Mudhoof waved a hand. Yeah, why not. It's what they're for. And I'm not in need of locating anything else at the moment. He grinned.

Thank you, Muddie, I said, and patted his arm.

Yibbet's eyes grew big at the medallion in his hand and gave Mudhoof a respectful bow. What is it you require, sir, he said.

Give us the location of the thing named Wally's Womp.

Alas, the Masking cannot be circumvented by any means, but with this Sliver Of Knowledge a can provide you with the closest known travel gate. Would that be sufficient?

Mudhoof nodded. Make it so, Number One.

After another bow, Yibbet turned the book to new page. He drew the symbol and wrote the name.

Immediately the page swirled them about and this time a detailed map appeared.

Bingo! I said with delight.

Walley's Womp is located near a travel gate in the Tormen Region on the planet Glidian, Yibbish said. I will give you a copy, and the most effective route to get there. Be advised, if you deviate from this route, the map will adjust accordingly.

I was beyond happy with this result. Going from not having a clue where to find Ogden, to practically being served the exact location of his hiding spot put me over the moon.

Map in hand, I thanked Yibbish, and we went back out into the town square.

This is great, Muddie, I said. Let's get to the nearest travel gate and-.

THERE SHE IS! a voice boomed over the noise of the bustling crowds.

Mudhoof and I turned to look.

Walking toward us, from the direction of the Temple, was a heavily armed group of players. Their disposition indicated they were spoiling for a fight.

And standing in the middle of them, pointing a finger at me was a Shadow I recognized.

Perriwinkle.

CHAPTER FIVE.

Well, this sucks, said Mudhoof.

Instantly, both Mudhoof and I had weapons in hand; I with my bow, and Muddie with his massive twin bladed battle axe.

I assessed the opposing players. Two warriors, a stone mage, and Perriwinkle. All were at my level or just below. One on one, I was certain I could take each on, but as a group, even with Mudhoof by my side, it would be difficult.

Vivian Valesh, Perriwinkle said, grinning widely. I knew you'd wash up here once I realized my poison didn't finish you off. He made a tsk-tsk noise, then said. At least now I get the pleasure of killing you face to face.

You're our bounty, FILTERED! roared a warrior, a human viking. He wore a simple set of chain-mail armor, along with an iron cap helmet with a single horn sticking out to one side.

Now, guys, I said, Maybe we can work out some sort of deal? The Temple was behind them, and its safezone felt far away. There would be no going around this lot. We'd have to go through them.

Hey, Pickle-winkle, said Mudhoof. Want some face-to-face time? Come closer. He swirled his battle axe around and grinned.

Enough discussion! shouted the second warrior. He was a knight in all black armor from head to toe. I would bet a million gold pieces that the player behind him was a pimply faced thirteen year old skulking in his mother's basement.

When the black knight was shouting, I summoned a magma arrow into my empty quiver. With tremendous effort I did not look directly at my intended target.

The knight drew a pure black sword from his sheath with a flourish. Time for killing! he bellowed.

Okay! I said and use my new Quick Draw ability to fire the arrow.

The opposing group tensed but the arrow was almost home.

Rule number one of group PvP: Kill the magic users first.

At the last moment the stone mage's eyes widened in alarm. Then he made an upward sweeping motion with one hand, brown robes swirling about.

A thick slab of cobblestone suddenly jutted out of the ground directly in front of him. It could easily block any incoming volleys.

But not a magma arrow.

The red hot projectile shot straight through the cobblestone like it wasn't even there and the arrow then pierced the mage in the middle of his chest.

The stone mage tried to shout but instead of words, hot magma spewed from his mouth. His robes caught on fire and he collapsed to the ground in a red bubbling heap.

The combat log showed: Vivian Valesh one-shot Rocky Ridgeway with a magma arrow. Rocky Ridgeway is dead. Vivian Valesh earns double PvP battle points for an instant kill.

The rest of the group, seasoned veterans of player versus player encounters, barely registered their companion's death. They were already on the move.

Perriwinkle pulled his gaze away from the dead stone mage and locked on me. He moved forward but with caution; a sword in one hand, the poisoned crystal dagger in the other.

Mudhoof roared. First kill, ya FILTERing FILTEREDs! He waved at the other two warriors, indicating they should come closer.

To my relief, both the viking and the knight obliged him. No doubt they knew Mudhoof was the greater threat and needed to be dealt with first.

Fine by me.

As Perriwinkle got within striking range, I switched my bow out for my sword. Although one handed, I gripped it with both, giving me greater control. We circled one another, sizing each other up.

I owe you a stab in the back, buddy, I said. But Perriwinkle didn't retort, only grinned.

Was he trying to draw me in, make me try a first strike? I didn't bite. Wait and see what he did seemed the most prudent tactic.

Behind me, I heard the mighty clash of steel against steel. All three warriors were shouting at each other, and practically every word was FILTERED. I knew Mudhoof would keep them engaged. Once I dispatched this sneaky bounty hunter I'd help him out.

But Perriwinkle refused to come any closer. In fact, he kept sidestepping away when I tried to shorten the distance between us.

