No, not who. What.
It was a clockwork robot.
The thing had been standing guard, facing away from the gate when I passed through. Hearing my entrance it turned around. But since I was invisible, there was nothing to see.
It was looking, trying to figure out what had just happened. I envisioned gears turning within its head, if that’s where it did its thinking.
But it hadn’t detected me.
It was as tall as a normal man and made of blocks, giving it the appearance of a toy.
Should I attack it?
Then I noticed one of its arms extended further out than the other. At the end of its shorter arm was a simple claw-like hand. But the extended one ended in a long thin rod. At the end of the rod was embedded a crystal. This crystal crackled with electricity, momentarily brightening the features of the clockwork guard.
A lightning wand.
Shadows, for whatever reason, are very susceptible to electrical damage. One full shot from that wand would result in an instant trip to the newbie-zone for me.
An ignominious end. Escape from the mouth of a Titan only to be killed by a robot with a glorified cattle-prod.
The robot did not move, just waited and seemed to stare at the gate with black square eyes.
A glance at my shrinking invisibility timer increased my nervousness. I had only seconds left and it would switch off. If I was lucky, I could activate my shadow ability when that happened. Although not perfect, it should mask my presence in the growing darkness.
But what if this robot saw the change?
I calmly brought out my sword and tensed. If I didn’t move, then maybe it wouldn’t react. But I had to be ready.
Then, as if reaching some calculation, the robot lowered its lightning wand arm and turned around, waddling on blocky legs. Certain there was nothing untoward, the thing put its back to me. A plume of steam shot out from a nozzle on the side of its square head.
My invisibility timed out, and I switched to shadow without a hitch.
Slowly, I eased off the platform, careful not to make any noise in the snow (Shadows have a +50% silent walking ability) and slinked into the trees.
A short distance away I rested behind a large pine, while keeping the travel gate, and its automaton guardian, in view.
My heart still pounded hard. The last few minutes had been intense. It’s not every day you purposely throw yourself into the maw of a Titan and survive.
But I made it. This was Ogden Trite’s secret domain. Somewhere past these trees was his guildhall, and I knew he would be there. My chance to kill him had presented itself. Yet, I was alone now, which had not been planned for.
All this running and being chased and having friends sacrifice themselves had got me this far. There was only a little more ways go.
I’d finish this myself as long as I didn’t blow it.
I decided following the snow-covered path was the best direction to go. Sticking to the trees, I moved on and away from the travel gate until it vanished from view.
My senses were all fired up. Other than the clockwork guard there was little indication of other security measures in place. Ogden must have felt the Titan was more than enough.
I would prove him wrong.
Soon the pathway angled downward, following the slope of a hill into a little valley. I paused at the tree-line and stared.
At the base of the valley, swathed by snow capped forests, was a castle. It appeared to glow in the growing darkness. I realized that the illuminating effect was moonlight reflecting off of its blue-white surface.
An ice fortress.
Its sprawling complex of buildings spread out in all directions and was encompassed by high walls. Towers and arrow slits lined its vast battlements. Occasionally, I would see a guard walk along them, and on closer inspection I could see that each one was a clockwork guard, like the one at the gate.
The path led to a yawning chasm which served as a moat. Across this chasm was the main gate entrance, its massive drawbridge pulled up and closed.
Won’t be getting in that way, I thought.
I scanned the huge walls for another possible way in.
A chat request flashed in the corner of my vision. I remembered I’d removed the ‘Mute All Players’ option and now this Bishop the Red idiot had started pestering me again.
But it was Mudhoof.
Blinking in surprise, I withdrew behind a canopy of pine branches. After a quick glance around, I accepted the chat.
Mudhoof’s grinning visage filled the chat window before me. “Did ya get my stuff?” he said with a laugh.
“Muddie!” I said, relieved to see him. “What happened? I tried to call you but you didn’t answer. I was worried.”
Mudhoof chuckled. “No worries at all, Vee. It was no big deal. To be honest, right after I died my mom called me away for dinner. I had to go or I would have been in serious trouble.”
I laughed. “Okay, that explains it. A justifiable ‘Away From Game’ reason.”
“I could face hordes of orcs or bounty hunters without breaking a sweat, but if I ever got my mom mad, geez. Nothing matches the fear that woman can invoke!”
“Sorry about getting you killed,” I said. “Again.”
“No apology necessary,” he said. “We were in a no-win situation and I just improvised. Besides, it was mildly cathartic smashing into you and sending you flying.”
“Sorry you lost all your stuff. I’ll pay you back,” I said.
He shrugged nonchalantly. “I got gear stored away for just such an occasion. Which means I have a lot of gear stored. I’ll level this new character up in no time.” He gave me a curious look. “So, I’m happy to see my gamble paid off. You didn’t die. Gimme the lowdown.”
So I did, albeit an abbreviated version.
As I spoke a pair of clockwork guards march past along the path. Neither gave any indication I’d been detected. How many others were out here, maybe skulking through the forest?
“Wow, so you’re in the FILTERED’s lair, huh?” Mudhoof said when I finished. “Wish I could be there with you, Vee. Sounds like it will be a tough nut to crack.”
“Hey, you are the only reason I am here right now and not killing rabbits in the newbie-zone.”
“Any word from Thorm?”
“Not yet, but I’ll shoot him a chat right now. I thought it best to let him deal with his combat situation first without me nattering in his ear.”
“Well, we should both get back at it,” he said.
It was then I saw what was in his background. “You’re in a tavern?”
Mudhoof leaned back so I could see more. A small generic tavern with a lone barkeep rubbing the counter with a cloth. “Yup, living the high life.” He held up a frothy mug and took a sip. “I recently upgraded my simulation suit to enable taste for the first time. Been trying out all the different ales that I can.”
Again, he made me laugh. Then I cringed, fearing I would have been heard.
“Okay, well, enjoy the ale. You’ve earned it.”
“Give ’em hell, Vee!” Mudhoof said, and signed off.
I took a moment to change hiding spots, then pinged Thorm.
He answered immediately. His face was hunched over and rocking back and forth. At the bottom of the screen could be seen the top of Snowflake’s fury head bobbing in and out of frame.
“Miss Valesh!” The Holy Knight declared with a smile. “You’re alive!”
“Yeah, I made it through the travel gate. I’m in Ogden’s little domain, and currently undetected.” Along the edges of the chat’s view-window I could see the yellow sand of a desert shoot by.
“Where are you? What happened?”
“I’m several gates away, now,” he said. “Leading my new friends on another wild goose chase.” He leaned a little to one side. Behind him about a hundred paces away were two riders in hot pursuit. One wore a bright white cloak which flapped about in the wind.