by David Petrie
Corvin’s eyes locked with Kegan’s, then fell to Piper.
She grabbed each of them by the shoulder and yanked Corvin toward her so she could reach her house ring without letting go. “Ready.”
“Okay, I made it to a washroom. Try to keep quiet. There’s a guard just outside the door,” Farn warned.
Then the familiar darkness of the void between spaces claimed them. It was immediately followed by a blinding light, taking a few seconds for Corvin’s eyes to adjust. At least the stick digging into his thigh was gone.
A few stalls made of dark wood lined one side of the opulent room. The other wall contained a row of sinks set into the surface of a floor to ceiling mirror. Small chandeliers hung from above.
Piper took in the room, her eyes growing wider with every second. “This is the most beautiful bathroom I have ever seen.”
“Not quite.” Kegan pushed open a stall, revealing an empty space with a quick-change panel attached to one wall. “No toilets.”
“Oh that makes sense–” Piper only got out a few words before vanishing.
Farn appeared, standing in her place almost instantly. She wasted no time, pulling the string of beads from her wrist as one faded from black to red. She slipped the bracelet over Corvin’s hand.
Her vest looked wet, like something had spilled down her front. She pushed into one of the stalls only to emerge a second later, dry as a bone. “Okay, there’s a guard outside waiting to take me back to the party, so I can’t stay, but here’s what I know so far. There are guards positioned throughout the palace. I don’t know how many, but at least some are players. I think the rest are NPCs. They all wear the same gear, so it’s hard to tell which is which.”
“That’s it?” Kegan threw up is arms.
“Sorry, I’ve only been outside the ballroom for five minutes. I didn’t have time to see much. The rest is up to you.” Farn opened one of the stalls. “Hide in here, just in case the guard looks in the washroom.”
Corvin stepped inside. Kegan shoved in behind him.
Farn whispered a last, “Good luck,” then closed the stall. Her footsteps headed for the door.
“You dry now?” a masculine voice came from outside.
Farn gave an awkward laugh. “Yes, much better. Thank you for letting me freshen–” The door cut off the rest of her words, leaving only muffled voices coming from the hall. Eventually, silence took over.
Corvin waited another uncomfortable minute with Kegan’s elbow jabbing him in his side. It was just as bad as the stick from before.
“You know, we could have hidden in different stalls.”
Kegan nodded. “This is true.”
“Okay, I think we can get out now.”
The pair shoved each other out of the cramped space.
“Hey, have you ever been inside a lady’s room?” Kegan fixed his hair in the enormous mirror.
“No. Have you?”
“Once or twice. Kinda like this actually. Very clean. Just stalls and sinks.”
“Good to know.” Corvin ignored the subject altogether. “Let’s check out the hall.”
They poked their heads out from the doorway. Thankfully, the lighting was dimmer than in the washroom, no doubt to add to the relaxed atmosphere of the palace.
A row of thick pillars ran down the center of the hallway, supporting a vaulted ceiling. The marble floor was polished to a perfect shine. Corvin could almost see himself in it, even in the low lighting.
A pair of guards patrolled the hallway further down.
“You think they’re players or bots?” Kegan kept his voice low.
Corvin watched as they walked away. “They’re bots.”
“What makes you so sure?”
“Their stride is too even.” He took a breath and snuck over to the nearest pillar. Kegan followed.
Unlike the Leaf class, which was designed to move from one sniper’s perch to another, Blades were not known for their stealth abilities. No, they were more of a frontline class. All damage and speed. Fortunately, between the shadows and the sound of the orchestra, Corvin had little trouble staying hidden.
Kegan placed a finger to his forehead and whispered the words, “Light Foot,” to reduce the sound of his movement. Then he slipped ahead to the next pillar and beckoned to say the coast was clear.
Corvin shifted his weight and moved in a low crouch, making sure to hold his sword with one hand to keep its sheath from tapping against the floor. From there, they followed the pair of guards, moving from pillar to pillar, until they approached a large stairway protected by another set of Berwyn’s bots.
Each flight of stairs wrapped around a formation of white crystal. A gentle glow came from within.
“We must be at the south corner of the palace,” Corvin whispered from the shadow of a pillar. “I think that’s the base of one of the obelisks that we saw from outside.”
Kegan mouthed the word 'wow'. “It must go all the way down to the ground before rising through up through the roof.”
Corvin pointed one finger up. “Speaking of the roof, I think it might be our best bet at finding a place to hide. Provided we can get past those guards.”
The sentries faced outward almost unflinching, both Blade classes from the look of it. Pretty standard for basic melee enemies.
“We could just kill them,” Kegan suggested.
Of course, they would have to hide the bodies since the corpses of guard type enemies didn’t turn to bones like monsters did. As long as they could hide the evidence before another patrol came by, the guards should just respawn a little later with no memory of being killed
Corvin shook his head. “No, this is a palace, not a dungeon. Killing them might trigger some kind of alert. Best not to take chances.” He examined the two men. “Okay, most enemies have a cone of vision, right? So if we hug the wall, we might be able to get behind them and on to the stairs without them noticing.”
“That’s not a great plan, but it’s a plan.” Kegan shrugged and began to creep forward.
