The Secret of the Dark Forest ( (The Way of the Shaman: Book #3) (21 page)

"While you're trying to think of more original ways to kill me, take a look in your Mailbox. I've sent you the description of one little quest, which I reckon will pique your interest."

"Did ya bang yer head real bad today? Get your ass to Anhurs in an hour and I'll show you just ..." Plinto suddenly fell silent. He had probably read my letter.

"Yes, exactly." When the silence from the amulet became worrying (what if Plinto was so overjoyed he had had a heart-attack?), I decided to give the Rogue a nudge back towards the conversation.

"Who else will be there?"

"I don't know. I offered it to Anastaria and suggested that she gather all the top players. Let's talk again in a few hours and discuss terms."

"I can't afford it," he said and I noted that when the need arose Plinto could speak without playing the 'demon on a rampage' just fine. "I don't have that much cash since I got thrown out, nor do I have any gear that would suit you."

"What has money got to do with it? You helped me and I'll help you. And then we can go back to hating each other and killing each other at every meeting. Or, rather, you'll do the killing and I'll do the running away."

"So what do I have to do to get to you?"

"We're quite far away at the moment, so please contact Anastaria and tell her that I have personally requested that you take part."

"You do of course realize that I'll owe you for these ten levels?"

"Exactly. Having the third-highest level player in my debt is a very nice and useful thing."

"I'll get in touch with the b*tch," Plinto assured me and put down the amulet. So who's going to tell me what the heck that was about? Why did we have one Plinto before he read up on the quest and a completely different one after? Is everything he does purely for the benefit of an audience? It's like he's created an image and is following it to the letter. So why was he kicked out of the Dark Legion? Perhaps ... what if he simply didn't want to move to Kartoss? I'll have to try to talk to him later.

I put aside Plinto's amulet and waited for the Phoenix team to show up, but I was feeling uneasy. There was something I hadn't done ... something I hadn't thought of ... if that crowd turns up here now as it is, no matter how big or small, we won't complete the quest ...

"Hello Antsinthepantsa! This is Mahan. We showed off our totems to each other in the Library. I urgently need your help – your help as a Shaman. I'm attaching the description of a quest. I have no idea what link it might have with Shamans, but my gut tells me that if you're not with us, we will fail. I can't explain it. If you're interested, please contact Anastaria, the head of Phoenix, right now and say that it is my personal request to add you to the team."

As soon as I sent the letter, I breathed a sigh of relief. I couldn't explain why, but without a High Shaman – one who was doing everything possible to become a Harbinger – there was no completing this quest. And Antsinthepantsa is the only Shaman of the right rank that I knew.

"I'll be there. You owe me a training session between Draco and Bussy."

"Hello everyone!" Five minutes later a portal appeared next to the Oak, out of which stepped Anastaria. "Guardian." The girl bowed respectfully to the tree and to my great surprise the branches began to move, touching Stacey's head, and a green sphere immediately began to shine around her. The Oak put some kind of a buff on Anastaria! So why didn't it do anything like that to us, its creators? Heartless piece of timber! That's what you get if you've leveled up in Reputation with everything and anything! "Two on the ore, two on the trees and Rick and myself will take the herbs. Off we go!"

Well, well! Aside from being a favorite of various Guardians, she also happens to be a high-level gatherer! I was really itching to access her properties and have a good dig through everything in there!

"Mahan," Anastaria paused from picking some kind of a shiny herb, "I've handed over the amulet to Ehkiller; he's now the one gathering people at our castle. Plinto and someone named Antsinthepantsa will also be there. By the way, why them?"

"I owe Plinto so it's time I paid him back and we won't get anywhere without Antsinthepantsa." My answer should have made Anastaria very thoughtful. Let her wrack her brains about how on earth I picked up such a debt and what this lady Shaman could have that Anastaria herself does not, and without which the quest is doomed to failure.

"Are you sure about Antsinthepantsa?" Stacey's voice sounded clearly interested now. "The quest description that you sent me made no reference to Shamans. Or did you just neglect to send me the full description?"

"No, that was the full version. Since you're here already, there's little point concealing it." I sent Anastaria the full link to the Guardian's quest. "And why aren't you working? Want to leave my clan without its due income?"

Anastaria gave a hearty laugh and returned to resource gathering. I spent some time watching various herbs being picked by a girl who was exceptionally splendid in every respect. It never occurred to me before why gathering herbs took such a long time. I'd thought that all you had to do was walk over, pick one and move on to the next. But things were not quite so simple. In order to gather herbs fit for use, and not end up with trash that even traders wouldn't accept, you had to diligently measure the height and width of the stalk, then figure out their ratio and times that by the herb type, measure the resulting distance from the ground and thus find the only point at which the herb could be cut. This wasn't resource gathering, but an exercise in mathematics. It was so much easier being a Lumberjack or a Miner – you just stand there and swing an axe or a pick, without a second thought. Although ... I recalled how my pick ricocheted during my initial training at Pryke ... in the end every trade came with its own difficulties ...

I got infected by the Phoenix fighter-gatherers' industriousness and brought my Jewelcraft up to 55 (going any further would've just been a waste of resources) and then moved on to conquer the Iron and then Gold Ore Veins. I wasn't about to miss out on earning my own share of the loot.

"'Killer says that everyone's gathered now”, said Anastaria four hours later. "He's ready for your call."

I took a few deep breaths – preparing for strenuous negotiations between a small fry and a bunch of hungry sharks – and made the call. Previously, the guys and I had decided that we could begin negotiations at one million per participant, gradually lowering it to six hundred thousand.

At the same time, I set the maximum number of players to thirty. I had little desire to make this into a free-for-all and eighteen million gold would give the Seathistles clan a good start, even with player salaries taken into account.

"Hello, Mahan. This is Ehkiller." Our conversation began in an official tone, putting everyone in a businesslike mood. "As you requested, I've gathered thirty-two players of level three hundred or above. This includes players who expressed an interest and were currently in the Game and also the two players who say that you personally requested their participation in this venture. Please confirm this. Everyone has seen the quest description that you gave us; now, over to you."

"Good day everyone." You had to admit that taking part in negotiations at this level over a communicator was somewhat easier that face-to-face. You didn't have to worry about watching the finer points of your own body language. Although ... I did have Anastaria sitting right next to me; having by now completely abandoned herb gathering she had, like the rest of my team, begun to carefully listen to the conversation. "No point beating about the bush, so I'll get right to business. I confirm that Plinto and Antsinthepantsa must take part in this quest. Their terms have already been agreed. As for the others, according to my modest estimates, for a 300+ level player gaining an extra 10 levels are priceless, so I’ve valued them at a million and a half per player. It's not like I'm forcing anyone to take part," I added when I heard outraged exclamations from the other end of the line.

"We'll call you back in five minutes. We have to discuss your conditions," said Ehkiller, turning off the amulet.

"Not forcing anyone?" Why is it that every time we speak, Anastaria looks more pleased than the cat that got the cream? What's so funny that each time she speaks with me she chuckles so much? "After all, I already know the location and have seen the quest description, so I could just step out and return with around four hundred thousand players. Then we'd see how you are 'not forcing anyone'."

"You have leveled up your Reputation with me to the required level, so you won't be doing anything of the sort," I replied in a similar tone, not wishing to show her that I wasn't in the mood for jokes at the moment. "And you also hinted that you will be joining my clan once you’re thrown out of Phoenix, so it's not like you would want to upset your future employers. So be it, I'll take you without putting you through any trials. You've convinced me."

"Thank you, oh benefactor! What would I do without you?"

"Exactly! Who are you in Phoenix? You're just Anastaria, the head of this clan and just coincidentally officially the most beautiful girl for the past few years," I ventured, not wishing for Anastaria to have the last word.

"Absolutely. There's no way could I miss the opportunity to become the most important and powerful first deputy leader of the great Seathistles clan, which has managed to scale the great heights of level one. That really is food for thought."

"Just think faster" – man, she sure has a sharp tongue: she can twist those words so well that you'd spend half an eternity trying to catch up – "or Ehkiller will call now and start demanding that discount. You don't know everything yet, my beauty. Prince! What are you planning to do at night if you spend all day asleep?" I shouted into the tent.

"I'm not asleep." Slate's head emerged from the tent. "It's just that this wonderful dwelling can, among other things, keep out all unwanted noise. I've had quite enough of the sound of mining picks back in Beatwick, so I decided to hide for a bit. Bah, they're still at it!" Slate made a face as if suddenly beset with toothache. "Right, I'm going back in."

Slate dove back into the tent and I turned again to Stacey.

"You see, there's still much you don't know … " We had discussed this point with the entire group, so I wasn't winging it. Whichever way you look at it, going up against the Vampires would be very difficult, the Sergeant's squad was proof of that. If we come across a Lieutenant, we're dead meat. We needed additional muscle, so why not Stacey?"

"The future Prince of Malabar, right? The fiancé of the new Princess?"

"Yup."

"And he's in your tent miles away from Anhurs."

"Yup."

"Where he's hiding from the noise ... because he's had enough of the sound of striking picks ..."

"Yup."

"Quit it with the 'yups’! I'm trying to figure out how you got him to come with you and why the Princess would let him go, and you're just throwing yups at me. Spill the beans already!"

"I know some more words, as it happens: in your dreams!"

"You have another quest!" Anastaria lit up and her changeless smile spread across her face. "It's not like you were naive enough to hand over another quest to the top players! And here's poor me all ready to lament the fact that the promise of money had suddenly made a normal player out of you – that you've suddenly acquired a brain! You gave me quite a fright there, Mahan! You owe me a cookie for the recipes, but please answer me just this one question: do you have another quest connected to the Prince or to the Dark Forest? I'm not even asking what it is, just tell me whether you have one or not."

"No, I do not have one more quest." I gave the girl a completely honest answer. And why not? It's not like I lied in the slightest. "I don't have ONE more quest." As the glint of excitement started to die away in her eyes and she was already beginning to turn into a Snow Queen again, I added: "I have TWO!"

"M
ahan, it’s Ehkiller." The vibrating amulet saved me from Anastaria, who had already taken a deep breath and was ready to tell me what a bastard I was. Putting my finger on my lips, I indicated that exploding in indignation right this minute could seriously jeopardize her 'Snow Queen' reputation and breathed a sigh of relief. I managed to avoid the most dangerous first flash of anger – in a moment Stacey would regain self-control and be thinking of how to use the situation for her own profit. I just had to make sure some of that profit went my way as well.

"You have my undivided attention!"

"You must realize that a million and a half per player is too much. We've gathered around fifty potential participants, some of them couldn't make it to the meeting at such short notice, but indicated that they want in. To be more exact, we've got fifty-three players, excluding Plinto and Antsinthepantsa."

"Then it should be fifty-two – we've already come to a separate arrangement with Anastaria." I looked at the girl who had raised her eyebrow in surprise. To be fair, aside from her, my entire team were sporting rather surprised expressions: this was not something we had previously discussed. Leite, who was still drafting the Agreement, looked up at me, emphatically shaking his head, and said, "I'll include that too. I'll be including every little thing" before re-immersing himself in correcting the text. Some people really don't need all that much to keep them happy. ...

"Mahan, are you sure you know what you're doing?" whispered Clutzer, who happened to be standing closest to me. "I don't seem to recall us discussing this."

I put my finger to my lips once again, showing that now was not the time to distract me and returned to my conversation with Ehkiller. How could I explain to the guys that Anastaria would work much better for free than for money? For her the concept of being indebted was not just some random collection of sounds, but the worst possible curse, one that, once placed, would have to be lifted as soon as possible. If I took money off her for the Guardian's quest, Seathistles wouldn't be getting a mercenary, but the leader of the Phoenix clan. Despite this being one and the same player, in fact there were two different people in there. Knowing this, how could I share the High Priestess's quest with her? It's just not gonna happen. So, she either joins us for free or we'll have to do without her.

"Then it's fifty-two," continued the shadow leader of the Phoenix clan without any change in tone, as if he'd counted on this from the outset. "We are offering you twenty million gold for everyone."

"That boils down to less than four hundred thousand per head," I said after some quick number crunching. "That's a laughable amount!" The scenario has no time limit, therefore I can wait a couple of years, gain some levels and complete it myself just with my clan. That'd be more profitable."

"So tell us your conditions. Just stop going on about a million and a half – you give the impression of someone with more sense than that."

"All right, I realize that getting that much money wouldn't be realistic." I was dragging out the conversation until I saw with some relief that Leite looked up at me and signaled that he was done with the Agreement. Finally! We had discussed almost all possible options earlier, so now it only remained to turn our decisions into a well-worded text, the task that Leite had taken upon himself. And there was me potentially getting it all muddled up with the bit about Anastaria joining us for free ...

"Mahan, are you still here?" Ehkiller gave a polite cough, returning me to the negotiations.

"Sorry." I quickly scanned through the text, taking note of all the main points. "Let's talk everything over in a proper, business-like fashion. Five hundred thousand gold per head is too little for what essentially amounts to 18 levels. I believe that the most reasonable price would be a million gold each. There's little sense in going any lower. Any gold looted during this assignment will be split equally amongst everyone in the group. In this quest my clan will be carried and there's just eight of us, so you won't even notice our presence. We'll divide all the loot through an Imitator – it will do it better than any of us – but I will retain the right to claim any eight items that drop irrespective of the norms of sharing loot, including rolls of the die and class suitability. Any quests acquired by any member of the group while completing this scenario will be shared with all other members of the group. Each player will have to make a decision concerning the amount of time they are present in the Game during this scenario. However, I take no responsibility if you happen to be logged out during a key event or during the completion of the scenario. In this case I ask that no claims are made against the Seathistles clan – this point will definitely be included in the Agreement. There is another point of considerable importance to me: there should be no members of the Dark Legion clan in on this quest. I have nothing against them, except for the fact that they're obliged to send me for respawn on sight. I think that's it for now."

"No, it's not," came Hellfire's voice. "Who's going to run the raid? Who will be the leader and who will be calling the shots?"

"I will be the one making the decisions, after first consulting Anastaria. She will be the one leading the raid, no-one else would do it better." I glanced at the girl, who immediately composed herself. Whatever happened to that playful fire that was dancing in her eyes a few minutes ago? I was now looking at the real Anastaria: focused, capable of making split-second decisions even with limited information, clever and incredibly beautiful. Right, that last point has nothing to do with anything.

"Anastaria, can you hear us?" Ehkiller asked the girl.

"I'm here and agree on all the points except the one on making decisions. Undigit, are you planning to bring Donotpunnik with you?"

"Yes," the voice of the Azure Dragons leader, which I recognized from the time of the Beatwick battle, came from the amulet.

"In that case, I propose that, aside from me, you should also add him as an advisor. Is my recommendation sufficient for this?" Anastaria asked me.

"Sure. Leite, add him to the Agreement." I passed this on to my bureaucrat. "I'm prepared to share out the quest under the terms we've discussed. I’ll hand the Agreement over to Anastaria and she’ll send it to Ehkiller and everyone else for examination. Now we just have to settle the price and write in the full list of the participants." I sent the amended Agreement to Anastaria. It now contained just a few blank sections: the price, names of those taking part and the destination coordinates.

"I see," Ehkiller responded thoughtfully. "We'll need a couple more minutes to talk over your words and come to a decision. I'll call you back."

The amulet fell silent and, exhausted, I slumped to the ground. If sweating were possible in Barliona, I would've been sweating buckets from all the tension. I’d never had to conduct negotiations at such a level before, so completing my very first attempt with this enormous profit would be quite a feat. And I think I managed to pull it off, so I could only hope that a million gold was a reasonable price for the respective clan heads and the like.

"Mahan, are you sure about a million?" Clutzer crouched next to me, staring into the distance. "I remember us agreeing that six hundred thousand was a good price. Especially if we'll have that many people on board. And what if they don't go for it? What then? Agreeing to a discount a second time is lame – they'll start taking us for fools. And what's the deal with Anastaria doing this for free?"

"Clutzer, go chop some trees." I'd barely had time to reply to this very reasonable remark from my fighter, when Anastaria appeared next to us. "I need to talk to Mahan. Please," added the girl when Clutzer didn't flinch.

"You might have failed to notice, but I'm also talking to him right now."

"You'll have time enough to chat later."

"The same goes for you. If someone butts in on your conversation with Hellfire, just how far will you send him flying?"

Anastaria stood there for a couple of moments, trying to stare Clutzer down, and then turned to her fighters and shouted: "Rick, what's with this idling about? Did you forget what we've come here for? Let's get back to the herbs so that the Seathistles can get their chit-chat over and done with."

"I think you're letting this lady have her way a little too much.” Clutzer turned back to me as soon as Anastaria left us. "The times of going it alone are gone. Now you're the leader of a clan, for which you are responsible. You're also starting to let the wrong part of your body do the thinking. Forget about the gold we might be losing on account of Anastaria – if all goes well we'll make it back from the higher price you've demanded, but I am asking you not to act so rashly next time."

"But we do need her. All of us did decide, after all, that we'd take her along for the High Priestess's quest," I pointed out in my defense. "We won't be able to get past the Vampires without her and if she ends up paying to take part, we won’t just get her, but the entire Phoenix clan. Is that what we really want?"

"That's why I kept quiet when you came out with all that nonsense to Ehkiller. The sooner you understand that you're not on your own and that the clan is there to back you up, the better. Right, I should get going or she'll incinerate me with her eyes. Just remember, you're a clan leader and not some lone 67-level player. If you roll over now, you'll be rolling over for the rest of the game."

"I can see you've got some fierce fighters there, quite hair-raising." Anastaria sat next to me as soon as Clutzer was gone and, unlike him, used a Scroll of Impenetrability, concealing us from the rest of the world. No-one could hear or even see us; our senses were in no way impeded as we continued to watch the others at work. A convenient thing for those who want to hide, the only drawback being that it couldn't be moved once activated.

"Mahan, are you under a dome?"
A message from Elenium immediately appeared in the clan channel.

"Yup, Anastaria put it up,"
I replied to the guys to stop them worrying.
"She's being terribly mysterious!"

"Remember our chat,"
came a message from Clutzer,
"And why didn't we talk like this before? It's very convenient when others are far away.”

Leaving Elenium to explain to the others why clan chat is accessible to clan members only, I returned to Anastaria.

"They're worried, eh?" asked the girl with a smile. "Afraid that I'll eat their leader?"

"No, rather, they asked me not to do anything bad to you," I parried. "After all, this is none other than Anastaria we're talking about here: I could end up doing something stupid and then spend all of five minutes regretting it. Was it so obvious that I was using the chat?"

"Yup. Damn! I caught that stupid word off you! Were those your first negotiations of this caliber?"

"There's also this other word: yer."

"Good for you, you handled yourself well. I remember when I was taken to a similar meeting for the first time. 'Killer was negotiating the purchase of a key to another world, same as that Eye of yours. That was so long ago! Almost ten years now! I was just a foolish little girl, who had just joined Phoenix. I was watching wide-eyed how serious grown men were haggling over the purchase of an artifact worth three million. I just didn't get it – how can you hand over so much money for a bunch of numbers in a database? At the time I had just started university and had a generous monthly allowance of a thousand gold – if you converted it to Barliona currency – which allowed me to survive in relative comfort. And you can stop sniggering! That money gave us an entire month of truly magnificent dinners of ramen and corned beef. Someone who's never been a student wouldn’t understand. For example, are you familiar with the special skill of persuading a teabag to produce something resembling tea at third brewing? I am! The funniest thing was that everyone brought their kids to the dorms in limos or expensive convertibles ... yet the taste of a piece of bread toasted under a gas grill, washed down with a freshly-opened carton of milk, will stay with me forever. It was then that I understood that it's not the money or the status of your parents that makes you who you are; you're the only one responsible for how people really see you."

"Why are you telling me all this?" I asked the suddenly nostalgic girl.

"Because you also managed to level up your Reputation with me and ... that's just it ... so you know. All right, enough memories for today. Tell me instead whether you managed to solve the riddle?"

"Riddle? What riddle? Aaahh! The one with the three formulas? It was pretty easy!" I lacked Anastaria's skill of switching conversation topic at the drop of a hat, so felt a little lost at first. Perhaps I should get her to give me a master class in this? She sure could teach me a thing or two ...

"You don't say. My troopers spent ages wrestling with it. We had to do a good deal of digging before we came up with a possible answer. It's beautifully put together, wouldn't you say? How did you stumble upon the solution? I'll never believe that you simply solved everything in five minutes."

"I had the swearing filters on, then a certain player swore in front of me and the system corrected him ... in a helpful way. Before that I also spent a long time grappling with it, you might even say it began to haunt me in my dreams, but eventually something clicked and I realized what had to be done. I need your help now though. I'm sending you a line of text." I sent Anastaria the cipher I got from the Dwarves. "There's no key or any information on what type of cipher is used, so I'll never solve it by myself. Could you run it past your deciphering team?"