The Lost Queen Vol 1 ch8.1: Interlude - To the last arrow

Chapter 8.1: Interlude - To the last arrow

Myra daughter of Ella slowly let out her breath before letting loose an arrow. Her target, which had been trying to sneak up the ledge, gave a final terrified screech before its body fell back into the pool of water.

“Good shot,” Katilia opined before letting loose one of her own.

“Thanks.”

Looking at her friend, Myra found her counting the bolts in her quiver. The arrows in her quiver now numbered only nine.

“You know, I won’t be angry at you if you tried to make it out of here by yourself.”

“I’ll think about it,” Katilia deadpanned before letting loose another bolt then murmured, “Idiot.”

Myra couldn’t help but smile. There was no question that the four of them were going to receive Mania’s warm embrace; it was just a matter of time. A sudden bang caused both women to jump. Their healer had blocked another spear that had been thrown onto the ledge.

“Amice looks angry,” Myra chortled. “You almost have to feel sorry for the rats when they eventually climb up here.”

The party’s scout snickered, “Almost.”

“I’m sorry,” Myra let loose another arrow, this time dropping a ratkin who was trying sneak up to throw a spear. She now had eight arrows.

Katilia sighed, “You’re at it again. I told you before luv. Sarin just turned his back on us. We all knew the dangers.”

She and Myra had braved the labyrinth for the thrill of the adventure. Argus had been the easiest to convince, for he was always searching for rare magics. Denis joined because he had nowhere else to go. Amice and Warin had been the hardest to convince to return to the Pale Hills.

“I’m just annoyed we’re going to miss Amice’s wedding.”

“Oh, that’s right; you mentioned you have never been to one.”

Myra remembered her cousin's wedding. Cassandra looked beautiful in her blue cotehardie standing with her soon to be husband under the Wedding tree. Her grandmother had worked almost a whole season on the dress. Of course, chasing her cousin to capture the garter and the dancing afterward had also been fun.

Katilia just shrugged; there were many things she missed having grown up in the Taurn orphanage.

“I was looking forward to the dancing.” Myra stepped back, no need to empty her quiver. At least not yet.

“So was Argus,” Katilia chuckled at her friend's confused look. “You did know he was rather fond of your sister?”

“What?”

She couldn’t help but snort. Myra was so obtuse sometimes. “He couldn’t keep his eyes off of her.”

Raising her crossbow, she dispatched one of the spear carriers that had been trying to sneak around to the other side of the pond. “Of course, he was also terrified of her.”

Myra huffed. “OK, now I know your just making fun of me.”

“No, really,” Katilia dropped down from her perch to take a seat. “You know how she kept trying to get him to discuss magic with her.”

Iona’s sister couldn't help but groan. “It's hard to get her to stop.”

Katilia snickered, “Poor Argus didn’t understand half of what came out of her mouth.”

“How do you know?”

“Angus told me, of course. He wanted some advice on how to approach her. I don’t think he ever would, though.”

“He did tell me that he planned on teaching my sister a couple of spells when we returned.”

“Oh, maybe he gained some courage after all. Well, good for him,” Katilia said approvingly.

“Hmm, they’re pulling back,” Myra commented wearily. The two watched as the ratkins retreated into the darkness, most likely to regroup. “I’ll be back.”

Keeping one eye on the shadows below, she moved over to their healer. Perhaps some of them would get out of the mess she created after all, “So, how is he?”

Looking up, Amice gave her childhood friend a sad smile, “I fear that Warin’s not long for this world.”

Kneeling, she started to rummage through her pack, “I still have some food.”

“Save it, Myra, you will need your strength.”

They all agreed that they were lucky to get as far as they did after the disastrous ambush. The young warrior had taken a grievous wound, trying to protect his friend Argus. Only Amice’s skill as a healer had kept him alive, but now he looked pale as if his very life was draining from him.

“Why do you and Katilia remain? If you can, you should try and find a way out of the labyrinth.”

“You know I’m not leaving the two of you, Ams.”

“Then you’re an idiot.” Reaching over, Amice took hold of Myra’s hand, “This is not your fault.”

“But, Denis, Argus, and now Warin,” Myra started to sob.

“We all agreed to search this labyrinth, all for different reasons, but it was our choice.”

Myra tried to pull back her hand, but the healer’s grip was firm.

“We followed you because we love you. And, you needed someone to keep you out of trouble.”

The young pathfinder tried not to laugh as she rubbed the tears from her face.

“Didn’t help.”

“I guess it didn’t.” Amice tiredly conceded. “Now go back to Katilia. Whatever you two were talking about brought smiles to your faces.”

“Oh, she was telling me that Angus was afraid of my sister,” Myra explained while counting the number of arrows in her quiver again.

“Ahh, I wouldn’t say afraid but perhaps nervous about embarrassing himself in front of someone he liked.”

Amice suddenly raised her voice, apparently coming to a decision. “Myra, when the time comes, you will retreat from this place. I will buy you time.”

“Ams.”

“NO! You will not die here. I will not allow it!” The healer almost stood up, tears now running down her face.

“They're coming again!” Katilia called out.

