The Sleeper Must Awaken

by Kip Terrington

  As he climbed in, Joe was surprised to see there was no one around. Making sure his cloak was providing all the stealth it could manage, he carefully made his way to the stairs. On his way up, he prepared to kill the first vampire he saw, but there were none. He opened his Ley Line Sight and saw where the major lines headed. He was in the right place, but there were no guards in sight.

  Knowing this might be his only chance, he reached into his bag and he pulled out the gift he had received from Hollowbirch. Holding the Thrice-Blessed Thrice-Pressed Stake firmly in his grip, he silently opened the door.

  The room itself contained no light, and even with Joe’s superior vision, he couldn't make anything out. It was possible that the mistress wasn't here at the moment, but he could be patient when needed. He would move to the side of the door and wait for her to come in.

  Congratulations! You have completed a quest!

  Malevolent Temptress

  Meet and greet the most eligible vampiress by visiting the Great Mistress Alenia’s place of power.

  Reward for completing this quest: the choice between two rare items that fit your class, and the freedom of your four slaves with a Grand Binding Slave Mark.

  The slaves in your castle with a Grand Binding Slave Mark have been released.

  Note: due to the current Raid Quest, XP and items will not be received until your return to your Grand Place of Power.

  Joe’s mind was blown. The slaves in his castle with a Grand Binding Slave Mark were free.

  “It's fun to sit quietly with you, here in the dark. It's like we're playing a little game. You're over by the door, like you're waiting for someone and I'm way over here sitting on my throne, just looking at ya. I could do this all day, really. Oh, I totally forgot to mention, I fulfilled our bargain. I've just released them. I am a vampire of my word,” the mistress said.

  Joe could hear her, but he couldn't see her. He needed a light if he was going to fight her. His hand began to glow red and he chanted. The moment the spell was ready, he flung the fireball toward the sound of her voice. The flight of the spell was straight and true, but nevertheless, it stopped midair as if caught in a web. It didn't explode. It just continued to burn.

  Sitting below the now brightly burning fireball, the mistress was no longer in shadow.

  Raid Boss NPC, Mistress Alenia

  Master Vampire Mage

  “Oh, I get it! The suitor wishes to see his lady. Well, by all means, go ahead and look,” the mistress proposed as she stood up from her throne, popping her hip out in a pose. She placed one paw on her hip and the other ran through her dirty yellow yeti hair.

  For a moment, Joe was completely frozen, partially from the nullification of his fireball, but mostly because what stood before him was clearly the rotten corpse of an ancient female yeti. Flaps of green skin covered with patchy hair hung off of the fourteen foot tall mistress. Smelling the putrescence that oozed from her mangled form, Joe gripped his stomach, willing himself not to throw up.

  “I get it now. The quest I was given called you the malevolent temptress,” Joe began, forcing his voice to steady through his nausea.

  “Oh, this UI I've heard so much about gave you a quest to come find me, huh? Maybe it's not as bad as I thought. I am extremely tempting,” the mistress teased, striking another pose for Joe's benefit.

  “I'm sorry, you misunderstand. You truly are a temptress, it's just what you tempt people to do is vomit,” Joe provoked, as he slowly began to walk forward, gripping the wooden stake and focusing on his target.

  “I've heard of such things happening. A man sees a woman and he's so overcome by her beauty that he throws up. It truly is flattering. I get it, though. Very few are blessed with assets like mine,” the mistress confessed as she ran her paws over her molting blistered covered skin.

  Joe’s eye began to spin and almost as soon as it started, it stopped on a 1.

  Joe knew what a critical failure meant. He froze mid-step, thinking through how he might have gone wrong.

  “Oh, poo. I only needed you to take one more step. Now you're going to have to be pushed. It would have been better if you had come to me willingly, but I guess no relationship is perfect. It is better this way. You and I shouldn't have secrets. The next step is going to be a trap and then you'll be mine forever. I'd like to introduce you to my Champion. He'll be helping you take that last step. You and he will be working together, so you shouldn't have any secrets either,” the mistress encouraged.

