by Lucas Flint
“Not very fun,” said a voice behind me I did not recognize. “Or safe.”
A different sword appeared against my neck and I froze just as stiffly as Aeolus. I wanted to turn my head around to see who had gotten the jump on me, but I was too afraid of getting my throat slit or my head cut off to even attempt it.
“One false move, traitor, and you can join Holly in death,” said the voice behind me threateningly.
With a gulp, I said, “I wouldn’t be so cocky if I were you. I can and will slit your leader’s throat if you try to hurt me. I could probably do it faster than you can kill me, which is to say that you really need to get lost.”
“Then it appears we are at a stalemate,” said the voice behind me. “Not a problem. Better a stalemate than to allow Chief Aeolus to die such an ignoble death.”
“I wasn’t going to kill him,” I snapped. “I just wanted to talk to him. That’s all.”
“It looks like you’re trying to kill him to me,” said the voice behind me. “Which, I suppose, you can do if you want, but you’ll be joining him very shortly after that and then Chief Aeolus can avenge his own death in the afterlife. How does that sound to you?”
I bit my lower lip. This was not the kind of situation I wanted to find myself in. If I killed Aeolus, this guy would kill me in no time. But if I let Aeolus go, I would still be killed. Either way, it looked like I was going to die, which really wasn’t that bad when you considered I was in a game, but it would make it harder to find Mecha Knight.
“Cyclone,” said Aeolus underneath me suddenly. “Let the boy go.”
“What?” said Cyclone, who must have been the guy threatening to slit my throat. “What do you mean, ‘let the boy go’? He will kill you if I do that.”
“No,” said Aeolus in a heavy voice of resignation. “I don’t think he actually will. Even if he does, this stalemate cannot last forever. It must end one way or another, at least if we’re going to save our Tribe, our people, and all of Keoria, anyway. If I must die, then that task will fall on your shoulders, Cyclone. And if I must die, I will be more than happy to do it.”
It amazed me how calm Aeolus was in the face of certain death. Death for NPCs was literal death. If I killed Aeolus, he would be gone forever. He wouldn’t respawn. That he was willing to risk his own life for a greater purpose made me admire him, even though I knew he was just a really advanced computer program that wasn’t actually real.
After a few tense seconds, Cyclone pulled his sword away from my neck. At the same time, I let go of Aeolus and took several steps away from the two Birdmen as Aeolus rose to his feet, dusting his dark feathers off.
I recognized Cyclone as soon as I saw him. He was one of the two Elite Birdman Bodyguards I had seen on my last trip to the Vaultwork. I did not see the other one, Tornado, anywhere, but I recognized Cyclone’s silver armor no problem.
“Chief Aeolus, are you well?” said Cyclone, looking at his leader with a serious expression. “Did the traitor harm you?”
“Not significantly, no,” said Aeolus, shaking his head. He looked over at me with a grim expression. “But he did best me in combat, even if it was with a fairly dirty trick. Besides, after seeing how Holly treated him, I am starting to doubt my theory that he is a traitor.”
I relaxed a little when Aeolus said that, but not entirely. I had no idea whether he really meant that or if he was just saying that to lower my guard. Best to keep up my defenses until I could be sure.
“I take it you guys are finally willing to answer my questions?” I said, holding the Cannibal Sword out before me.
Aeolus nodded. “Yes, because it appears you don’t understand all of the changes that have occurred to Keoria since you and your friends departed months ago.”
“You guess?” I said sardonically. “Okay. First question: How did Holly come back? And why are there multiple versions of her?”
Aeolus folded his arms in front of his chest. “The answer to those questions is the same: Keoria is dying.”
CHAPTER NINE
I frowned. Keoria was the name of the Vaultwork’s fictional setting. From what I had seen of it, Keoria was basically your generic Middle Ages high fantasy setting, with little to set it apart from other games like it. It seemed like a pretty unoriginal setting to me, but then again, Dad, who was the creator of the Vaultwork, was not exactly known for his vivid imagination.
