by J. R. Ford
“Arrogance? You hypocrite!” But she was laughing.
I smiled. Then it clicked, and I smiled wider. “Hey, unrelated, but I think there are Sanguine Knucklebones in the Citadel after all!”
Ana raised an eyebrow.
“Why is Pradeep in such a hurry to attack Bluehearth? Because his wife’s new character is a crippled orc, and his own Visceral magic doesn’t work on orcs. But if he finds her the Knucklebones, she can heal herself!”
Faces brightened. I was giddy. The feeling disappeared as the miles to the city loomed before us.
At least Farrukh found the herbs he needed for a Health Potion. One disgusting cup later and I was fit for more action, at least physically.
Farrukh squirmed into the earthen gullet, breathing heavily.
“You holding up?” I asked.
“Let’s just keep going,” he grumbled.
I was even less keen. The miles had sapped anything resembling energy, leaving me a tired sack. My flesh had been healed, but my spirit was still lacerated. And, to get to the city, we would have to pass through these hellish caves again. I’d walk an extra ten miles to avoid that damned pond. Well, five, anyway.
The ferns pulled at my feet with each step. What was the point of trying so hard when only death awaited me?
Heather needed me. An unenviable position.
A familiar chasm loomed before us. Nullify momentum helped us land safely on the ferny bank. Soon we walked on mushrooms, but no zombies showed up.
My footsteps began dragging through the caps as the waterfall chamber came into view. It was pitch-dark, only Ana’s lantern illuminating black mirror-sheen water, leaf pads, and sinister flower buds. The waterfall’s splashing conjured memories of drowning in mud. I shuddered.
The two stone slabs Heather had transmuted had been overgrown with roots, vines, and lichens. But they were down in the lower pool. If I could make it to the cliff edge, I could redirect momentum over to them, entirely avoiding the tangled flowerbed at the waterfall’s base.
“Move fast,” Ana said. “Don’t leave your feet in one place or break your ankles jumping down. Get to those slabs and onto the far bank. And don’t let them kiss you.”
I looked dubiously at my rapier and dagger. Both had edges but lacked the mass of Farrukh’s machete. I doubted either could hack through vines with a single swipe.
I filled my mana bar and laced my boots as tight as they would go. I didn’t want to lose my new toys in the muck.
Ana lashed out at the pool bank with the Lightning Blade. Its boom reverberated through the chamber, shaking soil from the walls and causing dust to tumble down from the ceiling. Hot steam rose from the pool. “Hopefully that did some damage. Let’s go!”
But as soon as Ana had a foot in the water, the pool rippled with shifting biomass. We hurried forward, hearing splashing behind us.
A glance over my shoulder showed me more than I wanted to see. A lotus had risen out of the water entirely, propped up by a tangle of roots. Two long arms ended in lily pads, burned and blistered in places but still all too functional. On the end of a four-foot neck, the flower looked into my soul.
“They didn’t do that last time,” Ana said unhelpfully.
“They were full on Enlightened back then,” I said. “Now they’re hungry.”
We sloshed away, slowed by two feet of water and the constant shifting of labyrinthine roots. The monsters that rose around us were far more frightening than any minotaur.
Farrukh cried out. A vine had wrapped his arm. He severed it with his machete, then floundered away as a lotus unfurled directly beneath him.
Ana had reached the cliff and stood firm against the current and unsteady footing, looking back at us. I stumbled up beside her and incanted redirect momentum, but a root snagged the top of my foot. When my casting completed, I didn’t make it five feet before my jump was cut short.
I swung down hard into the waterfall. The dirt wall cushioned the impact, but I was dizzy and disoriented as the waterfall tore me down. Water buffeted my eyes and nose, until after a long second, I plunged into the lower pool.
I flailed for earth, unsure which way was down, and somehow managed to regain my feet only to find myself face-to-flower with one of the creatures. I yelped and slashed with my dagger, pushing it away more than cutting it. A lotus pad lassoed my shoulder. I plowed through fatigue, dragging the thing behind me, hoping that as long as the pollen didn’t get on my face I’d be fine. Roots tore free of mud beneath me. The sanctuary offered by Heather’s stone was only ten feet away.
