Cass didn’t slow down, “A quill.”
“Where did you get it?”
“The System gave it to me for my Tier upgrade.”
Moore smoothly dashed in front of him, “There’s nothing in our history since the Reshaping that mentions a QuestWright with a quill ability, especially one that’s lighting up the whole area.”
Cass paused, the incandescent shape in his hand showing the dull glimmer where his right eye’s pupil had once shone. “Then it’s something new. We all must make sacrifices. Some have given their lives, most, their homes and livelihoods. I only gave up a choice. Now, if you’ll please excuse me, Maestro Moore.”
Moore looked at him with an undefinable expression, but didn’t say anything. He also didn’t move to further block Cass as he, still holding the Quill aloft, side-stepped around the man. He and the System had made an agreement, and that needed to be seen to.
It was as simple as that.
Cass walked up to the corrupted vellum. There were no instructions for what he needed to do, he’d just have to feel his way through the problem. That hadn’t gone well for him in the past, but things were different now.
He’d told Moore that he knew his priorities now. That wasn’t lightly expressed. His priority was the well-being of Liora, and Liora was its people. No monsters or other Guilds would win the day. He’d make sure of that.
The two guards didn’t back off until Moore hesitantly asked them to, then, with no ceremony, Cass held up the Quill to the sky. Taking a deep breath, he took the two final steps up, then bent at the knees and brought it down gently upon the vellum.
The white glow of the Quill condensed down as the tip hit the page. With a slow-burning growth, it grew brighter and brighter as Cass pressed forth.
At first, after an unclimactic pause, nothing happened. Then the vellum below subtly twitched, like a breathing thing disturbed in its sleep. An angry red pulse came forth next. And another. Strange shapes beat their way across the page as the bright glow of the Quill all too soon began to fade away.
More energy was needed, and Cass had a general idea of where it would come from.
From the bottom of his feet, a dark fog splashed out of him, partnered with a great weakness in his body. The opaque power leeched itself from every part of his being, then streamed upward, pulled into the Quill like ink into thirsty parchment or water into a dying man’s mouth.
Cass felt the Quill pull from the very fiber of his soul. The energy in his mind and body drained at an alarming rate as his newest ability took its toll; all to fix something he never should’ve experimented with.
It was as the System had said, there was a cost.
The red of the Vellum didn’t fade as he expected. Instead, it seemed to gather power unto itself, the pulses reaching beyond the paper on the ground and pulling Cass’s dark energy in with it.
He felt the draining siphon erupt in strength as the true cost was exposed on his screen only a moment later.
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
The corrupted item has been stabilized but must be purged.
This Vellum now carries the potential to anchor the following hybrid Quest types:
(LR) Lure- Attracts monsters in a wide-ranging area
(BN) Bane- Creates a lasting environmental effect or object that specifically harms or weakens a chosen monster-type
(AW) Awaken- Temporarily elevates a Questor’s senses, reflexes, or clarity when monsters are nearby
Purging the corruption will unlock all contained hybrid types for the QuestWright.
CHOOSE YOUR QUEST, CASSIO VALE OF LIORA
Do I get a minute to think about this?
His answer came in a moment later when the red glow further crept over his body, continuously increasing the drain on his body.
Bane…bane would help, but only one monster-type. Awaken is too individualized. Maybe if we had a high-tier person here, it could make a difference, but not enough. I only get one shot.
I only get one shot.
People were dying around him as he sat there staring at the angry red paper in front of him. The best he could do was give them a better chance. Closing his eyes for a brief moment with a prayer to anyone who might be listening, he made his choice.
His screen automatically shifted and locked in, with an outline coming up unlike any other he’d ever seen. The borders stood out in blood red, the text was styled in a scratched, dashed manner, and there were only a few selections to make. But what it lost in complexity, it more than made up for in the panic he felt as he stared longer at the options within.
With a wince, he keyed it in as best he could, then set it.
[Quest Ledger Entry: CV-0001-LR-LIA]
Quest Title: Save Liora
Assigned Questor: Cassio Vale
Quest Objective:
-Attract and direct hostile entities to predetermined locations and away from the civilian population.
-Monsters slain while under the Lure effect: 0/100
-Monsters slain directly by Cassio Vale count twice: 0/50
Status: Pending draft.
Timeframe for completion: 1 hour
Questor XP Awarded: +100XP
QuestWright reward: Lure, Bane, Awaken Quest Types
System Reputation cost: -50
System Reputation gained upon completion: +51
Modifier:
- Hybrid Quest (+2000%)
There was no psyching himself up. One moment, the Quest was pending, the next, he drafted it, and everything kicked off as a timer appeared on his screen.
