The Kartoss Gambit (The Way of the Shaman: Book #2) (17 page)

The turtle crawled out of the bog, stopped by my pile, which looked rather silly compared to its enormous size, sniffed the meat, like a dog, and started to eat it. Twenty percent of 'Fullness'. Forty. Seventy. Ninety. Ninety nine. That's it, there was no more meat.

The hungry hulk lifted its head, looked at me and again, slowly began to move in my direction. Damn my luck! I turned around and ran as fast as I could to the opposite side of the island. It may not be large, just fifty meters in diameter, but while this mammoth crawls over to me I'll think of something.

It was a great idea, but it was not to be. As soon as I turned and took a few steps, the Turtle shot out its head at the speed of an arrow, clenched me in its jaws and slowly began to chew. The pain was hellish. It was like being crushed between two grinding stones — my Hit Points were in a free-fall, I was screaming, but the pain wasn't going anywhere.

Suddenly it all stopped. I fell to the ground, fitfully trying to breathe in. A minute went by before I could recover enough to look around. My Hit Points were at 25. The durability of all my items was reduced by 70% and the enormous hulk of the sleeping Turtle was lying next to me, with its 'Fullness' bar at 100%. After I summoned four Healing Spirits in a row on myself, I was able to get up on my still unsteady feet.

My Endurance had gone up to thirty by now and I was meant to be feeling 6% less pain. Somehow I didn't notice this reduction at all while I was being chewed up by the Turtle. If anything, it felt more like it had increased by 100%. I even shuddered at the memory. And all this for some treasure? Where the heck was it then? I'm here, the island marked on the map is here, so where's the chest with the treasure?

I waited for my mana to completely recharge and headed for the tree standing in the middle of the island. If that chest was anywhere that would be the place.

"Halt, traveller" You have gone through the fire, now you must go through water," a hairy formless something appeared between myself and the tree. So that's what a woodwothe looks like. And you're the one behind all of this? You are the bastard responsible for the mosquitoes, the leeches and the crocodiles? The little turtle sleeping peacefully nearby also gets a special mention. You're the one that's done all this? Level thirty, two and a half thousand Hit Points, defence — unknown, but that no longer matters. I'm angry and irritated and the wothe had the luck to be in my way.

"My first question..." the woodwothe began, but I brazenly interrupted it. I've had it with all their riddles!

The Shaman has three hands...

That's for the mosquitoes. They could have eaten me alive!

"Stop, Shaman! What are you doing?" the woodwothe began to wail, dropping its question.

... and behind his back a wing...

That's for the leeches. It was bad enough that it forced me to dive into the green sludge, but it decided to sprinkle some leeches on top. What if I had a phobia?

"This is against the rules!" Yeah, yeah, scream all you like. Boil over in indignation. I could use those extra couple of seconds.

... from the heat upon his breath...

How about them crocodiles? They may not have given me all that much trouble, but that's only because I switched on my brain and thought better of jumping in the water. I dread to think what would have happened if I failed to listen to my inner voice.

"Let's strike a deal!" Ah, so the woodwothe likes to bargain, eh?"

... shining candle-fire springs.

And that's for the 'ninja turtle'. One Spirit won't do for that one, I think three would be just about right.

"Mercy! I'll offer you a ransom for my life," the wothe's voice was getting hoarse now. And little wonder — it only had ten Hit Points left. I'd be able to finish it off with my Mallet, if need be. It had no business springing itself on an angry Shaman. It's a sure way to get itself swatted. Wanted me to answer riddles, eh? A couple of Lightning Spirits and all the riddles solve themselves.

"Do you swear that you wouldn't do me any harm in either thought or deed?" I asked the wothe, kneeling down. The strangest thing, I still had forty points of Energy left, but I felt the entire weight of the world on my shoulders. "Well?" I growled, seeing the wothe go quiet. It won't do to go into shut-down without finishing it off. "If the answer's 'no', your fate is your own choice. The Shaman has three..."

"I swear!" shouted the hairy something and, a moment before losing consciousness, I felt the heaviness leave me. But I didn't care anymore. I was tired and had to rest...

I came to myself, judging by the timer, only ten hours later. The peacefully sleeping mountain that was the Turtle, disappeared. It probably doesn't like sleeping in the open air. I turned around and under the lone tree saw the round hairy something, which put me to sleep for so long. It had no feet or head or eyes. It was a practically round fur-ball.

"Awake now?" like a balloon the wothe was gently floating above the ground.

"Awake." I confirmed sullenly. "What did you hit me with?"

"The spell of forgetfulness. I didn't think that you would attack straight away. I thought you'd first try to solve the riddle, give yours brains a good run-around, but that's not the way things ended up. I turned out to be unprepared. What did you come here for? There's nothing here except me and the mosquitoes."

"Well, I haven't dropped in for tea, exactly. I was told that Swiftbel buried his treasure here. That's what I came for. No point it going to waste."

"Aahhhh! You're a seeker! I nearly thought you were some villain up to no good. I guess the sisters sent you here. What on earth did you do to them to get sent to a sure death?"

"Death?"

"Of course. You don't think I'll just hand the treasure over to you? I haven't been guarding it all these years to give it up to random strangers. And don't look at me like that. You should have killed me right away, when you had the chance. Now I prepared myself. You can, try, of course, but in that case my oath not to do you any harm will become void."

"I see. So there's no chance for me to make it out of here alive?"

"What the heck do I need you for? You can go as you please. You may even stay here, you're not in my way. You wouldn't find the treasure anyway, nor would you get the better of me."

