Chapter 11

Yuma

The next day they were walking in an area south of Palm Springs. Rome checked the map to see what direction to go. The map was topographical showing elevation and vegetation density, but didn’t show streams, not that they expected to find any in the desert. It did however show the Colorado River between them and the bed. They didn’t know how they were going to get across it, but they would cross that bridge when they came to it, or lack of a bridge, which was the problem.

Along the way Antic saw a huge spider, it was bigger than his hand! They stayed away from it but Arden insisted on following it. They headed further south into rocky hills and saw it go into a cave. They decided not to go in after it, but then saw another one come out. They hoped it was another cave of riches. Rome marked the spot on his map, and they continued on toward Yuma.

That night Graul was able to rub sticks together and using Rome’s char cloth they made a fire and ate venison, a deer that Jex was able to shoot and Arden cut up to finish it off. Torger loved venison, but the clumsy kills let the all the deer they shot with an arrow run away before they could catch them. The adrenaline flowing through the dying animals got into the blood and gave the meat a poor flavor, but he was grateful for the food. He was tempted to use the .30-30 to get a good clean kill, but knew better than to waste the bullets.

Late in the night Brun was on watch when he heard a deep growl and a THWACK of something hard hitting something soft. He knew Arden would want to go investigate so he woke him up and they climbed up a nearby hill.

When they reached the crest they both dropped to the ground. They saw a large green troll with a huge club by his feet. It was crouched down and eating a deer raw with large sickening bites that crunched through the bones. They watched it finish its meal then walk east, the direction they were going to head the next day.

Brun woke everyone up quietly and told them what they had seen. Torger said they should get rest for the night and make a wide berth around the next day. Antic said they should get out of the hills because in all the fiction stories trolls liked hills and caves, not flat desert. That was as good of a guess as any so Rome suggested going due south to Imperial Valley then east again.

The group didn’t sleep well the rest of the night waking at every bird chirp and coyote howl. At first sunlight they left the area immediately crossing over the rocky hills and into a vast flat expanse of sand. They could see the Salton Sea to the south, and to the east was the direction they needed to go. Glamis. Miles and miles of sand dunes. They filled up their water skins at a spring in Indio Arden had found and deliberately hunted for food; it would be a few days before they had another opportunity.

They spent the next three days walking over endless sand. The path was grueling but they were well clear of monsters. They saw a few scorpions, but fortunately the snakes were hibernating. Eventually they came to a large dune and could see the Colorado River in the distance. It was a beautiful sight to behold. All they had to drink the third day was water from cut cacti.

The next day they came to the wide river. Normally they could all swim across it, but their furs and swords would make them sink. Since it was winter the river was a little higher than it would be in fall, but not as high as it would be in spring. On this alien world the Hoover dam wasn’t to the north regulating the flow.

As they sat next to the river deciding what to do Arden saw a huge green lizard approaching them, a razorling. He shouted in alarm as a few more came over the hill they had just crossed. Antic ran into the river and tried to swim across, but was weighted down and began sinking. He found his footing and waded back to shore. The razorlings formed a line and started approaching the group.

Arden grabbed the .30-30 and shot one in the face, and it staggered a few steps then collapsed. Everyone else had their swords drawn when an arrow whistled through the air and struck one. Yellow lightning arced around the shaft and the razorling shook with a jolt of electricity. A second later two more arrows hit two more razorlings, leaving the last one to run at the group. Torger, Graul, and Rome charged it. It jumped and bit Rome on the arm as he stabbed and missed with his sword. Graul and Torger landed shallow cuts with their swords, but Arden fired the powerful rifle again and easily punctured its heart.

A few seconds later three dwarves ran up and cut up the three razorlings that had been stunned from arrows. The razorlings had recovered before the dwarves got there and fought against the dwarves. Jex was able to get two clean shots in with her bow, one was the ice arrow, helping the dwarves win the fight.

Two of the three dwarves had been bit on the leg, and the third one gave each of them a blue potion to drink. Their bite marks stopped bleeding, but they stood up with a limp. Rome had deep wounds on his arm that was bleeding severely. One of the dwarves handed him a blue potion and told him to drink it but Graul told them what had happened when he drank a potion.

Antic bandaged his arm with a rabbit pelt and string, but that did little to slow the bleeding. Without anyone speaking, they all knew Rome was in trouble. Torger asked if the dwarves knew of any natural medicine, but they didn’t. He thanked them for saving his life, all their lives.

“We were traveling to the east, trying to figure out how to cross the river when the razorlings attacked. There’s just no way we would have survived that attack. What is your name? Why are you in this area?”