[Lure Activated]
Cass oddly noted that as the glow subsided on the vellum, its Quest active and currently bent on ending his life, his body had taken on a decidedly red hue. Not enough to be noticeable to others, but as someone with one eye and a lifetime of memories recognizing the back of his hand, there was definitely something off there.
He had time to take a sudden breath before collapsing to a knee as the stamina cost finally came to bear on him. Thinking quickly, he picked up the still red paper and put it in his bag.
Bella came close and whuffed his hair, but from what he could tell, she didn’t notice anything different about him. She snorted twice and nudged him with her head, but he got the idea of what she was asking.
“I’ll be okay.” He sighed, “Old girl, we’ve got to put our pound of flesh on the scale.”
When she snorted, he confirmed, “Yes, I lost an eye, but an eye isn’t a life. Plenty of others have already given that up. I don’t think we get to say we won’t do the same. I have the ability to change the outcome here, and in my mind, that means I must. Right?
He paused, knowing well that the timer had already started. “Though it’s unfair of me to ask, I think I need to, as I can’t do this alone. I’m simply not fast enough by myself. So,” He looked up at the draft-horse, his Bonded and most unlikely ally. “Will you help me save Liora?”
Hearing that, Bella nibbled his shoulder, her warmth easy for him to feel. Then, she stood tall, and he understood she agreed with him. She didn’t know exactly what would happen, but the gist of what he was to come had translated well enough.
Weakly standing, he grabbed the side of the saddle for support and laboriously put his foot in the stirrup. Moore started to come close, but by then it was already too late.
Grabbing the top of her saddle, he barely had the strength to swing himself up and around, landing with a sigh for his bottom. Bella took two steps forward as he leaned close and whispered in her ear, then he and his Bonded were off, heading straight to the Entrance Hall and what was likely their doom beyond.
People were passing in and out of the area, bringing food, water, and supplies to the defenders. Those returning carried only the injured or the dead.
Cass looked down only once to see a young man who couldn’t be much older than himself being pulled back. His chest looked like it had been pierced over a dozen times, and his mouth was open in a frozen scream.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
He didn’t look down again.
Once they got about halfway through the Entrance Hall and the sounds of the night truly struck them, he urged Bella onward. She entered a gallop, pushing past those moving on the sides with urgency, and they broke into the evening air.
Then, something changed, as all the monstrous sounds in the area ceased at once. It felt like nothing other than the world holding its breath. He had all of a heartbeat before every monster in the area screamed at the same time.
They’d seen them.
Cass felt both Bella and Adya’s emotions flare, one with fear and the other with confusion. Then, he turned the horse to where he knew few monsters had come from, and they ran.
Cass glanced to the side, turning slightly in the saddle to look at the rear. Slavering Skreels, leaping Scroungers, and all manner of different monsters pressed themselves into spikes in a rush to get close. Every monster’s eyes were trained on them so harshly that they were unaware of the swords, spears, and arrows entering their bodies as they stampeded each other into the ground.
It gave him an idea as notifications streamed in, updating the Hybrid Quest.
“Go Bella! Run as fast as you can!”
The draft-horse put on extra speed, the wind billowing through her mane as Cass yelled at those shocked to see them on the frontlines.
“Move, outta the way! Clear a line”
“Sir!” A man yelled nearby, “You can’t go that way! The ground is all torn up, and there are still traps there!”
Cass ignored him. The man was trying to help, but Cass had other ideas. Bella skirted around a set of spikes with a screaming Skreel, and an arrow flew uncomfortably close to Cass’s ear.
Then, she ran up a long plank of wood and leaped into the night sky.
He had a moment to reflect on his situation. Never in his life did he think he’d ever be in this situation. Monsters behind him. Monsters to the sides. And a broken city in front of him. He was a QuestWright…right?
But he’d taken on this Quest. He was the Questor this time around. And though no Waypoint guided them forward, he knew what they had to do next.
The pair soared over the chewed-up Earth, and such was their momentum that they cleared most of the ground up roads and buildings. Most of it.
Bella screamed as a piece of debris scratched her side, then she put her head down and bolted forward, trusting him to see them through this. Cass’s Battlefield Memory kicked on at full strength as his enhanced senses and reflexes became fully alert.
With just his feelings and the slight motions of his body, he told her where to step, where to jump, and what angles to move at. Several odd hops and running across a partially collapsed building, they leaped a second time, and then they were out of immediate danger.
And into a new kind.
Just ahead, Cass spotted several people in dark clothes skulking through the area. At the front was someone he recognized. He peered back and saw the monster train chugging along. Hundreds of monsters screeching and hollering. Those who fell continued to be trampled by the others still coming with haste.
