The Secret of the Dark Forest ( (The Way of the Shaman: Book #3) (27 page)

"Mahan, would you permit me to have a chat with you," said Ehkiller graciously, in an almost fatherly tone. "Anastaria, do join us. Put up a dome please," he asked the girl as soon as she walked over.

"Well ... as disagreeable as it is to admit it, a very delicate situation has arisen between our clans, which the both of us have to try to resolve."

"You call poaching players in the middle of a quest a 'tricky situation'?" I chuckled. "In that case what would be a 'negative' or an 'unpleasant' situation? Killer, this was a stitch-up, pure and simple. This sort of stuff warrants a black eye, or two."

"You are letting your emotions do the talking." Ehkiller refused to be provoked and continued, firmly sticking to his agenda, "You must realize that if you found yourself in a similar situation, you would've acted in exactly the same manner. I'm quite sure of it. But let's not talk of what could've been, let's return to the players that crossed over. I have to admit that they will have to remain in Phoenix: I doubt you'd take them back if I excluded them from the clan and I don't want it to become known throughout Barliona that I am not a man who keeps his word."

"Will you tell me what it is you want from me now exactly? You already got your hands on pretty much everything you wanted: the Guardian's quest, Elenium's chain quest, whatever that is, and also ... I can already see that I've made a mistake in sharing the Patriarch quest with Anastaria, especially in doing it for free and without limitations on sharing it with other players. I fell for this word called 'trust'. These things happen. Hellfire has shown me exactly where I can take and shove this particular word ... I get it already and I'm done. What's with the current circus performance?"

"Emotions, Mahan: you're allowing yourself to be ruled by emotions. What Hellfire and Raster did was in line with Phoenix policy, so their actions are understandable. But they didn't have all the information. For instance, they didn't know about the Patriarch and the Eye. And our dearest Anastaria only supplied this information today, just as Hellfire was already making the transfer offer. Such offers are common practice for any clan, not just our one. As a side note, I only found out about all of this today, which is why this usually active young lady is staying very quiet now, and that I emphatically forbade her to pass on the quest to anyone else, until we settle this matter with you."

"How nice ... 'Killer, I'm really not with you on what exactly it is that you actually want. It's not like I can demand Phoenix not to accept anyone else from the Seathistles clan. No-one would ever join us if it meant that their way into Phoenix was permanently barred after that. Whichever way you look at it, you really are the best clan in Malabar. What can I say about the (now official) clan membership 'realignment'? Only one thing – if fate once again smiles on me and I get hold of another quest, Phoenix will have no part of it. I'm sorry, but this is a necessary measure."

"This is exactly why we are talking right now, to avoid any need for such measure. You are quite right – what's done is done. You are also right that an agreement between our clans would be the kiss of death to yours. I would like to offer you compensation. For example, you have no Priests, so Elenium's quest is of little use to you. So I could offer you, temporarily of course, one or two Priests who will complete this quest with your clan. That way Seathistles will get the First Kill."

"And as soon as the quest is finished these players will go back to Phoenix, taking any bonuses from their achievement with them. What's the point in getting the First Kill if those who have it will end up back in Phoenix? Just to tick a box for clan status? I don't need it."

"What do you want in that case? Money? Gear? We can provide that too."

"People, I already told you what I want. Or, rather, what I'm going to do. As soon as these quests are completed, the Seathistles clan will have no further dealings with Phoenix. You're a high-flyer all high and mighty; good for you. We'll keep our feet firmly on the ground and do what we do best: sit and wait for our prison sentences to end. If I've got you right, the gist of this conversation runs something like this: 'Sorry, Mahan, we have started to destroy your clan a bit too early. Jumped the gun and all that. But you should know that you're finished the moment it becomes convenient'. Although, wait, 'sorry' hasn't even come into it. Dear Phoenix representatives, I am telling you again: once we complete these two quests we will go our separate ways and our paths will never cross again."

"I hear you. It's a pity that we've failed to find common ground on this. I propose that we postpone this conversation and return to it later. I can guarantee you that we will not approach Barsina and if she contacts us herself, you will be informed. Anastaria will not share the Patriarch quest without first gaining your approval. Will you remove the players who crossed over from the groups for both quests?"

"What's the point? Just to show what a bastard I am? Let them stay."

