by Dawn Chapman
Relief flooded through me even though the pain sucked. I remembered breaking my arm in school falling from some stupid climbing frame, and it never hurt this much.
I remember falling off a bike and later in life a horse, each time and each broken bone sucked, but I got up, and I got back on the bike and that horse. I wasn’t going to lie down for this, either.
I was drawn back to Noc’s eyes, the power behind them, and the concentration was real, so focused. It was as if he really was possessed, and I then felt something else in there. A love. Love for me.
I mean I kind of liked him. I was just young, you know, almost fourteen, but still. I had no clue what I was doing in life or what I wanted. I wanted to laugh at him, but it was a genuine feeling that I couldn’t just laugh away. That would be cruel.
I realised then I didn’t want to hurt him because he made me feel something else. He made me feel special. I wasn’t sure what love was. But if this was part of it, this I liked.
As I lost myself in his eyes, the fight in me strengthened, and that rising splotch paused. It stopped rising at twenty-nine, and as bad as I felt, I pushed it away.
With everything I had, I pulled my interface up.
I had Karma left. Now I’d use it. So I thought about Pure Determination, and I dropped them both, one in Faith, the other in Body.
Aptitudes
Combat (Body) —3
Diplomacy (Mind/Soul) — 1
Endurance (Body/Soul) — 1
Faith (Soul) — 3
Subterfuge (Body/Mind) — 5
Logic (Mind) —1
The boost didn’t give me anything else to work with. My health was still stuck at twenty-nine. But I also didn’t die, and I was too close. I couldn’t afford the time away from them now.
I tried to think about getting better, to move myself, and push my feelings aside.
Noc’s eyes kept me focused, and the splotch moved down another notch.
I felt his emotion then as relief swept through him. “Yes,” he said focussing even more on me. “You will fight it.”
27
Dahlia’s voice joined in with his. “Fight harder. We’re running out of time. We get one chance at this, and we need to do this now.”
25
I started to feel things. My body was coming back to me. I shivered as the pain spread through me again. But this was a good pain. I wasn’t numb anymore.
There was someone helping me sit up, then there was a liquid held to my dry and cracked lips.
“Drink this,” Abel’s gruff voice came back at me.
The liquid was rich, deep, tasty. I chugged it down, realising how thirsty I was. Was it actual thirst? I wasn’t sure. No, it was probably the need to replenish my body with fluid, as the amount of blood it had just lost was weakening me. So I drank, and when I had finished, he gave me another. I spluttered and almost spat it out. This one tasted different. After another sip, I didn’t mind. Wasn’t as sweet.
When I couldn’t drink anymore, I noticed my splotch was actually at thirteen.
I totally felt different than a few minutes before.
I looked up and then to everyone in the party.
“I’m sorry, I…”
Dahlia leaned in and kissed my cheek. “It’s okay. It’s gone for good now. You don’t need to worry about it anymore.”
I wondered if she knew it was not just in the game, but maybe in the real world that I’d beaten the thing that was trying to take over my existence.
Epol’s eye is not what was infecting you in the real world, Tibex said to me.
So, if I was still infected, and Mum knew there would be no cure on the outside, and then the game would be shut down—let out a tiny internal cry. And hoped I would get some answers soon.
Tibex, you need to talk to them, I mean for real. You and Dresel.
The voice came back that I knew was his then.
I will. Let’s complete your quest here, then we’ll take it from there.
I hoped he would. I knew he needed to do it.
As strength started to come back to me, I tried not to be embarrassed. I mean at least I hadn’t taken all my clothes off this time. But this was completely different. Noc.
I blushed when I met his eyes once more, and then he looked away, helping me to stand, but then he left my side and walked away from the group as I was given, yet again, something else to drink. I tried to push it away, but Macie spoke in my ear. “You need it, drink. Or you won’t last in the fight for more than a few minutes.”
As the liquid in this bottle hit my tongue, I gagged at the vile taste. Rotten eggs and cabbages. The smell was worse than the taste. Macie, seeing me gag, held it to my lips tighter. All I could do was suck it in and swallow it quick.
The rush of energy as this entered my bloodstream was amazing. My health and energy levels were back to normal, and there was no pain at all.
“What was that?” I asked staring incredulously at her.
“Full strength mana and a health potion.”
“That was amazing.”
“Noc gave it to me for you. It was his last and the only thing capable of bringing you back from the brink of death without Maddie here to aid you this time.”
I tried to catch his attention once more, but he just seemed like he needed to be away from me. I mean what had he seen inside me that he didn’t like. Was it my age? Was it just my personality in general? I felt like he loved me, but then this was almost like outright rejection.
I looked at Dahlia. “We ready to take on that horde before they come for us, try and catch them off guard like we did the others?”
“It won’t work this time. They already know we’re here, and they want our blood. Abel’s been making sure there are some other distractions around their settlement as well to keep them off this scene, your scene, but when he left leading them astray to return here, they’re not far behind.”
I sighed, then moved away from her. “Let’s do this.”
