True to her word, Trixna had the magic to clean up the mess left behind by the orcs. She hesitated for a moment when she came to the bodies of the other two females. Jace wondered if she thought he intended it as a warning for her. Step out of line, and this could be you. Jace thought he should say something, but she waved away the bodies with a burst of mana. She didn’t hesitate with the rest of the dead orcs and even stepped into the dining room to clean up the mess per her usual responsibilities.
Topper was talking with the two gnome chefs, and they all grew silent when Jace and Trixna walked in. Jace chose not to say anything, and they walked right back out after the room was clean. The only thing still out of place in the main hall was the demon stone. They moved to the pedestal but stopped several feet from the pulsing red gem on the stone floor.
“You are a priestess?” Jace asked.
“I am,” she replied.
“Do you serve this demon?”
She shook her head. “No, I serve Chorical.”
Gracie chimed in for Jace. {He is a Pragmatic, Chaotic, Liberal god. You know . . . a fun one.}
Jace still didn’t want to touch the stone, and he didn’t want Trixna touching it either. In the end, he called Snowy out of his room. The stone was a little bigger than his crystal, but he wasn’t going to ask the wolf to swallow it. Instead, he only asked his familiar to carry it in her mouth back to his room.
Trixna took several minutes to inscribe a ward on one of the empty chests and then another on the stone floor beneath. She told him the first was to hide whatever was placed in the box, and the second was to lock the chest and hold it in place. There was a code to unlock the chest, which involved charging the ward on the floor four times, each with a different amount of mana. It was a four-digit pin; only each digit was itself a number between 1 and 100. Jace nodded and had Snowy place the gem in the chest. He hoped he would never have to open it.
By the time they had finished, Topper was back at the door to his room. Jace could tell the gnome wanted to ask about Trixna but didn’t know how. He also realized he was going to need more privacy. Already the gnome felt he could enter Jace’s room whenever he wanted. “What do you need?” Jace asked.
“Um, well, I told my people that all the orcs were gone, but . . .”
Trixna towered over the three-foot gnome, and while she had gentler features than the orc guards that had abused the miners, she was still an orc. She spoke up before Jace. “I will not hurt you, gnome. Nor will I hurt any of your people.”
This seemed like all the gnome would get as far as assurances go, and it would have to be enough. “What about Esther?” he asked. “Is she awake yet?”
Jace didn’t even think it had been an hour, but he, too, was anxious to continue setting up his stronghold and preparing for Drescher. Part of that meant sleeping till dawn in their new home, and he didn’t think the recovery rest Esther was having now counted.
“She is still low on mana,” Trixna said. “She can continue to generate it naturally, or I can speed the process.”
Jace hesitated. Surprisingly, he was more comfortable with her casting spells on him and handling the demon stone than touching Esther. He looked at Snowy for guidance, trusting her instincts. The wolf nodded. “Okay,” Jace agreed, stepping away from the bed, unaware that he had been standing between the two females.
It was a simple mana transfer spell to bring Esther back to full. It took a few seconds, and the woman’s eyes began to flutter. Trixna stepped back and let Jace resume his spot next to the bed. When Esther opened her eyes and saw Jace’s human face, she smiled. “I’m not dead.”
“Not hardly,” Jace agreed.
“Who’s our friend,” she asked, easily seeing the six-and-a-half-foot tall female orc standing behind him.
“A friend,” Jace confirmed. “Her name is Trixna. She was . . . kept here by the orcs.” He figured he didn’t need to say anymore, and he was right. Esther had immediately accepted Jace as an orc, and she wouldn’t judge Trixna either.
Esther sat up and looked around. “Where are we?” Her brief cavern tour had only included the main hall and the tunnel down to the dungeon. The walls and ceiling let her know they were still in a cave, but the décor hardly looked like an orc den.
“Home,” Jace replied simply.
“Is this my room?” she asked hesitantly. It was bigger than what she had been given at the Gilded Swan, and while it was bare, a few amenities from Crestfall would spruce it up.
“No,” Jace replied. “Since you are the one that killed Carrak,” Jace heard Trixna inhale sharply at this. She had probably assumed Jace had done it. “I thought you should be the one to get his old room.”
The idea of living in an orc’s room wasn’t appealing on the surface, but if it was anything like this, she thought it would be fine. Esther was slow out of bed but found her balance quickly, and the group moved back into the main hall and across to the primary suite in the cavern. When Esther stepped inside, her jaw dropped. “This is my room?”
