by Dawn Chapman
I turned quickly and planted my blade in the critters face. It was a sickening crunch as it hit bone, and he gurgled once, and then dropped, filling me with satisfaction. A little more than that, a red haze seemed to spread through my body and mind, and with it, the need to kill.
I didn’t think anymore. I just reacted off instinct. Bodies fell literally as I spun through the mob of critters, my own death count starting to rack up in my vision. The more I killed, the more I started to enjoy their little cries of pain and horror as their lives were snuffed out. This wasn’t like me. I’d never killed like this before.
At the corner of my vision, there was a red haze. Like blood lust? From some of the games I’d recently played? A curse?
No. I knew what it was. I sighed.
Epol’s Eye.
There were kill points allocated for this. I tried not to see it, but Macie and Dahlia were also really hitting these creatures hard. I had two more to slay before I was anywhere near the monster in the middle. His red skin so deeply coloured that it seemed to move like liquid blood. Or was it? I hadn’t a clue. It glistened with moisture and the light from the fighting.
Macie reached him first and started to lay on fire. His sideswipe at her was nothing short of horrendous, his fists the size of her head. I watched as she attempted to dodge but missed getting out of the way and took a full-frontal slam from him. Her body hit the side of the wall, and she didn’t move.
“Dahl!” I called out and pointed. I wasn’t sure there was anything my sister could do for her without taking us out of the fight completely. Dahlia acted quick, and it seemed she pooled something to fire toward Macie.
Soon at my side again, she shouted over the din at me, “It will have to do. Concentrate.”
I looked back as the monster moved toward me. He was slow. Kind of stupidly slow, but his powerful fist wasn’t to be trifled with.
I gripped the blades tighter and ran for it. If I could get in closer but avoid his hits, I’d be able to start laying in damage.
Me: Distract him as best you can, I need to keep slicing!
Abel: Will do.
Jarvin: On it too!
Abel started hammering the smaller monsters. They swarmed toward him, away from the Djinfel, but with Jarvin’s blasts and my blades whirring back and forth, we had a chance to bleed this monster out. It would take time and skill to keep going, but we’d do it. Dahlia’s magical attacks started to blast toward him once more, and with Abel and others risking their own lives, both Jarvin and I could get in closer. We were able to slowly make enough cuts to start to affect its health. It gradually started to dip.
DJINFEL MASTER - HEALTH - 48%
We were here for the long haul. From my right side, I noticed Jarvin was now laying in with everything he had. Where these people had learned some of their skills, I had no idea, but I was glad to have them here right now covering my back.
Abel shouted out as the Djinfel made a savage switch in his play. Instead of going after Abel, he turned to strike at me.
I took the hit to the side of my body full on. Bones crunched and my vision blurred.
My own splotch hit an all-time high number of twenty-four, and yet I was still standing. I was not going to let my friends down.
Chapter 17
I struggled to breathe as pain spread through my body and mind.
DJINFEL MASTER - HEALTH - 32%
I coughed, and blood spilt down my chin. I was broken, but my fight hadn’t gone yet. If I could do one last thing before I lost my life here, I’d kill this motherfucker.
Macie stirred at the other side of the cavern, and I could see her eyeing me up. She shook her head. But I wasn’t taking that as a no. Just as the opposite. No one would ever tell me no in a game. I wasn’t letting that shit get away with this.
I pushed myself forward, readied myself in for one last strike at him. I glanced to Dahlia whose face pained at the sight of me, but I just glared at her. She knew I would do this. She nodded at me and began to build up her energy levels. Then she directed them at me. I felt the healing energies coming in waves from my sister, “thank you,” I mouthed to her. Then I turned away.
Dahlia: Macie, on my mark. Hit the Djinfel with everything you’ve got!
Macie stood, and I watched as the aura around her struggled at first to spark. Then she became a beacon of bright light. Abel and Jarvin were still dodging in and out of the Djinfel’s fists, but they were getting tired. I could see that.
Dahlia: Three
I steadied myself, slightly wobbling still, but I couldn’t let them down. In the corner of my eye, I noticed the woman on the altar. Her face had altered, and a tear dripped down the side of her face.
Dahlia: Two
As Dahlia’s words filled my mind, my decision was made. Instead of ripping into the monster, I switched directions and headed in for the altar. I had no clue to the magic which had bound her to it, or to what effect the altar itself would have, but at the centre of the chair, she was solidly trapped. In there were an intricate rune design and one crystal set in amongst them all.
Dahlia: One
Standing before the altar now, I flipped the edge of the hilt to one of my blades around, and as the Djinfel roared at me, I slammed the blade as hard as I possibly could into the glowing gem.
It shattered.
The resulting explosion of light and energy slammed into me, forcing me backward and into the opposite wall with such force the air burst from my lungs, and I was sure more than a few ribs broke too. The blast also scattered many of the critters that were still trying to get to us, to fight for the Djinfel.
From the position I lay in, as my life ebbed, I could see the woman from the altar rising into the air. Power enveloped her, and with one word, she lashed out at the Djinfel. “EeKristioz!”
I had no clue what it meant, but it had the Djinfel turn and face her as a lightning bolt cracked from her hands and filled the air with electricity. It sped from her and struck the Djinfel in the chest, bursting out from his back and covering poor Abel in gore. I coughed and laughed at this but then noticed my splotch reaching for that point of no return. The Djinfel was no more, though, and satisfaction burned through me. We’d completed this part of the quest.
I waited for the notification telling me I had died, but it didn’t come. Yet.
Within a split second, the woman was kneeling beside me. I could see the tips of her ears poking through her long curling hair.
“Rest, warrior.”
I tried to ask her a question, to see something else around me, but the vision and my life ebbed fast. At least, I’d succeeded, right? The Djinfel was no more. At least the friends I had in here were safe.
Macie struggled over to me and kneeled with the woman. She placed her hands to my forehead and chest, energy pouring into me, my splotch not moving even a tiny percentage. “I can try and save her,” she said. But Dahlia held her hand up to my shock, but I knew the why. I smiled at her. It wasn’t that I was beyond their power to save, but it would probably sap a lot of the energy that they’d need in the coming hours.
“See you in a few,” I said to Macie. “Don’t wait for me. Protect them.”
My splotch reached the high-end point, and my life was forfeited.
Ping. “YOU HAVE DIED!”
Blackness spread before me, and real pain settled in the pit of my stomach.
I waited for any other notifications, and then I waited some more.
ALL BONUSES LOST…
I woke in that blackness of the room back in my real life.
My mum’s voice drifted toward me.
“Welcome back, sweetie.”
I opened my eyes, and my body floated back to the ground. I picked myself up, pushing on the soft blackness that was around me. Comforting as it was, I still wanted to stand and walk by myself, not lie there.
The door opened, and Mum came in. “How are you feeling?”
“I need to get back in,” I said.
; “You can’t. you have to cool down. An hour tops. Come and sit. Eat dinner with me?”
I groaned, like the typical teenager I actually was. Mum was taking me away from my friends, my sister, and what was going on.
She put her arm out and pulled me to her. “Don’t worry. I’ve got your sisters live feed up in the room. We can watch what they’re doing too, and you can eat and prepare yourself for going back. Is that okay?”
I looked up into her eyes and knew she was doing the best she could to help. “Thank you, Mum.”
“No problem. I’m sure I’m the cause of half the issues as to what’s going on in here,” I said. “So I want to do what I can.”
“You’re not the issue. There are many things we don’t know about. all we can do is play the game. Do as we’re asked, be stronger.”
“You think it’s going to be okay?”
I didn’t know anything, but I had to believe it. I shrugged. “We’re trying. What more can we ask for? What more can we do for them?”
She didn’t respond. She helped me to a table and to where I could see the feed and monitor to watch what Dahlia was up to now.
It was the weirdest thing to watch my sister interact with others through her eyes. I’d never had the ‘stream’ side of VR gaming. It was so choppy. Not like watching a movie or if you were there yourself. This was awkward. I cringed as I watched.
That’s when I noticed there was a lot going on in there. Abel and Macie were deep in conversation, and I couldn’t quite hear it, but it sounded like they now knew what they faced at the end of this quest.
“Turn it up, Mum.”
She looked to the screen. And there was another view of a monster and its minions. There weren’t anywhere near as many as the last lot we had fought together, but it was obvious they were a lot bigger.
I sighed. I’d lost all my bonuses, and they’d probably picked all the loot up. I hated to lose that. Half the fun in games was seeing what was available to pick up or to enhance your skill set.
I listened in as they started to prep for the upcoming battle against them. They were moving in closer to where the Tromoal eggs were, I could see the name tag for the creatures I thought we’d just beaten—the Raltols. I guess there really were multiple creatures in there to kill.
I shuddered. Yeah, they were in fact really big rats. Something so bad, I didn’t want to face them. I had no doubt they were huge, not like rat sized, though on the screen they looked just like that—rats. I stepped closer to the screen trying to gauge how they might attack, what they’d be like to try and kill. I didn’t think I would be able to tell.
Mum came in behind me. “They’ll be fine, and you’ll be back with them before you know it.”
“Good.” I didn’t want Dahlia up against those things without me.
“I wish I could help you there, give you something that might protect both of you better, but I can’t. I’m under strict orders. It would spoil the experience for the viewers and anyone entering Puatera later. They’d just say you were cheating.”
“Can you tell me who Diogella is then?” I asked.
“She was a high priestess of one of the elf clans. She was captured and put on that altar to try and drain her energies. For the most part, it worked, but then it stopped working, and they were driving her life instead.”
“How long has she been there?”
“A few centuries while they were growing around her. It wasn’t nice.”
I could see that, and I didn’t like it at all. She seemed to want to help the team, and that was good. She knew to save my life there and then wasn’t beneficial for me, or them. I would have been weaker. This was better. At least I’d respawn now, and I’d have the energy to get back in the fight.
At least I hoped I would. Mum put her hand on my shoulder. “This is just a regular cool off. We’ll get you back in there asap.”
I looked back to Dahlia’s feed and smiled. She was actually taking charge, something I didn’t think she would do, but as a gamer and top school student in many things, I guess she felt comfortable in sorting out the plan here to move forward. That made me very happy. I presumed she also wanted to prove to me she could do this. She’d always wanted to be the better one at some point, and right now, she actually was. I loved her for this.
I turned back to my food and sat down to eat as much as I possibly could before I would be back in the VR and not have that option. My body didn’t want the food, but my mind really did.
I sucked in and just ate everything before me. “What’s going on with my blood and tests?” I asked her. Mum didn’t answer, but I could see worry still on her face.
“To be honest, we’re still not sure what’s going on, but Dresel’s worried that the VR gaming system is changing people.”
“Because of my blood results?” I swallowed. “Seriously, like physically?”
Mum nodded and looked away to the glass mirror. I knew there were people behind it, and I wanted to smile at them, wave or do anything, but I also didn’t want to show my mum up.
So I carried on and ate in silence, waiting for her to tell me anything else, and to open up. She placed a hand on mine and said. “Any news on contacting the AI?”
I shook my head. To be honest, I didn’t think I could, and I hadn’t tried. I was sure she knew I hadn’t because she saw everything right.
No, no, she doesn’t see everything. The voice in my head made me almost choke. Don’t tell her, Lila. Their lives depend on you.
Mum looked at me, and I just spat out the food. “Gristle,” I lied.
Listen, Lila. The enemy you’re facing isn’t the one you need to defeat. I’ll be redirecting you and your team as soon as you’re back inside.
I swallowed and watched the screen. It seemed they knew what they faced and what they wanted to do. I couldn’t go in there and move everything about. It wasn’t fair, or was it? If everything they were doing was wrong, then I guess I had to.
The pathogen in your blood allows me access to your world, so like now, I can still communicate. They can’t get rid of me. They also won’t want to.
I thought about everything Mum wanted me to do to organise a meeting or a talk.
No. I cannot have that. And she won’t ever get to do it. I am not for everyone, Lila.
“What’s going on?” Mum asked, giving me a funny look, so I coughed and took a drink.
“Just reliving the fights, that’s all,” I lied again. Damn it. This whole thing was turning me into a compulsive liar. Why didn’t I trust my own mother?
Thank you. I will talk to you and your sisters more. I will talk to Akillia and Maddie, and we will work through this. I promise. I know what’s going on. They will get the ‘view’ they need, but it won’t be the fight they think they’re watching. It will be the real one.
I almost choked at his words. The real one meant so much more to me now than it ever did before, because I knew and felt that some of what was going on was very, very real.
It is. I will speak to you soon. Stay calm and get back to your sister as soon as you can.
I tried my best to think to him that I would, that things would be okay. But I watched the reaction on my mum’s face as I ate, and the view on the screen, and I could do nothing but hope.
I squeezed her arm and smiled. “Time up yet?”
She nodded and stood. I shoved the last bit of food into my mouth and downed the drink, and then I followed her back to the room where I could plug back into Puatera.
YOU CAN RESPAWN AT
SILKI’S CAVE – GESTAL’S HAMU – CAVE ENTRANCE
Err, there was no frigging way I was going back to Silki or Gestal’s cave.
The cave wasn’t really where I wanted to be. I am sure all of us know the grind of being killed out of your last save zone. Well, this felt just like it. I was a long way from their location and at the start of the cave system again. This sucked. But I did have to get to them as quickly as possible.
Dahlia: Lila! You
good?
Me: I’m okay.
Dahlia: Hurry we were going to leave.
Me: I’m on my way, fast as I can!
All I could do was put my head down and run. Run as fast as I could back to their new position. I think they were at least waiting for me because, from the look of it, there hadn’t been any movement in a while.
I knew I would be a little tired, and maybe not in the best condition to fight, but I sure as hell would give it my all. If I needed to.
As I was running through the caves, I noticed their location was ahead, and it was easy to spot. The little star that had been there for me now wasn’t. Instead, there was something else. A glowing red ring.
I tapped the side of my head, and when nothing changed, I pushed myself forward.
I’m here, and yes, that is where you’ll be going.
A portal?
Yes, but it’s not in this cave system. It’s a fair trek. But one that will take you and yours out of this place and into another realm, yes.
Another realm? For real?
Yes. I don’t have time to tell you all the details but know that you will be fighting something much bigger than anything you have dreamed of. Those creatures in here are nothing like what you will need to kill there. And you need to kill it.
Can I see it?
I paused in my running, breathing heavily, in the hopes I’d somehow see what was coming for us. I didn’t see anything at first, and then I did. There were sand dunes, and the wind stirred them up. There it was, through the portal doorway. Nothing like I’d ever seen before.
There’s no way we can fight that!
I almost felt his sigh, his concern and worry.
If you can’t, then all is lost.
I reached out to touch the vision, and it vanished.
How long have we got? Can Maddie and Akillia make it back?
I do not know.
Listen to me, I said to him. I was as stern as I could be. As the words came out, I saw a ghost-like appearance before me.