Deadman's Retinue

by Pavel Kornev

  Another fire flared up, but this time I decided not to play the knight on a white charger. I ducked and dashed the hell outta there.

  Update in progress: …65%...

  Sensing my whole body transform, I darted along an enfilade of rooms. I grazed a door frame with my spiky shoulder, ripping it out of the wall as if it were matchsticks. My vision had changed, too. I could now see the magic currents and an enormous protection dome which shielded the mansion from the rest of the world.

  The Spawn must have taken it very seriously. But why all the complications? Didn’t they know any better?

  My legs contorted in a strange way; my feet grew, ripping my boots apart, the claws leaving long deep scratches on the floor. I darted into a large hall, slammed the door shut behind me, barred it with a heavy wooden beam and looked around.

  Windows. Windows. And more windows. Not a single door in sight! I had nowhere to run, dammit!

  So what? Jumping off the third floor wasn’t something I should be afraid of!

  Update in progress: …75%...80%...

  I choked, trying to suppress a bout of nervous laughter, and finally guffawed out loud just as I stopped being human. My transformation was complete. I died, turning into a bunch of bones, dead muscle and mummified flesh.

  Which felt wonderful. I didn’t hurt anymore. Once again I was impervious to pain and powerful beyond measure.

  My vision blurred, zooming out until everything around me appeared petty and insignificant. My face transformed into a dragon’s muzzle. I opened my blood-chilling jaws wide and snapped them shut again. My tail (whose arrival I hadn’t even noticed) grew a multitude of spikes which then covered the whole length of my spine.

  Aaarrghhh!

  Update in progress: …85%...90%...

  The door exploded, showering the room with a cloud of splinters. I caught a glimpse of the Duke’s fiery armor behind them, which looked as if it had been forged from solidified flames. In one hand, the Duke was clutching a bone spear.

  Although I’d never seen this type of weapon before, I immediately remembered the quest bone dagger with damage against skeletons I’d received in my very first location, and knew that this was the end of me. This artifact had only one purpose: to kill the likes of me.

  The Duke took a swing, readying to launch it. My mind rushed, desperately looking for an opportunity to survive.

  I could fly, couldn’t I? But how did you do it?

  The answer was simple: I couldn’t.

  Update in progress: …95%...

  Immediately new icons came into view, listing the dragon’s sorcerous skills. Most of them were still inactive, so I attacked the Duke which whatever was available.

  Breath of Death!

  My jaws parted, releasing a substance which wasn’t flame but rather the very essence of death and decay. The materialized charm penetrated the bodies of both the Duke and his minions hurrying in his wake, throwing them back. Some of the fighters had already lost their magic protection which had burned away in the fire trap, so Breath of Death ate right through their bodies, annihilating the lives within. But even so, it only managed to kill two or three of the Duke’s retinue — and the worst thing was, not only had it failed to harm the Duke himself but he’d already started his run-up like a proper pikeman.

  Then it dawned on me. My wings... my legs...

  My tail!

  My body contorted. My horrible scaly tail swept the little running man off his feet and flung him aside, ripping a column down and collapsing part of the wall in the process.

  Yes! That’ll teach you, the bastards!

  Update complete

  Current level: 100

  Status: Shapeshifting Bone Dragon

  The knowledge of my all-encompassing power embraced me. My body stood up on its muscly legs. The floor creaked under my weight, about to collapse. The floorboards exploded and stood on end.

  Sweeping away the ceiling beams, a pair of large wings opened behind my back. The roof collapsed, clearing a path into the sky. I climbed up the debris and kicked off, soaring up into the air to embrace the celestial heights.

  Oh yes!

  02 days 11 hrs…

  HAPPINESS is flying.

  For a while, I worked my wings hard, climbing higher and higher. Then I spread them wide, found a thermal and basked in it unhurriedly, floating through the sky, taking myself away from my trials and tribulations. I lazily craned my neck to take in the panorama of the city roofs below — and my euphoria vanished.

  Dozens of gryphons, Pegasi and winged lions were hastily taking to the wing, followed by flying carpets and flocks of witches astride their brooms. And right in front of me, a flying frigate was rising into the air.

  Dammit! The sky over the capital of Light wasn’t the best place for a bone dragon!

  Having said that, nothing was these days.

  I worked away with my wings until my seemingly endless stamina began to dwindle. This way I might get weak really soon.

  A bright streak of light crossed the sky, followed by a flash and the sound of an explosion nearby. But it wasn’t the Lights’ air defenses kicking in. The celestial flames parted, releasing a giant white dragon.

  White? No — an ice one.

  The monster’s frozen scales glittered in the sunlight. I shuddered as the recognition flashed through my mind.

