Chapter 9: O for a muse of fire!

Myra reached into her quiver for one of the three remaining arrows with a heavy heart when suddenly one of the larger ratkins she had been planning to target collapsed.

“What’s happening?” she blurted as the creatures below who had been pressing forward started to look around in confusion.

“I don’t know.” Katilia lowered her crossbow then pointed, “Over there!”

Bright light from the other side of the cavern pushed away the overwhelming darkness revealing four figures. The closest an armored bowman drew an arrow and let loose with uncanny accuracy slaying a ratkin from clear across the chamber.

“Is that my sister?” gasped Myra when a robed figure’s incantation produced a handful of small balls of flame to burn the rats below.

When the familiar-looking mage cast the spell a second time, Katilia cheered, “Take that you sarding rats!”

Myra joined her jubilation when both the bowman and mage took care of one enormous beast who had been trying to stem the tide of the now panicking rats.

“Sweet merciful Dinya, “ Amice whispered, feeling hopeful for the first time since Denis’ terrible death.

However, it wasn’t the bowman whom she assumed was Mistress Karin nor the armored spearmen who had to be Master Leo that caught her attention. In the center of the group stood a warrior in shining silver armor, watching the turmoil below as if she could feel the flow of battle. When she raised her hand, the healer’s instincts screamed.

“Get down!” she shouted, covering her betrothed with her shield.

Katilia didn’t have to be told twice. Grabbing Myra by the scruff of her neck, the two hit the ground as a ball of flame sped past them into one of the nearby tunnels. The explosion took their breath away as the flames quickly spread out, annihilating everything in its path. As the heat of the conflagration washed over their position, they watched in wonder as the fire destroyed the ramp only to then turn back on itself.

“Her control is amazing,” Katilia, laughed as she watched the rats burn.

While no stranger to powerful magic, the three could not explain what happened next. As the roaring flames consumed the ratkins, it appeared to reach out and grab those who attempted to flee, pulling them back into its fiery embrace. It was as if the fire was a feral animal controlled by the silver knight. Any idea that the creatures below would be continuing their assault ended when the second ball of fire exploded in their midst.

“Myra!” A young girl screamed from the other side of the room.

Katilia, who was almost lying on top of her friend, giggled. “I do believe that is your sister.”

Blushing, the two disentangled themselves as they watched the young girl scamper across the small ledge towards their location. Behind her moving in a more sedated pace with his faceplate now raised was her Uncle Leo.

“He doesn’t look pleased,” Myra sighed, striking her suddenly how much trouble she must have caused her relatives.

Her adventuring band knew the decision to delve into the labyrinth without guild sanction, although not against the rules had been unwise. Only the arrival of Myra’s family had prevented the whole journey from turning into a tragedy.

Katilia almost didn’t move out of the way in time as Iona flew across the ledge to embrace her sister. While the two cried in each other's arms, she watched the silver armored warrior who, along with Myra’s aunt, drop off the ledge and float gently to the floor below.

When the warrior stabbed a wounded ratkin with her spear, she asked, “What are they doing?”

“Lady Eleanor is meting out Mania’s mercy,” Leo replied before embracing his long lost niece. Kissing her on the forehead, he turned towards the band’s healer. “How is Warin?”

“Dying Master Healer,” lamented Amice.

Nodding, he squeezed Myra’s hand gently before walking towards the young man who seemed more dead than alive. “Well, let us see if I can do something about that.”

“We found Argus,” Iona said sadly then asked, “Where’s Denis?”

“We entered a room near here and he…,” Myra faltered.

“He’s dead, Iona. Something grabbed him. We barely had time even to understand what happened when,” Katilia grimaced. “At least it was mercifully quick. Warin managed to fend it off enough to allow us to escape the room. We tried to make it back to the stairs, but Argus couldn’t remove the enchantment on the door.”

“Was he able to before,” Leo asked half-listening while he looked over Warin.

“Yes, Master Leo, we made sure of it before we searched this floor.”

“Then what happened?” Iona nervously asked.

Myra picked up the story. “Since we couldn’t go through the door, and we already found one secret exit, Argus thought that there might be another one magically hidden. What we didn’t expect to find was an empty room full of corpses.”

“The again-walkers, ” grumbled Iona.

“So determined of finding a way out, we just entered, foolish.” Myra shook her head. “When they started to move, Warin managed to strike first, killing one of them. Didn’t matter though. Argus was stuck on the other side of the room. Although Warin tried, he couldn’t reach him in time. We fled then remembered this chamber, not realizing how badly he was wounded until later.”

