Controlling the Goddess Read online

  Controlling The Goddess

  Chronicles Of KieraFreya™ 02

  Michael Anderle

  This book is a work of fiction.

  All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Sometimes both.

  Copyright © 2019 Michael Anderle

  Cover by Mihaela Voicu http://www.mihaelavoicu.com/

  Cover copyright © LMBPN Publishing

  A Michael Anderle Production

  LMBPN Publishing supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.

  The distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

  LMBPN Publishing

  PMB 196, 2540 South Maryland Pkwy

  Las Vegas, NV 89109

  First US edition, July

  eBook ISBN: 978-1-64202-371-8

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Chapter 59

  Chapter 60

  Chapter 61

  Chapter 62

  Chapter 63

  Chapter 64

  Chapter 65

  Chapter 66

  Chapter 67

  Chapter 68

  Chapter 69

  Epilogue

  Creator Notes - Michael Anderle

  Books by Michael Anderle

  Connect with the author

  Controlling The Goddess Team

  Thanks to our JIT Readers

  Dave Hicks

  Deb Mader

  Diane L. Smith

  Dorothy Lloyd

  Jeff Eaton

  John Ashmore

  Kelly O’Donnell

  Larry Omans

  Misty Roa

  Peter Manis

  If We’ve missed anyone, please let us know!

  Editor

  The Skyhunter Editing Team

  To Family, Friends and

  Those Who Love

  To Read.

  May We All Enjoy Grace

  To Live The Life We Are

  Called.

  Chapter One

  “Come on, guys. We’re on fire!”

  A series of groans erupted from behind Chloe as she teetered on the edge of a rocky outcrop, waiting for the others to join her.

  “Really? That joke again?” Ben complained. “Seriously, Chloe, you need to work on your sense of humor. Maybe there’s a skill for it you can develop somehow. Aren’t you level 3 in charisma?”

  Ben trod carefully to the edge of the rock as the rocky platform floated and bobbed beneath them. Tag, Gideon, Ben, Jesepiah, and the shaman (in wisp form), huddled closely, each one not wanting to be the first to leap over the gap between where they stood and where Chloe was now.

  Why?

  Well, that part was easy. Raging hot lava flowed in the cracks between the platforms. Bubbling, boiling magma that made Chloe’s vision shimmer and warp through waves of heat. They were sweating, all of them, and had dark grubby patches on their faces. A line of similar looking platforms behind them allowed players some sort of safe passage across the molten landscape.

  “Level 4, actually,” Chloe said smugly. She touched her chin. “Not sure if that includes a humor subcategory or not, though. Doesn’t really matter at this point, does it? Now, take my hand and jump.”

  It had been this way for most of their journey. After the excitement of traveling through the desert beneath the sand on the back of the strange bird-like creatures they’d come to know as ‘scoopers,’ Chloe and the others had emerged from the sands dizzy with adrenaline.

  The birds had risen of their own accord, somehow able to navigate the endless desert without a compass or guide. The adventurers had dismounted, wobbling a little on their feet as they hit the sand, patted the birds’ bodies, and watched with heavy hearts as they buried themselves back beneath the sand and returned to the sherikans—the sand-shark race who lived in the Lost Palace of Irizeth beneath the desert floor.

  They had been transported to the edge of the desert, a place where the yellow sands blurred and melted into the blackened residue of the volcanic region of Bahrum—a desolate land of fire, rock, and lava.

  Their expedition began quickly, each adventurer wanting to spend as little time in the area as possible. However, that was proving a lot trickier than planned.

  Not only was the landscape a patchwork of fire, rocky platforms, and smoke, but they had already encountered several swarms of enemies in this supposedly “abandoned” region of the world. Tiny, rat-sized creatures that Chloe had identified with Creature Identification as “Lavarites” sprang from the flames, scurried up the rocks, and burned their ankles with microscopic nibbles.

  Ben took a deep breath, sweat pouring down his head, then leaped. Chloe reached out to catch him, but the graceful elf needed no assistance. He landed without a sound on the rock beside her.

  Gideon came next, teetering on the rock’s edge, glancing down at the magma below.

  “Don’t look down,” Chloe cautioned, feeling as though that was the hundredth time she’d said that to the nervous mage.