Noc looked at me then and nodded. He might have moved away from me and toward the others, rejection, yes, but he was with me now, and he was with the group. We’d fight together. Those eggs behind and above us depended on this, to strike at the enemy, so they had time to hatch. Were they actually going to hatch or did I imagine things? I didn’t think they would hatch without their parents here, without a food source. But it seemed things were changing, changing because of us, and Maddie. She was out there doing things, and I got a sense of whatever it was she was doing was epic. I hoped we’d be able to be together soon. That monster on the other side of the portal wasn’t getting any deader, and he was the biggest threat.
I pushed forward toward Noc. Then I motioned for Abel to lead the way, and I followed with Macie and Diogella behind. This was at least something I could do, and I wanted them to do, they had the hardest hitting in weapons and magic, though I wondered about Dahlia and Noc. They were damned powerful, and Dahlia was growing in strength in leaps and bounds. Her energy was high. Not as high as Noc’s was, but it wasn’t far off, I was sure. However, looking to Diogella, I knew she was a different level. Paladin, god-like creature. Princess of something or other. She was more than I could think of. I could see it. They would also die and never come back. Some of us had another chance.
I was glad then that Diogella was here. Maybe with all of us together, we stood a better chance. I wondered if we’d been set this task to fail. Despite the importance of it, there was no way we’d have survived down here without her being able to help the others get rid of the thing inside me. Plus, I mean if they streamed it, seeing me almost die, I wasn’t sure that was a good point. Unless they were pain freaks. I laughed at myself. I liked some of the pain, but anything over fifteen was unbearable. I bet they told them they could turn off pain settings.
I looked to my map. The spot flashed. CALLAN. I pulled up its details.
CALLAN
DUNGEON MASTER
WARNING – DO NOT ATTEMPT TO ELIMINATE
I knew it was massive, that we’d be dead in minutes without serious backup, but we also had none. Other than Diogella, who we didn’t really know.
“I don’t think we’re going to be able to go in and do what we did last time,” I said. I carefully eyed Diogella. “She has to fight this next monster. It would close your original quest, right?” Diogella nodded the once to me. “We’re never going to be more than support, so we need to do that. We need to get her to it, and then let her destroy it.”
Abel looked at Diogella, then to me, and nodded. “You’re right. As much as we’d like to be able to fight it, I think after the last beating, we can’t.”
It was good to be able to realise there was something out there much bigger than us and capable of beating us. I wondered about the monster beyond the portals. They couldn’t stream that, or it would never attract anyone. Or maybe I was thinking about this all wrong. Maybe they’d see it as the ultimate boss to raid against?
Diogella lowered her head to me, and I looked to the blinking icons on my map. “Ready?”
They all nodded. Diogella held out my—no, her weapons. “You’re really good with them, and they enhance everything that you are, please.”
I took them from her. “Thank you.”
“No, thank you. Without you freeing me from my prison in the first place, I wouldn’t be able to do this for you now, and whatever quest you’re doing or need to do, I’m happy to be a part of it, and then maybe you’ll have me on the next one too.”
“Maybe we will.” I smiled at her. She would make a great team player for anyone. NPC or not.
As we followed an underground stream inward, the glowing spot on the map pulsed faster. And then the cave system opened once again into a larger room. This was where we could split and go in different directions, but this is where we had to make our stand.
This was for all the right reasons. We needed the eggs to be safe. For Maddie, I would hate to think about what she’d say if we didn’t protect them. We all thought more threats would be from the surface and the others from Port Troli, but not from things under the cave system itself. Things that would prey on them because their parents weren’t there to fight them off. That meant we had to make that stand now.
The Raltols were as huge as I’d seen when Mum had shown me the feeds, and the creature shadowed in the mist in the centre was magical. That much was evident.
As soon as we laid into the mob of critters, there was fire and explosions. Abel dived in straight away, tackling as many of the Raltols as he could. Diogella, Noc, and Macie took to aiming huge blasts of their magical energy toward them, slaying quickly. I was left with Jarvin to tackle anything else that came in too close to them, and between us, we started to pick anything off that dared try to breach past. Dahlia waited behind us, then, when she was needed, she started to send out healing energies and spells to keep our strength up and our focus going. We were quick to act and even faster to slaughter as we made our way further into the cave system. I noticed a faint blue circle that surrounded Diogella. It was a shield that was obvious when the Callan’s attacks from the centre started to bounce off it. There was no way these two were going to go head to head without the cave taking severe damage too. I looked up at the walls and hoped they would be strong enough to take this kind of fight.
I pushed outwards, and into the pack of Raltols, my blades danced as did I, in and out of Macie and my sisters strikes.
The number in the corner of my screen changed.
RALTOL KILLED
99/1000
Dahlia shouted to Abel, “Keep in the blue circle!” He noticed for just a moment that he’d stepped out of it.
Noc was then behind me, and he was as much protecting my ass as Diogella was with that now massive shield. She really must have had some power in her because that thing radiated out like a blanket and covered us all.
