by Terry Schott
“How ’bout five or six?” Aleron asked. “It works mathematically.”
Jyachin laughed. “A number on paper is easier to get to than a song in real life.”
“Oh.”
“The heroes of the class—legends from long ago—are said to have been able to twist up to six songs, but I think if there was anyone alive currently able to accomplish such a feat, every bard would know.”
“It’s a shame,” Fen said, “that the talent is no longer around.”
“Not really. Based on the songs bards have available and the roles they perform, there isn’t much use in being able to twist more than four, anyway.”
“Then why did they do it in the past?”
“Bragging rights?” Jyachin shrugged. “Or perhaps there were songs that were useful in such a twist but have since been forgotten.”
“At this point, I would be thrilled to successfully twist two.” Isaac shook his head. “You make it look so simple.”
“Practice the drills five hours a day, every day, for the next ten years, and you will make it look simple, too.”
Isaac nodded and got to his feet.
Chapter 31
Kara reached for her phone. “Hello?”
It was her secretary. “There’s a lady on her way in.”
“What?”
“I couldn’t stop her.”
“Who is it?” Her office door opened and a woman entered. Kara felt her mouth go dry. “Never mind. I got it, thanks.” She hung up the phone and stood. “Mrs. Benneman. Good morning.”
The woman did not smile as she walked to the chair across from Kara’s desk and sat. “You can call me Ruth.”
Kara nodded as she fought the urge to open the door and run away as fast as she could. She felt her lip quiver but forced herself to maintain a smile. “Ruth, then. It’s an honour to meet you.”
Ruth Benneman looked around the office, a bored expression on her face. She took her time, noting the pictures on the walls, the furnishings. Her stare finally came to rest on Kara, reminding her of a cobra coiled on a warm stone. “You know who I am?”
Kara cleared her throat. “Yes. Of course. Isaac was very excited when he learned you were one of our major backers. I remember how much it meant—”
“I’m told that Isaac is unavailable.”
“That’s right.”
Ruth blinked slowly. “And you’re in charge.”
Kara nodded.
Ruth stared at her for a long moment. Kara dared not break the silence.
“I’m here to collect my grandson.”
“Um.”
“No.” Ruth raised one eyebrow. “There is no ‘um.’ No excuses, reasons, whatever you want to call them. Only what I said. Bring me. My. Grandson.”
Kara considered her options. She stood. “I’ll take you to him.” She walked to the door and opened it. Two tall, muscular men stood outside the door. Their eyes turned to look at her, but they remained motionless otherwise. She looked back at Ruth Benneman.
The woman sat with her back to the door for the count of ten. Then she stood, turned, and walked through the door. The bodyguards took positions in front of her.
Kara nodded. “If you’ll follow me.”
***
Ruth stared down at her grandson. “Wake him up.”
There was a long moment of silence. The most powerful organized-crime boss in the country looked up and fixed Kara with an icy glare.
“It’s not safe to wake him.”
“Not safe?” Ruth’s eyes closed. “You idiots.”
Kara bit her lip.
“I didn’t believe them when they told me that you’d lost control.” Ruth shook her head. “I should have. The news came from programmers working for you.”
“Mrs. Benneman, I can assure you that your grandson is fine. There’s no danger to him.”
“Then bring him out.”
“When his play ends, he will exit the game safely.”
“But not if you try to pull him out before his play is finished?”
“Likely not.” Kara shook her head. “Doing so presents serious risks at this time. There have been a couple of unsuccessful extractions.”
“Resulting in death.”
“Yes.”
“How many have died coming out after their play ends?”
“None.”
“So far.”
“Yes, but we don’t expect that to change.”
“Some disagree with that assessment.”
“That’s news to me.”
The crime lord snorted. “Pathetic. You’re supposed to be in charge, yet I know more about this mess than you.”
Kara pursed her lips and fought the urge to cry. Ruth shook her head. “You’re out of your element, girl. Isaac did you no favours by leaving you in charge. Take me to his table.”
“His table?”
“Don’t play with me,” Ruth snapped. “I know Isaac has gone into the game. Take me to his table.”
“What are you—”
Ruth’s voice was a whisper, filled with menace. “Now.”
***
They stood over Isaac’s still form. Ruth stared at him for almost a full minute before looking up. She noticed Kara’s fearful expression and scowled. “Calm down. I’m not going to kill him.”
Kara released the breath that she had been holding in for too long.
Ruth’s lip twitched. “I wouldn’t let him go so peacefully.”
Kara remained silent.
“I know that he went in to find Sebastian, but my intel is a few hours behind. Has he managed to do that yet?”
“No, but he will soon.”
“And what does he hope to accomplish from their reunion?”
“Isaac thinks that Sebastian can fix the problems from inside the game.”
Ruth snorted. “None of my people agree with that assessment.”
“His instincts are most often better than everyone else’s,” Kara said.