  Joe spun around and, directly behind him, a robed shadow began to rise out of the floor. The figure had an ethereal quality to it. Joe clicked on it to see if it might have any weaknesses he could exploit. Surprisingly, the information flowed freely.

  Wraith Champion

  Level- 285

  Monster Type- Phased Shadow

  Name- Mistress’s Pet

  Mana- 1,739

  Hitpoints- 3,892

  Known attacks- Death Touch of Burning Shadow

  Known defense- Near magic immunity, Near physical immunity, Near spiritual immunity, Near mental immunity.

  The Champion had him by over one hundred and fifty levels, but Joe set his feet and leaned forward, looking for an opening. Since this beast was apparently immune to almost everything, Joe figured he would just have to rip its head off.

  “Oh, honey, that's not a good idea. He's barely part of this plane. You don't want to wrestle with him. His touch will feel like fire. However, if you need to learn your place, you need to learn your place. Just don't say I didn't warn you. I wanted this to be easy. It's my kind heart, I can't help it,” the mistress said.

  Joe ignored the ranting of the lunatic mistress behind him. She didn't know him, she didn't know what he was capable of. Seeing no danger, the wraith began to float forward, its ethereal rags lazily sliding behind it.

  If it had had a face, it would have registered surprise at what was about to happen. Joe stepped forward, popped up in a boxer stance, and threw a solid uppercut. Joe's Multi-Plane Hands connected with the unconnectable. The wraith flew up and then back down, landing on its back, stunned by an impact it had never felt before.

  “Impossible! What are you?!” the mistress gasped.

  Standing over the fallen wraith, Joe began to punch it with his free hand. Though it did not have a face, its body shuddered with every impact.

  “Stop it, you brute! 74 of 101, fulfill your mistress’s command!” the mistress screamed.

  Joe looked up just in time to see Vespera, the elven vampire, running at lightning speed directly at him. He tried to change position in order to dodge, but he was too late. Vespera impacted Joe with just enough force to push him over the invisible line that the mistress had made just for him.

  As his body engaged the invisible binding trap, his muscles froze, and he lost the ability to summon his magic. He struggled, but the mistress had bound him tight. He couldn't attack her and he couldn't free himself.

  “I can't believe what a treasure you are! I wanted another Champion I could transform into a wraith, but you are better than a wraith. Somehow you have the hands of a god. Now those are my hands,” the mistress grinned as she walked over to Joe, who was frozen on the ground. She began to pluck strings out of the air and then, as if Joe had become a puppet on a string, she positioned him so that he stood before her. He was unable to speak, but the mistress had no such problem.

  Her hands began to glow with a dark shadow. Her chanting made it clear she was preparing a new Binding Magic spell. Almost as soon as she began, the spell finished. New black cords wound around Joe’s body and he felt the shift.

  Warning!

  Your respawn point has been forcefully changed to the Great Mistress’s seat of power.

  “This way, just in case you took poison before you came in here, you won't be escaping through death. You're mine and you are so valuable, I won't take any risks with you. The UI must be good, because it brought you to me. When I first found you, I knew that I could use you to weaken
the triumvirate and then, I could take my place as Queen. Only I didn't know how right I was.

  “My wraith now lies on the floor so damaged, it is nearly banished. I, of course, can bring it back to full health, but not without a significant investment of my own power. All I have to do now, is show you to them and their fear will force them to bow to me. But we need to stand you up straight. You need to look presentable before I show them my prize,” the mistress corrected as she began to position him in a way that would show his best qualities.

  “Let me look at you. This item in your nose is useful. You can keep it. Your cloak, though, is too fine a quality for a servant. Let’s get it off of you… That is different. It is bound to you, somehow. Oh well, we will look into that later. I love these shoulders, so broad. And your hands are so strong, but what is this?” the mistress asked as she found the Thrice-Blessed Thrice-Pressed Stake. As her hands came in contact with the wood, it burned her, so she left it in Joe’s paralyzed hand.