That was when one of the guards reached into his pouch and pulled out a player journal.
Corvin’s eyes widened, and his fuzzy black ears flipped back. He ducked his head on instinct.
Kegan turned with panic in his eyes, crouching only ten feet away from a completely human guard that they had assumed had been NPCs like rest. The Leaf mouthed the words ‘holy freaking crap'. All it would take was for one of the guards to glance in his direction.
At least with NPCs, they might have had the option of taking them out, but players would probably remember getting killed when they logged back in. Corvin resisted the urge to scramble back behind the pillar, and instead, crept in reverse as quietly as he could.
Kegan did the same, finding safety back in the shadows.
Then right on cue, another patrol entered the hallway back where they had started.
Corvin took in a sharp breath that froze in his throat. They couldn’t go forward or backward, and in just a moment, the patrol would be on top of them.
Kegan slinked up against the nearest pillar, glancing around. He stabbed a finger up at the ceiling, then dropped his hands and interlocked his fingers.
Corvin looked up to where the top of the pillar connected to the vaulted ceiling. A ridge of decorative stonework ran along every edge, almost like handholds. He nodded and placed his foot in the Leaf’s hands. It wasn’t easy, but a few seconds later, he had all four limbs hooked to the carved ceiling.
Kegan reapplied his Light Foot skill and climbed up behind him. He hugged the top of the pillar while resting his weight on a small ridge. Corvin held his breath as he waited for the patrol to pass underneath, only letting it out when the guards reached the stairs.
As the pair of NPCs passed the nearly identical human sentries, one of the players turned to the other. “Do you find it creepy that those guys are fake and we’re real, but we’re all dressed the same.”
“I guess,” the other player replied, sounding u
ninterested as he flipped to the inspector embedded in the back cover of his journal. “Hey, check out the pic of that girl I met last night sent.” He angled the book to the other guard.
“Dude, don’t just go around showing people that.”
“What? If she didn’t want people to see, she shouldn’t have sent it.”
The other player rubbed his temples. “I know, but did you think for a second that there was a chance that she only meant for you to see it? There’s trust in that, man. Have some class.”
“Thanks, now I feel like a dick.”
“That’s probably because you are a dick, Steve.”
Corvin’s eye began to twitch. The entire exchange was irritating. Then he felt a puff of air against his tail. He glanced down to find Kegan attempting to blow it away from his face.
“Sorry.” Corvin pulled it away, leaving the Leaf twitching his nose back and forth and making a face like he was about to sneeze. Corvin’s eyes bulged. Oh no you don’t. This isn’t a cartoon. You hold that in.
Kegan made a series of intense expressions but finally settled down.
Corvin let out a relieved breath. “Any ideas? My arms are getting tired.” It was only a matter of time before he lost his grip. Not to mention another patrol would be by any minute.
If they had been in a normal dungeon, Corvin would just throw an echo stone down the stairs to distract the guards. He had his doubts that a living player would be so easily manipulated. If only I had a cardboard box to hide under.
That was when he noticed Kegan rummaging around in his item bag to produce a shiny, new echo stone.
Corvin couldn’t get a word out fast enough to stop the Leaf from throwing it.
The small, enchanted stone sailed over the two guards, bouncing off the flight of stairs before falling. From the sound of the impact echoing back up, it must have dropped straight down to the first floor.
“Seriously?” Corvin gave Kegan a firm stare.
Then to his surprise, the pair of players actually took the bait. One walked two flights down while the other followed part way.
“Good enough.” Kegan immediately dropped down and scampered his way up the stairs while their backs were turned.
Corvin’s heart almost leaped out of his chest at the realization that this was happening whether he was ready or not. He wrapped his legs around the pillar and shimmied to the floor as quietly as he could. He really wished he had Kegan’s Light Foot skill.
Heavy footsteps began coming back up the stairs.
“There’s nothin' down here,” said one guard.
“Don’t you dare say it must have been the wind,” responded the other. “Check the hall down there. I’ll look up here.”
Corvin scrambled on all fours like one of those lizards racing across the sand in a nature documentary. He probably watched too many documentaries, but that wasn’t important now.
He reached the stairs just as the sound of boots reached the landing behind him. It took every ounce of self-control he had not to leapfrog several steps at once. That would have been too loud. Instead, he kept low and distributed his weight as even as possible.
Footsteps kept coming. They were almost on top of him.
Don’t screw this up. The words passed through his head again and again. He couldn’t bear the thought of letting the team down.
Corvin gritted his teeth and gave one last, desperate push.
The guard placed his hand on the railing, then stopped to stare off into the glowing crystal obelisk for a moment. He shook his head and scanned the stairs for anything out of place.
Corvin lay pressed flat against the half wall of the banister, his jaw almost tense enough to crack a tooth. Kegan lay half underneath him. The guard’s hand rested just above their terrified forms. All the man had to do was look down.
Finally, the player turned back. “Steve, I hate to say it, but maybe it was the wind.”
The other guard laughed as they returned to their positions.
Corvin let out the breath that had been lodged in his throat. He may not have had any stealth abilities of his own, but as it turned out he hadn’t needed any. Well, provided he dove on top of a conveniently placed Leaf with an active Light Foot skill to act as an elven sound dampener.
