The Excisionists: Book 1 Page 8

  “How do I get permission? Can I talk to them?”

  “Currently players may read or send messages to other members of their party here.”

  A box popped up with written text addressed to specific names in our group. None of them were for us, so we didn’t open the messages. Iolite closed the box and started moving deeper into the forest. I followed behind as I twisted my wrist to see what other runes I could potentially use in this forest. We approached a large pool of water in a clearing that had to be holding something foreboding, because the orb shifted red and the music pounded. The water swirled as a water demon lifted from the surface.

  I saw only the pointy ears and blackened eyes before it was all whisked into the clouds above as soon as the spell left my lips. “Ripple and flow, clouds be full.”

  The dark creature screamed and vaporized into a mist that was sucked into the atmosphere above. Three red crystals dropped from the clouds as a reward.

  Iolite was impressed. “Nice. I wonder how many more enemies we’ll have to defeat before we reach the chests.”

  I shrugged. “Let’s find out.”

  We continued to wander deeper into the ancient trees until we came upon a stag beast that stood upon two thickly hooved hind legs. The entire beast was black and covered in fur up to the neck. A vampiric face with glowing red eyes lowered and rushed at us. Iolite shifted once again into a gorilla and I was left to rapidly recite spells.

  “Thrash and grip, slide and trip!”

  Vines stretched from above to immobilize the creature and trees bent to restrain the limbs. It smashed the trees with its hooves and tore at the vines as if they were tiny twigs and threads. My spell wasn’t working. I pulled a sharp plant piece from my pack and froze it into an ice spear.

  “Drop to the bottom, soar to the top, make the fluid freeze and stop!”

  I threw spear after spear until my pack was empty, but the beast was still alive. Iolite cried out with pain as her chest was ripped open with the crash of a hoof. She dematerialized and left me to fight alone.

  I screamed with horror and started hurtling jars of herbs and then ran back the way we’d come. I could hear the drum of hooves behind me. I called out another spell to try once again to contain the beast.

  “Shield and guard, leave all unmarred!”

  Plant roots and trees twisted into a massive coffin containing the evil but was unable to extinguishing it. I stopped running once I realized it was stuck inside the prison of plants. My heart was racing, and I was short of breath and it took several minutes before I could regain my composure. When I did, I nervously neared the twisted mass of trunks and plants to touch the surface. It was as cold as ice and covered in spider lilies.

  I took a step back. “Cygnet, can that thing get out?”

  Her pleasant voice echoed in the forest. “Mica, the Sanguisuge is kept inside the tree by the power of the spider lilies. Unless these are removed, the creature cannot escape.”

  I breathed a sigh of relief. “Good.”

  “Mica!”

  I turned my head to see Iolite bounding toward me on all fours. She shifted from anthropoid to alien class when she reached me. “Iolite, guess what I did? See this?” I rapped on the trunk of the twisted tree in front of me. “That thing is in there and can’t get out.”

  She visibly relaxed. “That’s a relief.”

  I nodded eagerly. “Let’s keep going, the scrolls can’t be too far now.”

  We walked around the tree and headed deeper toward the largest tree trunk we’d ever seen. It was bigger than a house and didn’t have a single leaf on it. The tiny orb was blue meaning we’d have to go underground. Iolite looked around for a cave, but I felt drawn to the tree itself. There was no opening in the trunk, but the branches were spaced pretty evenly apart. This had to be the way in. I hopped up onto the first one and spiraled upwards until I reached the top. As I suspected, there was a small hole near the top branch.

  “Hey Iolite. Get up here.”

  She gave up her search and watched as I crawled into the hole before climbing the tree herself.

  Inside the ancient timber was a faint glow deep inside along with carefully carved stairs winding downward. I followed them until I reached a small table and chairs in the center of the room. Four wooden chests were nestled into hand carved niches that fit them exactly around the table at the compass points. I selected the rune for light and was delighted as gelatinous orbs bounced down the stairs and circled the room casting a soft white light about the tree interior. I grabbed the first chest and heaved in onto the table. Inside were six scrolls that because of age were difficult to read. I pulled off my pack to inspect the contents and combine ingredients to make potions.

  Iolite reached me as I finished the first potion. “What’s that one for?”

  The liquid shifted from white to black as I swirled the container and placed it on the tabletop. “This is a poison. The next one is for loss of memory.”

  She watched as I combined a Puzri, drops from a Zmeya, a single spider lily, and a handful of mushrooms and herbs. I capped the jar and shook it to combine the ingredients. Instead of becoming liquid, they solidified into an item that resembled an apple. After making all of the potions from the chest, I returned it to its place and selected another one to open. This chest held a single scroll with instructions for healing. I was to shake a single drop from a Zmeya onto my body and name my tribe along with the word heal.

