“That’s it,” Thandroot yelled.
Falstace responded by lifting his hand and encasing me in a bubble as he had used on the explosive.
I gasped in fear as it lifted me off the floor and toward the ceiling. I collapsed against the side of the energy field and slid onto my back, and stared at the roof. There wasn’t anything left. I had blown a circuit or something, and now I was paying the price. Once Falstace took the shard back and added us to whatever hell he had in mind, I was going to be a drooling idiot.
“You,” Falstace snapped his finger at one of his minions. “Stretch out the girl.”
The hooded figure grabbed Karian’s hands and yanked. She cried in pain and bit down on her lip. The cut on her back must have burned like fire being yanked around like that.
“Cut off her hand,” Falstace nodded at another one of the cultists.
“Wait,” I yelled.
Karian met my eye, and for the first time, I read despair in her eyes.
The shard pulsed and the bubble flexed around me. I willed myself to concentrate and let my essence follow the flow of the mana I had poured into the piece of shard.
The cultist pulled out a black dagger and leaned over Karian.
The shard took my essence in and responded. At last, I felt the pulse and realized it was thrumming to the land. For a brief moment, I hovered above our location but far above the land. To the south lay the desert and to the north was another land that had to be Greater Nashara. Cities dotted the landscape while rivers, streams, and lakes provided nourishment.
Mountains formed ranges, and as I rose higher, I recognized the land like I was staring at a game map.
Then I snapped back into my body and slammed into the side of the bubble. More importantly, the pain faded and I was able to see again.
“Walt,” Karian screamed as the man applied the blade to her wrist.
I grabbed the shard’s energy and this time I took control.
I shredded the spell that had created the bubble and managed to land on my feet. I rose and shook my head as power suffused my being. Even though I wanted to lean over and puke and then take a half-dozen pain killers, chased with a strong drink, I stood.
The shard burned with blue energy that lit up the entire room. Oz met my eyes, and he shot me a halfhearted thumbs-up. Thandroot didn’t say anything, but he did a subtle version of yanking his elbow back before yelling, “Yeah.”
Karian looked at me with relief as I hit the cultist who threatened to cut off her hand. The frost spell, significantly enhanced, struck the cultist, and threw his body against the figures behind him.
I couldn’t see Falstace’s face, but I imagined his mouth was open. I hit him next, with ice of course, because I’m a lame ass who had to rely on two small spells.
The blast was larger than anything I had ever created before and blew Falstace off his feet and into the wall so hard that the room shook. He lifted his hands to form another spell, so I struck him again. This time the spell hammered him through the wall and into the remains of the passageway beyond. Chunks of the ceiling fell and partially buried his body. Dust and detritus billowed upward in a cloud and created a haze.
The shard’s energy was immense and spilled out of me in waves. The blue hues lit up the entire area as I swept the fallen cultists aside like papier maché.
Falstace peeled himself from under the rubble, so I summoned the acid cloud, focused it on him, and then sent it hurtling toward the jerk.
The spell rushed through the remaining cultists, ripping through their robes, tearing at the pebbles that lined their faces, melting robes, and searing skin, muscle, and tendons, all the way to bone. Screams rose as they fell to the ground in agony. Smoke rose from the bodies as the robed figures flailed in pain.
Falstace took the brunt of my blast and his beautiful armor, shining and resplendent, gave way to the noxious fluid. He yelled in fear and then in pain as it ripped through his outer covering.
He shouted something in a language I didn’t recognize, severing my spell, but the lingering acid continued to sizzle.
I lifted the shard, focused on Falstace, and hit him with a frost spell so large it punched through the wall with its power and sent Falstace into darkness.
“Where did you go, douche waffle?” I yelled, calling back to Thandroot’s colorful insult.
