Sleeping Player (Project Chrysalis Book 3) by John Gold (novel24 TXT) 📕

to the trial with the Hunters; fifteen when you became one; sixteen when you fought a god with me. You call me your chosen one, and now I can tell that you mean much more in saying that than a normal person would. You’re incredibly driven, you’d do anything to achieve your goal, and that goal has something to do with me. If I’m psycho, so is Isaac. But then you’re psycho, too, given the fact that you put up with us. I want to know right here and right now if you’re going with me to the end or if we’re parting ways.”

After she takes a second to think, a new message pops up in the group chat.

Yes… You’re my chosen one.

End of Part One

Part TwoThe Riddle

Dear Sagie, LJ, Ribonz Almark, Angie Ganet, Bak Kvan,

If you’re reading these lines, something unexpected occurred, and I lost my memory again. Perhaps, my brain couldn’t handle the stress and went crazy. It could have been another stroke robbing me of my identity. Tomorrow is an important day, and I can’t shake the feeling that something bad is going to happen. If something does happen, the location of the spot, where this letter was hidden, will be sent to you and Femida. One of you will definitely find it, and that’s enough. It includes a complete description of my life, beginning from when Project Chrysalis was released and ending with the present. The information here will help you restore your memory—hopefully, it’ll be all you need. There will also be a blood chain ring in the hiding place that you can use to find me. I’m leaving you this letter in the hope that you won’t forget what’s most important: bring father, Mama, and Rosie back. They’re the best thing that’s ever happened to us. I hope you understand that.

Sagie

After our visit to Kurg, we continued our journey along the eastern part of the continent. My memories of that time aren’t any worse or any better than others, so there’s no point going into them, Sagie. Let me just tell you one important thing. During the ritual that expanded the area covered by the altar to the nameless god, I received a new ability. Nothing else that happened really had any major impact on my fate.

Ability received: Friend of the forest

The greatest reward the ruling spirits of the forest can bestow is the ability to fuse with trees.

The dryads only give this ability to a chosen few who demonstrate their devotion to the forest.

Effect: Lets you fuse with the trees and plants you grow yourself.

Merges your health attributes.

Femida wraps herself up tightly in her hunting cloak and adjusts the robe Isaac is wearing. My redhead wig with the long braids barely covers the gray locks I have. In fact, I’m forced to pull out the braids, smear dirt in my hair, and pull it up under the wig. The soiled sackcloth dress, my bare feet, and the red hair, all filthy dirty, have everyone walking by looking at me sideways.

It’s snowing, it’s slushy underfoot, and it smells like the fresh food on offer at the roadside stalls. The flow of people moves slowly, edging its way into Kkhor through the eastern gate.

This all started with a patrol. There were guards on horseback keeping an eye out for Femida and me on the road from Kurg to Kkhor, though we ignored them and continued setting a straight course for the later. After what happened in Kurg, we knew Leon had everyone out hunting for us.

The ambush by the tree meant that he’d already made the connection between LJ and Sagie, and that told me there would probably be another trap set at the Academy of Magic.

But we kept pushing onward toward Kkhor despite the danger. In fact, we’d already arrived at the gate when we realized that the guards were searching all pairs matching our description, forcing them to reveal their names. That let them identify people entering the city. The rest were let through without any problem, and that gave us an idea—we were going to change our appearance as much as possible.

We stuck a robe on Isaac, leaving him looking like some kind of giant Bedouin. Femida bought a set of archer armor from a wandering trader, not to mention the dirtiest dress he had for me. Besides the dress, I also picked up a wig. Dirt took the place of makeup.

In our new garb, we mixed with a crowd of locals and filtered into the city unnoticed. One of the guards thought I was a beggar and gave me a cuff that practically knocked my wig off, but Femida got involved, the guard took her for a man, and I got an apology.

Slender has really been getting on my nerves. I can sense how annoyed he is by the battle at the tree—he’s tied to that shapeshifter somehow, and now he’s trying to think up a way to cause trouble for me.

He slips from shadow to shadow, never giving me the chance to relax. Sometimes, I hear the shouts of people he purposefully scares. It’s possible that he feeds on the fear he elicits.

That idea struck me when I drew a parallel between him and Isaac, as the latter draws his strength from the person wearing him.

The main problem is that I don’t know how to get rid of Slender. He’s faster than me and can hide in any shadow, and my teleportation and ability to jump into the astral don’t pose a problem for him at all. He needs no air, food, or water. Really, he’s the ideal spy and a very unpleasant enemy.

The first place we go is the market square. Snow is falling, we’re trudging through dirt, and there’s another hour to go before sunrise. The local sellers are already putting fresh