Dreamland

"Alright, now, if we come across those individuals, it's best for you to keep your distance, avoid talking, and generally refrain from getting involved. I believe the bird might have mixed up some details, and it's possible we're dealing with another team searching for you."

The Lynx walked for some time in silence before answering.

"Hm, alright, but are you absolutely certain you won't need my assistance against a team of four?"

"I didn't mean to imply that. Your presence shouldn't be immediately apparent, as I doubt they are after me. This area is relatively low-level; who would anticipate finding me here? No, unless it's Alice with Spartacius and a few others, it might be a group seeking you. I have no information about their level, and the silly little bird didn't provide any specifics."

A loud chirp of protest sounded nearby. I wondered, is that silly little bird actually eavesdropping on our conversation... and comprehending me?

My 'tattoo' further clarified things for me:

"She comprehends a few words, such as 'silly' and 'bird,' so perhaps it's best to avoid using those terms, especially if used in that sequence..."

Uh, oh, now I need to be cautious not to inadvertently offend the feelings of a playful, silly little bird. Oh my...

I tried my best to push those thoughts aside and focus on the task ahead. As we ventured deeper into the forest, I continued my conversation with the Lynx. His responses weren't confined to a simple set of predetermined questions and answers; instead, he exhibited a surprisingly intricate personality, if one could call it that.

Given what I'd experienced so far, I shouldn't have been as taken aback, but I couldn't help my surprise.

I understood the effort game developers put into creating intricate non-playable characters (NPCs) like Alice the mercenary or Ayra, the shop assistant; those interactions made sense. But for creatures destined to be defeated by players? Interacting with them wasn't supposed to be part of the game, right?

Yet, here it was, happening. This went way beyond the typical AI chatbots you'd find on the internet. A shiver ran down my spine. I was even starting to feel a budding connection with the Lynx. Could you genuinely form a friendship with an NPC? Was that even rational?

There had to be a complex network of artificial intelligence at play here, with meticulously designed templates for these NPCs. The level of detail was astonishing.

Even the damned "gamenapping" might be somewhat forgivable if they managed to resolve it before I had an embarrassing accident... if it hadn't happened already.

I let out a sigh. Dolores, don't let your emotions get the best of you.

These are just sophisticated algorithms delivering responses built on the players' actions and reactions.

If they've made me wet my bed, I'll definitely consider legal action.

The Lynx abruptly halted, breaking my train of thoughts, and spoke in a hushed tone:

"I can sense people approaching. They haven't detected us yet. Do you want me to leave you alone?"

I nodded.

"Yeah, go ahead, but not too far... You know, just in case that s... bird was onto something..."

"Sure thing, boss! Grrrr, growl!"

Did he seriously just say 'growl'? He's definitely teasing me!

With a sigh, I dismounted from his back, a tinge of reluctance in the action. It had been surprisingly pleasant up there, nestled in his soft fur, swaying gently to the rhythm of his strides.

He grinned, took a few steps, and melted into thin air as I watched him. A moment ago, he was there; the next moment, he was gone. If he doesn't move, I can't tell he's there, even though I know he must be there. Well, not bad for a cloaking spell! It seems to be even better than my chameleon skin spell, plus he can keep it going while moving.

I smiled back towards the empty space and continued walking alone.

As I passed a row of bushes, suddenly, I had to stop. Cala's instincts screamed at me. It is not a skill, it must be simply her experience, or I don't know what. Something spooked her. I mean me.

I didn't have time to decide what to do because in the next second, a huge paladin dressed in metal armor, looking like a tower of polished tin, burst out from behind a tree and came running towards me, moving surprisingly fast. Moments after that, a flurry of arrows came whizzing from the left, and a mage jumped out of the bushes on the right, conjuring fireballs.