Abel took a step back then moved slightly so he was inside the shield again and carried on getting their attention, screaming and shouting into the fray so they’d all concentrate on him, instead of heading for us. I’d never really noticed how much he was great with smashing things. Not only with his fists but with the largest duel weapons I’d seen for a while. This was good to know because I needed to keep out of his way. One knock from him would have me on the floor, I was sure of it. Kind of like the big monster we fought earlier. But nothing like the one we now faced, the one I was avoiding looking at. Callan? What a name… I wondered for a second why I was so distracted. We were in the midst of a battle zone. But something felt off. I felt other eyes watching me.
The Callan was settled in the centre. He’d struck out a few times at Diogella, but then stopped, waiting, I presume, for us to get closer. I heard a bellowing screech, and all the creatures around us seemed to alter in behaviour.
CALLAN - THIS CREATURE’S WORKERS EXHIBIT IRRATIONAL BEHAVIOUR. WATCH FOR THE CALL TO THE SWARM
This all seemed to be going well so far, the Raltols weren’t massive in skill or strength, although they were in high numbers, so cutting through them was easy. This all felt just too easy like phase two was coming. We all knew those games where you’d pull the boss’s health down to a quarter, and then he’d morph into something utterly bonkers or pull out some kind of legendary artefact.
RALTOL KILLED
587/1000
My eyes scanned the room, and I kept looking out for anything that looked off, bigger than anything
Then I noticed it. A black wisp of smoke, fog, something. I moved slightly to get a better angle on what it was, and I could see the wisp was indeed starting to manifest as something.
What? Had the Callan called in someone else? Another boss to fight?
Another boss? No, of course not. But it wasn’t who I was expecting here either. Gestal?
No fucking way!
But the more it formed into a solid creature, a demon, I knew it was him.
I struggled to get a better angle to see as he started to move away, and then it was almost as though he had vanished. I panicked then. The eggs!
What would he gain from destroying the eggs? But maybe there really would be something better for him to gain from it—power, something else?
I turned to see Diogella as the others managed to kill almost eight hundred Raltols. Then she started to make her way through toward the Callan. Seeing her coming for him, he stood up taller than I thought he was and ran toward her.
Diogella pulled back the blue shield, and Dahlia shouted for the others to be wary. Diogella pulled out a sword and pooled her energy into it to begin to melee with the monster, its screams bellowing atrocities.
Seeing as Diogella was starting to wear down the Callan, I moved off. I wanted to know why Gestal was here and why he was running out…
Yeah, and as stupid as it was…. Yes, out of the protective shield she had going.
Chapter 20
I followed Gestal up, and out of the cave section we were in. I moved with him, following slowly out of sight, and only moments later, I saw his form fully materialise. There he was in his full rotten glory.
“How?” I demanded, my weapons raised. I’d learned a shit tonne of stuff since his Hamu, but I wasn’t stupid. I knew I had no chance against him. He was way out of my league—or was he? With Epol’s Eye on my side, I wondered for a brief moment but then decided not to risk it. I didn’t want to fight him, though I did want revenge somehow...
“You beat the Eye?” he asked.
I smiled. “Yes, you have no control over me anymore, nor will you ever do so again.”
“Then why didn’t you just kill me?” His eyes met mine. “Because you can’t.” His question bounced around in my head. “I was so bad to you, but you have the opportunity right now to end my life, but you don’t. Why is that?”
I raised my daggers, I could throw it right now… but I… my hands shook. Did he still have control over me? No! But he was right. I could
n’t kill him.
“Lila,” he said. His face then lowered, his shoulders slumped before he finally spoke again. “I had to see if it was true that she had awoken.” I wasn’t able to read any other emotions he was giving off. But his whole stance seemed weird.
“Who?” I asked, then realised. “Diogella?”
He shrugged, like a real shrug, then nodded. “Yes.”
“I’m confused as hell here,” I said keeping my distance, almost expecting him to be able to reach out, grab me, and do something terrible. Just because he was Gestal. Master of manipulation.
“I do not need to tell you how powerful she is, right?” he asked. “You’ve seen that already, yes?”
I waited for him to continue , but he didn’t, so I had to prompt him. “Who is she?”
The words which came next, I hadn’t expected. “My wife.”
I swallowed. This didn’t make sense to me, but then did anything ever fully make sense when there were two opposing forces in a game or story?
“Something happened to her?”
“It happened to me. We argued. We wanted different things. The balance in our relationship… the passion started to change when the Tromoal arrived. To stop hurting each other, we had to separate. I hadn’t heard anything from her in centuries. I presumed she hadn’t wanted to talk to me, to have anything to do with me.”
I understood some of it now. She’d been imprisoned, and she hadn’t been able to, but as soon as she was out, she messaged him or hoped a message would at least get out to him. I felt sad, sad on a deeper level for him than I had before. I wondered if his evil was because of everything he’d endured alone for centuries.
Macie: Where the fuck are you? She’s getting her ass handed to her, we could do with a hand!
Oh crap. I almost turned to run back to them, but I couldn’t leave without saying something right now to Gestal. “You can change this. Right now, here. If you want her, fight for her.” And I turned and left him there.