by Isaac Winter
The crackling of a merry fire in the fireplace was the first thing I heard. Then came smell. The scent of polished leather and burning wood, and something else entirely...it smelled delicious. When I could finally see again, I already knew where we’d landed.
> Seeker’s Hideout.
Of course.
I smiled and brushed myself off. The dizziness from going through the Tele Stone still hadn’t worn off. My head swum and my pulse rung in my ears.
Mabel rushed away with Laurie, and a pang of remorse fluttered through my gut again. If she wasn’t okay...
I gulped.
Tris approached Fel and brushed a strand of hair out of her face. “So, how’s it been over on this end?”
Fel clasped a book from the nearby shelf and thrust it at her. “See for yourself.”
She flipped through the worn pages and her frown deepened, eyebrows running up her forehead. “You’re sure?” She asked, voice wavering.
“That’s what all the signs are telling me, yes.”
“There’s something else,” Tris whispered. “The Tears are getting larger, I’m sure of it. The quakes, too. Knocked free a couple of my skill points earlier, bastards.”
Fel rubbed his chin. “That is very concerning. And the gnome?”
“She’s with me,” I answered, stepping forward.
Fel’s head snapped to me, eyes searching. “There’s more...?”
“Yes. Just like me. She came from my world.”
“No wonder the Veil has been so wild lately,” He mumbled and rolled his eyes. “But I must say, it’s wonderful to see you again, Cael. We thought we’d lost you.”
“I nearly lost myself,” I agreed. “But I’m back now.”
“Glad to have you with us.” Fel clapped me on the back and warmth spread through me. Here, in this basement, I was more than just Winston. I was Cael. I had friends and allies. And I was home.
The chatter of patrons echoed from upstairs, the fire crackled in the hearth, and the embers floated upward, reaching for the sky.
“She’s awake.”
The voice shook me from my thoughts and I turned to see Mabel standing there, wiping her hands on a cloth. “I’ve never seen such strong psychic paralysis. She’s recovering well, but it’s still going to be some time before she’s back at one hundred percent.”
A smile broke free as relief washed over me. I let out a breath. “Thank you, Mabel.”
Her eyes softened and for a moment, the strain of having to be a healer in a fantasy world fell away. For a moment, she was just Mabel Vaysen from the Academy. She trapped me in a hug, breathing heavy against my neck. “Thank you for coming back.” She whispered.
I wrapped my arms around her, trying to provide some measure of comfort. “I’m gonna get you out of here,” I assured her. “You’ll see your kids again soon.”
Mabel drew away and looked at me with wide, teary eyes. “And now Laurie, too.”
I gave her a sad smile. “Laurie, too. Let’s go check on her, okay?”
She swiped a hand across her face and cleared her throat. “You’re right. Come along.”
And just like that, she was Mabel the healer once more.
Tris and Fel followed me into the adjoining room where Laurie rested. The small room flickered with light from the lamps on each side of the wall. The stone paneling and floor cut a pretty austere image, especially for a recovering patient. A pungent smell hit my nostrils. Garlic. What in the world?
I wrinkled my nose.
That was all but forgotten when Laurie opened her eyes, looked at me, and smiled.
“Cael.”
My heart soared in my chest. She was alive! I ran forward, kneeling next to her bed. “I’m so sorry.” They were the only words I could think of—they simply tumbled out.
She coughed and shook her head. “Forget it. At least now I know you were serious about all this.” Laurie rolled her eyes.
“What happened back there?” I asked, taking her hand. A pang of disappointment shot through me at the comment. She hadn’t believed me? “We thought we’d lost you.”
A shadow passed over her face and she flinched away. With a visible gulp, she sat up straight and looked at all of us.
“I saw a lot of things on the Link. I shouldn’t have, but I did. There’s more Tears out there. A lot more. They’re coming.”
The room plunged into silence, each of us trying to digest the words. Bile rose in the back of my throat as my pulse roared in my ears. The terror and blood of the Tear in the tavern still flashed through my mind. And this meant...there were more?
Not for the first time, I thought about the Academy, flickering into view through the gaping portal. What did it all mean?
I grimaced. It meant that all of my colleagues, all of the innocents back on Earth, were in danger. And we had to stop it.
Fel spoke first.
“When I created the Seekers, we aimed to find the Author and find out more about the nature of our world. It started as merely a curiosity, a hunger for knowledge. But then you found us, Cael. Well, we found the Author, we tracked him down. And it nearly ruined us. Now I don’t know if the Author is causing these Tears, but I have a pretty strong hunch. He’s tied up in all of this, I’m sure of it. But this time, we’re armed with knowledge. We have not one, but three Veilwalkers among us. And Cael here has the Affinity. This time, we prepare. We train. And we take him out.”
Tris stepped in. “You know I’m always ready to crack some skulls, but our numbers are few. Laurie here is still Level 1. And there’s something...I dunno...off about her.” She ignored the glares from Laurie and I and continued. “The fact remains—we just don’t have the manpower. We need to coordinate and group up before heading after him again.”
Fel’s eyebrows burrowed their way up his forehead. “Never thought you’d be the one petitioning for a measured strategy.” His lips crept up in a smile. “Perhaps you’re finally learning a thing or two.”
