by Alyson Belle
“It’s insanely cool,” I murmured. “With this much Charisma, I could probably solo this place. I haven’t even needed to take a pet yet or use any of my Courtesan skills. This Sorceress class is nuts.”
Topper nodded. “I’m impressed. I admit I was a little nervous about coming in here with only your spells for DPS, but I’ve never seen anyone put out the kind of damage that you’re doing at your level. I was wrong to try to leave you out of things back when we first confronted Vierdimin. You’re really one of our best players, Krom.”
I dropped my gaze, embarrassed at the admiration in Topper’s voice and by the reminder that he still thought of me as Kromgorn on some level. It was nice to be recognized for my contributions to the guild again. I’d been in Lacey’s avatar for so long, focused on leveling, that I’d almost forgotten how good it felt to be working as part of a team alongside my friends, confronting shared challenges and having each other’s backs.
“Come on,” I said quietly. “My mana is full.”
He pulled the tip of his sword out of the dirt with a nod and a grunt and led the way onward. My magic continued to clear a path forward for us, and in no time at all we had felled five of the zone’s minibosses and were approaching the final island. I held up the key dropped by the Aviok Lord and stepped onto the teleporter, appearing on the edge of the last (and largest) of the islands behind a rocky outcropping. Four other islands floated far below us, inaccessible except through the teleporters because of the zonewide block on flying mounts and flight powers. The zone boss was supposed to be an Azure Sky Drake, who would be curled up in a nest with her eggs on the other side of the tall rocks.
“You think the boss is still up?” I asked Topper.
He’d grown quieter as we’d gotten closer to the last island, drawing inward, and he had a distant look in his eyes as he shook his head. “Doubt it. Haxor wouldn’t want the distraction. Vierdimin doubtlessly would have given him the means to keep the boss down so he could set up an ideal prison for Jazzus.”
There were various ways to prevent mobs from respawning, and it would be easy enough to use a suppression spell for the 80th level lich. But if he really had gone to all that trouble to keep the zone boss down, no doubt Haxor would have something nasty prepared for anyone who walked around the corner.
“And you’re sure he’s got her here?”
“I’m sure he’s here. If he doesn’t have her, he’ll know where to find her.”
“What if he doesn’t want to talk?”
Topper’s jaw tightened and a dangerous glint appeared in his eye. “He’ll talk. About Jazzus and about the guild bank.”
I didn’t understand how Topper could still think that Haxor wasn’t behind the guild bank robbery. There was literally no one else it could have been—not without a serious breach in the game code. How could he be so incensed about Haxor’s betrayal of our guild and not believe that he’d extend that to plundering us for all we were worth? I didn’t buy his story about Haxor being desperate and scared. Why wouldn’t he put his trust in us if he was so scared? What were friends for if not to rely on when things got tough?
“He’ll probably have a trap or two ready,” I said. “You should let me go first so I can absorb the impact. He’s Secret Order now. Nothing he or Vierdimin set up can hurt me.”
Right away I could see that Topper didn’t like that. He was used to being the raid tank and the point man on any dangerous operations. Letting a mage go first, especially a lower-level hot female mage, ran counter to all of his instincts.
“I’m going in first,” he growled. “I have plenty of resists and AC.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Topper. This isn’t about how good of a tank you are. We have no idea what Vierdimin might have given him to use against us, and he can’t hurt me. If you want to fight him, we need you at full health with no debuffs.”
“And what if he dropped his guild tag?”
“It won’t matter.” I’d already discussed this with Erlix back in Minsc when I was puzzling out the mechanics of my new class. The little dude knew a surprisingly large amount about game mechanics, thanks to his obsessive forum reading, and was able to fill me in on all the nuances of charming people thanks to his sordid interest in all things sex-related. “Because it would be too easy to just drop guild tags to get around it, anyone who’s had the tag in the last 30 days still counts for the purposes of the Charm skill.”
“And if they hired some third-party mercenaries?”
