No Longer a Game

Chapter 8 -- Competition, Addiction, and Another time.

Rain woke up before the other two females, got dressed, and woke up Christie and Natalie.

"Hurry, we have to be at the docks soon." She rushed them and tossed their clothes on the bed they shared.

"I need to brush my teeth." Natalie complained and smelled her underarms, "God I need a bath or a good deodorant."

Rain laughed, "No time. We are running late according to the boys."

"Oh fuck...my head hurts." Christie muttered as she got out of bed.

"Should not have drunk so much." Natalie chimed in as she pulled her mage robe over her body. "I know you and Rain were bored but you didn't have to drink all that wine. Rain behaved herself."

Christie laughed hard at that as she got out of bed, "Yes Rain was very well behaved."

Rain blushed as she packed up everyone's belongings as the other two got dressed.

"I have to pee?" Natalie said after she got dressed. Rain and Christie both laughed and pointed to the chamber pot in the corner.

"You can't be serious?" The elf girl asked.

"Yup only place." Christie grinned.

"Don't look." Natalie told them and used the chamber pot. "Well that was not fun. Is it like this everywhere we are going to stay in this world?" She rinsed her hands with some water and decided to just leave the pot as it was since they were leaving anyway.

"Actually from what I remember about Athkatla per Habersham it has aqueducts and the better inns and taverns have actual working sewers and there are even bath houses with hot water and spas."

Natalie smiled, "Cool...I could use a good spa day."

Christie and Rain laughed, "Yeah try getting enough money out of Ahira for that."

The females met the males downstairs and once again Jason bound Christie with the rope and asked Natalie to use her illusion spell on Rain.

"Ummm...well..." The elf girl shifted her feet nervously. "I...I let Lou use my spell book to copy spells and ummm...well...I forgot to memorize it last night." She admitted.

"Well that's just great." Christie said and Natalie glared at her.

Jason sighed, "We have to chance it. It's still dark out. Just cover yourself with the cloak, Rain. It's not that far of a walk."

Rain nodded and put the hood of her cloak over her head to hide her blue hair and face.

The streets were almost deserted as they walked to the docks and the ship The Mistral waited for them. There were a few people out, drunks trying to get home and sleep off the drinks they consumed that night, some beggars asking for coins, and a few guardsmen.

"Fuck." Rain muttered when she glanced to her left at a city guard and looked down to hide her face more as they walked past.

"What?" Jason asked.

"That guard, the fat one. He was the one who questioned me and Derrick at the gate."

"Did he recognize you?" Ahira asked her.

"I don't know...he did not seem to."

"I think he did. He just took off walking fast." Natalie told them.

"Ok let's hurry. Maybe we can make it the ship and the captain can set sail before he alerts the rest of the watch." The paladin told them and they walked faster.

The party made it to the ship without any other problems and Captain Samera greeted them with a large grin. He was wearing a clean crimson silk shirt and black cloth trousers and his fancy hat. At his belt was a long cutlass with a gold hilt and he wore the earring and his rings on his fingers.

"All he needs is a parrot." Natalie muttered as Ahira handed him a small bag of coins.

The Captain handed the bag to his Halfling first mate, "You almost didn't make it. We were about to set sail." He made an exaggerated bow as he removed his hat to reveal his shaved head and swept it on front of him, "Welcome to the Mistral."

The ship was a clipper type vessel and looked sleek and fast with a main mast, a front mast, and a mizzen mast. While old it looked very well kept and in great condition.

"Aren't you going to count it?" The dwarf asked as the others walked up the plank to board the ship.

Samera laughed and patted Ahira on the back, "You dwarves are always worried about your gold. We struck a bargain and I trust it's all there." He winked at the dwarf, "Plus if it's not my crew will just toss you overboard. I had the two cabins cleaned and made ready. If you prefer we can lock the drow up in the bulkhead, I know my crew would feel safer."

Ahira shook his head, "She will be bound the entire trip and watched over closely."

The captain shrugged, "Make sure the paladin keeps a close eye on her. Who knows, she may get sea sick and will be unable to cause trouble." Samera laughed, "I suspect she never set foot on a ship before." He turned to his crew. "Raise anchor and let's make way!" He shouted.

"Captain!" The helmsman called out. "We got trouble. City watch coming this way and they got the harbor master with them."