“My name is Brewski, because I am a potion master. Our village is just south of here, and we’ve been patrolling our borders because these razorlings have been coming closer and closer to our livestock. I’m sorry about your friend, I really am. I’m no healer but I think the bleeding will stop on its own, eventually. But he’ll be weak from blood loss for a few days. You won’t be doing much traveling with him. I invite you to come to our village. Our healer uses magic so she can’t help him, but perhaps you would like a soft bed and strong ale at our tavern? We also have a raft to cross the river.”

“That offer sounds phenomenal, it really does, but we don’t have any money and little to trade.”

“That’s yer choice, but you really should at least get your friend some liquor to pour on that wound.”

Torger agreed that would be for the best. They walked about three miles south. When they arrived they saw a series of low buildings scattered around made of wood and dried mud. At the tavern the barkeep asked what they had for trade. Everyone pulled out dried rabbit, coyote, and deer skins. He told them for that much they could all get a mug of ale and two rooms for the night. Everyone quickly agreed.

As they were drinking a dwarf came in and sat at the bar. He kept eyeing them and after a while he approached their table and said to no one in particular “I hear you’re looking to cross the river. I own the raft and the charge is ten copper per trip, and it will take two trips to get all of you across.”

Torger answered for the group “That’s a kind offer, but we have no money.”

“Yes I was told that. But that billik leg looks like a fair trade to me.”

“What billik leg?”

Torger saw him pointing at Antic’s spear that had the cockroach leg tied to a stick. Torger looked at Antic with pleading in his eyes. Antic smiled and said “You can have the leg for the crossing, but I’m keeping the stick and string.”

“Agreed. You should get your friend to his room to rest. He looks tired.”

Sure enough Rome was struggling to keep his eyes open. He poured half his ale on his arm and was saving the other half to use again later. They all worried about infection, but he said the alcohol numbed the pain. Jex and Arden led him down the hall and went into a room with him. The others finished their drinks and went to one of the rooms. Although the sun was just starting to go down, they were exhausted and looking forward to a good sleep.

Unfortunately for them, this was a dwarven tavern, and they had to duck under the door lintel to get inside. They saw two small beds, about five feet long, and there were four men, each five foot tall. Brun and Rome claimed the beds, while Graul and Torger layed down on the floor. Torger reached into his magic satchel and withdrew another billik leg and tied it to Antic’s stick, making another spear.

Brun asked “How many of those legs did you take?”

“Antic said to take all six. He didn’t know if they would break in battle.”

“Good thinking, but do you want to trade another one for some food? We’re hungry.”

The four of them went back to the tavern and asked the barkeep if they could get a meal for a billik leg, and after thinking about it he reluctantly agreed. They quickly devoured the bowls of roast stew he brought to them. They felt better and slept well that night.

The next morning they headed toward the raft. They saw two dwarves sitting on it with huge oars. They maneuvered the raft across with the first group easily but struggled to get upstream while crossing back. Once the second group made it across safely Rome asked Antic to pull out another billik leg. Not understanding he reluctantly pulled it from his satchel.

Rome addressed the dwarves “Do you want to take a daylong walk then do some mining for this?”

They looked at it, and while impressed said it wasn’t enough pay. Rome then had everyone pull out the remaining coyote and deer skins. That was better, but still not quite enough pay. Finally Antic pulled out another billik leg. The two dwarves quickly and excitedly agreed and crossed back over to get their provisions.

While they were gone Torger asked “Rome, why are we trading stuff to get two tag alongs?”

“I doubt that bed is in plain sight. They would have a better chance of finding tyter gear than we would. Like I said, the map narrows it down to one square mile. Hopefully it’s sitting out in the open and this was a wasted trade, but if not we could spend a couple of days looking for it, whatever it is we’re looking for.”

The walk took them a few miles east of Yuma to a wide expanse of sand dunes. The sun was going down by the time they got to where the icon showed on the map. Rome asked the dwarves if they knew how to find tyter gear in the area. One of them knew a magic spell to locate precious metals underground when mining. He walked to the top of a dune and cast the spell. A few seconds later some sand sparkled silver in between two dunes. The dwarves looked at it and complained that there was nowhere for them to pile the sand as they dug. They couldn’t pile loose sand on a sand dune or it would slide down on top of them.

Night was coming quickly and the wind picked up. There was no chance of rain but it was cold. Graul suggested they wait until morning to begin the dig but the dwarves said they could dig an area big enough for them to be below the wind. They pulled out their shovels and started scooping sand into everyone’s satchels. Everyone except Rome and Jex carried the sand away from the area and returned for more. Rome was looking pale and was very tired and cold and Jex was clearly worried about him.

After an hour there was a fifteen by fifteen foot area dug out two feet below ground. Everyone collapsed on the soft cool sand exhausted. They took turns keeping watch that night but nothing happened.