I laughed and held up my hand, allowing lightning from a readied Chain Lightning spell to crackle across my fingertips with a neon-blue sizzle. “I’m not really concerned about anyone but Vierdimin at this point. If they brought back-up, we’ll just fall back on a good old tank ‘n spank strategy.”
“That takes on a whole new meaning with your current class,” Topper grumbled, but I took his half-hearted joke to be his assent. You always knew Topper was done arguing when he changed the subject, because he didn’t let things go when he thought he was right. “You’ll call me in as soon as the situation is clear, though? I don’t want you going down from something nasty we didn’t anticipate, and Haxor is a Spellblade. He’ll have spell disruption abilities that may work even if he can’t hurt you. Remember: This is my fight.”
I remembered how Lefay and Wugduz had still been able to affect me in certain ways without actually hurting me. They probably couldn’t debuff or disable me, but if Haxor laid down a spell dampening field, it would kill spells for everyone. Spellblades were designed as an anti-magic class, and only the highest-level wizards had any tools to deal with them—of course, those skills wouldn’t help him much against a full-armored holy caster with a flaming sword… I hoped.
“I’ll call for you right away,” I promised.
Topper nodded and crouched down against the rock wall, ready to spring forward at my signal, and I stayed low and began to slowly make my way along the outcropping. The brown, dusty stones snaked all the way around the island in a swirl pattern, ensuring that nobody would walk into the boss fight by accident, and by the time I neared the central portion where the drake’s nest—and Haxor—would be, Topper was out of earshot unless I yelled. An unusually large and prominent pair of brown stone carvings of drakes marked what had to be the entrance to the boss’s room. As I got closer, I heard voices coming from just inside.
It sounded like multiple people were talking. I leaned against the statue and strained to listen. I could make out two of the voices: Haxor and Lefay. The third voice was deep and menacing, and while it sounded uncannily familiar, I couldn’t quite place it.
“I’m tired of being stuck in this zone waiting for my guildies to show up,” Haxor complained. “How long do I need to wait here?”
“Don’t you mean your ex-guildies?” Lefay shot back, a note of warning in her voice.
Haxor was silent for a moment, and then his voice dropped. “Yeah. My ex-guildies. Look, I just want to be done. I’ve done everything that’s been asked of me. I was promised my freedom if I helped you. When can I leave?”
“Soon,” the third voice promised. “Have more patience. My leveling is going well, and things are progressing nicely outside of the game. Everything is going according to plan.”
It was some kind of Secret Order meeting, and they had no idea Topper and I were here already! They probably hadn’t counted on us moving so quickly. I wanted to keep listening to see if they’d leak any of Vierdimin’s plans, even though I was risking letting Lefay and the mystery speaker get away. I knew I should probably rush in and call for Topper to catch them while they were unaware, and maybe even take out three of Vierdimin’s lieutenants in the process, but when would I have another chance to listen in like this? Against my better judgment, I kept still and waited.
“I’ve had plenty of patience,” Haxor growled. “I’ve been nothing but patient. I’ve been sitting here waiting for ages with Jazzus in that stupid energy cage while Kromgorn runs around doing god-knows-what in t
he body of my ex, which is too fucking weird for me, and meanwhile no one will tell me anything more about the big picture plans or what I’m actually supposed to be doing.”
“You’ve been told that your service will spare you the punishment that those who resist will receive,” the third voice intoned. “You are doing the will of the master. Do not test me. You know I speak with his word.”
“I know,” Haxor said. “I know, I know. It’s all part of the plan.”
“For someone who claims to know his place, you sure talk back a lot,” Lefay remarked.
“At least he has not yet failed us in his service,” the voice observed, now addressing the dark elf.
“I didn’t fail! If you had seen what that whore tried to do to me—”
“Enough excuses. You were told to waste her time, and instead you fled. This is unacceptable, Lefay.”