  “Bit late for that, Chloe,” Tag replied, stroking his thick beard and resting his hands on his hammer. Chloe had struggled with Tag the most. The smallest and heaviest of their group, each jump with Tag had felt like a workout, with the dwarf kicking and struggling as they all worked together to raise him to safety.

  Gideon leveled his eyes with Chloe. “Okay, here goes…”

  Like a rugby player taking deliberate, measured steps backward, he lined up his run. Puffing hard, he ran with gritty determination, taking off from one foot, screaming, and landing on the edge of the platform.

  He tottered backward, arms windmilling in the air before Chloe and Ben grabbed him under each arm and pulled him forward.

  Jesepiah waited patiently, crouching and lacing her fingers together to provide a launching platform for the dwarf. Since her resurre
ction after dying in the desert, she and Tag had been close. They made a cute couple, Chloe thought. Weird, but cute.

  Makes me want to throw up, KieraFreya said, her words audible only in Chloe’s head.

  Chloe grinned, amused by the spirit of the Goddess of Retribution that inhabited the elements of armor that she wore. The pieces of armor were the very reason they had come on this quest in the first place—so that Chloe could reunite all the lost fragments of KieraFreya’s armor and bring her essence back together.

  Oh, and to gain a crapload of experience points along the way.

  Tag jumped on the three-count, this latest launch far more successful than their first few attempts. On those, Tag had jumped on the down dip, rather than the up, meaning his legs had flailed through the air and he had landed on the rock on his face.

  If it hadn’t been for Chloe’s Healing Hands spell, Tag’s nose would still be a bloody mess right now. He hadn’t even thanked her, just grunted and got back in the saddle to try the jump again.

  This time, Tag timed it perfectly, springing into the air and extending his arms into a swan dive. Chloe, Gideon, and Ben caught him, the extra weight of the dwarf toppling them all back into a pile of people.

  “Hugs!” Tag puckered his lips. “Who wants hairy dwarf kisses?”

  Gideon, Ben, and Chloe protested, pushing the dwarf’s face away playfully and scrambling out from beneath him. By the time they were back on their feet and away from the giggling dwarf, Jesepiah had already made her jump and was watching them all with folded arms.

  “There are times when being the last one to enter a group makes you feel like an outsider,” she said, unable to hide the grin on her face. “Times you feel you could be closer to the others in the group. That wasn’t one of them.”

  “Don’t be jealous, girl.” Tag winked, approaching Jesepiah and hugging her around her ample waist. He looked hilarious, his hands unable to meet around her, his head coming up to the height of her breasts.

  Chloe wondered if that was one of the reasons he liked her. Because he could use her boobs as a headrest.

  “Finally,” Chloe said at last, turning with her hands on her hips and staring up at the volcano that sloped dramatically before them. The rock was black and igneous, with only a small pathway leading the way to the dark entrance of the cave that loomed halfway up like an open mouth. “Onward and upward!”

  “Can’t we just stop for a minute?” Jesepiah asked, patting Tag’s head with one hand. “Take a rest. We’ve come so far.”

  She waved an arm back the way they had come, the desert now so far beyond the horizon that it was almost as though it had never existed. She was unaware that she’d just gotten the attention of some small glowing creatures that now clambered out of the lava and onto the far edge of the platforms they had just come from.

  Chloe pointed their way. “I’d suggest gaining higher ground unless you’re in the market for another new pet to burp and care for.”

  Tag stuck up a middle finger at Chloe.

  Or at least, tried too.

  “No way.” Ben laughed. Chloe and Gideon, seeing what he was seeing, clutched their stomachs.

  “What?” Tag said, unwrapping himself from Jesepiah’s embrace and looking at his finger. “Oh, for…really?”

  Where Tag’s middle finger should have been proudly standing up on his hand, there was nothing but a strange gaggle of large pixels blurring the action.

  “I can’t even swear non-verbally? What kind of stupid game is this?” Tag grumbled, trying the other hand. One minute his finger was among the others, proudly erect, but as soon as he put down the other four, a blurry mass took its place.

  “Should we really be that surprised?” Chloe managed between bursts of laughter. “Praxis has tried to make this game family-friendly—as far as they can, anyway. Maybe it’s just for the viewers watching at home.”

  Chloe turned to the sky and gave a wave to the air as if she were on a game show and the cameras were watching her. “Hi, viewers!”

