A large pillar of light burst from the sky down onto Bartholomew. I watched in wonder as all his wounds knitted together before my eyes. I had the briefest moment of relief, but after the light disappeared the air pulsed with a ripping sound as his wounds reopened.
I cast the spell two more times with the same results before Bartholomew spoke.
“Don't, Valkyrie. It's already too late. There is nothing you can do.”
“No! I can fix this. There has to be a way. I've lost too many people I care about. I won't lose you too.”
I fell to my knees in front of him and broke down. I hadn't had a fit of hysteria like this since Lesley had died.
“It is not your fault,” Bartholomew consoled me. “It is simply fate.”
Those words weighed heavily on me. Bartholomew was reminding me of what the elves had told me in a cryptic way so that the players present wouldn't understand his message. Fate couldn't be altered even with the strongest spell. Loradine had warned me that there might come a time when my magic would be powerless and that it wouldn't be my fault, but I couldn't accept that.
“This is my fault. I should have been here. I shouldn't have made you go ahead without me. I shouldn't have spent this morning exploring Rolanzo City. If I'd just come straight here, I would have been able to stop all of this.”
“If is one of the greatest traps we get ourselves stuck in during our lives.” Bartholomew took a staggered breath and continued. “We cannot change what has been and we shouldn't blame ourselves for the choices others make. You didn't attack me. You didn't know this attack was coming. Even if you had been here could you have stopped the attack? What if the assailants chose to attack me at a different location? You would be here waiting for me and would never have discovered I was under attack. At least this way I can see you one more time before I die.”
Bartholomew's voice was growing fainter as he talked, “I do not have much time left. I have a few final requests. Will you honor them?”
I nodded, unable to speak through the lump in my throat.
“First, I want you to use my body in your crafting. That way I will continue to be with you even after my death. Every part of a dragon can be used in one trade or another. Just as your bones are made of a soft metal called calcium, our bones are made of a hard and strong metal called chrylonium which is flexible, but also stronger than titanium and nearly unbreakable. They can be melted down and used for any purpose you would use normal metal. Our scales can be used on shields or clothing for defense. Even our organs, flesh, and blood can be used as ingredients for potions or Discovery of Magic.”
Tears continued to pour from my eyes. I placed my hand on Bartholomew’s muzzle and nodded, my eyes clouded and my vision blurry.
“My second request is that you bring my Dragon's Heart back to Dragon Peaks so that it may be placed in our burial chamber. You will know my Dragon's Heart as it isn't an organ like my normal heart. The Dragon's Heart is a large crystal that contains my thoughts and feelings. It is a record of my life. Any dragon who touches my heart is able to see through my eyes and experience what I've experienced. My hope is that upon touching my heart the other dragons will undergo the same change I went through when I met you. Please, bring it to them?”
I managed to find my voice this time and added, rubbing my hand across his muzzle to comfort him. “I will. I swear to you I will.”
“Thank you. My final request is this: don't let me die at the hands of these people. If I am to die anyway, I would much rather have it be at your hand. Please, end my suffering. Kill me now.”
I lost my voice again in the onslaught of tears and nodded. I stood and took a few steps back from Bartholomew, drew my bow and cocked an arrow on it, drew the arrow back, and took aim.
I tried to speak, but nothing came out. I couldn't let this end with my voice trapped. I had to say something. I tried again and forced the words through my swollen throat, “Goodbye my friend. I love you.”
“As I love you, Valkyrie. Thank you for showing me what it meant to truly live. Goodbye.”
With a gentle twang, the arrow flew straight and true, entering Bartholomew's left eye and piercing to the center of his brain. His body reflexively released the air from his lungs and my friend lay lifeless before me.
I felt sick at the thought of what I'd done and the thought that now, if I opened my stats window, it would say that I'd killed one dragon. This wasn't the way it was supposed to end. Why did these people attack Bartholomew? How had they heard about Melodia? The people of Melodia were thrilled by Bartholomew's arrival as he hadn't hurt them and had helped me avenge the goblins they had grown to care for.
I had to get to the bottom of this.
I turned my attention to the players behind me and grabbed the nearest one. Zephyra didn't need a command to know she should release the pressure she was putting on this soldier. She'd remained completely silent through the exchange between Bartholomew and me, but I could see the sorrow in her eyes as clear as my own. She hadn't known Bartholomew for that long, but he'd quickly become a friend to her as well.
Using Nature magic to fill my arms with strength, I lifted the soldier into the air and had my blade at his throat in an instant. He dangled in my hand, his voice frozen by fear. He was the closest to Bartholomew and had heard our entire conversation. Now he knew the folly of his actions. I could see by the look in his eyes that he knew who I was and what I was capable of.
My voice returned with a demonic rage. It was a calm rage that didn't shout, but still made the man in front of me whine as I spoke.
“Answer my questions truthfully and I won't kill you,” I assured him, “but if you lie to me or refuse to talk, you will beg me for death soon enough. Why did you attack this dragon?”
The man took a moment to stop whining and answered in a rush. “I swear we didn't know it was your dragon. We never would have attacked it had we known.”