I smiled to myself at Lefay getting chewed out by her superior, whoever he was. The homophobic bitch deserved it. She’d only lost in her battle against me because she was too afraid of girl on girl action to bear even being close to me, and I’d used that against her to get her to gate away, forcing her to release her spell on Topper. It was also nice to know that her mission had been to make me waste time… it confirmed some of our suspicions about Vierdimin’s plans.
“As you say,” Lefay replied with a sullen tone. “I’m sorry, my lord.”
I was shocked. Lefay was one of the highest officers in their guild, and she was one hell of a bitch. Who would be so high ranking that she’d just take that kind of rebuke from him?
“I must return to my power leveling,” the voice continued. “Our enemies continue to press onward, and they must be delayed as long as possible. Time is on our side, and even now events are spinning beyond the point of no return. But they must not be allowed to interfere. Lefay will remain here, in your command, to help you, Haxor.”
“What?”
“What?”
“I’m not staying here with him! In his command?”
“You’re leaving her here to watch me, aren’t you? Isn’t it good enough that I betrayed my friends for you?”
“I should be in charge! You only let him into the guild like two days ago!”
“Enough.” The word cut through the deluge of complaints with a finality I was only accustomed to hearing from one of Topper’s decisions when he used his official guild leader voice, and it had the desired effect: Both Haxor and Lefay shut up immediately.
Now I was burning with curiosity to know who the third person was. Who had the rank to give Lefay orders? I’d thought I’d known all of The Secret Order’s officers, and it definitely wasn’t Nambla or Wugduz. It didn’t sound like Vierdimin, either, although he certainly gave orders like he ran the guild. Maybe Vierdimin had a secret second-in-command? The voice was familiar enough that it was driving me crazy. I knew I’d heard it before somewhere. Would it be worth the risk to sneak a peek? If he gated out before I could look, I’d miss my chance!
I had to know. It sounded like they were wrapping things up anyway, and if they spotted me I could just fall back on the original plan and charge in, content in the knowledge that none of them would be able to hurt me. I cursed myself for never bothering to level up Lacey’s Hide skill or picking up an invisibility spell. It would have come in really handy right now. I quickly flipped open my spellbook and looked through my options.
Lasting Illusion would give me the cover I needed, but did I dare to use an area spell in front of at least two trained spellcasters? If they had any wards up at all, they’d be alerted immediately that someone had cast a spell.
“You have your orders,” the voice said. “No doubt the courtesan is already en route here. Do not fail me again. Delay her as long as possible.”
It was now or never. I sucked in a breath and laid a 10’x10’x10’ cube illusion across the area just beside my drake statue, creating a perfect replica of the space that I could stand inside of. Anyone looking in would see only empty air, but I’d be able to look out of it. The air shimmered for a heartbeat as my illusion took hold, and I winced while I waited for the cacophony of a tripped alarm like the one that had alerted Vierdimin to my presence when I’d first confronted him with Jazzus. Fortunately, Haxor wasn’t quite as paranoid as Vierdimin—I was lucky he was confident enough not to think he needed them. I breathed a sigh of relief and stepped out from behind my statue, shrouded in the illusion of my spell, to get a look at this mystery officer who ordered Vierdimin’s lieutenant’s around like it was nothing.
Haxor and Lefay stood with their backs to me, facing a black-cloaked figure that was nearly seven feet tall. A two-handed greatsword hung across his back, and the muscles of his powerful build rippled beneath the leather bindings of his chestpiece.
I stared at the figure in shock, so surprised that I couldn’t move even if I’d wanted to. No wonder I recognized the voice.
It can’t be. How could this be possible? It doesn’t make any sense.
But my eyes weren’t deceiving me. Kromgorn, Lv. 70 Half-Giant Barbarian floated above the PC’s head.
Could it really be my Kromgorn? He’d dropped his Shining Army guild tag and gained nearly twenty levels since I’d played him last, but there was no way to steal another player’s name, and I even recognized some of the pieces of gear he was wearing. That epic quality sword on his back was the same one I’d been so proud of winning, and that unique belt was the one I’d crafted while raising my leatherworking skill. In horror, I pulled open the guild menu for The Shining Army and scanned the offline player list for Kromgorn, but he wasn’t there. How could he be? He was standing in front of me, clear as day.
