The Forgotten Faithful: A LitRPG Adventure (UnderVerse Book 2) by Cajiao, Jez (little red riding hood ebook TXT) 📕

She frantically pushed off as she tried to get to her feet as quickly as possible, shoving me again as I tried to get up. I fell back, smacking the back of my head, and had a second to wonder if she was attacking me, when I saw what had made her push me, and I cursed.

Embedded a solid inch into the heavy wood of the ship’s railing was a small throwing knife, the darkened tips at each corner warning against dire repercussions if it hit me. I braced a foot against the railing and kicked off as hard as I could, flipping myself to my feet as I set off running toward the only nearby cover that I could see, a large chest that appeared to be fastened to the deck. I reached it a bare second ahead of a solid thunk that impacted the far side. I let out a breath and called out:

“Lydia, you okay?”

“Yer, just! You?”

“Aye, I’m all right! Who...?” Before I could get any more out, something shoved me from the side, throwing me out into view, and I fell, frantically kicking off and rolling forward. I heard more than felt something zip through the air where I’d been a second before, and I began jinking and weaving desperately.

I knew the direction the little weapons were coming from, but I couldn’t see anything, and the nearest cover was where I’d just been thrown from. I couldn’t take the time to defend myself against whoever had attacked me from that angle, not while dodging the knives. I jumped to the left, sliding on the angled deck, then dove to my right. I could see a second hatch that was open to blackness below, and I took the risk, diving forward just as I felt a sharp tug at the back of my neck.

“Jax!” I heard Oracle cry in shock at the pain I suddenly felt. She’d been exploring the perimeter with Bob, but I felt her suddenly speed up, heading straight toward me like an arrow in flight as I tumbled into the darkness.

I managed to twist as I fell, tucking my head in and throwing out my right arm, which meant that I landed on my shoulder and side rather than my head. The world exploded in a shower of stars as I had the breath knocked out of me, but I managed to roll again, hitting a crate and diving behind it. I had a split second to wonder if I had the crate between me and whatever we were fighting when a loud thud from the deck above resulted in a scream of pain.

I shook myself, blinking furiously as I tried to adjust to the strange light below deck. I was surrounded by boxes, hammocks, and debris, the sunlight filtering down between occasional planks, and from two open hatches.

One was close, where I’d entered the hold, and the other was a dozen or so meters further down the hold. I guessed that was where the attacks had started, and where my people were fighting right now.

I huffed out a breath as I forced myself to my feet, the back of my helmet catching on the bloody gash across the back of my neck and making it flare with pain.

I used it; I used the pain to kick my anger into a higher gear as I set off running as fast as I could, heading for the far hatch. I could hear footsteps on the deck overhead, the clash of weapons and grunts as people fought. I wasn’t going fast enough. I needed to be faster!

I kicked off a small crate, using it to launch myself into the air, landing and immediately jumping again. Using the debris and storage containers as a parkour range, my enhanced Agility came to the fore as I barely managed to keep from braining myself on the deck supports. Just as I closed on the wooden ladder to the upper deck, I felt my mana drop suddenly as I tasted ozone; it was Oracle, casting her favorite spell.

I heard the crackle and boom of lightning as it flashed through the air above me, and I kicked off the ladder, redirecting my hurtling form with all the strength I could, rocketing myself up through the hatch.

As I appeared, I slammed my legs out, bracing them on either side of the hatch. I lashed my right hand up to my nearest sword hilt and cupped my left, subvocalizing the components of my own go-to spell: firebolt.

I looked around frantically, seeing movement all around me. To my left were Lydia and the weaselly little bastard from the ship; they were spread out in a standoff with a taller figure, which had its back to me.

I barely had time to glance at the figure they faced, just enough to see that it was upright, had two legs, four arms, and a fuck ton of small tentacles that sprang from the back and sides of its head. Oh, and that every goddamn hand wielded a weapon.

I heard Oracle cry out a warning at the exact same time as something barreled into me from the right, taking us both off our feet and tumbling us across the deck. I had an impression of the world spinning around us as we rolled. My sword arm was gripped in two hands, my left wrist was grasped in another, and a final, fourth hand shot up to grab me by the throat as we spun end over end.

As we rolled, I lost control of the firebolt, the spell backlash ripping through my mind and making me scream in fury and pain. I felt the hand around my throat tighten, and my air began to disappear. My sword eventually clattered away, as my wrist was bent far enough aside that my options were to release it or have my wrist broken.

We smacked into the railing, then fell through a gap, dropping roughly ten