After one of the best birthdays Ren had ever had, he was back in his hospital bed and settled in to continue his adventure on the large player quest. He slipped on the VR headset after telling Lucy he would see her at supper.
“Flow Login Start.”
********
Ren woke up on the cave floor and saw that everyone was still milling about. “Resume Quest.” He said, and immediately the soldiers stood up at the ready.
“That's it, everyone! It's time!” The Commander of the Guard said. “We've finally got our blacksmith back!”
“It's about damn time!” One of the players said as he stood up. It was Tristan, of course. “We've been sitting here all day waiting for you!”
“Why?” Ren asked.
“You're an essential component to the mission.” Selene, the Mistress of Dance said unhappily. “We can't continue without you.”
Ren looked around at the other players, and he could see a lot of anger and even some with open hatred; just like he saw on Tristan's face.
“Look, I'm really sorry I didn't come back right away.” Ren said. “I was busy.”
“And we're not?” Tristan said. “We might have even finished this quest by now.” He said with false confidence. “Do you think your time is worth more than ours?”
“Yes.” Ren said, and everyone looked at him with surprise on their faces.
“Wh-what?” Lara, the Sage of Ages asked. “You... really think...”
“Think? No.” Ren said. “Believe? Yes.”
“You smug bastard.” Tristan said. “Just because you're the blacksmith-”
“Shut your mouth!” Ren said angrily, because he was tired of Tristan's attitude. “You don't know what I go through every day! You don't know what my life is like!” He pointed a finger at Tristan. “Don't you dare judge me!”
No one spoke as Ren let some of his pent-up anger out.
“Do you want to know why I didn't come back right away?” Ren asked. “Do you?” He looked at everyone. “I'm in the hospital!” He said, and several people's faces lost their color. “Unlike all of you, who have nice comfy beds to sleep in and homes to live in... I live in a hospital! I'm under constant care, because my condition has to be monitored by a nurse at all times!”
“Oh, Ren.” Lara whispered.
Ren heard her, thanks to his elfin ears; but, he ignored it for now. “Look at me!” He said and started to pace. “This isn't just a character that I play; this is my real height! The only real escape I have is by coming in here! I can walk without gasping for breath! I can probably run for miles if I wanted to! I can do things in here that I can't even imagine doing in real life!”
Everyone stared at Ren as he ranted and paced back and forth in front of them, then he stopped in the middle of them and looked at their shocked faces.
“So, yes! I really do believe that my time is more valuable than yours, because you have so much more of it than I do!” Ren spat at them, and a couple of the girls gasped. He took several deep breaths and then sighed. “I'm sorry.” He said and turned around to face away from them. “I... I shouldn't just blurt out things like that.”
Ren felt a hand on his shoulder, and turned his head to see Lara.
“It's okay.” Lara said after a few moments. “We all have something in real life that...” She sighed and then smiled. “I shouldn't blurt it out, either.”
Ren smiled at her, and she squeezed his shoulder.
“If the love-in is over, let's move out!” The Captain of the Guard said. “This cavern needs to be explored, and we're going to thrust our way into it as hard and as fast as we can!”
A few people chuckled, and Ren snorted a laugh and equipped his armor.
“It's a good thing we brought protection, then.” Ren said and tapped his chest plate. Several people laughed, and he was glad to see that his rant had placated most of them.
The group moved out and delved deeper into the cavern. They had cleared out nearly all of the goblins already and there were only smatterings of attacks now. As they walked, Ren repaired, sharpened, and polished all of the junk daggers the goblins had carried and that the players gave him in trade.
Ren repaired and polished the small bucklers next, and he knew he could sell everything right away for a ton of money; but, he also knew that people had seen him with them all. If he didn't have them later, assuming someone even asked him about them, they would discover that he was actually a business owner and was able to sell items to the system for a slight loss. Normally that wouldn't be a problem, since he could charge a small fee for each item; but, they were bugging him enough with all the repairs and enchantments as it was, without having him be a re-seller, too.
