“Wake up you moron.”

I groaned and rolled away from the annoying voice, screwing up my face as a few prickles stabbed into my skin. I was trying to sleep. Why couldn’t they just fuck off?

“I swear, if you don’t get your lazy ass up I’m taking your horse and leaving you here.”

I waved my hand at the annoyance, my eyes still firmly shut. “Take him,” I said groggily. “He’s an ass anyway.”

“Oh, that’s nice. Without him, you’d be a goner. I’m pretty sure you’re the ass here.”

I ignored them. Trying desperately to get back to the sweet dream I’d been having. There was an apple cobbler there. No pain or death or giant deadly snakes or toilet crocs.

A hard smack hit the side of my face. “Wake up!”

I shot up, holding my face as I glared at Nora. “The hell, woman?”

She shrugged. “I asked nicely more than once.”

“Yeah, nicely, that’s the word,” I grumbled.

She stuck out a hand and helped me to my feet. “What the hell happened to you in there?”

“Well, I found the Nightstalker Rattler the witch was talking about.”

“That’s fantastic! We need to get back in there and kill the thing.”

I grabbed her arm before she could race inside the old mine. She glared at me again but this time I didn’t let go. “Don’t. That thing is something else entirely. It will kill us all.”

“I’m a higher level than you. It won’t be that bad.”

“It had a skull and crossbones by its name. Its level is too high, even for you,” I said.

Her face paled as her mouth dropped open. Her jaw worked like she was trying to say something but it didn’t come out. I frowned at the wave of fear I could feel radiating off her.

“Have you seen that before?”

She nodded and cleared her throat. “Once. Let’s get the hell out of here.”

She shook off my grip and ran to Sob, swinging up on his back like it was nothing. I paused just long enough to stroke Stella’s head before following her. We traveled in silence for a long time. I wanted to know more but if she’d wanted to tell me, she would have.

Still, the silence made me… itchy. I’m not sure that makes sense, but either way, I didn’t like it.

“So, about leveling me up. You got any ideas? We can’t wander around forever.”

She stiffened in front of me. “There’s one, but I’m not sure you’re ready for it.”

“What do you mean?”

She sighed and rubbed her eyes. “There is a boss fight not far from here. It’s a battle that is always there but players can only do it once. It’s not easy, but you get a shit ton of experience points from it. I went up two levels after I took him down.”

“What level did you do it at?”

She glanced over her shoulder. “Four.”

“Well, that’s what I am. So let’s go.”

She was stiff as a board and silent for too long before she said, “it’s different. I’m a melee fighter. You’re a thief with a bow and not many arrows. I don’t think you’ll be able to handle it.” She looked at me this time, her eyes firm. “You won’t have Stella or Sob with you, they have to do it on their own.”

I hesitated at that, running my fingers through my hair. Slow and steady, or quick but deadly? It was a hard choice. I was so sick of waiting though. Between the wolf and the snake, I was getting sick of being weak. If we were ever going to complete the witch’s quest I needed to be strong enough.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“Take me there.”

Nora sighed and eased Sob in a different direction. It took half the day but eventually, we neared a small little village in the middle of nowhere. There was no road here, only a well-beaten dirt track that the small buildings clustered around. The blazing sun overhead sparkled off the waters in a little creek that ran past the buildings. A few trees grew by the water, providing a nice little shady area. It was quite a nice spot actually.

Nora brought Sob to a stop not far away and pointed to the buildings. “As soon as you reach the middle, the boss will appear. Please, be careful Joe. If your health drops to a third, run.”

I slid off the horse before he could complain and stood with my hands on my hips inspecting the place in front of us. The spot where the dirt track split the buildings wavered in an odd way, like the ripples of heat haze that were common out in these parts but strangely confined to that one area. It even sparkled every once in a while.

“That’s the magic barrier,” Nora said, noticing where I was looking. “It marks the boss zone and stops players from entering together or more than once.”