I couldn’t explain it, but I couldn’t deny it either: My avatar was back in game, and someone other than me was playing him.
Chapter 6
I felt like someone had smacked me upside the head and set my whole world spinning. My old body, the avatar I’d worked so hard to gear and level, was not only still in-game, but being played by someone else. This shouldn’t be possible. Nobody had my login info. Certainly nobody in the Secret Order. I never would have entrusted it to Haxor, even if I had given it to someone in my guild, so he couldn’t be behind this.
My head spun with a million questions: Had I been hacked? Who would bother to hack a Lv. 48 Barbarian and then grind out more than twenty levels on the stolen avatar? Why would they be helping The Secret Order? And how did they end up ranked higher than even the officers? We were already short on answers, and this introduced a whole new set of unknowns that I couldn’t begin to figure out.
One thing was clear, though: I was ticked off about it. That was my barbarian, damn it! I’d wanted to level him up… not have some stranger power-level him to use him against me.
Then I felt a chill. Kromgorn was unguilded. Kromgorn wasn’t in Vierdimin’s guild and never had been. Kromgorn was level 70 now. And while I had plenty of power as Lacey the Courtesan, that epic 2-hander would lay down some serious hurt on me if it reached me. Had that been Vierdimin’s plan all along? Did he need to slow me down so he could level up Kromgorn? Steal my avatar and use my own body against me to get around the Charm restriction?
But no. It didn’t feel right—not for one of Vierdimin’s plans… It was too risky, too time-consuming, and too straight-forward. Whatever his plans for Kromgorn were, and whoever was in there playing him, Topper’s suspicions about Vierdimin’s master plan felt much more elegant, and much more befitting of the lich.
I was just glad I hadn’t charged in, spells blazing, because suddenly I was a lot less sure of what the outcome might have been. If I had launched an attack and Krom had cut me down, then Topper would have found himself in a three-on-one fight against a trio of level 70 characters… not a great place to be. I held my breath while I waited to see if Kromgorn would spill any more information.
But he was done talking. He took a small device from his belt and hit the button—evidently he’d been leveling my Magic Devices sk
ill too—and a portal to an unfamiliar zone snapped open behind him. The barbarian stepped through with a look of warning over his shoulder, and the gate winked out of existence.
Haxor and Lefay let out long sighs at the same time and then immediately turned to one another.
“You are not in charge of me,” Lefay snapped. “Why are you his favorite all of a sudden?”
“I don’t want to be in charge of anyone,” Haxor growled. “I don’t want to do any of this. You think I like sitting here using my magical energy to keep a friend knocked out and trapped like this?”
He gestured over to the side of the stone-ringed circular arena where a blue energy cage surrounded the unconscious form of Jazzus. As soon as I spotted her, my heart leapt into my throat. I’d never been so happy to see those pointy elven ears and cute blue costume as I was right at that moment. I barely suppressed my urge to call to her and ask if she was okay, even though I knew she wouldn’t be able to hear me while she was under Haxor’s spell.
I’m here, Jazzus! I thought fiercely instead. I came for you, and we’re going to rescue you, beat Vierdimin, and get all of us out of here safely.
I kept silent and waited to make my move, my body tense. Now that Kromgorn was gone, I could attack safely, and Topper had to be growing impatient by now—besides, if Vierdimin wanted to delay us as long as possible, that meant we had to move even faster. If there was one thing I knew about the Lich, it was that you should always try to do the opposite of what he goaded you to do, no matter how attractive his suggestion.
I leapt out of my illusory covering and charged the pair of them while they were still bickering, spouting gouts of Flame Jets at full blast from both hands.
Haxor reacted faster than Lefay, drawing his daggers and leaping backward in a single movement, but my flames poured over Lefay’s body while she shrieked. It was more in surprise than in pain, however, since as soon as the jets touched her they winked out with a cacophonous boom that left both of us stumbling backward.