still a veteran player with all the experience, tricks and resources that come with that. And I seem to remember at least one lowbie who got herself fatigue debuffed and who benefited from the potions I just carry around.”

That wasn’t an answer. My only reply was to glare at her.

“Ok, ok,” she placated, raising her hands in apology. “What is with all the spicy kitties… How about this… You got anything to drink? Yes?” 

At my nod she continued. 

“Ok, so how about we first find somewhere to sit and I’ll give you the long answer.”

It wasn’t such a bad idea. 

Not having gotten off our feet since we broke camp this morning, my legs and feet had long started to feel sore and tired. With the question on hold, silently we awkwardly began moving off towards a quiet curtain and crate concealed corner, only stopping along the way for Elle veer off our path to where a small crate lay stacked atop of several larger ones. Thrusting a clawed hand through the crates lid and she pulled free several bottles before returning wearing a triumphant grin.  

“I can’t believe they have this, you have to try it! It's one of the more expensive honey meads available and really rare outside of the Scil’s, cloud fae some players call them, outside of their mountain aviaries where they live and brew it. I’ve been lucky enough to have a mug or two during my visits and stays with the Duchess,” gushed Elixatmael excitedly as she rejoined us.

Pulling back one of the curtains, she led us into a large sectioned off corner where a low wood stage had been assembled. The was covered in bedrolls and blankets and had obviously been constructed for people to rest above the damp stone. Passing around the bottles, Elle gestured for us to seat ourselves.

Pulling my bottle of plum liquor I’d acquired earlier from my inventory to share, I waited for Roxi to sit on the stage's edge before seating myself next to her and settling to lean against her. She glanced down at me when I did so, and we shared a quiet smile. Then, blushing just a teeny tiny bit, she leaned over and kissed the top of my head between my ears.

“So where to begin,” mused the Darkling, oblivious to the little interaction as she pried free a cork with one her claws and downed a swig. “Right! After I left you, I infiltrated Redwood’s camp and reported on his movements to the Duchess using a mirrorstone I’d been equipped with. It was pretty boring waiting for him to marshall his forces and gather his allies to be honest, it was nearly a week of waiting before he was ready to move. I spent a lot of time logged out in my tent, working from my pod’s VR home hub waiting for developments in-game.”

Right, there is a world outside of this game. My gut clenched at the casual reminder and a tremor traveled down through my bone. A world other people could log out and leave VR to access. 

A warm hand softly dropped onto my head and pulled me further into Roxi’s side as its fingers massaged my scalp interrupting my thoughts like a scratch causing a record to skip.

Taking a sip from my bottle of plum liquor, I settled into Roxi’s petting and listened.

“When he finally got moving his army, it took three days to reach the Corugh Highlands and the pass into the mountains and to the capital. I bailed then and there and once away from his forces, I used my drake to fly to Santarriral and the palace where I got rewarded for completing my quest.”

“Drake?...” I squeaked, jerking free of Roxi’s hand.

El had a drake… You could have flying mounts!? I want a flying mount!

“Did you think only Aurelings and other winged players were the only ones able to fly? There are a number of methods to speed up travel though they range in cost and difficulty. You could probably get a horse and cart soon if you wanted and it wouldn’t require much skill or time to learn. Learning to ride a horse or other land based mount is harder, not to mention learning to feed and care for your digital horse.  Finding, taming and learning to ride a drake like this is both expensive and extremely difficult, but you might be able to buy both an already trained wolf-wyvern and lessons on how to ride and care for it,” the spy rambled.

“But wait! It gets wilder,” she explained, sounding like someone from one of those old infomercials.

“On a larger scale, some guilds have purchased or built sailing ships of various scales and offensive capability like my pirate friends or even cooler things like magitech carriages or cars for short and warmachines made via artificing like Artifisuki Warvillages or Pagutum Mage Platforms.”

‘What the hell is a war village’, I was about to ask before Elle continued.

