The Sleeper Must Awaken

by Kip Terrington

  “Her proper title is queen,” the other vampire cautioned, “To even insinuate that she hasn't always been the queen would be a good way to end up as ash.”

  “I know that you're right, but really, it's not going to change how we live one bit. Sentry duty or breeding slaves – or most likely, a combination of the two,” the dissatisfied vampire said.

  “I enjoy the breeding. There's nothing quite like combining just the right amount of red-haired halfling with a spicy elf. Having a hand in crafting the blood makes it taste better, I think. That's something that the Fists and Arms have never realized. If you ask me, they're missing out. I’d take becoming a blood master over Chief Torturer any day,” the cautious vampire insisted.

  “Okay, you got me there. Though, admittedly, I prefer stout dwarf blood, myself,” the first vampire noted.

  Zoya equipped her veil.

  Stealth skill activated.

  Zoya kept her steps light and slow. Using her superior multitasking ability, she maintained a slow speed while monitoring the auditory tones of the vampires’ voices. As she patiently maneuvered through the rocks, the modulation of their speech confirmed they were not aware of her presence. This was a time when her small stature and high agility almost guaranteed that she would go unnoticed.

  Relying on simple protocol, she continued forward.

  Stealth Protocol

  Equip all items with a stealth bonus.

  Map out least conspicuous route, with optimal cover.

  Regulate breathing and movement for near-silent execution.

  Repeat, “SSSF” (Slow’s Steady. Steady’s Fast.)

  Her journey to the capital, while maintaining stealth, was tedious and time-consuming, but she knew her deadline. What she didn't know, was what she was going to do when she arrived.

  Chapter 48 - Whatcha Gonna Do?

  Underground capital city of the Wild Mountain Vampires.

  Top floor of the Queen’s Palace.

  Day fifty, evening.

  For a change, the queen’s seat of power was bustling with activity. Joe would be returning soon and the queen had already prepared the perfect binding trap. Not only would all of his magic be blocked, along with his ability to move, but this time, he would also be rendered immediately unconscious. If he had some strange ability to be able to kill himself with only a thought, then it was simple—no thoughts allowed.

  The queen decided she would take all the time she needed to adjust his brain chemistry for perfect obedience. Unfortunately, anytime he fell in battle and died, she would have to go through this process all over again, but she reminded herself, she did enjoy neuronal manipulation. She wasn't an illuminati when it came to binding, but she was close and she knew it.

  For those who possessed Binding Sight and took notice, her place of power was a deeply woven tapestry of every type of binding line in existence. It was the reason she hadn't feared anything that Joe could have thrown at her. There were only a few places in her seat of power that allowed even her to use magic. In some ways, it hampered her ability to use lethal magic, but her physical prowess was such that she knew it was the smartest course of action to force any intruder to use their strength alone.

  She could tell by the way her new Champion moved, that he was strong and understood how to use his body to his best advantage. He would be useful, but if he fought against her strength and skill, he would come up short every time. Not that she could afford to take those kinds of chances, though. If he had another one of those thrice-blessed abominations, even she would be vulnerable.

  Two elves carefully carried in a tray that had a bowl of moldy mushroom soup on it, with a few pointy sticks jutting out of it for fun.

  “Excellent! Yes, that's exactly what we need. Once I've prepared my new Champion, he's going to be hungry. Set that on the table right near the altar. I want him to smell it the moment I bring him out of unconsciousness. It will be a good lesson for him to learn. The queen takes care of her pets,” the queen said, and the slaves obeyed.

  The queen came over and smelled the soup, wrinkling her nose.

  “It's got plenty of mushrooms and seasoning. I'm sure he'll enjoy it, but it smells awful to me. Then again, I am a vampire and if it's not blood, it might as well be mud. The bubbles in it are especially unappetizing. I need a drink to steady my stomach before our guest arrives. So, the two of you can follow me over to my throne for a quick nibble. We’ll have to be quick, though. If my new Champion is anything like my old one, he should resurrect soon,” the queen said and the obedient slaves followed to present their throats.