  I could have sworn that it was the white witch riding the winged monster. Still, I chose not to peer at the creature looking for her; instead, I stretched my body flat and started flapping my wings on the double. Unfortunately, the ice dragon was by far stronger and faster than I could ever be, and he used his superiority in altitude to his advantage. The distance between us shrank rapidly.

  Shit. How was it possible?

  I was level 100, wasn’t I? I was a bone dragon! I was supposed to rip my enemies apart by the dozen — and here I was legging it! And I wasn’t even doing a good job of it!

  A grim, malicious anger stirred deep in my heart. Still, there was one thing I knew for sure: I just couldn’t get involved with the white witch. She would have me for lunch and wouldn’t even notice, an uncategorized creature spying on potential imba cheaters breaking the game rules. Which was exactly what I was. Not exactly a cheater but you had to admit that I’d broken almost every game rule in existence...

  My mind began to rush like a newb pilot flying an uncontrollable plane. I desperately scrolled through my skills until I came across one called Dimension Leap and groaned with disappointment. It was still inactive, was it?

  What the hell?

  I focused on the right icon until it zoomed up enough to show the progress bar which was still at 58%.

  I needed to buy some time. I had to lose my pursuers.

  All I could do was give it my all. My wings whooshed through the air as I gained altitude. The progress bar quivered and resumed its journey toward the precious 100%.

  Still, the ice dragon had no problem keeping up. I remembered, quite inopportunely, the sensation of the white witch’s icy cold fingers as she’d ripped my eye out. The left side of my face — or my muzzle? — froze with the memory. On instinct I banked into a steep turn, escaping another beam of blinding light. Immediately I banked in the opposite direction, zigzagging through the air and preventing her from hitting me again. She missed — or should I say she’d missed her chance to turn me into a block of ice?

  That would be all well and good but the bulk of the flying frigate kept growing in size, approaching rapidly. I had virtually no space for maneuver left while the Dimension Leap progress bar had dropped back to 53%. What the hell?

  Wait a sec. Could it depend on my speed?

  I closed my wings and nose-dived, sending my several tons of bones and mummified flesh plunging toward the ground. The air roared in my ears; I began to reel in the thickening air currents, trying to focus and escape their swirling vortex. Down! Only down!

  And it worked.

  My speed hit mind-boggling numbers. The r
oofs below approached rapidly. Several flying carpets which were trying to intercept me were tossed aside by the turbulence before the mages riding them hadn’t even gotten the chance to activate their attack spells.

  Dimension Leap!

  The world blurred. Stars swirled in my head. For a moment, the entire game world lay below me, transformed into an interactive map. I blindly poked the first location I saw. The world split, hurling me into direction unknown and releasing me above a turbulent sea, still nose-diving.

  I hurried to spread my wings to break my fall and managed to flatline just in time, when the raging waves all but licked my belly. Once I straightened up, I unhurriedly headed for a distant rocky shore.

  Yes! I’d done it! I’d fooled the icy bitch! Both her and the Spawn of Darkness bent on killing me!

  What a bunch of bastards. They’d had it all covered, hadn’t they? They wanted to corner me down the basement, lynch me and take my skull. Not my own charmed skull but the bone dragon’s. They must have had a hunch I might turn into him.

  Having said that, had it been a hunch — or had someone tipped them off? But who? It can’t have been Lloyd. Nor Goar, either. Which meant it must have been Garth in his current paladin disguise.

  But why would he need it? No idea.

  MY ECSTASY didn’t last. Very soon the adrenaline surge was over, plunging me into the depths of a cooldown. My stamina plummeted deep into the red and continued to dwindle as my flight kept burning off every ounce of my strength. Even though the concept of fatigue is alien to the dead, every wingbeat became a struggle. I tried fruitlessly to find another thermal and in the meantime, I just kept hopping over the waves at almost zero altitude like an overloaded bomber.

  If only... If only I could... If only I made it... to the shore!

  Although a fall into the sea wasn’t going to kill me, a winged creature like myself might find climbing back to the surface a near-impossible challenge.

  Mustering up whatever was left of my strength, I managed to negotiate a cliff ridge and soared with my wings spread wide, looking for a place to land. Below, I could see patches of sand flashing past, spots of green, masses of rock and an occasional palm tree grove.

  Then I was rammed by an ice meteorite.

  Before I could work out what had hit me, the shattering blow swept me down and threw me somersaulting to the ground. I don’t think there was an unbroken bone left in my whole body, but still I managed to lift my head and spew a long jet of flame.

  Too late. The ice dragon was already gone, spiriting away the white witch clinging to his back. Once he reached the sea, he banked into a steep U-turn and headed back toward me, whizzing past without quite touching the ground.

  By then, I’d already scrambled to my four feet and prepared to face his attack. Still, he wasn’t as stupid as to engage in a hand-to-hand with a bone dragon.

  Ice Breach!