“Funny story that…” she trailed off with a chuckle. “I heard tell of a Pag aligned guild that nearly bankrupted themselves buying one of those planning to recoup the cost by raiding and pillaging Joret villages along the front. The guild wound up actually bankrupt and disbanding after they ran into the Witch of Chains on their first run. The player guild they bought insurance from refused to cover the loss citing the Witch falling under Acts of Divinity.”

Jousting me slightly as she straightened and lent forward with interest, Roxi asked, “Witch of Chains?”

“Oh right! You probably haven’t heard of it, umm her, yet…” Scratching her head and taking a swig of mead, Elle paused to gather her thoughts.

“So uh, the Witch of Chains is some sort of wraith-like NPC that rampages across the Joret Pagutum warfront slaughtering indiscriminately. What she actually is frequently winds up for debate in the forums, but player theories range from a vengeful spirit from the war to a shadowy demigoddess inspired by Phobos the Greek God that embodies the fear and panic of the battlefield. There are few entities in this game that players unanimously agree are terrifying to encounter and she pretty much tops the list,” she explained. “You should probably look this up in the forums or the community-run online encyclopedia.”

I was starting to consider asking if May could set me up with some sort of VR home space I could use while I was sleeping to access not just game related sites on the FTLN, but all the various other sites I’d missed out on growing up in the American Republic.

“Anyway, so I got back to the capital reportin in and collecting my quest rewards before reuniting with Care. By the time I had gotten back, the Baron’s forces had assaulted the passes and managed to push back the Duchesses force, but not before they engineered rockslides to block the passages and slow the Baron’s advance. By the next morning Redwood’s forces had cleared the passes and had settled in to siege the city. Santarriral is a shit city to assault even if you greatly outnumber the defenders, its walls are tall and thick, but the real issue is the Giant’s Cradle itself.”

“Let me guess,” I interjected, remembering my time in the valley. “The steep slopes of loose rock and scree slow any assault as it slips and gives way out from under their feet, leaving the soldiers sitting ducks for archers, mages and siege engines?”

“Pretty much, it sounds like you’ve actually had some first hand experience. But also leaves them vulnerable to bombardment and swooping attacks by the Blaiddwyvern knights,” she added. “When I left again, both sides were already recruiting players and guilds with quests to raid, infiltrate and sabotage the other side’s forces, equipment and supplies. It has ramped up into a huge player event with guilds and players turning up on both sides from across the Island and beyond. I have some friends fighting on the Duchess’ side who are keeping me updated via dms.”

“That still doesn’t answer why or how you’re here,” Roxi interjected.

“Hold on, I’m getting there,” Elle chided with feigned annoyance. “Anyway, it turns out I missed you both by less than a day. I arrived just past noon and later learned you’d already left in the early hours of the morning.”

“To be honest I’d been hoping to stick around once I got back and hang around Care for a bit…” The Darkling pouted.

Having met Ceres, I was really starting to wonder how real their relationship was and what Elixatmael actually knew. 

“But the same day I got back she gave me a summary of what I’d missed and updated me on the quest she’d sent you out on.  She believes your mission might actually be the most important for the Duchy and could potentially even bring an end to the siege as well if her suspicions are confirmed. She asked if I could catch up with you and assist given my veteran status and connections.”

I continued to listen without focusing. My mind was still occupied by the puzzle of El and Ceres. I mean human A.I. relationships weren’t exactly unthought of. 

Even after centuries of machine learning algorithms and several decades of non-sentient true artificial intelligence becoming commonplace in the world outside of the American Republic, the trope still featured enough in romance fiction. Common enough for examples of stories featuring it to leak out of the FTLN onto our outdated net through illicit connections.

“So that’s the why. As for the how, I DMed some of my pirate friends who have been operating in the area. Then flying indirectly around Haverhill’s barony, I met up with them aboard their ship just off the coast out of sight from land. Leaving my drake to fly off until I need it again, they sailed into Port Marchnad under the guise of a merchant ship and dropped me off yesterday.”