“I’ll give him that. What about my grandson? How’s he doing in there?”
“Still playing, which puts him ahead of most.”
“He wants to be a professional gamer.” Ruth laughed. “I think it’s stupid, but my son supports him. Worst case, he tries a few things before settling down to come work in the family business. It never hurts to get a bit of outside experience. And who knows. Maybe the boy will actually pull it off. He reminds me so much of his grandfather. Able to accomplish what others can’t.”
“Where can I take you now, Mrs.—Ruth?”
The woman stared at Kara. “You are certain my grandson will be fine if he exits the game naturally?”
“I am.”
Ruth sighed. “Then I will leave. For now.”
Kara fought the urge to laugh with relief. “I will escort you out.”
The woman nodded, and they exited Isaac’s room.
***
When they reached the front door of the building, Ruth Benneman turned and fixed Kara with a dead-eyed stare. “Two things before I leave.”
“Of course.”
“I want my money back. All of it. Today.”
“But that—” Kara’s eyes widened. “That’s not possible at this time, Mrs.—”
“I know that there is enough capital in your accounts to refund me.”
“But that’ll leave us extremely low—”
“You’re saying words that would only interest me if I cared. You’re in charge. Get my cash back to me by end of day.”
Kara opened her mouth to protest, but Ruth’s glare shut her down. She nodded.
“And second.” Ruth slipped one black leather glove over her hand. “If my grandson dies, I will return to collect you.”
“Me?”
“That’s right. You kill him, I kill you. And I promise that you will not go quick or peacefully, dear. So don’t mess this up.”
Chapter 32
Xander followed Mercy into the audience chamber and they came to stand before
the Shard, who sat on a large, throne-like chair.
“Grab a seat.” The Shard pointed toward a group of chairs to his right, and they obeyed.
“Is the Scout coming soon or have you asked us here prior to delivering instructions?” Mercy asked.
“The Scout will arrive in a few minutes. The only instruction I have for you is to behave.”
“Of course.”
“You may be tempted not to. There are others with the Scout.” The Shard rubbed his jaw. “Servants of the Light.”
Mercy frowned. “That’s not funny.”
“It wasn’t intended to be.”
“You will allow the cursed Light to enter our holy domain of Darkness?”
“It is necessary and will be brief. They will come straight from the gates to this hall. When the meeting is over, they will leave and remain camped outside the walls.” Mercy shook her head and opened her mouth to speak, but the Shard held one hand in the air. “I am not pleased about this, either.”
“Then deny them access.”
“There is no sacrilege in allowing them here.”
“Still, we can meet outside the walls in neutral space.”
“No.”
Mercy sneered. “Do you think they would allow us into their chapter house?”
The Shard laughed. “If the situation was reversed they would have as much to say about it as you and I do now.”
Mercy stood and nodded for Xander to do the same.
“I will not participate in this.” She began to walk toward the doors.
“Get back here.”
She ignored the command and kept walking.
They were halfway to the exit when the doors opened and Kieran entered. Two men and a woman followed. They were dressed in the white and gold garb of followers of the Light.
Mercy froze, one hand moving to rest on her sword hilt. Xander stopped at her side, his hand prepared to draw a magical blade.
“Ahh, there they are. Hello, Mercy.” Kieran’s pace quickened until he reached them. His eyes slid to Xander. “Hello, lad. You’re looking well.” He noticed Xander’s arms and smiled. “What’s this? A grasp? And how did you manage to get it to split into two?”
Xander smiled. “It is two grasps.”
Kieran’s smile faded. “That’s…impressive.” He clapped the young Death Stryker on the shoulder. “Congratulations, man. You become more powerful each time I see you.”
Xander looked past the Scout at the other guests and laughed. “It seems that we keep bumping into each other, Sir Knight.”
The paladin laughed and stepped forward. “Could this be?” he asked. “The same little Death Stryker that I chased through the woods one rainy night so long ago?”
“It is good to see you, Helias.”
The other followers frowned as Helias held his hand toward Xander, and the Death Stryker did the same.
Before they could touch, Helias’s eyes widened and he pulled his hand back with a quick jerk. Xander frowned and looked down at his hand. The grasp had come alive, the midnight swirling and raising up from his skin like a nest of black vipers. He pulled his hand back and the midnight sank back into his arm, still whipping and roiling. “Oops, sorry ’bout that.”
“That was close.” Helias let out a great boom of laughter and shook his head. “What a horrible way for me to go out.”
“I had no idea they would react that way.” Xander shook his head. “Although I guess it does kinda make sense.”
“I can see it now. I die to find myself before my Lord and, rather than extol me for my accomplishments, he hangs his head in shame at my final act of mortal stupidity.”
“For shaking hands with a Death Stryker?” Xander asked.
Helias laughed. “That, and being killed by the evil crawling along your skin.”
“The grasp wouldn’t have killed you.” Mercy’s voice contained a hint of disappointment. “But it would have delivered an unpleasant sting.”