Corvin expected a complaint. Instead, he found Kegan batting his eyelashes, seductively as they lay face to face. Corvin rolled his eyes and crawled off the Leaf toward the next floor.
There weren’t any guards stationed on the stairs above. In fact, other than the patrols that circled each floor, there weren’t any other guards at all. It wasn’t convenient, but as long as they kept their distance, they could safely move around the palace undetected.
After making a full loop of the top floor, Corvin stopped short. “Hey, do you notice anything strange?”
“No, but I take it you do.” Kegan slipped almost casually between the pillars.
“From outside, there were windowed gables on the roof.”
“And?”
“If there’s a window, there must be a room. But I don’t see any more stairs going up.” Corvin gestured toward the ceiling. “I think there might be a space outside the map, like the last boss in Doom II.”
Kegan shook his head. “Didn’t play that one. To busy having a social life back then.”
Corvin ignored the jab without skipping a beat. “The last boss in Doom was a giant goat skull with a weak point in its forehead.”
“Sounds cute.”
“Not so much, but the whole thing was actually just a picture on a wall. The weak point was a window into a secret room where the real boss was hidden. There was no way in without cheating, so the only way to kill it was to fire rockets through the window and hope the splash damage would hit it.”
Kegan raised an eyebrow. “That just sounds lazy. What was the hidden boss?”
Corvin searched the gaming encyclopedia in his head. “It was one of the game developer’s head on a stake. John Romero, I think.”
“Yikes.”
“It’s actually really interesting. It was put there as an Easter Egg. I think the photo they used of him was from Business Week magazine–”
“More guards,” Kegan interrupted the history lesson and pointed down the hall.
“Oh.” Corvin canned the rest of the explanation and ducked into the nearest unlocked room to find a guest suite. It must not have been claimed by anyone.
If he had been invited, Corvin could have registered the lavish room as his home point. Unfortunately, they were far from welcomed guests. Berwyn probably has a couple guards to check the empty rooms every now and then. That’s what Corvin would have done if he had been the Lord of the Palace.
He ignored the room and stepped out on to its private balcony. The decorative stonework made for an easy climb. Although, he still made it a point not to look down, letting out a breath once he had pulled himself up on to the Spanish colonial tile above.
The roof was steep but not so steep to make it difficult to walk on. It wasn’t long before they reached the nearest gable. Its arched window welcomed them as they stepped through.
As expected, the hidden space was empty and undefined. It wasn’t even that big, just a narrow hallway that connected the inner and outer windows. That being said, it was perfect. There was no easy way to get to it, so there was little chance of being discovered.
“And now we play the waiting game.” Kegan slid up to the window facing the crystal pyramid and rested his arm on the sill.
Corvin lay down on the floor. “Get comfortable. We’re going to be waiting for a while.” The sound of the orchestra below just barely met his ears now.
He reached into his bag and pulled out the emulator he always carried. The third-party app was skinned to look like a small book and housed almost every retro game that a bored reynard could ask for. He set the volume so that it was only audible to him and flipped on the screen within, selecting a title with an embedded d-pad. A logo appeared along with a rather dated
graphic of a T-rex peaking up from the bottom. It moved its jaws with a roar that spoke the word, "SEGA."
He got comfortable. “Let’s just hope everything else goes well downstairs.”
Chapter Twenty
“You must be Lady Ginger.”
Ginger nearly snorted a mouthful of champagne as a familiar voice came from behind. She spun to greet the last person she expected to run into, making sure to act as if they didn’t already know each other.
“Mister Coldblood, it’s so nice to meet you.”
“Please, call me Alastair. Mr. Coldblood is my fathe… Well, no, my name is made up, so that’s not true, now is it? Anyway,” Alastair played along, speaking loud enough for those around her to overhear, “I’m sorry, but I just had to stop by and meet the Lady of the only House loyal to Rend. That sure was an exciting development.”
Ginger gave a polite laugh. “Yes, I can understand why you would take an interest in something so rare, but I have to admit, I am flattered that someone like you knows my name.”
“Nonsense. I keep my thumb on the pulse of Noctem. I couldn’t miss a player as enchanting as yourself.” He stepped closer. “Would it be unreasonable for me to ask for your company on the floor?”
Ginger froze for a moment before giving an uncomfortable nod and handing her drink to Kira.
“Perfect.” He took her by the hand and led her on to the dance floor where they could speak without being overheard. He smiled as if he was just out, enjoying the night as he pulled her close and waited for the music to start up again. “I wasn’t going to come tonight, but after your message about Rend, I felt the need to check in to see what you had gotten yourself into.”
“I assure you we have everything under control.” Ginger wobbled as she stepped back in an attempt to perform a simple box step.
“Everything but dancing I see– Ouch.”
Ginger stepped on his foot.
“Sorry, but you’re going to have to pretend that I’m good at this for the sake of appearances. I am quite terrible.”
“No problem. Appearances are important.” Alastair’s eye twitched as she stepped on his foot a second time. He pushed on without complaint. “I take it the plan is going smoothly?”