*

Mertan was happy. Finally, exciting things happened in his town. The 'lady from the woods' had sent him to deliver a message in the morning. He used to buy stuff for her from the bazaar, and she used to pay with honey or fruits, but this time he got fruits plus 1 silver from that mercenary girl. A fascinating woman, that 'lady from the woods', now when he thought about her. Why did she not buy herself those things? OK, but if she bought those things herself, he would not get all the fruits and the honey as a reward for buying them. Was she a kind of a hermit? Or was she a witch? No, she was too beautiful to be a witch; he knew witches were old and ugly, weren't they?

As interesting as the lady in the woods was, as mysterious was the one to whom he delivered the message. She was undoubtedly special if judging only from her armor, but he knew Alice was her bodyguard, which made her very special. People said that Alice was the highest-level archer to have ever come out of Lilytown.

Mertan was an enterprising and curious young boy. He thought of himself as the future dark lord reigning over the town. Dark lord? Well, he could not become the next marquis, so that was the only option left. He could not conceive a subordinate role for himself. Of course, he will allow the future marquis to reign in his name. But he will be the real master behind the curtains.

Now a dark lord must have his secret service informing him of everything important in the town. He had his spies working for him, other kids that would tell him what they'd seen for some honey or fruits, but he was still a bit stressed with resources and needed to do a lot of work by himself, as was the case now with this new interesting visitor. There was still a long way until he would become that powerful dark lord.

So, what was she? Was she a lady? No. A lady would have more servants. Maybe a bandit lady? He felt closer to the truth, but still not really there. Perhaps a princess of a barbarian tribe traveling incognito? That may be. A runaway barbarian princess, as she had no servants except her bodyguard.

She was dressed in high-quality clothes and the most expensive leather armor, but he did not know much apart from that. He tried to follow her, spy on her, but he soon lost track. This only raised his curiosity up a notch. How and where did she disappear?

Then he saw the fight in the marketplace. It was by chance, as one of his hiding places was up in a corner on the roof of the square. From there, he saw the terrible fight between the bandit-lady princess and that terrible mage, Grackak, who had defeated several other foreigners in the city lately. He knows how powerful the guards are, but they are nothing compared to this woman and that mage. Not even the sergeant dared fight that mage. And she had sent that terrifying mage flying more than once with strong kicks and punches! He was stunned to see that that mage could fight after flying through a stone column and pulverizing it in the process? And Alice, the most famous archer in town, had been quickly eliminated from the start?

After the fight, he was so shocked and frightened, trembling there on his high perch, that he almost missed the most incredible magic display: a wonder. That sorceress princess had put back the pieces of her bodyguard together and revived her. No, what she created was not an undead but a living person!?

It was said that the archbishop could, in some special circumstances, revive a person who had just died. But not one put together from pieces? That would break the soul too. Was Alice now a soulless demon?

He thought of Manchua, the priest. Was what he said true? He said they lived under a spell, a spell that prevented them from seeing that demons lived among them. However, the gods had mercy on them, and the spell was broken. Now people could see demons for what they were if they really tried. Demons from another world.

Was what he had seen a fight between demons or very powerful humans? He shrugged. There were so many monsters in this world, like the witch in the mountains; why does Manchua need to tell stories about demons?

Only after a while did he realize that he was alone there with his thoughts and that he had lost the princess or whatever she was. He would call her a dark princess. Maybe he would marry her when he grew up.

He hurried and was happy to find them out of town. He had to hide as the red-haired bodyguard came back toward the gates.

Is the princess linked to the mysterious lady of the woods? She must be related somehow as he had delivered that message. What are they planning?

Oh, this was much more interesting than anything happening in town!

Mertan tried to follow the princess but lost her again. He huffed in annoyance. However, he knew the forest near the town, so he tried to follow her tracks but stopped when he heard voices. Strangers in the woods can be dangerous, so he stayed hidden, listening to the approaching voices.

“And you say she is low on health?”

"Yeah. Look, we were planning on doing this anyway; now we have a good chance to do it. She's on her own without that damned archer, and she doesn't have much life. What better chance would we ever have?"

