by Tao Wong
But there was something strange there. Something… I cocked my head as I realized that somehow, I’d heard those words. In all the noise. I’d heard…
Even through the glow of the protective ward, I spotted the jinn. Lily offered me a half-smile.
A wish. Simple.
“I wish…”
What?
I didn’t know.
If I knew, I’d have made the wish before. To ask them gone? For what? Another day, another painful few hours. My enemies wanted me dead and would take it out on me and my friends if I wished their deaths. Their destruction. I had no time to come up with anything perfect, anything smart. No time to game the system, to figure out the right wording, the right way to do this. No time…
A wish. A single wish to make everything right. To fix… everything.
It was impossible. It always had been. That was why I’d never made the wish. How could a single wish fix anything? A single action? It can’t. Nothing can.
Because the ills of the world, of existence were greater than any single action, any person.
All you can do was hope. And trust. That those around you would do the best they could.
“That you had my wish to use as you see fit, Lily.”
A single wish. And trust. That was all there was. That was all there ever was.
Chapter 19
The moment the wish was made, silence spread across the entire battlefield of the room. It was not some weird movie effect, one of those unlikely silences that enveloped a battlefield because the director wanted to showcase an important moment. Lily flexed and suddenly, no one could move. A fraction of a second later, combatants were pulled apart, bullets moving through mid-air fell to the floor with a tinkle of falling rain, and Mana that had been gathering stilled.
“Well. That’s enough of that,” Lily said, straightening. When the troll tried something, she flicked a hand and squashed it against the wall, where it leaked blood. “Hush. All of you. This is my moment. And I won’t have it spoiled.”
“Lily?” I said, standing as I looked at the jinn, who seemed so different now.
Lily turned to look at me, no longer looking like a cute but somewhat scared gamer girl but an imperious queen. She was even taller than me now. As I glanced down, I realized why. The jinn was levitating, adding a couple of inches to her height. A snap of her fingers and the hoodie disappeared, as well as the slacks, and a regal gold-and-green gown appeared along with glittering jewelry.
“Much better. You really were slow. But you managed to do it,” Lily said, looking at me.
“How—how are you able to do this?” I said, looking at the still-frozen fighters. At Alexa, who was taking the intermission in fighting to bandage her thigh. “You shouldn’t be able to do this. The rules—”
“Are made by me. I just bent them,” Lily said.
In answer, another notification appeared.
Hidden Quest Completed: Give the Jinn a Wish
Rewards: ???
“What? That’s not how that works. You always indicated what the quest rewards are!” I protested.
“Not always. Sometimes rewards are hidden if you haven’t completed the prerequisites,” Lily snapped at me. For a second, I saw my friend in the imperious supernatural queen, then she was back as she turned toward one of the sidhe that was rubbing at an amulet. “Stop that. It will not work, but it is annoying.”
The sidhe stopped, a resigned look in its eyes. “What do you intend to do, jinn?”
“Do? Hmmm… so much. So very much. But I should finish my wish. Then I’ll deal with you.” Lily turned to me and gestured.
The ring on my finger flew from my hand—taking a little bit of skin with it, such was the force of its movement. The ring hovered next to Lily, glowing before her. Another gesture and the glow expanded, resolving into runic script, the packed-together spell formulas becoming legible as she kept expanding the script. It took up the entire room, and we still had to squint to make out even a portion of the script itself. Considering a single rune could be considered a sentence, the complexity of the enchantment packed into the ring made my head hurt.
“Incredible,” Caleb breathed, his eyes flicking as he took in what he could.
“Are you freeing yourself, lady of fire and smoke?” the Nun'Yunu'Wi said, bowing deep from its waist. “It was only what I wanted to do. To free such a magnificent lady.”
“Do you know, it’s been tried before?” Lily said. “Wishing me free? It was one of the first things my followers tried.” There was silence as Lily flicked a finger and a section of the spell formula was highlighted. “But they were smart. That is one of many things that cannot be wished for. Doing so forces me to end their lives.”
The Nun'Yunu'Wi froze at her words while the Knights relaxed a little, the hard tension in their bodies disappearing. Relaxed, because the threat that was the jinn was gone—supposedly. Or at least, her being freed. Though I wondered if they considered—or cared—that their lives might be entirely forfeit at this point.
“What are you going to do?” I said as I hobbled over to Alexa and bent, taking hold of the end of the bandage that she’d been struggling to get wrapped properly.
The ex-Initiate flashed me a smile while I took over, and she found a healing potion in her jacket liner to chug. I focused on the bandage, noting how the blood still leaked. I didn’t want to look at Lily, at the person I thought had been my friend. And who now looked or talked nothing like her. Who, I dreaded, might have tricked me.
“Mmmm… I cannot wish myself free. I cannot wish the stone apart. And my powers are still contained by this ring,” Lily said, tapping her lips. “It’s… annoying. Simple solutions have been blocked off for a long time. But I’ve had thousands of years to think about it. To test theories. To have other ring bearers try out other options.” Lily let the silence grow. “To learn.”
For two such innocuous words, they sent a shiver down all our backs.
