Gladiators of Warsong

by Thomas K. Carpenter

  "How are you?" Alex asked to break up the uncomfortable silence.

  "I've never lost before," said Lily, her voice small and quiet like a mouse in a field.

  "Never?" asked Alex.

  Lily looked away. "I'm mean, of course I've lost before, but none of the matches that mattered. I've always been able to execute better than anyone else." She looked up, eyes heavy. "Until now."

  "The Vigor buff was a trap," said Alex. "The fight wasn't about individual execution, but teamwork. I think that's why we weren't fighting against each other to become Champion of Warsong, because you certainly would have won if we had."

  Lily screwed up her face as if she'd smelled something bad. "But why? The zone was all about gladiators."

  "Because it's not really a game. I mean it is, but it's not," said Alex, remembering the spell she'd learned last year that had saved her mom's life. "I've been wondering what the point of this zone is, and now I think I understand. It's not a zone meant to teach a new spell, or how to access our faez differently. It's bigger than that."

  The words seemed to bounce off Lily, who had pulled her head back. "I don't understand."

  "The clan that bleeds together..."

  A moment of silence was dispelled when Lily closed her eyes in understanding, nodding her head ever so slightly.

  "Bleeds as one. I'm so stupid. They've been telling us this whole time," she said.

  "Don't beat yourself up. I didn't really see it until the end," said Alex.

  Lily sat on the bench and leaned her head against the wall hard enough it made a thunk sound.

  "I'm never going to find Drew now," she said.

  "I'll keep an eye out for him," said Alex.

  "Thanks," said Lily softly, "but I know you'll be busy trying to level, so it's not like you can go traipsing about in this place looking high and low for my brother."

  "For what it's worth, I wish you could stay in the game. If we worked together then we could probably find him, and the others that are missing. Figure out what the hell is going on in Gamemakers Online," said Alex.

  "Yeah," said Lily, pushing the hair out of her face. "It would be nice. But I can't. Forced log out is in two days." She looked up, lips squeezed white. "I just came to say I'm sorry. I've been a real jerk to you. I did have a lot of advantages growing up. It's pretty amazing what you've achieved in the game. I thought Cunning was a dump stat."

  "It's okay. You were worried about your brother," said Alex.

  "Which is no excuse," said Lily, hovering near the door. "Anyway, thank you and good luck. You're going to need it."

  She walked away as if she were heading to a funeral. Alex wanted to say more, to take away the pain Lily was clearly experiencing. But she knew nothing would. It was the same when her father had died. She'd wandered around in a haze for months, years, trying to make sense of his death, but there was no overarching reason, no logic to it. Sometimes bad things happened, and you just had to accept them. It was going to take a long time for Lily to come to terms with losing her brother now that she could no longer stay in Gamemakers Online.

  It was especially a shame because Lily was so close to level 40.

  "Wait."

  The word left her lips before her brain caught up to the idea. Alex looked back into her Handysack to make sure she'd read the item correctly.

  "Wait!" Alex shouted towards the open door, running after Lily. "I know how you can stay in the game!"

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Alex paced along the marble rail of the champion's balcony in the Arena of the Gods. She was afforded her own private box, which she shared with her teammates.

  "Why are you so nervous?" asked Nayiri. "I thought she was your enemy?"

  "Not my enemy," said Alex. "Just a bit of a misunderstanding."

  "So you're hoping she wins?" Nayiri asked.

  "I need her to win," said Alex. "This world is too hard alone. We need allies."

  When the High Priest called out the stakes of the match, Alex could hardly pay attention. She was watching Lily Brodziak, who stood near the Pillar of Peril in her crimson armor, plumed helm restored by a local blacksmith between the fights.

  "But she's going to fight four Behemoths," said Nayiri. "There's no way she can win."

  The enormous creatures stood on the opposite side of Lily, menacing even without moving. The Darkstar Behemoth was there, along with three of its brethren: the Earthheart Behemoth, the Wyndfire Behemoth, and the Shrike Behemoth.

  "Watch and see," said Alex, pacing away and letting out a tense breath. The first few moments of the fight would be the most critical.

  Lily looked so small on the sandy floor of the Arena of the Gods, especially compared to the four Behemoths, who looked like living skyscrapers.

  "Begin!"

  In the first moment of the fight, Lily activated the Token of the Beast, which filled her with a glowing blue light, which eventually shot out from her chest and slammed into the Darkstar Behemoth.

  Before the other three Behemoths could lumber towards Lily, who stood motionless, the Darkstar turned and roared out a cone of crackling hot breath upon its brethren. The three turned towards the Darkstar, who wasted no time smashing a fist into the Earthheart Behemoth.

  The fight descended into a general melee, the Darkstar using the Behemoth it was fighting as a shield to keep the others at bay. As the strongest of the Behemoths, and with Lily Brodziak—former MechLeague world champion at the helm—it quickly took down the Earthheart.

  Once the first Behemoth was down, Alex breathed a sigh of relief. Piloting monstrosities of destructions was Lily's bread and butter. While Gamemakers Online had excellent enemy AI, it was no match for the best MechLeague player of all time.