"All right. I have only one small point to clarify. If you aren't disbanding the group, I would like to compensate you for the participation of our new players in the current scenario. Their level barely exceeds 100, so I'm prepared to offer you a hundred thousand for the three of them. What do you say?"

"A hundred for three? That's not even funny. They might as well stay for free."

"So how much do you want?"

"A hundred and thirty," I paused, watching the faces of both Phoenix players, baffled by such a paltry increase in the price, and then added: "each!"

"All right, I'll send you the Agreement in a minute. Then the matter of the transferred players can be considered settled," concluded Ehkiller. "Now we must return to the matter of apologies. I have a feeling that words alone will be insufficient, so I thought of something else: Anastaria. What do you say?"

"Quasiproton," I shrugged.

"What do you mean 'quasiproton'?"

"And what do you mean 'Anastaria'?"

For a while Ehkiller looked at me somewhat perplexed, but then his face lit up in a smile and the shadow leader of the Phoenix clan continued: "I understand. I didn't express myself very well. You see, Anastaria broke ..."

"'Killer, I insist that you tell Mahan the whole truth," Anastaria spoke for the first time, interrupting the mage. I'd nearly forgotten she was with us. "The scenario with the punishment will look stupid now. I'm against it."

Ehkiller froze for a moment, chuckled and then, apparently having come to a decision, looked at me cheerfully:

"Well, well, Mahan ... getting Anastaria to go against my decision ... if you were my son I would be proud of you. Good! Here's a Confidentiality Agreement. I'm sorry, but we can't do without it. There's just too much at stake."

As soon as I signed, agreeing that the information I was about to hear would not be passed on to third parties, 'Killer commenced with his explanation:

"I apologize in advance for digressing into history, but you may struggle to understand everything without it. Forget everything I just told you – none of it has anything to do with the real state of things. Aside from the money: that you'll get in any case. So ... the Phoenix Clan was founded on the very day that Barliona was launched – you could say it's the oldest clan in the game. We’ve had our ups and downs, but by about ten years in we'd gathered the core group of players on whom I felt I could rely. I poured a huge, no, an insane amount of money into the Game (being fortunate enough to be able to do so), set out the clan development strategy and methodically began to weed out the competition. Alongside Phoenix, the Dark Legion began to emerge as our clear virtual enemy. After all, aside from the best clan in Malabar, there had to be a clan for all the players rejected by us to join. Otherwise Phoenix would have been trampled underfoot a long time ago. But this way everyone could enjoy watching our battles. Evolett steered things in the right direction, not allowing his players, like Plinto, to bring down our Crafters freely, and focusing attention on Fighters and Recruits instead. This went on for a long time, until the Corporation decided to unlock Kartoss. Knowing that such opportunities couldn't be passed over, we flipped a coin to see which of our clans should move to Kartoss. Evolett won. When you appeared, with your unique collection of Reputations, Evolett chose you instead of one of my fighters and is now sitting in Anhurs and quietly celebrating such a fortuitous turn of events. This is a brief overview of what's been happening in the past ten years of the Game."

"Right, but what do you want with me in all of this?"

"Take it easy; let the old man have his say. It's been a while since I've had the opportunity. Sooner or later the rot creeps into any established organization. It becomes stilted, starts to suffer from complacency and an overinflated sense of its own unique place in the world. ... Around a year ago Rick raised his Crafting to 10 and fell into a state that can be easiest described as a 'superiority complex'. Knowing full well how important he is to the clan, he started demanding various kinds of preferential treatment, which often breached the bounds of common sense. ... For example, did you know that Rick is one of only three Phoenix players who are able to declare war on behalf of the clan? Me, Anastaria and him – a simple head of the Masters. Even Hellfire and Castle Keepers don't have such privileges."

"So why don't you simply kick him out of the clan?" I asked in surprise, struggling to grasp Phoenix clan's internal problems.

"Because a player who has gained 14 levels in Crafting is very valuable for the clan in the financial sense. Items that he creates are a source of stable income, so kicking him out would deprive the clan of a golden goose. It would be foolish and wasteful."

"In that case you'll continue to have a malcontent in your clan who will keep laying down increasingly unreasonable conditions all the time. You'll just have to deal with it."

"This is why I decided to make a knight’s move. Who is 'Anastaria'? She's not just a name, she's an entire brand now. She is so closely identified with Phoenix that everyone takes it for granted that whatever she does I would never kick her out – because this would cause great damage to the clan. This is exactly why I started to hatch a plan to make an example of Anastaria by publicly throwing her out of Phoenix."

."..?"

"Don't look so surprised. Yes, I intend to solemnly and dramatically remove Anastaria from the clan, to make it clear that no-one is irreplaceable. Under my close supervision, for several months now, she's been committing all kinds of terrible outrageous acts within the clan: she doesn't submit reports, periodically leaves the clan, fails to inform anyone of what she's up to, provokes arguments and uses clan resources for her personal ends. And everyone just accepts it, because she's the leader. Everyone sees the clan rules being brazenly flouted, but does their best to turn a blind eye. Today's situation was simply a boon to us in view of all this. I'm sorry, but your players did approach us of their own accord, and because Raster is the one who deals with admitting people into the clan, I found out that Elenium had passed all our tests and had already been offered a place only after the fact. Hellfire outdid himself. It seems that he's taken a dislike to you, and quite a big one at that. However, as sad as it is, the transfer of your players to Phoenix made a good trigger for putting my plan into action. Anastaria raised hell, called everyone – including myself – idiots, self-absorbed morons and other equally endearing names, and demanded that the Agreements with the three new players to be torn up. She threatened to leave the clan if her conditions were not met. No-one in Barliona, except Evolett, and now you, knows about our close cooperation. The clan is currently awaiting my reaction to Hellfire's actions, which go against the spirit of cooperative questing, and to see how I handle the situation with Anastaria. After all, everyone now automatically associates Anastaria with the word 'Phoenix'. This is why she'll be kicked out of the clan today."

"A neat series of moves, what can I say?" I concluded, when Ehkiller paused. "And there was me trying to figure out what Anastaria joining my clan was all about. Makes sense now. But 'Killer, your plan resulted in three people leaving my clan! Three people with whom I ran around the Game for two years!"

"Look at it this way," Anastaria intervened for the second time during this meeting, "we did not try to lure them over, they switched to Phoenix of their own accord, at the first opportunity. I don't want to say anything bad about your friends, but think about this yourself, Mahan: what would've happened if they'd left you six months later, for instance, after becoming an integral part of your clan in many ways? It could be just guesswork, but the risk that they would've ditched you in any case is very high."

"Yes, I can see that, but ... fine, the matter with those three is now settled – they'll stay with you in any case. However, tell me why am I being told of the Phoenix clan's internal problems right now?"

"I need your help. I really do. At first we simply planned to cut Anastaria loose and make her wander about Malabar listless and disgruntled, but after today's developments I quickly thought of another plan. In order to make up for this misunderstanding I thought of loaning Anastaria to you – let's say for three months. This would be good both for her and for your clan."

"And how did you intend to pull that off?" I couldn't help asking.

"That's simple. I was going to tell you how Anastaria started breaking the clan rules, that she had become uncontrollable, then summon the Guardian and officially exclude Anastaria from Phoenix. To be honest, my plan was based on a 90% probability that you would have invited Anastaria to join your clan. She would've spent two or three months with you, until just before the big clan competition, and then resumed her place in Phoenix. It would have made for a magnificently choreographed move, falling completely within the logic of her hysterics earlier today. But now that thanks to her you know everything ... since we've put our cards on the table ... you have my sincere request that you accept Anastaria into your clan. The advantages for the clan are quite clear – I don't think I need to go through them, since you've seen them all for yourself. The downsides ... there are more than enough of those too. Firstly, Hellfire and Rick will develop considerable dislike both for you and for Seathistles, exacerbated by the fact that Anastaria ended up in these unfortunate circumstances on your account. They will stop creating problems in the clan and will start looking for a way to get even with you instead. Secondly, there's the reaction of the rest of Malabar. As I already mentioned, Anastaria is a brand and everyone's gotten used to associating her with Phoenix, so Seathistles, a first level clan, won't have an easy time of it. Anastaria's fans will start trying to get into your clan and threaten you if you refuse to take them in. Thirdly ...," Ehkiller fell silent, as if struggling to find the right words to express his main point, so I beat him to it: