Rebirth Online 3

by Michael James Ploof

“That looked painful,” said Nanaya with a grimace. She stood beside me in ghost form, waiting for her own countdown, and soon Tweak, Kit, and Ember joined us.

  “Same plan,” I told my guild mates. “But this time let’s knock that fucker off the bridge.”

  Our countdowns hit zero almost simultaneously, and we erupted from behind the veil with a vengeance. The Harvesters of Sorrow were now on our side of the bridge, lighting into our guardian with everything they had.

  Tweak conjured his purple monkeys, and they scampered into the fray with no fear. Trinity, Stormy, and Ember attacked the enemy casters, and Nanaya began to morph into something else. I thought that she would take on her dragon form, but instead she had opted for a fifteen-foot-tall mountain troll. She swatted the enemy players aside with her massive fists and charged into the red guardian’s knees.

  Our guardian and the red were still locked in battle, but with Nanaya’s help, ours had gained the upper hand.

  “New plan, Guardian!” I yelled up at him as I deflected a spell with my Fire Shield. “Push that bastard off the ledge!”

  An enemy dwarf came leaping out of the smoke and slammed my shield with his massive axe, and I staggered back from the blow and unsheathed my enchanted blade. Before I could engage the dwarf, however, Anna hit him with a spell that froze him in place. Then Trinity came out of nowhere and shoulder slammed the stunned dwarf, sending him careening over the ledge.

  The two guardians continued to fight as the rest of us battled at their feet. The Harvesters of Sorrow had turned their attention on Nanaya, who was using her incredible strength to help push the red toward the ledge. In turn, my guild mates and I focused our spells on the red guardian.

  Then we got lucky.

  Two thick green tentacles shot up from beyond the ledge and wrapped themselves around the red guardian’s ankles. They yanked back, sweeping the feet right out from under the guardian, who landed on top of Nanaya.

  “Guardian! Get back to our base!” I screamed, afraid that the red guardian would pull ours down with it.

  Three more tentacles shot up over the ledge and wrapped themselves around the struggling red’s legs, and another came over and grabbed the right ankle of our retreating guardian. The opposing guild hurriedly began trying to blast the tentacles apart and free the red, but it was no use.

  A moment later, the sea monster yanked hard and pulled the red over the ledge.

  The crowd went wild as five of the Harvesters of Sorrow went over the side with the red. We made short work of the remaining two players, and I looked over the ledge to find the red guardian doing battle with the giant sea monster.

  “Help me!” Stormy cried out as she hacked at the tentacle still holding onto our guardian. The monster was strong as hell and was slowly pulling our guardian toward the ledge. In just a few seconds, ours too would tumble down to the murky waters below. I unsheathed the enchanted blade that had been gifted to me by Megulla, and my guildmates did the same. We fell on the tentacle, hacking and chopping with our glowing swords.

  The Harvesters of Sorrow alternates had emerged from behind the veil and were now racing across the bridge. We had only moments before they fell upon us, and I began to think that we wouldn’t free the blue in time. Then Stormy leapt over our guardian and came down hard with a ridiculously large axe.

  Sparks flew from the stone as the axe chopped right through the tentacle. Our guardian scrambled to his feet and raced for our base as I had instructed, and the rest of us turned to face the Harvesters of Sorrow.

  They were pissed as hell, but there was nothing they could do to help their guardian. A large looking glass above their base showed the red guardian’s health bar, and it was quickly ticking toward zero. Our guardian, on the other hand, was still well over 70%.

  “All we’ve got to do is hold them off for a few more seconds!” I yelled to my guild mates.

  The Harvesters of Sorrow reached our side of the bridge, and we met their charge with a war cry. I died three times in less than a minute as the opposing guild tried desperately to burn down our guardian, but when the explosion sounding the destruction of the red guardian shook the stone beneath us, a horn blared, signaling the end of the battle.

  “Holy shit,” said Anna panting beside me. “Did we just win?”

  I nodded happily, and she wrapped her arms around me and gave me a big kiss.