A root wrapped my thigh. I kept going. It would be so easy to fall, beneath the dragging vines and doubt. To sink down into the mud, to be swallowed and forgotten, if not absolved. I dragged the lotus beasts behind me like the weight of my failures.
Another root coiled around my waist, breaking this camel’s back. I fell to my knees onto the writhing bed of roots. Water splashed into my mouth and eyes.
“Pav!” Ana cried, having leapt down without being ensnared. I extended my unbound hand, and she clasped it tight and hauled me to my feet. Her boot knife began chopping.
We were close to the overgrown slabs. But my legs had no strength. Ana pulled me along with her. Farrukh had descended but was entangled, hacking wildly. He writhed free of the eviscerated remains and turned on the ones holding me. But he couldn’t slash the exhaustion from my bones.
I clawed at the stone, still bound by my feet. The vines on the slab squirmed away, leaving me no purchase. Ana and Farrukh hopped up and grabbed me by the arms. I wanted to say, “Leave me,” but didn’t have the energy. So I gritted my teeth and twisted my feet until they were free of the roots. I wriggled onto Heather’s stone, but even then white and pink lotuses looked down over me. I crawled after my friends, keeping my head down.
I must’ve looked pathetic, but I was too tired to care. Why wouldn’t they leave me alone? Was their embrace my only escape?
Ana threw me to the passage beyond. I made it three steps before curling up.
“Nap time,” I slurred.
“Did one of them get you with their pollen?” Ana asked.
I didn’t think so. I stayed silent.
“Heather needs you,” she reminded me, as if I’d forgotten.
Shame is perhaps the only engine more powerful than spite. I got up and trudged after them. We passed the spot where we’d encountered Troy and Linsey, and where Edwin and his mages had fought the Recycler, before emerging into the sewers. I could barely breathe for the stench.
Ana set a fast pace by the directions Jeremiah had given to their new safehouse. She turned back to check on me once, and her concern was evident from her frown. The rebels were all still streaming, but they could be captured, or maimed.
We reached a ladder. “Here.” Ana shoved the manhole open. The Citadel loomed over us, glowing bright blue. Across the street stood the new rebel hideout, unburnt, a two-story building of wood and plaster with upcurved tile eaves that evoked the architecture of the Orient.
It was still dark out, though redness in the east spoiled the sun’s imminent arrival.
Pradeep would arrive with it.
21
The rebels looked haggard, and not just because we woke them with our knocking. Troy’s expression was hard as ever. Jeremiah’s eyes were still distant, though he’d fitted a wooden leg over his stump. Luis had nicks and bruises on his already weathered features. Zhao was stoic. Priyanka lit up when she saw Farrukh and rushed over to give him a hug. The guy was having a good day with girls.
“You look terrible,” she said. “Let us get you some breakfast.”
I ate like it was my last meal. The eggs and bread could’ve passed for ambrosia. It almost made up for the long travel and sleepless night.
Ana picked at her eggs with her fork. “What’s the status?”
“The battle’s been going on for a week now,” Priyanka said. “The Citadel was apparently packed with enchanted traps and magical enemies, but t
hey’ve all been cleared. There are three towers: green, blue, and red. You need to control both the green and blue towers to unlock the red.”
“Where the Knucklebones are,” Ana said.
Jeremiah’s eyes focused.
“Wait, we were right?” Priyanka asked. “There really are Knucklebones in the Citadel?”
“We might’ve saved a lot of pain and suffering if we’d just agreed to help you in the first place.”
“Don’t beat yourself up about it,” Priyanka said. “What’s important is that you’re here now. Anyway, Absame stormed the blue tower as soon as he got there. The rest of the castle has been changing hands constantly. We tried going guerrilla, but there are too many of them. There must be a thousand players in that castle, all ready to kill anyone wearing the wrong color.”
“Have you tried putting some yellow robes on?” Ana asked.