“Don’t burn it out, lad. You’ve only a little bit of power to draw on,” Thandroot said as he rolled over onto his back and let out a long sigh.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
But if Falstace was indeed the source of the corruption in the land, I should end him, and then everything would go back to normal. The only problem was that no matter how much it would make my day to send him naked to a binding stone, he would just respawn, and return as a fantasy-world-class asshole in no time.
“You’re burning out the shard. It’s not complete, and you’re firing around willy nilly like it’s an unlimited source of magic,” Thandroot warned.
“But I need to find a way to secure him,” I said. “Falstace can’t be allowed to continue like this.”
“That’s not Falstace, ye git,” Thandroot got to his feet. “It’s just his avatar in the world. He’s not here like you and I.”
“He needs to die,” I said.
“He’s already gone, and if he has disconnected, you have no way to follow him.”
I frowned and then dropped next to Karian and looked at her wound. Her leather had parted like paper and blood pooled around the cut. “Thandroot. You got anything left? She needs help.”
“I’ll do as I can,” Thandroot said.
I yanked out the rest of the healing potion she had given me. I popped the cork, then held the vial next to her lips. She groaned in pain then turned to accept the fluid and sipped.
Thandroot did his Mr. Miyagi thing to her wound while I stayed by her side.
“Hey, how come the potions don’t heal wounds as they used too? When Oz and I got here I got injured by a chitterling of all things, but a potion fixed me right up,” I asked Thandroot.
“Because you were probably a low-level noob,” Thandroot said.
“Huh,” I said, and my eyes went wide. I looked up at my HUD and was shocked to see I had barely gained any more XP toward level 10.
525/1000
“Are you okay?” Karian asked.
“No. I just took out, I don’t know how many reds, and I got nothing for XP,” I groaned.
“That’s strange,” Thandroot said. “Maybe it’s due to the weapon, or the foe. Both were far above your skill level.”
“Oh right, I bet the game rules didn’t allow you to get XP. You got ganked,” Karian said.
“Now ain’t that some happy horse shit,” I cursed. “Not a damn thing in this game works correctly so why am I not surprised?”
“Help me up,” Karian took my hand.
I was happy to assist Karian this time. I put her arm under her shoulder and wrapped it around her waist. We stood together but took it nice and slow.
“Are you going to be okay?” I asked.
“Yeah. But don’t think for one minute this is going to be a habit,” Karian said.
I jerked back, and she nearly stumbled.
“Not your arm around me, idiot,” Karian smiled. “You rescuing me. I’ll give you this one, but don’t make a habit of it. I’m not a damsel in distress.”
“Oh,” I said.
“Just keep on doing what you’re doing, Walt. You’re hard on yourself at times, but you’re smart, and you managed to save us all,” Karian said as she moved closer to me, so our bodies almost touched.
She dug something off my head, and then tossed it on the ground.
“Hope that wasn’t skeleton,” I said.
“No,” Karian laughed. She didn’t move but stared me in the eye.
“Okay,” I said.
“You’re an idiot, Walt,” Karian leaned forward and kissed me. I might have been an idiot, but I wasn’t a co
mplete moron. I put my hand around her waist and pulled her close.
“Oh, get a room,” Oz groaned from the corner where he slumped against the wall.
Karian broke away, and I didn’t know what to say so I decided it might be smart just to keep my mouth shut unless of course, she wanted to kiss me again.
“And don’t get used to that, either,” Karian said.
“Uh,” I said.
“Maybe,” she said. “We’ll see. But you need to take a bath at the earliest opportunity.”
“Good idea,” I said still flabbergasted.
I wanted to say something more, but I couldn’t stop thinking about Falstace disappearing into the other room. If he was still in there, despite what Thandroot had advised, maybe I could capture him. If he wasn’t there then no big deal. Quest turn in. Then a bath, some sleep, and some time to explore things with Karian, assuming she didn’t stab me in the throat.
“I’m going after him,” I whispered to Karian.
“Don’t,” she said and put her hand on my arm. “You’re exhausted, I can see it in your eyes. If you go, you may end up dead.”
