Forest of Desire (The Alchemist Book #2): LitRPG Series Read online

  “Just branches. No movement. But no birds, either.”

  “So head up and check. Be careful. The last thing we need is some monster jumping down on top of us.”

  Tailyn slowly moved aside the leaves he’d placed between the branches and peeked downward. His scanner told him one of Berad’s fighters was climbing silently, though the boy couldn’t see his partner. The latter was either hidden by the branches or staying motionless to avoid giving away his position.

  Instantly, the boy knew what to do. Valanil and the group were going to make a break for it, which meant someone needed to keep the attention of the lixes and Berad’s mercenaries away from them. And what was the best way to do that? Give them something they wanted even more. And Tailyn was sure he was someone both Berad and the lixes did indeed want much more.

  It was time to risk it all.

  Ka-Li.

  You used Wave of Fire-I 10 times.

  Charges remaining: 40 of 50.

  Tailyn turned to make sure his fire bounced off the ground away from the protective barrier while still hitting the fighter who was climbing up. The tree burned like a match — the boy overdid it with the charges just to make sure he definitely took out his targets. He didn’t get off scot-free, however, as the heat from the burning tree hit his OGM-III, too. The cooling system wasn’t up to the task, though the job was done.

  You destroyed level 27 and 29 creatures.

  Status change: combat complete.

  After materializing his rope, Tailyn jumped to his feet and jumped around the trunk to get away from the burning side. Tying himself up and tossing the rope over an especially thick branch, he leaped downward, not particularly worried about hurting himself when he landed. The fire he’d kindled was going to last an entire minute, which meant he couldn’t stay in the tree without baking or burning to a crisp. And while the rope helped, he still hit the ground hard. Tailyn groaned, but he couldn’t help but notice that the combat complete status hadn’t changed. Nobody had noticed him. After winding up the rope, Tailyn crawled away from the tree. He didn’t have time to grab the loot, which was a shame — it was presumably quite the haul given how strong the pair had been. Suddenly, the air began to shimmer a few meters away from the boy, and an enormous crowd of prisoners appeared surrounding the tents in the camp. The boy was stunned to see how many there were. If he’d sent his waves in that direction… He shuddered to think what would have happened to the humans and…lixes? What were they doing there?

  Tailyn completely forgot about the pain he was in. It was true — there were green lixes in with the humans. None of the weak creatures had so much as twitched when the nearby tree had caught fire. Although, no, one of them did move, and Tailyn focused his attention on him. That let his perception tell him who the daring one was. And when he saw, he nearly screamed in rage.

  Ka-Do-Gir (green lix). Warrior. Age 18. Level 12.

  “What happened?! Where are they?!” Berad yelled into the night, and both people and lixes ran over to the tree. Their shock made sense — two more frames had turned gray, telling the crystal fences that their group was down to five.

  Ka-Do-Gir is inviting you to join I see you. Save me, and I’ll get you out of this.

  “Everyone drink potions against fire!” Berad barked. Tailyn frowned as his main weapon was neutralized just like that. Anyone who could spit on fire would be able to find where he’d landed and track him to where he was in a matter of minutes, and while the boy didn’t know how many enemies he was up against, the fact that the crystal fence had so quickly grasped the situation spoke volumes. He was a serious opponent. Perhaps, more so even than Sloan. That definitely put him above Tailyn’s pay grade, and that meant it was time to beat a retreat. The only problem there was that they had horses, while Tailyn was on foot… It wasn’t going to take them long to catch him.

  Tailyn peeked his head up cautiously and looked over at the green lixes. Only Ka-Do-Gir was being held with something that looked like chains, the rest just tied up with simple ropes. The lix understood exactly what was on the boy’s mind.

  Ka-Do-Gir is inviting you to join The black lix in charge has the key. He’s in the big tent.

