The rest of the way to Road’s Cross was a joy. Watching Dekka run ahead, then zip back. My heart was so full I forgot to hate things.
Calling Road’s Cross a village would be a stretch. It was four houses, a blacksmith and an Inn, that was also a house.
The clink and clang of metal being worked spilled out from the double doors of the forge. Dekka ran ahead into the building, and I heard a surprised voice and the cessation of work. She came shooting out back at me, her ears flattened. A man who looked as wide as he was tall, hot on her heels.
“Out, you little monster!” He yelled, waving his forge hammer at her.
I stood frozen in shock until he made a swing at her.
“Wait, wait, she’s not a monster! Don’t hurt her.” I cried, running—Ready to put myself bodily between that hammer and my dog. “She’s with me.”
The man stopped and looked at me. He looked down at Dekka. “What is that?” He pointed at her with this hammer.
I picked her up and held held her to my chest, my heart beating fast against her wiry fur. “She’s a dog.” Was he serious?
“What’s a dog?” He squinted at her suspiciously. When she didn’t rip out my throat, he stepped closer, leaning in to look at her head. “And why does it have only two eyes?”
He was serious. Did this land have no dogs? Not even ones with the ‘normal’ three pairs of eyes?
“She’s a type of dog called a terrier. They always have just two eyes. They are very common where I am from.” I tried to explain, and I pet her small head. She was watching the threatening man very closely. If he made a move for her, I was going to run for it.
“And what land is that?”
How should I answer that? I come from the real world. I could say anything and he wouldn’t know the difference. “It’s a very faraway land. You wouldn’t have heard of it.”
“It must be far away.” He agreed, shaking his head. “It looks harmless enough, but -achk- I just can’t get over the eyes.” He looked away from her with a shudder and then up at me. He blinked as if seeing me for the first time. “Can I help you with something, traveller?”
Since we had established she was no threat, I cautiously put Dekka down, summoned the letter and handed it to him.
CONGRATULATIONS YOU HAVE COMPLETED A QUEST! You have played postperson! +12XP
You have received 4 Silver.
That was it?
Mail delivery wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be.
He took it, opened it and read it. I stood there shifting my weight back and forth, keeping track of Dekka out of the corner of my eye. Most games made it obvious what the next step was with new quests where you turned in the last one. We stood there awkwardly for a moment before he turned and went back into his forge. Now what?
Still at a loss, I followed him in, maybe I could buy gear?
That forge was hot! The air inside is hard to breathe. I stayed close to the door and watched him work for a moment. “Do you sell weapons or things?“
He looked me up and down pointedly, and I remembered how dishevelled I must look.
“Ye got the coin to purchase a weapon.”
I thought about it. Probably not. And a club wasn’t likely something a blacksmith made anyway.
I shook my head, and he got back to work. He pumped the bellows, and the item inside began to glow. I waited; this seemed like something I shouldn’t interrupt. He took it out, banged it a few times, and muttered under his breath.
“Is there anything you need doing?” I asked before he could stick it back in the fire. “Anything you need delivered?”
“Nah, I’m good.” His voice was terse and clipped. He tossed more fuel into the fire. Then he paused and looked over his shoulder. “Actually, you might be able to help Mrs Moore. I heard she was terribly upset about her daughter over in the next town.”
Now that sounded like a quest! “Where can I find this Mrs Moore?” I asked.
“She’s often at the Inn; she works there as a barmaid.” I thanked him, but I don’t think he noticed; he just seemed glad I was no longer pestering him.
I called Dekka to me as I stepped outside. I’d have to be careful to warn people that she wasn’t a monster before they freaked out.
This was a pleasant spot, this little community where the two main roads intersected. The homes looked well-maintained, and the gardens well-tended. I walked to the end of the short street. Only a few hundred feet to the last building. It was a wide building, its roof low with thatch and big windows out front, crisscrossed with metal in that diamond-shaped lattice one often saw in fantasy settings.
Tucking my dog under my arm, I walked in. One man was sitting on a barstool nursing a beer. I walked over to the bar, my feet crunching the rushes on the floor, and asked him if he knew where the barmaid was.
“Molly!” he yelled, making me jump. “There’s someone out here askin’ for ya.” He never looked at me, just kept staring straight ahead. Did they forget to program him a personality? I was tempted to wave my hand in front of his face, but at that moment, a plump, pleasant-looking woman came rushing through a door at the back.
“Oh, are you here to tell me of my Bess?” Her face was flushed, and her eyes looked red as if she had been weeping.
“I’m sorry ma’am. I just heard you might need something.”
Her round face creased, and she looked so forlorn. “I am so worried about my Bess, she is with child, and I have heard there is a great sickness in her town.”