It was a wonder that the Dark Guild members couldn’t hear them.
Cass pointed Bella’s head right at the group as they ran. Once they grew a little closer, the invaders finally looked up and noticed them. Cass yelled out, “Hey, Shamus! Thanks for the great horse! Too bad the Skreels didn’t get me!”
They passed by, only a few feet away on an unerring path east, and he had the joy to see the traitor scream when he looked at what followed.
Motherfucker deserved so much more than that. For Johnny!
The chase didn’t end there. What came after was forever seared into his brain. The night was dark and full of monsters. Everywhere they ran, creatures appeared, screaming and hollering as they caught sight of Cass, the lure timer in his window ticking down ever so slowly.
Huge, lumbering pale beasts swiped at them as they passed by. Just by watching the ponderously heavy movements, he knew one hit would put them out of commission. Skreels leaped off of crumbling heights at random, his reflexes and abilities being the only things that saved them. It was a hectic set of movements filled with anxiety that saw them through the area.
Once they’d done a good run through the East, the monsters seeming to grow ever closer, he pointed Bella north, and off they went.
If he didn’t trust her implicitly, this never would’ve worked. Bella was a draft horse. Larger and with far more stamina than other breeds. Though she’d been skinny and shaggy when they first met, the months that followed had rehabilitated her frame. She was as strong a horse as any had seen.
As for Bella’s trust in Cass, he didn’t need a reputation screen to tell him how strong it was. The old girl’s feelings told him every time they laid eyes on each other. Gary might be his best friend, but Bella was right there beside him.
They dipped through alleys, ran full speed across broken ground, and each time, Cass used his abilities to see them through it. When they passed through the north, running past a beat-up Guild wall, he sighted another group of Dark Guild members.
Their time was up the moment they stepped into Liora.
The train ran over them. Then again, and again. Each time they located the enemy, Cass and Bella used their other enemy to take care of business. It put no joy in his heart to do so, but justice was more than enough.
It was when they headed into the western district that Bella began to grow tired. Dozens of minutes had passed at a full gallop, and even a draft horse had limits when the adrenaline began to fade.
But the monsters were coming, and the timer wasn’t done. Though he was already beyond tired, he had to do something, and now was the time for his final plan.
Cass lifted his hand and caught the Quill as it formed.
When he brought it down with intent, the Quill rooted itself against the atmosphere as if it were writing upon a wall. Pushing Bella toward a long stretch for speed, Cass brought up the outliner in his vision as the air itself became the platform for his Quest.
Whispering to his partner, he dove into the Combat Quest option for the first time, then tapped into his Battlefield Memory and picked out a proper location. With Profile, he was able to look back and forth between Gerald’s old Quests and the one he was designing now, then included every combatant he knew to be alive as the Questors.
As the outline shifted into the draft, he felt his hand moving of its own accord as greater weakness filtered from his toes to the tips of his fingers.
Into the writing, he put every bit of detail and information as he could. The types he’d seen, where they’d be, when to be there, and any quick suggestions he could make in the moment. He also added words of encouragement for all the bravery, love, and kindness he’d borne witness to across his few years on this world.
For one single moment, Cassio Vale bared himself open for the world to see. And as Bella ran full-tilt down the broken streets of the city, the words appeared.
In the center of the crowded Guildhall, most had glued their vision to the walls, the retreating defenders, or to the eyes of their loved ones. But as golden writing appeared in the sky, and the sounds beyond the Guildhall clamed, they found themselves looking up. In a night of terror, blood, and havoc, beautifully written words flowed through the night sky.
It was like a miraculous moment caught in a horrific memory.
There was no organization to them. The odd letter appeared sometimes, or a person’s name, but it didn’t matter. The calligraphy was like something an old-timer from before the Reshaping would talk about. It was like seeing music.
Some words were low enough that people could pass their hand through them. With a touch of bravery, they did so, telling others that the words felt warm. Like someone was looking out for them.
Then, all at once, the writing stopped. In a rush, the words pushed farther into the sky, seeming to touch the very stars themselves, then flowed down at great speed into people all across the area.
Cass had underestimated Bella’s speed. He’d timed the Quest for ten minutes after being sent, but once the mutated Driftclaw joined the chase, her legs had found new energy. What was worse, writing a multi-Questor Combat Quest had further drained any remaining stamina he had left in the tank.
Lying across her back, he barely had the wherewithal to turn her twice, forcing the monsters to take slowing detours just so further time would elapse. Another turn came, and the quickness of it was so sharp he almost slipped right off her back.