  Tailyn turned around. Berad was standing at the base of the tree looking up, and his fighters were climbing higher, completely ignoring the flames. The red lixes, in turn, were running and jumping all around like a pack of dogs. Meanwhile, nobody was paying the least bit of attention to what was going on in the camp, so Tailyn decided to go all in. Ka-Do-Gir was going to be useful, that was for sure. But not for getting the boy out. Tailyn had learned how to ride, so he was going to be fine, but he needed the lix for Valia. Assuming she was still unconscious, she probably wouldn’t be able to stay on the back of a horse.

  As was often the case, as soon as Tailyn made the decision, the jitters disappeared. He knew exactly what to do. Crawling forward a bit, he found himself among the prisoners, all of whom ignored him completely. The humans and lixes had all been turned into lifeless dolls with no longer seeing eyes. There was no getting them back. Like Valanil had told him, they were bodies bereft of souls.

  As Tailyn crawled past their legs, he saw the tent the lix had mentioned. There was a cage nearby holding the mages, all of whom were bound hand and foot, and the boy’s heart beat faster when he saw Valia. The girl’s face was one big bruise, and the angle her arms were tied at made it look like they’d been broken in several places. And that was “I’m okay”? The boy had seen corpses buried looking better than her. His vision blurred as his attention focused completely on the tent. Apparently, the black lix assumed nobody would dare attack Halas’ representative, as he hadn’t even stepped out to see what was going on. That was a mistake.

  Tailyn leaped to his feet and dashed toward the tent. Two reds were standing guard outside, but they had nothing on the boy.

  Ka-Li.

  Two electric strikes, and their twitching bodies hit the ground. Tailyn had to hurry — that left him just thirty seconds to deal with the black lix. Still, like Valanil always said, that was an eternity. Throwing back the flap, the boy jumped inside and saw the creature’s back. It was hit with an electric strike a moment later. Tailyn wasn’t about to play fair.

  “Li-Do-Gun, I’m waiting for your answer. Don’t make me angry,” came a voice speaking in the lix tongue. For some reason, it sounded funny to Tailyn, and the rage that had been consuming him dissipated. The buzzing in his ears died away; colors returned to the world around him. Listening closely, Tailyn realized it was a child speaking, or at least a lix that wasn’t quite mature. He turned around, burning valuable seconds, until he saw where the sound was coming from — it was a device that looked something like a miniature portal. His perception told him what it was.

  Intercom-II.

  That was how the black lix had been getting orders from his commander — through the device. It was a good trick. Tailyn definitely wanted to get his hands on it. But remembering where he was, he switched active cards and began sending fireballs at the convulsing lix. One, two, five… It took twelve shots doing 1,012 damage each to take the creature out, its armor having turned out to be more than impressive. Heading back to the entrance, Tailyn grabbed the two red lixes, both of which were still out of the action, and dragged them inside. He wasn’t about to kill them. For whatever reason, something told him that would have been a bad idea, at least right then. He would only have been broadcasting his location.

  “What’s going on over there?!” called the demanding voice in the intercom, and the boy decided to just go for it. He already knew who was talking. Turning off his hermetic seal, he responded.

  “Hi, Halas. How’s it going?”

  “Tailyn Vlashich…” Somehow, Halas immediately figured out who he was talking to. Although, perhaps he could see. Tailyn didn’t know how the intercom worked.

  “Good guess — you get a pie!” the boy replied using a phrase Motar loved to say during their practice sessions. Bending over his defeated
enemy, Tailyn placed a hand on him. He needed the key.

  “Halas, I’ve always wanted to ask you something. Why is it that lixes all have three-part names, and yours only has one part? Did you pay someone off?”

  Once again, silence fell, only that time it came in handy for Tailyn. Nobody was distracting him from what was most important.

  Active Marauder attribute detected. Analyzing body…

  Loot received:

  533 gold.

  2771 coins.

  Location maps (42).

  Crystal (16).

  Advisor’s Armor (1).

  Advisor’s Helmet (1).

  Booster-IV amulet (1).

  Strength-IV ring (3).

  Agility-IV ring (3).

  Steel Claws-IV (1).

  Key for Shackles (1).

