Escape from Darom, page 1
ESCAPE FROM DAROM
BOOK TEN
OF
THE WORLD
Copyright 2022 Jason Cheek
Published by Jason Cheek on Amazon
Cover Art by Cheyeanne Harrington
ISBN-13:
License Notes
This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your enjoyment only, then please return to Amazon.com or your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Table of Contents
Preface
Map of the World
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Appendices and the Post Credit Scene
Character Sheet
Startum Ironwolf’s Gear
Character List
About the Author
Connect with Jason Cheek
Post Credit Scene
Preface
A Note from the Author:
Thank you for the support. I hope you enjoy the story and apologize in advance for any grammar and proofreading mistakes that are sure to be a part of this work. Being an ‘Indie Author’ typically means that you do not have the extra money to pay for a professional editor or proofreader and end up doing all of the work yourself and with helpful friends. While I do the best that I can to find mistakes, I know well my lack of ability in the proofreading, spell-checking, and editing arena. At the same time, I have done my best with the tools available to clean up the story for publishing. If you do find something as you’re enjoying this story, please let me know at jasonacheek@gmail.com so that I can make the necessary corrections needed to make this book as enjoyable to read as possible. I will gladly give you a shout out for your contribution here in the book’s Author’s Notes.
I would like to give a shout out to a number of fans and friends that have put a huge amount of effort into getting this story into as good of shape as it is in. Eric (Töten Fiend who offered his expertise for editing and proofing) along with friends and fans like Sabrina, Travis, Steven, Jonathan, and Tricia that have helped greatly with beta reading and giving feedback. Additionally, I want to thank those fans who support me on Patreon: Tenebris, Kirk, Michael, Travis, CUI13, S, Tucker, David, Bryan, Justin, Dylan, Braidborn, Keith, Patricia, Jonathan, Nash, Jodi, Luke, Mike, Rob, Kore, and Bilal. All of you’ve helped to make this series possible and your support is greatly appreciated.
If you like the story, please leave a good review on Amazon and Goodreads for the books. Not just mine, but any Indie Author you like, especially if you want to see new stories coming out that are not the cookie-cutter-copies that seem to be so rampant in the genre. The only way you will encourage this to happen is by leaving reviews for the authors you like. It lets everyone know that they’re telling a good story, besides being the only way to protect the authors you love from the established authors in the genre that do their best to block new stories from coming out. Your support in this truly makes a difference.
Lastly, I discuss this because I have personally experienced this type of harassment and trolling since releasing The World series. Every book, whether audible or eBook has been repeatedly attacked. Not just book one, but every proceeding book in the series. Even now, they continuously check my blog to know when my newest book is going to be released to leave bad reviews. It’s like battling an in real-life Syndicate guild. Your continued support has been all that has stopped their bullying from being able to cancel my stories.
Map of the World
Chapter One
(Saturday, May 10th / Day 20 of The World.)
(Zeven Al'Zaric in the Dwarven capital of Aeroch Nor)
Running Pod Diagnostic – Complete
Synchronizing controller units - Complete
Neuro Synchronization - Complete
Initializing virtual environment …
“This is complete fucking bullshit,” Zeven groaned, feeling a wave of exhaustion wash over him anew as soon as his body finished materializing into The World, “whoever heard of a twenty-four hour “Physically Strained” debuff effect?”
Opening his eyes in the dimly lit room, Zeven’s eyes were momentarily drawn to the glowing red coals of the brazier burning away in the far corner of the room, before his low-light vision kicked in. It was an addition that had somewhat surprised him, until he realized that the rooms and halls were on the cold side. Throwing the sheet and blanket back, he rolled to a sitting position on the edge of the downy mattress. His shins immediately bumped against the massive bulk of Bright Claw lying in the middle of the room’s floor as a “Well Rested” system message briefly flashed before his eyes.
“Bbbrrraa brraak bbrra,” Bright Claw groaned at Zeven’s clawed feet.
“Yeah, it does suck even with this “Well Rested” buff,” Zeven agreed, calling up his HUD and popping open the Additional Status Effects sub-window. It showed the “Physically Strained” status effect still had another ten hours left to go. He swore that if not for the negative debuffs effect to his Attributes being halved by the “Well Rested” buff, he would still be as messed up as he’d been when they’d first arrived at Aeroch Nor.
“Bbaa brraaa brruh?” Bright Claw miserably asked, lifting his barrel-shaped head to pleadingly look into Zeven’s eyes.
“That’s a good question,” Zeven harrumphed unhappily, reaching through his Companion link to try to get a feel for Nahi. It was still far away towards the northeast but at least she seemed to have stopped moving. Not that he could do much about it right now. That dammed old Dwarf was going to cost him an entire day at this rate, “but I don’t see us heading out in our current condition. And besides,” he leaned forward to give the Grizhawk a few loving thumps on the back, “we need to go shopping for travel supplies and get some upgraded gear.”
“Brrra?” Bight Claw asked, cocking his head to the side.