Samera looked at Ahira, "What's this then? I know they are not after me since I have a clean cargo this trip. Well for the most part." He did not sound angry but more amused.

Before Ahira could answer they heard a shout from the docks and they could see it was the young captain of the watch they had met at the gates when they arrived in Lund.

"The Mistral, drop anchor and prepare to be boarded. You are harboring a thief and murderer. We will take the drow also. Comply and no one else needs be arrested."

Ahira, Jason, and Lou ran to the bow of the ship while Rain, Christie and Natalie stood on quarterdeck. The city watch was still a distance away and if the captain and crew continued getting ready to set sail they would make it out of the port.

"Captain, set sail please." Ahira told him and looked over his shoulder. The first mate had joined the captain and stood by his side.

Captain Samera rubbed his chin and smiled, "Of course, my good dwarven friend, three hundred more gold and my crew will get us underway."

"We had a deal! We struck a bargain and you have been paid!" Ahira yelled back as the watch marched closer. "Three hundred gold will almost break us!"

"Yes we had a bargain that has been paid, but that was before you brought a thief and murderer on board and your financial situation is not our problem." The first mate said.

"I didn't steal anything or murder anyone. It was self-defense." Rain muttered.

Samera turned to her and smiled, "I am sure it was, my dear, but it appears the watch does not see it that way." His eyes lingered on Natalie. "We can make another bargain, my dwarven friend. I will forgo the gold payment it the elf lass sleeps in my cabin on the voyage."

Christie made a growling type sound and Jason drew his long sword off his back while Ahira pulled his one handed ax from his belt. Natalie caught Rain out of the corner of her eye and saw her pull her long knives out. They crew that were not busy preparing the ship to sail pulled out knives and swords and moved closer to the captain and the Halfling first mate drew his deadly knives out as well.

Captain Samera laughed, "Oh this is getting interesting. Don't be a fool, dwarf. My men will cut you down before the watch will have time to get on board. So do we have a deal? Three hundred gold or the elf in my cabin?"

"I am not pimp!" Ahira yelled back still gripping his ax tightly.

"I...I'll do it." Natalie muttered.

"What!" Rain yelled at her.

"I said I will do it! I agree to the terms." Natalie said louder so people could hear her.

"The fuck you will!" Christie yelled in English.

"No, Natalie. We won't agree to this." Rain added in English as well.

Natalie shrugged, "Why not...he is rather handsome, we can't afford to pay that much gold if we are to get home, If we don't pay something then the captain will turn us over to the city guards and they will hang you and burn Christie alive...and...I have fucked people for significantly less reasons. If...if it helps us get home safe then I will do it." She told her companions in English.

"They are getting closer." Lou shouted out. "They have archers...and a wizard!"

"Deal Captain." Ahira shouted and Samera smiled, "Three hundred gold!" The smile vanished from the captain's face and then he looked at Natalie and laughed.

"Well, my sweet dove, it looks like we won't be sharing any pleasures after all. Such a shame, you would have enjoyed it as much as I would." The captain turned to his crew. "Put your weapons away, men, and prepare to set sail!"

As the crew set about their tasks quickly and efficiently Samera walked to Lou, "You better stall them but don't kill them. I can always bribe my way back into this port but if you kill any I will be branded a pirate and never be allowed to sail into Lund again."

Lou nodded and then smiled as Natalie made her way to stand next to him. The elf girl locked eyes with the wizard of Lund and grinned.

"I got this one." Natalie commented with a cheerful voice and a gleam in her eyes.

The wizard also focused his eyes on Natalie and his eyes went wide. Natalie did not know how she knew but she did; she was magically stronger than this mage and he knew it. She never was one for competiveness but she felt a thrill of adrenaline and competition when she faced the spell caster. She saw he started making hand motions and uttering words and knew he was casting a fireball spell like the one she accidently cast that blew up their chest. She quickly searched the spells in her mind as she dropped her staff, smiled wickedly, and cast her own spell. She knew hers would be cast faster than the deadly spell the other mage was using. Her hands made strange motions and she spoke the words to the spell. To everyone watching it appeared nothing happened when the elf cast her spell but it did work. The wizard with the city watch tried to finish his own spell but when he spoke the words his mouth made the motions but no sound came forth as Natalie's Spell of Silence was cast on him.

"Nice one." Lou told her, "But watch this."

