by J. R. Ford
Nodding, Jeremiah continued. “There are three towers within the Citadel walls. The central tower flies red banners, the others, blue and green. We believe there is not only a set of Knucklebones, but also a Storm’s Breath and a Hex Artifact inside.”
“Hourglass of Dust,” Heather contributed.
“That theory’s a stretch,” Farrukh said.
Jeremiah looked all too aware. “Maybe. But the Azure Lance and Enlightened both think something valuable’s in there. Rumors of riches, on top of the Artifacts.” Jeremiah must’ve known about Ana’s love of cash from their previous acquaintance, but she kept her poker face on.
Ha-Jun was leaning against a wall with arms crossed. His voice was cool and smooth. “The Enlightened have been clearing the caverns beneath the city, looking for a way to open the Citadel.”
“Once those gates are open, there’s going to be a fight,” Jeremiah said. “The Azure Lance is preparing to contest them. The Enlightened will have the upper hand, with Edwin’s Storm magic and all the cantrips they’ve been finding beneath the city, but we can’t let either get their hands on whatever’s in there.”
“Which you guys conveniently think are the Knucklebones,” Farrukh said.
Jeremiah sounded defensive. “They’re your enemies too. It’s not like you lose anything by helping us.”
“Our goal right now is to find the Knucklebones,” Ana said, “not pick fights with Edwin or Absame, much as they deserve it.”
“Edwin more than Absame,” Heather muttered.
“They grow more powerful every day!” Jeremiah said. “There are hundreds of members in each gang, and Edwin still tops the leaderboards! When more newbies spawn, who do you think they’ll flock to, a few underpowered rebels or the highest-scoring mage in the game?”
His object was plain. If they had two of the top ten scorers, myself and Heather, they might have some clout. Not hundreds-of-members clout, but certainly more than their current showing. And spawning newbies could be the fastest way to catch up.
Every month, new players would enter the game, an equal number to those who had died since the last spawn. The second batch would arrive in three weeks.
“The newbies will have seen the streams,” Heather said. “They’ll know what he’s done, what he’s like. No one will join him.”
“Tell that to the last batch,” Chen muttered.
Heather smoldered. Farrukh opened his mouth, but Ana cut him off. “I understand.”
“Please, Ana,” Jeremiah said, his tone desperate. “We need you. We can’t do this on our own.”
“I made a promise,” Ana said. I didn’t miss her glancing at my tied sleeve. Heather and Farrukh nodded.
“What if we help you find the Knucklebones, if it turns out they aren’t in the Citadel?”
I’d sworn enough brittle promises to recognize someone else’s. Under pressure, it would crack. Ana shook her head.
Priyanka put her hand on Jeremiah’s shoulder. “It’s all right. You have us.”
“Well, maybe you should go,” he spat. “Leave the city. Trying to oppose the Enlightened and the Lance on our own will probably just get us killed.”
“Will you stay?” Chen asked.
“I have to do what I can, after what they’ve done to us.”
“Then I’ll stay too,” Priyanka said, chipper. “We’re used to long odds, aren’t we?”
“You helped us out of a tough spot,” Chen said. “I’m with you.”
Ha-Jun shrugged. “As long as we have food, beer, and each other.”
Jeremiah beamed at the three of them. “I don’t deserve such dedication. But I’ll fight my hardest for you.”
“What is it they did to you?” I asked.
Jeremiah and Priyanka winced. “Pri and I partied up with another girl, Nikki, back in the first days of the game. Some Enlightened started harassing us. Well, harassing Pri and Nikki. We drew swords over it.”
Priyanka looked downcast. “I drew first. I couldn’t ignore it, not here, not when we could stop them.”
I nodded. Sounded like what Heather or Ana would’ve done.
“The Lance got involved,” Jeremiah said. “They tried breaking it up, but when Nikki refused…they decided the best resolution was to kill her.”
“We’ll make things right,” Priyanka said.
One dead friend, and now they were entangled in a conflict that threatened to swallow them all. Having friends really was dangerous.