--0—

The overwhelming stench of burning rat had surprisingly started to vanish by the time I jumped off the ledge to deal with the wounded below. Although I didn’t feel particularly bad about dropping a couple of fireballs on the ratkins, which was worrisome to some degree, I couldn’t allow those wounded to perish in such agony. Thankfully, Karin volunteered to join me.

It wasn’t pleasant. Trying to ignore the terrible burns of the few remaining breathing ratkins, I finished off one before asking, “So tell me a little more about your nieces’ adventuring band.”

“Oh, I guess we haven’t really spoken much about them.” Karin looked surprised before plunging her husband's spear into the back of another moaning ratkin.

“Well, from her skill with a bow, Myra obviously takes after you.”

Karin sighed, “In more ways than one. In a way, I blame myself for her misadventure in this place. When she and Iona were little, I often told them stories of the great adventurers who dared the Olicana labyrinth. Instead, I should have told them of the horrors we faced in Ingsmouth and the friends we lost.”

Inspecting one of the ratkins, I flipped him over then grimaced before continuing. We did our work in silence until we reached one of the exits. Several corpses were blocking the passageway, but I pushed them away before warding the floor.

“Let's see, “ began Karin, “Amice I have known since she was a child. She, along with my daughter and Myra, grew up together. I can't say I am surprised at what happened. The three of them always managed to get themselves into trouble growing up.”

“Not Iona?” I inquired, remembering my friend's younger siblings, who always wanted to know what we were doing.

She smiled. “On occasion, but Iona’s more like my husband. She’s more than happy to sit and study her grimoire. Myra, on the other hand, could never sit still.”

After warding another exit, we found ourselves standing over the remains of an enormous ratkin that we thought might have been the leader. While neither of us had any desire to search the charred corpse, I did cast detect magic a few times. Finding nothing, we continued.

“Warin her betrothed, as I mentioned before, was a town guard. He’s a little older and has been a good addition to their band. Amice was the one who invited him into the group after the two met at the Healer’s Hall.”

“Oh?”

She smiled. “Apparently, he needed healing after falling off a wall while attempting to catch a thief. Nothing serious, but I heard he managed to hurt himself a couple more times so she could heal him.”

That gave us a good chuckle as we crossed the chamber. Thankfully, the raging fire that had been happily burning what remained of the ramp was now just smoldering. Almost all of the ratkins in this area were dead.

“And Denis?” I asked as we walked around the pond, odd that we couldn’t find any bodies. Wondering if there was something that took them, or perhaps the corpses floated somewhere else, we decided to give it a wide berth for now.

“I can't say I knew much about him. He seemed to enjoy speaking to my husband, but from what Myra tells me, he was rather shy,” Karin smiled sadly. “The group asked him to join them after sharing a caravan assignment. Argus joined the band at the same time. He was recommended by Alidth, a friend of mine who teaches magic at the guild.”

As I warded another exit, Karin explained that she and her husband ended up what sounded like mentors for Myra’s adventuring band. She introduced them to influential people within the guild. The two even advised on what jobs they should look for to leverage their strength.

Going forward, she didn’t know what to do. Karin was disappointed with her niece. Well, all of them, but she was quick to admit her own terrible choices. She just wished they had not made similar ones. The question for Myra’s band was what to do next with half their members dead or wounded?

The sickly sweet smell of death still permeated the air as I entered the tunnel where I sent my first fireball. The reinforcements were almost burned to the point of cremation. That did seem a little odd, but then again, my experience of spell casting was in Magic-Life. There would be no survivors here.

I saved what should be an interesting story for last. “And Katilia?

Karin tried to hide her grimace. “I don't hate the girl. And there is also no denying her ability, but I just don't believe she is good for the band.”

“Can I ask why?”

“She hasn’t been entirely truthful, “ Karin shrugged. “I’m from a poor family in the empire. Many of my friends fell into a life of crime, and most of those are dead. My cousin, thankfully, had been able to get me a position in the provincial scouts. So I might not be as proficient as Katilia, but I am familiar with her skills. And trust me no matter what she claims, she did not learn her craft in some fictitious guild school in Aryn.”

Iona’s aunt turned away, appearing lost in thought. “Her martial skills are also way above those of a normal scout. One guildmaster told me there were rumors that Katilia once worked as a sellsword.”

The old definition of a sell-sword was a mercenary, but from what was implied, it was different in this world.