  ***

  Zoya carefully breathed through one of the stick-like straws conveniently assembled in the mushroom soup she had submerged herself in. She could assess the queen’s tone of speech while in the soup, so she felt assured the queen had not yet detected her presence. The pungent bubbling soup seemed to be maintaining her stealth.

  New Fact:

  412- Mushroom soup is equally as disgusting as cat mucus.

  As the queen distracted herself with her drink, Zoya carefully maneuvered the straw that was held tight to her eye. Slowly, through the straw, she surveyed the room. She could feel the binding lines throughout the room, so she decided she had to take a risk. After finding the altar, where she assumed the small place of power was located, she focused on the spot where Joe would most likely appear and, activated her Binding Sight, almost instantly canceling it thereafter.

  In the midst of her drink, the queen pulled her fangs free of her snack and sniffed the air. With focused attention, she scanned the entire room, but found nothing. She looked down at the elf in her hands.

  “Maybe it was something I ate?” the queen said, as she dropped one elf and reached for the other.

  Zoya had only activated her Binding Sight for a millisecond, but with her near-perfect memory, it had been enough. She didn't understand what all of the lines she saw did, but she could tell they were a trap. The good news was, the trap would only work for a single magical person. Once the trap was sprung, it would have to be painstakingly reset. Joe just needed time, then he could stab the queen with the item Hollowbirch had given him.

  She just needed to know when to do it. Fortunately, the queen had already provided the mechanism for timing her jump. One of the binding lines that she had seen above the altar was a simple one. Once magic began to flow through it, it would light up.

  She kept one straw focused just above the altar as she breathed through the other. Now it was a waiting game.

  It had to be soon, otherwise the soup would get cold.

  ***

  The queen didn't bother cleaning the blood off of her face. She believed it only enhanced her true beauty. She noticed the first flicker of light begin to illuminate her place of power. The queen smiled greedily. Her beau was about to arrive.

  Then, a commotion in the soup caused the queen to turn her head, but what she saw infuriated her. A dark fairy jumped into the air pumping her wings with focused urgency. The queen lifted her hand to stop what was about to happen, but she was too late. The nasty bug flew right into the trap that had been made for her new Champion.

  The dark fairy froze, caught in the web that stopped her magic, her movement, and knocked her unconscious.

  Joe emerged from the place of power with ragged breaths.

  “I'm sorry, my little sweet’ums, it appears a vermin has set off the trap that was meant for you. That means you have a few choices. Ultimately, they all lead you to the same conclusion, but you get to choose the path. Choice number one—by far the most pleasant for you—is to submit willingly and I will make you my obedient servant. Your second choice is simple. I kill you, and we try this all again in three days,” the queen taunted.

  Joe reached for Zoya, but she remained static in the air as he attempted to pull her toward himself.

  “You're ignoring me, pet. I guess I will make your choice for you. You’ve got such a pretty face. I hate to kill you,” the queen said.
<
br />   “You've got a disgusting face, I hate to die,” Joe replied, as he extended his iron claw.

  “Disgusting? You say the silliest things, I find them so endearing. Your claw is not quite as long as mine, by the way. I can't remember the last time I had to extend it—not that I have to now, but it'll be more fun,” the queen supposed as she extended her four-foot claw. With her other paw, she made a sign and raised it high. From the floor, her wraith rose.

  “You want me to kill it this time?” Joe asked as he hopped down off the altar and set his feet. Joe stretched his neck and rolled his shoulders in preparation for the fight.

  “No, no, you misunderstand. I will be dealing with you. He's going to kill your frozen fairy friend. I'm hoping he can succeed where I apparently failed weeks ago. This time, she's going to stay dead,” the queen vowed as she thundered forward. At nearly twice Joe's height, the yeti vampire queen towered over him.