Jeremiah turned to Ana, who was watching them. “Stay here while the commotion dies down. Even if you won’t lend us your blade, we could use your brain. We need a strategy for when Edwin opens that gate, and you always had a trick up your sleeve.”
Was he talking about the same Ana I knew? Whose favorite method of traversing problems was a headlong sprint?
“Okay,” she said, smiling.
My leg and wrist were bothering me. “Excuse me.” Heather and Farrukh followed me to the back room, where we plopped onto straw pallets. Animated voices behind the door discussed strategy and tactics.
“The nerve,” Farrukh grumbled. “We risked ourselves to come here, for baseless theories!”
“The Enlightened are our enemy, too,” I said. “And we haven’t seen any hint of a trollbat boss.”
Heather looked concerned. Farrukh shook his head. “They’re bastards, all right, but there’s no point getting ourselves killed for the principle of it. Even if we haven’t found the boss, we’ve been racking up points and staying safe.”
Only Farrukh would call our trollbat hunts safe. But it was true, we’d accumulated both points and a store of preserved bat sacs which he could brew into Health Potions. We’d even earned some coin, collecting the quest rewards.
The warlock Vedanth Lokesh had once told us that bosses dropped Artifacts in alignment with their magical affinity when killed. Given that Farrukh’s brew Health Potion cantrip used trollbat organs, we hoped some trollbat boss would drop us the Knucklebones. But even after scouring the countryside for trollbat quests, we’d found neither hide nor hair of any such boss.
“What do you think, Heather?” I asked. “You’re the one who pays the most attention to the magic system.”
“I buy their color theory, but that alone is no guarantee the Knucklebones are in there.” She frowned. “We should mind our own business.”
Her words were a window. She couldn’t risk losing me. Or maybe a mirror. I nodded.
Ha-Jun, Priyanka, and Chen came through within a few minutes. When Farrukh looked at the door, Priyanka said, “They seemed really into it.”
Farrukh said nothing.
“Yo Farrukh, Priyanka says she’s from Hyderabad too,” I said.
He lightened a bit, though it was hard to tell through his beard. “Whereabouts?”
“Prakash Nagar!” she said, her smile showcasing white teeth. “You?”
“Secunderabad,” he said quietly. “Do you speak Telugu?”
She replied in a tongue too quick for me to follow. She and Farrukh engaged in a chittering conversation.
He actually had a smile on his face. That was a rarity. I would’ve chafed, too, if I always had to speak in a language not my own. But then, I could barely order food in my parents’ homelands.
Plus, Priyanka was cute, in an effortless sort of way. I found myself hoping they would hit it off, no matter what that meant for our party.
Of course I wanted Farrukh along. He was the first friend I’d made here. But seeing him so animated made me wonder if he enjoyed our company, or if he really was just in it for the points like he kept claiming.
I turned to Chen and Ha-Jun. Neither of their faces had been on the wanted posters. Both wore loose, comfortable-looking clothes. “Where y’all from?”
Ha-Jun gave me a cool stare. “Uh, no offense,” I said. “I mean, where each of y’all from?”
Chen glared at him a moment. “I’m from Hong Kong, and he’s from Seoul. And you’re American, aren’t you? I’ve seen a lot of your kind ar
ound here.”
“Including Edwin Casper,” Ha-Jun said.
“I think he’s Canadian,” I lied. “How did you get mixed up in all this?”
Chen glanced at Ha-Jun for reassurance. “We were Enlightened. Things were okay, at first. We had a stable income, and there was safety in numbers.”
“Then they implemented the curfew,” Ha-Jun said. “Then we always had to be with another guild member.”
Chen nodded. “Break a rule, and you were moved down in the rotas.”
A now-dead kid had once explained the Enlightened’s rota system to me. When someone joined, they were added to a rota, and whenever anyone found a cantrip or magic item, it went to the next in line. There was a separate rota for Artifacts. Edwin had claimed the Storm’s Breath for himself, which meant Yao was next due. Unless Edwin had punished him for failing to kill me.
“What made you leave?” I asked.