Tris’s face went as red as her hair and she scoffed. “I don’t like losing.” She said, crossing her arms. “This time, we’re going to win.”
“And just how do you plan to do that?” I pointed out. I’d stayed silent long enough. “Most people don’t even believe the Author exists, much less that he’s behind all this. They treat him like some kind of god.”
Tris rummaged in her bags and pulled out a muslin package. I recognized the shape before she’d even unwrapped it. “I think it’s time we pay my old man a visit.”
The cloth fell away. There it lay, the near-perfect ruby. Lamp light flickered off the faces of the gem, casting colors and light on the walls. I couldn’t look away from the single marred surface, though. Especially now that I knew what it contained.
“This is my father,” Tris said, her voice hard. She thrust the stone out in front of her where all could see it. “The sorcerer Alcazar trapped him within this stone. He can help us. I’m sure of it. But we need to free him.”
“That’s very advanced magic.” Mabel frowned.
“I know. And I thought I could figure it out without those bastards at the Society, but dammit, we’re out of time. We need their help.”
“The Society for Scientific Inquiry? Those elitists?” Mabel glared at her.
My eyes roamed back and forth between them both, trying to put together the pieces. I’d never heard of any Society…but then again, I’d taken an unplanned “vacation” from the Veil. It left me at a disadvantage.
“Are you really going to go back there?” Fel asked, leveling his gaze at her. “Hardly seems wise...perhaps we can come up with another plan...”
“There’s no time,” Tris said. “My father’s light is fading. I can feel it. We need to free him, and soon.” Her voice cracked over the last words, breaking through the bravado for a second. “Please.”
Fel narrowed his eyes. “You know you won’t be of any use to us dead.”
“I don’t plan to die,” Tris snapped, her voice rising. “I�
�m taking Cael with me.”
I jumped at the mention of my name. As I stared, a quest notification appeared in my vision:
> New Quest: A Trapped Soul.
> You will need powerful allies on the road ahead. Join Tris in freeing her father from the Soul Stone. But to do so, you’ll need to visit the Society for Scientific Inquiry It’s highly guarded, but only there can you find the answers you need.
> Reward: New party member, increased Reputation with Tris
Accept? [Yes/No]
I didn’t know much about Tris’s personal life, and I sure didn’t know much about souls being trapped in gems, but I felt I owed it to her to help. After all the times she’d saved my ass? If this Erik guy was as powerful as she said, he’d be a huge asset to our party. And I couldn’t deny we needed help. Besides that, she needed someone to balance out her impulsive behavior. What choice did I have?
With a deep breath, I selected Yes.
Guess I had a soul to free.
14
Cael
The next few hours passed in companionable silence as I prepared to leave with Tris. Mabel had taken Laurie aside and offered to train her. I smiled, remembering my first training sessions at the hideout. My back hurt just thinking about it.
I tried to look up our destination on the in-game map, but I couldn’t find anything. Based on the way Tris treated it with a mix of reverence and dread, however, I wanted to be prepared for the worst.
The clang of metal behind me caught my attention and I whirled around to see Tris sharpening a knife against a dull black rock. “Need to sharpen anything?” She asked without looking up.
“Actually, yeah.” I dug my twin daggers out of my cloak and handed them to her. “Do you mind? I’m going to go gather food for the road.”
“No problem,” Tris mumbled. “Just bring something more than those wafers this time!”
I had already turned toward the storeroom, but I could just see her rolling her eyes. The Meliae Wafers I’d brought to snack on back then were filling, but had a dry taste that left my tongue sticking to the roof of my mouth.
Jars of preserved fruits and nuts stacked toward the ceiling in the cool pantry room. A cool breeze carried the scent of huckleberry past my nose, which was odd because we were underground. There shouldn’t have been any airflow down here. I shrugged and assumed Fel had set up some kind of ventilation system from upstairs, then dug into the stores of food.
A veritable feast (well, a traveler’s feast, at any rate) lay before me when I’d finished.
> Inventory, filter by: Food
4 x Dinner Roll
Orange Preserves (jar)
Almonds (jar)
Beef Jerky
Hard Cheese (small wheel)
Huckleberry Cider
I stuffed everything into my bag and chewed on a piece of beef jerky, hoping I’d brought enough. If not, we could always hunt. I didn’t know how long this trip was going to take, but part of me hoped it wouldn’t take long. With all the Tears rippling across the Veil, I felt called to take action.
I reminded myself that by helping Tris free her father, I was helping to stop the Tears. Indirectly, anyway.
“Got everything?” Tris asked when she saw me return with an overflowing bag of food. Her eyes widened as I set the stash down next to her. “Oh, you got the good stuff! No more of those wafers for us!”
I shoved the ingredients down into the bag and slung it over my shoulder. “My knives?” I asked, holding out my hand.
“Here you are.” She handed them back to me, one by one, handle first. The blades had been polished to a mirror sheen that reflected in the dim light.
> Iron Dagger. Durability: 10/10.