  The crowd was on their feet chanting our name, and I saw my parents among them brimming with pride.

  “Winner!” Came the voice of doctor Marks. “Heavy Metal Thunder!”

  The crowd chanted our names and roses fell upon the sand, then an explosion suddenly rocked the coliseum.

  Chapter 11

  The blast had come from the middle of the sand less than fifty feet away from us, and I was lifted off my feet by a wall of green flame and deposited near the wall. A wave of sand covered me, and I lay on the ground struggling to breathe. I pulled myself up out of the sand and looked around, but there was too much dust to see through.

  “Kit, Trinity, Anna!” I called. “Where is everyone?”

  They groaned and called back to me from close by, and then the surrounding dust suddenly receded back from the center of the blast. I found everyone sprawled out around me, and the stands were in chaos.

  “Look!” Cecilia said urgently and pointed at the pit that now smoldered in the center of the arena.

  From the depths of the smoldering pit came a black creature that looked to be made completely of shadow. It hovered over the smoldering pit, halfway between my guild and the Harvesters of Sorrow. I nodded at the other guild leader, and he acknowledged my silent gesture. I assumed that the creature was hostile, and the dwarven guards seemed to agree. They rushed past me and my guild and surrounded the shadow creature. There were at least twenty guards in all, and the stadium was packed with highly skilled players, but that didn’t stop the creature from suddenly shooting toward the crowd with a hair-raising howl.

  Spells erupted from all around the stadium, over a thousand in all, but to everyone’s utter amazement, none of the spells hit the creature. They went through it as though it was smoke, and the creature swooped down toward my guild’s booth.

  No, it wasn’t going for our booth, it was going toward my parents!

  “Look out!” I screamed and unleashed a blast of Arcane Lightning. My spell was absorbed by the creature this time, as were the other players hundreds of follow up spells. The shadow creature held the collective energy in his long fingers and then suddenly released it all in a blast of light. Every spell shot back at its wielder, and I barely brought up my Fire Shield in time to deflect my Arcane Lightning.

  I ran through the fiery chaos, dodging and deflecting run-away spells, desperately trying to get to my parents. Everyone around them was clearing out, but they stood there in shock. I saw my father finally unsheathe his blade, but it turned to ash with a flick of the shadow creature’s wrist.

  “Run!” I screamed, but it was too late.

  The shadowy figure raised its hands palms out, and black tendrils shot out of its hands and wrapped my parents in a dark, misty webbing.

  “No!” I leapt up onto the barrier wall and kicked off, launching myself twenty feet into the air. I reached for the shadow creature, intent on driving it to the ground and killing it for messing with my parents, but just like my spells, I passed right through the creature.

  I landed in the aisle behind the fifth row and turned to see my parents floating through the air behind the shadowy figure.

  “Somebody do something!” I screamed as I desperately scanned the crowd. “Doctor Marks!”

  I saw him floating across the coliseum. His eyes glowed white-hot and his hair danced with silver flames. He stopped mid-air and unleashed a beam of light that slammed into the shadow creature’s chest. The crowd cheered, but the scream that issued from the shadowy figure silenced them all. I covered my ears, sure that the scream of the creature had shattered my eardrums.

  Doctor
Marks hit the creature again with a beam of light, but my parents were still floating toward the gaping fissure. I saw players racing toward them, arms extended in a desperate attempt to save them, but it was no use.

  My parents were sucked into the steamy hole, and the shadow figure disappeared.

  I watched horrified as the sand that had been blast out of the center of the arena was sucked back in. It was as if someone had hit rewind on a movie, and soon silence filled the stadium.

  “Megulla!” I screamed, and my voice echoed throughout the stadium.

  Stunned silence followed my dying cry.

  Then the coliseum erupted into curious murmurs, outraged exclamations, and even some applause, as though people thought it had all been part of the show.

  “Sam!” Kit yelled as she ran toward me. “I’m so sorry, Sam, but we’ll get them back, we’ll find them.” She squeezed me tight, and the rest of my guild gathered around.