The next morning the dwarves dug down three more feet when they struck something hard. Everyone scooped away sand and they saw a piece of large curved glass. Rome was feeling much better after a couple of nights sleep since the razorling mangled his arm. To show it he had to be cocky and say “I told you we would have never found it without help from dwarves.”

Everyone ignored the jab and got back to work carrying away the compact dirt that was below the sand. Their magic satchels made the task much easier than buckets would have. After an hour they had revealed a futuristic looking bed covered with a thick glass lid. As the sun hit it lights started to come on inside of it.

Chapter 12

The First Icon

Everyone stared at the bed in amazement as more and more lights came on. They had no idea what to expect when they found the tyter device on the map, but it really was a bed, albeit it looked more like a stasis chamber from some sci-fi movie. After a few more minutes a red button appeared on the side of the glass. They didn’t know if they should touch it or not, and the dwarves had no idea what it was.

Arden spoke up above all the clamor. “I will touch it. I’m the one that brought us here, I’m the one who needs to take the risk.”

Jex dramatically objected but he told her “Honey, I’m injured and weak. I have a hole in my hand from the billik leg, and the flesh of Rome’s arm is shredded. If this thing can heal me, great. If not, I’ve been slowing the group down the whole time. You’re good with your bow, Torger and Graul are good with swords, and Antic is good with his spear. Rome and Brun will find what they’re good at, but I’m good with guns, and we don’t have many bullets left. I’m the one who needs to take the chance.”

The group debated for a while but he insisted and eventually they relented. He placed his hand on the button and the lid flipped up an opened sideways. He climbed in and lay down. The bed was huge for him. Torger asked how big the tyters are and the dwarves said they average eight feet tall. Once Arden was settled the lid closed. A few lights came on and they could see his eyes moving but his body was completely still. About once every two to three seconds a light would flash, and after a minute a pale green light filled the space between the bed and lid. When it faded, Arden was gone!

Jex wailed in despair. Everyone came over to hug her as she cried. Brun had tears at the corners of his eyes. Rome said that was the same pale green light as what teleported them to Nuva, maybe he got teleported back to earth. Jex eventually recovered enough to say that she was going to take the risk and go after him. Everyone protested but she wouldn’t be persuaded, she was going to be wherever her husband was.

She climbed in and a similar series of lights came on, though different colors and time between flashes. After a minute the pale green light took her away to an unknown place. Next Brun said he was going with his brother. The others tried to talk him out of it, but he climbed in. After a different series of lights he too disappeared.

Antic said “In for a penny in for a pound. If this gets me back to earth I’ll take it.”

Rome followed next. Torger asked Graul “Do we or don’t we? Staying here means growing powerful then getting slaughtered in three years. Going there is a complete unknown.”

“We might as well try it. I don’t have my Kindle so I can’t allocate my ability points. Catch ya on the flip side.”

A minute later Torger told the dwarves good-bye and thanked them for their help. He climbed inside and laid down. The lid closed over him. As soon as it latched a clear gas filled the area and put his body into full paralysis. He could only move his eyes. He saw the dwarves looking at him, but he could do nothing to signal to them. A vision of a tyter appeared what seemed to be just an inch in front of him. It spoke in their own language but he could also hear a delayed translate, the same as what his tablet did.

“Welcome courageous warrior. You have found the hidden ability boost. You are now given twenty additional ability points. Spend them wisely… It appears you have entered these hunting grounds trying to attain Extreme Conquest. That is very courageous and the rewards are bountiful, but without respawns death is permanent. If you no longer wish to attain Extreme Conquest, your body will be able to accept and perform magic, for a cost of ten ability points. Do you wish to abandon Extreme Conquest and instead be able to use magic?”

Torger wanted to ask what that meant, but he couldn’t speak. He tried to think of different questions hoping the machine would read his thoughts, but nothing happened. All he saw was a red hologram to his left said NO. A green hologram to his right said YES. He wanted to know what other options would be given to him after this first question, and he tried to project his thoughts outward. Nothing happened. Finally Torger looked at the green hologram but still nothing happened. He stared at it for another second then blinked his eyes.

“You have elected to use magic. You have eleven ability points remaining, one you had when you entered this ability boost chamber. You are currently connected to a portable tablet to spend ability points and manage village relations. Do you wish to be infused with the information of the portable tablet? This will allow you to never lose it or have it destroyed. The cost is six ability points.”

Again the two holograms appeared and again he selected yes.

“You do not have a respawn point set. If you die, it will be permanent. Do you wish to set your respawn point to your village residence? The cost is two ability points.”

YES!

“You have three ability points remaining. The system will allocate them to your strengths… You are strong in all weapons. You will now gain a level in each type of weapon fifteen percent faster. Good luck in conquering your prey strong warrior.”

With that said, there was a flash of pale green light.