“And likely left a hideous scar.” Helias shook his head. “A small shadow on my otherwise bright and shining soul.”
Kieran laughed. “Were you two leaving?”
Mercy considered the group in front of her for a moment, then shook her head.
“I’m glad,” Kieran said. “Let’s get this meeting done and share a meal. I can’t wait to hear what you’ve been up to since Dryad’s Heart.”
Chapter 33
They sat around the large rectangular table in the Shard’s audience hall. Kieran began the meeting by introducing the followers of Light that he had brought with him. Their leader was a priest named Parthus, the paladin Helias, and his squire, Firth. They sat on one side of the table while Mercy and Xander took the other. The Shard took his seat at the head of the table and the meeting began.
“Kieran, the floor is yours.”
“Thank you,” the Scout said. “Time is up for the New Travellers, or players, as they have taken to calling themselves.” He sniffed and looked around the table. “The majority of them are gathered in a small town isolated from other populated sites. The final few stragglers will trickle into the settlement soon. We expect they will all be together by the time we arrive.”
“Do we have agents among them?” Mercy asked.
Kieran shook his head. “It is my understanding that any players who followed the Light or Darkness have long since perished.” The Shard and Parthus both nodded.
“What about Scouts?” Helias asked.
Kieran smiled and shook his head.
“Which means none of them have been able to level,” the Shard pointed out.
“That won’t mean much,” Parthus snorted. “Almost all of them inhabit younglings, which means they would not be able to amass many levels by now.”
“That’s a bad assumption,” Kieran said. “Most managed to acquire massive amounts of experience. One of my colleagues sat across from a twenty-year-old novice—level 4 at the time, by the way—and realized he had enough experience accumulated to ding level forty-two—”
“What?” the Shard laughed. “That’s impossible.”
The Scout spread his hands. “It was at that point that we decided not to level any more players. Because of that very wise decision, our forces will face an army of around two thousand enemies level fifteen and lower.” He raised one eyebrow. “Instead of a devastating force all in their high to mid-level forties.”
“Could we have defeated a force of that strength?” Firth asked.
Parthus snorted. “Of course, but this will be considerably easier.”
“Our main force,” Kieran continued, “comprises ten thousand.”
“To go against two thousand? That seems excessive,” Mercy said.
“Maybe, but we’re glad for the co-operation,” Kieran said. “When word went out that a final battle against the New Travellers was soon to occur, every race wanted to be part of it. Even the elves sent troops.”
“Considering that the only thing they hate worse than each other is every other race, that is impressive to hear,” the Shard said. “How do we fit into your plans, Master Scout?”
“Divisions from both of your orders will join the ranks of the army, of course, but I would lead a small force ahead of the main.”
“How big do you intend the advance unit to be?” Mercy asked.
“Five.”
Mercy’s eyes narrowed. “Myself, Xander, Helias, his squire, and you?”
“That’s it.”
The Shard frowned. “Surely you mean to include myself and Parthus as well?”
The priest scowled and the Shard grinned, but Kieran shook his head. “Not necessary, but thank you. I think it would be better for you to lead the main unit of Death Strykers and soldiers when the full battle is engaged.”
“As you say,” the Shard said. “What purpose does your small unit serve?”
“We are going to sneak into the enemy camp and remove their leader.” He smiled. “Without him, the rest will be useless. That will make it m
uch easier for our main force to destroy every last player still living in Preu Treya.”
Chapter 34
“Got a minute?” Shale asked.
Sebastian looked up from his book and smiled. “For you? Always.”
“Aren’t you sweet?” She pulled a chair closer and plopped into it.
“Not really,” he winked. “I just have a thing for elf girls.”
She laughed and then stopped. “Sex!”
Sebastian blinked and shook his head once.
She laughed and leaned over to slap his arm. “Sorry, that likely sounded pretty random.”
“I’ll say.”
“What I mean is, sex must work here, too.”
He frowned and she giggled.
“It does, of course it does. But I never got a chance to try it out.”
“Ahh, I see what you’re saying now.” He looked out the window and watched people stroll past in both directions. “This place is filled with good-looking people. Get out and meet one. Or more. Give it a go. Seems all our parts match the ones from back home.”
“Good programming on your part?”
“I tried to keep the small details the same.”
She snickered.
“You know what I meant. My main focus was for players to live the life of a fantasy character.” He shrugged. “I’m certain someone will design a sexual playground in a VR world soon enough.”
“I’m surprised that wasn’t the first VR simulation, now that you mention it.”
Sebastian shook his head. “Fantasy and games. Those are the big draws for nerds.”
“Remember when that term used to be a bad thing?”
He raised one eyebrow. “I do, but you definitely don’t.”
“That’s true.”
“Was that what you wanted to talk about? Virtual reality romance?”
She frowned and then snapped her fingers. “No, it was not. I wanted to chat about your pal.”