The human mage started casting as the archers raised their bows and notched arrows and just as the captain of the guard was about to give his order to fire a green cloud appeared around him and his men. The men dropped their bows and started coughing and gasping for air as the Stinking Cloud spell rose from the ground and choked them like harmless but very irritating tear gas.

Natalie giggled, "Nice, Lou. But let's see if we can stall them for a little longer."

Once again the elf made gestures with her hands and fingers and cast a spell at the guardsmen running toward the ship with their pikes lowered in an organized charge. Small ping pong sized fiery balls dropped from a red cloud that hovered about eight feet over the docks between the ship and the charging guards. The balls hit the wooden planks of the docks and started a fire that started blazing. The guards and the few civilians of the city started running to get away from the fire. Men came running out of the shops and other buildings with buckets of water in their hand to put out the fires before they reached their shops and homes. It was chaos.

Lou laughed, "I little over kill but no one seems to have gotten hurt. Now my turn again." Lou started to cast his spell.

"Would you two stop fucking around!" Christie's shout caused Lou to stop casting. "It's safe now so stop it before someone does get hurt!"

Natalie giggled and Lou laughed, "Well she's no fun." The wizard winked at Natalie.

"Not at all." She smiled back at him and noticed the Mistral was already underway.

When Natalie and Lou were casting their spells they both felt feelings of joy and euphoria and power surge through them as well as a friendly competitive spirit between them, but after they were done casting they felt an odd sadness and loss that faded away quickly. Natalie shrugged and walked back to the quarter deck as Lou kept his eyes on the docks as it started to shrink as the ship floated down the large river.

Captain Samera was smiling when Natalie joined the rest of her party at the middle of the ship. "By, Talos, that was fun to watch I admit." He bowed to Natalie, "I think you and your friend for not killing any of them."

"Captain, we should slit their throats now and dump the overboard. I think these people will cause us nothing but further trouble." The Halfling first mate said.

"Nonsense. I like them...they are entertaining." He drew a knife from his boot. "But we do have one last piece of business to take care of."

He walked to Christie with his knife in his hand. Natalie gasped, Rain drew her blades again as did Jason and Ahira. With a cheerful smile the captain grabbed Christie's hands and cut the rope that bound her. He winked at the drow.

"I have sailed up and down every part of the Sword Coast and even further." He told the dark elf. "You don't think I can't recognize the holy symbol of Eilistraee." He tapped the symbol of Christie's chest with his knife and turned to Jason, "Was a clever idea though to get her in the city, paladin. I may end up liking you yet. Now there is a matter of a payment?"

Ahira grunted and handed the captain another bag of gold coins. "Thank you, master dwarf. Now if you will excuse me I have ship's business to take care of. Make yourselves at home but I ask you not to go into the cargo holds. I suggest you take a look at your cabins. I will have food and wine sent to you if you desire." He winked at Ahira, "At no cost of course." The captain walked away laughing.

"Well, we are about broke now." The dwarf said.

"Let's worry about that when we get to Athkatla." Jason patted him on the back. "I am going to walk around topside. I have never been on a ship before."

"I...oh God." Ahira exclaimed and ran over to the port side of the ship and threw up over board.

Christie laughed, "Seems someone is seasick. It's going to be a fun four days for him."

Rain smiled, "Poor, Ahira, but at least we don't have to worry about listening to how much gold we don't have. Let's go check out the cabin and put our things away."

Christie's eyes followed Lou as he walked down the ladder way of the quarter deck to the cabins. "You go ahead; I need to talk to Lou about something." She handed Rain her back.

The elf and half elf walked to their cabin while Christie knocked on the door of the cabin the male would share. She did not wait for an answer but walked in after her knock to find Lou already pulling the materials and Natalie's spell book and placing them on the table in the cabin. Christie took a moment to look at the room and was surprised how spacious it was with two beds, the table with four chairs around it, and another door in the back of the room that led to the privy where waste would be emptied into the sea.

Lou lit the oil lamp that was on the table and looked at the row as if he first noticed she was in the room.

"What are you going to do?" Christie asked as the mage sat down at the table.

"Finish copying the spells from Natalie's book to my own. I did not get time to finish last night since Jason and Mic...I mean Ahira made me go to sleep. Why are you here?"