  Ben and Gideon looked around nervously to see what Chloe was waving at. They shrugged, dismissing the action, then returned their attention to the problem at hand.

  “Erm, guys?” Gideon said, the lavarites now hopping over to the next platform. One of the creatures coughed and spat a small fireball, which fell short of the group by a few feet.

  “Right,” Chloe said, turning her head up to the cave entrance. “Onward and upward!”

  The trek up the volcano was winding and endless. When they had made it high enough to see the rolling, bleak landscape stretching in every direction, Chloe felt her heart drop. The thought suddenly hit her: somehow, we’re going to have to travel back from this, too.

  How will it be much different than traveling here? KieraFreya asked. Every journey requires the trip before the destination is reached.

  Oh, so you’re a philosopher now? Chloe teased.

  You get a lot of time to think when you’re just being lugged around by a nobody on a quest. I don’t think I’ve said this already, but kudos on making it this far. I never thought you’d have it in you.

  Thanks for the vote of confidence…I think, Chloe replied.

  Can you blame me? A level 1 player finding the bracers of KieraFreya in the pit of a torturous, hidden dungeon? Call me skeptical, but I figured both you and I would be dead and out of this a long time ago.

  Chloe smiled, remembering the quest well. She tried to get a grip on time within the game, wondering how long ago that all had been. Was it a month? Six months? A year? The whole thing blurred into one big experience while she played within the full-immersion VR game.

  Mia had told her that time went double-speed in Obsidian compared to the time passing in reality, yet that still didn’t give her any bearings. Surely one of her siblings’ birthdays would be coming up soon? Henrietta and Henry? Hector? Harry? Harvey? What would their birthdays be like without her around?

  Probably no different, Chloe thought darkly, remembering Henrietta and Henry—her non-identical twin brother and sister—and their last birthday. She hadn’t even received an invitation. Chloe, the runt of the litter and the family disappointment, not even invited to her own siblings’ birthday party.

  Or maybe she had gotten one, but it had gotten lost.

  Maybe Chloe had lobbed the invitation into the bin during one of her alcohol-fueled Friday night furies, unable to stand being in the same room as all of her successful blood relatives while they looked down their nose at the one Lagarde who had yet to blossom into a glorious money-spewing flower on the family tree.

  Whatever had happened, she hardly thought she’d been missed. She wasn’t even sure if any of them cared where she was right now. The family psychologist, Demetri, had gotten Chloe an exclusive 2-year sign-off to immerse herself in the game and improve her confidence and wellbeing, but had any of them even asked where she was?

  Did any of them even care?

  Chloe shook her head, erasing the negative thoughts that began to circle. She could hear the others behind her huffing and grunting as they continued to walk, and that brought a smile to her face. These were her real friends. Her real family. They were all she needed.

  Something squawked above. Strange dark silhouettes of large birds circled overhead, reminding Chloe of the outlines of pterodactyls she had seen in kids’ books. She kept an eye on them, the birds showing no sign of attacking the group—yet—and by the time the sky had turned an even darker black, they had arrived at the cave entrance.

  They collapsed on the floor, each of them taking large gulps from the waterskins provided to them by the sherikans. Chloe propped her back against the wall, leaned her head back, and chewed on a biscuit, which had also been provided.

  Chloe closed her eyes, bringing up her menus into the dark behind her eyelids. She examined her character sheet, smiling with smug satisfaction at the values of her attributes and the selection of skills she had acquired throughout her journey thus far.

&nb
sp; Bio

  Character name: Chloe (click to select a new character name)

  Level: 11

  Class: Battle Mage (Novice)

  Race: Human

  Stats

  HP: 325/325

  MP: 540/540

  Stamina: 375/375

  Active effects: Null

  Boons: +15% luck to experimental magicks

  Attributes

  Strength: 22 (+32)

  Intelligence: 10 (+34)

  Dexterity: 20 (+34)

  Endurance: 25 (+29)

  Etheric Potential: 9 (+46)

  Skills

  Languages: Human

  Acrobatics: Lv 3

  Armed Combat: Lv 3

  Charismatic: Lv 4

  Cooking: Lv 2

  Crafting: Lv 1

  Creature Identification: Lv 4

  Dark Vision: Lv 4

  Dual Wielding: Lv 2

  Experimental: Lv 1

  Fishing: Lv 1