“Been killed a few times in the last few days,” I attempted to sound smooth.
“And did you like that experience?” Karian’s tone turned condescending.
“Hmm,” I said.
She was right, though. I was tired. Every inch of my body hurt. I felt like I had been placed in a bag and then beaten with sticks for a few hours.
“Lad,” Thandroot warned.
“If it takes me more than a minute or two I’ll come right back,” I said.
“Walter,” Karian pleaded with me.
I turned from them and strode into the other room.
27
GOING REALM’S DEEP
Every super hero movie I have ever seen—and I’ve seen them all—ends with a big climatic battle where the hero ends up nearly dying before discovering how to defeat his or her foe. Then it was time for the hero to retreat to their home, lair, or office, and get back to living their normal life.
Our problem was that no matter how much we might accomplish in Th’loria we had nowhere to retreat to and no place to call home.
I lifted the shard and used its light to guide me through the passageway. Much like the tunnel that had been destroyed on our way here, this was covered in slime, and smelled like a sewer. A fallen cultist lay just inside the entryway but when I poked him with my foot he didn’t move. I should have checked him for loot but pressed on instead, intent on stopping the guy who had nearly killed us.
The tunnel led to a cavernous chamber that was lit by, you guessed it, a bunch of ever-burning torches set about ten feet off the floor. Passageways led off from each of the walls, but there was no time to explore them all now. I wanted Falstace to pay, and pay dearly. He might be an avatar, hell, we were all avatars as far as I was concerned, but he still felt pain.
“Where are you?” I yelled.
“He’s around here somewhere. I’ll scout in the room on the right, you take the left,” Oz said.
I nearly jumped out of my skin again as Oz appeared next to me.
“You need to figure out some way to warn me when you’re sneaking around in rogue mode,” I spun on Oz.
Oz grinned. “Where would the fun in that be?”
“Let’s stick together. Falstace took us out with little effort,” I said.
“True, I guess. Okay, I’ll hide behind you. If you go down, I’ll do the right thing and run,” Oz said.
Who would call this place a catacomb? When I heard that word, I thought of miles and miles of tunnels with branching paths. This place barely qualified to be called a vault.
We took a left, and a bright light came into view at the end of the tunnel. I lifted the shard and concentrated on maintaining my link.
“You still mad?” I asked Oz.
“Not really. I was irritated and acted like a jerk,” Oz wouldn’t meet my eyes. “Truth is you did a good thing, Walt.”
“Wait, lad!” Thandroot called from behind us.
“What happened to everyone staying behind?” I turned.
“And let ya run off and get killed? We started together, might as well finish together,” Thandroot said.
“See, that was my logic as well,” Oz said.
“Is Karian with you?” I asked Thandroot.
He had retrieved his maul, and although he looked bad, kind of the way I felt, he hustled to catch up.
“She’s coming. Just stop now. You shouldn’t go any further,” Thandroot said. “There are things we need to discuss.”
“We’ve got time,” I said. “First Falstace. Then we talk.”
A figure broke away from a wall and made a run for it.
“Hey,” I yelled and moved a little quicker, but every step was like running in water. My legs ached, as did almost every other muscle in my body.
“Stop him,” Falstace shouted from the room ahead.
A fallen cultist lurched into the passageway ahead so I melted him into go with a highly focused blast of acid.
“Bastard,” I said and broke into a run as I dug into the shard and took exchanged energies again. My newly expanded mana pool responded by topping off.
“No,” Thandroot cried.
I ignored Thandroot because he hadn’t made a bit of sense since Falstace started trying to kill us all.
Thandroot had insisted that Falstace wasn’t a person in the world like us. But I already knew I could hurt him.
“Just chill, man. I’m sick of this game, and I don’t mean just Th’loria. Between you and that asshole in the other room, I want some answers,” I said.
“No shit,” Oz backed me up.
“It’s not that simple, please,” Thandroot pleaded.