  Before the ten-minute timer was up, the Darkstar Behemoth had defeated the other three Behemoths, while taking enough damage that it was almost dead by the time Lily lost control. Because of the Vigor of the Fallen debuff, Lily was able to finish off the brutal boss by herself, earning level 40 in the process.

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Two days later, a few minutes before the game kicked her out, Alex was standing on the edge of the zone with her teammates.

  "Do you think the high priest will build a statue of me in front of the Arena?" she asked her friends near the amber fields of wheat shifting in the breeze.

  Mancalf leaned on the walking staff he'd purchased in the city.

  "I think the High Priest is pretty pissed that you gave Lily that cube so she could win that unwinnable fight," he said.

  "A statue is entirely unnecessary," said Sophia, her face lit with rapture, "because no one will soon forget that event. Not in this lifetime, or the next."

  "I would have rather watched two pigs rut around in the mud," said Sorrow, crossing his arms.

  "Cheer up, Sorrow," said Alex, clasping him on the shoulder. "At least it wasn't you in the Arena."

  He rolled his eyes at her.

  "I can't believe Lily didn't even stay around," said Nayiri, pouting.

  "Don't worry," said Alex. "Lily and I had a long talk after the fight. We'll be seeing her next year. We agreed that if we're going to figure things out, we're going to have to work together."

  They'd talked about more than that. Lily had shared what she knew when it came to her brother and where she thought he'd gone after he'd earned his key in the arena. She was certain it was for a zone that bordered Warsong, which left them five options, since she knew they could rule out the Warped Forest.

  "Sophia," she said, addressed the tall warrior, "while I'm gone, I'm naming you Seneschal, giving you free rein to direct the clan as you see fit, including spending the conquest points that I earned as champion."

  Sophia's eyebrows wrinkled. "Are you sure?"

  "You earned that right with your superior tactics in the battle circle. If you can think on your feet there, you can certainly run a clan while I'm gone," said Alex.

  Sophia's expression relaxed, her cheeks taking on a rosy glo
w. "Thank you for your confidence in me, Battleleader Alex. I will try not to let you down."

  "I wish you didn't have to leave for the next five months," said Nayiri suddenly, the corner of her lips tugging downward.

  "Cheer up, love," said Alex, cupping Nayiri's chin and giving her a peck on the lips. "You have much to do while I'm gone, so time will pass quickly."

  Nayiri pouted.

  "When I return," said Alex, "we'll get to spend a whole nother year together exploring the wilds of these lands."

  "Is that what that key is for?" asked Mancalf, arching his eyebrow.

  "It is."

  "And where will it take us?" asked Blaze.

  "That's part of your homework while I'm gone," said Alex. "I have some things to do as well. I'm not coming back here next year without being more prepared."

  "Prepared for what?" asked Sophia.

  Alex glanced into the sky above the city, thinking about Lily's missing brother, his idea that there were powerful magics contained within these lands, and the other strange things about Gamemakers Online that she'd encountered.

  "To uncover secrets," said Alex.

  "That sounds fun," said Nayiri, hopefully.

  Alex didn't respond, mostly because fun wasn’t the word she was thinking of. Fun implied that it was still a game to be played and that no one was going to get hurt. That illusion no longer clouded her vision.

  She could no longer ignore the missing people, the strangeness of Professor Marzio, and the absence of her patron. There was more to Gamemakers Online than she first thought, more than she wanted to believe.

  It was time to uncover the truth.

  ###

  Purchase the third book in Gamemakers Online Series, Citadel of Broken Dreams, on Amazon in December.

  If you haven't yet read it, try the first book in the completed Hundred Hall series, which is in Kindle Unlimited, Trials of Magic.

  Or try the first book in the other completed Hundred Hall series, which is also in Kindle Unlimited, The Reluctant Assassin.

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  Special Thanks

  As always, it takes a good raid party to successfully slay all the gremlins hiding in every manuscript. So to all those people that helped make this possible: thank you! People like my wife Rachel who was the manuscript healer for this adventure, Ravven the red-headed bard who conjured the covers with magic, my editor the Tamara Blaine the fighter who deftly slayed the errors in the manuscript with her mighty pen, the beta readers (Tina Rak, Carole Carpenter, Debbie Davis, and Patty Eversole) who provided the DPS for the raid, and to the Vanguard (Elaine Stoker, Lana Turner, Phyllis Simpson, Jess Churchfield, Barrie Davis, Thad Moody, Lynda Christensn, Erin Edgar, Melanie Coupland, and Andie Alessandra Cáomhanach) who played crowd control on all the adds.

  Your time and effort have helped bring to life this moment of joy in readers' lives. Thank you!

  The Hundred Halls Appendix

  Glossary Terms

  Merlin Trials - The entrance exams to the Hundred Halls that can only be taken during the ages seventeen through nineteen. There are three stages to the trials.

  Faez - The raw stuff of magic. Faez is the energy that when shaped by spell or other means creates magical effects. Faez is dangerous to humans, but a tolerance can be built up over time if somehow protected. The patronage system of the Hundred Halls is the most common method.