  I was surprised by how easy it was, but soon realized that I’d have to closely watch my health to be able to use it before I died. Since my health was not nearly as developed as any other character, I’d have to use the spell often and didn’t have enough Zmeya drops to keep me alive for long. I’d have to return to their location and collect more but wanted to finish out the chests before I did so. The next chest had potions for sleep, fire, light, turning dirt into crystals and so on. The final chest held a single Bismuth Crystal instead of more potions. I turned the cubic crystalline structure that looked like boxes inside of boxes and admired the multi-colored metallic surface.

  Iolite stood up from the table. “We should go. There’s nothing else for us here.”

  “We need to go back to where the Zmeya are. I need to collect more drops of liquid from them. After that we can go wherever you want.”

  She spoke over her shoulder as she climbed the stairs. “You’ll have to travel across the planet and pass everything off. We can probably use the orb to find the other caves and things we need. When we’re done here, we should go back to Yargkee to beat the boss. I don’t think I can do it alone.”

  I grinned. “By the time we get to your planet, I’ll be an awesome teammate.”

  Chapter 4 – Crispin

  My fluid world was a delight to explore. Instead of waters teeming with sharp toothed beasts, Verbinia was filled with tasks to complete and items to collect. There were several deep pools beyond the boundaries of the glaciated islands that floated in circles on the dark half of my planet that undoubtedly contained hidden monsters however, I hadn’t gone that far yet. I’d chosen the scholar class to develop my intellect before I worked on obtaining the skills of the warrior class or the mage.

  My skin was rubbery and flexible around the cartilaginous bones that flexed as I swam. I could change the color of my skin with thousands of chromatophores allowing me to disguise my body against any background. Bioluminescent lights stretched across each of my four arms, down my back, and spanned my lengthy undulating tail. I felt free for the first time in my life as I swirled through the fluid. The tasks I needed to complete ranged from simple to complex. They were designed to assist me in figuring out how to move my body and how to absorb shells or rocks into cavities in my skin. The most recent task required me to extinguish the lights I emitted to go undetected into a complex cave system connected to a structure deep underwater to retrieve a Bismuth Crystal. I’d been shocked and stabbed dozens of times before I figured out the pathway around the detectors and could a
void the bombs set to protect the perimeter.

  I pulled myself through the drain and up into the massive domed structure. The floor was hard, and I felt strange as my body knit together into a more humanoid form. I still maintained four arms, but my eyes lost their gelatinous covering, nostril slits formed, and my tail split into two sucker covered legs and feet. I went throughout the compound and completed the puzzles that allowed me to open the box containing the Bismuth Crystal. Two white crystals sat on either side as a reward for getting to this level in the game. When I reentered the water, I became weightless once again and leapt high above the surface when I reached it. The light was brighter than I’d remembered, but it was fun to do tricks despite having difficulty adjusting my eyes to the brilliance. I swam away from the area I’d started at to further explore my planet. Up ahead, I knew there was danger. I could feel the tense vibrations ripple through the water causing my skin to prickle. When I approached, there was a small creature being chased by an eel with snapping jaws. I swam faster and slammed into the eel. It reacted by shocking me and taking a chunk out of my arm. I pushed back and froze the eel into a block of ice that floated to the surface.

  The tiny creature with bubble eyes communicated thanks through vibrations in the water making my skin feel supple and warm. It then dropped a silver key and swam away. I wriggled downward and lifted the key from the sandy bottom. It was oddly shaped, and I didn’t know what it was for, so I placed it in a crater in my skin for later. I continued swimming and exploring Verbinia, finding more enemies as I neared the dark side of the planet. The water was murky and the glaciers from above created labyrinthine tunnels and caves below the surface. Glimmering lights from other organisms populating these strange waters gave off an eerie glow.

  One cave in particular caught my eye and when I followed it, I was led to a hole in the ice above. When I emerged and stood on two legs, I could see small white bears with savage claws and teeth, large nostrils and ears, and no eyes. They were voracious and attacked anything that came their way and was close enough for them to smell or hear. I broke off shards of ice from the glacier and used them as spears. I aimed for their hearts and successfully hit bear after bear. Pools of black blood splashed across the dark continent of ice that was only dimly lit by a single tiny reddish moon. Every third bear I killed left a single red crystal that I collected after I’d finished them all off.

  I slid across the ice and encountered more of the same little bears. I killed them quickly and went on my way. Further in the distance, I could see a large pile of ice. When I neared it, a gigantic bear without eyes smashed through the ice and chased after me. The only other weapons I had were ice bombs and sonic disrupters. I tossed dozens of bombs and cracked the ice under the heavy beast with the disrupter, but it still swiped at me and tried to end my life. I lifted the ice to imprison the bear and slow its progress toward me. Suddenly, the bear changed tactics. It crashed into the ice wall that began to crack. I was nervous that this beast would make contact with me and slice my rubbery skin with the long claws. I continued to toss bombs and ice spears at it until the bear broke through the wall. My final attempt to kill it took all of my strength. I launched a total of twenty bombs one after another and forced the ice upward below the bear to crack its chest open. Finally, the ribs split in two while the bombs rained down on the creature. It flopped to the side with its tongue hanging out and dissolved leaving behind a pool of blackened blood with six red crystals. I retrieved the gems and went to examine the ice structure that resembled a pile of icy shards.