Looking back towards me, Karin added, “Oh, she’s a C-ranked adventure. Did I tell you that?”

As for being a C-ranked adventurer, “I see. You think that’s why Myra braved this labyrinth?”

“In part, yes. What I am most concerned about is Myra getting caught up in Katilia’s old line of work.”

I nodded in understanding.

Karin sighed. “The two of them are also rather close. I just can’t see it turning out well.”

Kicking the remains of the ramp with my foot, I walked away from the last exit after setting the last combination of alarm ward and fire rune. The reason? We still needed to escape from this place, and having a wounded party member was going to make it slow going. What I didn’t want was to be surprised by the ratkin’s reappearance, especially in force. The fire runes would turn those hallways into a death trap.

“Lady Eleanor, may I crave a boon?”

Since leaving the road, my three companions' speech had become more informal. I don’t think I could have gotten any of them to call me Eleanor but the ‘my lady’ this and ‘my lady’ that had decreased. Karin's sudden formality caught me off guard, especially when she knelt in a pseudo-Japanese style and then lowered her forehead slowly almost to the floor.

I felt myself slipping into a familiar role. My guild members often asked for a boon typically with a stupid grin on their face. Karin, however, was all business.

“If it is within my power. So Mistress Karin, how may I help you this day?” As I addressed her formally, I couldn’t help but notice the somewhat unique setting standing in the center of a score of burnt ratkin bodies.

Looking up and crossing both hands in front of her, she began, “First of all, I wish to thank you for saving our lives. Without you, I know we would not have made it this far.”

Remembering the encounter with the basilisk, I couldn’t deny it, so I simply replied with a ‘you are welcome.’

Nodding, she continued, “Second of all, thank you again for spending your valuable time training Iona in the ways of magic. However, I am concerned about her future.”

I could see where she was coming from. Karin could have lost both her nieces if Myra didn’t have the foresight to force her sister to stay at home. It wasn’t hard to imagine her envisioning Iona on the floor with an ax sticking out of her back if the circumstances were different.

“I see you are troubled that she will ask to take Argus’ place in her sister’s adventuring band. I can speak to her, but I gather you wish for something else?”

“It is our hope that you would officially make Iona your apprentice,” implored Karin.

I cannot say I didn’t see this coming. Admittedly, I had just as much fun teaching her as she did learning new magic, but that was not the problem.

“Mistress Karin, you are aware that my lands are far from here?” Or maybe in another universe or dimensional plane, whatever.

“Yes, my lady. The three of us have spoken about this, and although it might be presumptuous of me to ask, especially with how much you have done for my family already.”

Truthfully, I had no qualms about teaching Iona magic in the future. But from the little I knew how apprenticeship worked, she would more or less become my responsibility. And I still had no idea what brought me here or why. On the other hand, it wouldn’t be terrible to have someone to help me navigate this world either.

Looking around, I smiled. “Mistress Karin, let us speak of this again, perhaps in a more comfortable location. Then the three of us can sit down and go over my responsibilities and what I would expect from Iona if I do decide to take her on as an apprentice.”

--0—

Amice pensively sat as she watched Master Leo examine her betrothed. With her heart in her mouth, she explained, “I was able to treat his wounds, but for some reason, they kept returning. I thought it might have something to do with the again-walker curse since I couldn't remove it either.”

Leo nodded then cast another one of his detection spells, “Was he struck by the one with the battle-ax?”

“I believe so, yes,” worried Amice.

“I thought so. Unfortunately, he took a wound from a revenant.”

Leo ignored the cries around him as he continued to work on the young man. Casting several spells unsuccessfully, he frowned then tried one last time.

“Alright, I was able to halt the progression of the curse” Reaching over, he grabbed Amice's hand, who started to cry in relief. “However, we will still need to take him to Harmon for cleansing as I doubt we will find a potion in Wyndemere.”

Katilia started to say something, but it only came out as a croak.

“Master Leo, I will be forever grateful for not just rescuing us from our own folly but for healing my beloved as well.” Turning to her friends, the healer declared, “I will approach Countess Orebella personally for her supplication to the goddess.”

“I will see what I can do as well, Amice.”

“Thank you, Master Leo, your help is appreciated. Thankfully we set aside money for our wedding in addition to the funds held by the guild in case something like this occurred.”

“I don’t understand,” Iona said perplexed

“It’s very expensive,” her sister explained. “I will help too, plus we still have all of the heart cores we collected.”