Lily turned, looking around. Her gaze was distant, as if she was seeing things that I couldn’t. “Well. I guess I should sort this out first. Give you your reward.”
There was something in her voice that made my eyes widen.
“Stop!” Caleb shouted, lurching forward a half-inch before the spells holding him froze him.
I did not understand what he was screaming about, could not. Until I felt pain all over, all at once. Pain that came not just from my body but from my soul. I screamed, and then my body came apart.
***
I came back to my senses, still screaming, in a clearing, a lookout above the city. I was in the same position, hands splayed as if they were wrapping another person’s leg. My chest heaved as I ran out of air, and I drew another breath to scream again. Only to find that I wasn’t hurting. Not at all.
“Wha…?” I looked around at the slow-setting sun. At the white, fluffy clouds and the peaceful blue of the sky. The green of the grass, all the greener now after hours of harsh white light in a grey, concrete basement. Smells—normal, human, natural smells. And to my Mana Sense, the deep, deep upwelling of power coming from beneath me as multiple ley lines crossed over one another.
“There. That should do it,” Lily said beside me.
I blinked, looking at the jinn. “Lily?”
“Sorry. I’m stretching the rules, but I need to make this wish soon,” Lily said. “I’ve healed you. Your friends are back where they are meant to be. If this fails… well. You should run.”
I nodded, knowing she was right. We’d had plans for if we had survived. If the ring was… well. Where was the ring? And then I saw it—around her finger.
“Time to try again,” Lily said, raising the hand with the ring on it. The jinn stared at the ring, her voice far away as she contemplated things I could not hope to envision. “The problem with enchantments, no matter how powerful, no matter how smart their creators were, is that they are static. And.
“I.
/> “Am.
“Not.”
Light. A soundless thunder, one that shook my chest and newly healed ear drums. That stole my breath and sent my Mana Senses abuzz. I felt it, the war between her and the ring. Her strength, pitched directly at the ring, changing it. Altering it. Flexing the spell and the enchantment.
I could not tell what it was she did, though I knew she was trying to twist the enchantment itself. Perhaps she was trying to break it, because I felt the strain that what Lily was doing was bringing to reality itself. I felt the power that she drew from the ley lines to assault the ring with, and I felt how it made my senses hurt, how the Mana conduits in my body expanded and soaked up the energy.
Rather than risk being burnt out, knowing I could do little, I retreated. Back and back again, even as Lily lit a beacon to anyone in the world that something momentous, something world-changing was happening.
No surprise that others came. A stray breeze, and a man with an eyepatch on a horse was there. A rumble of earth, and a stone rose. A stone that had hints of someone, something trapped within. The earth rippled, and from a crack that smelled of brimstone, a horned, goat-footed creature walked. Clouds gathered and formed more faces, some with long whiskers and wrinkled brows, another pudgy, long-lobed, and laughing. More. So many more gathered.
Just a single presence was enough to overload my senses. I could not stare at any one of them, could not hear them. Their presence was like a thousand pounds on my chest, forcing me to gasp as I tried to breathe. Tried… and failed.
Then it was gone. A delicate hand was on my shoulder, pushing away the presences. I turned and saw a fair lady clad in white robes who floated on a lotus blossom to place a hand on my shoulder. The smile on her face was kind and gentle, a promise of safety and mercy.
“Thank—thank you,” I said once I could breathe again.
“No thanks is required.” But as polite as she was, as nice as she was, I could tell her attention was not on me.
So I turned back to the show.
Not a single personage, not a single player moved to interfere. Where Lily stood fighting her battle, none took part. She struggled against the binding that held her still alone. Pitting thousands of years of knowledge against the spell, pitting everything she had against it. Altering rune by rune. Forcing a change. And all the while, the ring glowed and power welled.
For hours she stood there, power welling, the center of attention. Hours where, to mortal eyes, nothing changed. And yet we stood in silent vigil. The sun set, the moon rose, and still she stood.
And then, as suddenly as it had started, the Mana swell disappeared — as did Lily. One moment, she was there, standing by herself, then she was gone. The sudden change made me lurch forward as if a rug had been pulled out from underneath me.
A simultaneous exhalation of relieved tension rose from those around. A few of the personages looked at one another. Some glared. Others grouped up, chatting. Most just disappeared, including the lady who had saved me. I was not surprised. She had much to do. And what she did, she did not do for gratitude.
I stood there. Ringless. Alone. As I reached out to that bundle of power where my character sheet and my party interface was, I found it gone. Empty.
Truly alone then.
Epilogue
“I said no, Caleb.” I cradled the phone to my head, while I attempted to juggle the call, my keys, and takeout as I stood before the door to my apartment. My new apartment, one that I’d found after spending over a month looking for.
The door was yanked open, revealing Alexa. She limped back to couch. “Is that Caleb? Tell him no. And I hope you bought extra egg rolls!”