“Maybe, you big teddy bear,” Zeven said with a laugh, “we’ll just have to see what they have available for Grizhawks.” His face took on a more somber look. “Besides, I still have to see if this Avna Hammertoe can really repair my Spirit Lochaber of Chieftain Diongmhalta or not, because if she can’t, we’re going to have a few words.”
“Bbbrrr bra bbbrrruuu?” Bright Claw chided, giving Zeven a meaningful look.
“Look, buddy, I’m not saying that saving the kids was a bad thing for us to do,” Zeven uncomfortably said, doing his best to explain the complexity of the situation to his furry companion, “But, due to my Spirit Lochaber being broken, all of my Nightmare Spirit Shaman abilities are stuck at the level they are now with many of my special abilities grayed out.” Zeven had learned this ugly fact before logging out. “If I can’t get this symbol of power for my Clan repaired, I’m totally fucked.” He shook his head in disgust. “Hell, I don’t even know if Nahi will still even recognize me as her Companion without it?”
“Bbbrrraaa,” Bight Claw said, before morosely plopping his head down on his oversized paws.
“We’ll figure it out one way or another,” Zeven agreed, before standing up and looking around the cozy room. “Though I have to say, this was definitively better than sleeping on the cold ground next to a dying fire.”
“Bbbrra bra bra,” Bright Claw diffidently chuffed, closing his eyes.
“Trust me, it has its plusses,” Zeven laughingly said, running a clawed hand over the inscribed rune on the nightstand next to the bed.
Immediately, a yellowish light lit up the entire room, coming from two magic rough-cut crystals. The warm glow was akin to having two bright lamps turning on in a modern-day house. One was on the nightstand next to him while the other one was set atop the writing desk on the opposite side of the room.
It was a neat trick for a medieval fantasy world and easily took his eyes out of their low-light mode. It also made a sort of practical sense for an underground city design since, Zeven imagined, the smoke from candles and lanterns would quickly make it difficult to breathe in the closed confines of the underground city.
Padding over to the washbasin set against the wall by the door, Zeven was surprised to find the water in the pitcher was still steaming hot as he poured it into the basin. Confused as to whether this was because of some sort of magic-tech or not, he glanced around the room for a moment, before noticing the freshly clean but worn kilt laid out over the equipment stand.
Damn, you gotta love full room service, Zeven thought to himself as he scooped up a double handful of water and began scrubbing the night’s grime away. He had to admit, there were definitely some plusses for helping that old Dwarf too.
Take this room for example. The walls had been carved from the surrounding granite of the mountain and had been purposely aged or colored to create a decorative patchwork of stones you might find in a country cottage. It gave the room a surprisingly homey feel.
Another nice touch of realism was the stylized hand-crafted
The entire set had obviously been commissioned. Or, at least, that’s how Zeven had heard it was done in the middle-ages from the numerous specials that he’d watched on the History Channel. Though, with how realistic The World was, it made him wonder if the furniture had all been digitally designed by a developer or if it had been built from hand by Dwarven crafters, a curious question to say the least.
Even the fabrics of the room were of the same high quality. The blanket and sheets were heavy threaded cotton that had a weight to them that made Zeven think they were handwoven. That, or they’d been crafted on an ancient loom. Even the pillow and mattress were filled with some sort of down.
There was even a plush overlarge chaise lounge next to the brazier in the corner of the room. It was like something you might find in a library. Well, at least, Zeven’s personal “dream” library that he’d always wanted to have. As far as he was concerned, it was quite impressive. Definitely an improvement over the bare wooden room and simple pallet that he’d slept on at the Chomping Maw Inn back in Lonsalindel.
“You know, Bright Claw,” Zeven said as he began drying his fur off, “we’re going to soon need to have a serious talk about giving you a bath.”
“Bbbrrraaa,” the Grizhawk indifferently said, lifting his head to look at Zeven.
“Well, you’re starting to get a little ripe,” Zeven said, tossing the hand towel next to the basin as he walked over to the equipment stand, “but there’s no way a small washbasin like this is going to work for your bulk. Maybe, we’ll find something that’ll work when we’re shopping around this morning.”
Bright Claw didn’t bother to respond to Zeven’s musings as he critically held up the old kilt that he’d borrowed from Borear’s storage chest. It hadn’t been in the best shape before the battle in front of Aeroch Nor. Now, it was even a more holey mess.
Hopefully, Avna Hammertoe wouldn’t notice the difference, Zeven silently thought, mentally crossing his fingers as he began wrapping the kilt around his waist. These Dwarven kilts were smaller than those of his own Clan and didn’t seem to be able to handle the same level of abuse. Hoping that he could buy a replacement to match his Clan’s Tartan, he pulled the excess cloth up over his shoulder and pinned it in place. It was definitely a bit on the tight side.
“Fuck,” Zeven cursed under his breath, “this is going to suck.”
Unlike the smaller Kilts and Arisaids that he’d seen the Dwarves in the city wearing, his Great Kilt was much larger. Sixteen-yards in length to be exact in comparison to the nine-yards of length with the Dwarven Kilts. That was because his Great Kilt was meant to be worn outdoors as a cloak slash blanket and was the reason why many of the Badger Kin that he’d met referred to it as a Plaidge, or blanket.