Christie moved to the table and sat in one of the empty chairs. "I...we are worried about you."

Lou chuckled, "Whatever for?"

"This obsession you have with your spell book, magic in general, and what the hell was that on deck with you and Natalie?"

Lou shrugged, "I am ok...I...I just think we are going to need my full array of spells to get home and while Natalie does not know or have the higher level stuff in her book, I am sure the mage library in Athkatla so I can copy more spells from there...if it's allowed, we will find out."

"Not good enough, Lou. Ever since we got to this side you have been obsessed with it. Hell that first night we thought you would go crazy over you lost spell book. Now give. What's the deal?"

Lou sighed and leaned back in the chair, "As close to what I can figure out...magic is like an addiction to me...to us...mages. When my book was destroyed I felt it, felt the loss like I had just lost my best friend...or drug dealer. When we cast spells it's a huge rush and we get this intense feeling of euphoria and when we are done we get this brief moment of a crash from a high. It only last well...less than a second but we still feel it. On deck with Natalie...God that was a huge rush. Not just casting the spells but also the competition with another mage...friendly but still there. It was like...well...two Olympic Athletes who have a friendly rivalry and are competing against one another."

"The more spells we learn and the more power we gain...think of it in the game, our characters increase their level and get more power. It's like that here. The more we gain here the more power and more spells I get and it seems to feed on that addiction. Like...ok Natalie has some spells in her book I never bothered with in the game, but here when I read them I wanted them. I craved them like...like an addict craving his or her drug."

"I don't like the sound of this?" Christie told him.

"Yeah it sounds bad but I am beginning to control it more. I will always want more power...it's the nature of magic I assume, but it can be controlled I am finding out. The craving to increase my knowledge of magic and to gain more powerful spells will always be there but I think I can control it."

"What about Natalie...should I worry about her and do you think she feels the same and understands what is going on?"

Lou shook his head, "Oh she feels the same to an extent but I would not worry about her. She's a moon elf."

"What does that have to do with it?"

"Let's see if I can put this so we both can understand it. Ok...humans and other races like ummm half elves, orcs, half orcs, and other intelligent races who can learn magic, ...ummm...they use magic as power. To control, to harm, for personal gain, and to increase their own power... even the drow since their entire lives are about personal gain and power and hurting and killing...make sense?" Christie nodded, "But elves...particularly moon elves the most, to them magic is a tool not a source of power, even a toy at times to be played with and used for fun. To them magic is a part of their life and something that is used to make wondrous items and even games. Like dwarves use magic in their weapons to enchant them but they don't have mages, to them magic is a tool for crafting. Drow would be more like moon elves when it comes to magic if they were not...well...so damn malicious and cruel. So no I would not worry about Natalie; true she gets the rush when casting and learning more spells but she sees magic as enjoyment...a game if you will...not power." Lou laughed "She is a recreational drug user not an addict."

Christie joined him in his laughter, "Ok...but if it gets out of control you tell us. I am serious Lou."

Lou nodded, "I will...I can get a handle on it...it's actually better now than it was that first day."

Christie got up and kissed the mage on his cheek, "Ok...but if you don't mind I will be keeping an eye on you." She smiled and left the wizard alone to finish his work.

Natalie and Rain went into their cabin and Natalie jumped on the first bed while Rain put her belongings in the corner and lit the lamp on the table.

"I call this bed...alone for me." Natalie said as she lay on her stomach with her legs bent and rocking then back and forth.

"Not fair. We should flip for it again." Rain laughed.

"No you sleep with Christie; I want a bed alone tonight. We can rotate who gets the bed to herself."

Rain rolled her eyes. "Okay." She was a little concerned about sharing a bed with the drow.

She did not expect Christie would seduce her again with Natalie in the room, but it was her own arousal she was worried about. Rain did indeed have a large crush on Jason, on this side and the other side and she often fancied herself in love with him before they came to this world. On the other side she knew she was gay when she was a he, but here she did not know. Maybe it was just Christie that made her feel that way. The drow was very sexy and alluring. But then she thought Natalie was just lovely in her moon elf form and even on the other side she always thought the girl was just charming and beautiful but she never felt aroused by her on the other side even when the girl would shameless but harmlessly flirt with her just to see her...well him blush. Now it was different, when she looked at Natalie she felt arousal and desire. Rain was so confused about herself and her sexuality.