The group had broken up some, with a few players going off on their own, while the soldiers rested near the beginning of a giant bridge that spanned a huge open part of a large cavern. It looked to be bottomless, and a few people had tossed rocks over the side to see how far they would fall before they heard a sound. When they didn't hear any kind of sound after several minutes, everyone stayed as far away from the edge of the bridge as they could.
“Okay, rest's over!” The Captain of the Guard said half an hour later. “Let's start moving across this thing.” He said. “Squad deployment. We don't know how safe this thing is, and we don't want to test it with all our weight at once.”
The first squad of 10 soldiers went across first, with the Captain leading them, and several of the players went along with them. They walked at a normal pace, since it was a long bridge, and they knew they had a lot longer to go on their journey before the day was over. The next group went, and then the next. Since Ren and his team were with the support part of the expedition, they were going to be one of the last groups to walk across.
They heard several bangs and shouts, then several players came out of a side tunnel near the start of the bridge. The ground even shook a little bit for some reason.
“Run!” A guy said as he ran past Ren and his team. “Ruuuuuuunnn!”
The soldiers and the support crew grabbed their gear and took off at a good run.
“Wha's goin' on?” Clint asked, but the next couple of players didn't say anything as they ran past. “Ah think we betta' go, too.”
Ren nodded and stood up, and then a gleam of white armor caught his eye. Tristan came out of the tunnel and he had something amazing chasing him. It was an ogre. It's massive fleshy body was moving pretty fast, considering how fat it was, and it held a giant wooden club the size of a tree. The ground shook a little with each step it took.
“RUN!” Clint yelled to everyone, and the rest of Ren's team took off as fast as they could. Ren on the other hand, stood there and frowned.
Stupid Tristan! Ren thought and took out several vials of highly-concentrated Acid, and then a large bottle of something he'd been saving for a special occasion. It figures he'd stir up trouble!
“Ren!” Tommy yelled back as he ran. “Let's go, man!”
Ren didn't say anything as Tristan and the giant approached him. If I time this right...
“I'm great at timing!” Teepo said.
Tristan ran past and sneered at Ren. “I hope it chews you up and spits you out!”
“I'll give you the signal!” Teepo said. “Get ready!”
Ren smiled as he hefted the large bottle of dark liquid and prepared to throw.
“3... 2... 1... NOW!” Teepo yelled and Ren threw the bottle as hard as he could. The large bottle smashed as it hit the ogre right in the chest, and the dark liquid contained inside was set free. It spilled down the front of the ogre and covered everything it touched. It flowed down the creature's legs almost instantly, covered it's feet, and the ogre slipped as all friction disappeared. It's feet went out from under it, and it landed with a loud thud. It slid across the ground to the sound of scraping flesh on rocks and dirt, then it stopped right in front of Ren.
“It's called a Greater Potion of Oil Slick.” Ren said as he uncorked the vials of concentrated Acid. “It took me weeks of experiments to make it.”
The ogre looked up at Ren with confusion on it's face. Even though Ren told it what had happened, it didn't know what he was talking about.
“Yeah, I know. I'm wasting my breath.” Ren said, dumped the vials of Acid on the ogre's face and neck, then jumped back out of the way of it's flailing arms and legs. Since it was still in the middle of the oil slick, it couldn't get any traction at all. The flailing was getting it nowhere.
*
Most of the Aurora Expedition had reached the other side of the bridge, and they had all looked back to see what was going on. The only things they could see were the remaining soldiers and the other players running towards them, however.
“Og...og...ogre!” The first guy that had passed Ren's party said when he got to the other side of the bridge. “Tristan... woke... it up.” He said and sat down to catch his breath and let his Stamina recover.
“We have to get back there!” The Captain of the Guard said. “Men! Form up! Proper ranks!”
“Hey, why isn't the ground shaking anymore?” One of the players asked, and when Ren's team arrived at the other side, the way was clear for them to see. Tristan had almost crossed the bridge, but he was completely alone. There was no ogre... and no Ren.