“You’ve seen the wanted posters.” In fact, on the Citadel wall, there had been posters not only for Jeremiah and Priyanka, but for myself and my companions as well. “But Luis has posed as a Lancer a couple of times. He’s the only reason we know so much.”
Luis nodded. “Both groups are well trained, and Absame is good with flash burn, but he can’t compete with a level 1 Storm. The Lance is being whittled. It’s only a matter of time before the Enlightened try to rout them, and the officers know it.”
“And do any of them seem to care about the army of orcs marching this way?” Ana asked him.
“Absame says he’s concerned, but he does nothing. He’s convinced he can deal with the orcs after he’s finished with Edwin. He thinks he has an ace up his sleeve.”
“What?”
“There’s a Storm’s Breath in his tower. It’s hooked up to some device. He said he’d consume it if things got too hot.”
“Why not now?” Ana asked. “The oven’s on. He’s been fighting the Enlightened for a week, and the orcs are sending a party to assault the Citadel at dawn, led by a powerful mage.”
“They have mages?” Priyanka asked.
“Yeah, a level 5 Beta tester.”
“That’s some bullshit,” Troy said, tapping her palm. “He’s not on the leaderboard. And he’s working for the orcs?”
“I’m sure he’s no match for you four,” Priyanka said. “Where is Heather, anyway?”
“Captured,” Ana said.
Priyanka looked distraught. Troy cursed. “You have a plan?”
“Give me some time. What did you spend the investment on?”
“Food and clothes, mostly,” Priyanka said.
Ana shook her head sadly. “Not exactly what I was hoping for. But I’m glad it helped.”
“I think it paid off,” I said. “Y’all got more eggs?”
Priyanka and Zhao got started on the dishes. Farrukh grabbed a dishcloth. Jeremiah sat looking morose.
I caught Troy drilling in a back room. She’d finally ditched her Enlightened robes for a white dress with slits up both sides and a red floral pattern. She hadn’t ditched her ferocity. Her curved saber whistled through the air.
Her injuries seemed mostly healed. I still wasn’t sure if the food here made recovery faster or if that innkeeper from our first day had just been trying to sell me a meal.
“You look good in that dress,” I said.
She eyed me sideways. “You shouldn’t say things like that just because Heather isn’t here.”
“I mean, it’s better than Enlightened robes.” Troy was attractive, sure — slightly chubby, with a cute face. But no woman could hold a candle to Heather.
“Pri inspired me to dress traditionally. It’s called an áo dài. But enough about my fashion sense.” She faced me. “You decided to come back, huh? Back to this horrible city.”
“Horrible, maybe, but it’s the only home we have.”
“Speak for yourself. I spawned near Frostbank. Spent a good chunk of my starting gold to travel here. Linsey and I had agreed, before we came here, to try to meet up in the first city, alphabetically. Now I wish we’d chosen the last.”
“You don’t have to stay.”
She shook her head. “The city is horrible, but I’m glad I met people like Heather, and Jeremiah, and you.” Her normally steadfast gaze wavered, briefly shifting to my feet. “Thank you,” she said. “You saved me. Us, for a time.”
“My motives were selfish. I wanted to weaken Edwin and bolster our ranks. Don’t feel indebted.” But she was on my friends list now, and I’d fight for her.
“I don’t,” she said hastily. “But I want to do all I can. Like help get Heather back. She saved me too, and what’s more, she showed me that Edwin could be resisted.”
“Huh. I don’t know what Ana’s cooking up.”
She grinned. “I won’t complain if I get to crack Edwin’s skull instead. Linsey would get a kick out of that.”
When I returned to the kitchen, Jeremiah hadn’t moved. I rustled his shoulder. “Cool prosthetic,” I told him. “Zhao make that?”
He looked down at his wooden leg. “Yeah. She’s good with her hands. A good ally to have.”
“How does it feel?”
He read my implied question. “I can fight, just about. Standing my ground is one thing, but if we have to climb that tower, you might be better off leaving me behind. I don’t want to hold you back.” He looked up. “The Knucklebones are just up there? So close.”
