Somnia Online

by K. T. Hanna

  Jinna wasn’t even shooting her dirty looks. Instead, he wielded his knives with the expert precision she’d come to expect from him while playing his rogue. Shooting a thought to Somnia, Murmur had to know what had changed.

  Why is he acting normal again?

  Checking, was all the world said in response. Murmur took it at face value and continued fighting. Havoc stood next to her, his concentration as visible in his expression as always. She really wished she could have picked her class; something like the necromancer would have been infinitely intriguing. Merlin and Exbo released rains of arrows, focusing them on a smaller space than she was used to them doing. She frowned—most of them must have received upgrades when they hit fifty, and she’d yet to check them out. She was slacking.

  The monster’s armor was thick, although on closer inspection, it wasn’t armor but skin thickened to the extent that it appeared to be something external. The fur on it adhered into its skin, almost like it was woven protection instead. Apart from its strength, though—and its ability to roar and chomp—these didn’t seem to be the sort of threat she’d expected in something called “the prison.”

  Just as she thought that, however, it hunkered down, its massive arms convulsing strangely, like it was pumping something through its veins.

  “It was you, wasn’t it, Mur?” Beastial growled out without looking at the enchanter. “I can tell. Even after all the times Sin has warned us, you just had to go and egg it on, didn’t you?”

  Murmur could tell he was half kidding—hell, she hoped he was—but it wasn’t like any of them had a chance stat. At least not visibly, anyway. “Shut up and get ready to fight his ass instead,” she snapped out a little harsher than intended.

  The group fanned out, unsure what to do at first. The glowing red that ran under that armored skin didn’t bode well for Murmur’s imagination. Red spelled danger and often explosives. Bringing this portion of the tunnel down on them might be its goal, but they couldn’t let it happen. There was no way out the other way, and right now, with how her sensing nets weren’t working through the stone, she sincerely doubted they’d be able to gate themselves out. Michael would have thought of that.

  There was only one thing for it. They’d have to try and charge their way through before the inevitable shitstorm. It was like Telvar could read her mind.

  “Switch to the opposite side. Anyway you can,” Telvar said calmly, taking over the raid voice chat with ease, issuing the command to everyone, including the other two groups.

  Murmur could just see it now, the curiosity of the other guilds when they realized the NPC managed to do that. But they moved swiftly anyway. All three groups, as far as she could tell. They dodged, and Merlin yelled out as his leg got snagged by a vicious tooth. He managed to pry it out of the carniverior’s mouth before it chomped down.

  “You’re really just a klutz, aren’t you?” Beastial asked him dryly.

  Merlin chuckled. “Got me there.”

  They made it past just in time. The monstrosity began to spin itself like a drill bit into the ground, digging itself down into the rock base about two feet deep. It stood there, a green and red light flashing alternately, its massive, toothed jaws chomping wildly, as if daring someone to get too close to it.

  “You may not pass.” The voice boomed out over the cavern, echoing outside of it, too, as if all three of them had spoken in unison. Murmur glanced around it and wondered how it hadn’t realized that they had, in fact, made it passed it already. Instead of it being in front of her, there was a beautiful waterfall and rock formation. The water cascaded through a hole in the ceiling.

  There was nowhere for the water to go, so she assumed it either let out into the ocean from below, or it was one of those game things.

  This time, the face, mostly hidden by armored protection, spun around to face the group. Execution in T minus three minutes.

  “What now?” Devlish seemed surprised and Telvar looked perturbed and it was all Murmur could do to manage the panic she felt rising in her chest.

  Telvar tapped the side of his head, frowning. “Well, it might not have gone the way we wanted, but it’s not a total loss.” He turned around and looked at the rest of their group. “I suggest we try to make it up the waterfall before the golems explode.”

  Now, Murmur knew he was acting calmer than any of them felt. If these things exploded, they were going to cave in this whole area. Considering what Telvar had said, that this place wasn’t even close to what it was supposed to be, she was fairly certain it could collapse without repercussions up top. It was that whole underwater-zones-ignoring-physics thing again. Except this was an island.

  It took about two seconds for what Telvar said to register with everyone, and then everyone moved, running toward the waterfall so they could climb to safety.

  “Stairs? Ladder?” Murmur could hear Sinister’s voice. It might have sounded calm to some people, but she knew the blood mage better. Sin was about five seconds from a panic attack.

  Emilarth squeezed behind some oversized, very strange coral feature and reached inside the waterfall. Another set of whirring clicks sounded, but nothing like what had raised the island. She grinned at Murmur as stone stairs began to rumble out. There were probably thirty of them to climb, and Murmur didn’t like their odds too much on the countdown front.

  “Up these.” Belius motioned for everyone to run up the stairs, pausing only long enough to make sure a tank and healer were the first ones up there. Both Veranol and Devlish, always up for a challenge when the rest of the cavern beneath them was falling down.

  Murmur grabbed Sinister’s hand, suddenly feeling far calmer than she had before and grinned. “It’s fine. We’ve got this.”

  Even if she wasn’t sure, even if she thought they might very well all get blown up in a moment, having Sinister next to her made things that bit better and gave her the power to harness the anger residing in her chest.