Did he not want to fight? Or was he thinking the same as me: keep the Shadow busy until the warriors can come and take her out.

Then I saw it. The sun was behind me and cast a building's shadow onto the cobblestone square. From this shadow grew another smaller one. Then another.

Uh oh, I thought and whirled around.

Up on the roof of the closest building were two archers. Another was clamoring over the sloped roof on the next building over. From their vantage point the square below would make for the perfect killing ground.

As I took in this new threat, I regained my senses enough to invoke my Cloak of Shadow's invisibility and immediately rolled to my right.

Perriwinkle's sword swished bare inches above me.

Still close to engage him, I stood up and lunged with my sword causing my invisibility to negate.

Perriwinkle's eyes widened at my reappearance but countered my attack with a parry. But I had overextended myself and pulled back before his next swing.

An arrow zipped through the space my head had just occupied.

I gritted my teeth with frustration. Those ranged bastards tipped the balance in the other group's favor. They could kite me from above while Perriwinkle took his time choosing were to stab me.

It was only a matter of time before they riddled me like a pincushion.

I pushed toward Perriwinkle and increased my tempo of swings. The other Shadow reacted in kind, stepping backwards on the defensive.

An arrow struck my side, but did minimal damage.

Perriwinkle laughed, parrying my strikes. I'm gonna love spending all your bounty money, baby girl, he leered.

Changing tactics, I spun around and sprinted away.

Hey! Perriwinkle cried. Chicken!

Certain he was following me after a dozen long strides I switched to my bow, summoned another special arrow, and quickly whirled back to face Perriwinkle, then fired.

The other Shadow, who was in hot pursuit barely had time to react. His eyes widened in surprise and raised his sword to defend himself.

But this arrow wasn't meant to pierce armor or flesh.

The Dazzler arrow exploded right in front of his face. A spectacular burst of colored lights momentarily brightened the entire town square, like a newly born star, then winked out.

The effect was instant. Perriwinkle covered his eyes with one arm and swung wildly with is sword. He was blind.

An arrow struck me in the left shoulder, and my avatar grunted with pain. There would be no time to enjoy the results of my light show.

I made the tactical decision to go after the archers next.

I ran at full speed toward the building they were perched on and jumped up onto a fruit stall. The seller cried out in alarm as apples spilled everywhere. Using only a fraction of my Leap ability I sprung onto the roof.

One archer was a few feet from me, and he tried to notch another arrow while he aimed his bow. Even if he fired, he would most likely miss. The game heavily penalized ranged attacks shot from close quarters.

With a rapid flurry of quick sword swings the archer was killed. These hired NPCs (Non-Player Characters) appeared to have low hit points. Their purpose was meant for backing up a player, and general harassment.

Now I was doing the harassing.

A second archer stood on the furthest edge of the roof and fired at me.

I sprinted at him and dodged his incoming fire.

At the last moment this archer got wise and switched to a sword. But archers are not renowned for their sword play.

A few strokes of my sword and the archer was dead.

An arrow struck me in the lower back, and I turned in frustration toward my attacker.

On the roof of the opposite building the final archer grinned at me. He continued firing, and at a much rapid pace than I expected. No doubt he was the squad leader and had better abilities.

I sprinted at him, ignoring all the little red combat warning signs telling me my avatar could become incapacitated if I took more damage. Instead, I zigzagged across the roof making it tougher for the archer to get a bead on me.

At the edge of the roof I jumped up and through the air. I even knocked away an arrow with my sword before I landed in a roll. As I came up, I jammed my sword through the archer's stomach and up into his body.

The archer collapsed into a heap. Wiping sweat from my eyes I looked down into the town square.

It appeared Mudhoof was making an example of the other two warriors. The knight limped away, and pushed through the growing crowds, not wanting any more abuse. There was no more fight in him. Mudhoof parried the viking's sword thrusts with his own battle axe. They seemed to be an even match.

And there, leaning against a broken fruit stall was Perriwinkle, a hand covering his face, still blinded. As I watched, the other Shadow stood and removed his hand. He blinked and squinted, his vision returning.

I'd give him something to see.

With a short run to the edge of the roof, I jumped with my sword pointed downward in both hands. I descended like a bird of prey.

My shadow fell across Perriwinkle and seeing movement within his darkened vision turned and looked up at me. His sword arm rose.

Wha-? he said.

Then I landed on him.

My sword pierced his chest right above his heart and passed straight through him. As I crashed into my confused foe, we both tumbled to the ground.

I rolled away while wrenching my sword free then I stood and turned, ready for more.

Perriwinkle did not stand up. Instead, he lay prone on the cobblestone, and let out his last breath.

Vivian Valesh hits Perriwinkle KillUGood with a critical strike for 1,000 hit points of damage. Perriwinkle KillUGood is dead. Vivian Valesh earns double PvP battle points.

Yeah, Vee! shouted Mudhoof, who was still actively engaged with the viking.

About to run over and help him finish our last attacker, I paused and looked about. The crowd had grown much larger, forming a living arena around where we fought. Then I noticed several large groups of players push their way through the crowd, their hungry eyes staring at me.