Myra nocked an arrow as she watched the ratkins readying themselves for another attack, “Not going to happen, Amice.”

“So, you will be leaving Iona alone?”

The pathfinder's head snapped back as if struck, “You’re a cruel woman.”

“Nonetheless, you made a promise to her, did you not,” Amice countered.

Drawing the bow to her ear, she loosed an arrow. A ratkin, who appeared to be giving orders, took it directly in the mouth. The second one bounced off a shield as another rat ran forward. A third disappeared into the darkness.

“Alright,” Myra reluctantly agreed.

“Thank you,” Amice smiled. “Don’t worry, before I join Warin in the Halls of Nemin, I’ll make sure the ratkins and their dark gods remember my name.”

Dodging a spear, Myra returned to her post. She noticed almost immediately that even more ratkins were working on the ramp. How much time did they now have?

“I see you're not happy,” Katilia commented as she let loose a bolt.

Myra grumbled, “Amice brought up my sister.”

Raising her bow, she picked off a ratkin who has been trying to cross to the other side of the chamber. Counting the arrows in her quiver, she frowned, only three.

“I see. So, what’s the plan.”

“Once we're down to our last couple of shots, we'll make a break for it,” exasperated Myra as she sighed heavily.

“I assume it's only the two of us?” Katilia muttered aside.

“Yes, she won't leave Warin.”

“I understand.”

The two of them looked into each other eyes, blushing then set about defending their positions at least until their arrows ran out when suddenly everything changed.

--0—

Aggro - As a verb, it refers to a hostile mob that has noticed a player and is actively trying to attack that player. As a noun, it refers to the amount of "hostility" the player has generated on the mob.

Alt - or alternate character is a character in addition to one's "primary" or "Main" player character. In addition, one frequent use is to play characters of opposite gender or to see what new features have been added since they last were on a low-level character.

Bells: Most large communities have some way to keep time, useful for travelers, and tradesmen heading off to work. Usually the either the Town’s Hall or Healer’s Hall will ring a large bell. It's Midsummer, so the times below will change depending on the time of year and location-

First 2:30 a.m.
Second 3:40 a.m.
Third 7:00 a.m.
Forth 12:20 p.m.
Fifth 3:00 p.m.
Sixth 7:00 p.m.
Seventh 8:20 p.m.
Eighth 9:30 p.m.

Buff - refers to preparatory actions taken before combat, usually involving the casting of spells. Adding additional bonuses to characters.

Escort Missions – a job where you have to safeguard an NPC, without getting them killed. Now, this wouldn't be so bad, except that the NPCs are universally stupid, running ahead and getting killed in the process. Many players despise these types of jobs.

Death Penalty – In real life, death is well permanent. In MMORPG, not so much. Yet death in 99% of MMOs is a mere inconvenience and speed bump — you don’t lose experience, and you don’t lose much of your time.

Guilds - Semi-permanent player groups. In typical games, players must use a substantial amount of capital to start the guild.

Minimap - A mini-map or minimap is a miniature map that is often placed at a screen corner in video games to aid players in orienting themselves within the game world. They are usually only a small portion of the screen and thus must be selective in what details they display.

MMORPG - Massively-Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game

Mob - An AI-controlled monster.

Noob- Newbie, newb, noob, or n00b is a slang term for a novice or newcomer, or somebody inexperienced in a profession or activity. Variant forms of the noun include Newby and newbee, while the related term noob (often stylized as "n00b") is commonly used in online gaming.

Root - Can refer to a class of abilities as well as its effect. A root spell immobilizes a target. The target is then said to be rooted. Early versions of these abilities involved references to plants, hence "root."

Spawning - In video games, spawning is the live creation of a character, item, or NPC. Respawning is the recreation of an entity after its death or destruction, perhaps after losing one of its lives. Despawning is the deletion of a body from the game world.

Tank - A tank or also known as a meat shield, redirect enemy attacks or attention toward themselves to protect others. Typically the fighter tries to take as much aggro as possible away from weaker players such as healers and mages. Since they can often take a lot of damage, they are usually heavily armored and have lots of health.

Total party kill (TPK) “Rocks fall, everyone dies” or wipes - a situation in which every player character in a party dies. Factors include player inexperience, insufficient player characters, or encounters too difficult for the party's capabilities.

Horses in the Middle Ages:

The Destrier
The Destrier was the most expensive horse and were typically owned only by nobles and knights. Destriers were tall horses and were typically only used in battle. Trained to not only bite and kick on command but also to trample fallen enemies. Destriers were not common and, as a result, were highly sought after by knights.

The Palfrey
The palfrey was used for riding, traveling, and hunting as well as for ceremonies. Riding a palfrey was much more comfortable and was the favorite riding animal of noblewomen.

The Courser
Coursers were fast horses and had good endurance. They were often used by messengers as well as by people who needed to move quickly. Many knights who did not have access to a destrier, preferred to ride a courser into battle because it was fast, strong, and agile.

The Rouncey
The rouncey could be used as a pack animal or even on the farm. It could be trained for war or used as a riding horse and was often used by knights who could not afford any of the other horses. A knight would also provide rounceys to his squires and other men at arms.