“Wha' didja do ta him?!?” Clint asked Tristan, and grabbed him by the front of his armor when he could reach him. “Wha' didja do?!?” He asked again and shook Tristan.
“Nothing!” Tristan said. “I told him that I hoped the ogre ate him as I ran past!” He said. “That's it!”
“You left him alone with an ogre?” The Captain of the Guard said. “Our only blacksmith?”
“Hey! Don't rag on me about that!” Tristan said. “You all left him, too!”
Everyone fell silent at the truth in his words. They had all run away at the thought of having to fight an ogre, and hadn't given Ren a second thought.
“Hey, look!” Tommy said and pointed.
The whole expedition watched as Ren calmly walked across the bridge all by himself. He didn't run or scream like a lot of the soldiers and players had when they saw the ogre and thought they were about to die.
*
Ren could see their faces, and he laughed mentally at the shock and surprise on all of them; especially Tristan's.
I'm going to savour this memory. Ren thought, and Teepo chittered in laugher.
“It's always nice to be underestimated.” Teepo said.
That's true. Ren thought to his new friend. They never expect to see you coming. He came to a stop in front of them and smiled. “Are we taking another break already?”
The Captain of the Guard looked at Ren. “What happened?”
“The ogre slipped and fell before he reached the bridge.” Ren said. “It's neck was damaged, so I stood there and waited for it to die.”
The Captain frowned. “Well, I guess we do need another rest after such a run.”
“Why don't we break for lunch?” Ren said and took out an entire cow from his inventory. “This should be enough for everyone to have a great meal.”
Several people gasped, and a few of the cooks from the support crew came over and started cutting it up right away.
“This is fantastic!” One of them said as the other couple of cooks prepped the frying pans and stew pots. “Once we get all the choice cuts off, we'll have enough left over to have stew tonight!”
The soldiers cheered at the sound of two great meals, and even a couple of the players said they wouldn't mind a nice steak.
“Before you ask.” Ren said and grinned. “I got it as loot from the ogre, and I identified it. It had a quick death from a broken neck. There's no other wounds, signs of infection, or even ogre teeth marks.”
Several people chuckled.
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
“I'm not sure why it was saving the cow for later.” Ren said and shrugged. “I guess it doesn't matter now.”
“Well then.” The Captain said. “I suppose we can stop long enough for a quick-”
“Let's eat!” Tommy exclaimed. Nearly everyone laughed as they shifted around into their respective eating sections and sat down to wait. Clint sat next to Ren and waited until they were relatively alone.
“Is tha' everythin' tha' happened?” Clint asked.
“Pretty much.” Ren said. “I used a special potion that I only had one of to make it slip, I damaged the neck with Acid, then I stood there and waited for it to die.”
“Why didn' ya tell 'em alla tha'?” Clint asked.
Ren looked around at the other players and sighed. “They're already treating me differently because they know I'm in the hospital.” He said. “If they knew I took down an ogre with just a potion and a couple vials of Acid, instead of having a big fight with crossed swords and fisticuffs...”
Clint nodded his understanding. People treated him differently because of how he acted and spoke, too.
One of the cooks brought over a plate of food with a huge piece of steak on it. “The first piece is yours, sir.”
“You didn't have to do that.” Ren said to her. “I'm sure the Captain...”
“Is already eating the second piece.” She said. “You...” She sighed and knelt, and put a hand on his arm. “Out of all of them, you were the only one that didn't run.” She said. “You stood your ground, and that bought everyone enough time to get across the bridge.”
“I didn't... I... I mean... I did, but... that wasn't what I was thinking at the time!” Ren said.
“I know.” The cook smiled and started to stand, then leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “Thank you for risking your life for us.” She said, finished standing up, and walked back to the group of cooking fires without looking back.
“Ah think she's swee' on ya.” Clint said, and Ren looked at him.
“She's just grateful.” Ren said. “You can't think that... that she'd want...”