“We’ll get them. Trust Ana.”
“I have.” And his dedication had not been rewarded. I hadn’t missed the way Ana still cringed when she glimpsed his stump. He shook his head. “The Knucklebones aren’t worth everyone’s lives. We should just run. Or, in my case, hobble.”
I left him to wallow. Priyanka, Farrukh, and Zhao had finished cleaning. Ana looked deep in thought. Luis was watching out the boarded-up window, the Citadel’s glow blue on his smiling face. He whispered something, presumably to his viewers.
Then his face went dim. From the shadows, Ana said, “That’s not good.”
Bluehearth’s defense systems were down.
“It has to be you,” Ana said. “But you don’t have to go if you don’t want to.”
“What’s the point?” I asked.
“We need to know what’s going on in there. We still have maybe an hour before Pradeep gets here.”
“If what Farrukh thinks is accurate. What if he misestimated?”
“Then make it quick.”
“Why can’t we send Luis?”
“He might not be able to make it out. If you want, I can send Farrukh with you, but he might slow you down.”
Damn my superpowers. I was our greatest reconnaissance asset due to my nullify and redirect momentum. Inhuman gaps cowered before me, if only I could muster the effort.
This had nothing to do with rescuing Heather. But, if I could rescue her, the city would be our only refuge. We had to make sure it didn’t fall, not to orcs or either guild. “Send him with me anyway.”
The Citadel wall was twenty feet high, and a commotion resounded from the other side. I nullified myself five times with the speed and precision of long practice, then began the long string of symbols required to redirect my mana into upwards momentum. Clamor reached us from beyond the walls, as well as echoing thunder.
I sailed over the parapet and came down lightly between two wall turrets.
The door to the one on the left banged open. Two tired-eyed Lancers stumbled out, one fumbling with a crossbow.
“Hey, I have some questions,” I called.
But they had orders not to negotiate. I ducked around the side of a crenellation and, once the bolt had passed, rushed out.
I feinted high at the spearman, coaxing a parry, then cut hard and low. My distance was perfect, and my rapier edge bit deep into his inner thigh, where the artery ran. He gasped and took a knee, clutching at his leg as his lifeblood pumped over the parapet. I didn’t flinch away from the spurting blood, instead closing in to grant him a merciful death. “Kill a player: +5.”
The second Lancer dropped her crossbow and turned tail. I caught her in the doorway to the turret and bashed the back of her helmet, sending her sprawling.
“What have you done to the defenses?” I growled.
“Please don’t kill me!”
“Yeah, okay, whatever, just tell me what I need to know!”
She still looked terrified. I guess “whatever” isn’t a great response to someone begging for their life.
“I won’t hurt you,” I promised, not knowing if it was a lie. But I sheathed my rapier.
“How can I trust you?” she stammered. “Absame says you and your friends are liars and criminals.”
“Don’t have much choice, do you?” I asked.
“If the defenses are down, that means Absame has consumed the Storm’s Breath. But he wouldn’t do that unless Edwin forced his hand!”
Shouts and screams emanated from within the walls. That brewing battle Luis had mentioned was finally boiling over.
Three larger towers rose from within the walls, bearing red, green, or blue banners. Lightning flashed from the nearest — Absame’s blue tower. A flat stone bridge led from a gate halfway up his tower to a three-story building just inside the wall. The building had a shale roof over an open patio bustling with yellow robes. From the top of this turret, we could jump over.
“That’s the barracks,” she said. “Enlightened territory.”
The other door in the turret was blocked by a Goodwill’s worth of furniture. A staircase led to the roof. The side that loomed past the outer wall was lined with trapdoors, presumably for dropping rocks on attackers. I opened one and sent a rope down, then barricaded the door I’d entered through while Farrukh climbed up and hog-tied the Lancer.
He took her canteen from her belt and placed it before her. “How am I supposed to drink this?” she asked.
He shrugged. “You have time to figure it out. If you want some now, I can help you.”
She smoldered at the humiliation. We left her there, out of sight from any apprentices.