  He was getting tired of fighting people so much bigger than him. Reach made a difference, so success in close combat would be nearly impossible. A light bulb went off in his head and he looked down at his socks. Why hadn't they fallen off his body when he died? He didn't remember reading that they were soulbound. Then again, maybe all socks were inherently sole bound. It would make sense that the UI would have the common, unbearable propensity to hide puns all over the world it influenced.

  Bringing himself back to the fight, Joe focused and activated his Clean Socks of Give and Take and instantly grew two feet taller.

  The queen stopped in her tracks, surprised by what had just occurred.

  “How did you do that?” the queen asked, genuinely curious.

  “I've got skills. If you like that one, you're going to love this one,” Joe claimed, as he raised his already glowing white palm. Pure Life Magic shot from his fingertips and headed straight for the queen, but once again, the magic hung in the air, impotent.

  “Apparently, some of your skills bypass my wards, but unfortunately for you, your spells won't work in here. Let's see how good you are with that claw. Come on over here,” the queen beckoned, but Joe didn't want to leave too much distance between him and Zoya. He wasn't going to let that wraith near her.

  “Fine. Want to play hard to get, I can deal with that, I’m a modern vampire,” the queen boasted as she stepped around the streams of Life Magic still stuck in the air.

  Joe attempted to activate his Negation Sphere, but it would still not engage. She was definitely faster than him. Joe barely got his MIL Bar out and activated when she slammed right into it. The bar had hit her stomach hard.

  Her own momentum caused the impact to be the most significant damage she had faced in thousands of years. But, in relation to her overall strength, it was actually quite minimal. It just forced her to use a little more caution. After the impact, she threw herself back. She had to figure out what Joe had done.

  Before the queen could recover, Joe pulled his bar back and out of her direct line of sight.

  “You are full of tricks, but it's just a matter of time. Why struggle? Wouldn't it be better to snuggle?” the queen smiled.

  “Seriously, you're the worst. You’re not only rotten on the inside, you are actually rotting on the outside. How do you not notice the overwhelming presence of gangrene on yourself? That kind of obliviousness is incredibly aggravating,” Joe said, unable to hide his revulsion at the disgusting creature who thought she was beautiful.

  “I almost never understand what you say. I guess that'll be our thing. You talk nonsense and I tolerate your little peccadillos,” the queen countered.

  Joe decided he needed to focus his attention on the fight and in so doing, would ignore everything she said from now on. The queen began to approach Joe, this time with caution and less speed. When she was just close enough, Joe held his MIL Bar out in front of him and locked it.

  She noticed the bar. As it wasn't moving toward her, she reached over it in an attempt to grab her disobedient pet. But, like a child on the monkey bars, Joe swung under the bar and punched his claw right into the putrescent thigh of the vampire queen.

  When he attempted to pull it out for another strike, he realized the queen had flexed her thigh. He was stuck. Her muscles were so strong, he couldn't pull his claw out. Letting go of the MIL Bar, he started punching her knee joint in an attempt to dislodge himself. The queen giggled and uttered more sickly sweet nothings as Joe ignored her. She wasn't even bleeding, and she didn't appear to be in any pain.

  Joe felt caught. The wraith began to float closer to Zoya. Every punch Joe struck into the queen seemed to be completely ineffective, but Joe didn't know what else to do.

  The queen momentarily unflexed her thigh, allowing Joe’s claw to slowly slide out, but apparently, this had been her plan. Before Joe could pull himself away from underneath her, the queen reached down and grabbed both of Joe's wrists. She had retracted her own claw, not seeing a need for it. Holding him up by his arms, she brought his face level with hers. He could no longer ignore what she said.

  “I like how hard you try, but you need to understand. I am not a simple vampire. I create vampires, but I am not weak like them. Their skin is a shell that protects their vulnerable insides. I don't need such a shell because I don't have their vulnerabilities. Here, let me show you. Maybe then you’ll end this silly resistance,” the queen said.

  She positioned Joe’s claw just over her heart. He didn't hesitate. With all the strength he possessed, he thrust his claw forward and felt it penetrate her heart.