  I located a wide fissure on the back side that led me deep inside the glacier. After several miles of winding narrows, the cavern opened up into an area containing a locked chest and a pulsating crystalline tower warp point. I kneeled down to open the chest and found the shape of the lock resembled the shape of the key I’d received from the creature I’d saved from the gigantic eel. The key slid in and turned with ease. When I threw back the lid, I could see a golden coin with intricate designs stamped into it next to four white crystals. I stowed them away and decided to search for more treasures.

  Somewhere off to my left I could hear moving water and I followed the sound. In a hidden corner of the cave was a rushing river. I was curious to where it went. I slipped into the river and let the current take me where it would. I floated and spun inside a tunnel of ice for some time. The buoyancy was marvelous, and I ran my fingers along the ice as I traveled. The ice opened up and could see another large cavern, so I grabbed the shelf of ice above me and swung up into the room. It held smaller crystals resembling the crystalline tower warp points along with a green rippling portal. I grabbed the small crystals and imbedded them into my skin for safe keeping. Since I couldn’t see anything else of interest, I stepped into the portal and looked around to see where it took me.

  “Cygnet, where am I now?”

  “You are on Tuman. You may now interact with other players found on this planet and on Verbinia. You have passed the first stage of the game.”

  I looked around and took in the sights. This planet was beautiful. Silvery clouds above reflected the rays of light from an unseen source giving the planet a faint glow. Thick verdant foliage rose above my ankles and covered most of the ground. A few bare patches of gray-blue soil peeked through at random intervals. Amethyst fronds reached skyward in thick asymmetrical bunches, and tiny pale salmon puffballs littered the ground under smooth black barked trees bearing icy white waterfalls of willow like foliage. Fields of dark colored orchid like flowers waved in the breeze. Each had two large heart shaped petals with the points on opposite sides. Three floral spikes came from the center and stretched upwards. Dozens of spines protruded from the center like whiskers on a cat, and curled petals drooped cascading downward from the center. The flower was a deep eggplant color with splashes of pomegranate and indigo that was perched upon pointed emerald and malachite foliage.

  I ducked as a large winged slate colored object flew past me toward the floral field to my left. I followed it to get a closer look. It had a three-foot wingspan with leathery skin stretched between five fingerlike appendages that ended in talons. The head was the size of a small acorn atop a slender neck. The eyes were milky and solid. Bony protuberances surrounded the eyes that were razor sharp. The mouth was hinged like a snake and sharp teeth lined the interior. The nostrils were narrow slits and the body was triangular. Muscular legs ended in grasping feet that had five deep gray talons. The tail was long and ended in a mass of bony appendages. It flew toward a smaller object perched on one of the flowers. The object was delicate in appearance and had four wings made of a glassy, lacy, gauze like material. The iridescent sheen sparkled in the light. Its body was spiderlike with four appendages attached to the abdomen. The waist was narrow and the thorax angled upward. A pixielike head sat atop a narrow neck with large opaque milky eyes. The upper body had a set of appendages grasping the large floral leaves and a smaller set of appendages feeding on the drops of liquid oozing from the three upward pointing stalks of the flowers.

  The bat like creature flew just above the smaller insect spewing a thick tarry liquid on the wings of its prey just before sinking the talons on its feet into the upper body. Using its grasping feet, it pulled the smaller creature up to its belly before swooping off to an unknown location. The prey was writhing and unable to fight off its attacker as it fought against the sticky tar like material engulfing it. I wasn’t sure if I needed to collect what I could see, or if I was supposed to kill it. Since the music in the background hadn’t changed, I decided to let it go and explore the planet further. I continued to walk around to try to find other players and figure out what I could do to increase my attack strength and health. It was then that I noticed the pools of water that were flat and glassy like a mirror streaming toward a foliage covered precipice with misty sprays rushing downward into deeper cobalt pools.

  I decided wasn’t liking the heat, so I dove into the pools to cool off and explore them. Up ahead I could s
ee an odd creature. It was speckled silvery undulating oarfish from the waist down but had a torso and head of a more humanoid creature. The arms were covered in scales with three fingers at the ends ending in sharp points. The neck and head were almost human, yet the nose was absent, and the eyes and mouth were narrow slits. Threadlike elongated spines protruded from the front of the scalp radiating backwards in an arc. Elongated gill slits traversed the neck and shoulders. A silver green gelatinous covering protected the eyes from exposure. Large dark pupils ringed with golden brown irises contracted somewhat in the low light. It reached out with its hand and pulled a small fish into the rows of spiny teeth spraying watery gray blood into the water. The teeth sunk deeper nearly severing the fish in half before the creature swam away to enjoy its feast alone. I followed behind to see what it was doing but the creature turned to attack me. I gripped it with my arms and broke the neck before it could do any damage. It disintegrated and then left behind a blue crystal floating in the water.