Myra turned to Katilia, who laughed, “You have to ask? Of course, we will all help. But if we are going to pay almost twenty gold, wouldn't it be better if we purchased a Cleansing Potion from someone in the guild.”

“Perhaps although with Amice and my contacts in the Healer’s Hall, it might be cheaper to approach Countess Orebella,” speculated Leo surprised that the young scout knew the cost of the ritual.

Iona squeaked. “Is it really that expensive?”

“Katilia isn’t far off,” murmured Amice.

Myra pointed out. “And I doubt the stones we collected could be used in the potion. We would have to post a job for it.”

“Well, there is always the heart core from the basilisk,” Iona proposed.

Leo sighed, “It’s not ours to give niece.”

Myra’s party just sat there with their mouths open until she stammered, “You fought a basilisk?”

“Yes,” Iona grinned then frowned. “Well, not really, Lady Eleanor killed it.”

“We need to think about also paying Master Leo back for the cost of hiring an A-ranked adventurer as well,” marveled Amice.

“So, where did you find her?” Myra looked across the chamber, watching as her aunt, and the noblewomen walked around, stabbing things.

“There is nothing to pay Amice, and we met her while she was staying at the Wayfarer's Rest,” Leo explained.

“And she taught me so much and look at my outfit. She made it for me, “ effused Iona.

“It’s beautiful,” Katilia smiled, running her hand over the fabric.

Leo noticed the woman’s smile didn’t reach her eyes. He couldn’t fault her for the dark thoughts that might be running around in her head from what little he knew of the scout’s past.

“Are you her apprentice?” Myra asked, confused.

“Well, no, “ the young mage said sadly. “ But she taught me several spells.”

Katilia frowned.

“Captain Conrad approached Lady Eleanor to see if she could determine the reason for the increased monster activity on the Albanese Way,” Leo jumped in. “Iona was in the initial meeting as she was looking for other adventurers to help locate your band, Myra.”

“Good thing too, “ Karin commented, causing everyone on the ledge to jump. So intent on their conversation, they didn’t hear the two of us approach.

With our task completed, Karin was amused at how we were able to return to the path twenty feet above. Leap and Descent were a useful bit of magic, especially when you're wearing heavy armor. It also allowed for some exciting combat maneuvers on occasion.

Could I have just used magic to descend from the entrance of the dungeon to the floor? Absolutely, could I have leaped back up? Unfortunately, no, with it being over thirty feet in the air, I still needed a rope.

Karin turned to me and started the introductions as everyone came to their feet. “Lady Eleanor Reine of Avalon, may I introduce my niece Myra.”

Dressed in green leather scale armor, she looked like an older version of her sister. Even with her surprisingly short jet-black hair, I could see the family resemblance in Karin as well. Myra’s weapons looked well kept, which included a self-bow and a footman’s mace attached to her waist.

She gave me a friendly smile as her aunt continued. “To her left is Katilia of Ramsgate.”

The attractive petite woman wearing black leathers stood a little off to the side. I wouldn’t describe her as thin, but wiry came to mind. She, like the others, was well armed with at least two daggers visible and a longsword belted to her waist. When announced, she bobbed a curtsey, “My lady.”

“And finally, may I introduce Healer Amice of Harmon.”

“My lady.” She bowed formally.

In stark contrast to their scout, the stocky woman who looked more like a blacksmith than a healer, stood heads above the rest of the party. She had a falchion on her hip and wore healer’s white under a mixture of chain and cuir-bouilli leather armor. Her eyes were welcoming and full of warmth if a bit forced. Understandable with her intended on the floor beside her.

“How is Warin?”

“Amice did an excellent job keeping him alive,“ Leo nodded to her before walking over to the injured man.

Remembering where Warin’s wound probably came from, I used my healer’s Check Status skill, “But he’s still cursed.”

Leo looked started for a moment, then nodded. “Yes, my lady, I was able to halt its progression but not remove it.”

A Detect Curse spell revealed two hexes, a Life Drain and another, which I only knew too well. When I struck something living with my longsword Marwolaeth, it caused additional necrotic damage and on a critical strike, a large amount of burst damage. The ax’s curse caused continuous necrotic damage, and well, it just felt wrong.

The two curses also seemed to merge in a rather strange way, which I imagine was why Leo could only see one. However, whatever counter-curse spell he used would soon need to be reapplied as it wasn't high enough level to remove the second curse.

“Healer Amice did your betrothed’s wound keep reappearing?”

