The Dragon's Wrath: Shadows in the Flame

by Brent Roth

  The first of which read, “Death comes to those who resist.”

  And then, “Help comes to those who ask.”

  The video had a lot of mixed messages and lacked the emotional impact of the first. It wasn’t nearly as moving as the child crying but it had a story with certain elements behind it and it painted a clear enough picture to understand the entire story and who exactly we were dealing with. The man seemed to mind his own business but when it came time for action he gave no quarter and fought relentlessly.

  Even though a few scenes broke the flow of the story and seemed entirely out of place, by the end they made enough sense in that it told you exactly who this player was. He was the first player to grace the North, evidenced by his title. He was also the first to conquer the Outcast Goblin dungeon which was no small feat as only a few had managed it before its difficulty was reduced in a patch. His efforts to work hard, train hard, and fight hard were clearly showcased.

  He wasn’t trying to elicit any emotional response with this video… he was sending a warning to those who got in his way, all while exposing the enemy guild for what they were. Added with a scene of a kraken fight that had yet to be seen or heard of in-game, the man was accomplishing world firsts without a guild. A man challenging the world.

  And winning.

  “You were right Em,” I said after thinking it over. “It does explain a lot.”

  “I didn’t realize he put so much effort into building the village,” said Emily while leaning on the railing. “I can kind of see his point, why he would be upset with me.”

  “But it was your job,” I quickly replied.

  “Yeah I couldn’t help that,” she began to explain with a weak smile. “But if you spent thousands of hours building up a place and someone else was responsible for all of your secrets being released to the general public and then someone acted on that information, destroying everything you worked for… I get it.”

  “You aren’t to blame.”

  “Then who is?” she asked.

  “The ones who used that information, the ones who had their village burned down.”

  Even with the situation now understood, I still wasn’t happy with the man for taking his anger out on us the day before. I could understand his emotional conflict but we weren’t responsible… well… not as responsible as he might have believed.

  “What did you have in mind?” I asked, as it was clear that she had been mulling some ideas over in her head. “Are you going to talk to him?”

  “I think I will,” she said after some time had passed. “I’m mad that he thought I was responsible… but I’m more upset with whoever was dangling my name out there as one of the possible scapegoats. That person, needs to pay.”

  “What do you mean?” I inquired, having missed something.

  “Oh I didn’t explain it did I?” she said with a laugh.

  “Mm. No you did not.”

  “I’ll fill you in then, on everything I read,” she exclaimed as she looked up at the sky. “Maybe over some more seafood, let’s head downstairs.”

  “Uh, more…” I replied while shaking my head. “Haven’t you had enough?”

  “Never, there is no such thing as too much seafood!”

  * * *

  Chapter 104: Mutual Understanding

  (Sunday, January 23rd Game Day / Tuesday, May 11th Real Day)

  Lying on the bed with Kate bundled up to my side, the plain cabin ceiling wasn’t much to look at. The walls were much the same, barren and free of decoration. Free of clutter was my original thought but now it all seemed so empty. A makeshift wooden chest and shelf held the majority of our combined goods while a coat rack I carved out of a log kept our furs off the floor. This was our cozy little home… with only Kate and the cats left to fill the empty space between.

  It really felt empty.

  After yesterday’s events, my night’s sleep was a lousy one. Filled with far too many thoughts to be able to sleep peacefully, I ended up turning to the internet in an attempt to silence my mind. My late night research proved to be pointless though as there was nothing pertinent out there. All of the forum threads were old and didn’t help me come to a conclusion one way or the other.

  In the end, I had to go with my gut feeling.

  My war with FWB was over as far as I was concerned and my search for those who leaked the details was over and done with as well. I had put far too much time and emotion into my quest for vengeance and what had been done on my part was sufficient enough to call it even.

  FWB paid the price for their transgressions and abandoned their village site as a result. Where they were now was inconsequential so long as they didn’t interfere with my game. The propaganda war appeared to be neutralized as well so there was little left for me worry over.

  The decision I wanted to make was on how to conclude my affairs with Emily and her friend Valerie. The principal issue was one that I created off of a most likely misunderstanding. My gut feeling on the matter was that Valerie spoke the truth, so the onus was on me to fix the relations to a manageable degree. More importantly, I needed to apologize for my aggressive and hostile behavior.

  An entire day had passed me by while I laid out on a bed, thinking over all of the possibilities. It was almost 9:00 PM now real-time and I wasn’t even sure if my visitors were still here. Well, time was wasting away.

  Getting up and walking out into the cool night air, I could only hope that the two girls were still around. If they weren’t around, it wouldn’t be much of a surprise. Deciding to check the inn first, I made my way over only to run into one of my new recruits on the way out.

  “How goes it Elsa?” I asked the enchanter that arrived only a few days before, while we were out on the mission. “Finding everything you need, I hope?”

  “Oh Sir Sigurd it’s a lovely place,” she said with a slight bow. “I am well supplied for now, thank you for asking… though… a workspace would be a wonderful and welcome addition, if you are able.”