Clint guffawed and slapped Ren on the shoulder. “Yer easy ta tease.”
Ren shook his head and started to eat. This is really good. He thought. I need to learn how to cook like this.
“That would be helpful.” Teepo said. “Especially if you're going out on adventures all the time.”
About that... Ren thought, and explained what was going on and that this was his first big adventure.
“Wow.” Teepo said, and Ren felt how happy Teepo was. “I was your first dungeon treasure!”
Yes, Teepo. Ren smiled. Yes, you were.
The expedition finished the meal and continued on into the cavern. They encountered more spiders, bats, and a few goblins; but, it wasn't anything major. Ren thought they might have mined out the smaller creatures by now, and then he heard a shout.
“Hyenas on the right!”
“Oh, crap.” Ren said.
“What is it?” Tommy asked.
“If I recall the lore correctly, those aren't real hyenas.” Ren said. “They're frenzied hyenas.”
“You don't mean...”
“Gnolls!” Someone else shouted.
“Oh, damn!” Tommy said and knocked an arrow in his bow.
“There's something else... I know there is...” Ren said, and looked at the next group of players. “Sage of Ages!”
Lara looked over at him.
“Frenzied Hyenas! What are they resistant to?”
Lara closed her eyes for a moment and opened them. “Ice, Fire, and Lightning.”
“Damn!” Tommy said and looked at his flaming arrow. “That's what all our offensive weapons have on them!”
“Spread the word of the resistances up the line!” Ren said. “Tell the teams to rotate back if they can and I'll switch the enchantments!”
Clint held his bracers out and Ren absorbed the Fire enchantment and replaced it with Wind.
“It's not as much Damage, but they'll shoot a lot faster.” Ren said to him and did Tommy's bow next. Then he started to replace the offensive enchantments in Lara's team since she was closest. He worked fast, and then moved on to replace the soldiers sword enchantments with Earth glyphs.
Ren worked fast, because he knew that if they were attacked from behind, there was barely anyone around to help them. That was why he had the idea to have teams rotate back, so there would be more people to cover him and the soldiers. Several hyenas appeared from a side cave and attacked. Clint took two of them out right away with his bow bracers, and Tommy hit one in the side. All that one did was yip a couple of times, bit the arrow, and pulled it out.
“Oh, damn!” Tommy said and knocked another arrow. Ren took out a Poison potion and threw it at the hyena. It smashed and splashed over the hyena's side and face, and it howled as the poison sank in. It ran in a circle a few times, panted twice, then keeled over.
“Holy crap!” Ren said, grabbed a pile of arrows out of Tommy's quiver, and poured a Poison potion over the arrow tips. “Go for it, Tommy!” He said and slid the arrows back into the quiver.
“Thanks, man!” Tommy said and switched the arrow for a poisoned one, and several more hyena appeared.
“I think a gnoll is close by!” One of the soldiers said, and then a 6 foot tall partially armored hyena man jumped out of the shadows and attacked the soldier. The spear the gnoll had attacked with glanced off the soldier's chest plate, thanks to Ren's Earth enchantment, and the soldier swung his sword up into the gnoll's belly. Unlike any other creature that had been stabbed fatally, it dropped it's spear and grabbed the soldier by the arms, then pulled the soldier in close, impaling itself.
“The gnolls are frenzied, too!” Ren said as he watched the gnoll plunge it's slavering jaws into the soldier's shoulder and gnawed on the metal. Ren picked up the creature's spear and turned it to strike, then tried to stab with it. The spear disappeared into his inventory and he cursed.
I can't use a potion, because it'll hit the soldier, too. Ren thought and looked at the soldier's shield. He took out one of the goblin's bucklers and enchanted it with 2 glyphs of Earth runes. He could feel that was the limit of the Mana he could infuse into the weak metal, then swung with all of his might as if he was using his blacksmith hammer.