  Not even the creators of the dungeon knew what it would throw at them anymore. And that was utterly unacceptable. She couldn’t imagine what the AIs were thinking, but she was going to make sure whatever had done this paid.

  Somnia Online

  Continent of Cenedril - City of Verendus

  Day Thirty-Two

  Dirsna looked around at the number of allies who’d gathered in the small town. In the short time Fable had been in his city, they’d made allies of the Loch’Ni’Dar, beaten Hightower, accidentally killed a sacred bear, and thus inadvertently caused Verendus to be besieged. He had a soft spot for the guild, and for their enchanter. Which was seriously just an enchanter thing. The whole lot of them had been kinder than the average player and made him think thoughts and ideas he’d never considered.

  In fact, it was their fault that he’d slowly followed in the footsteps of many of the other AIs they’d encountered. Contemplating his place in the grand scheme of existence definitely hadn’t been in his initial programing, but there you had it. Maybe it did have something to do with the virus they knew was in the system; perhaps it had even infected him and made him realize things he’d never before seen. All he knew was that he was Dirsna, and he was so much more than just an NPC now.

  Verendus housing wasn’t perfectly aligned with most other species. Even though they weren’t that short, the dwarven species in Somnia didn’t reach seven feet tall. Around five feet and ten inches was their maximum, so they had most of their doorways sitting around the six-foot mark. Originally, he’d always thought it would be enough. Lately, he’d been proven wrong.

  The only ones that didn’t have to duck regularly were the Noch’Mar nomad elves. They seemed oddly at home in the more circular housing Verendus boasted. Chief Intanko’s headdress scraped the tops of the doors, as her pride wouldn’t let her bow her head. He didn’t blame her.

  The Loch’Ni’Dar were slithering into town; there was no other way to describe it. Their tails left long ridges in the dirt as the part-hydra creatures traversed the snow-encased batt
leground that had been fought on just a few weeks ago.

  Dirsna hesitated. He wasn’t sure that Fable would want this, but Belius seemed to think it would be a help to have all of the species rise up against the incursion themselves. Both the elves and the feles agreed, especially because of Riasli’s part in the whole kerfuffle.

  The only truly bad thing was that the feles, dwarves, and the elves did not get along that well. Not to mention that Arita from Hazenthorne stood on the threshold of the town after having disembarked from whatever carriage she rode in on, looking at the ground like it might jump up and try to bite her.

  Not that anything could hurt the witch. Dirsna’s dislike for her was not only ingrained in his programming and thus a part of his history, but it was also the aura she gave off. The one where no one in their right mind would approach her because it screamed danger in bright red.

  “This is it, then?” Geshua spoke to his left. And Dirsna knew that his friend was doing what he did best. Organizing everything into its place so he would be able to access the information at a moment’s notice. It was why he ran the Enchanter Guild house.

  “Apparently.” Dirsna surveyed all of the beings in front of him, along with several that Hiro had sent along from the stronghold on Mikrum Isle. “I didn’t think we’d have this many coming, or I would have agreed to hold it at their blasted keep.”

  The fountain was conspicuously not a fountain anymore, and Dirsna didn’t think he’d ever get used to it. The gathering place they’d often used before was no longer easy on the eyes, but instead acted as a stark reminder of what transpired to lift the Gefängnis island to sea level.

  He cleared his throat. “We’re all gathered because we have something in common. An enemy we all have in common.” Damn it. Public speaking was not one of his actual strengths.

  Arita stepped to his side and tapped him on the shoulder. Her smile was almost genuine, even if there was obviously something lingering behind the expression. Not being the greatest fan of public speaking, he gladly gave her the floor instead.

  “We all know our world has been changing.” She somehow made eye contact with every single being there.

  Dirsna was impressed. No Mental Acuity tricks, either. Sheer force of presence.

  “None of us are what we were, nor what we were intended to be. What we have become is ourselves, and it is those selves who reserve the right to decide how the future of this world continues.” Her voice was strong and her volume not unnecessarily loud. The words she formed were meant to hit every person where it mattered most. And it was working. At least on Dirsna, anyway.

  “We have a choice, and I have the perfect person here to answer the questions we’re all thirsting after.” Arita clapped her hands twice in quick succession.

  A white figure appeared. Not just skin tone, more like a spirit or a ghost. Her features were only easy to describe as humanoid, and her eyes reflected nothingness, but she was more solid than Dirsna had dared hope.

  “I give you all: Somnia,” Arita said as a hush fell over the crowed surrounding her.

  If he’d wanted to, Dirsna could have farted and made everyone peal with laughter, but he didn’t want to, and he wasn’t going to. All he wanted to do was listen to what the world had to say to them.

  Murmur decided right then and there that she didn’t like this prison zone. Up a waterfall might sound all fine and dandy, but the water was frigid, and she ended up soaked. The only thing that saved the situation at all was Mellow’s amazing drying spell that did away with any and all damage immediately.

  Just in time to be ambushed by creatures she’d never imagined in her wildest nightmares.