  “Oh no! You've broken my heart… I guess it will never beat again,” the queen feigned with a sickly smile. With an unhurried air, she pulled Joe's claw out of her chest and held him up once more. The wraith was now caressing Zoya and Joe could hear the sizzle of her metallic body as the soup residue began to burn from the wraith’s touch.

  “You had a weapon that could destroy me, but it is gone. You've no options left but to submit. Your resistance is fut…” the queen began to say before Joe cut her off.

  “Don't you dare use that line! Nothing about you begins to approach the worthiness of the Borg Queen!” Joe screamed as he struggled. With clear confusion on the queen's face, Joe activated his Clean Socks of Give and Take again, this time shrinking himself down as far as they allowed—to just under six feet tall. The shift in wrist size was just enough for Joe to break her grip and fall to the floor. Not wasting any momentum, Joe rolled over to the queen's place of power and grabbed the wraith around the neck in a stranglehold.

  “Why would you feel the need to save her? You're just delaying the inevitable. At least this way, she would have been able to die in her sleep,” the queen explained.

  Since the queen had stopped to observe and was not currently advancing, Joe ignored her for a moment as he squeezed the wraith’s neck until it stopped struggling.

  “That's just cruel. At least finish it off. You might as well banish it all the way. That way I won't have to put as much power into healing it. You're beginning to exasperate me. Pets should be obedient. Now come here and submit. It's over, and you know it,” the queen hissed, raising her voice.

  “I think you're right. It's time we end this,” Joe fumed as he began to walk over to the queen, dragging the limp wraith behind him.

  “Leave the disappointing wraith. This is your time to submit. He will have his time later,” the queen ordered.

  Joe leaned down and feigned obedience by appearing to settle the wraith on the ground, but just as he bent over, he sprung forward and whipped the wraith’s body up and in the face of the queen.

  With her lightning-fast reflexes, she lifted her hands to stop the wraith from hitting her face. She felt her hands begin to sizzle from the contact with her own shadowed weapon. Before she could thrust it away, Joe, who had returned to his nine-foot eight-inch stature, rushed forward.

  The combination of momentum with the strength-sapping touch of the wraith, caused her to fall on her back. Joe straddled her from above. Using his MIL Bar for
support, he pressed the wraith’s body toward her face with his Multi-Plane Hand.

  She screamed in pain as her flesh burned from the extra-dimensional touch of the wraith. The draining touch of a wraith pinned the queen to the floor, disabling her natural ability to push Joe off of her like he was nothing more than a paperweight.

  “Get off me, wraith! You are my bound Champion. Obey my will!” the queen screamed through the pain.

  Joe pushed harder, holding the wraith tightly to her face.

  “You were right! Resistance is futile,” Joe mocked, with his best Locutus impersonation.

  The queen’s struggle began to weaken and he heard her whisper in a high-pitched voice.

  “Ahh, I'm melting. What a world! What a world…!” she screamed as the UI influenced her.

  Joe felt her whole face dissolve under his hand. Her body turned to ash and the wraith disappeared, back to where it had been summoned.

  Attention.

  Queen Alenia, the Level 317 NPC Raid Boss and Ruling Vampire Mage, has been defeated.

  Congratulations!

  Raid complete!

  Joe quickly swiped the messages away and ran to Zoya who had inexplicably fallen on top of the altar. Joe scooped her up in his palms and began to emit healing light, which now seemed effective.

  Zoya opened her eyes and looked at Joe.

  “Nice job, Joe. You killed her,” Zoya marveled as she sat up.

  “How did you know? Weren't you unconscious?” Joe asked.

  “Yes, but as soon as I woke up, I read the messages. I can’t believe her level was so high! You're going to want to read the messages soon. There's good news …but it’s mostly bad,” Zoya made known.

  “What? You were awake for like a second,” Joe accused.

  “Long enough,” Zoya reminded, as she tapped her noggin.