“So, tell me more about this guy, so I know what to expect.”

She rubbed her neck and offered me a sad smile. “That’s the hard part. I’ve only met two other players who made it through this fight, and none of our experiences matched. For me, it was just an all-out brawl. He was as big as a jumbo croc and fought with an axe,” she picked up hers and twirled it. “This axe in fact. It will be a different experience for you too.”

“So, there’s no planning here, huh?”

“Look, you don’t have to do this, we can just move on and grind another way. I’m sure there's plenty of minor quests and low-level beasts we can find to level you up.”

I dug in my bum bag and pulled out my bow. “No, there’s no point turning back now. If I don’t come out though, take care of Stella for me. She’s a good girl.”

Nore knelt and ruffled Stella’s fur. “Of course. And Sob too. And Frank.” She frowned. “You really are an odd man. No one else I’ve met had a single pet and you have three.”

I grunted and dug in my bum bag for some arrows. I rolled my shoulders and shook out my stiff legs before taking off for the small village. I was tense and filled with nervous energy but there was no point putting this off. I just hoped my version of this bastard wasn’t an axe-wielding giant.

I passed through the haze, shuddering at the buzz of static electricity that had my hair standing on end. I stood right by that wall for a long time, just observing the battleground in front of me. It wasn’t much. Just a bunch of small houses with wrap-around porches centered around an open area of hard-packed dirt. In the very center of the court was an enormous fountain topped with broken cherubs. It looked very out of place even in its cracked and dry state.

I edged my way onto one of the porches, being careful not to make too much noise. If I wanted to win this thing then I had better be quick and stealthy. But where was the boss? As far as I could tell, the place was deserted.

I took one more step and bellowed as iron teeth clamped around my leg with enough force to dig in deep. I dropped my bow and fell to my good knee, trying to tear the teeth of the poorly made bear trap apart. When the teeth finally separated I yanked my foot free and leaped away as it slammed back together. My fingers and my leg were bleeding pretty badly but my health bar was still high. A small blessing.

The horrible sound of vicious laughter filled the court as a shadow formed around the fountain. I crawled and took up my bow again, aiming an arrow at the darkened blob.

“What kind of thief, can’t even recognize a simple trap? You’re pathetic.”

New quest: Drunk with Power

Description: Time to kiss the boss’ ass

I growled as the form of a man appeared. He was tall, slender, and draped in thick leather from head to toe. He twirled his wrists. Sunlight reflected off the matching pair of deadly-looking blades. Behind him, the shadows morphed and swirled until two giant dogs appeared. Slobber dripped from their bared teeth and their eyes glowed red. Picture a doberman that had grown half again its regular size and had been bitten by a zombie. Their bared ribs and the rotting flesh gave that appearance.

The names of the man and his monstrous beasts appeared above their heads along with their health bars.

Vincent Voss.

Undead Hounds.

I didn’t wait for the speech I’m sure he had prepared. Instead, I let loose my arrow then rose and raced to a new hiding spot behind a stack of crates. The arrow struck Vincent and exploded, blocking his view for all of three seconds. His health bar dropped by the smallest of margins.

The man’s laughter filled my ears again. “Is that all you’ve got, Princess?”

I notched another arrow and took aim around the side of my crate. Well, I would have, if there had been anything to aim at.

Cold steel bit into my throat. I froze, my eyes rolling to look without yanking my head about and slitting my own throat. The man towered over me, a wicked smile splitting his face as stared down at me.

“Not very sneaky, are you?” he taunted.

“I’m working on it,” I said as my fingers disappeared into my bum bag.

“I feel slightly bad for ending this so soon. It’s almost like I’m taking candy from a baby. Any last words, Princess?”

“Just two,” I said. “Fuck you.”

“I like your spunk…”

Before he could finish his sentence I whipped my arm around, smashing the acid flask across the arm holding me in place. Vincent screamed and stumbled back as the liquid chewed through his leather and burnt his skin.