“Yes, my lady, do you know why?” She looked at her fiancé, concerned.

“It’s a combination of two curses, Leo, a life drain, and a necrotic curse.”

“So the need for healing,” he nodded in understanding, “It’s from the ax.”

“I believe so.”

It wasn’t difficult to see that in Warin’s current condition, that moving him would be dangerous, but we had no choice. So, I now had a difficult decision to make.

Magic-Life had several builds for each class that allowed you to buy skills from other classes. If you wanted to play a Delver healer, you could. It wouldn’t be cheap, but the game did give you that flexibility.

Sometimes it was required to be able to use a specific secondary skill. If a Paladin wanted to brew arcane potions, they had to have eldritch lore. I needed healer’s lore to brew cure potions.

One of the benefits of having a magical fire affinity was that healing wasn’t as expensive as learning, for example, Delving skills. So I ended up buying a few healing spells. Amazingly useful at lower levels and when I went adventuring by myself. Cure Wounds was the most common healer's ability. The next was removing harmful status effects.

Those spells were essential in completing my quest to rescue Gwefrydd. With a castle filled with wights, barrow-wights, wraiths, and at the end a Shadowknight, it seemed I ended up being hexed after almost every encounter.

So removing the two curses wasn’t an issue even if compared to the healers in-game, my ability was subpar. But, did I want to reveal that ability here? My simple adventurer story already lay in tatters. So, not really, I had no desire to add more fuel to the fire if I could help it.

Still, Warin needed to be healed. Luckily, I still had other options. “If I could remove the necrotic curse Leo, could you remove the life drain?”

“We call it the Wasting Curse, but yes.” He and Amice started to smile.

At least I didn’t need to use a Greater Purify potion, which I only had a few left. Lesser Purify might do the job, but I haven't carried those in over six months, so a Purify Potion would have to do.

Reaching into my inventory, I passed the potion to Leo. As he gave it to Warin and then cast his own remove curse, Amice fiancé’s color immediately returned. Unfortunately, unlike Magic-Life, he didn’t just stand up and continue as if nothing happened. The two hexes had wracked his body and spirit. It was going to take time to recover, but at least he was alive.

After hearing about Denis’ fate, there seemed to be no real reason to remain. “Karin?”

Looking at me she smiled, Warin’s recovery had lifted everyone’s spirits. “Yes, my lady.”

“Let’s go home.”

--0--
Author’s Note: So here we are at the end of Volume 1 of The Lost Queen. Luckily, you don’t have to wait months for the new one to show up in your local bookstore.
Volume 2 – We will see more of the kingdom as Eleanor journeys onward. Will she continue to be blissfully unaware of the casual havoc her presence is causing?

What do you think?

I run these chapters through Grammarly ad nauseam, so of course, it still misses things. Therefore, a special thanks to Michelle SidheElf Amaianna and others who have found them then prodded me to fix my errors.

Thanks again for reading. You’re all wonderful.

--0—

MMORPG or RPG Terms
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.

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

Burst damage- is a term used to describe dealing high amounts of damage in a brief period of time. Spells that qualify for burst damage are often mana inefficient.

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.

Weapons & Armor

Chain (mail) - maille is a type of armor consisting of small metal rings linked together in a pattern to form a mesh. It was generally in common military use between the 3rd century BC and the 14th century AD. A coat of this armor is often referred to as a hauberk and sometimes a byrnie.

Cuir bouilli - leather that has been treated so that it became tough and rigid as well as able to hold molded decoration. Cuir bouilli was used for cheap and light armor; although it was much less effective than plate armor, it could be reinforced against slashing blows by the addition of metal bands or strips, especially in helmets.

Falchion - A one-handed single-edged sword of European origin whose design is reminiscent of the Chinese dadao and the modern machete.

Longsword - a type of European sword characterized as having a cruciform hilt with a grip for two-handed use a straight double-edged blade of around 85 to 110 cm and weighing approximately 1 to 1.5 kg.

Scale Armor- (or scale mail) is an early form of armor consisting of many individual small armor scales (plates) of various shapes attached to each other and backing of cloth or leather in overlapping rows. The material used to make the scales varies and included bronze iron steel rawhide leather cuir-bouilli seeds horn or pangolin scales.

Middle Ages Terms:

Bells: Most large communities have some way to keep time useful for travelers and tradesmen heading off to work. Usually, 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.

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 - 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 – 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 – often used as a pack animal or even on the farm. It could be trained for war or used as a riding horse and was commonly 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.