DLC: A LitRPG Adventure (Beta Tester Book 4) by Rachel Ford

Author:Rachel Ford [Ford, Rachel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-12-01T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

The paralysis potion did not at once relinquish its hold on Jack’s body. Karag declared, “Well, it’s no matter. The clock is ticking, and I can see to the deliveries. You can stay there.”

Jack, of course, had no say in the matter for the very simple reason that he couldn’t speak. So he lay there, reduced to incoherent grunts and murmurs, as Karag took the sleigh to first one home and then another, and another.

All in all, he finished five deliveries before Jack’s vocal cords responded to his will. It took longer for the rest of him. But the vocal cords were all he needed. Because, after Karag’s fourth solo run, the game alerted Jack that he’d met the threshold he needed to complete the mission. He’d delivered all the coal and fifty percent of the gifts on his list.

So as soon as his voice returned, he murmured a weary, “Get me out of here, Karag.”

“Out of the sleigh? Are you sure that’s wise? You don’t look up to walking.”

“No, out of Pleasant Vale. Get me back to the North Pole, and out of this stupid Christmas town.”

Karag frowned at him. “We’re far from completing our deliveries.”

“I don’t give a rat’s tushy about the deliveries,” Jack said, though of course he’d had quite another word in mind than tushy. “We got through half of them, and that’s good enough.”

“I really do feel that we should –”

“No,” Jack snapped, and his tone was a little sharper than it might otherwise have been on account of the fact that his voice was the only manner of expressing himself he still had open. “I said get us out of here, and I meant it. I don’t care what your reasons are, and I don’t care who does or doesn’t get a present. I’m tired, and I’m cold, and I feel like I’m going to puke. So take me home.”

Karag did as he was told. But he apparently couldn’t refrain from observing, a bit acidly, “Well, I’m not surprised your stomach is unsettled after all the cookies you ate. And I doubt the poison did anything to help. If only someone had warned you…”

Jack scowled at the other man but could think of no rejoinder – not least of all because the points were fair. He’d been warned, and he’d been foolish and greedy. So he sat there in sullen silence for a long space.

Use of his limbs returned to him by time they were about halfway back to the North Pole. That improved his mood, if only a little. He was still stiff and cold; but at least he wasn’t a stiff, cold heap of immovable flesh.

Estelle was waiting for them in the great, snowy courtyard of the ice palace. A kind of runway had been cordoned off for them with strings of Christmas lights, and she stood at the far end. Karag set down beside her. She greeted them warmly, then inquired, “Tell me, did you finish all the deliveries?”

“About half of them,” Jack admitted.

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