  She was an interesting lady, direct and to the point. My first interaction with her went in a similar fashion, with her immediately requesting supplies and items so that she could carry out her affairs. She was of a decent level but it required a lot of materials to produce enchantments of any significant degree. She also needed enchanted items to learn new enchants by way of reverse engineering. Unfortunately, all I had were my +Attribute rings as the halberd was destroyed for its iron content.

  In the end, she took my rings without hesitation.

  “I’ll see to it in time,” I replied casually. “There’s a long list but you’ve been added, give me a few weeks and it will be done.”

  “Thank you Sir Sigurd,” she said with another bow, this time bending over and showing her cleavage. “If you’re looking for the visitors, they’re in the restaurant, they were looking for you, I believe.”

  “Ah is that right…” I mumbled while wondering if her actions were intentional. She didn’t strike me as an aloof individual that lacked presence of mind. Elsa was… more a calculated individual, though not in a bad sense. “Thanks for the info.”

  Ignoring the enchantress, I made my way into the inn’s first floor and checked the lounge on the right as it appeared to be full with NPCs. The restaurant on the left was rather empty on the other hand, as a few NPCs remained spread randomly throughout.

  My visitors were there though.

  A little anxious and nervous, I shook away the apprehension and walked up to their table with only a little hesitation showing. Emily was busy burying her face into a very large plate of oysters as Valerie appeared to be content with a stew and a loaf of bread. From what the cook told me, Emily only ate seafood… and she ate a lot of it.

  Maybe that was her revenge on me.

  “Is the food up to standard?” I asked as I grabbed a seat at a table nearby and pulled the chair out. Not wanting to join their table uninvited, I kept my distance.

  “Mm. It passes,” mumbled Valerie with li
ttle interest.

  “No, I’m not satisfied,” said Emily as she continued to ravenously devour what was in front of her. “Not satisfied at all, I’ll need another plate. Make it two, two more plates.”

  “Well, that can be taken care of,” I said as one of my hosts that worked as the barkeep and waitress gave me a funny look, as if she was asking me if it was okay to serve them. Nodding at the waitress while returning my attention to the two ladies, I decided to apologize now and be done with it.

  “From what Valerie has told me and other details coming to light, an apology is in order from me. It would seem I’ve made an error in my judgment and have treated you wrongly because of it. I apologize for my prior behavior and actions at the river.”

  Leaving it at that, I waited for a few seconds as no reply was heard. Content with the apology given, I stood up and nodded as I began to walk away.

  “Ah wait a sec,” said Emily as I reached the doorway. “Come back, I’ve got some questions for you.”

  Stopping in my tracks while letting a laugh slip out that they couldn’t hear, I grinned as I shook my head internally. She was definitely toying with me now but that was fine. I could take a little punishment for being rude.

  “It’s not polite to laugh,” said Valerie as she stared me down.

  “Hm?” asked Emily as she clearly didn’t hear it.

  “It’s in my nature,” I said with a shrug as a grin escaped. She had exceptional hearing, this blind girl. Was probably only natural, really. Devoid of one sense, other senses become sharper… it was to be expected. “Anyways, ask away.”

  “Why did you think I was the one responsible?” asked Emily while facing her plate.

  “I didn’t,” I answered honestly. “Not you alone at least, but collectively you played a part and as far as I could tell from my side, you were the one who originally gave out the information. I’m now told you withheld information secretly… if that’s the case, I suppose I owe you thanks as well.”

  “How many times have you been attacked?” asked Emily somewhat innocently while ignoring my previous reply.

  “One fifty-man raid, eight five-man excursions, and twenty-five encounters with stragglers looking to poke and prod,” I responded with a somewhat matter-of-fact answer. “The smaller ones were nothing, the fifty-man raid… well, you should know of that one.”

  “I only know that your village was burned down,” she said with a puzzled face. “I had no idea you were being attacked so often… have you lost a lot of NPCs?”

  “Yeah, I’ve buried a lot of NPCs,” I said with real emotion beginning to tug at me. “It was a little hard to deal with but I’ve dealt with it. Started a regular war over it.”

  “So if it was that bad, why didn’t you ask me about it?” she shot back.

  “I wasn’t in the most trusting of moods after my dealings with Milly,” I said nonchalantly while leaning back in my chair, hands behind my head and elbows extended out. “You had already revealed the information by that point, you weren’t on my list of people I wanted to talk to at the time.”

  “So you were angry with me?” she asked.

  “Yes.”

  “I see,” she said plainly while looking around. “I saw your video, we both did.”

  “Then you’re aware of part of the story,” I mumbled while staring at the ceiling, hands still relaxed on the back of my head.

  “Was she a Companion?” she asked. “The one that died.”

  Taking a second to ignore the brash line of questioning, I relented and answered honestly, as I wanted to see where her train of thought was taking us.

  “Yeah,” I said succinctly.

  “I had one once,” she said somewhat off-handedly. “Let him go because I realized an attachment was beginning to develop. If he died, it would have hurt me.”

  “So you say,” I said.

  “I’m sorry,” she said unexpectedly. “I understand if you blame me for releasing the information but I had no idea it would lead to anything of the sort. I also had no control over the slides… they were prepared by team members and I just presented them.”