I scrunched my eyebrows at that. Somehow, they’d been repaired, too? She never failed to surprise me. I uttered my thanks and placed the knives back in their belt holsters, one on each side of my waist.
“I think that’s about everything,” Tris said and stood up from the table where she worked. “Shall we get going?”
“Lead the way,” I said, motioning to the hidden back door.
I said my goodbyes to Fel, Mabel, and Laurie, then headed out the door and up the stairs into the cool, whispery breeze.
“Here, before we go,” Tris brought up a holographic interface in front of her, tapping at sections of a shimmering map. “I’m sending you the waypoint now. Just in case we get separated.”
> New Waypoint Added: Society For Scientific Inquiry
I gulped at the idea that we might be separated, but nodded. Smart move.
“If we make good time, we’ll arrive before dark. Set up camp and then sneak in first thing in the morning. You bring those potions Mabel made?”
I double-checked my inventory and read all the labels, since I hadn’t had time to when Mabel thrust them at me.
> Potion of Stealth. Uses: 1/1. Quality: Very Good. Gives Agility +2 and increases Perception stat for the duration. Renders the user Stealthed for 600 seconds. Stealth status broken upon dealing or taking damage. Does not protect against Detection Enchantments.
> Potion of Strength: Uses: 1/1. Quality: Good. Gives Strength +2 and increases the user’s movement speed for 60 seconds.
> Potion of Diversion: Uses: 1/1. Quality: Good. Used to get away from a sticky situation, this potion creates a loud bang and purple smoke at the target. Lasts 20 seconds.
“Not bad.”
“Mabel’s a real gem. She’s been brewing non-stop. You Veilwalkers are something else.” She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Just wish you would quit tearing our world apart while you do it.”
I laughed at that, even though I knew she was right. This must have been terrible for her, to see her home ripped to shreds like a paper doll.
Of course, it didn’t feel appropriate to ask, so I put one foot in front of the other and followed her down the grassy path to the Society.
The road was eerily empty this time of day. Usually, we’d pass one or multiple merchant caravans or travelers. I questioned whether traveling on the road was the smartest choice, given the clandestine nature of our operation, but Tris assured me it was fine. And since there was no one else about, there were no witnesses, anyway.
I guess everyone was too spooked from the recent Reaver attacks to get out on the roads very much. Perhaps they were sheltering at home, having dinner with their families right now.
The thought hit me in the gut like a blow. Family. My lips twisted up in a wry smile. Yeah, that thing I never had.
To stave off the flood of memories, I asked the next question that came to mind.
“Do you have any plans for when this is all over? Got somewhere to go back to? I know you’ve been working with Fel, but what was life like before?”
I pressed my lips together. Far too personal. But it had come out anyway, even when I told myself I wasn’t going to get involved.
Tris stopped in her tracks and looked at me, her gaze searching. Her full lips hung open, words frozen on her tongue.
“Since when do you care about all that stuff?” She jutted her chin out proudly, but it wasn’t as convincing as it usually was. I could see the surprise written all over her face.
I nudged her, trying to lighten the mood. “Since we became traveling buddies? Since me and my friends got you tangled up in all this mess?”
Tris scoffed and ran a hand through her hair. “I’m always getting into one mess or another. Yours is just the most recent.”
“Tell me about it, then.” I said without thinking. “We’ve got a lot of walking ahead of us. I want to know. Tell me a story.”
Tris considered for a moment, then started walking again, stuffing her hands in her pockets. “You should know I never give without something in return.” She looked back at me, eyes shining. “One story of mine for one of yours. Deal?”
I took a few long strides to catch up with her. That was fair, I supposed. I had just expected her to blow me off or make some snarky comment again.
“Deal.”
“Now you first!” Tris called with a wink, taking off in front of me.
“Hey!” I yelled as I sprinted after her, laughing. Leave it to Tris to keep me on my toes.
As we walked, I told Tris about my work back at the Academy. It seemed like so long ago now. I talked about dead languages and old books and the huge library the Academy boasted. Tris listened with wide eyes, asking as many questions as she could interrupt me with.
I didn’t mind. It was kinda nice to be talking about something I knew. To be talking about me. Ever since I’d come here the first time, it had felt like a life-or-death battle just to survive the day. And even though we were heading for another undoubtedly dangerous quest, right now? We were just two friends, walking down the road and sharing stories.
“That must be why you can read the Runes,” Tris mused, ducking under a low tree branch that crossed the path. “Watch out.” She motioned to a root snaking out of the ground.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” I agreed as I stepped over the obstacle. It made sense now that I thought about it. I was the language expert at Overture, so why wouldn’t I be in this world as well? “Do you think something about our real life skills carry over into the Veil, and shape who we are in game?”
“Could be. Was Mabel always like this in your world?”
I thought for a moment. I hadn’t known her incredibly well at Overture, but I did remember she loved cooking. She held barbecues and potlucks with some regularity. I knew because I saw the flyers she posted around the break room. Not that I ever went to any of them.
“Yeah, I guess so.” I conceded finally. “Interesting.”
“Wild stuff,” Tris agreed, taking a long draw from her water flask.
I did the same and wiped my mouth with the end of my sleeve. “Okay, now it’s your turn.”