I ignored him, like a complete moron, and rushed into the room.
Machinery, as I had never seen in the game world, greeted me.
Like steam powered computers, rows of machinery greeted us. Silver, shining, whirring devices whose purpose was unfathomable. Crystals and brightly colored gems hovered over the devices much like the floating shard I had retrieved. Thick iron pipes ran from them and into the walls.
“What in the ever-living hell?” I whispered.
“That’s what is corrupting the land outside. Betcha a gold coin,” Oz said and strode forward.
Whatever they were for we wouldn’t find out anytime soon. A machine the size of a half-dozen refrigerators stacked end to end began to whir and clunk wildly. It bucked up and down, and steam shot out of a pipe before blowing fasteners into the ceiling as it gave way.
A second machine got in on the action, and with a loud clunk, it shook the ground.
“Holy shit!” Karian yelled as she entered the room.
“I think we need to leave,” I yelled.
“Stay for the fireworks,” Falstace taunted from one of the side passageways.
“He’s trying to lure you to follow. He means to capture you and the shard. The rest of us will die,” Thandroot grabbed my arm and yanked hard. “Run, lad. This fight can wait for another day.”
“I don’t think it can. Why don’t you tell him the truth, Wimer? Tell him how he’s never going home. None of them are,” Falstace mocked again.
A third machine bounced against the wall. More pipes came loose, and steam shot out, filling the room with thick condensate that reeked of something foul. Corruption. I recognized it from battling the control of the shard.
“Tell us how to get home, Falstace, you dick,” I said and broke into a run as I tried to follow the direction of his voice.
The entryway to the tunnel had been rough cut into the wall. None of the gorgeous tiles lined the walls and ceiling, but the floor was blessedly dry, and not covered in skeletal remains. It shifted downward and then opened into circular stairwell lined by a brass railing. I took the first stair and nearly slipped. Some kind of mossy growth covered the steps. I caught the railing and held on for dear life as I took them a few at
a time.
Reaching the bottom was no small feat. If there were less than two hundred steps, I’d be surprised. Upstairs the machinery bucked again, and an explosion sounded. More footsteps above and I found Karian about fifteen feet behind Oz, and Thandroot bringing up the rear as he tried not to slip and fall on his butt.
A form flashed ahead. Scale armor but severely damaged. I broke into a run and pounded across the fifty or so feet that opened into another room filled with even more apparatus. The ceiling bowed upward with large pieces of thick triangular black glass that met in the center.
Sitting in the middle of the room was a round platform. It was at least eighteen inches tall, and it glowed with a red shimmer that formed a circular curtain.
It looked like a portal from a Realms of Th’loria upgrade a few years ago, but the translucent film the platform generated was the wrong color. It should have been blue or green.
Was this the key? Would it bring us home?
Falstace stepped out of a shadow and threw a fireball spell at me. I ducked, forced the shard to react, and plastered him with ice again. He dove out of the way while he wove a shield that covered him from head to toe in glowing orange.
I struck him again because it was so easy. All I had to do was think of the spell, see the symbols, then draw mana from the shard, and there wasn’t a threat of a headache.
“Stop this, Falstace. We want answers, and we want out of here,” I yelled and hit his shield with an acid cloud that should have turned it into a melted lump of metal.
But it rebuked my spell and the acid splattered across the floor leaving pockmarks sizzling in the stone.
“You want answers? They’re right there,” he pointed at the portal.
“Where does it lead?” I prepped another spell. Dammit. At the first opportunity, I needed to learn more than these two idiotic pieces of magic.
I had lost my staff in the excitement upstairs, but I still had my mace. I lifted it from the belt and held it aloft as I wove another massive blast of frost.
“Tell me what it does, or I swear I am going to break the portal with this,” I showed him the mace as I advanced on the device. “Then you’ll be stuck here.”
SHARDS OF REALITY: A LitRPG novel (Enter the Realm Book 1) Page 29