  “What’s done is done,” I began to explain as I continued to stare at the ceiling. “As far as I’m concerned the war is over and FWB has all but disbanded. Their propaganda war has been successful but from the looks of it, hostility towards me has calmed. I’m not mad at you or anyone else at this point, I simply wish to return to a normal game.”

  “You jest,” interjected Valerie as she looked me in the eyes.

  “No,” I replied. “I’m tired of fighting and I’m not one to hold grudges for long.”

  “What?” said a shocked Emily as she stopped eating for the first time during our conversation. “You mean you’re going to ignore the guy who started it all?”

  “Eh?” I muttered, confused by her reply.

  “I didn’t know anything about your situation except that you had been fighting a war,” she explained with her temper flaring. “But now that I’ve done some research and read through the forums, watched the videos… it’s so obvious that someone is pulling the strings! He’s a member of the AnB meetings for god’s sake! How can you let him get off?!”

  “Do you have a name and proof?” I said plainly.

  “No…” she replied with slight hesitation.

  “Neither do I,” I said with a shrug. “I have no proof of the matter, only a guess and a theory as to who is responsible. The same guess and theory that led me to thinking you were as guilty as the rest. Do you truly advise me to go off that, again?”

  “No…” she replied again, with greater hesitation.

  “What if I find out who did it?” she suggested with a serious expression that was hard to ignore. “What if, I pull some strings and find out who was behind it all? If I provide you with actionable intelligence, would you act?”

  “Yeah, sure,” I said without much care. “Connect the dots and show me evidence that is hard to refute and I’ll sail my ship to anywhere on this continent.”

  “See?” she said to Valerie as she nodded with approval.

  “You’re right,” Valerie replied. “I’m not surprised though, he hinted as much in the video… practically shoved it in our faces, really.”

  “Eh?” I muttered out again, confused by what they were talking about.

  At that moment, Ethan messaged me and distracted me entirely as I switched to a video call. Raising a hand to signal that I was busy, I got up and walked over to the bar in order to put some distance between me and the girls.

  “What’s up Ethan?”

  “Alan just called me and Barik, said he joined that movement’s private thread in order to figure out what they were doing,” he explained quickly. “Turns out they’ve mobilized almost two-hundred players of all levels in the North to launch an attack on you. They just set a date, they’ll be there in three days, Friday night mate.”

  “Uh whoa, hold up man,” I replied, a little bewildered. “Explain in detail if you can?”

  “Nothing else to say mate, they’re coming to hit you and they’ve got the numbers,” he said clearly as he shrugged his shoulders. “Alan told us soon as he heard, Barik’s not on but I was at home so, jumped on to tell you.”

  “Well shit,” I mumbled while letting the situation set in. “That’s too many for me if they happen to have higher level players.”

  “Oi, I know it sounds bad but we’re too far to make it in three days,” he said. “We’re down in Byrnfast still… even by boat I don’t think we’d make it in time.”

  “Ah fuck it all,” I nearly shouted. “Thanks man for the head’s up, I just sent my one remaining ship to Ellieby with a bunch of furs… they won’t arrive until sometime tomorrow morning. If my first ship wasn’t at the bottom of the ocean, I could have sent it down to pick you up but yeah, it would be almost four days round trip. There’s no way you can make it… damn.”

  “Sorry for being the bearer of bad news,” said Ethan as shook his head.
/>
  “It’s fine, I’ll manage,” I replied. “Thanks though. I’ll talk to you after this blows over.”

  “Right, good luck,” he said as I ended the call.

  Walking over and sitting back down in my chair, I couldn’t help but laugh at the coincidence. The timing was perfect really but it had been building and this was a possible outcome. I figured my video would dissuade the majority of them, turns out it only spurred the remaining supporters to act faster.

  “You know I don’t believe much in coincidence,” I mumbled as I looked to the sky that was blocked by the ceiling. “But after everything that has happened between us these past two days… this sure is a funny coincidence.”

  “Are you being facetious?” asked Valerie.

  “No, I said I believed you and Emily both,” I replied. “I’ve made my mind up on that matter. This… is a coincidence that is rather hilarious in nature.”

  “Mm. Then what is so funny, what is this coincidence you speak of?” she questioned.

  “Well you remember how that girl showed up, appearing lost in the forest,” I mentioned to see if they followed. “And after she appeared and subsequently disappeared, her army showed up at my doorstep?”

  “Go on,” said Emily as Valerie listened patiently.

  “Well, hang out for a couple of days yeah?” I said with a smirk. “I’ve got company.”

  “Is that so, I fail to see the coincidence.”

  “Company?” inquired Emily. “You don’t mean, the people we’ve been talking about?”

  “Well, now that you two have showed up… another army is headed this way,” I said with a laugh. “I didn’t trust that girl but I took the chance, wanting to believe in her and not wanting to prejudge her. Then I prejudged you and didn’t extend the benefit of the doubt, and now the army is on the way. It really is a funny coincidence.”

  “I fail to see the humor,” said Valerie plainly.

  “Me neither,” said Emily.

  “Oh, it’s nothing,” I explained casually. “I’m just screwed either way.”