  It was an impressive list. Halas’ advisor had been well-equipped, and it was just a shame he’d focused on strength and agility.

  “Because I’m the chosen one! And I’m going to squash you like a bug. My destiny will be fulfilled!” came the answer from the intercom, but Tailyn wasn’t paying any more attention. Having fired another round of charges into the lixes to buy himself thirty more seconds, he dashed out of the tent. He’d had enough chit-chat.

  Three bound mages were lying in the cage. But no sooner had Tailyn stuck the key into the lock, than the shackles holding one of them shattered.

  “Tailyn, give me your knife!” Valanil said, holding her hand out. She treated the boy’s appearance as so commonplace that it even hurt a little, though he still materialized his knife and handed it to her. She immediately got to work on Keran, leaving Valia for later. In the meantime, as the boy pulled the key back out, he heard the herbalist whispering over at him.

  “Where you going?”

  “To get help,” Tailyn replied, doubling over and scurrying off toward the lixes. Finally, Berad figured out what was going on.

  “It’s Tailyn, his tracks, and they lead toward the camp. Everyone get back there!”

  There was no more reason to hide. A moment later, Tailyn was tossing the key to Ka-Do-Gir and yelling at him.

  “Go get Valia!”

  “Got it, young mage.” The lix caught the key and popped his chains open in one quick move. Freedom. Finally. Halas had lost his mind when Tailyn flooded the city and escaped, taking his rage out on the greens. Ka-Do-Gir’s name was ruined, his tribe was doomed to oblivion, and there was no way back. Only forward.

  But Tailyn wasn’t giving any more thought to Ka-Do-Gir. He had just a few seconds before Berad and his crew showed up to straighten things out, so he got to the horses, untied them, leaped onto one, grabbed two more, and galloped toward the cage holding the mages. Berad caught sight of him just then.

  “Tailyn Vlashich!” The crystal fence’s thunderous roar could probably have been heard back in Culmart. A bolt from a crossbow slammed into the boy’s side, just about knocking him out of the saddle. And while it didn’t pierce his shield, it did some serious internal damage, his regeneration popping up to tell him it needed fifteen minutes. But Tailyn wasn’t about to stop there, and he disappeared behind the tents.

  “Hurry, let’s go!” he yelled, and Valanil was the first to react. The woman vaulted into the saddle and reached out so Keran could hand her the girl, but that was when the other member of the getaway team showed up.

  “The lix is going to take Valia!” Tailyn shouted as he saw the woman breathing in to take out the green creature. “Keran, hurry!”

  The healer didn’t loiter around, and a second later eight creatures left the protective barrier. Three horses, three riders, a lix, and the lix’s load.

  “I’m going to find you, kid! Hear me?! I’m going to tear out your heart and stuff it down your throat!” Berad screamed after them, but there was nothing he could do. The prisoners had gotten away.

  Chapter 9

  KA-LI…

  A fireball soared up into the sky to light up the area. The horses started and took off running even faster, none of them enjoying the dark.

  “What are you doing?!” an enraged Keran yelled. “They’ll see us!”

  “It’s a great call,” Valanil replied instead of the boy. “He’ll attract all the night creatures, and they’ll get in the way of anyone who tries to follow us. Tailyn, again!”

  She didn’t need to tell him twice, and the next fireball shot upward. It was followed by a third and a fourth. That did it — something howled off to the side, and its howl was taken up by a dozen other voices. The beasts had noticed the signals and were sprinting over from all directions. Because while the burning tree represented danger they needed to stay away from, the fireballs meant food. Keran said nothing, just making a sharp turn and barking an order after ten minutes spent galloping wildly.

  “Follow me!”

  “The Forest of Desire is straight ahead!” Tailyn yelled back, pulling up his map just to make sure. The loot he’d gotten from Halas’ advisor had been invaluable. With almost all the Gray Lands spread out in front of him, there were only a few small white spots, though Keran had just turned toward one of them.

  “We’re going to head to the forest via Tartila Mine,” the healer shot back. “Keep up!”

