Chapter 3: On the run

  ‘Was she asking me out on a date?’ Cam smirked. He put the ring on his right ring finger. ‘Challenge excepted!’ He had no way of knowing, but he could feel her smile from beyond the void. “My name is Cam, by the way.” He heard her giggle in the distance. The silence that followed was cut short by the man by the door falling to the ground, snoring harder than Cam’s aunt Maggie did on the camping trip. He and his cousin called it, “the night the predators fled.” ‘Wolves, and bears alike would be telling the horror story of that night to their kids for generations.’

  Cam pulled the sleeper away from the door. Before opening the door to leave he grabbed the research notes off the table. They blinked into his storage ring. He couldn’t explain it, but he knew they were in there. He grabbed the rest of the books and put them in as well, then he picked the sleepers pockets. Eight silver and ten copper, and a badge… He put that back. And went upstairs

  There was one other officer in the prison, he was asleep at a desk. His head was firmly planted on what looked like a sandwich. “Clovis, I presume.” Cam walked over to Clovis and picked him clean. Only Seven copper. Cam stepped outside and got a good look at the area he was in. It was a warm night. The place reminded Cam of a country western town. A bar was next door, and a bank across the street.

  “A two block radius ah?” Cam walked over to the bank casually, he tried to put his hands in his pockets and was reminded that he wasn’t really wearing clothes. Just a strange robe. He sighed and walked over to the next few houses instead. An hour and a half later he was walking south with new digs and a ring full of gear and coin. He tried to take a horse, but they were all sleep too.

  As he walked, Cam looked into the night sky. “No, it’s not the same. It’s a completely different night sky than earth, or that moon. I wonder how far away home is from here.” Cam pushed the idea out of his mind. ‘I don’t want to think about that on the road. That’s more of a beer in the hand kind of thought.’ Thankfully, they had signs posted around the town so he knew he was headed south. To a place called Emerald Cove, “I wonder if they have a horse of a whole other color there.” He mused as he continued his trek.

  As he walked Cam would notice plants along the road, from time to time he would pick a flower or a weed and put them in his inventory ring. They just seemed to stand out to him as he walked. Soon the sun began peeking out of the horizon to his right. Which gave him pause. “Oh shit, am I walking the wrong way? Oh shit!” Cam looked down at the road and sighed. “I stayed straight on the path this whole way. That can’t be it!” Hand on his hips he looked all around. He noticed a small cabbage looking plant glittering to the side of the road. He bent down to pick it up. He stared at the glittery edges a second longer. ‘That’s new,’ he thought.

  BA BA! He heard a drum beat all about. And words appeared in front of his face, they seem to scroll up a screen he couldn’t see until they faded from view. “HARVESTING LEVEL 10” it said.

  “The Fuck?” Cam said. “Is this a video game? Did I seriously just level up?!” He looked around and sighed. “Fan-fucking-tastic!” He threw his arms up in the air. “I have a date with a goddess on the schedule, at an unspecified date and time. I am pretty sure I have planet hopped at least twice. I am currently on a planet that rotates backwards. I am pretty sure crazy cultists are looking for me. AND I AM IN A FUCKING VIDEO GAME! Did I miss anything?” Cam stopped to breath. The fight in him seemed to leave with air. The Only strength he had left was holding on to the glittering cabbage he was still holding on to.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  He looked down the road both ways to get his bearings. Because he was used to driving in America he always walked on the same side of the road he would have drove on. So he turned until the edge of the road was on his right side, and kept walking. Until he heard someone behind him speak.

  “Um, are you going to eat that?” Cam heard. He turned around slowly, his tired eyes drooped mightily low from walking all night. The defeat of his life written all over his face. He was so over it, that he didn’t even flinch at the presence of a person on the only road in ten miles standing directly behind him. He lazily looked up at the mans face.

  The guy looked on the paranoid side, he eye kept darting about like he was in hiding. He kept his hands just under his chin. His fingers kept moving out like he was really trying to fight from taking the cabbage from Cams hand. His finger nails were unreasonably long for a man and surprisingly well cleaned and filed, they gave off a light glossy shine. The guy seemed to be covered in fur, Cam didn’t see a zipper and at this point he didn’t care either way. Cam sighed in defeat, “No, you can have it.” Cam put his hand out.

  The guy grabbed it and frantically started eating, as if his life depended on it. Cam didn’t want to just stand there, so he began talking to this strange man. “My name is Cam, what’s yours?”

  The man, with practiced timing spoke between bites, “I don’t remember my name, but the others call me Viral.”

  “Viral, huh? That’s a decent enough name. Where I am from it kind of means instantly popular. Do you have a lot of friends Viral?”

  Viral Shrugged while finishing off the last of the cabbage. “Not really.” he said before swallowing. “Mostly they pray that I leave them alone. Say, when you find another one of those would you mind if I eat that one too?”

  “Not at all.” Cam said, looking around. “There is bound to be another one around here somewhere.”

  Cam turned to face Viral, but he was gone. Cam was alone on the road to Emerald cove. He had been all night, he sighed, and kept walking.

  A few hours later and Cam finally made it to Emerald Cove. The guards at the city gates seemed to liven up as Cam approached. He noticed the two manning the walls first, they both swiveled mounted crossbows his way from the top of the wall. Once he got within ten feet of the gate he saw the other two. Their armor blended in with the walls of the castle. They were on the outside of the gate, one stepped forward. “State your business.” The guard yelled.

  “I am heading to the adventures guild, then maybe an inn. It’s been a long night.” Cam yelled back.

  “An adventurer, ah. I guess that makes sense why you are coming from the north. Anyone else coming from that direction would have an armored escort. Only an adventurer would have the balls big enough to make that trek on foot. You’ve been out there all night?” The guard said with a surprised look. He waved Cam forward.

  “Yeah, it’s been pretty quiet. I just saw one other person on the road around sunrise. He seemed to be camping near by with some friends. He seemed kinda jumpy, but who wouldn’t be, am I right.?”

  Cam shrugged.

  “That checks out, a party of six left out a few days ago. They should be due back in a few days. They probably had a very successful hunt by the sound of things. The guild is probably still closed for another hour, If I were you, I would head to the morning brew and get something to eat. I can smell the breakfast from here. It’s three streets in from this gate.” The guard motioned behind him.

  “My names, Cam, by the way. What’s yours?” Cam stuck his hand out to shake, but it was ignored.

  “Names, Ram. This is Maze.” Ram waved over to the other guard who banged on a metal panel.

  “If you need anything Cam, you know where to find us. Otherwise, stay on your best behavior and welcome to Emerald Cove.” Ram stepped back and to the side. The gate lifted up and cam walked in with a nod to Maze, who gratefully nodded back. ‘I am getting NPC vibes, but I will take them at their word, if shit hits the fan I will come get them.’