by Dawn Chapman
I had no idea who was going to be best to take inside a dungeon. I wanted to take Noc because he had some amazing skills. But I’d probably have to rely on Dahlia to help me here. She would have better ideas for who else to take in. We were all so vastly different in levels and skills. I mean Dahlia herself had taken on a healer role, and I was a rogue, simple, but the others… I had no clue. There and then, I figured I’d have to find out and approach them with caution. I couldn’t let the other players know the game was at stake. I couldn’t let those details slip in conversation or in how things were going. It could ruin the whole experience for them. This sucked.
I nodded. “Okay, I’ll do it. I’ll make sure we’re good to go, and we’re in the dungeon before long. And that we win whatever’s down there.”
Mum smiled and waited while the medic came back in. He had a vial of something and approached my arm with it. “Let’s see if this has any impact on what’s inside your system,” he said.
I didn’t really want more needles, but Mum’s stern look made me think twice about saying no—and in breaking away from any restraints.
The injection was painless so it must have had some numbing agent in it. I swallowed and nodded back to the door. “Get me back to Puatera. I’ll do my best to do as you asked. I hope it’s something fun for them, that they see everything, and they want to play too.”
“So do I. So do I.”
Chapter 15
I managed to stand and walk to the door. Mum followed, but I knew it was only to make sure I was going to do this. I saw something else in my mother then. She wasn’t my mother for a while but a stark businesswoman. “I need this game to work,” Mum said. “We need the backers to continue. This has been my everything for the last few years. I can’t see it fail. There’s…” She paused, and tears seemed to brim before she shook her head and added, “There is too much at stake here.”
She’d always said the game belonged to Dresel, but it was hers too. She’d spent many hours and more than she should have going over every detail, making sure there was no code left unchecked. The truth of the matter was that somehow, something got in and was changing the way everything worked in the game. I thought it was Maddie. The fact was, it wasn’t just Maddie. It was everything. The whole place was just amazing, from every molecule to the very air we breathed. I didn’t want it to die. Or for anyone else to die, either.
I watched as everyone around me made sure I was settled in my spot before the AI plucked me from the ground. I felt the sting and the ache of my neck, and then I swallowed as the room vanished. I was whisked back to Puatera. I loved the fact the immersions were quick. It was something I wanted to do again and again. I loved playing this game. I opened my eyes and looked to Dahlia. She wasn’t awake yet. I wondered if Mum was with her now as she had been with me.
I accessed the rest of my stat sheets, studying them as much as I could. The Karma, the accumulated skills around my class.
When Dahlia eventually woke, she frowned at me.
“What happened? Why were you gone so long?” I asked her.
She sat up and blinked at me. “Sorry, Mum needed me for a few checks. Nothing to worry about.”
But I did, knowing what was inside me. I wanted to ask her, make sure she was okay, but she looked great. I smiled instead. “Good.”
I pushed myself up. My legs in here weren’t so wobbly, and that was nice. I felt stronger yet weaker on the inside. I didn’t know how it was possible. But it hurt. Something they gave me in the real world?
I looked at Dahlia. “Did you get the update to the quest before?”
Her eyes lit up. “Oh, not sure. What’s that?”
“It’s now a high-level quest, though, with many creatures to battle.”
She had never been one to want to be part of dungeon quests. Raiding never really got her excited, neither did loot. So, I wasn’t sure this would keep her attention, either.
“We’re to protect the eggs, yes?”
I could only nod and try my best to think about how to word this.
“We need to take the fight to them. Thin their numbers out, then take out their leaders. I can’t do it alone. We need some of the others. I don’t know who’s strongest. Would you help us pick teammates?”
“No pressure.” She sighed. “I guess Noc. He’s a high-level NPC, right.”
I cringed at her word choice for him. She saw that and added, “No offence. Maybe Jarvin… Give me a few to think on it. No pressure, right.”
I placed a hand on her shoulder. “Yeah, no kidding. There really isn’t, right?”
I wondered what the others might think about me trying to convince her of this, but the feed wouldn’t start right away, would it? I couldn’t worry about the whole world watching. I just had to do what needed to be done.
Dahlia tapped my daggers. “So you’re really a rogue?”
I couldn’t quite meet her gaze, but she tugged my chin to look at her. “Don’t be worried. I love you no matter what.”
“Yes,” I said. “I’m more rogue here than anything. I sneak, I kill, and I kinda like it.”
We went outside, and the light burned my eyes for a moment. I looked at the people milling around, the now bustling area around the town exciting.
Able approached from the far end of the camp. I could see he was talking to a woman and another guy. I didn’t know them, but I would have to try to trust them as potential teammates. If I could trust Travoy’s Guild and Maddie, this was a walk in the park, right?
I waited till they stopped in front of me, and Abel looked at me as something flashed across his eyes. I knew and hoped it was the update to the quest.
He then looked at me. “Going in?”
Dahlia glanced at me, and I nodded.
“We need a team,” I said. “So far, we need to ask Jarvin and Noc. But we need a tank and maybe a ranged fighter…”
“I think I can sort out a few people for you,” Abel said. “You could ask Candice. She’s an amazing fighter, and… I mean I could tank for you?”
I watched Dahlia’s reaction. “I’d like that,” she said. “I’ve already seen you fight.”
“Yeah, that’s right,” Able said puffing out his chest.
She’d seen a lot more than I had because they’d fought beside each other in the forest. I wish I’d been there to do something. I think that would have been a wonderful thing.
So now I could only nod and go along with it. Candice moved to the guys’ side. “I think I’d like to join you if you’d let me.”
“You would?”
“Candice,” she said, grinning from ear to ear. I liked the way she held herself. She was a fighter, just like I was. I was sure of it. She might be a heck of a lot older than me—at least she looked it. Her figure and her leathers were rocking it. I wished I could look like she did. How on earth wasn’t she sweating like crazy? This was the desert, after all.
When she winked at me, it was as if she already knew what I was thinking. “I use these,” and within a moment, she had twin blades in her hands. She flicked them around her, and my eyes betrayed my desire. I saw the wave of energy from them at the same time. They were magically enhanced.
“Good to have you on board,” I said. “Nice blades. If I can learn from you while we’re down there, please help me.”
So we had two DPS, but no ranged magic. Unless Noc was great with ranged. I don’t think I really knew what he could do. I’d be making sure before we went down there. Able as Tank… maybe we’d be good to go. I sighed. We’d have to be.
She smiled even deeper. It drew up to the corners of her eyes. I don’t think it possible for her to be any happier. I grinned back. I think I’d found a way to learn more and gain other skills I might need. She was a player, that much was obvious, and she seemed to know Able well.
“Looks like we’ll make quite the team.”
“Think we need one more,” Dahlia said.
“Yeah, I wish Steve were here,” Candice said. “O
r even Akillia would be great, but I’m not sure who else would be a good match.”
“Any other mages you know, or all-rounders?” I asked her.
She seemed to think about things, and then she looked across the desert plains. Toward the mountains. “I think we could put it on the boards, see what interest we get. What time limit are we on?
“I don’t think there is one, maybe we could just grab dinner and then see?”
“Sounds like a plan. Are you posting it?” she looked to Dahlia, and my sister nodded.
“Boards?” I asked.
Dahlia nodded. “Bring up your interface. You can scroll through to the last page. They’re there, under forum and then ‘quest positions.’ I’ll fill in one of those real quick unless you have someone in mind?”
There was so much in here that I’d not seen or experienced. I scrolled through quickly. I didn’t get the boards, though.
ERROR… ERROR…
GLITCH RECORDED
“I’m still glitching,” I said to her. Dahlia frowned. “Okay, no worries.”
I waited for her to move away and walk closer to the camp, but Dahlia moved in the opposite direction. “I’ll be back soon. Let me get the posting up, and then we’ll meet on the other side of the camp. Sound good?”
Candice and Abel agreed, and I watched as she walked away and into the night. Since when had it become so dark? It seemed like only a few moments ago it had been daylight.
I watched as there were fires starting up, and I could smell dinner. I really needed this, and they knew it.
“Actually, I can think of one other mage who might be decent to join us.”
“Oh, you should have said… ranged?”
“The good all-rounder you’re talking about….”
We walked off in the opposite direction as Candice and Macie. “Who do you have in mind?”
“Only one person around these parts,” Abel said. “Who might be decent in a raid but might need a little persuading out of her own holes.”
I laughed at this and nodded. “You could be right, but I’m not sure she will leave.”
“Then maybe we’ve got to convince her!”
Abel stopped by a caravan wagon’s door and knocked hard. When the young furry cat woman answered it, she looked to Abel and nodded, stepping out. She was small, her handmade clothes enhanced all her features though. Leather trousers, boots and trimmed jacket. The red crest that adorned it spoke volumes of her stature, though I didn’t know where it was from.
She ran a finger down it, and it lit up with stunning magic. “I saw the job posting. Thought Abel might bring you here.”
“You think you can be what we need?” I asked her, a little concerned about her age. She looked young, then I laughed. She still looked older than me.
“You’re looking for a powerful mage. I’m sure there are others about, but they’re busy. I’m probably your best bet.” She placed a hand on her hip, her tail swishing gently behind her. Such attitude. I liked it. “Besides,” she grinned, her canines showing slightly. “I’ve a vested interest in the future of this group and this part of the journey. We need to get this wagon back to my side of the world with the Hismaw still. No matter the goals you have, we still need to complete this journey with Akillia.”
“Akillia has a quest?”
She glanced up at Abel. “The one she started with, yes. All these are just side quests to her. They’re fun for sure, but she wants to complete hers.”
“How do you know this?” I said.
“Because I spent so long with her because we went through a lot together, and she saved my grandfather.”
“So, you’ll come with us and help.”
“Of course.” She hopped out of the wagon and moved away at a quick pace. “I just need to get word to my father that things are going in a different direction for a while. He’s watching the others and Zurath. I think maybe he needs a bit more to do, though I don’t think he’d be good in a dungeon.”
“Who is Zurath?”
“That’s Akillia’s Fire Eagle.”
“Oh,” that really got my attention. “You can have familiars? Wow. I like the sound of him. I’d love to meet him.”
“He usually goes everywhere, but with her heading to a place she wasn’t sure of, she put Ferris in charge, and that means he’s left antsy. There’s nothing worse than a seaman with a creature of fire. They just don’t get on well together.”
That’s when we saw something shooting up into the sky like a fireball.
I could hear shouting ahead, and then a man came running for Macie. “Damned thing wasn’t taking no for an answer.”
“You lost him?” Macie asked incredulously.
The furry creature before me lowered his head, and I could see the apprehension there. He was upset and angry, and then I noticed a tail. Wow. He was just like an angry cat, furiously wagging it.
“Zurath got away, yes.”
“Where did he go?” I asked. “There’s no way he could follow them into the demon kingdom, right?”
Macie looked at me in shock. “They’ve gone where?” Then to Abel who shook his head. She visibly swallowed and said, “We’ve only ever heard how dark the place is, that most who cross there just never return, but that’s not because of want of trying. It’s because there’s something else that keeps them there, and it’s not necessarily Kamaal.”
“Oh, so the demon lord couldn’t always do what he wanted… Interesting.” I was very interested in anything that Kamaal did. Attraction wasn’t how I’d word it, but the draw was intense. Being around him even for a short period of time seemed to boost everything I wanted in here. The dark side of me loved the energy he gave off.
“No, there’s the fact there’s something else governing here,” Macie said. “There are rules they can’t break. Even if they’re supposed to be ruling the whole world, they’ve got to stick to the pre-arranged rules for everything, everyone, or things wouldn’t work out.”
I laughed at this. They had no clue there was so much going on that was wrong. So much the AI in here, who seemed to have plans of his own, and was just breaking the mood and doing what he wanted anyway. “So, you’ll still come with us though, right?”
“Yeah, I think I could do with a nice change of pace and to actually lay into some creatures. Seeing how much my levels have grown through this journey would be very interesting.”
“You think you’ve done well and grown a lot?”
“Yes, I’ve never felt so powerful before. I think this is awesome. And it’s a nice time for us to test ourselves before the army gets here.”
I shivered. “How far out are they?”
“Not far enough. I’d like them here later rather than sooner, but we’ve got maybe a week or so. Certainly no more than that.”
“There’s not enough food or people here yet to fight off Troli’s army?” I was confused. The camp around the Tromoal caves was huge.
“I don’t know how they’re doing it, but Port Troli is amassing quite the army. This is only a fraction of what we have,” Macie said. “The others are working hard at Macrovak City to try and funnel them in, head them off.”
“But here?”
“No, we’ve got quite a lot here, but no way enough food and wares.”
“Can’t you get in more from the villages and the surrounding area?
“I think so, yes. If we had enough money, we could buy more. The fact is they’re not trading anything at the moment, thinking this war isn’t coming, and if it is, they need the food and defences, so they’re sticking it to us and hoarding.”
I didn’t like this, not one bit. I thought villages and people were supposed to stick together. There was no way a war should split up neighbours and friends. No matter how much they relied on their own people for protection, they were always going to be stronger banding together.
“Abel can you get word to the others? Then we will be able to supply them with all the resources they need. We’ll just ne
ed some things now to tide us over. But we’re going into a dungeon, a very rich place. We should be able to find a lot of things that can sway the war and them. Without us, these guys are going to blast on through and own Maicreol, and then hurt everything and everyone the towns ever loved. I don’t think that’s what they want at all, I think they need us, and we need them a mutual partnership.”
“So that’s it then? The dungeon it is?”
I didn’t really want to go back into any dungeon. They’d been such a darker part of this side of my life, this world. I hated them and didn’t hate them, both at the same time. Especially thinking of Denny and Keld. I wondered briefly what those two critters were doing.
I wanted to see what Puatera’s AI would give us in a real dungeon quest. Would it have lots more loot and fights? Would there be a real boss at the end, something that we could defend against?
I grinned inwardly. No matter what, we would face it together.
Much later, standing with Dahlia at the edge of the caves to the Tromoal eggs, I waited for the others to join us. Noc, Macie, Jarvin, Abel, and Candice.
Candice and Able were first. “Dinner was good, yes?”
“I think we’d had enough to eat for a while. Yes, shall we do this?”
Candice was eager, I could see it in her eyes. I wanted to head on in too. There was a lot that was going on down there. If we could head it off before anyone else, that was a good thing, right?
Though I wasn’t sure about fighting in such close quarters. I flexed my hands over my own daggers and nodded toward the cave.
Candice took the lead, and inside she went, head lowered and stance down. I guessed she was checking for traps and other things. I liked the way she held herself. It was calm and collected. I thought then that I could actually learn a lot from her, even as one gamer to another, not just inside the game world of Puatera.
This was interesting. I mean I’d worked with strangers in teams raiding many a dungeon. But here, with the seven of us… NPCs and Visitors… to be able to do this, we’d work together and be able to beat all the odds that just kept stacking against us.