“See? Even Alexa says no. I’m not joining the Council, no matter what they say.” I listened to Caleb as I kicked the door closed and walked to the kitchen to drop off the food. “I don’t really have that much to show them anyway. Lily left me with the spells she’d given me, but that was it. I don’t have any more lost arts to offer.” I listened a little more, nodding to his words and rolling my eyes as I sat the takeout boxes down on the kitchen counter. “Yeah, I’ll see you Saturday for game night. Byyyye!”
Heaving a sigh of relief, I made sure the call was killed then stuffed the phone back in my front pocket. In short order, I had a pair of heaping plates of food that I carried over to Alexa.
“Think they believe you?” Alexa asked.
“Of course not. But without the ring, I’m just a little more powerful Mage. Not worth actually fighting for.” I shrugged and handed Alexa her plate. “So long as I avoid the guys who are still holding a little grudge over who I killed, I should be good. Thankfully, they were all low-Level guys like me.”
We ate for a bit, contemplating the fallout right after the fight. There’d been quite a few glares and shouted recriminations, but considering the fact that an all powerful jinn was loose, people had better things to do than throw accusations around. There were defences to raise, people to warn. In the chaos, we’d managed to sneak away.
“Do you miss it?” Alexa asked, raising an eyebrow.
“What? My powers?” I shook my head. “It was fun, playing the game. Making my life a game. But the consequences…” I recalled my family, the shell-shocked look on their faces when I met them. The screaming and tantrums. My father refusing to speak with me because of the way I’d put them all in danger. And my friends – injured, outcast, lost. “I think I like my games virtual.”
Alexa gave me a half-smile, a trace of sadness settling around us as we remembered our friend.
“How’s the leg?” I asked to change the topic. A few days ago, we’d been running another assignment, taking on a risky hunt for an escaped min-hydra pet. Not only had we been required to find it, we had to return it unharmed. Which meant Alexa had to get close – resulting in the bite. Unfortunately, hydra venom wasn’t something you wanted a healing potion on.
“Better. The venom is mostly gone,” Alexa said. “Another day and we could probably use a healing potion to fix this.”
“Good, good.” I nodded.
“You just want me to get back to earning my share.”
“Well, we do have a few debts…”
Patching our lives together after the incident meant that we’d had to explain a “gas explosion” in our apartment as well as replace all our belongings. Not surprisingly, our renter’s insurance hadn’t paid out—what with us disappearing for months after the explosion. If not for some minor tweaking by a few friends, we would be in even worse trouble with the authorities.
As it was, we were just scorned and in debt.
“You okay, Henry?” Alexa said, eyes narrowing.
“I’m fine. Why?”
“You bought enough for three.” Alexa pointed at the kitchen.
I turned, staring at the takeout. “No, that’s for… after.”
“Uh huh,” Alexa said.
Thankfully she decided not to pursue the matter. Not as if we hadn’t had this talk before. In strained silence, we focused on dinner. It was part habit – buying enough for three – and part… hope? Wish? It was a fool’s hope.
***
Starlight twinkled as it entered our window, playing across the coffee table. In her bedroom, Alexa slept, thanks to the drugs for the pain from the wound that refused to heal fully. I sat in the living room, a hand caressing the gaming laptop. The one I’d bought a week ago and I’d never even cracked open.
“Stupid. It’s just a game…” I swore at myself, fed up, and finally cracked it open. I tapped the power button and sat back, watching the computer boot up. Watched it get ready.
A feeling of dread, of fear washed over me. And even as it asked me to input a password, I reached forward to slam it shut.
“Hey! I was playing that.”
“No, you’re not. I don’t even have any games downloaded,” I retorted automatically. And then froze.
Slowly, I turned sideways to see a familiar figure
seated beside me. A figure in a hoodie and jeans, brown hair escaping around the raised hood. A mocking half-smile on her face and a familiar ring on her hand.
“Hey, Henry. Long time no see.”
###
The End
Author’s Note
Ending this series was a bittersweet experience. I kind of knew this as going to happen, ever since I wrote the first book. Many of the events changed on me, the timing and the format, but the ending – with Lily being freed was always going to happen.
This is my first series that I’ve ever written ‘The End’ for. First series to put to bed, to set aside. Are there stories still in this universe? Yes. But, this is a good place to let Henry, Lily and Alexa stay. At least for a while.
I learnt a lot writing this series. A Gamer’s Wish first released in March 2018. It’s been nearly two years since then, and it’s been a learning experience as I have written and developed more. Henry’s story came from a single question – what happens when a gamer gets a magic ring and wishes for magic? Some characters, well, they made themselves known with a spearpoint and just refused to leave. Others faded away off, their part played. But the series and the characters will live on.
Really, I’m not sure what else to say but I hope you enjoyed the series. It was fun writing and one day, if enough people ask for it, I might write a sequel.
In the meantime, I have other series including my A Thousand Li (my cultivation xianxia series), the Adventures on Brad (a more traditional LitRPG fantasy) and the System Apocalypse (a post-apocalyptic scifi-fantasy LitRPG). Book one of each series follow:
A Thousand Li: The First Step (Book 1 of the A Thousand Li series)
A Healer’s Gift (Book 1 of the Adventures on Brad)