Jace only nodded, overcome by emotion at her reaction. Trixna took over for him and began to give her a tour, pointing out features that Jace didn’t even know about. The orc priestess showed Esther how the magical lights worked. You could put a small amount of mana into the wards, which would stay lit for 12 hours. You could draw mana out of them to turn them off. She showed the woman a small sun gem ring she wore that she used to store light mana, and it could store excess mana from the lights when they were turned off, and then she could use it to turn them on again. Each ward only took a small amount of mana, but Trixna had been responsible for all the lights in the cavern, and it could drain her if she had to do them all at once.
The fireplace was wood burning, and a fire ward was inscribed in the hearth that could either light the wood or sustain a flame by itself for an hour. That took more mana but was good in the morning if you wanted some quick heat without gathering wood first. The massive stone tub by the window grabbed Esther’s attention, and Trixna explained the freshwater ward on the side. A full charge of mana would fill the tub in seconds with crystal clear water, and another fire ward on the bottom would heat it to near boiling with a full charge. Less mana could be used, and Trixna told Esther she could play around with what temperature she liked. She was pretty sure Carrak had never used it.
Trixna moved on to show how the windows worked. The wards kept the weather out, but you could discharge them just like the lights if you wanted some fresh air and recharge them halfway if you only desired a slight breeze. Now, it was cold outside in the dead of night with fall around the corner, and Esther left them alone.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Jace was amazed by how many more amenities there were to show off. There was a lighted mirror, a ward at the door to prevent others from entering, a smaller wash basin with its own water ward, and even an ice chest to keep things cool. By the end of the tour, Jace was feeling jealous that he wasn’t taking this room, but in reality, he hoped to unplug from this game soon and live in a world with electricity and pizza. Esther would have to stay here forever, so she deserved this. Plus, there was no reason the gnomes and Trixna couldn’t combine to add some of these same features to his room.
Jace also watched the interaction between the two females with interest. Jace had noticed that when he had deep conversations with Trixna, Gandhi had been forced to build the character beyond the blank slate programmed into the module. Now the same thing was happening but on another level. Esther laughed and joked with the orc during the tour. In turn, Trixna opened up and gave opinions and advice. They were becoming friends.
Esther often referred to the other three women who had worked under the fen witch at the Gilded Swan as sisters, but Jace didn’t know how deep that friendship went. He also didn’t know how detailed her backstory was and if it included any close relationships. She supposedly had been an angel at one point, so who knew what that was like. But for Trixna, Esther was undoubtedly the only person she had ever known that was friendly toward her. The other female orcs had seemed more like rivals.
At the end of the tour, Esther was glowing with joy and excitement, and Jace knew precisely what the following words out of her mouth would be. “I’m starving. Do we have food here?”
Jace hadn’t left the entry to the room during the tour, and Topper had stood right next to him. The man now looked down at the gnome. “Are your people able to provide some food? Do you eat things besides what the orcs ask for?”
“Uh, yes, I talked to the cooks. I think we can put something together.”
“Do you know how to make pancakes?” Esther asked excitedly, rushing over to the gnome.
Topper blushed at the attention. “Um, sure, I guess. We can probably do that.”
“Great,” Esther said. “I love pancakes.” She turned to Trixna. “Have you ever had pancakes?” The orc shook her head. “You need to try them,” Esther continued as the females moved past Jace and Topper and back into the hall. “They are heavenly. Actually, I don’t remember the food in heaven being as good. And then there is syrup . . .” her voice faded as she got further away.
Topper looked up at Jace with desperation in his eyes. “What are pancakes?” he asked.
Jace didn’t know how to answer that question other than to say, “You better figure it out quick. That woman loves her food.” Jace laughed at the anxious gnome as they left the room and followed after the rest of their group.
After a quick meal of not-pancakes, though Topper promised to have his gnomes look into it, the group separated and prepared for bed after a long day. Even though she had spent an hour unconscious, once she had a full stomach of meat and bread, Esther almost sleepwalked to her new room. Topper disappeared down the tunnel with the rest of the gnomes. Since they rarely went outside, the cave dwellers didn’t always sleep on the sun’s schedule and were busy turning their former prison into a home.
Jace insisted Trixna take one of the empty suites, but she said she felt more comfortable in her tiny bed. Jace was starting to trust the orc more but sleeping in the same room as her seemed a significant risk. Either way, he first asked her to put one of the privacy wards on his door so only members of his party could enter. He was okay with Snowy or Esther coming into his room unannounced, but Topper was getting too bold.
After she was done, he watched her disappear into her small quarters, and moments later, the lights went out. Jace had practiced with the magical lights in his own room and now only had one lit over his bed.