"Hang on. You said that you were prepared to bargain for your life. Did you not?" I waited for the wothe to give a snort of agreement and then continued, "then I would trade your life for the treasure."

"You think you're so damn clever? It won't work. Swiftbel put me under a ward. I cannot hand over the treasure even on the pain of death. I can only give it to him or to his friend. As far as the bargain goes, in place of death I grant you the opportunity to speak to me. I would even answer your questions. Not all of them, of course, but some.

"Well, I am the friend," if the ransom idea didn't work, I will try to get it out of the wothe by other means.

"You can't be the friend. Swiftbel hid the treasure forty years ago, when you weren't even a twinkle in your parent's eyes," you could feel it smile, pleased at its own joke. Does this mean that the treasure was hidden even before Barliona was launched? This is a sign that this is a quest prepared in advance, rather than being a randomly generated one based on the player's actions. That's good to know. Such quests bring 'tastier' rewards. All that's left now is to get my hands on these 'tasties'. Perhaps I should take the risk and try fighting it again? I just have to summon five Lightning Spirits... Will there be time?

"Besides, I remember Swiftbel's friend very well," continued the wothe. "You don't look anything like him."

Didn't work. Fine, we'll try a different approach.

"Tell me honestly, haven't you got tired of sitting here? After all, you're a wothe of the wood, not the bog. To be stuck for forty years all alone, guarding the treasure that you've never even seen... Isn't all this rather silly?"

"What do you mean — not seen the treasure? I look at it every day," asked the wothe in surprise, but something in its voice seemed off. I had to dig deeper.

"And what do you see? A closed chest? Are you even sure there's treasure in it? Maybe the only treasure is the chest itself! Did you even once look inside? I can bet that you haven't."

"But... Swiftbel said that..." said the wothe, now sounding not so certain. I had to finish it off, for sure. I just wanted a glimpse at what I came here for — if it's worth it, I may even attack the wothe for it.

"You believed a merchant? It's practically in his job description: deceive everyone to get more profit. How did he persuade you to guard the treasure?"

"He didn't. It was his friend, whom I just could not refuse. Few could have refused that one," the wothe hesitated a few moments and then asked: "Are you sure there is no treasure there?"

"Of course! Do people visit you often? If the treasure was real, the bog would have been overrun by other free citizens. Do you see many of those?"

"You're the first. Usually some common folk turned up. One time Mabel sent her husband, she probably got tired of living with him."

"By the way, how do you know the old ladies? They don't seem to be the type to make friends with a woodwothe," I just couldn't see how this local wonder became acquainted with template-NPC old ladies from Farstead. They are so ordinary that were even made from the same prototype. Or is there something more behind their resemblance? Could the conditions of the quest really state that Mabel and Patricia must send players to the wothe for certain death? You could say that they formed a criminal association with the local evil entity! It just doesn't seem like them at all.

"I know this through Swiftbel. They are his sisters."

So that's how the old women knew about the treasure! And I almost began to think badly of them.

"You're really getting me confused here," the wothe finally decided. "What if I really am guarding an empty chest? That would be scandalous! I'll become the laughing stock of the wothian assembly!"

"Then let's have a look at what's in the chest. Maybe there isn't much sense of being stuck here anymore. It's not like I want to waste my time on an empty chest — they can find another fool for that."

Skill increase:

+20% to Charisma. Total: 60%.

The wothe disappeared for a few seconds and then re-appeared, saying in a pleased tone:

"How could I doubt a man like Swiftbel? Way to go with egging me on! The treasure does exist, how could it not? Its value is such that crowds of knights would risk their heads just for a chance to get it."

"What is it, then?" I wasn't counting on this when I was trying to get the wothe to peek inside the chest. I thought it would get the chest out, open the lid and we'll both look inside. Now it seems I was the one that got fooled.

"It's a treasure! As to what it is, that's none of your business," the wothe made a show of floating around me and then drifted off to the tree. "If you're done, I'll get some sleep now. Got tired faffing around with you here. If you decide to attack, don't bother waking me."

Now it's mocking me. Going for a nap! Damn, can't even think of anything to ask it. Although...

"By the way, why a bog? Could the treasure not have been hidden closer at hand? It seems stupid to drag a great chest all the way into the wilderness."

"Swiftbel didn't drag it, as it happens. His friend brought the chest on him," replied the wothe, yawning.

On him?

"What do you mean 'on him'? Swiftbel's friend is a horse?"

"Why does it have to be a horse..." the wothe floated up to me again. "Swiftbel's friend is no horse. He's a dragon! Just an ordinary dragon. For him flying over the bog is child's play."

A dragon? From where? Few of these have been seen in the entire history of Barliona! For instance, I've never heard of a player who has or read any mention of this on the forums. And here you have some merchant flying around on a dragon!

"How did Swiftbel end up with a dragon for a friend?" I asked, genuinely surprised.

"This I don't know. Perhaps the sisters could give you a clue, they were very close with Swiftbel," the wothe yawned once again. "Come on, decide already. I want to sleep and you just can't make up your mind whether to attack me or not. The sooner we settle this, the sooner I'll get some sleep."

Changes to the 'Searching for your Totem' quest. You managed to find out that Barliona's dragons are real and not a myth. Merchant Swiftbel had one of them as a friend. Find out from the merchant's sisters how he got a friend like that. If you fail to find this out, speak to the Shaman trainer.

"Hold on. Does this mean that you have to hand the chest over either to Swiftbel or to a dragon? Either one or the other?"

"All the dragons are one family. I could give the treasure to any of them. But not one of them has been seen in forty years."

"Would you give it to him?" almost too anxious to breathe, I asked the woodwothe, and then said in my head: