An Impossible Task and A Vile Solution: A LitRPG Fantasy Adventure (Bone Knight Book 7) Read online

  AN IMPOSSIBLE TASK AND A VILE SOLUTION

  BONE KNIGHT

  TIM PAULSON

  Copyright © 2022 Tim Paulson. All rights reserved.

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  Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission excepting brief quotations for use in critical articles or reviews.

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  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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  Cover design and internal illustrations by Mark Smith Illustration

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  First Edition: March 2022

  Ikkibu publishing

  CONTENTS

  Other Works

  1. Brash and embarassed

  2. A noble ring and an ugly meeting

  3. A Scruff hunt and an ornery owl

  4. Party on and be excellent to eachother

  5. Too many steps and a very friendly pirate

  6. A warm locket and a cold case

  7. Have mercy and save the girl

  8. A dangerous secret and a terrifying truth

  9. Looted and spewing

  10. Distrusted and discovered

  11. Burning feathers and tentacles

  12. Ship-to-ship and an antihero

  13. No level and no peace

  14. New eyes and old problems

  15. Undone and unsullied

  16. More lies and levels

  17. Immature and beginning again

  18. A squirrel and a bunch of rats

  19. The power of death and transformation

  20. Culinary allies and risky decisions

  21. Bloody solutions and tricky problems

  22. Falling and rising again

  23. Rod's legacy and Max's inheritance

  Acknowledgments

  OTHER WORKS

  Arcane Renaissance series:

  Path of Ruin

  Betrayal at Goliath Gate

  Wrath of the Risen God

  * * *

  Bone knight series

  A Grim Demise and Even Worse Resurrection

  A Doomed Fight and Not So Great Landing

  A Hard Truth and An Unwise Decision

  A Lost God and A Hostile Land

  A Daring Plan and A Cold Shoulder

  An Agonizing Day and A Dread Knight

  An Impossible Task and A Vile Solution

  * * *

  Join Tim's mailing list at www.paulsonwriter.com and receive a free Arcane Renaissance novella.

  1

  BRASH AND EMBARASSED

  Thunder's rumbling roar echoed from the battered walls of the fortress and the many nearby airships as the Midnight swerved away from the side of the ruined tower. Rain poured in sheets from the thick clouds above, obscuring swathes of the night sky and drenching Max and Arinna as they climbed down the ladder into the ship. Trina was there waiting for them, already shaking her head.

  “What did you do to her?” the plague doctor groused as she took Arinna by the hand. “This way, I'll take a look at that wound for you.”

  “Me?” Max stammered in reply as his armored feet clanked against the ladder rungs.

  “You... are beautiful,” Arinna said.

  This made Trina pause. “What?”

  Max dropped to the deck beside Arinna and followed her gaze up to the ceiling where Mytten was hanging upside down above them. The spider's legs had grown back and her chitinous body seemed to shine like he'd never seen before. “She is, isn't she?”

  Thank you, Max.

  “Oh... the spider!” Trina said. “She molted. Nearly scared me to death.”

  Now that Trina mentioned it, Mytten did look bigger.

  “I haven't seen a spider of her breed in centuries,” Arinna said, still staring at Mytten. “I thought they'd been exterminated. Where did you find her?”

  “I didn't,” Max replied. “A dark elf I met did. She died defending her village from the light and left Mytten to me.”

  Arinna nodded solemnly. “So they haven't taken everything from us.”

  “No,” Max replied, removing his armored helmet. “They haven't.”

  A loud clang shook the entire ship, nearly knocking Max into the wall.

  “Get up front and help Tela get us out of here!” Trina snapped.

  Max looked to Arinna. “She'll be alright?”

  “I can't answer that until I get a chance to take a look,” Trina replied. “Go.”

  Arinna put a hand on his upper arm, leaving a streak of black blood. “I'll be fine,” she said as yet another bang made the ship tremble.

  She did not look fine but Trina was right, there wasn't much he could do for her so he ran to the bridge.

  Max was greeted by nothing by an empty console. A clinking sound drew his attention to the right near the door. The automaton was there on the floor. The creature's metal arms were wrapped around its knees and the whole thing was shaking like a timer for a party game.

  “Don't worry clanky,” Max said. “I'm sure it's not that bad.”

  “It is!” Tela shouted. Her usually cheery voice sounded strained. “There are ships in every direction and the ones that aren't shooting at the tower behind us are shooting at us!”

  Max watched the world outside of the forward viewport rotate in front of him as the ship banked hard. A half second later a bright ball of white fire shot by, illuminating the entire cabin and much of the sheets of rain in front of the ship.

  That's right, it was raining hard. How was it possible the other ships saw them so well at night? It had to be those flood lights they used.

  “Tela, are our lights on?”

  “No, they aren't!” a stressed out Tela shot back. “Trina said they should be off so we're harder to shoot and I agree with her.”

  Tela banked again, just missing the spire of a familiar looking tower. It looked like the same one Max had used to get Arinna out of that freaky convent.

  “Get ready to turn the lights back on, but first we have to go up. Straight up.”

  “What?” Tela replied. “But weaving through the fog in between these buildings is the only thing that's kept us from being torched.”

  “Just do as I ask. Head straight up into the storm. There are thick clouds up there. Get to them. They'll be the perfect cover. I'll make sure we're not shot in the meantime.”

  “How are you going to do that?” the automaton asked. It was the first time the thing had spoken in some time and, Max was surprised to realize, it had spoken in the common tongue, not high demonic.

  “You can speak... eh... never mind. You want to help?” Max asked it.

  The creature's bird-like head looked up. “How?”

  “The only two human-shaped friends I have are currently indisposed. Can you operate a weapons station?”

  The creature seemed at a loss, his head bobbing. “I... I don't believe that's listed in my directives.”

  “Do your directives tell you to prevent your own destruction?” Max asked.

  The metallic head nodded emphatically.

  “Then you'll figure it out,” Max said. “Follow me. Tela, power up the guns!”

  “You've got it!” Tela said, sounding like some of her hope had returned.

  Max pulled the automaton out of the bridge and around a corner to the central ladder. “
You take the bottom gun, and I'll take the top. It's simple, just like a joystick back home. You point the red dot at the center of the bubble at the bad guy and press the trigger.”

  The automaton looked up at him, the metallic irises of its glowing eyes contracting slightly. “What's a joystick?”

  “Figure it out, or we all go boom!” Max said and started climbing up.

  The automaton rubbed its metal hands together and started following him.

  “No!” Max yelled back down. “You go down the ladder to the other gun!”

  “Oh... oh yes,” the creature said. “I see.”

  Max rubbed his gauntleted fingers across his boney temples.

  The whole ship shook again.

  “Whatever you're going to do, please do it quickly!” Tela called from the bridge. “They can see us!”

  Max yanked his way up to the top gun as fast as he could, quietly humming the theme to the tie fighter attack as he strapped in and grabbed the stick.

  “Here we go baby,” he said as the Midnight's upper gun bubble turned into position, exposing the single light cannon that jutted from just above Max's spherical cockpit. Max had tested these guns on the trip over to Reylos, blasting a couple of trees into cinders. The shots weren't as big as those fired by the bigger ships, but they were faster, which was something.

  The giant pair of search lights ahead and above him was something too: a target. Max aimed the gun and fired. A burst of three small spheres of golden light shot from the barrel above him. They fired out in a loose line slamming into the bow of the ship ahead. The blasts of holy fire exploded, boring large smoking holes into the metal clad bow of the Clathian vessel.

  Max could see immediately why holy fire was so popular as a ship-to-ship weapon, it cut through the metal like nothing. As Max watched, a huge explosion erupted from the left side of the enemy ship, illuminating the rain with an orange glow as the ship belched flaming cinders and black smoke. There was a moment where it seemed nothing would happen, like the ship was frozen in place, but then it began listing to the side.

  One down.

  “Don't get cocky Max,” he told himself as he used the foot pedals to track his weapons blister to the right, searching for another target. There was a light clicking from some gears down by his feet, but the movement was otherwise silent and surprisingly smooth. Max had to admit the mechanisms in this ship were pretty ingenious. It was like steampunk but without the steam. What would you call that, magic punk?

  “What do I press?” said a mechanical voice from far below.

  Max leaned over to the ladder hole. “Sit in the seat! The stick in front of you has a small button. Press it!”

  “Oh!” the automaton said from below. “I see.”

  “Great!” Max yelled back. “Now do some damage, and to THEM, not to US.”

  “Yes!” the bird headed robot replied.

  Three more Clathian war ships were on their way to intercept the Midnight with huge balls of holy fire slashing through the pouring rain. Tela was narrowly able to weave the ship around them, but it was very close. Max set his gun on the closest ship, a big lumpy one with especially large guns that jutted from semi-circular ports to either side of the bow, and opened up. It took three bursts of fire to do it, but Max kept peppering the front of the ship until both of the big front guns had been mashed into twisted shreds of glowing metal.

  It helped that the Clathian ships were so pathetically slow. It was like shooting hot air balloons with a rocket launcher. The things would try to move away from the shots, but they weren't very maneuverable. When he saw the remaining two turning away, Max was sure they were home free.

  “We got 'em!” he shouted. “It looks like they've... had... enough.”

  “What?” Tela called from the bridge below. “Really?”

  No. Not really. The Clathian ships were turning their sides to him, exposing rows of cannons he didn't even know they had.

  “Tela! Dodge the ship!” he yelled down the ladder tube.

  “But you said go straight up into the clouds!” Tela shouted back.

  “I know what I said! Just do it!” Max said. He was pulling his trigger as fast as he could. One, two, three salvos of his faster, smaller shots launched out, raking the other ships, but the armor was thicker on the sides. His gun wasn't enough to get through it and that was going to be a problem.

  The Clathian ships unleashed hell, firing two full broadsides at the Midnight. Dozens of huge glowing balls of fire launched in their direction coming in like a flaming wave.

  “Tela!” Max shouted. “Dive! Now!”

  “Ok!” Tela replied.

  The Midnight plummeted back toward the ground, swerving to the right in a sort of corkscrew. Even with the crazy maneuver three of the incoming shots came uncomfortably close to the ship, with one grazing them enough to burn a slab of the hull away to Max's right, shaking the entire ship as it did.

  Max spun his turret and fired again and again at the ships, knowing they were reloading for another massive salvo. It didn't seem to be making any difference though. His shots would land and burn glowing smoking pits into the Clathian armor but he couldn't penetrate it.

  “I can't get through their armor!” Max called down. “Is there any extra... you know... juice... for this thing?”

  “I don't know what you mean!” Tela called back in a happy but strained sounding voice.

  “What in the name of Gazric are you two doing?!” Trina shouted from below. “I'm glad I thought to strap her down because we would both have been on the floor!”

  “We're trying to escape!” Max said, pulling the trigger again.

  “I think I got one!” the robot called from below. “Oh... no I didn't.”

  “Whatever,” Max called back. “Just keep shooting at them.”

  “Tela, I need you to fly more smoothly!” Trina said.

  “No!” Max called down in response. “Tell me how to make these guns more powerful!”

  “How many times have I told you: I'm a doctor not a technician?!” Trina growled.

  “Thanks for nothing then!” Max shouted down.

  The guns on these things were based in magic weren't they? Maybe there was some way he could pump his own magic points into the system. The Clathians were going to let loose again any second. It was worth a shot.

  Max! Don't pump your magic into the ship. It will explode.

  Mytten? Arinna is talking to you?

  Yes! She says to use your magic on the ship, like it’s a thing. She is telling me to ask if you have any spells of concealment.

  Actually... he did. Would it let him equip the Shadow Staff as a Dread Knight? There was only one way to find out! Max brought up his equipment screen and switched from the Flesh Ripper to the staff. No buzz! It worked!

  Quickly he used the weapon to cast Ruse, pointing it at the ship. There was a hiss and a flash of black as two other versions of the Midnight appeared nearby.

  “Now!” Max yelled.

  “Now what?” Tela called from the bridge below.

  “Go up again, straight up into the clouds! As fast as you can.”

  The whole ship shuddered, pressing Max into his seat as it broke out of the corkscrew drive and pulled up at the steepest possible angle, leaving the two other Midnights behind. They'd pulled up just in time too. The Clathian ships had just unleashed a second wave of fire balls that instantly obliterated one of the clones of their ship.

  “I had no idea this spell would work on an entire ship,” Max said.

  Arinna says it won't work for long, but it was a good choice.

  “Tell her thanks, Mytten,” Max replied.

  She can't hear me, we're not bound.

  “Then give her a thumbs up or something.”

  You know I don't have any thumbs.

  “Yeah... I'm sorry about that one,” Max said. It had sounded funnier in his head.

  The last thing Max saw before the Midnight finally ascended into the swirling gray mass of clou
ds that hung over Clathia, was the final collapse of the central tower of the fortress of Gelra. Hopefully the disgusting mass of black goo that had once been a man, was now burned and crushed into oblivion, like he deserved.

  Max crawled down from his gun station, pausing at the center to cup his gauntleted hands and shout to the automaton.

  “You can stop shooting now. It's over.”

  “It is?” the creature asked.

  “Yep. Come back up here and help me decide where we go next,” Max replied and stepped into the bridge. “Tela, just level off here, and maybe head north for a bit.”

  “I sure will!” she replied, clearly relieved that their ordeal was over, at least for the moment.

  Max was relieved too, Arinna was finally here. Though, he wanted to see her again. Just to be sure she was still there, of course. The last time he'd let his eyes off her in this ship she'd jumped out the back. He'd personally seen to the destruction of the creature that made that possible, but Max still felt a bit leery. And... if he was being honest with himself, there was another reason: he liked her.

  Mytten was waiting for him outside the bridge, still hanging on the ceiling. She looked stuffed into the top of the hallway given her larger size.

  “You keep growing like that and we're going to need a bigger ship,” Max told her. “Where are they?”

  In my room.

  Max nodded and proceeded down the hall, clanking his Dread Knight armored feet across the metal grating of the ship's deck as he went. As he casually glanced at the few small rooms that led off from the passage, he couldn't help but think he was forgetting something. Wasn't there something else here? Or maybe it was something that ought to be there but wasn't? Odd.