I shook him to let him know that my patience was minimal.
He got the message. “Two men were recruiting people for a dragon hunt. They told us that there was a dragon who'd attacked a small village yesterday and killed most of the population. They said it wasn't the first village he'd attacked either and that it was our duty as players to rid the SRU of this monster. We agreed to come so that we could stop future bloodshed.”
“Hah,” I almost snorted with derision. “That may be why you are here, but I'm sure many of the people here just wanted a piece of the prize after killing Bartholomew. Now tell me, who were these two players?”
“They called themselves Jason and Samuel. They said they were Avengers and that they couldn't handle this creature alone. They were the ones who led the army. They are over there in the black robes.”
The man nodded with his head and I stepped toward the two black robed figures lying on the ground, the man still dangling in the air with my blade only an inch from his throat. The men who'd called themselves Jason and Samuel were lying on their backs and the hoods of their robes had fallen off. I recognized both men immediately.
“Jared the Goblin Slayer and the creepy player-killer-slash-thief that I'd dispatched the last time he attacked the goblins. What was your name again? Oh yeah, Aurora told me it was Merlin...no, Melvin...that wasn't it...Marlin, no.... Oh, yeah, Marvin. I see. This was simply revenge on me for what I'd done to the two of you.”
There was no question in my voice. I knew their cruel natures well enough that there could be no other reason for this attack.
I released the man and he fell on his back. Zephyra immediately forced him back to the ground. I then picked up Jared and Marvin by their necks and lifted them off the ground in similar fashion.
Jared spoke through my clenched hand in a choked voice, “Go ahead and kill us. It won't bring your friend back and we will continue to torment you. We will slaughter everyone you care about and make you suffer for what yo
u've done to us. We will never stop.”
“I'm not going to kill you,” I told them, my voice daggers of ice. “In fact, I don't ever want to see your faces again. Delete.”
I initiated the first of my Trinity Spells, directing it at Marvin first. His body exploded in a thousand pieces which floated in the air for a short moment and then imploded as if they’d been sucked into a black hole before my eyes.
“Delete.”
Once more. This time Jared the Goblin Slayer disappeared. The first of my Trinity Spells deleted a player's character data from the SRU and since each person was only allowed to create one character, these two would never again be able to enter the SRU.
I picked the man who'd answered my questions back up and drew my blade one more time.
“Wait,” the man begged. “You said you wouldn't kill me.”
“Oh,” I pondered, “that's right. I did say that, didn't I?” I set the man down. “Zephyra?”
The man heard the meaning behind my question and prepared to run, but Zephyra was too fast. He didn't even have time to turn around before she grabbed him, placed her mouth upon his, and blew. When she removed her mouth, his body began to crack, blood spurting from the wounds as the air she'd forced into his body began to escape. Two seconds later, there was a bloody mess on the grass and what remained of a corpse.
I spoke in a loud voice to all that remained, “I understand that you were tricked into attacking my friend, so I won't make you suffer the same fate as Jared and Marvin, but you will receive punishment. Here is what we will do. We will leave your punishment up to chance. Consider it a game of Russian Roulette. I will have Zephyra stop suppressing you and you can try to run away. If you manage to escape you will live. Some of you I will simply kill. Others will be affected by my Trinity Spells. I will not use Deletion on you, but I will randomly use Reset and Suspension.
“Some will have your character account suspended for three weeks so you will not be able to enter the SRU until then. Others will have your character data reset to what it was when you first logged in. All of your stats will be reset so that you have no kills, no magic, no money or items. All you'll be left with is your beginner's clothing and weapon. Let's begin.”
Zephyra removed the wind and they all rose to begin running. I then cast a lightning spell called Electric Storm which sent around a hundred bolts of lightning at random into a selected area. It managed to take out about a third of the army before me.
I had kept my word about killing some. For those who didn’t parish by lightning, my Trinity Spells awaited. I rushed into the panicked crowd, running in a randomized pattern from one person to another, switching between Reset and Suspension as I went. With my speed, no one managed to escape me. I couldn't use my Shadow Step, so I used my wings instead. I could fly faster than I could run now due to the strain on my legs. Less than two minutes later I was the only living being in the clearing.
Those who'd had their characters reset were now at Tutorial Village. Those who'd been suspended had simply disappeared. They would reappear at the point I'd caught them when they logged back on in three weeks. The rest were corpses. I left them here without caring. I had no need to take their items or destroy their bodies. They could come back to get their items whenever they pleased, but if they were smart, they would wait for me to leave the area.
I stood silent and still for what felt like forever, letting reality sink into every bone in my body. Bartholomew was dead. I'd lost control and used my Trinity Spells only a day after creating them. I’d made some promises with Bartholomew that I didn't think I'd be able to keep.
That thought brought motion to my lifeless body again. I raced back toward Bartholomew's side. I didn't know how much time I had left. The SimTech personnel were most likely already aware of my actions. What if they deleted my account before I was able to accomplish anything?