  “You think it was Megulla?” Tweak asked me.

  I nodded. I was fuming and didn’t trust myself to speak.

  “Why would she kidnap your parents?” Stormy asked.

  “Maybe she wants them to meet their grandkids,” said Trinity.

  I offered her a withering glare, and she winced.

  “To soon?” she asked sarcastically.

  “What the hell is your problem lately?” Anna asked. “Sam’s parents were just pulled into the Underworld, or wherever the hell, and you’re cracking jokes like an asshole?”

  “Fuck you Miss Perfect,” said the red-faced warrior.

  Anna took a step toward her, but Tweak got between the two girls.

  “Now, now ladies. Let’s keep our heads. We’re on TV.” Tweak nudged his head toward the big looking glass, and the women got themselves under control.

  I walked over to the spot where my parents had been dragged down to hell and felt the soft sand with my right palm. It was cool to the touch, and there was no longer any indication that anything had happened.

  “What was that all about Sam?”

  I turned to find Doctor Marks standing behind me with his arms folded and a scowl on his face. All around us the coliseum was emptying. The dwarven guards were ushering everyone out, and the looking glass announced that the tournament had been paused for the time being.

  “I was hoping that you could tell me,” I said.

  “Well, I suggest you get it all sorted out with your demonic girlfriend,” said the doctor.

  “You don’t seem to be taking this very seriously,” I said as I stalked toward him.

  “Crazy shit happens in this game all the time Sam. Your parents know that better than most. They knew what they were getting themselves into.”

  “Did they though?”

  “Relax, Sam. Your parents will be fine.”

  “Fine?” I said, laying on the sarcasm.

  “They’re guests, and their pain stats have been turned down just about to zero,” said the doctor. “Besides, they can log out any time they want.”

  “Sure, but if they ever want to visit again, they’ll log on and be stuck in the Underworld, or wherever that thing took them.”

  Doctor Marks shrugged. “They can buy new avatars.”

  I paced back and forth before him with my hands on my hips, trying to calm myself down. “What the hell was that thing?”

  “That was the Wraith King, one of the most powerful creatures in the Underworld. When the game started, he was programmed into a prison. But it appears that someone has awaken him. Find out who that was, and you might find your parents.”

  “I thought you assumed that it was Megulla.”

  He shrugged. “Perhaps, perhaps not. Why don’t you ask her?”

  “I plan on it,” I said, and turned from the doctor. I knew that he wasn’t going to offer anymore help, and I didn’t want him to anyway. This was probably just Megulla being an asshole, or maybe she thought it was funny. Then there was the possibility that Trinity’s suggestion was correct, and Megulla wanted my parents to meet our golden demon children.

  What a fun conversation that would be…

  I let out a sigh and returned to my curious guild mates.

  “I need to meet with Megulla, see what the hell’s going on,” I told them.

  “Alone?” Kit asked.

  “We should come with you,” said Anna.

  “Nah,” I said, waving them off. “We don’t need to get caught up in some crazy Underworld shit right now. If something happens to me, I want you guys to continue, and I want you to win the Guild Wars. Got it?”

  “Aye Aye Big Daddy.” Kit offered me a playful salute.

  I left my guild mates standing on the sand and walked into the tunnel that we had previously emerged from. At the end was a small room where the fighters could get ready, and I made sure no one was lurking around and then brought the pendant around my neck to my lips.

  “Megulla? Can you hear me? We need to talk…NOW!”

  I paced the dark room, waiting for something to happen, but the demoness didn’t appear.

  “Listen, babe, this is really important,” I said into the pendant.

  “I’m listening,” came a raspy voice full of mirth.

  I whipped around and found the imp Frig standing behind me and smirking.

  “Where’s Megulla?” I demanded.

  “She sent me, what do you want?” He asked.

  I stormed over to him and grabbed him by the throat.