  Patron - The founder of a hall within the Hundred Halls. The patron extends their magical protection to students, keeping them safe from faez madness, and teaching them a specific skill set within the magical world.

  Faez Madness - Prolonged use of faez without protection results in irreversible damage to the user's ability to understand and interact with reality.

  Invictus (person) - The Head Patron and founder of the Hundred Halls. Presumed dead around 2003. Known to have lived a very long life.

  Invictus (city) - The city of Invictus was founded by its namesake in 1836. The school that would later become the Hundred Halls was founded officially in 1867.

  Spire - The administrative center of the city of Invictus. The Merlin Trials are performed here.

  Second Year Contest - These games require cross-Hall teams to compete against each other for a grand prize.

  Maetrie – Commonly called City Elves, though they have no relation to the Fae. Their home is the Eternal City, a realm closer to Invictus than any other.

  Diamond Court – The court of maetrie ruled by Lady Zaire.

  Ruby Court – The court of maetrie ruled by Lady Amethyte.

  Jade Court – The court of maetrie ruled by Lady Kikala.

  Liebereisen – The Journey of Discovery that young maetrie experience during their coming-of-age trip

  Eternal City – The endless city that is home to the maetrie

  Major Halls

  Arcanium

  Nickname: Arcanium

  Patron: Semyon Gray

  Est: 1867

  Motto: Knowledge is Power

  Description: Arcanium believes in the value of gaining knowledge, not only about the world around us, but of ourselves. Before we can master magic, we must hone the tool the magic originates from, because a poorly trained mage will not only be a danger to themselves, but society at large. Once a student is capable, they may learn the art of changing spells on the fly using lexology, or how ancient runic languages are the key to solving the world’s most difficult problems. Join Arcanium and be a part of the solution.

  Coterie of Mages

  Nickname: Coterie

  Patron: Malden Anterist

  Est: 1867

  Motto: Limitless

  Description: Anything is possible. Here in the Coterie of Mages, we don't believe in limits. If you can imagine it, you can do it. We push the boundaries of what magic is capable of. If this frightens you, then Coterie is not the Hall for you, but if this elicits a sense of excitement and wonder, then apply to the Coterie of Mages. We are the elite.

  Academy of the Subtle Arts

  Nickname: Assassins

  Patron: Priyanka Sai

  Est: 1867

  Motto: Anyone can be persuaded

  Description: Human connections make the world go round. We at the Academy of the Subtle Arts strive to bring people, companies, and countries together. Our mages are the world's most effective diplomats and heads of state. If you seek to join the interconnected world of politics, then the Academy is the right Hall for you.

  The Order of Honorable Alchemists

  Nickname: Alchemists

  Patron: Celesse D'Agastine

  Est: 1867

  Motto: Perfection is Achievable

  Description: The human vessel is a sacred thing. We believe in maximizing our potential through better alchemy. Our potentials cannot be met if we rely on the ordinariness of humanity.

  Protectors

  Nickname: Protectors

  Patron: Bannon Creed

  Est: 1867

  Motto: To Protect and Control

  Description: Order requires commitment. Protectors are committed to the value of human life. To being the shield against those that would tear down society, and create chaos. The Protector Hall teaches the ultimate defense, not only for yourself, but for the world at large. If being on the front lines of the world's conflicts appeals to you, then Protectors is your Hall

  Acoustic Architectural Institute of Design

  Nickname: Stone Singers

  Patron: Ester Starwood

  Est: 1891

  Motto: Building through song

  Description: A song is made up of ma
ny notes, just like a bridge is made of many stones. Society cannot function without the infrastructure to hold it together. The Acoustic Architectural institute of Design teaches how to shape the world with only a song.

  Society for the Understanding of Animals

  Nickname: Animalians

  Patron: Adele Montgomery

  Est: 1945

  Motto: We Are Not Alone

  Description: All life is sacred. From the industrious dung beetle to the majestic horned dragon. We at the Society believe that Earth must be shared with all her children and when we do we will truly unlock her endless possibilities.

  Holistic Institute

  Nickname: Aura Healers

  Patron: Sir William Jenner III

  Est: 1875

  Motto: Health Starts in the Soul

  Description: When someone gets hurt, are you the first to run to their side to tend their wounds? If so, then the Holistic Institute is for you. We'll teach you how to mend even the most grievous wounds.

  Minor Halls

  Gamemakers

  Nickname: Gamemakers

  Patron: Aldophus Dimple

  Est: 1961

  Motto: Life is a Game

  Description: Life is a game to be perfected. We at the Gamemaker's Hall know the importance of games as the training grounds for life.

  Metallum Nocturne

  Nickname: Night Metal

  Patron: Edward Canterbury

  Est: 1908

  Motto: Strike. Spark. Surpass.

  Description: When the hammer hits the forge, great energies are released. Metallum Nocturn is that hammer against the forge of your soul. Join us, and find out what possibilities we can make.

  The Daring Maids

  Nickname: Palimaidens

  Patron: Alice Hayword