I looked at her blankly. If this were a quest, I wasn’t sure how I could help. I was no healer or mage.
She sat there, stuck in a loop of wringing her hands over and over. How long would she continue if I just walked out? That seemed mean.
“What can I do to help?” I asked.
Her hands stopped, and she clasped them. “I hear the doctor there is elderly. He is a good doctor, but can’t always get out and find the ingredients he needs to make the medicines.”
A gathering quest. That could be fun with Dekka at my side. Hopefully without too many monsters till I figured out how we could level her up.
“In which direction is her town.”
“She’s in Rivermoore to the west. Oh, tell me that you will help her.” She pleaded.
“Sure I can see what I can do.”
YOU HAVE ACCEPTED A QUEST. Find Dr Finney in Rivermore and offer him your help.
“Before I go, can I get something to eat?” I was hoping for a free meal, I accepted the quest for her daughter, after all.
“We have stew and trencher with small beer for 4 coppers.” Now she was all business.
I sighed, and handed over the 4 coppers. “Can I get another bowl for the dog here? I want to give her some of the stew.” That was when she noticed Dekka. I had to do the explanation again. Molly looked slightly horrified, but when she brought out my large steaming bowl, she also set down a very crude wooden bowl.
It looked like someone’s first attempt to carve. It was lopsided, and the thickness was all over the place. Clearly not a bowl you would serve a customer with. But it wasn’t like Dekka was going to complain.
She finished her portion before I had started mine, spending the rest of her time snuffling around the room. Maybe looking for vermin. That was her favourite pastime when she had been alive in the real world.
The land became hillier as we made our way west. I should have asked how long it would take. We should have stayed in the inn gotten a good sleep. By the time I thought this, it would have been irritating to turn around. I hate backtracking.
The sun set on one side of the horizon painting the clouds orange against purple shadows The moons rose on the other, pulling with them a blanket of stars.
Night birds called and the air was still but fresh.
I walked with confidence, pack on my back, club loosely held against my shoulder and my dog running at my feet. This wasn’t so bad.
Right on schedule, a rabbit shot out of the woods. While I wasn’t worried about taking it down anymore, I was worried about what if Dekka got hurt. But there was just no way I could coddle her all the way through this game.
I gripped the bat, knowing the rabbit would stop and size me up before leaping for my throat. They were very predictable in their initial attack.
Dekka, however, didn’t wait. She ran in, barking canine expletives at this new and terrible foe. I should not have been surprised, this was completely in character to how she lived. Once, she went through a fence to attack a doberman who was minding his own business on the other side.
Here was a gigantean rodent to fight, and Dekka was so here for this.
“Wait,” I yelled, knowing it was futile.
She jumped at the hell bunny. This surprised it. The rabbit leaped in the air and kicked out. It hit Dekka squarely on the side.
My heart leapt and my throat went tight. Dekka’s little tan and white body went flying through the air and she landed on the road with a yelp. I immediately went to run to her.
But then stopped.
My dog stood up and turned to the rabbit and grew.
Kinda.
Dekka’s outline expanded, shadow dark, taller, longer, wider. In the matter of a few heartbeats, my dog had gone from an adorable scruffy little terrier to a massive shadow beast. Her real form was barely visible inside. Like she was at the centre of a dark cloud.
The massive hellhound that my dog was wearing like a fantasy mech turned to the rabbit and lifted its lips in a silent snarl. Still only two eyes, I noted.
I stood there and just watched. Dekka launched at the rabbit crossing the distance between them in a single bound, her shadow paws hitting it in the chest, knocking it over. Her hellhound body clearly solid.
The rabbit squealed in fright and tried to kick her off, but the real Dekka inside was now covered in solid shadow armour. The huge canine head with glowing eyes reached down and ripped the throat out of the rabbit. It gurgled and thrashed. Dekka shook it a few times and then, when it was limp, she dropped it, losing interest.
1.5XP!
Dekka stood, her weight forward and stared into the forest as if hoping for more. When no more fun looked to be had she sneezed, turned, and trotted back towards me, the hellhound body fading until she was just her small adorable self once again. She bounced off my legs and went sniffing off in the grass.
What the actual fuck had just happened? Had my dog known she could do that?
Also fractional xp? Then I remembered 1% XP transfer. Oh that could be handy. I pulled up my HUD and scrolled through. Yes! There was a companion screen.
COMPANION: Dekka
SPECIES: Dog
TYPE: Combat
LEVEL: progression-error;LOCKed#
HEALTH: 97%
What did that error message mean? Could she not level? Add that to my ever-growing list of things to take up with a game dev when I find one.
Do you have a pet? (And please share in the comments! Especially if you pick 'other)