“Did you say that Keoria is dying?” I said. “What do you mean by that?”
“What else do you think he means?” Cyclone snapped. He gestured at the sky. “The land is dying. Whole towns have been ruined and abandoned. The wind blows weakly and the gods no longer hear our prayers. It is all dying … and it’s your fault.”
“My fault?” I said. “What do you mean my fault? I haven’t been here in months.”
Cyclone opened his beak to respond, but then Aeolus raised his hand and said, “Peace, Cyclone. Yelling and screaming at each other will solve nothing. If we are to solve our problems, we must learn to speak rationally to each other.”
Cyclone closed his beak, but I could tell he still wanted to yell at me. I was perfectly happy to return the favor, but at the same time, I realized that Aeolus was right about the pointlessness of screaming and yelling at each other.
So I said, “So, Keoria is dying. What does that mean, exactly?”
Aeolus sighed and glanced at the sky. “Allow me to start at the beginning. Three months ago, you and your outworlder friends came to Keoria on a mission to kill the Dark Sorceress Holly, whose presence was corrupting the land. You were very successful in that mission, killing Dark Sorceress Holly, as well as saving our children from her grasp.”
I nodded. No matter how much time passed, I would never forget that particular adventure I had with Bait, Switch, and Mecha Knight. “I remember. I also remember that Mecha Knight and Olga said they were going to stay behind to look for any more threats in Keoria.”
“That they did,” said Aeolus. His eyes narrowed. “Yet not long after you left, horrible things started happening. Rivers began to dry up. Mountains caught fire. Forests withered and died. The wind … is still here, but much weaker than it normally is. Strange distortions in reality have been seen everywhere and even the sky flickers every now and then, as if Holly’s corrupting presence is still here.”
It sounded to me like the Vaultwork was glitching out, which, if true, was strange, because the only reason the Vaultwork glitched before was due to Holly’s existence. “Well, Holly is back, isn’t she? You just killed her. Wouldn’t that solve all of your problems?”
Aeolus laugh. “Actually, Swordsman, Holly is not back. We did not kill her.”
My frown deepened. “Can’t tell if you’re lying or just trolling me, because I am pretty sure that person who tried to kill me earlier was Holly.”
Aeolus shook his head. “However much it may have resembled Holly, the fact is that that thing is not her.”
“Then what is it?”
“A copy,” said Aeolus. “A Doppelganger. According to Birdman legend, Doppelgangers are identical copies of dead mages. They are echoes, in a sense, of the original person, and usually much weaker echoes, which is how we were able to dispatch the Holly Doppelgangers so quickly and easily.”
“If that had been the real Holly, we would all be dead right now,” said Cyclone grimly. “Truthfully, though, I almost miss the Dark Sorceress. She is far more preferable to the current monster ravaging Keoria.”
I was curious to know about the ‘real’ monster, but I found Aeolus’ explanation of the Doppelgangers curious. “So when Holly died, her Doppelgangers rose in her place?”
“Exactly,” said Aeolus. “It took even us by surprise. And, although Doppelgangers are always weaker than the original, that does not mean they are harmless. They usually rely on sheer numbers to overwhelm their foes, and if killed themselves, can always come back. These ones, in particular, have given us trouble because we believe they are working for a higher power.�
��
“A higher power?” I repeated. “What higher power?”
“I will get to that,” said Aeolus, “but know that Holly’s Doppelgangers are perhaps the least dangerous problem facing the land. The more dangerous threat is one you are even more familiar with than Holly: The mage who goes by the name Mecha Knight.”
“Say what?” I said. “I remember you mentioning that Mecha Knight was going on a rampage, but I didn’t know what you meant by that.”
“Allow me to explain.” Aeolus scratched his beak. “Not long after you outworlders left Keoria, your friend, Mecha Knight, and the fairy Olga appeared in our village. We recognized the two of them as being your allies, so we were happy to let them stay for as long as they wanted. We didn’t know their true intentions, however, until later that night.”