The hyena man had stopped chewing on the soldier's shoulder, and reared back with it's mouth open to chomp down on the soldier's face. The soldier was too terrified to even scream at the sight, and then the edge of the goblin buckler was jammed into the creature's mouth. The impact activated the Earth enchantment, and a rock-covered fist formed and punched upwards. There was a sickening crunch as the top of the gnoll's head snapped backwards and the jaw split in half. The lifeless body of the creature slumped to the ground as it let the soldier go.
“Thanks.” The soldier said, and when 3 of the group of hyenas disappeared he turned to the other soldiers. “Keep the hyenas at bay, but concentrate your strikes on the gnolls! Killing the gnolls kills the hyenas!”
“Passing the word!” The next soldier said, and soon everyone was concentrating on the harder to kill gnolls.
Ren looked at the shield he had in his hand, and thought about how it had felt to unleash such destructive power that wasn't from an actual weapon. He smiled and looted the body of the gnoll to get it out of the way, which gave him a few silver coins and a set of hyena claws.
The expedition kept fighting wave after wave of hyenas and hyena men, and Ren distributed enough Poison potions for everyone to dip their arrows into them. After a while, they retreated and formed a circle to become a cohesive defensive force, because both the players and soldiers had started to get tired from the constant fighting. Unfortunately, when people got tired, they made mistakes.
A loud scream pierced the cave as one of the hyenas managed to sneak inside one of the female fighter's guard and bit her leg. That wasn't what made her scream, however. She had looked down to see how bad the damage was from the hyena that had bitten her, and the hyena man she had been fighting took the perfect opportunity to reach out and dug it's claws into the side of her neck. She screamed for several seconds, until it was cut off when the gnoll's thumb claws dug into the front of her throat and pulled it's hands apart. Blood gushed out and into it's waiting mouth; then it howled as her body fell to the ground. It followed her body to the ground and started to feast on her.
“NINA!” One of the male fighters yelled, kicked the gnoll he was fighting between the legs, and backhanded his broadsword across it's throat. The gnoll's head flopped back as it's tongue stuck out comically, and it's dead body fell to the ground.
“RRRaaaHHHH!” The fighter hollered as he activated his own Frenzy ability and leaped across the 10 feet to jam his sword into the creature's back that was eating his girlfriend. The gnoll took no notice of this, because it was engulfed in it's consumption of it's prey, and several normal hyenas came over and started to eat as well.
The fighter, now straddling the hyena man's back, reached down and grabbed the sides of the gnoll's head and twisted it with a loud pop and a crunch. The gnoll died before it even knew what was going on, and the fighter did the hyena's next. They tried to bite and scratch him, but he ignored the damage and killed all 6 of them.
Another gnoll tried to come close to all of the dead bodies, because it didn't care who's body it was as long as it could feast. The fighter yelled wordlessly at it, and it kind of hunkered down; but, it didn't pounce. Instead, it turned and tried to attack the soldiers because they would be an easier meal. The soldiers had seen the display of attacks that would work and did the same thing. The hyena man was quickly kicked between the legs, and two different swords swiped at it's neck to decapitate it.
The fighter kicked the hyenas and gnoll's bodies aside from atop his girlfriend's motionless body and picked her up. He brought it over to the group of healers, and they told him it was too late. He knelt with her in his arms and felt despair.
Ren didn't laugh at him, mainly because everyone would hate him for it. He also didn't remind the fighter that she would be back in 6 hours, and then her body dissolved and left behind a short sword, several gold coins, and an unidentified bracelet. The fighter stored the items and stood up. He was exhausted from his all-out attack; but, he didn't care. When he tried to walk back through the soldiers to reach the front, Ren grabbed his arm.
“WHAT?” The fighter yelled at him. Ren smiled at him instead of flinching, and a few people noticed his lack of reaction.
“Take this.” Ren said and gave him an Energizing Tonic. “It only lasts 5 minutes, and you'll be unconscious for half an hour afterwards; but, that should be long enough for you to do what you need to do.”
The fighter looked at the small vial, then at Ren. He took the vial and drank it without asking what it was, and he felt energy go through him.
