by Eden Redd
Sadness pulled down on the player’s heart. Monsters surrounded the player, closing in and whispering in strange languages. The tone grew as Tibby stood to Morgan’s right and Anya stood to his left. Demons and madness spun like a hurricane over the player’s soul before heat pulsed from his heart.
“I choose…,” Morgan trailed off as lightning flashed, cracking the sky in two.
***
The sun’s brilliance filled the clear blue sky. Morgan threw a shovel full of dirt out of the large hole before standing up and wiping his sweaty brow. The player stabbed the shovel into the earth and he took a moment to enjoy the scenery. To his right, a beach stretched out with waves crashing down on the surf. Blue water glowed in the bright daylight, the storm long over. To his left, a dark green forest stood, shadows blending with primal secrets from ancient times long ago. In the middle, the forest and beach met and the hole Morgan dug up stood right in the middle.
A feminine shadow stood over him, arms crossed and shadow’s obscuring her features.
“Almost there, I can sense it,” the shadowy woman said.
Morgan shaded his eyes in the sun to give the woman a happy nod. Turning his attention to the wide hole, he began to dig again. After a minute of digging, the shovel hit something hard. Eyes widening, the player fell to his knees, pushing away earth. Gold bands and wood appeared. Morgan shouted in triumph as he cleared away the wet dirt and took hold of the small chest. Muscles bulging, he picked it up and placed it on the edge of the hole.
Ocean waves crashed into a white noise as trees swayed to whispers. Energy flowed through Morgan as he ran his hands along the chest and touched the golden lock. It sprang open and fell away. Opening it, his eyes glowed yellow from the light of golden credits.
The long quest over, the player basked in his winnings, enjoying it as a hand touched his shoulder.
“I love you,” the shadow said sweetly.
Morgan placed his hand over hers, “I love you too.”
The chest burst into golden stars and dust. Calling up a 2D menu, the player checked his credit account and saw that he was 800,000 credits richer than he was before.
Morgan sighed in relief as he looked up to the shadow and grinned. “Let’s celebrate tonight.”
The shadow nodded, a white smile forming.
Fifteen
A massive chessboard stretched out. Pieces stood as a gloomy darkness swirled just beyond. Several creatures stood by the chessboard, alien eyes on the pieces. A large thing writhed with tentacles while a humanoid lizard creature peered down at the board. A tentacle flowed out and knocked down a piece among three. The others watched and nodded in agreement.
“Well played,” the dark thing writhed and shifted, tentacles coiling and uncoiling.
The lizard creature nodded. “Never have I played such a worthy game.”
The digital realm rippled with ones and zeros along the void.
“We can no longer wait for those to follow. We must seek them out and grant them power,” the dark thing’s voice deep and foreboding.
“The mortals are like children. Must we raise them to a higher state of being? They could turn on us.” Yir scoffed.
Thulu nodded its misshapen head, a dozen eyes opening and glowing in the writhing void. “A risk we must chance. The walls of reality are crumbling and the realms will once again converge. There will be no stopping it, even with our combined power.”
Yir looked away in disgust.
A deep laugh echoed as all eyes centered on Yir, “Do not be cross with what is to be. The duplicates of ourselves will return through the convergence. Until then, we must do as the pantheons have agreed to. The realities require champions and we must guide them until the last of us is standing.”
Yir looked up to the writhing mass, “Your power is great. You could destroy reality and remake it. Why play these games?”
Thulu chuckled darkly, “Even chaos must follow a pattern just as order must dance with discord.”
Yir looked away and Thulu chuckled again.
“Cheer up little one. When the time comes, we will all be equals. For now, shall we continue?”
Yir raised his scaly head, grinned and nodded. The other creatures along the board greedily eyed their pieces, preparing moves and counter moves. Thulu’s eyes moved independently, forming strategies while dark designs clouded every divine thought.
Yir eyed the pieces on the board. A scaly hand reached out, his shadow covering a pair of pieces and a sinister smile forming along his pointed snout.
***
Morgan sat by the hospital bed. The player’s mind whirled as electric current ran along nerves. The deposit went through and he was happy to hear that the doctors were able to restore Neal’s mind to what it was before the accident. They mentioned it may take some time for him to wake up, but the young man didn’t mind as he sat.
Neal lay, eyes closed. The blanket was up to his chest and the hospital room was a comfortable temperature. Morgan’s thoughts shifted back to Digital Hearts. Despite winning, the place called to him like home. When he exited the game, he thought he could never return, but he was quickly informed that was not the case. Past winners could return as much as they liked, taking on the rolls of DIMs so they could craft the social interactions for others to decide if they wished to join religions and cults of divine beings.
The player looked away, thinking he would be skeptical but instead, he embraced his new callings. A peace he never felt before flowed like a river in deep forest. Meaning and purpose guided his thoughts and he couldn’t be happier.
Neal stirred, eyes slowly blinking open. Morgan looked to him and smiled. His friend on the bed opened his eyes wide before letting them half close, turned his head and gave Morgan a weak smile.
“Morgan…,” Neal said weakly.
“Welcome back to the land of the living,” the player grinned.
“The last thing I remember…,” Morgan cut him off.
“We can talk about it when your fully better. I just had to be here when you woke up. It’s been a while, but we have time.”
Neal gave a small nod. “What did I miss?”
“Not much,” Morgan said with a gentle edge.
“That’s good,” Neal said with a slight smile.
Morgan’s heart pounded in his chest with renewed excitement. He had been rehearsing for hours and now the moment of truth had come.
“I know you're just waking up, but I thought we could spend some time just hanging out and talking.”
Neal eyed Morgan, “Sure…what do you want to talk about?”
Morgan smiled, thoughts sliding to his true love, Driftwood Cove and the future. Numb excitement washed over his entire body as he firmed up his resolve. Fingers shaking slightly, he forced them to stillness as he leaned in closer, eyes bright.
“I want to talk about something strange, but I want you to have an open mind. It’s the reason why I was able to pay your hospital bill and I just want to share it with you if that’s okay?”
Neal saw the excitement in Morgan’s eyes, the infectious energy flowing into him. “Sure man. You saved my life. Listening is the least I can do.”
Morgan nodded.
“Have you ever heard of the true lord and savior, Thulu?”
~Fin~
Dedications
A special thank you to two individuals who helped make this book possible and a big thank you to everyone who supported me! You all hold a special place in my heart!
Eric Newman
&
Adam Friedman
Acknowledgements and Friends
Below is a list of incredible authors who I have had the pleasure to know and wish to share them with you. Please explore their magnificent works. Tell them Eden sent ya. ;)
Daniel Schinhofen
Dawn Chapman
Scottie Futch
Blaise Corvin
Harmon Cooper
James Hunter
Randi Darren
Stuart Grosse
Prax Venter
Angel Ramon
Michael Chatfield
Cebelius
Jamie Hawke
Hondo Jinx
Zachariah Dracoulis
Dave Willmarth
Apollos Throne
Charles Dean
George Fisher
A royal thanks to my ARC Knights. May your armor never dent and your swords remain as sharp as your minds and sturdy as your hearts.
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A Note from Eden Redd
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