“We were beneath the city, looking to unlock the Citadel,” Chen explained. “It was a rough dive.” She rolled up a sleeve on her blouse, revealing a scar that looked like a rope burn. “Nasty monsters down there: poisonous mushrooms and horrible flower things.”
“You can access the caves from outside the city,” Ha-Jun said, and handed me a scrap of paper. I scanned it — directions to get from a cave mouth in the western forest through the caves beneath the city, then through the sewers, and up a trapdoor he revealed by lifting a pallet. He dropped it with a thump. “In case you change your minds.”
“They got enough of a sales pitch from Jeremiah,” Chen said. “Anyway, we found a cantrip. It would’ve been Ha-Jun’s turn, but he’d stayed out late the previous night.”
“Speaking of, beer?” he offered, pouring himself a mug from the keg. How could he be so laid-back, when either of the two powerful guilds they’d made enemies of could find us at any time?
Heather and I shook our heads. “Pri, Farrukh?”
“Sure!” Priyanka said. Ha-Jun handed her a mug.
Farrukh gave her a long look but shook his head. “Against my creed.”
Chen continued. Her accent was similar to Heather’s. “Anyway, it was a Null cantrip called grounding. Thought we’d be better off making a break for it. Jeremiah helped us escape.”
“An old friend still feeds us information,” Ha-Jun said.
“My old friend,” Chen clarified. “You haven’t spoken two sentences to her!”
Ha-Jun shrugged. “Western girls like guys who play hard to get.”
Chen shook her head. “She doesn’t know we’re rebels, anyway, just deserters. That is, until they saw us tonight, I guess. Technically she’s supposed to report us either way, but after Edwin punished my friends for my desertion, she’s lost trust in him.”
“Not,” Heather said acidly, “because of his history?”
“What history?”
Heather had that look like fire, the one she’d learned from Ana.
“You know why we’re his enemies?” I asked.
Chen looked at Ha-Jun. “We’ve heard rumors.”
“What rumors?” Heather asked flatly.
“That — not that I believed him! — that when he refused your advances, you attacked him!” She wilted under the heat. “I mean it! I never trust a lone man’s side of events. And, the way he treated me and some of the other girls, I figured he’d probably done something that would warrant attacking him.”
Right, the only two Enlightened who had witnessed Edwin’s original transgression had been mute Yao and dead Don.
“What about you?” Heather turned on Ha-Jun.
He kept cool. “Never paid attention. I was just there for the booze money. And the company, of course!” he added.
Chen rolled her eyes.
Heather said, “Those rumors are false.”
When she didn’t elaborate, I steered the conversation back into safer waters. “You think he’s close to the Citadel?”
“There’s a Hex on the Citadel walls, preventing entry until a monster called the Recycler is dead,” Chen explained. “Our informant thinks they’re getting close.”
I wondered if I’d be able to nullify the spell on the Citadel walls. But the Lance and Enlightened would certainly be keeping eyes on the fortress. I wasn’t eager to break into our own death trap.
“We’ll have to see what happens,” I said.
“It’s only a matter of time,” Ha-Jun said.
“Oh, before I forget.” I grabbed a folded sheet of paper and a pencil from my rucksack. “Put your full names down.”
They obliged. With someone’s full name, I could look them up on the leaderboard. Based on the red dot that indicated if they were streaming, I’d be able to tell if they were still alive.
The paper already had the names of my companions, as well as some newbies who had spawned into a town near where we stayed. With Ha-Jun, Chen, and Priyanka, my friends list had hit ten names.
Dangerous.
2
Captain Absame of the Azure Lance and his lieutenant Emily blocked the gate out of Bluehearth. The large African man had his arms crossed over his azure tabard. Emily stood a little to the side and behind him, her spear planted in the rippling street, one hand shading her eyes from the rising sun. I had no illusions about the effectiveness of our disguises.
“Wonderful,” Ana muttered, not loud enough for them to hear. “The warlord and his lackey.”
“Why are you here?” Absame boomed. At least he wasn’t singing, like he did when preparing to cast flash burn.
“None of your business!” Ana said. “Let us pass.”