Cyclone looked down at his feet. “Mecha Knight suddenly went on a rampage. He attacked and killed everyone, burning the village down with his evil magic. He killed Tornado, who tried to stop him, but underestimated his power and fell by his sheer might. Chief Aeolus and I would have suffered the same fate if not for Tornado’s sacrifice, which allowed us to escape Height without being seen.”
“He burned the whole village down?” I said in a surprised voice. “Were there any other survivors, other than you two?”
Aeolus shook his head again. “No. We tried to save as many as we could, but we only managed to rescue a handful of eggs. Everyone else was killed. Mecha Knight left no survivors, not even among the children.”
I gulped. Again, I was well aware that the Birdman Tribe were nothing more than ones and zeroes in a computer server somewhere, but it was hard not to feel horrified by Aeolus and Cyclone’s tale. It was probably due to how real the game was. It felt almost exactly as real as real life, although I had a feeling that the destruction of Keoria would have real world effects that definitely would not be in our favor.
“This is truly the Birdman Tribe’s darkest hour,” said Cyclone. “Not even in the days of Chief Wind and the war against the Lizard Warriors have we seen such senseless chaos and brutality. Indeed, if we hadn’t saved those Eggs, I would say our people have been entirely extinguished from the face of the earth.”
“The same, unfortunately, cannot be said for our mortal enemies, the Lizard Warriors,” said Aeolus. “Mecha Knight went to their homeland, the underground city of Scale, and slaughtered them all there as well. From what we have gathered, Mecha Knight is going around Keoria slaughtering all of the races and peoples which live on this continent.”
“And he’s been doing this for three months?” I said in disbelief.
“With little resistance,” said Aeolus, “aside from our own. Even the gods have been unable to stop him. Our god Feath appeared during the slaughter but ended up getting slaughtered himself and his weapon, the Staff of Air, has ended up in Mecha Knight’s possession, making him more powerful than ever.”
I ran a hand through my hair. “So you’re telling me that even your gods can’t stop him? I knew Mecha Knight was powerful, but this is just ridiculous.”
“It isn’t ridiculous to us,” said Cyclone bitterly. “It’s more tragic and painful than anything.”
“But why?” I said. “Do you guys know why Mecha Knight suddenly turned into a psycho all of a sudden?”
Aeolus and Cyclone exchanged looks for a moment as if I had just asked a very sensitive question. It made me wonder what kind of answer I was going to get if they had to share a brief look first.
Then Aeolus looked at me and said, “We were not entirely sure at first, but after seeing what else has happened over the last three months, we have a theory. It may not be entirely true, but it’s the best explanation we have at the moment.”
“Tell it to me,” I said. “I’m all ears.”
Aeolus sighed. “Very well. We believe that your friend Mecha Knight has come under the possession of the Apocalyptic God, Abaddon, and that the world as we know it is about to end.”
CHAPTER TEN
“Abaddon,” I said. “I recognize that name. Holly said it was the name of her master.”
Of course, I knew that ‘Abaddon’ was just another one of Seth Richards’ aliases, but seeing as Aeolus and Cyclone probably didn’t know who Seth even was, I didn’t bring that up.
“That is correct,” said Aeolus. “Holly’s master and the dark god which now possess Mecha Knight are one and the same. It is Abaddon who is a threat to our world and it is Abaddon who we must defeat if we are to have any chance of saving not merely the Birdman Tribe, but the entire continent of Keoria.”
“Mind sharing Abaddon’s lore with me?” I said. “You called him the Apocalyptic God. What does that mean?”
“It’s an old legend,” said Aeolus. “Legend says that in the end of days, the god known as Abaddon—whose first defeat by the other gods resulted in the creation of Keoria as we know it—will break free from his prison under the earth and ravage the land, bringing about its end. That is why Abaddon is called the Apocalyptic God because he can be truly described as apocalypse incarnate.”
I stroked my chin. I wondered if Seth intentionally chose the name Abaddon in order to strike fear into the hearts of the game’s characters or if this was a freaky coincidence. Given Seth’s intelligence, I was willing to say the first was more likely. Either way, I wondered if it meant that Seth was in the game and, if so, whether I would need to defeat him like an average boss or if there was something else I needed to do to stop him.