So, if replacing these things were anything like it was in the middle-ages, Zeven figured he was going to have to lay down a pretty penny. Not that he should’ve been all that surprised. Equipment always lost durability during fights in MMOs, and in truth, he well knew that it was pure luck that he’d manage to survive the encounter at all, let alone win it.
Still, it was going to be quite weird walking around the Dwarven capital in basically what amounted to being topless since the rest of his clothing had been completely ruined. Not that a furry Badger Kin was ever unclothed with their pelt. Zeven snorted in derision at the thought. Sadly, he doubted that would help much for making a good first impression with the Dwarven vendors of Aeroch Nor. Though, it sounded doubtful that they’d be expecting anything more from a Beast Kin like him.
Wearing Great Kilts was somewhat humorous, Zeven thought, thinking back to his first days in the game. Just getting dressed in the damn thing had taken him some time to learn, and crazy as it might sound, there was even a skill for it on his Character Sheet. Though, once he got the hang of it, he had grown to respect the garment’s utility.
The rest of Zeven’s preparations were pretty quick since his peasant shirt and leather vest had been completely ruined. Strapping his kilt belt around his waist and across the shoulder opposed to the kilt, he hung his Hand Axes of True Aim and Dirk of Torrac Tor’Narc on his waist, before hooking the leather sporran’s chain in front of his kilt. Lastly, he strapped on the wide Girdle of Stone Giant’s Fortitude and swung the Brutal Bearded Axe of Slaying across his shoulder. Doing a quick check to make sure his quick potions were seated firmly in their pockets, he gathered up the broken pieces of his Spirit Lochaber and slung his Rucksack of Holding over his shoulders.
“Let’s get going lazy butt,” Zeven called to the Grizhawk cub as he headed for the door.
There was the sound of scrabbling claws against stone as Bright Claw hurriedly climbed to his paws. Not daring to look back to see if the Grizhawk had shredded the ornate carpet that he’d been laying on in the center of the room, Zeven opened the door and stepped out into the hall, waiting for Bright Claw to lumber out after him. Closing the door, Zeven headed towards the lone stairwell and began making his way down towards the bottom.
Oddly enough, there weren’t any other rooms on this branch of the tunnel. Zeven wasn’t sure why but he vaguely remembered Avna Hammertoe, the new Chieftain of the Clan, saying something about this room being specially reserved for Honorary Members. Zeven wasn’t sure if that meant the room was only for him or all Honorary Members but he figured it was best not to assume. Hence, part of the reason that he’d taken everything with him when he’d left.
Walking down the wide stone stairwell, Zeven took note of the portraits that lined the wall. He, strangely enough, hadn’t noticed them the evening before when they were staggering up to their room. Interestingly enough, most of the Humanoids depicted here were not Dwarves, but nonetheless, they wore the Clan’s Tartan plaid. Were all of these portraits of Honorary Members from the past? It was an interesting question that he’d have to privately run by the kids if the chance came up.
“So, where do we go now,” Zeven muttered to Bright Claw as they came to the bottom of the stairwell.
They entered a large foyer decorated with a large living tree that spread out across the ceiling across from a fountain of burbling water. A number of nooks and shelves had been built into the walls holding various pieces of high-quality artwork. To either side of the thick defensive door leading out to the main clan area, there were weapon and armor racks available if needed, while to the right and left, the doors were opened to reinforced hexagonal hallways that led further into the abode. Zeven was looking around for a bell or something to ring to announce their presence, when the sounds of voices in discussion and the clank of dishes came to his ears coming from the right.
“Bbbrrraaa,” Bright Claw asked as his large black nose began eagerly sniffing in the same direction.
“Hopefully,” Zeven said, striding off in that direction, “because I’m starved.”
As they began making their way down the odd-shaped corridor, the voices became clearer.
“Beast Kins sure sleep late,” a familiar girl’s voice complained.
“Are you sure he’s coming,” another familiar girl’s voice asked.
“Because Tusky is starving,” the voice of a boy he recognized added.
Stepping through the doorway at the end of the hall, Zeven found himself standing on the steps above a large dining room with a doorway leading to an attached kitchen. Below him sitting at a stone table large enough to host twelve people were the three familiar faces of Mutoline, Doufalynn, and Lokuth along with an ancient-looking male Dwarf he didn’t know. As Bright Claw pushed his way up behind Zeven, the kids looked up to see the two of them standing at the entrance.
“Zeven,” Mutoline excitedly called out as she jumped from her seat.
“Bright Claw” the other two children shrieked. They each hurriedly sat down the piglets in their laps, before leaping out of their seats to follow their friend.
In the blink of an eye, the children were surrounding them and hugging their individual heroes excitedly as the room rang with the sounds of piglet squeals. After getting his bare thigh squeezed, Zeven shifted the broken halves of the Lochaber to one hand and hauled the Dwarven girl up into his arms as he began walking down the stairs. While behind him, Doufalynn and Lokuth happily hung from a chuffing Bright Claw’s neck as the Grizhawk followed his master down the short flight of stairs to the dining area. As they stepped up to the stone table, the old Dwarf introduced himself with a respectful bow.