  Tailyn stared down at his map once again — that name was nowhere to be found. Could the white spot they were heading toward be Tartila Mine? If so, it was almost as big as the forest. But why was Keran picking that route? The straight shot really was shorter, and there were only two roads through the mountains marked on his map. They were probably guarded, too.

  “Tailyn, let’s go!” Valanil noticed that the boy was starting to fall behind.

  “That’s a bad place!” Ka-Do-Gir barked when he realized the direction the group was suddenly heading in. He was running next to Tailyn, pushing himself to the limit. There was no way the lix was going to show weakness. “I’ve heard all kinds of nasty rumors.”

  “Nobody asked you! Shut up and keep running,” Valanil shot back, wishing she could hit the lix with a lightning bolt. Everything inside her tensed up every time she caught a glimpse of the back-stabber. After breaking out of captivity, she wanted blood, and the green lix would have served that purpose perfectly if it hadn’t been for the fact that he was carrying Valia. And while Valanil personally had no need for the girl, the latter’s death would have put her plans for Tailyn in jeopardy. Ultimately, all she could do was watch silently as Ka-Do-Gir ran. Everything she was going to do to him at the very first opportunity ran through her mind on a loop.

  “Hold up, dismount!” Keran had taken control of the group and led by example. Leaping off his horse, he dug around in the saddlebags and gave the animal a clap on the flank when he couldn’t find anything. Whinnying its disapproval, the creature galloped off into the night.

  “Am I going to have to repeat everything?” Keran asked when nobody followed his lead. “Got down right now! Does the lix understand our tongue?”

  “No.” Valanil decided to show her loyalty to the academy agent and dismounted. After also finding nothing in her horse’s saddlebags, she set it loose. “Tailyn, let’s go.”

  The boy had no idea what Keran was going for by dismounting in the very heart of the steppe. But he couldn’t ignore Valanil. At least, he could have, but he didn’t want to. Letting his horse go, he joined the group.

  “Follow me,” Keran called over his shoulder as he took off running along the course he’d set. “Watch your feet — there are lots of rocks. We have to run a couple kilometers.”

  Again, the boy pulled up his map, and that time they were heading toward the foothills of the mountain range, the same one he’d been moving parallel to as he’d worked with his dragon. He couldn’t help but think back to his less-than-pleasant trip into the ancient monster’s stomach, though that was when his scanner picked up movement to his right. Working on nothing but reflexes, he wheeled and cut loose a bolt of lightning before he even realized who he was shooting at.

  “Lervans!”
Ka-Do-Gir yelled as he jumped to the side and snapped his teeth together.

  “Tailyn, wave of fire,” Valanil yelled, though he already knew what to do. The electricity he’d tried had turned out to be ineffective. The lervans, or steppe vampires, were unpleasant creatures the size of big cats that looked more like cockroaches. Generally speaking, they roamed under storm cover, leaping into trees during the rain in hopes of a sudden lightning strike. Electricity was the nutrient they craved. Of course, they enjoyed meat, too. There was a whole chapter about them in Valia’s book, in fact, and so Tailyn was basically a lervan expert. If he’d had something with freeze, the creatures would have been easy to take out, but fire was a good choice, too.

  “Don’t even think about it!” Keran roared, appearing suddenly next to the boy. “Don’t you dare use that card. They can’t know where we turned until morning. Keep running — just try to knock them away and deal with it!”

  That was easier said than done. The lervans came leaping at them from all sides, latching their jaws into the mages’ unprotected bodies. Only Tailyn was impervious to them thanks to his OGM-II — they couldn’t get through. But he wasn’t about to let everyone get eaten. As he saw the attacks starting to do serious damage given how none of the others had shields left after their captivity, he emptied his shield enhancement card, dumping five charges into everyone. The weakness debuff didn’t bother him in the least. They would figure out how to get through the twenty-four hours, and in the meantime the nasty little cockroaches just bounced harmlessly off the group. It would have taken the whole crew hours to gnaw through 6,750 armor. And nobody was going to give them that much time.