“And what about Olga?” I said. “The fairy?”
“We do not know where she is,” said Aeolus. “After the destruction of our village, we did not see her, so we do not know if she is also serving Abaddon or if she is even still alive.”
That wasn’t good. Olga had been a valuable ally in our fight against Holly. If she was no longer on our side, or even worse, dead, then I was even less optimistic about our chances of success than before. I just had to hope that Seth hadn’t destroyed her, although her disappearance did not bode well for us.
“Thanks for the information,” I said. I folded my arms in front of my chest, thinking. “It sounds to me like what we need to do is find Mecha Knight and find out how to get him back on our side.”
Aeolus and Cyclone exchanged wary looks with one another as if I had just suggested we jump off a building with their wings tied together.
“What?” I said. “Doesn’t that make sense?”
“To some degree, outworlder,” said Aeolus hesitantly, “but—”
“Mecha Knight is an unstoppable abomination,” Cyclone interrupted. “When he was possessed by Abaddon, he got a significant boost in power and strength. Even an Elite Birdman Bodyguard like myself would never attack him head on, at least by myself. An outworlder like yourself wouldn’t last even one second against him in a straight fight.”
I frowned. “Even if Mecha Knight is powerful and crazy, he’s still my friend. I came here specifically to find him and bring him back home. Ain’t no way I’m going to turn tail and run just because he happens to have lost his mind.”
“So you intend to save him?” said Cyclone in disbelief. “Are you mad or just stupid?”
“Cyclone,” said Aeolus firmly. “Hold your tongue and be more deliberate in your words, especially when addressing important allies.”
Cyclone shut his mouth, but I could tell that didn’t change his attitude toward me in the slightest. That was fine because I didn’t particularly care for his opinion of me anyway.
“I know how scared you guys are, but we’ve got no choice,” I said. “Besides, if I can stop Mecha Knight, then maybe I can also save Keoria from utter destruction. It might be too late for your Tribe, but it might not be too late for the rest of the continent.”
“That’s the problem, outworlder,” said Aeolus with a sigh. “The same legends that say that Abaddon will destroy the world? They do not say anything about anyone—outworlder or Keorian—stopping him. Once Abaddon frees himself, the whole world is d
oomed to destruction.”
Aeolus sounded very serious when he said that, with not even a hint of a joke in his eyes. It made me feel a little nervous, because if he could speak so confidently about this, then maybe he was right. I suppose I didn’t have to save Keoria—I just needed Mecha Knight—but I had a feeling that Abaddon was trying to destroy the Vaultwork for a reason, and probably not a good reason. Besides, Keoria was just too real for me to immediately dismiss as ‘just’ a game. I couldn’t let myself just shrug my shoulders and act like nothing mattered, especially to Aeolus and Cyclone, to whom Keoria actually was their whole world.
“Well, there’s no way for us to know for sure until we go out and actually meet Mecha Knight,” I said. “If you guys are too afraid to search for him, fine. I’ll go and find him on my own, no matter how long it takes.”
I turned around to leave, but then I heard Aeolus say behind me, “Wait a second, outworlder.”
I looked over my shoulder at the two Birdmen. Aeolus had stepped forward, holding out his hand toward me, while Cyclone stayed where he was, his hand resting on the handle of his sword like he was ready for combat.
“What is it?” I said.
Aeolus lowered his hand. “We’ve decided to come with you. We do know where Mecha Knight is right now and can take you directly to him if you want.”
“Really?” I said. “What caused the change of heart?”
Aeolus looked up at the sky again, as if he was seeing something I couldn’t. “It may be that our god is dead and the world is at an end, but it does not mean we must give up. If there’s even a slight chance we can save Keoria—even the lowest odds of success—then it is my duty, both as the Chief of the Birdman Tribe and an inhabitant of the continent of Keoria, to do what I can to save it. And if that means giving up my life, then so be it.”