“Ha... haha... hahaha!” The fighter laughed and slipped through the soldiers easily, pulled his sword out of the gnoll it was stuck in, then attacked the hyenas and hyena men like a demon.
“Wha' the hell was tha'?” Clint asked and shot another hyena.
“It's the Tonic of Last Call.” Ren said. “Your Health and Stamina bar freeze for 5 minutes.”
“No way!” Tommy said and shot a hyena man in the neck. The poison arrow had a similar effect on it as it did on the hyenas, but it took a lot longer. He shot it again, and Clint shot it in the eye. It howled and turned to them, and a solder stepped forward and jabbed his sword into the thing's neck to hold it at bay. It died a few seconds later, and they thanked the solder.
“We're in this together.” The soldier said. “Now don't just stand there! Keep fighting!”
“Yes, sir.” Tommy said and they all kept fighting. They were close enough now that the healers could heal people while they were fighting, and Ren fed everyone Health and Mana potions. People were surprised at first with all of the different things he was doing. By the time the fight was over, however; they had all been through the worst fighting experience any of them had ever had playing the game, and were more than grateful for his help.
“I think that's it!” The Captain of the Guard said as the potion-drunk fighter killed the last hyena man they could see and the last 4 hyenas that were stalking them disappeared. The group cheered and hollered, and then collapsed almost at the same time as the fighter did. A couple of his friends went over and picked him up, and dragged him inside their perimeter.
“Soldiers!” The Captain said. “Dirt barricade 10 feet out! Support crew! Get those fires going and get the stew served right away!”
“Sir!” The soldiers and support crew said at the same time, and set about making a temporary camp for the expedition to stay in.
“How far down do you think we are?” Tommy asked after he had gathered up most of his arrows.
“2 miles.” Teepo said. “That's straight down.” He said. “It's about 30 miles in distance.”
Thanks, Teepo. “It depends on how you want to think about it.” Ren said. “How far have we walked? I'd say about 30 miles.”
“Wow, really?” Tommy sat down with a sigh. “How far straight down?”
“If I had to take a guess, I'd say about 2 miles... give or take 2 miles.” Ren said, and Clint and Tommy laughed.
“Tha's pretty accurate.” Clint said sarcastically.
“I try.” Ren said and grinned.
“Can I sit here?” Lara, the Sage of Ages, asked.
“Only if you like having dirt on your butt.” Ren said, and she chuckled.
“I'm so glad we can just store our clothing to clean ourselves and the clothes.” Lara said and sat down.
“Me, too.” Ren said. “Hyena blood stinks!”
Lara nodded, and looked at Clint and Tommy. “I can't believe I'm asking this, but... can Ren and I speak alone for a minute?”
“Shore, little lady.” Clint said and stood up. “C'mon Tommy. We c'n help deliver som'o tha food.”
“That's a great idea!” Tommy said and stood up, too. “We can sneak some for ourselves first!”
“Tha's no' wha'... jus' c'mon.” Clint said and dragged Tommy away.
“Well, I know it's important if you sent the only people who talk to me away.”
“Hey, I talked to...” Lara saw Ren's single raised eyebrow and smiled. “Okay, we haven't had a conversation or anything yet.”
“Yet, huh.” Ren said and smiled. “I assume this will count as one.”
Lara nodded. “Ren, we're in trouble.”
“No kidding.” Ren said. “Those hyena men nearly tore us all apart.”
“That's not what I meant.” Lara said. “Ren, I...” She looked around and leaned in close. “I'm the Sage of Ages. I've seen what can happen if we keep going like this.”
Ren raised both eyebrows this time. “You're kidding.”
“Since I'm personally involved, the game...” Lara sighed. “I'm not allowed to discuss my abilities in detail, but suffice it to say that the odds of us succeeding in this quest is dropping the further we go.”
Ren thought about what she said. “We weren't supposed to meet the hyena men at all, were we?”