  A white spear flashed through the air, pinning me to the ground like a butterfly in a collection box. Roaring with pain and fury, I tried to lift myself up but couldn’t. My insides felt frozen together. A numbness spread through my rear quarters and began to rise, consuming my body.

  Numbness? I don’t think so. They were freezing me alive. Turning me into an ice statue.

  I tried to stir but achieved nothing apart from shifting a few flakes of snow. I hastily scrolled through my skill list which produced nothing, either. Both my stamina and inner energy were at zero; my health was rapidly shrinking too.

  I was freezing solid, and although a dead thing can’t die again, this was exactly what awaited me.

  No! Not now!

  At first, the disappointment burned through me hurting me much stronger than the biting frost. But that was at first. Then the teeth-numbing chill that had taken hold of me intensified, doubling me up until my furious roar drowned out the thundering surf. My completely frozen bones began to snap. My flesh turned into stone. A carpet of frost spread over the wet sand. And still I hadn’t blacked out; I hadn’t fallen into a stupor; I was fully aware. Pain, fury and frustration was all I had left.

  The ice dragon circled the skies above me like a hungry vulture, closing in.

  The skies darkened. A blob of pitch blackness dropped onto my enemy, shattering him into a billion sparkling fragments.

  The white witch dropped from a great height to the ground with a thumping sound which raised clouds of sand. The pitch-black blob began to take shape, transforming into the Angel of Darkness. He took another swing with his black two-handed sword and lunged at the witch like a hawk. Still, he’d underestimated his opponent who’d already set up a protective shield, and glanced off it, crumbling to the ground and sliding a good dozen yards along the beach, leaving a trail in his wake which immediately filled with water.

  Then the water trail froze and began to rise with a vile crackling sound, turning into an ice snake. Still, a single swing of the Angel’s sword turned it into a pile of crushed ice. The Angel then strode toward the white witch who’d already scrambled back to her feet. The witch conjured up a diamond-tipped spear and ran toward her enemy.

  They clashed in a cacophony of clanging and clattering interspersed with great flashes of light and implosions of darkness.

  Their combined movements were so swift they merged into a kind of monstrous black-and-white kaleidoscope. I didn’t care, though. Whoever won the fight, I was still gonna die a long and ignominious death. The numbing sensation was creeping toward my neck; my body kept cracking and splitting as it turned to ice. Pain was the only thing I had left.

  A boundless ocean of pain and a tiny little boat of hope.

  Don’t get me wrong: it wasn’t hope for survival. True, I couldn’t survive but I could still turn the situation in my favor. While I still hadn’t frozen solid... while combat was still in full swing... I could still wriggle my way out of this — but in order to do that, I had to drag others into it.

  Summoning the Commander of the Order of the Black Phoenix!

  How ironic. With so many gamer friends, I had to turn to an NPC for help. Come on, Neo, please don’t let me down...

  The young Commander of the Order of the Black Phoenix appeared without any special effects. Compared to the pitch blackness enveloping the Angel of Darkness, the gloom that disgorged my young friend was barely a shade of gray. The ginger-headed teenager looked around himself in surprise, staring at the two superior beings locked in a furious combat.

  “Help...” I wheezed, struggling not to give in to the frozen slumber.

  Neo startled and stared at me in disbelief. “Uncle John? Is that really you?”

  He’d never seen me as a dragon before. Skipping explanations, I repeated,

  “Help...”

  The lad stepped closer. “But how? What do you want me to do?”

  “Kill me!”

  “No!” Neo shouted, sniveling. “I can’t do that, Uncle John!”

  “Quick, do it!” I snarled. “Kill me and take the skull! Then run! I’ll find you! It’s not the end of me! Kill me now!”

  I began to ramble as my mind started to shut down, racing into the great white void. “Do it,” I managed.

  I really should have generated a quest but I was too weak and time was an issue.

  A tearful Neo stepped closer to the dragon’s head and bared the black ritual dagger. I wanted to cheer him up and tell him to hurry but I couldn’t.

  The narrow blade pierced the flesh under my chin, replacing the white void with the familiar gloom of the game’s login hall.

  That was it. I was out of there.

  For a while, I just stood there taking deep breaths and basking in the absence of pain. Then I activated a new login and flew through the darkness in order to respawn in the world of the Towers of Power.

  Instead, I rammed a fiery inscription in full flight:

  Access denied

  It hurt so much I even thought I’d heard my teeth clatter with the impact.

  What was that now? What did they mea
n, Access denied?

  The message blinked, replaced with a new one which was just as disheartening:

  Forced logout initiated

  Sync setup in progress...

  Transferring saved data...

  Disabling online functions...

  “Hey! What do you think you’re doing? Are you raving mad? Don’t! That’s against my will! Give me five minutes!”

  What have I done to deserve this?