  “You are full of surprises! That item is so utterly dangerous, it shouldn't exist. I don't know where you get such things. We're going to have to teach you better habits. For now, I need to get rid of it,” the mistress shuddered. She pulled out a dirty rag and carefully took hold of Joe’s hand which still held the item. She made sure not to let any part of it touch her exposed skin again.

  “What was the name she gave you? That’s right… Vespera, will you come over here, please? I need your help with something,” the mistress invited and her servant hurried over to obey her mistress’s command.

  “Here, look at this. I want to show you something extraordinary,” the mistress implored and Vespera looked at the stake in Joe’s hand.

  Faster than a stray thought, the mistress shoved the stake into the heart of the elven vampire.

  Vespera’s whole body began to glow white and its spontaneous combustion was so hot that the ash produced was microscopic. The vampire and the weapon were destroyed.

  Attention.

  Your Thrice-Blessed Thrice-Pressed Elm Stake has been expended. Though this one-time use item was soulbound, it is now fully destroyed and is no longer bound to anything.

  “Thank you, 74 of 101, that was a dangerous item, but it's gone now, so we will speak no more of it,” the mistress concluded as she walked away from Joe, who hung helplessly in the air.

  Joe couldn’t see what she was doing as she leaned over her place of power, but it didn't matter. He needed to focus on escaping. With all the concentration Joe could harness, he mentally felt around for ways to access his magic. His concentration was so focused, he could no longer hear any of the words the mistress was speaking. It wasn't until what appeared to be two holograms of giants stood before him that he began to pay attention again.

  “As you can see, he nearly banished my wraith before I bound him to my will,” the mistress announced.

  “Impossible! This has to be a lie. You must have caused the wraith to injure himself,” the female giant vampire accused.

  “I can understand why you might think that, but it is not the case, so let's put that issue to bed. With my own eyes, I witnessed this man strike my wraith and, with his own power, deal terrible damage to it. I know not how he has such god hands, but I do know that no wraith can stand before him without him easily banishing it. I also know that I have bound him. He is in my power. I will change him and through my bindings, he will once again have access to his magic and all his abilities. Then, he will do my will. The triumvirate is dissolved. You will swear fealty to me now or both of you will be seeing him soon. If you oppose me, then he will banish your wraiths, while my wraith turns you both to ash. I swear this on my magic, I swear this on my longevity, and I swear this on my authority,” Mistress Alenia pronounced.

  A message popped up in Joe’s HUD.

  Take Heed! You are witness to a Binder’s Oath. Such an oath is not given lightly. If Mistress Alenia breaks this oath, she will face consequences to her magic, her longevity, and her authority.

  Both of the holograms stood stunned. They knew she had spoken the truth and felt the fear that accompanied that knowledge. If their wraiths were destroyed, they, as leaders, would fall. Slowly, both giants fell to their knees.

  “I name you Queen of the Vampires. My will is yours to command. I will obey and serve only you. I swear this on my magic, I swear this on my longevity, and I swear this on my authority,” the giants swore in unison.

  Joe received another two notices of a Binder’s Oath, and then witnessed the alteration above the mistress’s head.

  Raid Boss NPC, Queen Alenia

  Ruling Vampire Mage

  “With the power I have taken today, there is no limit to what our kingdom can achieve. Instead of remembering this day as the day you lost power, remember it as the day the truly worthy was elevated to her rightful place. When the time comes, I will send you more instructions,” the queen said and then, with a wave of her hand, she canceled the connection.