Lara shook her head. “I'm surprised we only lost three soldiers and one player.” She said. “The gnolls were on equal footing with most of the players highest levels.”
“Oh, crap.” Ren said.
“It's going to get a lot worse from here on out.” Lara said.
“What do you suggest we do?”
“I don't know.” Lara said. “After we crossed that bridge, I... I thought something was going to happen there, but...”
“The ogre.” Ren said. “I wasn't supposed to defeat it, was I?”
Lara closed her mouth and sat back.
“Lara...” Ren said and took her hand. She took in a sharp breath and her face went blank for several seconds. “Lara?”
Lara's hand twitched in his, and then life came back into her face. “Oh, Ren.” She said, leaned forward, and kissed him. Ren had never been kissed like that before, and reacted without thinking. He reached up and hugged her, and Lara felt his response. She wrapped her arms around him as well, and they made out like that for several minutes.
“Ahem.” Tommy said from behind them, and Lara froze. Ren broke the kiss and looked at him.
“Yeah, what?”
“Supper.” Tommy said and had a tray with two bowls of beef stew on it.
“Thanks.” Ren said and took them, and Tommy left without another word.
“I'm sorry about that, Ren.” Lara said.
“Why?” Ren asked and handed her one of the bowls.
“It shouldn't have happened.” Lara said. She dropped her head, ate a spoonful of stew, and then whispered. “Not yet anyways.”
Ren had heard her clearly. “Why is that?”
Lara looked at him, and he pointed at his ears. “Damn, I forgot your hearing is as good as mine.”
“So, when was it supposed to happen?”
“Not for a long time.” Lara said. “But... when I saw what... what things could be like between us, I... I really wanted it.”
“You can see that far into the future?” Ren asked.
Lara opened her mouth to explain, then sighed. “One possible future.”
Ren held his hand out. “Do it again.”
“Ren, I...”
“Not for our relationship, or whatever it was you saw.” Ren said. “I want you to think back to the bridge. I want you to use your prediction knowledge to tell me what could have happened.”
“It doesn't work like that.” Lara said.
“How do you know?”
“Wh-what?”
“I've done things in my class that I didn't know were possible, and gained new skills out of it.” Ren said. “Take my hand. Remember back to what could have happened, and tell me the possible future.”
Lara sighed and put her bowl of stew down. “This isn't going to work.”
“Don't doubt yourself.” Ren leaned forward and gave her a quick kiss. “Do this for me, baby.”
Lara gasped because he had called her baby, stared into his eyes, and grabbed his hand.
“Don't let it take you anywhere.” Ren said. “Think back. Remember what you saw on the bridge. Now tell me what happened.”
“The... the ogre chased... chased you...” Lara said, her eyes blank. “Tristan... that... that ass tripped you!” Her hand gripped Ren's hand tightly, and he smiled. “You... the ogre, it...” She shook her head. “I can't...”
“Shh.” Ren said and kissed her cheek. “Don't concentrate on the details. Tell me what happened.”
“The bridge... it broke apart and collapsed.” Lara said, more confidently. “You and the ogre fell... down into the bottomless pit.”
“It's not bottomless.” Ren said, and she nodded.
“I don't know how, but... you survive.” Lara said, awe in her voice. “With Teepo's help, you travel a few miles upstream to the mole men's camp.”
“We're screwed.” Ren said, and Lara nodded.
“They already had the summoning circle complete.” Lara said.
“What did I do?”
“You drowned them.” Lara said and then her eyes weren't blank anymore and she grinned at him. “You drowned them!” She said and hugged him tightly. She got a popup telling her that she now had a new ability; but she couldn't tell Ren about it, even though he was the one that had given it to her.
“We have to tell the Captain right away!” Lara said and stood up.
“He's not going to believe you.” Ren said and stood up. “So I'll come along and punch him in the balls if he objects to turning around.”
Lara snorted a laugh. “Punch him in the balls?”
“He's a big man.” Ren said. “That's as high as I can reach on him.” He grinned and she laughed.