It was a group of five strangers. They seemed to know their way around, following the princess's trail. A hunter, a mage, a paladin, a rogue, and a beautiful elf girl who was probably either a mage or a healer.

“Are you sure she went this way?” - the rogue asked.

The hunter nodded.

“Yes”

The elf girl turned to him:

"Do you still think you can win against her? I spoke to a soldier in town, and he claimed that she fought and won against Grackak. Against Grackak! Have you seen the devastation in the market? If she really did this, maybe we should reconsider.”

The rogue shook his head.

“Getting cold feet, huh, Terri? No way she won against Grackak; that damn assassin probably hid well, that's what they do, and Grackak got bored and left after bombarding the whole square looking for her. Not that I'd do it any other way. Not with that idiot. Just run away when you see him.”

The hunter added from his side:

“Look, we leveled. She did not. She is still at the same level as when we lost the last battle. Now she's only four levels above Togas, not six." - he said, pointing at the rogue - "Five levels above me. That's not much. We're a well-trained group of five, with a healer, then we didn't have" - he shook his head - "Given that, she already has no chance. In addition, we take her by surprise while she is low on health!”

The elf girl still objected:

“But ten levels above me.”

The rogue tsked:

“You should stay hidden and heal us. Do not worry; you will get at least one level with this kill. That stupid bitch isn't even wearing a full set of armor. Pride comes before the fall.”

And the mage added:

“I almost felt sorry for her, but then I remembered how she killed us: it's nothing personal, you see: I have a quest to eliminate this fort. You can leave, or you can die. It's nothing personal! Phew!”

The elf girl wondered, surprised:

“She warmed you? Why did you not leave?”

“What? That was our fort! With it, we kept ownership of the nearby silver mine that brought 100 gold a day for each of us!”

“Damn, that was nice money we had there!”

The paladin tsked:

“Look, she is a kind of a robber baron. She must be eliminated!”

Mertan grinned, satisfied with himself: baron? she is a princess! He had been right!

The hunter raised a hand:

“Wait! Somebody is coming!”

“It must be her. Terri, are your heal links fixed?”

“Yes!”

“Perfect, now hide behind those bushes over there and don't show yourself, or you're dead. Heal any little scratch all you can; we rely on you but don't show yourself. The rest disperse. You!” - the rogue turned towards the mage - “go to the left there, hide behind those trees. Dotter, you stay behind. Yes, those bushes there. Merwan!” - he turned now towards the hunter - “hide to the right there. Exactly. We do as exercised. I'll turn myself invisible. You start your fire as soon as she passes my position and Dotter attacks from the front. Maximum damage from the very begging, I'll plant my toxic daggers in her back, and we are soon done. It should not take longer than 20 seconds. Now hurry; she is coming straight at us.”

Mertan was following the happening. He was feeling some kind of kindred with the hunter, almost the same name!

He sighed. Will they succeed? How could that rogue possibly know she was coming? That must be some kind of magic. He climbed a tree behind the group to have a better view. Will the five succeed where the damn mage failed and kill the princess?

He watched, mesmerized, as the rogue approached a tree and disappeared from view as if melting into its bark. He was fascinated by the group and their highly coordinated and effective movements, yet he was rooting for the princess in his heart. She was alone and was going to fall into a trap. Will she survive this fight? He thought about warning her for a moment, but he was too far behind, and the group would want to take revenge on him if he did that.

When the princess came, his heart started to beat faster. If she was going to lose now, he would not be able to marry her later!

She approached at an easy jog, and he noticed with surprise that she seemed fully recovered. All the abrasions, scratches, and burns were gone. Even her equipment seemed recovered, but now his keen eye noticed that she had replaced some items. The boots were no longer the very fine leather boots but an army-style pair. Yes, now she was dressed rather like a warrior and less like a princess, with a pair of long, strange, straight, sharp knives in her hands.

Yet she was running straight into the trap! He saw the hunter bending his huge bow. Then suddenly, she stopped. Did she hear something? She stopped just a few steps before passing the rogue and looked alert through the woods.