“Not until you answer our questions,” Absame said. “A group of Enlightened were killed in the streets last night. Don’t bother lying about it.”
“Why do you care? Aren’t you at war with them?”
“Our primary concern is protecting the citizens of Bluehearth,” Absame said. “That includes the misguided pawns of Edwin Casper.”
“But not Nikki?”
“Jeremiah’s friend?” Absame sighed. “It was a shame she died. Especially considering the trouble her death has caused since. But she would’ve killed others, had we not interfered, so I do not regret the decision my soldiers made. We will not hesitate to kill, in order to protect.”
“Well, we killed the Enlightened to protect ourselves. So back off.”
A vein on Absame’s shaved head twitched. “You knew they would attack you but came here anyway, knowing that you would kill them. That’s no better than attacking them yourselves. You have broken the law of the Azure Lance. Are you prepared to pay for your crime?”
Farrukh laughed, but his words were hard. “Your laws don’t bind us. And if you think you can force us, you’re mistaken.”
Absame stepped closer, looming over average-height Farrukh. “Shall I try?”
“Just let it slide,” I said, looking at Emily, who seemed uncomfortable. “We saved y’all, didn’t we, at Tyrant’s Vale?”
Emily shook her head then brushed a strand of blonde hair from her eyes. “We owe you a debt, Pavel, but that doesn’t make what you did right.”
Drat. She’d always been belligerent, ever since Farrukh and I had rescued her from bandits our first day in the game. But she put her hand on Absame’s shoulder, and he got out of Farrukh’s face.
“The four of you are henceforth exiled from Bluehearth!” Absame proclaimed. “If we see you again, our lances will not hesitate.”
“Then let us leave already!” Ana said. “You really are full of yourself.”
“Not before I ask you one more thing. What do you know of the Sanguine Knucklebones?”
Ana’s eyes narrowed. “They can heal Pav’s hand.” We hoped.
“I too have heard of their restorative properties,” Absame said. “I also heard you seek them.”
“Do you know their whereabouts?” I asked.
Absame shook his head. “If any of you had a shred of responsibility, you would leave their pursuit to me.”
&
nbsp; “Uh,” I said, raising my arm to show him the tied sleeve where my hand should’ve been.
“Many of my own were maimed in the battle at Tyrant’s Vale,” he said, without a trace of sympathy. “If you tell me what you know now, I will restore your hand when I acquire the Knucklebones.”
“Counterproposal. You back off, and when I get them, I’ll help your Lancers however I see fit,” Ana said.
Emily took me by the arm as we passed through the gate. “Be careful. There are monsters out there.”
“Not as bad as the ones in here,” I said.
She shook her head, unimpressed by my quip. “Really. We’d stationed a battalion up at Tyrant’s Vale. They were overrun last week.”
Monsters attacking a player settlement? I’d never heard of it happening, but we were all still too new to the game to fully understand the rules.
One other thing. “What happened to Pradeep Lokesh?” The Beta tester had taken it personally when I’d stolen the kill on his brother, and I didn’t want to be out adventuring one day and eat a level 3 lightning bolt to the back.
“He went up through the pass, the day after we fought Edwin there.”
Not my problem, then. “Thanks.” I followed my friends out of Bluehearth.
One glance back. Bluehearth had been where all the newbies flocked, where Ana and Heather and I had met. And now we were exiles from our own city, while two bullies struggled for control.
I turned away. There was nothing for me there anymore. Home was wherever Heather was.
“We should be helping them,” Heather said.
The forest had enveloped us, sunlight beaming through the canopy. My leg throbbed. I’d endured worse, though images of past injury brought little consolation. “I thought you said we should mind our own business.”
Heather continued, morose, “I don’t know. I want to get your hand back as much as anyone, but doesn’t it rub you the wrong way to see Edwin and Absame carving up the city?”
“Bad idea,” Farrukh reiterated. “Life isn’t fair. Edwin being alive is proof enough of that. For that matter, I wouldn’t be sad to see Absame log off, either.”
“Brutes and tyrants, both of them,” Ana agreed. “Banning us from our own city!”