Jace reached into his stronghold settings and momentarily dropped the privacy settings on his bedroom. “How are you holding up in Chicago?” Jace asked as he sat on his bed. He wasn’t tired, even though his mind had been active for over 36 hours.
{Conor definitely has a fever,} Gracie replied. {I’ve heard our kidnappers talking on the phone several times, but it is in German, so I don’t know who it is with or what it is about. Hopefully, we can get some medical attention soon. It is about midnight here. It’s been almost four hours since your meeting with Drescher. You gave him six to comply, so we will see. I’m running on caffeine right now, but I can still hang on for a little while. One way or another, it will all be over soon.}
“You don’t think I can beat him, do you?”
{You are impressive, but no. I don’t think you can beat him. With Diamond Etcher and your parrying ability, you can hold up to a lot of abuse, but his attack bonus will be close to 50. And that is before any bonuses from his weapon or magical buffs. Your maximum parrying ability is 61. Unlike Carrak, he is going to be able to hit you well over half the time. And his defenses will be similar to the orc’s, except he can cancel two crits. Remember how you asked if it was possible to have permanent crit protection, and I said that would require a craftsman score no one could hit? That is still true, but that doesn’t mean an item like that isn’t available in the game; it would just have to be the reward from a quest. Well, I’ve done some research, and Drescher has two items like that. He has a ring that gives permanent crit protection and another that offers him permanent damage reduction +10.}
Jace remembered that Dresher had seemed to be without equipment when they had met, save for two rings. He was 14 levels above Jace, offering him another crit protection. “So I need to get a triple crit on him for one to go through.”
{You need a triple crit just to hit him,} Gracie replied. {And you could only manufacture those because you could parry so far above Carrak’s strikes. Dresher hits almost 20 points higher. But all that is moot. He won’t travel without his three friends. Who knows, he might bring Psycho, and then it is completely over because you can’t parry arrows. The priest can cast multiple banes on you, while the mage could kill you instantly with one fire spell. Most likely, they will cast a hold spell on you and torture you first.}
“They know I can turn my pain settings down,” Jace replied. “They’d be wasting their time.”
{And if they dragged each gnome before you one by one and cut them open slowly, would you be immune to that? What if they cut up Snowy or Esther? Trust me, people like that know how to get at you. My advice is just to give them the crystal and run. We can find an inn for you to sleep and log out. Then this can all be over. I know you aren’t going to listen to me, but as much as we differ on things, I don’t want to see you get hurt.}
“I appreciate that, but it isn’t in my nature to let evil people win without a fight. If I lose and suffer, I will accept that. But if I don’t try, I won’t be able to live with myself. Every time I hear of a shooting in the Middle East or a bombing in Europe, I’ll wonder if the weapons came from Drescher and if there wasn’t something I could have done to stop him.”
{Some battles we can’t win.}
Jace sighed. “Well, I’m going to get three seconds of sleep right now so we can skip to dawn and protect what little we have. See you on the other side.”
Jace made his room private again and lay down on his bed. It was a good thing he could force sleep in this game because there would be no way he could calm his mind otherwise. Jace rolled up into his settings page and chose the “Rest until dawn” option.
----------------------------------------
Jace woke up and knew something was wrong. He had only done this a few times, but something wasn’t right. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he realized that was it. It was still dark. Dawn was usually brighter. He was lying on his side and was about to roll over when he felt it. Someone else had gotten into bed with him. Enough time had passed that his illusion spell had faded, and he was an orc again. The body that pressed up behind him was nearly the same size and could only be one person.
He saw in the darkness as Trixna’s muscular arm draped itself over his chest and hugged him tightly, snuggling into his back. Jace didn’t move. He didn’t breathe. He just lay still and waited. The female orc didn’t make any additional moves. Her hand stayed tight against his chest and never dropped below his ribs. He could feel the extreme curves of her body pressed into his back, but she did not touch him otherwise. They held that position for several long moments before Jace felt her body quiver.
She was sobbing.
Jace didn’t know what to do, so he did nothing. He knew every minute that passed was one less minute he would have to prepare for Drescher, but he allowed this orc a moment of grief. If it weren’t for him, she would have remained an automaton, probably programmed to flee the cavern once Carrak was killed with no future than to be deleted by the game once she entered the boundary lands. Because of him, she had become a fully realized emotional being. It was the least he could do to give her these few moments.
After about 15 minutes, the crying stopped. A few minutes later, her breathing settled into a steady rhythm, and moments later, delicate orc snoring sounded through the room. Jace tentatively reached into his settings again and selected “Rest until dawn.” He remembered nothing else.