  “Thank you, my sweet. If it weren't for you, I might never have achieved my dream. Unfortunately, because I need absolute obedience, you probably won't remember much of this conversation. You probably won't remember much of anything anymore. When I'm done with you, you will voluntarily command your army to submit to me. It’s going to be nice to pull the strings of your people. I already pull yours. This next part, however, won’t be as enjoyable for you. Sorry, but what must be, must be,” the queen said as she walked over to Joe and began to weave binding cords around his brain.

  As the black cords began to descend, they tied off neurons and held them tight. Joe started to lose parts of himself. He couldn't allow himself to become an instrument for her use, but he couldn't reach his magic and he couldn't move a muscle. Skills! Maybe he could use his Negation Sphere. As Joe reached for it, there was yet another failure. Why? There had to be something he could do, a way out. His twenty-sided eye began to vibrate, slowly at first, until it was almost humming. Then, he heard it. The vibrations of the hum rang out a sound in his eye, and he recognized it. It was the theme song from The Magic School Bus.

  That was the last prompting he needed. He remembered he was not simply a man of magic, he was a man of science, and a part of him was machinery. He focused on his insides, on his heart, and once again, he was experiencing a vision from inside his own rib cage. This time, instead of focusing on healing himself, he focused on causing damage. He imagined his clotting factors begin to build up on the inner wall of his heart. Slowly, more and more began to clump together. It wasn't long before there was no more room for the blood to pump into the heart. Blood stopped traveling to his brain and he began to die.

  “What are you doing? You, naughty boy! Stop this at once! What magic is this?” the queen said as the light in Joe's eyes faded.

  With his temporary escape complete, Joe’s body turned to ash, causing the queen to suffer a fit of sneezes.

  “I'm not sure how you did that, my pretty, but you'll be back, and the next time, you will be unconscious when I bind your mind. You can run, pretty boy, but you can't hide!” the queen crooned, as she held part of the uniform that had dropped off Joe’s body.

  Chapter 47 - Slow’s Steady, Steady’s Fast

  Zoya hovered in place as she watched goblins, elves, yetis, and other various races carefully climb up the pile of rocks and hand pieces down. With her avatar’s eye, she could see the best rocks to remove in order to make a steady and secure pathway through the collapsed tunnel. If it had only been her, with her small size, she might have been able to find a way through, but fortunately—and also unfortunately—not everyone in her army was so tiny.

  Condolences.

  The Champion, Joe, has died. He will resurrect at Queen Alenia’s seat of power in approximately three days. In order to facilitate his resurrection, a portion of his (and your) XP will be utilized. You are now both Level 118.

  Zoya began to hyperventilate as she fell to the ground. Luckily, Bork had been nearby, as he caught her gently.
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  “What’s wrong?” the goblin asked.

  “The mistress has Joe. No, that's not even right. She's the queen now …and she has him,” Zoya choked as she began to weep in the goblin’s hands.

  “We will save him! We will dig and save him,” Bork attempted to reassure her.

  “You're right,” Zoya swore, as she wiped away the tears and hopped into the air.

  New Fact:

  408- If it’s going to be, it’s up to me.

  “Our king is in trouble and I'm the only one who can get to him. Bork, you are in charge of the army while I'm away,” Zoya commanded, as she flew up to the top of the cave-in to begin her spelunking.

  ***

  Hours passed as she carved her way through the crevices, crawling on her belly when she needed to, and using her mithril dagger to chip a path when it was required. The darkness of the cave was oppressive, but she focused on the spectrums of light that existed even in blackness. When she was forced to sleep, she did, because she knew that once she made it to the end, she could not afford to make any poor decisions. Her greatest fear was coming to pass, and she would not allow a lack of focus to keep her from preventing it.

  After over thirty hours of carefully creating a path through the maze of cracks and hollow spaces, her sensors began to pick up voices of vampire guards whose only job was to make sure that no one came out of the rock fall.

  “It's too bad we don't get to be a part of the celebration, in a couple days. How our former mistress was able to finagle this catastrophe into the dissolution of the triumvirate blows the mind,” one of the vampire guards said.