I grew both of my blades from my gloves and stood over Bartholomew. I placed one blade on Bartholomew's hide, but I was unable to put any pressure on it. I fell to my knees and started crying.
“I can't do this,” I told Zephyra when I realized she was still at my side. “I know I promised, but I can't bring myself to cut Bartholomew open.”
“It's okay,” I heard a voice from behind me whisper. It was Aurora. “You don't have to. Let me help.”
Aurora placed one hand on my shoulder for support and with the other she snapped her fingers. Bartholomew disappeared and in his place were a large pile of silver-colored bones bound by rope, large, sealed jars filled with blood so red it was almost black, packages of meat like you would get from a butcher, a large sack full of dragon scales, and jars containing individual organs.
“I'm so sorry I wasn't able to help Bartholomew,” Aurora knelt in front of me and held my hands. “I feel so useless sometimes. Sometimes, I hate my programming and how it won't let me interfere directly in the actions of players and my children after they are created.”
“Hey, Aurora?” A sudden calm had overtaken me. I don't know if it was shock or just acceptance of the cruelty that surrounded my life, but I suddenly felt at peace amidst the chaos. “Why didn't the Divine Healing spell work?”
Aurora squeezed my hands gently. “The Fate program had been initiated.”
She knew what my next question would be and answered the unspoken inquiry, “The Fate program is a program that was created by SimTech in order to limit the control I have over this world. The Fate program is what stops me from interfering when I have the urge to protect my creations, but that isn't its sole function.
“The Fate program reacts whenever specific sets of parameters are met. If some of the parameters are met, but not all, the Fate program doesn't initiate, but when all are met, the program is designed to make sure the event follows through as expected. Nothing I nor anybody else does can change the outcome.
“I don't know what the parameters are for any given act that may trigger the Fate program. I assume SimTech wanted it that way so that I wouldn't be able to alert people of danger ahead of time. I have no control over the Fate program. It was created separately from me and is run off a separate server that I cannot access in order to prevent me or anyone else from hacking into it. Not even you, with your hacking abilities, could alter the Fate program.”
I had wanted answers, but now that I had them, I wished I'd never heard them. It was strange for me, someone who always searched for truth, to wish for a delusion to alter reality, but I knew that what Aurora said was true. She would never lie to me. I had to accept that there was nothing anyone could have done in this situation. I just wished I’d known what parameters had been met to prohibit my healing Bartholomew.
Aurora helped me to my feet, hugged me, and said, “Take the items that Bartholomew left behind and place them in your purse before it is too late. If you are logged out beforehand, someone else will claim them and you won't be able to complete your promise. Here. This is Bartholomew's Heart.”
I looked up and saw an item appear in her hands. Unlike the rest of Bartholomew's body, she hadn't packaged it up. It was a large crystal the size of a basketball. The core of the crystal was a large white circle and from the circle sprouted dozens of clear crystal prisms. Each prism was a different size and they weren't symmetrical in the least, but they did create a general appearance of an enormous diamond.
I took Bartholomew's Heart in my hands. It was still warm to the touch. I kissed the crystal gently and placed it in my purse. I then began gathering up the items Aurora had packaged which used to be Bartholomew.
When I'd finished, Aurora spoke to me in a more subdued voice, “I have to speak with you, Valkyrie. It's regarding your hacking the system. By all rights, the SimTech personnel should have deleted your account for what you did today. The only reason they haven't is because I was your advocate. The fact that I would defend someone who hacked my system has them curious.
“
They have agreed to postpone your account deletion until they review your case further. They are currently reviewing all the data I've provided them regarding the time you've spent in the SRU and will make their decision once they are finished.”
“Thank you for helping me. I expected to be deleted immediately after I deleted Jared and Marvin.”
“There's more.” Aurora seemed a little agitated as she explained. “As you live in the same city as the developers, they are currently sending a car to escort you to their headquarters. They wish to speak to you in person regarding your hacking. They wanted me to tell you that if you accepted their invitation to speak with them, they wouldn't press charges regarding your hack, but if you refuse you will be arrested. In the meantime, I am to suspend your account until I have the final word from SimTech regarding deletion or reinstatement of your account.”
“That's why you wanted me to hurry and pick up Bartholomew's items. I assume that I will be suspended now that I'm done?”
Aurora nodded. “I'm sorry, Valkyrie. I'm doing everything I can to make them see reason and allow you to stay, but the ultimate decision is theirs to make. Are you ready?”
I nodded. Then everything went black as I was forcefully ejected from the SRU.
SimTech
I pulled off my SRU-visor with a devastated sigh. It looked like my time as Valkyrie was coming to an end. I knew it would once I used my Trinity Spells, but when I made the spells I’d expected I would either never use them or use them sometime far in the future. What was I supposed to do now?
Lisa Hampton had become my secondary identity. She was a lonely individual with no living relatives, no friends, nothing and no one to care about, and no life beyond work. Valkyrie had been everything Lisa Hampton wasn't. She had I live full of love and friendship, a place to belong, and things to protect. My life as Valkyrie had been far more enriching than anything I'd done in reality. Now the walls were crashing in around me.
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