Drool leaked out of the side of his mouth as he pushed against the opposing stirrup, doing his very best to hold his seat. Any thoughts he might’ve had became groggy and slippery. His mind was a drifting ocean, with only one thought in mind. Thankfully, he’d given himself the Quest as well.
Turning again for the largest and fastest circle ever drawn across the Lioran landscape, Cass and Bella righted themselves and sprinted down the road toward the Forge. A warm feeling struck his chest, and he thought surely they were going to make it. They passed by broken streets, a few bodies, and one large, striped-
“Bella!” Cass screamed as the mutated Driftclaw leaped off a building toward him. Oily claws reached for his face as time perceptively slowed.
Only for a spear to strike it in the chest, a leather-clad woman holding the tail end as she leaped off the building opposite. He felt several emotions coming from her, but they couldn’t stop. He just had to hope Adya would pull through as they entered several collapsed areas, with a few locations still standing.
Cass grabbed the reins with the last bit of his strength and pulled them down left or right as necessary, pushing her toward several odd angles as the monsters came running at them. It was like going through a maze, only this maze had traps.
Cass had chosen this area for a reason. It had been designed as a retreating location, with many porous areas and murder holes built into it.
Standing behind several open windows and safely behind the walls of the buildings, Liorans of all shapes and sizes pushed through spears, swords, and anything else they could get their hands on. As they passed by, monsters died in droves while the human and horse lure brought them to their deaths.
Cass spotted several familiar figures in the crowd.
Jim and Jimmy, standing side by side and looking oddly similar.
Holt, wielding a large hammer in one meaty hand, Rina pushing out a spike beside him.
He even saw Gary, one hand holding what might’ve passed for a large piece of bread, the other holding a massive piece of sharp metal. He thought he saw his father, but then they were already past the area.
They continued to move, entering a new area with a similar design and a particularly large crowd. Cass spotted men and women from the Pathfinders, along with Orla and Common Solutions, and many other faces he’d met one way or another across the years and in his few months running the Registry. It looked like almost the whole city had emptied itself to slay the monsters that had terrorized the world for twenty long years.
Another turn, and another group. And another. And the monsters just kept on running through the grinder.
Bella's energy began to flag as they exited the maze and approached the gate.
At the end of the road were five people wearing dark clothing that he didn’t recognize. Cass wanted to prepare some kind of defensive measure, but he had nothing left in the tank, and he could tell his Bonded was in a similar position.
The lure still had over twenty minutes left on it, and it seemed that this was where their time would end.
“Sorry, girl,” Cass said as her lungs worked overtime. “I thought we could make it.”
He didn’t get anything from her but a feeling of true exhaustion and not a small amount of pain. He lay his head across her back and held on, waiting for whatever was going to happen to happen.
At least we’re together.
“Oy, kid! Watcha doin?” One of the people in front yelled out. “We’ve been guarding this spot all night. Why ya just sitting there? Don’t cha know there’s monstas out ere?”
A woman’s voice spoke up, “Leave them be, Noah, you can tell they’re in bad shape. I think even the poor horse is hurt.”
“Nah, we ain’t had a death ere in hours. I’m not gonna let that kid be the one to screw it up.”
“Hold on now,” a deep voice said, “Looks like a few low-tiers are chasing them. Don’t worry, kid, we’ll get them for you.”
Cass heard several loud bangs as the darkness kept trying to close in on him.
“That fookin striped bastard took a lot of shots.”
“Then use your sword and cut its head off. You don’t need to shoot everything.”
“Why, the ammo’s free. Why shouldn’t I?”
“Because you might hit an innocent bystander, that’s why. Your ammo may be free, but you’re shit at aiming.” The deep voice said. Then, Cass saw him get close, his one good eye still barely open. The man’s face looked like it was carved from marble.
“Hold on, I know that face. Are you the temporary Guild Master, Cassio Vale?”
He didn’t have time to respond, as just when he opened his mouth, he blacked out.
[Special Edition Reader Quest]
Assignment: Push Through the Middle
Life recognizes effort, not ease.
This Quest is not about survival, but movement.
Your Task:
Identify something you are in the middle of.
Not something you started today. Not something you’ve already finished.
Something stuck, slow, or soul-grinding.
Then take one step forward.
Send the email.
Write the sentence.
Move the body.
Name the feeling.
Show up. Stay in it. Sweat a little.
You do not have to finish.
You only have to move forward while it is still hard.
Completion Condition:
One difficult thing advanced, not avoided.
Timeframe: This week
Reward: 7 XP
Chase or be chased. Life’s problems arrive all the same.
—
J D Mullenary Sr
The Original QuestWright