  “Listen here you little prick. I need to speak with Megulla, right, fucking, now.” I accentuated the demand by unsheathing my glowing blade and putting it up to his neck.

  “Why didn’t you say so?” he said with a nervous laugh. Then he raised his right hand and snapped his fingers.

  In the blink of an eye I was standing on a balcony overlooking Hellgrind City. Megulla was leaning against the black iron rail and staring at the people below.

  “Where are my parents?” I asked the demon as I threw the little imp over the balcony rail.

  “Fuck you!” he screamed as he fell.

  “I don’t know,” said Megulla. She looked sad, or afraid, and the look only made me more worried.

  “What do you mean you don’t know?” I demanded. “Doctor Marks told me that a creature called the Wraith King took them. He said that the shadow creature had been imprisoned for a millennium, and that someone must have let him out. Tell me it was you. Tell me what you’ve done with them. Megulla?”

  I noticed that a tear was streaking down her beautiful face.

  “Samson…” she said, but then she bit her lip and bowed her head. “Our children, Samson. They’re dying.”

  I swallowed hard and straightened. Then it was my turn to stare at the people moving about in the city below. I had felt a sudden pang of sorrow, worry…fear.

  “Why?” I asked, finally lifting my gaze.

  “They’re losing their golden sheen. They’re becoming gray. Their skin is cracking like desert clay. I think they need something. I think they need the sun.”

  I stared at her, not knowing whether to burst out laughing, or to take her seriously. Was this just some twisted plot to get me to bring the children to the surface world? Surely she could bring them there herself is she wanted, she was after all the Lord of the 7th level, and ruler of the entire place.

  “You don’t believe me?” she said with a heartbroken look.

  “I can only handle one emergency at a time, babe. You need to tell me what you know about my parent’s kidnapping.”

  “I just told you that our children are dying,” she said, now becoming angry.

  “What the hell am I supposed to do about it?” I yelled.

  “You are their father!” she screamed, and black flames shot out of her horns. “It is your human side that has given them this weakness. I am a creature of the Underworld, but you are a creature of the Surfaceworld. Just as you need the sun, so too do your children.”

  “Yeah, but I don’t fade and die if I don’t get any
sun. I can live without it,” I explained.

  “The children are powerful, but so too are they cursed. I fear that if they do not feel the sun on their skin, they will soon die.”

  I rubbed my temples and pinched the bridge of my nose. “Alright, but listen, they’ve still got time, right?”

  She nodded.

  “How long?”

  “I don’t know, the sickness came upon them suddenly. Hours, days perhaps.”

  “Alright, I’ll help you. I promise, but you’ve got to help me get my parents back from whoever stole them. They’re from a faraway land, and they don’t understand what’s happening. I’m afraid that…”

  “You love them,” she said as though it wasn’t a common sentiment to have for your parents.

  “Of course I do.”

  “You are a good son, Samson, and you are a good father. I will help you find your parents.”

  “Then you know who might have released the Wraith King from his eternal prison?” I asked.

  Just then a rumbling shook the tower, and we both turned instinctively toward the city. Swirling black smoke began to issue from a crackling portal that hung above the city, and a figure suddenly emerged. The being must have been fifteen feet tall, with shimmering jade skin, hooved feet, tall, straight horns, and the body of a young Greek god. His eyes burned deep green, and fire of the same color surrounded him.

  “Baal,” Megulla muttered under her breath in a mix of shock and trepidation.

  The winged demon sailed toward us, and though the horns blared in the city below, and winged defenders flew to intercept him, Baal paid them no mind. When one of the guarding demons tried to block Baal’s way, he extended a hand, and from it a thick green beam of energy shot out and hit the demon in the chest, turning him to ash.

  The other demons attacked, but Baal brought up a force field that turned away every spell, blade, and curse.

  “Megulla, call off your dogs,” said Baal in a rumbling voice.

  Megulla raised a hand, and the demons stopped attacking.

  “It was you,” I said as I walked up to Baal bravely. “Where are my parents?”

  He ignored me and continued to stare at Megulla.