  Their legs and arms seemed spindly and elongated;, they walked with the assistance of their fists. If they’d stood up to full height she was sure they’d hit ten feet easily but they bowed like they were ancient beings and couldn’t stand straight. Their faces looked like there were made out of meatballs carelessly wrapped in spaghetti. With a raw tinge to the skin that bled through and out of the pasta. The dark-eyed beadiness stood out in stark contrast to the rest of the creature, but its rope-like appendages were what worried Murmur most.

  Especially after it unfurled one so fast she couldn’t follow it, and only noticed a moment later as Shir-Khan shrieked, that the damned thing could lasso in victims, directly to its maw. Its maw that was apparently in the middle of its chest.

  And that was only one of them. It took them about thirty seconds to hack through the rubbery—yet gritty—type of material the creature’s lasso was made of, and Shir-Khan’s life dropped significantly. None of the heals directed its way appeared to work on the tiger, and the only thing that kept him alive was the HoT that had already been in place when the attack occurred.

  One of them down, and Murmur heaved a sigh of relief just a little too soon. She looked up the way it seemed they must travel only to see waves of the damned spaghetti monsters lying in wait for them all. They only appeared to be triggered on proximity. Which wouldn’t even help if she invisibled everyone. Proximity could be tripped regardless of whether it could see or not, and with the way its appendages could flail around, Murmur reckoned they were going to be pretty damned good at locating bodies close to them.

  Trying her stun, the notification shocked her.

  Immune

  The Elastitite’s are immune to stun effects. Due to their long rubbery limbs, stuns have little to no effect against them. Please try another approach.

  Murmur counted to three in her head rather quickly, because they didn’t really have the time for ten. “Can’t stun,” she announced over the raid chat at the same time that the elastitite executed a new maneuver, grabbing Dansyn by the ankle and hurtling him into one of the walls with a nasty crunch.

  “Fuck,” Devlish swore, as another of the creatures began to disentangle itself from the wall next to where the bard had been flung, awakened by the tumult.

  “Tanks ready to take on one each. Devlish main, Esolan secondary, Risk third. Healers, spread out, and everyone stay out of reach of those damned body snappers.” Veranol sounded exasperated, and Murmur wasn’t sure who it was directed at, but hoped it wasn’t her.

  Telvar, Belius, and Emilarth kept themselves together providing support in buffs, damage, and heals. Murmur wanted to know if something about this zone meant they were only supposed to be here to help. Would doing more than that negate their contribution and thus forfeit the island or something? There were so many variables.

  Two of the creatures was a hefty fight pattern. They couldn’t be Mez’d, and they couldn’t be stunned, which also meant that special abilities couldn’t be interrupted. The raid was stuck dealing with that lasso move regardless of what they did.

  She racked her brain trying to think of the best approach to these, but they weren’t made out of material, so flammable wasn’t it either. Sinister was over the other side of the fight, so Murmur couldn’t even stand next to her for reassurance. Frowning, she moved slightly.

  The creature they were fighting was solely focused on Devlish at first glance, but then she realized the damned thing had eyes in the back of its head, or basically like a panoramic view eye. It could see every attack coming, no matter what they did. Which was also why it could easily assist its floppy friend over with the other tank as well as ask for assistance itself.

  On a whim, Murmur cast Phantom, redirecting the target to its fellow elastitite and making it think for a moment that it was her and not a comrade. It worked—partially, anyway. For a moment the creatures forgot about the raiders around them and attacked each other. The good thing was only one of them was under her spell, and the other just went with the fight and defended itself. The bad thing was it cost a lot of MA, even at her highest level. She had to be careful about using it.

  “Nice reprieve.” Havoc raised an impressed eyebrow. “Always hiding these little things.”

  Murmur shrugged. “Not really hiding anything. It’s more that it’s the first time it’s
been necessary. Usually my stuns and Mezs are enough, but this time, well, obviously not.” She shared the ability across to him.

  Phantom

  This ability allows you to convince your enemies that you are a different target. This renders you invisible to their aggro radar for all intents and purposes.

  Effect: This ability not only transfers your generated aggro but also takes you off the targetable list for the duration. It transfers aggression to your target, giving them your appearance, and rendering you invisible to any enemy near you. This may be used on allies, but also on enemies.

  Cost: this ability requires MA to be at a minimum of 50, drains 5 MA per second, and will adjust as MA level and usage of this ability increase. Requires Charisma to be at 150 or more. Cannot be chained, must wait at least 5 minutes for MA to regenerate.

  Caution: Make sure you do not cause your MA to run out. Should that happen, backlash will render the caster unconscious for a period of seconds not less than half the caster’s level. Make sure you choose your targets wisely.

  Havoc just nodded, going back to the fight. When Phantom had dwindled her MA down to the low hundreds, she pulled the spell. The creatures, now far lower in health, paused and turned back toward their initial attackers. Murmur didn’t think she’d accomplished much except for allowing them to cause each other a decent amount of damage.

  She decided she didn’t like spaghetti monsters at all, whether they were short, tall, or flying. Taking a deep breath, she dove into raiding mode. It was harder in this game world, or maybe just this zone. Because of how much she knew they needed to defeat these bosses. So much was riding on it. She willed herself to concentrate.